After unloading grain and buying horses, supplying supplies, and inquiring about the military situation for a few days at Shanhaiguan, Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen, who already had a plan in mind, embarked on the journey to continue northward again.

Of course, for the sake of secrecy, the fleet chose a route farther offshore for this voyage.

Anyway, with the help of the compass and other navigational positioning tools from the West, even if you sail more than 50 miles offshore and can't see the land, there is no problem.

There are a total of 400 miles of land in the western Liaoning corridor, all of which are narrow, muddy and rotten land.

Counting from Shanhaiguan, it is 260 miles to Tashan. There are still 60 miles from Tashan to Xingshan, and 40 miles from Xingshan to Jinzhou.

As for Matsuyama, it is a little further from the sea, and is not on the same line as the above-mentioned strongholds, and it is necessary to walk 50 miles north from Xingshan inland.

Along the way, Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen had carefully looked at the sea charts and knew that Tashan and Xingshan could still be rescued, and Songshan basically didn't think about it, it was too far from the coast.

And how to save Tashan and Xingshan has to be considered in the long run.

Therefore, Zheng Chenggong had an in-depth chat with the liaison officers sent to them by Wu Sangui, and even the rate of the Yiding Commando Cavalry.

……

On this day, the fleet had just set sail for the first day, and after Zheng Chenggong chatted with the people sent to him by Wu Sangui for a while, he didn't talk much about business, and he made the mistake of bragging and imitating the example.

Zheng Chenggong: "Oh? Zhang Dusi, you said you also met Brother Shen two years ago? Then tell me more, am I quite like Brother Shen a few years ago? ”

It turned out that the coastal defense division opposite Zheng Chenggong was Zhang Guozhu under Wu Sangui, who was responsible for handing over military rations to Shen Shuren two years ago.

Zhang Guozhu has heard that his immediate boss Wu Sangui has stepped over Zheng Chenggong "like Shen Futai", and it is not easy for him to say the opposite of the leader.

But when it comes to what he really thinks in his heart, he obviously thinks "why do you kid compare with Shen Futai".

So he held back for a long time, in order not to violate his conscience, Zhang Guozhu had to pick a point to answer:

"Zheng Ti's family is rich and wealthy, and he is worthy of righteousness and wealth, which is comparable to Shen Futai. You're four years younger than Shen Futai, right? Shen Futai four years ago must not be as heroic as you are now. ”

These words are not far behind "Huan Wen is like Liu Kun", only saying that Zheng Chenggong is similar to Shen Shuren in terms of wealth and righteousness, but to put it bluntly, it is not like anything else.

But Zheng Chenggong is young and not ambitious, so he will not be like Huan Wen who "will be unhappy for a few days". I heard that he was similar to Brother Shen in terms of impatience and righteousness, and he was also very proud, which further strengthened his addiction to being the boss of timely injustice.

Zheng Chenggong was overjoyed and said, "Really? I guess too, it's enough to be like Brother Shen at this point! Learn the rest slowly! Come on, you were sent by Wu Junmen this time to follow us on a dangerous mission, and you should have been rewarded.

Before our army set sail this time, Brother Shen had rewarded the army for three days, and the sailors could each be rewarded with ten taels, and the soldiers were also added five taels. You are all the elite under the command of Wu Junmen, and you also have to carry out dangerous shore sentinels, and ordinary soldiers will take fifty taels each first! ”

Zheng Chenggong came this time, and he imitated Shen Shuren everywhere, for fear of falling into Shen Shuren's prestige, of course, he would not bring less gold and silver.

The flagship he personally sat on was the largest of the sea ships in this group, with a displacement of 1,200 materials, which was three times larger than the 400 warships. And the ordinary 400 material warship, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, can already be used as the flagship of a small fleet.

So Zheng Chenggong's boat, usually three to five hundred people is no problem. Wu Sangui sent him a total of 100 Yiding cavalry, coordinated by Zhang Guozhu, and two team leaders to command, so that Zheng Chenggong's flagship could all sit down, and a larger number of Zheng family soldiers and sailors could be installed.

After listening to his greeting, Yiding Tuqi and the two team leaders immediately followed Zhang Guozhu to receive the reward.

Zheng Chenggong made a generous move, and asked the family to give each person a gold ingot of five taels, the chief of the cavalry team took ten taels, the team rate was twenty taels, and Zhang Guozhu, the capital division, directly took the largest gold ingot of fifty taels.

Rao is Yiding Raider is the elite of Wu Sangui's most confidants, usually full of wine and meat, and rewards are in place, and at this moment, I can't help but be surprised to see the big guy from the south make such a move.

There is still a difference between the Yiding Tuqi and the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and it can be said that there is a certain inclusion relationship. The cavalry of the Guanning Army was claimed to have 30,000 at its peak, but after so many years of defeat and loss, it would be very good to have more than 10,000 people left.

The Yiding Turquoise Cavalry is only a small part of them, only more than 1,000 cavalry, usually divided into more than 20 teams, each team of 50 people set up a team rate, directly under the command of Wu Sangui. Zhang Guozhu does not belong to the Yiding Tucai, he is only responsible for liaison and leading the way this time.

The two team leaders who came with today, one is called Zang Shiwei and the other is Tong Guozhang, as soon as they hear the surname, they know that they have Manchu and Mongolian ancestry - but don't get me wrong, not people with the surname Manmeng, they are all anti-Ming Tartars.

Wu Sangui's Yiding Tuqi was originally dominated by people of foreign origin, otherwise it would not have been called "Yiding".

In any era, the foreigners who are effectively loyal to the Han dynasty, theoretically Nuer Hachi himself was the Ming Dynasty Jianzhou Wei, even if Huang Taiji established the Qing Dynasty now, there are still a few brave Manchu and Mongolian ethnic groups willing to fight for the Ming Dynasty.

In the second year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji bypassed Yuan Chonghuan's sneak attack in the defense of the capital, and Man Gui, a general with grassland blood, died in battle for the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, as long as you continue to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, you can use it no matter what nationality.

This Zang Shiwei and Tong Guozhang held twenty taels of gold ingots, although they would not be bought, but after weighing the weight, they still couldn't help but sigh. They are all rough people, and they don't know how to hide it, so Zang Shiwei asked bluntly on behalf of everyone:

"Lord Zheng, this is in the south, and the generals go out to fight, are they all so generously rewarding the soldiers for their lives? Then did all of your southern soldiers die serving the commander-in-chief?

Our Wu Junmen has given us a first-class preferential treatment for our Yiding cavalry, and the ordinary soldiers are only paid 20% of their salaries, and the Guanning cavalry can be paid in full, and the family can receive two to three times the military salary stipulated by the imperial court, and it is only five or six taels of silver per month.

We have the most Yiding Tuqi, more than a dozen taels a month, and it is all Wu Junmen who asks our guards to rush into battle at any time, and they must be on the same as a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, and they can't frown. If you hesitate, you will be punished by military law and demoted to ordinary cavalry. The reward for you ordinary sailors going to sea can be worth the Moon Army of our Yiding Tu Cavalry. ”

The salaries of the army at the end of the Ming Dynasty were also very polarized. Those who have no combat effectiveness in the garrison are normal to deduct one or two percent and support themselves. But the money taken by the family and the elite soldiers will be higher than the quota of the imperial court.

The generals also knew that when it came time to fight, they all relied on these small number of elite soldiers and family members to work hard, and the fixed death salary of the imperial court could not buy the allegiance of the dead soldiers.

But it is precisely because of this that raising a family soldier requires several times the salary of the regular soldiers, and the total amount of silver is so much, and the other abandoned farming soldiers are even more exploited.

Zheng Chenggong listened to these questions, and was also happy to show off the favorable conditions of the Shen family and their family, and proudly preached to these Liaodong bitterly:

"This is a dangerous mission, so I gave so many rewards. But even in peacetime, the soldiers under Shen Futai are different from the rest of the provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Now the imperial court has implemented the law of centijin in the south, and last year I set up a card to collect centigold at the junction of Huguang and Jiangxi. These cents of gold were granted by His Majesty to raise troops in the provinces. The rich land in the south has sufficient commercial taxes, so all the soldiers of Shen Futai can receive full salaries and never default!

Ordinary soldiers must endure the wind and waves, and they must also be able to operate the water and the ship, at least five taels of silver—

In fact, it's not just Shen Futai who can't spend so much? Our Zheng family's merchant sailors are also five taels a month, and at the end of the year, the ship runs well, pulls goods and profits, and dividends, and a good sailor must not earn a hundred taels a year! ”

When Zang Shiwei and Tong Guozhang heard this, they were also enthusiastic. Including those Yiding Tuqi next to him, if it weren't for Wu Sangui's great kindness, he would have wanted to consider changing jobs just by listening to this treatment.

But they can fully believe that except for the Yiding Tucai, the other officers and soldiers of the Guanning Army, if they can escape with their lives, will definitely not be able to withstand such generous treatment.

Liaoxi Jiangmen has been operating in Shanhaiguan and Ningjin for so many years, and it has also raised a lot of dead soldiers. But I can't stand the fact that this place in western Liaoning is poor, and it was so cold and disaster every year at the end of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how much you do it, you can't be self-sufficient.

Wu Sangui was able to pull up the dead soldiers, but he didn't rely on the Liao salary given to him by Chongzhen.

Now the Shen family's annual income from doing business can be close to the total amount of "Liao salary" of the imperial court. The Zheng family's income is three times that of the "Liao salary", and it is definitely more than Qian Na who crushes Wu Sangui.

In this way, the fleet sailed for a day in the doubtful life of the officers and men of the Yiding Turquoise.

In the evening, Zheng Chenggong planned to find a place to see if he could send a small boat and dock in the dark for the scouts to reconnoiter the situation on land.

Zhang Guozhu and others understood the local topography and suggested that he go to shore near Shahou Island, an unknown island south of Juehua Island.

Zhang Guozhu also helped explain: "In fact, in the middle of winter, we Wu Junmen have always paid attention to the enemy situation outside the border. At that time, the Bohai Sea was frozen, and we had no ships to use. Our army relied on a small group of Yiding to ride and ride by land to go out to scout.

In Shahou Island, Juehua Island and other places, in fact, there are small stocks of grain and straw supplies secretly left by our army. Although these places have been occupied by the Tartars, the Tartars feel uninhabited, and they will not dig three feet into the ground on these desert islands.

Our army asked the sentry troopers to carry a few more bundles of straw with them, and once they saw the Tartar cavalry brigade from a distance, they would take the opportunity to hide in the sparse forest on the shore, or tie straw to the horses' hooves, and go to the island to avoid supplies.

Shahou Island is only three or five miles away from the shore, and Juehua Island is only a dozen miles from the shore, and in winter, you can directly ride horses and walk on the ice to the island. In recent days, the freeze has completely melted. ”

"It turns out that Wu Junmen hasn't completely given up understanding the situation of the besieged friendly forces in the past few months, so thank you for your kindness. Do you think the Scout Patrol that the Tartars have besieged Tower Hill recently? ”

Zhang Guozhu thought for a while: "According to the observation during the last sentry, it should not be too frequent. A brigade of cavalry of thousands of men appeared once or twice a day, at least several hours apart. As for the small group of Tartar scouts of the hundred and ten horses, they appeared every three or five times, and a team frequently passed a quarter of an hour, and at least once in a bad day for more than half an hour.

The Tartars are not in a hurry, because they know that even if they let the Tashan defenders sneak away for an hour and are found again, they will definitely not be able to escape back to Shanhaiguan, and Tashan is two hundred and sixty miles from Shanhaiguan! The defenders in Tower Hill City must not have any horses left. ”

Zheng Chenggong touched his chin that had just grown a beard, and discussed with Zhang Mingzhen: "Since the Tartar cavalry only makes a trip in half an hour, tomorrow night can let the Yiding Raiders first tentatively rush to the city to call the door to contact."

The defenders in the city may suspect that the Tartars are ambushing the soldiers to deceive the door, this time as long as the situation is reported first, and the response time is agreed. ”