The Fang family was entrenched in eastern Zhejiang, and at its peak, it was known as gathering 100,000 troops. This is an exaggeration. But sixty or seventy thousand are still available.

Unlike Zhang Shicheng's fierce resistance, the Fang family surrendered soon after the Western Wu army pressed the border, and did not experience a fierce battle with too much consumption. However, the surrendered troops of the Fang family that were originally incorporated by Western Wu were only 23,000 in total, and where did most of the rest go?

It's easy to imagine.

For the sake of the stability of eastern Zhejiang, the surrendered part of the Fang family soldiers were all taken to the southern expedition, and what Zhu Yuan had to do was to regather some of the other old Fang family departments that had collapsed.

This is also the reason why Lao Zhu chose Fang Guozhen's eldest son Fang Li to follow him to Mingzhou.

Fang Li naturally understood these things better, and when he heard Zhu Yuan say this, he immediately got up and hugged his fists: "My subordinates will not disgrace their lives." ”

Zhu Yuan hummed, and turned to the commander of Mingzhou Wei and Chang Zhi: "Commander Chang, you transfer a thousand people to assist Fang Langzhong in raising manpower, and the people gathered will be placed next to the Mingzhou Wei station outside Xicheng." ”

Even if the Fang family had shown enough deference, Zhu Yuan would not give Fang Li any thoughts.

Lao Zhu transferred Fang Li to serve as a civilian official like Yinghai Shilang, rather than a military position under the Navy Governor's Office, and his intention was obviously the same.

Chang Duan, who was sitting at the head of Zhu Yuan, also immediately got up and hugged his fists: "Your subordinates will receive orders." ”

Zhu Yuan looked at everyone again: "There are 10,000 people left, drawn from the fishermen in the southeastern provinces and counties, I just said the conditions, those who participate in the sea transportation will be exempted from taxes and forced labor for the whole family, and their children will have priority in going to school." Liu Langzhong? ”

Liu Lian, who was taking minutes of the meeting, hurriedly raised his head, put down his pen and arched his hand: "The lower official is here." ”

Zhu Yuan said: "These conditions were clearly written into an official document, hundreds of copies were printed, and coastal prefectures and counties were widely posted. ”

Liu Lian promised: "The subordinate will receive the order." ”

Zhu Yuan looked around again: "Do you have any other questions about this, can you talk about it?" ”

As soon as the words fell, Xue Shu, who had been rushed to the side by Zhu Yuan before, had already bowed his hand and said loudly: "Envoy, the lower official has something to say." ”

Zhu Yuan nodded and said, "You can call me 'Hanlin', don't use such a strange name." ”

Xue Shu choked again.

shouted Zhu Yuan 'envoy', because of the 'camp sea envoy', and because this is also a kind of honorific title, I knew that I had misunderstood Zhu Yuan, and I also had some apologies from Xue Shu himself.

I didn't expect ...... Disgusted.

Xue Shu didn't hesitate, and said: "Hanlin, April is the totoaba flood, and fishermen in eastern Zhejiang come from more than eighty percent of their fish catches every year. ”

Zhu Yuan was puzzled: "Totoaba fish? ”

Tao Qian, the prefect of Mingzhou, who happened to be in the direction of Zhu Yuan's line of sight, arched his hand slightly: "The stone head, also known as the yellow croaker, is named after the white stone in the brain. ”

Zhu Yuan understood.

Big yellow croaker.

Another point has been accurately grasped, and more than 80% of the fish caught by coastal fishermen every year comes from this large yellow croaker flood.

In these days, it is clear that fishing is not a perennial operation.

Thinking so, Zhu Yuan looked at Xue Shu again and asked, "Will people starve to death because of this?" ”

Xue Shu was stunned.

Zhu Yuan didn't wait for him to answer, and had already continued: "Since I am here, I promise you that no one in the southeast will starve to death because of this requisition. When it comes to shipping, there are priorities. Before I set off from Jinling, I had a family member from Shandong who said that many people had starved to death in Shandong. The sooner we send grain to the north, the more we can help the people and less starve to death, in addition to the use of the army. Xue Zhixian, how do you say I should choose? ”

Xue Shu hesitated slightly, and then waved his hand, but still said: "Hanlin, according to the previous dynasty, those who participate in the transportation of grain by sea will be rewarded, which is called 'the price of transporting grain'. ”

"It seems that you have done your homework, but you don't know everything about it," Zhu Yuan said: "The premise of the previous dynasty's 'price for transporting grain' was that the people provided their own ships, and they were not exempt from servitude, which was an employment system. This time we are requisitioned, and the ships are provided by the government, and they are exempt from servitude, which is also equivalent to paying compensation. ”

There is always one thing to do, and if you have a reference, 'reading from the script' is the most convenient way. Therefore, Zhu Yuan has of course recently had a detailed understanding of the grain transportation mode of the Yuan Dynasty.

The Yuan Dynasty also initially used official grain transportation.

However, because the efficiency was not high and the grain transportation was also small, a grain transportation system similar to the employment system was started.

The government paid the remuneration, and the private people provided their own ships to transport grain for the imperial court.

During the heyday of the Yuan Dynasty's maritime grain transportation, it was basically in this mode, with an annual grain transportation of more than 3 million stones.

The cost is also significant.

At that time, a stone of grain in the south, calculated according to the banknotes of the Yuan Dynasty, was about worth three taels of Zhongtong banknotes, but the freight rate offered by the Yuan court for each stone of grain was eight taels, which was equivalent to more than twice the price of grain in the south.

Then, the Yuan court also found that it was too expensive to do so, and could not afford to pay for it, so it continued to reduce the freight rate per stone of grain, coupled with the rapid depreciation of the Zhongtong banknote in the late Yuan Dynasty, resulting in no one willing to build ships and transport grain, and the originally prosperous shipping system quickly collapsed. A few years ago, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen teamed up to deliver grain to the Yuan Court, and there were only more than 100,000 stones left in a year.

When he first learned this, Zhu Yuan did not consider the employment system.

The conclusion is that it is not feasible at the moment.

This is first of all because at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the sense of belonging of the north and south parties to the new dynasty is still very weak, and it is difficult to say what the result will be if they take the liberty of handing over grain to private individuals. The second is that after many years of war in the southeast, all industries withered, and for a while there were not enough civilian ships to transport grain.

Therefore, it can only be done officially.

In the hall, Xue Shu didn't actually know this, he just hoped that a little adult didn't know, and wanted to fight for more compensation for the people.

Seeing that Zhu Yuan was completely aware of this, Xue Shu bowed and quieted down.

Zhu Yuan looked around: "Is there anyone else who has questions?" ”

I thought that no one would speak, but I suddenly heard the square-faced man next to Chang Duan arch his hand and said: "Xiaguan Salt Transport is the same as Xingji, this time to transport grain, if you need the assistance of the Salt Transportation Division, you will fully cooperate with it." ”

Zhu Yuan looked over and nodded with a smile.

Got it.

This is the attitude of the table.

I didn't know about the dock yesterday, and I didn't think much about it.

I still think so.

Xing Ji ...... It's a 'suspicious' name.

I was about to skip it, but suddenly I remembered it again.

Salt ......

Well, if you remember correctly, it seems that the Ming Dynasty also had the practice of letting salt merchants help transport grain in exchange for salt, and remember that there is also a special name, called 'Kaizhongfa'.

However, on second thought, this is actually an employment system.

So I went back to the train of thought I had just had.

Not feasible for the time being, just write it down first.

Nodding to Xing Ji again, Zhu Yuan said, "If there is nothing else, let's discuss the second topic, ships." ”

After speaking, he turned to Hua Gao, who had not spoken to the side: "Is there any news from the south?" ”

Hua Gao originally let the little boy next to him play, but he didn't expect him to turn to himself, hurriedly put down the teacup in his hand, leaned over a little, and said: "Wu Zhen has already set off, depending on the direction of the wind, as little as ten years, more than ...... It's hard to say, March will definitely arrive. Zhangcun Dao Department...... The news from Jinling that Zhang Yi's old man is fighting with the lord in the ring, and he is afraid that it will be later. ”

Zhu Yuan was puzzled.

Hua Gao leaned closer and explained in a low voice: "Zhang Cundao's township soldiers, Zhang Yi made an agreement with the lord in advance, and promised them that they would be able to return to their hometown after conquering Fujian. ”

Zhu Yuan understood.

made an appointment with someone, but Lao Zhu wanted to break the contract. This...... Zhu Yuan looked at Liu Lian behind the prescription table not far away: "This is pinched, don't remember it." ”

Liu Lian: "......"

Everyone: "......"

Zhu Yuan turned to Hua Gao again: "How many ships can you bring?" ”

Hua Gao grinned: "I know there that a group in the south is not a fuel-efficient lamp, even if there is an edict from the lord...... It also depends on Lao Wu's ability to grab things. ”

Zhu Yuan had a bad premonition.

Hua Gao poured another bowl of cold water over: "Zhang Cun Dao Department, a small commander, even if you can come, you don't have much hope." ”

Zhu Yuan suddenly had a bad premonition.

I thought there would be no shortage of ships.

There is indeed no shortage of them.

Before I came, I learned from Lao Zhu, not to mention the ships of the Daming Navy Division itself, but the southeast all the way from Zhang Shicheng to Chen Youding, and there were one or two thousand large and small sea ships seized.

The problem was that most of these ships were in the hands of a group of proud generals of the Southern Expeditionary Army.

Put yourself in their shoes, if Zhu Yuan was in their position, he would not easily hand over the ship in his hand, and even how to shirk it could quickly think of a bunch of excuses.

Who wouldn't want their troops to be stronger?

Sitting down again, Zhu Yuan thought for a while, and looked at the commander of Mingzhou Wei and Chang Zhi: "Commander Chang, how many ships does Mingzhou Wei have?" ”

It was already known in advance that because of the Southern Expedition and the Northern Expedition, most of the troops were on the front line, and there were only 2,731 people who were less than the staff before Mingzhouwei.

I forgot to ask about the ship.

Chang Duan hugged his fists and said: "Mingzhou Wei has a total of 19 ships, of which two are 500 sea boats, and the others are inland river flat-bottomed boats. ”

Zhu Yuan: "......"

Not surprising.

At the same time, it does not expect anything from other coastal guards.

It must have been looted by the armies of the front.

Moreover, unlike later, just like Mingzhou Wei, at present, it is mainly guarding the various states and counties under Mingzhou, as for the sea, although the Yuan Dynasty has begun to make trouble, it is not a big problem at the moment, and the threat is even worse than the remnants of Zhang Shicheng who fled at sea.

Gently knocking on the armrest of the Taishi chair, Zhu Yuan quickly considered.

Even if Wu Zhen and Zhang Cundao didn't bring many ships, counting themselves, there were coastal guards, and even those maritime merchants...... All parties put together, and it should not be a problem to meet the first batch of 200,000 stone grain transportation ships.

As for the rest, you can only figure it out on your own.

After a while, Zhu Yuan looked up at Yao Feng, another battalion who had already returned after explaining the matter: "Five hundred sea ships, how long will it take to build 800 ships?" ”

Yao Feng stood up and arched his hand: "My lord, the biggest obstacle to this matter is wood. A total of 400,000 materials of various types of wood are needed, where does it come from? ”

For shipbuilding, material is a measure word.

Zhu Yuan specially asked Yao Feng before, a piece of wood, about one foot in diameter and two zhang long.

Yao Feng also gave another image example, a folk carpenter makes a bed, of course, it is not the kind of carved bed in a wealthy family, but an ordinary double bed, which just needs a piece of wood.

Zhu Yuan thought about it for a moment and asked, "Start logging now, how long will it take to use it?" ”

Yao Feng said: "According to the different types and uses of wood, the drying time is as little as half a year and as much as three or five years. ”

Zhu Yuan asked: "Is there a way to speed up the drying?" ”

Yao Feng nodded, and shook his head again: "My lord, the gains outweigh the losses." ”

"Huh?"

Yao Feng explained in detail: "The method of acceleration is either boiling or baking. Boiling can only be used on small pieces of wood. Baking needs to build a kiln, slowly roasting with low heat, such as keel materials, baking also takes a month or two, and the slightest carelessness will cause the wood to crack due to improper fire control, and become waste. ”

Zhu Yuan propped his hand on the table next to him, supported his cheeks and frowned: "Don't do it in the shade, make up for a while, can't you?" ”

Yao Feng immediately shook his head, like a rattle, thought about it, and said, "My lord, if the wood is not dry...... It is alive, and the ship is built, and the lower officials dare not sit on it. ”

Alive?

Why does it sound a little creepy?

Zhu Yuan looked at Hua Gao.

Hua Gao also rattle: "I don't sit either." Hanlin has been like this for thousands of years. At that time, Chen Youliang used raw materials to build ships, and hundreds of thousands of troops marched down the river, but they were defeated in Longwan. This wood is not dry and dead, it has resentment, and it will dismantle the boat after it is launched, but it can't make a living. ”

It's even more frightening.

sighed with emotion and a long way to go to break the trust of feudal fans, Zhu Yuan felt that it was better to let it go first, and he couldn't believe it, so he turned to Tao Qian: "I learned before I came, there is a shipyard outside the city of Mingzhou, how much wood reserves are there?" ”

Tao Qian shook his head and said, "The rest ...... There was nothing left, and General Liao asked his subordinates to take over the shipyard a few years ago, and when he left, it was empty, and even the craftsmen took many of them with him. ”

Zhu Yuan: "......"

Liao Yongzhong, it's okay for you to change your name to Liao Sanguang.

Hua Gao next to him grinned, and began to recall the 'eventful years' of the past: "Old Liao was better than me back then." ”

Zhu Yuan: "......"

Seeing Zhu Yuan coming, Huada immediately restrained his expression, and was angry with the enemy: "Liao Yongzhong's rammer, thief balloon!" After speaking, he immediately turned to Liu Lian and learned Zhu Yuan's tone: "This is pinched, don't remember it." ”

Liu Lian: "......"

Lord Liu can only meditate in his heart, I am not a historian, I don't need discipline.

No, you don't!

Zhu Yuan didn't pay attention to someone next to him, and looked at everyone in the hall: "Let's talk about it, 400,000 pieces of wood, I can't wait for three or five years, what should I do?" ”

When the words fell, a man with a long beard and a round face standing behind the person on the right hand side stepped forward slightly and arched his hand: "Xiaguan Changguo Zhizhou Xu You." ”

There is no Mandarin in this era, Zhu Yuan was stunned when he heard a certain name, and asked rhetorically: "Xu You?" ”

Did I travel through the Three Kingdoms again in an instant?

The man changed his tone and said again: "Xu You." ”

Zhu Yuan understood.

It's 'Xu', not 'Xu'.

As for Changguozhou, it was later Zhoushan City, which is currently under the jurisdiction of Mingzhou Prefecture and is basically the size of a county.

Xu You saw that Zhu Yuan understood, so he continued: "The lower official suggested that wood can be collected from the people. In the southeastern states and counties, there are many private storage of shipbuilding timber, and 400,000 materials should not be a problem. ”

When Zhu Yuan heard Xu You say this, he instantly became transparent.

However, Xue Shu's voice on the other side immediately sounded: "Hanlin, this plan is not possible. The war in the southeast was initially settled, and the coastal people needed to build ships to restore their livelihoods. ”

After Xue Shu finished speaking, he waved at Zhu Yuan again, and then turned to Xu You, glaring angrily unabashedly.

Zhu Yuan thought for a while and said, "I won't solicit it for nothing." Turning to Yao Feng: "How much is a piece of wood?" ”

Yao Feng said: "My lord, all kinds of wood are different. ”

Zhu Yuan waved his hand and said: "According to the calculation of 400,000 materials, give me an approximate average price." ”

Yao Feng pondered for a moment before finally saying: "Five hundred materials for sea ships, the civil cost is about eight hundred yuan, of which the wood is the big head, counting five hundred yuan, the average ...... per material Consistent. ”

In total, it is 400,000 guan.

Everyone in the lobby looked at Zhu Yuan.

That's not a small amount.

Zhu Yuan was very relaxed, and was about to speak, when Chang Xuan's salt luck next to him suddenly said: "My lord, the lower official has a plan to offer." ”

Zhu Yuan looked over.

Xing Ji said: "There is no shortage of adults, corporals, and people, or they can harvest new materials and replace them with the people." Add some compensation and that's it. ”

Zhu Yuan nodded.

It's also a good idea.

So he didn't rush to speak, and looked at everyone again: "Is there anything else?" ”

Yao Feng said: "My lord, if you collect it from the people, it will be difficult to transport, you can open workshops in various places and build ships nearby." ”

Zhu Yuan nodded again.

Then the others said a little, Zhu Yuan either nodded, or shook his head, until he confirmed that he did not speak again, and then said: "Yao Langzhong, later you are responsible for making an official purchase price for all kinds of wood, and then according to Master Xing's suggestion, you will also make a replacement plan." The two methods are used in parallel to procure finished timber from the private sector. ”

Yao Feng stood up solemnly and agreed.

Zhu Yuan asked again: "How long will it take to have enough wood and 800 ships?" ”

Yao Feng was about to sit down, but when he heard the words, he stood up again, and said: "Gather the southeast craftsmen, and with the assistance of enough soldiers and soldiers, it can be completed in two months." ”

Zhu Yuan nodded.

Two months, acceptable.

Continuing to order some others, Zhu Yuan looked around: "The last question, the grain ...... Well, this one is certainly not a problem. Let's not talk about it. ”

Tired.

And there really is no need to talk about it.

I knew before I came that it was just that on the side of Mingzhou, even if it was definitely 'looted' by the Southern Expeditionary Army, there were still 190,000 stone of grain left.

Not to mention Jinling.

There are ten official warehouses with three million stone of grain.

In recent years, Lao Zhu has been giving a wide range of tax exemptions to the prefectures and counties under his rule.

There is too much food, and some of them are not used up.

Therefore, there is really no shortage of food in the south, it is only a matter of transportation.

At this point in the meeting, Zhu Yuan thought about it, clapped his hands again, and said: "Then, today's meeting is over, according to the plan we just agreed, everyone will go and get busy." By the way, are the people from the original Taicang City Bosi here? ”