serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 14

Yangzhou was an important economic center of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and it was also an important pass for water transportation along the Grand Canal. The imperial court stationed three battalions of soldiers and horses in Yangzhou. of the management.The patrol battalion is under the direct control of the Ministry of War and is not under the control of the local government.

This time, Jia Hu was appointed by the emperor to supervise the local military affairs in Yangzhou as an imperial envoy. To put it more simply, he is the highest military officer in Yangzhou who enjoys real power and directly controls the military power in Yangzhou.

On the second day of Jia Hu's arrival in Yangzhou, the cabinet's official document on Jia Hu was long overdue and finally sent to the officials of various government offices in Yangzhou.

With the status of imperial envoy, these generals were in awe of him, and that day they went to the Yanzheng Yamen to visit Jia Hu, very politely expressing their full support for the imperial court's military training, asking for people to give, and equipment for equipment.

Jia Hu didn't want to, he didn't trust these people, and directly sent five teams to the state capitals of Huai'an, Tongzhou, and Jiangning to recruit good young men.

In this way, a powerful force emerged in the Yangzhou area, and without the constraints of Liangjiang Governor's Yamen and the Ministry of War, it was an army completely belonging to Jia Hu.

Ten days passed in a flash. At this time, Jia Hu was standing on the high platform of the teaching field in the camp outside Yangzhou City, with more than ten generals standing on both sides, and more than [-] young and strong people lined up under the high platform to form three huge army formations. .

Jia Hu took a step forward and said loudly: "My name is Jia Hu, and my ancestral home is Jinling. Although I grew up in the capital, I am from Jiangsu just like everyone else."

The young and middle-aged people are slightly agitated. Because of the influence of the local concept, people trust their fellow villagers very much. Not only is the atmosphere of fellowship among the folks prevailing, but also in the officialdom, the relationship between fellow villagers supports each other. The people who support each other are the strongest in social relations.

Jia Hu slightly arched his hands in the direction of the capital and said, "Thanks to the emperor's grace, I will go south to train troops and form a brave guard battalion. Play the court truthfully and ask for credit for everyone."

As he said that, he looked at the young man below, and said with a smile: "Listen everyone, the Yongwei Battalion belongs to the frontier army, so everyone is paid by the frontier army. There is meat to eat."

This sentence spread to the ears of every young and strong with the wind, and the morale of the young and strong was boosted again. You must know that the soldiers of Jiangnan Daying only have 20 taels of salary per year, and the patrol camps in various places are even lower. Farming can earn up to 15 taels a year.

Jia Hu glanced at the generals one by one: "Train according to the plan."

Yang Dayong and others shouted in unison: "No!" Then they walked down the high platform together.

The salary of the frontier army is not so easy to get. The soldiers have to start training every day before dawn. The fifty instructors are all fierce and fierce. If they are slack, they will be beaten with wooden sticks. Punishment, it is better to add meals during training, two dry meals a day, rice and meat.

Jia Hu thought over and over again, and organized the Yongwei Battalion into three battalions, including two firearms battalions and a cavalry battalion, instead of a single infantry battalion.

Due to the lack of horses, the cavalry can only practice archery and chopping every day, and then train their physical fitness with the firecrackers.

The life in the barracks was boring, and five days passed in a flash. All the firecrackers left the camp in the early morning of this day. From today onwards, they will conduct marching training with heavy loads.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Jia Hu sat in the commander's seat in the middle.

Three firecrackers were placed on the table in front of him.

The bird blunderbusses of the Patrol Battalion, the Lumi blunderbusses of the Jiangnan Daying Camp, and the muskets that Jia She entrusted to General Wu’s family of Guangdong Province to buy from Xiyi people at a high price.

Smooth-bore gun: The barrel is three and a half feet long, the caliber is about half an inch, and the whole gun is five and a half feet long. It can effectively strike enemy targets at a distance of about 180 to 240 steps under flat fire conditions.

There is a bayonet next to the musket. The bayonet is about a foot long and is in the shape of a sword. The blade of the bayonet is inserted into the metal sleeve fixed on the side of the gun head of the musket, so that the musket can shoot with the bayonet. The total length of the gun without the bayonet is six and a half feet, which is about the same as that of ordinary long guns.

Shotgun soldiers using paper shell bullets can fire 2-3 rounds or even 5 rounds per minute, which enables the musketeers to shoot a dense enough rain of bullets, and they are no longer weak even in the face of cavalry charges. up.

In this way, it is impossible for the cavalry to carry out an effective attack on the infantry formation from the front. If the cavalry still wants to approach the musketeers from the front, it will first be hit by a volley of guns from the musket formation. Will meet as vigorous resistance as the pikemen formation.

Bird guns cost about three taels, Lumi guns cost five taels, and Spaniards’ muskets cost 20 taels, and the cost is estimated to be seven or eight taels.

There are 400 soldiers in the two firearms battalions. In addition to emergency, at least 20 smoothbore guns must be purchased from the Xiyi people at a time, plus ammunition. There is no such thing as [-].

Well, Ouyang Lin, governor of Liangjiang, sent someone to send him 5 taels, which was still 15 taels short. Yangzhou treasury should be able to squeeze out 5 taels, and the rest can only be donated by salt merchants.

It's almost the end of November, and recruits must receive training in loading, handling, aiming, and shooting, and most importantly, live ammunition shooting.

The sound of crackling beads came from the signing room of the Yanzheng Yamen.

The brush kept drawing circles on the account book, gradually, Lin Ruhai's face revealed a look of disappointment, and now the Yanzheng Yamen can allocate less than 50 taels of treasury silver.

Salt Luck came in sweating profusely.

Lin Ruhai asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"

"The next official just found out."

The salt transport officer said angrily, "It's been half a month, and only [-] ships have left on the pier, and only three ships of salt have been transported to Zhili."

Lin Ruhai was taken aback.

Salt transport envoy: "He, they clearly want Zhili to blame the salt shortage if the imperial court blames it"

Lin Ruhai sat in front of the big case with a sullen face.

Yan Yun hurried back and forth angrily, stopped at the door, turned around abruptly, and said through gritted teeth: "No! We can't let them lead you by the nose! My lord, I'm going to seize the private sector right now, and arrange for someone to go immediately Copy their salt nests, and take care of these daring salt merchants."

Lin Ruhai sighed, looked at him, and said: "It's not like you didn't miss the private sector. They are rotten inside and out. They won't touch these savages for a few taels of money. Shang. Besides, you are sure that those yards are hiding private salt? Before you came, I also searched several times, so what happened? It’s just a few jokes.”

After a pause, "Go see Wang and tell him that the new year is approaching, and this matter has become a big deal. If the court blames it, someone will take the blame. The Lin family is still the old Lin family, and the Wang family is still the old Wang family. The Jia family is also the previous Jia family."

Salt transport envoy: "Okay." After finishing speaking, he hurried out.

With a sound of "bang bang", a tea bowl from a blue and white official kiln smashed on the floor of the study, and the shards flew everywhere!
Mr. Wang standing next to him, and the young servants of Wang's mansion standing outside the study all changed their faces in fright.

Mr. Wang was still angry, walked to the desk and sat down, grabbed the white jade ruler on the desk and threw it on the ground!The shards of the town ruler were scattered everywhere!

The air seemed to freeze, and there was no sound in the study room. Mr. Wang sat there, his chest heaving continuously.

At this time, Mr. Xiao came in from the door, saw the debris all over the floor, first glanced at Mr. Wang who was sitting there angry, then walked up to Mr. Wang, and asked, "What's the matter? "

Mr. Wang: "Just now when the salt transport envoy came, there was a message from Lin Ruhai that if there is a salt shortage in Zhili, the Wang family will be blamed!"

Mr. Xiao was shocked when he heard the words, walked up to Mr. Wang, and said, "The one surnamed Lin is wrong!"

Mr. Wang sighed: "You are here."

Mr. Xiao: "When you look at the river bank, there are officers and soldiers parading everywhere. I asked, this kind of training lasts at least two months. How do we get our private salt?"

Mr. Wang just shook his head, still sitting there, motionless.

General Manager Xiao: "Brother Wang, we can't wait any longer. Hurry up and transport the 20 yuan of salt to Shandong and Zhili. The recent price of salt in Shandong has reached 120 yuan, and Zhili [-] yuan. Three taels of tax money, and after deducting other tariffs, we can earn at least [-] million taels this trip."

After a pause, "In the past when the imperial court rectified the salt affairs, as usual, another imperial envoy was sent to find out the truth, and then everyone made a symbolic donation and it was over. This time it's different. The person surnamed Jia came to kill. Okay. The Jiang family and the Cheng family want to fight, let them fight, we don't need to go to this muddy water. The treasury is empty, and the Zhili salt shortage is an opportunity. As long as we save face for the emperor and the court, it will be a great achievement One piece!"

Mr. Wang said angrily, "The one surnamed Lin is too bullying."

Mr. Xiao's expression became serious: "In peaceful times, there is a salt shortage in Zhili. This is a felony. The prefect Li Mingbo is the chief assistant, and Lin Ruhai has the Jia family behind him. The court's board will only fall on our salt merchants. , and Brother Wang is the head of the general salt merchants."

At this moment, the butler hurried in and whispered a few words in Mr. Wang's ear.

Wang Zongshang's expression changed: "Huh? How much salt did you take?"

Butler: "I'm not sure, one or two million quotes, right?"

Big ships are berthing at the salt port, and the young and strong are carrying salt on board.

In the distance, the porters of the brigade came to the pier with salt loads, and a group of Yangzhou government officials were on guard on the river bank.

At this time, Li Mingbo, the magistrate of Yangzhou, came over with Huang Zongshang and Ma Zongshang.

I saw bags of salt piled up in the cabin, and the young and strong were still loading the ship.

Li Mingbo: "The 15 imported salt can be regarded as a solution to the salt shortage in Zhili and Shandong."

Mr. Ma bowed his body slightly, and followed behind him cautiously, "Thank you, Mr. Futai for your advice. Mr. Li, please talk to Shoufu again. Mr. Ma is also eager to share the worries of Shoufu."

Li Mingbo waved his hand and said with a smile: "Over the years, we have also had some friendship." Speaking of this, he lowered his voice: "As long as you are willing to work hard, I will definitely report to the chief assistant to keep you rich and safe."

Seeing that the time has come, Mr. Ma took out a bank note from his sleeve and handed it over: "In the future, I will ask the masters of Futai to take care of it. It's a little bit of a small thing, and a little bit of intention."

Li Mingbo declined and said: "It's unnecessary, we are all our own people, why is this so?" He took a glance at it-the three characters "Thirty thousand taels" were impressively exposed on the bank note!
Mr. Huang clasped his hands together and said, "In the future, I will continue to accept the protection of my lord!"

Then Li Mingbo nodded, stuffed the bank note into his sleeve, and said, "Mr. Huang's words are serious. How long will it take to finish?"

Mr. Huang: "If you keep pretending day and night, you have to pretend for three days."

A loud shout came from the pier: "Let's sail—"

Looking at the salt ship going away, Li Mingbo nodded with a satisfied smile. 15 taels of tax was required to pay 45 taels of tax silver, and the Huang and Ma families donated an additional 55 taels. Not only did he save face for the chief assistant, but he also solved a crisis. Official positions such as inspectors.

At this moment, Li Mingbo's master came over, "Master Fu, just now a general came to the government office, and there was a message from Mr. Jia that he would send 5 taels of silver to the barracks before dusk today. In addition, every day Bring thirty more pigs to the barracks!"

After a pause, "This is a military order!"

At this time, there was a rush of horseshoes, and everyone paid attention.

As soon as the horse rode gradually approached, he stopped in front of Mr. Huang. The man jumped off his horse and said loudly: "Master, there is a message from the chamber of commerce. Please return to the chamber of commerce with Mr. Ma immediately."

(End of this chapter)