A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 22

At night, a lamp is like a bean.

In Wang Dou's house, Wang Dou summoned Han Chao, Han Zhong, Qi Tianliang, and Yang Tong to discuss matters.

Wang Dou decided to go to Shun Township Fort tomorrow to ask Du Zhen, the official in charge of the village, for some population and cattle. With the example of Dongjiazhuang, he has no hope for tomorrow's trip, but it's better to go and try. , can get to a little bit.

Tomorrow, Wang Dou is going to take Han Zhong to Shunxiang Fort. As for Han Chao, Qi Tianliang, and Yang Tong, they have other assignments.

Qi Tianliang finally knows how to write and do some arithmetic, so it is most suitable for him to go to Baoanzhou City to buy rice noodles and farming tools, and Han Chao is cautious and skilled, and there is a support for Qi Tianliang by his side.

Wang Dou planned to give the two 150 taels of silver to buy ten stones of rice and ten oxen. In addition, plow tools and all kinds of agricultural tools should be bought, and they should buy all they need. It depends on their situation to distribute the money.However, Wang Dou reckons that buying these materials with a few hundred taels of silver is still tight. Although the price of rice noodles has dropped compared with the previous two months, it is still expensive.The price of cattle and agricultural tools is also high.

Wang Dou only had more than 600 taels of silver on him, and he took out 150 taels of silver at once. He felt that it was a waste of money, and these expenses were still far from enough.Not to mention the cattle and farm tools, the ten stones of rice bought at that time must not last long.Wangdou Tunbao plans to recruit [-] households, presumably those people will be like the military households outside, most of them have no surplus rations and will eat their own.

It's okay right now, we can let everyone drink some porridge, but after the next heavy work such as building the fort and opening up wasteland, everyone will have more food.The old and the weak, women and children can eat less, but strong men eat at least five stones and five buckets of rice a year, and under heavy physical labor, everyone has to eat some oil and meat every few days, otherwise they will easily vomit blood.To supplement oily meat, it is best to eat some fatty meat, but it is not like later generations. In this Ming Dynasty, fatty meat was much more expensive than lean meat. Pork is really expensive now, and it will also be a huge expense by then.

Wang Dou had a calm expression on his face, as if he was holding a wisdom pearl, but he was still thinking quickly about how to get some more money in the future. He thought of many ways, but he felt that the money was not fast. His first pot of gold came from the Houjin Army The seizure, perhaps I should think of a way on this.

Qi Tianliang happily accepted Wang Dou's assignment. Wang Dou trusted him so much that he handed over a hundred taels of silver to him without frowning. After completing the task, Han and North Korea bowed their hands calmly and stopped talking.

As for Yang Tong, his task is still to guard the pier, and tomorrow he will direct the new residents to continue building nests. Yang Tong is also very happy to accept this task, as he finally has room to flex his muscles.

……

Early the next morning, Wang Dou took Han Zhong and rode to Shun Township Fort.

The two rode their horses all the way to the south, and when they passed the teahouse pier, the defenders in the pier saw the two pass by, dressed as Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, lazily blew a few gongs, and let off a small pistol to inform the neighbors. Tun no doubt ignored it.

Not long after they passed the teahouse pier, the two of them raced fast, and soon Shun Township Fort appeared in front of their eyes.

Nashun Township Fort was governed by Baoanwei Zuoqianhusuo. Both Dongjiazhuang Fort and Huiyao Fort belonged to it. According to legend, it was the capital of Shun. It was 120 steps away from Tuesday, and it was three feet and five feet high. It was covered with bricks in the 13th year of Wanli. The general Xu Zhongjun was defended, with hundreds of horses and nearly 300 officers and troops.There are about hundreds of military households in the fort, with a population of more than 1000.

Shun Township Fort has two gates, the South Gate and the West Gate. Wang Dou and Han Zhong entered through the south gate. He looked Wang Dou up and down for a while, and then waved for Wang Dou to enter.

Compared with Dongjiazhuang, Shunxiang Fort is indeed much more lively. At least there are many more shops along the street, and the flow of people is much denser. It is said that there are more than 40 shops in each street in the fort.But the only thing that remains the same is the many temples in the fort, the same dilapidated and dirty buildings and streets, and the soldiers and civilians with numb expressions and ragged clothes.

There are three streets and 21 lanes in the castle of Shun Township, and the Thousand Households Official Hall is located on the East Street on the east side of the castle.

Wang Dou found a shop and made a generous gift, came to the front of the official hall, and handed in a name sticker to the gatekeeper, hoping that he would inform Du Zhen, the officer in charge of the village, and asked Wang Dou, the chief of Jingbian Dunjia, to see him.

The little schoolboy greedily glanced at the horses of Wang Dou and his wife, then lazily looked at the name sticker in his hand, his eyes lit up, and he smiled: "So you are Wang Dou? You look really tough, No wonder he was able to kill Tartars."

But then he looked lifeless again, lazily playing with famous stickers and said: "Master Du is very busy, I'm afraid I don't have time to meet guests, if you have anything to do, just tell me here, I will find an opportunity to report to Master Du."

Han Zhongzao felt uncomfortable seeing him, and at this moment he yelled angrily: "Are you entertaining us? Announcement, when do you want to inform us?"

He took a step forward and was about to go forward and wrestle the little school.

The little principal was taken aback, took a step back, and then felt that he was showing weakness, he pointed at Han Zhong sternly and shouted: "Why, where are you from the prisoner army, how dare you act wild in front of the Qianhu government hall? Is there any military law?"

When he gave an order, several soldiers in front of the door surrounded him, but seeing the burly and sturdy appearance of Wang Dou and Wang Dou, everyone was also nervous, especially when they heard that Wang Dou was killing ten Tartars in a row, his expression was even more serious. nervous.

Wang Dou pulled Han Zhong back, and said in a low voice: "It's important to do business, this kind of villain, I will find a chance to deal with him in the future."

He looked at the little school indifferently, and saw that his waist badge was only a general banner official title. He smiled slightly, stepped forward to the little school and said: "My brother is impatient, please don't take offense. Wang Dou came in a hurry and didn't prepare any presents, please use this little money to buy wine and drink."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of broken silver, about one tael, and handed it to the schoolboy with a smile. The schoolboy was relieved when he saw Han Zhong retreating bitterly, and muttered to himself: "It's not just killing me!" How many tartars did you kill? Here, even if you are a tiger, you have to squat for me."

Then when he saw the silver in his hand, he was stunned, and immediately smiled, thinking that this surnamed Wang is so generous. When he raised his head, his expression changed, and his voice was affectionate. He smiled and said: "Wang Zongqi You are so polite and straightforward enough to be worthy of being a hero who dared to kill the Tartars."

He paused and said: "Okay, please wait for Wang Zongqi, I will go in and inform Master Du immediately."

Wang Dou cupped his hands with a smile: "I'm sorry."

After the small school entered, Wang Dou's face darkened.

……

Soon, the little school came out and said that Master Du let Wang Dou in.

Wang Dou cupped his hands with a smile, and asked Han Zhong to watch the horses outside, while he went in with the small school.

The duty room of Qianhu Du Zhen is on the right side of the official hall. After passing through the Yimen and the lobby, he soon came to Du Zhen's duty hall. At this time, Du Zhen was looking at some documents at his desk. Bring Wang Dou here, report to Du Zhen, then wink at Wang Dou, Wang Dou nodded to him with a smile, and the little school went out.

Wang Dou stepped forward to kowtow to Du Zhen, and after Wang Dou performed the full set of salutes, Du Zhen slowly got up and came over to signal Wang Dou not to be too polite.

Wang Dou handed over the gift list, saying that this was some kindness from Brother Jing Biandun. Seeing that the gift list was rich, Du Zhen nodded with satisfaction. When asked about Wang Dou's purpose, he pondered for a while, and then slowly said: "Wang Dou, you are in the house." Tuntian, this is a good thing. I promised Master Xu to help you back then, but now the entire farm is short of cattle and seeds, and the military households are also in short supply... How about this, I will ask someone to take you to see it, see I can spare anything for you."

As he spoke, he called a man named Du Gong and gave him some instructions to take Wang Dou out.

Wang Dou had no choice but to go out with the man named Du Gong. He felt that Du Zhen was more bureaucratic and arrogant, and he was not easy to get close to.

……

The man named Du Gong was around 36 or [-] years old, short and fat. In front of Wang Dou's burly figure, he was a full head shorter and had scorched yellow whiskers.Wearing an official uniform from hundreds of households, he talked triumphantly, as if he was a distant relative of Du Zhen, so he was able to manage some important warehouses and luggage in the fort.

Wang Dou first felt that this man was slick, and he looked like a villain. He had seen Hongqiu, the general banner in Dongjiazhuang who was also in charge of food, grass and supplies. Compared with Du Gong, the rough man was in sharp contrast. Compared.

Wang Dou asked Du Gong for the seeds of farming cattle, military households, etc. Du Gong said in an official tone: "My brother Wang, you are very good at fighting and killing the enemy, but this matter of farming is completely different from fighting. Among the many forts, almost every fort lacks the population, cattle and agricultural tools, and the materials in the fort are just these, if everyone comes to ask for it, I will be very embarrassed."

Wang Dou took out an ingot of about ten taels of silver, handed it to Du Gong, and said, "I would like to ask Mr. Du for your convenience."

Du Gong's eyes lit up, he slowly put the money into his pocket, and sighed: "Alright, we are all brothers in the same institute, so please help if you can."

He seemed to think of something and said: "After all, you can't allocate a lot of cattle and farm tools, and most of them still need to be solved by Brother Wang himself. I heard that the price of the cattle market in our castle is fair, Brother Wang may think about it."

Wang Dou snorted, "Master Du's introduction is naturally good."

At this moment, the expressions of the two became more intimate, and Du Gong also cordially invited Wang Dou to a banquet. During the banquet, he kept bragging about how much he was appreciated by Master Du, the officer in charge. harmony.

When the wine was hot, Wang Dou seemed to have no intention of mentioning: "By the way, who was the general banner guarding the gate when we came in?"

……

When Wang Dou saw the gatekeeper again, he saw a pale face with a distinct hand print on his face. When he saw Wang Dou, he turned his head resentfully, gnashing his teeth, and Wang Dou sneered a few times. , without looking at him, proudly passed by him.

He called Han Zhong and asked him to go with him and Du Gong to get the supplies. Han Zhong was also elated when he heard that some supplies had been called, but Wang Dou was stunned at the end. Plow tools, [-] hoes, a promise to help Wang Dou to promote in the castle, and everything else, worse than Dongjiazhuang.

After a while, Wang Dou cursed, "Damn it!"

(End of this chapter)