weaving

Chapter 792 I Buy It With Silver
During the recent period, Zhang Cheng has been conducting on-the-spot investigations in the Xiaoling River section south of Huangtuling. At this time, he has a good idea of ​​the mountains and landforms in this area.

On the same day, he declined Zhang Ruoqi's request to stay, and led a group of Xuanfu generals, accompanied by Chen Jiugao and Wang Pu, back to the Chinese army camp in Xuanfu Town.

Along the way, from time to time, soldiers transporting food, fodder and supplies from the Xiaoling River Estuary, especially the horses and chariots pulling the army's drinking water from long distances, never stopped.

Under normal circumstances, when the army is away, in addition to food and fuelwood, there is another point that is extremely important, and that is the source of drinking water for the army.

According to the needs of the human body, each person needs at least ten liters of water a day, and mules and horses need as much as [-] liters.

Of course, this demand can be halved when it is difficult to obtain water or under extreme conditions during wartime. However, this will inevitably affect the combat effectiveness of the soldiers.

Don't you see, in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Ma Di lost the street pavilion, not because he didn't listen to the old general Wang Ping's words, set up camp and built a city wall in power, but he chose to station his troops on the mountain.

He also defended himself with the words of the Art of War: From a high perspective, the situation is like splitting bamboo.

Finally, he was surrounded by the scheming Sima Yi from all sides, and the water source on the mountain was cut off. Ma Su's troops in Shu had more than ten thousand soldiers, who were in chaos due to lack of water, and were defeated by Sima Yi.

It was precisely because of his mistake that it directly led to Zhuge Liang's complete failure as soon as he left Qishan!

This shows the importance of water sources to an army.

And with an army of tens of thousands, plus horses, mules and horses accompanying the army, the amount of water needed for a day is simply astronomical.

Now, there is still a Qing army entrenched on Huangtu Ridge. They are composed of a Qing army, a Han army, and a Korean army. There are only more than [-] troops stationed here.

The soldiers of the Xuanfu Town Army under Zhang Cheng were stationed not far from the Huangtu Ridge. According to their deployment, they dispatched soldiers from different battalions to fight against the Tartars on the mountain every day. day.

Judging from past experience, Zhang Cheng guessed that the soldiers under his command had matured and grown up after going through rounds of battles, and they were gradually adapting to the tactics of the Tartars.

At the same time, the fear of the Tartars in their hearts was gradually receding after the round of battles, and their confidence in defeating the Tartars was gradually increasing.

Furthermore, judging from the battle reports of the past few days, the number of Manchurian Eight Banners stationed on Huangtu Ridge is also decreasing day by day, because there have been no soldiers who were injured by the Tartar bow in the past few days.

Correspondingly, the gunfire on Huangtuling became more violent than before. Obviously, the Tartars on the mountain withdrew, while the Han and Korean troops increased.

Although the southern section of Huangtuling could draw water close to the Xiaoling River, most of the Xuanfu army camped in the west of Huangtuling, so a large number of water trucks were needed to continuously fetch water.

However, because the Qing army intentionally shrunk the defense line on Huangtuling, all the troops of the Ming Dynasty made a detour to fetch water from the Xiaoling River, and did not encounter any obstacles or troubles.

In the valley of Pingchuan on the west side of Huangtuling, it looks like a city has risen on the flat ground. Looking at the bottom of Huangtuling at this time, there are densely packed Ming army camps everywhere.

On the Huangtu Ridge, except when the Xuanfu army attacked the mountain, there were no people screaming in the past. I don't know if it indicates that the new empire of Jiannu is going to decline.

An emerging empire that was extremely brave and brave, was prevented from further development and growth because of the appearance of one person.

A rising empire was blocked by one person, and ended completely by the appearance of one person!
The front battalion of the Shenji Battalion was divided into two divisions to guard the east and west Shimen mountain roads. The general Chen Jiugao and his deputy Fu Yingchong each commanded one. They aimed the artillery in the camp at the two mountain roads to prevent the Tartars from galloping out suddenly.

On the east side of the Shenji Camp garrison is the camp of Shanxi General Soldier Wang Pu. They are responsible for guarding the safety of the left wing of the Shenji Camp, and supporting the Xuanfu Army under Zhang Cheng to prevent the Qing army on the Huangtu Ridge from suddenly rushing out.

Further south of Zhang Cheng's camp area is the defense line of Li Fuming's Shanxi Army. They are divided into three parts. The first is Mamatou Mountain, the second is Niangnianggong Fish Market, and the third is Xiaoling River Estuary. Place.

…………

Around Songshan City, among the mountains and plains, there are hundreds of thousands of troops to aid the Liao Dynasty. As far as the eye can see, there are camp flags like the ocean, and Diao Dou arrow towers are densely lined up.

And with so many army mules and horses, the food and grass they need is also massive.

Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, who was in charge of the supply of grain and supplies, was devastated by this. Shen Tingyang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was in charge of supervising the transportation of grain and grass in Tianjin.

Due to the tight supply of grain and grass, the Ming army on the front line of Liaodong, under normal circumstances, can only receive grain and grass once every five to ten days, and each time it is only about a few hundred stones.

Of course, these grains and grasses are not enough to feed the soldiers of the towns. In this era of extreme shortage of oil and water, young and middle-aged men are especially good at eating.

It is very edible!
Rather than being particularly able to endure hardship.

They can eat one liter of rice a day, which is equivalent to two catties of rice in later generations, which is normal. These are still raw rice. If they are made into rice, they can at least weigh about four catties. Strong people can even eat it all in one meal.

And horses need three liters of fodder every day. If counting an army of [-] people, if you calculate it at [-] minutes on foot, you need at least [-] shi of food and grass a day, which is barely enough to keep you hungry.

The Xuanfu army was relatively good. After all, they had a lot of meat to supplement, so the relative oil and water naturally increased. The food intake of each soldier has dropped slightly, and half a liter of rice per person is almost enough.

However, due to the large number of horses, mules and horses accompanying them, the overall consumption of food and grass is not a lot.

At the time of this expedition to Liaodong, there were more than [-] horses and mules in Zhang Cheng's army, and more than [-] stones of forage were needed for a day. When the people and horses were added together, nearly [-] stones of food and grass were needed for a day.

What's more, now he has taken over the soldiers and horses of the third battalion of Xuanfu Zhenbiao, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Yang Guozhu, and the troops of Kuang Yongzhong's Ranger Battalion. There are more than [-] people and thousands of war horses and mules.

Between Songjin and Ming Dynasty, all the generals who aided Liao Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty revolved around the supply of food and grass, and I don't know how many nasty things happened.

And the biggest beneficiary is none other than Zhang Ruoqi, the Director of the Aid to Liao Army and the Secretary of the Ministry of War.

Unlike Qiu Minyang and Shen Tingyang, who worked hard to supervise and transfer everything, Zhang Ruoqi's errands were much easier.

He sits at the mouth of the Xiaoling River, and is in charge of the distribution of grain, grass, and luggage transported by water from the rear.

The generals of the towns are constantly filial, and their words are mostly flattery, which makes him a little flattered. However, there is one special case. Although they respect him, they are far less flattering than others.

He is Zhang Cheng!
This expedition requires so much food and fodder, although Zhang Cheng also brought a large amount of food and fodder with the army.

However, Zhang Cheng kept those for emergency use. If it was not a critical moment, how could he be willing to use them? All the way, he tried his best to get the local government to supply them.

After all, he was traveling with Chen Jiugao, the former commander-in-chief of the Shenji Battalion. Parents and officials from all over the country, or food roads, could deduct the food and grain of those frontier troops, so how dare they take advantage of the majestic commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp at will.

Even when he arrived in Liaodong, Zhang Cheng tried his best to raise funds. The reserves he brought were not used in large quantities. When things like grain were scarce, they were like human life. It was not a last resort. He would never use the grain and rice he brought with him. forage.

Fortunately, Zhang Cheng's army is strong and strong, and has a close relationship with Zhang Ruoqi, the commander-in-chief, so the supply of food and grass for the Xuanfu army has always been a priority.

But even so, the food and grass received each time could not meet the needs of the Xuanfu army.

It is only collected once every five days. The Xuanfu army needs about [-] shi of grain and grass, but they can only receive [-] shi of grain and grass each time, or about [-] shi. , and can only receive about [-]% of it.

Zhang Cheng also knew that food and grass were scarce on the front line, and it was not easy for him to receive [-]% to [-]% of the demand each time, so he used the old method for the remaining shortfall.

That is, buy it with your own money!
This time he went to Liaodong, although the silver he brought with the army was only tens of thousands of taels, but Xu Qingyi and Cheng Ruzhi, who were in charge of escorting the military supplies last time, acted as guarantees in front of the capital and Liaodong merchants, and temporarily raised money for him. Lots of money.

In fact, in the warehouse on Xuanzhen North Road, there are a lot of gold and silver goods accumulated, and they have almost lost the meaning of circulation and are not of much use.

On the current land of Xuanfu North Road, food stamps, cloth tickets and other military tickets have long been widely used. Now, the silver dollar has come from behind and has become the main currency in Xuanbei area, while military tickets have been relegated to the status of accessories.

Because the credit has been opened, Xuanbei soldiers and civilians have begun to use silver dollars and military tickets as reserve currency, and are no longer eager to spend them. Even military tickets are kept in case of emergencies, and they are no longer eager to exchange them for grain and rice.

In this way, the reserve silver deposited by Zhang Cheng in various official treasuries in Xuanbei is useless, but for the safety of his own financial system, he will not casually embezzle this reserve silver for other purposes.

After all, as a person of later generations, he has seen too many cases of the collapse of the financial system!
Therefore, he is more willing to use these reserve silver to make transactions with many merchants. Anyway, as long as he has silver in his hand, there will naturally be merchants who will lend him the required materials on credit.

Just like the bank he opened, now there are semi-colons set up in the larger castles in Xuanfu Town, and the bank can be withdrawn by ticket, which has provided great convenience to the merchants and wealthy households in Xuanfu Town.

Because of this, he has gathered great reputation for himself!

Although some silver is spent in Liaodong today, the silver is only called silver when it is spent, and it is called broken stone if it is not spent.

And because of the establishment of General Fish Trading Company, at least a large part of the cost of this battle can be earned back. If it can really be promoted and expanded in the future, just dry fish, I don’t know how much money it will add to itself.

Traveling all the way, there was a constant flow of supplies and horses, and when they arrived outside the Xuanfu army's camp.

Zhang Cheng also saw many businessmen staying here, their various accents converging, it was very lively, like a big market, these were caravans from all over the place who came to do business with the Xuanfu Army.

The treatment of the Xuanfu army is the most generous among the towns.

Not only do they pay on time, they never deduct, and their food supply is also the best in the towns.

Each person has a fixed amount of rice, flatbread, and noodles as the staple food every day, and there are plenty of meat, vegetables, and salt, and there is even a certain amount of tea and cigarettes.

The treatment of the officers and men of the Xuanbei Army has been second to none since its establishment, not to mention in the Xuanfu, even in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, since Zhang Cheng's successful rise, it's not that no one has poached corners openly or secretly, but no one is willing to leave the Xuanfu army's system because of the two items of salary and food treatment on time.

Because the welfare benefits of the soldiers are guaranteed, they need to purchase a lot of materials on weekdays, and each purchase is in large quantities, so many merchants gather here when they see business opportunities to sell to the Xuanfu army. All kinds of goods they brought.

Of course, unlike other Ming army camps, merchants could come in and out of the camp.

The camp of the Xuanfu Army is extremely guarded, within [-] paces of the camp, no one is allowed to approach without a token, otherwise they will all be killed.

In Liaodong, due to the frequent wars over the years, coupled with the abundance of silver and the lack of grain, inflation is very serious and prices are very expensive.

However, the officers of the Xuanfu Army who went out to purchase never paid on credit, let alone defaulted on them. They always traded in cash, and their reputation was well-known.

The result of this is that more and more merchants gathered outside the military camp, and more and more local military households who sell goods are involved.

Coupled with the opening of a large number of dried fish workshops, a lot of manpower is required. Even some laborers who have transported food thousands of miles away have stayed to help in order to earn more money.

In this way, from the southwest of Huangtuling to the seaside and estuary, there are many markets, forming a strange commercial prosperity.

Seeing the caravans gathered outside the barracks and the bustling scene, Wang Pu couldn't help sighing: "This situation is like the West Gate of Datong City. If you look at it from outsiders, you will never think that this is the front line of the Jinzhou war."

However, Chen Jiugao looked disdainful, and said: "No wonder you say 'businessmen, profit-seekers', the ancients never deceived me. These unscrupulous businessmen, who only know how to make money, are really bold and reckless, and they are not afraid of death at all!"

Zhang Cheng was also quite moved by seeing it. A battle of national destiny between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where tens of thousands of people fought to the death, turned into a profit-seeking field among caravans from all walks of life.

It is true that no matter how the times change, businessmen are not afraid of death when they make money.

Really complied with the saying "wealth and wealth are sought in danger"!

He said with emotion: "This is not very normal. The prosperity of the world is all for profit, and the world is full of hustle and bustle for profit. Especially businessmen, it is their nature to seek profit.

Right now, many places in my Ming Dynasty cannot do without them! "

At this time, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty were powerful. In the border towns of the Ming Dynasty, most of the food and grass for the frontier army were supplied and transported by the merchants. Every time there was a war, their shadows could be seen.

In fact, the same is true in the Western world at this time.

Just like when the army of the Holy Roman Empire went to war, the army of 3 people had 14 entourages, most of them were caravans, and there were also a large number of rogue beggars, thieves and prostitutes, etc. who followed along the way.

Zhang Cheng finally concluded: "From ancient times to the present, businessmen and capital have been like this. Once they have appropriate profits, they will become bold.

If there is a 50.00% profit, the capital is guaranteed to be used everywhere; if there is a [-]% profit, it will be active; if there is a [-]% profit, it will take risks.

And in order to pursue a [-]% profit, it dares to trample on all the laws of the world; what if there is a [-]% profit?

Then it would dare to commit any crime, even risking death by death, without fear of danger! "

All the generals were shocked when they heard the words, and the commander said: It really portrayed the nature of a businessman vividly and vividly, and it is worthy of being possessed by a god and a man.

It's like the stars descending from the sky!
As a result, everyone became more determined to follow. Wei Zhice's eyes flashed brightly, and he kept repeating what Zhang Cheng said just now, falling into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)