national surname chiming

Chapter 168

Only ten days after Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen set sail, Shen Shuren finished handling other trivial matters in Nanjing and embarked on his way back to Wuchang.

Shen Shuren's return journey was much safer and faster than Zheng Chenggong's.

20 days passed by in a flash.

One day at the end of February, when Shen Shuren returned to Wuchang, Zheng Chenggong and his party had just arrived at Shanhaiguan, and it would take several days to unload the military rations for Wu Sangui this year.

In the early spring, it is impossible to encounter a typhoon at sea. After years of practical sailing and improvement, the Shen family's seagoing ship is already extremely stable.

Hundreds of ships make two or three thousand voyages every year, and the accident rate is at most only one or two thousandths.

The days along the way, without any accidents, are naturally boring and needless to be described.

Zheng Chenggong had never been to the north before, but he was very curious when he first arrived in Shanhaiguan.

Taking advantage of the time needed to unload the grain, he also went ashore with Zhang Mingzhen for a walk, and asked the Liaodong Army to buy a small batch of war horses, rode them up the mountain, and visited the outside of the customs——

They themselves could not transport a large number of war horses from the Yangtze River estuary by ship, because the health of the horses was easily damaged during the long-distance sea turbulence.

There are few and expensive horses in the south. Even if they may be used in follow-up operations, it is better to buy them in the northeast.

Although the Ming Dynasty was also relatively weak in the face of the nomadic Tartars, the horse administration was still much better than that of the Song Dynasty. The army was not limited to a shortage of horses, and large areas of natural pastures were also preserved.

In the Northeast, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can always buy a small amount of horses through open and dark channels.

"Is this the easternmost end of the Great Wall? Cao Mengde is facing Jieshi in the east and looking at the sea. This is what he said." Zheng Chenggong rode his horse up to Jieshi Mountain on the inner side of the Shanhaiguan Pass.
Looking at the boundary between the mountains and the sea, the wall extending all the way to the jagged rocks by the sea, and finally being hit by the turbulent waves, my heart is also turbulent.He grew up in the south since he was a child, and he has never seen such a scene where raging waves and majestic passes coexist.

In "Guan Canghai" written by Cao Cao, the "Jieshi" on which Jieshi is located in the east is Changli County, which belongs to Qinhuangdao in later generations. Shanhaiguan is also in Qinhuangdao, and the distance between the two places is less than one county.

Zheng Chenggong is not a craze for textual research. Looking at the majestic terrain along the coast of Shanhaiguan, he mistakenly thought that this was Jieshi Mountain.

Zhang Mingzhen also dealt with the sea for half his life. He was in charge of coastal defense in Ningshao for eight years, and was stationed in Zhoushan Islands to fight Japanese pirates and pirates.But he had never seen this kind of precipitous scene directly from the mountain pass to the sea before, and he was equally amazed, and suddenly felt heroic.

The two of them played for a short time before they were followed by the defenders of Shanhaiguan. However, they had official documents and seals for transporting rations by water, and the defenders did not make things difficult for them.

These defenders seemed to be in low spirits. They should have just returned from the front line in the winter a few months ago, and they had just been regrouped by Wu Sangui.

After a while, Wu Sangui himself also seemed to have heard that the shipping officer who escorted the military rations this year had changed to a newcomer. He was very young and belonged to the Zheng family in Fujian.

With Wu Sangui's current status, it is said that he does not need to pay so much attention to the grain transport officer who came from the rear, but the Zheng family is the god of wealth, so they should try their best to curry favor.

In addition, Wu Sangui and several other general soldiers were defeated and fled back last year. So far, the imperial court has only questioned the Datong general soldier Wang Pu who "fleeed first", and the other three general soldiers have not yet been determined. Wu Sangui is a little nervous. People inquired about the news in Jingzhong, hoping that the matter of him giving up Hong Chengchou and fleeing back would be exposed.

So whenever there are officials from the rear, he is very polite.

Seeing a group of cavalry approaching, Zheng Chenggong and others also put their hands down and waited quietly.

"Is it Zheng Tiju from Nanjing who came here? Since he came here to transport food, why did he come here privately. I'm going to Wu Sangui, and I should do my best to be a landlord."

"It turned out to be Wu Jun's family. I have seen you for a long time. It's a pleasure to meet you." Zheng Chenggong waited for the other party to announce his family name, and he also bowed his hands and clasped his fists. He was soon ushered into Guancheng for a rest banquet.

Zheng Chenggong's current errand is to be promoted by sea transport. This position is newly established, and the salary is the same as the original Guanhe Yamen of water transport.

In the era of water transportation, the governor of water transportation had a river management system, and the Ministry of Industry assigned a six-rank official to each section of the river to maintain the shipping conditions.

After the sea transportation is changed, of course there is no waterway management, but officials responsible for escorting and escorting are required, and they can be promoted according to the treatment of the chief of the sixth grade and the sixth department.

Originally, the main job of the river transport was dispatched by the Ministry of Industry, but the lifting of the sea transport was dispatched by the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs, because there was no engineering work to be done, and it was mainly financial supervision work.

From this point of view, Shen Tingyang, the father of Shen Shuren, is now the servant of the Nanjing household department, and that is Zheng Chenggong's direct boss.

It is equivalent to one being in charge of the deputy department, and the other being the director of a certain department under the department.With this level of relationship, the Zheng family can only please the Shen family even more, and can't act rashly.

Zheng Chenggong is not a time traveler. Of course, he will not have any contempt for Wu Sangui today. He just thinks that this is a hero who fought bloody for the country, and his first impression is very good.

Wu Sangui felt that Zheng Chenggong's family was huge, tens of millions of taels of family property, and he was willing to go to the sea to supervise food for the country himself.

Wu Sangui wanted to get close, so he boasted: "Zheng Tiju's youthful vigor and heroic appearance reminded me of a person. Two years ago, Shen Futai, who was going to Beijing for the exam, personally escorted the army rations to come This Shanhaiguan.

He and I hit it off right away, at that time he was only seventh rank, and he never thought that in just two years, he would be the governor of one party.Brother Zheng Xian, I think you also have the style of Shen Futai. "

Zheng Chenggong was originally just being polite to Wu Sangui, and he was overjoyed to hear him boasting in such a unique and simple way: "Really? Wu Junmen, do you really think I have the style of Big Brother Shen? With your good words, I have been in office for many years. Take Brother Shen as an example everywhere.

Brother Shen is a hero who stands upright for the country and the people. If you can learn a little bit of his skills, you will be able to fulfill your life's wish...By the way, did you call him Shen Futai just now?Isn't it Daotai?Could it be..."

Wu Sangui was stunned for a moment, and then immediately realized: "My dear brother, I have been wandering in the sea for more than half a month. I don't know the current situation in Beijing. I am ashamed to say that I have been worried since last year when I was defeated and retreated. I spent a lot of time exploring Beijing. current situation.

It was learned recently that Elder Zhou Ge had arrived in Beijing seven days ago to officially perform his duties.Five days ago, the imperial court had clearly issued a decree to officially elevate Shenfutai to Wanfu.

Under the jurisdiction of Huguang Xiangwu Suihuang Five Mansions, Xinyang Mansion in Henan Province, Luchi Mansion in Nanzhian, and Jiujiang Mansion in Jiangxi Province, a total of ten mansions, the remnants of the Fifth Gezuo Battalion were cleared, and the localities were pacified. "

After Zheng Chenggong heard about it, he was also quite happy with Shen Shuren, but these were all expected. Most of the credit needed for promotion was done last year. At the same time, it was also due to Shen Shuren being too young.

He is only 22 years old this year, and it is already very, very unnatural to be a governor.

Under the joy of Zheng Chenggong, it was inevitable that he spoke without guarding the door:
"Brother Shen is finally the governor of one party. Congratulations. Hey, yes, speaking of it, the guards of Shanhaiguan have always been civil and military. Why did you only see Wu Junmen when you came here to transport food? The governor of Liaodongqiu Woolen cloth?"

Wu Sangui's face darkened when he heard him unintentionally mentioning Qiu Minyang, governor of Liaodong, but then he thought that the other party might just be ignorant and not malicious, so he endured it.

Wu Sangui adjusted his expression and tone, and then slowly said: "I'm ashamed, Governor Qiu and Governor Hong are still besieged in Songshan City, and we are powerless to rescue them!"

Zheng Chenggong was taken aback for a moment, and knew that his topic had touched the opponent's sore spot, but he had come to inquire about the military situation and understand the situation, so he had no choice but to continue to follow this question to get to the bottom of it.

Fortunately, Wu Sangui is not yet a traitor, and he will not betray his allies. Seeing that Zheng Chenggong said that he was just a "temporary idea", he wanted to see if he could help.

Wu Sangui also agreed to cooperate, and tried his best to provide the latest situation of the Liaodong military situation: "Are you going to see if there are any defenders in Tashan, Xingshan and other places that can break through and escape, and you will retreat by sea?"

Zheng Chenggong: "What? Is it too whimsical? Could it be that the Tartars are strictly guarding against it?"

Wu Sangui's eyes flickered, as if he really thought of some possibility: "It's not... Maybe it's possible to succeed, to be honest, I have occasionally sent out scouts in the past few months.

I even asked Yebu to take away the surface of the Bohai Sea and walk on ice to bypass some of the dangerous terrain in the Liaoxi Corridor that was easily blocked by the Tartars.Fearing so many hardships, they really detected the surrounding enemy situation in Tashan and other places outside the pass.

It's bitterly cold in the west of Liaoning, and the Tartars are not willing to stand frozen in the snow all the time in the severe winter.So apart from Songshan, which was guarded by Governor Hong himself, it must be guarded by Huang Taiji.

In the other two small towns, the Tartars mainly patrolled and besieged by sentry cavalry. The main force usually lived in other nearby fortresses that had been breached, and they did not want to camp and besiege in the wild.

But don't look at the Tatars who are loose on the outside and tight on the inside, this is actually a tactic to lure the enemy.In September of last year, when the field battle of Songjin War just ended, more than [-] soldiers of our Ming Dynasty were killed, and tens of thousands died when they went to sea. up.

This time the Tartars seemed to leave a way for the defenders of Tashan and Xingshan, but in fact the defenders did not have many cavalry. After being besieged for half a year, the horses were probably killed and eaten. Will be overtaken by the Tartar cavalry, and will not be driven into the sea by the whole army and drowned?The Tartars wished they could lure out the defenders and wipe them out, saving them the trouble of forcibly attacking fortified positions.

But if you can have a sea-going ship to meet them before the Tartar cavalry chases them into the sea, you are really sure.But the action must be fast, otherwise the rear army will be crowded to board the ship and be killed by the tartars behind their backs, which may be worse than being attacked halfway through.However, no matter how miserable it is, where can it go?If they didn't do anything, they would end up starving to death in the isolated city. "

After Zheng Chenggong finished listening, he checked with Zhang Mingzhen who was next to him, and felt that according to Wu Sangui's information, the key to success of this matter lies in the suddenness——

If the Tartars had known that Ming had dispatched a navy to respond, they would definitely adjust the deployment of the siege troops. They would no longer just use patrolling cavalry to periodically monitor and station the main force in nearby cities as they are now.

Therefore, before the final action, the navy must not expose it in advance, and should not even send a large fleet of sentry ships to investigate.

Only a few light boats can be sent at most, together with a small number of cavalry scouts, to understand the situation ahead.

If you can sneak into Tashan and get in touch with the defenders in advance while taking advantage of the Tatar patrols, and make an appointment for a time and date to break out of the siege, then you will be more confident.

But it is definitely not enough to rely on Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen. Neither of them is a cavalry general, and they are not familiar with the terrain of Liaodong.

I still have to ask Wu Sangui to borrow a few cavalry officers as dead soldiers for liaison and investigation.

Wu Sangui also felt that this task was very dangerous, and he didn't want his confidant warriors to take risks, but the robes in Xingshan City of Tashan were also brothers from the Liaodong Army, and he was really reluctant to abandon them all.

In the end, Wu Sangui agreed to lend him a guerrilla and bring some elite barbarians to help carry out this investigation and liaison mission.

(End of this chapter)