national surname chiming

Chapter 31 Winning Guan Ningjun

It was already the second day of February when Shen Shuren finished transporting grain to the Ming army at Shanhaiguan and Guanwai, and arrived at Ningyuan at the last stop.

The fleet unloaded the grain at the Juehua Island wharf outside Ningyuan City, and the Ningyuan guard led the soldiers to carry it into the warehouse. There was no accident during the whole process.

Today, the Qing army's sea power is still extremely weak, and it is completely unable to block the Ming army.

Fang Yizhi, who was accompanying him, still didn't understand Shen Shuren's insistence on bringing food to Ningyuan himself.

But he was still very loyal, he didn't ask too many questions, and accompanied him all the way, and tutored stereotyped essays every day when he was free.

In Shen Shuren's heart, of course, he had already made up his mind.He insisted on getting acquainted with Wu Sangui himself, and he was also planning for the future——

According to his plan, since Chongzhen cannot be saved in the future, the capital is destined to be captured by Li Zicheng.According to historical inertia, the probability of Wu Sangui surrendering to the Qing Dynasty in the future is not small.

What Shen Shuren can do is to reverse and reduce the losses of the Han people as much as possible, and alleviate the problem of the Ming army's elite surrendering to the Qing Dynasty.To what extent it can be achieved, he can't guarantee, he can only take one step at a time.

Fortunately, his father Shen Tingyang changed the water transportation to the sea, which gave the Shen family an opportunity to "directly transport military rations to Shanhaiguan and the Ming army in western Liaoning by sea".

If you can use these few years, make good friends with Wu Sangui's subordinates.When the future changes, those generals of the Guanning Army who are unwilling to surrender to the Tartars will be able to withdraw to the south, at least to Denglai.

Being able to pull one is one.

Of course, Shen Shuren knew very well that it would definitely not be that easy if this matter really worked.

It has not been a year or two since Liaoxi's generals have been entangled, and they have listened to the tune and not listened to the announcement. The reasons for this are very complicated.Some people who have the potential to be hardcore traitors in their bones can't be expected to persuade them to surrender casually. In the end, they should be ruthless.

This time it is just a matchmaking first, and a long-term plan will be discussed in the future.

……

The plan is beautiful, but Shen Shuren has no idea how to implement it.

The official position of only eight ranks has become the biggest obstacle for him to make contacts.He can't see officials with higher ranks at all.

After entering Ningyuan City, Shen Shuren could only cast a wide net, and approached every officer of the Guan Ning Army with a smile on his face.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty had a tradition of respecting the gentlemen and inferiors to the military, and the military officials were quite grateful to see him greet people with such a smiling face.

Even the guerrillas and capitals of the fifth and sixth ranks of military ranks will not be domineering in front of the eighth rank civil officials.

The person who handed over the work to Shen Shuren was Wu Sangui's fifth-rank Haidao Chief, named Zhang Guozhu, who was usually responsible for patrolling and defending the sea near Juehua Island, but now he was also responsible for piloting and unloading the grain fleet.

Shen Shuren was very polite, and when the other party signed for the grain and grass, he also gave a few big silver coins, and quietly asked:
"Zhang Dusi, it's been more than half a month's journey by sea to come here from Suzhou. It's inevitable that there will be wind, waves and moisture. Some grain bags on the outer layer may be damp. Please sort them out first, and pick a good weather to dry them before putting them into storage."

Zhang Guozhu touched the two silver ingots in his hand, both of which were 50 taels of big ingots.A civil servant is willing to give him 100 taels of favor to let him raise his hand, which is also enough to save face.

Zhang Guozhu originally thought that Shen Shuren's cost was due to the fact that the food he sent was substandard, and there were many problems that he needed to cover up.

After careful inspection, I found that it was really just a little damp, and there was nothing else, so I was very surprised.

"Brother, it's just a little moisture. I don't think it's a big deal. Is it your first time transporting grain? You are too careful. To tell you the truth, we have been outside the customs for five or six years, and it is the first time we have seen grain transport in the customs." The civil servants who came here are so full and full that they cannot be deducted.

The original group of scum, after leaving the Ministry of Households, they wished to cut off [-] to [-]% first, and it would be good to get half of it in the end.If it weren't for us also eating empty wages, there are actually not so many people to support, and if we can farm some fields in the pass, otherwise we would have starved to death. "

Zhang Guozhu saw that Shen Shu had found a good relationship with others and donated money through righteousness, so he didn't make friends with him, and even casually revealed such open secrets as eating empty pay.

Of course, this kind of casual chatting has nothing to do with it, and you are not afraid of being caught, as long as you don't disclose specific data.

As soon as Shen Shuren heard it, he immediately understood, and said in his heart that he and his father had done this mission very conscientiously.

It turned out that those dog officials were so greedy!The military rations have to be repeatedly exploited!No wonder Daming is about to end.

Thinking so in his heart, what he said was: "Hey, my family lives in Suzhou, and I don't know much about the hardships of the Nine Frontiers in the North. But we also know a truth:
The south of the Yangtze River can enjoy peace and peace, all thanks to the soldiers on the nine sides to withstand the Tartars.Otherwise, even if we have tens of thousands of wealth, we will not be able to keep it. "

When Zhang Guozhu heard this, he was greatly moved: "Brother! You are a sensible person! Even if one or two percent of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty understand as well as you do, they will not be able to reach the level they are today!

It's a pity, you can't be a high-ranking official if you are so sympathetic to the frontier army, you are only a rank eight.If an old man like us has the final say, we wish you could enter the household department. "

"Hey, be careful, don't dare to take it."

After some tugging, Shen Shuren quickly established contacts with a group of military officers. After a rough inspection of the grain and grass, they all felt that Shen Shuren was too righteous, and reported his kind deeds one after another.

……

In less than half a day, not only Wu Sangui knew about it, but even Qiu Minyang, governor of Liaodong stationed in Ningyuan, knew about it.

Most of the governors in the Ming Dynasty were from the second rank, but the temporary governors in some jurisdictions with only a few prefectures and less than one province were the third rank.

Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, now has only a few cities left in his jurisdiction, but at least he is treated as a third-rank treatment, and of course he would not even look at Shen Shuren under normal circumstances.

But today I heard that the imperial court reorganized the logistics of the Guanning Army, improved the supply of military supplies, and Wu Sangui's generals helped to brag and praise,

Qiu Minyang also paid homage to the corporal, and hosted a banquet for Shen Shuren and his party in person, without putting on airs at all.Wu Sangui, the general of Ningyuan, and some of his subordinates also accompanied him.

The Liao region is bitterly cold, vegetables, poultry and livestock are more precious, and the living conditions of the soldiers are not good, so the banquet mainly relies on seafood and game.

The drinks were also very weak, in the end, Shen Shuren brought the good wine that the fleet had carried, and drank with Liaodong Wenwu.

After taking the seat, Shen Shuren also saw Wu Sangui for the first time, and couldn't help but secretly looked at him for a long time.

After all, this is the first person he has seen since traveling, who is enough to change the direction of history.Although the Yang Sichang and Shi Kefa I met before were also celebrities, they didn't make much waves after all.

Wu Sangui is only 29 years old now, but he already has a full beard and a well-groomed mustache on his upper lip. He looks much more mature than his actual age.

Maybe it was because he became the chief military officer in his 20s, so he had to make his appearance as rough as possible to convince everyone.

No matter how Shen Shuren looked at it, he couldn't directly see the characteristics of a "traitor" from this face.

After a few rounds of drinking, Qiu Minyang, governor of Liaodong, took the lead in provoking the topic:
"Nephew Shen Xian, you guys are really conscientious in handling this errand. I thank you for all the officers and men. After the court, will it be changed to transport grain directly from Jiangnan to the Liaodong Army?"

Shen Shuren hastened to be modest: "I dare not be an official, it's just my duty as an official. The law of the court is beyond my generation's ability to guess. I only know that this is a pilot project. If it can really save money, the Liaodong Army is also satisfied with it. That will probably become the norm.

Therefore, if Qiu Futai and Wu Zongbing really think that it is better for us to directly transport Su Song's army rations, please don't hesitate to report to the court.That way, things can go faster. "

Qiu Minyang is a civil servant, so it's not easy to act too modest, so he just stroked his beard and pondered his words.

Wu Sangui on the other side did not have these scruples, he had already got up with his wine glass, and walked in front of Shen Shuren:

"Brother, Zhang Guozhu has already reported what you are talking about. You Su Song's army can be paid in full, and you don't have to be exploited by the household department. Our Guan Ning army is eager to do so. Who in the army dares to say that this is not good, I, Wu Sangui, are the first to deal with him."

Shen Shuren is neither humble nor overbearing: "Wu Zongzhen distinguishes right from wrong, manages the army strictly, and the lower officials admire it."

Wu Sangui didn't have as much politeness as a civil servant, and since Ningyuan was basically his sphere of influence, Qiu Minyang actually had nothing to do with him, so he spoke more casually after drinking.

He took Shen Shuren by the arm, had a drink with him, and asked bluntly: "Brother, I just have a question. Being an official for thousands of miles is only for money, and this Ming Dynasty is the same. It’s almost worthless, so what are you trying to do?”

Shen Shuren knew that it was useless to speak nice words in this situation, and these rough people didn't believe in etiquette, justice and shame at all.

So he rolled his eyes, and took advantage of this opportunity to convey a message to the other generals of the Guan Ning army present by answering Wu Sangui:
"Wu Zongzhen is absurd, I don't love money. To be honest, our Shen family is the richest man in Suzhou, with hundreds of ships at sea, and the business is very big, even in North Korea.

My father donated an official ten years ago, and he has served in the Ministry of Household Affairs so far. He dares to feel his conscience and say that he has never been greedy for a tael of silver.

We only hope that the world will be peaceful, and all the states along the East China Sea will be under the control of Daming, so that we can communicate with the world and continue our business.A dog like a tartar, of course, can help a run if it can help a run. "

Speaking of this, Wu Sangui suddenly realized: "The Shen family in Suzhou? Remember, your father is Shen Tingyang from the household department, right?"

Shen Tingyang's official position in charge of the sixth-rank household department is not valuable, and it is not because of his official position that others know him.But the Shen family is the largest force in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. Anyone in the north who comes into contact with the sea knows the Shen family, and Wu Sangui also thinks of it because of this level.

After figuring it out, Wu Sangui was also surprised: "Master Shen is loyal to the country, and he even asked his son to personally escort this kind of drudgery. Brother, you are a straightforward person, I offer you a toast.

A few of you, come over to toast, this Suzhou Shen family is famous for being eager for justice and donating money. It is your blessing to meet Mr. Shen today. "

Shen Shuren was not at all confused by praise, he was very clear while drinking: so far, others have been polite to him not because of his official position, but purely because of his family's millions of taels of silver and hundreds of big ships.

"Wu Zongzhen is absurd. The younger brother is being escorted by the boat this time, and it is just in time for the meeting. He is going to Beijing to catch up with the Chunwei exam. It is just on the way. The roads in Shandong are not stable, and the canals are easy to be robbed by thieves."

Wu Sangui and other generals were quite surprised: "Are you still just a scholar? You have already become an official and you still have to take the exam?"

Shen Shuren didn't hide it either: "I'm not afraid of jokes, I'm just a prison student. I'm a prison student, I bought it."

(End of this chapter)