Chapter 435: What else can be done before the general trend

Jiaozhou Camp conducted an investigation on the troops around Shandong through the information system of Shandong Salt Gang and Lingshan Trading Company. Although these two systems were not very useful outside the capital and Shandong Huaihe River, the Ming Dynasty's defense was like a sieve, so I had a rough impression.

Among them, the first ones were the soldiers of the Ningyuan regiment training general Wu Sangui and the Shanhaiguan general Gao Di. Although the Ji Liao soldiers suffered repeated defeats, they have not completely exhausted their foundation. Wu Sangui and Gao Di's subordinates were all defeated soldiers, all experienced veterans, which are relatively easy to use. Moreover, the number of nearly 80,000 is a great force.

The second one is more than 60,000 soldiers under the eunuch Lu Jiude, the governor of Nanzhili. General Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo were considered military generals. The main force of these more than 60,000 soldiers had not suffered any blows, and the training was barely a bit difficult. Although it was worse than the Liao soldiers, it could be considered as fighting.

As for the third one, the more than 9,000 Henan soldiers led by Henan General Chen Yongfu, according to the estimates of the staff of Li Meng's shogunate and the reserve officers of the personal military camp, if these more than 9,000 Henan soldiers were considered to be single combat power, they would definitely be stronger than the Liao soldiers and the troops of Nanzhili.

Because these nine thousand people have basically fought with the refugee army many times, and they can be regarded as elites who have climbed out of the sea of ​​blood. When the refugee army first entered Henan, Chen Yongfu, the general of Henan, led this army, running around and firefighting and supporting the fire everywhere. There are more than nine thousand soldiers with just over ten thousand now, which is very telling the problem. You must know that among the Ming Dynasty's official army, except for Shandong, the rest of the battle with Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng, were basically defeated or annihilated. The only ones that can survive are these nine thousand soldiers.

Even if these nine thousand soldiers were transferred into Kaifeng City, they had never stopped. During several major siege battles, these Henan soldiers fought bloody battles there to fight back the enemy's siege.

During these battles, these Henan soldiers were experienced and gradually grew up. If they became elite soldiers, they could be trained and commanded regularly. If there were too many battles, they could be trained and trained, and the troops under Henan General Chen Yongfu were now considered elite soldiers.

And unlike others, the King of Zhou in Kaifeng City was willing to spend money to defend the city, and he never had to ask for money on his own initiative. He spread a lot of money and offered rewards and encouragement. He did everything. Kaifeng City is known as the third most powerful city in the world, with a large population, and is as generous as the Ming Dynasty's relatives. The rest of the wealthy families are not stingy.

It's interesting to say. Although Chen Yongfu's military pay is still small, he can't be deducted. He can actually get a full salary of seven or eight months in a year, which is the first among the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.

Furthermore, during the tug-of-war with the refugee army, the troops under Chen Yongfu were seized and requisitioned. The troops under Chen Yongfu had almost more than 4,000 horses, and the power of this movement was quite considerable.

Chen Yongfu's family was a general of generations, and he had a proper approach to training and doing things. He was not as good as Zuo Liangyu and He Yilong. He was one of the few low-key warriors in Henan. He also had strict constraints on military discipline.

Adding up these factors, more than 9,000 Henan soldiers were highly praised by Jiaozhou Camp. The reason why they are not as good as the Liao and Southern soldiers is that they are fewer and trapped in Kaifeng City, Henan.

The attitude of the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty was disbanded and organized into the military farmlands, because ordinary soldiers were even inferior to those of the military farmlands, while those of the personal soldiers were all in the same honor and disgrace as their landlords. It was difficult for them to surrender and join.

However, the more than 9,000 Henan soldiers in Kaifeng City barely met the requirements of the Jiaozhou Camp. Such troops are completely available as local garrison troops or secondary battlefield warriors.

After Li Meng, Duke of Qi, was allowed to supervise the military affairs of the four provinces, according to this rule, the original troops of these four provinces should also obey his dispatched tribes, or this was also the power to annex him, but Li Meng was unwilling to accept it at all. He turned a blind eye and asked the Ming Dynasty to withdraw these troops from these territories.

Only the more than 9,000 soldiers of Henan General Chen Yongfu were named by Li Meng to be dominated by Shandong. For the court, Kaifeng, an abandoned city on the south bank of the Yellow River, was almost an isolated city. Henan Governor Li Xianfeng and Henan General Chen Yongfu, if it were not for Henan that day, Shandong civil and military officials submitted a joint statement to defend their merits, Li Xianfeng and Chen Yongfu would have long been beheaded and abandoned due to the loss of their relatives in Henan.

Such a bastard minister who contradicted the court and was blinded by the emperor was considered their luck to die in the besieged city. Since he was not dead, the court was too lazy to pay attention to it. It was just over nine thousand soldiers. If Li Thief from Shandong wanted it, he would give it to him.

More than 9,000 Henan soldiers who were highly valued in the eyes of Li Meng and Jiaozhou Camp were thrown away like garbage by the court, which is also an eyeless proof of the Ming Dynasty.

Although the court despised and Jiaozhou Camp so much valued it, Chen Yongfu remained silent. The children of the generals and sects for generations were the generals of the Ming Dynasty. It was difficult to change their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. But in this current situation, besides Li Meng, Chen Yongfu can still go there.

Could it be that if you go to Dashun and fight with the refugee army for nearly ten years, you have a deep blood hatred between each other and the only thing you can understand is that one side is completely destroyed, so what can you talk about in favor?

In fact, in the first month, after the news of Li Meng's victory over the Tartars began to spread throughout the world, there were no traces of refugee troops around Zhongmu, Tongxu and Qi County around Kaifeng City.

Moreover, on the edge of this circle, the refugee army also retreated about ten miles. Almost one-third of the areas on the southern bank of the Yellow River in Kaifeng Prefecture became places without officials and thieves. The armed militia and scattered bandits began to roam in these places because no one was escorted and managed.

Kaifeng City can finally ensure that the city gates are open for several hours a day during the first month of the year. The reserves in the city are sufficient, but they will be out of stock soon.

Moreover, although they dare not celebrate the New Year's Eve on the 15th year of Chongzhen, they always have to make a good fuss in the first month, which makes everyone feel nervous and relaxed for so long.

Kaifeng City has been surrounded for so long, but what is lacking in the city is not gold and silver but materials. Instead, it has made Lingshan Trading Company make a fortune in Kaifeng City's semicolon.

Originally, Lingshan Trading Company, in accordance with the requirements of Shandong headquarters, counted the approximate gaps in the city of food and other daily necessities in Kaifeng City, and then Lingshan Trading Company mobilized goods in Jiangnan and Shandong. Through the canal transport and the Yellow River waterway, who would have thought that seeing the peace outside the city and the consumption enthusiasm of wealthy families in Kaifeng City suddenly increased. Perhaps it was because of the great disaster of breaking the city, or seeing through the world during the siege, I felt that I didn’t know when I would die in my life, or taking advantage of the opportunity to live a good life.

The Lingshan Trading Company's semicolon in Kaifeng City was originally written in the name of a commercial bank in Jiangnan. Since December of the 15th year of Chongzhen, this semicolon simply showed its identity. When the sign of the Lingshan Trading Company in Shandong was released, it had an immediate effect. The officers who had come to the door to extort from time to time disappeared without a trace. Henan General Chen Yongfu also specially dispatched more than a dozen soldiers to serve on duty.

The shopkeepers and friends of this business bank released a news that a large number of goods would arrive in Kaifeng City in the near future. In fact, this news is to let all the shops and big families in the city come to place orders and book orders. This is also the default market rules. The shopkeepers of this semi-colon often check the market and know that the granaries of each company can last for about half a month, and salt goods only last for ten days.

Although the city gates have been opened these days, people have begun to transport goods to Kaifeng City in all villages, including some prefectures on the north bank, in such a large city, these goods are just dropping a drop in the bucket. They are not useful at all. According to estimates, there will be a huge demand for necessities such as grain and salt.

As a result, there were also big buyers from various businesses. The orders issued shocked the shopkeepers of the semi-colons, because in addition to grain and salt, the rest of the goods were very diverse, from gold and silver paper for memorial and decoration to cows, horses and camels on the grassland. There were even people who asked to buy Qinhuai singing girls and Western clocks on their behalf.

Could it be that these wealthy families in Kaifeng City have money and nowhere to spend it? The shopkeeper's account room and the guy who can settle the accounts were calculated after a night. If this order is possible, the money earned is almost 30% of the profits made by Lingshan Trading Company every year on the books.

According to the system of Lingshan Commercial Bank, you can make this profit. The year-end evaluation can achieve "best" level. With this performance, you will have the opportunity to enter the general account.

Entering the general account is the luxury of the shopkeepers of the Lingshan Trading Company. If you have such an opportunity, of course you have to seize it. The entire Kaifeng branch account was busy for two days and finally sorted out the order clearly, and then arranged for Kuaima to go all the way to Shandong to report to the general account in Jiningzhou.

Most of the headquarters of various yamen institutions in Shandong are located in Jinan, because the Duke of Qi is also located there, so it is nearby to command and dispatch, and the commands from the center are also convenient to convey.

The only exception is Lingshan Commercial Bank, because Shandong's economic center is in Jining and Jiaozhou, and many foreign goods coming from Lingshan private ports also have to be sold by water to Jiningzhou. The price and share allocation of salt goods in the entire Shandong are now agreed in Jining.

Compared with the relatively remote Jiaozhou, Jining Prefecture is located in the hub of canal transportation, where merchants from south to north gather, and have their old foundation, it naturally became the center.

Lingshan Trading Company has become a giant now. What’s more interesting is that Lingshan Trading Company has already brought some banking properties.

Any notes issued by Lingshan Trading Bank can be used as cash bank. In further places, the notes are even more valuable than the ones indicated on the bill, because Lingshan Trading Bank is the industry of Li Meng, Duke of Qi, and has the strong force of Jiaozhou Camp and the huge wealth of Shandong. The credit of this notes is extremely high. It is inconvenient for merchants outside to carry a large number of cash bank, so it is much easier to have this notes.

In today's chaotic times, even a business that is rich enough to rival a country may go bankrupt because of a small matter, and the bills they issued have become a piece of waste paper.

But no matter how you look at Lingshan Trading Company, you can't see that it is in danger of bankruptcy. It has a daily business scale of 10,000 yuan, and a large investment in gold mines and sea trade. You can issue a bill, and there is real money and silver guaranteed there, so there is no need to worry. Moreover, this business is the industry of the most powerful figure in the world that day, so there is no need to worry about who will cause trouble. As for whether it will be affected by the military disaster, it is when the Tartars were beaten, everyone was worried. Some people took the bills at 80% of the face value. When the news of the victory was transmitted back, no matter how worried they were, they felt relieved.

Kaifeng City needs such a huge amount of supplies and various types, but Lingshan Trading Company Kaifeng semicolons are full of confidence in the general account from top to bottom.

Running along the river, you can reach Jiningzhou in four or five days. After seeing this order, Hou Shan, the shopkeeper of Lingshan Trading Company, saw this order, he was not as happy as the semi-colon. Instead, he sent someone to invite Kong Sande, the organizer of Lijin Bureau. Originally, Lijin Bureau was an institution affiliated with Lingshan Trading Company.

However, as the scale expanded and the special nature of this yamen became an institution that was equal to Lingshan Trading Company, directly under the management of Ning Qiangui.

In addition to setting up cards to collect money, the Lijin Bureau has passed by the Lijin Bureau once, so it is the most comprehensive way to understand the situation of the merchants from north to south. The Lijin Bureau is the most comprehensive. Such a huge amount of details is difficult to complete by Shandong alone, and it is probably necessary to buy and prepare stocks in Jiangnan.

Lingshan Trading Company can eat up such a huge business, even though it is a good choice. It will take up most of its resources and energy. Kong Sande's Wenru Trading Company and Lianghuai Fangjia's industries are all very good partners.

The 16th year of Chongzhen was better, and the weather was a little warmer. The Yellow River was already open to navigation in February.

When ordering orders were placed in the middle of the first lunar month, a large number of local supplies began to be delivered to Kaifeng through water routes. Grain, salt, various daily necessities, and various toys, luxury goods, and even novel things from abroad. Singing girls from Jiangnan were all sent to Kaifeng City.

In the first few days, Kaifeng City had already fallen into a carnival. Although it was already February, it did not delay the enthusiasm of Kaifeng people to celebrate the New Year. At this time, I even developed a habit that the people in the world celebrate the New Year in the first month, and only Kaifeng people celebrate the New Year in February.

A long time later, this even became a unique cultural landscape in Kaifeng City, but few people thought of it. Back then, this was just a carnival that survived the disaster.

After the fifth day of the second month, there were more and more people watching the fun at the docks outside Kaifeng City, and everyone wanted to see these fleets coming from Shandong.

Among the dozen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, Henan has always been richer than Shandong. After more than ten years of hard work, how could Shandong become so prosperous? How could it be so quickly and calmly mobilized a large number of supplies and ships so quickly to send them here.

After the wealthy people in Kaifeng City got out of the disaster, they really wanted to spend money to enjoy the carnival, and the shops also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune. There was no other purpose, but those who were interested in Kaifeng City could see what they could do.

Li Meng's request for Kaifeng City was not officially replied in February, but the news had already spread to Kaifeng City in December of the 15th year of Chongzhen.

The civil and military officials and the rich and poor in Kaifeng all knew the majesty of Shandong Dashui. Although the court did not reply, everyone knew that the result was probably the same as the rumors.

The north bank of the Yellow River is still under the control of the court. The nobles, officials and people in Kaifeng's city still have the opportunity to take sides and decide where to go. Since the refugee coalition withdraws the siege, people who have identities in the city, or who think they have identities in the city are thinking about where to stand next.

On February 20th, at the Yellow River Ferry, the lively event that lasted for more than ten days had no sign of decline. Now it is not just about the size of the fleet on the Yellow River.

There are often Western things, specialties outside the Great Wall and women from Jiangnan got off the boat. These new things really make the people of Zhongzhou smile. Now the idle people in Kaifeng City have developed a habit of leaving the city early in the morning and watching the scene around the dock when they are unloading goods. When they go back in the evening, this is a great topic of conversation.

There were many people watching the fun, and some vendors selling snacks and meals followed. Kaifeng City was surrounded for so long, and some people in the city lost their livelihoods.

Originally, the King of Zhou and the government spent money to raise young and strong people to defend the city and earn a few dollars. Now it has become peaceful and cannot even get the money. A large number of goods outside the city have arrived. Because the batches of various types of goods are large, ships have to be shipped back and forth, and the labor force on the ship is generally insufficient.

We need various shops in Kaifeng City to provide a large number of loading and unloading and porters. These idle laborers in Kaifeng City are naturally also available. If outsiders come to this ferry and see this lively scene, they will definitely think that half of Kaifeng City has moved outside.

In order to watch the fun, people at the bottom are happy to make a living. People at the top have regained their former habit of being elegant and enjoying.

For example, a long-deserted restaurant leaning against the Yellow River has reopened again. This restaurant has not been destroyed by the war disaster of the siege. It is indeed a miracle. It is said that the leader of the refugee and Li Erlang from Shandong also want to rest and see the scenery in this restaurant.

These rumors made the restaurant business in the reopening place prosperous. Although the dish was still Yellow River carp, the price was even more expensive than the best restaurants in Kaifeng City. There are rumors that this restaurant was the owner of Gao Mingheng's brother-in-law in Henan. Of course, it could make a fortune safely.

For rich people, it is expensive, and it is not short of this amount of money. Therefore, the location of the elegant seat on the second floor of this restaurant has always been in short supply, and there are often cars and horses waiting downstairs.

Today, the weather is sunny, and there should be more wealthy idle people going out to the city to have a banquet, but the second floor of the restaurant is empty, with only a literati wearing a long gown standing behind the window near the river. He stared at the bustling ferry entrance with expressionless expression and the torrent of supplies on the river.

He was the only one on the second floor, and there was only an old man dressed as a servant at the entrance of the stairs. In fact, the shopkeeper, the guy, and the chef of the restaurant were driven out of the restaurant, and there were also a few servants who were indifferent to others. The rich and noble children from Kaifeng City were blocked back without any mercy. The people who were blocked back dared not say anything and left obediently.

From morning to noon, the middle-aged man had been looking behind the window for two hours, standing so blankly until he was awakened by the noise downstairs.

"Do you know who is on it? Don't make things boring, go out quickly, go out quickly!!"

"You are so blinded by the dog. You dare to say this. If you don't want to be stabbed, get out of me quickly!!"

The middle-aged man then rubbed his painful eyes, withdrew his gaze from the traffic flow below, and sighed in a low voice. He could hear the quarrels below, his servant guard, and the other party, from the tone, had similar identities. He just didn't know who the other party's master was.

But near Kaifeng City, the King of Zhou could not leave the city anyway, and the intruders outside would be driven away soon. However, the development of the situation downstairs was a bit beyond his expectations. He heard his own servants crying a few times, and obviously he suffered a loss. Then the sound of footsteps rang on the stairs.

The old man at the entrance of the stairs flashed to the side, and the footsteps were a person, but there was a noticeable pause in the process of going upstairs. He obviously saw the old housekeeper, and then shouted loudly:

"Stop and wait outside!"

The fight downstairs stopped immediately, and then it was quiet. The footsteps on the stairs rang again. The middle-aged man upstairs smiled, sorted his robes, turned around and greeted the man who appeared at the entrance of the stairs with a smile:

"What a coincidence. I didn't expect General Chen to have such leisure today. Did he go out of the city to relax?"

The man who went upstairs had a dark face, a sturdy figure, and looked like a warrior, but the expression on his face had a very rare calmness. He had a bitter smile similar to that of the middle-aged scholar on his face, and he clasped his fists and said:

"It was indeed a coincidence, but I didn't expect to meet the governor here today."

Henan Governor Li Xianfeng and Henan Governor Chen Yongfu laughed at each other, and everything was tacit and hesitated. The two walked to the window again. Governor Li Xianfeng hesitated and said:

"Shandong Governor Yan Jizu sent someone to send a letter, saying that everything would be as early as possible, and if it was late, it would not be sold at a good price."

Li Xianfeng smiled mockingly and said again:

"Yan Sheng is known as the number one talented man in Fujian and Guangdong, and he can even talk about such a philosophical saying."

"Mr. Li, yesterday Chen asked the dog son to prepare and asked him to join the army in Shandong."

Henan General Chen Yongfu did not answer Li Xianfeng's words, but said his arrangement. He ignored the slightly surprised expression of the Henan Governor, walked closer to the window, and said in a deep voice:
Chapter completed!