As the governor of the canal transport, the Huaian Prefecture in Nanzhili was stationed. Whenever the canal ship arrived, it was necessary to undergo investigation by the Caotai Yamen. The boatmen and sailors of tens of thousands of grain ships, the canal transport officers and soldiers stayed here, merchants from south to north traded here, and passengers also lingered here. Because of the two Changying warehouses, two Changping warehouses, three reserve warehouses, and five Zhuang warehouses, they promoted the prosperity of Huaian.

There is a poem that says: Yangzhou has been prosperous for thousands of years, moved to the mouth of West Lake.

As the sky gradually became brighter, Huai'an City seemed to be revived, extremely noisy and full of vitality.

Shi Kefa got up early and went to the Governor's Department of the Water Transportation Department, commonly known as the Governor's Office to inspect affairs.

After the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing during the Yongle period, the grain transportation was related to the national plan. In the early years of Jingtai, the special governor of grain transportation was established. In addition to being responsible for grain transportation, servicing the local area, and also managing the salt classes of the Lianghuai River, it was also necessary to supervise the military and protect the safety of the grain.

The Governor's Office was huge in scale and had a complicated and complicated personnel. Because Shi Kefa was a tough and harsh person, he took office as the Governor. He changed the shortcomings of his predecessor Zhu Dadian, purged the administration and eliminated the officials, and especially cracked down on all private salt trafficking. He was very ruthless in dealing with a group of people, which severely stopped the corruption of the Governor's Office.

Shi Kefa was in his forties, not tall, dark-faced, short and concise, and bright-eyed. He was a Jinshi in the first year of Chongzhen and had rich local experience in office. The father-in-law was mourned the year before yesterday and was appointed by the court as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the right assistant censor of the Ministry of Revenue. He replaced Zhu Dadian as the governor of the grain transportation, governor of Fengyang, Huaian, Yangzhou and other places.

Shi Kefa did not rush to the director, but went around the subordinate yamen. Whenever he passed by the door, the people in the room looked solemn, sat straight, and his expression was meticulous, and even could hear a low voice: "The Caofu is here, the Caofu is here!"

Because the governor of the grain transportation was prominent, he not only managed the grain transportation, but also served as the governor, so he was called the grain transportation governor.

Shi Kefa did not scold him, but just shook his head. After all, the Governor of the Valley Transportation has a history of more than a hundred years since the establishment of Jingtai in the early years and has handled countless money and grain. Especially during the Tianqi period, the court abolished the Governor's General Army, which made the Governor's Office gather army, government and finances together. All forces in the yamen were in a mixed manner and could not be cleaned up overnight. In other words, it was not easy to achieve this in just one year of taking office.

There are five major parts under the Governor of the Grain Transport, one of which is the Governor of the Grain Transport and Jiangbei military affairs.

The second is the military gate, including the middle, left and right hecheng guard camps, which are also the standard camps of the Governor of the Grain Transport.

The third is the grain transportation affairs, which are divided into six major areas, including the grain roads of each province, the head of the warehouse supervision department, the head of the Shipbuilding and Work Department, the head of the Ministry of Justice and Justice, the censor of the grain inspection and the participating government affairs of the grain storage.

The fourth is to coordinate the escort, including the generals, generals, garrisons and guards.

The fifth is to guard the four prefectures and three prefectures in Jiangbei.

The entire yamen is located in the center of Huai'an today, covering an area of ​​30,000 square meters, with more than 270 civil servants and military generals, and under its jurisdiction, the storage warehouse, shipyard, Weicao Soldier Factory, etc., with a total of about 20,000 people.

After a round and half an hour passed, Shi Kefa returned to the main hall of the Ministry and was handling official duties. At present, his focus was on Shutannan River. He was watching the exploration of the river, but Huai'an Prime Minister Yang Xu rushed over with a very frightened expression.

"The Cao Guard, the Cao Guard, something big happened!"

Yang Xu couldn't wait to salute and waved his hand and shouted.

"What's the matter?"

Shi Kefa asked in a deep voice.

"Gaoyou... Gaoyou was besieged by bandits, with about 10,000 people. The governor Zhao Jiuzhen sent people to Huai'an, Yangzhou and Nanjing for help. Judging from the journey, Yangzhou must have learned the news."

"What?"

Shi Kefa stood up and shouted, "How much is the loss? How long can Gaoyou last?"

Yang Xu hesitated: "Because I came from Gaoyou, I had a journey of two hundred miles. It is unknown whether Beizhi has sent people to Gaoyou for inquiries."

Shi Kefa took a deep breath and nodded, "As soon as there is any situation, come and report it to me. The people come and order the Biao battalion. The generals prepare the army and horses. Once the truth is found, they will immediately rescue Gaoyou!"

"Get orders!"

Several personal soldiers hurried away.

Shi Kefa was indifferent to work, frowned and looked at the canal transport map hanging on the back wall, his eyes locked in Gaoyou's location, but he couldn't figure out the specific situation and didn't say much.

The difficult day passed, and at noon the next day, the exact news finally came. Gaoyou City was broken and the bandits entered the city. Shi Kefa did not dare to be too slow. He summoned all the generals of the Biao camp, all the generals, the provincial governors of the grain roads, the heads of various departments, the inspectors of the grain censors and the capital storage government affairs. Also, the Huai'an prefect Yang Xu and the Cao Transport Eunuch Zhang attended.

Shi Kefa was wearing a second-grade brocade pheasant tonic, a big red silk python garment, a six-beam crown, and a jade belt on his waist. When he came to the lobby, the civil servants and generals who were summoned had already stood and waited with silence.

Even Eunuch Zhang, who had set up another seat in the top leader, dared not be unreasonable to him and nodded and greeted: "The Cao Guard is here!"

A secret disgust flashed in Shi Kefa's eyes, but the surface just said lightly: "Hello Eunuch Zhang." Then he sat down in the middle, coughed gently in habitually, and swept the entire civil and military officials with his eyes.

All the officials felt the majesty of the governor from this light cough, and held their breath more and did not dare to look up. First, the civil servants saluted in order according to their ranks, and then the military generals saluted. Shi Kefa then said in a deep voice: "Since the end of the Tianqi period, internal and external troubles have been in trouble. Until now, there have been more and more bandits suppressing and disasters have become more and more serious. In recent years, the people have died and displaced, like water, deeper and hotter as fire, and often thousands of miles of naked land, smoke has been cut off, and they have changed their children to eat, and they are terrible.

The department was appointed by the emperor to supervise the transportation of the grain and pacify the army and the people. Fortunately, with the help of you, the two sides of the grain were becoming clearer and clearer, but now there are bandits attacking Gaoyou. According to the latest news, this bandit is called the Chinese Revolutionary Army. The bandit leader Li Xin, a former scholar in Qi County, Henan Province, and joined the scholar Hong Niang, who killed the officials and rebelled, and fled from Henan to take refuge in it. Yesterday morning, he led more than 10,000 thieves to attack Gaoyou. At noon, he broke into the city. The city was in the hands of the thief.

Because the matter is of great importance, the head office summons you to determine the matter of expedition. Gaoyou slams the canal. If the thieves intercept the canal, the capital will be in danger, and the disaster of the Southern Song Dynasty will be inevitable. How many soldiers can Huai'an be sent?"

Eunuch Zhang raised his sharp duck voice and said, "When today is in chaos, the emperor often cannot sleep at night. Therefore, after discussion with Shi Caofu, this matter was decided not to disturb the court for the time being, and to share the worries of the emperor with our Jianghuai ground, but it cannot be suppressed for too long. I hope you will work together to regain Gaoyou in one fell swoop. At that time, I will submit a statement to the court and ask for merit for you!"

The civil and military officials here are not fools, mainly because Chongzhen's temper is getting worse and worse, and he is stuck in Luoyang. When King Fu was killed, he is honest and upright, even if he is just like Shi Kefa, he dare not report this matter. He really can't figure out what Chongzhen will react.

Xu Junmen was a general under Shi Kefa. He bowed and asked, "May I ask the Caofu, how many soldiers can the bandits fight? Do they have artillery?"

"this……"

Shi Kefa hesitated and said, "The Xinbao did not explain in detail, but according to his estimate, there should be five or six thousand, and the Gaoyou City Gate was bombarded with red cannons."

Several generals looked at each other and said that they were very dependent on artillery in the Ming Dynasty. Whether an army had artillery was completely different. I heard that the bandits had red cannons in their hands, so they were instinctively scared.
Chapter completed!