I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 117 White Deer, I have not only heard of it, but I have also seen it ( words)

Three days later, Lin Shisan's lucky ship arrived at Zhoushan Island.

Zhoushan Island is by no means a deserted island. It has been a county since the Warring States Period. After Emperor Taizu founded the country, the county was downgraded to a township and belonged to Dinghai County, Ningbo Prefecture. A thousand-household defense station was set up on the island.

Due to the rampant Japanese pirates in recent years, Zhoushan Island has little traffic with the mainland.

The Japanese pirates attacked Zhoushan Island three times, but each time they ended up retreating.

There is no other reason, the Zhoushan defenders fought too hard. They were probably the most desperate and ruthless garrison troops in the entire southeast.

The garrison commander of Zhoushan is a hereditary captain named Ji Bingkui, who is over 70 years old this year and has been stationed in Zhoushan for 45 years.

Captain Ji was a wise man. When he inherited his father's post to defend Zhoushan, the Japanese invasion had already begun in the Ming sea.

He knew that Zhoushan was far from the mainland and it was difficult for friendly forces on land to reinforce it. If the soldiers defending the island did not fight to the death, Zhoushan would soon be occupied by the Japanese pirates and become a springboard for their invasion.

How can we make soldiers fight to the death? Captain Ji used a ruthless trick.

He secretly divided all the land of Zhoushan Island equally among his soldiers.

To put it bluntly, the emperor is far away. As long as they guard the island, the higher-ups will not care about Zhoushan's land affairs.

Ji Qianhu also issued a strict order prohibiting military officers from annexing the land allocated to soldiers and strictly prohibiting military officers from lending money.

On land, the military officers of the garrisons were all big landlords, and the soldiers were all domestic slaves or hired farmers. But on Zhoushan Island, it was different, both officers and soldiers were landlords.

How could they not fight to protect their own land? This is called "dividing the land and defending the land."

When other garrison troops went to war, they would have a shortage of 30% or even 50%.

In addition to the 1,000 soldiers that Zhoushan Qianhu could mobilize to fight, there were also 2,000 family members of these 1,000 soldiers, and almost everyone was a soldier.

As an aside, many years later, a brave general named Li Chengliang did the same thing in Liaodong, dividing the land and defending it. Therefore, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry was the most powerful in the Ming Dynasty.

Back to the point, after more than 40 years, Zhoushan was turned into a paradise by Ji Qianhu, and the Japanese pirates dared not easily get involved.

The place Lin Shisan arrived at was such a paradise-like place.

When the imperial envoy came to Zhoushan Island, Captain Ji did not dare to neglect him and went to Jintang Wharf to greet him in person.

After Lin Shisan got off the boat, he saw hundreds of soldiers holding guns and wearing armor, standing on both sides of the dock. Their spirit was different from that of ordinary soldiers, and there seemed to be two big words written on their foreheads - "elite soldiers".

Captain Ji knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I am Captain Ji Bingkui of the Zhoushan Guarding Captain's Office. I respectfully wish you the best of luck."

Lin Shisan said quickly, "Your Majesty, no need to be polite. I have been ordered to come to Zhoushan Island to look for the auspicious white deer, and I need the assistance of Ji Qianhu."

Captain Ji actually felt a little guilty. He took advantage of the fact that the emperor was far away and he privately distributed all the land in Zhoushan to his people. Now that an imperial envoy had come, he was afraid that if the imperial envoy said something wrong, the higher-ups would investigate.

Therefore, Ji Qianhu said earnestly: "I will do my best to assist you in finding the white deer."

"I have already arranged a welcoming banquet in the Qianhu Office. Please come and enjoy it."

Lin Shisan refused disrespectfully and came to the Qianhu Suo with Sun Yue, Chen Lin, Li Shizhen and Zheng Ruozeng.

The welcoming banquet prepared by Ji Qianhu was filled with Zhoushan specialties.

Ji Qianhu smiled and said, "We are a poor and small place in Zhoushan. The food is definitely not as exquisite as that in Beijing. But we still have many specialties with unique flavors."

"This is yellow croaker soup. It's made with 10 kilograms of yellow croaker freshly caught from the sea."

"This is steamed grouper. The meat is springy and very fresh and smooth."

"This is stir-fried conch meat, this is sea cucumber with scallions, and this is crab with butter roe."

"Ah, this is good, this is good. We have a lot of musk deer on our island. This is steamed musk deer foetus. This is grilled musk deer leg."

Lin Shisan became interested: "Are there many musk deer on Zhoushan Island?"

Captain Ji nodded: "Yes. The musk deer here are in groups, and they are very stupid and easy to fight."

Musk deer and deer are from the same family, but the size of musk deer is smaller.

Lin Shisan asked: "Are there many musk deer or deer?"

Ji Qianhu replied: "There are deer. But not on this island. Instead, they are on the three islands of Taohua, Putuo and Dongji near this island."

Lin Shisan asked: "Has anyone here seen a white deer before?"

Ji Qianhu replied: "I haven't heard of that."

Lin Shisan picked up a piece of deer meat: "Hmm?" As he said this, he looked at Ji Qianhu with a meaningful look.

Ji Qianhu was a 70-year-old man, and he immediately understood: "Ah, I heard from the older generation that it seems... it seems that there is a white deer."

Lin Shisan nodded in satisfaction: "Well, I am here to find the white deer. The white deer is a Taoist immortal and is very difficult to capture. As long as I can witness such a rare auspicious sign, my mission will be complete."

Captain Ji bowed and said, "I will definitely help you find the white deer."

Everyone started eating, and a table full of exotic seafood made everyone feast on it. Sun Yue ate a whole deer leg.

Lin Shisan asked curiously, "I see that the soldiers in your garrison are very different from those in the land garrisons. They are elite soldiers at first glance, from their spirit and energy."

"How did Ji Qianhu do it?"

Ji Qianhu was vague: "Ah, we eat the court's food, so we naturally have to train well on weekdays. The soldiers are united and practice the ability to defend the land all day long."

Seeing that Ji Qianhu was only talking politely and seemed to have something to hide, Lin Shisan did not ask any further questions.

Ji Qianhu clapped his hands.

Six soldiers carried up a wooden box.

Ji Qianhu smiled and said, "This is for Cheng Yi who is on duty."

After that, he personally stepped forward and opened the wooden box. There were no silver ingots, silver ingots, or silver ingots in the wooden box, only broken silver.

Even though it was small change, the amount was considerable. This full box must have more than a thousand taels.

Captain Ji said, "We are in a remote area. We don't have a bank and can't exchange banknotes. Please forgive me."

Lin Shisan felt that it was very difficult for the Zhoushan soldiers to guard the island as it was far away from the mainland. Therefore, he did not accept the box of gifts, but walked to the wooden box and grabbed a handful of silver, about a dozen taels.

Lin Shisan said: "Your place is far from the land. It is difficult to keep Zhoushan in such a dangerous situation with the Japanese pirates. How can I take advantage of you?"

"I appreciate your kindness. This is all I'll take."

Ji Qianhu was surprised: When did the superiors send people to Zhoushan to blackmail them? Today was strange, he actually met a superior who didn't care about money.

Captain Ji was afraid that Lin Shisan would find fault if he didn't accept the money, so he said, "This is a small token of appreciation from our fellow comrades on this island. Please don't refuse it."

Lin Shisan said, "If you really want to curry favor with me, the superior, then do me a favor. This famous doctor, Mr. Li Shizhen, came to the island to look for four kinds of herbs."

"Send a few guides who are familiar with the terrain to accompany him in searching for medicine on the island."

Ji Qianhu said quickly: "No way!"

Lin Shisan asked: "Why not?"

Ji Qianhu patiently explained: "You don't know. There are too many poisonous snakes on the island. Especially a kind of poisonous snake called the rice shovel head. If a person is bitten by it, there is no chance of survival."

"Our comrades who are stationed in Zhoushan drink realgar wine every day to avoid snakes. They are also proficient in catching and killing snakes. So they are not afraid."

"Mr. Li is a famous doctor brought by the mission. He is on the island looking for herbs. If he encounters Fanshaotou and something happens to him, what will the Zhoushan brothers do?"

"Mr. Li, if you want to find any herbs, just let me know. I'll send someone to look for them."

Li Shizhen said: "How can this be done? We need to trouble the garrison comrades."

Captain Ji said, "There are only two medical officers on our island. Their medical skills are hard to describe. If Mr. Li has nothing to do, he can help treat the illnesses of his comrades during the few days he stays on the island."

Li Shizhen was a kind-hearted doctor and immediately agreed: "Okay. After dinner, let the sick comrades come to me."

"As for the four herbs, I'll draw them for you." Captain Ji ordered his personal soldiers to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone. Li Shizhen drew the four herbs: golden ear grass, fine-leaved fern, purple golden ginseng and Zhejiang Fritillary bulb.

After blowing the ink dry, Li Shizhen handed the medicine map to Ji Qianhu.

Ji Qianhu said: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, I will find them all for you within two days."

Lin Shisan said, "Mr. Zheng is here to survey Zhoushan's terrain and draw a map of the sea. You take a few soldiers who are familiar with the terrain and show Mr. Zheng around along the coast."

Ji Qianhu bowed and said, "As you command."

Lin Shisan asked: "Does Zhoushan Island have any special products? I am the general flag of the Northern Pacification Division, and I am also the messenger of Yongshou Palace. If there are any rare special products, I will bring them back to Beijing to present to the emperor."

Lin Shisan planned that, in addition to "witnessing" the birth of the white deer, he would also have to bring back some local specialties. This was the job of a messenger officer.

Ji Qianhu thought for a moment and replied, "The most valuable specialty here is the deer treasure. It is the milk that forms in the belly of the young deer when they drink milk."

Lin Shisan asked: "Is there anything ready-made?"

Captain Ji slapped his head and said, "Damn it. I was so busy presenting you with the gift that I forgot to give you the local specialties. Come on, bring it up quickly."

Zhoushan deer antlers are a precious commodity, and in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, they are said to be a miracle drug that can cure all kinds of diseases. Every time Ji Qianhu returns to the mainland, he always brings a lot of deer antlers to give to the dignitaries.

Soon, a personal soldier came in front of everyone with a wooden box.

There were more than a dozen pieces of deer treasure wrapped in red cloth in the wooden box.

Lin Shisan was overjoyed: "If you present this treasure to me, the emperor might be so pleased that he would promote you back to the mainland to be a deputy commander."

Lin Shisan was just talking about the New Year, but Ji Qianhu took it seriously.

He knelt down to Lin Shisan and said, "I have been guarding Zhoushan for forty-five years. I have gotten used to living here and don't want to go back to land."

Captain Ji was afraid that if he was transferred, the court would send a new captain, and the "dividing the land and defending the territory" method he had spent many years of hard work on would be wasted.

Lin Shisan didn't expect Captain Ji to react so strongly. He said, "Captain Ji, please stand up quickly. I'm just saying that."

After the welcoming banquet, Li Shizhen opened a clinic in the Qianhu Office to treat the soldiers guarding the island; Zheng Ruozeng went to investigate the detailed appearance of Zhoushan Island; Chen Lin brought a dozen soldiers on the island who were skilled in carpentry to repair the Fu ship that had experienced fierce battles.

Lin Shisan and Sun Yue had nothing to do, so they asked Ji Qianhu to find a small flag who was proficient in sea fishing to accompany them to the shore to fish.

Xiaoqi carried three fishing rods with fishing reels and a basket of fish food, and led the two to a reef.

Xiaoqi said, "You two are welcome. The most delicious fish you can catch on the island is called grouper."

Lin Shisan asked, "Is it the steamed fish we had at the welcoming banquet just now?"

Xiaoqi nodded: "That's right."

Lin Shisan asked: "Why doesn't your fishing rod have a feather float?"

Xiaoqi replied: "Grouper is very strong, and you can feel whether you have caught a fish just by feeling it, without the need for a feather float."

Lin Shisan nodded: "I see. What hook did you use? What bait?"

Xiao Qi took out a fishhook, which frightened Lin Shisan. The fishhook was as long as his index finger. Xiao Qi hung a whole large shrimp on it.

Lin Shisan exclaimed: "Such a big hook, such a big bait?"

Xiaoqi laughed in his heart: After all, he is from the inland, he is really ignorant.

Even the fishermen of later generations have a contempt chain. Sea fishermen look down on freshwater fishermen, and boat fishermen look down on rock fishermen.

Although he laughed in his heart, he couldn't say it out loud: "You don't know, sir, grouper has a big mouth, so you need a big hook and a big bait to catch it."

After saying this, Xiaoqi pointed to the place where the waves washed the reefs: "Where the waves wash the reefs, there are the most groupers."

After saying that, he swung the fishing rod, and the fishing reel "rustled" as the line moved, and the fish hook fell exactly where he had pointed.

Lin Shisan and Sun Yue followed suit, took up their fishing rods, hung the shrimps on them and threw them over.

The most important thing about fishing is patience. While waiting for the fish, Lin Shisan asked, "I see a lot of good farmland has been reclaimed on the island. Is it civilian farmland or military farmland?"

Xiaoqi replied: "10% is civilian farmland, and 90% is military farmland."

Lin Shisan asked: "Are there not many people on the island?"

Xiaoqi replied: "There are only about 200 civilians. The rest are either fellow soldiers of the Qianhu Suo or military families."

Lin Shisan asked again: "Have you heard of white deer in Zhoushan before?"

Xiaoqi shook his head: "There are quite a lot of musk deer. I have never heard of white deer."

At this moment, Lin Shisan felt a strong pull on the fishing rod. He pulled the rod back to grab the end, and the whole fishing rod bent.

Lin Shisan said, "So energetic? What a big fish this must be."

Xiaoqi said quickly, "Don't be in a hurry to get on the line. Let it go for a while and then gently turn the reel to reel it in. Groupers are very strong."

Lin Shisan led the giant fish for a full moment, and when he felt that the fish was exhausted, he slowly began to reel in the line.

Finally, the giant creature floated to the water and was pulled by Lin Shisan into the shallow water near the shore.

Xiaoqi didn't hesitate and jumped into the shallow water. He grabbed the fish's gills with his fingers and said, "Oh, it's so big, it must be 15 kilograms!"

After saying that, Xiaoqi picked the gills with his left hand and carried the fish ashore with his right arm.

Lin Shisan was extremely excited: "Ah! If we want to fish, we should go for sea fish! River fish are too weak. The same 15-jin fish, river fish is not even half as strong as grouper."

Xiaoqi put the grouper on the ground, took off the hook, and flattered him: "You must have good luck recently. This is the most delicious and rarest blue star grouper. It is extremely rare."

Lin Shisan was overjoyed: "Great, great!"

Lin Shisan and Sun Yue fished for a while at the beach and had a good harvest. In addition to the 15-jin blue star grouper, they also caught two 5-6-jin tiger groupers and seven or eight 1-jin black breams.

In the evening, Xiaoqi carried the catch in a bamboo basket and returned to the Qianhu Office.

Sun Yue said: "Master, let's go fishing in Zhoushan for seven days. After seven days, we will return to land to report."

Lin Shisan nodded: "Okay. After completing the mission, we can return to the capital in glory."

When the two returned to the Qianhu Office, they saw a long queue in front of the lobby. Dozens of sick comrades were waiting for Li Shizhen to diagnose their pulses and treat their illnesses.

Lin Shisan and Sun Yue walked into the lobby, wanting to invite Li Shizhen to taste the fish he caught today.

In the lobby, Li Shizhen was checking the pulse of an octogenarian with white hair and beard, wearing a military uniform.

After checking the pulse, Li Shizhen said, "Yin deficiency and Yang hyperactivity are common in people over the age of 50. It's okay. I'll prescribe some medicine for you."

Lin Shisan asked in surprise: "Old man, how old are you today?"

The old man replied: "I am ninety-three years old."

Lin Shisan frowned: "Ah? Why didn't you let your descendants inherit the military position?"

The old man sighed: "Alas, I am unlucky and have no descendants."

Lin Shisan asked: "How many years have you been in the army?"

The old man replied: "I have been serving in Zhoushan since the 17th year of Chenghua. That's 75 years."

Lin Shisan asked casually, "You have been in Zhoushan for so many years and have seen a lot. Have you heard of the white deer?"

The old man's ears were a little unclear: "What heron? Egrets? There are plenty of them on the seashore."

Lin Shisan raised his voice: "It's not an egret. It's a white deer, a four-legged white deer."

The old man looked confused and said, "Ah, White Deer, I have not only heard of it, I have also seen it!"

(End of this chapter)