Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 161
After Gao Hongtu left, Young Master Zhang, who was so entangled with various things, also came back to his senses, and devoted himself to building his own master of all battles.Fortunately, although Young Master Zhang has been traveling here and there during this period, he rarely stays in Jizhou for a few days, but he can't help that Young Master Zhang has capable people under his command. Needless to say, Lu Xiangsheng has high martial arts skills and good character. The founder of Tianxiong Army, a famous army in the late Ming Dynasty; although Wu Sangui's reputation is not good, he is also a good leader in leading troops and training troops, and he trained the final Guanning cavalry; Inferior, one is a master of Southern Shaolin, the other is the master who followed his elder brother and brought 28 servants out of Qiantun, plus Zhang Dapao, a veteran of the Qi family army, so the training of the slaughtering slave army did not stop at all.After three months, the chief training officer, Zhang Dapao, even dared to brag to Young Master Zhang, "If you pull out the slave-slaughter army now, you may not be able to face the Jiannu iron cavalry head-on, but if you fight on foot, the slave-slaughter army will never lose." For the front-line army in Liaodong!"

Indeed, the mobile training and bayonet training of the slave-slaughter army have almost reached the peak of the cold weapon era. There is absolutely no problem in marching sixty or seventy miles a day with a load of sixty catties. Regardless of individual combat capability and small group combat capability, it is no less than any army in Ming Dynasty.But these are far from enough for Young Master Zhang. Young Master Zhang not only needs an army that can fight at close quarters, but also an army that is proficient in handling firearms. An all-powerful army of slashers.So it is normal, when rifled muskets cannot be fully equipped to every soldier, riding training has become the next goal and course of the Slavery Army.

On the second day of October, the third day after Gao Hongtu left, the war horses that Young Master Zhang asked for from the court finally arrived in the capital. As soon as the number of horses was counted, Young Master Zhang couldn’t help being furious—there were more than [-] soldiers in the slave slaughter army. The young master asked the court for [-] high-quality war horses, but the quality of the war horses sent by the Ministry of War to Young Master Zhang was indeed good, but the quantity was only [-] horses!In a rage, Young Master Zhang immediately called Yang Menggun, who had sent the horse over, to the Ministry of War, slapped the table and shouted at him, "Say, who did it? Is it because Feng Quan, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, didn't allocate enough money? Or was it the Ministry of War?" Shangshu Wang Yongguang deliberately made things difficult? Why did I send me [-] of the [-] horses I wanted, and where did the remaining [-] horses go? You want my army to fight on pigs and sheep? Is it?"

"Master Futai, calm down, please calm down." Young Master Zhang slapped and roared at the table after he worked so hard to send the horse over. Yang Menggun's depression can be imagined, but considering Young Master Zhang's frighteningly tough backing, Yang Menggun still dare not Showing the slightest bit of displeasure, he just nodded and bowed his head and said: "My lord Futai misunderstood. For the purchase of war horses, Tang Guan Feng of the household department allocated one or two to the Ministry of War. On the side of the Ministry of War, we Tangguan Wang also did our best. I tried my best to purchase and raise war horses for Jimen. But the time was short, and there was really no way to raise so many war horses at once—to be honest, half of the two thousand war horses were reserved by the governor of Liaodong for the Ningyuan army. Wang Tangguan withstood the pressure and asked the next official to send it to Jimen first..."

"Sun! That kid must be yelling at me behind his back again." Young Master Zhang muttered to himself, and then asked suspiciously: "Master Yang, the military department of the Ming Dynasty can't even produce a few thousand horses now? Are you making too much of a joke? Who will believe it if you tell it?"

"Master Futai, the Ministry of War really can't produce war horses now." Yang Menggun replied with a sad face: "Since the 46th year of Wanli, the imperial court has been fighting every year and losing war horses every year. The horses fed by the official herdsmen's tomb have long since disappeared More than half of the war horses have to be purchased from Xuandabian City. In the past few years, it has survived, but since the war between Mongolian Lindan Khan and Jiannu in the second year of the Apocalypse, the Mongolian army also needs a large number of war horses. The price of horses It also soars every year. Even if our Ministry of War buys war horses at all costs, the number is very limited, and there is often no market for the price. Now most of the war horses of the Ministry of War are concentrated in Liaodong and Guizhou, and the rest are transferred to Shaanxi. That’s all the horses that the Ministry of War can afford now.” Speaking of this, Yang Menggun added with a sad face, “Originally, there were still some horses that could be mobilized in the three major battalions of the capital, but those were middle horses and dismounted horses. ——Even if the lower officials eat the guts of leopards, they dare not use those inferior horses to prevaricate you, Mr. Futai."

Probably because he knew that Young Master Zhang was difficult to deal with, in order to prove that the Ministry of War did not dare to deceive Young Master Zhang, Yang Menggun also took out a copy of the war horse mobilization record of the Ministry of War that he had prepared and handed it to Young Master Zhang for inspection.Young Master Zhang took a closer look and found that Yang Menggun had not deceived himself. The horses from the pastures in the suburbs of Beijing had indeed been transferred to Shaanxi, where thieves had occurred recently.But it was precisely because of this that Young Master Zhang didn't have the nerve to continue the attack, so he could only slow down and ask Yang Menggun: "Master Yang, when will the Ministry of War owe Jimen [-] horses, when will it be replenished?" There's no waiting for anyone to train."

"Lord Futai, Wang Tangguan sent an official here just to ask for instructions from Master Futai about this matter." Yang Menggun cupped his hands and replied: "Officer Wang Tang said, if Master Futai has time to wait, please give me some time to wait." Our Ministry of War will spend one month, and within one month, we will try our best to purchase the remaining war horses and send them to Lord Futai. If Lord Futai has no time to wait, we Wang Tangguan can ask the imperial court to purchase two thousand horses directly. Thirty-five thousand taels of silver for 5000 top-notch war horses will be allocated to Jimen, and Master Futai will purchase them himself."

Wang Yongguang's words are indeed quite sincere. It is conceivable how much money is involved in purchasing horses for the imperial court. Now Wang Yongguang offered to give up the money. Young Master Zhang made his own choice, and Young Master Zhang, whose whole family was civil servants in his previous life, of course understood these principles, so he felt embarrassed to continue firing at the Ministry of War.After thinking about it for a while, Young Master Zhang had no choice but to wave his hand and said, "Okay, I'm not very familiar with purchasing horses, so your military department will continue to purchase them. But I'll only wait for a month. Please bring this to the Wang Tangguan, Mr. Yang. One month later, no matter what method you use, I will see the remaining [-] war horses!"

If you get angry, you still have to receive the kid from the Ministry of War. Young Master Zhang, who is very good at being a man, called Fu Yi, the supervisor of the Jimen Army, and asked him to receive Yang Menggun, and told him that he must make Yang Menggun satisfied. He just showed up, mainly because Young Master Zhang had arranged for his only younger brother, Fu Zhixiao, to be a small official in charge of the salt and tea trade in Sichuan, so this Eunuch Fu was very obedient and took the initiative to take on the task of receiving court officials for Young Master Zhang , can always make officials at all levels satisfied and return. They usually report the situation of the Jimen army to the Lijian Supervisor, and also come to the talented Young Master Zhang to ask if there are any typos. Without the consent of Young Master Zhang, he will never go to the army to block the eyes , got along very happily with Young Master Zhang.But Young Master Zhang found Man Gui, temporarily borrowed [-] war horses from the Man Gui army, handed them over to the slave slaughter army for training, and returned them to Man Gui after the remaining war horses were delivered.

Just when Young Master Zhang was having a headache because of the matter of the war horse, a good thing suddenly came to his door.On the eighth day of October, when Young Master Zhang was supervising the training of the slave-slaughter army at the Jingeryu school grounds, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army who was guarding the valley came to report, "Master Futai, a group of businessmen came to the valley, and the leader claimed to be Wang Dengku, manager of Wangji Horse Shop in Zhangjiakou, asked to see Mr. Futai, saying that he had a horse business to discuss with Mr. Futai.”

"Tell them to go to the capital to talk to the Ministry of War, I'm too lazy to interfere in these matters." Young Master Zhang shouted angrily.Mr. Bai took the order to leave, but not long after, the hundred households not only ran back, but also brought ten tall horses, and respectfully said to Young Master Zhang: "Master Futai, the shopkeeper Wang refused to leave, he said He also didn't want to deal with the people of the Ministry of War, and he also presented ten Dawanliang horses to Mr. Futai, please be sure to meet them, and said that keeping them will not disappoint Mr. Futai."

"What a horse!" Man Gui, who loves horses like his life, was the first to yell, and rushed to look at the ten war horses that Wang Dengku gave to Young Master Zhang, and shouted to Young Master Zhang in great surprise: "Brother Zhang, open your eyes!" , the real purebred Dawan horse! No matter whether it is on the battlefield or as a stallion, it is one-on-one. On the market, it must be sold for at least four or fifty taels of silver! Otherwise, I will take my Mongolian horse Exchange a horse with you?"

"Brother Man, if you like it, you can choose two horses yourself. But let Ma Langzhong check first to see if there are any sick horses mixed in." Young Master Zhang agreed casually, and at the same time he was a little puzzled - this Wang Dengku made such a generous move, what is it? What do you want to do?With this doubt in his heart, it was rare for Young Master Zhang to change his mind and said: "Well, for the sake of this guy's sincerity, I will meet Wang Dengku, the owner of the horse shop."

"As ordered, the general will go and bring them in here." The hundred households who had received a lot of benefits from Wang Dengku happily agreed.Unexpectedly, Young Master Zhang yelled angrily immediately: "Stop, who told you to bring those Zhangjiakou businessmen here? Jingeryu is a restricted area for armaments that I have repeatedly ordered. No common people are allowed to enter. Have you forgotten?"

"The final general is convicted, please forgive me, Mr. Futai." The hundred households were startled, and quickly knelt down and begged for mercy.Young Master Zhang shouted: "For your first crime, I slapped my mouth thirty times!" After finishing speaking, Young Master Zhang led a group of personal soldiers and strode out of the valley, and Man Gui happily followed, leaving the Baihu kneeling on the spot Slap yourself.

At the south exit of the Dejingeryu Valley, there was indeed a group of people dressed as businessmen guarding the valley entrance. When they saw Young Master Zhang coming out in a third-rank official uniform, a skinny man in his fifties got off his horse and came over to Young Master Zhang. Kneeling down, he kowtowed with a strong Shanxi accent and said, "Caomin Wang Dengku, I have seen Master Zhang Futai of Jimen."

Young Master Zhang said flatly: "So you are Shopkeeper Wang. Shopkeeper Wang invited you up. Shopkeeper Wang presented the Jimen Army with ten good horses to help the army. I am here to thank Shopkeeper Wang on behalf of the Jimen Army. "

"Your Majesty Futai is too polite. How dare Cao Min dare to thank you as Master Futai? Although Cao Min has lived in Zhangjiakou all year round, he has long heard of Master Futai's surprise attack on the slave capital. It's a pity." Wang Dengku climbed up with a smile, and said nice things as if his mouth had been smeared with honey, "Today I was lucky enough to see my lord's face, and my lord Futai is indeed young and promising, both civil and military, handsome and personable, The grassroots are worthwhile."

"Shopkeeper Wang, you're being polite." Young Master Zhang is a big flatterer himself, so of course he won't be overwhelmed by Wang Dengku's Shanxi Mitang. , I am busy with official duties, so if you have anything to say, just say it directly, and you don’t have to hide it. If Shopkeeper Wang wants to chat, then please wait until I have time, and then have a chat with Shopkeeper Wang alone.”

Logically speaking, this Wang Dengku gave Young Master Zhang ten Dawan good horses as soon as they met. Originally, Young Master Zhang's attitude should not be indifferent, but our Young Master Zhang is suspicious by nature and firmly believes that there is no white pie in the sky. This is the last word, so Young Master Zhang inevitably has a lot of doubts about this Wang Dengku, so be careful.And Wang Dengku was not angry, but just said with a smile: "Master Futai is really quick to speak, and the grass-roots people just speak straight. If you are presumptuous, please forgive me."

"Let's talk." Young Master Zhang nodded.Wang Dengku cleared his throat, clasped his fists and said respectfully: "Lord Futai, the Caomin heard the news that the Jimen army under the charge of Master Futai needs a batch of good war horses, and the Ministry of War can't provide them for a while, so they plan to allocate the money for the horses Give it to Mr. Futai, and let Mr. Futai buy it by himself. Caomin is not talented, and he has a small horse dealer in Zhangjiakou, so Caomin boldly came to ask if Mr. Futai is interested in buying from Caomin's horse dealer? No. Caomin boasted that the war horses produced by Caomin horses are all good horses, and they have always been the first choice for the Ministry of War to purchase war horses."

"Is it the Dawan horse you gave us just now?" Man Gui asked curiously.Wang Dengku replied with a wry smile: "This is probably General Mangui? General Man was just joking. Dawan good horses cost at least 40 taels of silver, and there is often no market for the price. The purchase price of the Ministry of War is only 14 taels of silver. The horses are all Dawan horses, Cao Min must pay for them as trousers. However, Cao Min can guarantee that each of the war horses Cao Min sells to Mr. Futai is the best Mongolian horse, and the price is absolutely the lowest."

"Treasurer Wang is well-informed. The Ministry of War cannot provide enough war horses to Jimen. This is a secret of the imperial court, and it has only been a few days since this happened, so can Manager Wang know about it?" Young Master Zhang blinked his triangular eyes suspiciously. Looking carefully at Wang Dengku, he asked: "Also, shopkeeper Wang, you also know the situation of my deputy very well. As soon as we meet, you can call out the name of General Mangui?"

"Oh, this little dog really lives up to its reputation, and it's really shrewd." Wang Dengku groaned in his heart, but he didn't dare to show the slightest bit on his face. He just replied with a smile: "Master Futai praised you, and the grassroots eat this bowl of business rice." , The news is not well-informed, so how can the money come from? This matter is actually a coincidence. When the Ministry of War purchased war horses from Caomin's horse shop last month, it happened to say that it was for Jimen. Later, Caomin's horse shop suddenly Since they couldn't bring out so many war horses, the Caomin kept this matter in mind and asked for more news from Jimen."

"So, shopkeeper Wang's horse shop has enough horses now?" Young Master Zhang asked calmly, "Then why didn't shopkeeper Wang directly contact the Ministry of War, but why did he go directly to Jimen to find me? "

"Master Futai, don't you really know the reason for this?" Wang Dengku was prepared for this, pretending to look around, and then he took a step forward and replied in a low voice: "The grass people have to go through several trials to sell their war horses to the Ministry of War. , Every checkpoint has to be stuffed with money, and the cost is very high. Caomin thought that if he could skip these checkpoints and sell the horse directly to Mr. Futai, he could earn a little more living money, so Caomin took the liberty of disturbing Mr. Futai ——Of course, if Mr. Futai takes care of the grassroots business, the grassroots will never forget Mr. Futai.”

Wang Dengku's words are indeed true, and Young Master Zhang is also very aware of the tricks involved in the purchase of public funds. Wang Dengku's move is indeed reasonable, and it is inevitable that he will be a little tempted.After making some calculations, Young Master Zhang suddenly asked without thinking, "Shopkeeper Wang, shopkeeper Fan Yongdou Fan of Zhangjiakou Fanji Shop, do you know him? How is the relationship?"

"What is the little dog asking Fan Yongdou all of a sudden?" Wang Dengku was startled, and quickly answered after deliberation: "Master Futai, Caomin and shopkeeper Fan are both in business in Zhangjiakou, so of course they know each other. It's just that shopkeeper Fan's business name is bigger than Caomin's." Many, Liaodong and Jiangnan have his branch, and he also manages horses, as the saying goes, colleagues are enemies, so there are not many contacts at ordinary times, at most, they are just friends who meet and nod."

"Oh, so that's the case." Young Master Zhang nodded noncommittally, and then said: "Shopkeeper Wang, I'm really sorry, the Ministry of War did intend to let me buy it myself, but I'm busy with official duties, and I'm not familiar with the horse market, so I'm too lazy to intervene This matter, I rejected this matter, so there is no other way, shopkeeper Wang, you should go to the capital to find the Ministry of War." Speaking of this, Young Master Zhang bowed his hand to Wang Dengku, "I am on official business, and I will leave for the time being. If there is an opportunity, I will come to the door again to thank shopkeeper Wang for his gift of horses. Farewell."

After finishing speaking, Young Master Zhang turned his head and left. Wang Dengku was in a hurry, and hurriedly called out: "Master Futai, please stay. This matter can still be discussed? With your relationship in the court, it is not right to ask for money from the Ministry of War again." One sentence? Master Futai, Caomin even brought you some local products from Zhangjiakou..." It's a pity that Young Master Zhang walked into the entrance of Jingeryu Valley in a blink of an eye, leaving behind Wang Dengku, who was stopped by the defenders, yelled loudly in place.

Turning into the valley, Man Gui immediately said to Young Master Zhang: "Brother Zhang, you are a bit of a shame on others. This Wang Dengku gave us ten good horses anyway. Are you too sorry for him by leaving him alone like this?" gone?"

"Brother Man is right, but I don't know much about him yet, so I don't dare to have a close relationship with him." Young Master Zhang shook his head and replied, "I'll let Dongchang and Zhenfu Division figure out his details first. , if he really just wants to make more money, it’s okay to hand over the business to him, and it might be of great use after a good relationship. But if he has other plans, then we have to be careful—don’t Forgot, if it wasn't for the Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou, would the food from the Songjiang Mansion in the south of the Yangtze River appear in the Shengjing granary of Jiannu for no reason?" After finishing speaking, Young Master Zhang called Zhang Shitou to him again, and whispered in his ear Get up, "You go back to see Mr. Fu immediately, and ask him to contact the secret agents of the East Factory......."

………………

Let’s not talk about our young master Zhang and Zhang Shitou whispering in Jing’er Valley, just say that after young master Zhang left Wang Dengku and went back to the valley, Wang Dengku could only return to his team dejectedly, and led his servants out of this military restricted area.On the way, Wang Yaohua, Wang Dengku's youngest son, scolded angrily: "Damn it, Zhang Haogu is such a coward! I gave him ten good Dawan horses, but he didn't even have a nice word, let alone treat us to dinner." It's time to eat, if I knew this cowardly child had this kind of virtue, this matter should be done by the other seven families!"

"Yaohua, don't worry, do you think the other seven families really don't want to do this matter? It's just that they are too public, and Sibeile is afraid that they will be spotted by Zhang Haogu, so he left this matter to us. , otherwise, those seven families want to do this good job.” Wang Dengku’s nephew Wang Guohua sneered and said: “Sibeile has long said that Zhang Haogu is a treacherous and suspicious child. It's easy. But if this matter is done, we will benefit from both sides, and the trouble will be big."

"But Zhang Haogu didn't give us a chance at all, how can we gain his trust?" Wang Yaohua asked depressedly.Wang Guohua replied with a treacherous smile: "Yaohua, you forgot, Sibeile also said that that coward Zhang Haogu has a weakness besides being greedy for money?"

"You mean, send a few women to Zhang Haogu's son?" Wang Dengku asked Wang Guohua with squinted eyes.Wang Guohua nodded, and replied: "That's right - Sibeile once said that Zhang Haogu was born in a wealthy family. If the money can't win him, you can give him a woman! But ordinary women, Zhang Haogu I'm afraid that the cowardly baby will look down on her, so if she wants to give it away, she must give it to a beautiful girl, and it must be a girl with a yellow flower that has not yet bloomed. As long as Zhang Haogu is willing to accept it, the rest of the matter will be much easier. And if that woman is willing to provide us with information about Zhang Haogu's coward, that would be even better."

"It's a good idea, but where will I go to find such a woman soon?" Wang Dengku thought while twisting his gray beard.Wang Guohua smiled and replied, "Uncle, have you forgotten the Shanxi busking troupe we met in the capital? The little girl playing rope art is pretty good-looking, and we are fellow villagers, so it's easy to talk to me." ...."

PS: The price of horses during the Tianqi period cannot be found, but "History of the Ming Dynasty" records that because of the influx of Mongolian horses into the Central Plains, the price of horses in the ninth year of Wanli was eight taels of silver; The price has risen, and the pure wolf roughly estimated from this that the price of a high-quality war horse in the Tianqi period may be between 12 taels and 15 taels. If there is any mistake, please give advice.

(End of this chapter)