Not to mention Ding Haijun who set up camp neatly.
The Song Dynasty's envoy was forced to sail at night, which was much more troublesome and dangerous than during the day. In order to make the ships move forward smoothly and smoothly, the guides were shouting in front and behind the fleet, and the sailors who were steering the sails and rudders were stepping on the planks of the ships.
He was busy running around, and the strong men working outside were also shouting one after another.
Even so, the hull or bottom of the ship would occasionally scratch the mud at the bottom of the waterway, and the whole ship would suddenly shudder like a frightened animal, and then continue to move its huge body forward with the efforts of many people.
Under such circumstances, Ding Yan and Hou Zhongxin could not rest in the cabin.
The two simply stood on the bow of the ship, watching their subordinates rushing about, and also looking at the Jin cavalry holding pine torches following the fleet by the Lushui River. The gray eyes of the Jin cavalry occasionally turned to the fleet, and the two immediately went to watch more.
Looking from a distance, I saw the rows of black silhouettes of people and horses.
"These are the Yi army cavalry of the Jin people." Ding Zhan said: "During the Kaixi year, the Jin people used half of the world's strength to march south, driving the Yi army as the vanguard. There were 30,000 of them, and they were called Xiaoqi. This generation is indeed elite.
,only……"
"It's just that she's a bit fierce and jealous?"
"Yeah..." Ding Yan thought deeply: "The strength of the Jurchens themselves must have weakened to a terrible extent. Their country was attacked by foreign troops, and the elite cavalry who dared to leave the city were another foreign force.
What about the Jurchens' own Meng'an Mou army? Not to mention, the Dinghai navy came across the sea as Shandong's foreign troops... It's just a thousand people, but the Jurchens dare not allow them to enter the capital? If they don't have this kind of tolerance, China
How empty is the capital?"
"Also, bachelor, think about it, the leader of the Ding Navy's front is just a commander. In order to stop him, the Central Capital sent two to three thousand cavalry, with a commander and an envoy of the valet personally coming forward.
What are the Jurchens afraid of? This kind of thing only requires an imperial edict, no, just a military order is enough!"
Hou Zhongxin said enthusiastically: "There must be something special about the Ding Navy, but the imperial court has no idea about their situation. If we have to return by sea, bachelor, we have to find a way to go deep into Shandong and find out the details of the Ding Navy!"
"
Ding Yan twisted his beard and smiled: "It is indeed necessary. However, the first thing to do is to take advantage of the panic of the captive leader and the central government to vigorously display the power of the Song Dynasty!"
Hou Zhongxin bowed and bowed: "It is inevitable that the bachelor will make a prestige in the Central Plains and amplify the ambitions of the Yan and Song Dynasties!"
Ding Yan laughed loudly.
Hou Zhongxin followed closely: "However, I also have urgent matters to do right now..."
Ding Yan understood immediately. He smiled and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes. We should share these things together, haha! Let me think about it... I will pay five thousand dollars! I also brought a few jars of good things with me on this trip
When the wine comes, you can bring it too!"
Hou Zhongxin, the deputy envoy, has a very heavy task in the mission.
Just as Ding Zhan was the bachelor who was given the purple gold fish bag, he would definitely be promoted again after returning. Such a noble person would not pay attention to the complicated and complicated affairs. And the other officials in Sanjie were too low to make decisions.
.
Therefore, Hou Zhongxin was in charge of all matters related to the mission's trip, including contacting maritime merchants, hiring a fleet, and recruiting young men to follow.
Hou Zhongxin was from Sichuan and had been an official in the court for only two years. He actually knew nothing about the land routes to Huainan and Huaibei and the sea routes to Shandong.
Therefore, to contact maritime merchants, he entrusted the son of a family friend surnamed Jia whom he had met when he was an official in Sichuan. He is now serving as the Prime Minister of Wan'an County, Jia She Jia Jichuan.
Jia She was quite good at running his family business and had great vision in this regard. Therefore, he contacted Hou Zhongxin, a leader of the Mingzhou Outline of the Song Dynasty named Zhang, to come forward and arrange the fleet.
This man whose surname is Zhang is a son of a wealthy family who has passed down poetry and calligraphy. Together with his accountant Mr. Zhou and the guard leader Zhao, he is very reliable in handling things. Hou Zhongxin has thought about it. Maybe he can take advantage of this relationship in the future. Try to make some money from the sea.
The strong men accompanying the ship were not there from the beginning. When the fleet was replenishing water in Wandu Village, Haizhou, it was almost besieged by the remnants of the Red Coat Army. There happened to be another group of stragglers from the Jin Army nearby, and they fought hard. The remaining troops of the Red Coat Army were dispersed.
These people originally planned to go south along the coast to Huainan East Road in the Song Dynasty and make a living in the Shanyang area of Chuzhou. Hou Zhongxin saw that all of them were brave and admirable, so he recruited them to serve on the ship.
Although those strong men were rude and rude, they were indeed hardworking and helped Hou Zhongxin a lot along the way.
Therefore, when the fleet was replenishing water at three private ports in Qushan, Haizhou, Jiaoxi, Miss., and Chengshan, Ninghai, it recruited several more people one after another, eventually reaching a scale of about two hundred people.
These people are laborers, but not trackers. Hou Zhongxin was really touched that they could step forward to pull the track.
After all, he is an official of the Privy Council. He usually relies on his status and rarely interacts directly with these strong men.
For more than half a month before, the fleet had been at sea. Each of the twenty or thirty ships were separated by miles and scattered in a long line on the sea. So even if he wanted to, he couldn't go one by one to express his condolences. Many strong men.
But at this time, as an employer, Hou Zhongxin felt that he should come forward to encourage and boost morale. He also planned to use these people for the Song Dynasty when he returned and even in the future!
At that moment, Hou Zhongxin brought a sack with money, followed by two men carrying wine jars and two men carrying food. They got off the boat as it approached the shore and hurried to the front of the queue of young men.
At this time, the Yi army cavalry who pushed the strong men the hardest had already rushed to the front impatiently. The serious soldiers of the Song Dynasty in the envoy also followed lazily, and no one continued to urge them.
But the strong men on the shore still made heavy trumpets and worked hard to stretch. The rough ropes were deeply cut into their shoulders, which showed that they had exhausted their efforts. Hou Zhongxin could clearly see the movements and movements of these men. The real trackers are very different. They are all laymen and don’t know how to pull trackers at all. They just want to do their best for the fleet!
Their efforts in selling have far exceeded what they promised when collecting money! Hou Zhongxin really didn’t know that they would work so hard. No wonder the maritime trade route to the north through Shandong has been so prosperous in the past few years, it must be the same as the Shandong people Does quality matter?
It is said that Shandong is a place with simple and honest folk customs, and it really deserves its reputation!
If such a force can be used by the Song Dynasty court, it will definitely be of great help. Even if the Song Dynasty court does not use them, I, Hou Zhongxin, will still find opportunities to make use of them!
Hou Zhongxin strode to the front of the trackers' queue, and immediately saw the two young men he was most familiar with, and immediately called out loudly: "Busy! Brother Xing! Let's take a rest first, drink some wine, and warm up!"
Everyone, please take a rest! There’s no need to be in such a hurry!”
Yu Manger, a Shandong native, was still pulling hard, but the rope had torn the clothes off his shoulders, and he didn't seem to care. Yu Xing, whose ancestors were said to be from Zhongdu, heard Hou Zhongxin's words and immediately collapsed with arms and legs crossed.
On the ground: "Ah! Mr. Hou, Lieutenant Hou, I really can't do it anymore!"
Hou Zhongxin laughed loudly, poured a bowl of wine for him personally, and called to the rest of the people: "Come, come, come and have a drink! This is the good wine and cakes given by Bachelor Ding. I also brought them to you."
A chicken!”
What a great official! What a generous act! Give me a chicken!
Not to mention the contempt in the hearts of the strong men and the sounds of saliva in their mouths, it almost turned into a loud gurgle.
These strong men are naturally not ordinary strong men, but capable officers summoned from various departments of the Ding Navy under a special order issued by Guo Ning a few days ago.
Everyone is already used to the good treatment of the navy, not to mention that most of them are selected good men who serve as junior officers in their respective units?
Compared with their usual meals, the food they ate this time was indeed a bit shabby. However, after landing, every move was under the surveillance of the Song people, so they had to show themselves to be extremely hardworking and willing to work hard.
In just two or three days, several soldiers have secretly complained about losing weight.
It was rare that the official of the Song Dynasty gave him a chicken. Everyone was very happy and looked at Hou Zhongxin with particularly eager eyes.
Hou Zhongxin was very satisfied with being watched eagerly by everyone, so he grabbed the chicken legs himself and planned to tear the chicken apart and distribute it to everyone.
Behind him, a ship was slowly passing by.
There was a fat man on the bow holding a thick iron rod. He was dozing off with his legs crossed. Now he smelled the aroma of chicken, and the fat man suddenly opened his eyes and touched his head as if it was a steel needle.
Short hair, shouting: "Give me your chicken butt!"