On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the Liaodong Peninsula was shrouded in a snowstorm. Seeing that New Year's Eve was coming soon, Hong Chengzhuan and Zu Zerun insisted on setting off back to western Liaoning.

Since a large area of ​​Liaodong Bay was frozen, they still chose to walk on the ice along the coast for their return trip.

Of course, there is another way, which is to cross the sea from Lushunkou and go south to Dengzhou, and then take the land route from Dengzhou to the north, out of Shanhaiguan, and back to Ningyuan and Jinzhou.

Since the twelfth lunar month, the northern part of Liaodong Bay has been frozen over a large area, but the sea from Jinzhou Bay to the south has not frozen. There are some floating ice, but it does not affect shipping much.

However, although this road is safe, they dare not choose it.

Because Hong Chengzhuan and Zu Zerun came to Jinhai Town to meet with Yang Zhen, who was not affiliated with the Governor's Office of Jiliao, and discussed with Yang Zhen the matter of pacifying the captives and restoring Liao Dynasty. It sounded very high-sounding, but in fact it was

He was conducting private communications behind the imperial court's back.

This is not allowed by imperial law.

If they took a boat to go south to Dengzhou, they would not only take a long detour, but the news would also be leaked.

They dared not leak any news about such a major matter, so they had no choice but to return in the wind and snow along the original route and continue to walk on the ice along the coast back to western Liaoning.

Fortunately, they had already walked through it, and it was New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve soon, so they were not too worried even if they were walking on the edge of the border.

In this way, three days after arriving in Lushunkou, Hong Chengzhu and Zu Zerun said goodbye to Yang Zhen, who had repeatedly tried to persuade them to stay, and took a small batch of firearm samples that Yang Zhen had asked people to give to them. Under the escort of Qiu Biyong and Xu Zhankui, they

We braved the wind and snow to return.

During the past few days in Lushunkou, Hong Chengzhuan and Zu Zerun personally watched the use drills of the firearms recommended to them by Yang Zhen. They were quite satisfied with the power of these firearms.

During this period, Zu Zerun wanted to visit the Lushun Beicheng Cannon Foundry, but Yang Zhen refused in a considerate way.

However, Yang Zhen agreed to Zu Zerun's other request, which was to allocate a few cannons capable of opening shells to the Jinzhou garrison for trial use.

Yang Zhen asked Qiu Biyong to convey his order after returning to Songshan City and transfer two sky cannons and corresponding ammunition from the artillery camp of the Songshan garrison to the Jinzhou garrison.

However, Yang Zhen also made it clear to Zu Zerun that after trying out the Liaoxi soldiers and horses, if they are satisfied, they can buy them from Jinhai Town.

As for the purchase price, this time Yang Zhen said it was still a friendly price, but in fact he offered a high price. A sky cannon costs three hundred taels of silver, and a rocket shell used by the sky cannon costs silver.

Fifteen taels.

Yang Zhen originally did not want to reveal the secret of making explosive bombs.

And he also knew that as long as the sky cannon and its matching shells were given to the Liaoxi soldiers and horses, or sold to them, the secret would soon be no longer a secret.

Based on the temper of the generals in western Liaoning, it is estimated that after purchasing the first batch, they will find someone to imitate them.

And once the sky cannons and explosive shells that were given to them, sold to them, or imitated by themselves fell into the hands of the Qinglu, then the Qinglu would probably be able to produce them soon.

However, despite this risk, Yang Zhen agreed.

First, he could not conceal it, because the use of sky cannons and their explosive shells had been put into large use when the Songshan garrison attacked Youtun Fort and Panshan Fort when Guangning City changed hands. The generals in western Liaoning

It is already widely known.

Secondly, he knew very well that even if the cannons in western Liaoning were copied exactly like those in Jinhaizhen, the power of the two would not be the same.

This is because the entire military production in Jinhai Town is based on a very basic thing. This basic thing is black powder prepared using high-purity fire salt, granulated, and graded and quantitatively packaged.

As long as Jinhai Town firmly grasps this most basic and fundamental thing, even if Western Liaoning can cast sky cannons of the same caliber, size or even the same material and weight in a short period of time, they will still have to continue to purchase ammunition from Jinhai Town.

The same goes for Qinglu.

Kong Youde also already knew about Jin Haizhen's sky cannon that could open shells, but Yang Zhen was not worried.

Because even if there were people under Kong Youde who were good at forging cannons and made identical cannons, they would not be able to make their artillery and its explosive shells reach the power of Jinhae Town's Sky Cannon or Flying Thunder Cannon in a short period of time.

What's more, Yang Zhen's artillery regiment camp of the Eastern Marching Army already has explosive shells that can be used in the Hongyi heavy artillery, with a range that is several times greater than the sky cannon!

With this thing, the sky cannons with insufficient range can be sold to various battalions in western Liaoning at a high price.

In any case, in the future decisive battle with Qinglu, Yang Zhen still hopes that the strength of the Liaoxi soldiers and horses will be stronger, and not like the crotch stretching in the original time and space Songjin decisive battle.

Written by Hong Cheng, after Zu Zerun and his party set off in the wind and snow, Yang Zhen's urgent tasks came to an end for the time being, and he began to prepare for the New Year with peace of mind.

On the last New Year's Eve, he was besieged in Zhenjiang Fort at the mouth of the Yajiang River in the north, and was always worried that the Qing army outside the city would launch an offensive and invade the city.

But now on this New Year's Eve, the situation is completely different. Not only has the Zhenjiang Fort City fallen into the hands of the Jinhai Town army, but also the Andong Fort City, which was built on the mountainside to the south of the Zhenjiang Fort City and closer to the mouth of the Yajiang River, has also already fallen into the hands of the army. The construction was completed and a large number of troops were stationed.

The coastal land cities east of the Yajiang Estuary that were not previously part of Jinhai Town, from Tieshan City to Dingzhou City, and then to Anzhou City, that is, from the Yajiang Estuary east to the west of the Qingchuan River, all became Jinhae. The new land of the town.

Of course, if you include the islands that Yang Zhen obtained by crossing the sea to conquer the Wonu Kingdom, such as the Goto Islands, Hirado Island, Iki Island, Tsushima Island and its affiliated islands, then the entire Jinhai Town was under the jurisdiction of Chongzhen in the 14th year. The land area and the number of people who persisted in resettlement have more than doubled compared to the thirteenth year of Chongzhen.

In particular, the trip across the sea to conquer the Wonu Kingdom greatly enriched the rice reserves and gold and silver wealth of Jinhai Town. The life of Yang Zhen and the soldiers under his command became much easier than before.

In addition, during the autumn and winter of the 14th year of Chongzhen, the sweet potato farmers in Jinhai and Denglai towns had a bumper harvest, making Jinhai Town the only town in the north of the Ming Dynasty that was completely self-sufficient in grain production and had a large amount of crops. A place of surplus.

The roads in Denglai Town under the leadership of Yang Zhen are somewhat worse than the roads in Jinhai Town. After all, the original Dengzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture in the Denglai area, as long as there is fertile land, it is the land owned by the owner. People can grow whatever they want. The Jinhai General Town Office has no control over this.

The only areas under the control of the Jinhai General Town Government are Yu Liangtai's Denglai East Road, Wu Chaozuo's Denglai West Road, and the Jinhai West Road Reclamation Area led by Yuan Jin.

However, even so, Yu Liangtai, Wu Chaozuo and Yuan Jin were ordered to recruit people to colonize the reclamation area and obtained a bumper harvest of sweet potatoes, which suddenly reversed the soaring food prices, beggars and famine in the area where they came a year ago.

A chaotic situation that alternates with the plague.

Although refugees are still flowing in continuously, the refugees who come in can get a certain settlement. As long as they have a stutter, they will not take risks and become bandits.

Correspondingly, Wu Chaozuo, Yuan Jin and Yu Liangtai could also submit petitions to the Assistant Camp Office of the General Town Government in Lushunkou for those refugees who could not be accommodated, and then be transferred to Yingzhou Island by the fleet.

Settled on the Island Islands, Hirado Island, Iki Island and Tsushima Island.

Therefore, the continuous flow of refugees not only had a way to make a living, but also helped Jinhai Town realize the actual possession of the newly opened land. The result was naturally killing two birds with one stone.

In short, when the first month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen came with the sound of firecrackers, the situation of Jinhai Town under Yang Zhen and Denglai Town under his command was much better than in previous years.

Needless to say about the generals and soldiers, those who were willing to share the land in exchange for payment have already been allocated the best land, and their cellars and warehouses are filled with food.

Those who are not willing to pay their wages by dividing the land have made up all the arrears according to the salary they should receive before the end of the year, and are thinking about their family reunion or life after starting a new family.

Of course, the people who are most grateful to Yang Zhen, Jin Haibo, are not the soldiers from all walks of life who have been allocated land or received sufficient pay, but the old soldiers from Liaoxi who achieved family reunion in the autumn of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen.

They, as well as those generals and soldiers who followed Yang Zhen across the sea to conquer the Wonu Kingdom in the summer of the 14th year of Chongzhen.

Due to Zu Keyong's advice, in the summer of the 14th year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen asked Yuan Jin to lead the fleet of the Jinhai West Road Naval Battalion to rush to western Liaoning and the coast of Shanhaiguan. Under the care of the Jiliao Governor's Office and the Shanhaiguan Military Department Division

Next, all the family records of military veterans who were born in Jiliao were collected and resettled in Jinhai Town.

It was during this operation that Zu Keyong's mother, younger brother and other family members came to Jinhai Town for resettlement.

Now, the family members of Zu Keyong and his officers and soldiers who moved across the sea have been allocated a large area of ​​fertile land on both sides of the lower reaches of the Yingna River north of Zhuanghe Fort in accordance with the land allocation order, and they can live and work in peace and contentment from now on.

As for the soldiers who followed Yang Zhen across the sea to conquer the Japanese slave country, not to mention, everyone made a lot of money during the eastern expedition to the Japanese slave country. After returning from the eastern expedition, they were looking forward to seeing something like this again soon.

action.

On New Year's Eve, Yang Zhen took several of the main generals and entourage from Lushunkou to the Baiyushan camp again. He had the New Year's Eve dinner with the camp's soldiers and continued to fulfill his vow to share the joys and sorrows with all the soldiers wherever he went.

People cheered "The Governor is mighty" one after another, and the morale of the soldiers was evident.

Correspondingly, on the first day of the first lunar month in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Jin Haibo Yang Zhen took Jin Haibo's wife Qiu Bihan and his eldest son out of the city to visit an old immigrant settlement under Baiyin Mountain outside the city, and entered an old immigrant village surnamed Zhao.

A villager's home.

The old villager is about fifty years old. The couple has an eldest daughter and two sons.

The eldest daughter has been married a long time ago and now lives with her husband’s family in Tuntungtou.

The eldest son has joined the army and is now in Andong City.

The second son has just turned eighteen and has already signed up for the gun-carrying camp. After the year, he will leave home and join the camp as an auxiliary soldier.

The old villager's family has a large courtyard. There are three adobe houses facing north and south. The middle one is the kitchen. When you enter the door, you can see the two large stoves on the left and right with the fire burning brightly and the pots steaming out.

There is a small door on the left and right of the kitchen room, leading to the two rooms on the left and right.

The room on the right belongs to two sons, and now only the youngest one lives there. In the whole room, except for a bed of earthen beds, there is not even a place to step down. The limited space is filled with various baskets and baskets.

Basket.

Yang Zhen stepped forward and opened one, took out a piece of dry and hard sweet potato, and handed it to his son, who was more than one and a half years old in his arms.

Children under two years old don't understand anything. No matter what they get, they put it in their mouths first.

After Yang Zhen put the dry and hard piece of dried sweet potato into his chubby little hand, he immediately stuffed it into his mouth. Although he couldn't bite it, he bit it with concentration and great joy.

Yang Zhen's eldest son now has a name announced to the public.

After returning victoriously from crossing the sea and conquering the Japanese slave country, Yang Zhen officially named his eldest son Yang Zhengwa.

No matter how unpleasant the name is, Mrs. Jin Haibo, Qiu Bihan, is not happy about it.

But this name was chosen by Yang Zhen himself, and it was decided, and no one could change it.

Yang Zhen held his son in his arms, looked at the old villager's son's room, which was almost used as a warehouse, and then turned and entered the room on the left.

This room was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Zhao. Apart from an earthen bed, a simple wooden bed table on the earthen bed, and a roll of bedding in the corner of the earthen bed, there was no other furniture.

Yang Zhen didn't notice anyone else, so he put his son on the hot earthen bed, pulled Mrs. Jin Haibo to sit on the edge of the bed, and chatted about home affairs with the old Zhao couple who had been in a state of being at a loss.

Yang Zhen mainly asked about the harvest and food and clothing.

The villagers, Mr. Zhao and his wife, stood bowed and answered Yang Zhen's various questions.

It wasn't until Yang Zhenmen introduced himself to them that they learned that the visitor was Governor Jin Haibo Yang Zhenyang.

They wanted to kneel, but Yang Zhen wouldn't let them.
To be continued...