Yang Zhen led Shen Tingyang and his party to the second meeting hall of the main town hall in the south city of Lushun. They first separated the guests and guests and sat down, and then ordered tea and snacks to be served one after another.

The generals of Jinhai Town who followed Yang Zhen saw that their governor was so enthusiastic about this court doctor who had never met before. Everyone became particularly interested in the conversation and listened attentively to the conversation between their governor and the court doctor.

listen.

"I would like to ask Mr. Shen, how many days did it take to transport grain from Huai'an to the north?"

After everyone sat down, Yang Zhen first persuaded Shen Tingyang to drink tea, taste a few snacks, and then started to ask about the situation with a smile.

After hearing this, Shen Tingyang put down the delicate pastry with a distinct Jiangnan flavor in his hand, and immediately replied with a smile:

"To return to the Governor, we left Huai'an on the 12th of March. The wind direction from the north along the coast was very favorable. From the time we arrived at the Governor's place today, the sea voyage took only nine days."

In fact, as early as the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Shen Tingyang had actually verified the feasibility of maritime water transportation. At that time, he hired a ship to go out to sea from Huai'an east, sail north along the coast, and arrive at Tianjin Wei, which took a total of fifteen days.

And there are still five days in which the ship is parked in the port and waiting for the wind.

If you exclude the five days of waiting for the wind, then if the wind direction is favorable, the time it takes to sail north from Huai'an to Tianjin is only ten days.

This speed is much faster than water transportation via the Grand Canal.

Moreover, there are almost no pirates on the sea north of the Yangtze River, and there are no other threats on the sea except wind and waves.

Correspondingly, if you use the Grand Canal for water transportation, there will be more threats and it will naturally take a lot more time.

In fact, even if there had not been the Li Qingshan Rebellion in the Shandong section of the canal in the 14th year of Chongzhen's reign, water transportation would not have been safe.

On the one hand, there are currently many bandits and thieves along the canal, and a large number of soldiers are needed to escort the canal to the north. There are too many uncontrollable risks.

On the other hand, by the Chongzhen period of the late Ming Dynasty, the canal had been in disrepair for a long time, and the rivers in many places were silted up, making it difficult to navigate. When encountering silted river sections, it was necessary to temporarily switch to land transportation, which consumed a lot of manpower and material resources.

Furthermore, the canal is not only used for water transport, but also for many other long and short-distance official ships, merchant ships and other vessels. Once there is congestion or queues to pass through the locks, the time consumption becomes even more uncontrollable.

Of course, in addition to this, wherever the ship goes north, it has to pass through many checkpoints, and many officials have the opportunity to take action.

But all these things are gone once they are transferred to the sea.

Not only is the direct threat from bandits and rogues gone, but other threats will also be greatly reduced.

Whether it is the boatmen who follow the ship or the caoding who protects the canal, including the officials in charge of water transportation, they will lose the opportunity to use their own hands or guard against others because they take the sea route.

Because the shipping route is almost direct to the destination. From Huai'an, it goes directly to Lushunkou or Tianjin Wei, without stopping for loading and unloading along the way.

Regardless of whether you are a boatman, a cadre, or a shipping official, you have no chance to engage in any tricks such as drifting, private selling, etc.

In this way, the efficiency will naturally be greatly improved, at least in terms of time and cost.

"Marine water transport saves time and effort, which is evident from this. Manager Shen Langzhong, maritime water transport benefits the country and the people. It is really a great pioneering work in transporting grain to the north and will definitely leave a mark in history!"

"The Governor has given you the award, and Shen is not worthy of it. When it comes to maritime water transportation, there are actually precedents to follow, but——, haha, it is also thanks to the wisdom of the current saint that this maritime water transportation can be completed."

Although Shen Tingyang felt grateful for Yang Zhen's praise, he smiled bitterly and kept being humble.

Moreover, both inside and outside the words, you can tell there must be something hidden as soon as you hear it.

As for the secret behind this, Yang Zhen thought on his heels and roughly knew what was going on.

In fact, in the final analysis, it is just that maritime transport has touched the vested interest groups of traditional canal transport. As the saying goes, millions of canal workers depend on their food and clothing, and it is absolutely forbidden to abolish canal transport and convert it into sea transport.

Let’s not talk about the people, let’s just talk about the imperial court. There are a large number of officials in charge of water transportation, such as the governor of water transportation, the governor of the Ministry of Households, and the minister of water transportation, including water transportation offices, warehouses, and tax collectors set up along the canal.

, Caoding people.

These people, like millions of waterworkers, depend on canal water transportation for their survival.

Once maritime transport flourishes and the canal system is abolished and replaced by the sea, how will these people get a foothold and make a fortune?

Therefore, although maritime water transportation has hundreds of advantages and no disadvantages, it cannot be widely used. As a result, China's maritime transportation, including the construction of ocean-going ships, has been greatly adversely affected.

Of course, this problem did not arise in a moment, and it affects the whole body. Yang Zhen has no way to reverse this situation immediately.

To completely reverse this situation, we need to continue to wait for the most favorable opportunity.

However, now that Shen Tingyang advocates the benefits of sea transportation and practices it in managing sea transportation, once it gets started and a good precedent is set, in the future, as long as the time is right, changes will actually happen.

Yang Zhen is still optimistic about this.

"Yes, there is no wiser person than the Emperor."

Yang Zhen agreed casually, and then asked:

"So, Mr. Shen, how much grain will you transport north this time?"

"I don't dare to deceive the governor. This time the sea transport came to the north. A total of more than 400 ships of different sizes were used to transport wheat, beans and corn for 200,000 shi!"

"Oh? There are so many? I think the number of ships entering the port this time is no more than a hundred -"

"Captain Rongzhen, the ships coming to Lushunkou are only one-third of them. There are also 300 large and small grain transport ships that have arrived at Liugong Island and are heading for Dengzhou!"

Facing Yang Zhen's doubts, Shen Tingyang immediately explained the reason.

"Because the governor also controlled Jinhai and came to the second town for defense. When Shen led his fleet to pass through the sea outside Chengshantou, he came to Commander Yu on the East Road and asked Shen to send someone to Lushunkou first to request an order to report.

"Shen's place was originally tasked with transporting military rations for the governor's subordinates. Sooner or later, he would have to unload them, so he brought more than a hundred grain ships directly to the governor's place. The military rations that arrived at Lushunkou this time totaled 50,000 shi!"

"Fifty thousand stones?"

"Exactly!"

"More than a hundred ships can transport 50,000 stones?"

"Well, most of the sea-going ships that Shen was able to collect in Huai'an were flat-bottomed sand ships from the Jianghuai area, and some were converted from large canoe ships. Although they are large in number, their transport capacity is limited."

Shen Tingyang was stunned for Yang Zhen's surprise, and then he could only respond with a wry smile.

"Most of the ships in the fleet can only carry three to five hundred shi at a time, and the largest one can only carry one thousand shi. Therefore, more than 400 ships can only transport 200,000 shi at a time."

But when Shen Tingyang said this, looking at Yang Zhen who had suddenly realized something, he suddenly added with great confidence:

"However, there is no need to worry, Governor. At present, Yangzhou, Huai'an and other warehouses have collected more than 4 million shi of grain from last year and offset the wheat, beans and grains that have been owed in recent years.

"There are two million stones among them. The Holy Emperor has explicitly allocated sea transportation for the purpose of pacifying the captives and restoring the Liao Dynasty. The grain shipped from the north by sea is just the first batch of military rations. In the future, if the sea transportation will be smooth, General Shen will lead the fleet.

Continue to move northward!"

"oh?"

Yang Zhen responded casually, secretly digesting the situation revealed in Shen Tingyang's words.

The words Shen Tingyang said revealed at least three meanings.

First, Emperor Chongzhen’s previous strategy of using wheat, beans and other grains to offset rice and accumulated debts over the years in the Jiangnan region worked.

Secondly, Emperor Chongzhen and the current capital court were indeed determined to solve the problem in Liaodong. Otherwise, half of the grain collected with great difficulty would not be used as military ration to solve the Liao issue.

Thirdly, this time Shen Tingyang transported 200,000 shi of military supplies to the north, and Jinhai and Denglai Town received 50,000 shi of troops and horses, accounting for a quarter of it, which is two and a half percent, not 30 percent.

Of course, Yang Zhen didn't want to be too fussy about this issue.

In fact, whether or not the 50,000 shi of military rations allocated by the court would not affect Yang Zhen's next combat operations.

After all, he had already prepared for a rainy day. He was cultivating seed potatoes and conquering court and Japanese slaves. He had already accumulated enough food and supplies for the army to fight.

If the food and grass allocated by the court are in place, it is the icing on the cake. If the food and grass allocated by the court are not delivered in real terms, and in the end it is not in place, the battles that should be fought must be fought in the same way.

However, through the distribution ratio of Shen Tingyang's transportation of grain and fodder to the north, Yang Zhen can roughly infer the number of other soldiers and horses who also participated in the battle to quell the captives and restore Liao.

Therefore, after pondering for a moment, Yang Zhen asked:

"In the first batch of 200,000 shi, Jin Haiden came to fight in the second town with only 25% of the troops and horses. So I dare to ask Mr. Shen, if the remaining 150,000 shi of grain and fodder are distributed by the imperial court?"

"I don't dare to deceive the Governor. Everything I do is done in accordance with the order. As far as I know, the Ministry of Household Affairs received the order that the soldiers and horses under the Governor's command only accounted for the provisions, food, wages, equipment, etc. provided for this battle to quell the captives and restore Liao.

Two and a half things.”

Regarding Yang Zhen's inquiry, Shen Tingyang could actually find any excuse not to answer. After all, what Yang Zhen asked was already a confidential matter of the imperial court, and he had no obligation to answer.

But from the moment he arrived at Lushunkou, the respect and enthusiasm Yang Zhen showed for him, as well as the sincerity contained in it, made him answer the question seriously.

"As for the other 150,000 shi of military rations, after I stopped in Dengzhou for a while to rest, I will divide it into two batches. One batch of 100,000 shi will be transported to Tunliang City on Juehua Island off the coast of Ningyuan, and the other batch of 50,000 shi will be shipped directly to Bijiashan Island on the coast of Jinzhou.

Tunliang City.”

"Fifty thousand stones shipped to Bijiashan Island on the coast of Jinzhou?"

"Exactly."

After Yang Zhen confirmed with Shen Tingyang, he finally understood a little bit. He accounted for 25%, which was not a disadvantage. After all, Liaodong Town, which was once a major taxpayer, only accounted for 25% this time.

As expected, Hong Chengchou gained more trust from the court and directly accounted for half of the trust.

However, Yang Zhen immediately thought that half of this might not be all given to Hong Chengchou's troops. After all, Hong Chengchou's troops actually only numbered 30,000 to 40,000 elite soldiers.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhen simply asked: "Haha, the military rations sent to Juehua Island accounted for 50%. I wonder if there is a clear distribution method in the decree given by Doctor Shen?"

"This has never happened before."

This time, Shen Tingyang answered very simply.

However, after saying this, he thought for a moment and immediately added:

"However, according to Shen's private understanding, Governor Yang is alone behind enemy lines and cannot help but control his food and salary. If he cannot control his own power, both the war and defense will be affected.

"At the same time, Marshal Zu has been allocating food and salary independently in the past two years. The imperial court will transport the food and salary to Juehua Island or Beacon Mountain and allocate them to Liaodong Town.
To be continued...