The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Time flies like an arrow, time flies like a shuttle, spring goes and autumn comes, cold comes and summer comes, time flies and passes in a blink of an eye.

After talking a lot of nonsense, one year has passed, and it is already the early spring of the 31st year of Jiajing.

A year passed by in a hurry, and nothing happened in Wei Guangde's family.

The emperor's Northern Expedition plan, which he was worried about at the beginning of the year, somehow came to nothing, but nothing happened.

But the news coming from the capital was even more surprising. The mutual trade with the Mongols that Emperor Jiajing had refused for twenty years was actually opened.

However, the news was not reported to the Tang Dynasty, and the news also brought the information that the mutual trading was just a delaying measure, and the imperial court's northern expedition plan had not been cancelled, and could be launched at any time.

As time goes by, Father Wei's worries become more and more serious day by day.

News came from Jiujiang Prefecture that a lot of grain and fodder collected by the government had been sent to Jiujiang Prefecture, and ships distributed by many guards in the Yangtze River Basin were also gathered in Jiujiang. It seemed that they were ready to set off at any time, just waiting for that. The arrival of an imperial edict.

At this time, in the water transportation of the entire Ming Empire, except for the Cao army, which continued to transport grain to the north as planned, there were no official ships on the rivers.

According to the news from above, although the Cao Army is still responsible for the heavy grain transportation task this year, the planned transportation volume this year is far higher than in previous years. It is not known whether it is to store grain in the north in advance or something else.

When September finally passed and the best time to march north to the grasslands had disappeared, Father Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the entire Wei family also relaxed and no longer worried about the possible war in the north.

For more than half a year, there was no news about the war in the north in the newspapers, and there was no order to mobilize troops and food, but no one dared to take it lightly.

The middle and high-ranking generals in the guard station all have more or less sources of information. They are all well aware of this year's abnormal actions, and now they can finally relax.

"I really didn't expect that the Northern Expedition and revenge operation discussed by the imperial court would eventually turn into an operation to build a border wall."

At the end of September, Father Wei came back from Qianhu Station and brought back the exact news that the revenge plan of the Northern Expedition was cancelled.

"Hey, it's true that the emperor has worried us for more than half a year."

The eldest brother Wei Wencai was undoubtedly the happiest when he heard that he did not have to go to the North Expedition.

Just kidding, even if he is destined to take over the post, he doesn't want to get there in this way. Moreover, most of the people in the entire line of the guard station will be taken away. The guard station has been emptied, and he holds this position. I'm afraid it's also shaky and unstable, and it won't be as comfortable as it is now.

"The soldiers trained by the two hundred households were disbanded on the spot or something?"

Don't worry about Bei Zheng, then you have to consider what to do with your sons who have been training for more than half a year.

This year's military training was led by Wei Meng, and those in charge of the training were Wei Wencai and Wu Dong. The team of more than 200 people was issued with 120 muskets, and 30 were reserved as spares in case of damage. of firearms.

In half a year, more than ten guns were broken. Wei Guangde's original bird gun was found to have some problems and could no longer be used, so he also changed his gun.

There were still dozens of muskets left, which Zhang Qing and Wu Zhankui divided up privately to arm their own soldiers. Not a single musket was left in the guard post.

Now the two soldiers of Jiujiang Weiyou Army's Qianhu Station may already have the highest firearms equipment rate in the world, reaching 50% of firearms.

As for the fixed-load ammunition proposed by Wei Guangde, the test results are very good, the firing rate has been improved, and it has become popular in this firearms unit. Now it is a question of whether to stay in this team.

"Master Zhang means to keep it for now. Training is not easy. Even if we really want to disband, we still have to assign the troops to the generals of our department to act as domestic soldiers."

Father Wei held the wine glass in his hand without drinking, but spoke.

"It's hard to support more than two hundred people, and it costs a lot of money."

When Wei Wencai heard that he wanted to retain this army, he frowned and said.

"Just squeeze it a little more. We will deduct more of the military expenses of hundreds of other households and move them to us to raise soldiers. We cannot pay for the soldiers of the imperial court."

Wei Guangde also put down his chopsticks and said that he could still have a little drink outside, but at home, he could only watch his father and eldest brother drink.

"That's what it means above. The soldiers come from a hundred households below a thousand households. In the future, the military pay will be based on seventy men and one man. The rest will be transferred directly to us, so we can help them train their troops."

Dad Wei drank the wine and said, "Several other Qianhu offices will do the same thing. The bosses above have reached a consensus that they still have to keep a soldier in their hands. If there is another battle like last year, no one wants to do it. ".

"I'm afraid those hundreds of households won't be willing."

If a hundred households were short of twenty or thirty soldiers, the hundred households would lose a share of their income. Only then did Wei Wen realize that the other hundreds of households might be tempted to give up.

"Then it depends on their ability. As long as they can bring the matter to the Nanjing Governor's Mansion, I think they are capable. I'm afraid they won't even dare to poke it out themselves. They will be the first to be punished."

Father Wei chuckled.

These things of deducting military pay are not on the table. What reason do they use to cause trouble?

In Jiujiang Wei, who cares about them?

The few people in charge, from the commander to the chiefs, have to keep an army of soldiers on standby, and everyone has to share the money among them. As long as their share is not short, there is still the matter of Qianhusuo. Who cares.

Bengshan Baihu Station has more than a hundred soldiers than in previous years. They train outside the fort on weekdays. Wei Guangde's life has not changed much. He still gets up early every day and goes to school to study hard.

It's just that the number of children they have together has grown from the original six to four. The families of two of them feel that it is enough to learn how to read and write, and there is no need to learn more. They are not material for the exams, and continuing to study is just a waste.

After the fifteenth day, on the twentieth day of the first lunar month, Master Sun's private school started again.

There are ten children in the private school who will take the county examination this year, and these are the students who Master Sun thinks have a chance.

Why we need to gather ten is not because the Ming Dynasty exam requires five students to protect each other.

Those who failed to pass the exam in the past two years and those who have reached a similar level this year are these people.

Because the county examination is held in February, Master Sun mainly pays attention to the homework of these children during this period. One piece of eight-part essay every day is unbeatable. As for the other things, well, as long as the eight-part essay is done well, the county examination and the government examination You can pass smoothly.

"Why didn't Qin Jingchuan come today?"

After the Gao Sitang case, Master Sun glanced at the student Yin Yin below and found that a seat was empty, so he asked.

He couldn't help but care. This absent student had to take the county examination this year. There was still more than half a month left in the county examination, so it was time to study hard.

Master Sun had already read the dozen or so essay papers in front of him, as well as those written by the other nine and several future seeds such as Wei Guangde, but Qin Jingchuan still hadn't come. Looking at the time, it was already past the time for school. It's late.

At this time, a student next to the empty seat stood up, bowed slightly and bowed to Master Sun: "Jingchuan's grandfather passed away yesterday. I only found out this morning when I asked him to come to school with me."

"What? Mr. Qin is gone?"

Madang Town is such a big town, and the town's population is not large. Everyone looks up without looking down, so they all know each other. Master Sun can't help but feel a little embarrassed.