Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 462: Anything else on your mind?
The next morning

Zhenjiang.DaKu
"Thirty loads of gunpowder!"

"Five loads of lead bullets!"

"Two thousand six hundred solid shells!"

As Liu Shuban chanted, the generals in the courtyard were also checking the military supplies in their hands. After the two figures matched, the leading general gave him a fist.

"We are all."

"Okay, then sign and seal it."

As soon as Liu Shuban finished speaking, the general took out a small seal from his waist, and then he stamped twice on the triplicate records, and then pressed his handprint underneath after the seam was occupied.

Seeing this, Shuban Liu would not delay, but he had already prepared the official seal, and all that was left was his personal signature.

Then he carefully wrote his name in small regular script on the seam, and after confirming with the general again, he carefully cut out the couplet.

During this period of time, he truly experienced what it meant to be unpredictable and what it meant to be beyond one's imagination.

Although he encountered some setbacks when he was on business trip earlier, it did not affect the overall situation.

After returning to Yingtian, the examination prepared by the court was already approaching. He briefly reviewed at home for a few days and then took the "Civil Service Skills Test".

This examination was sponsored by the Ministry of Personnel, but he met many people from the Advisory Council during the process.

Secretary Liu did not find it strange.

After all, although his personal status is humble, his position is extraordinary.

Through layers of connections, he already knew the inside story of this exam, and naturally understood the relationship between the test and the Advisory Council.

There is no need to say much about the examination process. Although the questions were quite biased, apart from some mathematics, most of them were just a transfer of his work to the questions.

Such a topic certainly did not pose any difficulty for a seasoned official like him. In just over an hour, those papers were already filled up with answers.

Sure enough, after the results were announced, he received an A, which was considered top-notch.

If it were the imperial examination, after the results were announced, the students would relax and spend two days on the Qinhuai River.

But these people all have rich social experience, so they naturally have to focus on the following things.

perturbed.

Those days were really anxious.

Although Liu Shuban had many connections, he knew nothing about the court's arrangements. Later on, he even regretted why he got involved in such a matter.

After all, although the leaked news from above said that "those with outstanding performance should be given important positions", he was at most a small clerk. Could Your Majesty break the ancestral rules and make him a county magistrate?
What's more, he is already of this age and his life in Yingtian is relatively stable. If the Advisory Council really wants to transfer him to the southwest, what should he do?
With this thought in mind, Liu Shuban became more and more uneasy and anxious day by day. If it were not for the fact that the certificate with the Majesty's private seal had been delivered to him after only four or five days, he would have been unsure of how much he would suffer.

"Liu Shirong, the clerk of the Ministry of Rites, received an A-level intermediate evaluation in the first public service skills test in the first year of Jingwu. He is now awarded the title of A-level public servant and a monthly salary of 5 coins."

Liu Shuban will never forget these short fifty words.

Clerks are responsible for paperwork and archives, official document delivery, criminal litigation, judicial security, grain transportation and taxation, and security. They can be said to be the main force in maintaining the normal operation of government agencies and social order and stability.

But at the same time, not only were clerks prohibited from marrying officials, but their clans would even expel any members of their clan who became clerks.

Clerks were listed together with slaves, prostitutes and beggars. This was a tradition that had been passed down for hundreds of years. However, this certificate with His Majesty's private seal clearly referred to Liu Shirong as a "public servant."

As a man in the government, Liu Shirong knew how precious these four words were, and also understood how difficult it was to stamp this private seal.

Even though His Majesty did not make any major changes to the ancestral system at the official level, this alone was enough to move him deeply.

What happened next was not what Liu Shirong had expected. Although the Ministry of Revenue reluctantly raised his monthly allowance, the censors of the Supervisory Office submitted memorials to the emperor in large numbers, claiming that it violated ancestral rules.

Faced with such an incident, the clerks, who had always been known to be cunning, did not do anything openly.

However, during those few days, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, the Yingtian Prefecture, the Jinyiwei and other government offices all received detailed evidence of certain censors' corruption, abuse of power, dereliction of duty and negligence. This incident lasted only three or five days before being thrown aside by everyone.

To put it bluntly, in normal times, officials took various kinds of silver, either black or white, and enjoyed various privileges, and the clerks saw it but did not cause any trouble.

But now, His Majesty has only increased the salaries of the real main force in maintaining the operation of the court. The officials are fighting to the death, and whoever takes over will have to teach them a lesson.

In the end, this incident came to an end in a whimper. Under the supervision of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, those censors enjoyed the treatment of a joint trial by the three courts.

Things had come to this point, and Liu Shirong thought that things would calm down. However, who would have thought that the emperor was also impatient. When the trouble was settled here, new jobs were assigned to clerks of grade A and above there, and he, a clerk of the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonies, was also sent to Zhenjiang to be in charge of the flow of goods in and out of the warehouse.

"The formalities are complete, you can load the car."

Seeing the general carefully putting away the inventory list, Liu Shirong smiled and said something. Then, at the other party's order, the soldiers in the yard carried the large wooden boxes out of the yard. Taking this opportunity, Liu Shirong chatted with them.

"The cannon has been firing all night. I'm afraid the Tartars won't be able to hold out for much longer."

Although he was not on official business in the Ministry of War, he was in Yingtian and knew that the Ming fleet fired thousands of cannons in Taiwan and razed the city built by the Dutch to the ground.

The navy had clearly taken away a large batch of gunpowder and artillery shells earlier, but now they received this again.

He thought that such consumption should be able to achieve that kind of effect, and it would only take a moment to seize the river mouth. But who would have thought that after he said this, the general's face suddenly turned red, and after three or two breaths, a clear perfunctory tone came out of his mouth.

"Come on, come on."

Seeing the other person like this, Liu Shirong felt a little confused.

I heard that Your Majesty specially transferred more than ten armed merchant ships from Shen Butang in order to seize the river mouth with lightning speed, but now the other party reacted like this. Did something go wrong before?
With this in mind, he thought about how to get the news, but after thinking for several times, he still couldn't find a suitable method. When the gunpowder and shells were about to be loaded, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Look at my brain. Yesterday, Yingtian sent a letter asking to see my storage and reserve materials. Although the military supplies I have here are sufficient, whether they are enough or not depends on how much you use. It happened that you came here, so I gave Yingtian a chance to reply."

Although Liu Shirong's tone sounded like a casual chat, his gaze was always fixed on the general's face.

This question was extremely far-fetched. If someone had worked in the government office for a long time, he would have discovered his purpose at the first moment. However, this military general was also a man who was mixed in the fighting. After a slight hesitation, he spilled out everything he knew.

According to what he said, although he worked all night last night, the effect was far below expectations this morning. It would be better to prepare more in Zhenjiang.

After all, the Tartars had been struggling for nearly a year, so of course they had more than just this one fort at the river mouth. If they really used artillery to attack all the way, the consumption of ammunition would be enormous.

Hearing this, Liu Shirong had some rough guesses in his mind. At this time, all the military supplies in the yard had been moved away. The general said goodbye to him and led his men straight to the dock.

In fact, he couldn't quite understand why the superiors chose to attack Huaidong when they knew clearly that the Tartars had already controlled this place like an iron barrel.

But then again, he was just an ordinary military supply person, and even if he didn't understand the court's strategy he had to follow orders. What's more, this plan seemed to be planned by His Majesty himself, and after much thought he could only explain it by saying that there was some deeper meaning behind it.

After about two hours, carts of ammunition were transported from the warehouse to the dock, and then sailed to the vicinity of the warships by boat. After distributing the supplies to the ships, he boarded the largest warship.

The ship was about sixty to seventy feet long and twenty to three feet wide. Not only were its two sides equipped with more than twenty cannons weighing more than a thousand pounds, but the bow and stern were also equipped with the top-notch Ye Gong Shen Cannon.

A ship of this size can be considered a giant for an inland navy, but it is only comparable to the armed merchant ships sent by Shen Tingyang.

After boarding the ship, he couldn't help but look into the distance, then smacked his teeth before walking towards his commander.

Actually, this army of theirs had already been under the control of Your Majesty when they met on Chongming Island. In terms of seniority, even the two generals Fang and Hou in the imperial guards are a little behind.

But things are unpredictable. After the battle of Suzhou and Songjiang, their main job became guarding the Yangtze River waterway. Seeing other troops making great achievements while their own troops could only wander around on the river, it was really not a good feeling.

Fortunately, His Majesty had not forgotten them, and the first battle of this Northern Expedition finally fell into their hands. However, the ammunition and time were consumed, and after a whole night of fighting, the Tartars' fort at the river mouth was only slightly damaged. His morale was finally disrupted by this dud.

"Marshal, I'm back."

The thoughts in his mind did not delay the general's movements. When he reached Huang Fei, he bowed down.

"This time, we received 30 dan of gunpowder, 5 dan of lead musket balls, and 2,600 solid cannonballs. In addition, the Zhenjiang warehouse needs to add more storage. I took the initiative to accept it."

"Well, keep the accounts in order and don't make any mistakes."

"Order!"

After reporting his mission, the general retreated. Huang Fei, who stayed on the boat, looked normal, but he knew the thoughts of his subordinates clearly in his heart.

He knew the great impact that a night of bombardment without any achievement would have on morale, and he also understood that the key to this Northern Expedition fell firmly on himself.

However, the forts at the river mouth were all newly built by the Tartars. Even with His Majesty's arrangements, he could only get through them bit by bit.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

As the sound of artillery fire continued to be heard, Huang Fei's thoughts were suddenly pulled back. Then his eyes became slightly firmer, and he immediately ordered someone to bring out the map.

When Huang Fei was young, he followed his uncle Huang Long to fight against the Qing army in Liaodong.

After Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan's forged imperial edict, he experienced Liu Xingzhi's rebellion. His uncle was appointed as the general of the new Dongjiang Town, and he also became the commander of the Liaodong Navy.

Later, Huang Long was killed in a fierce battle at Lushunkou, and his nephew continued the Huang family's bloodline.

Within a few years, he accumulated merits and was promoted from garrison commander to deputy governor, commander-in-chief of the navy supporting the suppression of the Northeast, and admiral of the navy in Guanliao, Tongjin, Huaihai, and Jiangzhen. He acted at his discretion and all his work was related to the water.

Later, when Hongguang ascended the throne, he and Huang Degong were stationed in Wuhu. When his partner was killed, the land camp surrendered. His navy was unable to support the whole army and finally had to abandon Wuhu and go to Chongming Island.

In the original history, he led his troops into Taihu Lake when Zheng Zhilong broke his promise and Chongming Island could not effectively restrain the Tartars.

After Longwu ascended the throne, the various regimes of the Southern Ming attacked each other, and he, a sniper behind enemy lines, was besieged by the Qing army.

On July 11th of the first year of Longwu, Huang Fei was defeated at Deshenggang. He was hit by three arrows. He first drowned his wife and more than 30 people in her family, and then jumped into the water to die. He was hooked by the Qing soldiers, who questioned him but he refused to answer, and tried to persuade him to surrender, so they broke Huang Fei's left hand.

Later, Huang Fei was tied up and taken to Nanjing. When he saw Hong Chengchou, he pointed at him with his right hand and cursed him. The Qing army then crushed his right hand and cursed him even more fiercely. They then cut off his tongue, but Huang Fei was still mumbling.

On September 5th, he was beheaded outside the Shuixi Gate.

Zhu Cilang had originally planned to make use of such a loyal and brave general, but he had little prestige in the army before, so he couldn't help but worry that this strong general with many military achievements would disobey discipline.

Later, Zhu Cilang's prestige in the army grew, and he had fewer concerns about these non-direct generals who had both military power and meritorious service. However, the war at that time had already spread to central, southern, and southwestern China, and Huang Fei had been sitting on the bench until this time.

However, Huang Fei had gone through many hardships in the first half of his life, so he seemed to understand His Majesty's arrangements. What's more, he only sat on the bench and did not suffer any suppression.

He was extremely concerned about receiving the military order this time.

"Put it away."

After looking at the waterway atlas that he had already memorized for a long time, Huang Fei turned his attention to the river mouth fort.

Although he was not quite sure why His Majesty insisted on making Huaidong the main direction of attack, as a capable commander, he had some guesses in his mind.

After all, your majesty has always regarded killing the enemy's manpower as the priority when leading troops, and has never cared about the gains and losses of a city or a place. Although there were also many Qing troops in Huaidong at this time, your majesty, who was accustomed to big scenes, seemed to look down on them somewhat.

Choosing the waterway, which is the most heavily defended by the Qing army, as the breakthrough point, maybe he had other intentions?
(End of this chapter)