My eunuch godfather

Chapter 30 Drill

Zhang Kun didn't know that Zheng Zhilong was only twelve years old this year and hadn't even started doing business at sea yet.

However, Yan Siqi was also a legendary maritime merchant who even attempted to start a rebellion and establish a nation in Japan a few years later.

After his uprising failed, Yan Siqi fled south to Taiwan, attempting to develop the island.

"Do you know about the outer seas? Like the Blackwater Ocean?"

Zhang Kun repeatedly asked Matsuura Yasunobu, "If you know, do you have a diagram of the needle path?"

"Are you referring to the Kuroshio Current?"

Matsuura Yasunobu also didn't understand, confusing the Yellow Sea Current with the Japan Current, and shook his head at Zhang Kun, saying:

"I've heard of it, but I've never traveled it. It's all along the coast, from Korea to the Ming Dynasty."

However, Yan Siqi might have the needlework diagram.

Zhang Kun reached a deal with Matsuura Yasunobu, and Matsuura Yasunobu quickly delivered one hundred muskets.

The reason there are so many goods and the price-performance ratio is that Japan just finished the Battle of Osaka last year and achieved the Genna era's end of war.

Many samurai and ronin died in this battle, and many more became ronin with no chance of ever rising again.

Matsuura Yasunobu stated that, in addition to arquebuses, he could also obtain many Japanese bows at a lower price.

Zhang Kun had no interest in the Japanese bow, a specialized weapon made out of a lack of materials. He thought it better to go to Liaodong and buy a full bow from the Haixi Jurchens.

The tachi and katana offer excellent value for money and are worth buying in large quantities.

Unfortunately, while the goose-feather saber and waist knife are excellent, their quality varies greatly.

High-quality weapons manufactured by the Ordnance Bureau and the Armory Bureau were indeed less cost-effective at this point in time.

If Matsuura Yasunobu could obtain the "Nanban-do" (Southern Barbarian Armor), Zhang Kun would be willing to buy a few pieces of the Japanese-made plate armor for research.

......

The next day, Sun Jing approached Zhang Kun and said that he had found a suitable piece of land on East Street in Matoudu to buy.

Although it's called East Street, it's actually quite a distance from Matou Ferry, and currently there's only one secondhand clothing shop there.

However, given its proximity to the prosperous Hou family, Sun Jing believed that this place would prosper sooner or later.

Zhang Kun had some understanding of commercial real estate in later generations, but felt that it couldn't be applied rigidly to the present day, so he decided to adopt Sun Jing's opinion.

They built a three-room, five-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), with the Wang family on the left, the Sun family on the right, and the middle one reserved for Zhang Kun.

Sun Jing was primarily responsible for the financial expenses, while Zhang Kun and the Wang family only contributed symbolically.

Sun Jing and his eldest son, Sun Shouxin, stayed in Tianjin and revitalized the Sun family's brewing business.

At the same time, he helped Zhang Kun take care of the Wang family. In return, Zhang Kun paid 1000 taels of silver to give the Wang family a 10% share in the Sun family's winery.

Zhang Kun's second son, Sun Shoucheng, followed him to the capital and worked in the river engineering camp, participating in Zhang Kun's businesses such as dried mushrooms in the capital.

This would facilitate the Sun family's expansion into the capital after establishing a firm foothold in Tianjin.

There was also the fourth son, Sun Shouqian, who was arranged by Sun Jing to learn the business of the foreign trade route, in order to lay the groundwork for the future.

What Zhang Kun didn't know was that Sun Jing's daughter, Sun Shuyun, was arranged to get close to the Wang family and take the route through her husband's family.

On the one hand, Sun Shuyun is too shy to take the initiative to approach Zhang Kun.

On the other hand, Sun Shuyun currently lacks a reason to stay by Zhang Kun's side.

They spent nearly 330 taels of silver to buy 100 muskets and 50 katanas and katanas, and settled their family members.

The river engineering camp had already recruited 700 people, and Zhang Kun continued his journey northward.

Yangcun Water Station in Wuqing County.

"Really...it really is..."

The gatekeeper, overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of the mountain of grain piled up before him, was speechless. He knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, saying:

"Sir, you have truly saved countless lives and are a living Buddha to every household! As a humble citizen of Yang Village, I kneel in gratitude..."

"Thank you, sir!" "Thank you, Your Honor!" "Your Honor, the Upright Judge!"

The gatekeepers, civilians, and disaster victims behind him also knelt down and loudly thanked Zhang Kun.

"Get up."

Zhang Kun stepped forward to help the gatekeeper up, and asked with a smile, "How did you handle the matter I instructed you to do?"

"Those men, please rest assured, sir, I personally selected them; they are all reliable and hardworking!"

The lock official had spread the word in advance and recruited several hundred people to do odd jobs at the lock in exchange for some food rations.

After more than two months, more than 200 people were selected.

The gatekeeper, however, hadn't expected Zhang Kun to reserve 500 places for Yang Village, and said with remorse:

"This humble servant did not expect that the superior official would be so benevolent as to select only two hundred people."

Zhang Kun waved his hand dismissively at the gatekeeper, saying:

"It's alright, I'll recruit another three hundred men, and we'll make it five hundred."

Unexpectedly, the gatekeeper knelt down again and refused Zhang Kun, saying:

"It is my fault for failing to perform the task you assigned me. I will certainly give the villagers an explanation!"

"Get up, get up!"

Zhang Kun helped the gatekeeper up again and explained with a smile:

"The river work battalion is rated to have 5,000 river workers, but we are still short 500. I must recruit enough to fill the quota."

What you should do now is assist me in recruiting another three hundred hardworking and reliable men as soon as possible!

......

Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou.

Zhang Ye stood on high ground, looking at the temporary camp not far away, where the river engineering battalion was conducting drills.

The river workers numbered 5,000 and were divided into ten smaller camps, namely A, B, C, etc. Each camp had 500 men and was staffed with a sentry officer and a flag bearer.

Each camp is further divided into ten teams of three grades, with fifty people in each team and a team leader.

Each team is further divided into five columns: first, second, and third class, with ten people in each column, including one person at the head of the column.

Then there were 250 guards, divided into five teams of 50 men each, numbering one, two, and three.

Each flag bearer consists of one sentry officer, one flag keeper, and three flag officers, totaling fifteen people per flag.

Originally there were only two hundred people, but Zhang Kun wanted to add another team for his trusted subordinates.

"gather!"

Zhang Kun gave a loud order, and the musicians of the guarding soldiers sounded their horns together.

From the sentry officer of each small camp to the head of each column, they would shout "Assemble!" in turn to receive and relay the orders.

In the camp, the river workers looked for the team leader, the team leader looked for the team manager, and the team manager looked for the flag bearer.

In just a few dozen breaths, five thousand river workers assembled in small camps, forming two horizontal and five vertical formations!

"Leave camp!"

Zhang Kun continued to give orders, and the cavalry of the guarding troops were the first to leave the camp, lining up in a row on both sides of the road.

If the army leaves the camp, cavalry will be sent out as scouts to explore the way.

After the cavalry left the camp, the flag bearers of the guarding soldiers waved their flags, and the sentry officers of the Jia-type battalion shouted "Leave the camp!"

The squad leader of the first squad of the Jiazi Battalion then shouted, followed by the squad leaders.

Following the flag bearer who raised the camp flag, the ten teams of the Jia-type battalion, including the first and second teams, marched out of the camp in turn.

Battalion B, Battalion C... In less than half a quarter of an hour, five thousand river workers had completed their departure!

Under the supervision of the cavalry on both sides, as well as the leaders, officers, and sentries, the river workers marched in perfect order.

"How...how could it be so fast!?"

Zhang Ye was the head of the Imperial Horse Administration, which had horse-breeding warriors and four guard battalions. He also jointly supervised the Beijing garrison with the Ministry of War.

In addition to Zhangjiawan, Zhang Ye also served as the tax supervisor of Xuanda in Zhili Province, and visited border towns such as Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong many times.

To Zhang Ye's astonishment, the River Works Battalion had already reached the level of the main force battalion of the border town in terms of its personnel alone!

"Stop!"

Zhang Kun rode his horse to the left side of the middle of the formation, and the cavalrymen on both sides of the road shouted orders in turn.

Upon hearing the order, the sentry officers and the team leader shouted in turn, and the river workers only stopped after the team leader had finished shouting.

There are gaps between the queues, so even if they stop at different times, they will not collide.

Turn right!

The process was the same: after the leader called out, the river workers turned right.

"Form ranks, four-two-two!"

The cavalry gathered on the right side of the road, making way for them.

First, the flag bearer of each small camp, carrying the flag, walked down the road first and marched forward quickly.

Then the sentry shouted "Follow up!" and the first, second, and ten other squads of the small camp followed in turn to carry the flag.

Led by the flag bearer, the four smaller battalions in the middle walked side by side at the front.

Two small battalions each from the left wing, the central army, and the right wing walked side by side at the back.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, the formation was complete!