At the end of November, water transportation stopped due to climate changes and could not be resumed until February of the following year.

The Water Transport Governor's Mansion has completed the transportation task of 1.5 million stones of grain, ensuring the supply of grain in the capital and the north. This time, the emperor did not issue an edict. The Ministry of Revenue only sent an edict, giving credit to the Water Transport Governor's Mansion.

praise.

The reputation of the Water Transport Soldiers has gone out, and the heavy blows have made the gangs along the water transport route dare not act rashly. The gangs in South Zhili and Zhejiang were either mercilessly wiped out by the Water Transport Soldiers, or they stopped and temporarily evaded them.

The other gangs are more or less aware of the situation. If they still want to stand out at this time, they are looking for death.

All of this is the result of the 3,000 water transport battalions.

Zhao Shiqi, the commander-in-chief of water transport, was praised by the Ministry of War, but he was smart and did not report the matter of the 3,000 water transport battalions to the Ministry of War.

Interestingly, Yang Yipeng, the governor of water transportation, did not ask anything.

At the end of the month, Zhao Shiqi actually allocated 5,000 taels of silver to the 3,000 Water Transport Battalion, saying it was salary. Of course Wu Zongrui would not refuse. He knew what it meant. Zhao Shiqi received praise, which attracted the attention of the Ministry of War.

When given the opportunity to be promoted and reused, it is also appropriate to secretly give a certain amount of thanks.

The situation in the imperial court has also changed significantly. The first assistant of the cabinet was appointed as the first assistant of the cabinet. Zhou Yanru, the second assistant of the cabinet, got his wish and became the first assistant of the cabinet. The thirty-seven-year-old Zhou Yanru has the greatest power and the highest status from the emperor.

It is a pity that Zhou Yanru was so high-spirited at this moment that he would never have thought that Wen Tiren, who was also a cabinet minister, had already begun to deliberately plot against him.

All this does not have much impact on Huai'an Fucheng. As the Spring Festival approaches, the bustling Huai'an Fucheng becomes extremely lively.

The stop of water transportation does not mean that the transportation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal also stopped. At this time, a large number of civilian ships began to pass through the Grand Canal, continuously transporting many commodities to the capital and the north.

The business of the Xinyi Gang and the Changheng Gang was booming, and countless merchants came to their door, begging them to help transport goods, and the rewards they gave were very high.

The north suffered from famine, plunder by the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty, and attacks by rogue bandits. It was devastated and materials were extremely scarce. However, the real scholar-bureaucrat families and official gentry families did not suffer much losses. They were very concerned about materials.

The demand is still urgent. At this time, transporting large quantities of goods to the capital and the north will be a huge profit.

Merchants know very well that there are not many truly capable Cao gangs, with the Xinyi gang bearing the brunt, followed by the Changheng gang.

Of course, Xinyi Gang leader Qin Zhirui must seize the opportunity. After the water transport terminal is slightly stabilized, he will once again focus his main energy on the transportation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

The Xinyi Gang's good business means they can earn more money, which also guarantees the expenses of three thousand battalions of water transportation.

However, the transportation time of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is not long, that is, in just half a month to a month, the climate in the north has become severely cold. If parts of the Grand Canal are completely frozen, waterway transportation will have to stop.

In this era, there is no advanced technology that can break the ice on the Grand Canal.

The Xinyi Gang dispatched hundreds of ships at one time to transport a large amount of supplies to the capital and the north. This transportation allowed the Xinyi Gang to earn nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver.

Water transportation stopped and civilian ships began to transport. Gangs along the Grand Canal became active again. They did not dare to have the idea of ​​​​water ships, and they were not polite to civilian ships.

Of course, the gangs along the way also have to look at the momentum of the transport fleet. For example, they dare not plunder the ships of the Xinyi Gang. The Xia Town gang was completely wiped out back then. It is said that it has a lot to do with the Xinyi Gang.

None of the gangs along the Grand Canal feel that they are stronger than the Summertown gangs at their peak.

It happened that at this time, Wu Zongrui issued an order. The Three Thousand Canal Transport Battalion entered the repair stage and would no longer continue to exterminate the gangs along the Grand Canal. This made Liao Wenru and others feel strange, but they absolutely carried out the order.

The Caoyun Three Thousand Battalion has more than a thousand war horses, including some war horses secretly purchased by the Xinyi Gang, and some of the war horses captured by the Caoyun Three Thousand Battalion in the process of wiping out gangs.

The war horses are mainly Mongolian horses and Hequ horses, and they are all war horses.

The total number of sergeants in the 3,000 canal transport battalions also exceeded 4,000.

Wu Zongrui's original plan was that by the end of the third year of Chongzhen's reign, the number of sergeants of the 3,000 battalion transported by water would be good enough to reach 2,000. Unexpectedly, by the end of November alone, the total number had exceeded 4,000.

Due to the increase in the number of sergeants, the Caoyun 3,000 Battalion once again divided its personnel. The total number of the cavalry battalion reached 1,200, the total number of the scout battalion reached 200, and the remaining nearly 3,000 people were divided into three

An infantry camp.

Liao Wenru concurrently served as the commander of the cavalry battalion in the capacity of Qianhu, Liu Ning concurrently served as the commander of the scout battalion and deputy commander of the cavalry battalion in the capacity of deputy Qianhu, Luo Dianzhao concurrently served as the commander of the law enforcement battalion in the capacity of one hundred households, and Luo Dianming, Luo Dianyong and Qin Dalong concurrently commanded the infantry battalion in the capacity of one hundred households.

Seeing that the strength of the 3,000 canal transport battalions is about to reach the strength of the garrison.

The force of the Three Thousand Canal Transport Battalion has rapidly expanded, and training has become more frequent.

Liao Wenru and others believed that the force expansion of the Three Thousand Water Transport Battalion might be too fast, which required a lot of training time, so Wu Zongrui asked the Three Thousand Water Transport Battalion to suspend the suppression of gangs along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

On the first day of December, Wu Zongrui arrived at the barracks of the Caoyun Three Thousand Battalion.

The scale of the barracks has long been expanded. The five miles in front of the mountain col are basically a restricted area. A row of neat wooden fences circle the camp, and ordinary people are not allowed to get close.

The number of barracks in the col has more than doubled and is distributed among three valleys. The scout battalion is located in the innermost valley, the middle valley is the cavalry battalion, the outer valley is the infantry battalion, and the law enforcement battalion is located in the valley.

There are not many sergeants, and they are also stationed in the outermost valley.

So far, the Governor of Water Transport, Mr. Yang Yipeng, and the Commander-in-Chief of Water Transport, Zhao Shiqi, have never been here, and have never asked about the situation of the Three Thousand Water Transport Battalion.

The sergeant patrolling outside the wooden fence saw Wu Zongrui and others and immediately saluted.

The large amount of open space inside the wooden fence has become an important training place for cavalry and infantry.

After Wu Zongrui dismounted, he slowly walked towards the col.

Liao Wenru and Liu Ning followed, and several guards were about five meters away.

"Wen Ru, Liu Ning, you may be wondering why the Caoyun Three Thousand Battalion doesn't continue to exterminate the bandits."

"Brother, the number of sergeants is increasing too fast. There is also a lot of training during this period. It is feasible not to go out to exterminate the gangs. I have told them not to think about rest during the Spring Festival. They must also start training. However, the two recruited this time

There are more than a thousand people, and they are really good. They obey orders and the most important thing is to be able to endure hardship."

Wu Zongrui looked at Liu Ning.

Liu Ning scratched his scalp.

"Master, I have nothing to say."

Wu Zongrui shook his head slightly.

"The reason why the Three Thousand Canal Transport Battalion has suspended its efforts to exterminate gangs along the canal is not because of the large-scale increase in the number of soldiers. In fact, it is of great benefit to allow these new soldiers to participate in the fight."

"But we had to suspend it. The water transportation from October to November went very smoothly. All 1.5 million shi of grain were transported to the capital and the north. The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War both issued edicts praising them. The previous water transportation failed due to various reasons.

The reason for the delay is why it went so smoothly this time. Those gentlemen in the court have no doubts. It's just that the north has suffered too many hardships and lacks food, so they hold back."

"Master Yang and General Zhao also understand the truth. They know the bravery of the Three Thousand Canal Transport Battalion."

"The gangs along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal are more or less in collusion with local governments, especially in the Tianjin Wei area. If the power of our three thousand water transport battalion extends to the Tianjin Wei area, I am afraid it will really arouse the suspicion of the court.

Already."

"We must stop when enough is enough. There is nothing we can do about it. Fortunately, the water transport suspension will only last for two months."

"In these two months, you cannot relax at all. You must hurry up and train. At the same time, select suitable people from the coolie team at the water transport terminal to join the three thousand water transport battalion."

"In the coming year, three thousand battalions will be transported by water to exterminate the gangs along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, mainly in Huguang, Shandong, Zhejiang and South Zhili. As for the gangs in the north, don't think about completely wiping them out, as long as they don't plunder excessively."

...

After talking about the extermination of gangs, Wu Zongrui changed the subject.

"Wen Ru, how is the training of the soldiers?"

Speaking of training, Liao Wenru's eyes lit up.

"Brother, there is no problem with the training. After the coolies from the water transport terminal entered the military camp, they adapted quickly. According to your request, I dispersed them and trained them with officers and sergeants with good tactical literacy. The biggest problem at the beginning was

It was a night gathering and night march. Many people could not see anything at night, but after more than a month, many people got used to it and were able to march at night..."

"Very good, you must pay close attention to training. You must pay more attention to life. Pork and mutton are indispensable. Eggs must be ensured. You must also pay attention to the combination of other vegetables. Soldiers train very hard every day. They must eat and drink enough.

Only then can you have physical strength."

Liao Wenru and Liu Ning nodded at the same time.

Many of the sergeant's recipes were written by Wu Zongrui himself. They felt concerned, but they did not know the importance of the recipes to the sergeant.

Many sergeants of the Ming Dynasty army, including the Houjin Tatars, suffered from night blindness so common that they could not march and fight at night. This was actually caused by insufficient nutrition. The so-called malnutrition is not only a matter of eating and drinking enough, but also the nutritional combination of vegetables and vegetables.

Wu Zongrui, who traveled through time, understands the importance of this.

This is the advantage of the Three Thousand Water Transport Battalion, and it can play the role of a surprise force in future battles.
Chapter completed!