Zhoushan.

Zhang Huangyan looked at the soldiers unloading goods on the dock and finally felt a little better.

Although the food transporters were all small boats this time, it was only enough for the army to eat for half a month. But it was finally a path.

The brothers in Siming Mountain District are still reliable!

But the current situation requires Zheng Chenggong's Iron Army to endure it and eat less.

In the 12th year of Yongli, Zheng Chenggong established Zuohuwei Town.

The soldiers were selected from the elite officials and were given a monthly salary of three or four taels.

Zheng Chenggong ordered man-made thick armor, iron armor, arms, skirt, iron shoes and other necklaces. He also made iron faces, only revealing his eyes, ears, mouth and nose, and his makeup was colorful like a ghost. He held a big knife in his hand and was called Iron Man.

Because I have to wear more than 30 kilograms of heavy armor, the Iron Man Army consumes a lot of energy. Therefore, you must eat meat every meal, and the appetite is two or three times that of ordinary soldiers.

Even with Zheng Chenggong's family, he could only support 5,000 Iron Man Army, but the Iron Man Army is definitely trustworthy.

Not long ago, when the Ming army attacked Zhenjiang, Zheng Chenggong ordered the Iron Man Army to seize the top of the Yinshan Mountain in the gate of Zhenjiang.

The Qing army's admiral vigilant led 15,000 mixed troops of Manchu and Han to fight.

In his opinion, he could eat his opponent in one fell swoop with three times the strength of the Ming army.

However, Guan Qizhong never expected that both infantry and cavalry would not have any advantage in the impact on the Iron Man Army’s rattan soldiers. After a fierce battle, only forty people escaped back from the 4,000 elite cavalry of the Qing army.

At this point, the Iron Man Army became famous in one battle.

Zhang Huangyan also wanted to build such an army, but he was too short of money to support even 5000 people.

It would cost no matter how much money it would cost to create such a armor that protects the whole body.

As for daily offerings, there are countless.

I have no choice but to get poor.

But Zhang Huangyan quickly returned to the official residence and saw Zheng Chenggong drawing a picture in front of a map. He walked forward with a smile.

"Damu, guess why. General He from Siming Mountain sent someone to deliver more than a dozen ships of food, which was enough to solve our urgent needs."

Zheng Chenggong turned around and said in surprise: "So fast? Brother Cangshui is just proud of his face."

Zhang Huangyan waved his hand and said, "Damu, don't sarcasticize me. Everyone is doing things for the Ming Dynasty, so why are you talking about face?"

After a moment of pause, Zhang Huangyan said: "Damu, I want to discuss something with you. The grain we carried with us, the food stored on the island, and the food transported from Siming Mountain this time will be enough for the army to eat for three months. I think you might as well reduce the food and clothing cost for the Iron Man Army for a while, and everyone will overcome the difficulties together."

According to the Iron Man Army's standards, one person can eat the rations of three ordinary soldiers.

Zhang Huangyan felt that at this time, the overall situation should be put first and should not be special.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Chenggong shook his head and said, "I can listen to Brother Cangshui for anything else, but there is no need to discuss this matter. When I established this Iron Man Army, I formulated a series of rules. Since these rules were formulated by me, Zheng Chenggong, I have to abide by them. If I break the rules now, who will still work hard for me in the future? Who will believe me?"

Zhang Huangyan did not expect Zheng Chenggong to react so fiercely and smiled bitterly: "Now is an extraordinary period after all, can't we bear it?"

"I can't stand this."

Zheng Chenggong had a very firm attitude and said resolutely: "If Brother Cangshui thinks that the joint venture and distribution of grain is unfair, we can divide the camp first. If our army does not have enough food, I can think of a solution myself."

"What are you going to do now?"

Zhang Huangyan thought to himself that Zheng Damu is really a person who wants to save face and is too sarcastic.

"I can do my old job and grab it!"

Zheng Chenggong's words were obviously full of breath, which made Zhang Huangyan stunned.

Not to mention, this is really a way.

The Zheng family started with smuggling and maritime trade. Zheng Chenggong's father Zheng Zhilong was the largest pirate in the southeast at that time.

Later, Zheng Zhilong accepted the imperial edict of the court and turned into an official army.

If it weren't for Zheng Zhilong's rebellion and surrendering to Qing later, this could have been considered a good story.

Fortunately, Zheng Chenggong stood up in time to make up for Zheng Zhilong's fault. He helped Ming and resisted Qing dynasties for many years and made the Zheng family famous.

"Damu, do you really want to be a pirate?"

Zheng Chenggong said lightly: "It must be robbed, but I can go and rob Donglu."

"The one who robbed Donglu?"

Zhang Huangyan widened his eyes.

"Yes, the one who robs Donglu! Brother Cangshui, come and see!"

Zheng Chenggong pulled Zhang Huangyan to the map and pointed to a traced channel and said: "According to my sending people to inquire, the Donglu pseudo-Governor Lang Tingzuo ordered people to take 30% of the taxes from various prefectures and counties in Zhejiang to transport them to Dengzhou by sea. This is the route."

Zhang Huangyan frowned and said, "If you don't walk on the Grand Canal, why should this guy take the sea route?"

Zheng Chenggong sneered: "If you walk on the Grand Canal, you need to deal with water barriers along the way, and it would be good if you can get half of the food left in the capital. He can't pump any more, right? But if you go on the sea transportation, if you don't encounter big winds and waves, there will be basically no rift or loss. In this way, Lang Tingzuo can attribute the responsibility to the canal's failure to float. Even if you count the 70% of the food along the way when transporting the canal, you can still have 50% left. He also explained to Luting."

Zhang Huangyan nodded, as if that was the case.

"I thought Lang Tingzuo was a loyal Luting court."

"Lang Tingzuo, Guan Qizhen, Liang Huafeng. On the surface, these people are loyal to the Luting Court, but in fact they all have their own little plans. Brother Cangshui is afraid that he doesn't know yet. When we attacked Chongming Island, Liang Huafeng once wrote a letter to me, expressing his surrender."

Zheng Chenggong said directly.

"Daki has been hiding this from me?"

"I'm also afraid that Brother Cangshui will be confused when he finds out. Because I have never believed that Liang Huafeng will surrender!"

Zhang Huangyan thought about it carefully and was indeed the case. His personality was more willing to believe in beautiful things.

If he saw the letter, he would definitely persuade Zheng Chenggong to cooperate with Liang Huafeng.

As it turns out, everything is just a delaying strategy.

Liang Huafeng is the general of Susong Town of the Lu Court. How could he choose to surrender at the risk of losing his fame and fortune?

"Although Liang Huafeng will not really surrender, I have recognized the appearance of these people through this incident, that is, one behind the scenes, and one behind the scenes, and two sides can do everything they can. How can such people be really loyal to the Luting Court? All they care about is their own interests."

Zheng Chenggong talked jokingly: "So I ordered people to inquire everywhere and learned that Lang Tingzuo was reselling Zhejiang's taxed food."

I have to say that this is indeed a way to hide the truth.

Nowadays, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is not smooth, and there are many bandits along the river in troubled times, so it is not normal to have to float during the food transport process. Lang Tingzuo could use this as an excuse to eat the difference in his mouth.

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ps: The second update is here. This chapter has been deleted and modified several times before it can be considered satisfactory. Please recommend votes!
Chapter completed!