Chapter 627 0622 [Evil Soldiers]

Dengzhou Port is deserted.

Wang Juzheng, the prefect of Denglai, said: "Goryeo ships only come to trade once a year, so they are rare to see."

Ju Ming asked: "Aren't the southern maritime merchants also unwilling to come?"

Wang Juzheng said: "If Jiangnan maritime merchants want to trade in Shandong, they will also choose Banqiao Port in Jiaoxi County. Firstly, it is closer there, and secondly, the risk is less. Dengzhou is still too close to the enemy."

"Where are the local maritime merchants in Dengzhou?" Zhu Ming asked.

Wang Juzheng said: "Dengzhou Port has been closed to the sea for decades. How can there be local maritime merchants? Even the craftsmen who build sea-going ships are old and can only build small boats for offshore fishing."

Ju Ming looked at the empty harbor, which was even more depressed than the Banqiao Port he inspected before.

"Make arrangements to go to Salmon Island to have a look." Ju Ming ordered.

Wang Juzheng hurriedly admonished: "Your Highness, you must not do it. There are many extremely vicious people on the island!"

Ju Ming smiled and said: "There is a military port on the island, and half of the Dengzhou sailors are on the island. Are we still afraid that those thugs will rise up and hurt people?"

"Yes!" Wang Juzheng could only obey.

Wang Juzheng was born second in the Northern Song Dynasty. After taking the exam, he went home to live in seclusion and study.

The imperial court successively awarded four official positions, including county magistrate, professor of state studies, and professor of government studies, but Wang Juzheng refused to accept them all. It wasn't until the world was in chaos and he couldn't live safely in Yangzhou that he came out to assist Fang Mengqing in pacifying the Huaihe River.

Historically, this man was so deceived by Qin Hui that he actively helped Qin Hui climb to the position of prime minister.

As a result, it was soon discovered that something was wrong. Wang Juzheng was so angry that he ran to see Zhao Gou and said to Zhao Gou: "That guy Qin Hui promised me that he would plan ZTE when he became prime minister, but now he is doing this mess. Please ask your Majesty for me. Ask that bastard if what he said actually counts?"

Then, Wang Juzheng was demoted to be the magistrate of the state...

The Southern Song Dynasty comprehensively criticized Wang Anshi's new learning and reforms, and Wang Juzheng took the lead in promoting it. The real purpose was to liquidate the remaining parties of Cai Jing and Wang Fu.

That night, Ju Ming chatted with Xue Daoguang about his overseas experiences, and the next morning he took a boat to Salmon Island for inspection.

Shamen Island, later known as Miao Island in Changdao County, was also the most terrifying place of exile for felons in the Northern Song Dynasty.

In the middle and early stages of the Northern Song Dynasty, some civil servants were considered guilty and deserved to be killed, but the court gave preferential treatment to the civil servants and instead sent them into exile. Their place of exile was basically Salmon Island.

It was said to be exile, but in fact it was no different from being sentenced to death. Many prisoners committed suicide on the way.

Political prisoners, economic prisoners, criminal prisoners... two to three hundred people are exiled every year, and the island often accumulates two to three thousand criminals. And what about the court? Only three hundred people are allocated food each year.

There are residents on this poor island, and they are free of taxes, but there are only about 200 households in total.

Nine out of ten criminals have no food to eat and must work for the islanders to make money. But the islanders are also poor, how can they afford to support them?

For example, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, there was an official named Li Qing who was responsible for managing criminals on Salmon Island. In just two years since he took office, Island Master Li directly killed more than 700 people. He could kill anyone he wanted!

Often when new criminals arrive, the first thing to do is to see if the person brings a lot of goods. If he does, he will kill the ball directly.

This place is too scary, and everyone among the officials is in danger.

Because if the law is strictly followed and corruption exceeds ten cases, the principal criminal in the case can be exiled to Salmon Island.

Finally, during the Xining period, Salmon Island gradually stopped accepting civil servants. At the same time, the imperial court also increased its food supply to Salmon Island.

However, there were more and more other types of serious criminals. By the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the number of prisoners on Salmen Island had doubled, and the court had to send an additional 200 defenders to prevent accidents.

Now, Salmon Island has been turned into a naval station, and the criminals on the island have been converted into navy.

All the vicious people on the island, including the old, the weak, the sick and the weak, could not live more than three months.

"Dang-dang-dang!"

"Hush!"

"All assembled..."

Early in the morning, more than two thousand naval officers gathered and lined up at the port to wait for the prince's arrival.

Most of the navies transferred from the southeast were stationed at Dengzhou Port.

Only a few ships and dozens of officers were thrown away to train the felons on Salmon Island. More than 90% of these guys in front of me are extremely vicious people.

More than a dozen ships came in force, and the musketeers landed first to clear the way.

Ju Ming walked to the general station and watched the generals conduct the drill. After finishing, he lectured: "Do you know who I am?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" the soldiers shouted.

Ju Ming said: "In recent decades, Salmon Island has not accepted corrupt officials. Every one of you people has more than one life on your hands. Even if you have never killed anyone before, you will definitely kill people when you get to the island. The Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty , give you a chance to live, and you don’t have to fight for your life like before. Are you willing to fight for the Ming Dynasty? "

"willing!"

"We will kill whoever the prince tells us to kill!"

"Your Highness, can you atone for your sins by performing a meritorious service? I want to go home and visit my mother!"

"Prince, if I achieve great success, can you let me marry an aunt?"

"..."

The military discipline of these soldiers was really bad. They were laughing and making as much noise as a vegetable market.

Ju Ming asked the generals to restrain him, and waited until everyone was quiet before continuing: "Those who have done meritorious service will be rewarded, and they will have enough to eat every day. After three years, ten people will be selected to go home to visit relatives every year. As for women, it is up to you to snatch them away." Where to rob? Across the sea is the Kingdom of Jin. I cross the sea several times a year and plunder all the valuables I find.

"Long live the prince!"

"I've done this deal!"

"I can rob ten women with one vote."

"I can rob a hundred."

"..."

Zhu Ming could feel the "enterprise" of these bastards, and it was still reassuring to let them harass the heartland of the Jin Kingdom.

After the lecture, Zhu Ming asked the navy commander of Shamen Island: "I heard that you were a Liao person before?"

The general stood up and saluted: "My name is Shi Huan, and I used to be a general of the Liao Kingdom's Jiangnan Navy. The Liao court did not pay salaries for a long time, and the soldiers could only smuggle sea salt for a living. When the Jin people came to Jinzhou, I teamed up with my sailors and took my family to Shandong by boat!"

The Liao Kingdom's Jiangnan Navy was stationed in Jinzhou.

Zhu Ming asked: "How many Liao Kingdom naval forces surrendered to the Jin people?"

"I don't know." Shi Huan shook his head and said.

The Liao Kingdom's naval bases were in Lutai (Ninghe, Tianjin) and Jinzhou. The remaining three were all on the other side of the Yalu River.

Most of these Liao Kingdom naval bases chose to surrender to the Jin Kingdom, and the rest either rebelled and died or fled to the territory of the Song Dynasty.

The Jin Kingdom did not intend to fight a naval war with the Ming Dynasty. Half of the Liao Kingdom navy that it received was used to defend several large salt fields, and the other half was thrown into the Yalu River to guard against Goryeo.

Zhu Ming asked with a smile: "Then what do you know?"

Shi Huan said: "I know where the salt fields of the Jin Kingdom are. We can take the Ming Navy to plunder the salt fields! The plan has been set. The criminals on Shamen Island are used to taking sea ships. This month, we will plunder the Jin Kingdom's coastal salt fields (Dongxinzhuang Town, Suizhong County)."

"Very good." Zhu Ming expressed satisfaction.

Back in Dengzhou, Zhu Ming inspected the new army of Denglai.

There are more than 5,000 newly formed land forces here, with Zhao Li as the main general and Song Jiang as the deputy general.

Not only must we guard against enemies at sea, but we are also responsible for deterring the powerful people of Denglai.

The Shandong army that Zhang Shuye brought back from Tokyo was broken up and mixed, and most of Song Jiang's old troops were organized in Jinan.

"Meet Your Highness!"

Thousands of new soldiers saluted in unison, with great momentum and uniform behavior.

They don't look like new troops at all, but more like a battle-hardened force.

If we only look at the number of times they have fought, they are really veterans. Many soldiers rebelled in Hebei and Shandong, then attacked cities and conquered territories, and then moved to Henan and Hebei.

Among them, there were even Western troops who followed Tong Guan to conquer Liao. After being defeated, they became bandits in Hebei, and then rebelled again.

They all crawled out of the pile of dead bodies!

With this kind of soldier source, personal strength is no longer important, the key lies in their military discipline. They robbed the people, drank and gambled, and deserted in battle... They had a lot of bad habits, and they didn't obey management very much.

Zhu Ming observed the army for a while, nodded and said: "You have trained well, how do you make the soldiers obedient?"

Commander Zhao Li replied: "Officers and soldiers eat and sleep together, do not deduct food and wages, and those who violate orders will be severely punished. I have trained the army for a year, and have executed six officers and 25 soldiers. The number of caning, whipping, training and deducting food is countless."

Zhu Ming asked with a smile: "After killing so many, the soldiers didn't make a fuss?"

Zhao Li replied: "First set the rules, then punish, handle public affairs impartially, and never show favoritism!"

"What a great person who never shows favoritism, you can be a good general." Zhu Ming praised more and more.

He is worthy of being a fierce man with the posthumous title of "loyalty and bravery". When the Southern Song Dynasty fought against the Jin Dynasty, this man first rewarded the spoils of war to the soldiers, and he would rush to the front every time he fought. He personally beheaded the deserters he caught, and beheaded all the Jin soldiers he caught. He fainted in street fighting, and after waking up, he was able to steal the commander's body and bury it. Every time he fought, he was shot like a hedgehog, but he would still rush to the front the next time. Unfortunately, he was killed by the Jin people's thunderbolt cannon when defending the city.

Zhao Li in this time and space was recruited by Gao Qiu in Xuzhou, and surrendered to Zhang Tong with Gao Qiu. He followed Zhang Tong to pacify Shandong and was promoted for merit.

Zhu Ming smiled and asked Song Jiang: "Do you respect this superior?"

"Yes." Song Jiang's old face blushed. He probably suffered a setback at the hands of Zhao Li, and there was no way to deal with Zhao Li.

Song Jiang is indeed a veteran thief, but how can he fight against a fierce man who is shot like a hedgehog every time he fights?

The arrogant are afraid of the stupid, and the stupid are afraid of the desperate!

"Will you also participate in this sea crossing attack?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhao Li replied: "Only 1,000 infantry will go, and all the cavalry will go."

"Are these the cavalry?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhao Li replied: "They are all here, a total of 600 riders, all of them are Shandong horse bandits."

Denglai is outrageous enough, the navy of Shamen Island is full of serious criminals, the army is full of old bandits, and even the cavalry is full of horse bandits.

Let alone other things, let them rob and loot, they are definitely professionals.

They used to do evil in the Song Dynasty, but now they are going to do business with the Jin Kingdom without capital!