Chapter 847 30,000 Troops in Huzhou
The large ship was moored on the river, its banners fluttering.
On a merchant ship, the words "Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce" were written. Mr. He, an elderly member of the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce, and several other members stood at the bow of the ship.
Yangzhou is quite far from the capital. They only heard more than ten days ago that Lady Sui had been captured and that the imperial court was conscripting soldiers to go west to rescue her.
In the past, if they heard that war was about to break out, they would be terrified. In their fear, they would try to stockpile more food to sell when the war broke out... It's not that they were profiting from the national crisis, but that's just how merchants are; it's their nature and a habit passed down from generation to generation...
But this time, their thoughts had subtly changed.
In recent years, thanks to the promotion of crayfish, the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce has made a fortune. This year, Madam Sui even allowed them to raise crayfish themselves. Once the farming is allowed, the future profits will be immeasurable. They have benefited from Madam Sui and naturally know a lot about her, her great talent, her great ability, and her great kindness.
Those in Yangzhou who had been poisoned by crayfish, led by Master Zeng, who deeply loved crayfish, donated money and grain.
Their chamber of commerce is on even closer ties with Mrs. Sui, so how could they fall behind?
So Mr. He ordered his men to buy a large amount of grain overnight, but instead of hoarding it, he loaded it all onto merchant ships and transported it to the capital.
Who says merchants are oblivious to the pain of a fallen nation? Who says merchants prioritize profit above all else? They too are willing to dedicate their strength to the honor and disgrace of the Great Yu Kingdom…
Ahem, of course, the main reason is to save Madam Sui... If others are arrested, they will donate some, but they will never donate this much.
The merchant ship carried a million catties of grain, almost emptying the city of Yangzhou.
Behind the Yangzhou merchant ships were merchant ships from Nanyang.
The Nanyang Chamber of Commerce was not as wealthy as the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce, and the local people had just recovered from a flood two years prior, so they couldn't donate much. However, their lives had been saved by Madam Sui, and now they finally had a chance to repay her. So, they brought out everything they could, raising a total of 400,000 jin of grain, 200,000 jin of cotton, and 3 million jin of firewood...
There were also many other smaller boats, from Jizhou, Qingzhou, Quanzhou, etc. The boats were mostly loaded with grain.
The most eye-catching sight was the last row of huge merchant ships, with banners that read: "Cao Family Merchant Ships".
Cao Defu stood at the bow of the boat, and the person beside him was Zhao Lizheng, the former head of Dahe Village, who is now Zhao County Magistrate of Dahe Town.
"We've finally arrived." Magistrate Zhao stroked his beard. "We owe a great debt to the Cao family this time. Otherwise, with so many people, how could we have made it to the capital in time?"
“Your Excellency is exaggerating,” Cao Defu said solemnly. “Not to mention that my Cao family and my mother-in-law are family, even unrelated people would surely send all their merchant ships to this place after hearing that my mother-in-law has been arrested!”
County Magistrate Zhao looked at the people on the boat. Yes, many of them had never even seen Aunt Dashan before, but after learning about the imperial court's conscription, they all came spontaneously...
In their town of Dahe, each family only kept one male member; all the other men of the appropriate age were on this boat, all there to join the army.
Not only in Dahe Town, but also in neighboring villages like Chengjia Village, Guihua Village, Lijia Gou, and Wangjia Dun… each household in these villages adjacent to Dahe Town was assigned one able-bodied man to go on the boat…
Magistrates in nearby counties such as Baiyun, Fenghuang, and Hekou are encouraging young people to come to Beijing to join the army.
Immediately afterwards, the prefect of Huzhou issued an edict overnight, and in just three days, 30,000 people from Huzhou gathered and all squeezed onto the Cao family's merchant ships, arriving in the capital together.
"It's not time for us to disembark yet, you still have a chance to back out," Magistrate Zhao said. "You are all young, the oldest is only forty years old. You know better than I what going to the battlefield means... Everyone wants to live, so backing out now is a wise move. Think it over carefully!"
"Grandpa, what's there to think about!" Zhao Tiezhu clenched his fists. "Our Dahe Village has become Dahe Town, and so many of us are able to make a living, all because of Aunt Zhao. When we heard that Aunt Zhao was arrested, we were all so worried, but there was nothing we could do! Now that we finally have a chance to use our talents, I have no regrets!"
County Magistrate Zhao's eyes welled up with tears.
Tiezhu was his proudest grandson, and he couldn't bear to see Tiezhu go to the battlefield to die, but he had to do it.
Not only Tiezhu, but his two sons, Zhao Anjiang and Zhao Anhe, also came. Only Tieshuan remained in their family... If everyone else died, at least Tieshuan would carry on their family line...
Standing beside the county magistrate, Zhao Youyin, usually tongue-tied, looked at the crowd and said, "Our sister-in-law's life is precious, and so are yours. No one is more valuable than anyone else! Our Dahe Town is in this state because of our sister-in-law, so the people of Dahe Town are willing to risk their lives to save her. But many of you are not from Dahe Town, so there's no need for that..."
"Although I am not from Dahe Town, I have been able to live a good life because of Dahe Town, and I am willing to go to the battlefield!"
“With the help of Aunt Dashan, our lives have become more and more prosperous. Without Aunt Dashan, I don’t know if I would have starved to death hundreds of times. I have to repay her kindness.”
"I heard that joining the army also comes with a salary, which is quite a lot a month. If you die, you will also receive a pension. So we won't lose out. You people from Dahe Town, stop complaining."
"That's right, that's right! Now that we've come all the way to the capital, there's no reason for us to go back. Let us country bumpkins see the prosperity of the capital!"
"Let's go, it's our turn to disembark!"
"Don't push, one at a time. Register before disembarking, and don't wander off!"
"..."
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Ergou remained silent on the boat, but their eyes were extremely red, and they had to look up to hold back their tears.
In this generation of the Zhao family, only the youngest Xuanxuan remained at home. If it weren't for his grandfather's advanced age, he would definitely have come...
"Alright, stop crying." Zhao Youcai patted the two on the shoulders. "San Niu and Si Dan are younger than you two, so they're under more pressure. You two go find them and ask for information. Your second uncle and I will go with the county magistrate to coordinate with the imperial court about enlisting in the army..."
Zhao Dawang, Zhao Erwang, and Afu squeezed in: "What about us?"
"Help us count the number of people, so that no one gets lost before we even get to the battlefield." Zhao Youcai handed over the roster. "Time is of the essence, so be efficient."
The people on the ship got busy.
The situation at the dock was quickly reported to the imperial court by the officials stationed there.
A booklet containing data was handed to the emperor.
Chambers of commerce from all provinces and prefectures sent donations totaling 12 million catties of grain, 390,000 taels of silver, 410,000 catties of cotton, and 7.9 million catties of firewood...
Aside from these supplies, what is even more eye-catching is the 30,000-strong contingent that came from Huzhou to join the army.
It should be noted that although the order to enlist caused a huge sensation among the people after it was issued, the number of people who actually took action was not as many as expected.
The capital city has the largest population, but only about 13,000 people signed up.
In nearby Jizhou and other places, even fewer people signed up; the entire prefecture only had two or three thousand applicants.
Based on this data, it is estimated that the total number of troops recruited nationwide could only reach about 100,000.
Now, there is no worry about military pay, food supplies are plentiful, and weapons and gunpowder are being urgently forged. The only problem is that the number of troops is still slightly lacking...
The emperor tapped the table and said, "Summon Zhao, the magistrate of Dahe Town in Huzhou, to an audience!"
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