The support fleet traveled up the river day and night, with two shifts of sailors taking turns to steer the boats, and patrolling sentinel boats along the way to provide information. The support fleet is also unsheathed, bowed, and fully guarded to prevent enemy ships from sneaking up at night. In this way, the daily journey can reach more than 200 miles, and if the journey is smooth, Zhao Yu feels that he can reach Ezhou within ten days.

Although there are wind and waves on the Yangtze River, but compared to the stormy waves on the sea, it is still pediatric, and the sea ship is much more stable on it, Zhao Yu's Sheji hull is as smooth as on land, the only thing that makes him feel uncomfortable is the climate, the wet and cold air on the river makes people extremely uncomfortable, and Qiongzhou is the most comfortable time at this time.

"Official, drink some ginger tea!" Su Lan brought the freshly brewed tea.

"Well, Jiang Shang is cold, don't walk around outside the cabin, you need to add more clothes." Zhao Yu picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, seeing that Su Lan's face was pale and concerned.

"Fortunately, my body is not cold-tolerant after staying in Qiongzhou for a long time, and it may be fine in a few days." Su Lan smiled.

"Let them light a brazier in the cabin, I can't reach out even cold." Zhao Yu held the tea in both hands and warmed his hands.

"It's okay, slave and maid will go." Su Lan nodded, took two steps and turned back, "Your Majesty wants to prepare one for Miss Li as well?" ”

"Okay, my sister is still thoughtful, it's the first time she has left Qiongzhou, and she must be more and more unsuitable for the weather here, so I'll send her that big piece of rice together!" Zhao Yu nodded and said, through getting along these days, he found that Li Sanniang was not so annoying. Maybe it is because he leads the soldiers in the village, participates in the affairs of the village, and does things in an orderly manner. And there is the courage in the bones of the slang, not only brave in battle, but also extremely decisive in action, and let him find that Chen Shu's little devil is very scared of her, as long as Li Sanniang is present, he will not dare to be presumptuous.

"Hehe, how did the official girl Li wear it, and the color doesn't match, the slave maid sewed another one and sent it over!" Su Lan smiled when she heard this.

"That'...... That's too hard sister. Zhao Yu thought about it, and said embarrassedly

"Why does the official family think the color is good?" Su Lan asked again.

"I don't know if red alone is too dazzling, black is too dull, and white is better...... It's better for my sister to watch it! Zhao Yu couldn't count the reasons after thinking about it, so he simply handed it over to Su Landao.

"Okay, then leave it to the slave!" Su Lan looked at Zhao Yu with a thoughtful and hesitant look and smiled.

Later, Zhao Yu ordered all ships to serve hot ginger soup, hot meals, and fast cold food, and at the same time to supply more meat to increase calories. At the same time, officers of all armies should urge soldiers to do a good job of keeping warm to prevent frostbite; The sergeants who accompanied the army prepared medicines to prevent wind and cold and distributed them to each soldier, and the sergeants who found that they were infected should be sent to the hospital ship for isolation and treatment in time to prevent large-scale infection. Otherwise, if you go with a group of sick people, it will not be a war, but a trouble.

The brazier was lit in the cockpit, and soon it warmed up, Zhao Yu picked up the documents sent by the Imperial Front Office again and began to read them, including the official documents of the Hangzhou Dynasty, the urgent reports of the state capitals, the war reports of various armies, and the intelligence of the Affairs Bureau. And the reason why he was able to get news from all over the place in a timely manner, and that he was able to receive the documents from all over the place at any time, was also thanks to the Mongols.

In ancient times, there was no need for modern times, there were no telephones and telegrams, and the transmission of information was slow, mainly by people and horses. The territory of the Yuan Dynasty was vast, and in order to obtain news from various places in a timely manner, it was necessary to have a complete post transmission system. During their time in Temujin, Chagatai Khan had repaired a post road from Shandan Prefecture through the Hexi Corridor and through the Vultures to Huyasi near Alimari, where he was stationed.

However, the large-scale establishment of post posts began during the time of Kublai Khan. He moved the capital to Yanjing, and at the same time as the founding of the country, under the administration of Yelu Chucai, he promulgated the "Zhanchi Strip Division", and based on this, unified the Mongolian Zhanchi and Han postal systems; Adapt to the shift of the ruling center, and plan a post system centered on the capital; Establish a horse delivery network with post stations as the main body and a foot delivery network with express delivery shops as the main body, and post stations are dotted around, and the morning and evening are coming. As a result, a large-scale and dominant Yuan Dynasty post post was formed, which communicated the connection between the central and local governments and between the localities.

Before Kublai Khan, in addition to welcoming and sending off envoys, providing accommodation, and transportation, the Yuan Dynasty post station also served as a small amount of goods such as tribute and luggage in peacetime, and also undertook the transportation of military supplies in wartime. The post station system also has stations at transportation hubs to transport valuable and urgently needed materials such as gold and silver, treasures, and tribute. In addition to the post station network with horse delivery as the main body, there is also a set of express delivery network with foot delivery as the main body, which is dedicated to the transmission of official documents.

The post station is responsible for equipping the envoys with means of transportation, including horses, donkeys, and oxen on land, boats on water, sedan chairs on the mountains, and post dogs in the northeast and remote areas that are specially used on ice. According to statistics, there were about 45,000 post horses in more than 1,000 post stations across the country in the Yuan Dynasty. In the northeastern Harbin area, there are 15 dog stations, supplying 3,000 post dogs. Some areas in the south where water transport is developed are mainly water post transportation, with more than 400 water posts and nearly 6,000 post boats. These transportation facilities constituted a large post road transportation network in the country in the Yuan Dynasty.

After the Song army recovered Jiangnan, it not only took over the local political power and the cangli, but also inherited their entire post system. Of course Zhao Yu knows the importance of transportation, did he have a saying in his previous life that 'if you want to get rich, build roads first'? And he knows better that the current road has a more important meaning, which is like the nerves and blood vessels of the human body, which deliver information and nutrition to every corner. It also enabled Zhao Yu to receive information from all over the place even if he was on the ship, and to understand the situation in various regions......

The fleet traveled day and night and arrived in Jiangzhou on the evening of the sixth day, which is the place where Song Jiang was assigned in "Water Margin", that is, the modern Jiujiang City, and to the west is the land of Jingzhou. Jiangzhou is known as the road to the five mountains, the three rivers are resisted, and it has the strategic position of the thoroughfare of seven provinces. Due to the convenience of boats and abundant products, it has been the capital of Dayi since ancient times, a central city for personnel flow and logistics, an important material distribution center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and one of the four major rice markets and three major tea markets in China.

This is the last city conquered by the East Route Army, due to the loss of ground in front of the Yuan, the Yuan army stationed here was panicked, they crossed the river north without resistance, so the economy here suffered serious damage, and there are still 600 miles to Ezhou, Zhao Yu decided to dock here, replenish fresh water and supplies, and then no longer stop the ship, until Ezhou. Jiangzhou town guard Sun Kai led the civil and military to greet him, he felt that it was too troublesome to get off the ship and enter the city, and delayed time, so he ordered Sun Kai to come on the boat to meet him.

"Don't be inhibited, drink some hot tea!" Sun Kai was also an old man when Jiazi Town was established, but at the beginning, he was only a capital head, and he could be regarded as a young man among the old people, but with his bravery, good fighting and good at learning, he stood out from the crowd and became the youngest commander, and soon he will become the youngest commander. However, the brave general who was not afraid of death on the battlefield behaved very restrained in front of him, and after seeing the salute, he stood aside at a loss, and Zhao Yu asked him to sit down.

"Your Majesty Xie......" Sun Kai sat on the pier in a standard military posture, opening his mouth but not knowing what to say.

"Where is General Sun's hometown?" Zhao Yu saw that his nervous forehead was sweating, and knew that he was nervous and couldn't speak, so he asked first.

"Your Majesty, the last general's ancestral home is Luoyang, and he settled in Pengze County after crossing to the south." Sun Kai replied.

"Oh, Peng Ze belongs to Jiangzhou, according to which it is not far away, but there are still relatives?" Zhao Yu listened.

"Yes, Peng Ze is more than 100 miles away, and there are still parents in the family, a sister who is not married, and two younger brothers in the house." Sun Kai replied.

"Have you ever returned to your hometown to visit?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"At the end of the year and the seventeenth year, he should be the king of Zhaoqin, and then he went to fight in various places, and then entered the army of the commander's mansion, and went to Qiong with His Majesty. When he returned to his hometown for the counteroffensive, he was busy with military affairs, and he was still in time to return to his hometown, and he didn't know what was going on at home. Sun Kai's face was gloomy.

"It's close at hand, when you go back to your hometown to visit your parents, and do your filial piety in front of the church, at least you have to look at the situation at home!" Zhao Yu also felt sad when he heard it, and comforted him.

"Yes, Your Majesty. When the war slows down a bit, the general will return to his hometown to visit. Sun Kai replied.

"Wang De, prepare two horses of silk and twenty taels of gold for Sun Tongzhi to take home, which is a little bit of my heart." Zhao Yu said.

"Thank you for your majesty's generous gift!" After hearing this, Sun Kai hurriedly got up and gave a big salute.

"Now you are also the head of the army, the important minister of the country, and now you are returning to your hometown, how can you be too shabby!" Zhao Yu raised his hand and asked him to excuse himself.

"Your Majesty's love, let the last general be embarrassed." Sun Kai saluted again before sitting down again.

"I took a boat up the river, and all the river defenses began to be built, but you are the latest to recover here, but the construction is the fastest, the Dehua city wall has been repaired, and the various water villages have been put into use. It can be seen that you have put your heart into it! Seeing that Sun Kai was no longer as nervous as he was just now, he turned to the topic.

"Your Majesty, the last general will not dare to take credit, this is all the power of the army. In addition, when the local people saw the arrival of the king, they also responded positively, and they brought their own food to the service, day and night, so that they could have some appearance. Sun Kai replied.

"Well, it seems that the people of Jiangnan still miss my dynasty." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "At present, the two important towns of Ezhou and Jiangling have not yet been recovered, and Jiangzhou has become a node to curb the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so we must be extremely careful and not negligent." ”

"The last general understands that now is the day by day, and he does not dare to relax in the slightest!" Sun Kai replied respectfully.

"So much for the best. You must actively prepare for war, hoard grain and grass materials, once the battle of Ezhou is lost, you must be prepared to block the enemy, and at the same time prepare to send troops to reinforce, it can be said that the task is the heaviest, I am very happy to see you so attentive. Zhao Yu praised.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the end will live up to expectations." Sun Kai replied, "Now the city is hoarding 200,000 stone of grain, which can be used only for one month; The ammunition stored is also available for a campaign. In addition, the last general also asked His Majesty to allocate some more muskets, and the recruits have already entered the camp one after another, and they will need to be armed and trained in the future, but now the army has less than 2,000 guns in stock, which is too far from what is needed. ”

"Now the armies are expanding, and the artisan workshops have just resumed production, and there is a big gap. I will first allocate a limited amount of 5,000 to you from the reserves, and then allocate the insufficient amount after the normal production of the craftsman's workshop. Zhao Yu thought for a moment. Now there is a large-scale expansion, and the armies are short of firearms, and the craftsmen's workshops, even if they are in full production, can hardly meet the needs, so they can only be allocated to those who need it most.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Sun Kai listened to the surprise and said, as if he was even more excited than the reward just now, he got up and saluted. Of course, he knew that the ten divisions had been expanded into ten armies, and the number of troops had increased by 300,000, and there was naturally a shortage of weapons, and His Majesty had given priority to allocating 5,000 muskets to himself, which could be described as a great love.

Next, Zhao Yu inquired in detail about the deployment situation, as well as the plans and plans for dealing with the enemy, so as not to underestimate the enemy because the advance was smooth. At the same time, Sun Kai was required to pay attention to the people's feelings, restrain the troops, and not disturb the people. In addition, it is necessary to cooperate with the local state government to do a good job in eliminating the remnants of the enemy, suppressing the rebellion, eliminating spies, collecting taxes, escorting materials, pacifying the people, and other work.

Two hours later, the supplies of each ship were replenished, and Sun Kai got off the ship to say goodbye. At this time, Dong Yicheng's fleet had already sent ships to meet him, and the fleet continued to set off westward, thus entering the area of Jiangnan West Road. And Zhao Yu just had dinner, and the Imperial Office sent the official document that he had just received, and they had already sorted it out according to the usual practice, and put it away according to priority.

"Good news!" Zhao Yu took the top scroll while eating, and after flipping through two pages, he slapped the chopsticks on a few and said in surprise.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Su Lan, who was serving beside her, was taken aback and asked in surprise.

"It's a real send-off!" Zhao Yu nodded and said.

This volume of documents is all about the Yuan court, because the Song army suddenly sent troops to seize Jiangnan, so that this year's autumn tax has not been collected, and the grain stationed in the state capitals has not been shipped on time. The grain endowment obtained by the Yuan court was less than 30% in previous years, resulting in a shortage of grain in Jiangbei, and the Empress Dowager Nanbi ordered the autumn tax in Jiangbei to be increased by 40% in the capacity of a superintendent to solve financial difficulties; At the same time, it reduced the grain ration to the northwest to alleviate the risk of food shortage in Jiangbei.

However, you must know that the taxes in Jiangnan now account for seventy percent of the entire fiscal revenue of the Yuan Court, which is definitely a heavy blow to the Yuan Court. Over the years, due to Kublai Khan's indiscriminate rewards, frequent use of troops abroad, and huge military spending, the treasury was empty. Now that the financial resources have been cut off, they will be immediately stretched thin, resulting in the collapse of Jiangbei's economy, the sharp depreciation of the Zhongtong banknotes, the soaring price of grain, and one ingot of Zhongtong banknotes can only buy two stones of rice.

On the other hand, the Great Khan Duwa of the Chagatai Khanate in the northwest sent troops again, and its relations with Haidu had always been good in the past, and they often jointly invaded the borders of the Yuan Dynasty. This time, taking advantage of Kublai Khan's new funeral, the kings of the sect fought for the throne of the Khan, personally led an army of 120,000 to invade the Wuer, besieged Hara Huozhou and echoed the sea capital, and the northwest war had a tendency to restart......