In the following time, the whole of General Pingyu's mansion has been busy with entering the customs. Because the imperial court strictly ordered that only 20,000 troops could be led into the pass, and they had to take the waterway, in addition to the need to select elites, it was also necessary to prepare ships to transport soldiers, especially considering that the Liukou was good at wandering operations, so it was necessary to draw cavalry.

Ships, people, money, food...... In short, everything is going on in an orderly manner. However, despite this, it is not realistic to enter the customs in the short term, after all, if nothing else, it will take some time to transport six or seven thousand war horses alone. It also takes time to prepare ships to sail on the rivers.

In a word, time!

It takes time for troops to move, and so does the preparation of supplies.

In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, on the morning of November 16, the sky was still snowing, and in the port of Dalian, dozens of warships filled the entire bay, and thousands of officers and men in cuirass were lining up to board the ships. When the officers and men boarded the ship, the officials of the prefecture gathered here, and today was the day of the general's expedition, although the main force of the army had not yet been deployed.

"In the future, Liaodong will depend on you!"

After saying that, Zhu Guoqiang pointed to the side again, but Zhu Heyu, who was only three years old, sighed:

"My son is still young, he came to Liao from Jinan a month ago, and he got a cold and discomfort on the road, and I will leave it to you to take care of me for a few days."

When he spoke, looking at his son who looked like a little adult, Zhu Guoqiang's heart couldn't help but feel hot, although he now has six sons, Zhu Heyu is his eldest son, and he has been in Jinan for several years. So after only meeting him a few times, Jing Yun asked her third brother Li Chengkun to take him to Dalian a month ago.

The reasons for this are self-explanatory.

The head of the family went out on an expedition and guarded it with his eldest son.

But Li Jingyun can only stay in Jinan, after all, Shandong is also his roots. She was going to look after his home there.

Chen Changgeng, who knew this well, immediately bowed down and paused, and said in a choked voice.

"Your Majesty should live up to the trust of the prince! will definitely take care of the little son. ”

Hey, what are you doing here?

Just in case, don't make me look like I'm dying!

That's unlucky!

Having said that, Zhu Guoqiang's eyes were also a little red.

Could it be that this is the older a person is, the more timid he is?

Touching the horn of his son's head lovingly, Zhu Guoqiang took a deep breath and said to his son.

"Heyu, Dad is going on an expedition."

"The child knows, although the father can rest assured, the child will listen to Mr. Chen."

Looking at his nephew who said these words like a little adult, Li Chengkun said to the prince.

"Don't worry, the younger brother will definitely protect Heyu."

Nodding to Li Chengkun, Zhu Guoqiang didn't say anything, although this third brother is not wise and amazing, but he is definitely a decisive character, Jinan Jingyun killed people and seized power, it was his strategy, and it is thanks to this that Shandong will become his own rear.

It's a good thing to have him by his side. Perhaps those ministers were loyal. But it is definitely not a good thing for the lord to be weak and the minister to be strong.

Some things always need to be just in case.

At least Li Chengkun is a relative, maybe a relative, but with him, at least it is a check and balance, and balance is the most important thing.

Those people are faithful. But checks and balances do not mean that they do not believe in them, with checks and balances, with supervision, they will be more loyal.

After entrusting his son to Chen Changgeng, Zhu Guoqiang, who was relaxed, punched everyone. Let's pick up the book

"Liaodong's affairs, please leave it to you!"

"I'll wait for the general's good news!"

Then Zhu Guoqiang took dozens of guards and stepped on the boat with a big laugh.

Chen Changgeng took Zhu Heyu by the hand and looked at the high-spirited Shizi Ye from afar, only to feel that the Shizi Ye seemed to be even stranger!

"The world is the world of the people of the world, not the world of the Zhu family. Today, I led the troops into the customs for the life and death of the people, and this is the public! It is not only for the public, even if it is the tiger's den in Longtan, why be afraid! ”

……

It is to lead the troops into the customs, in fact, by sea, from Dalian to the mouth of the Yangtze River, it takes about half a month's work to smooth the wind and water. When the fleet came to the mouth of the Yangtze River again, it was already the moon.

When the boat sailed into the Yangtze River, Zhu Guoqiang, who was in the stern, looked a little trance-like.

He knew what awaited him in front of him.

It's not a rogue with a wide erosion lake.

It's the throne of the Ming Dynasty, and of course, there is Shilin in Jiangnan, which side will they stand on?

"Lord Shizi."

Li Huimei, who was dressed in a military uniform, walked to his side, reached out and held his hand, and then the two of them quietly looked at the stars and moon reflected on the river.

"Emi."

"Huh?"

"You just wait for me here, sea ships are not suitable for sailing in the river."

The warships built in Dalian in the past two years are all in the shape of three-masted cruisers of Britain and France in the 18th century, and these 40-gun or 50-gun cruisers with strong hulls and many guns may be the kings of the sea in this era, but they are not suitable for inland navigation without ship pulp.

As in the past, there are hundreds of boats and salt carriers of all kinds moored in Peacock Island, which are purchased from all over the river, and these flat-bottomed boats with oars and oars are more suitable for sailing on the Yangtze River.

In fact, even though the Peacock Banner has moved to Liaodong, Peacock Island has not been abandoned, and it has been operated as a stronghold for the south. Of course, it is also an extremely important fishing base – even now there are hundreds of fishing boats moored in Peacock Island, and the various marine fish caught by the fishing boats are sold to various places along the Yangtze River.

The current Pingyu army is no longer as exclusive to marine fish as in the past, but the marine fish caught by sail trawling is still the cheapest meat, and even a little more expensive than grain, which is why marine fish is now popular on both sides of the Yangtze River, in any case, it is meat!

As a fishing base, there are not only wharves here, but also ship repair yards, so those boats are first sent to Peacock Island for transformation, as soon as the fleet arrives in Peacock Island, there are officials from the government to greet them, and report:

"General Qiyu, the subordinates have prepared one hundred and sixty-nine cao ships, and in Yangzhou, there are two hundred salt ships for loading war horses."

Unlike the first time he came to Jiangnan, this time although Zhu Guoqiang only led 20,000 people, there were 4,000 cavalry, plus the horses of the infantry in a town, there were no less than 6,000 military horses alone, and those horses were transported to Yangzhou in advance, waiting to join the main force.

"Has the ship been revised?"

Looking at the boat in the distance, looking at the guard plate on the side of the boat, he nodded and said.

"This attack and sacrifice of thieves is mainly based on waterways, and attacking and defending by waterways is inseparable from ships."

Then he told a few words, Zhu Guoqiang went to the boat to check the thickness and materials of the side guard, after all, this layer of guard is equivalent to another layer of armor for the soldiers, and even jumped into the cabin to check the bed in the cabin, for a long time in the future, the soldiers must eat and live on the boat, so he can't be cautious, even if he has long had a lot of experience in marching on the water, he is still cautious, and even personally designed the boat transformation drawings.

Finally, Zhu Guoqiang came to the bow of the ship, looked at the 12-pounder mountain howitzer placed on the bow, looked at its rotating gun mount, and said to himself silently in his heart.

"Zhang Xianzhong, now it's your turn, just let your blood stain the red carpet of Zhu Someone's pole......"