PS: It's about to start a war with the Qing Demon, don't you support it with a monthly pass?

The ocean near Minami Naoli. The ninth day of the first month.

The water vapor blowing from the sea makes the air clammy and cold, and there is a faint smell of sea in the air. In the distance, at the junction of the sea and the sky, the afterglow of the sun edged the clouds with a layer of gold. The wind on the sea blew the flags on the masts, and there was a rattling sound. As the sun goes down, the wind gets colder.

Looking out from his cabin, Wang Chengen was very proud to see that the entire fleet covered almost all the sea as far as his eyes could see.

Several clippers were at the front of the flotilla, serving as sentries and messengers. Large and small gunboats served as escorts on the left and right flanks of the flotilla, guarding a large number of troop carriers in the middle of the flotilla, as well as the baggage ships.

In just 10 days from the 29th of the lunar month at Hue, the entire Nanzhong Army completed a large number of trivial and complicated tasks, such as army mobilization, personnel gathering, troop assembly, material collection and shipbuilding, and requisition of transport ships.

A few small whistles sounded, and the smell of food emanated over the fleet, attracting hundreds of seabirds to hover over the fleet, hoping that one would give them some leftovers.

Wrapped tightly in the sea dragon skin robe on his body, Wang Chengen went out of the cabin, and under the escort of several little eunuchs, he wanted to show the kindness and gentleness of the angel.

Outside the cabin, the six flag schools of the Jinyi Guards stood there with embroidered spring knives in their hands. Although they worked hard to make a majestic and majestic appearance, the impetuousness and smoothness on their faces made people think of the idiom that Mu Monkey is crowned.

A little farther away, the commanders of the two guards battalions were on duty with more than a dozen soldiers, and although the cold wind made them shiver slightly, they still stood there as if they were cast in steel.

"Are the brethren a little cold?"

Wang Chengen walked up to the head of the first captain and expressed his concern.

"Is this uniform a little thinner?" He twisted his fingers around the fat jackets of several soldiers and the leather shoulders they were wearing.

"Back to my father-in-law, thick is thick enough. But at sea, when I was beaten by the wind, I was also beaten through. The brothers are all southerners, and I don't know that there is such cold weather in Ludao. So I can't stand it. ”

Condolences to the sentinels on duty. Wang Chengen met Wang Dehua on the same boat. The two great eunuchs both looked at each other with a spring breeze on their faces. Although it was hard to travel day and night at sea for a few days, the complexion of the two of them was not bad. The sea dragon skin, Xuanhu leather robes and hats on the body are all made by the Han people overnight, and they are extremely warm and show the majesty of the angel when worn on the body.

With a smile in their mouths, the two of them went to the cabin where the soldiers and officers on the same ship had a meal.

in the cabin. There are two camps.

The officers and soldiers of the Beijing battalion and the brocade guards wearing flowers on their bodies are one. The officers and soldiers of Nanzhong with fat jackets and armor on their shoulders spontaneously gathered in one place. Existence determines consciousness. The difference in the living environment of the two sides has led to each other looking awkward.

As soon as they boarded the ship and set off, a skirmish broke out between the two sides.

In the eyes of the soldiers of the Beijing camp who accompanied the two angels who sent the decree south, they were the guards of the messenger. He deserves to be treated as a guest. Although his pocket was full of Cheng Yi's silver, and he had made crazy purchases in Hue's large and small shops, when he heard that he was about to go north to King Qin, these uncles scolded and reluctantly boarded the ship. According to them, since the will has been preached, then this kind of thing should be done by this group of barbarians in the south, as for them, the masters from the capital, of course, they want to enjoy a few days in this rich land of money and food, and then slowly go north to lead the army.

When it was time to eat, several officers of the Beijing battalion took advantage of the topic and expressed their dissatisfaction with the food on board. However, the secretary general who accompanied the ship answered their questions without humility or arrogance: "Our South Central Army is divided into three food standards, large stoves, medium stoves, and small stoves, and the sailors eat better than our army, because they have to work hard day and night, so they naturally have to eat better." You are a thousand presidents, you can eat in the stove, three dishes and one soup for each meal, and a pot of wine and fruit. ”

How can Mr. Qian stand this? As soon as you say hello, you have to bring people forward to fight in a group. The secretary did not show weakness, and led a group of men to prepare to meet the enemy. happened to be discovered by a confidant of Wang Dehua, and when the two princes arrived, the Qian Zong and several Beijing soldiers had been knocked to the ground, covered with oily soup, and they were screaming and scolding in their mouths. The two groups of men and horses frowned at each other, and their swords were torn with each other.

"You guy, if you dare to scold again, Lao Tzu will break one of your fingers with this horse spoon!"

The secretary shouted in a low voice to Mr. Qian.

"General, why is that?"

Wang Dehua and Wang Chengen were very polite to the secretary.

"I have seen two fathers-in-law under the mark. According to the system of our army, the battalion officers and officers eat the medium stove, and the first commander and the personnel use the big stove. These people don't think the food is good, and ask for a small stove or a standard meal with you. The secretary pointed to the dishes that several men in the back cabin were hurrying to eat, and the more than 20 dishes with hot and cold, meat, vegetarian, sweet and salty dishes were already considered a feast on this ship.

"At that banquet, my lord respects the two fathers-in-law who traveled thousands of miles south and were diligent in royal affairs. Prepared with his private belongings, all expenses were paid by the inner bookkeeper. How do you ask the bidder to set up a table for these people again? ”

The secretary is also an old fritter rolling in the crowd, and he naturally knows how to meet people, talk about people, and talk nonsense. As soon as the words came out, the two fathers-in-law smiled dazzlingly, and their buttocks immediately sat on the side of the Nanzhong Army.

"You murderer! It's just a matter of being a power on weekdays! I don't want to repent when I come out with our family, and I dare to be so presumptuous! That Qian's face was whiter than snow by three points, and he immediately begged for mercy.

Since then, although the two sides still did not speak when they met, the soldiers of the Beijing camp were inferior in momentum. Actually, in all fairness. The food on this ship, especially the medium stove enjoyed by the officers, was better than that of those guys in the capital, although the taste may not be as good as his home, but it was better than the real material, big fish and big meat. These guys are just finding fault and going crazy. I didn't want to, but I kicked on the iron plate.

Seeing that the two groups of soldiers were just eating there, the two big eunuchs smiled at each other, and under the escort of seven or eight small eunuchs and their personal guards, they returned to their cockpits to eat.

"Although this diet is coarse, it is not as delicate as that of Jingzhong. But the victory is full of pride. Wang Dehua pointed to the wine and delicacies on the table with ivory and silver chopsticks. Whole chickens and ducks. Huge lobsters. The fragrant beef, the copper tripod of the red soup exudes an attractive aroma.

"Prince, according to the speed of this march, I am afraid that it will be the fifteenth day of the first month. You and I can watch the lanterns in Tianjin. ”

Wang Dehua raised his glass to Wang Chengen and toasted.

"Father-in-law. Our family does not dare to be so optimistic. The coming day is a big disaster, and there are worries in front of us. ”

Wang Chengen's face was sad.

"Where did you start? General Li was worried about state affairs, and immediately after receiving the order, he ordered more than 10,000 troops, collected hundreds of civilian ships, and sailed north. After Emperor Taizong, there was no such a huge fleet, which is obviously the hope of the prosperity of the country! ”

"Father-in-law, that's what our family is worried about!" The two little eunuchs were ordered to go to Wang Chengen's cabin to get a few booklets and handed them to Wang Dehua.

"Father-in-law, please see, this is a record of what I have seen and heard written by several officials when General Li invited Guangdong officials to travel and visit Nanzhong before the two of us arrived in the port, and it was transferred to our family. It is written that Nanzhong has its own set of systems for the promotion, rewards and punishments of administrative officials, from military training, reclamation, mining, road construction, immigration, road construction, to the selection, appointment and dismissal of officials, which is completely different from that in the mainland. In addition, children regardless of gender or race, all those who have reached the age of six must be enrolled in the school to read and write, and the government will provide food and books. Parents and elders in the family who dare to hide and not send it will be severely punished! For more than ten years, Nanzhong has been full of literate people, but they only teach the way of making a living, not the way of saints. ”

And the selection of officials is also divided into two categories, one is from the so-called village chief trained in the political hall, to the newly opened land everywhere to open up thorns to enlighten the mountains and forests, and then gradually promoted. The other group is the sergeants who have been wounded in previous battles, and those who are not suitable for fighting in the army, so they are sent to various places to serve as political officials or garrison leaders. The hierarchy is clear, each has its own responsibility, although there are too many redundant personnel to worry about consuming money and food, but the administrative efficiency is high, such as the arm commanding through the round and wishful. An order was issued from the so-called official office, and within one day it reached the capital city, another day to the county seat, and another day to the towns and villages. If you want people to ask for food, and send troops to fight, you will immediately handle it when you call and drink. Father-in-law, I am everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, can there be such a place? ”

Wang Chengen's travelogues and notes became heavy in Wang Dehua's hands. His breathing began to grow heavy, and his face turned a little pale.

"And, father-in-law. Now that I am in the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters and man-made disasters are continuous, if it were not for General Li to serve the palace with money and food, I am afraid that the emperor's life would be even more sad. At present, Lord Li is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but, as far as our family knows, there are bumper harvests everywhere under his command year after year, and tens of millions of acres of fields are all good paddy fields, which can harvest rice two or three times a year, and about ten stones of rice can be harvested in a year! There is also the method of intercropping rice and rapeseed, and between villages and towns, there are countless fish ponds and six livestock farms. There is no shortage of grain, oil, and meat. Moreover, every household has dozens of acres and hundreds of acres of fields, and there are ploughing cattle and iron ploughs and other things, and it is not illegal to eat beef in Nanzhong, and there are cattle farms and beef cattle farms in all provinces. According to my father-in-law, can I have such a place now? If my Ming background is all peeped into by Lord Li, even if he wants to be Guo Ziyi, but if his subordinate generals plan to be the ministers of the dragon, what should they do? ”

"Smack!" The chopsticks in Wang Dehua's hand couldn't help but fall on the thick carpet, and a few bits of oil soup were absorbed clean in an instant.

"Father-in-law, there is another fatal thing, Ding Zhuang here, since the day he became Ding, in addition to having the right to reclaim dozens of acres of wasteland, is to receive military training, Zhuang Ding must not be less than three months a year, these three months are daily exercises! Father-in-law! Compared with Qi Shaobao's Qi family's army, it is several times stronger! During the daily exercises, these people would inevitably shout slogans such as whose food we eat, whose clothes we wear, whose guns we carry, whose salaries we receive, and whose fields we plant, and so on. Again, who are we going to work for? The soldier replied that he would die for the general. Father-in-law think about it. After a long time, the army only knew that there was General Li in the road, and they didn't know that there was the Ming Emperor in the road! ”

Wang Chengen's words were still going on slowly and peacefully, but with Wang Chengen's words, Wang Dehua suddenly felt that although there were a few stoves lit in the cabin and a thick leather robe was still draped on his body, he still felt cold to the bone.

"Since our arrival in Hue, our family has also tried to contact the loyal people in the South Central Army, but many contacts have failed. These people have never lacked a single star in the number of courtesies. But in the politeness, it is a rejection of people thousands of miles away. ”

"Why?!"

"Father-in-law. A month's salary for a captain is five silver dollars, and there are four expedition allowances. Income from the family's fields and other items is not counted. Just imagine, father-in-law, how can I be able to offer a higher military salary than this? And most of these generations are Miao Yao's generation. In my heart, I only know that there is General Li in the road. I don't know that there is a great tomorrow. ”

"As you say. If Master Li uses it well, it is Guo Ziyi, who is driven by Qingtian, and if he uses it badly, it is another Yang Yinglong! ”

"Definitely! Definitely! Father-in-law. Yang Yinglong was trapped in Banzhou, and he just wanted to be a foreign emperor in a place where the mountains were high and the water was dangerous. This General Li's ambition is far more than that! ”

Wang Dehua's eyes swelled, and several muscles on his cheeks twitched involuntarily. It is even more excessive than Yang Yinglong, the Tusi of Banzhou, who made the Ming Dynasty almost spend several money, food, soldiers and horses to calm down, then there is only the Dragon and Tiger General of the year, Li Shouhan's predecessor Nurhachi.

"I don't dare to say that." He looked around carefully, but fortunately, the people on duty inside and outside the cabin were his two henchmen. If the people of the Southern Central Army listen to it, there will be a shipwreck in Guazhou. On this sea, a ship capsizing and sinking due to the wind and waves is naturally the simplest and most reasonable thing.

"You say that his ambition is not small, but there is evidence?"

Wang Dehua asked Wang Chengen in a low voice.

"Father-in-law, our family said this, naturally there is a reason for our family. You look outside the cabin, if these hundreds of ships of all sizes are from his Li family, and the imperial court ancestral system prohibits the construction of large ships, isn't this a violation of the ancestral system? If it weren't for his Li family, those big Western ships, he requisitioned them without authorization, would it be considered a violation of the system? ”

"Also, there are three brigades of soldiers and horses in this fleet, but how many mules and horses did my father-in-law see? Most of them arrived on the boats with vehicles, harnesses, saddles, etc., but horses and mules were very few. However, the South Chinese Army has a large number of vehicles and heavy artillery to be pulled by mules and horses, and the father-in-law knows where these mules and horses come from? ! ”

"With these many mules and horses, does he plan to collect them again in the land of Gyeonggi? Or the idea of the Taifu Temple and the Imperial Horse Supervisor? ”

Both the Taifu Temple and the Imperial Horse Supervisor managed the horse administration for the emperor and the imperial court, and the difference was that one was the imperial court and the other was the emperor's. Even if Jiannu came to Beijing many times, the Taifu Temple and other institutions responsible for raising horses for the emperor were still able to take out 100 imperial horses and 1,000 imperial servants at a time for the emperor to reward Lu Xiangsheng.

However, in order to ensure the transportation of grain, grass, and heavy artillery for more than 10,000 people to fight, so many horses may not be able to get out even if the Taifu Temple and the Imperial Horse Supervisor are bankrupt!

"Definitely! Definitely! ”

Today, Wang Chengen seems to have eaten the wrong thing, and he is competing with Wang Dehua vigorously.

"Father-in-law, do you know where we are at the moment?"

"Isn't it near Nanzhili? At noon today, the captain reported that I was near Ningbo Mansion, and not far west of Shengsi County's Flower Island and Butterfly Island! Princess, what do you mean by asking our family?! ”

"Father-in-law, to the east, more than a thousand miles, is a big island in North Korea! That island has been used to raise horses since the Yuan Tartar, and the place is thousands of miles away from the most conducive to breeding horses. Now that island is under the jurisdiction of the South Chinese Army! ”

When these words were said, Wang Dehua gasped.

"So this is Jeju Prefecture? This guy is so daring! It's okay to start a war with a rebel without permission, how to divide people's land? And don't report a word to the court, this guy! Sure enough, what a boldness! ”

"Father-in-law, in our opinion, at this time, the horses needed by all the units in the fleet will be shipped on Jeju Island, and then arrive in Tianjin to land, and after a few days of training, General Li's troops will be a fierce army of soldiers and horses. This person, who uses it well, is a king-sized Qin Liangyu, Guo Ziyi of this dynasty, who is not used well, is An Lushan and Zhao Kuangyin. ”

Wang Dehua's status as the eunuch in charge of the seal is naturally higher than that of Wang Chengen, the eunuch who holds the pen, and he paced back and forth in the cabin a little irritably, and told the little eunuch to get the map.

"Princess, where did you learn about the capture of Jeju Island by the Nanzhong Army for horse breeding?"

"It was the day of loading and departure that day, and a battalion officer called Tang Chang was unprepared for a moment and leaked out."

Unfolding the map of the whole Ming Dynasty, the two princes found their current location and found the location of Jeju Island to the east. The two men immediately furrowed two sparse eyebrows.

"You can't touch him! I can't move! ”

"This place is too vicious, you must not touch him!"

The two princes carefully looked at the distance between Tamna Island and Wusongkou, Ningbo Mansion, Songjiang Mansion, Jiangyin and other areas of the imperial court's wealth, and then thought about the two huge ships that were showing off their might in the fleet at this moment. Not to mention anything else, on the Shouhan's newly launched flagship Chang Sheng, there were as many as eight or nine hundred sailors alone, and more than 100 guns of various sizes on board, (this is only on the ship's gun positions, and the twelve-pounder guns, Cloon guns, and mortar guns that temporarily took the ship were not among them.) "If he is moved, his subordinates will support their adult children to come out and order the whole army, nothing else, as long as the artillery fleet keeps harassing the coastal areas of Nanzhili, and even going upriver to cut off the canal, the court will never have peace. ”

"This person can only be wooed, and he must not be killed with the loyalty and righteousness of his official position."

Wang Chengen dropped a pair of glasses given to him by Shouhan and rubbed the clip marks on the bridge of his nose, very depressed.

"I don't think so!" It was Wang Dehua who looked thoughtful.

"What does my father-in-law mean?"

"The tree is big and has dead branches. You just said that Li's army should shout slogans, but I don't think all of them are his sworn friends. However, this matter can only be done in person after entering Beijing. So as not to be secret, and startle the snake! ”

"Boom! Rumble! ”

Two trumpets were faintly heard on the sea, and after a few moments, the captain of the Wave Treading came to the two fathers-in-law.

"The two fathers-in-law, the messenger ship of the striker has returned. The lord said that there was an urgent military situation, and asked the two of them to cross the ship to discuss. ”

"Two fathers-in-law! The enemy situation just received, three days ago, Jiannu Yuetuo and others led tens of thousands of troops to attack Jinan, and Jinan fell to the enemy! ”

Just arrived at the Changsheng of Shouhan, and before a bowl of tea was served, this amazing news exploded on the heads of the two princes like a thunderbolt from the sky.

"Therefore, the official decided that the whole fleet would change the rudder and not go to Tianjin. Go straight to Shandong. This official wants to meet with the chieftains of Dolgon and other slaves in Shandong! ”

The cabin was immediately filled with a faint smell of urine, and I don't know which little eunuch was so frightened that he peed his pants. (To be continued......)