"Erchen knows what to do!"

Zhu Cihong knew that Emperor Chongzhen was not well-intentioned, and he wanted to provoke the relationship between the Wu and Zheng families. Of course, Zhu Cihong's marriage to the richest man of the warlords also has advantages and disadvantages, the advantage is that they can rely on their strength, and the disadvantage is of course that the harem struggle has intensified.

And Zhu Cihong's harem route is based on Wu and supplemented by Zheng. This requires Wu Sanmei to give birth to her eldest son, otherwise Zheng Chagu has no opinion, and Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Sen will not do it! Although their Zheng family followed late, their strength was not small at all.

The family of firecrackers alone gave more than 10,000 firecrackers, and Zheng Zhilong promised to continue to provide more firecrackers when he left Nanjing. He also expressed his willingness to cooperate with the imperial court to recruit Foshan blacksmiths to go north to "start a business", and also promised to build centipede warships for the Yangtze River sailors, and also promised to contact the Dutch East India Company's governor in Batavia for Zhu Cihong - compared with Japan and Portugal, the Dutch are the super suppliers who can really supply Zhu Cihong's army in large quantities!

If Zhu Cihong hopes to establish a European-style army that can sweep the north within a few years, then he can only rely on the Netherlands, a sea coachman, to supply - of course, it is better to build than to buy, but now making guns and casting cannons is a handicraft job, and it may not be able to become a teacher in three or five years, and a master can't bring a few apprentices! Even if Zhu Cihong paid for them to teach their skills (teaching the apprentices to starve to death of the master, and the eldest prince Zhu didn't pay much money, and no one would teach them), the effect of strengthening would not be too obvious. After all, these masters are not professional teachers, and most of the apprentices have not received the necessary basic education.

If you want to form a large amount of production capacity, you have to wait at least ten or eight years, and it will take even longer!

In addition, guns and cannons are consumables and cannot be used indefinitely. The service life of the bronze cannon is still relatively long, and it can be used for a long time if you don't take into account the battle damage. Firecrackers, especially light firecrackers, are easily damaged because the manufacturing process is not up to par.

Therefore, in order to support a large European-style army, and to carry out high-intensity training and combat, it is necessary to purchase a large number of firearms.

Thinking that the Han people in the north were worse off than dead under the iron hooves of the Tartars, it might still be worth spending a little silver in exchange for porcelain and silk......

Seeing Zhu Cihong's impassivity, Emperor Chongzhen's words changed, and he said with a smile: "Brother Dachun, the good days of the fourth brother are also approaching, right?" ”

"It's almost March 27th." Zhu Cihong replied.

March 27 is a good day for Zhu Cizhao, the king of Chu in the Ming Dynasty, who is going to tie the knot with Zuo Mengmei, the adopted daughter of Zuo Liangyu, Marquis of Wuchang......

This incident is another happy event for Emperor Chongzhen. This means that Zhu Cizhao has the support of his loyal minister Zuo Liangyu, even if he can't go down the river to clear the prince, a rebel who is doing evil on the side of the king, he can still contain Zhu Cihong.

Chongzhen now has Lin'er first, and then has a filial daughter-in-law, but it's really a double happiness!

However, when Zhu Cihong thought that Zuo Mengmei had become his brother and daughter-in-law, his mood was actually a little better.

Because this marriage was fundamentally a trick made by Zhu Cihong...... There is only one purpose, which is to build another mountain within Zuo Liangyu's group! A mountain headed by Zuo Mengmei's biological father, Qiu Lei, the chief soldier of Jingzhou Town.

Although when Zuo Liangyu was alive, Qiu Lei couldn't exert any authority, but once he Zuo Liangyu died, Qiu Lei might become a character who could compete with Zuo Mengeng.

......

Jingzhou Mansion, Jiangling City.

This rectangular castle located on the north bank of the Yangtze River is also the same as most other castles guarded by feudal kings, strong and majestic, with three layers of inner and outer layers. And the location of Jiangling City is particularly important, the danger of Bashu in the upper town, and the meeting of the rivers and lakes under the Yangtze River. Since ancient times, it has been a battleground for soldiers, and in today's troubled times, it is also a treasure land that Shun, Ming (Zhu Cihong), and West (Zhang Xianzhong) all want to possess.

Before the Ming Dynasty and the Great Shun negotiated peace, the city was once occupied by Li Zicheng. Later, in order to concentrate his forces to resist the Qing Dynasty, he gave it to Zuo Liangyu. And Zuo Liangyu assigned it to his good brother Qiu Lei, and promoted Qiu Lei, who originally led troops in Henan, to serve as the chief soldier of Jingzhou Mansion, which allowed him to have a rich territory.

And He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, who has a very strong relationship with Zuo Liangyu, recommended a very capable partner to Qiu Lei, the former prefect of Changsha, and the famous soldier of Gu Yinxi as the prefect of Jingzhou Prefecture.

With a capable person named Gu Yinxi repairing the city wall for him, rectifying the township, collecting taxes, and raising military salaries, Qiu Lei's days in Jingzhou Mansion were both comfortable and happy...... It would be beautiful if it could go on like this.

But such a good life is always unsteady! Because Zuo Liangyu's body bones are not as good as day by day, I don't know when it will be gone.

And the combat effectiveness of the Zuo Army, in the eyes of Qiu Lei, an insider, is really not reassuring! Although there are many veterans who have been in battle for a long time, they are all long-defeated soldiers, and they have no ability to win battles, and they have the ability to harm the common people. What's worse is that these people are all ruffians who are not afraid of big things!

Last year, when Huang Shu was instigated by Nanjing, many people shouted that they wanted to go east to the Qing Jun's side - fortunately, Zuo Liangyu had no brains, knowing how many catties and taels he had in his gang, and the Jun side couldn't clear it, and taking this opportunity to make a fortune was their real plan. But the prince of Nanjing looks very powerful, and the big guy is really going to go, maybe he is giving away someone's head!

So Qiu Lei, who ran to Zuo Liangyu's side from Henan and knew a little bit about what Zhu Cihong did in Shandong, persuaded Zuo Liangyu not to act rashly. And Zuo Liangyu was confused for a while, and sober for a while...... It's okay when you're sober, but when you're confused, you shout to eradicate the traitor, and you don't know who the traitor is?

In the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu's health became worse and worse, and there was less and less time to be sober. Just when Qiu Lei didn't know how to mess with Zuo Liangyu after his death, good things fell on him inexplicably.

Emperor Chongzhen's fourth son, Zhu Cizhao, the fourth brother of Zhu Cihong, the prince of Fujun, wanted to marry his biological daughter and Zuo Mengmei, who was also Zuo Liangyu's adopted daughter.

He also sent Hou Sui, who had the grace of knowing Zuo Liangyu and Qiu Lei, to Jingzhou Mansion to preside over the wedding of the King of Chu......

This Hou Sui is Zhu Cihong's speaker, and he is also the cabinet elder, and he is a character with the label of Prince Zhu!

He ran all the way to Huguang just to officiate at the wedding?

Zuo Liangyu is confused, Qiu Lei is not confused at all!

"Elder Hou Ge, there are no outsiders here......"

On the tower of Longshan Gate, which has the best scenery in Jiangling City, General Qiu Dabing is accompanying Hou Xun who came from afar to enjoy the scenery.

"Mr. Qiu," Hou Sui glanced at Qiu Lei, "Do you know that Zuo Hou once said that if the crown prince ascends to the pole, he will make the king of Chu the emperor?" ”

"This ......" Qiu Lei knew about this, of course he was listening behind the screen.

"Zuo Hou will die soon," Hou Sui sighed, "his brain is also broken, and he is getting more and more confused day by day, and he is afraid that he will be held hostage for Xiaoxiao and make a stinky move for 10,000 years." Zongrong, what will you do then? ”

"I ......" Qiu Lei frowned, "Don't hide it from the elders, there are only 500 families in the lower officials who can fight, and the rest are rabble." ”

Hou Sui smiled: "Who is not like this?" In addition to overcoming the difficulties of the new army...... They were in the camp at four o'clock, three times a day, and they were well paid, and they were given a farm house. The families of the officers and men in the army now live in the eastern part of Nanjing! Do you understand? ”

"This is a family member!" Beads of sweat came out on Qiu Lei's forehead.

Hou Sui nodded: "It's good to understand, it's good to understand, the prince has 100,000 families!" How many families does Zuo Hou have? It's hard to say if there are three thousand...... Jingzhou Mansion is a strong city, and I also brought a lot of silver this time, all of which are stored in the palace. In addition, the prefect Du Yinxi is also a capable official with both civil and military skills, and he can be trusted! ”