On the Yangtze River, a multi-oared sailboat is moving forward at a high speed, the paddlers at the bilge, with the password, continue to paddle, even in the cold winter, their clothes still look extremely thin, in fact, these paddlers are prisoners, even on the boat, their shackles are also nailed to the cabin, to prevent it from escaping, the reason why the prisoners are used as oarsmen, because the oarsmen are in the worst environment, so instead of using the water army as paddlers, it is far better to use prisoners, they are locked on the side of the ship, like cattle and horses keep paddling, propelling the ship.

The 20-zhang long multi-pulp gunboat is the unique equipment of the Loyal and Righteous Army, and it is more suitable for inland navigation than sailing ships, and its speed is faster. Even when passing through the turbulent waters of the upper reaches of the Zhenjiang River, with the paddling of the paddle hands, the boat still sails quickly upstream, and does not need to be pulled by a slender man when passing through this section of water like a sea boat.

The 20-zhang long row oar-gun ship can be called the existence of a giant ship in the Yangtze River, this 20-gun row gunboat is from the Jiangyin shipyard, and it is also the main force of the Loyal and Righteous Army Naval Division in the Yangtze River, but this is also the first time it sailed through the Zhenjiang River and sailed to Nanjing.

In the cabin at the stern, with the rows of tall glass windows at the stern, the cabin is extremely bright, and there is no dimness in the old ship's cabin at all, and it is precisely because of this that this captain's room will become Zhu Mingzhong's cabin on the ship.

"After a while, the ship has arrived at Shogunate Mountain!"

The captain's words made Zhu Mingzhong respond lightly, half a month ago, Zheng Chenggong ordered him to return to Nanjing, and at the same time returned to Nanjing Zhang Huangyan, Gan Hui and others, and before that, the military department had already obtained a secret report, it was Zheng Chenggong who was planning the next strategic deployment, after all, the more than 200,000 troops under the command of Fulin and the 100,000 green battalions under the command of Hong Chengchou threatened the Ming Dynasty from two directions.

Next, where is Zheng Chenggong's soldiers pointing?

Is it to continue the Northern Expedition?

Or regain Fujian?

But what is certain is that if Zheng Chenggong wants to further the Northern Expedition, he will inevitably need to pass through Jiangbei, and when the time comes, where will he be placed?

For the first time, Zhu Mingzhong found himself in an extremely awkward position. On the one hand, as Zheng Chenggong's subordinate, he had to do everything in his power to support his Northern Expedition. On the other hand, he doesn't want to lose his current semi-independent status, not to mention that Zhu Mingzhong is still planning to "go out of the house and stand on his own".

At this time, Zheng Chenggong's sudden move disrupted Zhu Mingzhong's overall plan.

What to do?

Even now, seeing that he has arrived in Nanjing, Zhu Mingzhong's brows are still furrowed, and he still has a sad face.

"Jing Luo is thinking about the Northern Expedition?"

Seeing Jingluo's frowning, Gu Yanwu said while personally pouring a cup of tea for him.

"Actually, this time I came to Nanjing, and in the opinion of the following officials, I can't talk about a reason at all!"

The reason why Gu Yanwu said this was because through the Battle of Suqian, he had been able to understand the thoughts of the princes of Nanjing.

"I can't talk about a reason, but ......"

Zhu Mingzhong, who knew that Gu Yanwu had something to say, shook his head and said with a teacup.

"Now, no matter how Nanjing chooses, it will be a mixed pros and cons for us!"

"What Jinglu said is that if the king of Yanping wants to go north, then the Zheng army will enter Jiangbei, and when the time comes, the current good situation in Jiangbei will naturally not be maintained."

Even Gu Yanwu knows very well that this semi-independence in Jiangbei is the foundation of the Loyal and Righteous Army, if hundreds of thousands of Zheng Army's army enter Jiangbei, when the time comes, this Jiangbei will definitely belong to the Zheng family, and the Loyal and Righteous Army will become a rootless Ping, as for the strategy, I am afraid it is also in name only.

And as a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, Gu Yanwu naturally does not want to see all this happen, in his opinion, the current situation in Jiangnan is the most stable time, Zheng Chenggong, Zhu Mingzhong, plus Zhang Cangshui three-legged, they contain each other, cooperate with each other, the more so, it will not cause a situation of dominance, so as to ensure that the Ming Dynasty will not fall into war because of someone's ambition in the future.

But if Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition and Jiangbei is annexed by the Zheng family, the result will naturally be to invert Zheng Chenggong's strength and increase greatly, and with only one Zhang Cangshui, how can he restrain the ambition of the Zheng family.

"What Ning people say is extremely true!"

Zhu Mingzhong nodded and groaned.

"So, right now, for me, what is the best situation, is to persuade them to attack Fujian and Guangdong, restore half of the Ming Dynasty first, and wait until half of the country is stable, and then consider the Northern Expedition! That's the safest thing to do! ”

Of course, it's just that by the time they stabilized this half of the country, at that time, Zhu Mingzhong had already welcomed Yongli to Taiwan, and even like Zheng Chenggong, he had traveled thousands of miles from the sea to the north and smashed Yanjing. At that time, with the two miraculous feats of welcoming and recovering Beijing, it is only a natural thing to open a government and build a town.

"What Jinglu said is that Zheng Jun's entry into Fujian is not only the most beneficial to me, but also beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng's army entering Fujian can not only relieve Jiangxi's worries, so that it can go all out to go west to conquer Changsha Hongjiao, but also enter Guangdong and contact the southwest, thereby reducing the pressure on the southwest......"

Although there is no map in front of him, in Zhu Mingzhong's mind, a simple situation map is still formed, this choice is indeed the most beneficial choice for Daming, and more importantly, it can not only ensure his interests, but also ensure that the interests of the three parties will not conflict, and avoid the possibility of conflict between the three families to the greatest extent.

Although on the surface, Zhu Mingzhong is still a subordinate general under Zheng Chenggong, but deep down, he has long regarded himself as an independent faction, and at this time, he naturally needs to consider his own interests, after all, people always have ambitions.

It is impossible for him to give everything he has worked so hard to others, let alone hand it over to Zheng Chenggong, even if it is handed over to the Yongli Imperial Court, he will also think about it.

"If you want King Yanping to agree with this matter, you have to reach an agreement with Cangshui!"

Now when Zhu Mingzhong is in private, he no longer calls Zheng Chenggong "the surname of the country" or "the prince", or even "the general", but calls him the "King of Yanping", and this shows his mentality.

"The attitude of Shao Sima's side is of course important, but the ...... is a little bit."

Gu Yanwu looked at Jing Luo and said.

"What really matters is the attitude of the generals of the Zheng family, if they agree with the Northern Expedition, then the King of Yanping will definitely agree to the Northern Expedition, and if they oppose the Northern Expedition, then the King of Yanping will naturally not support the Northern Expedition again."

Although Zheng Chenggong seems to be stubborn, in fact, in most of his life he is easily influenced by his subordinates, and his stubbornness is often manifested in his insistence on right and wrong, just as he has never surrendered in his life, whether in good times or bad, even if people threaten him with the lives of his father and brother, he has never considered surrendering, nor has he ever considered negotiating with the Manchus. However, on many other issues, he was easily influenced by his subordinates and staff.

"If you can persuade Wang Zhongxiao, Gan Hui and others to support the counterattack on Fujian, it will naturally be a good thing, but ......"

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong looked at Gu Yanwu and asked rhetorically.

"If we were to lobby them, would it backfire?"

The reason why Zhu Mingzhong has such concerns is because it is well known that Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition will involve his interests, and in this case, taking the initiative to lobby the palace officials will definitely cause some trouble.

"Not only will it backfire, but it may even lead to King Yanping's dissatisfaction with Jinglu, after all, in the eyes of King Yanping, this is equivalent to Jinglu's dissent!"

Some things can be done in private, but if the purpose is exposed in advance, it will only make both parties unhappy, just like Zhu Mingzhong can plan to "stand on his own", he can think about welcoming back the holy driver, and even choose another vassal king, but before the matter is completed, he will never tell others, if he sends someone to lobby Wang Zhongxiao, Gan Hui or anyone else, it will inevitably cause Zheng Chenggong's dissatisfaction, after all, as a military commander, the most taboo thing is that his subordinates "collude" with each other, not to mention that Zhu Mingzhong is still not his confidant.

"That's why it's so difficult!"

After this sigh, Zhu Mingzhong's mood seemed a little heavy, if he could, of course he didn't want his "territory" to let other people in, but if he rejected Zheng Chenggong, wouldn't the reputation he had built up for so long be ruined?

In this era, reputation is really very important, and it is precisely because of his reputation that he will run a newspaper, and he does not hesitate to subsidize the newspaper, trying to protect his reputation through the newspaper and avoid the damage to his reputation when exiled those hardcore traitors and their people...... Wait a minute!

Newspaper!

Suddenly, Zhu Mingzhong's eyes lit up, and he looked at Gu Yanwu and said.

"Ning people, why do we lobby them directly like this! Why can't you talk about state affairs in the newspapers? ”

"Talking about state affairs in the newspapers?"

At first, he was a little puzzled, and then Gu Yanwu immediately nodded in agreement as if he had received some inspiration.

"What Jing Luo said is extremely true, if we directly lobby it, it will definitely attract suspicion from others, but if we use the newspaper, even if this newspaper is run by us, the person who can write the article can be a scholar in the opposition, and we can use his mouth to put forward the strategy of defending the north and attacking the south and colluding with the southwest!"

"That's right, that's right, this, it's like Shilin Qing, someone proposes, naturally someone will discuss, if it is at this time, ......"

After pondering for a moment, thinking of another plan that was being implemented, Zhu Mingzhong said again.

"At this time in Fujian, if it happens to be conducive to the army entering Fujian, when the time comes, we don't need to come forward, I'm afraid someone will take the initiative to enter Fujian! Right! Exactly! ”

"Strategy, however, publishing an article in the newspaper now is not necessarily in a hurry, otherwise, we can pass Shilin ......"

Without waiting for Gu Yanwu to finish speaking, Zhu Mingzhong directly stopped him.

"There is no need to go through Shilin, we don't know how many days we will stay in Nanjing this time, and the time must be in a hurry!"