On the eighth day of the third month, the army set out.

For this northern expedition, 80,000 forbidden troops, 60,000 people have already left the city in advance to get on the boat and wait, and only 10,000 people walked out of Chang'an City with His Majesty, this is for the people to see, if tens of thousands of people come out all the way, how long will it take? Where can the army wait, 70,000 forbidden troops will go north with His Majesty, and there are still 10,000 forbidden troops to stay in Chang'an.

His Majesty rode a horse, dressed in gold-scale armor, and walked majestically through the streets, and everywhere he passed, the people fell to the ground one after another.

The people of Daning firmly believe that His Majesty's personal expedition will inevitably win a great victory, this is something that does not need to be doubted at all, for every Daning people, the current emperor Li Chengtang is their belief and their pillar.

But the people don't think too much about how long this war will last, and they don't think about how much impact this war will have on future generations for decades or even hundreds of years, they only know one thing...... That's support.

This is the national self-confidence caused by Daning's strength for hundreds of years, and it has been engraved into the bones and cannot be removed.

The army went out of the city, and the people were in the middle of the road to farewell, and the momentum was amazing.

Ministry of Rites, Shangbin Pavilion.

Da Luo Ri walked out of the room and stood on the terrace on the second floor and looked out, but the high wall of Shangbin Pavilion blocked his view, and he could hear cheers outside the wall, so he was curious about what was going on in Chang'an City.

At the same time, the black military envoy Hima, who lived in the courtyard opposite, also pushed open the door and walked out, standing on the same terrace and looking out, the same could not see anything, of course, with the same curious face.

Then the two of them saw each other, and snorted in the same way, don't look at each other.

Kasiba, the official of the Ministry of Rites who was in charge of negotiating with the Sabbatarians, was talking to the Sabbatarians in the courtyard, and Da Luo Ri shouted at him, "Hey! What's going on out there? ”

Cassiba glanced at him and ignored him.

"Hey!"

Da Luo Ri shouted again: "I'm asking you, what's going on outside?" ”

Cassiba looked at him again, but still didn't say anything.

"Are you deaf?! Can't you hear me asking you?! ”

Da Luo Ri roared angrily.

Casiba gave him a blank look, and walked out of the door, and the resting man who was talking to him was also angry, and stepped forward to stop Cassiba: "Our lord is asking you something." ”

Kasiba looked into the eyes of this resting man and said word by word: "First, I don't call Hey, I have a name, and second, I am an official of the Daning Rite Department, not his subordinate, and he is not qualified to scold me." ”

The rest guard, who was choked for a few words, was stunned, and his eyes widened: "Have you forgotten your identity as a Japanese man?" ”

"I am Ningren, Ningguan, Ningchen."

Kasiba said: "If you want to ask anything politely, if you are not polite, I don't mind inviting General Shen back to teach you what it means to be civilized and polite." ”

Hearing General Shen's words, the face of the rest guard obviously changed, it seems that it has not been a few days since he was beaten last time, he was angry at the mention of that guy but he was also really scared, he glanced back at Da Luo Ri, who was standing on the second floor, took a deep breath and suppressed his anger, and asked in a soft voice: "May I ask Lord Cassiba, what day is today?" What's going on out there? Why are the Ning people cheering so much? ”

"Today is March 8th."

Cassiba replied.

Da Luo Ri was a little confused: "What's wrong with March 8?" ”

Kasiba said seriously: "I don't know what's wrong, I know that today is March 8th, if you ask me what day it is, I will tell you what day it is, as for what happened outside, I don't know, why the Ning people cheered so much, I don't know, but the Ning people have always had some special days to celebrate, today is March 8, it's more special." ”

Da Luo Ri: "Why is March 8 special?" ”

"How do I know?"

Cassiba walked out with his hands behind his back, and said to himself as if he was walking: "I don't know how I should be, it seems that the last time I beat was light." ”

Da Luo was so angry that he almost jumped from the second floor and strangled Cassiba to death, but he held back his anger and did not move, the cheers outside gradually became quieter, and he wanted to order someone to go out to see what was going on, but as soon as he saw the two rows of forbidden soldiers in helmets and armor outside the courtyard, this thought had to be suppressed again.

On the side of the black warriors, although Xima didn't know what was going on, judging from Da Luo Ri's expression, he should have been deflated, so he was very happy, and the cheers outside could still be faintly heard, he twisted a few times towards Da Luo Ri's side to learn to cheer, with a provocative face, Da Luo Ri scolded angrily, turned around and went back to the room: "Bastard thing, what are you jumping, how do you know that Ning Ren's cheers are not going to hit you." ”

Of course, Hima didn't know what he was saying, and Da Luo Ri didn't know that he was right.

Chang'an City Wharf.

The emperor boarded the Shenwei, the flagship of the sea patrol division, he was very satisfied with this big ship, looked around and asked Shen Leng: "I remember that Daning now has a total of three Shenwei, Zhuang Yong has one, you have one, Haisha has one, my dragon ship has not been built yet, it should be bigger than Shenwei, why does your sailor have two Shenwei?" ”

Shen Leng replied solemnly: "The Shenwei under Your Majesty's feet now is the flagship of the Sea Patrol Division, and the other Shenwei over there is a ...... that the minister stole from the hands of the great general Zhuang Yong."

The emperor sighed: "Zhuang Yong can't even look at his own flagship? ”

Shen Leng said: "Actually, it's not a fraud, it's borrowed seriously, but the minister didn't pay it back." ”

The emperor glanced at Shen Leng: "Still reasonable?" ”

Shen Leng lowered his head: "The minister will return it when he turns back." ”

The emperor glared at him and walked to the bow of the ship: "Shenwei, this name is still taken by me, when Zhuang Yong asked me, Anyang Dockyard was going to build the flagship of the Daning Naval Division, let me give the name, I thought of the word Shenwei...... At that time, I never thought that I would take Shenwei to fight the black warriors in the northern frontier. ”

He exhaled: "Blow the horn and go." ”

Shen Leng waved his hand, and the horn sounded immediately, and one by one the warships left the harbor and headed forward along the wide river.

The emperor asked people to set up a big table on the deck, and ordered people to spread the map on the big table, he walked to the map and looked at it carefully, and drew a line with his hand in the position of the northern frontier: "150,000 new troops in the northwest, 50,000 soldiers, a total of 200,000 people have arrived in Hanhai City, more than 100,000 soldiers from the three roads in the north have also arrived in Hanhai City, 100,000 border troops under Wu Xinyu, tens of thousands of iron cavalry, and the army is gathered, so this line of black warriors is the most strict, and the hundreds of thousands of black warriors in the southern courtyard should also be ready for a war." ”

Shen Leng nodded: "The minister also read the military report of the Ministry of War yesterday, more than 400,000 troops of the Black Martial South Courtyard are on the front line of Yacheng Lucheng, this is not all the strength of the Southern Courtyard, but only a standing force, there are hundreds of tribes large and small in the Black Martial South Courtyard, if Samburu is recruited, these tribes can provide him with at least 200,000 cavalry." ”

The emperor's gaze fell on Xifengkou again: "Here, there are 300,000 troops in the Heiwu North Courtyard, and Meng Chang'an's Xifengkou camp has about 120,000 troops. ”

Shen Leng said: "The 300,000 troops of the Northern Courtyard have not really fought with our Daning's border army, and it is in the midst of civil strife, the newly arrived General of the Northern Courtyard has not been able to convince the public, especially after being slapped by Yang Qibao, it is even more difficult to convince the public, the 45,000 cavalry was stopped by Yang Qibao's 16,000 light cavalry, this slap fan is loud, the first battle of the Dugang has not been fought well, and the military spirit is even more unstable, so these 300,000 people are not to be afraid." ”

The emperor snorted: "So...... After Meng Changan arrived in Eastern Xinjiang, how to fight here in Xifengkou, you have to think about it more. ”

Shen Leng was stunned: "Did Meng Changan really go to Eastern Xinjiang?" The minister thought it was just to deceive the black warriors. ”

"If you don't really go, how can you be deceived?"

The emperor said: "Not only did Meng Changan really go, but he also let him take away 100,000 of his 120,000 new troops in Xifengkou." ”

Shen Leng gasped: "So Xifengkou actually doesn't have many troops?" Your Majesty......"

He bowed down: "Your Majesty please go to Hanhai City." ”

"I'm not going to change my mind."

The emperor looked at Shen Leng and said, "This scares you?" Your courage is inevitably too small, such a little thing still scared you to the point of paleness, and when I get to Xifengkou, I will tell you one more thing, which is estimated to scare you half to death. ”

Shen Leng looked at the emperor with a panicked face, and the emperor snorted proudly: "Don't look, look at me, I won't tell you now." ”

His gaze returned to the map: "The deduction of the Ministry of War, this battle will take at least three years to consume the military strength of the Black Martial Country, and the Northern Expedition army can stabilize the place where it is defeated, this kind of deduction has been more than once, I have personally participated in more than a dozen times, and the result is the same every time, so the period of the conclusion of the Ministry of War is at least three years, but you know, the longer the black martial arts fight, the more unfavorable it is, the people have the idea of patriotism and protection of the country, even if the black military is not good for them, they will have such thoughts, three years...... If it really drags on for three years, the resistance of the Black Warrior Kingdom becomes the norm, and it evolves from army resistance to national resistance, then it will be really difficult to fight. ”

Shen Leng suddenly had a thought, and his face changed instantly.

The emperor glanced at him and knew that he had guessed something, so he smiled: "It seems that you thought of it, but I just don't say whether what you think is right or not." ”

Shen Leng lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, the ministers ......"

"Go cook."

The emperor waved his hand: "I'm hungry." ”

Shen Leng could only hold back what he wanted to say, and turned around to arrange the meal.

The emperor watched Shen Leng leave, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, he didn't say anything, only said that the Northern Expedition could not be delayed for too long, Shen Leng must have guessed his thoughts, otherwise he wouldn't be scared like that, the stupid boy is so smart, the emperor is a little proud.

The fleet marched eastward, and it would take at least ten days to turn north on this waterway, and probably in early May, the army would reach the northern frontier.

The emperor thought that the two months on this road should be the longest time he has been with Shen Leng in the past 20 years.

It's nice to think about.