The Temporary Crossing Conference was convened again, and after two days of discussion, the Crossing Conference decided to agree to Chongzhen's request and send troops north. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

With the addition of new recruits recruited in the recent period, there are more than 4,000 troops in Yulin Bay. Zhou Lei served as the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed regiment, leading three infantry battalions and a heavy artillery company to Datong Town; Wang Qianxiang served as the lieutenant colonel of the second regiment and went to Xuanfu Town; Wang Zhaoxing led the First Fleet, consisting of four warships, including the Fuzhou, to Dengzhou; Xu Lang, Zhang Hai, and Ye Zhan led a 200-member officer training group to Beijing to join Jiang Beiming; Zeng Guangxian and Lin Zhaolong continued to stay in Yulin Bay to recruit and train troops; Li Fuqiang and Xu Tianbin are still staying in Vietnam for the time being.

It's coming to the end of the year, and history has changed. On the one hand, the crossing conference ordered Wang Hua to step up intelligence work in the northeast, and on the other hand, strictly ordered Zhou Lei and Wang Qianxiang to be stationed alone after arriving in Datong and Xuanfu, and built a strong barracks to guard against the invasion of the Manchu Qing Dynasty at any time.

Xu Lang went to Wanzhou for a few more days, these days, the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture and counties of the academy have been built one after another, Xu Lang and Ma Qiji, Lin Chao, Lu Xing and others are shuttling back and forth, dedicated to running academies around the country. Xu Lang went to Wanzhou to explain the work at hand to Ma Jiqi and others, and then returned to Yulin Bay to prepare for the teaching group.

The news from the imperial court had not yet arrived, Xu Lang was busy in the teaching group for a day, and only returned home when the sun set.

As soon as he entered the house, Xu Lang was stunned, Cheng Yiyi was directing people to arrange the side room, and all kinds of furniture were piled up on the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Xu Lang asked, "Who is going to move in?" ”

"Your wish has been granted." Cheng Yiyi smiled, "I found 2 little maids for you." ”

"Really? I'll see where it is. Xu Lang changed his words as soon as he finished speaking, "You tease me, can you find me a maid?" ”

"Look at your urgency." Cheng Yiyi sneered, "I didn't tease you, I really found 2 maids." ”

"Come here." Cheng Yiyi beckoned over to two fourteen or fifteen-year-old girls, "Come and meet our master." ”

"I've seen Master Xu." The two girls gave Xu Lang a blessing.

"Just call me Mr. Xu." Xu Lang was a little confused, "Yiyi, what's wrong, why did you suddenly find 2 maids." ”

"You, I can't say anything about you." Cheng Yiyi smiled and said, "Zhiruo has it." ”

"Really?" Xu Lang was shocked by this news.

"Why am I lying to you about this kind of thing?" Cheng Yiyi said, "I took her to Ouyang's hospital for more than a month. She can't live with you now, so I found 2 maids, and they moved to a side house. ”

"Why can't we live together?" Xu Lang smiled, "What if she moves out, what will I do?" ”

Cheng Yiyi twisted Xu Lang's back fiercely: "Why do you say, do you want me to move out too, you can do whatever you like." ”

"Don't, I'll go to Beijing in a while, we have to work harder, how can you say that you are also her sister."

"Get out of the way." Cheng Yiyi scolded with a smile, "If Zhiruo is still at school and hasn't come back, you go to rest first, and we'll eat after cleaning up in a while." ”

At the time of the lamp, Xu Lang and the three of them sat around the dinner table, and the two little maids stood behind them and waited.

"That." Xu Lang was a little uncomfortable, "What's your name?" ”

"Hui Mr. Xu." The two maids replied, "The slaves are called Bihe and Ziyun." ”

"Yes, it's a nice name, who gave it that?"

"Back to Mr. Xu, it was given by the second grandmother."

"Second grandmother? Wang Xifeng? Xu Lang smiled, "How do I feel that our house is about to become a girls' dormitory." ”

"Then you're not happy." Cheng Yiyi smiled, "Don't you like to live in a girls' dormitory?" ”

Xu Lang ignored Cheng Yiyi's joke, turned his head to Zhao Zhiruo and said, "Zhiruo, I'll go to Beijing in a few days, you are pregnant now, take care of yourself." ”

Zhao Zhiruo heard Xu Lang say this, and tears filled her eyes again: "Xu Lang, you have to leave again." Nor can I accompany you in your service. ”

"You still serve him?" Cheng Yiyi said, "You are now the key protection object of our family, and you need others to serve you." ”

"yes, Zhiruo." Xu Lang stretched out his hand and hugged Cheng Yiyi, "You just take care of yourself, and you Yiyi sister will serve me." ”

Cheng Yiyi stomped Xu Lang hard under the table: "The maids are here, you should be careful when you speak in the future." ”

"What are you afraid of?" Xu Lang said secretly in his heart, "It's a big deal." ”

Jiang Beiming replied to the recital at the court, and the will was transmitted to Yulin Bay.

Zhou Lei awarded the title of 1,000 households, stationed in Xiabei Road, Xuanfu Town, and controlled by Xuanfu Town; Wang Qianxiang awarded the title of 1,000 households, stationed in the North Road of Datong Town, controlled by Datong Town; Xu Lang awarded 1,000 households, Zhang Hai and Ye Zhan awarded deputy 1,000 households, stationed in Beijing; Wang Zhaoxing granted thousands of households, stationed in Dengzhou, and was controlled by the governor of Denglai.

Lu Tianxiang and Zhang Guodong gave thousands of instructions to all walks of life, and finally at the beginning of December, the armies from all sides set off one after another. At the same time, He Jiong's workload increased exponentially, and he had to set about establishing the network of Datong and Xuanfu at the same time as re-establishing the network of contacts between Beijing and Dengzhou.

The north wind is howling, the snowflakes are fluttering, and a heavy snow turns the entire Shengjing into a white world.

Tao Min and Tao Gong were wrapped in thick leather robes and accompanied Huang Taiji to stand on a high slope outside Shengjing City, and in front of them, thousands of farmers and handymen were wielding all kinds of tools and working desperately.

"Sir." Fan Wencheng, who was beside Huang Taiji, asked, "We've been digging here for a few months, and now the weather is very cold, I don't know how long Mr. will dig again?" ”

"Yes, sir." Zilharang, who was on the side, also asked, "I wonder what is the use of Mr. using so many people to dig up these stones?" ”

"Lord Belle." Tao Min smiled, "You have seen the artillery of the Yulin Army, and we have also captured some of their muskets, do you think our bows and arrows can defeat their firearms?" ”

Zilharang saw the power of Wang Zhaoxing's 30 naval guns with his own eyes, and after the war, he personally shot the muskets in Yulin Bay. The range and penetration of those muskets of more than 100 meters surprised the entire top brass of Daikin.

"Lord Belle doesn't know." Tao Min took out two more stones from the package he was carrying, "The ancestor once taught us that if we want to defeat the Ming Dynasty in the future and enter the Central Plains, we must use firearms." In order to make firearms, iron is necessary, and high-quality iron is used. The iron we are going to use is made from this. God bless me Dajin, in our entire Dajin territory, there are still a lot of such stones. ”

"Sir." Huang Taiji also asked, "Can this kind of stone produce the high-grade iron that Mr. said?" ”

"Back to the Great Khan." Tao Min replied, "Our Shengjing area produces very good coal and iron, with these two things, the minions will definitely make firearms that are better than the Ming Dynasty and the Hongyi people, and then the world will be the world of the Great Khan." ”

"It's all up to you, sir." Huang Taiji smiled slightly, and said sharply to the people around him, "The matter of mining and iron smelting is all decided by Mr., and no one can obstruct it." ”

In the conference room in Yulin Bay, Lu Tianxiang, Zhang Guodong and Shen Daxing were having a meeting.

"The model of the steam engine has now been made." Shen Daxing said, "But the practicality is still poor, there was a boiler explosion in the last test, fortunately no one was injured, and we are trying to find ways to improve." ”

"Hurry up." Zhang Guodong then asked, "How are the Minnie bombs and flowering bombs developed?" ”

"It's not easy." Shen Daxing replied, "Our current guns are all smoothbore guns without rifling, and they must be rifled to fire Mini bullets." Before the steam engine was useless, we would not have been able to mass-produce rifled guns. This is also the case with flowering shells, which have to be used by retrofitting existing artillery. ”

"We know that, too." Zhang Guodong was a little helpless, "But hurry up, the committee has made an assessment, after Tao Min and Tao Gong go to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they will definitely try their best to persuade Huang Taiji to make guns." The Northeast is rich in coal and iron, and if these fierce Eight Banners soldiers are paired with guns that can compete with us, it will be really troublesome. ”

"I understand, Chairman Zhang, we are also stepping up research and development." After Shen Daxing finished speaking, he looked at Lu Tianxiang again, "But Lu Lao, the funding of the scientific research institute is a little tight again, and I have to ask Lu Lao to help with this." ”

"I understand what you're talking about." Lu Tianxiang said, "Sun Dalei reported to the committee that the pension of the mixed brigade last time was issued hundreds of thousands of taels of silver at once, and our funds are very tight. The committee is trying to figure out a way, your scientific research institute should not consider the issue of funding, and get the steam engine out quickly, we are now in a race with Tao Min, not with Huang Taiji. ”

"That's right, Lu Lao." Zhang Guodong asked, "Qiu Peng said that in another 3 months, Zheng Zhilong's order will be completed, what should we do next, will we sell him weapons and warships?" ”

"My opinion is to stop for a moment and look at the situation in Southeast Asia." Lu Tianxiang thought for a while, "It's hard to say now whether Zheng Zhilong will go to war with the Westerners with these 20 warships and artillery." The suggestion that Xu Lang gave you last time was the one that sold arms to Westerners, have you discussed it with the previous committee? ”

"We're in contact with Westerners right now." Zhang Guodong replied, "But the Westerners' bid was too low, probably because they didn't believe in the power of our arms and warships, so there has been no result." ”

"I think so." Lu Tianxiang finally said, "Now Jiang Beiming and they have all gone to the north, and Li Fuqiang and Xu Tianbin from Vietnam have also sent back news, and there are some problems in Vietnam." Let's hold an enlarged meeting of the committee, summarize the situation in all aspects, come up with a general direction, and prepare for the first crossing conference next year. ”

Xuanfu Town is nearly 5,000 miles away from Yulin Bay, and Zhou Lei's group walked non-stop for nearly 2 months before arriving at Xuanfu Town, which was the end of the first month of Chongzhen's seventh year.

The weather in the north is not as good as Yulin Bay, especially now that it is the Xiaoice River period. Although Yulin Bay prepared enough food and winter clothes for these soldiers who went north in advance, some soldiers still fell ill after two consecutive months of long-distance travel.

In Xuanfu City, Lu Baozhong, the chief soldier of Xuanfu Town, and Guan Mingke, the general of Xiabei Road, were banqueting Zhou Lei.

"Zhou Qianhu traveled all the way, and it was very hard." Lu Baozhong picked up his glass and said to Zhou Lei, "This official first toasts Zhou Qianhu with a glass." ”

"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief." Zhou Lei also picked up the cup, "The emperor's order is in his body, and the lower officials dare not delay in the slightest." ”

"This official also toasts Zhou Qianhu with a cup." Guan Mingke also looked at Zhou Lei with a smile.

After Zhou Lei arrived in Xuanfu Town, he first gave Lu Baozhong and Guan Mingke a meeting gift of 500 taels of silver each according to Lu Tianxiang's request. In order to gain a firm foothold in Xuanfu Town, the committee specially approved 3,000 taels of silver from the tight funds to Zhou Lei, Wang Qianxiang and Wang Zhaoxing.

Lu Baozhong had received a notice from Beijing more than a month ago that the imperial court would send a new army from Hainan Wei to be stationed in Xuanfu Town to assist Lu Baozhong in defending against the Dajin soldiers. But Beijing's order clearly told Lu Baozhong that the generals of this army were not Ming people, but remnants of the Song Dynasty. and instructed Lu Baozhong not only to make good use of this army, but also to be optimistic about this army, and never let him make any changes. (To be continued.) )