On the turquoise sea, ships are rushing back and forth, a few men on the beach are anchoring bare-legged on the seashore, and merchant ships are transporting more war supplies to Nagasaki Port.

Under the sun, the sea water shimmered, and the merchants in the port happily sent all kinds of supplies to the sailor camp. In the past, they were forced to pay all kinds of wartime taxes, where did they think that one day the court would fight, and the merchants could also make money from it, and they were patriotic and righteous businessmen, not to make a fortune.

Guns, gunpowder, weapons, armor, grain, and grass were distributed to factories, and priority was given to those factories that donated 100,000 taels of military expenses. In addition, there are also some merchants with lively minds and quick brains, who have already begun to contract the construction of the sailors in Nagasaki. After getting the nod of Hou Xuanyan, several merchants led by the Wu family in Jinling raised a group of strong forces and came to Nagasaki by boat to build fortifications and camps.

The vigorous cash-for-work solution solved the two major problems of post-war reconstruction and security of refugees for the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, it also cultivated many experienced construction teams. The small-scale peasant economy, which has been stable for thousands of years, is showing cracks in its foundation. When people are no longer superstitious about farming and farming, and have more diverse means of livelihood, social change will follow.

After the victory in the Battle of Nagasaki Port, Zhu Daidian did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but waited for the response of the Tokugawa shogunate. An army of 100,000 troops was stationed in Nagasaki, erecting cannons and fortifications, waiting for the envoys or troops of the Tokugawa shogunate.

The purpose of their trip was not to conquer an unrelated island country by force, but to win the right to open a business for the merchants of the Ming Dynasty.

During the short period of calm, the sailors of the expedition had already begun to build a simple garrison in the port of Nagasaki, and their "unenterprising" mentality completely affected the daimyos, who were already nervously watching the situation. There are even many people who have begun to gloat and wait to see the excitement of Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Japan was a country with few foreign enemies, so after Tokugawa took power, in order to prevent his daimyo from rebelling, he ordered that each daimyo domain should only keep one castle, and the others should be dismantled. Moreover, the daimyo had to live in Edo for a year every other year, and their wives and children had to stay in Edo, the base camp of Tokugawa.

Naturally, such a policy caused dissatisfaction among these daimyos, and there were already many powerful daimyo who privately contacted the sailors of the port of Nagasaki. For these careerists, Zhu Dadian ignored none of them, and of course did not betray them.

Jinling, Changganli, flowers in front of the palace, Hou Xuanyan, the prince of Yue, is about to marry the daughter of Qian Sule in the near future. Although she is a side concubine, with Hou Xuanyan's status today, coupled with the background of this side concubine, it is bound to be another huge wedding.

Everyone in the palace was busy cleaning the courtyard, cutting the happy words and pasting couplets, and cleaning up a newly built courtyard in the inner courtyard. Even in the study, they heard the sound of shouting outside, and Hou Xuanyan didn't want to stop them, after all, this was also a happy event.

Hou Xuanyan was disgusted with the noise in the house, so he took his soldiers to Wenyuan Pavilion to discuss the conquest of Liao with a few scholars. On the road, a post man came on horseback, and happened to meet Hou Xuanyan at the gate of the palace, immediately dismounted, hugged his fists and said: "Lord, the sailor has good news, Wei Guogong has won a great victory over the Japanese soldiers in Nagasaki, and he has gained a firm foothold." ”

Hou Xuanyan asked his soldiers to bring a chair, sat at the gate of the palace, beckoned Zhu Dadian's secret letter to him, and said while watching: "Zhu Dadian did a good job, and after he went back, he told him that if he wants to make the Tokugawa family weak, this battle is not enough, and it is better to fight again." If he wants to be in control, he must win, but he can't go straight ahead. ”

The Ming Dynasty did not yet have the ability to incorporate the whole of Japan into the territory, not because the national strength was insufficient, but because there was no foundation. is as strong as the Great Sui, and it is also planted in the land of Goguryeo; The invincible Yongle Emperor could not completely pacify Annan; The Soviet Union and the United States, the two heroes of the Cold War, were so powerful, and Vietnam and Afghanistan were also their nightmares. Daming does not have the slightest kindness in Japan, let alone has a popular foundation, and it is simply thankless to want to annex others.

The best outcome is to force the Tokugawa family to compromise by force, and they are capable enough to control Japan, and whoever controls the Tokugawa shogunate is the emperor of Japan. Just like the late Qing Dynasty in later generations, China at that time was not Manchurian, but foreigner. And with the backer of the Ming Dynasty, there was no one in Japan who could shake the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemitsu incarnated as the Japanese Cixi, and it is undoubtedly the best result to succumb to the force of the sailor, but they really have the backbone to resist to the end, so Hou Xuanyan can only choose another daimyo to support him. It's just that in that case, the cost will be several times higher.

Hou Xuanyan wrote a letter in front of the mansion and handed it to the soldiers around him, asking them to pass it to Zhu Dadian, who was far away in the island country of Nagasaki.

As soon as I wanted to go to Wenyuan Pavilion, I saw a person dressed as a military attache in the distance, with a few relatives leading a horse.

Hou Xuanyan raised his hand to shade the sun, and saw that the figure was vaguely familiar, and after a while, he got closer and saw that it was Yang Zhan, the Duke of Shu.

"Congratulations on the prince's wedding, after three years, the prince's demeanor is especially better than in the past." Yang Zhan said happily.

Hou Xuanyan laughed and said, "You came by boat, right?" I just received the letter the other day, and you're here today, it's fast enough. ”

Wu Sangui withdrew his troops, and Yang Zhan took advantage of the situation to sweep the nine sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, and was replaced by Hou Xuanyan when he wanted to go further. After thinking about it carefully, he didn't feel resentful, and he was quite apprehensive in his heart. In the entire Sichuan military department, he was the only one who was promoted by Hou Xuanyan, and the others were not directly under the direct command of Hou Xuanyan, and the big and small credits were all brought to them by themselves, and Yang Zhan, who was not proficient in official ways, was also a little uneasy. So when Xia Wanchun mentioned him, taking advantage of Hou Xuan's wedding, he asked him to go to Beijing, and Yang Zhan immediately agreed.

Yang Zhan said with a smile: "Xiaguan took a boat to Yingtianfu, and after going ashore, he found that the current official road extends in all directions, and the road is good, and it will naturally be faster." ”

Hou Xuanyan didn't seem to have these barriers at all, and smiled affectionately: "Since Chengdu has been farewell, it doesn't have to be three years, I heard that you have governed Sichuan well, and with you guarding the southwest, I can sit back and relax and marry a beautiful woman here, haha." ”

As soon as the words fell, a group of people came to the palace in the distance, and Hou Xuanyan paused and said: "Yes, I won't go to Wenyuan Pavilion for the time being, I don't know which old friend it is, let's talk about the old days in this mansion." ”

A group of people in the distance slowly approached, and Hou Xuanyan found out that they were all generals of the Zhejiang department, Hou Xuanyan married Qian Sule's daughter, and they naturally wanted to come here to celebrate, after all, now these people have been relieved of military power, and they are all idle, and they have no official duties to enjoy wealth and wealth at home.

Sun Jiaji took the lead, with a group of old generals of the Northern Expeditionary Army, carrying a variety of gifts, and rushed over noisily.

Hou Xuanyan was open-minded and said with a smile: "Sun Jiaji, you smell the smell of wine, you came so coincidentally." ”

"Xiaguan and the others came to visit the prince in a hurry, and their intentions were obvious, so they naturally wanted to ask for a glass of wine." The generals around him also laughed, and Hou Xuanyan took them back to the mansion and ordered them to go down and prepare wine and food.

Hou Xuanyan was also very happy to see so many familiar faces, and raised his voice: "Haha, just call Li Haoxian and them, let's have a reunion of the Northern Expeditionary Army today." ”

After a while, Li Haoxian, who was in Jinling, came with Hu Bawan, Liu Yong and several other subordinates.

After three rounds of drinking, Hu Bawan's black face was flushed, and he said drunkly: "Dashuai, you are a little eccentric, Wu Sangui and the Tartars fled outside the pass, why can the Houtu Battalion and the Hunan Barracks continue to fight, our group of people are watching from behind, everyone is right?" ”

Li Haoxian's face changed, and just as he wanted to scold him to sit down, Hou Xuanyan opened his mouth and said: "Lao Tzu arranges troops, and you have to get the consent of Hu Bawan first?" ”

Hu Bawan sneered and said: "The handsome man said it casually, hehe, you shouldn't have heard it." ”

Although he said so, these generals who had been relieved of military power at the table all raised their eyes and looked at Hou Xuanyan, they fought the most difficult battle, and now that the situation has reversed, they let others collect the last military merits in front, and everyone is dissatisfied in their hearts.

Yang Zhan's identity is embarrassing, he is from the Sichuan Barracks, and he has never had much intersection with the Fourth Battalion of the Northern Expedition, but he once fought side by side with the Hunan Barracks. He was now worried that Hou Xuanyan would suspect him of supporting the army and respecting himself, but today the atmosphere was a little tense because of a reckless man's nonsense, and Yang Zhan couldn't help but feel like he was on pins and needles. At this moment, he thought of Lan Yu, Hu Weiyong, and Li Shanchang...

To everyone's expectation, Hou Xuanyan did not get angry, nor did he hide a knife in his smile in the perfunctory past, but pointed at Hu Bawan and said: "Idiot, what's so good about fighting, Lao Tzu hates war the most in his life, and he is irritable when he hears the sound of cannons." You don't know how to cherish the boundless wealth of Jinling, right, tomorrow you will pack up your things and go to Beiping. ”

Hu Bawan was overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "Dashuai, is this true?" ”

Hou Xuanyan didn't want to have a problem with these old departments, to be honest, he didn't suspect these people, except for Yang Zhan, no one here could launch a rebellion. It is true that they are the generals with high prestige in the Northern Expeditionary Army, but Hou Xuanyan's prestige in the army is even higher than theirs.

Hou Xuanyan shouted: "Bring pen and ink!" ”

After a while, a personal soldier held a round of inkstone and a piece of rice paper, and Hou Xuanyan wrote with a pen: "Liheng, Erhou Tuying is guarding Beiping and presiding over the expedition to Liao. ”

Hu Bawan's face was full of bitterness, and he said mournfully: "Dashuai, I went with such a letter, isn't it inevitable that I will be excluded?" ”

Hou Xuanyan turned his eyes and scolded: "That Lao Tzu doesn't care, what I said is the truth, you will get out of tomorrow, this letter will not reach Yan Yingyuan's eyes, you will be punished for the crime of lying about the military situation, and it will not be merciful to engage in military law at that time." ”

Hu Bawan was in a complicated mood, and he stopped talking, but was pulled down by Li Haoxian, and said with a smile: "What kind of person is General Yan, how can he be as knowledgeable as you, fight hard when you go to Beiping, don't embarrass our fire camp." ”

With this precedent, the minds of the generals present also became lively, and they all revealed their willingness to fight for the country.

Hou Xuanyan had already planned that the newly built Jingbei Province was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it was the time to employ people, and these people should also move, and it was not a way to keep them in Jiangnan all day long.

Now that there is a martial arts hall, the quality of grassroots officers has been improved, and the commander can command the three armed forces without relying on favor and prestige in the army. The so-called soldiers do not know the generals, and the disadvantages of not knowing the soldiers have been completely eliminated, and the imperial court can change the generals at will, and there is no need to worry about supporting the army and self-respect in the foreign army.

Yang Zhan looked at these people with some envy, they followed Hou Xuanyan to fight in the south and the north, and they had much less worries than themselves, and they dared to say and ask.

Hou Xuanyan stopped the generals who were asking for battle, pressed his hand and said: "Don't shout, wait for me to discuss with the military department, and then inform the people who can use it, this time I went to Jingbei is not more than before, you must be careful about everything on the grassland, the previous experience in the battle is not enough, you must observe and think more." ”

Jingbei is still expanding its territory, and the Mongolian tribes on the steppe are being swallowed up like boiled frogs in warm water at a speed visible to the naked eye, many large tribes have directly lost their vassals, and the small tribes who have been bullied by them have thrown themselves into Jingbei Province to seek refuge without looking back.

The policy of the imperial court is attractive enough to them, where to herd sheep is not to herd, and there is no need to worry about being conscripted by other tribes when they enter Jingbei.

More and more Han people from Shanxi and Shaanxi are going to the grasslands, and although the vast grasslands cannot be cultivated, they can also support their families by grazing, not to mention the huge temptation of tax exemption for three years. Xuzhou, Guide and other places were affected by the bursting of the Yellow River, and many people lost their homes and chose to go to the grassland. The excavation of the Yellow River is a major event with endless poison, and it is difficult to recover in hundreds of years, and countless refugees also know that it is a good choice to go to Jingbei Province on the grassland to settle down.

As a result, more soldiers and horses were needed to guard the newly built province on the grassland, especially the frequent attacks of the Manchu Qing in the north, which made the Hunan military camp even more annoying.

Hou Xuanyan inadvertently saw Yang Zhan, who was silent on the side, and asked, "Yuliang, is there any change in Shudi?" ”

Seeing that he suddenly asked himself, Yang Zhan hurriedly got up and said: "It's all innocuous little fights, the Tusi in the southwest has some strange thoughts because of the affairs in Xiangxi, but I have already sent troops to deter, I believe that no one dares to rebel." ”

Hou Xuanyan said: "It's not our goal to rebel without man, you have to help Peng Zhuze, pacify the various toasts as soon as possible, and let the southwest change the land to return to the stream is the general trend, now that I have completely free my hands, I can no longer let them mess around." ”

Yang Zhan was overjoyed when he heard this, and it seemed that the Sichuan soldiers also had a place to play.