"Twenty days...... Old Inspector Sun is really a person who knows the soldiers. Chen Wenzhao said, "Lord Ji, our army is now fully loaded, but fortunately, the number is really small. As long as the adults give an order, they can now leave for Beijing. If this journey goes well, it will only take about twenty days. ”

Li Yan said: "That's not what I said. The so-called 'soldiers and horses have not moved, grain and grass go first'. Although General Chen was able to set off immediately with his men and horses, the food, military salaries, swords and other things used by these people along the way were not called upon and left at a moment's notice, and they needed to be properly considered. ”

Chen Wenzhao replied: "When we go north to King Qin, the food and drink and military salaries are naturally provided by the imperial court, which has been a practice for many years......

Ji Qingwen heard that the two were going to quarrel again, so he hurriedly played a round in the middle and said, "The imperial court will naturally supply grain, grass and military salaries. However, in my opinion, in this operation, the imperial court should gather the three battalions of soldiers from Liaodong, Xuanda (Xuanfu, Datong) and Gongwei Jingshi. With such a large-scale use of troops, the grain and grass may not be able to take care of everything. Besides, the 500 regiments under my command are all my own brothers, and I can't bear to let them eat those moldy and old rice noodles issued by the imperial court. Therefore, I thought that it would be better to take all the baggage, food, salaries, and other goods with the army to the north. ”

This was said thoughtfully, so that Li Yan and Chen Wenzhao couldn't help nodding.

Li Yan had a long look at it and said: "There are only 500 sergeants in our army, but each of them must be equipped with two steel knives, a shield, a wolf squire, and a musket, and the gunpowder and bullets used in the musket must also be carried with them. Also, the artillery chariot built by Song Yingxing and Tang Ruowang ......"

Chen Wenzhao interjected: "The Jurchen cavalry is good at salvo fire, this chariot can both fire artillery and cover, I am too little, how can I put it in Jiangnan and not bring it to Beijing?" ”

Li Yan said: "That's what I meant. This chariot is heavy and large, and it may be difficult for the ships to transport it. If it is pulled by people pushing oxen, I don't know when it will be transported to Beijing...... It's hard to do......"

At this time, even Chen Wenzhao couldn't think of an idea, so he only muttered: "Fight against the Jurchen cavalry and archery, you can't do it without a chariot......"

Ji Qingwen had a wit and said, "The boat can't go, you can take the sea boat!" We have a newly built port here, and the Jingshi side is adjacent to the mouth of Dagu in Tianjin, so we can use sea ships to transport chariots to the north! ”

When Li Yan heard this, he praised: "Yes, that's right! Zheng Zhilong's ship is in the harbor now, you can ask him to take a trip! And he's a strong gun, maybe he'll be able to use his place! ”

"Humph!" When Ji Qingwen heard Zheng Zhilong's name, he sneered in his nostrils, "Use him?" He doesn't eat inside and out, and stabs me in the back, which is good! ”

Li Yan always thought that Zheng Zhilong was Ji Qingwen's sworn friend, but he didn't expect that Ji Qingwen would say such chilling words at this juncture, so he wanted to ask the reason.

Ji Qingwen was reluctant to answer in public, so he changed the topic and asked Li Yuanyin to go back to Suzhou overnight to do a few major things: first, continue to entrust the affairs of the Suzhou Weaving Yamen to Song Yingxing and Ge Sheng; the second is to inquire about the whereabouts of the sea merchant Zheng Zhilong, and immediately send him to Songjiang Mansion; the third is to touch Qian Qianyi's movements again to prevent him from slipping out of the "Qianyun Tower" by fishing in troubled waters; The fourth is to inform Zhang Jiude, the governor of the river, and ask him to arrange a large boat to prepare for the north of King Qin.

Because Li Yannai was his own think tank, he had to be brought to the capital with Ji Qingwen so that he could participate in military affairs at any time, so that the management of this busy wharf was devoid of a reliable candidate with talent and virtue. After thinking about it, Ji Qingwen gritted his teeth and simply entrusted this dock to the missionary John Tang to manage, and he couldn't think of anyone else besides him......

After everything was arranged, Ji Qingwen asked Chen Wenzhao to gather all the five hundred brothers under his command, count all the weapons they were wearing, replace them immediately if they were damaged or rusty, and be ready to set off at any time.

He also ordered Li Yan to buy enough grain and grass supplies from the nearest sea ship docked on the dock, pile them on the dock first, and then choose the way of sea or water transportation to send these things to the north after Zheng Zhilong returned.

In this way, Ji Qingwen was busy all night, and it was not until the east was white and the red sun was rising that the above things were generally arranged.

He was just about to close his eyes and rest for a while, but Li Yuanyin had already led Zheng Zhilong downstairs.

Ji Qingwen was about to knock Zheng Zhilong, so he cheered up and sent Zheng Zhilong upstairs to talk in detail.

I only heard him get straight to the point and ask: "Ship Master Zheng, your fast ship is now moored in the port here in Songjiang Mansion, but why did Li Yuanyin find you in Suzhou?" ”

Zheng Zhilong was dragged out of the bed by Li Yuanyin, the commander of Jinyiwei, with his shrewdness, it was not difficult to guess that Ji Qingwen had something very important to find him, so he forcibly suppressed the resentment in his heart and reluctantly ran all the way to Songjiang Mansion.

Unexpectedly, Ji Qingwen opened his mouth but didn't mention half of the matter, but he asked Zheng Zhilong, the big ship owner in the East China Sea, speechless.

I only heard Ji Qingwen say: "Ship Master Zheng, don't think that you are doing this secret, I won't know." Let me tell you clearly, you can take refuge in others casually, but you can't take refuge in Qian Qianyi. This surname Qian is my sworn enemy, and if you take refuge in him, he will be my sworn enemy! ”

Zheng Zhilong tightened when he heard this, and quickly lied and said, "No...... Not...... None of this is a thing...... The villain went to Suzhou this time to buy fabrics, rice paper, pen and ink, etc., and planned to sell them to Japan...... It has nothing to do with that Qian Qianyi......"

Although he said this, he was thinking in his heart: I went to Suzhou on purpose, and I deliberately went single-handedly and didn't bring anyone with me, so it should be extremely confidential, why did I still leak the news?

He was thinking wildly, but he heard Ji Qingwen continue: "Ship Master Zheng, we Mingren don't say secret words. In the past few months, you have not been able to wrap the tribute silk produced by the Yamen in my weaving, and you will definitely feel a little uncomfortable in your heart—if you change me, I will not feel well. But you put yourself in my shoes and think about it, I have such a big property now, all wrapped up in you alone, can you do it? ”

Zheng Zhilong is also a businessman, and naturally understands the truth of "you can't put all your eggs in one basket", Ji Qingwen's almost heartfelt words more or less touched his conscience, which had been blinded by silver light and copper stench for a long time.

I heard Ji Qingwen continue: "But it doesn't matter. I, Ji Qingwen, am not the kind of ungrateful person, your Zheng Ship Master helped me when I was desperate, and I will not forget this friendship. Do you have a son named Zheng Chenggong? ”

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, his whole head "boomed", and he thought: Zheng Chenggong is his son who was born in Japan, and he has never set foot in the Central Plains, even in his own fleet, only the most trusted sailors know about Zheng Chenggong's existence - not for anything else, just because he has offended many people at sea, lest others will not be able to deal with him, and will take his most beloved son......

And his secrecy work was so strict, but unexpectedly, Ji Qingwen found out where Zheng Chenggong was.

Therefore, this unfathomable maritime merchant king of the city government secretly glanced at Ji Qingwen's not handsome face, and his heart was full of admiration and fear-he never thought that in fact, in later generations, Zheng Chenggong's fame would be much more famous than his son Zheng Zhilong.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong, who had been silent for a long time, couldn't help but admit it: "My lord really has hands and eyes. The villain does have a son named Zheng Chenggong, who is now in Japan, and is only six years old......"

Ji Qingwen said with a smile: "The son of the Zheng ship owner will inevitably be a hero in the future. But don't worry, Master Zheng, I can't do that kind of hostage-taking thing. What I want to say is that although the owner of Zheng is now crisscrossing the East China Sea, his identity has always been a smuggler who has left a bottom on the side of the imperial court. The name of this 'smuggler' is not good, and I am afraid that the owner of Zheng will not be able to change it back in his life...... However, I have a way to ask the imperial court and even the emperor to personally issue an edict to give Zheng Chenggong, the son of Zheng Shipowner, a serious background. In this way, the Zheng family will be able to get rid of the notoriety and serve the Ming Dynasty with dignity! ”

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he didn't move-

He didn't care about his identity for a long time, but he didn't want Zheng Chenggong, a smart and heroic son, to wander at sea for a lifetime like himself.

So Zheng Zhilong secretly made up his mind and said: "If the adults can really do this thing, then it will be the great benefactor of my Zheng family, and I, Zheng, am willing to be a cow and a horse......