Li Mao: Zhang Zhimu likes the inn style of Yangzhou very much, and the south is full of bamboo, which is incomparable to the north. Zhang Zhimu can understand the feeling of "I'd rather eat no meat than live without bamboo". The bamboo shadow outside the window makes the people in the house feel very peaceful and quiet. A cup of fragrant tea makes people feel very comfortable, Zhang Zhimu really wants to stay alone for a while, just sit like this, and experience the different feelings of life in this time and space.

But this wish is too extravagant, and there are still many things waiting for him outside.

After arranging the things on the dock, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, and Ouyang He followed Li Mao back to their inn, and everyone went to their rooms to wash up. Before Zhang Zhimu could calm down, Yang Yulin came in and said, "Why are you still here." Everyone is waiting for you in the living room. ”

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to lift his spirits and follow Yang Yulin to the living room.

In the living room, Chen Yufeng, Li Mao, and Ouyang He were already waiting there, Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "It seems that I'm late." ”

Zhang Zhimu sat down, and Yang Yulin went out after serving tea to everyone.

Li Mao began to say: "Let me tell you about the situation since I came back last time. ”

Zhang Zhimu nodded.

Li Mao said: "After I came back last time, I brought back 5,000 horses back to Yangzhou, and the Eight Kings bought 2,000 good war horses at once. There are also almost half of the beef tendons, horns, cowhides and other goods, and these people are also supernatural. With so many goods, they don't know how to get through the blockade of the official army. ”

Chen Yufeng snorted with his nose and said, "Now there is nothing that the Ming Dynasty can't do with silver." ”

Li Mao continued: "The other goods were sold without much effort. Now all my men have gone out to buy summer grain. As for how much money he earned, Mr. Zhang doesn't like to hear it, so I'll tell Mr. Lu in detail when I come back. ”

Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He both smiled, and Li Mao could see that Zhang Zhimu was not interested in business.

Zhang Zhimu asked: "What happened to the Donglin Party people you said last time?" ”

Li Mao said: "In the past, I deliberately kept my distance from them. After coming back this time, our "Kiln Gang Weekly" has played a big role. Those literati were very sensitive to these, and several times they had a lot of people come to me to talk to me, and I kept pretending to be stupid, saying that I only knew how to do business, and I didn't understand anything else. If you are interested in discussing the government, when our host comes to Yangzhou, I will introduce it to you, and you can have a good chat. ”

Ouyang He said: "Li Gongzi must not talk about government politics in public here, but only about business. But make friends in private. ”

After Zhang Zhimu took Li Mao away again, Liu Chenghuang and Li Jing were attacked in Hewan Village, and then went to Hewan Village to take revenge. This time, Li Zicheng's naval army was completely annihilated at the mouth of the Luohe River, and the process of exterminating the water bandits and occupying Wuluo Island at Wuluo Lake was explained again.

Li Mao sighed: "I didn't expect that so many things had happened since I had only been away for a few months. However, it is great that we can have this base on Wuluo Island, if our musketeers go to defend the island, it will be difficult to take it without a large army. We can put a large quantity of our silver there first. Go there and pick it up again if you need to. If something really changes, the kiln post will not be withdrawn, and the personnel can also go there to hide for a while. If there is a need for people here, they can be sent from there. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "The people of Wuluo Island are too far away from the kiln, so they will be directly managed by you. I've already told Shi Xiu about this. I think Shi Xiu is still a person with brains, and it shouldn't be a big deal to have him. ”

Li Mao asked: "The treasury is a big deal, how to manage it?" ”

"Don't worry about this, Lu Chengxiang still has someone in charge of the accounts of the vault, and no one can open the vault without him and Shi Xiu being present." Zhang Zhimu said.

Ouyang He saw that things were almost the same, so he took over and said: "We are now in an extraordinary period, and many things must be prepared in advance. I see that the imperial court ordered the governor of the three sides, Sun Chuanting, to go south and be defeated, and if he is defeated, he will be greatly damaged, and Tongguan will be difficult to hold. The situation facing Shanxi will be complicated. ”

Li Mao tried to ask: "With our current strength, it should be no problem to directly take over Tongguan and defend it?" ”

Zhang Zhimu did not directly answer Li Mao's question, and said: "If we fall out with the imperial court now, we will face the situation. In the north, there are more than 100,000 Ming troops in the pass, killing Hukou, and Datong, even if we do our best to defeat them, we also have to face the Mongols who are eyeing the three passes. To the south and west there were hundreds of thousands of Li Zicheng's troops who were eager to eat us. Separated by the Taihang Mountains to the east, there are seven passes, all of which need to be defended by troops. So I think that even if we are all musketeers, it will take 100,000 horses to hold on for a long time if we want to hold our ground. However, our grain route will be cut off by Li Zicheng and the Ming army, so it will be difficult for us to hold on for a long time. I think that's the best way to go. If we have tens of thousands of musketeers, going on the offensive and defending, our opponents will be tired of desperately dealing with our attacks. ”

Ouyang He said: "It is easy to expand the number of soldiers, as long as there is food. Most of our current soldiers are veterans of actual combat, and they have been continuously trained and studied for a year, and most of them are literate and educated. The problem is that, as Mr. Zhang said, we must have a long-term plan. If we are enemies on all sides, we will be very passive. ”

Li Mao nodded frequently when he heard this.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Through the conversation with King Zhou, I have an idea. That is, try not to turn against the court first, at least so that the court is unwilling to turn against us. In this way, we can hand over the responsibility of the north to deal with the Mongols and the Manchus to the imperial court, which is a heavy burden. Don't you see? The Ming army fought so passively in the south, and the emperor did not dare to transfer back most of the northern army, which shows that the threat from the north is real. By maintaining good relations with the imperial court, we can also ensure the supply of food and the smooth flow of trade routes. ”

Li Mao said: "The current development of the situation may force us to take action, and if we don't, we will be more passive." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I thought of a dangerous move, I think we didn't make a move when Li Zicheng attacked Tongguan, but only supported their weapons and ammunition, and the Ming defenders consumed a lot of Li Zicheng's military strength." Li Zicheng and their capture of such a strategic place as Tongguan will inevitably result in heavy casualties. But I think that in the end, Tongguan will definitely miss, and after Tongguan is lost, they will attack Shanxi. Shanxi they have two main points, one is us and the other is Jinyang. We let Li Zicheng occupy Jinyang, and we ourselves held the three kilns and smelting factories at Lingshui Wharf. After Li Zicheng occupies Jinyang, we will send troops to recapture Jinyang. Because as long as the King of Jin is in Shanxi, we don't fall out with them, it will be difficult to run Shanxi. With Li Zicheng's hand, we will be much better able to clear the foundations of these imperial courts in Shanxi. We can give the imperial court assurances that their canals will be safe. Every year, the canal transports millions of stone grains to enable the imperial court to operate. If we don't make a move, Li Zicheng will attack Kaifeng again, and then cross the Yellow River to cut off their waterway, so that the imperial court will not be able to support it. I want to achieve a balance of terror, and when we can take Henan, the imperial court will be afraid that we will cut off the Cao Road, and they will not dare to turn against us. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "The problem is that our defense in those three places must be strengthened, and if we can't hold there, we will be completely finished." That's where the danger lies. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Uncle Chen is right. We have to be ready when we go back, I think we have several advantages to ensure that we can hold these three places, one is that our existing muskets are not comparable to Li Zicheng and them, not to mention that after we go back, we will produce rifles, which can be used by men, women and children, and can shoot continuously, and the power of this weapon can be used by ten current muskets. In addition, we have a defensive weapon. We can arrange a large number of ** formations in the defensive area, which is an invincible weapon. When the time comes, we will all be soldiers, and there will be no problem in defense. At the same time, we need to organize an elite mobile counterattack force, and 10,000 musketeers or riflemen are a terrible force. We can distribute mortars to the grassroots units so that they have the ability to fight independently. At the same time, we also have Niutou Mountain, Taiyue Mountain, Lishan and other places to respond. We can use the defense to drain Lee's strength. They must have thought that they would be able to defeat us by besieging us, taking advantage of their numbers. We will use this to let him know what war is called in the *** era. After beating him this time, we can directly take Henan. ”

Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He glanced at each other after listening to Zhang Zhimu's words, they knew that Zhang Zhimu's mind saw further, he did not bow his head to engage in his production, and forgot about the big things outside. This is an unfathomable person.

Li Mao said: "In this case, our direction must be clear, and you should prepare a little earlier after you go back." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "This kind of thing has to be done quietly. All the workers have to undergo military training, and those migrant workers who participate in road construction have to be trained, so that they can be directly integrated into the army in the future, and our skilled workers have to carry out production work after participating in the defense. I see that the output value created by a skilled worker is higher than that of ten peasants, and this is a contingent that needs to be greatly developed, and they are easy to organize, because they are knowledgeable and disciplined, and participation in defense is definitely the main force. ”

Ouyang He said: "We don't have to worry about the soldiers, this time we still have to sell as much grain as possible, and by then we will have as many soldiers as we have as much food." Besides, those officers and soldiers who were defeated by Li Zicheng and those who were unwilling to surrender Li Zicheng would have nowhere to eat, and it would be easy for us to take in those ready-made officers and soldiers for training. We must be prepared to raise 50,000 horses. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "If we take Shanxi and raise 50,000 horses, it is not a problem, even our own silver is enough to raise soldiers for a few years, and besides, our production capacity is growing over and over, you don't see the things we brought over, there is not enough to sell, and there is no problem in raising these people." The key is to survive the period of Li Zicheng's siege. We also need to have personnel ready to take over Shanxi. Each county has to send its own officials, which is also a big thing. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I think we have several divisions of labor, and Mr. Ouyang is responsible for the selection of officials. Uncle Chen was in charge of the reorganization of the army. Our regular army must be reorganized with new weapons, our workers must be re-established, and the reserve forces must be trained on a regular basis. Every employee has the obligation to participate in the war when encountering war, so that everyone can be mentally prepared for this. ”

Li Mao said excitedly: "Our first step is to take advantage of Li Zicheng's offensive to take Shanxi, and then take Henan. I think that after we occupy Xiangyang again, we should adopt the policy of attacking militarily and actually defending, digest these areas, and implement our political policy. The main thing is to average the land, so that everyone has a cultivated field. This kind of cultivation and vitality take advantage of our economic advantages, so that the people around us can see that the area we govern is different from other places. In this way, the surrounding area will gradually become our own. At this time, the court saw that we were really bigger, and they were powerless to deal with us. We can cut off their grain routes at any time, and they will compromise with us. ”

Chen Yufeng saw that the conversation was almost over, and said: "We have to have a good drink in the evening, and today can be regarded as seeing the future road clearly." This is also a question that Ouyang He and I have been considering, but there has been no conclusion. It seems that Zhimu still sees far and thinks comprehensively. The big way is so decided, let's think about the details slowly. ”

In fact, Zhang Zhimu has never had a clear development idea, that is, only now has he had a clear and specific and operational idea.

After this meeting, Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He did a lot of work for this, but this is no longer something that Zhang Zhimu should care about.

Xiangyang, inside the new palace. Li Zicheng and his cadres were also at the meeting. Maybe it was because the weather in May was too hot, or it was caused by Li Zicheng's scolding, whether it was General Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Wenchen Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others, they were all dripping with big men and shaking their fans constantly.

After years of iron-blooded career, Li Zicheng has easily not lost his temper, especially in front of his comrades-in-arms. But today I originally got the information that Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three sides of the Ming army, was going to lead troops to encircle and suppress it, and this Sun Chuanting Li Zicheng did not dare to slack off, and King Gao Chuang was caught by this person. Today, I originally wanted to discuss how to meet the enemy, but the news came that the naval army was completely annihilated by the Yaogang people. Li Zicheng was angry not only about the annihilation of the navy, but also angry about why he couldn't wait for the news of the navy for a long time, but delayed for so many days to report the news of the defeat of the navy.

When these civil and military generals saw Li Zicheng lose his temper, no one dared to squeak. They all knew that it was the generals over there who were afraid of being punished, so they delayed the report. But the combat effectiveness of the Yaogang people is really a little terrifying, and the naval army is dozens of warships of all sizes, how can it be said that they will be annihilated by the Yaogang people? Didn't the intelligence say that the Yaogang people had a total of several warships? How could the navy be annihilated? Those Ming Dynasty sailors are not the opponents of their own naval army, could it be that the Yaogang people will suddenly pop out of a naval army. What's even more infuriating is that they also bombed the two forts guarding Luoyang. In this case, if the Yaogang people attack Luoyang, wouldn't it be like entering a no-man's land? The report was vague and unclear, and the troops on the shore were also bombarded and suffered casualties, obviously because the casualties were very large and did not dare to report it. Otherwise, there would be no mention of casualties.

The loss of the navy army dealt a great blow to the morale of Li Zicheng's army. Even Liu Zongmin, who has always been arrogant, has nothing to say this time.

This loss also made Li Zicheng even more jealous of Zhang Zhimu in his heart, and he had already realized who his main opponent was. Although this Zhimu is not yet full-fledged, his immature claws have already injured his vital point many times. This is a more difficult opponent than Zhang Xianzhong and Emperor Chongzhen. It's infuriating that you have nowhere to do anything about this person, but if he makes a move, it must be aimed at your vital point.

Niu Jinxing saw that everyone didn't speak, so he had to say it himself, "King Chuang, we have already gone through too many gains and losses, don't worry about the water army now." It is urgent to concentrate on defeating Sun Chuanting. Perhaps this is a good opportunity, and it is more beneficial for us to defeat them by leaving the fortified castle. If we defeat them this time, then Shaanxi will be ours. At that time, we will concentrate on plotting Shanxi, and this Zhang Zhimu is also a caged bird. Now he is not much of a threat to us, and this time they attacked because we took advantage of their weakness and touched their sore spots, so they desperately tried to open the way on the Yellow River. It's just that we didn't expect this kiln man to have such a great ability to eat our entire water army in one bite. They attacked our batteries to warn us that they had power. If we don't move them for a short time, they won't touch us either. ”

is worthy of being a military advisor, Niu Jinxing's analysis made Li Zicheng and the generals nod yes.

In Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen in the Forbidden City is in a much more complicated mood.

Since Li Gonggong in Shanxi sent news that Zhang Zhimu was going to the Yellow River to attack Li Zicheng's naval army, which cut off the waterway of the Yellow River, Emperor Chongzhen was both happy and worried. Because he was once invincible in the world and the Ming Dynasty sailors, he was defeated by Li Zicheng's sailors in several battles, and Zhang Zhimu's warships went to challenge Li Zicheng's sailors, although the spirit was commendable, but it was really an egg hitting a stone. But if you don't fight, can you just let Li Zicheng block the Yellow River? In that case, the grain transportation channels in Shanxi and Shaanxi will be blocked, and it will be difficult to hold on. The army is in chaos without food.

Emperor Chongzhen, who had been waiting for the news, was waiting for the good news that the people of Yaogang had completely annihilated Li Zicheng's army, and Emperor Chongzhen couldn't sit still happily. This also made Emperor Chongzhen feel very uncomfortable. We have so many sailors, but when we are fighting, we have to let a merchant lead people into battle. It's really embarrassing.

What made Emperor Chongzhen even more angry was that when he was in the last dynasty, those ministers were not happy that Li Zicheng's naval army was annihilated, but that they couldn't watch the Yaogang people slowly grow bigger. The angry Emperor Chongzhen scolded: "If it weren't for this Zhang Zhimu, who you don't like no matter how you look at it, and now the Yellow River is still blocked by the thief army's water army, do you have any way?" Do you have any other ideas than jealousy of chickens with small bellies? ”

None of the ministers answered, for they had no other ability than a sharp mouth.

When news came again that Zhang Zhimu had exterminated the water bandits in Wuluo Lake. Emperor Chongzhen was even more happy, and the imperial court sent troops several times to no avail. Although there are not many of those water bandits, they occupy a very nasty position, and he can threaten the safety of Cao Yun at any time. If you go to the less, you can't deal with the water bandits, and if you have more, you can't use it. This time, Zhang Zhimu was killed, except for a heart disease.

Every time this Zhang Zhimu makes a move, he shares his worries for the court, and he also scratches the itch for himself. Thinking of this, Zhang Zhimu was happy in his heart. However, Emperor Chongzhen is also thinking, will this Zhang Zhimu really become big by himself?