At this time, it is in the north of Yangzhou.

At the mouth of the Huai River, Prince Chengqian personally led a fleet into the Huai River.

The forward of the fleet was none other than Xue Rengui, commander of the Lijiapo detachment of the South China Sea Fleet, and next to him was Zhu Zhendong, the commander of the Marine Division of the detachment.

This time, not only did 50,000 troops come around the sea, but they also carried a large merchant fleet with them. This was organized by the major shipping houses and many merchant shipowners under the call of the Imperial Court, the Parliament and the Chamber of Commerce.

Carrying a large number of horseloads of medicine, food, clothing, and other relief supplies, they came with the fleet.

This time, the southern army marched in a big way, and the name of the foreign world was flood fighting and disaster relief.

Many of those commodities were donated by people from all over the south, but the bulk was actually made by those big merchants.

Before this dispatch, in fact, many people were opposed to sending troops at this time.

A group of ministers represented by Yang Shidao believe that in the current great flood, sending troops at this time has the feeling of taking advantage of people's danger. Moreover, the flood is severe, and it is not convenient to send troops, especially when there is a major disaster, there is often a big epidemic, and if a large army is infected with the plague, the gains outweigh the losses.

But Zhang Chao doesn't think so.

Floods are an opportunity.

The once-in-a-century flood has caused the Jianghuai River basin to become a disaster area, and hundreds of people have been affected, and even led to many areas controlled by the imperial court, where those large and small cities have been flooded or become isolated cities.

At this time, the Southern Army, which has a strong water division, is like getting a buff bonus. At this time, sending troops, in the name of disaster relief, can not only win people's hearts, but also capture the city more easily.

As for laying the ground now, it is tantamount to carrying a burden.

Zhang Chao doesn't think it's a burden.

In fact, there is no shortage of food in the imperial court now, this is not more than ten years ago. In recent years, the imperial court has greatly expanded, cultivated land has increased greatly, grain reserves have become more and more abundant, and grain has been available everywhere.

It's just that rescue organizations are needed to settle the aftermath, but the gains are also huge.

As for the plague, timely prevention and control will avoid the outbreak of the plague, if it is ignored, there will be dead bodies of people and animals everywhere, and the outbreak of the plague will be more likely.

In the end, Cheng Qian was convinced.

Zhang Chaoqin led a large army to attack Yangzhou, which was guarded by 30,000 heavy troops, while Chengqian led 50,000 horses and horses from the sea to the north to enter the Huai River to fight Chuzhou, Haozhou, Shouzhou and so on.

Ma Zhou stayed in Runzhou.

In addition, there were two partial divisions, which went to attack Xuanzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, and Hezhou and Luzhou in Huainan.

It's an excellent time to attack.

The great flood made the places disconnected from each other, and those big cities became isolated cities, and they were very passive in defense. Even many cities were flooded, and marching at this time was simply picking up victory.

Huainan Province and Jiangnan Province are what Zhang Chao swears to win.

Although this flood makes Armageddon may not start for a while, there will always be a time when the water will recede. Now there is a chance not to take it, and when will it be. If Huainan can be taken, Zhang Chao will attack Jiangxi and Huaibei next.

Go and seize Dengzhou, Jiangzhou and other important cities on the river and sea.

This is quite a bit of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liu Yu went north to the Central Plains.

Everything was as Zhang Chao expected, and the southern army was going well.

After the flood, Jianghuai was a flooded country, but the southern army could march quickly under the transportation of naval warships. Along the way, it's hard to stop.

Under the city of Yangzhou.

The army gathered.

Behind is the rescue fleet composed of chambers of commerce and others rescuing and relocating the people, and the people sigh again and again.

And under the city, Zhang Chao waved his hand.

One cannon after another has been pushed directly into the city.

There are also cannons on the head of Yangzhou City.

But Cheng Mingzhen's face was ugly.

Everyone has artillery, but Zhang Chao's cannons are more threatening, these cannons can break through the thick walls of Yangzhou City, so that the 50,000 troops outside the city can enter the city.

And his cannon, at most, is just a little more lethal.

"Why isn't it raining this day?"

Yang Hongli raised his head and asked the sky, wanting to scold this thief.

As soon as Zhang Chao came, it stopped raining.

This God is favoring Zhang Chao.

If it rains heavily, Zhang Chao's cannon will definitely not be able to hit.

"Two, why bother to resist stubbornly, let the soldiers and civilians in the city suffer the flames of war, and make them suffer unnecessary casualties. As long as the two of them open the city, they will ensure the safety of everyone in the city and not kill a single person. If the two want to leave Yangzhou, they can also leave as a gift. ”

Cheng Mingzhen shook his head.

With the grace of the king, how can you surrender without a fight.

Zhang Chao was helpless.

"King Zhao, do you want to attack?"

"Since you can't persuade you to surrender, you can only fight down. Prepare and execute the second set of plans. ”

······

Hankyung.

The continuous heavy rain has caused the water level of the Han River to soar, and the water level of the Dan River and the Tang River, which are tributaries of the Han River, has also risen.

Because of the construction of the West Canal, there is now the Danjiang Reservoir in the northwest of Hanjing, the Hanjiang Dam in the southwest, and even the nearby rivers such as the Tang River and the Baihe River also have many sluices.

In the past, these reservoir dam locks greatly facilitated water conservancy and irrigation on the water-scarce Xiangdeng Plain, solved the problem of water shortage, and also made shipping and transportation more convenient.

But now, it also puts Hanjing at risk of flooding.

Both the Danjiang Reservoir and the Hanjiang Dam had to increase the amount of flood water released to ensure the safety of the dams, but once the flood was released, the downstream flooding worsened, and large areas were inundated.

A large number of people in the Xiangdeng area were affected, and many fled to Hanjing.

The emperor's plan to go south was forced to be shelved, and there was a sea of water everywhere, how to go south, and how to transfer military supplies?

Even the scheduled 200,000 troops could not be assembled, and many government soldiers became victims of the disaster and fled.

"There must be a truce."

Fang Xuanling was in the absence of the emperor at the joint meeting of the three courts of the imperial court, and he was loud and clear.

At present, this situation is no longer a question of quelling chaos, and the issue of disaster relief is even more urgent. Even the walls of Hanjing have gathered countless refugees, how can this be a war.

"Who wants to follow someone into the palace to admonish?" Fang Xuanling asked.

Although the eldest grandson Wuji is not very optimistic about this kind of palace-forcing method, he also knows that there is no other good way to save the situation at the moment.

The emperor is basically not in court now, and even the pre-imperial meetings are rarely attended. The Zhongshu Sect took charge of the government on his behalf, and then most of the chapters presented were transferred to the Privy Council, which was reviewed by the Privy Council's Hanlin scholars on their behalf, and finally transferred back.

The eldest grandson Wuji heard that the emperor yawns all day long and is drowsy all day long, but at night he is fierce and often royal at night.

At first, he thought that there was a rumor, but later he went into the palace to see the emperor in person, only to find that it was really like a rumor.

The emperor lost a lot of weight, and his face turned blue. But the emperor himself said that he was in good health, and after convincing the elixir, he was in excellent spirits. Even on that day, the emperor was so happy that he gave him an elixir of life, saying that this medicine was extremely precious.

Taking one capsule can extend your life for at least one year.

After the pill was brought home, the eldest grandson Wuji threw it to his dog and ate it.

He didn't believe in pill divination. But the emperor believed it very much, Zhang Chao told the emperor about the set of gods, ghosts and ghosts, and the emperor really believed it.

What happened later was really as Zhang Chao expected, which made him a little skeptical for a while. But later, the eldest grandson Wuji didn't believe it again.

If Zhang Chao could really see that, why did he want to support a person who would kill his children and raid his family in the future to be the emperor?

Therefore, these things are not credible after all.

Even the mandate of heaven is false, isn't the elixir even more fake?

But the emperor just believed it, and said that Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were looking for the elixir of life, but the two of them didn't find it, but they found it themselves.

"Let's go!" The eldest grandson Wuji responded.

Shang Shu Ling Yu was old, and he didn't want to be involved in these things. He used to be in a group with Xiao Yu and Chen Shuda, but unfortunately these old partners have died a long time ago.

He hesitated.

Fang Xuanling's eyes swept over.

"Yuwen Linggong, are you backing down, are you scared?"

Yu Wenshi was helpless, "Let's go together." ”

The three of them made a statement, and the others naturally had no reason to retreat, and most of the military officers in the Privy Council were leading the troops outside, and the old marshal Qu Tutong was in charge of the Privy Council, unequivocally, and the voice was like a bell.

Originally, there were twenty-seven Zaifu, but now there are only eighteen in Beijing.

The other nine were leading the troops outside, and some were like Wei Zheng, who were still in prison.

Eighteen Zaifu, with a beam crown on their heads, wearing purple robes, holding jade wat in their hands, held their heads high, and headed towards the palace gate.

In front of the palace gate, the guards dressed in golden full-body plate armor stood solemnly, their whole bodies were covered by plate armor, and only the eyes were exposed behind the holes in the face armor.

"Stop!"

A few spears were erected to block the way.

"We want to enter the palace and face the saint."

The guards knew a few prime ministers, but they didn't budge.

Even if he is the prime minister, he can't enter the palace if he wants to, he has to receive an edict to enter the palace. Otherwise, you can only report it first and wait for permission.

"Immediately go and report it, and say that the three courtyards are asking to see each other."

The guards didn't dare to slack off, and it was only their duty to stop the Zaifu.

Wang Chengen rushed to hear the news.

Eighteen Zaifu asked to face the saint outside the palace, and this is all the Zaifu in Beijing. This kind of thing is quite rare, and something big must have happened.

"Fang Xiang, the eldest grandson Xiangguo, and all the Xiangguo, what happened?"

"Please report to Your Majesty on your behalf, we have something important to meet."

"Can you tell me something?"

"Military affairs are major events related to the country's social affairs!"

Wang Chengen touched a nail, and he didn't dare to have a temper, so he had to hurriedly enter the palace to report.

Palace.

Li Shimin faced the twists and turns on the imperial case, but he always felt that he couldn't gather his spirit, yawned, and felt that tears were about to fall.

"Your Majesty, do you need to take the pill?" Wu Cairen asked.

Recently, martial artists have been very favored, and the emperor has even had a tendency to be inseparable from her. Every day, let her be by her side.

Wucai people accompany the emperor and the prince every day, and they have to take care of Princess Jinyang after accompanying the prince, which is also very hard.

"Hmm."

The martial artists brought the elixir and the wine.

Li Shimin took it.

After taking it, the whole person was fluttering, but it was very cool.

"Your Majesty, do you need to put it away?" Wu Cairen asked.

Li Shimin closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, didn't even want to open his eyes, and said casually, "You can clean up these pieces for me." ”