The middle-aged man in his forties and fifties scolded meanly, but this person opened his mouth to "Zhao T+: This kind of salutation made the two officers creepy, they didn't dare to open their mouths to argue, they arched their hands in a panic, and went into the cabin to continue the secret discussion. *offer

After a pause, a navy guide ship sailed into the middle-aged civil official's side and greeted him in a loud voice: "Lord Hou of the Beiyang Affairs Bureau is on board?" ”

The civil official on the opposite ship replied loudly: "The old man is here!" ”

A loud voice on the warship responded: "The old man dares to call the old man in front of him, Hou Boy is so disrespectful!" ”

Hou Meng hurriedly got up and replied, "Don't dare to greet Lao Mingsuo in person, the kid is offended." ”

A cable was thrown on the warship, the boatman tied the cable to his boat, and dragged the boat into the side of the warship, Hou Meng climbed on the warship, Wang Mingsuo laughed at him: "The old man didn't greet you on purpose, the old man just went to Changguo to inspect, and by the way he took back the county lord of Changguo, passing by here, looking at the flag sail hanging on your ship, I guess it's you again, estimate the time, you should also come and stretch out your hand again." ”

Hou Meng smiled bitterly: "The Nanyang Affairs Bureau wants to expand eleven fleets in one go, and you still don't let people live." My Beiyang Affairs Bureau has worked hard to establish two fleets, but you have to add eight new fleets, which is too bullying. ”

After Hou Meng boarded the boat, Chen Buting and Sun He looked at Hou Meng away timidly, and whispered: "God, it is actually Hou Meng, the second person in the Beiyang Affairs Bureau, I heard that Han Xiang has been in poor health recently, and this Beiyang Affairs Bureau is presided over by Lord Hou, and this adult looks so fierce." ”

A lazy voice from Xiaozhou next to him interjected: "What is fierce, it's just a Lai Han who begs door to door." ”

It was a few young people who interjected, and the official flag was also lit on the other party's boat, but the flag was so miscellaneous, and five or six poles were inserted, one of which was the main flag, and there was a big character on it: Guo.

Chen Buting squinted his eyes and looked at the small print on the flag. Sun He took out a pair of pocket binoculars from his arms. Suddenly, it opens. While viewing. He also muttered in his mouth: "Qin Fenglu will control Guo ...... Hey. There is another kind. Fold the military flag. Shaanxi's local planters and folded families also sent people?! It seems that this time the staff headquarters was formed. The people who came here are really hidden dragons and crouching tigers. ”

Chen Buting looked enviously at the small telescope in Sun He's hand. sighed: "The Nanyang Affairs Bureau is really rich. An officer like you can wear a pair of glasses. With us. This kind of goggles is only equipped with a first-class and fourth-grade official. ”

Sun He smiled. Affectionately put away his glasses. Answer: "In fact, our Fujian Road is also the land of the queen mother in the Nanyang Yamen. The rations are reduced and subtracted. Alas. I heard that it was in the Hangzhou headquarters. In this way, clairvoyance is equipped with small soldiers. Now the officers take the ground is binocular clairvoyant. Hey. People to people. It's infuriating. ”

Pause. Sun He raised his voice and shouted: "The few benevolent brothers on the other side are Qin Fenglu." Is it also going to the staff headquarters for training? Brother I, Nanyang Affairs Bureau under the jurisdiction of Fujian Road Zhangzhou. It was also a training ground for the staff headquarters. Next to it is Chen Buting, commander of Ma Bujun in Tanzhou, Jinghu North Road. A few benevolent brothers, why don't you come by boat. Get to know each other. ”

Among a few people. It seems that the official surnamed Guo Di is the largest. He grimaced. Jump over the warship. He shouted: "Two of you." Above the dock there was a loud talk about the Golan Washer. Corrupt the reputation of officials. Wouldn't it be nice to be heard! ”

Chen Buting hurriedly defended. Sun He smiled. Answer: "I'm already whispering." But this voice is practiced by shouting and drilling. I didn't expect to shout to my brother's desk and know. Forgiveness of sins and forgiveness of sins. This one. In fact, the Nanyang Yamen couldn't help but be in the snow. Because...... Master Taishi. The brothers of the Taishi are the prodigal sons in the wind and moon. Can he manage it? ”

As the young man surnamed Guo came over, the other soldiers on the boat also climbed onto the boat, and after they introduced each other, sure enough, the family and some young generals in Shaanxi sent disciples for training.

The name surnamed Guo is Guo Guangsheng, he was originally a tribute, a few years ago when the Western Xia people broke through the Zhenrong army, he organized the box soldiers to resist stubbornly, and then he was inexplicably incorporated into the Shaanxi Forbidden Army and became a military man. Now he is appointed by the marshal of the palace to be the governor of the state. After that, the continuous war made him unable to let go of the defense of Huizhou and break away from the status of a soldier, so he had no choice but to continue to be a martial artist.

These people were greeting each other, and on the warship, Wang Mingsu replied to Hou Meng casually: "Lord Hou doesn't need to worry, although the Nanyang Affairs Bureau has a plan to expand the army, but the funds are not abundant, and the excess money is used to support the imperial court.

Now Governor Chen has gone to Africa, the Second Fleet is in the waters of the country to ensure the logistics of Commander Chen, and our Third Fleet must stay in the port and remain on standby at any time. That's why I support Zhao Liren's plan to expand the army.

The plan of the General Staff Headquarters was to expand three more fleets, one of which would be stationed in Guangzhou to maintain the force in the waters of Guangzhou; One is stationed in Quanzhou to ensure the normal trading of ships in Quanzhou, and another is added to inspect the Lion City to protect our throat to the South Seas. In addition, the port maintains at least one fleet on duty and one fleet on standby, so that we can only expand three or four fleets in the early stage.

I support this plan, the navy costs less money to raise, the income is large, I pay taxes in the Song Dynasty, the sea trade is getting heavier and heavier, and we can't help but tilt the force towards the sea trade. What's more, Zhao Liren has a reputation for being good at training people, and after the navy soldiers retire, they can also enrich the civilian merchant ships and increase our overseas trade volume, which has several benefits, so even if the funds are tight at present, we must build the fleet first. ”

Hou Meng immediately asked again: "What about the 6th Army?" You now have eight armies, and I heard that although these eight armies have only 50,000 regular soldiers, the auxiliary soldiers have reached 200,000. ”

After a pause, Hou Meng muttered again: "Isn't the output of the new fast gun not high, I finally got 500 fast guns, but you want to expand the new army to 200,000, 200,000, I don't know what you think, can you use it?" ”

Wang Mingsuo grinned: "The so-called expansion, that is actually all coaxing, but in fact it is disarmament. This time, we plan to dismantle most of the van soldiers and transfer some cavalry officers from the Iron Cavalry Army into the various roads to form cavalry patrol units, which will be used to enforce local security in the future

It is mainly equipped with swords, guns, bows and arrows, and is called the 'first-class box army'.

Below the cavalry patrol is the archers, which are the second-class van army. After that, all the armed forces at the county level were abolished, and in the future we will only set up shooting battalions in units at the road level, plus a cavalry patrol under command. In this way, there are about 10,000 local troops in our Nanyang Affairs Bureau. From now on, our main strength will be in the Forces nouvelles.

Now that there were only eight new troops, Dali had to station two armies to suppress Tibet, and Quang Nam had to keep two armies so that they could be sent overseas at any time. As a result, only four armies remained in the entire north, and overseas was completely vacant. In the future, we will maintain the habit of stationing troops overseas, and we plan to keep at least three armies overseas to deter the vassals, so the 6th Army will also be expanded.

Officers who have been dismissed from various armies can go overseas to serve, and when their service expires, they will be directly discharged. After a period of service, all the main armed forces of the Nanyang Affairs Bureau can be replaced by a new type of army and a new type of officers. ”

Wang Mingsuo pointed to a few small boats behind him, Chen Buting and their official ships were following behind the warship, sailing to the dock with the help of the channel cleared by the warship, Wang Mingsuo pointed to several figures on the ship, and introduced them one by one: "Most of those officers are transferred from Shaanxi, this is my suggestion, the master can't be idle, and the heart of sharpening the knife is eager."

Therefore, I suggest that the Taishi attack the Western Xia first. We have a century-old alliance with the Liao State, but it is only a truce with the Western Xia, and we start from the Western Xia, first solve the flanks, and then ...... Then it's up to you to deal with the Beiyang Affairs Bureau, and you also need to be prepared to deal with the great changes in Liao. ”

Hou Meng found the conversation and quickly asked: "Where did the Shuai Zi Company go, I remember that the Shuai Zi Company led the troops on Chinese New Year's Eve, but there was no news after that." Now there have been great changes in the north, the Bohai State has risen, and the Liao people are fighting inextricably, I heard that the Liao people have mobilized 200,000 troops, and are fighting hard with the Bohai people, the Bohai people have used a very powerful weapon, the Liao people guess that this is our firearm, and it has come to our Beiyang Affairs Bureau to complain. ”

Wang Mingsu shook his head: "I, a civilian official, can't interfere in the matter of military deployment, if I want to ask you to ask Yayan, he may be able to know if Bohai has Zilian intervened...... Yuan Gong, recently I heard that someone has a new channel in the north, and there is a perennial frozen ice big 6, I don't know how this big 6 returns? If the income is good, will the Beiyang Affairs Bureau also expand the army? ”

When Hou Meng heard this, he nodded and smiled: "Speaking of which, this big 6 is now due to the Taishi, who has funded the expedition of the fleet all the year round, and there is a caravan that has been sailing north, and the frozen big 6 is now." A large area of 6 perennial ice, a year only four or five months of thawing, but the amount of fish is extremely abundant, the nearby ready-made is ice, after the fishing is done with the hand with ice cubes, transported back to Dengzhou, a ship profitable, no less than the trade with Liao.

Oh, they catch manatees in the far north (the Song Dynasty name for whales), this kind of sea meat is tender, a boat of sea meat can sell tens of thousands, fishermen run a trip, it takes four months to go back and forth, much better than fishing in the offshore waters, now the merchants have gradually established supply points, the Beiyang Affairs Bureau intends to open this industry.

Didn't Zhao Liren newly announce the bond law, we plan to use this proceeds as collateral to issue Beiyang bonds, and then use this money to expand the two fleets, but I don't know if your shipbuilding capacity can keep up? ”

Wang Mingsuo smiled without eyes: "Keep up, keep up, now Quanzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, Guangzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, Qiongzhou Shipbuilding Bureau are working at full speed, the production capacity of the three places has been tripled, 3,000 ships can be built every year, and ten ships are launched every day." We can supply as much as you want, but the artillery casting can't keep up, and I'm worried about this. ”

Hou Meng grinned: "Looking at the world, who else can play artillery except my Great Song Dynasty, our ship can run rampant in the north with two cannons, and it is invincible with ten cannons, Zhao Liren just engaged in that hundred-gun ship, which is big and inappropriate." The ships that my Beiyang Affairs Bureau wants, each ship is equipped with ten guns, and the auxiliary ships can have one or two guns is already very satisfied, as for the secondary warships, it is good to install three or five guns, so why waste money and tonnage? ”

Wang Mingsuo sighed with deep sympathy, pointed to the cabin, and said: "This time I accompanied Changguo to inspect Zhao Liren's 100-gun battleship at sea, master, the 100-gun ship is mighty, it is like a cannon mountain, full of fire, I am thinking, what power can resist this destructive power, is this power necessary?" ”

Hou Meng looked left and right, and said in a low voice: "I heard that the Liao side has also begun to cast cannons, and now they have moved the cannons to the city wall, and it is estimated that the next step will be to move them to the warship, perhaps, in ten years, there will be a scene of a hundred artillery ships bombarding, Zhao Liren has money, let him reserve this technology in advance, my Beiyang Affairs Bureau expects that within ten years, the Liao people are not yet opponents, ten years later, the ships purchased now should also be scrapped, and they should be replaced with new ships, maybe there is a need for this." ”

Wang Mingsuo sighed, pointed his finger at the officer who followed behind the ship, and sighed and said: "War, the more we fight, the more we are not familiar with it, the power of artillery, not manpower can resist, in the future war, it is useless to have many people, it is still relying on firearms." I hope that this batch of new-style officers cultivated by Zhao Liren can make my Great Song stronger and stronger. ”

The battleship had already leaned towards the dock at this time, and Hou Meng suddenly remembered and asked: "Why, I heard that Zhao Liren ran away again, to inspect various places, he is not there, can the Nanyang Affairs Bureau operate normally?" ”

Wang Mingsuo nodded: "There is no problem in government affairs, we will issue ten decrees this month, you are here just to make bonds in Hangzhou, this is a private affair, we will not participate." In addition, the ordnance you want to transfer will go through the normal way, and all the approvals have been completed, and the rest is the matter of your hired ship for shipment, and my Nanyang Affairs Bureau will not interfere.

This month, we will announce the functions and powers of the township elders council and the rules for the election...... The disciples of Guan Xue were very happy, and a group of Lumen disciples came from Shaanxi, all clamoring for the implementation of the Lantian Convention in the world, and they also planned to observe the implementation of the Lantian Convention in various places.

I have heard that the officials of the Guan faction are now also very proud in the localities, and because of our support, they are doing their best to enforce the conventions in various places, and they are very popular with the local gentry. Even officials of other schools of thought were forced to implement the ...... of the village elders' association."

The two were chatting

Pushing away, the county lord of Changguo appeared on the deck accompanied by Zheng Juzhong, and Zheng) 3 Suo beckoned and asked, "Mingsuo, when will we land on the shore?" ”

Wang Mingsuo bowed down and replied: "After the springboard is set up, land on the shore immediately, and it will happen soon." ”

Zheng Juzhong frowned and asked: "Why did you choose the canal wharf, didn't we all land at Zhao Liren's private wharf the first few times, this canal wharf is far away from the Lili Garden, and now that I have landed, the county lord has returned to his residence, wouldn't it be dark?" ”

Wang Mingsuo bowed down and replied: "The private wharf of the Taishi family is dispatching warships to prepare to escort the king of Luzon to the throne, and only the canal wharf is free. ”

Zheng Juzhong nodded: "King Luzon (King Jian) can't leave today, right?" ”

Wang Mingsuo replied: "The First Fleet and the Second Fleet are both overseas, and our headquarters still has to stay with some ships, so there are not many warships to escort King Jian south, so we have to dispatch some armed merchant ships, and it is very troublesome to reorganize these merchant ships, and it is estimated that it will take a month." ”

Zheng Juzhong nodded: "That's good." ”

Hou Meng approached Wang Mingsuo's ear in a low voice, and asked in surprise: "King Jian is a vassal?" ”

Wang Mingsu replied in a low voice: "Immediately, King Qiong and King Ryukyu will go out of Beijing, and 6 will continue to go south to become a vassal." ”

Hou Meng asked in a low voice: "There are rumors among the merchants, saying that Zhao Hai, the second son of Zhao Liren, is the king of Zhancheng, but is there such a thing?" ”

Wang Mingsuo shook his head: "How can you talk nonsense, I know that Zhao Hai is in charge of the trade territory of Jinlan City, but that city is a private trading port established by Zhao Liren overseas, which is equivalent to his own manor overseas, how can this be regarded as the king of Zhancheng, at most he is just a master of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Hou Meng Chong Changguo nodded and said softly: "It is rumored that the king of Ryukyu will take the mission of giving marriage to preside over the wedding of Zhao Liren's son-in-law Zhao Feng, but is there such a thing?" ”

Wang Mingsuo whispered a name: "Zhao Yun! ”

Hou Meng was surprised: "Why is that muddy boy?" ”

In the Song Dynasty, "Three Kingdoms Zhipinghua" gradually became popular, and the name Zhao Yun was also a bit of a household name, but Zhao Xing's son Zhao Yun was an outlier in the eyes of the scholars. The other sons are also a little more motivated, knowing that they can learn the technology of governing the place with their father, at least they also learn the technology of running the family business, only this little three is the most unproductive, often pry the family not to say, he likes to dance with knives and sticks, he doesn't like to study the art of war the most, it seems that Zhao Xing's family heirloom art of war, and the inheritance is broken, which makes the disciples of the generals happy, but it makes the scholars and doctors pause.

In the eyes of the scholars, Zhao Feng is the qualified heir of the Zhao clan, he is steady and does things in a proper manner, his performance greatly relieved the royal family, and also made the scholars feel happy in the shadow of Zhao Xing. And Zhao Hai has the title of the lord of Jinlan City, and he is destined not to be exhibited in the country, so the scholars and doctors don't mind that Zhao Hai inherited Zhao Xing's ability to govern the place - a small overseas city, even if it is governed to the sky, what can it do, isn't it a subject country of the Great Song Dynasty? Therefore, the scholars and doctors are pretending to be confused about the fact that it clearly exists. Just as they pretended to be confused about the identity of Zhao Hai's mother, Chen Yiyi.

Zhao Shan's mother is a Hu person, although the Hu people in the Song Dynasty can also be a big official, but after all, there is a layer of Huayi distinction, the scholars are not afraid of Zhao Shan's appearance, and there are faint rumors that Zhao Shan's child will also stay abroad when he grows up, so although Zhao Shan's child inherited Zhao Xing's cunning and resourcefulness, the scholars and doctors are happy to see it, because the more cunning Zhao Shan of the Song Dynasty, the more beneficial he is to the Great Song Dynasty overseas.

Seeing that Zhao Tian was learning the art of management from Zhao Xing, the scholars were also happy to see this sent, because his identity as a sustenance was there, and he was afraid that he would have to defend the family for the rest of his life.

From this point of view, counting and counting, it seems that Zhao Yun is the most suitable to inherit Zhao Xing's achievements in the art of war, but this child's favorite thing is to run away from home and take care of some nosy things on the road that should not be taken care of. The scholars and doctors often take him to educate their children - look at the junior of the Taishi family, the children of the generals have been in the middle school of the Taishi family for a few months, and they can stand alone and command the battle to destroy the country, that kid has such good conditions, but he likes to fight outside, and he can't be like the junior.

For these reasons, Hou Meng was greatly surprised by Wang Mingsuo's name, and after he questioned, he saw Wang Mingsuo nodding slightly, and sought confirmation in disbelief: "Is the official family willing, among the sons of the Taishi, only this kid is not successful, who does Changguo marry, and he shouldn't marry Xiaosan, right?" ”

At this time, the object of everyone's discussion, Princess Changguo, looked at the wharf, Cheng Azhu was holding Zhao Yun on the shore to greet her, this unsuccessful child consumed Cheng Azhu's mental strength, and Zhao Xing's connivance made Cheng Azhu weak in discipline, and now, with the royal family let her feel more or less relieved, so she did everything in person, specially to welcome her prospective daughter-in-law.

When Changguo saw Cheng Azhu on the shore, she bowed and replied shyly: "How dare Grandma Lao greet him, Changguo is ashamed." ”

Changguo said, stepped onto the springboard, and immediately several women came over to help, behind her, Wang Mingsu replied to Hou Meng in a low voice: "No matter what Zhao Yun says, she is also the mother of the long branch, Dazai, and the daughter-in-law of Zhao Feng is too famous, and the royal family does not dare to force it." The next best thing can only be Zhao Yun. ”

Hou Meng pondered for a moment and nodded: "Speaking of which, Zhao Yun is not bad, he is the second son of the concubine, and it is appropriate to serve as the envoy of the door in the future." ”

Zheng Juzhong greeted him and sent Changguo ashore, then walked to the two of them, sighed and said, "Are the two adults free tonight?" Now that I've finally completed my mission, we might as well go boating on West Lake tonight and buy drunk on the lake. ”

Hou Meng grinned and replied: "I am not as idle as Dazai-sama, after visiting the Taishi, I will return immediately - the situation in the north changes three times a day, I am busy here, how can I have leisure to visit the West Lake." ”

When Zheng Juzhong heard this, his face changed slightly, and he said something seemingly inconsequential lightly: "Liu Zhongwu was defeated, Gao Yong's young enemy was defeated and died, Liu Zhongwu had to lead the army to retreat, and the imperial court intended to exile him to Lingnan." ”