"Your Majesty, report urgently, Chen Yu's corps is approaching the mouth of the Red River, and Qu Chengmei is willing to surrender to Cheng." After Xu Tianxiang received the urgent information from Xuan Yingwei, he hurried to the Changqing Hall and found Li Xuanqing.

Li Xuanqing was originally discussing this year's farming with Cen Tianshi, but all parts of the south of the Yangtze River have basically begun, and all parts of the north of the Yangtze River have just begun, and agriculture in the north is different from that in the south, so now the Ministry of Agriculture has also changed the original unified farming time in accordance with local conditions, just so as not to violate the agricultural time.

"Qu Chengmei is willing to surrender? Isn't it, wasn't this guy tough before? Li Xuanqing was a little surprised and said, "He won't have any conditions, right?" ”

"Xuan Yingwei didn't say anything in the intelligence, according to Xiao Si's temper, if there is anything big, he shouldn't fail to report it." Xu Tianxiang said with a smile: "Qu Chengmei's younger brother was captured by the navy before, and the Marine Corps has taken Aizhou, which is equivalent to cutting off his back road, I think he is no longer qualified to negotiate conditions." Besides, now that the soldiers are pressing, if he has the conditions, he is afraid that Xiao Si will not agree. ”

"Then inform Chen Yu to take over Qu Chengmei's military power, leave three battalions stationed in Jiaozhou to maintain order temporarily, and wait for the National Guard and the cabinet to send personnel to receive them, and the rest of the manpower will return to Huzhou at a later date to continue to implement the plan to attack Nanzhao." Li Xuanqing instructed: "At the same time, I summoned Qu Chengmei's brothers to let them come to Chang'an, just say what I said, Qu Chengmei's operation of Jiaozhou can be regarded as a lot of work for the country and the people, and the previous matters can be mitigated as appropriate after the law court cleans up." He is a talented person at this time when the world is at the beginning of peace, and I still need to reuse such talents, so I hope he doesn't mind it. Li Xuanqing also knew what Qu Chengmei was worried about, if it was someone else, Li Xuanqing wouldn't bother to care, but Qu Chengmei was different from the previous feudal town, the Jiaozhou run by Qu Chengmei was originally a remote place, there were very few Han people, and people from a few other tribes rose one after another when the central dynasty was in decline, and it was rare for him to be able to sit on one side and protect the people of the Han family.

Xu Tianxiang and Cen Tianshi, who was sitting on the side, looked at each other and understood what Li Xuanqing meant, nodded and went out to issue a notice, the cabinet needs to rearrange the state and county officials in Jiaozhou, and even the selection of the cabinet for the political envoy in Jiaozhou needs to be reconsidered, because Qu Chengmei seems to have no big problem, if he chooses to enter politics, he is afraid that nine times out of ten he still needs to return to Jiaozhou, because after all, he has been in Jiaozhou for many years, and if he can govern one side, it will also be a blessing for the people of Jiaozhou.

The supreme order of the Tang Empire was soon sent to the front line of Jiaozhou by fast boats and fast horses, and at this time Chen Yu's army had arrived outside Jiaozhou City under the escort of Guo Chongtao's fleet, but because the order of the base camp did not come down, it did not enter the city for the time being, but the garrison in Jiaozhou City has begun to reorganize under the auspices of Qu Chengmei in the past few days, and then they also drove out of the city one after another, and set up another camp outside the Tiance Army camp.

After Xuan Yingwei came quickly, Chen Yu and Qu Chengmei began to prepare after taking over the decree, Chen Yu and Hu Xiaosi began to reorganize the soldiers and horses of Jiaozhou, and began to receive all the areas of the entire Jiaozhou, temporarily under military control, and waited for the cabinet to send someone over.

"Lord Qu, the emperor's will is for you to leave for Chang'an as soon as possible." Hu Xiaosi understood what it meant when he took over Li Xuanqing's holy decree, so he smiled at Qu Chengmei and said, "Congratulations to Master Qu here." ”

Hu Xiaosi's words made Qu Chengmei put his mind down, and he also knew Hu Xiaosi's status within the Tang Empire, so he smiled when he heard this: "Thank you General Hu for your good words, and I will ask the general to take care of me and other brothers in the future." ”

"Okay, now that Jiaozhou is attached, I'm afraid that the war in the south is coming to an end, and when we come to the next day, we will return to Chang'an and drink together." Chen Yu took advantage of their words to finish assigning military affairs, walked over and said with a smile: "You two can leave for Chang'an as soon as possible, I still have to stay in Jiaozhou for a few more days, and I can only lead the troops back after the cabinet and the National Guard arrive." ”

"The emperor said that he was about to take Qiaoxi to Tianjin to see off the Xu family's voyage fleet, and I just took Master Qu to Tianjin to meet the emperor at that time." Hu Xiaosi said with a smile: "You hurry up and go to Nanzhao, it's a paradise over there, don't be lost there and can't come back." ”

After arranging this, several people immediately went their separate ways, Chen Yu stayed in Jiaozhou, while Hu Xiaosi took the Qu brothers back to Guangzhou by naval clipper, and then took an official ship from Guangzhou to Tianjin Port by sea.

After Li Xuanqing, Cen Tianshi, Xu Tianxiang and others arranged military affairs in Chang'an, they took everyone from Chang'an to Luoyang by train, and then took a boat north to Tianjin in Luoyang. Nowadays, Luoyang and Bianzhou have become an important town connecting the east and west, north and south, just the merchant ships and cargo ships that come here every day are not less than 100, in addition to the previous wooden sailing ships, more and more steamships also let the people along the way see new hope, this kind of high-horsepower freighter can carry a lot more goods than cargo ships, and in the canal, sailing ships transport goods in addition to the wind power only by oars, the disadvantages are great, compared with this kind of free power steamer and passenger ship. In addition to the Daxing wharf, Luoyang and other towns along the route have also opened up warehouse areas and coal warehouses similar to seaports to supplement cargo ships.

Li Xuanqing took a specially customized official ship from Qiaoxi, which belonged to the royal family, and the decoration was naturally more luxurious, and it was also relatively tall, which made Cen Tianshi feel very fashionable, and said with a smile: "The royal family, Qiaoxi's luxury passenger ship has gone all the way over, I'm afraid that it will cause a sensation across the board, I'm afraid that the people will follow the trend when the time comes?" ”

"This is a new type of passenger ship, there is no way to follow the trend, let them follow, but there are not so many qualifications to be able to drive and operate passenger ships, only a few are approved every year, and all control sources are the most important. However, in the future, when the people are rich, it will be gradually liberalized. Li Xuanqing said with a smile: "I feel bored and panicked with this kind of passenger ferry in the inland river, if it weren't for the rush this time, we would have taken a trip to the sea from the mouth of the Yangtze River." ”

"What does the emperor mean to prepare for a franchise?" Xu Tianxiang walked over with Yang Fuyao and frowned: "Won't this make these shipping companies bigger when the time comes?" This water transport will inevitably be the most important channel for the people to travel until the reunification of the country, and if they are all franchised, they are only afraid that it will be inappropriate. ”

"You don't understand, I'll let the Ministry of Transportation do a good job of this matter at that time, and I'll know when the time comes." Li Xuanqing waved his hand, but Qiaoxi next to him understood what Li Xuanqing meant and smiled: "Second brother, don't you understand?" Grasping the big and letting go of the small is what the state has to do. ”

"Your Majesty, I heard that Murong has prepared a lot of goods for Xu Xingxia this time, not only dozens of ships of various commodities, but also more than a dozen ships of military supplies." Cen Tianshi walked over and said with a smile: "By the way, there are also people from Qianzhuang who have pulled a few boatloads of copper coins, and they plan to exchange them for silver." ”

"Still changing? You are really real people, it seems that Xiao Si should be responsible for this matter, honest people can't do this kind of thing, the silver should be robbed. Li Xuanqing just finished muttering about this, and Qiaoxi beside him laughed and said: "Big brother, I'm afraid Brother Hu won't be able to go, Gesang is pregnant, I'm afraid Brother Hu will go back to Chang'an to accompany Gesang after sending Brother Xu this time." Qiaoxi's words made several people around him very surprised, and hurriedly came over to ask what was going on.

"Before I came out, Sister Feixue and I went to see her, and I originally planned to take her out for a walk, but I found out that I was more than two months pregnant, and now I don't go anywhere." Qiaoxi said with a smile: "At that time, Sister Feixue went home and got a lot of supplements for her, saying that she wanted to make up more." ”

"That's too bad, Xiaosi's own daughter-in-law is pregnant, and he also ran to the south, this time I'm afraid the two of them should fight." Cen Tianshi said with a smile: "This pair of enemies quarreled at two ends for three days in Chang'an, and they quarreled with me several times. ”

A few people all the way to talk and laugh is also interesting, in April the spring flooding, the canal water is a lot more than in winter, although there are many merchant ships are not crowded, the speed of this passenger ship is very fast, a few days from Luoyang retrograde into the Yellow River and then north into Tianjin. At this time, the port of Tianjin is already a banner exhibition, hundreds of passenger ships of all kinds are neatly parked on the wharf, there are the latest high-powered cargo ships and old sailing ships. The sailors recruited by the Xu family have been training in Tianjin and other places for more than a year, and they are waiting for this time to go to sea. Three Izumo-class warships of the Beiyang Fleet of the Navy accompanied the escort.

"Brother Xu, you are very well prepared, how many freighters are there?" After Li Xuanqing and the others arrived at the wharf of Tianjin Port, they saw Murong Hanhai and Xu Xingxia who were waiting here early in the morning, Qiaoxi walked over and looked at the ships in a port, and suddenly smiled: "Did you know the news from Japan before?" ”

Xu Xingxia stepped forward and said with a smile: "Thank you for the queen's concern, I have already sent someone over to see it in Japan, and it is similar to what we knew before, this time Xingxia has prepared thirty-eight new freighters, all of which are the latest freighters manufactured by Tianjin Shipyard, in addition to seventy-eight sailing ships." In addition, I have prepared 28 passenger ships, and I plan to bring some people to see them. ”

"Xingxia, you're doing a good job in this business, I'm waiting for you to come back with more gold and silver when you go to sea this time." Cen Tianshi looked at it and smiled: "Why do I think there seem to be someone else's ship here, Xingxia, you won't form a joint fleet, right?" ”

"That's not Xingxia's combined fleet, it's a special ship for the Logistics Department and Xuanyingwei." Before Xu Xingxia could speak, Hu Xiaosi's voice came from behind him, he rushed over early in the morning, and came over after breakfast in Tianjin City to find that Li Xuanqing and his party had arrived early.

Hu Xiaosi walked up to Cen Tianshi after taking Qu Chengmei and everyone present to greet him, and said with a smile: "This time I went to Japan, how could I miss the matter of my Xuan Yingwei, I plan to go to Japan to change something, and by the way, I will collect a little information about Japan." Didn't Mr. see that I transferred Zhao Sidu? This Japan is so mysterious by the emperor and Qiaoxi, I want to see what it looks like over there. ”

"It's still early, let's go to the flagship of Xingxia to have a look, and see what the largest passenger ship in our Tang Empire looks like." Li Xuanqing stopped the Qu Chengmei brothers from saluting him, and led everyone to board the Dongxing, the largest passenger ship ordered by Xu Xingxia at the Tianjin Shipyard and the largest iron-hulled ship built by the Tianjin Shipyard so far. The displacement of the Toko has reached 3,500 tons, almost more than twice the size of the Izumo class, and it is a veritable giant of this era. At this moment, pennants are fluttering everywhere on the Dongxing, and sailors can be seen everywhere making final preparations for going to sea. Li Xuanqing led everyone to the command cabin to inspect the various technical equipment prepared for the voyage, and in Xu Xingxia's general helm cabin, there were water compasses and 28 star charts, as well as Oriental charts drawn by Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi.

"Xingxia, after going to sea, you need to record what you have seen and heard along the way, and report it to me after returning to China, this is the task entrusted to you, and it is also the task to all the Tang fleets that will go to sea in the future." Li Xuanqing nodded and said, "The Ministry of Education and the Navy Department should find a way to set up a new school, the Ocean Academy, to specialize in training and research on going to sea. ”

After reading this, Cen Tianshi understood what Li Xuanqing meant, and hurriedly wrote down this matter, so that a similar institution to the later Ocean University was officially established in Tianjin soon after, and the Xu family's overseas fever made this ocean college grow rapidly and become a veritable ocean university.

"Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived, and it's time for the fleet to go to sea." Li Xuanqing and his entourage walked around the Dongxing and then disembarked. For Li Xuanqing and his wife, who are accustomed to seeing tens of thousands of tons of large ships in later generations, 3,500 tons is just what it looks like, but fortunately, the shipyard's technology at this time is enough to ensure that the construction of large ships is not much of a problem.

Li Xuanqing waved his hand, and a personal guard behind him blew the horn, and the ships of the fleet also responded, and a huge whistle came from the Izumo-class in the distance, and the three Izumo-class ships quickly started, spitting billowing smoke and began to break away from the mist in the distance, and then waited for the fleet to sail in the distance. All the ships in the port of Tientsin also began to depart in formations, and the free-powered steamers and passenger ferries were now departing from the port, followed by the wooden sailing ships with white sails. It took a full hour for this huge fleet to sail out of the harbor, accompanied by three Izumo-class warships, heading southeast, through the Mirashima archipelago, and then into the eastern ocean bound for Japan.

"Big brother, this time Brother Xu went to Japan, let's go back and find a small island, and then go to build a paradise." Qiaoxi saw Li Xuanqing's face change, and knew that he remembered the things of the later generations, and it was also said that history had changed for thousands of years, and when he returned to Datang, he could form such a huge fleet to go to Japan, which lasted for thousands of years, and it seemed to be another reincarnation.

Li Xuanqing smiled when he heard this: "In the future, the whole world will be the land of my Datang, and we will not allow any political force to break out of the control of my Datang." Turning around and looking at Qu Chengmei, who was still immersed in shock on the side, he smiled and said: "The excitement is also over, arrange for us to go back to Chang'an early tomorrow morning." ”