Fang Yuan sent Liu Ruis away, and had already made up his mind, this time not only to go north to King Qin, but also to attack with all his might, to defeat the invading Manchu iron cavalry, and save the Ming Dynasty from the crisis of imminent collapse.

He immediately recruited Jing Jie and other core backbones, and announced the decision to send troops to King Qin.

Everyone looked at each other, and although no one dared to speak out against it, anxiety and fear were clearly written on their faces.

Fang Yuan said loudly, "This time I will personally go out on the expedition, and I will go with the Chigutai and the musket cavalry battalion of the Xuanjia Army. The artillery battalion, the drone team, the Shenji battalion, and the Jinyi guard stayed in Suzhou Mansion to garrison. ”

He only took 2,000 musketeers with him, leaving all the rest of his troops in Suzhou.

Jing Jie remembered that a few years ago, Lu Xiangsheng, who led the 5,000 Tianxiong army to commit suicide and was killed in the Manchu Qing Dynasty and died in battle, persuaded bitterly, "Boss, the other Ming armies can't be counted on, if you want to challenge the 40,000 Manchu Iron Cavalry with 2,000 people, you will repeat the mistakes of Lu Inspector back then!" ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "Inspector Lu is Inspector Lu, and Fang Yuan is Fang Yuan, how can you generalize?" ”

Although Chigutai was brave, he was very repulsed by this kind of behavior that was clearly suicidal and seemed to be sent to death, and said unhappily, "Shaman envoy, if this soldier and horse want to defeat the Manchu iron cavalry, isn't it clear that he will be sent to death?" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "To defeat the Manchu iron cavalry, at least 20,000 musketeers are needed. However, if you drive away the Manchu Tartars, two thousand will be enough! Chigutai, after this battle, you will definitely become famous in one battle and become one of the best generals in the world! ”

His self-confidence continued to infect everyone present, and Chigutai, who bore the brunt of the attack, gradually disappeared with fear and rejection, but the desire to become a famous general in the world prevailed, and he couldn't help asking, "Shaman Divine Envoy, you didn't lie to me, did you!" ”

Fang Yuan Zhengrong said, "All the cavalry of the musket battalion who go out on the expedition, regardless of victory or defeat, will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver before the expedition and 30 taels of silver after the victory." If he dies in battle, he shall pay a hundred taels of silver to his family. ”

Fifty taels of silver was already a lot of money, Fang Yuan once again threw out a generous reward, and Chigutai, who was originally a mercenary, was suddenly ignited, brandishing his saber and shouting, "Fight!" Fight! The head is no bigger than a bowl-sized scar! ”

Now that Fang Yuan had made a decision, and Chigutai, who went on the expedition, had no objections, Jing Jie, who was in charge of military affairs, had no doubts, and could no longer insist, so he could only choose to obey.

Fang Yuan went this time, it is estimated that he will not be able to return to Suzhou Mansion for at least three months to half a year, and there are too many military and political affairs to explain before leaving, so he asked Qin Zhan and Jing Jie to step forward and explain one by one, "Third child, the heavy responsibility of staying behind will be handed over to you." Anyone who dares to stir up trouble while I am away, whether an official, a gentry, or a wealthy merchant, can be cut down without interrogation! ”

"Yes! Top dog! ”

"Fourth, the government affairs of Suzhou City will be handed over to you to investigate. The collection of unpaid land taxes must be stepped up; The system of letters and visits must be strictly enforced, and Jinyi Wei must not be slackened in the slightest. ”

"Yes! Top dog! ”

"Zong Ze, you must pay close attention to the progress of the Firearms Research Bureau, and once there are research results, they will be put into production as soon as possible to test the power of firearms."

"Yes! Lord Fang! ”

"Sister Su, the construction of the military base will be supervised by you, and you are not allowed to slack off the construction period, let alone abuse the people."

"Yes! Top dog! ”

"Ma Lin, the method of the infantry vehicle formation of the Shenji Battalion must be practiced diligently, and I will test the results of the drill when I come back."

"Yes! Lord Fang! ”

Fang Yuan explained everyone's tasks one by one, and put the responsibility on the head.

Before leaving, Fang Yuan went to bid farewell to Zhu Cihuan, the king of Wuyue, and asked Xiaoyuan Haosheng to take care of Zhu Cihuan. In addition to studying classics and classics, he had to spend at least three days a week going to the Firearms Research Bureau, where John Tang would teach him the knowledge of astronomy and geography, and Bi Maokang would teach him the principles of firearms and artillery.

Great navigation and thermal weapons are the direction of the future development of the world, and Fang Yuan must instill in Zhu Cihuan the importance of marine expansion, firearms, and artillery development from an early age, so as to avoid historical reversals such as sea bans, closed countries, and abandoned firearms development.

Three days later, Fang Yuan and Chigutai led 2,000 musketeers, 4,000 horses, and inexhaustible gunpowder and lead bullets to Nanjing to join Shi Kefa.

Shi Kefa greeted Fang Yuan at Shao Bo Wharf.

The two originally agreed that Fang Yuan was going to bring 10,000 soldiers and horses, but Shi Kefa counted the points, but found that Fang Yuan only brought 2,000 men and horses, and couldn't help frowning, "Governor Fang, Gyeonggi is in an emergency, Your Majesty summoned the soldiers and horses from all over the world to urgently serve the King of Qin, and you have a total of three guards in Suzhou Mansion, so you brought 2,000 soldiers and horses to the north to King Qin?" ”

Fang Yuan knew that although Shi Kefa was loyal and commendable, he was a complete layman when it came to fighting. Later, in the Southern Ming Dynasty, the city of Yangzhou was not organized to resist effectively, and the city of Yangzhou was captured in less than two days.

On the contrary, it was an inconspicuous Jiangyin County, under the leadership of Yan Yingyuan, who fought bravely against the Manchu Qing Dynasty for nearly three months before it fell.

Fang Yuan could only explain to him a little, "Shi Shangshu, there are not many noble soldiers, my 2,000 soldiers and horses are enough to be 20,000 iron cavalry, and bringing 10,000 guards is a drag." ”

General Shi Kefa said suspiciously, "Governor Fang, at the beginning of Your Majesty's accession to the throne, the Beijing Division was besieged, and Yuan Chonghuan had 100,000 Guan Ning troops, but he only brought 9,000 people to King Qin, and was executed by His Majesty Ling Chi, but it is a lesson from the past!" ”

He brought out the example of Yuan Chonghuan being Ling Chi, and it was not all alarmist.

From a military point of view, bringing 10,000 Suzhou Sanwei guards may be a drag, but from a political point of view, it is always King Qin, who is doing everything he can in Suzhou Mansion, and King Qin's attitude is quite correct, even if the battlefield is defeated, Chongzhen will not be killed.

But Fang Yuan did the opposite, obviously there were 10,000 soldiers and horses on the establishment of Suzhou Sanwei, but he only brought out 2,000 soldiers and horses to the north of King Qin, which itself was easy to cause rumors in the court.

The priority of politics and bureaucracy was also an important factor in limiting the combat strength of the Ming army.

Fang Yuan didn't know that only bringing 2,000 soldiers and horses would cause a bad political impact, but he didn't care, after all, everything had to be decided on the battlefield results.

At that time, the Guan Ning army watched the Manchu iron cavalry ravage Gyeonggi, but Zu Dashou led his troops out of the battlefield and slipped back to the outside of the pass, which led to Yuan Chonghuan being executed by Ling Chi.

As long as he can lead the army to repel the iron cavalry of the Manchu Eight Banners, all rumors will be self-defeating.

Fang Yuan didn't want to explain more to Shi Kefa, who was accustomed to looking at problems from a political perspective, the explanation was a cover-up, but the more he described it, the darker it became, "Shi Shangshu, let's see it on all the battlefields!" ”

Fang Yuan's attitude was very resolute, this time King Qin only brought 2,000 soldiers and horses, and Shi Kefa had nothing to do with him.

This time, Shi Kefa gathered Yangzhou Wei, Zhenjiang Wei, Gaoyouwei, Huai'an Wei, and 8,000 households in the Nanjing area, and gathered a total of 30,000 soldiers and horses to gather the 'Qinwang Army'.

Shi Kefa's guards, Fang Yuan could see at a glance that most of them were old remnants used to fill the number, these soldiers and horses went to King Qin, and it was estimated that when they went to the battlefield and saw the strong Manchu iron cavalry, they would be directly frightened, and they only dared to hide behind the city wall and tremble.

No wonder when Shi Kefa defended Yangzhou, the tens of thousands of troops gathered would collapse without a fight, this kind of old remnants of the army can hold Yangzhou City, really when the Manchu Qing Dynasty iron cavalry, the general artillery is to travel to Yangzhou?

Of course, Shi Kefa couldn't convince Fang Yuan, and Fang Yuan couldn't convince Shi Kefa, the military concepts of the two were far from each other, and they couldn't say anything about it, so they could only go their own way.

Shi Kefa gathered a mixed fleet of 100 large merchant ships and warships, and carried 30,000 'Qinwang army' along the Grand Canal to the north, leaving only 10 warships for Fang Yuan to carry soldiers and horses.

The preset battlefield discussed by Fang Yuan and Chongzhen was in Jinan Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion in Shandong.

Because Jinan Mansion was destroyed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the 12th year of Chongzhen, the administrative office of Jinan Mansion was moved to Yanzhou Mansion, and the current Jinan Mansion was guarded by Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong.

When Beijing City fell a year later, Liu Zeqing did not send a single soldier to King Qin, and he would not obey Fang Yuan's command this time.

Fang Yuan could only choose the location of the sniper Manchu Qing in Yanzhou Mansion, as long as he could persuade Lu Wang Zhu to send all his strength to resist the Manchu invasion, Fang Yuan would be at least eighty or ninety percent sure that he would be in Yanzhou Mansion, giving Abatai a big surprise.

After the fleet entered Yanzhou Mansion, Fang Yuan parted ways with Shi Kefa's 'King Qin's army'. Shi Kefa continued north to Gyeonggi, while Fang Yuan led 2,000 Xuanjia troops directly to Ziyang County, where Yanzhou Prefecture was located, to seek support from Zhu Yipai, the king of Lu.