The Yangtze River is like a natural dividing line, dividing the land of China into two, and for thousands of years, the two lands have given birth to completely different scenery and culture in the passage of time, but they are skillfully integrated and inseparable.

Along the coastline from the Yangtze River estuary upstream, the boat traveled for two days to Jiangdu.

After crossing the Jiangdu to the north, it is already regarded as the boundary of Jiangbei.

Yangzhou is not bad, but to the Huai'an boundary, the prosperity and stability of the south of the Yangtze River are getting farther and farther away, everywhere is a dilapidated and depressed, especially Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army has entered Fengyang Mansion again, and a small group of rebels have flowed to the Hongze Lake area, and the destroyed villages can be seen on both sides of the canal from time to time, and the homeless refugees wander desperately by the canal, not knowing where to go.

Li Chuan couldn't see this miserable image, so he hid in the cabin and didn't want to come out.

There was a lot of depression on the canal, and with the troubled times, there were fewer merchants coming and going from the south to the north.

In the evening of that day, when the boat arrived in Suqian, it was stopped by a group of thieves.

This gang of thieves numbered about 100 people, and dozens of small boats of all kinds blocked the road, and the first man stood majestically on the bow of a fishing boat, brandished two kitchen knives that he had picked up out of nowhere, and ordered the big ship to dock and surrender.

These thieves are poorly clothed, have vegetable faces, and most of them only carry sticks in their hands.

"Fire the cannon and disperse!"

Li Chuan gave a powerful and weak order, not wanting to take these bitter haha sacrifice flags.

Rumble!

With a loud bang, a mortar on the deck fired a shell.

The water column rushed into the sky, and the shells fell on the river behind the thieves.

"Fuck, it's a cannon, run!"

The thieves were suddenly frightened, where did they dare to be arrogant, and immediately dispersed.

The big ship re-embarked on the road, and the next day it left the boundary of Huai'an and entered the boundary of Xuzhou.

Along the way, the villages were ruined, more depressed than when they entered Beijing last year, and when they entered the territory of Shandong, the atmosphere of the troubled times was even more overwhelming, full of homeless homeless people and robbers who blocked the road.

When the ship arrived at Taierzhuang, it again encountered a gang of thousands of thieves.

This is not the desperate homeless people I met before, but a group of real thieves, not just to be scared away, after the cannon demonstration, these thieves still have bright eyes and murderous spirits rushing up.

"Damn, I robbed these two ships, and Lao Tzu also went to sea to be a pirate."

The leader of the thieves was so excited that he was about to go to sea, compared with these two big ships, the dozens of fishing boats he robbed were not even woodcuts, and he had long been yearning to go to sea to be a pirate, if he could rob these two big ships, the dream would come true.

"Fire!"

Li Chuan was no longer polite, and decisively ordered the cannon to be fired.

In the roar, a total of ten mortars on the decks of the two big ships opened fire one after another, and at a distance of several hundred meters, the shells were lethal shells with a wide range of damage, and they did not need to be directly hit, as long as the shells were hit near the thieves, the lethality could be guaranteed.

In the midst of the miserable howl, this group of thieves who are not afraid of death are unlucky.

The first shell blossomed in the group of fishing boats, causing at least thirty casualties, after three shells, the thieves had been defeated, and the fifth shell finally hit the fishing boat on which the leader of the thieves rushed to the front.

Without any incident, the fishing boat was smashed into a pile of pieces.

As for the leader of the thieves on the fishing boat and the more than twenty thieves, none of them survived.

Soon the blood was bright red on the surface of the river, and the hearts of all the thieves trembled.

"Run!"

I don't know who howled, and the thieves, who were already frightened, shouted, rowed the fishing boat and turned around in panic, and fled for their lives crying, but the gunners did not stop, and the remaining five mortars still fired the shells.

And the gunner, who finished the cannon first, has already loaded his ammunition and is ready for another round.

"Stop!"

Li Chuan's face was a little dark, and he gritted his teeth and stopped.

Only then did the gunners calm down from their excitement, and when they saw the ugly faces of the adults, they immediately shrank their heads.

However, after repelling this group of thieves, a group of peasants who had never been on the battlefield finally stopped worrying and found confidence on the battlefield for the first time. Although the previous training was very hard, the training was not actual combat after all, and without the baptism of blood and fire, no matter how hard the training and sophisticated equipment were, the last army could not be truly reborn.

Although it was just a group of thieves, it only allowed the guards who had just put down their furniture to find a little confidence for the first time.

This is a good start, as long as he fights a few more battles with the regular army, with firearms and equipment far beyond this era, even if he encounters the Manchu Eight Cavalry, Li Chuan is confident that those wild boar skins who have not yet been fully civilized know what cross-era weapons are.

All the way out of Shandong, into the north of Zhili, half a month later, the ship passed through Tongzhou to the Jingshi Wharf.

Jingshi is even more depressed, the docks have been blocked, and there is no life in sight.

To Li Chuan's surprise, Wang Chengen was waiting at the dock in person.

"The father-in-law of labor is driving, and the lower officials are flattered!"

Li Chuan hurriedly boarded the dock and greeted Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen smiled and said: "Lord Li is loyal to state affairs and personally escorted Western artillery into Beijing, Your Majesty is happy, and it is also appropriate for our family to pick it up." Where is the Western artillery, let us see. ”

"Bring a cannon."

Li Chuan hurriedly waved his hand, and the two military heroes immediately moved a cannon off the deck, not too easy.

Wang Chengen was taken aback, and said in disbelief: "This Western artillery is so light, this ......"

Li Chuan knew what he was worried about at a glance, and said: "Rest assured, the range and power of the artillery are not directly related to the weight and size of the artillery itself. The weight of this batch of Western artillery obtained by the lower officers was extremely light, only more than 100 catties, and if the wheels were removed, the weight would be less than 100 catties, and only two sergeants could run and fly with only two sergeants carrying them. ”

Wang Chengen said with little confidence: "Such a light small cannon, can it really hit the enemy ten miles away?" ”

"Exactly!"

Li Chuan said: "If the prince doesn't believe it, he can turn around and let people shoot it." ”

Wang Chengen hurriedly waved his hand and said: "How can the Beijing division open fire at will, or deliver the artillery to the Shenji Battalion first, and go back Your Majesty will also take a look at the artillery in person, and it will not be too late to demonstrate it then." ”

"Well, just according to what my father-in-law said!"

Li Chuan waved his hand, and the soldiers immediately moved all the 20 cannons and 200 boxes of shells off the ship and handed them over to the officers and soldiers of the Shujing battalion who came to receive them. Originally, the officers and soldiers of the Beijing battalion also prepared chariots and horses, who would have thought that this Western artillery was too light, and the horses brought by them were useless, and only two soldiers were needed to push the mortars loaded on wheels and run like flying.

After entering the city, Wang Chengen hurriedly went to the palace to resume his life.

Li Chuan was not directly summoned to the palace, so he had to take a few family members to the post house to wait for the order.

As for the 500 guards who brought them, they were arranged to go to the Beijing camp.