Gao Xi squinted his eyes and asked: "This can indeed be done after more than ten years or even decades of tossing, slowly drag Goguryeo down and thin down, and when the time comes, as long as the time is ripe, the army will attack again, and Goguryeo can be wiped out in one battle." Speaking of this, he sighed, his eyes became dim, "It's a pity that the holy will has been decided, this time we can only rush out troops, full of lines, what are your ideas for a sea attack?" ”

Wang Shichong's face sank slightly, from the depths of his heart, he was unwilling to attack Goguryeo at this time, he always felt that it was too hasty, and he had never been to the sea, he was not used to water warfare, and he was afraid that he would be seasick when he got to the sea.

Thinking of this, Wang Shichong said: "Xiaguan is in charge of the driving department, according to the account books, there are forty Wuya warships and one hundred Huanglong warships in the naval fleet in the Donglai area, if you want to cross the sea for an expedition, only these two big ships can cross the North Sea and attack Goguryeo from the waterway, but these warships are still used by the Zhu State back then, and the current Youzhou governor Yan Rong used it when he attacked Nanchen from the sea south, and it has long been in disrepair. ”

Gao Xi nodded: "How much do you need to build?" Is it possible to transfer ships from the south to the north? I remember that when the Yue Kingdom was in the south of the Yangtze River, it also attacked by sea and forced the traitor king of Quanzhou to surrender on Guoqing, even if he took that kind of five-tooth sea ship, can it not be used now? ”

Wang Shichong shook his head: "It was also six or seven years ago that Yue Guo was fair to Jiangnan. Warship. Especially sea vessels. Soaking in seawater all day long, it is very corroded by seawater, because these seagoing ships also have to be covered with copper skin to resist wind and waves, and there is salt in the seawater, and these copper skins will be corroded after a long time. Therefore, the lifespan of this kind of sea ship is generally only five or six years, and it will fall apart after a long time, and we rarely cross the sea to attack other countries in the Central Plains. This kind of sea vessel can only be made on the spot. ”

Gao Xi frowned: "Xingman, when you were doing business with the merchants of Goguryeo, didn't you have those large cargo ships?" I am afraid that the troops attacking from the sea this time will only have 40,000 or 50,000 people, so that it will take 100 Wuya warships that can hold 200 people, and more than 200 Huanglong warships that can carry 100 people. In four or five months, I am afraid that it will not be enough to build so many warships, and I will have to requisition civilian ships. ”

Wang Shichong said: "The maritime trade route between Goguryeo and our dynasty is to cross the North Sea, and the northwest wind blows on the sea in winter and the southeast wind blows in summer. Therefore, it is often the Goguryeo merchant groups who come to us at sea in autumn and winter, and return with goods in spring and summer. If our army wants to cross the sea. It is also necessary to choose April and May, if there are many storms on the sea in June and July, if the army encounters such storms, then no matter how many ships can only be buried at the bottom of the sea. ”

Gao Xi had also heard of the terrible storm at sea, and he stared at Wang Shichong's eyes: "Xingman, if you want to send troops in April and May, how many warships do you estimate you can build and how many soldiers can you bring?" How many merchant ships can be requisitioned? ”

Wang Shichong thought for a while and said: "Generally speaking, it takes two months to build a five-tooth warship at the earliest, if all the shipbuilders and shipyards along the coast of Qingzhou start work at the same time, they should be able to build twenty in one month, and they can build one hundred in five months, which can carry 20,000 sergeants, and the Huanglong warship can build about 200 and can carry 16,000 people, but in this way, the sergeants have no time to train, the sea is different from the rivers in the mainland, the wind and waves are very undulating, if you don't go through training, you are afraid that it will be difficult to control." ”

Gao Xi's face changed slightly: "If it is those soldiers in Jiangnan who are familiar with water warfare, this time the emperor took the initiative to order Zhou Luohu, a famous general of the Southern Dynasty who is known for his water division, just to think of using veterans who are familiar with water in the Southern Dynasty to save time for training." ”

Wang Shichong sighed: "Gao servant, you should know that the wind and waves on the sea are completely different from those in the river, the boat in the river will not be so big that the boat capsizes, and it is mainly paddling, and the boat in the sea, the wind and waves are strong, and you have to rely on the sail to travel, at this point, the sergeants in Jiangnan may not be more suitable than the soldiers in Qingzhou."

In the opinion of the following officials, it was necessary to collect the cargo ships between Goguryeo and the Great Sui as soon as possible, and use these ships to train the soldiers gathered in Donglai and Dengju to adapt them to the wind and waves on the sea. At the same time, we should hurry up the construction of new warships, which is the way to win. ”

Gao Xi smiled: "Xingman, it seems that you have already done research on the sea route to conquer Goguryeo, otherwise how would you know that the Tao is so detailed?" Now, if I were to give you all the tasks of building ships and collecting cargo ships, would you be able to recruit enough flat-bottomed sea-going ships in three months? ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "Please be relieved about this, there are 500 flat-bottomed sea ships that can accommodate 200 people, and it is guaranteed that they can be collected within two months. ”

Gao Xi nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, then you can leave for Donglai now, Zhou Luohu should be there within half a month, and tomorrow I will personally go to Zhuo County, Youzhou, responsible for dispatching the entire army and military quartermasters of Goguryeo, now I will write you an official document, with this official document, you can requisition and adjust the shipwrights and shipyards along the coast of Qingzhou, and start shipbuilding, the materials needed, from wood to copper skin, to rivets, you can ask me as much as I need, I will definitely try my best to meet your needs in Zhuo County." ”

After Gao Xi finished speaking, he directly took out a roll of silk silk, opened it and wrote a formal official letter on it, and after writing it, he stamped the big seal of Shangshu Province on it, handed it to Wang Shichong's hand, and specially patted it on Wang Shichong's hand: "Xingman, you also know the way of this expedition, the difficulty is not small, the outcome is unpredictable, we are waiting for both the food and the king, we should do our best, make meritorious contributions, and the navy is there, please leave it to you and General Zhou." ”

Wang Shichong also felt that the silk book in his hand weighed a thousand catties, this time the time was indeed too tight, and the task was much more difficult than the last Ningzhou crusade. Even Gao Xi, who has always been as stable as Mount Tai, has such a solemn face this time, which shows that there is a long way to go.

Wang Shichong suddenly thought of something, and said: "Gao Servant Shooting, there is another thing, the lower official does not know the method of shipbuilding, I am afraid that you will have to assign a skilled craftsman to the lower official to supervise the construction of the battleship on the spot." ”

Gao Xi was slightly stunned: "Okay, you are from the Department of Piloting, and the department has drawings of all the warships and engineering weapons in the world, can't you just bring them over?" ”

Wang Shichong shook his head: "The matter is big, if there is a year or two to slowly let the lower officials build these ships, then there is no problem at all, the lower officials can learn and supervise the construction at the same time, but now the time is urgent, the lower officials are just a layman for building ships, and they are afraid of delaying the major affairs of the imperial court, so they still ask the high servants to recommend a skilled craftsman who is proficient in engineering and knows navigation, and go with the lower officials, and he will be responsible for the construction of the warships." ”

Gao Xi didn't speak, stood up, paced back and forth, thinking as he walked, after taking two steps, his eyes suddenly lit up, he stopped, and smiled at Wang Shichong: "How about the famous skilled craftsman, the nephew of the former Guozi Priest He Tuo, the current Taifu Qing, and the Kaifu General He Chou?" ”

Wang Shichong's heart moved, and he hurriedly said, "What's the matter? Is it the old pedant who wrote to the emperor in the twelfth year of the emperor's reign, saying that Su Wei had formed a party for personal gain, causing the emperor to let Su Wei read Xie Hui's biography in public above the court, and then dismissed him from office? ”

Gao Xi nodded and said: "It is this person, first talk about his uncle He Tuo, speaking of this He Tuo, the words will be long, his grandfather He Xihu is a Hu from the Western Regions, he did business in Shuzhong in his early years, settled down, and became a huge rich. At that time, Shu was still owned by the Liang State, and later when the Southern Liang perished, the Shu land was captured by the Western Wei Dynasty, and He Tuo also followed his father to Daxing, and entered the Guozijian at the age of eight. ”

Wang Shichong was taken aback: "This person is actually a Hu person?" (To be continued......)