With the early arrival of the holy decree, everyone in the entire Guiwang Mansion was busy, and even Zhu Youyan, who was not in good health, also participated, counted the 100,000 taels of silver donated to the imperial court in the treasury, and the horse butler was contacting the car dealer to prepare the carriage. Zhu Changying and Wang's Ma were in the backyard with a list to discuss, the gifts to Chongzhen's harem concubines were too precious, afraid that the emperor would suspect that he had too much money, and he couldn't take it out, and he lost the face of Gui Wangfu, who called him the emperor's uncle, this gift selection was really nerve-wracking. "Si'er is fine." Zhu Changying asked: "The doctor said that his body is fine, but he is depressed and his heart is difficult to treat, so he has to rely on himself to untie the knot." Ma replied. Zhu Changying nodded, Wang sighed lightly and shook his head: "Sister, it's a pity that my family Wanting doesn't have this blessing, if she can marry Si'er, I think she will be the happiest girl in the world-" A few tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she spoke. Now that she has gone through this incident, she has greatly changed her opinion of Ma and Zhou Renyuan, and she no longer has any mustard in her heart. Ma Shi comforted repeatedly: "My sister has passed away, I hope you will mourn more, take care of your health." Wang wiped his tears with a handkerchief and nodded.

At this time, Zhou Renyuan, who had lost a lot of weight, was discussing the design of Rost's completed artillery and long-pole flintlock pistol with He Hailong, the prince of Rost, and other lieutenant generals in the study, "This cannon is really exactly the same as the cannon designed by Lord Sun, haha Consultant, you are really a god!" He Hailong patted his thigh and shouted, "This foreign priest really has two brushes." Rost bowed, "Thank you, general, for the compliment." "Lao Luo, how far can the artillery you designed hit?" Zhou Renyuan was very concerned about the range: "You can fight four thousand meters, well, according to your length unit, it is eight miles." Rost explained. Oh my God, I can hit this far!" The generals were surprised, even the prince's capital was excited, our Ming artillery is generally waiting to fight five or six miles away, don't look at this small difference of three miles, this can represent a lot of living forces that can kill and injure the enemy! Zhou Renyuan is not so excited only 4 kilometers? But there is no way: contemporary technology can only be limited to this far: "What about accuracy?" Zhou Renyuan continued to ask, "This-" Rost was a little embarrassed, "If it is an experienced gunner, the error is about five meters. "No, it's too big." Zhou Renyuan shook his head, as if Rost had been seriously insulted, Huo Di stood up and said emotionally: "Little prince, this is already the most advanced artillery in the world, even in our Europe, there is no more advanced than this, please don't insult my achievements." Zhou Renyuan smiled and said: "Lao Luo, don't be excited, impulsiveness is the devil, I absolutely respect your achievements." Saying that, he looked at the cannon diagram and thought for a moment, his eyes lit up, and he said to me, why does it seem that there is something missing, he used a quill pen to draw a crosshair on the front of the barrel of Rost's design, and pointed at Rost to hook his hand: "Old Luo, come and see." Rost came to the cannon diagram suspiciously, "Oh my God, little prince, you are drawing the aiming part!" It's incredible, so that the error will not exceed two meters, and even a novice may be able to hit it in one shot. Rost kept crossing excitedly. Lao Luo, if you say something like this, if you bombard the position of the enemy general, all of them-haha-" Zhou Renyuan dreamed of a beheading plan, and interjected General Lin Feishan: "Little Wangye, that's impossible, most of the artillery used are solid bullets, to achieve the effect you said, it is a loose bullet, but the scattered bullet is not gunpowder, but broken iron, thistle, nails and the like, Yuan Chonghuan and Yuan Inspector used to hit Nurhachi. "No wonder Nurhachi was hit by a cannon and died after returning to Shengjing for more than a month, it turned out that he was hit by fragments. Zhou Renyuan was a little deflated, and then He Hailong's words made him even more discouraged: "Little prince, this artillery is too heavy, and the machine power is insufficient, and it can only defend the city, unless there is a Fulong cannon, the cannon is light, but the range cannot be compared with the Hongyi cannon, and it can only fight two miles!" Lao Luo, you have something to do again, can you see how to increase the range of this Furlong cannon? If you don't have enough people or have a hard time, you can hire the priests from nearby cities on my behalf, and I will pay them a high salary. Rost felt that Zhou Renyuan was a war maniac who only had artillery.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you also know that this king is about to enter Beijing, and there are many things to be done, so I hope you can worry a lot." Zhou Renyuan cleared his throat and said: "Next, I will arrange the matter, Rost, I officially appoint you as the military instructor of the artillery battalion, and lead the sixth rank of the imperial court, which is directly controlled by the chief soldier Lord He." Staff General Hong Sankun and the artillery battalion general Lin Feishan are responsible for forging the red-clothed cannons, and the total money is responsible for forging the long and short dragon head guns, and the staff general Xiong Tianbao and the deputy general Lian Kuisheng are responsible for the soldiers of the whole army, and the guerrilla general Ma Bai and your cavalry are equipped with long and short dragon head guns, and all the cavalry must practice shooting, and this king wants you to select some clever soldiers and train about 20 excellent scouts, do you guys hear it clearly?" The last will obey!" The named generals replied in unison. "Also, before this king leaves Hengzhou, he will send a hundred craftsmen to the nearby states and counties to solve the difficulties of your lack of forging craftsmen, and the treatment of these craftsmen is all paid according to double the salary of ordinary soldiers, and special attention is to do a good job of secrecy. In particular, all these craftsmen who make long and short guns should be separated, and each person specializes in making parts of the same part (Zhou Renyuan proposed the concept of assembly line), and the size is standardized and unified, Lao Luo, you have bothered a lot about this matter. "Rost thought to himself, if you really don't treat me as an outsider, it seems that I have become the henchman of the little prince." As for Mr. He, he is responsible for the coordination of all parties, and if you can't solve it, you can go directly to the old prince. "The last will obey." He Hailong said loudly. "What about me?" Seeing that Zhou Renyuan had not arranged his work, Wang Fuzhi couldn't help but ask a little anxiously. "Haha-, and Brother Nong, do you want to go to the capital with me?" Zhou Renyuan said with a smile. "Huh? It's true? Little prince, you want to take me to the capital?" Wang Fuzhi said excitedly. "It's about to be the New Year, so I'm afraid that my sister-in-law won't let you go." Zhou Renyuan joked. Wang Fuzhi said categorically: "The Huns have not been destroyed, why should they be at home?"

In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640 AD), on the 23rd day of the 11th lunar month, a team of people and horses marched forward on the official road. This is exactly Zhou Renyuan and his entourage who went to the capital. Zhou Renyuan, who was riding a horse and walking in the front, was carrying a long bow and hanging a sword at his waist, looking heroic, and the two people on the side were Mozhu and Wang Fuzhi, learning from Zhou Renyuan, and each with a long sword on his waist, Wang Fuzhi, you don't have a hot head, throw a pen from Rong, Zhou Renyuan was secretly worried. Behind them was the crossbow squad led by Shen Tieshan, the captain of Zhou Renyuan's personal guard, and it was difficult to make a trip, and everyone had a look of excitement on their faces. In the middle of the procession was a carriage, in which sat the eunuch Gao Qiqian sent by Chongzhen, and behind his carriage was a long line of ten carriages carrying 100,000 silver, and finally 50 cavalry and 200 soldiers sent by Zhu Changying, the king of Gui, to protect them.

Zhou Ren saw that Mozhu next to him was a little listless, knowing that Qiao'er's impression in his heart was indelible, Qiao'er should not be considered love for the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy Mozhu, it should be a hazy feeling, relatively pure emotions, speaking of which Mozhu can also be regarded as Qiao'er's life-saving benefactor, and Qiao'er's care and gratitude to Mozhu in "Sanweiju" made Mozhu feel respected for the first time, and made Mozhu have a kind of confidence that as a man, he can protect women! But now the object of protection has lost confidence, and with it, it seems too cruel for a teenager. "What does Mozhu think?" Zhou Renyuan wanted to talk to Mo Zhu, he didn't want this young entourage to get sick, "No-didn't think about anything-" Mo Zhu said in a low voice. "Mozhu, how old are you?" Zhou Renyuan found that he usually didn't care enough about him, and he didn't know Mozhu's age. "Sixteen soon." Mo Zhu looked at Zhou Renyuan a little strangely. "Oh—is there anyone else in the family who is almost an adult?" Zhou Renyuan continued to ask. "It's gone-" Mo Zhu's eyes were a little red, "I am an orphan, I was adopted by the prince since I was a child, I studied with you in the palace and practiced martial arts together, little prince, you are starting to forget things again!" Zhou Renyuan turned around his head and laughed at himself: "Look at my memory!" It turned out that Mozhu was an orphan and he was still small, and he couldn't help but get a little closer to Mozhu in his heart. "Mozhu, in the future, I will treat you as my younger brother, and in a few years, I will definitely help you marry a good girl and start a family." "The villain doesn't dare to have such a thought, dare to climb high, the little prince tortures the villain!" Mo Zhu waved his hand again and again. Zhou Renyuan's eyes widened, "What Gao Pan?" What bothers you? You're my brother from now on, that's it. He said softly, "Mozhu, we will have to experience a lot of wind and rain in the future, so we have to put the most precious memories here, and then continue to move forward," Zhou Renyuan pointed to his chest, "The most precious memory?" Are you talking about coincidence-" Mo Zhu suddenly held his mouth, Zhou Renyuan nodded, pointed to his heart and said, "Mine has been placed here!" Zhou Renyuan suddenly turned his head and shouted to the team behind him, "Soldiers, don't you think you're a little bored!" Yes!" A few of the sergeants in the back replied boldly. "Good journey, lonely, let this king sing a tune, mobilize the atmosphere for everyone." "Okay, little prince, don't sing, even the horse is scared and runs away!" Little prince, don't sing glamorous songs, we don't have a girl here!" The soldiers shouted with a rambling laugh. Zhou Gaoqi was also happy sitting in the carriage, this little prince is a little more interesting, he can sing without the prince's shelf?

"Pat the dust on my body, cheer up my tired spirit, the distance may be full of bumpy roads, maybe I have to go alone, I have long been accustomed to a person, few people care about me, few people ask, even if no one pays for me, youth first, I still keep a real Mo laugh, I am amorous, don't judge heroes by success or failure, people's encounters are different, but there is pride and ambition in my chest, hey, he Zhou Renyuan sang loudly in front of the team, Wang Fuzhi felt that this tone was completely different from the long and short sentences of contemporary popular Kunqu Opera, the meaning of the words was straightforward, but the artistic conception was not inferior to three points, this piece has both tenderness and pride, and the meaning is also very far-reaching: "It's good to keep a good one, and face my life seriously!" Wang Fuzhi applauded and shouted, "Little prince, can you transcribe the words to me?" Although the soldiers said that there were few words, this straightforward song was still understandable, and this scene was a portrayal of them, and it was easy to resonate: "Sing well!" Sing well! Little Wangye, let's do it again!" Someone shouted again. "Those who do not want to be slaves of the country will build our flesh and blood into our new Great Wall! When the Ming Dynasty was at its most dangerous, everyone was forced to let out a final roar! Get up! Get up! Get up! We are all united in our efforts, braving the enemy's fire, braving the enemy's fire! Advance! Advance! Enter!!" Zhou Renyuan fell on horseback, facing the soldiers behind him, clenching his fists with both hands, singing sonorously and powerfully. Wang Fuzhi who sang this was trembling with excitement, and the old eunuch who sang was boiling with blood, and the old eunuch who sang appeared that he had long lost the male hormone secretion rapidly, and the soldiers who sang with tears in their eyes and blood vessels swelled. This is the power of propaganda art, no wonder it paid so much attention to propaganda before Taizu sat on the throne in the 20th century.

"What's the name of this song? I'm going to write it down quickly!" Wang Fuzhi's memory is very good, he just got off the horse and wrote it all down with a brush: "Actually, I don't know, I forgot where I heard it a few years ago, I read it, it's called "March of the Ming Army"!" Zhou Renyuan thought for a moment and replied. ""March of the Ming Army" has a good name, loud and straightforward!" Wang Fuzhi nodded again and again. "By the way, little prince, your singing style is really unique, did you learn it?" I created my own. Zhou Renyuan said shamelessly. Oh, the little prince is young, and he is still a songwriter, which is really unimaginable. "Wang Fuzhi simply admires Zhou Renyuan's five-body throwing, which is really both civil and military." Little prince, do you still have any of your own songs?" Wang Fuzhi began to gossip: "Yes, wait for me to tell you slowly when I have time in the future." Zhou Renyuan didn't change his face, and said, thinking that I was also a singer back then, and Maiba would sing songs, not one thousand, but five hundred. When Zhou Renyuan was still in front of Wang Fuzhi and continued to blow nonsense, the scout who was suddenly sent out came back quickly on horseback and whispered a few words in Shen Tieshan's ear, Shen Tieshan's face changed, he came to Zhou Renyuan and said: "The little prince scouts found that there was an ambush in the twenty miles ahead, and there were about five or six hundred people, looking like thieves in their outfits." Zhou Renyuan was shocked, and there were thieves as soon as he entered the Anwei realm, which was really unlucky! According to the original, the fastest path should be out of Hunan, all the way north through Henan, and then into Shandong, to Hebei, and finally to the capital, but now Henan has Li Zicheng's army, which is not safe, so it can only detour to Anhui, and then rub the junction of Henan, enter Shandong, and then enter Hebei, and finally enter the capital, Zhang Xianzhong's army has left Anhui, so this road should be the safest. I didn't expect that there would be hostility as soon as I entered Anhui, which even Zhou Renyuan didn't expect. Zhou Renyuan gave an order: "Protect the convoy of Gao Gonggong and Yunyin, and prepare for battle!"