"Oh, I just received a military report from the Marquis of Dongping yesterday, the Qing Army's Zhun Tower Department has now returned to Suqian, and the situation in Huai'an is currently acceptable." Ma Shiying said.

When Luo Jian heard this, this Liu Zeqing actually blocked the attack of Zhun Tower, he really didn't expect it, I don't know what happened here, so that the situation in this direction has also changed.

What Luo Jian didn't know was that the news of Yangzhou's victory gave Liu Zeqing great encouragement, and fortunately, Ma Shiying informed Liu Zeqing of the news in time.

"However, Liu Bu's losses are also extremely heavy, and this Dongping Marquis has been clamoring for the imperial court to replenish it." Ma Shiying added.

Hearing everyone talk about the current situation, Zhu Youxiang was a little impatient, leaned on the dragon chair, squinted his eyes, and slowly fell asleep with the gentle shaking of the palace maid's fan behind him.

Several ministers did not feel strange when they saw that the emperor was asleep, obviously this happened not once or twice.

Later, Ma Shiying gave a brief introduction to the situation in the country, and Luo Jian listened to it and fell into deep thought.

Although Liu Zeqing's troops temporarily resisted the attack of the Zhun Tower Department, they really didn't know how long they could hold it.

According to the information transmitted by Lai Fu, the Duoduo Department of the troops stationed in Xuzhou was stepping up training at this time, and the Han army had all completed shaving their hair and changing clothes, and they had also eliminated many old, weak, sick and disabled, and now their combat effectiveness has been greatly improved.

If Lu Wei did the work of He Tengjiao and others, he would be able to successfully appease the Dashun army, but he would be able to contain the Qing army from marching to Jiangxi.

Now Zuo Liangyu's department is stationed in the Jiujiang area of Jiangxi Province under the leadership of Zuo Mengeng, and if the Qing army effectively integrates it, many of its soldiers and horses will pose a big threat to the Southern Ming if they go down the river.

Thinking of this, Luo Jian had the idea of destroying the left part first.

It's just that the elimination of the left part will involve the navy, and now Luo Jian only has Huang Degong's thousands of sailors and hundreds of small warships, and troop projection and water combat are big problems.

Nowadays, the number of sailors in the imperial court is quite large, and the warships are superior to the Qing soldiers in terms of quantity and quality, and there are 20,000 sailors of Liu Kongzhao in Nanjing, and 30,000 sailors in Zhenjiang are led by Huang Fei and Zheng Hongkui.

If there is the support of the naval army, Luo Jian is completely sure that he will mobilize two or three divisions of troops and advance west to destroy Zuo Menggeng's troops first.

Thinking of this, Luo Jian said to Ma Shiying: "May I ask the Ma Pavilion Department, where is Zuo Mengeng's Department now?" How many people do you have? ”

"The left is probably stationed in the area from Jiujiang to Anqing, and it is rumored that it still has 150,000 horses." Ma Shiying said vaguely.

Ma Shiying's statement made Luo Jian very dissatisfied, as the first assistant of the imperial court, he actually used the words "probably" and "rumoredly" for these situations.

Luo Jian couldn't say anything, his combat intentions definitely couldn't be said in this court, and he had to come down to discuss with Ma Shiying alone, it seemed that the intelligence work on the left had to be arranged immediately.

Seeing that Luo Jian no longer talked about the military situation, the atmosphere in the hall relaxed again, and the ministers began to talk about some boring topics.

Liu Lan was surprised to find that when everyone was not talking about business, Zhu Youxiang's eyes opened, and she heard with great interest that the ministers were talking about the wind and snow.

Soon it was lunch time, everyone was waiting here for the banquet in the palace, and finally got up to the point of eating, and got up to the side hall.

Zhu Youxiang, who was asleep in the hall just now, now looks full of energy, while watching the singing and dancing in the hall, he frequently raises his glass to "drink and win" with the ministers, and the palace maids who are showing off their branches keep shuttling between the tables to pour wine and dishes.

Luo Jian thought about things in his heart, and felt that the food in this palace was difficult to swallow, so he hurriedly asked for a bowl of rice to fill his stomach.

Looking at the posture of Zhu Youxiang and the ministers in the palace, I am afraid that this meal will be eaten until the evening, Luo Jian looked at his watch, it was already more than three o'clock in the afternoon, and he was very anxious.

Seeing that Zhu Youxiang kept drinking, Liu Lan was worried that he would forget about Li Xiangjun, so she was so anxious that she picked up the cup and walked to Zhu Youxiang's table and said, "Your Majesty, I also toast you, you can't forget what you promised me." ”

Seeing Liu Lan coming over with a cup, Zhu Youxiang actually stood up, held the cup and said, "The angel girl toasted me, I will definitely drink it, come here." He raised his glass and drank it all.

A eunuch walked by, Zhu Youxiang gave him a few words, and after a while, Zhang Cheng came over again.

"Zhang... Zhang Cheng, you bring Li Xiangjun over and hand it over to the angel girl, I have to speak... Counted. Zhu Youxiang was so drunk that he stammered a little.

After a while, Zhang Cheng led a group of palace maids to the palace.

"Love... Aiqing, I have made great contributions to defending the country, I want to reward him, and pass on... Passed the decree and rewarded ten maids of the palace of the Patriotic Princess, and a number of gold, silver and jewelry. Zhu Youxiang said drunkenly and slurredly.

As soon as Liu Lan heard that Zhu Youxiang had rewarded ten palace maids, she was in a hurry, and she was about to ask Zhu Youxiang to excuse herself, but she found that he had fallen asleep on the seat.

Zhang Cheng walked to Luo Jian's table, bowed and saluted, and said, "Wei Guogong, this Li Xiangjun is also among them." After saying that, he retreated.

The emperor was so drunk that the feast could not go any further, and the ministers got up and bowed to the sleeping emperor and withdrew.

Zhang Cheng led more than a dozen palace maids out of Cixi Hall with Luo Jian, and said to Luo Jian: "Grandpa Guo, these palace maids will send someone to the mansion, and Grandpa Guo can go back by himself." ”

Liu Lan walked up to a group of palace maids and asked, "Which one is Li Xiangjun?" ”

A woman in her early twenties walked out of the palace maids, blessed Liu Lan, and said, "The little woman is Li Xiangjun." ”

Liu Lan looked at it and saw that Li Xiangjun did not look very good in a group of young and beautiful palace maids, but there was a resolute look in his eyes, which was quite different from the expressionless faces of other palace maids.

"Come with me." Liu Lan didn't say much, and walked directly towards the warrior car.

Li Xiangjun followed Liu Lan into the car, probably having heard of the existence of the magic car, and did not show much surprise.

When Luo Jian drove out of the Forbidden City, Liu Lan said to Li Xiangjun: "Do you know who we are? ”

"Back to Miss's words, in the palace, Father-in-law Zhang has already told the little girl, a few angels who saved Yangzhou, and said that the little girl would teach the young lady to learn the piano." After Li Xiangjun finished speaking, she had a lot of expectations in her heart.

"What kind of piano are you learning? How can there be such idle work! Your Hou Lang is waiting for you in Yangzhou! Liu Lan pouted and said.

"Is this true?" When Li Xiangjun heard this, he was overjoyed and asked anxiously.

"I'll tell you, my name is Liu Lan, you are not allowed to call me Miss! How old are you this year? Liu Lan was very angry today, and when she saw Li Xiangjun always calling her Miss, she was a little angry.

"The little girl is twenty-one years old." Li Xiangjun saw that Liu Lan was angry, and he was suddenly a little scared.

"Then you call me sister, I hate people calling me Miss the most! Hou Fangyu is now working in the Dadu Governor's Mansion in Yangzhou, and when we go back and bring you back with us, you can be reunited. ”

"The little girl has thanked Grandpa Guo and sister!" Li Xiangjun sat in the car and couldn't thank him, so he had to keep talking.

"This matter has nothing to do with Grandpa Guo, it's all the people I asked for the fat man, why do you always thank him?" Liu Lan said angrily.

Wang Qiang sat in front and glanced back, Liu Lan narrowed her eyes and said, "Xiao Wang, what's the matter with you?" What do you watch? Frightened, Wang Qiang hurriedly turned around.

Luo Jian knew that Liu Lan was so angry because the emperor gave the palace maid that he didn't care, and drove the car by himself.

"Who is the fat man my sister is talking about?" Li Xiangjun was a little confused.

"It's the fat emperor Zhu Youxiang like a fat pig!" Liu Lan said angrily.

"Huh?" Li Xiangjun was so frightened that he covered his mouth.

"I told him that I don't want these palace maids, this dead fat man, I forgot all about it when I drank too much, and next time I went into the palace to settle accounts with him!" Seeing Li Xiangjun frightened like this, Liu Lan said indifferently.

Li Xiangjun covered her mouth and looked at Liu Lan in horror, not daring to say a word.

"Okay Liulan, I'll leave it all to you when I turn around, and you can just watch and deal with it." Luo Jian saw that Liu Lan was talking more and more, for fear that she would get out of the car and said, so he hurriedly said.

"Hmph, that's pretty much it." Only then did Liu Lan stop.

When they returned to the Guogong Mansion, a few people got out of the car, Luo Jian didn't enter the door, and went directly to the Shi Kefa Mansion with a few guards.

Steward Li stepped forward and said that someone had come to the house to ask to see Miss Liu, and Liu Lan was a little strange when she heard it, who would come to look for her.

Hurriedly entered the house to see that it was a man in his forties who looked like a shopkeeper, and when he saw Liu Lan coming back, he quickly got up and gave a salute.

"I've seen Miss Liu, the little surname is Liu, from Yangzhou Garment Store, our head asked me to come to Miss Liu, and I want to open a garment store in Nanjing."

When Liu Lan heard that the shopkeeper was sent by Boss Liu of Yangzhou Garment Store, she was immediately happy, thinking that these palace maids now have a place to arrange.

"Okay, the emperor only rewarded the silver today, and I will invest all of it then." Liu Lan said proudly.

"Don't dare to let Miss Liu give out any more money, the owner said, as long as Miss Liu comes forward in Nanjing, the shares are still half of the family." Shopkeeper Liu hurriedly said.

Li Xiangjun stood next to him and was a little at a loss, and Liu Lan said, "Why are you standing, hurry up and sit." ”

Li Xiangjun squirmed and sat on the chair.

"I don't take advantage of your family, I want this share, but the silver also has to be invested." Liu Lan refused to be cheap.

"Sister Liulan, you will receive the kindness of the family, this silver is not as good as I took it and bought all the paper, the soldiers are now literate, and they don't even have paper and pencils." Wang Qiang said on the side.

"Pen and paper? That's right, when you go back to Yangzhou, you must set up a pencil factory, no, you can set up one in Nanjing. Wang Qiang's words reminded Liu Lan, and she pondered it at that time.

"Steward Li, come here, let me ask you, Ruan Shangshu came to give a gift yesterday, do you have any cash?" Liu Lan remembered that Ruan Dacheng came to give gifts yesterday.

"Miss Huiliu, there are two thousand taels of silver." Steward Li hurriedly stepped forward and replied.

"That's enough, bring it all to me, and this girl will do it!" Liu Lan did things neatly and neatly, and she was not ready to procrastinate at all.

"Sister Liulan, does anyone use your pencil in Nanjing?" Wang Qiang saw that Liulan was about to dry up, and couldn't help but pour a scoop of cold water.

Hearing Wang Qiang say this, the high-spirited Liu Lan wilted at that time, this pencil is used a lot in Yangzhou, and the amount used in the army must be very large, and the current primary school students have also begun to use pencils, but who will use it in Nanjing?

"Oh, why didn't I think of this floor, forget it, let's open this ready-to-wear store first." Liu Lan patted her head and said with annoyance.

"Shopkeeper Liu, you sit down for a while, I'll go change clothes, and we'll go to the street to find a storefront." Liu Lan said as she got up and walked towards the backyard.

Luo Jian arrived at Shi Kefa's mansion, Shi Kefa had not yet arrived at home, so he first went to visit the old lady, and talked to the old lady for a while before Shi Kefa returned to the house.

The two went to the living room and sat down, looking at each other without speaking.

After a while, Shi Kefa sighed and said, "Xinghua, how do you feel today?" ”

"The merchant girl doesn't know the hatred of the country, I don't think there is any hope for these people in the court, I want to go back to Yangzhou, at least I can do something practical in Yangzhou." Luo Jian said with a sigh.

"It's just that the court still has the righteousness of the Ming Dynasty, and we can't abandon it."

Shi Kefa was also extremely disappointed in the imperial court, especially under the influence of Luo Jian, he actually had the idea of abandoning the imperial court.

"Brother Xian, I've been thinking about it for a long time today, the army has been training for so long, I think we have to make a move."

"Oh, Xinghua, you have a new idea?"

"I want to take Zuo Menggeng's department first and wipe out the left, so that our Yangzhou strategy will have a lot of room for detours, and the liaison with Hunan, Jiangxi and other provinces will also be smooth in the future."

"Although there are a lot of people in the left department, its combat effectiveness is indeed not strong, but the left part is not close to our Yangzhou, the troops are marching for a long time, and we are afraid that Duoduo will take the opportunity to go south, so we have to plan carefully."

"Brother Xian, I want to go to Ma Shiying tomorrow, if we can allocate a part of the naval army to Yangzhou, we will be sure of the battle on the left." Luo Jian gave Shi Kefa his thoughts to talk about.

"It's... The commander of Nanjing's sailors is Liu Kongzhao, and if he doesn't make trouble for you, it's okay, but you can't count on him. Zheng Hongkui's department is also known for preserving his strength, and he can't be counted on, only Zhenjiang General Huang Fei is the family of Jingnan Hou, and the relationship between the two is good, so they can fight him to go to Yangzhou. ”

Shi Kefa was clear about the situation of the sailors near Nanjing, and pointed out the situation of several people to Luo Jian one by one.

While the two were talking, the guard at the door hurriedly came in to report that Miss Liulan had an accident on the street.