After entering the city, the civil officials of Haizhou did not come, but the merchant gentry came, shouting for the labor army!

Li Wuliu temporarily pushed through, waiting for the arrival of others, and the gunners from Yangzhou in the fishing village all came, but the sailors were reluctant to come.

When the messenger was asked, the soldier said that the sailors had told him that he did not want to touch the land of a foreign land, and that he did not want to get on board if he went ashore.

Li Wuliu couldn't help but sympathize with these sailors, and felt that this group of unlucky people was really hard.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling cannon sound on the sea, and Li Wuliu couldn't help but feel surprised.

The messenger soldier told Li Wuliu with a smile, saying that it was the meaning of the head of the navy, celebrating Li Wuliu's victory!

Li Wuliu couldn't help laughing and kicking the city, but he had already seen the battleship driven by Yang Fan.

Li Wuliu then accepted the kindness of the gentry and people in Haizhou, but before that, he was still very sensible and went to the yamen to talk to Song Lian, the governor of Haizhou, although he did not give Song Lian a gift, but he was able to take the initiative to visit, which already made Song Lian feel that his face was bright.

This is Li Wuliu, if Wang Pu or even Yang Chao are here, they will not be able to give Song Lian face.

Especially Yang Chao, if he was a deputy general, Song Lian put on a face and didn't come to greet him, he would definitely not come to the door, because the deputy general was higher in grade than Zhizhou, as for Wenwu Shutu, Wengui and Wuwu, Yang Chao didn't care.

After having a good relationship with Song Lian, he also invited Song Lian to participate in the celebration banquet, this time Song Lian also gave him face, the two attended hand in hand, and staged a drama of harmony, Li Wuliu feast praised Song Zhizhou Taishan collapsed in front of him and his face did not change his bearing, Song Lian modestly said that General Li was famous and so on.

Obviously, Song Lian also tasted the sweetness, the last time he held Haizhou, he was able to rise directly from a small garrison to Zhizhou, if this time he relied on Yang Chao's men to block the Tartars, this will be ironclad to upgrade one level further.

And Li Wuliu wanted to rely on Song Lian to defend Haizhou, you must know that he came this time, in addition to bringing a phalanx. didn't bring anything, the supplies and gunpowder equipment in Haizhou, all of which had to be raised by Song Lian for him.

The two of them made such a fuss, which made Haizhou feel a lot more at ease. The Tartars outside have not yet retreated, but the people in the city have not taken the Tartars outside seriously at all, except for not being able to leave the city.

Li Wuliu also successfully took over the defense of Haizhou. The people on Haizhou City were organized to defend the city, and at the same time, all the cannons in the city were handed over to the gunners from Yangzhou to operate.

Five days passed quickly.

Yang Chao received information from Haizhou, and the fleet returned to Wusong from Haizhou and passed the news to nearby Tongzhou (Nantong), which returned to Yang Chao.

Knowing that Li Wuliu had entered the city, Yang Chao was relieved, for Yang Chao, as long as Li Wuliu's people entered the city, it would be tens of thousands of more Qing troops, so there was nothing to worry about.

Needless to say, Li Wuliu's soldiers. And bring those gunners, all of them are good.

It was when Duoduo attacked the city that day, the gunners on Yangzhou City, but after Duoduo broke the city, they didn't kill these gunners, but instead surrounded them with delicious food and drink, and even gave them territory and let them rob.

Yang Chao would not leave any of the gunners who really robbed that day, and all of them were sent to Nanjing for labor reeducation. But there are still some conscientious people who can jump out, and among the hundreds of gunners, in the end, a hundred did not participate in the robbery, because these are all Yangzhou natives. Instead of robbing, they ran back to their homes as soon as possible and stood at the door with knives.

When a looting soldier came, he told them that this was his house, and if the other party dared to rob, he would have to fight desperately, but fortunately, the Tartars had only robbed for three days. There are still a lot of good places waiting for them in the city, and no one has the heart to play with others at this time, and if on the tenth day, all the places that should be robbed are gone, and it will be difficult to say at that time.

In fact, there were quite a few soldiers like this, and when Yang Chao found out later, he singled out these people.

It's a bit troublesome to pick it out, but it's not too difficult, some people say that they have protected a lot of people in order to survive, as long as they see if their home has been robbed, if their family is gone, there is only one sister or sister left, and everyone else is dead, then this person must be lying, if his family is really complete and his family is safe, that is the truth.

In the end, after screening, 10,000 of these soldiers were selected, all of them were local soldiers in Yangzhou, and most of their families were in Yangzhou City, although they were only protecting their families out of selfishness, but as long as their knives were not stained with the blood of innocent people, Yang Chao was willing to forgive them.

And once it was contaminated with the blood of the people, even if it was Li Benshen, who had fought side by side with him, Yang Chao was unceremoniously sent to Nanjing, and Li Benshen himself Yang Chao was even arrested and sent directly to the edict prison in Nanjing.

Speaking of that group of gunners, one of them impressed Yang Chao more deeply, this person is called Zheng Luming, but he is not a local, but a gunner from Baoying, Baoying County is under the jurisdiction of Gaoyou Prefecture, and it is also a canal county.

This Zheng Luming kept firing cannons in the city, although it is not clear how many people he killed, but he simply blew up the cannon and blew himself up half to death, when Yang Chao found him, he was placed in a house by Duoduo to recuperate from his injuries, but after this person found that Yang Chao's soldiers raided the chaotic soldiers who robbed the street at night, he actually found him directly, and regardless of his injuries, picked up a knife and followed the battle, and also helped Yang Chao's army as a guide.

Yang Chao only learned later, and a lot of accurate information about him was revealed by this person, such as Duoduo in the Governor's Palace.

After the war, Zheng Luming's injuries flareed up and he fainted for a few days, but Yang Chao had his wounds treated and slowly recovered.

This time, Li Wuliu took him to Haizhou, and appointed him as the artillery commander, commanding the more than 100 artillery pieces.

There are a lot of cannons on the city of Haizhou, the latter said that most of the cities of the Ming Dynasty have a lot of cannons, the richer and more important the city, the more cannons, for example, Shi Kefa erected more than 300 cannons on the city of Yangzhou, Haizhou City is not as good as Yangzhou, but there are as many as 100 cannons.

Yang Chao finally saw his first version of the banknote today, well, the name is silver banknotes, the amount is one hundred taels, in units of one hundred taels, enough to deal with the exchange of small and medium-sized businessmen, even if it is a big businessman, it is enough to use a few more.

However, this silver ticket is a bit large, larger than the 100-yuan bill of later generations, and is exactly the size of an A4 piece of paper. The printing is quite exquisite, Yangzhou has a strong printing ability, the best printer in Yangzhou City, and the craftsmanship is trustworthy.

It's just that how this banknote looks like a New Year's painting. No way, the best printing craftsmen print woodblock prints, and the biggest sales for woodblock prints are New Year pictures.

"Look, old Wu, we are printing silver tickets. This is not a New Year's painting, can you be a little more stable in coloring. Look at the mountain you printed, light and fluttering, we are the Purple Mountain, he is not a rockery! ”

Although Yang Chao provided a pattern and personally depicted the Purple Mountain in Nanjing, the printing master insisted on printing it like a rockery in the garden.

"Also, this is the Yangtze River, it's not the Grand Canal. Well, you haven't been to the Yangtze River, I know. But you imagine that a big river divided into two halves of the Daming Mountain River, what momentum should she have! ”

Yang Chao's silver ticket design, the front is the Purple Mountain, the back is the Yangtze River water, there are trees on the mountain, there are pavilions and clouds, there are people on the water, there are boats and rain, and he thinks that he is also very good at painting, but this printing master is not good, and he has no form but no god. The main thing is the relationship between ink rendering, which is too secular in the style of New Year's paintings.

Seeing the gray-haired master's submissive appearance, Yang Chao didn't want to be too harsh on him.

"Master Wu, you're changing it. The ink color should be thick where it should be thick, and the place where it should be light should be light, don't be afraid of opening and closing, the contrast must be strong, and the mud, seeking the mean, this is not our style! ”

After speaking, the New Year's painting. Oh, it was the silver ticket exchanged for Master Wu, and I didn't forget to shake it off.

Shook his head: "This paper is not good enough, it is light, this is a hundred taels of silver, how can it be so light!" Be thick, be thick! ”

Master Wu promised to be yes again, and finally couldn't help asking, "Why don't we try it with mulberry paper?" ”

Mulberry paper is used to print Jiaozi and treasure banknotes of the paper, this kind of paper is slightly dull and yellow, looks a little rough, but it is strong, tough, wear-resistant, etc., and easy to ink, not easy to fade.

Yang Chao nodded: "You can do it if you think it's good." You're a connoisseur, I'll just ask for it. ”

After speaking, he motioned for Master Wu to leave.

This master did change the new version of the silver ticket, so that Yang Chao was satisfied with the printing and distribution, but he did not throw away the first unsatisfactory, but carefully collected it, and many years later, someone wanted to buy it for 10,000 taels, and he was reluctant to sell it.

The silver ticket can't be printed for a while, and Yang Chao is not in a hurry, anyway, the most difficult engraving work has been done, and the coloring is only a slight end, but this micro end should also be noted, Yang Chao's first banknote, he is not willing to apologize at all.

As for the bank's business, the war has already begun, and this month two million taels were lent in Yangzhou City, mainly to ordinary people, so that they could repair their homes.

There is also a medium-sized businessman, let them reopen the restaurant and shop.

Compared with a month ago, the order of Yangzhou City is much better, and now there are not many people who are willing to work for Yang Chao, just in exchange for a full meal, it is estimated that in a month, Yang Chao wants to find someone to work for nothing, but he can't find it.

Of course, Yang Chao really doesn't need people to work, the city wall has been repaired a long time ago, and even the nearby rivers have been renovated, and finding new jobs for these people has become a headache for Yang Chao.

And Yang Chao couldn't slack off, because his good helper Huang Fengfu was sent to Yangzhou Mansion by him.

"Your Excellency!"

Said Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived, Yang Chao just sent away the printing master Wu Duoyu, and Huang Fengfu walked into the Governor's Mansion.

"What's wrong? The face is so ugly! ”

After Huang Fengfu met, he just shouted in a deep voice, and stood in place with a gloomy face.

"My lord, sincerity is coming!"

Sincerity Hou is the original sincerity Uncle Liu Kongzhao, Zhu Cihong ascended the throne, rewarded the meritorious heroes, and also gave him a knighthood and became a marquis.

Yang Chao had long known that Cheng Cheng Bo had become the new superintendent of the army, supervising the defense of Jiangbei.

"Come on, come on."

Yang Chao is a little indifferent, even if Liu Kongzhao comes, even if he becomes his boss, what can he do?

I have to say that the political level of the little emperor is still very poor, and when he wants to rely on Yang Chao at this moment, he just wants to play balance, so as to make the superintendent and the town general discord, and he is not afraid that the Qing army will fight directly to Nanjing.

"The imperial court sent the prefect of Yangzhou!"

Yangzhou fell, even Shi Kefa didn't know what to do, there is still no news, other civil officials are either martyred, or surrendered, I didn't expect that now the imperial court has appointed a Yangzhou prefect.

Yang Chao knew why Huangfeng Mansion was so dull, because half a month ago, Yang Chao sent him to temporarily act as the prefect of Yangzhou and let him have the authority to act in Yangzhou Mansion.

"Fengfu, don't worry, you should exercise first this time, and the next time you have a chance, I will promote you to the imperial court!"

Huang Fengfu sighed secretly, but shook his head: "That's not what the subordinates said. The subordinates felt that the adults still had to go back to Nanjing. ”

Yang Chao was puzzled: "Could it be that there is something else?" ”

Huang Fengfu nodded: "The imperial court does not agree with the expansion of the army!" ”

Yang Chao's official position is the chief soldier of the Xinjiang Estuary Water Battalion, and his soldiers are regimental training arms, not the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, but the regular army is those guards, Jingying, Jinyi Guard, etc., but they have no combat effectiveness, and those who have combat effectiveness are basically regimental training, for example, Wu Sangui made his fortune from Ningyuan's regimental training of the general army.

"What about the northward march?"

Yang Chao asked again.

Huang Fengfu said: "The imperial court wants to consult with the sincerity of the lord, and choose the opportunity to attack Huai'an in the north." ”

Yang Chao couldn't help but snort coldly, he didn't agree to expand the army, but he agreed to go to war by himself, and there was nothing to fight without soldiers.

Infighting! Didn't Da Ming die in infighting. If the civil and military ministers had been united early, where would Li Zicheng have been able to enter Beijing.

Now let yourself discuss going north with Liu Kongzhao, this is to let Liu Kongzhao share his own credit, and worry about his own big seat.

"Okay, if the court wants to fight, then let's fight. It just so happens that the prefect of Yangzhou is here, so you can come back, just to help me strategize. ”

Huang Fengfu was puzzled: "My lord, didn't you say that you must have the power to take Jiangbei before you can take Huai'an." Didn't you say that you had to train at least 150,000 troops before you could go north to Huai'an, and 300,000 troops before you could go north to attack Shandong. ”

Yang Chao sighed: "That's right. Our department already has 100,000 people, and there are still 20,000 soldiers and people in Yangzhou. In the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture, there are no less than 30,000 rebels and guards collected. ”

Yang Chao screened out 10,000 soldiers in Yangzhou, and sent troops to nearby states and counties to suppress bandits and stabilize places, and directly incorporated some bandits and rebels who were not too famous, but just pulled up because of the arrival of the Qing army, cut the old and weak, and trained more than 30,000 people, but the imperial court did not agree to Yang Chao to expand the number of troops, and rashly increased, for fear that it would make the imperial court suspicious.

"But over there?"

Huang Fengfu was worried, and recent events showed that the imperial court was suspicious of Yang Chao, which made him feel uneasy.

"What about the imperial court? I think I'm too good at talking, anyway, the court is already suspicious of me, so what else is there to say, the army must be expanded, when the four towns in Jiangbei are here, they can expand the army as much as they want, and what the court ministers say. Benjue has always behaved in a proper manner, but they have bullied him. It's a big deal, these idiots! ”

Yang Chao couldn't help scolding, but those people are not stupid, they just don't have strategic vision, they are just short-sighted, they only look at the power in front of them, fighting back and forth, the enemy has hit the kang, and they refuse to stop.

So Yang Chao decided to put aside the imperial court and go it alone, but in this way, he actually became a warlord, a warlord like the four towns, but if he didn't do it, I am afraid that in the eyes of the courtiers, he is already a warlord.

Whoever let Yang Chao have heavy troops in his hands, and he can control the manpower and material resources by himself, in fact, he is already a warlord, and he is not to blame those people for looking at him like this.

Since it's a warlord, let those people see what a warlord should do!

"Pass my order, let Hu Quan come to Yangzhou with the artillery battalion, there are many cannons here, let him take Chen Jin with him, and test these cannons."

After Hu Quan's cannons sank, he stayed in Jiangnan to guard Zuo Liangyu's surrendered troops, and Yangzhou had cannons, so simply let Hu Quan come over.

"And transfer the carpenters in our battalion to load these guns on gun wagons, and use them in the north!"

Huang Fengfu, who had just left the prefect's yamen, didn't say a word, and immediately threw himself into the new work, what Yang Chao valued most was his energy, serious work, and no conditions, no complaints. And he came back just in time because:

It's time to counterattack! (To be continued.) )