"Set sail, set sail!"

At the mouth of the Pearl River, the Daming Hubei New Army, which hung the Sun and Moon Flag, the Nine-Headed Bird Flag and the Nine-Headed Jiao Flag, went to sea on the ships of the Beiyang Naval Division Fleet and returned to Hubei. With the fleet of the sailors, the nine-headed bird did not go north by land and return to Hubei via Jiangxi, but directly went out to sea by boat and went north along the coast, entering the mouth of the Yangtze River and going west to Hubei.

When they came, more than 20,000 people took Zheng's ships, but when they returned, there were already more than 30,000 people, sitting on their own fleet ships, and seven battleships such as the huge Shenlong were in the center, surrounded by more than 100 large and small ships, full of Chu troops set off.

In addition to the 30,000 Chu troops, there were about 2,000 European mercenaries and craftsmen's wives who left with the ship. In order to reassure those foreign soldiers and craftsmen, Liu Jun brought their families from Taiwan and Entrenchment back to Hubei.

After the signing of the peace treaty between the five countries, some foreigners who joined the nine-headed bird chose to leave, but most of them remained, for many ordinary soldiers and craftsmen, the Ming Dynasty was more wealthy, prosperous everywhere, and there was no war like Europe, nor the harsh climate like the South Seas. Moreover, Liu Jun's conditions are also very generous, and many people choose to stay in the nine-headed bird.

The fleet slowly sailed out of the mouth of the Pearl River, looking at the mighty fleet composed of more than 100 ships, Liu Jun was full of joy. Got a huge ship, got a cannon, and got a lot of new craftsmen, not to mention making a lot of money. Liu Jun has made a lot of money, and the soldiers of the nine-headed bird have also made a lot of money, and now everyone has no less than 100 yuan silver dollar coupons in their hands, and the rewards are accumulated again and again, which is also a lot of money.

Now many Nine-headed Bird soldiers are sitting on the ship, and they are excitedly discussing two things, one is that after returning to their hometown, they should seize the time to ask for a daughter-in-law while there is still a period of time before they send troops to Liaodong. Everyone is full of pockets, and they are all young, most of them are unmarried guys, and they are all very eager to marry their daughters-in-law.

In Hubei's hometown, especially in the countryside, marrying a daughter-in-law is often enough for only five taels or six silver.

The second thing that everyone discussed the most was the summer attack on Liao, and they were not afraid of fighting the Tartars. Xiyi was not beaten by them and begged for mercy, so what could Dongyi do. With such a powerful fleet, countless cannons, what kind of Tartar cannot win.

The expedition to Liao is just a journey to get promoted and make a fortune. Even many of the fighters talked to the Qing army as if they were the natives they had seen on the island of Taiwan.

The warriors of the Nine-Headed Bird are so confident, and there seems to be such a self-confidence in the Jingshi Imperial Court.

Since the imperial court defeated Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and Gezuo five battalions one after another last year, there is finally no longer a slightly decent bandit in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, although Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng and other bandits are still fleeing. But after all, it is not a climate. The whole court no longer takes the thieves in their eyes, but only makes the officials in various places responsible for suppressing the remaining thieves.

From the emperor to the hundred officials, the eyes of the imperial court have moved to the outside of the gate.

More and more people in Beijing began to talk about it. When will the imperial court launch a counteroffensive against Liao, and even many people are already thinking about recovering Liaodong and restoring the rule of Nuer Gandusi.

After last autumn, the Imperial Military Department carried out a round of big moves. The imperial army was reorganized, especially the army of the Nine Sides. After spring, it was on the military roll of the imperial military department. Now there is a new army of thirty-six towns. In the vicinity of Gyeonggi alone, the new army of eight towns was reorganized, and there were 24 new troops in the nine sides of Gyeonggi, plus 12 new troops in Huguang, Sichuan, Nanzhi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, etc., on paper, the imperial court had 36 new armies, with 30,000 troops per town, and the new army of the imperial court was trained more than one million.

Among these new armies, the most famous is undoubtedly the Huguang New Army, which is controlled by the Hou of Zhennan, with two lakes and three towns, and the sequence is eighth, ninth, and tenth, with the sequence at the top. This new army became famous all over the world for its battle against bandits and bandits, and not long ago in the southeast sea, it defeated Hongyi one after another, which made countless people say that the soldiers and horses of the three towns of Chuxiang are the most capable soldiers in the mainland.

Moreover, in addition to the new army in Thirty-six Towns, the imperial court also reorganized four naval fleets, each of which also had more than 100 ships and more than 10,000 people.

More and more news indicates that Daming Zhongxing is just around the corner. Nowadays, among the people, many people are full of confidence and optimism when they mention the situation outside the border.

However, what everyone said the most was that the emperor had just decreed that the Marquis of Zhennan would be crowned as the general of the conquest, and the general would be sealed. The people were extremely excited, and they all thought that the emperor was going to transfer the town of Nanhou to lead the army to conquer Liao.

The people talked about the conquest of Liao, but in the imperial court, especially in the palace, Chongzhen paid attention to the situation in the southeast every day, especially the progress of the peace treaty of the Five Kingdoms.

From Jingshi to Manila to Batavia, it was all thousands of miles away. And I heard that the Netherlands and Spain are 100,000 miles away from the Ming Dynasty. Those red Yi came across the sea, and they hit the door all the way. In the past, Chongzhen didn't know much about the Dutch, Portuguese and Spaniards, thinking that Taiwan was just a barren island, and that the Portuguese were just renting a moat mirror.

It wasn't until this time that he learned that the Portuguese had built castles on the territory of the Ming Dynasty, stationed troops, appointed officials, and started city autonomy, wasn't this an invasion? Taiwan was not a small desert island, but was actually the size of most of Fujian, and the land on the island was fertile, rich in minerals, and developed to be able to settle tens of millions of people, produce tens of millions of stone grain, and supply tens of millions of people for food.

And only then did he discover that those Hongyi were actually very powerful, they came from distant Europe, conquered and invaded the lands of countless countries along the coast, and their huge ships and cannons bombarded the gateways of one coastal city after another.

And Zhennanhou actually defeated them, not like Zheng Zhilong defeated the Dutch in the sixth year of Chongzhen, only one or two big ships were burned, and the rest were just pirate ships. Rather, it was a real defeat, defeating the fleets that captured them, capturing their castles, and capturing their officers and soldiers.

Good news came back from the southeast sea, and after each victory, the money, food, and materials captured in the battle were also attached, except for the warships and weapons were replenished to the four fleets, and part of the money was used as a reward for soldiers, and the rest was sold for cash and then transported to the capital division.

To recover the chicken coop, Liu Jun sent 200,000 silver dollars to the north, recovered the big staff, sent 1 million silver dollars, recovered the trench mirror, and sent another 500,000 silver dollars.

Looking at the good news and silver dollar lists, Chongzhen was excited and excited.

And when the Chinese New Year's Eve was 30 and the Four Seas Bank presented 10 million yuan of silver dollar bills and bond money to Beijing, Chongzhen was even more excited and speechless.

After hearing that those colorful silver dollar coupons could be exchanged for silver dollars at any time, Chongzhen even couldn't wait to change his clothes, went out of the palace in microclothes, and took the guards to the branch of the Jingshi branch of the Four Seas Bank to exchange them. Although he had to queue up, it didn't take long for Chongzhen to cash out a thousand silver dollars from the bank counter at one of the thirteen branches in Beijing. When he heard that Sihai Bank had even opened branches in Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou, and that silver dollar coupons could be exchanged for silver dollars at any time, Chongzhen said six good words in a row.

On the same day, Chongzhen asked Jinyiwei to escort two million yuan of silver dollar coupons to Shanhaiguan and Ningjin Zhucheng to pay the salaries of the border army.

After the New Year, Chongzhen asked the military department to make a huge sand table outside the gate, and spent a lot of time studying and thinking about that sand table every day.

Zhennanhou's Beiyang fleet already has more than 100 ships, and if the other three fleets are added, the more than 500 ships owned by the imperial court are fully enough to support Liu Jun's attack tactics, and it is said that Liu Jun also got many Hongyi gunners.

Since the beginning of the year, it seems that the officials of the entire imperial court have become masters of the art of war, and many officials have played and folded every day, presenting the strategy of recovering Liao and sending troops, as if everyone has become a good general like the Marquis of Zhennan.

"Hong Chengchou and Gao Qiqian said that they would organize soldiers and horses to counterattack Yizhou City." Mei Zhihuan shook the wine glass in his hand, "How can this decisive battle be easily fought?" ”

"Recently, the limelight of Jiye has been a little too much, Sichuan captured Zhang Xianzhong and defeated Luo Rucai, Huaixi broke the left five battalions, and turned his head and defeated Hongyi in the southeast sea, the world praised, how can the group of generals in Liaoxi not be jealous and envious? What's more, the imperial court has recently organized this new army, and Jiye's subordinates have organized three towns and one water division, and Guanwai has only compiled three towns of Shanhai, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou, aren't these people angry? ”

Li Changgeng was also in charge of the military department, so he knew best that after the formation and training of the new army promoted by the emperor wholeheartedly, the interests of many generals were touched. In particular, the western Liaoning border army, headed by the Liaoxi Jiangmen, organized and trained the new army, and they only organized three towns, cleared many vacancies, laid off many old and weak people, and even reorganized their Jiading troops. In addition, the imperial court now directly issues silver dollars and silver dollar coupons to the soldiers, and it is directly according to the roster, and the money is distributed to the soldiers below by the special supervision and supervision army set up by the imperial court.

The generals have no way to eat empty quotas and deduct money, and they have lost a lot of gray income, and they are becoming more and more dissatisfied.

At this time, they unanimously demanded a decisive battle with the Qing army and a counterattack on Yizhou, but in fact, it was not their courage to commend. Li Changgeng knew a lot about the generals of Liaoxi, and these people just wanted to take the opportunity to get the imperial court to pay more food and wages. As soon as there is a war, the food and wages will naturally increase. As for whether it will really fight and whether it can be won, that's another matter.

"I want to resolutely oppose any decisive battle with Jianlu, or as Jiye said, in western Liaoning, focus on defense, and send a small force to counterattack and harass the Qing army, and actively defend. Liu Jun attacked Liao from the sea in the summer, stabbed them in the gut, and contained and shared the pressure on western Liaoning. As long as they hold on like this for a few years, the Qing people will inevitably be exhausted, and the imperial court is now that the Central Plains bandits have been calmed down, stabilized for a few years, and when the strength is restored, it is natural to destroy a small Jianzhou Jurchen. Mei Zhihuan said.

Li Changgeng said worriedly, "I'm afraid I'm only afraid of the emperor, you have also seen the atmosphere in the court recently, blindly optimistic, overconfident, I'm afraid that the court will change its mind under the repeated performance of Hong Chengchou and others." (To be continued......)