In the middle of the night when Zheng Cai and the others left the Tamsui Port to return to Quanzhou, Zhu Daolin again carried 5,000 tons of various steel and pipes, quietly returned to the special warehouse of Shangyuan Wharf in the northern suburbs of Jinling, and then quietly returned to his home in Hushan Manor.

A few hours later, Zhu Daolin appeared at the banquet in the Longping Marquis Mansion in Jinling City, and met with Zhang Gongwei and his son, Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, the Ying family, and Wu Jingxian, the eunuch of Nanjing, to raise a glass and talk.

The 2 million taels of silver and 2 million catties of copper that Zhu Daolin gave to the current emperor arrived in the capital a month ago, and the 5 million catties of copper that were exchanged for gold and silver with Bofu Qian Zhuang were also delivered in three times, which not only let everyone see Zhu Daolin's noble sentiments of loyalty to the monarch and the country, but also let the shareholders of Bofu Qian Zhuang present see Zhu Daolin's generosity and open-mindedness, integrity and excellent quality, so the inseparable interests of each other are more profound, almost to the point of blending water and milk.

When the wine was half-drunk, Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, let out a long breath and sighed faintly: "If there were no two huge sums of money given to the emperor by Daolin, the situation in the northwest and Sichuan and Shaanxi would have already been eroded, where could hundreds of thousands of thieves be trapped in the carriage gorge?" I'm afraid that I will have to lead more than a dozen warships of the Jiangnan Navy Division at this moment, and I am really lucky to be guarding the Hanshui Valley! ”

"Haha! Now that 300,000 soldiers from the Five Roads have besieged Li Chuang and other eight-way anti-thieves, the Northwest is just around the corner! ”

The energetic old man Ying echoed with his voice, and everyone present also showed a relieved smile.

Zhu Daolin knew that the matter was far from over, and that Li Zicheng and more than 100,000 peasant troops trapped in the Carriage Gorge would soon break out again after the surrender, and then the entire northwest and the Central Plains would fall into an even more fierce war, and the morale of hundreds of thousands of officers and men would be crippled. Tens of thousands of soldiers will be rolling skulls and rivers of blood.

If it is not dealt with well, even Fengyang, the land of Longxing, the ancestor of the Zhu family's imperial dynasty, may be miserable.

But Zhu Daolin won't tell anyone about these things, and there is no need to spoil everyone's interest, and when the laughter stopped, he turned to Long Ping, who was in a good mood, and waited for Zhang Gongwei: "Uncle Zhang." Your old two guards are almost complete, right? ”

Zhang Gongweile replied: "Soon, the 12,000 muskets and 36 80 artillery pieces you gave priority to supply have just arrived in Fengyang, and with two months of special training, it can basically be called an army, haha!" ”

"It's your side, Shi Qingyang's Baoshan Army and Tang Zhenglin's Longtan Army came back from Yingzhou Island less than three months ago, and they held high the emperor's holy decree to allow the Governor of Haiphong Yamen to recruit troops as tiger skins and sprinkled real money. The rapid recruitment of 30,000 recruits trained day and night made the officials of the Sixth Department of Nanjing and Jiangsu and Zhejiang complain, saying that you had swept away all the strong men in southern Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Danyang, where the people were the best and had the best soldiers, and that the troops in various places were empty and unsustainable. ”

The hall burst into laughter and greatly appreciated Zhu Daolin's generosity. The Jiangnan family gate lords and Donglin party members who were indignant and indignant were even more gloating, who knew that Zhu Daolin's intentions were far more sinister than everyone could have imagined.

Zhu Daolin also smiled. After laughing, he said modestly: "I'm afraid these 30,000 recruits will have to wait for three months to wait for the musket artillery of the Longtan Gun Factory, and at least half of them will be able to complete the training after at least half a year, and nearly half of them need to be enriched with the coastal water division, and the safety of Jiangnan will depend on the two new guards added by Uncle Zhang, as well as the 8 under the command of Wen Jue Xian." 000 sailors and marines can do it. ”

"Big brother, I heard that the two 1,200-ton steam warships under construction at the Baguazhou Shipyard are being built, is it true?" Zhang Deyi, who returned to his father and took on the heavy responsibility, couldn't help but ask.

Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, immediately came to the spirit: "This matter is not authentic, what you are doing is not authentic!" The entire Bagua Continent was tightly sealed by you, if it weren't for the fact that two large steam tugboats with a length of 35 meters and a width of 10 meters were put into operation at the beginning of the month. Dragging a large string of cargo ships loaded with iron ore back and forth between the upstream Dangtu wharf and the Longtan Iron and Steel Plant wharf, I'm afraid that now we are still being concealed by you, so you can't give us some benefits? ”

Zhu Daolin hurriedly explained: "The two steam tugboats are still in the experimental stage, and it will be decided at least until the end of next month to be finalized and put into production, the two 1,200-ton warships mentioned by Deyi do exist and can be completed at the beginning of next month, these two large warships are the same as the previous three, they are all sail warships belonging to the Baoshan Water Division, and there is no way to install steam engines, but the design of the steam warships has already begun, and at least at the end of the year can start to try." ”

"This is because the steam warship has high requirements for the keel and hull structure, although there are drawings and models of the Tianshu Pavilion for reference, it must be tried step by step, no one is in a hurry, it is thank God to be able to build a 500-ton steam warship at this time next year, where can I dare to expect a large steam warship of 1,200 tons?"

"If you don't believe it, I'll ask you to take a look after drinking later, and everyone will understand after reading it."

After hearing this, everyone felt very reasonable, and immediately exchanged their heads to discuss whether to take some time, and take advantage of Zhu Daolin's home to go to the heavily guarded Baguazhou shipyard to have a look.

Zhang Deyi came to his senses, smiled at Zhu Daolin embarrassedly, and then closed his mouth and never dared to reveal any more secrets.

Xu Wenjue, the prince of the small country, did not give up, his personality was the same as his father, it was rare to have such an opportunity, how could he get some benefits from Zhu Daolin before he would give up:

"Two large steam tugboats have been running back and forth on the river for half a month, dragging seven or eight 2,000 stone fully loaded cargo ships faster than our patrol fast boats, can my brother also build one for our Jiangnan Naval Division, and the towing troop carrier can transport thousands of soldiers across the Yangtze River for hundreds of miles at a time, which is definitely a great weapon!"

Zhu Daolin readily agreed: "How can I miss you?" After the finalization next month, I'll ask the shipyard to build it for you first, okay? ”

Everyone laughed, and the third prince rolled his eyes and proposed loudly: "Brothers, elders, from the major wharves in Jinling to the Pukou wharf on the north shore are the most in need of this kind of stable and fast steamship, and there are not a hundred or eighty cargo ships shuttling between the north and south banks every day, and it takes at least one and a half hours to go back and forth!" If two large steam ferries can be built and put into operation, the profit will not be less than dozens of cargo ships! ”

Everyone praised in unison, saying that this suggestion was very good and necessary.

Zhu Daolin also agreed with a smile, adding that as long as the two inland steamships are finalized and put into production, the voyage can be extended to Yichang in the upstream and Baoshan Port in the downstream, which is about to complete the first phase of the project and put into use.

As soon as these words came out, they immediately aroused a burst of excited applause, and a group of powerful people who would never be satisfied immediately discussed nervously, and even Wu Jingxian, the eunuch guarding the town, could not be calm.

Seeing this, Zhu Daolin quietly stood up, pulled Long Ping, who didn't care much, and waited for Zhang Gongwei to go into the courtyard for a walk, and quietly discussed the current situation between the DPRK and China, the deployment of troops in Jiangbei, and the coordination between the two sides.

Compared with the Duke of Wei, who has long been corrupted and degenerate, Longping Hou Zhang Gongwei has always put the Ming Dynasty in the first place in his heart, whether it is moral cultivation or the ability to command troops, it is far a hundred times higher than the vast majority of civil ministers and military generals in the Ming Dynasty and the opposition.

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PS: Thank you Wuling Jushi for your big reward, thank you for loving my sister and my brother's big monthly pass! (To be continued.) )