Early the next morning, Zhu Daolin and others, who had held a military meeting all night, boarded the ship again and continued north.

Next, Zhu Daolin will stay at Liugong Island, the base camp of the North Sea Fleet, for one day, to listen to the reports of the generals and colonels of the North Sea Fleet, to handle and improve all preparations for war in a timely manner, and to make all-round preparations for the campaign to recover Liaodong launched a month later.

On the sea where the morning sun shines, the half-sailed ship is slowly accelerating under the impetus of steam.

Xu Hongji and Zhang Gongwei, who had mixed feelings, discussed slightly, and both walked to Zhu Daolin and Wu Jingxian, who were standing side by side on the foredeck enjoying the beautiful sea view, frowned, and asked seriously how many troops Zhu Daolin had in the north?

Zhu Daolin nodded to the two righteous brothers Xu Wenjue and Zhang Deyi, who were full of anger and came to the left and right, and looked at Xu Hongji and Zhang Gongwei with dark circles under their eyes with a smile:

"Tsk, it's okay now, my uncle pulled me here early in the morning and asked the bottom of the day, and finally I explained it to his old man, and you guys are here again...... Looks like everyone thinks I'm going to rebel, right? ”

"Less nonsense! The facts are there...... Without the permission of the emperor and the imperial court's military department, you secretly recruited tens of thousands of troops and trained hard day and night, what is this not a blatant rebellion? Xu Hongji asked solemnly.

Zhu Daolin pursed his mouth disapplausively: "What kind of rebellion, if you really want to rebel, can you still sit on the boat safely?" Don't forget, at the beginning of the year, the emperor ordered me to set up three guards, including Weihaiwei and Fushanwei, as soon as possible, and it is not unusual to have so many soldiers. ”

"What's more, the Qingdao base has always been a source of troops for the Dongjiang New Army stationed in North Korea and the coastal islands of Liaodong, even if 100,000 soldiers are recruited, it is normal to train day and night, everything is to recover Liaodong, and this reason alone is enough. No one will try to frame me. ”

Zhang Gongwei explained impatiently: "No one wants to frame you...... Nephew, let's be honest, in addition to the 60,000 troops in Qingdao, how many troops does your Dongjiang New Army have? We don't know if we don't know, we don't worry! ”

Zhu Daolin put away his smile when he heard this: "It's not a secret, the Dongjiang New Army has no choice but to have two divisions.15 In addition to 000 soldiers, more than 24,000 recruits were recruited again among the Liaodong people who were displaced in Korea around the beginning of spring. ”

"As of the end of last month, the 24,000 recruits who have initially completed the first phase of training have been equipped with muskets and artillery, and have been organized into two infantry divisions and one cavalry division, and are now undergoing the second phase of training."

In addition, the Liugong Island training base has been expanded to two marine divisions with a total of 15,000 recruits. A month later, they will receive the designations of the 5th and 6th Marine Divisions, which, together with the 2nd Marine Division stationed at Hirokashima, will form the main force to attack Jinshuwei and Port Arthur. ”

"At that time, the North Sea Fleet will fully cooperate and completely subdue Jinzhou, which was occupied by the Liaodong Tatars."

Xu Hongji, Zhang Gongwei and the others gasped, and Wu Jingxian let out a long sigh of weakness again.

"OMG! Not counting the 60,000 people inside and outside Qingdao, only North Korea and the islands off the coast of Liaodong. The total number of troops is as high as 80,000? Xu Wenjue finally let out an exclamation.

Xu Hongji twisted his beard. looked up to the sky for a while and sighed: "Fortunately, you Zhu Daolin is our own person, fortunately, you have the blood of the old Zhu family flowing in you, otherwise I don't know when you will be killed!" ”

"No wonder you dare to take risks, even if you don't hesitate to offend the people of the world, you have to go your own way, no wonder you are full of confidence in persuading the emperor, now I finally understand. I finally got it......"

……

……

Under the frightened gaze of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Tanggu Port, the 500-ton steamship with billowing smoke gradually slowed down, entered the estuary, and sailed at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour towards the Sanhekou Canal Wharf in the north of Tianjin.

Wait until the big ship is berthed at the pier. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians poured into the city, or ran out of the city, and tens of thousands of stunned onlookers stood on both sides of the river.

Due to the deep draft, the steamship could not go north to Tongzhou along the course of the North Canal, so Zhu Daolin and his entourage could only disembark at the Sihai Commercial Bank's own wharf at the mouth of the Sanhekou, change horses and carriages from the trading house, and rush to the capital 200 miles away.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, the tenth day of the seventh month, two o'clock in the afternoon.

Zhu Daolin and his entourage, who were in the dust, finally arrived outside the Chaoyang Gate smoothly, and were immediately welcomed into the city gate by hundreds of brocade guards and cavalry who had been waiting for a long time, and rushed to the palace.

Zhu Daolin's two wives and concubines and beloved sons, under the careful service of the four palace maids and a group of small eunuchs sent by the queen, boarded the four-wheeled luxury carriage dedicated to the royal family, and walked at the back of the team under the escort of a pair of inner court guards.

Zhu Daolin, Xu Hongji and others still had to follow the ban, get out of the car and walk, and under the guidance of a group of eunuchs, go to the Yangxin Hall to meet the young Emperor Chongzhen.

In the more than 200 years that the Zhu family ruled the country, the three ministers who sat in the south of the Yangtze River went to the capital to meet the emperor without asking for permission.

Although Xu Hongji, Zhang Gongwei, Wu Jingxian, and Zhu Daolin's joint report was delivered to the capital in the form of an expedited 800-li report a day earlier, it still aroused great shock and suspicion among Emperor Chongzhen and hundreds of civil and military officials.

By now, the whole city knows about it, and there is a tide of discussions, and no one knows what earth-shattering events have happened in Jiangnan, otherwise there will never be such a situation that violates common sense.

Because of this, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict of "entering the palace as soon as he arrived in the capital", and under the reminder of the intelligent and generous queen, he directly took Zhu Daolin's two wives and concubines and his son-in-law who was less than one year old into Kunning Palace.

……

……

In the Heart Cultivation Palace, Emperor Chongzhen, who was full of displeasure, accepted the kneeling of the four important ministers, endured his doubts and anger, and ordered him to sit down.

Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, Zhang Gongwei, and Wu Jingxian, the eunuch of Nanjing, who were usually extremely prominent, were already in a cold sweat at this time, and they were terrified, and they still knelt in the center of the hall, not even daring to raise their heads.

Only Zhenhai Bo Zhu Daolin, who changed into the imperial python robe for the first time, stood up when he heard the sound, and saw Xu Hongji and the three of them trembling and prostrate, and immediately understood the thoughts of the three of them, sighed slightly, and had to kneel down again, and truthfully told Emperor Chongzhen about the matter.

Unexpectedly, before the matter was finished, the young emperor on the throne was already pale with fright.

Wang Chengen, Zhang Yixian, Cao Huachun and others, the great eunuchs of the inner court who stood around the throne, including the three eunuchs of the Five Dynasties who were hidden behind the scenes, all lost their tempers, and they were all frightened by Zhu Daolin's astonishing words, and their hairs stood on end.

It was not until this time that they understood Zhu Daolin's good intentions in sending his wife and children to the palace as hostages.

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PS: Thank you for your big tip! (To be continued.) )