"Grandpa, Mrs. Qin has arrived outside the city."

In the courtyard of Liu Jun in Huangzhou Mansion, it is rare to be busy, in the shade pavilion in the backyard, Liu Jun is lying on a rattan chair, Liu Ru is playing the piano, Chen Yuanyuan is singing, and Shen Man is dancing.

In the scorching summer, the breeze is gentle, the beauties are accompanied by singing and dancing, and the chilled sour plum soup is really pleasant, and I don't want to get up. After Liu Jun returned to Hubei, he first went back to Macheng to live for a few days, and accompanied Xueqi and the child well, and Bao'er and Yaoyao also got a lot of nourishment.

In those days, Shen Man and Chen Yuanyuanliu wanted to see each other but didn't dare to come to the door, so they had to wait until Liu Jun arrived in Huangzhou, and then immediately left the red sleeve workshop, which is now larger, and came to Huangzhou directly. Without the eldest woman by his side, a few goblin-like people did their best to amuse Liu Jun all day long.

Coming back from southern Liaoning and accompanying his wife, concubines and children, this time is indeed relatively relaxed and comfortable.

Qin Liangyu had already sent someone to tell Liu Jun that he was going to Huangzhou a few days earlier, firstly to pay homage to Mei and Li, and secondly, to negotiate with Liu Jun about a deal. The third is also a passing by. Before the imperial court transferred Sichuan troops into Liao, Qin Liangyu had already asked his nephew Qin Gongmin to lead some of the troops first.

"Succeeded, but I asked General Ma and Deputy General Qin to come over and accompany me to meet Qin Niangzi." Liu Jun shouted, and a young man came from under the opposite corridor, dressed in the blue military uniform of a nine-headed bird.

"Yes, Marshal."

Zheng Chenggong answered, turned and left.

Liu Ru glanced at the background of his departure, and said with a smile, "This child is very tall, but he is a little shy, and he always blushes when he sees our aunts." ”

"This kid is very polite, but why does the husband only let him be a little soldier? Not to mention being a flag officer, you have to be a company captain first. Shen Man also likes Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong was also after Liu Jun returned to Hubei, and Zheng Zhilong asked him to come to mourn Mei and Li on behalf of the Zheng family. At the same time, let him stay by Liu Jun's side. Zheng Chenggong worshipped Liu Jun as his father-in-law earlier, and also changed his surname to Zhu, he was already a talented student in Fujian. Zheng Zhilong originally planned to send him to Nanjing to study in the country.

But think about it, let him go to Liu Jun's side to do things. Not only Zheng Chenggong, but Zheng Zhilong also asked Zheng Zhifeng, the brother who won the Wujinshi at the beginning of the year, to serve in Liu Jun's army.

Zheng Zhifeng was arranged by Liu Jun to go to Beiyang, while Zheng Chenggong stayed as a personal soldier. Let him start as a creep. As a result, Zheng Chenggong's performance was amazing, there was no dissatisfaction, and he worked hard, but he said a little little.

Zheng Zhilong has more than one son, but this son born to a Japanese woman is his eldest son. recognized the eldest son as Liu Jun as his father-in-law, and sent it to Liu Jun, and it can be seen that there is some proton meaning in this. He understands Zheng Zhilong's thoughts, and the two are now working together in the honeymoon period. But that trust is not unlimited.

Compared with Liu Jun's need for Zheng Zhilong, it is obvious that Zheng Zhilong is now more dependent on Liu Jun. Originally, Zheng Zhilong dominated the sea, and the family was dominant. But now Liu Jun's Beiyang is not much weaker than the Zheng family, especially Liu Jun is still deeply favored by the emperor, and he needs Liu Jun to continue to support and trust him.

Sending his son over is also a proof of faithfulness.

Liu Jun got up, changed his clothes, and went to the city to greet him in person. In front of the gate of Huangzhou City, I saw from a distance that Ma Xianglin and Qin Yimin's cousins had been standing there waiting for a long time.

Liu Jun has just arrived. Qin Liangyu also arrived.

Qin Liangyu, who is already in his sixties, is still very strong, with a height of more than 1.8 meters. It was very straight on the horse. When she dismounted, she didn't need help, and jumped off the horse easily and neatly.

"I haven't seen you for a long time, Hou Ye has made new contributions, and he has been promoted to the title of Guogong, which is gratifying."

"The old lady is still in good health."

Liu Jun stepped forward with a smile. Bow your hand.

Qin Liangyu returned the salute, and then sighed, "At this time last year, you and I were by the side of Mei and Li Ergong and won a great victory in eastern Sichuan. I don't think so. In the blink of an eye, the second prince has gone immortal. Please take the old woman to worship the second prince and put incense on the pillar in front of the grave. ”

"Please come with me, Madame."

Liu Jun took Qin Liangyu to Macheng and offered incense in front of the graves of Mei and Li.

On the way back to the city, Qin Liangyu also walked side by side with Liu Jun.

"I also heard in Chongqing that since the separation of eastern Sichuan last year, the Guogong first won a great victory in Huaixi and then showed off the prestige of our country in the southeast, and this year he entered Liao, and he won great victories one after another, killing thousands of Tartars, and I am very relieved."

From Wanli to Tianqi to Chongzhen, Qin Liangyu led his troops out of the customs to fight against the Tartars many times, and even many of his brothers and nephews died in the battle with the Tartars. For this expedition, she is supportive and willing.

"Guogong, the old woman has a request, I know that you have a lot of powerful new Hongyi cannons in your hands, and I want to buy some and use them against the Tartars."

This request made it difficult for Liu Jun to refuse.

"Why bother to buy it, I do have some Hongyi cannons in my hand, and I can pull out ten of them for Madame."

"Thank you." Qin Liangyu said gratefully.

The two rode their horses and walked silently for a while, and Qin Liangyu suddenly asked, "The old woman wants to ask Guogong a question." ”

"Excuse me."

"Why doesn't Guogong want to go to Jinzhou? Why did you capture southern Liaoning and retreat to Jinzhou? With the strategy of the national public, the courage of the Chu army, and the advantage of artillery, why should you retreat to a corner of Jinzhou? Old woman Rong's rude words, I can see that Guogong did not do his best. Guogong, are you preserving your strength? ”

This is a very harsh accusation.

No matter how Liu Jun explained it with strategic planning, it could not hide a fact that many people could see, Liu Jun really did not do his best in the war against Liao. He neither went to Ningjin to participate in the battle, nor did he launch a fierce offensive in southern Liaoning, and fought a battle in the air, and immediately withdrew to Jinzhou, repaired the city and built a fort, but went on the defensive.

"Madam, I thought that Pingliao would not be able to compete for three or five years, and it would take longer. Therefore, if you want to rely on a decisive battle in the short term, you can't win, you have to think long-term, step by step. I don't think I'm war-scared, and it's not all about preserving strength, it's a strategy. As long as we are steady, the Tartars will not be able to consume us. There are only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, two or three hundred thousand clansmen, this time I will kill him by a thousand, and next time I will kill a thousand, how many thousand can he kill? ”

Qin Liangyu glanced at Liu Jun and said, "Guogong." Only the old body will tell you these words without concealment. No matter what you think, but what you have done has made many people suspicious, and now they just haven't spoken out about their suspicions, but the seeds of suspicion have been planted and will take root. The longer it grows, the bigger it gets. When one day, when the Tartars surrender, Liaodong is pacified, and the world is peaceful, do the princes think they can still tolerate you? ”

She said these words only when she regarded Liu Jun as her nephew.

Liu Jun's strength is getting stronger and stronger now, and many of his behaviors are indeed a bit out of bounds. Now the imperial court needs Liu Jun, and the emperor relies on him, of course, no one dares to say anything. But when Liaodong is really pacified, can the emperor tolerate Liu Jun like this? At that time, I am afraid that the rabbit will die and the dog will be cooked, and Qin Liangyu will say these words to Liu Jun.

However, Liu Jun understands these very well, and he knows that if the court wants to use him now, he has to tolerate him. And when the court can't tolerate him, the court can move him if it wants to?

Everyone has their own calculations, it depends on who can calculate to the end, Liu Jun thinks. Although he is playing with fire, he can control it very well. Won't burn to your own.

After returning to Huangzhou, Liu Jun took Qin Liangyu to the warehouse of the Huangzhou Cannon Foundry.

The warehouse was surrounded by walls, trenches dug and barbed wire, light and dark sentries everywhere, and many fierce dogs, which could be described as heavily guarded.

However, none of the new advanced guns are stored in this warehouse. Rather, artillery from the hands of the Dutch, Portuguese, Spaniards, British, etc.

Because of the standardization of calibers, those non-standardized caliber guns such as three-pound, six-pound, nine-pound, and eighteen-pound guns, especially some of them, have been used for a long time, have been worn out more severely, and there is not much left in the life of the breech. It's deposited here as a reserve in case you need it.

Although there is some wear and tear, in fact, most of them can still shoot one or two hundred rounds or even two or three hundred rounds without any problem, even the gun carriages are extant, and the shells equipped with them are ready-made.

Although it is the eliminated goods of the nine-headed bird, in Qin Liangyu's eyes, this is an out-and-out cannon. Especially the eighteen-pounder cannon, which is the largest Hongyi cannon now equipped by the imperial court.

"This cannon for the old man?" Qin Liangyu said excitedly. After the Battle of Eastern Sichuan, the imperial court asked Qin Liangyu to recruit native soldiers in Shizhu, Youyang and other Tusi in Chongqing, and recruited 30,000 before and after, of which 6,000 were brought to the Chu army by his son Ma Xianglin and nephew Qin Yimin.

The remaining more than 20,000 soldiers, although they were born brave, were quite backward in equipment, only one white-pole gun, and not even a few pieces of armor. Not to mention artillery, there are not many tiger squatting white-pole soldiers.

"Two eighteen-pound Hongyi cannons, each of which is 4,000 catties, can fire about 14 catties of solid bullets, with a range of three miles. Four nine-pounder Hongyi cannons, each of which is 2,000 catties, fire about 6 catties of solid bullets, with a range of two miles. Eight three-pounder Hongyi cannons, each 1,200 catties, fired more than two catties of solid bullets, with a range of about one mile. In addition, the gun carriages were also ready-made. ”

In order to thank Qin Liangyu for his concern just now, Liu Jun also took out fourteen cannons at once quite boldly. These cannons are all long-barreled cannons, which are naval guns, and they are more powerful than the Hongyi cannons of the same caliber in the imperial court. In terms of weight, it doesn't weigh much.

"Thank you so much, how many silver taels?"

"What else do we say about silver? Isn't it outside? Liu Jun said with a smile, "I'll lend you another team of Hongyi gunners and let them teach the white-pole soldiers to operate these artillery." ”

Qin Liangyu felt that she owed Liu Jun a great favor, twelve Hongyi cannons, she estimated that she would get tens of thousands of taels of silver. Moreover, even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it, not to mention that Liu Jun also sent artillery cart shells and lent them to Hongyi gunners. That's just a cannon that can be used.

However, in fact, the cost of the new artillery cast by the Huangzhou Artillery Foundry is not high. If the technical value is deducted, only in terms of the material and human cost of casting, the cost of a twelve-pound cannon is only 360 taels, and if iron casting is used, the cost is only 240 taels.

This price is unimaginably low, and the Hongyi cannon cast by the imperial court, the cost of about eighteen pounds is more than 3,000 taels of silver, and the cost of the artillery cast by the imperial court is nearly ten times that of the Huangzhou Cannon Factory, and the performance is far inferior to the cannon cast by Huangzhou.

It is precisely because of the low cost, good performance, and fast casting of the artillery cast by the Huangzhou Gun Factory that Liu Jun does not look at these old-style cannons very much, and can take out some of them for the imperial court and Qin Liangyu.

Liu Jun will cast more new cannons sooner or later, eliminate these old cannons, and after they are eliminated, they can only be melted into materials in addition to being put in the warehouse.

Qin Liangyu got twelve Hongyi cannons from Liu Jun, and Liu Jun also gave a batch of melee cannons such as tiger squats and exterminators, anyway, this thing is not eye-catching for the nine-headed bird, and it is also garbage to keep it, so it is better to give it to the white pole soldiers.

After thanking him repeatedly, Qin Liangyu accepted this batch of artillery and led his troops to Liaodong in the north.

A few days after Qin Liangyu left, someone came uninvited.

"Wu Sangui meets the Duke of Chu!"

Liu Jun looked at this guest who suddenly came to visit, and was also a little surprised. Wu Sangui, a famous person, before crossing over to the Ming Dynasty, he was one of the characters in the late Ming Dynasty that Liu Jun was more familiar with.

Wu Sangui, who knelt in front of him, was still very strong and mighty, with relatively large ears, a high nose, a white face, and very divine eyes.

On the bridge of his high nose, there is a scar, high on the right and low on the left, with black lines like silk in the middle, which are not too obvious if you don't look closely. But this scar is very famous.

It can even be said that Wu Sangui was able to become the chief military officer of Ningyuan at the age of twenty-seven, and it also has something to do with this scar, and it does not all depend on the relationship between his uncle Zu Dashou and his father Wu Xiang.

In the third year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji once led a large army to detour through Mongolia to enter the customs, Zu Dashou was supported by the order of the imperial court, and met Huang Taiji in Jianchang. At that time, Wu Sangui's father was the general army of Liaodong, and he personally led the cavalry out to reconnoiter the enemy, but was surrounded by a small force of the Qing army.

At that time, Zu Dashou was worried that the Qing army would take advantage of the opportunity to break into the rescue and did not dare to fight easily. At this time, Wu Sangui ignored Zu Dashou's order, and only took dozens of family members to gallop out of the horse, taking the lead in prancing on horseback, all the way into the encirclement of the Qing army.

He fought into the enemy group, and then answered Wu Xiang and killed all the way out. At that time, there were 30,000 Qing troops nearby, and when they learned that Wu Xiang was surrounded, a large number of Qing troops came, and Wu Sangui took dozens of horsemen to meet his father Wu Xiang and broke through the siege all the way in a bloody battle.

At that time, Zu Dashou led the army and Huang Taiji's army not far away, and neither side dared to attack rashly. As a result, Wu Sangui's bravery made the Qing army think it was a trick to lure the enemy, and as a result, Wu Sangui broke through the encirclement of the cavalry and rescued his father to return to the battle.

In this battle, Wu Sangui was stabbed in the face and left a scar on his nose.

It was also in this battle that Wu Sangui bravely crowned the three armies, and the filial piety heard about the nine sides, all said that he was pure and loyal, extremely filial piety, smart and handsome, and even the emperor heard of his name of loyalty and filial piety. With this reputation, coupled with that identity background, as well as the identity of a martial artist, Wu Sangui's career was smooth sailing, and he became a chief military officer at the age of twenty-seven.

However, Liu Jun was a little puzzled, shouldn't Wu Sangui lead troops in Ningyuan at this time and confront Hong Chengchou and the Qing army, why did he suddenly come to Huangzhou? (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the support of Traceless on the winter night, thank you!