Lushun.

Sui and Tang dynasties named Duli Town, Yuan called Lion's Mouth, Ming Hongwu four years, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang sent Ma Yun, Ye Wang's two generals to lead the army from Shandong Penglai to cross the sea to land here to recover Liaodong, because the sea journey was smooth sailing, then the lion's mouth was renamed Lushunkou, has been used to this day.

It used to be a prosperous port, when the Ming Dynasty once ruled Liaodong, Liaodong to Guannei mainly from Shandong Denglai Peninsula to land on the Liaodong Peninsula by boat through the Miaodao Islands to Lushunkou.

Later, the Jurchens rose, and the imperial army went to Liaodong to discuss, and most of their food and baggage were shipped to Lushun through Denglai. It was also a commercial port town, and the leather and medicinal materials of Liaodong were transported back to Shandong by sea, and the grain and cloth of Shandong were sold to Liaodong from here, and even here was an important transit point on the trade route between Daming and North Korea.

Shandong Penglai to Liaodong Lushun, the sea route is only more than 200 miles.

"There are so few ships in the harbor!"

Li Yifeng looked at the port, such a good port, but there were only a few ships inside. Most of them are small boats, traditional schooners, sand boats and fortune boats, mostly sloops, and many smaller fishing boats that don't even have masts.

The boats are small and dilapidated, and most of the boatmen and fishermen on board are also ragged and thin-skinned, and there are some soldiers patrolling the harbor and some arrow tower sentry.

"It used to be very popular here, and there were hundreds of ships moored in the port, but since Jianyu occupied this place, this has become like this." Shopkeeper Hu said.

After the Qing army captured Lushun, the imperial court completely lost control of the Liaodong Peninsula and the islands on the Liaohai Sea. Unable to counterattack and recapture, the imperial court began to prohibit merchants and fishermen from Shandong and other places from going to the Liaohai coast. Although there are still some people who secretly come to smuggle and sell goods, they are still a minority.

In just a few years, the place has rapidly weakened.

"After the Tartars entered the customs and looted the year before last, they sent Shandong Sankuang disciples to lead the Han army banner and the Manchurian and Mongolian banner soldiers to North Korea, and conquered Korea in less than two months, and now, the Tartars have conquered Korea and Mongolia. It had full control over the coastal areas of Liaodong and the northern part of the Zhili Bay. ”

"Are the three traitors of Shandong Sankuang Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi?"

Shopkeeper Hu nodded, Kong Youde and the three of them were all miners in Liaodong, among which Kong Youde's father also died against the Tartars, and later they all became under the command of Mao Wenlong, the chief soldier of the Dongjiang River, and became their righteous sons. Later, Mao Wenlong was killed, Kong Youde and others defected to Shandong, and finally they all rebelled, and defected to Tartar after the defeat. Now they are all named the princes of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, because there is a Shun character in the title, so they are also called the Three Shun Kings.

However, the Ming Dynasty generally called the three of them Shandong Three Mine Disciples or Shandong Three Traitors.

"These traitors!" Li Yifeng scolded coldly. He is the night of the Hydra Intelligence Service. In this expedition to the east, he and many nights were sent as the vanguard and entered Liao first. Li Yifeng is also an old nine-headed bird, he is in excellent health, he has always been unable to collect at night, and now he is also holding the position of 100 presidents.

However, as early as last year, after the Battle of Huaixi, the nine-headed bird had begun to send meticulous and secret agents into Liao to develop eyeliner to collect intelligence, and this time it was not collected at night and entered Liao in batches. They are actually going to contact these intelligence officers, and they are responsible for receiving and passing on information. Li Yifeng and several team members took the boat of the businessman Hu Shopkeeper.

Shopkeeper Hu used to run Lushun for a long time, and he is very familiar with this area, and even Shopkeeper Zhou has a relative in Lushun.

"There are many Han people who have taken refuge in the Tartars. In the past, Tong cultivated Wu Zhenchaoha. Later, Ma Guangyuan's Nikan Chaoha, and then Kong Youde's Tianyou soldiers, Shang Kexi's Tianzhu soldiers, etc. The number is not a few, and in recent years, the Qing Dynasty has also expanded these traitor soldiers from the two wings to the four banners of the Han army. It is estimated that it will soon become the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty in the future, and in the Qing Army, there are about twenty or thirty thousand people in the Four Banners of the Han Dynasty and Tianyou and Tianzhu. ”

Li Yifeng snorted. "These traitors will be liquidated soon. Shopkeeper Hu, this Port Arthur doesn't seem to be well defended? ”

"Tartar recently transferred a lot of troops from Lushun to Jinzhou, and I heard that Jinzhou is going to be besieged."

"We won't be found out if we enter the port like this, right?"

Shopkeeper Hu smiled, "Don't worry, Tartars are actually better fooled and more greedy for money." As long as they are given some silver, these people will not be strictly scrutinized at all. What's more, we are a merchant ship, and we are still carrying grain, and the Tartars are now in a food panic. ”

The ship entered the port and docked, and sure enough, a few Tartars dragging pigs' tails came to check it, and after receiving a piece of silver from the shopkeeper Hu, they saw that it was grain that was being transported, and they swaggered away after shouting a few words.

"Thank you shopkeeper Hu for sending me off, and we will say goodbye." Li Yifeng said.

"Be careful, too." Shopkeeper Hu said with concern.

After Li Yifeng went ashore, he quickly entered a shop in Lushun.

"Shopkeeper, I have something to store here, come and pick it up."

"Which cargo?"

"A batch of lacquerware shipped from Japan."

The shopkeeper looked at Li Yifeng, "Guest officer, please come with me." ”

A few followed the shopkeeper to the back and entered a side room, and the shopkeeper whispered, "Token!" ”

Li Yifeng took out half of the bronze medal, and the shopkeeper took it, and also took out half of the bronze medal from his body. The shopkeeper nodded, "Whether it's windy or rainy, the sun will rise as usual!" ”

"Dawn is just around the corner!" Li Yifeng replied.

The shopkeeper smiled, "It's finally time for you, has the army finally set out?" ”

"Well, let's go to the front station, and the army led by Hou Ye will arrive later."

The shopkeeper pulled a few people to sit down, "That's great, I have great news to tell you, a few days ago, Huang Taiji, the head of the captive, just transferred a Jianyu from Lushun to the north, we inquired clearly, it was going to Jinzhou." In addition, there is good news, our people have obtained the detailed information of the garrison of Lushun Jianlu, and we have also successfully persuaded several Han officers who surrendered to the Tartars, we were originally from Dongjiang Town, and later the army was defeated and had to surrender to the Tartars, but it was not reused, and the Tartars were repeatedly bullied. In particular, one of his concubines was also drunk and molested by a Tartar general. ”

"Is this man credible? What position in Lushun? ”

"Niu Lu Zhangjing, equivalent to the garrison or capital of the imperial court. However, this person is very popular among the Han officials who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in Lushun, and we have already contacted several Han generals through him. ”

The Manchu Qing Dynasty expanded the two wings of the Han army into the four banners of the Han army last year, the banners are pure blue inlaid with yellow, pure blue inlaid with white, pure green inlaid with red, pure blue with four flags, and more than 7,000 soldiers and horses in the four banners. However, there are more than 10,000 Tianyou soldiers and Tianzhu soldiers of Kong Youde and other three traitors, and they have not yet been incorporated into the four banners of the Han Dynasty. The banner they flew was a white flag with a black flag, and they were directly under the jurisdiction of Huang Taiji.

That Niu Lu Zhangjing Zhao Dezhi was a pure green inlaid with a red Han military flag, and he used to be an officer in Dongjiang Town, and later followed Shen Shikui to persist in Dongjiang Town until Chongzhen for ten years, and was captured after defeat, and finally surrendered. After his surrender, he was awarded an official position, and he also fought in Korea, and was promoted to Niu Lu for his merits, and was later transferred to Lushun for garrison.

But in Lushun, he was not reused, but because he was asked for money many times by the Qing generals stationed in Lushun. Every time he swallowed his anger, but later he had a banquet at his house, but a very serious incident happened. The captive broke into the inner courtyard of his house drunken and molested one of his concubines, who resisted as much as he could, only to be stabbed to death by the man in a fit of rage.

This matter was regarded as a great shame by Zhao Dezhi, so when the fine work of the nine-headed bird took the initiative to contact him after knowing about it, Zhao Dezhi agreed to do things for the nine-headed bird without saying a word. He not only provided information to the nine-headed bird himself, but also took the initiative to persuade several Han generals like him to surrender together. Secretly doing things for the Hydra.

"Very good, you can find a way to bring this Zhao Dezhi over, and I will see him." Li Yifeng said.

Liaodong, Shengjing.

Forty-six-year-old Huang Taiji is in his prime. It has been fourteen years since he succeeded to the throne.

Since the beginning of spring, Huang Taiji has been infected with the epidemic and has been sick for many days, and the weather has warmed up. His body was finally recovering. However, even when he was unwell, he did not relax his handling of important military and political matters.

However, when he looked at the report in his hand, he couldn't help but frown.

"Chuan Ding Qimin came to see him."

A guard on the side replied cautiously. "Your Majesty, the former third-class Maile Zhangjing Ding Qiming has been stripped of his duties and enslaved for his crimes."

Huang Tai said impatiently, "Since you have awarded Ding Qiming Niu Lu Zhangjing, bring him to see him immediately." ”

Ding Qiming was originally a Ming general, was the deputy general of the standard battalion of Liu Zhilun, the squire of the Ministry of War, and was later defeated and captured by the Qing army, Huang Taiji was demoted to a level according to his original position and awarded as a guerrilla, because Ding Qiming had some understanding of the Hongyi cannon, Huang Taiji asked him to preside over the Qing army's cannon casting matters. Later, Ding Qiming really cast the cannon, and later was promoted to Mel Zhangjing, but later he was scolded by his domestic slaves, accusing him of "exhausting" the hundreds of people given by the gods, and pawning the mink qiu given by the gods, and after being found to be true, he was deprived of his post and enslaved.

But now Huang Taiji can't take care of these anymore, and he needs Ding Qiming, an expert in cannon casting in the Qing Dynasty, to solve a puzzle for him.

Ding Qiming was quickly found, this unlucky guy who was demoted to a slave heard that he was reinstated to his official position, he was so excited that he almost went crazy, although he was only awarded Niu Lu Zhangjing, which was equivalent to a garrison at most, but it had already made him satisfied, at least he didn't have to be a slave anymore.

After a hurried bath, he changed into a new official robe, and Ding Qiming entered the palace to see him.

Huang Taiji didn't wait for him to kneel down and salute, so he waved his hand and said, "Ding Qiming, come over and take a look at this for me." ”

Ding Qiming stepped forward cautiously and took a letter from Huang Taiji's hand. It is also accompanied by several pictures, both ships and fireships.

"Ding Qiming, you tell me, is it possible that the warships and artillery mentioned above are true? In this world, is there really such a mighty warship and such a sharp artillery? ”

Ding Qiming looked carefully, and the more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, the battleship was more than 20 zhang long, with a draft of nearly three zhang and four masts, and could sail 60 miles in one hour, with three layers of full gun decks, and even the gun emplacements on the top deck, this battleship actually had one hundred and four cannons. The cannon on the lower deck weighs more than 6,000 kilograms, and one cannon can shoot 12 miles, fire 24 kilograms of shells, and the barrel is more than a zhang long.

And such a cannon is actually cast in iron.

The more he looked at it, the more surprised he became, and finally he was already a little dazed.

Huang Taiji waited for a long time and didn't see him reply, and said impatiently, "How?" ”

Ding Qiming came back to his senses suddenly, and hurriedly knelt down and replied, "Back to Your Majesty, the slave has never seen such a large warship, let alone such a big cannon. Twenty-four pounds of cannonballs, more than ten miles in one cannon, are still cast in iron, and the minister can't believe it. ”

"Then in your opinion, the battleships and cannons on this are fake?"

Ding Qiming swallowed his saliva, "The slave thinks that the Ming court should not have the ability to build this ship and cast this cannon." ”

"Then the Westerners have such battleship cannons?"

"When the minister was in the Southern Dynasty, he did hear people mention it, but he never saw it in person. The minister thinks that Westerners may not really have such ability, and there must be exaggeration. ”

"Exaggeration?" Huang Taiji frowned, and finally waved his hand, "You stand down." ”

waved Ding Qiming away, Huang Taiji looked at the drawings and words for a long time, and finally felt that this must be an exaggeration. This is the information sent back from the south, collected through Shanxi merchants, it is said that the Southern Dynasty is now a new rising young general, and Wu Sangui of Liaoxi is known as the Ming Dynasty, this person has made great contributions to the Southern Dynasty to eliminate the bandits, and has also trained a new army.

Intelligence said that after defeating the last large group of thieves in the Central Plains in Huaixi last year, he was accepted as a righteous son by the emperor of the Southern Dynasty. Then he sent to the southeast to supervise military affairs, and fought with Hongyi at sea, won a series of great victories, and captured many Western ships and cannons, as he painted in front of his eyes, which made people's hearts flutter.

The intelligence also said that Liu Jun had seven large warships with more than 100 guns, dozens of other ships with dozens of guns, and many other ships carrying troops and grain, totaling more than 100 ships. There are thousands of cannons of all kinds of thousands of catties.

And now, this young general, full of myths and legends, is preparing to send troops, and it is rumored that the emperor of the Southern Dynasty has made him a general to conquer and want to transfer him to attack the Liaodong Peninsula from the sea.

With the words of Ding Qiming, an artillery expert, Huang Taiji's mind calmed down a little.

"Rumors, they must be rumors, just a strategy to attack the heart." Huang Taiji sneered, "If the Westerners really have this kind of battleship cannon, then how can they be defeated by this Liu Jun." And if the Westerners really have this kind of giant ship cannon and are defeated, it means that this giant ship cannon is not so powerful. Either way, he didn't have to worry too much. ”

He put down the drawing, and turned his gaze to the map on the side, where there was a place with a red pen that had been circled. It was Jinzhou, and after conquering Mongolia and Korea and sweeping away the coastal islands of Liaodong, he was already eager to besiege Ningjin.

The key is still Jinzhou, if Jinzhou is taken, Ningyuan will be lonely and difficult to defend. If Ning Yuan takes it, then the entire land outside the pass will be the territory of the Qing Dynasty. At the beginning of his succession, he was also afraid of the Ming empire, and once only wanted to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty in order to achieve stable development.

But the Ming Dynasty rejected him again and again, and then many years later, he had conquered Mongolia and Dongping Korea, and he finally had the strength to sit on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty, and a few years ago, he also officially changed his name to Qing and proclaimed himself emperor.

At the moment, everything will be headed by Ning Jin.

Thinking of this, Huang Taiji withdrew his mind from the uneasiness caused by that information.

After a long time, Huang Taiji couldn't help but move his gaze to the information again.

In the end, he still sighed, "Spread the imperial decree and transfer the king of Sanshun to lead Tianyou and Tianzhu troops to Lushun to garrison." (To be continued......)