Zhu Youzhen insisted on continuing his southern tour, naturally not so simple as worshipping his ancestors. Instead, he is determined to make a big deal in Jiangnan, or he may be able to complete his work and battle, and use this southern tour to worship his ancestors to make a complete change!

The Henan Red Turban Thieves attacked the city, and the Jiangxi anti-thieves had hundreds of thousands of people occupying most of Jiangxi, and in the eyes of others, the situation was very critical, and Zhu Youzhen had no reason to go south before the Henan Red Turban Thieves were resolved. After all, Henan is located in the Central Plains, if the red turban thieves can not calm the flow around, it is likely to endanger the Ming Dynasty, at this time, the pacification of the Henan red turban thieves rebellion is far more important than worshipping ancestors.

In fact, even Hong Chengchou and Yuan Keli around Zhu Youzhen also thought so, and they were reluctant to Zhu Youzhen to continue to go south.

And Hong Chengchou did not want Zhu Youzhen to go south for another reason, that is, he was worried that Jiangxi rebels would capture Nanchang and go down the river to attack Nanjing. At that time, Zhu Youzhen will have these 5,000 Praetorian Guards around him, and it is likely to fall into Nanjing City, and the Ming Dynasty will be in danger at that time!

After briefly explaining the current situation to Li Yanzhi, Li Dingguo, and Zhang Huangyan, Zhu Youzhen said coldly: "I know that many people don't want me to continue to go south. Among them, there are those who are worried about my safety, such as Hong Shangshu and them, and there are also those who are worried that my life will be endangered after I go south, such as the gentry in Jiangnan!

I suspect that the reason why the Jiangxi rebels developed so rapidly in a few months, and defeated the official army and defeated the Jiangxi governor Yuan Chonghuan in a few months, must have a complex reason behind it. Maybe it's because some people don't want me to go south! Therefore, I have to do the opposite, I have to go south! ”

"Your Majesty is saying that someone doesn't want you to go south to support the Jiangxi anti-thieves behind your back?" Li Yanzhi was shocked.

"I'm just speculating, not substantiating. However, the reason behind the rapid development of Jiangxi anti-thieves has to be thought about. Zhu Youzhen sighed.

Jiangxi is different from Henan, Henan Chengping has not had many garrisons for a long time, and the only army in Henan went north to King Qin two years ago when Jiannu broke through the invasion, and then was annihilated by Jiannu in Yongping Mansion, and the military equipment was extremely lax, and the gentry officials in Henan were worried that they would do something to the gentry officials because Zhang Shize was going to Henan, just like Shandong, they were not willing to resist in the face of the rebellious red turban thieves, and many gentry also secretly supported the rebellion of the red turban thieves, and even joined them, just like the Li Yan brothers in Naqi County, That's why the red turban thieves spread so quickly.

However, Jiangxi is completely different, most of the thieves in Jiangxi are in the mountainous areas of southern Jiangxi, and most of them are some mountain people, because they are dissatisfied with the government's expropriation and rebellion, and because they occupy a mountainous area that is difficult to attack, the officials and troops have no way to deal with them, even with Yuan Chonghuan's ability, they have not been able to calm down.

However, the strength of the anti-thieves hiding in the mountains is not strong, and the road out of the mountains is completely blocked by the official army, and more importantly, the Jiangxi anti-thieves are divided into more than ten units, which are not closely related to each other, and do not have the ability to compete with the official army at all. And this time, more than a dozen anti-thieves actually united, and also obtained a large number of fire armor, Yuan Chonghuan, who was killed by a wave of attacks, was defeated and retreated in a hurry, and then captured the provinces of southern Jiangnan. The speed of the attack and the skill of the cooperation between each other, if there is no one behind it, who can believe it?

Li Yanzhi thought about it carefully and agreed with Zhu Youzhen's analysis. When he first arrived in Fujian, the merchant gang in Fujian did not hesitate to collude with pirates and red-haired ghosts to attack him in order to deal with the newly established Royal Maritime Trade Firm. At that time, it was just for some maritime interests, and the gentry in Fujian were so cruel, and now Zhu Youzhen's actions are obviously to use knives against the gentry and officials, how can the gentry in Jiangnan not resist, and it is possible to do anything in secret.

"The minister has brought fifty blessed ships, and there are 10,000 soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, and there are ministers here, so they will definitely protect the safety of the holy driver." Li Yan said in a deep voice.

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "I am not worried about my safety, I am the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and no one dares to openly do anything to me!" ”

No matter how fearful and dissatisfied the gentry of Jiangnan were for Zhu Youzhen's subordination, they would never dare to openly pull the flag and rebel. As for sending someone to assassinate? With thousands of armies guarding him, how can anyone come close to him?

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen is not worried about his own safety at all. What Zhu Youzhen was really worried about was that Yuan Chonghuan and the reinforcements from the three provinces would not be able to stop the anti-thieves in Jiangxi, and he was worried that the situation in Jiangxi would be erosive, and the anti-thieves would attack Nanjing down the Yangtze River.

"So I sent you here to rely on the Fujian Navy to block the Yangtze River, even if the Jiangxi thieves go down the river, we must stop them on the river!" Zhu Youzhen said in a deep voice.

With a naval division in hand, even if the situation is unfavorable in the future, it can successfully withdraw to Jiangbei without being trapped in Jiangnan, which is the reason why Zhu Youzhen sent the Fujian naval division to come.

"The Admiral understands!" Li Yanzhi nodded heavily.

"But all we have are big ships, I'm afraid it's not suitable for fighting in the river." Zhang Huangyan, who had been silent, said suddenly.

Fifty sea ships, of which 20 are three-masted ships, five of which are huge Western Galen ships, and the remaining 30 are also two-masted ships, suitable for fighting at sea, and the Yangtze River is too narrow.

Li Yanzhi said with confidence: "Don't worry, the thief army may not be able to break through Nanchang and enter the Yangtze River, and even if it can enter the Yangtze River, it will only be a group of rabble." Our sailors are equipped with hundreds of red-coated cannons, and it only takes one round of bombardment to defeat them! ”

Since arriving in Fujian, whether facing red-haired ghosts or pirates, Li Yanzhi has won consecutive battles, how can he be afraid of just thieves?

Besides, the anti-thieves in Jiangxi have just risen for only half a year, and they were just some mountain bandits, so what kind of water warfare do they know? With fifty large ships in his hands, Li Yanzhi is now fearless.

"Don't be underestimated." Zhu Youzhen said, "In this way, send me across the Yangtze River first, and then you can recruit some ships and sailors to join the army on the spot, and I will order Zhao Shujiao, the governor of Caoyun, to cooperate with you, and then form a Yangtze River sailor!" ”

Zhao Shujiao has a lot of boats in his hands, and there are Caoding who are proficient in water on the canal, based on these Caoding boats, supplemented by veterans of the Praetorian Guard, plus Zhu Youzhen has nearly 10 million taels of silver copied from salt merchants, and the money and grain are incomparably abundant, and it is not difficult to train a Yangtze River sailor.

"Your Majesty, don't you want me to escort you to Nanjing?" Li Yanzhi hurriedly asked.

"What Nanjing?" Zhu Youzhen asked rhetorically, "When did I say I was going to Nanjing?" ”

After crossing the Yangtze River, it is the most prosperous place in Jiangdong, if you don't make a lot of efforts in Jiangdong, how can Zhu Youzhen go to Nanjing easily?

ps: Yesterday there was a strong wind and the power went out, I forgot to tell you, sorry. There is one more more.