Not long after, Murong Xue and Xu Youchang returned to the Horse Mansion together, and Li Xi, the princess of Fenyang, was worried that Murong Xue would not forgive her, so she found an excuse to hide back in the back house to avoid the embarrassment of meeting.

Murong Xue and Xu Youchang couldn't help but be overjoyed when they saw Li Jiangyao in the front hall, and the three good brothers hugged each other tightly and laughed loudly.

"Jiang Yao, you can really do it!" Xu Youchang said excitedly: "I actually put the old bag hard!" ”

Murong Xue also smiled from ear to ear: "When we were locked up in the Yeting Palace, we heard that you came to the imperial capital, and we were all worried to death, for fear that the emperor would not tolerate you and would do something out of the ordinary." ”

Xu Youchang patted Murong Xue on the shoulder: "You also specially asked people to clean up the bed in the cubicle, thinking that Jiang Yao would also live in, so make preparations in advance." ”

Murong Xue smiled embarrassedly: "It's good to be able to live in the Yeting Palace, but I'm afraid...... Alas, don't talk about it! Fortunately, everything was resolved safely, and we still had a big victory. ”

Li Jiangyao said lightly: "The problem has not been fundamentally solved, and it may be more serious." ”

Xu Youchang and Murong Xue were puzzled and hurriedly asked for details.

Li Jiangyao first told the two of them everything that happened before, and then lowered his voice and said: "It is not unreasonable for me to say that the problem may be more serious. First, although the emperor said that he would not pursue Shen Lie for the time being, he had already decided in his heart that the person was rescued by us, so the case of investigating whether he colluded with the King of Huaiyang was also pushed to our heads. In other words, if you don't understand it, the imperial court will re-arrest Brother Shen, and he will never have peace. ”

"Second, whether the assassin at your wedding is Ashina Jin or not, I can't be sure yet, but it must be related to Ge Shuxuan. I sent someone to Beizhao Temple to take a look, and found a lot of suspicious traces, in other words, Ge Shuxuan should not be dead, and he is hiding in the shadows waiting for revenge. He is an expert in the use of drugs, and his martial arts are not weak, so we must be careful to avoid another tragedy like a bloody wedding. ”

"Third, the victory of Phoenix Mountain is to use the wasp to carry out a counter-plot, although the operation is successful, but still has not found out who is the wasp. This traitor has been hiding in the court, and he will give us a fatal blow at any time, which is extremely dangerous. ”

"Fourth, I secretly cooperated with Ma Hongjie and Chang Tao to successfully kill the 60,000 Jiangnan rebels, although it is conducive to establishing the prestige of the emperor, but from another point of view, the emperor will be more afraid of the military. The reason is very simple, whether it is Ma Hongjie or Chang Tao, they did not seriously fulfill Li Bing's secret order, but decided to obey my arrangement without authorization. ”

After listening to his analysis, Murong Xue and Xu Youchang couldn't help frowning. The four things Li Jiangyao just said are indeed not trivial.

"What's next?" Murong Xue said: "We listen to you." ”

Li Jiangyao said in a deep voice: "The water in the imperial capital is too deep, I was lucky to pass a few levels before, which is considered lucky, but if I want to continue to stay, it will be a pure fool." Take advantage of the emperor's good mood, hurry up and slip away first! ”

Xu Youchang agreed: "The emperor's heart is like the depth of the sea, who knows when he will be a moth again, and it is safer to stay with the army." ”

Li Jiangyao continued: "The Xiao Ting I mentioned just now is the maid next to the Seventh Princess, and after verification by the Intelligence Department, there is indeed a problem. Murong, you have to be extra careful next. ”

Murong Xueqi said: "Since there is a problem, why don't you deal with her?" ”

"It's just a little minion, it doesn't make sense to catch or kill." Li Jiangyao explained: "I discussed with Li Xi, it is better to put a line to fish and see who is in contact with Xiaoting, so that the intelligence department can find out who is behind the framing of Brother Shen." ”

Murong Xue nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you." Jiang Yao, what do you think...... Is Li Xi reliable? ”

Li Jiangyao patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "Reliable or unreliable, she is already the daughter-in-law of your Murong family, it can be said that one is prosperous and one is lost." The Seventh Princess is a woman with means, and if you can grasp it well, she will be a right-hand man. ”

Murong Xue realized: "I understand, I will treat her well." ”

"After your friend and I leave, you'd better find a reason for military affairs and return to the front line as soon as possible," Li Jiangyao advised: "On the one hand, you really have to prepare for the southern expedition, and on the other hand, you should also leave this place of right and wrong first and see the limelight." The affairs of the imperial capital can be handed over to Lord Dong and the Seventh Princess, and I have arranged for someone from the Intelligence Department to keep in touch with them secretly. ”

-

Early the next morning, Li Jiangyao entered the palace to meet Li Bing, saying that after Bao Yuchun suffered a big loss in Phoenix Mountain, he might wait for an opportunity to counterattack and retaliate, so he must immediately return to the front line to take command. Li Bing nodded in agreement, and asked the chamberlain to fetch a sword and give it to Li Jiangyao as a reward in recognition of his loyalty and patriotism.

Li Jiangyao politely rejected the emperor's proposal to send him off with a banquet, thanked him for retiring, left the palace, called Xu Youchang and the white-robed army who had been waiting for a long time, rode out of the imperial capital, and went straight to the southeast.

At this time, new changes have taken place on the Dajiang front.

Xiao Jing's 60,000 soldiers and horses were completely annihilated in Jiangbei, which greatly damaged Bao Yuchun's vitality. He never expected that the vicious battle between monarchs and ministers staged in the imperial capital was actually tailor-made for him.

There were thousands of audiences watching the play, but he was the only one who paid in the end.

How unreasonable!

However, Bao Yuchun has rich experience, and he will not be in a mess if he loses a battle. After receiving the bad news of the defeat in Jiangbei, he immediately transferred more than 500 warships to strengthen the river defense force from Jinling to Chaisang, and guarded the imperial army to take the opportunity to cross south.

At the same time, he sent a letter to Lao Jianhua, who was in Hangzhou, asking the other party to increase the speed of recruitment and training, and to replenish the front line with new soldiers as soon as possible.

At present, Li Jiong has officially announced his succession to the throne of King Jin, and correspondingly, the rebels entrenched in the south of the Yangtze River, whether it is Bao Yuchun's sailor or the Xuanjia Legion before, have also been renamed the "Jin Army".

The entire Jin army was composed of men, with a total strength of nearly 600,000, of which more than half were deployed on the Dajiang defense line, the other 100,000 elites were stationed in Hangzhou, and the rest were guarded in various state capitals in the south.

Although the Jin army was far inferior to the imperial court in terms of the size of its numbers, Bao Yuchun's advantage was its huge water power. Originally, he had more than 2,000 powerful large and medium-sized warships in his hands, and the Southern Shipyard had worked hard in recent years, and at this time he added nearly 1,000 new ships to the Jin army, so that it firmly controlled the river.

After Lao Jianhua received Bao Yuchun's letter, he quickly arranged for more than 18,000 newly recruited Gannan elites to go to Xuanzhou to participate in the war. At the same time, he also asked people to send a message to Bao Yuchun:

Hold the defensive line steadily, block the enemy from crossing the river, and wait for the sudden change in the situation in the north.

Bao Yuchun knew that Lao Jianhua must be planning some new strategy, so he ordered all his subordinates, with warships as the main force, to desperately sweep all the ships on the river, and strictly prevent the imperial army from coming over!

The army moved to the stage of preparation and training, practicing various formations and tactics to improve the tacit understanding of infantry and cavalry cooperation, and at the same time making every effort to hoard arrows, oil, gunpowder and other materials.

In a word: wait for the right moment and prepare for a big battle!

On the day Li Jiangyao arrived in Luzhou, Du Jian and other generals gave him a detailed report on the situation of the enemy forces on the other side. When he heard that Bao Yuchun was not even allowed to enter the river for fishing, Xu Youchang couldn't help but be surprised: "Is this a fear of being beaten up if you are so strictly guarded?" ”

Du Jian smiled: "I guess it is." After eating Xiao Jing, I thought that Bao Yuchun would be annoyed and angry, and he hurriedly launched a counterattack. Unexpectedly, he actually acted as a shrinking turtle and sealed the entire river impermeable, just like his king eight shells. ”

Xiong Yunjie also said: "To be honest, we are not afraid of the enemy coming ashore, we are afraid that they will always hide on the river." Most of the brothers, Xu Shuai, and most of the brothers don't know how to be watery, and many of them are seasick, so this battle is not easy to fight. ”

Duan Jun, the commander of the Ninth Army, scratched his head: "There is another big problem at the moment, that is, the cavalry crossing the river. I went to see the ships prepared in various places, and they were barely able to load people, but they were certainly not good at loading war horses. Ladies and gentlemen, according to our calculations, it would take at least a hundred ships to transport a battalion of light cavalry four or five times back and forth. I am afraid that it will be difficult for the Ninth Army to cross the river without seven to ten days. ”

Xu Youchang frowned: "It takes so long for an army to cross the river?" How can this still be warn? ”

He looked at Li Jiangyao and asked, "Can you choose another location to cross the river and secretly do it?" ”

Before Li Jiangyao could speak, Yudra shook his head and said, "I think it's difficult. Bao Yuchun was an expert in water warfare, and the entire river was watched by the rebels, and every few dozen miles there were shore guards they set up to monitor them throughout the day. No matter where a large-scale river crossing is organized, it will quickly attract interception by the opposing fleet. Unless ......"

He paused: "Unless you go farther upstream, such as the Bashu region, and turn south from there." ”

Du Jian shook his head and said, "Bashu is also occupied by the rebels. The terrain there is dangerous, and few troops can hold it firmly, and I am afraid that it will be even more difficult to fight. ”

Seeing that everyone was at a loss, Li Jiangyao smiled faintly and said: "There is a saying in Western Xinjiang that you can sing whatever song you take. In my opinion, we still have to seriously cross the water war. The south is full of water networks, and if you don't build a strong naval army, sooner or later you will have to be limited by the enemy. ”

As he spoke, he took out a stack of papers from his arms and showed them to his subordinates: "When I was in the imperial capital, I asked Dong Tianxing for these things, and then made some improvements according to my own ideas, you can take a look." ”

Xu Youchang looked at it and said in surprise: "This is the blueprint of the battleship?" ”

"That's right, the ship." Li Jiangyao smiled: "Bao Yuchun's main force is this kind of warship, but I have added some more changes." You see, the building boat bucket ship mainly relies on the power of sails, and when there is no wind, it is changed to manual rowing of oars. I added a huge flywheel to the left and right sides of the rear of the boat, which was driven by the winch in the boat, which was not only more efficient and faster, but also had the function of helping to turn and became very flexible. ”

"Wonderful!" Yudra couldn't help but praise: "In surface combat, mobility and speed are very important, and they are the key to victory. ”

Li Jiangyao nodded and said: "Not only is it flexible and fast, but I also designed the position of the ballista on the bow and side of the ship, which can fire both giant arrows and fire oil bombs." In addition, I also wanted to build a flat-bottomed troop carrier, which was also powered by a flywheel, with a hanging door at the bow and stern to allow the soldiers and horses to enter and exit smoothly. ”

Xu Youchang was overjoyed: "With these two treasures, the water war will have an advantage!" Have you asked the military department to step up construction? ”

"Where will they be in time?" Li Jiangyao said casually: "Let's do it ourselves!" ”

He stood up and said to everyone: "I have already informed Xie Tanzhi and asked him to cooperate with Situ Wushou to quickly allocate a batch of funds and send troops to escort them to Luzhou from Western Xinjiang." At the same time, skilled craftsmen who can build ships were recruited in Chuzhou, Yangzhou, and Taizhou to build warships according to the drawings. ”

"Friend, you are responsible for starting to form the Tenth Army of Zhenjiang, that is, the Zhenjiang Water Army, codenamed Kunpeng. First, select some veterans who understand water from each army to form the corps team, and then recruit Zexiang warriors who build boats and boats in the Jiangbei area, and teach them skills such as melee combat and bow and arrow shooting. Limited to three months, the prototype of water warfare has begun to take shape! ”

"Yudra, your intelligence department has selected two or three secret places to hide the warships and the Tenth Army, and to keep the news tightly sealed to prevent the rebel scouts from spying. Including shipbuilding workshops all over the country, it also gives me airtight protection. ”

"Others, starting today, use all conditions to carry out water combat training, at least to ensure that all officers and men learn to swim and ride boats, and even horses must be able to board and disembark smoothly without panic!"