Dashun Yongchang

Zheng Zhilong thought for a while and said: "Build big ships to compete with them. Our country has abundant manpower and material resources. It is impossible for these small countries to compete with our country."

But his son Zheng Sen, who was standing beside him, finally couldn't help but interjected: "North Korea and Vietnam are connected to our country by land. Obviously, it is the fastest way to attack with land troops. Let them take out the sea trade and share it together. method. With the sea power of North Korea and Vietnam, and then attacking Japan, the sea power of the three countries will become the power of our country. Abandoning the strengths of our country and using our own weaknesses to compete with the strengths of others, even a gentleman will not will do it."

Zheng Zhilong glanced at his son in surprise. He always thought that his son was a bit stupid in reading, but after hearing these words, he realized that maybe he had underestimated the eldest son.

Li Zicheng glanced at Zheng Sen approvingly, and sure enough Guoxingye is Guoxingye, not that kind of pedantic scholar.Under the watchful eyes of his father and Li Zicheng, Zheng Sen suddenly added with some heat on his face, "What I mean is that the French must think so. Those red-haired barbarians burned, killed and looted if they couldn't do business in the east. They are really like robbers." There is no difference. Therefore, if the Frenchmen can beat their neighbors, they will not think of building ships to compete with their neighbors."

Li Zicheng looked away, turned to France on the map and continued: "my country's raw silk, rhubarb, porcelain, Western rhubarb, and Indian cotton can all be exchanged for more than double the profits in Europe. Therefore, when we actively communicate with France , and reach an agreement with them to carve up the trade between China and Europe, then the French will take the initiative to attack the Dutch, Spaniards, and even the British for us.

When the Netherlands and Spain are threatened by France, their power in Asia and America will be weakened, which means that we can pay a small price to defeat the Dutch and Spaniards.

In addition, for our country's economy, the current overseas trade has also reached a period of stagnation. If we want to promote the further development of overseas trade, we must find a new industry as a growth point.I thought this new industry was tea, because the eating habits of Europeans are similar to Mongolians, they like meat and milk, and they like sugar, so they will definitely like tea.

But now, in our trade with Europe, the proportion of tea is almost negligible, and the entire population of Mongolia is only a few million. The tea they can consume in a year can already maintain the supply of horses in our country. If Europe, which is 10 times higher, can be developed into a new market for tea sales, then the market size will definitely exceed the value of the raw silk exported by our country..."

Zheng Zhilong was immediately moved. A European tea market larger than the Mongolian tea market is obviously a treasure.Even though he hadn't personally participated in maritime trade for a long time, he couldn't help thinking about whether to organize a fleet to visit Europe at this moment.However, he still suppressed his excitement and wanted to hear what other great ideas Li Zicheng had.

Sure enough, Li Zicheng moved his finger to an area below France and said: "If the French can conquer the Spaniards, then we can suggest that they occupy Egypt. The sea north of Egypt is called the Mediterranean Sea by Europeans. A long and narrow sea area that separates the two continents, Europeans call it the Red Sea.

If the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea can be connected by an artificial canal, at least one-third of the mileage between China and Europe can be saved.If France can dig this canal and occupy it, then this canal will lay the foundation of France's great power.In order to gain the support of our country, France will definitely choose to maintain a friendly alliance with our country.This is the basis of the Sino-French alliance.

All we have to do now is to send a fleet to Europe and tell the French about the plan.In the name of Dashun, I intend to send an envoy to the Vatican to express my greetings to the current Pope of the Catholic Church.But I lack the long-distance ships and sailors to go to Europe. "

Having said that, Li Zicheng paused and turned to look at Zheng Zhilong.Under Li Zicheng's gaze, Zheng Zhilong didn't react for a while. After the two looked at each other for a few breaths, Zheng Zhilong suddenly realized: "No problem, I, Mrs. Zheng, can choose the ships to Europe. I don't know when His Majesty plans to let you Is this delegation going?"

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "I have already asked people to prepare various gifts to take to Europe. This time, in addition to visiting the Pope and the King of France, I plan to let people contact all European countries and formally submit an ultimatum to the Spaniards." , asking for an apology and compensation for the two massacres of Chinese in Manila in the 31st year of Wanli and the 12th year of Chongzhen. If the Spaniards ignore it, this is a formal declaration of war..."

Zheng Sen asked suddenly, "Can Yu join this delegation?"

"How can Your Majesty be so presumptuous in front of you? If you want to interject indiscriminately again, you will go out." Zheng Zhilong immediately reprimanded his son, then turned to Li Zicheng to apologize and said, "Why did you issue such an ultimatum to the Spaniards? Isn't this a warning? "

Li Zicheng said peacefully: "As I just said, Spain has been fighting wars for nearly 100 years. The Netherlands, Britain, Portugal, France, and some other countries. Although the Spaniards rely on the resources of the Americas, making them able to support until now.

But the country is almost at the end of its rope.This can be seen from the social situation in Manila during the two massacres in the 31st year of Wanli and the 12th year of Chongzhen. Before the two massacres, the local economy of the Chinese had already begun to shake the economic control of the Spaniards in the area.Why did this happen? Because the amount of American silver exported to Manila decreased, the Spaniards tried to plunder the wealth of the Chinese to maintain the colony's finances.

In other words, to maintain the financial resources of the Kingdom of Spain, the gold and silver mining in the American colonies has passed its heyday.Although the number of gold and silver mines mined by the American colonies is still a considerable number every year, for a country with rising war expenses, the Spaniards, like our country, are facing the problem of empty treasury.

Therefore, even if we declare war on the Spaniards now, the Spaniards have nothing to do with us.However, our declaration of war will be welcomed by the European countries that oppose the Spaniards, so that we can participate in the division of the spoils of the Spanish Kingdom. Since there are advantages and no disadvantages, why not declare war?

With such an official ultimatum, we can not only legally attack Manila, but also legally attack Spanish colonies in America.Moreover, this is also the fastest way to make the French agree with us.I hope to be able to go before the end of November or mid-December so that we don't miss the monsoon period. "

Zheng Zhilong had to admit that what Li Zicheng said was quite reasonable.If there are really so many gold and silver mines in America, then it is really worth declaring war on them in such a formal way.After pondering for a moment, he nodded and agreed: "I will arrange manpower immediately after I go back to ensure that I can travel by the end of November."

Li Zicheng then turned his eyes away from Europe, pointed to Japan and said: "Since we have each made our position clear, then this year's trade with Japan should not be missed. From this month to the beginning of next month, can we send a fleet to Japan?" Japan?"

Zheng Zhilong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If we can start from the mouth of the Yangtze River, it will not be a big problem. However, it is still a bit troublesome to obtain raw silk. This year, because of the fall of Beijing, silk merchants from all over the world refused to buy on credit, and those sea merchants did not. It is too risky to be willing to take out silver to pay in full..."

Li Zicheng ignored the insincereness in Zheng Zhilong's words. The Zheng family would rather abandon a season of trade this year, obviously to keep their strength in their hands to deal with the domestic changes.He said with a relaxed expression, "I can help you solve the problem of supply, but I hope your ship can help test the defense of Jeju Island..."

Chapter 181 Yangzhou Nineteen

Zheng Zhilong could understand Li Zicheng's intention to test Jeju Island, but he asked with some doubts: "Aren't you a little impatient to provoke the North Korean kingdom at this time? Isn't it time to win over the North Koreans to attack Liaodong?"

Li Zicheng sighed in his heart, but he replied with a nonchalant face: "No, the battle against Jiannu is our own business. We can't deal with a small clan with a population of less than one million. We can still count on the vassal state to fight for us." Are we trying to destroy our enemies? If North Korea really has such strength, then they should now occupy Liaodong to glimpse the Central Plains.

The power of building slaves is actually not strong. The real problem is that there are too many traitors who have forgotten their ancestors.The country spent so much money and food, even taxing the victims, to ensure the needs of the Liaodong Army. As a result, this army took the blood and sweat of the people and confronted Jiannu outside the pass, neither could stop Jiannu from breaking through and looting , and can't defend the safety of the capital, but now they are playing the trick of borrowing troops to suppress bandits, as if they have become loyal ministers of Ming Dynasty.

The old slave once had a famous saying, he said that cutting Ming is like cutting down a big tree, you must first remove its branches and leaves, and finally cut down the trunk.The current Jiannu is actually the same tree. If you want to cut him down, you must first clean up those forces that are attached to him, such as Mongolia, North Korea, and the Jiangjun.

Of the three, North Korea is the weakest, and it has a sea route with me.Our army attacked the other side, and there was no way to save Jiannu, so our army could not only get a resource from North Korea, but also let Jiannu help.North Korea is the food road for the establishment of slaves. If the food road is not cut off first, how can it shake the will to fight for the slaves?

After hurting North Korea, those barbarians who tried to side with Jiannu and attack China will be afraid.Because they will wake up and build slaves with a mere one million people who want to attack China, then they will not be able to resist our attack in other places.Then they will withdraw their power to protect themselves first. No matter how much power they can withdraw, it will be a good thing for our war against the slaves.

Jeju Island is located below the Korean Strait, with the Korean Peninsula in the northwest and Japan in the northeast. Occupying this place, our army has an excellent forward base if it wants to attack North Korea or trade with Japan.So, you have to get it back as soon as possible.And no matter what the North Koreans do in response, it is a good thing for us now. "

Zheng Zhilong looked at the map for a long time, but couldn't find any problems, so he could only say: "In this case, at least we will have to wait until the wind turns next year before we can attack Jeju Island. However, after taking back Jeju Island, how does His Majesty plan to manage it?"

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "The port can be managed by you, but the land belongs to the court. However, you have to send a fleet to station here to cooperate with our army to attack southern North Korea."

Zheng Zhilong looked at the location of Jeju Island on the map again, finally nodded and said: "This can be discussed, but will the cost of the garrison be paid by the court?"

Li Zicheng said: "I will send people to set up customs on Jeju Island to subsidize military supplies with tariffs, and the government will make up for the shortage."

Zheng Zhilong immediately accepted, "Then there is no problem."

Li Zicheng then continued: "Then there are only two things left to do right now, send troops to Taiwan and Macau. I plan to send troops to attack northern Taiwan before the end of this month, and then send another army south to block Macau. How many troops can you send?" The ship responds?"

Zheng Zhilong was a little caught off guard, and subconsciously asked: "Why are you in such a hurry? The south of the Yangtze River has not settled down yet. And why did you block Macau? Didn't your majesty say that the Portuguese were subjugated by the Spanish?"

Li Zicheng glanced at him and said: "The Portuguese concealed from the court the fact that they were loyal to the King of Spain. Therefore, when our country declared war on Spain, they naturally became our enemies.

Unless they now renounce their allegiance to the King of Spain and follow us in declaring war on the Kingdom of Spain, our country has the right to confiscate the property of the enemy country to compensate our people and supplement the cost of the war.

The Portuguese have forts, armies, and cannon foundries in Macau. Do they also agree with us to build these military strongholds on Portuguese soil?A country that we cannot defend is not our country.Macau is China's territory, so Macau should naturally be defended by the Chinese, otherwise this place would not belong to the Portuguese. "

Zheng Sen nodded after hearing this. He felt that what Li Zicheng said was extremely correct, and it was more reasonable than what his past teachers said.Those teachers talk about family and country all day long, but they never pay attention to the troops stationed in Macau and Taiwan, nor do they care about the lives and deaths of overseas Chinese. They only care about whether there are honest men in the court, but they never talk about what an honest man should do when he has power. Talk about the emperor should not interfere with the actions of the gentleman, but don't talk about whether the actions of the gentleman are right or not.

Zheng Zhilong weighed it. Although he has a good relationship with the Portuguese, the black guards around him were all bought in Macau. He is also one of the suppliers of the Macau Chamber of Commerce. The raw silk and other goods he got from Jiangnan went to Macau to exchange for Portugal. The sandalwood and pearls brought by people are also an excellent business.

However, after listening to the free trade system described by Li Zicheng, although he felt a little sorry for the Portuguese, he still decided to put the country's affairs first, and let's not talk about friendship.

What's more, the Portuguese also felt sorry for him at the beginning.When the Japanese shogunate announced the ban on Catholicism, his daughter was a Catholic, so he fled back with the Portuguese, but the Portuguese said that his daughter had decided to dedicate herself to God and refused to give her to him.As an agent of the Dutch East India Company, he had of course heard of the sordid business in the monastery, the jokes of bishops and nuns, which were made by Protestants to ridicule Catholicism.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong had to send a fleet to blockade Macau for three days before letting the Portuguese hand over their daughters.Thinking of this, he immediately lowered his face and nodded: "Your Majesty is right. Macau is still our place in China. We can't let those foreign monks create a mess. We should teach them a lesson. That's right, Your Majesty will provoke you." Is it really possible to fight in three places?"

Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "It's not like provoking war in three places at once. Macau is in Guangdong. As long as the relationship with Nanjing is straightened out, the local officials in Guangdong will naturally assist us. As for Taiwan, you didn't mention it just now. The Dutch only captured the Spanish stronghold in northern Taiwan the year before last, so they should not have the support of the local indigenous people yet.

Therefore, our attack on northern Taiwan is just a battle between us and the Dutch, and the local natives will not help them.In addition, from the mouth of the Yangtze River to the northern part of Taiwan, the wind is right now, and the Dutch are against the wind. Therefore, we have fought in northern Taiwan, and the Dutch can only wait until next spring to send troops to support Taiwan. I thought we had at least occupied northern Taiwan at that time. feet up.So now is the most appropriate time.

As for North Korea, can the North Korean navy still prevent us from approaching Jeju Island?When our army lands on Jeju Island, what power can resist us?North Korea is the same as Ming Dynasty. Useful soldiers and horses are placed in the north and south, but they will not be placed on Jeju Island, just like we don’t have much strength on Hainan Island..."

When it comes to this level, there is a tacit understanding between the two parties and they will not talk about other topics.Zheng Zhilong knew very well that as long as Li Zicheng could repel Jiannu's army going south, then Zheng's business group must cooperate with the other party. Others will definitely choose to vote for Li Zicheng.Businessmen are always very practical. If you can take them out to sea and make a fortune, everyone will support you. If you can't, then you will be abandoned.

Li Zicheng wouldn't say anything more, if Zheng Zhilong couldn't be moved by such a plan, and the other party insisted on a governor, governor or something, it meant that he was a fool not worth talking to.As for Dashun, there was no need to ask Zheng Zhilong for more. As long as Zheng Zhilong agreed to cooperate in attacking Taiwan, Macau and Jeju Island, then his strength would be exhausted.

At this time, there are only two forces in the south that threaten Dashun, Fujian Zheng's business group and Wuchang's Zuo Liangyu group. Li Zicheng will not try his best to obtain their promises, because all warriors who keep their promises in this era are dead. Empty.What he needs is to mobilize these forces so that they have no time to threaten him.

After getting rid of Zheng Zhilong's forces, then Nanjing and Gaojie's department, and then Zuo Liangyu, after taking care of these people, it's time for him to return to Xuzhou to start a war with Jiannu.The conversation between the two lasted until the lights were turned on in the room. Only then did Li Zicheng feel that he was also hungry, so he invited Zheng Zhilong and his son to have a meal together.

Naturally, Zheng Zhilong would not refuse such an invitation. He had a great time talking with Li Zicheng, thinking that he might surrender to the other party in the future, and now it is natural to make a relationship.

When Zheng Zhilong and Li Zicheng were sitting together having a drink, another group of people secretly landed on the north bank in the lower reaches of Guazhou under the cover of night.Although a servant carried him across the tidal flat and set foot on the river embankment, Zhou Bi, who had always loved cleanliness, looked at the dark surroundings, and finally asked with a dejected expression, "Can't you light a lamp to guide the way?"

Ruan Dacheng and Pang Tianshou, who had also just come down from the servants and guards, couldn't help but feel a little tired when they heard this. One of them was an eunuch, and the other was an eunuch, so naturally they didn't have a good impression of Zhou Biao, a Qingliu.Both of them secretly thought, when will they have to light the lamps, if Gao Jiebing sees it, it will be over for everyone.

However, Pang Tianshou had no grudges with the Donglin Party after all, and he was not a member of Wei Zhongxian, so he kindly persuaded him, "Mr. Zhou should be patient, the situation is unclear at the moment, so we can't move around. We are all people with heavy responsibilities. , you must be careful."

Ruan Dacheng sneered and said, "Even if he is found out, Langzhong Zhou is fine. After all, he has a good brother, so he won't make things difficult for him if he wants to come to Gaozhen. I guess you and I will end up with you, Lao Pang. People have nothing to worry about, so naturally they are not afraid of lighting a lamp."

Zhou Bi was arranging the clothes beside him, and he didn't bother to respond to the eunuch Ruan Dacheng.In fact, it is also difficult for him to respond to the other party now, because before seeing his younger brother Zhou Zhong, everything he said now was wrong.The Zhou family in Changzhou was at a crossroads, and if he made a wrong move, he would be doomed. How could he still be in the mood to argue with Ruan Dacheng.

Chapter 182 Yangzhou Twenty

In the Kaiyuan Temple in the South North of Daqiao Town, in the west side hall of the main hall, the Nanjing mission headed by Ruan Dacheng, Pang Tianshou, and Zhou Bi finally saw the people who came to receive them, but when they saw the costumes of the leading figures who walked into the side hall , All three of them showed embarrassing expressions on their faces. Is this obviously a great Ming clan?

Zhou Zhong, who was in the crowd, saw his cousin on the opposite side, first nodded his head slightly to pay tribute to him, and then stood up and introduced to the people around him: "This is His Royal Highness King Lu, this is Mr. Chen Baishi, and this is Li Yunyu engage in..."

Seeing this, Zhou Bi also introduced the members of the mission that were traveling with him, and bowed to King Lu with Ruan Dacheng and Pang Tianshou.Lu Wang Zhu Yihai returned a simple salute, then walked to the upper chair in the side hall and sat down, and said to the crowd with some impatience: "Don't play around with these vain gifts, and sit down quickly and do the things that need to be done. Let’s do it, is it possible for everyone to spend the night here?”

Zhou Bi and the three of them walked in the fields for more than half an hour the night before before they found Shunjun's night patrol team, and then they were placed in this Kaiyuan Temple, but they were not allowed to go out. It was not until today that they saw the person who came to talk to him, but It was the suzerain vassal who overwhelmed them in terms of status.

Although the three of them made an agreement before talking about Jiang, they should not lose the face of Nandu in front of Li Zicheng. Prince, they had no choice but to lower their stature to negotiate with these thieves.

But now looking at the chair next to King Lu, the three of them looked at each other, no one dared to go up and sit on an equal footing with King Lu.Ruan Dacheng, who had always regarded himself as an envoy before, lowered his head and walked to the third chair on the west side and sat down. Seeing this, Pang Tianshou also followed and sat down quietly on the second chair.

Zhou Biao, standing in the middle of the hall, persisted for less than a moment in the sight of King Lu and everyone, and finally walked to the first chair on the west side, not the seat next to King Lu.Seeing that the three people in Nanjing were sitting honestly in the position where he started, King Lu snorted through his nose and asked the three people, "Why didn't Fufan cross the river in person? The Emperor Daxing's Zi Palace and the Prince They are all in Jiangbei, why didn't he come to greet them personally?

Those ministers in Nandu eat rice?Or eat shit?Is the loyalty, filial piety and righteousness they keep talking about betraying the Emperor Daxing and the prince appointed by the Emperor Daxing, and supporting and setting up side branches for their own selfishness? "

Ruan Dacheng and Pang Tianshou sat on the chairs like puppets, letting the king of Lu scold them without saying a word of resistance, because the king of Lu took the reason today, and he was standing up for the emperor and the prince, no matter what they said, it was wrong. It will only cause unnecessary trouble for yourself.

But Zhou Biao couldn't stand it anymore, because the king of Lu put the crime of welcoming Li Fufan on the Jiangnan officials and gentry, and pointed the finger at the Donglin party members. If he said nothing at this time, it would be tantamount to acquiescence King Lu's accusation is correct.

Therefore, taking advantage of the gap between King Lu's pause, Zhou Biao immediately interjected and defended: "There was chaos in the north that day, the whereabouts of the emperor Daxing and the prince were unknown, and people in the south were fluctuating. There is some kind of conspiracy. Your Highness, please look into it."

Zhu Yihai frowned, thinking that this person is really ignorant. Before the prince's whereabouts were unknown, it was fine for them to elect Fufan to oversee the country, but now the prince has brought the Emperor Daxing's Zigong to Huai'an. The ministers of Nandu He didn't change his course and came to support the prince, and he was still dawdling and arguing, and sent these cats and dogs to see Emperor Yongchang. Is this obviously a trick of delaying?

As the vassal of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yihai of course hoped that the Ming Dynasty would survive for a long time, but as far as the assholes that Fufan did after he ascended the throne, no matter how he looked at it, he was not a ZTE king, so of course he should get out.At least the crown prince with Li Zicheng's support can allow Dashun and Daming to rule across the river, so that he doesn't have to face the hatred of subjugation.

Therefore, the clans in the north are in agreement, that is, King Fu must step down and return the throne to the prince, and as the prince's supporters, they can rebuild the suzerain vassal in the south.As far as the virtue of Fufan is concerned, it can neither control the military town nor suppress the southern gentry. It is almost impossible for them to rebuild the suzerain vassal in the south, because there is no place to accommodate them.

Therefore, Zhu Yihai is quite dissatisfied with Zhou Biao's vocal defense. We surnamed Zhu are discussing who should inherit the family property, and you servants can just interrupt indiscriminately?

However, just when King Lu was about to lose his temper, Zhou Zhong hurriedly uttered a voice to relieve his cousin, "Since the prison country was established for the sake of calming people's hearts, why are you so anxious to elect Fufan to the throne? Could it be said that only the After fifteen days, you already know the whereabouts of Emperor Daxing, the crown prince, King Yong, and King Ding?"

Zhou Bi was at a loss for words for a moment, and after a while he shirked and said, "It's really the work of Governor Ma, Sizhen, and Uncle Chengyi who entered the letter..."

As soon as he said this, not only his cousin Zhou Zhong's face changed, but even Ruan Dacheng and Pang Tianshou who were sitting next to him couldn't bear it anymore. Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zhang Shenyan, Lu Daqi, Jiang Yueguang, these honest gentlemen are in control, and they have the natural danger of the Yangtze River as a ditch. What do you say that the four towns are advancing, did you ever have someone order the gates to be closed?

If the Yangtze River is so easy to cross, Nanjing can drive straight into it, why is it that Gao Jie's army can't even cross the river today with a sampan?You Donglin Party members are simply shameless, if you have nothing to do, let your father listen to you, and if you have something to say, everyone should listen to your father. Good things are all done by you, and bad things are others'.Is this what a gentleman does?Or a hypocrite? "

Zhu Yihai and Li Sicheng were stunned. They hadn't refuted Zhou Biao's remarks yet, so the opposite side started to turn against each other?At this time, it was Zhou Zhong and Chen Mingxia who borrowed money for Zhou Bi.Chen Mingxia thought it would be better to suspend the meeting and eat lunch first.King Lu looked at the tense atmosphere between Zhou Biao and Ruan Dacheng, and felt that there was no way to talk about it now, so he agreed.

During the adjournment of the meeting, Ruan Dacheng walked into the back garden of the temple with a gloomy expression. While walking on the path among the trees, he thought about the future of himself and others.His emotional outburst in the side hall just now was partly to prevent Zhou Bi from uncovering his old background. If Shun Jun knew that their internal affairs were torn apart, what else would Shun Jun talk to them about?Half of it was an outburst of chronic dissatisfaction with the Donglin Party members.

Speaking of which, Ruan Dacheng is also a member of the Donglin Party, but the leader of the Donglin Party wanted to break the unspoken rules and hand over the position that should belong to him to another close person, which caused him to find Wei Zhongxian in a moment of anger took back his position.But he just wanted to vent his anger. After the official got it, he took a leave of absence and returned to his hometown to live in his hometown within a month of working.

But because of this, the Donglin party members not only expelled him, but also entangled with him for more than ten years. Even if he contributed money to the Donglin party members, they failed to restore the Donglin party members' opinion of him.Today, it has become a daily activity for Donglin party members to attack him, just like an activity in the daily gatherings of Jiangnan scholars. If you don't scold him a few words at the meeting, you can't prove that you are a gentleman.

This kind of aggressiveness of the Donglin party members also made Ruan Dacheng feel a little bit self-defeating. After Ma Shiying helped Emperor Hongguang ascend the throne, he once had a plan to take revenge on the Donglin party members.It's just that before he could implement this plan, Li Zicheng took the prince southward, which plunged the entire Hongguang court into chaos. Ma Shiying felt that he could not protect himself, so he had no time to plot against those Donglin party members who were in the way.

Standing in the woods, looking at the spots of sunshine in the forest, Ruan Dacheng couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: "The world is hard."

At this moment, a voice came to his ears, "Why is Mr. Yuan Hai sighing?"

Ruan Dacheng suddenly turned around and looked behind him, and saw a young man standing on another small road, he made a distinction and asked, "Are you Li Zheng who was in the hall just now?"

Li Sicheng made a deep bow to Ruan Dacheng and said, "Li Yunyu from Dezhou has met Mr. Yuan Hai. I can't put down Mr. Swallow's Notes. It is a blessing to meet Mr. Yuanhai."

Although Ruan Dacheng had never heard of Li Sicheng's name, he could feel that the other party wanted to make friends with him. Naturally, he would not refuse the kindness of a scholar from the Shun Army.So he hurriedly returned the gift and said: "I don't dare to call you Mr., but I am a few years older, so I can just call me senior. I don't know if this is my little friend?"

Li Sicheng walked up to Ruan Dacheng, stared at him and said with a smile: "I'm actually a member of the Statistics Department, so I can see Your Majesty often. I think Mr. Yuan Hai is a genuine person, so I can't help but want to ask Mr. Yuan Hai Please tell me, the real situation in Nanjing City, I wonder if Mr. Yuan Hai can clear up my confusion for me?"

In just a few short breaths, Ruan Dacheng had countless thoughts in his mind, but he finally smiled at Li Sicheng and asked, "I don't know what Li Zhengeng wants to know..."

After Li Zicheng's main force went south, Gao Jie's troops stationed in Guazhou not only did not gather troops to counterattack Shugang, but instead set up a defense line along the canal, lest Li Zicheng's main force would attack him as soon as he arrived.But they did not wait for the stormy attack of the Laishun army, and the triangle area of ​​Yangzhou-Guazhou-Yizheng became peaceful instead.

However, the more peaceful the front line is at this time, the greater the pressure on Gao Jiejun.Because the longer the time dragged on, the more the soldiers knew that not only did they have no reinforcements on their side, they even had no chance to cross the river.In other words, they have now become a lone army.

Maybe those senior generals in the army would obey Gao Jie and fight to the death with the Shun army out of gratitude or fear, but the soldiers at the bottom obviously didn't see it that way.In particular, the Shun Army did not massacre the captured Li Chengdong's troops, which meant that when there was still a chance of surrendering to the Shun Army, they were even more unwilling to fight to the death.

So the mid-level officers in Gao Jie's army began to receive inquiries from lower-level officers and soldiers, whether they would surrender to Emperor Yongchang, or under what circumstances they could talk about surrendering.

Chapter 183 Yangzhou 21

Cheng Liangru stepped onto the canal pier, seeing that the long street leading to the east gate was still crowded with pedestrians, he immediately let go of a lot of worries.The young attendant standing beside him also took a big breath and said: "It was annoying to listen to in the past, but today it is really pleasing to the ears. Lord, it seems that Yangzhou is all right."

Cheng Liangru did not speak, but just turned his head and glanced behind him. The flag of Dashun was erected not far from the canal. Looking at the generals who happened to pass by under the flag, it was obvious that Yangzhou was not as peaceful as it seemed.He stretched out his hand to press the hat on his head, and then said to the people behind him: "Xiao Wu, you hire someone to pick up the things and bring them home. I will take Xiao Liu and take a step ahead."

The young man standing on the steps and watching the boatman carry the luggage ashore nodded calmly and said: "Master, go by yourself, Xiao Wu took care of it by himself. Would you like to call for the slider to come over?"

Cheng Liangru shook his head and said, "No need, I'll be home after passing Dongguan, and I just want to stretch my legs and feet. I feel a little rusty after being on the boat for the past two days."

After explaining to Xiao Wu, Cheng Liangrui led Xiao Liu down the long street leading directly to the east gate of Yangzhou.This long street is about 2 miles long, and the road is paved with stones. Although it rained just now, there is no water on the street, because there are two open ditches on both sides of the road, which drain the rainwater into the canal to go.

Of course, because this road has been built for more than a hundred years, even the top of the once flat rocks has holes as small as soybeans and as big as fists, so water is still accumulated in the caves on these stones. Stepping on it will still splash the trousers or robe.In the past, Yangzhou people would carefully avoid these waterlogged places, but today the pedestrians on the road are all in a hurry, not paying attention to their feet at all.

From these pedestrians, Cheng Liangru still found something different from the beginning of the year. Obviously, the war in the previous period still left a deep impression on the people of Yangzhou.Thinking of this, he couldn't help but stop and glance towards the east of the canal again. Although he didn't find anything, Cheng Liangru still felt a little confused. Shunjun was just across the canal. Why did Yangzhou city dare to open the door?

He glanced at the street, at least half of the shops along the street were open, and the most crowded ones were the rice shop, salted fish shop and bamboo and wood shop.All these things had to be brought in from other places, and obviously they couldn't open the door without Shun Jun's approval.Obviously, daily life in Yangzhou City is recovering, and the military discipline of the Shun Army is indeed as good as rumored.

After watching for a while, Cheng Liangru continued to walk towards the east gate. On the way, he also found an open steamed stuffed bun shop. Seeing Xiao Liu who was a little bit greedy, he simply asked him to buy a few steamed stuffed buns to fill his stomach.He himself wandered into the cloth shop open on the street, and asked the clerk at the counter: "What is the current price of cloth? Is there Mao Qing from Wuhu?"

The clerk hurried out of the counter, introduced five or six kinds of cloths in his store to Cheng Liangrui, and said, "Wuhu's Maoqing is not available yet, but there should be one from October to November. If you want it, sir, you can." Leave an address, and the little one will deliver it to your door."

Cheng Liangru asked curiously: "Since you don't have one here, why can you guarantee that there will be one in October and November? Isn't the Yangtze River blocked right now?"

The clerk then turned around and took out a piece of paper from the counter, and said to him: "Look, sir, it's written in this newspaper. The Marshal's Mansion said that there was no major disaster along the Yangtze River this year, at least It is a year of peace, so as long as the Yangtze River waterway resumes traffic, rice from Huguang, Jiangxi and other places will be shipped down.

The Marshal's Mansion is also conducting peaceful negotiations with Nanjing to try to resolve the issue of the Ming Dynasty's throne in a peaceful manner, so the people of Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Zhenjiang don't have to worry too much.There is no need to stockpile food and firewood. The Marshal's Mansion will urge Nanjing to open the waterway as soon as possible to ensure the supply of food and fuel in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Emperor Yongchang promised that by the end of September, no later than the beginning of October, the issue could be resolved peacefully.Therefore, the cloth from Wuhu will definitely arrive in October and November. "

Cheng Liangru looked at the so-called newspaper in astonishment. If it wasn't for the words printed on it approved by the Marshal's Mansion, he would have thought it was just a prank.Because, who would print such important news on paper and disseminate it publicly?These news, even if known one day earlier, can bring a lot of benefits to the businessman.

He looked at the guy hesitantly and asked, "Do you really believe that the news in this newspaper is true?"