The fleet was walking and stopping, getting farther and farther away from the capital. Lu Zheng found that the emperor was not on the boat every day except for official business, but fishing and playing chess. He would often observe the two sides of the canal in a fixed manner, sometimes he would draw on the map and mark some symbols that he didn't understand. Sometimes after camping, he would get off the boat and turn around the camp, and let the accompanying guards poke the ground with swords and guns.

"Brother Chen, shouldn't Your Majesty meet local officials when he goes on a tour, summoning old local scholars to understand the people's situation, or conduct secret investigations to understand the sufferings of the people?" That day, he saw His Majesty standing on the deck again holding a telescope to appreciate the scenery along the coast, and he asked Chen Shishi curiously.

"Lizhe, you have read too many stories!" Chen Shishi chuckled after hearing this, "Your Majesty started making arrangements for the tour a few months ago to inform the prefectures and counties along the way that if they wanted to hide something, they would have prepared and handled it completely. Even if they witnessed it with their own eyes, they might have practiced in advance."

"Since that's the case, isn't it meaningless for Your Majesty to go on a patrol to waste the people and cause money?" Lu Zheng said in surprise.

"Oh, the young master is from the Prime Minister's Mansion, why can't he see through this?" Chen Shishi looked up and down as if he didn't know him.

"Oh, there are many brothers in the family, so I don't need to worry about the affairs in the mansion. As long as I follow my master to study and study the scriptures. In order to avoid suspicion, my father never receives visitors in the mansion and rarely talks about official affairs. He is afraid that the children in the family will cause trouble, so he is not allowed to leave the mansion at will. He makes only a few classmates and knows very little about the outside world!" Lu Zheng also sighed.

"We are both pitiful people!" Chen Shishi patted Lu Zheng on the shoulder and said sympathetically. He also empathized with this. These high-ranking children who were envious in the eyes of the world actually did not live easily.

Because the Chen family was the minister of Your Majesty's hidden residence, he entered the general's mansion to follow him when His Majesty succeeded to the throne and was always with the king. Now he is a new nobleman who is jealous of everyone. Two ministers have emerged from one family, who are in charge of national wealth and military power, and another imperial concubine, which is really eye-catching. But this is also why they act more cautiously, even trembling, fearing that they will be caught in the wrong way, and thus they will be more strict in their family.

When Chen Shishi was young, he followed his father and uncle to Qiongzhou. His status was still low at that time, but his family was also managed by older brothers. Their young brothers and sisters had nothing to do except study and martial arts. It was rare to see his father and uncle, and he also taught them with a stern face to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country and not to cause trouble. It was not until after entering Jiangnan that the older brothers began to enter the officialdom. He was also appreciated by the emperor and worked in the imperial court, and was as "simple and honest" as the Lu family's Balang.

"I would like to ask Brother Chen for advice!" Lu Zheng went over and knew that he had suffered. He met someone who was sympathetic and sympathized with each other and asked for advice.

"It's not a question of advice, let's chat a little!" Chen Shishi did not dare to be arrogant and said politely, "Your Majesty opened a government at the age of six, ruled the country at the age of eight, and ruled at the age of seventeen. It was not a royal child who was raised by women and raised in the palace, but a wise ruler who regained the crisis with his own sword and shot."

"That is, when I was young, I rode the same boat with Your Majesty on Yashan and experienced the battle at Yashan. Although I was ignorant about the war, I also learned about Your Majesty's intelligence. At that time, I often played with Your Majesty with the Imperial Concubine and several children of the same age. There were many people, but I was always teased by Your Majesty and never got any advantage." Lu Zheng smiled bitterly.

"Lizhe has such a connection with Your Majesty. No wonder Your Majesty favors you!" Chen Shishi smiled, "Your Majesty is well aware of the complexity of the officialdom and the sufferings of the people. Although he has lived in the capital for a long time, it is not easy for foreign ministers to fool Your Majesty. No matter how well he hides, there are clues to follow."

"You can see that Your Majesty seems to be enjoying the scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but when you see the growth of crops, you can estimate the approximate output of local grain; if you observe the number of merchant ships anchored on the dock, you can determine whether the local trade is prosperous and whether the public security is good, and you can infer the ability of the officials to govern. If you accidentally get off the boat and buy some small items, you can understand the local prices and the sufferings of the people. Then compare it with the official memorials and the words of the elderly who met, and you can also learn a lot of inside information."

"Oh, I've been taught!" Lu Zheng was shocked when he heard this. It turned out that His Majesty seemed to be absurd, but in fact he was very sensible.

"You are welcome, these are just common sense. You can learn the tricks by carefully experiencing them." Chen Shishi waved his hand and said, "What Your Majesty is doing now is the big plan. This canal can be said to be the lifeline of the country. Once the war in the north begins again, it will be related to the outcome of the battle situation!"

"I haven't seen what Your Majesty has done?" Chen Shishi saw that His Majesty was not special to his usual life and said in wonder.

"I can't say much about this. The day I went on a tour is still long. Let's take a look at it slowly!" Chen Shishi didn't say much this time, just smiled.

"Oh, is Your Majesty's Northern Expedition to inspect the people's livelihood and military facilities in Jiangnan? Is this going to be the second Northern Expedition against the Mongolian Yuan?" Although Lu Zheng seemed naive at the moment, he had been reading books for so many years, and he had more knowledge than ordinary people in his experiences. He didn't say anything and thought for a moment.

"I didn't say it!" Chen Shishi waved his hands repeatedly. He also secretly praised the young master of the Lu family as not a stupid person. He could think of this with a little reminder. He would polish it over time and not lose a piece of good jade...

After listening to Chen Shishi's insight, Lu Zheng became more and more curious about what His Majesty was doing. After His Majesty finished reading the "Scenery", he came to him and saw him outlined the map, and asked someone to take a booklet to read it. "Can you understand?" Seeing that he was curious, the emperor asked.

"I can see the map clearly, but I don't understand the mark!" Lu Zheng replied honestly.

"Haha, it's best if you don't understand, otherwise let Prime Minister Lu know that you will be confined to the mansion!" Zhao Bing closed the picture album and patted it and said with a smile.

"..." Lu Zheng was shocked when he heard this, and then realized that he had seen something he shouldn't have seen, and cold sweat broke out in an instant.

"Don't be afraid, I won't tell your father." Zhao Bing said with a smile when he saw that he was frightened.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, forgive me, and the students will ban your words!" Lu Zheng quickly bowed.

"Okay, you can't understand anyway!" Zhao Bing poured a cup of tea for him and signaled him to sit down on several sides.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After Lu Zheng bowed again, he felt relieved and sat down next to the emperor.

Seeing that Lu Zheng was still in shock and was very scared, Zhao Bing said gossip again. After knowing that the emperor really had no intention of blaming him, Lu Zheng was relieved and returned to normal. He asked a question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time and said: "Your Majesty, I really don't understand. We took a boat for seven or eight days and only took only three hundred miles. When will we reach Yingtian Mansion?"

"This is mainly because taking a boat is more comfortable than taking a land route. In fact, taking a car is not much faster, and it also saves the trouble of paving the road to welcome the prefectures along the way!" Zhao Bing said with a sip of tea.

"Your Majesty, it may be slower to ride on land, but if you ride a horse slowly, you can travel a hundred miles a day, wouldn't it be much faster!" Lu Zheng said in a little dissatisfied.

"How do you know that you can travel a hundred miles a day by riding a horse?" Zhao Bing asked.

"In addition to studying classics and history, I have also read some military books, and I have discussed military affairs with my classmates." Lu Zheng said proudly, "When the Five Barbarians invaded China, Liang and Jin fought for hegemony. The Later Tang Dynasty Li Cunmao's light cavalry rushed to Bianliang for nine days. In less than ten days, hundreds of miles of troops were approaching the city. Emperor Liang committed suicide and destroyed the country. There are also records in the "Three Kingdoms" that Cao's light cavalry chased Liu Bei, and traveled more than a hundred miles a day; and the Mongolian Yuan cavalry even had a battle example of long-distance attacks and defeating the enemy for a long distance of thousands of miles a day."

"What you said is true, but you know what the brigade is most afraid of?" In Zhao Bing's opinion, what Lu Zheng said was just a scholar's discussion on military affairs. It was too childhood, but he still did not attack, but asked back.

"Of course I am most worried about being attacked by the enemy!" Lu Zheng replied without hesitation.

"Then why are you most afraid of the enemy's attack?" Zhao Bing asked again.

"Because the brigade was attacked and it was difficult to take care of each other's head and tail, and it was impossible to quickly form a formation to resist." Lu Zhengyan said.

"What you said is not good, but it is not comprehensive!" Zhao Bing nodded and said.

"Oh, please give me advice from Your Majesty!" Zhao Bing said.

"Well..." Zhao Bing pondered for a moment, thinking about how to explain to him, pointing to the accompanying cavalry, "Do you see if those cavalry are fully armed marches?"

"No, only those cavalry on duty are equipped with armor, and the rest are just wearing regular clothes and carrying weapons!" Lu Zheng looked at the cavalry on the shore.

"Yes, the reason why they are like this is to save horsepower. When marching, the auxiliary horse carries bags and weapons. The same is true for infantry marching. Their loads are even greater. Even if our army is only equipped with light armor, plus carry bags, weapons, ammunition, and food, it is about 40 kilograms. Therefore, when long-distance marching, soldiers generally do not wear armor, and are usually carried by livestock or civilians. As for soldiers, they need to save as much physical strength as possible in the marching to ensure that they have enough physical strength to fight in hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, when encountering a surprise attack, the army without armor often faces unilateral massacres of enemy troops in full clothing and armor, and naturally they will lose."

"So that's it!" Lu Zheng nodded.
Chapter completed!