Gao Qi was a little surprised, "Mr. Yao, do you think the commander-in-chief intends to let us occupy this place?"

Yao Qisheng spread the folding fan in his hand with a "sniff" sound, slapping it in a very comfortable manner, and said in a relaxed tone: "What? Deputy General Gao, do you want to go back to Middle Earth?"

Gao Qi remained silent. It has been nearly a year since the eight thousand soldiers came here, and it would be fake to say that they don’t want to go back.

Yao Qisheng smiled, "Yes! Over the past year, except for a few soldiers returning on a boat, most of them have been staying in this place where birds do not shit. If you don't want to go back, who would believe it? But the Governor put us here, which has its own profound meaning. In my opinion, the Governor's mind is just to build a point where trade with the Japanese vassals, not to occupy it, otherwise he would not hand over the Amami Islands to the King of Ryukyu. Using North Korea and Ryukyu on both sides to restrain Japan, so that it will never cause trouble to me in the Central Plains is the Governor's real purpose. Perhaps a certain amount of troops will be retained here in the future to shock the Japanese vassals, but there will be no more."

Gao Qi frowned and said, "Mr. Yao, are you talking about now or in the future?"

Yao Qisheng said: "Of course it is the future, but the current garrison should be reduced."

Gao Qi said: "What if Japan is going to do if only a small amount of troops are left now and Japan is in trouble again? Tokugawa Iemitsu is an old fox. Shimazu Kokusa has always wanted to retake Kagoshima, as well as the Maori clan of the Nagashima clan, and Kyushu Island have different opinions. Each of them is not an easy person."

Yao Qisheng nodded, but there was no trace of worry on his face. "You are right, but one thing you said is wrong. It's not that the more soldiers there are, the safer it is."

Seeing Gao Qi's face with doubt, Yao Qisheng explained: "We replace Shimazu Kokuha to occupy Kagoshima, which makes all Japanese vassals deeply afraid, fearing that our army will send troops to capture other places. In this case, they will become extremely united to deal with our army. Didn't you see Tokugawa Ieki? Although he was extremely dissatisfied with Shimazu Kokuha and wanted to kill him. But now he has sent envoys to come many times and asked us to return Kagoshima to Shimazu Kokuha, because our army has threatened his Tokugawa shogunate's rule. On the contrary, the number of troops stationed in the fewer countries means that our army has no other intentions, but can take advantage of the conflicts between the Japanese vassals to act."

Gao Qi thought for a moment and nodded gently, "So should we send troops to support Zhoushan this time?"

Yao Qisheng sighed, "The governor is kind and righteous, but he tries his best to make every citizen in Shandong survive in this chaotic era. If he wants to support them, he needs a large sum of silver, which can only be obtained through sea trade. Now the Duiyi defeated Yaqi and Johor in Malacca, and the Madalan Sultanate, which opposes the Duiyi in Nanyang, was also divided due to the death of Sultan Agong. Now in the Nanyang waters, the Duiyi is strong and becoming increasingly arrogant, attacking our merchant ships everywhere."

"On the other hand, the Governor General was unwilling to make peace with the Hakka and the Yi on the condition of giving up Taiwan. This battle is inevitable, just to see when it will break out and how big it will be fought? The Governor General had long wanted to launch the battle to recover Liaodong, but Han Kuo, as a confidant general under the Governor General, was reluctant to transfer the ship northward. This shows that he was sure of defeating the Hakka and the Yi, so he held a large number of ships and did not dare to take any action. Now he finally made up his mind and received the support of the Governor General. In this case, it is not an exaggeration to provide him with more support."

Gao Qi was silent for a moment, "Then I will lead the troops there."

Yao Qisheng waved his hand, "No, even if you lead your troops, you will eventually have to listen to the orders of Han Kuo and Qi Guoyong who are more familiar with the local situation. And I am here for a short time and my prestige has not been established, so I cannot intimidate the Japanese vassals, nor can I reach the command of our soldiers. In order to avoid any trouble, let your deputy Liu Kuiru lead 4,000 soldiers on a boat!"

Gao Qi showed surprise on his face. Four thousand soldiers were half of the entire army! "Is there a little more?"

Yao Qisheng shook his head and said, "Not many, not many. If it weren't for the limited number of ships, I would have sent another two thousand people. In addition to their 4,000 soldiers, the fleet of the Ryukyu Kingdom should also go there. As for the 4,000 soldiers we left behind, and the Japanese and Ryukyu people we recruited, it was enough for seven thousand people, which was completely enough."

Speaking of this, Yao Qisheng suddenly looked at Gao Qi with a smirk on his face, "Deputy General Gao, have you ever been married?"

Gao Qi frowned, a little confused as to why Yao Qisheng asked such a question at this time. He was silent for a while and honestly replied: "Never."

Yao Qisheng smiled and said, "Then I will protect a big media for Deputy General Gao! The Ito Fan, which is adjacent to Kagoshima, intends to get close to our army and proposes to form a Qin and Jin relationship with us. I think Deputy General Gao is very good, his official position is high enough, and he is the commanding general of our army, which is enough to show our army's sincerity."

Gao Qi was a little embarrassed, and the face of the old tree bark was a little blushing. He quickly waved his hand and said, "How could it be me? Lord Yao, aren't you the same year? Why didn't you marry him? Besides, Gao was over forty years old, and if that woman looked down on her, wouldn't it be your big deal?"

Yao Qisheng curled his lips, "Why do you think I don't have it? The Hirakawa family also has a daughter, that is my good match. Moreover, all soldiers in the army can marry locally. Deputy General Gao is the fastest way for us to gain a long foothold here and take control of it completely. Whether you want it or not, this is a sacrifice we must make."

Liaodong, Phoenix City.

With a sound of sound, the city gate slowly opened, and a cavalry of nearly 4,000 people entered the city one by one.

Jimu turned over and dismounted, handed the mount to the groom, turned around and said to Han Yong: "Ayong, place the prisoners and let the brothers rest well. I will meet General Li first, and I will go and find you later."

Han Yong hugged his fists and turned around and left.

When Jimu met Li Dingguo, he reported to him about the results of the trip. Because the Qing army's troops were shrinking, most of the troops were stationed in Guanbao, which could be defended. Although they went deep into the hinterland of Liaodong, the results were not great, and they suffered some losses due to encountering the Qing cavalry.

Seeing Ji Mu's shame, Li Dingguo waved his hand indifferently, "It's just a test of the weakness of the Manhu. It's good to be able to do this. Tushan, the cavalry led by Wang Xing came back six days ago. You are farther than them and you have achieved greater results than them. If you want to pursue the crime, you will only pursue them. Now the newly recruited infantry of the Sixth Battalion has been trained, and our army will soon be forced to attack Lianshuiguan. You should rest for a while first, and I will have other uses for you at that time."
Chapter completed!