Chapter 2: The troops are at the city (3)

Immediately after Zhu Yinglong announced the end of the first military meeting of the imperial front, leaving Yuan Chonghuan, Hong Chengchou and Chang Yan alone. In this southern expedition, Yuan Chonghuan played the lead role. He was the supporting role, and he was even a showman. Hong Chengchou was the minister of coastal defense and the navy was his subordinate. Therefore, he was definitely the first tier of the crossing of the river. Therefore, he was the commander of the front enemy and was fully competent with her ability. Chang Yanlin needed to go through real baptism of war to mature. Considering that he lacked experience, Zhu Yinglong planned him as the second tier, and the third tier was the commander-in-chief of Yuan Chonghuan. This was a sequence and had no special meaning.

"Hong Aiqing, I only brought one brigade of artillery to the south this time. At least four hundred artillery pieces were needed for the full troop. However, the arsenal worked hard to produce 200 pieces. The rest were installed on the first ocean-going fleet of the Ming Dynasty. What you brought was an inland navy. You could still fight against the Yangtze River navy, but if you encounter Zheng Zhibao's fleet, I'm afraid there would be only a portion of beating. Go back and count how many cannons can be installed on the ship. I can temporarily allocate fifty pieces to you, and quickly get equipment!" Zhu Yinglong said to Hong Chengchou first.

"Thank you for your kindness, I am grateful." Hong Chengchou said thank you very much. You must know that he had been coveting the artillery as a weapon for a long time. He had long wanted to arm the navy with such a weapon, but almost only the emperor said about the artillery. The military machine pavilion did not have the power to mobilize this kind of equipment. Now, there are fifty gates, although not many, with this thing, the combat power of the navy is definitely increased by more than one level. You must know that with the help of Zheng Zhilong, the Yangtze River Navy on the other side spent a lot of cannons purchased from the Portuguese for a lot of money, and its strength increased greatly. If his navy did not have it, it would be a great loss to fight.

"Don't be too happy too early. This time, the Chinese treasure ship was also dispatched. Its main task is to serve as the defense of the East China Sea Yangtze River Estuary to block the entry of the Fujian Zheng Zhilong fleet, so Zheng Zhibao must be solved by your navy!" Zhu Yinglong said, "Your navy is independent and does not need to be reorganized. In addition, the cannon will temporarily lend you half of the cannon brigade. You can also use the one hundred and fifty cannons temporarily, but it must be returned after it gets ashore. Within half a month, no matter what method you use, you must destroy the Yangtze River Navy. Just beat Zheng Zhibao into a waterfall dog!"

When Hong Chengchou heard this, his excitement suddenly became cold. The Yangtze River Navy was easy to deal with. The key is that Zheng Zhibao had fought naval battles with foreigners. He had rich experience in water combat. He was stationed in Xiaguan, Nanjing for more than half a year. The water channel was well established. The warships were also advanced than the ones he had. There were more than 80 large-caliber artillery guns, and many of them showed their power in the Yangtze River. Although there were only two thousand people, their strength was higher than that of the scrambled pseudo-Minglong.

The Jiang Navy was even more powerful, and Zheng Zhibao's ships were all high-speed sea ships, which was not a small gap compared to the inland Jiang ships. According to Hong Chengchou's original idea, he was to sacrifice some ships and use the method of luring the tiger away from the mountain to remove Zheng Zhibao, and then the army took the opportunity to land and fight. When Nanjing was defeated, even if his ships were no longer in profit and no supplies on the shore, he could only go to Fujian in shame.

Considering the practical difficulties and time constraints, it is really hard for Hong Chengchou to complete this task. Zhu Yinglong lowered his head and thought for a while and said, "Let's do this. Within half a month, the Chinese treasure ship will be under the command of Hong Aiqing, and will be renamed to the First Detachment of the East China Sea Fleet. After the navy under your command, more than 200 ships will be reorganized into the second detachment, and the two hundred pieces of information will be organized into local troops, responsible for water safety and robbery, and temporarily ordered the Yangtze River Water Police Department."

Hong Chengchou's face finally soothed. With the support of the China Treasure Ship, no, it should be the first detachment of the East China Sea Fleet. His pressure suddenly became much lighter. After all, it was a giant equipped with more than 200 artillery pieces, with a total amount of more than ten thousand.

Zhu Yinglong was reluctant to pull it into the battlefield. After all, this was the first large ship of the Ming Dynasty navy. It was originally used for ocean-going commercial navigation. It was constantly accumulating experience in sea navigation. If the country had not yet gone out, it would have failed. Not only did the ocean-going trade plan get stuck, but millions of taels of silver also sank into the sea. Thinking of this, Zhu Yinglong gritted his teeth with hatred. If it weren't for him, there would be no suspense in the battle of crossing the river!

In fact, there is another thing that Zhu Yinglong regrets. If Zheng Zhilong had not turned against him, even if there was no need for Fujian to do anything, he could have sent troops to land in Hangzhou Bay, then head north, cut off Wei Zhongxian's way south, and avoid escaping south after the city of Nanjing was broken, or going to sea. If Wei Zhongxian and the fake emperor escaped to Fujian and Zheng Zhilong abandoned Fujian and went to Taiwan Island, it would be a joke.

The first thing to do in reorganization is to change clothes. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the Ming Dynasty and believe that they are upright. The army not only has similar organizational structures, but also the armor decorations are basically the same. The difference is that the flags of both sides, the hat cherry on the helmets, and Zhu Yinglong will certainly not change the hat cherry by himself, because he is orthodox, and he has planned to reform the organization and change the military uniforms, so there is no need to spend money to change them, so that people in the world think that he is not orthodox. Zhu Yinglong's side is still a red cherry red turban, and Wei Zhongxian forced him to read the headscarf. However, on the battlefield, once the battle starts, it is difficult for us to separate the enemy and us. Once the hat cherry is thrown away, no one knows each other, so he must change clothes. The new army has been changing clothes for half a year, so there is no need to change them again. This time, the 50,000 troops under Xiong Zhaolian and the 10,000 miscellaneous army from Anhui. The navy will not change clothes for the time being, and will change them when the war is over.

This time, Zhu Yinglong spent a lot of money to build a new iron army with the opportunity of the Southern Expedition, and it was a field army. He had already thought of the number of troops: the First Iron Blood Group Army of the Ming Dynasty.

"Emperor, the wealthy salt merchants in Yangzhou have worked together to donate two million taels of silver as military expenses for the imperial court's southern expedition!" Chang Yanlin reported carefully.

"Oh, interesting?" Zhu Yinglong asked strangely. Which of these snobbish salts is not the one who does not see the rabbit or the eagle. Last year, the canal was dredged. If it weren't for the benefits it would bring to them after the canal was cleaned up, they would have generously donated. What happened this time? Once the war started in the north and south, it would have a great impact on their business. Even if the war ended, it would probably not be able to recover within half a year. They suddenly gathered together to give money to the court. The purpose was probably not that simple, and they had to take at least ten times the benefits from the court.

"Your Majesty, let me get this silver minister back?" Chang Yanlin saw that Zhu Yinglong was hesitant and his face changed, and he thought he would refuse.

"No, accept it!" Zhu Yinglong laughed and said, "You make arrangements. I want to meet these people. When I come to the place, it is also appropriate to meet the elders and gentry in the place."

"I understand!" Chang Yanlin was a little confused and just accepted the money. Why do you still have to see them? These salt merchants are blessed. How could ordinary people witness Tianyan in their own lives?

"They donated another million taels of silver for the emperor's expenses in Yangzhou. They heard that the emperor was simple in his car and was too simple to eat and stay, so they couldn't bear it. Therefore..." Chang Yanlin said while looking at Zhu Yinglong's color, and found that the emperor's face was still full of smiles and no intention of being angry, so he continued to speak with confidence.

"Okay, this is a good thing. I came to Yangzhou. Before I could win anything, I made a million taels of money. I, the emperor, is really valuable!" Zhu Yinglong smiled and said, "I have to thank them very well. Do you think three dear friends?"

"What the emperor said is very true!" Hong Chengchou was the first to agree, thinking that when he came to Yangzhou to be the prefect and clear the canal channel to raise money, he broke his legs and wrinkled his mouth and raised three million taels. When the emperor came, they came to take the initiative to send money. Hehe, these stingy salt men are going to be in trouble. The emperor clearly found a way to make money. Who made the emperor lose money himself?

Although Yuan Chonghuan was not as quick as Hong Chengchou's understanding, he soon heard something in his words. He smiled slightly and did not say anything.

Tao is that Chang Yanlin kept chanting Amitabha Buddha and prayed that the salt merchants should not come to him. This was what they asked for.
Chapter completed!