Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa took Li Zicheng's promise to leave Pukou in a small boat, landed at Xiaguan, and returned to Nanjing, at which time the warships of the Mandate of Heaven had stopped shelling, and the war was temporarily suspended.

But the Mandate of Heaven did not withdraw, and the clouds of war still hung over Jiangnan.

After Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa returned to Nanjing, they held a court meeting with Emperor Hongguang behind their backs and made a resolution to "stop military operations and welcome the Mandate of Heaven Army into Jiangnan".

When the message reached Pukou, Li Zicheng immediately gave the order to cross the river, and under the escort of the battleships, the first and second divisions of the fourth battalion began to cross the river overnight, and in one day and one night, more than 40,000 people, all successfully crossed the river, took over the city defense of Nanjing, and Chen Hongfan withdrew Nanjing's troops from the city and accepted the reorganization of the Mandate of Heaven.

Li Zicheng crossed the river with the Third Division.

The new flagship of the Yangtze River Navy is the "Chengdu", on the top deck, the Kyushu military flag is windless and automatic, Li Zicheng looked at the draft on the side of the ship, and said with a smile: "Commander Zhou, this shouldn't be the original 'Xining', right?" ”

"The emperor has good eyesight," Zhou Kun looked at the mast that stretched into the air, and said: "The displacement of the Chengdu has reached five thousand stones, which is two and a half times that of the Xining, and the number of naval guns has increased to ten!"

"Ten doors?" Li Zicheng felt that it was far from enough, in this era, the wooden ship was almost developed to the extreme, it is said that there are 100 guns of the big ship, if it is exercised in the Yangtze River, the Chengdu may be very scary, once it enters the real sea, in the face of strong winds, waves, and the boundless sea, the Chengdu is really small, "Zheng He's big treasure ship in the Western Ocean, how much displacement reached?" ”

"This ......" Zhou Kun said: "The drawings of the big treasure ship have long been lost, and all the data are not very accurate, and it is said that the displacement reaches 20,000 stone ......."

"Twenty thousand stones?" Li Zicheng secretly converted, that is, 1,000 tons, "Whether this data is accurate or not, we have to build a bigger warship, the bigger the battleship, the more naval guns will be equipped, and the combat effectiveness will be multiplied." ”

"Your Majesty, what now?"

"Stop manufacturing Chongqing-class, Chengdu-class can't be too many, ten ships for the time being," Li Zicheng thought for a moment and said, "Where is Cao Jian?" ”

"Mr. Cao is still in Jingzhou," Zhou Kun said: "There is another Chengdu-class battleship in Jingzhou, which will be launched in half a month at most, and Cao Jian will follow this battleship down the river," paused, and said carefully: "Your Majesty, this battleship has not yet been named......"

"Since the first ship is called Chengdu, the second ship is called ...... Taiyuan, it's still named after the capital!" Li Zicheng was worried that when a larger warship was developed, I was afraid that there would be no capital to name it.

"On behalf of the navy, thank you for the emperor's name!" Zhou Kun kept bowing and said, "Your Majesty, Cao Jian will come in the future, where will the new shipyard be built?" ”

"Commander Zhou is looking at where and when?"

"Nanjing," Zhou Kun said, "Nanjing originally had the Longjiang Shipyard, and it is said that the Dabao Ship was built in the Longjiang Shipyard. ”

Li Zicheng shook his head, Zhou Kun's eyes were still staring at the inland river and Neijiang, the real navy is to take the sea as his home, he has been working in this direction, "Songjiang, the future shipyard, should be in Songjiang." ”

"Matsue?" Zhou Kun said: "Building a shipyard by the sea is easy to be attacked by the enemy......"

"If you can't even keep your own shipyard, then what do you want a battleship for?" Li Zicheng knew Zhou Kun's vision, if there was a chance, it was best to let him go to Gaoxue to open his eyes, "Around the shipyard, there is naturally military protection, and there will be artillery batteries built on the shore, and the shore guns are even larger than the naval guns, and the range is longer!"

"Got it!" Zhou Kun felt ashamed in his heart, he had been in charge of the navy for so long, and his vision was still not as good as that of the emperor......

"Commander Zhou, around the sea, the terrain is vast, and it is impossible to build warships one by one in the future, otherwise, when you build all the warships, you may already be outdated in the world," Li Zicheng smiled faintly: "The eyes of the navy should be the sea, and the opponent of the navy is not a pseudo-Ming, but a Westerner!"

"This ......"

"When you enter the sea, you may understand," Li Zicheng looked at the faint Nanjing City in front of him, and said: "When Cao Jian comes to Songjiang, he will start to build warships on a large scale, and strive to launch the remaining eight Chengdu-class battleships as soon as possible to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, Commander Zhou, do you have enough sailors?" ”

"With the existing number of soldiers, I'm afraid it's difficult to meet the needs of ten Chengdu-class warships," Zhou Kun said busily: "Your Majesty, since Songjiang has established a shipyard, it is better to establish a naval base here, which can not only protect the shipyard, but also recruit naval troops and train on the spot!"

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Especially officers, they should prepare as soon as possible, it is difficult to train qualified officers in a short period of time!"

"Back to the emperor, the minister knows that Cao Jian is constantly building warships, and has prepared some officers, as long as the battleship is launched, there will be no shortage of captains for the time being."

"There are three more points, you must prepare in advance," Li Zicheng said with a calm face: "First, grasp the direction, the sea is foggy, it is likely that you will not see anything, during the voyage, you must prepare tools to measure the direction, compass, compass, etc., ......"

Zhou Kun pondered for a moment and said, "It's still a compass, the compass should be more reliable than the compass." ”

Li Zicheng nodded, the compass is much larger than the compass, the magnetism is also much stronger, and it is less affected by the outside world, "Second, where the battleship passes, let someone mark the location, and finally draw a complete navigation chart, don't underestimate the navigation chart, on the sea, the navigation chart is more important than life." ”

"Remember!"

Li Zicheng continued: "Third, the way of contact, the sea is different from the land, affected by factors such as distance, wind, and the sound of flowing water, even on the opposite side, the shouting cannot be heard, and a special contact method must be established. ”

Zhou Kun pondered for a moment and said: "The flag language, as far as the eye can see, you can see the flag language, and you can even put the flag on the mast to increase the visual distance." ”

"This is a good idea, in Fujian and Guangdong, there were originally Ming naval armies, and you can refer to their methods to establish a complete set of flags," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "In addition, it should be equipped with a telescope, and on the ship, with a telescope, the visual distance can be increased by at least half." ”

Zhou Kun thought for a while and memorized Li Zicheng's words one by one in his mind.

"Once the Mandate of Heaven Army has gained a foothold in Nanjing, it will soon go south to Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, you prepare sufficient supplies, take the main fleet, and go south along the coastline, not only to cooperate with the Mandate of Heaven Army, but also to be familiar with the sea," Li Zicheng did not give Zhou Kun a specific combat mission, but said: "On the coast of Fujian and Guangdong, there are not only the remnants of the Ming army's naval army and pirates, but also the navy of the Western Ocean, so be careful." ”

"Keep it in mind!"

"It's your first time going to sea, don't take victory or defeat too seriously," Li Zicheng smiled lightly: "Even if you lose the battleship, you must protect the soldiers!"

Zhou Kun was greatly moved, for soldiers, they have always valued advanced equipment the most, but the emperor is most concerned about the life safety of soldiers...... He was speechless for a moment, just nodded desperately.

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Commander Zhou, if the navy can gain a firm foothold in Fujian and Guangdong and establish a base, I will change the 'Yangtze River Navy' to the 'South China Sea Fleet', and from now on, it will be a navy that is truly based on the #sea!"

"South Sea Fleet?"

"I have already formed the Northern Fleet in Tianjin and Dengzhou," Li Zicheng patted Zhou Kun on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Before the South China Sea Fleet entered the sea, its predecessor was the Yangtze River Navy and the West Sea Army, and it was formed much earlier than the Northern Fleet, and it used the latest warships, so don't compare it to the Northern Fleet!"

Zhou Kun straightened his waist suddenly, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the minister is full of liver and brains, and he will not be compared to the Northern Fleet!"

"Don't take it too seriously," Li Zicheng waved his hand and said with a light smile: "They are all Huaxia Navy, but the tasks they undertake are different!"

Unconsciously, the "Chengdu" had docked at Xiaguan Wharf, Li Zicheng left the ship and landed with the support of sailors, and He Xiaomi helped lead the war horse.

Li Ji and Liu Zongmin, who had crossed the river earlier, had already greeted them on the shore, and were about to salute, but they were pulled by Li Zicheng, "On the way to the war, don't be polite, how is it in Nanjing?" ”

Li Ji bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, the first and second divisions have entered the city and taken over the entire city defense, and the puppet Ming army in the city has been disarmed!"

"Civilian officials?"

Liu Zongmin hurriedly said: "After the ministers entered Nanjing City, they only learned that the puppet Ming court, headed by Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa, was divided into two factions, Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa were all submitted, and the officials below naturally did not dare to behave, and there were more than 100 officials who surrendered, but they all took the initiative to surrender, and the ministers did not detain them, let them go home and stand by!"

Li Zicheng nodded, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, for their own interests, struggle is inevitable, after the Mandate of Heaven Army enters the city, Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa, the two roosters, will serve in different places in the future, he smiled lightly: "What about the gentry, are there any radical behaviors?" ”

"No, no," Liu Zongmin said hurriedly: "The gentry and the people are very welcome to the Mandate of Heaven Army, according to Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa, the gentry have entrusted them to set up a banquet for the emperor!"

"Catch the wind?" Li Zicheng said secretly: The gentry are really fast when they see the wind and make the rudder, and they still contributed money and efforts yesterday to support the puppet Ming court, and it is only a day, so they have to catch the wind for themselves?

Were they frightened by the sound of the battleship's guns, or did they demand some financial benefits from themselves?

Li Zicheng thought for a moment, suddenly thought of Zhu Yousong, and said busily: "What about Emperor Hongguang, have you seen it?" ”

"No, but, I can't see it either," Liu Zongmin smiled evilly: "According to Ma Shiying, he and Shi Kefa controlled Zhu Yousong the day before yesterday, maybe they knew that their situation was not good, Zhu Yousong and the concubine Jin drank against each other, and they were already dying!"

"Drunk?" Li Zicheng was taken aback, the possibility of Zhu Yousong getting drunk to death is extremely small, maybe Ma Shiying and they settled a tricky matter for themselves, right?

This Ma Shiying dared to murder the hypocritical emperor, and his courage was really not small, but only this kind of vicious and vicious person could suppress the gentry in Jiangnan......

Li Ji arched his hand on the side and said, "Your Majesty, let's enter the city first!"

It's good to enter the city, first look at the city in the city, Nanjing's prosperity, should surpass the Beijing division, I don't know if the business of the city is recovering?