439 Haimao Xing, Tamna Island

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When Li Zicheng's army, which had not yet gone north, was preparing to seize Yiyang and open the south gate of Luoyang.

Li Zixiao rushed to report to Lu Xiangsheng in Luoyang that Ruzhou had been invaded by an army of 50,000 rogues.

Even, in his report to Lu Xiangsheng, Li Zixiao said that he led the army to leave Ruzhou City and go north to Luoyang.

In the vicinity of Lutei Mountain, he was ambushed by a large stream of bandits.

In that battle, they suffered heavy casualties, and he led his troops to break through the siege and fled back to Ruzhou, bringing with him an army of 15,000, of which less than 7,000 fled back to Ruzhou.

Now that the city of Ruzhou is surrounded by 50,000 large legions, it is difficult to protect himself, and he can no longer go north to support Luoyang.

When Lu Xiangsheng received the news sent by Li Zixiao, his first reaction was suspicion, so Lu Xiangsheng sent someone to Ruzhou overnight to prepare to verify this person.

As a result, the first group of people he sent out did not return until five full days had passed, so he sent out a second group.

Lu Xiangsheng waited for three days, and when he didn't see anyone come back, his face was already ugly, although Lu Xiangsheng suspected that Li Zixiao was lying about the military situation, but he had no evidence.

But he sent out two liaison troops one after another, but there was no news, which deepened Lu Xiangsheng's suspicions.

"Li Zixiao, Li Zixiao, can't you wait, do you really plan to die or not save you!"

Lu Xiangsheng's face showed a sad look and whispered to himself.

Just when everyone thought that Li Zixiao was still in Ruzhou, in fact, Li Zixiao at this time had already dressed up in disguise, and returned to Xuzhou in early October.

Everything in Ruzhou was carried out by Qi Wei, and the liaison men sent out by Lu Xiangsheng would be ambushed halfway through, and they would not be able to reach Ruzhou City at all.

When Li Zixiao returned to Xuzhou, three things aroused his interest, one thing was that the second batch of ships delivered by Zheng Zhilong was in place.

At this time, Li Zixiao's naval army already had more than 120 ships, including two three-masted gunboats, and the naval army had grown to more than 4,000 people.

What's more, Lu Yuan and Hong Sheng also escorted the second batch of ships to go to sea to trade with the Japanese State a month ago, which was also their first sea voyage.

In this regard, it was also agreed by Li Zixiao, and this sea voyage, on the whole, there was not much danger.

After all, at this time, although there were some pirates in the East China Sea, they were all small-scale, and they didn't dare to come out in front of a behemoth like the White Dragon Army and the Water Army.

At the same time, this time Lu Yuan led the White Dragon Army to the sea.

In addition to escorting the second batch of merchant ships to the Wa Kingdom for trading, it was also on Li Zixiao's order to draw the situation in the northeast direction of Korea and the Wa Sea at this time.

Speaking of which, it has to be mentioned that when Li Zixiao left, he asked Zhou Qing to lead the first batch of ships he organized in Yangzhou to trade in the Wa Kingdom.

At that time, half of the entire fleet was Li Zixiao's, and those Yangzhou merchants added up to only half of the ships.

However, half a month later, after Zhou Qing led the fleet to return safely from the Wa Kingdom, all the goods transported were sold out, and silver and some local specialties were brought back.

At this time, those merchants found that they had made a huge profit on this trip, and the price of the same silk transported to the Wa Kingdom was four or five times that of their local area.

Not only silk, but also tea, cotton cloth, calligraphy and painting and other specialties, sold in the Wa country, the price is generally several times higher than in Daming.

Those shrewd Yangzhou merchants immediately saw the rich business opportunities from this, and when they got the second time Zhou Qing organized a trade to the Japanese Kingdom, those merchants began to respond positively one by one.

As a result, it took nearly half a month for Zhou Qing to organize the second batch of ships to go to sea to trade in the Japanese country, which was more than twice as large as the last time.

The fleets of these Yangzhou merchants all left the port from Yangzhou Port to go to sea, and also contributed the first relatively large tariff to the Yangzhou City Shipping Division.

This made Shi Kefa very happy, and he also fully saw the potential of the city's shipping division, because of Li Zixiao's drive, Yangzhou's maritime trade officially emerged.

These three things are all related to the navy and maritime trade, Li Zixiao attaches great importance to the naval army, and he also attaches great importance to maritime trade.

At this time, Shi Kefa was in charge of managing the sea trade in Yangzhou City, and Shi Kefa was still relatively supportive of the sea trade, and Li Zixiao could not send someone to replace him for the time being.

Not long after Li Zixiao returned to Xuzhou, Li Yan rushed to meet Li Zixiao, also to report good news.

"General, my subordinates are fortunate to live up to their orders, after four months, the Qingjiang Shipyard has been fully restored, and more than 700 shipbuilding craftsmen have been recruited from Jiangnan, Beijing and other places, including 12 craftsmen who are more than 30 years old.

With the arrival of these skilled shipbuilders, plus the craftsmen left behind in the shipyard, and the recruitment of more than 800 new apprentices, all started at the shipyard.

The shipyard has restored two main plants, and the other two have been temporarily abandoned due to damage to the middle of the house, and the two main factories are enough for us to use.

The Qingjiang Shipyard, which has resumed construction, is already able to produce such three-masted gunboats as the Zheng family, such as bird boats, sand boats, and catch up boats.

It's just that the speed of their manufacturing is a little slow, they are still getting acquainted with the shipyard and tools, the craftsmen are also grinding in with each other, and the apprentices are adapting.

However, as long as they are given another month or two, their manufacturing speed can be increased, and then we can build our own sea ships. ”

After Li Yan learned that Li Zixiao was back, he hurried over to report the good news.

"Okay, Li Yan, you did a good job, you should be rewarded!" After listening to Li Yan's words, Li Zixiao was also very happy and said.

The resumption of normal production at Qingjiang Shipyard is undoubtedly a huge piece of good news for Li Zixiao, which means that he will soon be able to build his own warships and expand his naval army.

"Li Yan, now I will give you the captain of Zhaoxin, and order you to be the deputy commander of the Western Expeditionary Corps, and immediately rush to Ruzhou, where everything will be discussed with Qi Wei.

I estimate that Li Zicheng wants to capture Luoyang, at least it was impossible a year ago, and Luoyang, which is in the seat of Lu Xiangsheng, is not so easy to gnaw.

But the imperial court can't send reinforcements, and the fall of Luoyang is a matter of time, once Luoyang is defeated by Li Zicheng, you and Qi Wei will do it......"

Saying that, Li Zixiao told Li Yan all the plans he had planned in his heart, and then planned to send him to Ruzhou.

Although Qi Wei is very strategic in leading troops to fight, he is lacking in other aspects, while Li Yan is scheming and a multifaceted talent.

Sending him to Ruzhou to check and fill in the gaps for Qi Wei, Li Zixiao was relieved, it was really once Luoyang was captured by Li Zicheng, this matter was too big.

Li Zixiao refused to let go of the opportunity to make a fortune in Luoyang.

It's a pity that at this time, he has more important things to do in Xuzhou, and he can't rush to Ruzhou anymore, so he can only send a capable person over.

After Li Yan listened to Li Zixiao's advice to him, his eyes lit up, and he admired Li Zixiao's plan from the bottom of his heart, and said: "The general is good at planning, and his subordinates really admire him, and his subordinates must assist General Qi and do a good job in the things that the general explains." ”

"Well, Li Yan, you do something, I am relieved, work hard, take my warrant, go to Old Master Wei to receive a thousand taels of silver, you have worked hard during this time."

Li Zixiao signed a reward warrant, handed it to Li Yan, and said to him with a smile.

"Thank you for the general's compassion and the gratitude of your subordinates, then the subordinates will retire, and I will leave for Ruzhou tonight." Li Yanqiang endured the excitement in his heart and said.

"Don't worry, Ruzhou, the situation won't change much in a short period of time, you first explain the affairs of Qingjiang Shipyard.

Then go home and see your wife and children, otherwise you are so desperate, people will say that Ben will not know how to sympathize with his subordinates and squeeze his subordinates! ”

"General Xie cares, his subordinates know, and his subordinates retire."

Li Yan withdrew from Li Zixiao's study, this is the backyard of Li Mansion, among Li Zixiao's subordinates, there are only a handful of people who can really be called by Li Zixiao to his study for a separate interview.

There were only Qian Guangyuan, Quartz, Wei Hong, Zhou Dazhu, and Qi Wei before, who had such treatment, and even Qiu Guangming had never come.

Now, Li Yan, who exited Li Zixiao's study, danced excitedly, he hadn't been so happy for a long time.

Because, this means that Li Zixiao officially recognized his merits and abilities, accepted him as his confidant, and even directly reused it.

This time, Li Zixiao awarded Li Yan Zhaoxin Lieutenant, which is actually just an honorary title, with grade but no position, but this is Li Zixiao's recognition and reward for his previous contributions.

And Li Zixiao directly sent him to Ruzhou to assist Qi Wei to handle the affairs of the Western Expeditionary Corps, and at the same time to pit Li Zicheng once in the matter of Li Zicheng's attack on Luoyang.

It is not easy to implement Li Zicheng's arrangement this time, even Li Zixiao has planned it in advance, but if you want to implement it, you must be very cautious.

It is inevitable that there will be any mistakes in the middle, this is a chore, but it is also a great credit, Li Yan does not feel tired at all, he can't wait to put on his wings and fly to Ruzhou.

Although Li Yan has been holding back, the excitement in his eyes has actually been seen by Li Zixiao a long time ago.

For capable and ambitious subordinates like Li Yan, Li Zixiao is still very easy to use.

At least for such a major thing, Li Zixiao didn't dare to let it go, and other mediocre people did it.

After Li Yan left, Li Zixiao first went to visit Lin Wan'er and Guan Mingxi, who were staying at home with Li's mother, and Lin Yuluo was also pregnant.

After chatting with his mother and three daughters for a while, the whole family got together and had a reunion dinner, Li Zixiao rushed to Huai'an with quartz.

At this time, there were three naval camps under Li Zixiao, one in Zhaoyang Lake, which was the naval battalion set up by Li Zixiao at the beginning.

There is also a place on the Yangtze River, but now it is an empty shell, which is responsible for receiving ships sent by Zheng Zhilong.

So far, the main force of the White Dragon Army led by Lu Yuan and Hong Sheng is actually the real base camp in Hongze Lake in Huai'an.

At this time, Hongze Lake was connected to the main trunk of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and could enter the Yellow Sea through the Yellow River, and was relatively safe in the hinterland of the area under Li Zixiao's actual control.

Li Zixiao came to the naval camp in Hongze Lake, and Lu Yuan and Hong Sheng had only returned a few days ago.

"See General." Seeing Li Zixiao coming, Lu Yuan and Hong Sheng knelt down on one knee to greet him.

"It's all up, let's put it in the account."

Lu Yuan and Hong Sheng followed Li Zixiao and entered the main tent of the naval camp.

"How did you feel about escorting a merchant fleet to the Wa Kingdom this time? The feeling of galloping on the sea is different from sailing on an inland river. ”

After entering the account, Li Zixiao looked at the two and asked with a smile.

"General Qiyu, that's so different, the sea is more stormy and dangerous, but that's the frontier where our navy should gallop.

Many sailors didn't have anything to do when they first sailed on inland waterways, but when they got to the sea, they were a little uncomfortable, but after this time we lived at sea, most sailors got used to it. ”

Lu Yuan said.

"Well, you will go out a few more times in the future, and you will slowly get used to it. Did you find the Tamna Island (Jeju Island) that I asked you to find? ”

At this time, Li Zixiao suddenly asked.

"General Hui, we have found it. You see, this is our chart, Tamna Island is here, and a little further north is North Korea.

We also found an old sailor of the Zheng family to lead the way, and found this island on the sea, this island looks very large, similar to what the general described, it should be correct. ”

Hearing Li Zixiao's inquiry, Lu Yuan picked up a white silk from the desk, on which the chart was drawn from the Yellow Sea to the Japanese Kingdom and North Korea.

Lu Yuan now pointed to a big black dot on the chart and said to Li Zixiao.

Tamna Island, which is known to everyone in later generations as Jeju Island, Tamna is the name given to it by the ancient Chinese people.

At this time, Tamna Island nominally belonged to North Korea, and as for the name of North Korea, it was canonized by Zhu Yuanzhang that year, and the predecessor of North Korea was Goryeo.

However, just a few years ago, that is, in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led his troops to conquer North Korea, and the momentum was like a bamboo, and soon defeated North Korea and captured Seoul, the royal city of North Korea.

As a result, the Joseon king Injo Yi Liang surrendered to Huang Taiji and asked for his guilt, and Huang Taiji issued a decree to pardon him.

The two sides built an altar and swore that North Korea would go to the next year, pay the edict seal given by the Ming Dynasty, serve the Tartar as the Zhengshuo, contribute regularly, and send two protons.

This battle was the famous 'Bingzi Rebellion' in the history of Korea, and after the 'Bingzi Rebellion', Korea became a vassal state of the Tartars.

Of course, the cosmic kingdoms of later generations will not admit this.

They were 500 million years ago, but how could the great race that once unified the galaxy be easily defeated by the Tartars, that was too unscientific.

At this time, Li Zixiao asked Lu Yuan to find Tamna Island because Li Zixiao was eyeing this vast island.

As long as the White Dragon Army takes Tamna Island, it is equivalent to obtaining a sea base to attack Liaodong from the sea, which is an important part of Li Zixiao's next deal with Tartar.

This time, Li Zixiao asked Lu Yuan to escort the fleet to the Wa Kingdom at the same time, and at the same time, he divided a fleet and went north to find Tamna Island.

(End of chapter)