Although it was not in place in one step and directly reached the final goal, Xia Nan was still relatively satisfied. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info asked him to send troops to fight the red hair and the Japanese Kou, indicating that Chongzhen recognized his strength, as long as he succeeded in "expelling" Putmans and Shimazu Mitsuhisa, maybe the position of chief soldier would fall on his head.

Just when Xia Nan was preparing to set off and go to Fujian and Zhejiang to "fight", Xie Sanbin's letter arrived at Lingao the next day.

Wen Tiren wrote a letter to Xie Sanbin as soon as he came out of the Qianqing Palace, because it was not like an official document and had to go through the process, so the time when this letter was sent was still before the dispatch of the Ministry of War. However, the dispatch order of the military department can be accelerated by 800 miles, although Wen Tiren is the first assistant, but the private message does not dare to use the public weapon, and the time spent on the road is more, plus after the letterhead arrives in Dengzhou, Xie Sanbin will write another letter and forward it to Lingao, resulting in a letter several days in advance, and finally it will arrive later than the order.

Xie Sanbin's letter was concise and to the point, relaying the news revealed by Shoufu: The emperor was willing to transfer Qiongzhou to relieve the difficulties of Fujian and Zhejiang, but he did not say anything about Mu Tianyan's request to open the town, and finally stayed in the middle and did not send it. In addition, regarding the red hair and the Japanese Kou, the emperor obviously paid more attention to the latter, because Jiangnan was the largest source of tax for the imperial court, far more important than Fujian.

Xia Nan called Sun Yuanhua and asked, "What does the emperor mean by not sending this stay?" Do you agree or disagree? ”

Sun Yuanhua became an official to the governor, so he naturally knew the doorway to this, and replied firmly: "That is to say, the Holy Lord left the courtier's recital in the palace forbidden, and did not discuss or approve. This is not agreed, nor is it negative, most of the time it is difficult to choose, put it aside first, and then see how the follow-up development is. ”

It turns out that this is the case, it seems that the "Japanese Bandits" can't be in a hurry to "exterminate", so they have to find a way to delay and continue to put pressure on Chongzhen. Summer Nan thought to herself.

After the deployment of the troops of the "Suppression of the Japanese" was completed, the Qiongzhou battalion boarded the ship and set off for Zhejiang. This "operation" planned by Xia Nan himself may be more accurate to characterize as an exercise, and originally only a symbolic part of the troops was needed, and Xia Nan himself did not have to go. However, in order to adjust the strategy in time according to the attitude of the imperial court, Xia Nan chose to rush to the front line to command in person, so as not to delay the decision-making due to the inconvenience of communication transmission and affect the entire plan. In addition, Xia Nan brought all the military commanders and staff officers with him -- this time he went deep into the interior of Jiangnan to carry out a "military operation," and he could use the cover of this cover to observe the topography and landforms of Jiangnan and the deployment of troops at close range, and grasp the most accurate first-hand materials.

Taizhou, Linhai County.

Mitsuhisa Shimazu led his samurai to capture the mansion of a local wealthy clan outside the county, and Hatochi occupied the magpie's nest and used it as a temporary station. The mansion is extremely large and can accommodate several thousand people.

While directing his subordinates to carry gold, silver, jewelry and other property from the cellar, Shimazu Mitsuhisa sighed to the henchmen next to him: "The Ming people are really rich, especially in this place in the south of the Yangtze River, just the courtyard of the landlord in the countryside is not much smaller than the palace of His Majesty the Emperor, and the wealth gathered in the mansion is even more enviable. ”

"Exactly. Thanks to the lord who brought us to Jiangnan, the wealth we have obtained during this period is something we have never imagined in our lives, and I am afraid that we will not be able to spend it in our grandchildren's generation, right? ”

Shimazu Mitsuhisa laughed dryly and did not answer the sentence. It is true that he took the lead in this operation, but without the permission of the Qiongzhou battalion, how could they go deep into the hinterland of Jiangnan so smoothly? He stole a glance at the soldiers of the Qiongzhou battalion in the distance, who were dressed in Japanese samurai costumes and were counting the belongings carried by the ronin.

According to the agreement between the two parties, the precious metals such as gold and silver were owned by the Qiongzhou battalion, and the rest of the jewelry, calligraphy and paintings were handed over to the Satsuma clan. Japan is rich in silver, and the production of gold is not low, and it is not particularly cold to gold and silver, but it is salivating for precious jewelry and celebrity calligraphy and paintings, which are not only priceless, but can also be used as a capital to show off after returning home. Shimazu Mitsuhisa will be able to face other daimyo with his chest held high in the future, and with these calligraphy and paintings vassal elegance, no one should ridicule the Satsuma clan as a hillbilly on Kyushu Island, right?

Shimazu Mitsuhisa turned his head again to look at the group of men, women, and children in the corner, who were tied up like rice dumplings—this was the owner of the mansion and his family—and couldn't help but shake his head. If there is any regret about the trip to Jiangnan, it is that the Qiongzhou camp is staring at himself and is not allowed to kill people indiscriminately, which causes him to always feel that something is missing when he works, and the katana in the scabbard is hungry and thirsty.

At this time, an officer from the Qiongzhou battalion came over and asked, "Your Excellency Shimazu, now that you have arrived at Linhai Castle, what are your next steps?" Is it to bypass the county seat and continue to rob large households, or to attack the county seat? ”

Shimazu Mitsuhisa bowed respectfully and asked sincerely, "I don't know what your ministry means?" ”

The officer replied: "Before leaving, I explained that as long as you abide by the three chapters of the covenant between us, we will not interfere with your actions and routes. But I can tell you: Linhai County is the capital of Taizhou, and its defense is tighter than other counties, and the city is more prosperous than other counties. ”

Shimazu Mitsuhisa understood that the castle was more difficult to fight than the average county town, but there was also more wealth in the city, and the difficulty was proportional to the benefits. He weighed it and made up his mind: "Then attack Linhai!" ”

In Linhai County, the prefect's yamen was bustling with activity, and civil and military officials in the city gathered together to discuss how to deal with the Japanese outside the city.

The prefect Xu Shiluan asked worriedly: "Now that the Japanese soldiers are coming to the city, do you have a good way to retreat from the enemy?" ”

Tan Zheng, a thousand households in the local guard station, replied: "Futai, the Japanese are powerful and invincible, and only a stable defense of the city is the best way to deal with it." ”

Feng Su, the magistrate of Linhai, retorted: "Tan Qianhu's words are wrong, the Japanese are ravaging the countryside and harming the people of Linhai. ”

Tan Zheng rolled his eyelids, looked up at the sky, and hummed: "Whoever has the ability to defeat the Japanese will go, anyway, I won't send him to death." "Just kidding, my great-grandfather was a hereditary Taizhou Weishou Qianhu, who followed Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou to fight the Japanese and died under the knife of the Japanese Kou, and now the location of the thousand households has been passed to his own hands, and his son is still young, but he can't be brave at this time and ruin the future of the Tan family.