"What is the right to transport water?"

Xiong Ming's face was difficult, although he knew that it was imperative to rely on Li Xin to solve the current predicament in Nanjing, but he still didn't mind making it difficult for him again.

Li Xin glanced at him, and then looked at the old ministers in the political hall one by one, and most of these people's eyes were full of expectation. "The smoothness of the Yangtze River waterway plays a pivotal role in all parts of the Nanjing Bondage, Li Xin thinks that no one here can see through it, right?"

He specially accentuated his tone and asked, and then continued: "The Yangtze River waterway is not guaranteed, and I will never say that the grain route of the Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers will not be said, and the traitors can go to the city of Nanjing at any time by boat, and all the defenses on the western land will be useless!" ”

Everyone agreed with Li Xin's statement, but at the same time, because they were worried about the situation, some people occasionally let out a few laments.

"Therefore, if the waterway of the Yangtze River is not quiet, there will be no peace in Nanjing, and there will be no way to talk about lifting the siege."

Xiong Mingyu found that he was ignored by Li Xin as if he were in the air, and the difficulty just now did not get him the slightest rebuttal, so his self-esteem was greatly hurt, so he continued to scold: "Fighting with Haikou is more than water, isn't this the strength of attacking the enemy with his own shortcomings?" Saying it doesn't mean not saying it! ”

Li Xin's eyes narrowed, and he said word by word: "It is precisely because of my Daming shortcomings that I must exercise and strengthen, otherwise the stronger the stronger, the weaker the weaker, and my Daming Sailor will always be pressed by others!" ”

Xiong Shangshu didn't question the Marquis of Zhenyu, but only asked the Marquis of Zhenyu to talk about how to appease the waterway of the Yangtze River? If the waterway of the Yangtze River is not quiet, can it be achieved and cannot be remedied from the land? ”

Zheng Sanjun stopped Xiong Mingyu, who was about to start a debate, and brought the topic back on track.

"Can't!" Li Xin said two words categorically, and then explained in detail: "If Jiangbei Zhang Ge is undefeated, it is still possible. But now the traitors are pressing over in all directions and losing the Yangtze River waterway, not because the imperial court has lost the supply line, but because the traitors have obtained a noose that only strangles Nanjing's neck! ”

After Li Xin finished expounding his views, he sat on his chair and waited for the old ministers to speak. But the political affairs were silent, and even the air seemed to be frozen, and it was obvious that Li Xin's words had touched them too much.

The loss of the Yangtze River waterway has become a noose for traitors to strangle Nanjing's neck, what a vivid metaphor, but the image makes people really feel a little desperate.

In fact, Li Xin deliberately described the problem strictly, so that these people would know the importance of the Yangtze River waterway, and stop stumbling over his naval affairs. It's just that the effect achieved made Li Xin himself a little unbelievable, and these old ministers were shocked and convinced of his words, especially the words of the noose that strangled Nanjing's neck, which made several old ministers who were usually very cautious shudder.

"That's why we have to form a real navy, face up to difficulties, with my Ming Dynasty's vast land and resources, and the power of the southeast, is it possible that we can't catch up with a few red-haired ghosts?"

Li Xin is well versed in the importance of one piece and one relaxation, and throws out thorny questions, so that people can suppress despair, but also let people see hope, and this hope is the source of a qiē power.

The dialogue in the political hall finally cleared Li Xin's worries about forming a navy, and the old ministers no longer made more trouble in this matter, not only that, but Gao Hongtu, the secretary of the military department, also turned over the boxes and cabinets, and turned out the drawings of the sea ships built in the Yuan Dynasty from the archives kept by the Hongwu Dynasty.

This thing is a treasure, Li Xin was overjoyed when he got it, but after consulting the old boatman, it was like a basin of cold water poured on his head.

Not to mention the lack of experienced shipwrights in the Ming Dynasty, what is even more frustrating is that the wood needed for shipbuilding often needs to be air-dried for several years, so that the wood can be completely dried before it can be shipwed. And it was this wood that the imperial court lacked. If the wood is freshly felled, it will be a few years before it is dry.

Li Nobunaga sighed, it seems that the idea of becoming a fat man in one breath is not realistic. Since there is no ready-made timber to build sea ships, let's build a few river clippers first, and can set up artillery under six pounds, although it is a little shabby, but it will not even have the ability to fight back in front of the sea robbers.

Once he decided to build a small ship, Li Xin sadly discovered that there was not even a decent shipbuilding dock near Nanjing. It shows that the people of the time did not attach importance to the navy, and even despised what kind of Cheng dù it was. In order to show the importance he attached to the navy, Li Xin personally led people up the river on the banks of the Qinhuai River to find a suitable dock location. Since the waterways of the Yangtze River are threatened by the pirates, there is no way to find a suitable dock location on the Qinhuai River.

The waterway in the lower reaches of the Qinhuai River was artificially dug and forcibly led to the moat in the south of Nanjing, but if it were not for the introduction of the old boatman, Li Xin would never have imagined that the vast river surface of more than ten zhang wide in front of him was actually dug by hand, and after the field survey just now, the water depth of most sections was up and down two zhang, and the water depth of some sections even reached three zhang. In comparison, the narrow and shallow Grand Canal is simply a small ditch.

Li Xin sincerely admired: "I can't imagine that the artificially excavated section of the river can have such a scale. ”

An old boatman pouted beside him, and said disapprovingly: "Opening a canal to divert water is similar to treating a disease with quack medicine. ”

Li Xin heard that the old boatman's words seemed to mean something, so he humbly asked for advice. The old shipwright did not know Li Xin's identity, and although he saw that everyone respected him, he was dressed in sackcloth, which was completely different from ordinary powerful officials, and guessed that he was just a businessman valued by a certain magnate, and he had no scruples about speaking.

"At the beginning, Stone City was still the capital of a country, and I don't know which emperor built Stone City, and he wanted to lead the Qinhuai River water as a moat. Since then, the old channel of the Qinhuai River under the Sanyuankou has been shrinking day by day, and the new channel is as abundant as it is now. ”

The old boatman seemed to have a special affection for the old channel of the Qinhuai River, and Li Xin vaguely sensed some flavor from his words. "The old river is now called the South River by the world, in previous years, there can be three or two zhang wide water flow, after this year's drought, the sluice gate of Sanyuankou is completely filled, and now the bottom of the river is only afraid that it has grown waist-high artemisia grass!"

Li Xin understood what the old boatman meant that in order to maintain the water level of the Qinhuai River, the imperial court had been completely cut off this year; The source of the South River. His heart suddenly moved, and he blurted out: "What if you dig the sluice gate of Sanyuankou and release water to the South River?" ”

The old boatman was stunned when he heard this, and then said with a smile: "The court won't do it!" I'm going to do it! He has always had a wide river, "The river surface that is more than ten zhang wide will immediately shrink by more than half, and it would be good to be three or five zhang wide!" ”

The old boatman's words made Li Xin thoughtful, and immediately, an extremely bold idea took shape in his mind. However, if the stakes are so high, how can you make a hasty decision based on the words of one person? Therefore, Li Xin personally went to Sanyuankou and consulted more than a dozen local old shipwrights before returning to Nanjing.

This plan was too risky, and he had to enlist Sun Ji's support.

……

The deck was spotlessly scrubbed by the sailors, and Colonel Wallace stood on it basking in the afternoon sun. Since the plundering of Jiangdu, there had been no major battle in the fleet, and Wallace ordered the captain to have his sailors wash the deck constantly. In his opinion, only this kind of non-stop physical work can exhaust the extra energy of the sailors, so as not to make trouble on the ship.

Now, in the entire Jiangbei region of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Colonel Wallace's fleet has been invincible, and even the governor of the Ming Dynasty was almost captured alive by him.

His plan to take the risk of taking a small boat to attack Jiangdu was also richly reported, and this victory greatly increased Colonel Wallace's self-confidence. Originally, in his eyes, the south bank of the Yangtze River, which he didn't want to provoke, made him salivate and itch again.

Coincidentally, on this day, many anomalies were detected in a section of the waters of Nanjing, and many small boats turned into the Qinhuai River and then turned out one after another...... After some careful exploration, it was found that the Ming Dynasty was in the south of Nanjing, and hundreds of thousands of stone grains were temporarily broken into the side of the Qinhuai River. And those grains seem to have been transported from a place called Longtan. What the Ming Dynasty was going to do with so much grain hoarding outside the south of Nanjing, Wallace couldn't guess for a while, but he was sure that he was already moved.

If all this grain is burned, then the morale of the Ming Dynasty will be irreversible, and perhaps he will be able to complete this mission to the sea ahead of schedule and return to the port.

With these thoughts in mind, Wallace began to search the deck for the figure.

The Sanchai River is the confluence of the Qinhuai River and the Yangtze River waterway, the boatman Zhao 12 drove his own small sampan in the waterway skillfully turned into the Qinhuai River, there are many such small sampans around him, all of them received the silver of the government, and they turned in and out here two or three times a day.

Zheng Twelve glanced back at the Yangtze River behind him, he rubbed his eyes violently, and then his eyes widened in disbelief, and suddenly he tore open his throat and shouted: "Haikou is here!" The pirates are coming! Run for your life! ”

The small sampans rowed hard towards the Qinhuai River, because the wind was strong, but they saw that the speed of the sea boat was getting faster and faster, and they saw that they sailed to the confluence of the Qinhuai River and the Yangtze River waterway. However, they were not in a hurry to move forward, but began to retract their sails and slow down. Soon, the rumbling cannon rang out, and in an instant, solid bullets made of lead smashed into the water, splashing several people high.

One of the solid bullets landed next to Zheng Twelve's small sampan, and the huge waves of water pushed the small sampan around, and Zheng Twelve was already so frightened that his legs and stomach were about to cramp!