Song Nan and his entourage rode into the city, Huang Jue tried his best to invite Song Nan to sit in the hall of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, Song Nan thought about it and agreed, and the group walked along the street to the six yamen outside the Zhengyang Gate in the city, looking at the street scene of Nanjing City, Song Nan had old things floating in his heart, and Shen Yunyan's face appeared in his mind.

I haven't cared about Shen Yunyan's news for a long time, and now that more than a year has passed, whether this top brand of Yunxiao Pavilion has married according to his wishes, or whether he is still waiting alone in Yunxiao Pavilion, Song Nan has no way of knowing. Song Nan really wanted to send someone to Yunxiao Pavilion to ask about Shen Yunyan's situation, but he quickly dispelled this idea, a year has passed, he doesn't want to disturb Shen Yunyan's life, everyone has their own fate, since he has no intention, why provoke her?

"Zhen Guogong, it's here. Inside, please. Huang Jue's courteous greeting interrupted Song Nan's thoughts, and the magnificent gatehouse in front of him with red doors and black tiles was the gate of the yamen of the Nanjing Military Department. Although it can be seen that the gray stone of the outer wall of the yamen is a little peeling and mottled, and there are long grasses climbing up at the top of the gatehouse, which looks like it is in disrepair, but from the overall pattern, it can still be seen that when Nanjing was still the capital, this military department yamen should be such a magnificent and magnificent scene.

The lobby of the military department was crowded, Song Nan naturally sat behind the lobby case, the Shangshu of the Nanjing military department was over seventy years old, and he could not perform his duties in the early years, and all the affairs of the military department were in the hands of Huang Jue, the right attendant, which was also the reason why Huang Jue's status in Nanjing was not low. Everyone understands that the old Shangshu will die soon, and the position of the Shangshu of the Nanjing Military Department has long been in Huang Jue's bag, in fact, the current Huang Jue is no different from the Shangshu of the Military Department.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated."

Song Nan looked at the officials in Nanjing with a smile, and after the officials thanked and sat down, before Song Nan could speak, a white-bearded Hanlin from the Hanlin Academy got up and said tremblingly: "Zhenguo Gong, the old man heard that the traitor Zhu Chenhao led an army of 100,000 to attack our Nanjing City, originally the old man only regarded it as a rumor, but the arrival of the army led by the Zhenguo Gong, does that mean that this matter is true?" ”

Song Nan smiled and said, "Who is this old man?" ”

"Master Zhou, editor of the Hanlin Academy." Huang Jue hurriedly said.

Song Nan nodded and said: "Lord Zhou, this matter is indeed true, the news I got this morning is that the rebels are going down the river and have occupied Tongling and Fanchang County, at this rate, at most two days, they will occupy Wuhu and Dangtu in one fell swoop, and reach the river east of Nanjing." ”

Everyone talked for a while, and the Lord Zhou asked again: "The old man also heard that the number of troops led by the Duke of Zhenguo here is only more than 40,000 people, but I don't know if there is a good way to resist the 100,000 rebels." ”

Song Nan smiled and said, "Lord Zhou is quite concerned. ”

The old man said: "Don't hide it from the town Guogong, the old man is worried, my Nanjing City has no danger to defend, if it is the infantry, it will be fine, Zhu Chenhao's rebels are mostly sailors, and they are the nemesis of my Nanjing City." Once Pukou is occupied, the army can come to the city and fight against it with forty or fifty thousand soldiers and horses. ”

Huang Jue shouted: "What did Lord Zhou say, what do you mean that it is difficult to resist?" What is the truth of cowardice before fighting? ”

Song Nan waved his hand and said: "Lord Zhou's worries are not unreasonable, yes, I really only have more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, but in fact, Zhu Chenhao's rebels are not as many as he boasted." Defending Nanjing is the minimum requirement, and my purpose is to completely eliminate Zhu Chenhao in Nanjing, which is the real purpose of my coming. ”

There was a buzz among the officials, some were happy, some were unconvinced, and the vast majority of people thought that Song Nan was talking big.

Song Nan said with a smile: "Of course, it is inseparable from the assistance of your local military and civilians in Nanjing, as long as we arrange it properly, it is not so difficult." ”

Qian Taichang suddenly said: "Zhen Guogong, Qian doesn't know whether to say it or not." ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "If you have something to say, you don't have to be stubborn, you and I are old people in Beijing." ”

Qian Taichang nodded and said: "Then I will report the situation of Nanjing City to Grandpa Guo, I used to know the situation in Nanjing in the capital, until I took up the post of commander of the Left-behind Division, I knew that Nanjing's defense was extremely weak; Although Nanjing is the capital of Liu, there are nominally Jinwuwei's pro-army guards stationed in the city, and there are still Zhenjiangwei, Jianyangwei, and Jiangningwei three guards and arch guards on the periphery, and there are only five guards and horses when they are full, and the number is less than 30,000. With 30,000 people stationed in this large city of one million people, it is barely difficult, let alone facing the battle? ”

Huang Jue said: "With the more than 40,000 soldiers and horses of Zhenguo Gong, nearly 80,000 people, isn't it enough?" ”

Qian Taichang glanced at Huang Jue and said: "I also came here to know the difference in the combat power of the guards here, the equipment and weapons have not been changed for several years, the military discipline is lazy, the soldiers are old and weak, and Jane is simply unusable soldiers and horses; If 30,000 soldiers and horses are deliberately selected for battle, I am afraid that half of them will not be enough. If Zhenguo Gong wants to join forces with these soldiers and horses, it is better not to join forces. ”

The leading officials in the hall have reported with white eyes, this Qian Taichang Qian Marquis has been demoted to Nanjing, as if the whole world has a grudge against him, everywhere awkward, pointing here and where, at this moment began to praise and belittle the combat strength of the local defenders, giving a very poor evaluation, which is really unpleasant.

Song Nan said with a smile: "As I said just now, the soldiers are not expensive, and it is not that you have to be assisted by Nanjing's soldiers and horses to defeat Zhu Chenhao. ”

Qian Taichang said: "I understand what Zhen Guogong means, but if Zhen Guogong wants to defeat Zhu Chenhao, I am afraid that Nanjing needs to provide a large number of warships. ”

Qian Taichang deserved to have commanded the Beijing camp, and in one sentence, he said what Song Nan wanted. The number of Zhu Chenhao's soldiers and horses should be eight. There are as many as 90,000 warships, although they are not as exaggerated as the thousand ships he claimed, but to fit so many soldiers and horses, there are at least six or seven hundred large ships. Once these ships went directly through the Qinhuai River estuary into the city of Nanjing, allowing the rebels to enter the city to fight, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although the Qinhuai River sluice gate was equipped with battlements and city walls, and there were also defenders to defend it, what Song Nan knew was that there must be artillery installations on the bow of the warship, and the city walls of those estuaries could never resist it. The only way is to stop them on the river, preferably to crush them.

Let's not talk about how to repel the problem, the first thing to have is the boat, otherwise the soldiers and horses I brought one by one play light skills and float on the water, standing on the surface of the turbulent river, treading the waves and rejecting the enemy?

Before coming, Song Nan knew that there was a sailor yamen in Nanjing, when Taizu and Chen Youliang competed for the world, after the battle of Poyang Lake, thousands of warships were captured, and the chief soldier of the navy was set up in the capital Nanjing, in any case, there should be a lot of ships in the sailor yamen, and he needed these warships to use.

But listening to Qian Taichang's meaning, it seems that there is a hidden secret.

"Which one is Lord Mao, the chief soldier of the Nanjing Navy Yamen?" Song Nan asked.

"The lowly Mao Eighteen visited the Duke of Zhenguo." A short, middle-aged man with a mustache stepped out of the line and saluted with his fists clenched.

Song Nan said: "You are the chief soldier of the Nanjing Navy Division?" ”

Mao 18 said: "Don't dare, it's a humble position." ”

"Then you tell me, how many warships are available at hand in your sailor yamen?"

"Grandpa Yuguo, thirty-three warships are available." Mao Eighteen Dao.

"What?" Song Nan thought he had heard it wrong, and asked in surprise.

"Thirty-three, my lord. My sailor yamen originally had 700 warships, but that was decades ago, and now there are only 33, and the rest are rotten and festering. In fact, the sailor yamen has existed in name only. As a matter of fact, our yamen can only be responsible for patrolling the river and the rivers and lakes in the city, and has no combat strength at all. Mao Eighteen said quietly.

Song Nan scratched his head and said: "How can this be, Nanjing is near the water, it should be a powerful place for water divisions, why is this the case?" What about the ship? If it's rotten, won't it be repaired? ”

"Yuzhen Guogong, this is still the amount after the humble repair, my sailor is tight, in addition to the salary of the officers and soldiers, the imperial court only allocates 10,000 taels of silver every year for the repair fee, this silver is not enough to repair two or three boats, and the humble post is also helpless."

Song Nan was silent, the imperial court's military budget was tight, and the war in the northwest had hardly stopped for decades, and the sailors in places like Nanjing naturally would not be supported as the focus of the project, but only symbolically allocated funds to let them fend for themselves, so a little silver repair fee can ensure that a few ships can be used normally?

For a while, Song Nan's brows tightened, and there was silence in the hall.