Not long after, Murong Xue and Xu Youchang returned to the Prince Consort's Mansion together. Princess Li Xi of Fenyang was worried that Murong Xue would not forgive her, so she found an excuse to hide in the back house to avoid the embarrassment of the meeting.
Murong Xue and Xu Youchang couldn't help but be extremely happy when they saw Li Jiangyao in the front hall. The three good brothers hugged each other tightly and laughed loudly.
"Jiang Yao, you are really good!" Xu Youchang said excitedly: "You actually gave me a hard time!"
Murong Xue also smiled from ear to ear: "When we were detained in Yeting Palace, we heard that you had come to the imperial capital, and we were all worried to death. We were afraid that the emperor would not tolerate you and would do something outrageous."
Xu Youchang patted Murong Xue on the shoulder: "You even asked people to clean up the bed in the compartment. You were thinking that Jiang Yao would also move in, so you made preparations in advance."
Murong Xue smiled sheepishly: "It's good to be able to live in Yeting Palace. I was afraid... Oh, I won't talk about it! Fortunately, everything was resolved safely and we won a big victory."
Li Jiangyao said calmly: "The problem has not been fundamentally solved. It may have become more serious."
Xu Youchang and Murong Xue were puzzled and quickly asked for details.
Li Jiangyao first told the two of them everything that had happened before, and then lowered his voice and said, "I said that the problem may have become more serious, which is not unreasonable. First, although the emperor said that he would not pursue Shen Lie for the time being, he had already decided in his heart The person was rescued by us, so the investigation of whether he colluded with the King of Huaiyang was also placed on our shoulders. In other words, if the investigation is not clear, the court will search for Brother Shen again, and he will never have peace. "
"Secondly, I'm not sure yet whether the assassin at your wedding is Ashina Zijin, but it must be related to my brother Shuxuan. I sent someone to visit Beizhao Temple and found many suspicious traces. In other words , Brother Shuxuan is probably not dead, and is hiding in the dark waiting for revenge. He is an expert in using poisons, and his martial arts is not weak. We must be careful to avoid a tragedy like the Bloody Wedding happening again."
"Third, the great victory at Phoenix Mountain was the use of Wasp to carry out countermeasures. Although the operation was successful, we still haven't found out who was Wasp. This traitor has been hiding in the court and will give us a fatal blow at any time. It is extremely dangerous. "
"Fourth, I secretly cooperated with Ma Hongjie, Chang Tao and others to successfully kill the 60,000 Jiangnan rebels. Although it was helpful to establish the emperor's prestige, from another perspective, the emperor would also be more afraid of the military. The reason is very simple, whether it is Ma Hongjie , or Chang Tao, neither of them seriously fulfilled Li Bing's secret order, but decided to follow my arrangements without authorization."
After hearing his analysis, Murong Xue and Xu Youchang couldn't help but frown. The four things Li Jiangyao just said are indeed no small matter.
"What to do next?" Murong Xue said, "We listen to you."
Li Jiangyao said in a deep voice: "The water in the imperial capital is too deep. I was lucky enough to pass a few levels before, but if I continue to stay, I would be a fool. While the emperor is in a good mood, run away quickly!"
Xu Youchang agreed: "The heart of an emperor is as deep as the sea. Who knows when he will do something wrong again. It is safer to stay with the army."
Li Jiangyao continued: "The Xiaoting I mentioned just now is the maid beside the Seventh Princess. After verification by the Intelligence Department, there is indeed a problem. Murong, you must be extra careful next time."
Murong Xueqi said: "Since there is a problem, why not deal with her?"
"It's just a little minion. It doesn't make any sense to catch or kill him." Li Jiangyao explained: "I have discussed with Li Xi that we might as well go fishing and see who is in contact with Xiaoting. The Intelligence Department followed the clues to find out who was behind Brother Shen's trap."
Murong Xue nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you. Jiang Yao, do you think... Li Xi is reliable?"
Li Jiangyao smiled and patted his shoulder: "Reliable or not, she is already your Murong family's wife. It can be said that both will be prosperous and devastated. The seventh princess is a capable woman. If you can grasp it well, she will It will be a helpful help.”
Murong Xueruo realized something: "I understand, I will treat her kindly."
"After your friend and I leave, you'd better find a military excuse and return to the front line as soon as possible," Li Jiangyao warned: "On the one hand, we really need to prepare for the southern expedition, and on the other hand, you should leave this place of right and wrong first. Look at the limelight. Matters in the Imperial Capital can be left to Master Dong and the Seventh Princess. I have arranged for people from the Intelligence Department to keep in touch with them secretly."
-
Early the next morning, Li Jiangyao went to the palace to see Li Bing and said that after Bao Yuchun suffered a big loss at Phoenix Mountain, he might be looking for an opportunity to counterattack and take revenge, so he must return to the front line immediately to take command. Li Bing nodded in agreement, and asked his chamberlain to get a sword and give it to Li Jiangyao as a reward in recognition of his loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
Li Jiangyao declined the emperor's proposal to give him a farewell banquet, thanked him and resigned, left the palace, called Xu Youchang and the white-robed army who had been waiting for a long time, rode out of the imperial capital, and headed southeast.
At this time, new changes have taken place on the Dajiang front line.
Xiao Jing's 60,000 soldiers and horses were completely wiped out in Jiangbei, which severely damaged Bao Yuchun's vitality. He never expected that the fierce battle between kings and ministers staged in the imperial capital was tailor-made for him.
There were tens of millions of people watching the show, but he was the only one who paid the bill in the end.
This is really unreasonable!
However, Bao Yuchun has rich experience and will not be in chaos even if he loses a battle. After receiving the bad news of Jiangbei's defeat, he immediately mobilized more than 500 warships to strengthen the river defenses from Jinling to Chaisang, and alert the imperial army to take the opportunity to cross south.
At the same time, he wrote to Lao Jianhua, who was in Hangzhou, asking him to speed up recruitment and training and add new soldiers to the front line as soon as possible.
At present, Li Zhang has officially announced that he will inherit the throne of the Jin Dynasty. Accordingly, the rebels entrenched in the south of the Yangtze River, whether it is Bao Yuchun's navy or the former Xuanjia Army, have also been renamed "Jin Army".
The entire Jin army has a total strength of nearly 600,000, more than half of which are deployed on the river defense line. Another 100,000 elite troops are stationed in Hangzhou, and the rest are stationed in various southern state capitals.
Although the Jin army was far inferior to the imperial court in terms of numerical size, Bao Yuchun's advantage lay in its huge water power. Originally, he had more than 2,000 powerful large and medium-sized warships in his hands. In recent years, the Southern Shipyard has been working hard, and now it has added nearly a thousand new ships to the Jin army, allowing it to firmly control the river.
After Lao Jianhua received Bao Yuchun's letter, he quickly arranged for more than 18,000 newly recruited elite soldiers from southern Gansu to go to Xuanzhou to participate in the war. At the same time, he also asked someone to send a message to Bao Yuchun:
Hold the defense line firmly, prevent the enemy from crossing the river, and wait for the situation in the north to change suddenly.
Bao Yuchun knew that Lao Jianhua must be planning some new strategy, so he ordered all his subordinates to use warships as the main force to sweep all the ships on the river to prevent the imperial army from coming one by one!
The Army has entered the war preparation training stage, practicing various formations and tactics to improve the tacit understanding of infantry and cavalry cooperation. At the same time, it has made every effort to stockpile arrows, kerosene, gunpowder and other supplies.
In a word: wait for a favorable opportunity and prepare to fight a big battle!
On the day Li Jiangyao arrived in Luzhou, Du Jian and other generals reported to him in detail the situation of the enemy forces on the other side. When he heard that Bao Yuchun did not even allow fishing boats to enter the river, Xu Youchang couldn't help but said in surprise: "With such a strict defense, are you afraid of being beaten?"
Du Jian smiled and said: "I guess so. After eating Xiao Jing, I thought Bao Yuchun would become angry and launch a counterattack in a hurry. Unexpectedly, he actually acted like a turtle and sealed the entire river tightly. Breathable, just like his bastard shell."
Xiong Yunjie also said: "To be honest, we are not afraid of the enemy coming ashore, but we are afraid that they will keep hiding on the river. Most of the brothers, such as Daduhu, Xu Shuai, and others do not know how to swim, and many of them are seasick. This battle will not be easy to fight."
Duan Jun, the commander of the Ninth Army, scratched his head: "There is still a big problem right now, which is the cavalry crossing the river. I went to see the ships prepared in various places. They are equipped with people, barely, but it is definitely not easy to install war horses. My Lords, According to our calculations, transporting a battalion of light cavalry across would require at least hundreds of boats and four or five trips back and forth. It would be difficult for the entire Ninth Army to cross the river in less than seven to ten days."
Xu Youchang frowned: "It takes so long for an army to cross the river? How can we fight?"
He looked at Li Jiangyao and asked, "Can we choose another place to cross the river and do it secretly?"
Before Li Jiangyao spoke, Yuduoluo shook his head and said: "I think it's difficult. Bao Yuchun is an expert in water warfare. The entire river is stared at by the rebels, and they have set up firewalls every few dozen miles. The sentries on the shore are under surveillance throughout the day. No matter where a large-scale river crossing is organized, it will soon be intercepted by the opponent's fleet. Unless..."
He paused: "Unless we go further upstream, such as the Bashu region, and then turn south from there."
Du Jian shook his head and said: "Bashu has also been occupied by the rebels. The terrain there is difficult and it can be defended with only a small number of troops. I'm afraid it will be even harder to fight."
Seeing that everyone was at a loss, Li Jiangyao smiled lightly and said: "There is a saying in Western Xinjiang, whichever way you go, you can sing whatever song you want. In my opinion, we still have to go through the water battle seriously. There are dangers everywhere in the south. The water network is crisscrossed, and if we don’t build a strong naval force, we will still be restricted by the enemy sooner or later.”
As he spoke, he took out a stack of paper from his arms and showed it to his subordinates: "When I was in the imperial capital, I asked Dong Tianxing for these things, and then made some improvements based on my own ideas. Take a look."
Xu Youchang looked over and said in surprise: "Is this a blueprint of a battleship?"
"That's right, building battleships." Li Jiangyao smiled: "Bao Yuchun's main force is this kind of warship, but I have added some more changes. You see, building battleships mainly rely on the power of sails. When there is no wind, the oars are paddled manually. I added a huge flywheel to the left and right sides of the rear of the ship, which are driven by the winch inside the ship. This is not only more efficient and faster, but also It has the power-assisted turning function and becomes very flexible.”
"Wonderful!" Yudala couldn't help but praise: "In surface combat, maneuverability and speed are very important, and they are the key to victory."
Li Jiangyao nodded and said: "Not only is it flexible and fast, I also designed the position of the ballista on the bow and side of the ship. It can fire both giant arrows and kerosene bombs. In addition, I also want to make a This flat-bottomed troop transport ship is also powered by a flywheel, and has a hanging door at the bow and stern to allow troops and horses to enter and exit smoothly."
Xu Youda was delighted: "With these two treasures, water warfare will have an advantage! Have you asked the Ministry of War to step up construction?"
"Where can we wait for them?" Li Jiangyao said calmly: "We will do it ourselves!"
He stood up and said to everyone: "I have informed Xie Tanzhi and asked him to work with Situ Wushou to quickly allocate a batch of funds and send troops to escort them from Western Xinjiang to Luzhou. At the same time, recruit shipbuilding associations in Chuzhou, Yangzhou, and Taizhou. The skilled craftsmen build warships according to the drawings."
"Friend Commander, you are responsible for setting up the Tenth Army of Zhenjiang, the Zhenjiang Navy, codenamed Kunpeng. First, select some veterans who know water skills from various armies to form the army team, and then recruit boat builders in the Jiangbei area. Zexiang Warriors, teach them skills such as melee combat and bow and arrow shooting. Within three months, water warfare will begin to take shape!"
"Yudora, your intelligence department has chosen two to three secret places to hide the warships and the Tenth Army, and strictly sealed the news to prevent the rebel scouts from spying. Including shipbuilding workshops in various places, they also gave me secrets. Keep it airtight and protected.”
"Others, starting from today, use all conditions to carry out water warfare training. At the very least, we must ensure that the officers and soldiers of all armies learn to swim and ride on boats. Even horses must be able to board and disembark smoothly without panic!"
