It is nearly April, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, the earth has melted, and the wheat seedlings in the ground have begun to sprout ears, and they will be harvested in another month. ,
After Zhang Wenhe left Lingqiu, Xu Tong did not do anything against the Tiger Flag for several months.
Of course, it's not that he doesn't want to, but that he has too much time to take care of himself.
Because of the collection of money from various shops to suppress bandits, Datong officials complained one after another to impeach Xu Tong, and even the palace came to reprimand him.
If he, the governor, had not just taken office and it was not appropriate to remove him immediately, the officials would have replaced him as the governor.
"Master, there is news from the capital." Zhao Wu walked into the signing room with a bamboo tube.
Liu Heng put down the official document in his hand and said, "Bring it over."
Zhao Wu unplugged the bamboo tube and handed the letter inside to Liu Heng.
After reading the letter, Liu Heng pressed the letter in his hand and murmured to himself: "Shenyang and Liaoyang are lost after all. The trend of the Later Jin Dynasty has been achieved, and history has not changed after all."
Even though he knew that Liaodong would have such a result, when he knew the battle situation in Liaodong, it still made him feel sad.
His sorrow was not for the Ming Dynasty, nor for the Ming Dynasty court, nor for the Zhu family, but for the people of Liaodong and the millions of people of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhao Wu saw that Liu Heng looked wrong and asked with concern: "Master, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay." Liu Heng waved his hand after coming back to his senses.
Regarding the battle that took place in Liaodong in March, he already knew the outcome, and the letter in his hand now was just another confirmation of the outcome.
Zhao Wu picked up the big tea vat on the desk, poured out all the water in it, replaced it with new tea, poured in freshly boiled hot water, and placed it again on Liu Heng's desk. ,
Liu Heng picked up the fire folder, burned the letter, threw the ashes on the ground and crushed it with his feet, and then said: "Go and find Mr. Zhao and Xu Xuewu."
"Yes." Zhao Wu agreed and exited the pledge room.
It didn't take long, and Xu Xuewu was the first to arrive at the signing room.
As soon as he came in, he first saluted Liu Heng, then put his hands on his sides, his body straight, and said, "Master, are you looking for your subordinate?"
Liu Heng put down the big tea vat in his hand and said, "How is the situation over at Damuan Island? How many ships of our own are there now?"
The Attendant Department has news sent back from Da Yuan Island. As the actual manager of the Attendant Department, he naturally knows something important.
Even many things that Liu Heng himself was not clear about, the Attendant Department had sorted out and formed documents.
Xu Xuewu said: "Due to manpower limitations, there is not much land to be reclaimed on Dayuan Island, and the sailors are barely enough. When we get to the shipyard, after moving to Bengang from Dagukou, shipbuilding has begun, but there is a lack of large timber. So far, our Tiger Flag has built a total of five sea-going ships, and one ship was purchased from Zheng Qianhu.”
"So our Tiger Flag has six ships in total?" Liu Heng asked Xu Xuewu.
Xu Xuewu replied: "There are six sea-going ships, but due to the shortage of sailors, the shipyard in Bengang has begun to focus on repairing ships, and the construction of new ships has slowed down."
Liu Heng nodded and immediately said: "Send a message to Da Yuan Island, asking them to send a ship to Dagukou. There is a mission."
"Yes." Xu Xuewu agreed.
Liu Heng continued: "Tell Huang Zhong's weapons bureau to build a batch of armor. The weapons are mainly spears, with some knives and arrows. The armor needs chain armor and cotton armor. Within half a month, we must gather together. Bring together two hundred soldiers and armor."
"Yes, my subordinates will send someone to notify Director Huang when they get back." Xu Xuewu agreed.
"The affairs of soldiers and armor are subject to the orders of the Military and Political Department, and the Attendant Department drafts the documents and comes to me to seal them." Liu Heng added.
"Yes." Xu Xuewu agreed.
Liu Heng continued: "You wait for a while, Mr. Zhao will come over later."
Not long after, Zhao Yutu walked into the signing room from outside.
As soon as he came in, he asked: "Master, are you looking for me?"
"Sit." Liu Heng stretched out his hand to signal Zhao Yutu to sit down.
Zhao Yutu walked to the bench beside him and sat down.
Liu Heng then said: "Your Logistics Bureau needs to prepare a batch of food, which should be enough to feed five to six hundred people for three months. After half a month, it will be delivered to the 1,000-man team to transport it to Dagokou."
Zhao Yutu, who was sitting on the stool, asked: "Isn't Dayuan Island already self-sufficient? Why do we still need to prepare food? Could something have happened?"
Liu Heng said: "The food is not sent to Dajuan Island, but to Pi Island."
"Pi Dao?" Zhao Yutu looked puzzled.
"follow me."
Liu Heng said something, then stood up and walked to the side wall.
There are two maps hanging on the wall, one of which is a map of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, and the other is a map of the sea, with ports marked on it, as well as Luzon, Japan, and Da Yuan Island.
Liu Heng raised his hand and pointed to a place on the map at sea, and said: "This is Pi Island."
After Zhao Yutu came closer, he carefully looked at the pointed place and said, "This should be the border of North Korea, right? Boss, do you want to occupy this island?"
Liu Heng pointed at the Pi Island on the map with his hand and said, "There are already people on this island."
"North Koreans?" Zhao Yutu asked.
"No." Liu Heng said, "It's a guerrilla general named Mao Wenlong who came from Liaodong."
Zhao Yutu was stunned.
However, before he could ask, Liu Heng explained: "I just received the news from the capital. The Ming army in Liaodong was defeated, Shenyang and Liaoyang were lost. Yuan Yingtai, the Liaodong manager, committed suicide. The imperial court revived Xiong Tingbi to do the Liaodong economy. Lue, the governor of Liaodong is Wang Huazhen."
"How come they were defeated!" Zhao Yutu didn't want to believe that the Ming army was defeated again.
In his eyes, the Liaodong Jurchens were just a scabies disease. The defeat of Yang Hao's three armies was incredible enough, and now they were defeated again, and they also lost the two important cities of Shenyang and Liaoyang.
"The Ming army was defeated not outside, but inside." Liu Heng said.
He had personally experienced the battle of Sarhu, or his predecessor had personally experienced it. The Jurchens were powerful, but the soldiers and servants of each battalion of the Ming army were not weak either.
It was a pity that the army had not yet set out for the expedition, and things became aroused. The Jurchens discovered Yang Hao's marching route and strategy, and several generals had their own thoughts, and finally gave the Jurchens every opportunity to defeat him.
"Alas" Zhao Yutu sighed.
Last year, three emperors were changed in a row, and the party struggle became more and more serious. No one cared about the affairs of Liaodong and was only busy fighting. In the end, the Ming army in Liaodong was defeated again and again.
Zhao Yutu said: "Pi Island is located behind Houjin. If the Mao guerrillas can gain a foothold here, they will be a threat to the Jurchens."
As a human being, he did not want to see the Ming Dynasty lose one after another, and in his heart he still hoped that the Ming army could suppress the rebellion of the Jurchens. 11
