Chapter 141: Advance on Land and Water
At daybreak, Zhao Xiaofei donned his armor and mounted his horse, bringing Li Sihong and Kou Baimen to the dock. Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu, Zhang Huangyan, Shi Kefa, and the officials from the capital who had accompanied them saw them off at the dock.
Zheng Sen and Shi Lang were already waiting on the bow. Shi Lang frowned when he saw the two women behind Zhao Xiaofei wearing armor. He felt contemptuous and thought: Is this gentleman always inseparable from women?
Zhao Xiaofei could of course see the contempt in Shi Lang's eyes. He walked up to Shi Lang and said, "General Shi, do you look down on women?"
"I dare not!" Shi Lang was a little embarrassed.
"I like people who speak the truth, even if what they say is unpleasant!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
Shi Lang thought to himself, since the Lord has said so, why should he be polite? He simply ignored Zheng Sen's gaze and said directly, "Since the Lord has said so, then I will tell you the truth! I don't look down on women, but I despise the Lord's behavior of bringing women to the battlefield!"
"Hahaha! General Shi, my two beloved wives are heroines! They led the militia to defeat Ruan Dacheng's 100,000-strong army and relieved the siege of Nanjing City! They followed me to help me fight!" Zhao Xiaofei smiled proudly.
"I didn't know. Please forgive me, ladies!" Shi Lang said. He had actually heard about the story of two female generals who rescued Nanjing City. This story was adapted into a play and sung in Nanjing. People compared the two female generals to the Ming Dynasty version of Liang Hongyu.
"Ignorance is not to blame!" Li Sihong said. They both knew that without their husbands' Infantry Drill Manual and the strong soldiers trained by their husbands, they were nothing. So they had no intention of blaming Shi Lang.
After that, the three of them boarded the warships. Zheng Sen's warships were small vessels capable of cruising the Yangtze River. Each held 200 men, along with their muskets, artillery, and ammunition. Most of the cannons were modified by Wan Shan using existing ones, with rifling and a different gunpowder ratio and formula. They also used fixed explosives, and the shells were shrapnel shells. Nearly 30,000 men, along with horseboats and supply ships.
Meanwhile, General Zhou and Wan Shan led 60,000 men to set out by land, heading for Jiujiang, Jiangxi. Because spies ahead reported that Zuo Liangyu's 800,000-man army had already headed for Jiujiang. Zhao Xiaofei returned to Nanjing and met Li Zichu, asking the court to posthumously confer the title of General of Defending the Country and Marquis of Fuguo on his father. He appointed Li Zichu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacification Division. He was the head of the Jinyiwei. Because Luo Yangxing surrendered to the Dashun, the list of Jinyiwei spies across the country was in the hands of Li Ruolian, in addition to Luo Yangxing. Before his death, Li Ruolian gave it to his son, so now the Jinyiwei can quickly grasp the news, and Li Zichu played a great role. Although Li Zichu was not very old, only 28 years old, he worked well and handled things steadily. He also knew who was the most powerful in the Ming Dynasty and who he should listen to. Zhao Xiaofei went to visit him as soon as he returned to Nanjing. And presented the list!
Zhao Xiaofei was very pleased with this and put Li Zichu in charge of the Jinyiwei. He was responsible for intelligence work and asked him to consolidate the Jinyiwei's strength. He focused on the warlord forces, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the Jianlu. He had to keep himself informed of the enemy's movements at all times, so that he could be invincible.
Zhao Xiaofei also instructed Wang Erxi to establish a new East Factory, transferring personnel from the Zhenfu Division to monitor the Imperial Guards. This was approved by the Empress Dowager. Of course, Zhao Xiaofei also established his own intelligence system, temporarily managed by Fang Xinyu. However, it has yet to be effective and the staffing is insufficient.
Before leaving, Zhu Cijiong secretly came to the dock with eunuchs to say goodbye to Zhao Xiaofei. His mother did not allow him to get too close to Zhao Xiaofei. But he had a very good impression of his brother-in-law, who saved him and made him emperor. The palace had no money, so he used his brother-in-law's money. Even the palace's imperial chefs were provided by Zhao Xiaofei. The dishes and desserts he made were all made according to modern methods. Therefore, his brother-in-law was closer to him than his own elder brother Zhu Cilang.
Zhu Cijiong came to the dock and shouted loudly at the boat: "Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Come back early!" He kept waving his hands while shouting.
Zhao Xiaofei saw Zhu Cijiong, but he didn't get off the boat. He waved to him like he was treating an ordinary person. He also shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, the dock is too chaotic. Go back quickly! I will definitely bring you Zuo Liangyu's head!"
"Brother-in-law! I don't want Zuo Liangyu's head! Keep it as a chamber pot! Bring me back some delicious food from Huguang! Bring me back some fun things too!" Zhu Cijiong shouted.
Everyone on and off the boat was furious. Everyone was about to get off when they heard the emperor was coming. But when they saw the commander refused to get off and stayed on the boat, leaving the emperor looking up and shouting at them, they felt too embarrassed to get off! Furthermore, the conversation between the two surprised them. First, they envied the emperor's favor for Zhao Xiaofei. Second, they were surprised by the emperor's unruly behavior! It turned out that the emperor was a foodie. The Zhu family had many eccentric emperors, so adding this one wouldn't be a big deal.
"Okay! I will bring you some delicious food that you have never eaten! Take good care of your sister, she is pregnant now!" Zhao Xiaofei shouted.
"I understand, brother-in-law! I will take good care of my sister!" Zhu Cijiong said.
At this time, Zhang Huangyan, Shi Kefa, and Li Banghua arrived at the dock, knelt beside the emperor, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please return to the palace!"
Seeing the ministers kneeling on the ground, Zhu Cijiong said, "Since I am the emperor, can't I leave the palace to see off the soldiers going to the battle? In private, Zhao Xiaofei is my brother-in-law, and as his younger brother-in-law, I should also see him off!"
"Your Majesty! You are the king of a country, and the country and its people are on your shoulders. Now is a chaotic world, if any danger occurs, the Ming Dynasty will be in chaos! Moreover, Your Majesty is young, you should focus on your studies and put family affection aside!" Li Banghua said.
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