Chapter 235 Undercurrent 2
In the pleasure boat on the Qinhuai River, three men were discussing countermeasures again.
"Things are unpredictable! I never thought that Zhao Xiaofei would become a prince and marry Princess Zhaoren. His power is too great now. How could such a thing happen in the past two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty? You two have to think of a solution!" said the man in white Confucian robes.
"It's not the right time to touch him now. We need to be patient! We haven't found out where he makes those cosmetic glasses. Only by mastering these ways to make money can we kill him!" said the man in red.
"Do we still need to wait? We have already sent out the people! It has been such a long time and there is no news! He seems to have appeared out of thin air. If you wait any longer, he will become powerful and it will be difficult to kill him then!" said the man in blue Confucian robe.
The man in red asked, "Since you're all so anxious and don't want the chance to make a fortune, how are your preparations? How many men and horses do you have? How many people in the Jinyiwei are willing to contribute?"
"The Kenan Army has won over many grassroots officers, and we have no less than 30,000 men under our control. When the time comes, we will launch a counterattack and make sure Zhao Xiaofei can't escape from our grasp! In addition, we also have quite a few people in the Jinyiwei who can provide us with information at any time!" said the man in blue.
"In that case, I hope to take action when they are both defeated or in a stalemate! Now Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have been forced to join forces. The Jianlu have occupied Shanxi and are marching towards Shaanxi. I think Zhao Xiaofei wants to decide the outcome in one battle!" said the man in red.
"Does he have the strength to do so? The rebels, the Western bandits, plus the Jianlu troops probably number one million. Can Zhao Xiaofei handle them?" the man in blue asked in surprise.
"It's not impossible! The White Rod Army that set out from Sichuan is estimated to have 70,000 to 80,000 troops! Zhao Xiaofei's Kenan Army has expanded by another 100,000 troops in the past six months, for a total of 200,000 troops. Adding on to Huang Degong and Gao Jie's troops, there are nearly 200,000, totaling nearly 500,000 troops. With the combat power Zhao Xiaofei has shown before, it is still possible to wipe out these one million rebels." said the man in red.
"If he were to gain such a great achievement, no one would be able to suppress him in the future. The military generals of the Ming Dynasty might return to the situation before the Battle of Tumu, or even worse!" said the man in red.
"We must make him die! It's best if he dies in the final battle. After he dies, we will ask the court to erect a monument and build a tomb for him! We will slowly clean up the remaining mess, and the Ming Dynasty court will still be ours!" said the man in white.
"I hope so. I hope everything goes well this time, but please don't let anything go wrong! Otherwise, you and I will both die without a burial place!" said the man in blue.
"What depressing words are you talking about? Come, I wish us a long and prosperous future!" said the man in red, raising his glass.
Zhao Xiaofei is discussing with Zhou Shuai Wanshan and others how to encircle these one million rebels in Shaanxi.
"Go south, this group of rebels has no hope. Brother Fang and I have blocked their way south. They have no choice but to flee to Gansu and the Western Regions!" said General Zhou.
"Yes! The rebels have suffered losses and dare not go south. We have also prepared the city defenses in the south of the Yangtze River. If they come, they will only get beaten to a pulp! There is no food in Gansu!" said General Zhou.
"If it is impossible to completely wipe them out, we can only drive them to the Western Regions!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"Now the Jianlu are the most uncontrollable factor. They have a lot of cavalry and run fast! What if the situation goes wrong and they run away? How can we chase them? It's okay on the plains, we have chariots modified from agricultural vehicles. But if it's hilly and mountainous areas, we can't catch up at all!" said Zhou Shuai.
"It doesn't matter! Let them run. We still have a plan to land in Tianjin! They have moved all the people from their old nest from the Northeast to the capital. As long as we can surround the capital, where can they run to? Don't they care about their families anymore?" Zhao Xiaofei said.
"How is our navy training going?" asked General Zhou.
"It's okay! We recruited some officers who used to serve in the imperial navy from Fujian, and the other sailors are fishermen recruited from the coast of Shandong and Anhui. Our boat is big, stable and easy to operate. We have been training for a year, so there is no problem!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"There is no problem with Huang Degong and Gao Jie's troops. I went to see their training. Although they are not as good as our Ke Nan Army, they are definitely not comparable to Li Zicheng and his ilk!" Wan Shan said.
Wanshan had reason to say this. He was in charge of training Gao Jie and Huang Degong's troops, and had also replaced a lot of their equipment. It could be said that they were no worse than the Ming army in the early Ming Dynasty. They were also equipped with a lot of artillery!
"In this case, we will prepare to mobilize the army, take over the north in one fell swoop, and eliminate all the rebels. By then, the Ming Dynasty will basically be ruled by us brothers. It's time for us to enjoy ourselves!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"We have enjoyed a lot! Recently they arranged a princess for me to be my legal wife. A matchmaker also went to Wanshan and said that he could choose any princess he wanted! The emperor would decree the marriage for whichever one he liked! We have to be careful when they try to win us over!" said Zhou Shuai.
"Yes! I heard that they arranged princesses as wives for Huang Degong's son and Gao Jie's son! They want to divide us! And recently some officials have hinted that we should form a new army for the court and leave your command!" Wanshan said.
"What a joke! Who do they think they are? Can they win you over?" Zhao Xiaofei said disdainfully.
"These are not my concerns. What worries me most is that the Kenan Army has been expanding too fast recently! We haven't carried out ideological transformation on them, and some of them may be bribed!" Zhou Shuai said worriedly.
"How can ideological construction be so easy? Now is the best time. If we miss this opportunity, we will never get it again! Let's talk about ideological construction after this battle! No matter how stupid they are, they will not become obstacles for us at this time. Can we expect them to eliminate these one million rebels?" Zhao Xiaofei still said with disdain.
Wan Shan and General Zhou both nodded. Indeed, there weren't many capable generals during that period. Li Dingguo, who was capable, had his head chopped off by Qin Liangyu and sent to Nanjing.
The mobilization of the army was quite complicated. Li Sihong wanted to go with Zhao Xiaofei, but Kou Baimen could not go with her. Because she was finally pregnant, Kou Baimen was filled with joy.
Zhao Xiaofei came to Kou Baimen, hugged her and said, "Be good and stay at home. Don't move around in the first few months. Wait for me to come back. I want to see our little princess being born!"
"Husband! Why are you sure it's a daughter?" Kou Baimen asked.
"I already have two sons! I want a daughter! Daughters are well-behaved and become sensible at an early age. My daughter will definitely be as beautiful as you!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
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