Chapter 5: Bloody Battle of the Yangtze River (I)

"Master, thirty-seven people died, nineteen injured, and the ship exploded sixteen, and seven were damaged." The severe cold in early spring could not stop Zheng Nansheng's anger at this moment. He lost so much before the battle. He felt even more angry than Hong Chengchou, the navy commander.

Hong Chengchou looked calm. Who is he? The famous "Hong Butcher" in the world. The crying child stopped crying when he heard his name. In Xiangxi, he was even more rumored by the Miao people to be a devilish figure. Besides, there is no immortality in war. How could he take this casualty to heart?

"How is the firepower on Zheng Zhibao's ship?"

"According to our new algorithm, the average cannon on Zheng Zhibao's ship is six, eight flagships, and the longest range of artillery is within two kilometers. The range of the Fran machine cannon is about 500 meters. There are a small number of combs. The loading speed and effective shooting distance are not as good as half of the new flintlock rifle equipped by our army. However, Zheng Zhibao's soldiers are well-trained pirates, with combat power and combat experience far above our army." After Zheng Nansheng said that, he asked in confusion, "But, Grandmaster, why did you just..."

"Why didn't I order a counterattack, but instead sat down and ignored my losses?" Hong Chengchou directly expressed the questions in Zheng Nansheng's mind.

"It's not that I don't feel sorry for my soldiers and ships and let others slaughter them at will, but that my firing will completely expose the secret of our army's new artillery. For a pirate like Zheng Zhibao who has been fighting against foreigners at sea for many years, once our army's strength is exposed, it will be difficult to wipe out it completely. The task assigned by the emperor to me is to wipe out Zheng Zhibao's fleet and capture Zheng Zhibao alive." Hong Chengchou stood up and said.

"The dozen cannon sounds just now must have alarmed the emperor. The general has not fired a shot. How can he explain to the emperor?" Zheng Nansheng said worriedly that his mentor Zhu Jingyuan was dead and had lost his greatest backer, so he could only follow Hong Chengchou's footsteps.

"I have my own sense of being on the side of the emperor, and I won't be able to do anything." Although he said that, Hong Chengchou was still a little worried. After all, he had never met the emperor several times. Although the emperor was a wise king, it was hard to guarantee that he would not misunderstand himself and could not understand his thoughts. Thinking about it, he would leave Zheng Nansheng to deal with the aftermath and came to Yangzhou Palace by himself.

"Your Majesty, Lord Hong Chengchou is looking for a meeting!" Mao Xiang reported.

"Well, let him come in." Zhu Yinglong put down the melody in his hand, rubbed his sour and swollen eyes and said softly.

After a moment, Hong Chengchou walked in and knelt down and said, "My minister, Hong Chengchou, kowtowed to the emperor!"

Zhu Yinglong opened his eyes and looked at Hong Chengchou who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Let's go flat."

"I dare not, I am here to apologize to the emperor."

"What crime did you commit? Why don't I know?" Zhu Yinglong asked with a smile.

"Zheng Zhibao led his army to invade, but the empress did not fire a single shot, which made the court shame." Hong Chengchou said.

Zhu Yinglong sighed and said, "Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. I didn't expect that even Hong Aiqing, you are not obsessed with it."

"I am guilty." Hong Chengchou did not dare to look up, but his heart felt as if he had put down a huge rock. The emperor said to himself in a tone of regret, which already means that everything was in vain.

Zhu Yinglong suddenly smiled and asked, "Hong Aiqing, tell me, is it difficult for me to get along with?"

"Every word from the emperor makes me feel like spring breeze, so how can it be difficult to get along with each other?" Hong Chengchou said sincerely.

"As the saying goes, don't doubt people, don't doubt people. I believe in your ability, otherwise I wouldn't give this burden to you." Zhu Yinglong said calmly.

"The emperor trusts me so much, and I will definitely live up to the emperor's entrustedness, devote all my efforts to the death." Hong Chengchou said excitedly. When he met the wise master, Hong Chengchou wished he could capture Zheng Zhibao alive and handed it to Zhu Yinglong now.

"Okay, with Hong Aiqing's words, this southern expedition will surely be successful."

"Your Majesty, I want to..."

"You don't have to tell me what you want, you don't have to do anything. I will only wait for your good news here. I don't care about anything else. You can do it." Zhu Yinglong interrupted Hong Chengchou and waved his hand.

Hong Chengchou and Yuan Chonghuan were the same worried, fearing that Zhu Yinglong would hinder their command and even surpass them to command the battle. Now that he had this sentence, he was completely relieved and returned to the navy command flagship with peace of mind, and focused on deploying the "cheetah plan".

However, Zhu Yinglong suddenly remembered that there was still someone in his palace that had not been used, and Hong Chengchou lacked a qualified adviser, so he ordered someone to call Song Xiance in front of him and gave him a senatorial position, and ordered him to report directly to Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou naturally did not dare to neglect the senator sent by the emperor. It was Zheng Nansheng who disliked Song Xiance and always believed that Song Xiance was a military supervisor sent by the emperor, isolated and provoked the generals to target Song Xiance. However, Song Xiance did not care about this. He knew what his identity was and what it was for Hong Chengchou to be a senator. If he couldn't even handle this well, the emperor probably wouldn't look at him differently. To be a senator for Hong Chengchou was actually a test of Zhu Yinglong's ability to Song Xiance. Song Xiance and Hong Chengchou knew the most about this. Song Xiance himself would not say it. Hong Chengchou also wanted to see how Song Xiance could be sought after by the emperor. He also had a taste of competing with him. Zheng Nansheng saw the situation of Song Xiance, and he turned a blind eye.

Jingyixuan, the Yangzhou palace palace, was frightened and fainted. He was sent here. Jingyixuan was originally Lan Rong's residence, so the first thing Cheng Huaixiu saw when she woke up was Lan Rong's sad face.

"Sister Lan, is he really the emperor?" Cheng Huaixiu asked nervously.

"Yes." Cheng Huaixiu said absent-mindedly.

"Sister Lan, you are so beautiful, are you his concubine?" Cheng Huaixiu asked abruptly.

"No, I am his guard." Lan Rong couldn't even explain clearly what she was doing to this man called the emperor, love, no, ninjas could not have love, hate, he did not do anything to do to be sorry for him, and even pardoned his crime of assassinating the king. His father wanted to kill him, and it was nothing he had to arrest his father, and he was also his cousin's husband, so he was also his relative. Maybe she stayed with him because of this factor.

"The emperor has an order. Cheng Huaixiu will serve him to bed tonight!"

This decree was sent to Jingyixuan. Not only was Cheng Huaixiu shocked, but even Lan Rong was very surprised. As far as she knew, the emperor had never let anyone sleep without a woman knowing it. Moreover, even if he wanted that woman, it was natural after someone voluntarily. She had never asked or asked, and she even made such an order. She even suspected that the Hai brothers were falsely passing on the imperial edict, which was obviously impossible.

"Sister Lan, what should I do..." Cheng Huaixiu didn't know whether she was nervous, shy, or excited. The sudden sleeping imperial edict made her mess up and her heart beat faster.

"I don't know." Lan Rong even felt a little jealous. No matter from body to face, or even martial arts, Lan Rong believed that she was not inferior to Cheng Huaixiu. Why did he want to sacrifice herself? Now she actually wanted to ask another woman to serve her bed in a nearly forced way?

"Sister Lan, you want to help me, me, I..." Cheng Huaixiu felt a little scared and whimpered.

"How many women hope that they can get the emperor's favor overnight, fly up the branch and turn into a phoenix. How glorious and glorious." Lan Rong said to herself.

"In fact, there is nothing wrong with being an emperor. It is rich and elegant, shining with family lintels, and its glory is unlimited."

"Sister Lan, do you want to be the emperor's woman?" Cheng Huaixiu looked at Lan Rong in surprise and asked.
Chapter completed!