In Wenyuan Pavilion, Ma Shiying held an account book and explained in detail the expenditure and income of the court this year.

"In the second year of Longwu, all regions paid 5.2 million taels of silver, 31 million coins of copper, 20 million stones of rice, and 4 million stones of grain. Among them, silver was mostly commercial tax. The Duke of the State opened a shipping route for Songjiang, which made our treasury fill a lot."

Zhang Huangyan also smiled, took a sip of tea, and said slowly: "Mr. Ma is right. In the first year of Tianqi, the tax revenue of the whole world was only almost the same as that of us. Now that we are using troops from all sides, the national treasury is still surplus, which shows the results."

Hou Xuanyan laughed and said, "Songjiang is just the beginning. After the opening of Longtan Port, merchants in the southern Zhili area have been in contact. This year is just the beginning. I believe we will get better and better in the future. The Tartars have eight imperial merchants who have destroyed the light of their ancestors and donated blood to foreign races wholeheartedly. They are just mediocre juniors, who are not as good as Wu Jikun, a Jinling family."

The construction of Longtan Port is really built in Hou Xuanyan's heart. Unfortunately, Zheng Zhilong still occupied the entire southeast coast, and the trade route will be blocked there, otherwise the profit will be doubled.

Thinking of this, Hou Xuanyan cursed in a low voice, and was heard by Ma Shiying.

Ma Shiying walked up the pole and said, "Zheng Zhilong is very brave this time. We have all taken Zhaoqing Prefecture. He shamelessly occupied Guangzhou Prefecture. When he sent troops, he was under the banner of eliminating the traitors. Now the traitors are almost taken to Jinling. He also occupied the prefecture, obviously because he had a different ambition and wanted to place his territory and entrust the territory."

When talking about Zheng Zhilong, the cheerful atmosphere in Wenyuan Pavilion disappeared instantly. This is the largest nail in the entire southern half of the country.

After the Battle of Jingxiang, several major battles were fought to clean up the various forces occupied by Sichuan, Guizhou, Yungui, and Yungui. Wherever the imperial decrees went, they were unprecedentedly efficient. Only when they arrived in the area controlled by Zheng Zhilong, the imperial court was as if they were decorations.

From officials to the people in Fujian, they knew that there was Zheng Zhilong, but they did not know that there was an imperial court. It was like a country that was transformed from the outside world. Moreover, Zheng Zhilong did not expect to collect taxes and make money. Instead, the people of Fujian received more of his kindness and made money from the sea. Therefore, over the long run, the Zheng family's reputation in Fujian became increasingly high and the people supported it very much.

Hou Xuanyan sighed and said, "The Zheng family is quite honest recently. Apart from occupying Guangzhou Prefecture, they have not done anything out of the ordinary. A few days ago, Zheng Zhilong also paid a tribute to a group of rare treasures in the South China Sea to congratulate the birth of my emperor."

Chen Mingyu, who had been listening to the side, interrupted, "Zheng Zhilong has been a thief for a long time. I'm afraid there is something wrong with being so obedient. Will he be plotting a major event?"

The three of them smiled at each other, and Ma Shiying said, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen, Zheng is strong in the navy, but his nest is in Fujian, and it is tantamount to hitting stones with eggs compared to the imperial court. The gap in strength is so different. I understand that he has any tricks and can only save himself."

Hou Xuanyan agreed with Ma Shiying's statement in his heart. He could not have imagined that Zheng Zhilong, who was several provinces far away from the southeast and the Qing Dynasty, would have thought of joining the Manchus.

Taking into account Chen Mingyu's face, Hou Xuanyan deliberately changed the topic and asked: "Liheng is in Luzhou Prefecture. Since Kong Youde withdraws troops from the Dabie Mountains, there has been no war. I don't know what the soldiers are short of. Can there be letter exchanges these days?"

Chen Mingyu had an open-minded personality and smiled and said, "He doesn't even say three words in front of him, so how could he write a letter?"

--------

At the foot of Tianzhu Mountain in Luzhou Prefecture, in the large tent of the Houtu Camp, Yan Yingyuan and Zhou Wenwu sat opposite each other.

Yan Yingyuan's face was still as heavy as water. His unique temperament is now called calm and generous. In the next two hundred years, people often call him facial paralysis...

When news of the birth of the new emperor came, Yan Yingyuan submitted a letter to congratulate him and also paid tribute to a set of four treasures of study produced in Luzhou Prefecture.

Zhou Wenwu added a cup of tea and sent it to Yan Yingyuan, and asked, "General, the Fenghuo Water and Earth Expedition in the Northern Expedition of the Fourth Camp, the Fenghuo War, will not talk about it, and the Southern Expedition and North Expedition are never absent; the Fire Camp fought in Jingxiang with outstanding achievements; the Water Camp launched the Northern Expedition, crossed the river and took Weiyang. Only we are here, and we have not made any contributions. The brothers were whispering in secret. If it lasts for a long time, the morale will be unfavorable."

Yan Yingyuan picked up the tea, took a sip, and was speechless.

He had long felt that Hou Xuanyan was very particular about employed people. No matter where he went, the Liehuo Camp followed closely.

Previously, Hou Xuanyan was in Suzhou, and the Liehuo Camp was stationed in Zhenjiang, and he could arrive in one day; later, Jingxiang fought fiercely, and the nearby Houtu Camp was placed without using it, so he transferred the Liehuo Camp from Zhenjiang to Huguang; now the Liehuo Camp is stationed in Yangzhou, which is also the closest to Hou Xuanyan in the fourth camp.

Almost all of Hou Xuanyan's personal guards came from the Liehuo Camp. Although Hou Xuanyan treated him equally in terms of baggage, official position, and title, he had different closeness. Everyone in the world knew that Li Haoxian was the confidant general of Duke Yue. Hou Xuanyan had more than once, and after getting good horse armor, he was rewarded to Li Haoxian. The predecessor of the Liehuo Camp was the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Anti-Huiyi Division, which was the man who started Hou Xuanyan.

Yan Yingyuan asked himself that if Hou Xuanyan really did something shocking, he would definitely not be as firm as Lee Haoxian.

Fortunately, what Hou Xuanyan supported was the orthodox emperor's bloodline and the posthumous son of Emperor Longwu.

"There is a lot of rain recently. Please remind the soldiers to check the terrain frequently and be careful of the mud, sand and stones on the top of the mountain slide down."

When Zhou Wenwu heard this, he knew that he didn't want to discuss this matter more. Ying Nuo turned around and left. After leaving the camp, he saw his subordinate Chen Risheng leaning on the flagpole of the Duozhong Army's flag, blowing magic snails with the soldiers next to him.

Zhou Wenwu's face darkened and he said angrily: "Risen, come here!"

Chen Risheng shook his shoulders and ran over happily, smiling with a saliva face: "Brother, are you calling me?"

"I have said it many times. If there is no brother in the army, why can't you remember it? You should take people to the nearby mountains to see if there is any danger of landslides." After that, he turned around and left.

After bent down and watched Zhou Wenwu leave, Chen Risheng spat on the ground and cursed: "Bah, even if he became an official, he doesn't even recognize his own brothers. What's the point?"

Suddenly, a small soldier rushed into the central army's tent like a gust of wind, and threw himself to the ground and shouted: "General, the Qing soldiers of Fengyang Prefecture are heading towards Chuzhou. They have broken Qingliu Pass and arrived at the foot of Langya Mountain."

Yan Yingyuan slapped the table and was arrogant without anger: "Why are you only getting the news now?"

"It rained heavily in Fengyang, flooding everywhere, making it even more difficult to find out the news. In addition, there are people fleeing everywhere. By the time we discovered it, the Qing soldiers had already arrived in Chuzhou."

"Who are they?"

"Jirgalang led the central army, the left army was Kong Youde, and the right army was Ajige. Most of the Qing soldiers and Central Plains are here."
Chapter completed!