Liyang, an important ferry crossing north of the Yellow River, has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.
Luo Xin retreated all the way here, with the roar of the Yellow River in front of him, and he felt a little calmer.
The artillery fire roared continuously for more than half a month, which shocked Luo Xinxin.
He no longer has the confidence to defend even a big city like Kaifeng.
"How's it going? Has the thing been copied?" Luo Xin asked a little irritably.
"Your Majesty, the Crouching Tiger Cannon has been imitated, but the gunpowder... those who were captured don't know the formula of the gunpowder either." Zhao Wenbin said in a low voice.
"Aren't there some leftovers that can't be found even if they are used for research?" Luo Xin was a little annoyed.
The battle during this period was not in vain. One rainy night before, Luo Xin asked Zhang Lei to attack Yu Ming's flank.
Dozens of lives were exchanged for a dozen muskets and two squatting tiger cannons.
The day he got the thing, Luo Xin was so excited that he stayed up all night.
I thought it could be easily copied.
As a result, the craftsmen said that the squatting tiger cannon was slightly easier to make, and the musket could not be made at all within a month or two.
Luo Xin can only let people do the Tiger Crouching Cannon first.
But until the city was destroyed, the Crouching Tiger Cannon was not produced.
Luo Xin fought hard and finally brought the craftsmen to Hebei. Unexpectedly, the Tiger Crouching Cannon was built and the gunpowder got stuck again.
The Jiangzhou Tanma they captured had no idea how to make gunpowder and firearms.
"My lord, it will probably take some time to find out the ingredients of the gunpowder," Zhao Wenbin said with a bitter face.
He has been very low-key recently.
The Northern Territory was defeated one after another, and there was no civil affairs for him to manage.
Zhao Wenbin's role is getting smaller and smaller now. If he can no longer show his face in front of Luo Xin, he will never show up.
However, Luo Xin still trusted him and placed the heavy responsibility of forging firearms on his shoulders.
Zhao Wenbin wants to cry, but we don’t know how to do this!
However, Luo Xin issued a death order, so he could only bite the bullet and lead the craftsmen to start scientific research.
Hearing that it would take some time, Luo Xin's face gradually became gloomy.
It is already halfway through November and the weather is getting colder and colder.
Even though the temperature is on the high side this year, it still cannot stop the Yellow River from freezing.
According to local people, the Yellow River will gradually freeze in early December, and horse racing will be possible before the end of December.
Once the Yellow River freezes, the Confederate army will definitely come over.
If the Crouching Tiger Cannon hadn't been copied yet...
When Luo Xin thought of this, his face turned ferocious, he turned around suddenly, grabbed Zhao Wenbin's collar and shouted:
"I'll give you another month. If you can't do it, then we'll die together!"
"Yes, yes! Students understand! Students understand!" Zhao Wenbin struggled with fear on his face.
Luo Xin took a deep breath, and it took him a long time to calm down.
"Hmph! Go and build a cannon!" Luo Xin snorted coldly as he let go of Zhao Wenbin.
"Okay! The students will be there soon!" Zhao Wenbin shuddered, bowed, turned around and ran away.
"Ah Lei, why do you think we raised the army in the first place?"
After Zhao Wenbin left, Luo Xin looked at Zhang Lei beside him.
Zhang Lei was silent for a long time before saying: "For the common people to live a good life."
"Yes! But following us, will the people really live a good life?" Luo Xin looked at the water of the Yellow River and said to himself.
"Starting from the year before last, the Yellow River overflowed and the people were displaced. They would rather run to Shannan East Road than stay far away in Henan Road."
"What does it mean?"
"It shows that we are unpopular!"
After saying this, Luo Xin looked at Zhang Lei and said, "A Lei, I know we will definitely lose."
"Your Majesty... I am willing to fight to the death to protect Your Majesty and leave Daqian!"
Zhang Lei didn't say anything about making a comeback or defeating the Southern Army.
The situation has reached this point, and there is no possibility of winning.
Even if they imitate the Crouching Tiger Cannon, it will be useless. Nanjun still has cannons and repeating cannons.
Moreover, the people's hearts are scattered and the team has lost its cohesion.
Now the soldiers are still hanging around Luo Xin, just for some military pay and some meals.
"I often wonder why the Southern Army is better than us. Later I realized that it was Song Yang, the king of Jiangzhou. This man was so different." Luo Xin mentioned Song Yang.
"Maybe, this man is really amazing. I heard that he invented magical weapons such as the Crouching Tiger Cannon and the Musket." Zhang Lei also agreed with Luo Xin's words.
"You said... if the King of Jiangzhou dies, can we defeat the Southern Army?" Luo Xin said, his eyes seemed to be full of hope.
"It's possible. But when the King of Jiangzhou travels, he will always be surrounded by people. Even if we send assassins, how can we get close to him?" Zhang Lei was not optimistic about the idea of assassinating Song Yang.
But after speaking, Zhang Lei seemed to have thought of something and looked at Luo Xin suddenly.
"Prince! Did you let him go?" Zhang Lei asked in surprise.
"Yes. This is the last chance."
After Luo Xin finished speaking, he breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "It's done, we will have a long period of breathing space. If we lose...hehe, we will be like a lost dog."
…
In mid-November, an old Taoist appeared on the streets of Jiangzhou.
The old Taoist carried a medicine basket on his back and held up a canvas in his hand with the word "medicine" written on it.
Some of the traveling Taoist priests also worked part-time as traveling doctors and treated patients. This kind of dressing up was not uncommon in this era.
Occasionally, ordinary people with minor illnesses who are too lazy to queue up at Lu Jimin or Li Rui will bring some business to these traveling doctors.
"Little brother, take this packet of medicine back and take one dose in the morning and evening every day. You will be cured for seven consecutive days."
"Okay, okay, thank you, Taoist priest, for this consultation fee..."
"Twenty cents is enough."
"Oh? So cheap?"
"These medicinal materials are all collected by Pindao himself in the mountains. Just exchange them for food money."
"Oh oh oh! Thank you very much."
"Go, go, remember not to eat spicy food these days."
"Okay Taoist priest."
Chu Zian carried the medicine bag and left from Lao Dao's stall, saying thank you.
After walking around the intersection, there were two soldiers patrolling the street waiting for him.
"I got the medicine, let's go!" Chu Zian shook the medicine bag in his hand.
The three of them left quickly and soon arrived at Lu Jimin's prescription.
"Doctor Lu, look at this medicine." Chu Zian handed over the medicine package.
Lu Jimin opened the medicine package, smelling this and looking at that.
"There's nothing wrong with this medicine. You can take it back and take it." After Lu Jimin finished speaking, he closed the medicine package and handed it to Chu Zian.
"So this person is fine?" Chu Zian nodded.
"I don't know. I can only say that his medicine is fine. He should really know medical skills." Lu Jimin shook his head.
"Okay, I understand. Doctor Lu, you are busy."
After Chu Zian finished speaking, he ran away.
"Lao Dao, just keep an eye on him and don't let him enter the inner city."
"yes!"
The two Renaissance Army soldiers actually listened to Chu Zian.
This kid has now become the team leader.
Specialized in investigating new faces and suspicious characters in the city.
The old road came here seven days ago, and the road leads from Shannan East Road to Tangzhou.
He was said to be a wandering Taoist priest who came to Jiangzhou to rest for a few days.
Chu Zian watched him for a few days and didn't notice any strange behavior.
Yesterday I happened to have some discomfort in my muscles and bones, so today I went to find an old Taoist priest to check on him.
The old Taoist prescribed medicine for him, and he took it to Lu Jimin for testing.
Lu Yin is real and his medical skills are real. As long as he doesn't enter the inner city, there is no need to keep a close eye on this man.
The so-called inner city is the old city at the beginning of Jiangzhou.
After many expansions, Jiangzhou has become very large, even larger than before the natural disaster.
The original central area is now the office space of officials.
Song Yang, Fang Zhe and other prominent figures in Jiangzhou also live in the central area.
After the Northern Expedition, more and more spies from Jiangbei were arrested, batch after batch.
A restricted area was set up in the central area, and anyone with a strange face was not allowed to enter.
Moreover, the patrol security in the central area is extremely strict, which can be described as three steps, one post, five steps, and one sentry.
Shen Xiaowan and Tong Qian have not left the central area for a while.
In order not to cause trouble to Song Yang, they don't even go out much now.
The spies from Jiangbei could not find important people, so they would often cause trouble in the outer city, either setting things on fire or poisoning them.
Although Gongsun Qi has been working overtime on patrol and even living directly on the riverside, there are still fish that slip through the net.
Fortunately, Luo Xin was recently defeated and fled to the north bank of the Yellow River.
The number of spies has also dropped sharply. Spies are also human beings. Even the master can't handle it anymore. There is no need for them to work for Luo Xin.
After receiving the news of Luo Xin's defeat, many spies even came forward to surrender to the Yamen.
For these people, Fang Zhe temporarily detained them and waited until the war was completely over before discussing their fate.
Lao Dao has eliminated most of the suspects, so Chu Zian left a soldier to continue monitoring while he went to look for the next target.
Chu Zian left.
The old Taoist raised his head and looked at the small alley where they left. Behind there was a man dressed as a farmer wearing a straw hat, leaning against the wall to enjoy the cool air.
The old Taoist smiled slightly and didn't say anything more. He closed his eyes and sat on the pony and dozed off.
In the inner city, Shen Xiaowan and Tong Qian were playing with steamed buns in the yard.
The weather has been fine these days and the temperature has risen slightly.
The sunshine is good today, so I took the baby out to bask in it...
"Your Majesty should be back in the next few days."
"Yes. I have been away for two or three months, and the steamed buns have grown a lot."
"I wonder if this boy has forgotten the prince?"
"Steamed buns, your father is coming back soon. Do you still remember what your father looks like?"
Steamed Bun waved his fist: "@#￥%...&*"
…
On November 28, Fang Zhe arrived at the North Pier.
We have just received an urgent message from the Clippers, and Song Yang's fleet will be back soon.
As soon as he heard that the boss had returned, Fang Zhe immediately led people to the dock.
The prince went on an expedition to the Central Guizhou Road, wiped out the rebels and recovered the Central Guizhou Road.
The three armies of the Northern Expedition also reaped victories along the way.
The revival of Daqian is just around the corner.
The people were in high spirits and spontaneously came to the dock to welcome Song Yang back.
In order to maintain public order, the Renaissance Army had to dispatch five thousand elite soldiers.
Moreover, Ma Cheng and Gongsun Qi also mobilized the naval forces near the dock to be ready to deal with emergencies at any time.
"Why haven't you arrived yet? Didn't you say it was soon?"
After waiting for half an hour and still not seeing Song Yang's fleet, Fang Zhe was a little worried.
Ma Cheng smiled and said: "Don't worry, our clipper is at least an hour or two faster than the prince's fleet. Speaking of which, we are still early."
"Oh, yes. I forgot about this." Fang Zhe said, patting his forehead.
He held hands and looked upstream again, but there was still no sign, so Fang Zhe looked around boredly.
After looking around and then at Ma Cheng, Fang Zhe asked: