In late November, Yang Qin and Xi Chang led 300 armed escorts and arrived in Jinling again in nine fast sailing ships and anchored at the Yandangji River Port Pier.
Baskets of snow-white rice paper, large and small bronzes, inkstones and pens, etc., almost all of which are high value-added goods from Jianghuai, and thousands of bags of polished rice, were loaded onto the ship one after another in the afternoon when the fleet arrived in Jinling.
.
Of course, as far as the world is concerned, the goods with truly high added value and that can be sold in bulk are still silk and salt.
Silk is valuable because of its fineness, and salt is valuable because of the official prohibition.
After nightfall, more than a dozen black-awned paddle boats left the city and sailed to the Yandangji river port.
Most of the black-topped paddle boats are small and can carry 200 to 300 shi of goods. However, these dozens of black-topped paddle boats are loaded with two thousand bags of salt and eight thousand pieces of silk extracted from the Lanting Lane warehouse.
; After arriving at the Yandangji River Port pier, it was moved to two three-masted sailing ships overnight.
Before midnight, the nine scorpion cannons and eighteen bed crossbows that Zhuangyuan had built during this period had been moved onto three warships overnight, fixed with rivets on the deck of the cabin, and then covered with tarpaulins.
stand up.
Although the highly elastic stainless steel that can be used to replace the wood has not yet been discovered, the nine Scorpion Cannons can only use the wood as a power storage mechanism, but at about two hundred steps, they can throw fire oil cans and crossbows.
Used together, it can also increase the long-range attack power of the three warships.
It started to fog up at dawn, and the white mist rolled on the river, and soon spread to the fields on both sides of the river. The sky gradually became clearer, but the sky and the earth were covered in fog.
At this time, the two fast sailing ships set sail first, and the families of Lin Haizheng, Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Zhao Qi, Chen Jitang and others followed the two ships.
Han Qian stood in front of the river embankment and watched the two boats leave.
Zuosi's elite scouts, some elite spies, more than 500 Zuosi disciples and more than a hundred craftsmen are temporarily at Yongchun Palace Manor. Tian Cheng has also been asked to rush to Yongchun Palace Manor with his warrant and take these troops directly to Yandangji Village.
Come to the hospital.
At present, Han Qian can only deceive these people onto the ship and go to Xuzhou in the name of secret operations. Naturally, he cannot let them know about Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng and others, as well as almost all the soldiers and family members of his Han family.
Citu left Jinling with the boat.
Otherwise, how can we keep these generals and disciples from becoming suspicious?
In order to cooperate with this "escape", Emperor Tianyou rushed to Liyang Huanglongpo for winter hunting in the past two days. The third prince Yang Yuanpu led Shen Yang, Zheng Hui, Xinchang Hou Li Pu and others also rushed to Liyang Huanglongpo to accompany him.
In this way, even if there is a military government, there are some shrewd and capable middle- and lower-level military attachés or subordinates in Yongchun Palace and Villa. They noticed Zuo Si's abnormality, but they reported it to them at all levels. When Yang Yuanpu, Shen Yang, Zheng Hui and others arrived in Liyang
After learning of the anomaly, we sent people over to investigate and confirmed that an "absconding" incident had occurred, which could delay the incident for at least two days.
In two days and two nights, it was enough for the fleet to escape to the territory of Jiangzhou, and the fleet navy dispatched from Jinling would definitely not be able to catch up. Even if a letter was sent on horseback, notifying the garrison of the water camp along the river to send troops to intercept, but at the speed of the current generation, it would be impossible to catch up.
To catch up with the fleet, Han Qian should have entered Yuezhou or Dongting Lake by then.
Gao Shao and Lin Haizheng were wearing scale armor. When they walked over, the armor touched and made a clanging sound. They stood behind Han Qian and looked at the foggy river with worried faces. They didn't know if Tian Cheng could go smoothly.
He brought more than 700 people from Zuosi to Yandangji to board the ship.
Han Qian is currently in Xuzhou. Even if the brave men and women of the Feng family are included, they can barely muster 1,400 to 500 troops. In the short term, they face strong resistance from the local native surnames and want to gain a foothold.
It is difficult, let alone completing the comprehensive integration of Xuzhou before next autumn and forming a pincer attack on Tanzhou from the upper reaches of the Yuan River.
Zuo Si's well-trained troops of more than 700 people became extremely important at this time.
Even among the more than 500 disciples of Zuosi, most of them are between fifteen and eighteen years old, and they are old enough to go on the battlefield in this world. What is even more rare is that besides their birth background, these more than 500 disciples of Zuosi are
, the vast majority of them undergo arduous training for more than a year.
You must know that the young men selected from the villagers by the local state camp only need to perform corvee work for one month every year. There is still a lot of time to be driven to build city walls, roads, and official residences. The time for actual training is actually
rare.
The generals of the forbidden camp army and the bodyguard army have stronger combat effectiveness, mainly because they come from the camp army.
Military soldiers have to perform military service for at least three months every year, so their training is much more adequate. If they have been selected for three or four times, they can be regarded as veterans.
Zuosi's elite scouts, with their combat prowess and rich experience, were honed with iron and blood in the Jingxiang War.
Han Qian and the others waited on the river embankment for a stick of incense when they saw eight awning paddle boats emerging from the thick fog. Zheng Tong followed Tian Cheng, jumped ashore, and walked to Han Qian with hesitation on his face.
Asked: "What kind of task requires the recruitment of more than a hundred craftsmen from the craftsman's workshop?"
"I'm afraid that Master Zheng won't know about this at this time." Han Qian said indifferently.
Zheng Tong was cautious and conservative by nature. He assisted Han Qian in building war weapons during the bloody battle of Xichuan and made great contributions. When he returned to Jinling, he took charge of the Jinyun Tower. However, he could never get close to Han Qian, who was radical and ruthless, and he could not get close to him.
He is just responsible for the affairs of Qiuhu Mountain Craftsmanship Workshop conscientiously.
The Yongchun Palace Manor needs to renovate the palace, build windmills, weapons workshops and other buildings. A few days ago, the third prince asked him to select more than a hundred craftsmen to take charge.
Today, Han Qian sent Tian Cheng to his door and told him that he had a secret mission and asked him to lead the craftsmen in Yongchun Palace to accompany him. How could he not have doubts in his heart?
However, Han Qian has always been arbitrary and willful, and at the same time he is determined and does not allow his subordinates to refute.
Han Qian was unwilling to explain more at this time, and Zheng Tong did not dare to contradict him face to face. He just watched Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and Lin Haizheng dispatch Zuosi's seven or eight hundred troops to board the eight boats parked in front of the river embankment.
On board a three-masted sailing ship.
Everything is going on in an orderly manner,
Zuo Si has always maintained a relatively independent status. Even after the reorganization after returning to Jinling this time, Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei mainly supervised Zuo Si, but did not interfere with Han Qian's control of Zuo Si.
At this moment, even though there are many people like Zheng Tong who have some doubts in their hearts, no one dares to stand up and question directly.
Zhao Qi came over with a group of well-dressed soldiers, joined Han Qian, came over and said: "The furnaces have been destroyed, we can board the ship."
Chen Jitang has a rich family background and is good at building and building, but Zhao Qi likes to dance with guns and sticks since he was a child. In recent years, he was demoted to Yandangji Farm as an official slave, and he has been trying his best to secretly protect the Zhao and Chen families.
clan members and Dong’s orphans.
Zhao Qi was most willing to move to Xuzhou. No matter what the Han family's father and son planned, at least they no longer had to worry about being purged like before.
Seeing Zhao Ting'er, Xi Rong, Du Qiniang, Du Jiuniang and other female family members also walking from the village, carrying large and small packages with them, Zheng Tong's eyes became more suspicious. He didn't know what secret mission was required.
Han Qian brought all the soldiers and slaves of the Han family out of Jinling?
And what does it mean that the furnaces have been destroyed?
"Okay, let's board the ship!" Han Qian glanced at Zheng Tong, then took Zhao Ting'er and the other girls onto a three-masted galley.
Xuzhou Shipyard has so far built ten three-masted clippers, three of which were built according to the specifications of a war sailing ship. In addition to the conventional three-masted sail, the war sailing ship also has two levels of oar chambers, with a total of thirty-two
The auxiliary oar requires sixty-four oarsmen to operate. During combat, the flammable sail can be lowered and the oars can be operated for more flexible attacks.
If the big oars and the big sail drive the ship forward at the same time, it will be as fast as a galloping horse.
These three warships alone require 250 oarsmen and boatmen.
This is still the most basic organization. If Han Qian hadn't been too short of manpower, he would have needed 200 more oarsmen if he wanted to increase the ship's speed to the extreme during combat.
"Master Zheng, let's board the ship. Don't ask the master to wait for us." Tian Cheng looked at Zheng Tong with a smile and urged.
To be honest, with the little power they have, even if they can control Xuzhou, it is very difficult, let alone contain Tanzhou from the upper reaches of Yuanshui River. However, Tian Cheng and others' family members have already boarded the ship. Even if Han Qian has other
If you plan, they will follow.
…………
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The first person to notice the abnormality was Chun Shisanniang, who rushed to Ningxiang Tower today to report something to Han Qian. She found that it had been delayed until noon. Not only did Han Qian not show up, Tian Cheng and Gao Shao, who were usually responsible for Zuo Si's daily affairs,
Lin Haizheng and others did not show up.
Chun Shisanniang rushed to Lanting Lane and found that the families of Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng and others, as well as the slaves of the Han family in Lanting Lane, were all empty, and she realized something was wrong.
At this time, Yao Xishui, Li Chong and others went to Liyang with Zhang Ping and Li Pu to accompany the third prince Yang Yuanpu. Chun Shisanniang had no way to enter the palace to see the concubine and the palace lord who had hidden beside the concubine at this time.
After sending someone to Yandangji to confirm that the courtyard was empty, Chun Shisanniang could only ride a carriage overnight to Liyang and report the matter to Xinchang Hou Li Pu.
When Chun Shisanniang arrived in Liyang, it was already noon the next day. At this time, the "absconding" incident was like a huge stone, causing a stir in the quiet and peaceful Huanglongpo camp.
It’s not that Xinchang Hou Li Pu and others wanted to make this matter public, but the Hepu County Yamen to which Yandangji Manor Courtyard was affiliated also noticed the abnormality of people leaving the Yandangji Mansion being empty and reported it to the Jingzhao Mansion Yamen.
The governor of Jingzhao was also accompanying the driver in Liyang at the time. When he learned about the incident, he naturally went to the third prince Yang Yuanpu to verify it as soon as possible, and the "absconding" incident was exposed.
