It is mid-spring in Beiping County in April. The bells and grasses are long and green. Lush forests cover this vast and fertile field. By the forest, the water is like a wide jade belt, winding and flowing to the distant sea.

On both sides of the Rushui River, vitality gradually appeared in abandoned villages, with smoke rising from cooking, and busy farmers could be seen in the abandoned arable land.

On the official road beside Rushui, a team of hundreds of cavalry rushed towards him. The fierce sound of horse hooves shocked the quiet morning. Farmers in the distance put down their hoes and looked at the running cavalry curiously.

After several days and nights, Yang Yuanqing came to this sparsely populated land again. He was at the forefront of the cavalry team and was galloping south quickly under the escort of the 500 cavalry team.

At noon the next day, the cavalry gradually arrived at the mouth of the Rushui River where the shipbuilding site was located. Compared with the desolation I saw last time, there was obvious vitality around the shipbuilding site.

Many farmers who moved south specially set their homes near shipbuilding stations. Three or four villages appeared in the field, and the population gathered together, gradually forming a town called Rukou Town, with large areas of farmland around them.

Although the town is still relatively simple, several shops have appeared, selling some daily necessities and the reopening of shipbuilding stations has brought business opportunities to many people.

About two miles away from the town, there is a long wall. The gate has been renovated. The original iron gate has disappeared and turned into a gate like a city tower with soldiers patrolling on it. Several soldiers stood guard at the door, and no abnormal people are allowed to enter.

On both sides of the gate were filled with farmers selling vegetables, various vegetables, fresh poultry, eggs, chickens and ducks, and fish caught from the water in the morning. As well as various prey, more than a hundred housewives and elderly people were carrying baskets to buy vegetables. The gate was bustling and very lively.

Several soldiers discovered a large group of cavalry coming from afar, and hurriedly drove the farmers selling vegetables to the side, gave way, and a cavalry team rushed over for a moment.

As there were many children running at the gate, Yang Yuanqing slowed down his horse speed. He looked at the lively spontaneous markets on both sides, and there was no annoyance in his eyes. On the contrary, this kind of excitement and vitality made people feel hope for the future.

The army stationed at the shipbuilding station was about 1,000 people, and the general was a general named Yu. He heard from the soldiers that His Highness of the King of Chu arrived. He was so scared that he ran out quickly and knelt down on one knee to salute, "I am humble to serve Yu Zhenwu, please see the general manager!"

"General Yu is exempted from the gift!"

Yu Zhenwu stood up. He saw that there were too many people selling vegetables on both sides and blocked the road into a narrow one. He felt a little nervous. He hurriedly said, "Bizhi drove them away immediately."

Yang Yuanqing waved his hand, "It's not necessary. You can build some greenhouses outside and let them sell vegetables in the greenhouse. This will not only maintain order and also facilitate shipbuilders, but also do not drive them away roughly."

"I understand and arrange for soldiers to build a shed immediately."

Yang Yuanqing turned over and dismounted and walked into the shipbuilding station. Zhao Guangcai, the head of the shipbuilding station, also came up and bowed to salute. "See Your Highness, King of Chu!"

Zhao Guangcai was about thirty years old and was from the Fengzhou imperial examination. He was originally a military officer in Luo Shixin's army. He was recommended by Luo Shixin as the head of the shipbuilding office and was fully responsible for various affairs of the shipbuilding office.

Yang Yuanqing smiled and nodded, "Zhao Shucheng is exempted from gifts. I received the report you wrote, so I came to inspect the construction progress of the ship."

Zhao Guangcai wrote a report ten days ago. Unexpectedly, the King of Chu arrived in just ten days, which made him feel a little nervous. He also knew the King of Chu’s importance to shipbuilding stations.

"I am willing to report in detail to His Highness the King of Chu."

Yang Yuanqing nodded and walked into the shipbuilding station. From a distance, he saw hundreds of sea boats moored on the estuary and coastal waters. Compared with the last time, many large ships had been repaired, with large masts standing up and sails hanging on them.

Yang Yuanqing later learned that there were more than 400 warships moored in the boat yard at Ruhekou, half of which were unfinished ships, while the other half were ships that participated in the Battle of Goryeo. Some of them were damaged, so they were moored in the boat yard at Ruhekou for repair. These ships could be used with a little repair. This is why a large number of ships were repaired in less than two months.

In the distance, rows of houses were built in a wilderness by the river. The river was filled with women washing clothes, and groups of children were running and playing by the river. In the distance, there were boatmen busy on several large ships.

"How many boatmen are there now?" Yang Yuanqing asked.

Zhao Guangcai quickly replied: "Report to the general manager, there are a total of 1,900 boatmen and more than 2,000 craftsmen, as well as women, children and elderly people, nearly 6,000 people, basically from the three counties of Donglai, Beihai and Gaomi."

“There are six thousand people.”

Yang Yuanqing frowned slightly. He didn't expect so many people to come, "This way, it is necessary to send officials."

"It is necessary to send officials to help build cities and counties with low positions. With shipbuilding as a support, the county will soon prosper."

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment. This was indeed necessary. He would consider it. At this time, when the brothers Zhang Long and Zhang Hu heard that the King of Chu had arrived, they immediately rushed over and knelt down and kowtowed, "Little Minor Zhang Long, Zhang Hu will meet His Highness the King of Chu!"

The Zhang Long and Zhang Hu brothers received a huge reward for recruiting ship craftsmen. They have a very good relationship with each other and have management capabilities. Currently, the two thousand ship owners are under their control.

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "You two are exempted from gifts. Zhao Shucheng's report praised you for your cooperation. Thank you for your hard work."

"This is what the little people should do."

The two brothers were both grateful and ashamed of Zhao Guangcai. In fact, they did not cooperate very well. At the beginning, they had a big quarrel with Zhao Guangcai over residential conflicts, and later they slowly cooperated tacitly.

The group walked towards the mouth of the river, and Zhao Guangcai whispered: "Your Highness, the King of Chu has completed 114 ships. I wonder when the navy will be established?"

The establishment of a naval army has always been something that Yang Yuanqing was considering, but there is no suitable general now. The best naval army in the Sui Dynasty, Hu'er, is now in Xiao Xian, and he is old. However, his sons inherited his father's business and led the navy. He has sent people to contact him, and it should be a result soon.

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and said, "The navy army does not need to hurry. There are people here who are good at sailing boats."

"There are many people, the Zhang brothers are experts in boat driving and have very rich experience."

Yang Yuanqing looked back at the Zhang brothers behind him and smiled and said, "I want to take a boat to sea later, and I have to ask you brothers to drive the boat."

"I wish to drive the boat for Your Highness!"

Everyone boarded the largest warship, a huge transport ship, four zhang high and fifteen zhang long, and can transport 800 soldiers. This warship was also the flagship that came to Hu'er to attack Goryeo back then, and has been repaired.

There were several boatmen on the big ship busy applying tung oil to the ship. There were three floors on the ship, and the bottom cabin could also carry food and livestock, sails, cables, and iron anchors, and they could go out to sea at any time. Yang Yuanqing walked out of the side of the ship, and the sea breeze blew on the face, and groups of seagulls chirped on the water, which was refreshing.

"Master, do you want to go out to sea for a walk?" Ying Yanglang general Yu Zhenwu suggested with a smile.

Yang Yuanqing looked at the endless ocean in the distance, and he also had the courage to break through the wind and face the waves.

"Okay! Go out to sea for a walk!"

The big ship was busy immediately. Zhao Guangcai went to the boat craftsman to find more than 100 excellent sailors. Yu Zhenwu led more than 100 soldiers with strong water abilities on board. Zhang Long took the helm himself, hung the sails and untied the cables.

With a shout, "!"

The big ship swayed away from the shore, and soon drove out of the estuary and into the blue sea. There were slight wind and waves on the sea surface. The big ship was undulating, shaking waves on the sea surface, and groups of seagulls hovered at the stern.

Yu Zhenwu introduced on the side: "The general manager, this is the Bohai Sea. Walk straight south and you can reach Donglai County in about four days. Hejian County is to the west, and a large peninsula hundreds of miles to the east, and Bishe City is the southernmost point."

Yang Yuanqing nodded. Bishe City was later Dalian. Now the entire east of the Liaoshui River is Goguryeo. He looked back to the north and was Liaodong Bay to the north.

"How far is it from here to Pyongyang?" Yang Yuanqing asked after pondering.

"It takes about ten days to walk, cross the Bohai estuary eastward, and then drive seven or eight days to reach the Pyongyang estuary."

Yu Zhenwu was a little excited. Was the general manager restarting the shipbuilding station to attack Goryeo? But he didn't dare to ask. Yang Yuanqing stared at Dongfang with his hands behind his back and fell into long-term contemplation.

...........

Huaiyuan Town, Yanjun, was once the logistics center for Yangguang's expedition to Goryeo in Dongdong. Hundreds of warehouses were built to store a large amount of grain and weapons. As time goes by, these huge warehouses have long been abandoned, and the warehouses are empty and overgrown with weeds.

Huaiyuan Town became deserted for a while. At its peak, millions of civilians and troops were concentrated in this area, but now there are only more than a hundred families who rely on farming and merchants to make a living.

Huaiyuan Town has become lively again these days. An army of more than a thousand people drove to Huaiyuan Town. This was Gao Kaidao's army. Gao Kaidao personally led a thousand guards to Huaiyuan Town to talk to the envoys of Goryeo.

Because the Sui army won a great victory in Hebei, Gao Kaidao, who was seizing Liaodong, was deeply afraid. He knew that it was his turn next. In order to protect himself, Gao Kaidao finally chose to surrender to Goryeo.

In the camp, Gao Kaidao was worried. He received a quick report. Sui army general Luo Shixin led his army 50,000 troops outside Linyu Pass. It was obvious that they were about to launch an attack on Liaodong.

Although Goryeo has agreed to support him, this is just verbal support, which is far from enough. What he wants is the substantial support of Goryeo and to send troops to help him.

But Gao Kaidao also knew that the Goryeo people were wolves. Once their army entered Liaodong, they would not leave again. Gao Kaidao was a little hesitant, but as the situation became more and more tense, he resolutely decided to lead the Goryeo army into Liaodong and help him fight against the Sui army.

.............(To be continued)

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