Chapter 724 The General Army of Shanhaiguan!
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On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the fleet successfully arrived at Changsheng Island.
The island had already received the news before, and tens of thousands of people had gathered at the pier.
This time, the harvest brought back by Li Yuanqing and his fleet from Nanyang. Although the people did not know the detailed figures, each household had ten kilograms of pork, two kilograms of mutton, and one bucket of rice. This was real!
Everyone cheered and welcomed their general back!
Li Yuanqing was also in a very good mood.
In the past few days, the 'run-in' between him and Qi Caifeng has been very smooth, almost as smooth as silk.
Although there is some suspicion of rabbits eating grass on the edge of the nest, how can a real man care about small details when doing big things?
Li Yuanqing is not a saint. When it comes to the fat on his lips, how can he not eat it?
However, due to many important matters, the celebration at the dock only lasted less than an hour, and Li Yuanqing returned to his official hall by carriage.
In the next few days, as usual on the island, a large-scale flowing feast will be held.
And when Yang Lei and others come back from Denglai, they will continue to have New Year gifts distributed to every household.
Returning to the official hall that he was most familiar with, accompanied by Zhang Yunniang and Qu Minqiu, he took a "comfortable" hot bath and ate some food. However, Li Yuanqing did not think too much about enjoying the warmth, but came to the official hall.
, listen to the reports from Shang Laoliu and Ma Guanjia.
In the sixth year of Apocalypse, the war was indeed somewhat calm, but in terms of general trends, especially within the Ming Dynasty, some things were accelerating.
In the past, Li Yuanqing only had military strength and barely any financial resources. Even if he wanted to participate in many things, he had difficulty having a say and could only make arrangements in advance.
But at this time, with nearly 20 million taels of cash in hand, he already had ample capital and was looking forward to the future!
After listening to the reports of Shang Laoliu and Butler Ma, Li Yuanqing threw a cigar to each of them, took a sip of tea, and fell into deep thought.
In the past nearly a year, the island has been calm, and there has been no provocation from the main force of Houjin. Including the Gaizhou front line, everything is quite stable, and the crops are growing well.
The arms and supplies on the island have gradually accumulated in abundance.
However, there has not been much progress in terms of technology development and research.
However, in the Changsheng Island Arms Workshop, Xu Liang and the others have become more practical in the development of blunderbuss.
Now, a qualified bird gun from Changsheng Island can be fired ten times in a row before cooling off without worrying about exploding the barrel.
But Li Yuanqing understood that this was just the ultimate in traditional craftsmanship, and was far from the scope of innovation.
Of course, this is mainly because the steel smelting technology of the Ming Dynasty is not mature enough. If the strength of the gun tube is higher, let alone ten rounds, it will be twenty or thirty rounds.
"Brother Shang, Butler Ma, you have worked hard these days! But as the New Year is approaching and there are still so many things to do, it will be difficult for you to rest!"
Shang Laoliu smiled: "Yuan Qing, don't worry. Lao Ma and I have already made preparations. Please give us some directions and key goals for the next affairs!"
Butler Ma also smiled and nodded.
Li Yuanqing smiled: "I have been thinking about this matter before. The first thing that bears the brunt is the people's livelihood! Brother Shang and Housekeeper Ma, these days, we must try our best to ensure that every household on the island has sufficient food surplus for the New Year.
When Yang Lei comes back, the distribution of fresh meat must be carried out in time."
Shang Laoliu and Butler Ma quickly nodded respectfully.
By this time, they had already become very mature politicians.
State affairs, especially civil affairs, come first.
Especially at this time when everything seems a bit messy, it is even more important to do your part.
"The second point is about weapons workshops and shipyards. This will be the key development direction of our Changsheng Island in the next ten, even twenty, or thirty years! I brought back a lot from Nanyang during this trip.
White craftsmen! In terms of their treatment, you must ensure that they are fully treated and make them willing to use their skills to serve us! And..."
…………
After chatting with Shang Laoliu and Butler Ma, it was already evening and the sky was getting slightly dark.
Qu Minqiu personally carried a cup of hot ginseng soup and came to Li Yuanqing, but said with some taste: "Yuan Qing, it seems that you have gained a lot from this trip!"
Of course Li Yuanqing understood what she was thinking and couldn't help but smile: "Don't worry, Min Qiu. After the new year, I will finish my work and I will make up for it for you."
Qu Minqiu blushed, but she also reacted, "After the new year? Yuan Qing, you still want to go out? Has it been a long time since you came home? Your butt is not hot yet, right?"
Li Yuanqing smiled and held Qu Minqiu in his arms, and kissed her pretty face hard, "I can't help myself in this situation! I haven't been to the capital for more than a year."
At this time, Zhang Yuniang also came over with a cup of tea from outside, and said with a somewhat panicked face: "Brother, what, why are you leaving again?"
Li Yuanqing knew what they were thinking, so he smiled and said: "This time, I will take you and Min Qiu to the capital together. However, I can't take Dingbei and a few babies with me."
Qu Minqiu also reacted and said hurriedly: "Yuan Qing, but, what happened in Beijing?"
"misfortune?"
Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "There is no such thing as an accident. It's just that there are some favors that must be done well. Yun Niang, Min Qiu, you have worked hard these days. Can you handle the affairs on the island smoothly?"
Zhang Yuniang and Qu Minqiu looked at each other, and Zhang Yuniang said: "Brother, the affairs on the island are now on the right track. There should be no problems."
Li Yuanqing nodded.
A long time ago, Li Yuanqing instilled the 'professional manager' system into Zhang Yunniang and Qu Minqiu.
After all, if you have to be like Zhuge Liang in everything and do everything personally, then even a superman will be exhausted!
In the Ming Dynasty, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was really not easy to find a good and capable official, because the network was so big that even Monkey Sun would have a hard time breaking free.
But in terms of business, the sprouts of capitalism had already appeared in the late Ming Dynasty. Even if there were reasons why it was not as prosperous as in the Southern Song Dynasty, it still didn't take much effort to find some reliable shopkeepers.
Not to mention, there is also the name Li Yuanqing.
"You should prepare for this as soon as possible! I plan to leave early tomorrow morning!"
"ah?"
Zhang Yunniang couldn't help but exclaimed: "Brother, is this so fast?"
Li Yuanqing nodded, "Time waits for no one! It's freezing cold today, we must arrive in the capital before the year!"
As he said that, Li Yuanqing's eyes suddenly became sharp!
…………
In fact, it's not surprising that Li Yuanqing was so impatient.
Originally, the compromise reached between Li Yuanqing and Governor Yuan was that Li Yuanqing would not participate in major military affairs in Liao during the sixth and seventh years of Tianqi.
Due to the limited conditions at that time, Li Yuanqing really wanted to safely shrink his presence in Liao and concentrate on managing Nanyang affairs.
But the trip to Nanyang went much smoother than expected. The abundant financial resources also gave Li Yuanqing the confidence to dare to compete with Governor Yuan!
Even if it is not positive, at least it can make the Ming Dynasty, especially the Liao Dynasty, take less wrongful roads and spend less money.
Governor Yuan's so-called "peace negotiation" is nothing more than giving money to the dog Tatar!
Li Yuanqing would never stand it if the people of the Ming Dynasty used their hard-earned money to fatten the pockets of the Tatars!
Even if it really couldn't stop Governor Yuan's wanton behavior, at least Li Yuanqing couldn't make him feel too comfortable!
Not to mention, the weather is about to change.
Li Yuanqing also had to plan in advance on the big ship of King Xin.
After only resting for one day on Changsheng Island, early the next morning, under the protection of the Spanish frigates, Li Yuanqing's fleet was divided into two waves and slowly sailed out of Nanxinkou Pier.
However, this matter is extremely private. Except for the supervisor Wei Liang, the fourth wife of the inner house Zhang Baozhu, as well as Shang Laoliu and housekeeper Ma, no one else knows about it.
Li Yuanqing also wrote a personal letter to Chen Zhong, asking him to come to the capital as soon as possible to join him.
The fleet carried gifts and cash all the way to Tianjin, and the other way, led by Li Yuanqing himself, headed to Shanhaiguan.
Before going to the capital, it was necessary for him to have a good chat with Mangui, and on the way, send Mangui the dividends from Liaonan Commercial Bank.
The day of the twelfth lunar month.
It's absolutely freezing!
Especially this year, it seems to be colder than previous years. There are a lot of floating ice on the sea. If future generations look at it, where is this Liao Sea? Is it clearly the Arctic Ocean?
However, these icebergs are incomparable to iceberg floes in the Arctic Ocean. The largest ones are about the size of a fat sheep and do not pose a real threat to navigation.
Li Yuanqing brought five hundred soldiers with him on this trip, fully equipped and with more than a thousand war horses. On the other hand, there were more than a thousand men and women who went to Tianjin, fully armed.
At this level, something could happen at any time, and Li Yuanqing couldn't help but be careless!
However, although the general situation is a bit tight and can be said to be ever-changing, Li Yuanqing's life on the ship is still quite comfortable.
On this trip, Li Yuanqing not only brought Zhang Yunniang and Qu Minqiu, but also fifty female guards led by Qi Caifeng.
Of course, in this current situation, Li Yuanqing's priority was to accompany his two eldest wives first.
However, due to ice floes on the sea, the fleet's sailing was slightly slower. When Li Yuanqing arrived at Shanhaiguan, it was already the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Some soldiers had already communicated the news to the new Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief, Man Gui. This guy directly led the soldiers dozens of miles away, escorting Li Yuanqing and his party all the way to the Shanhaiguan Pass.
Shanhaiguan.
In the late Ming Dynasty, no one would refute the saying that it was the first level in the world.
The position of Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief is also very critical.
But at this time, because Liaoxi was still holding the position outside, the position of Commander-in-Chief of Shanhaiguan seemed a bit useless and embarrassing.
After passing Xilao City, Beiluo City, and entering Guancheng, they sent someone to greet Li Yuanqing's family members. Man Gui took Li Yuanqing's hand and strode to the official hall!
As soon as he sat down, Mangui said: "Yuanqing, you must already know what the current situation in Liao is, right? I'm so stupid, you're just trying to kill the donkey!"
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Chapter completed!