In the past, the best way to travel north and south was waterways.

Because of the prosperity of the Grand Canal in Beijing and Hangzhou, the canal can pass through even in the late winter. Boats are used in the south and ice sleds are used in the north.

Or when there is a big deal, the north will directly break the ice and the ship can be smooth all the way.

In the morning, on the Grand Canal, you can often see carved carving boats of nobles and nobles carrying beautiful wives and concubines all the way, including some courtesans.

It is also the best way for ordinary people to get close to these upper-class people.

But it's ridiculous.

Even at this time, countless literati of the dynasty did not know whether to show their presence or something. They pulled Emperor Yang of Sui out to "whip the corpse" from time to time, completely forgetting that they were enjoying the many benefits left by this tough emperor.

The canal is a bit difficult to deal with at this time.

It’s not that the weather is too cold and it is impossible to leave after the ice is frozen. The Model Army’s icebreaking methods are already very advanced at this time, and the engineers are all playing with this kind of blasting.

The main reason is that the ship is not good now.

Ships on inland rivers and sea boats are completely different concepts.

Although there are many ships in Jining, most of them are cargo ships, or luxurious "cruises" with carved buildings and paintings, which are not suitable for military use at all.

Xu Changqing thought about it again and again, but decided to take the land route.

It just so happened that we took this opportunity to get more mules, horses and carts from Kong Yinzhi and these wealthy merchants.

In the past few days, everyone and the department have basically prepared almost the same.

Early in the morning of the second day of November, although ice chips began to float in the sky again, they could no longer stop the army's sharpness.

With Xu Changqing waved his hand, a huge team of nearly 20,000 people left Qufu in turn and headed south with the main force of the Model Army as the core.

Of course, even if he doesn't walk on the Grand Canal, Xu Changqing will still walk along the canal. He has to personally inspect the status of the canal.

Speaking of which, the Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou is definitely comparable to the Suez Canal of later generations, and it is the core artery of China.

Even if the route is blocked and people's livelihood is in decline, Xu Changqing will not give up and even plan to mobilize the enthusiasm of the nobles and wealthy families. Even if the canal cannot be expanded, at least it must be strengthened and build more docks with better carrying and transit capabilities.

On the one hand, it can solve some employment problems, so that many miserable people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can have a taste of food and stimulate economic recovery. On the other hand, it will further strengthen Xu Changqing's influence and control, laying the foundation for the model army to enter the Grand Canal.

This thing may not be as good as a train, but the cost is undoubtedly much lower than that of a train, and it is even more rewarding!

...

Land is much slower than water.

Fortunately, there was no enemy situation at this time, everyone was very relaxed and their mood became clearer.

In the evening, a large group of people set up camp in a small town.

This town was robbed by the Qing army, but the people here were smart. Many of them ran to the nearby countryside before the Qing army arrived. Although they suffered a lot of injuries in the mountains, they did not hurt them.

The main reason is the reputation in this small town. A gentry named Liu implemented Xu Changqing's "guerrilla" idea very well.

This also made everyone feel better. Xu Changqing personally met Mr. Liu, encouraged him with kind words, and gave him a lot of standard bird guns from the Model Army. He also promised to leave him with several officers from the Model Army to help him train the team.

Yuanwai Liu couldn't help but burst into tears. He immediately sent someone to kill pigs and sheep, and offered Xu Changqing a military capital of 1,000 taels, and showed goodwill to Xu Changqing in his greatest way.

Xu Changqing did not reject Liu Yuanwai's benefits, and accepted it with a smile, but whispered to him.

Mr. Liu really wanted to explode when he heard this, and kowtowed to Xu Changqing desperately: "Marty, I really don't know how to repay your kindness. Unfortunately, I was caught with my strength and suffered this disaster again. I really couldn't take it out.

What to do? In this way, the Marquis, the son of the Dog, has been smart since childhood, and has achieved fame of scholars at the age of eighteen. I beg Marquis, you to take him in and let him be by your side, and serve you for me."

As he said that, he called a very clever young man in his early twenties.

This young man seemed to have inherited his spirituality. He was not reserved when he came in, nor did he say anything, but knelt down to Xu Changqing: "Student Liu Yan, I must take him in, and I am willing to be a cow or a horse."

Xu Changqing looked at Mr. Liu again.

In fact, Xu Changqing had long had this idea and absorbed the children of gentry into the model army. Unfortunately, even at this time, many gentry and wealthy families were still unwilling to let go of their reserve and had not been able to take shape.

Even Xu Changqing didn't expect that someone in a small town where he couldn't remember the name, there was such courage.

"Ha ha."

Xu Changqing helped the two men up with his own hands, "Mr. Liu, I admire your decision a little! Okay, this child will be accepted! From now on, your Liujia Town will reduce the tax by another 30% for another ten years!"

Mr. Liu couldn't help but be overjoyed and hurriedly pulled his son and kowtowed.

...

After seeing off Mr. Liu and Mr. Liu, Xu Changqing was about to illuminate a bag of cigarettes comfortably and planned to 'buy a thousand dollars to buy horse bones'. Zheng Chagu looked unhappy and walked in proudly: "Brother Xu, didn't you agree to play together? But you ignored me today, I was angry."

Xu Changqing smiled and pinched her pretty face with a smile: "Isn't this busy business? Let's go out for a walk and call your brother to have dinner together later."

“It’s almost the same.”

Zheng Chagu instantly turned from Yin to Qing, and walked out with Xu Changqing.

The town was not damaged too seriously, but there was really nothing good to see. It was still a distance from the canal and was not even considered a transit station. Although Liu Yuanwai's family was in business, he was just doing some local specialty businesses and was not rich.

I'm afraid this is also the core reason why he decided to hold Xu Changqing's thighs tightly.

Xu Changqing took Zheng Chagu for a while and the girl felt bored. She was about to trick Xu Changqing and asked Xu Changqing to take her outside the town, but suddenly there was a crisp sound of bird guns coming from a distance, which made Xu Changqing's face change.

Zheng Chagu was a little scared at first, but immediately gave up his fear and became excited. Little stars were about to flash in his beautiful eyes, and he said excitedly: "Brother Xu, is there a horse thief coming to attack us? I have never seen a horse thief."

Xu Changqing immediately gave her a look in anger.

This girl is pure provocation.

Not to mention his reputation as Xu Changqing, the model army was here at this time, and there were more than 2,000 cavalrymen from Zhang Hu's army. What horse thief dared to pick up Xu Changqing's tiger beard?

Are you tired of living?

Before Xu Changqing could educate Zheng Chagu, personal soldiers came to report that it was the Japanese soldiers under Zheng Sen who were competing with the precise shooter under Zhao Zengjin.

Zheng Chagu was a little afraid of Xu Changqing, who was about to get angry, but she couldn't help but be happy and said, "Wow, Brother Xu, there is such a thing, let's go over and take a look."

Xu Changqing was speechless about Zheng Chagu's ability to pretend to be an ostrich, and he was too lazy to argue with him. He strode towards Zhao Zengjin's headquarters to the south of the town.

This matter was actually Xu Changqing's gesture to Zhao Zengjin. He had always wanted to see what level these Japanese soldiers were.

"Bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang..."

When Xu Changqing and Zhao Zengjin arrived here, the sound of bird guns was already excited, one after another.

Among the dozens of Japanese soldiers, the same number of model army precision shooters were playing with their marksmanship. Many onlookers had already gathered around him. Zhao Zengjin and Zheng Sen were in the middle, competing to cheer for their respective commands.

Seeing Xu Changqing and his group coming, the two hurried over to salute.

Xu Changqing smiled and waved his hand to let them get up and asked, "Successful."

What is the result?”

Zhao Zengjin's face was a little dark, but Zheng Sen said excitedly: "Marty, let's just share the same color for the time being. Is the model army a strong army with hundreds of battles? The Japanese under the students are still inferior to those of the Japanese."

But although Zheng Sen said so, his and Zhao Zengjin's faces had already explained the problem. On the way Xu Changqing came, he also heard some differences from the sound of different bird guns.

He smiled and said, "Although the competition is good, it cannot be in the town. How can the people rest? Let's find a wide field tomorrow and have a good test."

"yes."

The two of them also reacted at this time and hurriedly asked everyone on both sides to stop.

Zhao Zengjin turned around and looked at Xu Changqing awkwardly, wanting to speak but stopping.

Xu Changqing winked at him and signaled to say later.

...

After dinner, Zheng Chagu had drunk several glasses of wine and was excited. Fortunately, Zheng Sen was here and knew the rules, so he kept pulling her and preventing her from running towards Xu Changqing.

After all, even if the two have already had a engagement, they may even have a husband and wife, but the Zheng family still has to keep some face in the end, right?

After arranging all the matters, Zhao Zengjin immediately complained to Xu Changqing indignantly, "Brother, these Japanese Japanese bird guns, I don't know what's going on, their power is even stronger than our model army's bird guns. Especially at a distance of eighty and ninety steps, their power is obviously greater than our bird guns, and their accuracy is also better. This is a damn thing, the guys want to use the knife..."

This guy has been following Xu Changqing, and has long been used to Xu Changqing calling the Japanese "Divine" privately, and he blurted out at this time.

Fortunately, after years of polishing, this guy has become a little scheming and knows how to maintain the decency of adults.

Xu Changqing glared at him angrily, and he immediately became depressed and did not dare to set off firecrackers anymore, but his face was full of grievances.

Xu Changqing threw him a cigar, lit one himself, and spit out a long breath of smoke and said, "Gold, look at your fucking prospect! Why did I tell you, there are people outside of others, and there is heaven beyond the sky. Do you really think you are invincible in the world? Oh, someone is better than you, and you will destroy the whole family?"

“…”

Zhao Zengjin felt wronged, but how dare he refute Xu Changqing on his face? A famous general who was already famous all over the world was as aggrieved as a child at this time...

After scolding him for a long time, Xu Changqing's face became solemn: "These Japanese still have some skills. Have you noticed that their gun barrels are obviously longer than us and are one star thicker?"

"Ai?"

Zhao Zengjin also came back to his senses: "Brother, you mean..."

Xu Changqing said: "If you want to shoot farther, the barrel of the bird gun should be longer and thicker. This is the basic principle of physics. It is reasonable that our bird guns are not as thick as theirs, and it is inferior to them. Moreover, the Japanese have some tricks in smelting. By the way, what do you think of these Japanese soldiers? If you really want to start a war, what is the state of the same force?"

Zhao Zengjin had considered this issue and hurriedly said, "Brother, what do these Japanese guys say? Although they don't pinch their heads enough, they are very fierce when they really do things. Their desperate spirit is even more fierce than our men. Moreover, the good pistol skills among them are not weak, and they are not much different from our precise shooters. But if they do it, I promise to be able to crush them steadily, but they should have to suffer some casualties..."

Zhao Zengjin said something and suddenly slapped his head, "By the way, brother, there is another thing, I almost forgot to tell you. After these Japanese Japanese's bird guns were fired, I don't know what happened. Their smoke was obviously less than ours. This also made these dogs' fire faster than ours. This is the key reason why our children lost a little today..."

"Um?"
Chapter completed!