Chapter 149 Liao Yongzhong Goes North to Raise Navy
Given Liao Yongzhong's loyalty to Zhu Yuanzhang and his position as the head of the navy, he was qualified to know Chen Biao's true identity.
But unfortunately, this person was always a little too smart, which made Zhu Yuanzhang a little wary of him.
This warning was not that Zhu Yuanzhang was wary of him rebelling, but that he would be wary of him being clever and doing something that went against Chen Biao's wishes.
Now Liao Yongzhong has finally become a calm person after many hardships. The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang has not told Liao Yongzhong the truth is simply because... he has forgotten.
Liao Yongzhong has been training troops in Fujian and Guangdong. Isn't it normal that Zhu Yuanzhang forgot to tell him about this?
Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was normal. Although Liao Yongzhong was qualified to know this matter, Zhu Yuanzhang would not brag about Chen Biao being his son unless necessary, right?
So Liao Yongzhong has been kept in the dark until now. Even after responding to the Queen, he has also been kept in the dark.
Liao Yongzhong really had good intentions when he asked Chen Biao to come back and participate in the battle.
Chen Biao has the ability, and now he has the opportunity. As long as Chen Biao doesn't go to the front line, he will definitely get the credit.
After the world is stabilized, if you want to make military achievements again, you should go to Mobei or Yunnan. These are places where people can die just by the environment. It is not suitable for Chen Biao to go there again.
Chen Biao has the talent to govern the country and should comfort the people's livelihood in the Central Plains, just like Chang Yuchun should continue to farm.
Liao Yongzhong never expected that Chen Biao, as the crown prince, didn't need any merit at all. Therefore, any danger should be eliminated...
etc!
After Liao Yongzhong finished crying, he wiped his tears with a strange look on his face: "Is Biao'er really the prince? Biao'er is the prince, and the lord still let him guard the city when he was young?!"
Liao Yongan said, "What are you talking about? The Lord didn't ask Biao'er to defend the city. It was Biao'er who went to visit relatives and was accidentally surrounded by Chen Han."
Liao Yongzhong said, "But the lord defeated Zhang Shicheng first before returning to support! That's the prince! Could it be that the lord has other sons, so the prince..."
Liao Yongan dropped his teacup and gave Liao Yongzhong a big slap: "Shut up! The relationship between the Emperor and the Crown Prince is stronger than gold, stop talking nonsense!"
"I think the love you're talking about is weird. Shouldn't you say the love between father and son is deep?" Liao Yongzhong complained, then said, "But..."
Liao Yongan cursed, "No buts! My lord, you only know the prince's ability . Zhu Wenzheng and the prince wrote to my lord together, saying they could hold out for three months, but my lord rushed back in just one month."
Liao Yongzhong was shocked. "How young was the Crown Prince at that time? He personally wrote a letter to the Lord, asking him to defend the city?"
Liao Yongan nodded. "Yes. When I was staying at the Chen family, the master showed off the letter written by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and while showing it off... he smiled triumphantly."
Actually, it was just showing off while wiping tears. But for the sake of the lord's image, let's change the word.
Liao Yongzhong was stunned for a long time, then said, "If the Crown Prince's defense of the city was an accident, then the Crown Prince would be the vanguard of the attack on Beiping..."
Liao Yongan said, "Only His Royal Highness can command the safe use of new firearms . His Royal Highness was originally responsible for logistics. As for how he became the vanguard and attacked the city, you should ask Marshal Xu."
Liao Yongzhong was speechless. "Then His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the Beiping defenders to confront Wang Baobao head-on, and even personally fought against the generals. And the lord didn't know about it?"
Liao Yongan nodded: "Of course."
Liao Yongzhong was even more speechless: "Then what does the lord know?"
Liao Yongan: “…”
Liao Yongzhong asked, "My Lord, are you truly qualified to be a father?"
Liao Yongan: "...Shut up."
Liao Yongzhong wiped his tears and snot, stood up and said, "I understand my lord. Once the Crown Prince goes to Peking, he won't be able to control everything. But my lord shouldn't let the Crown Prince guard Peking. It's a border town, how can a Crown Prince guard a border town?"
Liao Yongan spread his hands: "Didn't I submit a memorial? And why did you scold me like that?"
Liao Yongzhong laughed awkwardly: "How would I know Biao'er is the prince..."
Liao Yongan said, "So Biao'er has made tremendous contributions, but no one else knows he is the crown prince. How can the lord remove Biao'er from his position and let him return to rest? That would be disheartening to the meritorious official."
Liao Yongzhong: "..." He always felt that his elder brother was being sarcastic to him, but he had no evidence.
Liao Yongan said, "However, the Crown Prince is protected by Zhu Wenzheng, Li Wenzhong, and Chen Ying. The remaining Yuan Dynasty currently lacks the ability to organize another southward expedition, so it would be a good idea to have the Crown Prince remain in Peking. When the Crown Prince's identity is announced, with his meritorious service in defending the border, who can challenge his position?"
Liao Yongzhong nodded.
After nodding, Liao Yongzhong suddenly laughed and said, "That guy Hu Quan is so proud of himself because his daughter gave birth to a prince. I just want to know how sad he will be when the identity of the crown prince is announced."
Liao Yongan rolled his eyes at Liao Yongzhong and said, "Hu Quan is not stupid. He knows that the prince born to his daughter cannot become the crown prince. But if he is not the crown prince, he is still a prince. He is right to be proud. At present, the emperor has only this one illegitimate son. Scarcity makes things valuable. It is normal for him to be proud."
Scarcity makes things valuable... A legitimate son is fine, but what's so great about having a concubine's son? Well, none of the other concubines gave birth to a prince, only his daughter did, so it's normal for Hu Quan to be proud.
The person Hu Quan shows off to every day is not everyone, but only Hu Tingrui.
Hu Tingrui's daughter was named a noble concubine, while Hu Quan's daughter entered Zhu Yuanzhang's harem earlier than Hu Guifei, but was only named a concubine. It is unknown what their relationship was, but the fathers of the two Hu concubines began to compare themselves.
Hu Tingrui was a skilled fighter and had made outstanding military achievements. Hu Quan couldn't compare to him, so this was the only way to compare.
Thinking about how the concubines' relatives were so proud of calling themselves "royal relatives", while the real prince was guarding the border for the Ming Dynasty and had already made three military achievements worthy of being awarded a title, and his contributions to civil administration were countless, Liao Yongzhong touched his dark circles and wondered why he wanted to laugh so much.
"Ah, since the lord doesn't mind the prince going to the battlefield, shouldn't he be allowed to return to participate in the battle against Zhang Shicheng? Not only would it be safer, but he could also make greater contributions and surprise everyone." Liao Yongzhong said happily, "I'll go and make a report tomorrow."
Liao Yongan watched his brother courting death and stopped trying to stop him.
Since his younger brother knew that he was courting death and still wanted to do so, why should he stop him? Wouldn't it be better to just sit back and watch his younger brother being beaten by the lord?
Anyway, you can't beat him to death.
Liao Yongzhong failed to submit the memorial, and Li Shanchang tore it up in front of him.
Li Shanchang said angrily, "His Majesty said that if you submit such a memorial again, you should tear it up directly without seeing the emperor."
Liao Yongzhong sighed deeply. He really thought it was a good thing to let the prince participate in the battle against Zhang Shicheng.
Li Shanchang said, "His Majesty sees that you have nothing to do, so he will give you a job."
Liao Yongzhong was puzzled: "Aren't we going to attack Zhang Shicheng?"
Li Shanchang said: "His Majesty finds you annoying and does not want to give you credit for the victory over Zhang Shicheng, so you don't need to go to attack Zhang Shicheng this time."
Liao Yongzhong: “…”
He wanted to ask who would lead the Liao family's navy, but before he could even finish his words, he immediately shut up and almost bit his tongue.
Liao Yongzhong is not stupid, he just likes to be smart sometimes. Now, under the encouragement of his elder brother's love, he has made great progress.
He immediately realized that this was a test from Zhu Yuanzhang.
Now, including Deng Yu, those who have their own troops, have already rotated their soldiers several times.
The soldiers fighting under Deng Yu and others today are no longer Deng Yu's subordinates.
Even the soldiers under the lord's three most trusted adopted sons had been replaced several times. The fire musket team led by Chen Ying was so difficult to train that once a group was trained, Zhu Yuanzhang would split them up and assign them to other armies.
This was to increase the vitality of other armies, and secondly to weaken Chen Ying's dominance over the fire gun team.
The only army under Zhu Yuanzhang that never rotated its generals was the Chaohu navy.
The Ming Dynasty had already expanded its navy. With the support of Chen Biao's formidable business ability to "turn stone into gold," and Zhu Yuanzhang's willingness to build a more powerful navy for Chen Biao's sake, half of the Ming Dynasty's navy, in addition to the Chaohu Navy, was now in the hands of Tang He and others.
When Liao Yongzhong led the navy to support the battlefields in Fujian and Guangdong, Tang He also led the newly formed Ming navy.
However, the generals who came out of Chaohu that year are still under the command of Liao Yongzhong and the Yu family and have not been rotated.
This wasn't a case of Liao Yongzhong and the Yu family being unwilling to change; there were more practical reasons. The Chaohu naval commanders were only good at naval warfare; on land, they were just third-rate generals and third-rate soldiers. Most of Zhu Yuanzhang's generals were landlubbers, looking for the tallest among the short ones. The only two who could barely command the navy were Tang He and Chang Yuchun.
Chang Yuchun was a brave warrior who could fight in any battle, except for flying. However, he had to work in the fields, so the only one who could fight in a water battle was Tang He, whose commanding ability was average.
Liao Yongzhong and the three brothers of the Yu family were rare first-class naval generals under Zhu Yuanzhang, so they naturally continued to lead the navy.
Obviously, this cannot last long.
Zhu Yuanzhang had sent many young generals to hone their skills under the Chaohu navy, and now that some talented people had emerged, it was time to rotate the navy's commanders.
After Liao Yongzhong figured it out, he immediately said, "Okay, I'll go to Beiping to guard the border! Who should I replace?"
Li Shanchang said, "I'm not asking you to exchange the lord's three adopted sons for yours. You're asking me to follow Biao'er's orders and go north to train a navy. Biao'er wants to establish a trading port in Haijin Town to trade with Japan and Goryeo. But Goryeo is being ambivalent and is very ambiguous towards the remnant Yuan Dynasty; Japan..."
Li Shanchang frowned. "I don't know what the situation is like in Japan right now, but there are more and more pirates. To protect merchant ships and ports, the north also needs a navy. Since you know Biao'er's identity, it's only right that you be sent there."
