Chapter 401: Vanguard Officer Heading South
Zhao Bing thought for a moment, half-closed his eyes and said helplessly: Now is the time to use people, let’s ignore it for now, after I find a place to settle down, I will deal with this group of lawless soldiers.
At this time, the chief of the navy came to report that Zheng Qillang of the Fujian Navy of the New Song Dynasty had turned over to the light and was coming with eighty large ships.
Zhao Bing was overjoyed. He had become a wandering emperor without any foundation, but there were still people who came to him for help, which showed his loyalty. He immediately shouted to bring Qilang to the palace as soon as possible, and he wanted to personally summon the loyal man.
Zheng Qilang's joining him was like flattering him, severely slapping Cao Youwen of the New Song Dynasty. Zheng Qilang already belonged to the South China Sea formation of the Shenwei Navy, and his joining Zhao Bing was like slapping Zhao Yulin's face, adding glory to Zhao Bing.
The guy was so happy that he was dancing with joy. He was even happier than when he and the Queen caught a big turtle yesterday.
Zhao Bing occupied the county government office of Changguo County and treated it as his temporary palace. The imperial guards immediately let Zheng Qilang in.
When Zheng Qillang arrived at the county government office, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, crying about how he had gone through untold hardships to break away from the control of the Shenwei Army and brought back a new warship from the Shenwei Army.
Zhao Bing had already walked up to Zheng Qilang in two steps, praising Zheng Aiqing for his loyalty and righteousness, saying that he was the pillar of the court and my right-hand man. He immediately appointed Zheng Qilang as the deputy chief of the imperial navy and the vanguard officer of the southern expedition.
Zhao Bing's naval chief commander was unhappy to see that a low-ranking officer suddenly became his deputy and even the vanguard officer in the expedition.
He also wants to achieve success.
The fellow immediately fell to the ground and shouted "Long live the emperor", and reported to Zhao Bing that he was going to go ashore to rob Dinghai one last time to seize more food and weapons in preparation for his march south.
The chief steward of the Imperial City Bureau objected immediately. He said that the army had already disturbed Changguo badly. If we went ashore and caused bloodshed in Dinghai, what difference would it be compared to pirates?
This will cause the people of Song Dynasty to despise you.
Zhao Bing would definitely not agree to this. Who doesn't want to be a good emperor loved by everyone?
Zheng Qillang also came out to request not to go. He said that when he was leading the troops out, many soldiers were unwilling to fire the cannons because they were facing Song troops wearing the same uniforms, they were all Song people, and the Song army could not harm the Song people.
This concept was influenced by Zhao Yulin. The slogan promoted by the Shenwei Army was that Song people cannot fight Song people.
On the huge warship he had brought out, the captain of the artillery operating the red cannon refused to fire a single shot at the pursuing Shenwei Navy even if he died.
After being influenced, this person also felt the same way and stopped forcing the soldiers to fire.
He also didn't dare to kill all the soldiers operating the Red Cannon, because these soldiers had just been transferred from the Zhanjiang Naval Port, and only they knew how to operate the Red Cannon.
However, the chief steward of the navy thought that Zheng Qilang had ruined his good fortune, so he took a severe grudge against him.
He asked, our vanguard officer has just come from Fuzhou and is familiar with the situation along the way. Now the emperor is going to conquer Jilong, what does the vanguard officer think?
Zheng Qillang had just been appointed deputy chief of the navy and had been promoted eight levels in a row. He felt the emperor's grace and was feeling overjoyed when he suddenly saw that Zhao Bing's troops had already turned into pirates. The seeds of disappointment sprouted in his chest and the hot blood flowing in his body gradually cooled down.
He was worried that these hungry wolves would extend their claws to his hometown of Fujian, which was absolutely not acceptable.
He quickly said that the emperor was wise. Although it was not the monsoon season, there were still occasional tailwinds. Changguo County was closest to Jilong, so we should take advantage of the monsoon and fly directly to Jilong, and we would arrive within two days.
Besides, the Liuqiu navy has only a few large ships, so they are no match for us. We can just fire a few shots from his red cannons and make them raise the white flag and surrender.
Zhao Bing was very pleased to hear Zheng Qilang's flattering analysis. He happily ordered the three armies to make preparations as soon as possible. The astronomer made an accurate prediction and found the monsoon to set sail.
In Chengdu, Huo Fenghuang and Zhao Yulin have already arrived at Jianfu Palace in Qingcheng Mountain and settled down.
Fenghuang knew that he was in a bad mood because of the secret decree from the government, so she asked him to carry her up the mountain, and then picked wild flowers from the roadside for him, acting cute and coquettish, pretending to be a gentle young lady.
In the evening, the leader of the Qingcheng sect, Tianjizi, personally brought cured pork and chicken stewed with ginkgo nuts to accompany the wine. Huo Fenghuang told him that Tianjizi had done a good job in running the Qingcheng sect over the years. He sent nearly a hundred Qingcheng disciples to join the Shenwei Army, and last year he personally led his senior disciples to carry out the task of suppressing the rebellion of the Shunfeng Division.
Zhao Yulin was very satisfied and drank a cup with Tianjizi.
Compared with Yuyangzi, Tianjizi is completely different. In Yuyangzi's eyes, he saw a wandering and unfathomable gaze, while in Tianjizi's eyes, he saw sincerity. In his heart, he hoped that what he saw would always be sincerity.
On the second day, Zhao Yulin and Huo Fenghuang were enjoying their cup of Qingcheng tea when they heard Chu Yuxuan report that Lord Ding and Lord Li were coming.
The two of them immediately went out to greet them.
Haha, these two old men laughed and said that their brothers came out to cool off, but they didn’t even call the old men. Are they going to abandon them?
Zhao Yulin quickly asked, "No way."
No way!
It was all a spur-of-the-moment idea. Phoenix was tired, so he called it out to relax.
Huo Fenghuang knew that Zhao Yulin was using her as a shield, so she happily invited the two old gentlemen to the living room to have tea and drink this year's new Taoist tea from Qingcheng Mountain.
After the greetings, Mr. Li told him that he had known about the mutiny in Fuzhou and that Zheng Qillang was recommended by Li Liang, the pacification envoy of Fujian Road, who was also his younger cousin from the Li family.
Lord Li felt that his family had let down the new Song court.
Zhao Yulin laughed and said, "What's the difference? There are thousands of miles between them."
The closer the counties and cities were to Lin'an, the more prepared Zhao Yulin was. These places belonged to the core power areas of the Lin'an court. Like the New Song Dynasty, the pseudo-emperor Zhao Bing would also select and employ people seriously.
It is already a great progress for those officials who are able to understand the current situation and consider the overall situation and raise the flag to submit to the New Song Dynasty. How can we expect everyone to be sincere?
Mr. Li said that he had written a letter to reprimand his brother and persuade him to come to Chengdu to work together in the Taijiantang.
Zhao Yulin hurriedly asked how this could be done. The Fujian Pacifier was in his prime and it was a time when people were needed. How could he leave?
However, Mr. Ding thought that Mr. Li had done a good job. Fujian had returned to the New Song Dynasty for more than half a year and was relatively stable. Moreover, if the current situation in Fujian was to be changed, a strong person must be sent to carry out drastic reforms.
If Li Liang continued to stay in Fujian, how could he implement reforms without losing face?
He said: In this case, Fujian will inevitably change, and we need to plan who will take over. We need to return to Chengdu immediately to discuss with Cao Gong.
At this time, a familiar voice came from outside the door: "Why do you need to run away? We have discussed it here."
Everyone looked up and saw that it was Cao You who smelled it.
Fenghuang hurried out and made tea for Lao Cao herself.
Zhao Yulin asked what was the matter and asked the king to come here to discuss it.
Isn't it enough to just ask you all to go back?
Lao Cao asked him in a hey tone, "Chengdu has been as hot as a stove these days, and you're the only one allowed to enjoy the cool breeze, but we can't cool down too?"
Zhao Yulin was speechless and held up the teacup to invite him to taste the tea.
Lao Cao told him that he had informed the Central Council that they would come here to escape the summer heat tomorrow, and that if there was anything, we could discuss it here. If the Fujian Road Pacifier really wanted to come back, he hoped that Fenghuang could go with him.
Zhao Yulin looked at him blankly, not knowing what he was up to.
Lao Cao took a sip of tea before saying: The troops in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian have grown too fast, and most of them are reorganized from the old Song army. He hopes Fenghuang will go there to inspect and supervise military discipline. If Li Liang wants to come back, then let Fenghuang temporarily take the responsibility of the Fujian pacification envoy, and then appoint a pacification envoy after the rectification is completed.
Zhao Yulin thought his arrangement was good, but he was reluctant to let Fenghuang leave Chengdu.
He looked at Fenghuang hesitantly, but the woman had a look of joy on her face. She even stated publicly that she was grateful for the favor given by Lord Cao, and that if the country needed her, she would definitely fulfill her mission.
Seeing that the matter was irreversible, Zhao Yulin said helplessly, "Let's just leave it like this."
Let’s ignore what Lao Cao said for now, there are more important things.
He pulled out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Ding Gong, saying that the envoy from Lin'an had sent a letter, saying that this person wanted to be the pacification envoy of Liangzhe Road. He also wanted our Xin Song to help him defend the sea and pay for the military expenses of Yujie in Jiangbei.
Old Cao pointed to the letter in Mr. Ding's hand and said: That is the main reason why Cao asked Madam to make a trip. We must adopt a high-pressure stance towards Liangzhe.
Li Zhongmian angrily said that it was unbelievable that Shi Ze wanted to monopolize power at this time. He quit and asked to resign from the position of deputy director of the Central Council, and wanted to manage the Taijiantang with Ding Gong, and asked the king to approve it.
He wants to let the whole world see how upright and honest our New Song Dynasty court is.
Mr. Li suddenly resigned from his post. Both Zhao Yulin and Lao Cao felt caught off guard and looked at each other in shock.
Ding said that Li Gong was ill and had long since given up. Now that the country was settled, he would let Li Gong retire to the Censorate to recuperate, and he could also work with him to make suggestions for the central government.
After hearing what the two old men said, what else could they do but nod in agreement.
The next day, the officials of the Central Court of the New Song Dynasty arrived one after another. Immediately at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, war horses neighed and carriages were packed. Jianfu Palace was suddenly overcrowded. In order to make room, Yangjin and Zhao Feiyan, Huo Fenghuang and Shunzhidi all lived together.
Lao Cao laughed and said: It seems that Jianfu Palace needs to be expanded.
Zhao Yulin said that was easy, it was just a matter of a word from the king.
Cao Youwen burst into laughter.
They walked around the place and decided to open the palace wall at the back and expand the land by ten mu. They also repaired the meeting hall and handed it over to the Qingcheng Sect to take care of it. They would receive pilgrims at ordinary times and make arrangements in advance when needed.
Lao Cao said: This is like a small palace in the new Song Dynasty. In the previous dynasty, it was guarded as a royal garden and no outsiders were allowed to enter or leave.
Zhao Yulin said that although it is cool here, the humidity is also very high. If the house is closed and not used for a long time, it will rot quickly. Isn't that the biggest waste?
Lao Cao smiled and said, "That's right, just leave it to the Qingcheng Sect to take good care of it and don't waste it."
In the evening, Lao Cao convened a meeting and informed Li Gong that he would resign as deputy director of the Central Academy.
Everyone had a look of regret on their faces.
