Zhang Xuan has always been obsessed with the storm boat that Wu Yingqin told him. After returning to Jiangdu, he immediately sent someone to find such storm boats. Wu Yingqin once told him that there are two such storm boats in the river...≦...≦

At this time, he had already received a letter from Wei Yunqi, which clearly told him that the four strait boats in the Beiping County shipyard had indeed been demolished, and some materials, including keels, are currently in the warehouse in Shouguang County, but without drawings or sample references, the shipmaker could not rebuild such a large seaship.

Finding those two horizontal boats became Zhang Xuan’s top priority!

That morning, Zhang Xuan was inspecting the training of 6,000 sailors in the military camp. Although the court was stingy in official positions, the reward for his extermination of Meng Haigong was not large, but his title was upgraded to a higher level, the Ministry of War approved his application for expansion and allowed him to increase his troops by 10,000 to facilitate two-sided combat. In this way, his army quota reached 30,000, which was the same as Yang Yichen's army.

The expansion of the army made Zhang Xuan more excited than the promotion. In fact, his army had quietly increased by 10,000 people. First, he selected five thousand elite soldiers from prisoners of war from Xiapi County to join the army, and second, he had previously recruited five thousand Jianghuai naval troops under the name of recruiting water ghosts.

These five thousand navy troops are newly recruited, plus the 1,000 pirates under Qi Liang, a total of six thousand navy troops. Although the water quality is very good, the soldiers' combat ability is not good and it requires at least several months of intensive training.

Training the army has always been Yuchi Gong's strength. He can train a mob into an elite soldier in just two months.

On the training ground, I heard the thunderous roar of Yuchi Gong from afar, "Do you guys can't stand for an hour? It's common for two armies to fight, kill for a few days and nights. Where do you get the strength at that time? Or you will become a ghost under someone else's sword and stand up straight for me. Today is standing for three hours!"

Zhang Xuan stood on the platform and looked at the six thousand soldiers standing straight. He couldn't help but remember the situation when he was training soldiers for the first time, and a knowing smile appeared on his face.

At this time, the navy general Qi Liang hurried forward and bowed, "I'm not going to see the commander!"

After the expansion of the army, Zhang Xuan prepared to divide the 6,000 naval army into three armies, with three partial generals commanding them. Qi Liang was the partial general of the first naval army, but the candidates for the other two armies have not yet been decided.

"General Qi is exempted from the gift!"

Zhang Xuan nodded with a smile, and pointed at the soldiers on the training ground with a horse whip and asked, "How does General Qi think of this kind of training?"

Qi Liang sincerely praised: "I admire General Yuchi's training methods so much that he was overwhelmed!"

"Why do you sigh so much?"

"Reporting to the head coach, the more than a thousand people under Bei Zhi were also in the training team. They were all thieves who were scattered in the river, all of whom were unruly. But when they arrived at General Yuchi, they seemed to be reborn in just five days, and they completely changed. The bandit aura on their bodies was gone and they became resolute and self-disciplined. I didn't know them anymore."

Zhang Xuan laughed, "That's true, it's in General Yuchi's hands. Even ghosts will turn into humans."

At this time, Zhang Xuan remembered something again and said to Qi Liang: "I have something I want to ask General Qi."

"Please say, coach, everyone is humble and answered!"

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Have General Qi heard of Hengyang Zhou?"

Qi Liang nodded immediately and said, "I know there are two types of straits, one is the nickname of the Five-Tooth Warship, and the other is the transport ship, which can transport 20,000 stones of materials to sea. Which type is the head coach referring to?"

"I'm talking about a transport cargo ship!"

"I saw it once in Jiangning at the beginning of the year. Two huge cargo ships were parked on the dock, which was very spectacular. Du Fuwei was very moved, but when he heard that they belonged to the government, he could only sigh at the boat."

Zhang Xuan heard that the big ship was in Jiangning, and his heart moved. Did Chen Ling take these two big ships to Jiangnan?

At this moment, Li Qingming, the cavalry officer, hurried over and bowed to Zhang Xuan, "I will meet the envoy!"

Since Zhang Xuan had many generals under him, everyone gradually changed his name to Zhang Xuan as the head coach, and at the same time he was the Jianghuai recruitment envoy. Therefore, some civil officials were used to calling him the envoy.

Zhang Xuan sent Li Qingming to investigate the matter of Hengyangzhou. He hurriedly asked, "Have you found out the whereabouts of the two ships?"

"The subordinates inquired from many sources and got a lot of clues. At the beginning of the year, the two ships transported grain to Danyang County to prepare for the war, but later they went to unknown where they went."

‘Where is unknown?’

Zhang Xuan did not wrinkle, "Didn't you follow General Chen to the south?"

Qi Liang next to him said, "Chief Coach, those two cross-straight boats cannot sail in the Jiangnan River, so they will definitely not follow General Chen to the south!"

Li Qingming also hurriedly said: "General Qi is right. He did not follow General Chen to the south, and these two ships have disappeared from the official record book."

At this time, Yuchi Gong sent someone to find Qi Liang, and Qi Liang hurriedly bowed and hurried away.

After Qi Liang walked away, Zhang Xuan said coldly: "Tell me! Where are the two ships?"

Li Qingming lowered his voice and said, "I found Prince Wang. He said that the ship was under the jurisdiction of Jiangyang County. My subordinates found the magistrate of Han County, and he also expressed his unawareness. Later, my subordinates found the Jinzhuan, who quietly told me that the two ships were in Yanling County, but they had been sold to the Jiangnan Association."

"What!"

Zhang Xuan was furious, "The country's important weapon was sold to the Jiangnan Association without authorization. Who has such courage?"

Li Qingming smiled bitterly and said, "The envoy thinks they are important weapons of the country, but in the eyes of local governments, they are just two large ships, no different from ordinary ships, and the record is also mixed with ordinary ships. As for the court, they will not take them to heart."

Zhang Xuan couldn't say a word for a long time. He remembered the four large ships that disappeared in the Beiping County boat yard. No one took them seriously. I'm afraid that Li Qingming's statement was the truth.

But no matter what, he would never allow these two ships to be sold to Jiangnanhui. He immediately made a decision: "Go to Yanling County immediately!"

Thirty warships sailed towards Yanling County, opposite the Yangtze River, on the other side of the Yangtze River. Zhang Xuan stood at the bow of the ship and stared at the opposite side of the Yangtze River with a serious look.

As an extraordinary person, one must have an extraordinary person's vision. When the Jiangdu government abandoned two large ships on the road, and when the Sui court did not take the Hengyang boat seriously, Zhang Xuan regarded the Hengyang boat as a national weapon with an extraordinary person's vision.

Four of the only eight straits of the Sui Dynasty were demolished. Two were in Luoyang and were very likely to be incorporated into Yang Guang's southern patrol fleet. Two were in Jiangdu area. Just under Zhang Xuan's nose, how could Zhang Xuan let them go?

Yanling County, also known as Jingkou, is today's Zhenjiang, which is the starting point of the Jiangnan Canal. The Jiangnan Canal starts from Yanling County and leads to Qiantang County in Yuhang County. It is connected with the Tongji Canal and becomes part of the Grand Canal that runs through the north and south of the Great Sui Dynasty.

Yanling County has been a famous port on the Yangtze River since the Three Kingdoms era. Liu Bei was recruiting a bride on the Beigu Mountain by the river. There are many colorful buildings on the mountain to this day. "Where can I look at China? I have a full view of Beigu Tower."

But Zhang Xuan had no intention of celebrating the old scenery of Ganlu Temple. All his thoughts were on the two horizontal boats. When the warship gradually approached the dock of Yanling County, a lookout soldier suddenly shouted on the mast: "Chief, I saw it, right at the east end!"

Zhang Xuan hurriedly stood on the platform. He also saw two huge figures among countless ships by the river, and they were anchored at the easternmost point of the dock. Zhang Xuan was ecstatic in his heart. The warships were not taken away, and they were still at the dock.

The warship immediately turned around and drove towards the eastmost direction, but the warship gradually approached the two large ships, and everyone exclaimed. The Thousand Stone Warship seemed so small in front of these two giants. Zhang Xuan was also very shocked. Although he had seen the same huge Yang Guang dragon boat, these two horizontal boats seemed to be a circle larger than Yang Guang's dragon boat, about thirty meters long and more than ten meters high, which was equivalent to a ship of 1,500 tons in later generations.

However, Zhang Xuan had some doubts in his heart. Since these two large ships could not navigate the Jiangnan River, what would Jiangnan buy them for?

At this time, more than a hundred craftsmen were busy cleaning the cabins on the ship. Jiangnanhui had bought these two ships for nearly two months and had been staying at the Yanling Port Wharf for repairs. He had to brush the ship with tung oil again, replace the rusty iron nails, and replace the rotten shipboard. He had been busy for two months, so the ship had not yet left.

The Sui army warships quickly surrounded the two large ships. Hundreds of soldiers rushed onto the large ship and ordered all the craftsmen on the ship to get off the ship. The craftsmen were so scared that they panicked and ran to the shore.

Surrounded by dozens of personal soldiers, Zhang Xuan boarded a shoreline boat that was the most magnificent. Although it was not as magnificent as Yang Guang's dragon boat, it was even more magnificent. The wide deck, towering masts, and huge iron anchors all looked so thick and strong.

At this time, a manager with a panic-faced look was brought up. He knelt down and saluted, saying tremblingly: "I report to the envoy, the ship has been bought by Jiangdu Fuguo Trading Company, and there is an official transfer contract."

"nonsense!"

Zhang Xuan's face sank and angrily shouted: "This is a warship of the Sui army, who dares to sell it!"

The manager was so scared that he kowtowed repeatedly, "Everything is true for the villain, this ship was indeed purchased from the government. The villain also has the government's transfer contract."
Chapter completed!