Chapter 147: Rattorial

In the first three months of the ninth year of Chongzhen, not only the weather was warmer than those of Li Meng's years, but the situation also seemed to get better step by step. Of course, the great famine in Shanxi, the drought and locust plague in Shanxi, and the great epidemic in Yan'an, Shaanxi was ignored by everyone. In the first month of Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong's troops besieged Chuzhou City in Nanzhili. After receiving the news, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of the five provinces of the Ming Dynasty, first asked Zu Kuan to lead the Guanning Iron Cavalry to join the various troops as the vanguard to attack first, and he led the three camps of firearms and then followed. The two sides launched a war in Chuzhou and Guanshan areas.

Most of the elite troops of the King of Rebellion were annihilated, and they joined other troops to retreat and retreated straight to Henan. They were defeated by the troops led by Zuo Liangyu in the Zhuxian Town area. The battle came to an end.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, the riots and soldiers in Shaanxi were almost uncontrollable. After entering Henan, the momentum became increasingly larger. Go wherever you were willing to go, and the Ming army could hardly stop them.

During these consecutive battles from the first lunar month to the early February this year, the imperial court's soldiers finally became proud, and they defeated the strongest King of Breakings Gao Yingxiang. For a time, the public opinion was full of joy, and there was a sense that the rioters could be destroyed in an instant, and the Ming Dynasty was about to be peaceful in the world.

As soon as the news of the battle reached the court, it was ordered by Emperor Chongzhen, who urgently needed victory to inspire morale, to be sent to various places with a fast horse. This is also the reason why Li Meng could see the news so early.

Although Jiaozhou City is remote, Yan Zhizhou and Zhou Juren and others are all happy. It is indeed a big victory. Although this army formed by the gathering of peasant troops is also considerable in combat, it lacks a kind of tenacity and foundation. After suffering a big defeat, it often disappears.

This is the case with the so-called mob, but for Li Meng, at least he still has some modern knowledge and knows history. The current victory is almost temporary. The current situation is irreversible. The peasant army and the Eastern Guard Jurchens have completely emptied this huge empire.

Li Meng is now not only flapping his wings butterfly, but when he came to this era, his influence was only implemented in Jiaozhou, and he could not see anything changed. What he did was what people in this era could do.

As the weather gets warmer, Zhu Yunyao doesn't have to worry about frostbite and starts to become lively again. But when she sees Li Meng, she looks gentle and arrogant and timid. Li Meng is almost used to having such a lively and excessive girl in normal times. When she sees the other person so artificial, she just feels uncomfortable all over, but she also finds it very interesting. It's really a pistachio to have such a girl by her side.

In fact, for Zhu Yunyao, it is normal for the princess of the royal family to not know much about the rules and etiquette of the people, but some basic girls also understand it in their hearts. The son-in-law cannot be an official, which is also one of the iron laws of the Ming Dynasty. She saw that Li Meng would not give up his power and marry her no matter what. Moreover, Li Meng's attitude towards him was not related to the relationship between men and women. This attitude is more familiar to the girl, as if she had picked up a puppy on the street, or her father and brother spoiled him, all the same as Li Meng.

The girl who figured this out was very discouraged. Zhu Yunyao thought it through, but she didn't know how to solve it. She could only ask the family members around her who served her daily life. These women had a good impression of this lively, cute, innocent girl.

When I heard the girl ask, I would not hide it all my ideas, and they all said some folk rules. For example, girls' families cannot run around so crazily, men like to be more stable, and don't always wear men's clothing. After hearing this, Zhu Yunyao was also upset for a lot of time and quickly made changes. It was just that a person was used to something, and if he wanted to change suddenly, it would actually be even more awkward.

Especially when Li Meng looked at her expression without any change, this made Zhu Yunyao even more depressed. It was impossible for him to take the initiative to ask the other party to marry him. In that case, the etiquette and law would be incompatible, let alone the prince-consort could not be a real power official.

And the girl also knew that Li Meng had always wanted to send her back to Kaifeng. Speaking of which, after the waterway was opened and thawed, maybe the Zhou royal palace would come to pick her up.

Zhu Yunyao was completely unaware of Zhu Meng. In mid-March, the contributions to the extermination of the Qiu family and the Peng family bandits came down, and the rewards were naturally pitiful. Li Meng's garrison rose one level, changing from Jiaozhou to Dusi, and the garrison was still in the southern area of ​​Laizhou.

Li Meng's division of power and responsibilities was re-adjusted again. The 2,500 veterans of Jiaozhou camp personally led them, Ma Gang and Zhao Neng each led 1,000 people. Ma Gang was stationed in the east of Qingzhou Prefecture, Zhao Neng was stationed in the northeast of Yanzhou Prefecture, and the children of local tyrants were used as auxiliary soldiers, selecting the outstanding ones to be added to Jiaozhou Camp.

Except for officers at all levels, the salt diced pulp led by Ma Gang and Zhao Neng were all newly recruited salted pulp. Training and other tasks were carried out by veterans and experienced officers, and their combat effectiveness was improved very quickly.

The financial situation of Jiaozhou Camp only improved in late March. The sales of green salt and the increase in output all added a lot, but Li Meng's spare silver was only a few thousand taels, because the expenses were too large, firearms, weapons, armor, horses, military pay, and food were all the big money.

On March 27, according to the fast horse report at Fengmeng Town Ferry, it was said that the guards of the Zhou Palace had already arrived at the ferry with several ships. Because they went ashore and entered the city, the city was probably closed down, so they only entered the city tomorrow.

When reporting the news, Zhu Yunyao had dinner with Li Meng in the inner hall. Now the girl finally knew that there were some defenses between men and women in front of others. For example, when eating, there was a screen across the dining table, but the sound outside could be heard clearly.

After the soldiers finished paying their respects, they went down to pay their respects. Li Meng returned to the dining table, but found Zhu Yunyao staring at the bowls and chopsticks in front of him, not knowing what he was thinking.

Li Meng had made a decision to let the girl go back with the boat in the palace, and Zhu Yunyao also knew it, but the child's nature was always pretending not to know, and he lived a day.

When the two of them had dinner together, Zhu Yunyao often chattered, while Li Meng was silent, but the dining table was quiet at this time. Li Meng naturally didn't care. He ate on his own. After a few bites, he heard the other party sobbing slightly.

When he looked up, the girl lowered her head, and two lines of tears fell from her smooth cheeks. Perhaps because he felt the movement of Li Meng opposite him, Zhu Yunyao raised her head and looked at Li Meng with tears in her eyes. The two sides met in their eyes, and when they looked at the pleading look in the girl's eyes, Li Meng naturally understood what it meant.

Princess Zhou is so sensitive that she keeps her in her hands. Although she is a peerless beauty and her personality is the closest to modernity, it is also a big trouble. It is a pity to weigh the pros and cons.

Although the beauty's sadness had another kind of charm, Li Meng just smiled and picked up her job again. Zhu Yunyao, who was particularly revealing, did not say much when facing Li Meng's reaction. She just reached out to wipe her tears and lowered her head to eat. Naturally, the atmosphere of this meal was depressed.

The girls in ordinary families may come back to get entangled, but the princess from the royal family naturally had a thorough observation of the situation. Zhu Yunyao also understood that Li Meng was determined to send him away, and even if he cried and tangled, it would be meaningless. So after Zhu Yunyao finished her meal, she silently returned to her house and did not speak.

Facing the girl, Li Meng could only sigh and said nothing. The title and name of the princess of the vassal princess was too heavy and the risk was too great.

The next morning, Li Meng led a team on a horse, and Zhu Yunyao was in a carriage, and the group headed towards Fengmeng Town.

It was already noon when I arrived at the Li Family Manor. As soon as I saw Li Meng coming, a soldier in charge came to report. The soldier had sweat stains on his forehead and looked like he had been busy all morning. He held the account book in his hand and whispered:

"Three ships of saltpeter gunpowder, fifteen pairs of horse armor, ten sets of mountain armor, and three-eyed guns and four poles have been collected. The tiger squat cannon we needed last time."

Li Meng nodded. It was a surprise that he could get so many things. It seemed that the matter of the relatives of the vassal prince leaving the city was indeed a serious crime. Otherwise, the other party would not be so panic. The things he needed were not very valuable, but they were very sensitive. The Zhou royal palace actually prepared most of them.

I thought that after the report was completed, Li Meng was about to enter the village. Originally, it was a meeting in Jiaozhou City. Later, Li Meng thought that he wanted to take someone away anyway, so why bother to have more twists and turns and just take the people to this ferry, which is more convenient.

The soldier called Li Meng again behind him and said solemnly:

"There is another ship that has not loaded cargo, and we have sent people to see it, but the people from the royal palace are very tightly guarding. The brothers at the ferry said that the ship was too drifty and suspected that there was something strange inside. There was a team of people watching over there!"

Li Meng nodded. There are currently thousands of soldiers stationed in Fengmeng Town. They are not afraid of these timid and cowardly guards in the royal palace causing trouble. As soon as they walked into the village, they saw the guard leaders who came last time. They were the ones who came this time. When these guard leaders saw Li Meng coming, they all respectfully stepped forward to say hello.
Chapter completed!