"Master, Niangzi Qin has arrived outside the city.●⌒,"

In the Liu Jun villa in Huangzhou Prefecture, it is rare to take a break from his busy schedule. In the shade of trees in the backyard, Liu Jun lies on a rattan chair, Liu Rushi plays the piano, Chen Yuanyuan sings songs, and Chen Man is dancing.

In the hot summer, the breeze is gentle, the beauty sings and dances, and the iced sour plum soup makes people feel very comfortable, and they don’t want to get up. After Liu Jun returned to Hubei, he went back to Macheng to stay for a few days, and accompanied Xueqi and the children well. Baoer and Yaoyao also got a lot of nourishment.

In those days, Chen Man, Chen Yuanyuan, Liu Ru and Ru Ru were so many who wanted to see him but did not dare to come to the door. After Liu Jun arrived in Huangzhou, he immediately left behind the larger Hongxiufang and ran to Huangzhou regardless of the situation. Without the big wife, a few fairy-like people used their skills to enjoy Liu Jun all day long.

After returning from Liaonan and accompanying his wives, concubines and children, it was indeed quite relaxing and comfortable during this period.

Qin Liangyu had sent someone to tell Liu Jun that he was coming to Huangzhou. First, he wanted to pay homage to Mei and Li, second, he wanted to negotiate a deal with Liu Jun. Third, he also passed by. Before the imperial court transferred Sichuan troops to Liao, Qin Liangyu had already asked his nephew Qin Gongmin to lead some troops to go first.

"Successfully, I asked General Ma and Deputy General Qin to come over and accompany me to welcome Niang Qin." Liu Jun shouted, and a young man walked from the opposite corridor, wearing a blue military uniform of a nine-headed bird.

"Yes, Grandmaster."

Zheng Chenggong responded and turned around and left.

Liu Rushi looked at the background of his departure and smiled, "This child is very tall, but he is a little shy. He always blushed when he sees us concubines."

"This child is very polite, but why does your husband just want him to be a little personal soldier? Not to mention being a flag plaque official, you have to be a company captain first." Chen Man also likes Zheng Chenggong very much.

Zheng Chenggong was also the result of Liu Jun's return to Hubei. Zheng Zhilong asked him to come on behalf of the Zheng family to pay tribute to Mei and Li, and at the same time asked him to stay with Liu Jun. Zheng Chenggong had earlier worshipped Liu Jun as his adoptive father and changed his surname to Zhu. He was originally a scholar-in-law student from Fujian. Zheng Zhilong originally planned to send him to Nanjing to study in the Imperial College.

But thinking about it, he still asked him to work with Liu Jun. Not only Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhilong also asked his brother Zheng Zhifeng, who won the martial arts Jinshi at the beginning of the year, to serve in Liu Jun's army.

Zheng Zhifeng was arranged by Liu Jun to go to Beiyang, while Zheng Chenggong stayed and became a personal soldier. He asked him to start as a soldier, but Zheng Chenggong performed amazingly without any dissatisfaction. He worked hard but said little.

Zheng Zhilong had more than one son, but the son who had a Japanese woman was his eldest son. He recognized Liu Jun as his adopted father and sent him to Liu Jun. He could tell that there was some of the meaning of the proton. He understood Zheng Zhilong's thoughts. The two of them now cooperated in honeymoon period, but this trust was not unlimited.

Compared to Liu Jun's need for Zheng Zhilong, it is obvious that Zheng Zhilong is now more dependent on Liu Jun. Originally, Zheng Zhilong dominated the sea and dominated the family. But now Liu Jun's Beiyang is not much weaker than the Zheng family, especially Liu Jun is deeply favored by the emperor, so he needs Liu Jun to continue to support and trust him.

Sending your son over is also a proof of loyalty.

Liu Jun got up, changed his clothes and went out to greet the city in person. In front of Huangzhou City, he saw Ma Xianglin and Qin Yimin's cousins ​​standing there for a long time.

Liu Jun just arrived, and Qin Liangyu also arrived.

Qin Liangyu, who is over 60 years old, is still very strong, over 1.8 meters tall, and is very straight on the horse. When she dismounted, she didn't need anyone to help her, and she jumped off the horse easily and neatly.

"I haven't seen you for a long time, and the Marquis has made new contributions and has been promoted to Duke of the State. It's a happy congratulations."

"The old lady is still healthy."

Liu Jun smiled and stepped forward and bowed.

Qin Liangyu replied with a greeting, and then sighed. "At this time last year, you and I were still with the second husband Mei Li, and won the victory in eastern Sichuan. Unexpectedly, in a blink of an eye, the second husband had already gone. Please take the old woman to worship the second husband, and put in an incense stick in front of the grave."

"Please follow me, my wife."

Liu Jun took Qin Liangyu to Macheng and burned incense to the graves of Mei and Li to pay tribute.

On the way back to the city, Qin Liangyu and Liu Jun walked with one another.

"I also heard in Chongqing that since the separation of Sichuan and eastern part last year, the Duke of the State first won a great victory in Huaixi and then showed his power in the southeast. He entered Liao this year. He won great victories one after another and killed thousands of Tartars. I was very relieved."

From Wanli to Tianqi and then to Chongzhen, Qin Liangyu led his troops out of seclusion to fight against the Tartars many times, and even many of his brothers and nephews died in the battle with the Tartars. She supported and was willing to do so for this expedition.

"Duke, the old woman has a request. I know you have many powerful new red barbarian cannons on your hands. I want to buy some and use them to deal with the Tartars."

This request made it difficult for Liu Jun to refuse.

"Why do you have to buy it? I do have some red cannons in my hand, and I can pull out ten doors for my wife."

"Thank you." Qin Liangyu said gratefully.

The two rode their horses and walked silently for a while. Qin Liangyu suddenly asked, "The old woman wants to ask the Duke a question."

"Excuse me."

"Why did the Duke of Guo refuse to go to Jinzhou? Why did he capture Liaonan and retreat to Jinzhou? With the Duke of Guo's plan, the courage of the Chu army, and the profit of artillery, why did he retreat to a corner of Jinzhou? Rong's old lady's rude words, I can see that Duke of Guo did not do his best. Duke of Guo, are you saving your strength?"

This is a very harsh accusation.

No matter how Liu Jun used strategic planning to explain it, it could not cover up a fact that many people could see. Liu Jun did not do his best in the battle against Liao. He neither went to Ningjin to participate in the battle nor launched a fierce offensive in southern Liaoning. He secretly fought a battle, and immediately withdrew back to Jinzhou, built a city and fortress, and instead took the defensive.

"Madam, I think it would take longer to pacify Liao in three or five years. Therefore, it is invincible to rely on a decisive battle in the short term. We have to make a long-term plan and take it step by step. I don't think I'm afraid of war, nor is it all for preserving strength, but a strategy. As long as we fight steadily, the Tartars cannot consume us. The Tartars only have tens of thousands of soldiers and 200,000 to 300,000 tribes. I will kill him one thousand this time, and kill another thousand next time, how many thousand will he have to kill?"

Qin Liangyu looked at Liu Jun and said, "Duke, only the old man will say these things to you without any concealment. No matter how you think, you have already made many people suspicious. Now they just haven't expressed their suspicion. But the seeds of suspicion have been planted and will take root and sprout, growing bigger and bigger. When one day the Tartars surrender, Liaodong will be pacified and the world will be peaceful, will the Duke think they can still tolerate you?"

She said this because she treated Liu Jun as her nephew.

Liu Jun is now becoming stronger and stronger, and many of his behaviors are indeed a bit out of bounds. Now the court needs Liu Jun. The emperor relies on him, and of course no one dares to say anything, but when Liaodong is really about to be pacified, the emperor can tolerate Liu Jun like this? At that time, I am afraid that the rabbit will die and the dog will cook it, and only Qin Liangyu will say these words to Liu Jun.

However, Liu Jun understood this very well. He knew that the court wanted to use him now, so he had to tolerate him. When the court could not tolerate him, the court would be able to move him if he wanted to move?

Everyone has their own plans, it depends on who can do it to the end. Liu Jun thinks that although he is playing with fire, he can control it well and will not burn his own.

After returning to Huangzhou, Liu Jun took Qin Liangyu to the warehouse of Huangzhou Artillery Factory.

There were walls around the warehouse, trenches were dug and barbed wire was drawn. There were light and dark guards everywhere, and there were many fierce dogs, which were very guarded.

However, the warehouse does not store any advanced new artillery, but artillery obtained from the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and British.

Because of the standardized caliber, non-standardized caliber artillery such as three pounds, six pounds, nine pounds, eighteen pounds, etc., especially some of them have been used for a long time and have been worn out. Some of the barrels have not had much life left, and have been stored here as reserves for emergencies.

Although it is a bit worn, most of them can still shoot one or two hundred or even two or three hundred rounds. Even the artillery stands are existing, and the shells equipped are ready-made.

Although it was an elimination of the Nine-Headed Bird, in Qin Liangyu's eyes, this is an absolute cannon. Especially the eighteen-pound cannons, which are the largest red barbarian cannons equipped by the imperial court now.

"This cannon is for old man?" Qin Liangyu said excitedly. Since the Battle of East Sichuan, the court asked Qin Liangyu to recruit local soldiers from Shizhu, Youyang and other chieftains in Chongqing, and recruited 30,000, of which 6,000 were brought to the Chu army by his son Ma Xianglin and nephew Qin Yimin.

The remaining more than 20,000 soldiers, although they were born brave, were quite behind in equipment, with only one white-bar gun and not even a few armors. Not to mention artillery, there were not many tiger-squatting white-bar soldiers.

"Two 18-pound red-brand cannons, each with 4,000 kilograms, can fire about 14 kilograms of solid bullets, with a range of three miles. Four nine-pound red-brand cannons, each with 2,000 kilograms, with a range of about six kilograms, with a range of two miles. Eight three-pound red-brand cannons, with a total of one kilograms of solid bullets, with a range of about two kilograms of solid bullets, with a range of about one kilograms. In addition, the cannon trucks are also ready-made."

In order to thank Qin Liangyu for his concern just now, Liu Jun took out fourteen cannons in a generous manner. These cannons were all long-barrel cannons, naval cannons, which were even more powerful than the court's Red and Barbarian cannons of the same caliber. In terms of weight, they were not much heavier.

"Thank you so much, how much silver?"

"What else do we say about money? Don't we see?" Liu Jun smiled, "I'll lend you another team of red barbarian gunners and let them teach the white-rod soldiers to control these artillery."

Qin Liangyu felt that she owed Liu Jun a huge favor, twelve red cannons, she guessed that she would have to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver. Moreover, even if she had money, she might not be able to buy it. Moreover, Liu Jun also provided the cannon and lent it to the red cannon gunner. That would be possible by pulling the cannon.

However, in fact, the new type of artillery cast by Huangzhou Casting Factory is actually not expensive. If the technical value is deducted, only the casting materials and human cost will be considered. A 12-pound cannon cannon cost only 360 taels, while if iron casting is used, the cost will be only 240 taels.

The price is unimaginable. The red cannons cast by the imperial court cost about 18 pounds to be more than 3,000 taels of silver. The cannons cast by the imperial court cost nearly ten times that of the Huangzhou artillery factory, and their performance is far less than that of the cannons cast by Huangzhou.

It is precisely because the artillery cast by Huangzhou Artillery Factory is low in cost, good in performance, and fast in casting that Liu Jun is increasingly not able to take these old-style artillery into consideration and can bring out some for the court and Qin Liangyu.

Sooner or later, Liu Jun will cast more new cannons and eliminate these old cannons. After eliminating, they can only be integrated into materials except for putting them in warehouses.

Qin Liangyu obtained twelve red barbarian cannons from Liu Jun. Liu Jun also gave him a batch of melee cannons such as squats and destroying the li. Anyway, the nine-headed birds looked down on them anymore, so it was also like garbage to keep them. It would be better to give them to the white-rod soldiers.

After repeated thanks, Qin Liangyu took the batch of artillery and led his troops to Liaodong.

Qin Liangyu had just left for a few days, and someone came uninvited.

"Wu Sangui pays homage to Duke of Chu!"

Liu Jun was also a little surprised when he looked at the guest who suddenly came to visit. Wu Sangui was famous. Before traveling to the Ming Dynasty, he was one of the characters in the late Ming Dynasty that Liu Jun was more familiar with.

Wu Sangui, who was kneeling in front of him, was still very strong and mighty, with large ears, a tall nose, a white face and no beard, and his eyes were very bright.

On his high nose bridge, there was a scar, high on the right and low on the left, and black lines like silk in the middle, which would not be obvious if you didn't look closely. However, this scar is very famous.

It can even be said that Wu Sangui was able to become the General Officer of Ningyuan at the age of 27, which was related to this scar, and it was not entirely due to the relationship between his uncle, Zu Dashou and his father Wu Xiang.

In the third year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led a large army to detour through Mongolia to enter the pass. Zu Dashou met Huang Taiji's tribe in Jianchang at the order of the court. At that time, Wu Sangui's father was the general of Liaodong. He personally led the cavalry to reconnaissance the enemy situation, but was surrounded by a small army of the Qing army.

At that time, Zu Dashou was worried that the Qing army would take the opportunity to break into the rescue and dared not fight easily. At this time, Wu Sangui ignored Zu Dashou's orders and only led dozens of servants to attack. He took the lead in jumping into the encirclement of the Qing army.

He broke into the enemy group and rushed into Wu Xiang and rushed out. At that time, there were 30,000 Qing troops nearby. When he learned that he had surrounded Wu Xiang, a large number of Qing troops rushed over. Wu Sangui led dozens of cavalry to support his father Wu Xiang and broke out in bloody battles.

At that time, Zu Dashou led the army and Huang Taiji's army not far away, and neither side dared to attack rashly. As a result, Wu Sangui's bravery made the Qing army think it was a trick to lure the enemy, but Wu Sangui broke through the encirclement of the cavalry and saved his father and returned to the formation.

In this battle, Wu Sangui was scratched on his face and a scar left on his nose.

It was also this battle that Wu Sangui was the bravest army and was filial to the nine borders. It was said that he was pure and loyal, extremely filial, extremely handsome, and shocked the Xia. Even the emperor heard about his name of loyalty and filial piety. With this reputation, coupled with his identity and background, and his identity as a martial scholar, Wu Sangui's career was smooth sailing, and he became a general officer at the age of 27.

However, Liu Jun was a little confused. Shouldn’t Wu Sangui lead troops in Ningyuan and confront Hong Chengchou and the others with the Qing army? Why did he suddenly come to Huangzhou? (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!