National color raw owl

The speed of the fast boat provided by the Jinling Navy was indeed not slow, and it was much faster than the light boat that Chu Huan took before.

There were twenty sailors on this ship, plus dozens of Jinling soldiers led by Zhang Jian, but the Jinling Navy sent dozens of people to escort Ximen Yi to Weiling Mansion.

There is no doubt that General Tu of the Jinling Navy attaches great importance to the arrival of the Northwest Army envoy, but this person did not show up, obviously he is still on guard against the Northwest Army.

There is a specially equipped cook on board, three meals a day, which are also rich, and there are melons and fruits provided, which really treats Ximen Yi and his party as guests.

Passing by the Qionghe Wharf, Chu Huan could see clearly that there were more than a dozen large ships docked at the wharf, as well as many small ships, and the entire wharf was heavily guarded.

After traveling to the east for half a day, he saw monks appearing many boats one after another, but these boats were all practicing on the river. Chu Huan saw that the Jinling navy not only had many boats, but also the sailors were practicing very diligently and orderly. Well, but his heart is even heavier. There is no doubt that Xu Chang attaches great importance to this navy. Strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Jinling water army.

After going like this for two days, I arrived at a fork, but it was at the intersection with the Huijiang River. The green mountains on both sides of the bank were green and beautiful. , the speed is much faster.

There are continuous green mountains on both sides of the strait, and the Huijiang River is very wide, but on the way, they encountered several warships, as if they were cruising on the river.

Chu Huan admired secretly, the water army formed by Xu Chang obviously played a big role, the Qionghe Huijiang River has been completely controlled by the Jinling water army.

And Chu Huan is very clear that the Qiong River not only leads to the Hui River, but also to the Rao River, and the Rao River directly leads to the capital of Luo'an. A powerful army, but the strength of the navy is far from being comparable to the army. The only few navy are only distributed in the seaports, and there is almost no real navy in the inland lakes.

The Qin State was established at the beginning, a thousand wastes were prosperous, the treasury was weak, and there were too many places to spend money. Under the condition that the foundation of the empire was not stable, it was naturally impossible to reduce the army. The empire has always maintained a huge military force. Dao's Guards Army, the Liaodong Army and the Northwest Army spend a lot of military expenses every year. To support such a huge army, the empire's finances are already stretched. Naturally, it is impossible to have extra money to build a navy .

Afterwards, the national strength gradually recovered, the treasury began to fill, and the lives of the people had just improved, but the emperor suddenly became obsessed with cultivating Taoism. Since then, the empire has turned from short-term prosperity to decline, and it is impossible to have the energy and financial resources to build a navy.

Qionghe River, Raoshui River, Huijiang River, the central part of the empire, and all the rivers and waterways in the southwest did not have a single naval force capable of fighting. When Chu Huan saw the Jinling water army this time, he sighed in his heart that Xu Chang could kill the master. The emergence of a self-reliant army is really not an ordinary generation. Compared with many separatist forces in the world, Xu Chang is the first person who thought of forming a navy. Although the reason may be because he was worried that someone would attack Jinling warehouse from the waterway, in fact, Xu Chang's Jinling Army has already taken the lead. Having a water army across the waters will naturally greatly enhance the strength of the Jinling Army.

"Zhang Baihu, the sailors of your army are indeed majestic." The night breeze was blowing, Chu Huan walked up to Zhang Jian who was standing at the bow, and said with emotion: "Such a navy controls all waterways and can advance and retreat freely. , I really admire it."

Zhang Jian glanced at Chu Huan, and said proudly: "I heard that the cavalry of your Northwest Army is also invincible. The Xishan Army is vulnerable in front of your Northwest cavalry." If you arrive at Jinling, it will be difficult to move an inch, there are so many rivers and lakes in Jinling, it’s not as flat as Xishan.”

Chu Huan said with a smile: "Zhang Baihu is serious. If an agreement is reached this time, your army and our army will be allies, and the Northwest Army will not set foot on the land of Jinling." Raise the whip into Jinling?"

Zhang Jian frowned slightly, and quickly said: "It's a good thing you didn't do this, you have to come here seriously, you can enter Jinling, but you can't leave Jinling." Turning his eyes, he said with a smile: "I heard that your Northwest Army is short of food and silver, How can the soldiers have the strength to fight when they can't even eat enough?"

Chu Huan sighed, and said: "This is really inferior to you. You guard the Jinling warehouse, eating and drinking without worry."

Zhang Jian said with a smile: "Many people in the world want to get the idea of ​​Jinling Warehouse, but King Ren has arranged the Jinling Warehouse so that even a mouse can't get in. But having said that, we have plenty of money and food in Jinling. I heard that other places recruit troops. It’s all about plundering strong men to join the army, this is not the case in Jinling, there is a long queue at the conscription office all day long, if you fail the test and want to join the army, you have no chance.”

"Oh?"

Zhang Jian proudly said: "The food in the Jinling Warehouse is enough to supply an army of one hundred thousand. It can last for many years. Now there are hungry people everywhere. If you reward him with a steamed bun, you can work hard for you. If you join our Jinling Army, one day Three meals will fill you up, you say fools don’t want to join the army.” Glancing at Chu Huan, he said, “If there is no food, even if you have a hundred thousand troops, you will be gone soon, but with food, It doesn't matter how many soldiers and horses you want."

Chu Huan smiled and said, "It makes sense."

Zhang Jian approached and said in a low voice, "You King Chu sent you here to form an alliance?"

"Exactly."

Zhang Jian laughed and said: "In my opinion, it's better to let you King Chu join our King Ren. As long as your Northwest Army surrenders to King Ren, you will be guaranteed to be fed and clothed, and you don't have to eat and hungry like you do now. "

In Chu Huan's heart, it was funny, but in his heart, he also understood that Zhang Jian, a mere hundred households, looked at the Northwest Army in his heart. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, the Northwest Army was like a group of beggars from the Northwest. , Between the lines, Zhang Jian also heard that Zhang Jian looked down on the Northwest Army.

Chu Huan didn't care about this, but felt that it would not be a bad thing if all the opponents looked down on the Northwest Army like this.

However, from Zhang Jian's words, it can be heard that the Jinling Army is indeed rich in money and food, and has a sense of wealth and wealth, but in his heart, he is thinking that although Jinling Dao has always been prosperous, when the world is in chaos, it can only rely on the strength of one , they can accumulate logistics resources that even ordinary soldiers can live proudly. I am afraid that the benevolent king Xu Chang's exploitation of Jinling is indeed not light.

"Brother Zhang, I heard that King Ren collected a lot of taxes in Jinling. Don't the people complain?" Chu Huan asked in a low voice, "The soldiers have enough to eat and drink, but the common people are suffering. Are you afraid that the common people will make trouble?"

Zhang Jian turned his head to look at Chu Huan, and said with a disdainful smile: "Brother Li doesn't seem to understand that the world is in chaos today, and whoever has a hard fist is the overlord. You don't understand this truth? What does a fist rely on? It depends on soldiers and horses. The soldiers and horses in the country are strong, and the fists of those who are strong will be tough. To make the soldiers work hard, it is natural to let the soldiers eat and drink enough... What can the common people do? King Ren wants to keep them safe, and they always have to Let us eat and drink to our fullest.”

Chu Huan nodded and smiled, "Brother Zhang makes sense."

"In troubled times, there are some things that shouldn't be too fussy." Zhang Jian saw that Chu Huan seemed to be very open-minded, and he was in a good mood: "In fact, the object of taxation by King Ren is not the ordinary people, but the gentry and wealthy households. After your Northwest Army captured Tongzhou, didn’t you realize after entering the city that many gentry and gentry have a lot of wealth, and the money and food in the warehouse are piled up like a mountain, if you don’t ask them for it, wouldn’t it be cheaper for them?”

"It turns out that King Ren collected taxes from them." Chu Huan suddenly realized, "Are they willing to take it too?"

"Bullshit." Zhang Jian spat, "King Ren didn't rob them. At the beginning, he talked about it, saying that their money and food are piled up in the warehouse, and they will rot sooner or later. Why don't they lend it to us? Double the repayment, those guys didn't know what is good and bad, and still hesitated, hehe, King Ni was impatient, arrested more than a dozen, took them to the vegetable market and beheaded them, confiscated their wealth, and threw all the family members to the military camp to serve as military prostitutes. The rest of the guys were terrified, and immediately sent out the money and food from the family, one by one faster...!" Having said this, he laughed out loud, feeling very unhappy.

Chu Huan just smiled at the corner of his mouth, but didn't speak.

"We've heard that your Northwest Army entered Tongzhou without committing any crimes. Hehe, your King of Chu wants face and not face." Zhang Jiangao commented: "It's good for you to be those gentry? Who has soldiers and horses in their hands? They will listen to whoever they want, but they will not be grateful to Dade just because you King Chu showed kindness. Brother Li, to put it bluntly, don’t blame it. If one day your Northwest Army is driven out of Tongzhou, those gentry will definitely Then you will turn to others. At that time, your Northwest Army will have nothing. So, take advantage of this, hurry up, take out all the things in their stomachs, and hold them in your hands. Same, try to kill a few of them, and make sure they are all obedient...!"

Chu Huan laughed, noncommittal.

"Hey, you have to know that the wives and ladies of those gentry and rich merchants are no more than ordinary vulgar women." Zhang Jian lowered his voice and said, "They are all delicate skin and tender meat, and they are not slippery. It’s also the most fucking thing, you only know how good it tastes once you have tasted it.” He raised his hand and patted Chu Huan’s shoulder, and said earnestly: “Brother, you look young, and you will be indispensable to the Northwest Army in the future. Fighting everywhere, I will teach you a way. After you conquer a city, you can go to the largest house in the city. Not only the most treasures, but also the most beautiful lady must be there, you must remember .”

Chu Huan cupped his hands and said, "Brother Zhang's experience has benefited a lot, and I admire it."