Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 452 446. Preparation Completed
Since Feng Xi had decided to send troops, he had also made his choice of people for this Eastern Expedition. Feng Xi personally led the expedition, including Generals Ma Su and Bao Yi, as well as his good brother Fu Zhu. Feng Xi chose them because he had not brought them along when he went to Nanzhong last time, and it was time for them to go out for a walk.

The reason why he brought Fu Zhuo with him was to let him adapt to the situation in Japan in advance. According to the previous plan, Fu Zhuo would go from Wo Island to Bohai Bay to raid Jizhou. Now it was a good thing for him to stay in Wo Island in person. In addition, Feng Xi also believed that if Wo Island was really taken, it would definitely need someone to guard it. Fu Zhuo was a down-to-earth and serious person. As long as he arranged things well, Fu Zhuo would definitely not compromise.

Moreover, Fu Rong has been diligent and not fond of competing for credit since the time of Old Liu. Feng Xi has now become the Grand Admiral, and Zhang Nan is also the Grand Admiral of the Navy, but Fu Rong is still unknown.

Feng Xi naturally also hoped that his old brother could succeed, so he brought his old brother with him on this eastern expedition in order to embellish his resume. After all, expanding territory is certainly not a trivial matter, and even if Fu Rong only assisted from the side, it is still a great achievement.

As for the navy, since Feng Xi was personally dispatched, Zhang Nan had nothing to do, and he had to stay in Jingzhou to continue to do defense and military affairs. Originally, Zhang Nan thought that he would lead the army this time, and Feng Xi would be in Jiangling to coordinate the overall situation. As a result, he had to stay in Jingzhou, which made Zhang Nan complain bitterly.

"It's impossible that if we both go there, something unexpected will happen and the Grand Admiral and the Admiral of the Navy of the Han Dynasty will be killed at the same time, right?"

Feng Xi and Zhang Nan did not need to worry about what they said, and they spoke very frankly. Feng Xi only brought some generals with him on this expedition. To put it bluntly, even if there was an accident or natural disaster and the whole army was annihilated, Jingzhou still had enough troops and generals to carry out the Northern Expedition. His own grand strategy had been set long ago, so there would not be any major changes.

But if Zhang Nan also came, and the three of them were finished, then the Han army's high-level leadership would be in a vacuum for a while, and the strategy would be cut off. After all, Zhang Nan was still his good brother, and Feng Xi often talked to Zhang Nan about his strategic deployment and what kind of results he needed to achieve in the future, so no matter how bad Zhang Nan was, he could still keep some of Feng Xi's arrangements.

If the three of them were killed at the same time, the Han Dynasty would not only fail, but also be in a state of chaos for a short period of time. If there was chaos, it would be easy for Cao Wei to take advantage of the situation and invade.

So the final result was that Zhang Nan stayed in Jingzhou dejectedly, and Feng Xi wrote his own strategic deployment and handed it to Xu Shu in advance just in case.

"Mr. Zheng Fang, long time no see. How is the situation in Yangzhou these days?"

Feng Xi led his elite infantry along the Yangtze River and soon arrived at Jianye City, where he met Li Yan again after nearly a year.

"Thanks to the Grand Commander's concern, Yangzhou is doing very well."

Li Yan also knew that Feng Xi's question was pointed out, and he answered cheerfully as well.

After Feng Xi's previous instructions, Li Yan followed Feng Xi's methods and tried to use his own methods to set up many places such as casinos and restaurants. These places all have one characteristic, that is, they are expensive, so expensive that ordinary people absolutely cannot afford to enter, which fundamentally blocks the possibility of accidentally injuring ordinary people.

Then there were the various methods that Feng Xi taught Li Yan in private. Although Li Yan was unable to use them well, he still managed to learn them quite well. These methods that Feng Xi casually picked up from later generations were very useful for attracting the playboys of this era, and many of them fell for them.

Now, after Li Yan's careful selection, many of the local aristocratic families in Jiangdong that hindered the normal governance of the Han Dynasty were destroyed, and many of them were greatly weakened. After all, the simplest point is that these people need money to eat, wear and use. Li Yan followed Feng Xi's teachings and cut off the source of the trouble. He scraped these wealthy families, forcing them to shrink their power and lick their wounds silently.

As for the local power, it has nothing to do with them. It doesn't cost money to manage officials and arrange for their families? They can barely maintain their glamorous appearance, so how can they have the energy to care about these things?

Therefore, Li Yan did not face as much pressure as usual when implementing policies such as public schools and inspecting officials, and some policies were implemented smoothly.

"Mr. Zheng Fang, although these methods are effective, they are only stopgap measures. Remember, do not rely too much on these insidious methods, and strictly restrict private casinos. The righteous path of the world is vicissitudes."

Although Feng Xi knew that Li Yan was still in high spirits and should be able to distinguish priorities, Feng Xi was afraid that his idea had opened a Pandora's box, and once implemented, it would have a serious impact on the people.

Li Yan nodded to indicate that he understood, and then changed the subject to talk about Feng Xi's Eastern Expedition.

Since Zhang Nan could not come, the general of the navy this time was the mature and steady Xu Sheng. Xu Sheng was a veteran general in Jiangdong, good at naval warfare, and with his bravery and wisdom, it was natural for him to be the general of the navy to assist Feng Xi in the expedition.

As the governor of Yangzhou, Li Yan was naturally in charge of raising food and preparing ships. The giant ships that the navy had previously transformed into tower ships were already available, with a lowered center of gravity and a wider hull to make them more stable. After going out to sea, ordinary storms would not have any impact on them, and the problem of traditional tower ships capsizing naturally no longer existed.

The navy was only providing assistance in this expedition, with its main role being escort, transporting supplies and assisting the army led by Feng Xi.

Feng Xi and his generals rested in Jianye for a few days, and then led the army to Qiantang County in Wujun, which is now the base of the Han Navy, and echoes Zhoushan Island. The base on Zhoushan Island is where the Han Navy rests and docks when traveling back and forth, while Qiantang is the shipyard and base camp of the Han Army.

Under Feng Xi's strong hand, the shipbuilding industry here was extremely developed, and almost all the ships were sea vessels built by the government. Of course, some brave fishermen would also purchase some cheap fishing boats and fish in the coastal areas.

The route of this Eastern Expedition was to start from Qiantang, pass through the Zhoushan Islands for supplies, and then head northeast. Whether it stopped at Jeju Island or Tsushima Island in later generations or approached Kyushu directly, it would be considered that Feng Xi had achieved his goal.

After nearly ten days of marching, Feng Xi's expeditionary force successfully arrived at Qiantang County without any trouble along the way. After all, the Shanyue people, bandits and the like had been almost wiped out long ago, and ordinary bandits did not dare to make a move on Feng Xi's army.

(End of this chapter)