The prosperity of Yangzhou was once second only to Chang'an and Luoyang. With the gradual decline of Chang'an and Luoyang in recent years, Yangzhou has become a unique star. It is like a brilliant pearl, making people confused and itchy. It is precisely because of the importance of Yangzhou in the south that Li Ze began to make arrangements in Yangzhou with the help of Jin Mantang several years ago. After several years of operation, he finally reaped fruitful results.

The main officials in Yangzhou basically turned to Wuyi, and the infiltration of the business community and the people was much greater. In any case, Yangzhou must be preserved. This is the consensus of the Wuyi court.

The current Tang army is separated by the pseudo-liang. The only way to Yangzhou is to defend Yangzhou is to sea routes. In fact, it is extremely difficult for Zhu Youzhen to conquer Huainan and Yangzhou was his first goal.

This was also the five thousand Tang Dynasty soldiers who arrived in Yangzhou personally and commanded the gathering of them in Yangzhou.

The ordinary people in Yangzhou did not feel much about the silent changes in Yangzhou. They were still living the New Year enthusiastically. Yangzhou in the New Year lifted the curfew, and the colorful lights of various colors reflected the entire Yangzhou city into a beautiful world like a paradise. On the canal and on the Yangtze River, luxurious pleasure boats slowly walked in the melodious sound of silk and bamboo. Standing on the shore, you could vaguely see the graceful dance postures of the dancers in the pleasure boats.

Mei Jiu and others naturally couldn't celebrate the New Year with peace of mind.

At this moment, he was in the Yangtze Shipyard to welcome Li Hao and his group who had arrived here.

Taking advantage of the sea tide, Li Hao led five warships and quietly sailed into the dock of the Yangzijin Shipyard.

Yangzijin Shipyard is a wholly-owned shipyard controlled by Shenglong Money Village and is also the largest shipyard in Yangzhou. It can not only build river ships, but also sea ships. In the past two years, they have even begun to reserve the technology to manufacture warships. These technologies naturally come from Cangzhou Haixing Shipyard.

Li Hao's personal arrival also made Mei Jiu feel relieved.

What was he most afraid of? What he was most afraid of was that Wuyi did not have a firm determination to protect Yangzhou, but just wanted to use himself to defeat Yangzhou and then give up. Due to Li Hao's different identities, Mei Jiu believed in Li Ze's determination to defend Yangzhou.

Li Hao is one of Li Ze's most direct confidants.

"General Li." Mei Jiu bowed with fists: "I have worked hard all the way. In the shipyard, there have been food and resting places for the soldiers."

"Thank you, Magistrate Mei." Li Hao smiled and clasped his fists to return the greeting.

"I'll introduce it to General Li!" Mei Jiu turned sideways, letting a group of officials behind him reveal themselves in front of Li Hao. Su Bao, Qin Xinming and others stepped forward to greet Li Hao one by one.

"General Li, the banquet is ready. Let's talk about it while we greet General Li!" Qin Xinming said straightforwardly.

"Okay!" Li Hao called over Ren Xiaonian: "Big Dog, come over after you arrange the soldiers."

"Abide by the order!" Ren Xiaonian bowed his order. Perhaps the words he had made great changes in his psychology with Li Hao. In the days that followed, he slowly adapted to life on the boat. Although he still seemed a little haggard after arriving here, his whole body's energy came back.

The room was as warm as spring, and the fine silver charcoal did not smell strange. On the Eight Immortals table, there were dozens of delicious dishes, which made Li Hao look straight. He belonged to the top of the Golden Tower in Wuyi, but he had never seen so many dishes in a meal.

Li Ze is delicious, but it tastes and is exquisite. It is just four or five dishes. In Wuyi, influenced by Li Ze, such big scenes are very rare. People like Li Hao have suffered a lot since childhood. The most important thing in eating is to eat fullness. Have you ever seen such noodles?

"This table is probably a lot of money, right?" Li Hao asked, standing next to the table.

Seeing Li Hao's expression was a little unhappy, Mei Jiu couldn't help but stagnate. Qin Xinming finally had a different identity and smiled and said, "Today is the Great Day. General Li came from afar, so he naturally prepared more abundantly. In normal times, where can he eat like this?"

Li Hao nodded. When he first arrived, he naturally couldn't refute the other party's face. If he really wanted to have an attack, it would make people feel that he was unreasonable and difficult to deal with, which would cause some obstacles to the subsequent cooperation.

After refusing to see who was sitting in the main position, Mei Jiu was finally pushed to the main position by Li Hao, which made him feel a lot of favor towards Li Hao. Although the other party was Li Ze's confidant, he was still very responsible in dealing with people.

But immediately, Mei Jiu realized the difference between the people coming from Wuyi.

After everyone toasted a glass of wine politely, Li Hao put down the wine glass, added rice, and swallowed it voraciously. He only picked a few dishes in front of him, and did not bother to eat it. He directly pressed into the rice bowl. In a moment, he ate three bowls of rice. Then he put down the bowl and chopsticks.

This made Mei Jiu and some others a little dumbfounded. According to their habits, such a meal would have to be eaten for an hour or two, drink slowly, talk slowly, and taste slowly.

Looking at everyone's surprise, Li Hao smiled and said, "Mr. Li has been in the army for a long time and has been used to it. Everyone doesn't have to worry about me, just be at will."

But Li Hao is like this, how could the others chew and swallow it slowly? They could only snatch a few bites of the rice in a hurry and then they were fine.

"Since we've finished eating, let's talk about the serious business!" Seeing everyone put down the dishes, Li Hao said, "Who will introduce me to the situation first?"

Mei Jiu cleared her throat and said, "General Li, there were originally 10,000 troops in Yangzhou, but after Zhu Youzhen conquered Wuning, the situation suddenly became tense. The commander Gong Yunda of Jie was reorganized to prepare for war. The 10,000 troops in Yangzhou were transferred 60,000, or the most elite 60%.

Li Hao smiled and said, "These 60% are actually controlled by Gong Yunda, right?"

"Yes! The rest are basically ineffective." Mei Jiu said. "And it is distributed in various places below Yangzhou, mainly to maintain public order."

"There is a navy stationed in Yangzhou."

"I was transferred to Chuzhou." Mei Jiu said: "Huainan Navy, this is Gong Shuai's heart. It is also Gong Shuai's biggest reliance."

"Did we do some work in this navy?"

"Yes!" Qin Xinming said on the side: "The Huainan Navy has more than 100 warships of various colors, one of which has been controlled by us. From the shipyard to the sailors, they are basically our people."

"Very good." Li Hao said: "General Qin, thank you for your hard work over the years."

"Things are your duty!" Qin Xinming said with a smile.

"But there are less than twenty ships in this team, and they are all small boats." Mei Jiu said.

"It doesn't matter." Li Hao laughed and said, "As long as there are people, we have ships. I don't like their warships! What kind of garbage goods? General Qin, how are our shipyard ready?"

"Let the shopkeeper He tell you about this!" Qin Xinming smiled.

He Jianyi, the big manager of Yangzijin Shipyard, who had been silent, bowed and said: "General Li, our Yangzijin Shipyard has been stocking up on the large materials for manufacturing warships three years ago. In a few years, we have reserved enough materials for building twenty new warships. Since a year ago, we have started technical reserves. Yangzijin Shipyard has sent 30 shipwrecks to Haixing Shipyard for half a year to study. This time, many masters who have followed you have also come. From tomorrow, the Yangzijin Shipyard can start construction."

"Have you made some before?" Li Hao frowned.

"Of course, I have built three of them for those craftsmen, but they have more or less some problems, but there are no major problems!" He Jianyi said.

"That's good. I brought five ships. You have three ships and eight new warships here, which is enough to accommodate one thousand naval officers and soldiers. This will form initial combat power. Tomorrow, if you want to pull out these three warships, I need to install combat equipment." Li Hao said.

“No problem.”

"How long will it take to build one in the future?"

"Training shifts, people will stop working, and you can build a new warship in a month." He Jianyi said: "This is the fastest speed. This is because we have prepared all the materials in advance, saying that they are manufacturing, but they are actually installation."

"In a year, we will have a brand new fleet, which is enough." Li Hao said with a smile.

"Even if all of them are in place, there are less than twenty ships. There are more than one hundred ships in the Huainan Navy!" Mei Jiu was very worried.

"Mei Zhizhou, the combat effectiveness of real warships is very different from that of merchant ships transformed by civilian ships." Li Hao smiled and said, "And our weapons and equipment are not comparable to that of the Huainan Navy. The Huainan Navy has more of a tactic of relying on gangs to fight and a sea of ​​people, right? Hehe, that's just a bunch of infantrymen on the ship. What's so scary?"

"The land army basically depends on us. In addition to the three thousand soldiers who had gathered earlier, I brought another thousand this time, a total of four thousand people, how many people can be used?"

"In the entire Yangzhou, there are still tens of thousands of Yixing members, about half of whom have received certain military training." Qin Xinming said.

"Five thousand people!" Li Hao said: "That's almost done. Don't use these people for now, it depends on the situation! Mei Zhizhou, I will be responsible for military affairs in the future, but dealing with Gong Yunda, comforting the local area, and winning the hearts of the people, this is your business."

Mei Jiu nodded.

"There must be many people in Yangzhou who are loyal to Gong Yunda. Do these people have a clear mind?"

"certainly."

"We must first strive for Gong Yunda to resist resolutely. The court will send people to do these things. If Gong Yunda changes, Yangzhou will eliminate those who are loyal to him with lightning speed and turn Yangzhou into our place." Li Hao said: "When it is time to bleed, you must use thunder means and must not be ruthless."

Qin Xinming nodded.
Chapter completed!