Zhang Guowei said: "Once the Dashun army captures Jiujiang, continue to move south and stockpile in Quzhou, nearly 10,000 Qing troops in Boluo, Chuzhou, will definitely reinforce. At that time, the Qing army will be in Raozhou, and Guangxin will gather more than 10,000 troops to defend the city. I am afraid that the Dashun army will not be able to capture these two cities in a short time. Once it falls into a stalemate, the Qing court will definitely be alert, and our dynasty will fall into a passive state. Maybe the court will order the prince to stop fighting and withdraw troops. At that time, the prince will have to retreat regardless of whether he wants or not, otherwise the Qing court will restart the war by breaking the contract by our dynasty."

Wu Zheng nodded and said, "What Mr. Zhang said is very true. Mysterious brother's plan is that the Dashun Army must immediately go south after capturing Jiujiang, and quickly capture Raozhou and Guangxin's two prefectures before Boluo led his army to aid... This is the speed. Even if the Northern Expedition Army is still a little sure, the Dashun Army..., even if they agree to cooperate, they may not have such strength."

Zhang Huangyan said: "There is a way, when the Dashun Army captured Jiujiang, the Yanzhou Guards were ordered to move south to restrain Boluo's troops. In this way, they could gain more than one more day for the Dashun Army to capture Raozhou and Guangxin Prefectures."

Zhang Guowei shook his head and said, "This plan is inappropriate, no one is stupid. Once the Dashun Army moves, our Yanzhou Guards cooperate with the feint, and the Qing court will immediately realize that this is a play jointly performed by our army and the Dashun Army. In addition, the peace agreement between the two dynasties has been signed, so Boluo may not react to the Yanzhou Guards feint. Even if there is, the entire army will probably not go north."

Wu Zheng thought for a while and said, "I won't discuss this matter for now. Anyway, there are still a few months left, so it's not too late to discuss it slowly. Let's discuss something else first. Do you have anything else to do?"

Mo Jienian said: "The prince had previously talked about the establishment of the Jingjiang Guard. Since the prince intends to reorganize the remnants of the Dashun Army, why not recruit new recruits as the Jingjiang Guard?"

Wu Zheng nodded and said, "There are more than 2,000 people in the Jingjiang Guard, and the people of Taizhou spontaneously asked their nephews to join the army. There are already nearly 8,000 people, so there is no need to recruit new recruits."

Mo Zhinian said: "There is another thing... Wei Kuangguo has come to see the prince several times. Will the prince want to see him?"

Wu Zheng smiled and said, "What else can he do when he comes? Isn't it just a matter of money? Just find Mr. Mo."

Mo Zhinian smiled bitterly and said, "The total payment of goods is 4 million taels, and the debt of 2 million taels is owed. I am embarrassed to see him."

These words made everyone burst into laughter.

After finally letting Wu Zheng calm down his laughter and said, "I don't want to pay back the bill. I have to give him money sooner or later, but dragging it will be beneficial to us. Now Westerners' muskets, artillery, and ship manufacturing technology is far better than us. We have to learn. After learning, improve and innovate, and surpass them, we can face the threats of Western countries in the future... Dukes, the enemy we face is not only the northern Tartars. Of course, the Tartars are the first to bear the brunt, but the so-called people who have long-term plans must have immediate worries and prevent problems before they happen. This is what we say to all the public."

Xiong Rulin and the other four responded in unison.

Wu Zheng remembered something and asked Mo Zhinian: "It's time to come back when I asked my second uncle to take the 300 people who were cast in Western studies before?"

This was the first time Wu Zheng traded with Wei Kuangguo. The three hundred young people sent, originally two hundred. Later, Wu Zheng thought of Britain's maritime hegemony. In addition, Wei Kuangguo mentioned the naval battle between Britain and Spain sixty years ago. Britain challenged the past overlord with a rising star and won the victory.

This naval battle is a model for naval battles to defeat the strong with the weak and defeat the old tactical concepts with new tactical concepts.

In order to compete for maritime hegemony, Spain and Britain fought a world-renowned and fierce and spectacular naval battle sixty years ago (1588). In this naval battle, the two sides invested more than 400 warships, equipped with large and large artillery guns, which were far more than 20,000.

Spain is powerful, with huge warships and more than 30,000 troops. It is called the "luckiest invincible fleet."

At that time, the British navy was not large, and the entire fleet had only about 9,000 combat personnel.

Compared with the two armies, Spain has a huge gap, and it is obvious that Spain has an absolute advantage.

However, unexpectedly, the end of this naval battle ended with a devastating defeat in Spain, and the "Invincible Fleet" was almost wiped out.

From then on, Spain declined sharply, and the status of maritime overlord was replaced by Britain.

Therefore, Wu Zheng decided to send an additional 100 people to the UK to study naval warfare at that time.

After hearing Wu Zheng’s question, Mo Zhinian replied: “The two hundred craftsmen should have returned at the end of the year, but because the warships that the prince had customized in the UK had been completed, I took the initiative and asked them to return with the warships.”

Wu Zheng was overjoyed. These ten sail warships and 600 large and small cannons cost Wu Zheng 190,000 pounds (about 1.3 million taels of silver).

Originally, the British broker recommended Wu Zheng to purchase the Royal Prince, which was launched thirty-seven years ago and the Royal Monarch, which was launched eleven years ago.

The Royal Prince, drained 1,200 tons and loaded with fifty-five heavy artillery pieces. The total weight of the artillery alone reached 83 tons.

The Royal Monarch is even more exaggerated. It drains 1,500 tons and carries 104 cannons, and the total weight of the cannons reaches 153 tons.

Wu Zheng was indeed moved at that time, but he had no money. At the same time, Wu Zheng also thought of one thing that such a giant ship was not suitable for use in the Northern Expedition. Youdao was the most suitable and the most worthwhile.

The most powerful weapon is not as good as the most suitable weapon.

Using such a giant ship near the sea is like killing a chicken with a slaughter.

Of course, the most important thing is that there is no money.

The Royal Prince costs 53,000 pounds, while the Royal Monarch costs even higher, and the Royal Prince costs 65,000 pounds.

This is not the final delivery price. If you want to pick up the ship, you have to add 30%, which means that a Royal Monarch costs more than 500,000 taels of silver.

Therefore, Wu Zheng resolutely gave up purchasing this "special" giant ship, but chose the British after the battle with Spain in 1588, and the main ships were fixed and mass-produced, ten third-class ships.

At that time, the British classified warships, with the first-class ships as a three-layer gun deck, 106,122 guns, a capacity of more than 875 people, and a displacement of 2,500-3,500 tons.

The second-class ship is a three-layer gun deck, with 98 artillery pieces, a capacity of about 750 people, and a displacement of more than 2,000 tons.

The third-class ships are second to third-layer gun decks, with 64,74,80 artillery pieces, with a capacity of about 490-720 people and a displacement of 1,300-2,000 tons.

Wu Zheng chose two 74-gun and eight 64-gun third-class ships.

At this time, Wu Zheng was naturally overjoyed when he heard that the warship had been completed. He asked, "When will we come back?"

"It's probably going to start spring next year."
Chapter completed!