The sky gradually became brighter. On the head of Huaming County, Du Fuwei looked at more than a dozen small boats coming from the east with a cold expression. There were less than a hundred soldiers on the boat, all of whom were in a mess. ◎,

Two thousand elite navy troops went to fight yesterday afternoon, but only a few people were left to come back. Du Fuwei's anger began to burn.

Soon, Miao Haithai, who was naked and with a thorn on his back, came to the shore and knelt in front of Du Fuwei, "I am so stupid that I am very scared and have lost my soldiers and generals. I am willing to be punished by the lord!"

Du Fuwei's face changed several times, and he forced a smile out of his smile. He quickly helped Miao Haichao up, pulled off the thorn, and then took off his robe and put it on him. "We are brothers. In the case of trouble, we should share the responsibility, not rebuke each other. If there is an internal strife, I will not blame you."

Miao Haichao was extremely moved. Thinking of his recklessness that led to the destruction of the entire army, he couldn't help but lower his head and shed tears: "I really didn't expect that I would fall into Zhang Xuan's trap. I deserve to die for the crime!"

"Have you used the information in Xiaqiu County?" Du Fuwei asked.

"Reporting to the lord, it was because of the information from Xiaqiu County that Bei Yi decided to attack the Sui army, but the information seemed to be wrong. Those who were not family ships at all, but ambushed countless Sui army crossbowmen."

Du Fuwei shook his head, "Didn't you see it yet? It's not that the information is wrong, but that Zhang Xuan saw through your intentions and used the trick. How could he not be alert when the fleet sailed to the Huaihe River? You also said that you were ambushing the crossbowman. This is obviously the other party set up a trap, isn't it?"

Miao Haichao lowered his head and said nothing. He had to admit that he had fallen into a trap. Family ships and rear army supplies and cargo ships were trapped by the Sui army, otherwise his subordinates would not have been destroyed. He couldn't help but sigh.

Du Fuwei walked a few steps behind his hands. Miao Haichao's failure made him feel alert. He knew that this time he had met a strong enemy, and if he was careless, he would probably fall into Zhang Xuan's hands.

The Tongji Canal is about 200 miles in the Huaihe section. After the Sui army wiped out all the bandits who attacked the sneak attack, they continued to travel east along the Huaihe River, entered Hangou in Shanyang County, passing through Shanyang, Anyi, Gaoyou and other counties. Two days later, the fleet was about to arrive in Jiangdu.

After crossing the Huai River, the air became obviously wet, the sides of the banks became darker greener, and there were endless rice fields on both sides of the canal. The river network was densely covered, and scattered villages were located between the rice fields, rivers and woods.

As soon as the sky was dawn, Lu Qing got up early. She wore a wide long skirt and her black hair was tied above her head, revealing her slender, snow-white neck like a swan. She stood in front of the window and looked at the picturesque scenery on both sides, her eyes full of intoxication. Compared with the dry and rough scenery in the north, she prefers the moistness and beauty of the south.

Zhang Xuan walked behind her, hugged her in her arms, and asked in a low voice: "Do you like this?"

Lu Qing snuggled in her husband's arms, nodded gently, and whispered: "Husband, this place is really different from Zhuo County. Sometimes I miss Zhuo County very much, but I really like it."

She couldn't help but smile, "I fell in love with it at first glance."

"We're going to stay here for at least two years, and it's very likely that our children will be born here."

Speaking of children, Lu Qing's beautiful eyes lit up. She said shyly: "I dreamed last night that we had a child, a little girl, who was white and fat."

Zhang Xuan laughed, "If it's a little princess, I hope she is as beautiful as you. In order to get the child as soon as possible, we have to work harder."

Lu Qing turned around and gave him a blank look, and said coquettishly: "Let's make excuses, have you not worked hard enough these days?"

"I also want to be a father sooner!"

"cheeky!"

Xiaoyu's fist hit Zhang Xuan's shoulder, "You obviously just want to bully others."

The two were having fun and laughing. There was a knock on the door outside, and Rika was heard outside the door: "General, Mr. Fang is here."

Zhang Xuan nodded and smiled at his beautiful wife, "I'm going to Jiangdu soon. Please pack up your things first. I'll go to meet Mr. Fang and talk about the children later."

Lu Qing glanced at him, "You go! I'm going to clean up too."

Lu Qing went to find A Yuan and Li Xiang to pack up their things, while Zhang Xuan walked out of the cabin, and saw Fang Xuanling standing on the side of the ship with a smile. Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "The military advisor seems to be very happy?"

"I see that I'm about to reach Jiangdu, so of course I'm in a good mood."

Zhang Xuan and Fang Xuanling came to the meeting cabin next door to sit down. Fang Xuanling said slowly: "This time the general transferred to Jianghuai South. Although his power has increased, the challenge is greater. Especially the soldiers are from Qingzhou. Whether they can adapt to the humid and hot climate of Jianghuai is still a question, so I suggest that the general stabilize his position first, and then advance step by step, and must not be in a hurry to make contributions."

Zhang Xuan nodded, "I have carefully considered the strategy of Jianghuai these days. What I think and think are the same as the military advisor. I have to give the court an explanation, but I cannot damage my own strength. I plan to go in three steps."

"The general might as well say what three specific steps are there? I am willing to listen carefully!"

"I haven't considered the specific details yet, but the direction has been determined. The first is to restore transportation from Tongji Canal. This is the top priority. The court and the emperor are watching this matter. As long as the north-south transportation is restored, it can be considered an explanation to the court."

Fang Xuanling smiled and nodded, "Everything has priority, this is indeed a top priority and should be dealt with first, then?"

"Then we recruited a Jianghuai naval army. Although we annihilated those water ghosts, it was just because we expected the enemy to be the first, but it was terrible to think about it. Those water ghosts made us unable to defend against them. I thought about it and said that the best way to deal with water ghosts is that we also have a water ghost army."

"If the general recruits soldiers again, will the court have any explanation?"

"It's not a big problem if you only recruit two or three thousand people, and I have a lot of reasons. I think the court shouldn't object."

"I wonder what the third step is the general?"

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "The third step is to find a way to establish connection with Qingzhou. Actually, if I think about it carefully, there is only one Donghai County between Jiangdu County and Langya County. If our army can enter Donghai County, it will be connected with Langya County."

Fang Xuanling smiled bitterly. He came to Zhang Xuan to talk to him about this and find a way to establish a new foundation in Jianghuai, but Zhang Xuan still missed Qingzhou.

Fang Xuanling did not continue to say this. He realized that it was not time to say this yet, so he could only wait until he found an opportunity to persuade Zhang Xuan slowly.

Just then, a soldier outside shouted: "Jiangdu is here!"

Zhang Xuan was overjoyed, stood up and walked out of the cabin. Fang Xuanling also followed him. He saw the towering walls of Jiangdu City in the distance, like a black dragon lying across the plain on the west bank of Hangou. The momentum was very spectacular. They finally arrived at the third largest city in the world, Jiangdu

Jiangdu is today's Yangzhou, located on the banks of the Grand Canal and the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is like a button, buttoning up the two plaques of north and south. Therefore, it has an extremely important strategic position in the Sui Dynasty, which had just ended hundreds of years of division between the north and the south, and is also the most important period in Yangzhou's history. It was the foundation of the Great Sui Dynasty to control the south with its back to the north, and in fact it has become the third capital of the Sui Dynasty, second only to Luoyang and Chang'an.

After the Sui Emperor Yang Guang destroyed the Southern Chen Dynasty, he lived in Jiangdu and ruled the south. He spent a full ten years here. In the heart of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui, Jiangdu had another irreplaceable meaning. In a sense, it was Yang Guang's second hometown and the place where he dreamed of it.

Although Jiangdu City is located in Jiangdu County, it has nothing to do with Jiangdu County. Currently, Jiangdu is left behind by General Chen Len, but the specific person in charge is Wei Zheng. In addition, Jiangdu County Yamen is also located in Jiangdu City. After Zhang Xuan's arrival, Jianghuai's military Yamen recruiting envoys will also be located in Jiangdu City.

Zhang Xuan's fleet slowly sailed into Linghu, located in the north of Jiangdu City. This is the dragon boat mooring place for the world's southern tour. Zhang Xuan brought more than 100 large ships. Parking at the dock would affect the freight in Jiangdu, and his fleet also parked directly in Linghu.

Twenty thousand troops also disembarked on the west bank of Linghu. Their garrison had already arranged the Xiaoguo Army barracks on the shore. The conditions here are very good, the barracks are spacious, the training grounds are over thousands of acres, stables, breeding farms, and more than a dozen large warehouses, which allow Zhang Xuan's soldiers to enjoy the treatment of the Xiaoguo Army.

But Zhang Xuan's big ship did not anchor in the lake. The big ship continued to go south with several family boats, and stopped at the Jiangdu Pier several miles away.

The dock was filled with drums and music, and colorful flags were flying. A group of Jiangdu officials had been waiting for a long time, including Wei Zheng, the chief of Jiangdu, Wang Junhao, the prefect of Jiangdu County, Gongsun Shangzhe, the commander of Jiangdu, and dozens of people.
Chapter completed!