Just after the New Year, the Beihaijun military port at the mouth of the Juyang River began to become lively again. Grain transport ships coming from the Yellow River were waiting patiently on the sea. There were cargo ships on the sea, and the patrol ships led several thousand stone cargo ships into the dock area to unload the cargo.

At this time, a thousand stone sea boat arrived from the east, with the Sui army's green dragon red flag hanging on it. The ship was walking against the wind, and the sea waves were rising and falling, making the warship unhurried. There was an old man wearing a green jacket and a skinny hat standing on the bow of the ship. He was tall, dark in skin, and wrinkles on his face were full of vicissitudes of life. It seemed that he was nearly 70 years old, but his waist was still straight and his leopard eyes were bright.

This person was Lai Hu'er, a former naval commander from Jingzhou. Lai Hu'er disobeyed the imperial edict of Emperor Yang Guang in the battle of Pyongyang a few years ago. After returning, he was dismissed from his post and imprisoned. Later, he was jointly requested for protection by generals such as Zhang Jin, Li Jing, Xue Shixiong, and Yu Juluo. He was eventually demoted to the people and returned to his hometown to retire.

Lai Hu'er thought she would die in her hometown, but separatist forces such as Zhu Jie in Jingzhou, Lin Shihong in Poyang, and Xiao Xian in Changsha came to invite him to join, making Lai Hu'er unlucky. In addition, Zhang Xuan used the imperial edict of the Empress Dowager to summon him back to serve in the country, and Lai Hu'er finally decided to come out again.

He fled to Donghai County with the help of the Huang family in Liyang. He boarded a boat from Donghai Island to Beihai County. After several days of storm and bumpy winds, he was about to arrive in Beihai County.

At this time, the soldiers on the ship suddenly pointed to the military port in the distance and shouted. Lai Hu'er also saw the dense ships anchored on the sea in the distance. There were as many as a hundred warships outside, forming a large circle dozens of miles long, protecting countless cargo ships in the circle.

Lai Hu'er was excited. He had long heard that Zhang Xuan's naval army was powerful. At this time, he witnessed with his own eyes that the spectacular scene of the masts being like a forest and the magnificent ships racing deeply shocked his heart. He seemed to have seen the situation at the peak of the Great Sui Dynasty again, and the corners of his eyes couldn't help but become wet.

At this time, a whistle boat was coming towards me and stopped on the side of the warship. There were soldiers shouting loudly: "Where did the ship come from?"

A soldier had already run to the side of the ship and shouted, "We are coming from Donghai County and sending the general to Beihai County."

After saying that, the soldier threw a bamboo tube to the patrol soldiers. The patrol soldiers took the bamboo tube, took out the official military order from it, looked into the distance, and there was no abnormality, so they climbed onto the boat and said, "I'll lead the way and go to the dock on the far right dock. The commander has been waiting there for a long time!"

Lai Hu'er was stunned. It turned out that Zhang Xuan was here. He suddenly understood in his heart that Zhang Xuan came to greet him specially. He was moved in his heart and walked up to ask the patrol soldiers and said, "I am here to Hu'er. May I ask this soldier, why are there so many ships on the sea?"

The soldier quickly knelt down on one knee and bowed to Lai Hu'er, "Report to the old general, these are cargo ships, some of them come from various counties in Hebei, but most of them come from Lushui Warehouse in Zhuo County."

Lai Hu'er thoughtfully. Is it going to fight again if there is such a large-scale assembly?

The ships sailed through the dense sea surface, passed by huge cargo ships, and entered the westernmost dock, where temporary personnel were up and down the dock, and other docks were filled with cargo ships. People were surging on the dock, and tens of thousands of soldiers pushed deer carts and sent the food, weapons and other substances unloaded from the ship to the warehouse one mile away.

Not far away is a huge group of warehouses. Warehouses stand like giants at the foot of the mountain, with hundreds of them. There are tall walls built around them. Although the mountain is still covered with snow, the foot of the mountain is busy and full of enthusiasm, without the feeling of winter.

The big ship was docked and boarded a wide boat board. A soldier stepped forward to support Lai Hu'er, but Lai Hu'er pushed away. He strided toward the shore. More than a hundred cavalry stood on the shore, surrounded by Zhang Xuan in golden armor. Zhang Xuan saw Lai Hu'er, turned over and dismounted, and quickly walked forward, "Old General, are you okay?"

Although Lai Hu'er was Zhang Xuan's coach back then, he knew his situation in his heart. He stepped forward and knelt on one knee, "The old man Hu'er will pay homage to His Highness the King of Qi!"

Zhang Xuan quickly helped him up, "Elder General, please get up quickly, Zhang Xuan can't bear the gift of the old general!"

"The courtesy of the king and his subjects must not be abolished. I hope your highness will not make things difficult for the old ministers."

Zhang Xuan nodded and immediately asked Lai Hu'er's two sons Lai Kai and Lai Hong to come and have a greeting. Lai Kai is currently serving as the military weapon supervisor Shaoqing, and Lai Hong is serving as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Both of them are pillars of the New Sui Dynasty.

The father and son finally reunited, and they were extremely happy. Lai Hu'er was even more grateful. If Zhang Xuan had not rescued him, Yu Weng would never have let go of his two sons. The father and son would have been separated by yin and yang.

At this time, a soldier brought a horse, and Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "I'll take the general to visit the port!"

Everyone turned over the horse, came to Hu'er and Zhang Xuan walked slowly side by side. Zhang Xuan pointed at the warehouse with a horse whip and said, "This is the Dong Warehouse among our two warehouses, also called the Beihai Warehouse. It can store millions of grain, and also store a large number of various armor and weapons. Originally, there were special canals connected to Juyang Water. There was no need to carry the food like this. However, now the river water is frozen and can only be transported by manpower."

"I heard that Your Highness brought food and food supplies from Lushui Warehouse?" Lai Hu'er asked, looking at the endless army of grain transporters.

"Although the traffic of the Lushui Warehouse can also be carried out by water, it is inconvenient to defend. As for the need to invest 10,000 troops to specialize in defense, and the Hengyang boat cannot enter the depths of the Lushui River, it is better to give up the Lushui Warehouse and transport all the grain and supplies to the Beihai Warehouse."

Lai Hu'er smiled faintly, "But I smelled the breath of war."

Zhang Xuan laughed, Jiang was still old and actually saw that he was preparing for the war. He nodded, "Since the emperor died in Jiangdu, Goguryeo's ambition was resurrected again and began to move again. At present, we have received news that Goguryeo was dispatched to dispatch troops in Pyongyang and actively prepared for the war. The clearest signal is that our stronghold on the Liaodong Peninsula has been removed. Since the other party is preparing for the war, we cannot take it lightly, and we must take active action."

Lai Hu'er's eyes suddenly became eager. Goguryeo was his lifelong knot. He didn't expect that he could untie the knot in his lifetime. He stared at the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula for a long time, his eyes full of desire for war.

He suddenly turned around and bowed to Zhang Xuan and said, "The old horse is in the stable and has ambitions for thousands of miles. I hope your highness will not complain that my minister is old. I am willing to take the lead in the battle to the east to break into Pyongyang City!"

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly, "I also look forward to the arrival of the old general. If the old general is interested, he might as well take charge of the navy commander seal for me."

Lai Hu'er's heart was filled with blood and said without hesitation: "Where is the naval army camp, I'll go and order troops now!"

Lai Kai next to him hurriedly said, "My father came from Yuandao and was tired. It's better to go to Yidu for two days to rest."

Lai Hong also felt that his father was too anxious and advised: "Father, go and see the Empress Dowager. When you meet all the officials and friends, don't worry about this time."

Lai Hu'er waved his hand and raised his voice: "I have been resting for a few years. Now the battle is imminent. How can I sleep? Brothers don't want to stop me!"

Zhang Xuan said happily: "It's true that he is a general, and it's okay, I will accompany the old general to the military camp."

The navy camp is three miles south of Juyanghe Town, and camps are built along Juyang Lake. Juyang Lake is actually a river bay of Juyang River. The water surface is vast and hundreds of large warships can be moored. This is also the base of the Qingzhou Navy. The navy camp is located in the east of the water bay. The barracks cover an area of ​​thousands of acres, with more than 2,000 large tents, and a total of 35,000 naval troops stationed, divided into the 35th battalion of the Seven Guards.

Because the military system of the Sui army was too complicated, the new Sui army was simplified after the establishment of the new Sui army, including army, guard, battalion, brigade, team, fire, among which the chief general was called general, general was third-level, general, general and general, and guard had two chief and deputy generals. The chief general was called Hu Ben Lang, the deputy general was Hu Ya Lang, and the camp was also the chief and deputy general. The chief general was Yingyang Lang, the palace was Yingjilang, the brigade was the brigade commander, the team was the chief, and the fire was the chief.

At the same time, the positions of General Xiongwu Lang and General Wu Yong Lang were abolished.

In addition, local counties have county soldiers that maintain order, and each township has militia groups, all directly under the Ministry of War. The general in charge is called the commander and the deputy general is called the commander, and the relationship is clear and clear.

There is another marshal above the general, commanding the various armies, of course Zhang Xuan was appointed. At present, the general and generals at the general level were vacant. There were eight generals, namely Yuchi Gong, Luo Shixin, Pei Xingyan, Su Dingfang, Li Jing, Wang Bian, Xu Shiji and Wei Wentong. Lai Hu'er will become the ninth general.

However, although the nine generals have the same military positions, their qualifications are different. Veteran generals like Lai Huer must have a much higher qualification than other generals. The difference in qualifications lies in the rank of the rank of the scattered officials. Each general has a different rank, indicating their qualifications.

The credit corresponds to the title. For example, although Lai Hu'er has high qualifications, his credit for the Qingzhou Army is not as good as Luo Shixin, so Luo Shixin is now a county duke.

Of course, Lai Hu'er's title was Duke Rong, which was granted by Yang Guang, and Zhang Xuan also admitted it, but Luo Shixin's title could be promoted again, and he could be promoted to Duke Rong, and Lai Hu'er had reached its peak. When his contributions accumulated to a certain extent, he could be granted Duke Rong again. This was the Duke Zhang Xuan's title, which was no longer the same as the original Duke Rong.
Chapter completed!