The big boat went upstream from the Yangtze River. Gu Zhenhua faced the map and kept writing and calculating. He kept writing until his hands were sore and his arms were sore that he shook his hands, walked around the deck, and then went back to write. He was so busy that he naturally had to formulate a strategic plan to deal with the Tatars.

Holding two major sources of wealth in his hand, he could not without expression. He was safe and confident and had to show his might. Gu Zhenhua had done so many lawless and earth-shaking big things, and his only reliance was to keep winning. In other words, Gu Zhenhua had already stood at a dazzling height, and he had to keep proving himself with victory.

The more you have this kind of thought, the more pressure you put on your shoulders. Gu Zhenhua rubbed his swelling and painful brain and said impatiently: "Nanjing is ahead?"

"That's right!" Wu Kaijie said: "Prince, I just came up with an order in Beijing, hoping to let the prince come to Beijing to report his duties. The emperor also said he missed you!"

Gu Zhenhua was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand: "Just say that military situation is urgent, I want to rush back to Henan immediately and not go to see you!"

Wu Kaijie said immediately: "Prince, if you want to let Bei Zhi say, you should go to Beijing to have a look. Don't worry, there are our people in the cabinet and the East Factory. Even if someone wants to be unfavorable to you, that's a delusion."

"Hahaha, you're off-the-sight!"

Gu Zhenhua smiled and said, "I have done so many things, but after all, I don't take the little emperor seriously. I'm clearly digging for the Ming Dynasty. Although I'm not afraid, I always have a bad face when I see the emperor, and it's best not to see him!"

"Oh, so that's it!"

Wu Kaijie said: "Prince. You shouldn't think so. If it weren't for you, there would be no peace. The little emperor's country would have been gone long ago, and maybe he would have lost his life. He should thank you for being an emperor for such a long time!"

Gu Zhenhua rolled his eyelids and then said something for a while.

"Boy, you are more shameless than me!"

...

After passing Nanjing, Gu Zhenhua went upstream and entered Huguang. He entered his territory. Gu Zhenhua also relaxed a lot. Sometimes he took a boat, and sometimes he would go ashore and ride a horse when he was tired. He walked all the way to Wuchang.

Zhang Jinyan and his men greeted Gu Zhenhua early. As they were far away, Zhang Jinyan took the lead in kneeling down and said with a smile: "Prince. I congratulate the prince and congratulate the prince. The Ming Dynasty has made a contribution to the creation of the world and the king of Zhongshan deserves his reputation!"

Gu Zhenhua also rode his horse in front of everyone, jumped off the war horse, and waved his hands at the kneeling people.

"It's all my own people. An** has abolished the kneeling and bowed, and we won't talk about this in the future. To be honest, I, the King of Zhongshan, were also helped by the soldiers of Huguang. Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shengheng and others fought very well. Since ancient times, Huguang has produced powerful generals and strong soldiers. There is still a big battle waiting for the next step. It's nothing that Gu Zhenhua's title of king. I want all the generals under my command to be granted marquis!"

Sun Chengxian smiled and said, "Prince, I heard you have a big battle again. I can't wait for a humble position!"

Sun Cheng's words were also true. Originally, Gu Zhenhua left him in Huguang to train the army. This time, he was transferred to the two Huaihe troops. It was reasonable to be led by Sun Cheng, but in order to balance the interests of all parties, especially to allow the original Huguang army to truly integrate into the security system, Sun Cheng gave up the opportunity again.

Speaking of which, his sworn brother was originally the most experienced, but he ended up behind a group of brothers and became a gold medal training specialist, which made Gu Zhenhua feel a little embarrassed.

"Brother, don't worry, this time there will be a time when you can show your skills!"

When Sun Cheng heard this, he was naturally excited and smiled and said, "Prince, I have been looking forward to this opportunity these days!"

While everyone was talking, they walked into Wuchang City. Gu Zhenhua came to the Governor's Office. He directly found Zhang Jinyan and Sun Cheng.

"Mr. Zhang, I originally thought of going directly to the canal to meet Henan, but then I thought that Huguang was the back. If the rear was not solid enough, I would not dare to move forward, so I came here to take a look."

Zhang Jinyan hurriedly said, "Prince, I mainly do two things these days, one is to rectify the administration of officials, and the other is to encourage farming and sericulture. I changed the county magistrate of Huguang and changed the prefecture to 40%. The rest have set strict assessment standards. If I don't do well, I will continue to be revoked. I dare not say that the big governance is reversed, and the tyrants and taxes are exempted. The people have a lot of burdens. Huguang is vast and sparsely populated, and there is no shortage of land, but the people dare not plant it. It is very simple. With land, you have to bear all kinds of complicated taxes. After working hard for a year, you have to borrow money to pay taxes. The more you work, the more you pay, and the people naturally have no intention. I exempted 70% of the miscellaneous taxes. The people immediately had a chance. In less than half a year, they reclaimed 2 million acres of land!"

"Okay, okay!" Gu Zhenhua nodded with satisfaction: "Mr. Zhang, can the land be reclaimed more?"

"Yes, it's still the same thing. Huguang has no shortage of land, but there is only one thing: if you grow too much grain, you will also hurt farmers if you lose money!"

"Hahaha, Lord Zhang, have you heard that I have established the Maritime Bureau in Shanghai and have started foreign trade!"

Zhang Jinyan smiled and said, "I heard that, I heard that the prince sold all the royal items to Westerners, and many people wanted to participate in you!"

"No matter what they are, our silk porcelain, Westerners are simply interested in it. They sell 7 million taels of silver in one exhibition. These things are typical people who are stupid and have a lot of money. If they don't kill them, they will not be able to get over their conscience!"

Sun Cheng smiled and said, "Neither the barbarians are good things, and they deserve it. But this seems to be something from Su Song, and Huguang can't eat it!"

"Brother, you don't know this. Silk in Nanzhi, Zhejiang is famous all over the world, but exports are not only silk, but also muslins. The land in the southeast is limited. If you want to plant mulberry trees, there is no land to plant cotton. My idea is to introduce a variety of cotton in Huguang, maybe you can introduce looms from Songjiang, or buy cotton in Songjiang, and weave them into muslins and sell them. In short, cotton is definitely more profitable than grain!"

Zhang Jinyan nodded quickly: "Yes, what the prince is thinking is. In fact, not only that, the southeast was not enough food in the past, and it was often transported from Jiangxi. If there was too much food in Huguang, it would be fine to buy Jiangnan. In this way, you have to throw your arms and do a big fight. As long as you can get out, you will strive to get out as much land as you can!"

Zhang Jinyan was full of energy. Most of the civil affairs in Huguang were fine. Gu Zhenhua immediately felt much more at ease. His eyes naturally fell on Sun Cheng.

Sun Cheng said: "Prince, after Huguang implemented the elite military policy, a total of 37,000 horse and infantrymen were retained. In addition to the ones who went to the southeast with Ma Jinzhong and Jin Shengheng, there were still 20,000 left. Among these 20,000 people, 5,000 were to guard the entrance of Sichuan and 3,000 guard Wuchang and other places. They could mobilize 12,000 elite soldiers to enter the Henan frontline and fight to the death with the Tartars!"

"Well, there are a lot of people, how about the weapons, food and salary, and how about the combat effectiveness?"

"Prince, among these 2,000, there are 3,000 musketeers and 2,000 cavalrymen. The rest are equipped with long spears and short swords, but their combat effectiveness is not bad at all. They can completely compete with the cavalry of the Tartars head-on."

Obviously, the proportion of musketeers is lower, but there is no way to do this. Who made Huguang come out of the second line?

"Send my order immediately, let everyone mobilize them and go to Luoyang immediately!"

"yes!"

Sun Cheng agreed excitedly, and he hurriedly ordered the dispatch of troops. In three days, 12,000 soldiers and 30,000 civilians were all ready. The army was like a winding dragon, advancing northward.

"Mr. Zhang, I am coming and going in a hurry. You have to bear more burdens in Huguang!"

Zhang Jinyan nodded: "Prince, don't worry! By the way, there is another thing to report to the prince, and I almost forgot it."

"What's the matter?"

"That's right. A month ago, Mrs. Qin sent a handwritten letter, wanting to borrow 100,000 dan of grain from Huguang."

"Lady Qin, which old lady Qin?"

"Who else? It's Qin Liangyu!"

Gu Zhenhua immediately woke up as if he was dreaming. Speaking of Qin Liangyu, he was a real heroine and the only female hero who was included in the biographies of generals and ministers.

From the three major battles of Wanli to the battle with the Tartars, Qin Liangyu and her white-rod soldiers rushed to the forefront, and they made outstanding achievements. Many of the Qin and Ma families had patriots who died for their country, and the world admired Qin Liangyu very much.

"How is Mrs. Qin now?"

"She led the troops to guard Shizhu, but Zhang Xianzhong attacked several times, and although he was defeated by the old lady, Shizhu's soldiers were scarce and had poor food and grass. In addition, the old lady was old and weak, and was plagued by illness, so it was quite difficult to maintain it. I also thought about lending the old lady food, but the two Huai Rivers are still fighting, so it is very difficult for us."

"No matter how difficult it is, Old Lady Qin opens her mouth and must send it over!" Gu Zhenhua said: "For decades of conscripts and killings in the Ming Dynasty, the soldiers and civilians of Shizhu even went to Liaodong to fight and fight against the Tartars, which really made contributions to the country. Let's do this, temporarily take out 150,000 dan of grain, 200,000 taels of silver, plus 500 muskets to send it over to the old lady. It is said that Gu Zhenhua apologized to her!"

Gu Zhenhua has never been a person who refuses to suffer losses, but he is so generous to Qin Liangyu, which surprised Zhang Jinyan. However, he could only nod and said, "Prince, don't worry, Bei Zhi will arrange for people to send them to you immediately!"

After the explanation was completed, Gu Zhenhua led his army northward, crossed Huguang, and returned to Henan again. Sun Cheng took the army to Luoyang to stand by according to the order, while Gu Zhenhua returned to Kaifeng on a starry night.

"Your Majesty, you're finally back. We're all going crazy!" Li Xu led the generals out to greet him. Yan Yingyuan, who had just become the governor of Henan, also had a smile on his face.

"Prince, there have been constant news coming these days, saying that you have slaughtered salt merchants and opened ports to trade. The pocket is full of money, and we are eager to see it!"

"Haha, it's not difficult to get money from my king's pocket. The key is that you have to show your own abilities, which depends on how many Tartars you can kill."

Yue Polu suddenly jumped out, waved his fists and said, "It's great, we can't wait. Prince, counterattack quickly and try to drive the Tartars out of the pass as soon as possible!"

All the generals were very happy and energetic, and Gu Zhenhua was also very satisfied.

"Very good. Since everyone is looking forward to the Northern Expedition, I will tell you my thoughts first."

Instead of returning to the palace, Gu Zhenhua went directly to the General Staff Department, Li Jibo, Xia Shouli and others were also there, and everyone gathered together, and Gu Zhenhua also took out some plans he wrote on the road.

"Everyone, we have defeated the Tartars in northern Henan in the past, and this time tens of thousands of Tartars were also destroyed in the Huai River. But we fought all defensively and were passively beaten. This time it was different. We had to launch a counterattack. Without the protection of the strong city, can the brothers withstand the impact of the Tartars and break the enemy's city? This is a new test for us. It may be more trouble than we imagined. Are everyone prepared?"

When Gu Zhenhua asked this, many people present lowered their heads and silently thought that overall change in tactics was indeed not an easy task.

Li Jibo smiled and said, "Prince, I have been thinking about it all these days. I think An** has a fatal injury at the moment!"

“Where is it?”

"logistics!"

Li Jibo said without hesitation: "If we want to fight the Northern Expedition, we must leave the rear to replenish supplies and go deep into the areas controlled by the Tatars. Don't forget that no matter how sharp our muskets are, they cannot offset the speed advantage of the Tatar cavalry. Once they sneak into our food route, it will definitely be a disaster!"

Wu Kaijie also nodded frequently: "Mr. Li said something like a burst of blood, but our prince praised Haikou for his attempt to fight against the Tartars, rob the corpse of Chengzu, and restore the old capital. If he had no action, he would be laughed at!"

"The face is small, the outcome is big!" Li Jibo said heartbrokenly: "Your Majesty, you are still too anxious. It will be much better if you wait a little longer."

Gu Zhenhua smiled indifferently: "We are getting stronger and the Tartars are also transforming. Wars can never be expected to start when they are ready for perfection, and they cannot go straight to the north. Then we will accumulate small victories into big victories, advance inch by inch, and constantly weaken the Tartars. The opportunity for the Northern Expedition is ripe!"

After a few words, sensitive people like Li Xu and Guo Yunlong quickly caught a trace of inspiration, as if Gu Zhenhua had already developed a new combat strategy!

"Prince, what are your tricks? Tell me quickly!"

Gu Zhenhua called the generals to the front of the sand table and said with a smile: "Facing with the Tartars, we should play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. We attacked sharply, constantly seized the nearby prefectures and counties, and restored our hometown. I named this tactic called the bamboo shoot peeling tactic!"

"Bamboo, what are bamboo shoots?" Yue Polu, who was born in Liaodong, still didn't understand, his face was full of questions.

Gu Zhenhua coughed lightly: "If you want to call the cabbage peeling tactics the same, it is to weaken the Tartars layer by layer."

"Oh!" Yue Polu smiled and said, "Prince, which layer are you going to strip first? Can you play the striker if you are not good at it?"
Chapter completed!