~~~~~~

After walking out of the gate of Ningyuan's official hall, Niu Gensheng hurried forward and whispered respectfully: "General, where are we going?"

Li Yuanqing thought for a moment and said, "Leave the city directly. Send someone to tell Man Gui that in a few days, 20,000 taels of silver will be shipped over together with the next batch of Liaonan Laojiao!"

"Eh? Yes!"

Although Niu Gensheng didn't know the reason, he saw that Li Yuanqing looked unhappy and hurriedly went to do it.

After a brief tidying up, Li Yuanqing left Ningyuan City directly and arrived at the fleet on the east coast.

Not long after, the soldiers sent by Niu Gensheng to deal with the matter also rushed over quickly, and the group of people boarded the boat one after another.

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Yuanqing waved his hand and the fleet sailed directly towards the deep sea.

Standing on the bow of the ship, looking at Ningyuan City gradually disappearing from sight, Li Yuanqing let out a long breath, but his face was so ethereal that it was difficult to fathom.

When things came to this, it wasn't that Li Yuanqing was unjust and had to 'sell' Gao Di.

In fact, because of this matter, it was a dead end, and Li Yuanqing could not act righteously at all.

Gao Di, with his power in Ji Liao's economic strategy, forcefully recruited Li Yuanqing to western Liaoning and forced him to express his position.

Moreover, 400,000 taels of silver is good, but ~~, this is the salary of Western Liaoning, and it does not take much effort for Governor Yuan to find out the fishy nature of it.

If it was because of this mere 400,000 taels of silver that he had been pushed to the forefront and allowed to be criticized by words and writings, Li Yuanqing would not be so stupid.

Furthermore, there are quite a lot of stains under Gao Di's butt. Not to mention Sun Chengzong, even Governor Yuan, he is incomparable.

This is not to say that Gaudi's ability is poor. In fact, Gaudi's ability is definitely not bad because he has been able to survive to this day.

The most important thing is that Gao Di's heart was not set on Liao Di. The reason why he came to Liao Di was simply because he had no choice but to catch up.

In this way, how could Li Yuanqing put all the treasure on him?

As for "confessing" to Governor Yuan, Li Yuanqing was actually a bachelor. He clearly told Governor Yuan that if Gao Di's side was successful, he would put the 150,000 taels of silver into his pocket.

Governor Yuan is not stupid about this kind of matter. How could he not be able to distinguish the priorities?

Without much hesitation, he agreed to the matter.

In this way, the 400,000 taels of silver that originally belonged to "black~gold" were turned around, and they were washed away.

Li Yuanqing would not be in any danger if he held it in his hand again, although the quantity was more than half less than before.

Li Yuanqing suddenly remembered that a sage once wrote an article "On Love of the Lotus": "The lotus comes out of the mud but is not stained, and washes the ripples without being evil..."

But how can one not get his shoes wet while walking by the river?

For the sake of his future and his ideals, even if the road ahead is filled with thorns and bloodshed, how can he allow Li Yuanqing to hesitate even half a step?

…………

Ten days later, in mid-March, the fleet heading to Shanhaiguan returned successfully, bringing back a round sum of 250,000 taels of fine official silver.

In the imperial court, the war between Governor Yuan and Gao Di was still going on, but Li Yuanqing had already left this 'pit of fire' and was watching the fire from the other side.

In fact, the most important reason why Governor Yuan agreed to this matter so happily was that Li Yuanqing's attitude was sincere enough and he clearly told Governor Yuan that he would go to sea at the end of March, and he would go to sea in the next one to two years.

, he will not participate in the war in Liao Dynasty again.

According to Governor Yuan's "magnificent talents and strategies", this is what he most wants to see. After all, there can only be one "protagonist" in this scene in Liaodi.

In addition, he could still receive hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, so how could he refuse?

At this time, after intensive repairs by Zhou Chuanhai's shipwrights and thousands of auxiliary soldiers, the warships going out to sea this time were almost completely rested.

As long as all supplies are ready, the fleet can go to sea at any time.

Before heading to western Liaoning, Li Yuanqing also ordered his soldiers to send a message to Yang Jiao's mother in the capital, asking her to rush to Changsheng Island as soon as possible, and go to Nanjing with the fleet to inspect Wuyu Pavilion's properties in Nanjing, and use Wuyu by the way.

He helped Li Yuanqing purchase supplies in Jiangnan.

With the one million taels of silver brought back by Yang Xiaochuan from this voyage, plus the twenty-five taels of silver from Gao Di and Governor Yuan, Li Yuanqing's cash reserves at this time were already quite sufficient, and all the people on the island were mobilized.

Everyone is preparing for this trip to sea.

On March 14th, Yang Jiao's mother took Sanlang and a team of more than a hundred people to Changsheng Island successfully.

What makes Li Yuanqing happy is that his previous efforts were not in vain. He finally succeeded in enlarging Yang Jiao's belly again.

After careful discussion, Li Yuanqing set the date of going to sea on March 18th, which also had the auspicious meaning of making a fortune.

According to the plan, after the fleet goes to sea, Li Yuanqing will first go to Pi Island to visit Mao Wenlong, and then go directly to Nanjing by sea to purchase goods, and then go to Fujian to 'have a chat' with the Zheng family.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty's route to Nanyang seemed very far away, but in fact, this route had a history of hundreds of years and was already very mature.

Unless you are too clueless and encounter a typhoon, this journey will be very safe.

Li Yuanqing thought for a long time, and finally decided to take most of his wives, concubines, and children who were not pregnant and go to sea together as a way to relax and travel, and to broaden their horizons.

It's a pity that Zhang Yunniang and Qu Minqiu, because they are mistresses, want to stay on Changsheng Island, but they can't go.

Li Yuanqing could only promise them that in a few years, when everything is more stable, he would definitely take them out to sea.

Although the warships on Changsheng Island at this time were not equipped with powerful artillery and were mainly equipped with cold-weapon ramming weapons, they were superior in numbers.

The scale of this trip to sea is initially estimated to be more than 800 warships.

Coupled with the large and small cargo ships of the wealthy merchants on the island, it is not too difficult to exceed 1,500 ships.

In terms of soldiers, after careful consideration, Li Yuanqing decided to bring eight thousand soldiers, which basically accounted for half of the number of standing soldiers on Changsheng Island. He had to bring enough firearms.

In terms of safety, Li Yuanqing also thought carefully.

Although the maritime combat effectiveness of the Changsheng Island fleet is very small, its power in landing operations is astonishing.

At this time, the fleet is so large that it is impossible for ordinary small pirates to do anything to them. The only ones who can threaten the safety of the fleet are the Zheng family.

However, given Zheng Zhilong's urinary nature, if he dared to send troops to deal with Li Yuanqing, how could the Manchus possibly occupy the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains within this pass in the future?

As for Nanyang, Li Yuanqing was even less worried.

He will uproot anyone who dares to offend his authority!

Time flies by, and in a blink of an eye, it’s March 18th.

Early in the morning, the Nanxinkou Pier was already filled with roaring mountains and tsunami. Amidst the endless cheers of the crowd, Li Yuanqing took his group of wives and concubines and took the lead to board his boat.

Soon, people from various departments also began to board the ship.

At the end of Chen time, that is, around 8:58 in the morning, Li Yuanqing waved his hand, and the fleet began to sail towards the deep sea one after another!

The vast sea is endless as far as the eye can see, but beside and behind you, the endless fleet of huge ships seems to cover the entire world.

Standing on the large deck, Li Yuanqing couldn't help but think of the high-spirited mustache back then.

such a pity!

There are no boundless fighter planes in the sky at this time. Otherwise, how magnificent would this scene that blocks the sky and the sun be?

Ahead, Yang Xiaochuan personally took command of a large warship and led the entire fleet.

Beside him, hundreds of medium-sized warships loaded with soldiers, like cruisers and frigates, firmly guarded the safety of Li Yuanqing's ship.

During these days, Li Yuanqing has actually been thinking about reintegrating Changsheng Island's fleet forces. The regulations are very sound, and the purpose and division of labor are clearer, in accordance with the regulations of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

It’s just that ‘the temple is small but the wind is strong, and the pond is deep and there are many bastards’.

In this complicated political environment at this time, Li Yuanqing did not want to "come to the fore" too much, so he tolerated this method for the time being, keeping a low profile and not easily exposing his background.

The key is that although the Changsheng Battalion's fleet structure has been improved and the command system is very complete, they are not actual warships. Li Yuanqing also wants to use this ocean voyage to wait until conditions are more mature before doing this.

Certainly.

On the morning of March 21, Li Yuanqing's fleet arrived at Pi Island successfully.

Unfortunately, Li Yuanqing had just landed on the island and was told that Mao Wenlong had already gone to the capital.

After having a good drink with his old brothers Mao Chenglu, Zhang Pan, and Chen Jisheng, and writing a letter to Mao Wenlong himself, Li Yuanqing did not stay, and returned directly to the fleet and set sail for Nanjing.

After these few days of adaptation, the women Zhang Baozhu, Ren Ying'er, and Cai Zi also began to adapt to life at sea and gradually became cheerful. The children, especially, were very happy and ran around on the deck every day.

go.

Li Yuanqing can finally enjoy a "happy" life with his wife and concubines by his side.

As the fleet went south, the weather began to get warmer, and people's mood became brighter.

Since he was sailing close to the mainland, Li Yuanqing did not have to worry about fresh water supplies and vegetables.

In terms of hygiene, Changsheng Camp already has strict military discipline, so there is no need to worry about the occurrence of epidemics.

In fact, China's shipping routes to the Southeast Asia, including offshore seas, connecting the north and the south, have been very mature since the Li and Tang Dynasties.

By the Song Dynasty, it had almost reached a small peak.

During the hundred years of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, although there were some separations, overall, it did not suffer a big blow.

Especially after entering the Ming Dynasty, the glory of Zheng He's voyages to the West caused more and more Chinese people to go to Nanyang to pan for gold and make a living.

It’s a pity that ‘the heart is full but the strength is not enough’.

Although private commerce and exchanges were prosperous, official support was insufficient, which also made the overseas travelers and wealthy merchants of the Ming Dynasty seriously lacking in confidence.

I have to say that this is the biggest regret for the Chinese nation in history.

But at this time, Li Yuanqing had already gone to sea in person, and everything was completely different.

After more than ten days of sailing, on April 10th, the fleet successfully docked at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The commanders Canghai and Xu Heizi first led the fleet to Nanjing to prepare for the subsequent receipt of goods. Li Yuanqing personally led five hundred cavalry and brought generous gifts to Shanghai County, which was not far from Nanjing.

'Magic City', he paid a visit to Xu Guangqi and Mr. Xu Ge whom he had admired for a long time.

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Chapter completed!