After Yang Zhen learned more information from Fang Guangchen, he finally had an overall grasp of the evolution of the situation in the customs during his departure from Lushunkou.

Moreover, he also realized from this that the decisive battle between Songjin and Songjin, which he had tried every means to postpone or even avoid, seemed to be inevitable in the end.

Because judging from what he already knew, although his appearance changed the situation outside the customs to some extent, it had minimal impact on the situation inside the customs.

Not only did the Li Qingshan Rebellion, which cut off water transportation in history, still break out, but the situation of the war against bandits in the pass did not change fundamentally due to the southward movement of some troops from western Liaoning and the joining of the loyal Ming army from Jinhai Town.

This also means that all the factors in the original time and space that prompted Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers in the capital court to resolve to end the stalemate on the Liaodong battlefield as soon as possible appeared.

Of course, what makes Yang Zhen slightly gratified is that this life is different from the original time and space after all, and his efforts have already yielded considerable results.

At least for now, the main force that Hong Chengchou brought outside the Pass is still there, and the imperial court has not made a desperate effort to mobilize the elites from the Nine Sides to gather outside the Pass.

Therefore, the most fatal defeat that occurred in August of the 14th year of Chongzhen in the original time and space did not happen in this life.

Including Yang Zhen's uncle Yang Guozhu, who was killed in the battle at the end of July of the 14th year of Chongzhen in the original time and space, he had not yet gone outside the customs at this time, but was still working hard in Xuanzang Town to recuperate his strength.

This is what makes Yang Zhen most gratified.

In the original time and space, by mid-November of the 14th year of Chongzhen, the overall situation of the decisive battle of the Ming and Qing Dynasties on the battlefield in western Liaoning had been basically determined.

But in this life, the decisive battle has not yet begun.

In fact, the reason why Yang Zhen chose to cross the sea and conquer the Wonu Kingdom in early July was that he had in mind the idea of ​​staying away from the land of right and wrong.

Because the consciousness of his previous life made him extremely worried, as long as he stayed in Jinhai Town and Lushunkou, no matter what the imperial edict was, he would not be able to stay out of it.

Faced with the chaotic situation within the pass, he could either take the initiative to attack the Qing captives in the north and launch a new war against the captives, or passively go south and cross the sea and travel to Shandong to quell the rebellion of local refugees initiated by Li Qingshan and others.

All in all, as long as others are in Jinhaizhen, he cannot be idle.

Because Emperor Chongzhen would not let him be idle, neither would the ministers in the capital court.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to simply cross the sea and conquer the Japanese slave country.

There are at least two benefits to doing this.

One is that he can expand the territory of Jinhai Town and accumulate strength for the future Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty.

The other is that he can use this to temporarily avoid the difficult choice of going north or south, and gain more preparation time for the future Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty.

For Yang Zhen, although the decisive battle with the Qing captives is inevitable and will happen sooner or later, it will be faced sooner or later, but it is best if it can be delayed by a year or two.

Because he knew that the physical condition of Huang Taiji, the former puppet emperor of the Qing Dynasty, was already very bad in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, and he died in the autumn of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen.

In this life, Huang Taiji, the puppet emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who has experienced several defeats, especially the death of Hauge, is in worse physical condition than in the original time and space, and is likely to die earlier than in the original time and space.

In other words, in this life, whether Huang Taiji, the puppet emperor of the Qing Dynasty, could survive until the 16th year of Chongzhen is a question.

Therefore, in Yang Zhen's mind, the best time to launch the Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty was to wait until Huang Taiji was about to die in the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign.

Moreover, Yang Zhen believed that without the presence of Haoge in this life, and without the checks and balances of Daishan, as long as Huang Taiji died, Dorgon would definitely be unable to suppress his ambition to rise to power in person.

And as long as Dorgon takes the throne in person, regardless of whether he succeeds or not, the Qing Dynasty will definitely fall into chaos, and there may even be a fight or civil war.

As long as the Qing Dynasty falls into chaos, no matter what the outcome is, it will be an excellent opportunity for Yang Zhen to destroy the Qing Dynasty.

What Yang Zhen has been waiting for all this time is this kind of opportunity to kill with one strike.

However, while a hunter is waiting for his prey to come towards him and enter his shooting range, what he worries most about is being disturbed by unexpected events.

For example, Yang Zhen, what he was most worried about was that when the time came, he would be ordered by Emperor Chongzhen to leave the battlefield outside the pass that he had planned for a long time, and then be trapped in the battlefield inside the pass, watching Dorgon complete the integration.

Or, he was ordered by Emperor Chongzhen to start hunting in advance before the time for hunting was ripe.

These two situations, no matter which one they are, are not what Yang Zhen wants to see.

To avoid such a situation, Yang Zhen can only find ways to build momentum on his own in order to take the initiative.

In other words, since judging from all aspects of the situation, the Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasties and the decisive battle with the Qing Dynasties are inevitable, then it is better to simply take the initiative of the Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasties firmly in their own hands.

The reason why Yang Zhen publicly proposed to prepare for the Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty in April and May of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen was because of this consideration.

Fang Guangchen mentioned the drought and locust plague in Suzhou Prefecture, the soaring rice prices, the beggars in the streets, and the deteriorating situation on the Zhongzhou bandit suppression battlefield, which further strengthened Yang Zhen's idea.

On the one hand, the Jiangnan region, which has always been known as the richest in the world, has already become like this, so the financial collapse of the imperial court is imminent.

On the other hand, as the situation in Zhongzhou's bandit suppression battlefield continues to deteriorate, the imperial court needs to recruit or mobilize a large number of troops to join the bandit suppression battlefield. Naturally, it is no longer possible to allow a large number of soldiers to sit idle outside the customs all day long.

All in all, Yang Zhen concluded that although he had succeeded in delaying the start of the decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty beyond the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, judging from the current situation, it would definitely not be delayed until the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.

If that's the case, let's do it.

Yang Zhen called Pan Wenmao and Wang Shoutang together to discuss matters this time. He originally had this consideration in mind.

Because in addition to understanding the situation within the pass, he also had to understand Jinhai Town's own production and storage of guns and ammunition.

"Everyone, the situation within the Pass has evolved to this point, and the imperial government's finances may be unsustainable. Your Majesty and the Imperial Court will no longer allow the army outside the Pass to waste food and pay while remaining aloof.

"Next, the imperial court will either give up the outside of the pass and move troops south to make peace with the interior, or it will go north to clear out the bandits with all its strength, and then mobilize a large army to enter the pass to exterminate the bandits with all its strength. It must be one of the two!

"Although I have proposed to the Holy One the strategy of pacifying the interior and repelling the foreigners, and I prefer to pacify the interior first when resisting the foreigners, but I look at the current situation. Once our troops outside the pass are mobilized to quell the rebels within the pass, the Qing captives will definitely be the ones who benefit the most.

One side."

When Yang Zhen said this, he paused, looked at the faces of the absolute confidants present one by one, and finally said decisively:

"This is absolutely not allowed!"

Hearing what Yang Zhen said, everyone present nodded and said nothing.

After what Yang Zhen said just now, they already understood that Yang Zhen was not the kind of loyal minister and filial son mentioned in the old saying.

In Yang Zhen's mind, no matter when it comes, the destruction of the Qing captives will always be the first priority.

As for the precarious capital court, the precarious Ming Dynasty, or more accurately, the precarious position of the old Zhu family, they were ranked second to the destruction of the Qing Dynasty.

If it was at this time two years ago that Yang Zhen dared to express such thoughts, then among the few people present except Fang Guangchen, no one else would be so indifferent and take it for granted.

Some may even think that Yang Zhen is treacherous.

But now, veteran Zhang Degui, who has always valued loyalty, filial piety and justice the most, also subtly and silently approved of Yang Zhen's idea.

Loyalty, filial piety and justice also depend on who is being spoken to.

For those of them who had been resisting the Qing rebels for almost a lifetime, the importance of annihilating the Qing rebels was obviously higher than the importance of being transferred to the pass to exterminate the rebels.

If they could only choose one between the two, they would obviously choose to destroy the Qinglu without hesitation.

To them, the destruction of the Qing Dynasty was a great righteousness for the world, and it was also a great righteousness of the nation that Yang Zhen often told them was far higher than other personal virtues.

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This is true loyalty and filial piety, this is true integrity.

"The Governor doesn't need to explain much. I, Lao Zhang, understand this, and so do everyone here. We have followed the Governor for many years, and we have already followed the Governor's lead. We will do whatever the Governor says, without any hesitation!"

"Exactly, we will do whatever the governor says, without any hesitation!"

"That's right, we all understand that the Governor doesn't need to explain much!"

"That's right, the governor keeps explaining, but he seems to treat us as outsiders!"

As Zhang Degui took the lead to express his position, other people present immediately followed Zhang Degui to express their attitude with laughter or anger.

"Well, in this case, I won't talk nonsense. No matter how the situation in the pass changes, next spring, we must concentrate our main force on the northern expedition to the Qing Dynasty, and we will not destroy the Qing Dynasty and never withdraw our troops. From now on, everyone must

Get ready!"

"I will obey the orders of the Governor!"

As soon as Yang Zhen finished speaking, everyone present stood up, clasped their fists in salute, and accepted the order with a bang.

Upon seeing this, Yang Zhen also stood up from the chair, looked at Fang Guangchen who was standing aside, and then laughed, saying "Okay", "Okay" and "Okay" repeatedly, while gesturing for everyone to continue sitting down and talking.

After the excited people sat down again, Yang Zhen looked at Zhang Degui, then at Pan Wenmao and Wang Shoutang, and finally set his sights on Wang Shoutang.

"Everyone agrees to make an all-out Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty next spring, and I am very pleased. But approving the Northern Expedition is one thing, and whether the Northern Expedition can succeed is another.

"As you all know, I rarely rush to do something that I am not sure of, and I never rush to fight a battle that I am not sure of. If we want to fight, we must win at all costs.

"Mr. Wang Tiju, you and your son have been leading the ironworks and forging and forging muskets. In the past few months since the governor has been away from home, has there been any new progress in the manufacture of muskets and artillery?"

After Yang Zhen returned to Jinhai Town, in addition to urgently understanding the changes in the situation inside and outside the customs, what he wanted to know most was the production and reserve situation of guns and ammunition.

Today, Wang Shoutang, the general manager of the iron factory in charge of smelting iron, casting cannons and making muskets, was specially summoned for this purpose.

Of course Wang Shoutang himself knew this very well, so he had made preparations early and was just waiting for Yang Zhen to ask.

"Going back to the Governor, since the Governor last sent someone to travel thousands of miles and spend a lot of money to buy that precious book, the "Tiangong Kaiwu", and give it to the humble father and son, our ironworks have gone up and down.

, has made a lot of progress in smelting iron and steel. Although it cannot be said that it is not what it used to be, it is definitely many times better than before——"

"Okay, don't talk about those nonsense. Just tell me how many usable cannons and how many barrel magazines your iron and gun factories have produced during my absence in Lushunkou.

Use a musket!"

"this--"

Wang Shoutang originally wanted to take advantage of Yang Zhen's personal inquiry to express his gratitude to himself and his sons and apprentices. He even wanted to flatter Yang Zhen, but he didn't expect that as soon as he opened his mouth, he said

He was interrupted by Yang Zhen.

Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance, so Wang Shoutang was just stunned for a short time, and immediately said with a smile:

"I'm so verbose. In the past few months, thanks to the governor, our gun factory in the north city of Lushun has produced a total of 120 heavy artillery pieces like the Qing Dynasty general Tianyou cheering, the Songshan style in the twelfth year of Chongzhen.

There are 240 sky-high cannons, 2100 new Rumi-style flintlock muskets, and 3400 flintlock muskets modified from other types of shotgun barrels."

"Anything else?"

After hearing Wang Shoutang's report, Yang Zhen nodded at first, and then immediately asked another question.

Upon seeing this, Wang Shoutang realized that Yang Zhen was not very satisfied with the list produced by the Lushun Beicheng Gun Factory, and immediately stood up and added:

"Captain, don't worry. What I just said is only the output of our Lushun North City. In addition, the smelting plant and gun factory on Yuncong Island where the iron production is located have also started smelting iron and steel to make guns.

The cannon is forged.

"The humble dog, I wrote a letter a month ago saying that the iron molds for casting cannons there have been prepared. It can be said that everything is ready. By the end of the year, there will be a production of at least 200 cannons of various types! Even large and small blunderbuss tubes.

, we can also achieve a sufficient number of three to four hundred rods per month!"
Chapter completed!