The first month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen passed quickly in a peaceful and busy atmosphere.

As soon as February entered and February 2 passed, the weather began to obviously improve, the bright sunshine became warmer, and the wind was no longer so biting.

On the fourth day of February, Yang Zhen took people to Shuangdao Bay and personally inspected the completed Lelang and Beiming.

These two giant armed plywood ships were picked up by Yan Shengsan from the Jinzhou Shipyard on the 19th day of the first lunar month. Guo Xiaowu and his men took them back to Shuangdao Bay for berth, and immediately started the intensive equipment process.

Yan Shengsan and Guo Xiaowu are both close to Yang Zhen. They know that Yang Zhen has been looking forward to the early completion and commissioning of a replica of the Yingzhou for a long time.

At the same time, they also knew that Jinhaizhen might be engaged in a new battle against the prisoners in two or three months.

In the new Northern Expedition against the Japanese, the Jinhai South Road Naval Battalion naturally had to shoulder an important mission.

Therefore, there was no need for Yang Zhen to urge them repeatedly. As soon as they returned to Shuangdao Bay, they began to apply or report to the Assistant Battalion Affairs Office of the General Town Office according to the Yingzhou's officer staffing and artillery and ammunition equipment, and acted quickly. Got up.

Fortunately, the newly built heavy artillery and sky cannons in Lushun North City, as well as the various types of ammunition prepared, were all ready. At the same time, various personnel were deployed and assigned within the Jinhai South Road Naval Battalion, so all progress was rapid.

Less than half a month after the Lelang and Beiming arrived in Shuangdao Bay, they were fully staffed and equipped with the ability to go to sea at any time.

Yang Zhen was very happy about this, so after hearing the news that the equipment was completed, he immediately decided to take people to Shuangdao Bay to board the ship for inspection on the fourth day of February.

The weather was sunny that day, and there was wind in the bay, but not too much. The Shuangdao Bay Pier was crowded with people, and flags were flying everywhere.

After watching for a while on the shore, Yang Zhen, accompanied by Yan Shengsan and Guo Xiaowu, took Zhang Degui, Zhang Chen, Li Lu, Yang Shen, as well as Pan Wenmao and Wang Shoutang, who were mainly responsible for the production of guns and ammunition, and walked through the long On the trestle, we first boarded the Lelang, whose construction period was extended again and again, and was finally listed.

On the top deck, Yang Zhen simply met with the Lelang's general affairs officer, pilot officer, flag officer, gunnery officer, sailor officer, craftsman officer and other officers on board, and then looked at the third and second floors. He got off the ship quite satisfied with the heavy artillery equipped on top of him, and finally took the people aboard the Beiming.

The structural layout, equipment distribution, and personnel composition of the Beiming and Lelang are based on the same standards. They are improved compared to the Yingzhou, but they are basically the same.

The difference is that a general affairs officer has been added. As the deputy of the ship's steward, in addition to executing the orders of the steward, he is mainly responsible for the food, drinking, sleeping, and other chores that involve everyone on the ship.

After all, the situation of the Yingzhou is relatively special. It is Yang Zhen's flagship. The previous officer in charge was Guo Xiaowu. When Yang Zhen was on the Yingzhou, the officer in charge, Guo Xiaowu, naturally became the general manager who ran errands and took care of everything. official.

But for Lelanghao and Beiminghao, the situation is different.

Yang Zhen asked Yan Shengsan to concurrently serve as the commander of the Lelang and Guo Xiaowu as the commander of the Beiming. As the bosses of these two giant warships, it was naturally impossible for them to keep so many people on board eating, drinking and sleeping. Everything about sleeping must be done personally.

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Moreover, they cannot be on the ship every day, and someone must be responsible for the daily management of the people on the ship.

Now, a general affairs officer is set up under them to solve this problem.

Of course, all this is still being explored. After all, a giant warship of this size is unprecedented among the various naval forces under Yang Zhen's command.

In the past, there was no corresponding job setting for reference.

The several giant armed plywood ships of the same specifications of the Dutch East India Company's Senior Council can be used as a reference, but Yang Zhen does not want to copy the red-haired ghost's various job settings.

For example, Yang Zhen did not adopt the position of captain for the warships of his naval camp.

First of all, although Yang Zhen had many warships under his command, there were still very few famous ones, such as the Yingzhou, Lelang, and Beiming.

Secondly, the various naval battalions under Yang Zhen are not the kind of teams that live on ships all year round and are always floating on the sea.

Most of them only board ships to fight during wartime, and are always ready to land or go ashore to fight.

In addition to giant warships like the Yingzhou, Lelang, and Beiming equipped with sixty cannons and hundreds of men of various colors, the various naval divisions under Yang Zhen's command only include the deputy generals of the naval battalions.

The generals have their own relatively fixed battleships, while the soldiers of other naval battalions do not have fixed ships.

Those in charge of ships and those in charge of combat operations are basically two separate lines, and those in charge of ships are mostly shipwrights and handymen, who rarely directly participate in combat operations.

Regarding this situation, Yang Zhen could only temporarily accept the status quo, and slowly explore an effective method of naval establishment based on the actual conditions of various naval camps in Jinhai Town.

As for now, we can only continue to borrow the camp and sentry shed system that is already used by all troops in Jinhai Town.

Let us say that on the morning of February 4, the 15th year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen went to Shuangdao Bay to personally inspect the Lelang and Beiming, which were already extremely full. In the afternoon, he ordered Guo Xiaowu to lead the Beiming early on the sixth day of the lunar month.

And bring a group of other ships to Dengzhou.

Yang Zhen asked him to go to Dengzhou Shuicheng first to pick up a group of immigrants who had been stranded for a long time, and then rush to Yingzhou Island with the immigrants as soon as possible to return to Guo Xiaowu's original establishment on Yingzhou Island.

However, what Yang Zhen did not expect was that the day after Guo Xiaowu led his team south to Dengzhou Shuicheng, he personally took the boat back to Shuangdao Bay. Among those who crossed the sea with him were Fang Guangchen and Li Ji

and the imperial envoys sent by the imperial court to deliver orders.

Fang Guangchen and Li Ji had previously followed Yang Zhen's order to accompany the Japanese Empress Mizuo Masahito to the capital for official business.

They had been there for two months, taking advantage of the Chinese New Year season to take care of all the courtiers and eunuchs in the capital that needed to be taken care of, and all the matters that needed to be arranged were arranged.

By February, the major tasks assigned by Yang Zhen had been completed, and they followed the imperial envoys who came to Jinhai Town to deliver the decree, from the capital to Tianjin, from Tianjin to Hejian, then to Laizhou, and then returned to Lushun via Dengzhou

mouth.

And the reason why they were able to come back together in the team of imperial envoys was because this imperial envoy was none other than Shen Xun, the doctor of the Shanhaiguan Branch of the Ministry of War who came to Jinhai Town last time to discuss the decisive battle in Liaodong.

In the afternoon of February 7th, after hearing the news, Yang Zhen personally led people and horses to Shuangdao Bay. Along the way, Shen Xun, who came to Jinhai Town again, and Fang Guangchen and Li Ji, who accompanied Shen Xun back to Jinhai Town, welcomed back to Lushun.

The main town hall of Nancheng.

When Shen Xun came back this time, he not only formally conveyed to Yang Zhen, Jinhai, and Denglai the two towns that Emperor Chongzhen had ordered them to unite the soldiers and horses of western Liaoning to jointly send troops to the north to attack the Qing captives and regain Liaoshen before the end of April, but also

Brought many other "good news" to Yang Zhen.

"Captain, the Holy Majesty's will and the imperial court's decree, Mr. Shen has just now officially conveyed it to the Governor and all the soldiers in chief. In order to urge the Governor to march into the army on time, the cabinet originally intended to send you another supervisor to the Governor.

"

Shen Xun, who came to Jinhai Town again, seemed much more calm in front of Yang Zhen, but he always spoke half-speak and liked to make things mysterious.

"Choice of supervisor?"

"That's right."

"Who did the cabinet originally want to send?"

"Ma Shaoyu, Director of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War."

"It turns out it's him!"

"The governor knows about him?"

"I've heard people talk about it occasionally before."

Of course Yang Zhen knew about this Ma Shaoyu, but he didn't hear it from others, but he saw it from the historical materials of the Songjin Battle in his previous life.

And I know that this person, like Zhang Ruoqi, is also a person who is very good at talking about military affairs on paper. Although he has the reputation of knowing the military, he has no knowledge of the reality of the military.

In the imperial court, if such a person were to be brought to his side as a supervisor, he would have no choice but to find a way to kill him first.

Fortunately, there is something in Shen Xun's words.

And in order to prevent such a result from happening, Yang Zhen had already taken precautions.

Yang Zhen asked Fang Guangchen and Li Ji to go to the capital for business. A very important point was to send gifts to Chen Xinjia, Shen Xun, Zhang Ruoqi, Wang Dehua, Wang Chengen, Chu Xianzhang, Yang Chaojin and others in the name of New Year greetings.

Sometimes, giving gifts may not bring about good things, but it can prevent bad things in advance.

This was the case this time. When Yang Zhen greeted Shen Xun and his party, he did not see Ma Shaoyu whom he did not recognize. The emperor's imperial edict did not mention the intention of sending supervisory troops to supervise him at all.

Therefore, Yang Zhen behaved very calmly and was not anxious at all.

Sure enough, when Shen Xun saw that Yang Zhen was not as surprised as he expected, he laughed and told the result and reason himself:

"However, Chen Benbing completely trusted the governor, so he suggested at the court meeting that the governor is best at winning by surprise when using troops. If he sent civilian officials to supervise the army and supervise the army, it might mess up the governor's plan and Jinhaizhen's position.

"The main force of the governor's army is under the Beijing camp structure. Some Shanhaiguan soldiers have already been supervising the battle. There is no need to send civilian officials to the army. Therefore, the Holy Spirit thought about it again and again, and finally stopped the proposal to supervise the army in Jinhai Town and sent Ma Shaoyu to the army.

Reassigned to Ningyuan."

Although Yang Zhen had concluded that the imperial court would not send civilian officials to supervise the army, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Shen Xun said.

At the same time, he also noticed Emperor Chongzhen's attitude very keenly from Shen Xun's words.

"So, the Holy Spirit had this intention?"

"To be honest, the Holy Spirit had this intention."

"Um."

Faced with Shen Xun's reply, Yang Zhen had already realized that Emperor Chongzhen's willingness to appoint Jinhai Town civil servants to supervise the army should be very strong, otherwise Shen Xun would not have answered this easily given his previous cautiousness in speaking.

Because of this, Yang Zhen's face gradually darkened.

The troops, horses and warships in Jinhai Town are growing, and the area under their jurisdiction is also getting larger. Compared with three years ago, Yang Zhen's strength is absolutely completely different.

However, as Yang Zhen's strength increased, he would inevitably arouse the emperor's suspicion and fear.

Fortunately, no matter how powerful Jinhaizhen is, it does not pose a direct threat to the capital, so Emperor Chongzhen can still tolerate his rapid growth.

However, at the same time, Yang Zhen was increasingly able to understand why Emperor Chongzhen and the civil servants in the imperial court in the capital were so anxious to send troops together with Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou from western Liaoning to fight against the Qing invaders.

Yang Zhen fell silent while thinking about these things.

When Shen Xun saw that Yang Zhen was silent, as if he was deeply worried, he was obviously aware of what Yang Zhen was thinking in front of him, so he immediately added:

"Haha, don't worry about the governor. The imperial court intends to send a supervisory army, just to urge the governor to send troops on time, and to facilitate the governor and the court to contact and cooperate with each other and the Liaoxi Governor's Office.

"With the Governor's unparalleled loyalty and the strength of his troops, as long as the Governor vows to send out troops in time and achieve one or two great victories, His Majesty will definitely dispel all doubts and the imperial court will no longer discuss the idea of ​​sending a supervisory army to supervise the war."

"Mr. Shen is overly worried. It's not that I don't want the imperial court to send people to supervise the army and supervise the war. It's just that the war is going on and the soldiers are fierce and dangerous. It's not easy for the imperial court to produce a civil servant who knows the military. How can he be wasted in front of the army in vain?"

"That's true. The governor has thought carefully about it."
To be continued...