Although foreign devils like Tang Ruowang still had some uses, Yang Zhen thought about it and decided to get rid of them.

Originally, Yang Zhen wanted to bring him here because he wanted to use his knowledge of firearms to improve the level of firearms manufacturing in Jinhai Town.

It was under this name that Yang Zhen asked the court for this person.

But later I learned that Tang Ruowang spent a lot of money in the capital and only built twenty heavy cannons in the end.

The cost of casting the cannon is much higher than the cost of Jinhaizhen's own cannon casting.

The most important thing is that its gun casting technology is not advanced. It is still a front-loaded smoothbore gun that is cast in sections from back to front, and it still fires solid bullets instead of split bullets.

In this way, not only did Yang Zhen's goal of improving the cannon-casting technology of the self-armed army fail, but he also had to be constantly wary of the Yesu Society's fellows stealing the iron-moulded cannons, flintlock guns, and explosive bullets from the self-armed army.

manufacturing process.

What particularly worried Yang Zhen was that he had asked someone to collect and purchase the Tiangong Kaiwu and Agricultural Administration Complete Books from Jiangnan. If he asked this person to copy them, the loss would be even greater.

This was also the fundamental reason why he was sent to prevent and control the plague at that time.

Of course, I didn't get rid of him at that time because I thought it would be useful in the future. For example, by dealing with other European devils through him, it would be best to get advanced shipbuilding technology.

But now, even this is no longer needed for him.

Because Jinhae Town has already obtained the giant plywood ship of the Dutch East India Company, and a one-to-one scale replica has also been produced.

Let Yang Zhen have already dealt with foreign devils, and there is no need for people like Tang Ruowang to act as middlemen.

In this case, leaving him alone will only increase hidden dangers.

After Yang Zhen thought about it clearly, he immediately made up his mind.

"Is there anyone in your army who believes in his so-called God?"

Yang Zhen's voice was low, but anyone could feel his displeasure from his expression and tone.

When Wu Chaozuo saw this, he could no longer sit still.

After hearing this, he immediately stood up, bowed and replied:

"Most of the regular soldiers in the fifth battalion of Beizhong were recruited later and had little contact with Tang Ruowang. Only the slave workers in the relief camp and the isolation camp had more contact with him. As far as Beizhong knows, there are some believers!

"

"You will go back tomorrow. The first thing you will do when you return is to find out those in your army who believe in his evil ways and deal with them for violating our military laws!"

"Obide by your humble duty! Your humble duty must be done well!"

Although Yang Zhen didn't say clearly what he meant by dealing with it, Wu Chaozuo already knew how to deal with it from his cold tone.

"Li Ji!"

"The humble position is here!"

Li Ji, who also came to accompany him, immediately stood up after hearing this.

"What do you do for food? You can't control such a thing?!"

"This is a delinquent dereliction of duty. Please calm down, Commander-in-Chief. I despise your duty - I am willing to be punished."

Li Ji had obviously realized the seriousness of the problem of Tang Ruowang spreading his religion indiscriminately in Yang Zhen's mind.

In fact, as early as a year ago, he and Fang Guangchen accompanied Shen Xun, the imperial envoy who was carrying the imperial edict at the time, on their way to the capital. They passed by the capital city and heard about Tang Ruowang's lectures from local officials.

But he didn't take it seriously at the time.

After all, it was a matter of the local people in Laizhou capital, not a matter of Jinhai Town, let alone the military.

But now it seems that he was careless.

Just now, when Yang Zhen asked in a solemn tone whether there were any believers in the so-called Catholic religion among the left army of the Wu Dynasty, he was shocked in his heart.

Now that Yang Zhen really questioned him, he broke into a cold sweat and could only admit his mistake honestly.

However, Yang Zhen felt dissatisfied when he admitted his mistake.

"What's the use of punishing you? Originally, I saw your hard work and planned to reward you and promote a group of meritorious people under the statistics office. But now, I think I will balance the merits and demerits first and see the aftereffects!"

"I have made mistakes in my humble position. If the governor does not punish me, it is already a favor. How dare I ask for credit or reward? I would like to ask the governor to see how I behave in the future."

How dare Li Ji say no to what Yang Zhen said, but the hatred in his heart for Tang Ruowang immediately rose.

"Tomorrow General Wu will return to Denglai West Road. You can take some people and a few customs ships and follow him there. Invite Tang Ruowang, the other foreign monks and entourage he has recruited back!"

"Please come back, do you want the governor to see them?"

Although Li Ji has always been thoughtful and scheming, he was a little confused after hearing what Yang Zhen said.

Originally, he had concluded that his governor must have murderous intentions towards Tang Ruowang and the others.

After all, his own governor had just designated them as demons and crooked people, and had ordered General Zuo of the Wu Dynasty to deal with all those who believed in their religion. This meaning was already obvious.

However, after hearing what Yang Zhen said, he still asked a question out of nowhere after being scolded just now.

But as soon as he asked, he regretted it. Seeing the expression of hatred on his governor's face, Li Ji regretted it so much that he just wanted to slap himself in the mouth.

When Li Ji was feeling upset, he heard Yang Zhen sigh first, then suddenly became very patient and said to him seriously:

"Of course I have to invite him back. Is it possible to let him continue to gather people to lecture in the state capital and talk about his Thai-Western doctrine of God? But as for whether to see him or not, haha, that depends on the situation.

"After all, there are storms on the sea. It's not a short sea journey from Laizhou capital to here. If something goes wrong, even if the governor wants to see them again, he may not be able to see them, right?"

As soon as Li Ji heard this, he didn't know what his governor meant. He immediately nodded and said: "Yes, it's not necessarily true. It's because I was arrogant. I must handle things well!"

At the same time, he made up his mind to ensure that Yang Zhen would never see Tang Ruowang and his party again.

"Okay, this matter is settled. In addition, Mr. Wu——"

"The humble position is here!"

"Since Tang Ruowang concentrates on teaching his studies and no longer cares about the epidemic prevention affairs of Denglai West Road, after you go back this time, you must cultivate your subordinate Wu Youxing and give him the title of chief medical officer of Denglai West Road.

, and asked him to co-organize the Weixian relief camp and the isolation camp to handle affairs."

"I humbly obey my orders!"

After talking about these things, a few people discussed other issues related to transporting refugees to sea to explore for a while while eating, and then dispersed.

Early the next morning, Yu Liangtai and his followers took a boat to the southeast and returned to their station on Denglai East Road.

Wu Chaozuo and Li Ji each took their followers and messengers to form a fleet with only a few boats, departing from Shuangdao Bay to the southwest and heading to the coast of the state capital.

Correspondingly, with the issuance of the order from the general town government and the return of the general military officers from all walks of life, all roads in Jinhai Town also quickly began comprehensive military preparations for war.

In the blink of an eye, February passed and March arrived. The ice in the Liaodong Bay to the west of the Liaodong Peninsula melted away. Only a few estuaries on the northernmost coast still had ice.

In the Heishui Ocean area east of the Liaodong Peninsula, the ice melted faster. By mid-March, there were almost no patches of ice left.

Only some areas along the coast within a dozen miles of the mouth of the Yajiang River and around the islands still have some ice left.

Of course, by this time, Qiu Zhenhai, the commander-in-chief of the Anton Forward who was in Anton Castle, had already understood Yang Zhen's determination and deployment, and began to send more sentries to the west and north to detect the Qing captives.

Condition.

At the same time, in mid-March, Yan Shengsan, who had completed the expansion and reorganization of the Jinhai South Road Naval Regiment and Battalion, also began to personally lead a huge transport fleet to transfer grain, grass and ammunition reserves to Shicheng Island.

As for the Denglai Naval Regiment Battalion, which had also completed its expansion and reorganization tasks, under the personal command of Yu Liangtai, it also began to transport large-scale refugee teams recruited from Denglai West Road to the coastal areas of Huanghaidao in Hening Kingdom.

On the morning of March 18, Yang Zhen also personally inspected the combat readiness of the three regiments and battalions of the advance army for the Eastern Expedition.

After the three major regiments and battalions of the advance army for the Eastern Expedition were fully staffed, their total strength reached 22,500.

If we add the regular soldiers and 600 auxiliary soldiers of the main town gun team currently stationed with them, the total number exceeds 23,000.

These troops were all stationed around Lushunkou, and due to the terrain of Lushunkou, they were divided into four large camps.

The first place is naturally the Baiyushan Camp where the largest number of troops are stationed, the second place is the Golden Mountain Camp, the third place is the Laotieshan Camp, and the fourth place is the Shuangdaowan Camp built fourteen years after Chongzhen.

Yang Zhen personally took the generals who were preparing for the expedition to four camps, and finalized the date and sequence of the march.

It was in this situation that a war was about to begin. On the afternoon of March 21, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen unexpectedly welcomed Shen Tingyang's maritime water transport fleet from Huai'an to the north at Lushunkou.

When the news came, Yang Zhen was overjoyed and rushed to the port with the generals from Lushunkou to greet him.

As a time traveler from later generations, Yang Zhen knew Shen Tingyang and was full of respect for his pioneering spirit and his final unyielding death.

"Master Shen, I have admired you for a long time. It has been a hard journey on the sea!"

"You are so polite, Governor Yang. I have been ordered to transport grain and grass to supply military supplies for this war. It is too late now. How dare you mention the hard work in front of the Governor and the soldiers!"

At the Westport Pier in Lushunkou, Yang Zhen picked up Shen Tingyang, a doctor from the Imperial Household Department who was in charge of maritime water transport, who had just disembarked from the ship and boarded the pier.

Shen Tingyang was born in the south and was the prime minister in the north. He was not only tall and burly, but also had a clear-cut brow on his face and a thick beard. He was quite heroic, basically consistent with Yang Zhen's imagination.

Moreover, Yang Zhen's reaction to Yang Zhen's greetings also made Yang Zhen's favorable impression instantly increase.

Because Shen Tingyang paid great attention to the needs of frontline soldiers in his response, and he also included some apology for being late.

This is by no means a realization shared by all court officials who supervise the transportation of food and wages.

Without a strong sense of responsibility, many people would not have this understanding.

"Well, you don't have to worry about being late when you have good things to do. And Mr. Shen, you are not only not late, but also just right. In a few days, the soldiers and horses of Jinhai and Denglai Second Town will start to move north, and food and grass will also be sent north. You came at the right time.

It’s time!”

While Yang Zhen was talking, he saw a large number of grain transport ships following Shen Tingyang's boat, which were berthed in the west port of the entrance, so he left the handover to Zhang Degui, and then accompanied Shen Ting with others.
Chapter completed!