Yang Xiuqing, who has made this series of strategic arrangements, is heading to Yangzhou with his smart and beautiful female secretary Fu Shanxiang.

The Taiping Army still firmly controls the river from Tianjing to Yangzhou. This is their lifeline and they cannot help but ignore it.

Although slightly inferior to the Qing army in naval strength, the Taiping Army set up forts at some important nodes on the river bank, such as Jingkou and Guazhou, making it difficult for the Qing army to break through.

In fact, the warships of the Qing Army and the Taiping Army were all amateurs. In Dong Liang's view, they were just merchant ships or fishing boats equipped with artillery. It was very difficult for such ships to get close to the Zhantiao Gang during actual combat.

Breaking through the defense line of coastal defense artillery.

"Dong Wang, in recent times, our trade with Jiangbei has brought in millions of tons of grain, which is enough to feed Tianjing City for a year. Where do you think these people got so much grain?" Fu Shanxiang stood on the deck.

He asked looking at Dong Wang's back.

Yang Xiuqing was dressed in a python robe, with a tall back, standing on the deck with her hands behind her hands, looking quite confident and confident as a leader.

"This is grain shipped from overseas. The south is prolific in grain production. Many places in Guangdong and Guangxi can produce three crops a year. This is especially true in Nanyang, where there are mostly plains and abundant rainfall. These Jiangbei people are just harvesting grain.

Got our porcelain, tea, silk

Silk is then exchanged for grain in Nanyang. A large ship can transport tens of thousands of tons of grain at a time. This amount of grain is actually only a hundred ships. But they can transport hundreds of thousands of pieces of porcelain on one ship. This ship

Porcelain can be exchanged for dozens of boatloads of grain."

Yang Xiuqing also talked to Fu Shanxiang about the customs and customs of Nanyang, which made Fu Shanxiang look full of admiration.

Yang Xiuqing did know a lot. He had hundreds of followers and staff around him, most of whom were talented and learned, including those who had worked in Nanyang.

The entire Dongwang Mansion is said to have a population of 20,000 people, and this number is real. Among them are maids, servants, guards, and retainers. The palace is very large, and it is still being expanded.

"Then if we open up the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, wouldn't we be able to buy grain from those maritime merchants ourselves? This would reduce the price difference. Can they agree to it? I think Jiangbei will definitely make a lot of money from it."

"This is natural, so there still needs to be an exchange of interests in this matter. We can continue to hand over this commercial interest to them, and we can give them more, and what we want is to occupy Suzhou and eliminate the threat of the Qing army downstream.

In this way, there are Suzhou and Zhenjiang downstream of Tianjing City.

, Changzhou, Yangzhou as the depth, plus Wuhu, Anqing, and Jiangxi areas upstream, half of the south of the Yangtze River will be in our hands. And if it is done in the end, we will not need to be restrained by these Jiangbei pirates in trade, at any time

Be able to leave them alone and do it yourself.”

"After capturing the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, we can then send the Northern Expeditionary Army back south to capture the Jianghuai River with Tianjing's heavenly troops. This will make things possible." Yang Xiuqing said.

"I understand, my kingdom will be the Southern Dynasty, and the Tatar court will be a weak Northern Dynasty, which will be overthrown by us sooner or later." Fu Shanxiang said with longing.

"Luan Shi, you are the smartest woman I have ever seen, smarter than most of the men in the house." Yang Xiuqing turned her face and looked at Fu Shanxiang with a smile on her face with her intact eye.

From this perspective, Yang Xiuqing has the charm of a mature man.

"Your Majesty, it's your praise. It's all because of your thorough guidance." Fu Shanxiang lowered his head and said humbly.

When the beauty lowers her head, she is like a shy flower.

At this time, Chen Ping, wearing a yellow scarf and three long beards, suddenly came over.

Fu Shanxiang stood aside, bowed and left.

Seeing Fu Shanxiang leaving, Yang Xiuqing changed her serious face again.

"Your Majesty, the Red Flag Army in Jiangbei proposed to meet on a painted boat on the canal. Both parties can send people to the painted boat in advance to check." Chen Ping said.

"Oh, this Mrs. Qing is really cautious. She doesn't give us any face at all." Yang Xiuqing's eyes flashed with a fierce light. The brow of the bad eye frowned, which immediately added a bit of majesty to him.

Anyway, you have to go through the canal to get to Yangzhou, and this river is now the lifeline of the Taiping Army.

The Taiping Army set up a large number of camps along the way for protection.

The food currently stored in Tianjing City is enough for them to feed them for more than a year, all thanks to this transportation line.

The transaction took place in Fairy Town on the east side of the canal. The Red Flag Army transported grain and other goods to Fairy Town and handed them over to the Taiping Army. The transaction was completed when the money and exchanged goods were retrieved.

Both parties are responsible for the transportation safety work on their respective road sections, so Fairy Town has become the handover point for both parties.

This meeting was held in Liaojiagou on the edge of Fairy Town, where the river is relatively wide.

There was already a painting boat parked in the middle of the river. Yangzhou salt merchants spent a lot of money. Since ancient times, Yangzhou has been a land of romance, so there is no shortage of high-end painting boats.

This painting boat was the yacht of the rich in ancient times.

Yang Xiuqing walked from his boat to the painting boat. Behind him were Fu Shanxiang and five guards. These five people were all wearing fitted military uniforms. Each of them had two revolvers on their waists. They were all made by the Chinese.

Only a few hundred were sold to the Taiping Army at a high price.

Zhuo Yiqing was wearing a Guards Navy uniform today, with her top hanging to her hips and an armed belt around her waist, making her chest look high and straight. She had a bright red thin silk cape draped over her shoulders.

Make your graceful figure looming, looking cool and sassy.

The moment he saw Zhuo Yiqing, Yang Xiuqing's eyes seemed to be suddenly frozen.

The women he had seen were either the kind of well-educated noble ladies, or the kind of submissive country girls. Never had he seen such a brave and heroic female hero, this woman was like a wild female leopard.

Zhuo Yiqing's attire was definitely considered deviant in this era. But at this time, Yang Xiuqing thought it had a different flavor.

Fu Shanxiang was also stunned. If she hadn't known that the other party was a woman, she would have definitely fallen in love with him at first sight.

Look at Zhuo Yiqing's beautiful face with a bit of natural charm, which is in sharp contrast to her sassy outfit.

"See the King of the East..." Zhuo Yiqing was very polite. After all, the other party agreed to the meeting place arranged by him, which was regarded as giving her face.

Then at this time, she should take the initiative to salute.

"Hahaha..." Yang Xiuqing smiled brightly, making him look very approachable.

"I have long heard that Mrs. Qing is a heroine, a righteous fighter against the Qing Dynasty, and a hero among women. When I see her today, she is indeed well-deserved. I am truly honored today."

Yang Xiuqing stretched out her right hand to signal Zhuo Yiqing to sit down first, looking very gentlemanly.

Fu Shanxiang stood behind Yang Xiuqing, like a maid beside Dong Wang.

"The King of the East is very grateful. Your Highness, the King of the East, is taking care of everything. His career in the Kingdom of Heaven is booming day by day. It is a blessing for the women of the country to be able to take a break from the busy work and meet the women of the country."

The two exchanged pleasantries and soon got down to business.

At this time, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly became thicker and no longer as pleasant as before.

Although it is not a tense situation, there are great differences in the positions of the two sides.

Yang Xiuqing proposed to ask Zhuo Yiqing's fleet to cooperate with them in attacking Suzhou and Changzhou. Of course, they paid to hire it.

Zhuo Yiqing pointed out that their warships were all large ships and were not suitable for fighting on the river. It would be difficult for them to break through the Qing army's Wusong Fort and Jiangyin Fort alone.

Yang Xiuqing knew that the other party was trying to shirk the situation. He had his own intelligence sources and knew that the Red Flag Army also had many small ships and was very flexible in its actions.

As for those forts, there is nothing to fear if the Taiping Army is cooperating on land.

Seeing that Zhuo Yiqing did not give in easily, Yang Xiuqing hinted that the foreigners wanted to cooperate with them. If you don't cooperate with us, then our goods will be sold to foreigners in the future.

Yang Xiuqing is a master negotiator. He knows his own advantages and how to exploit the other party's disadvantages.

Zhuo Yiqing was a little anxious, but fortunately Lu Yi, who was behind him, seized the opportunity to refill the tea for the two of them and interrupted the negotiation, which allowed Zhuo Yiqing to calm down.

Yang Xiuqing felt proud in her heart. The feeling of defeating the opponent verbally was similar to pushing the opponent down. It was just that one was physical enjoyment and the other was spiritual enjoyment.

Fu Shanxiang never interrupted. She looked at Zhuo Yiqing with a complicated look in her eyes.
Chapter completed!