Both Li Mu and Shen Yi knew very well that the emperor sent them south not only to deal with Japanese pirates.
What's more important is to let them train.
Develop an army that is capable, or at least has the potential, to replace the Huaihe Navy.
Now, although the Japanese pirates have not been cleared out, and even large groups of Japanese pirates have not been defeated head-on, the anti-Japanese army has already taken shape visible to the naked eye.
That's why Li Mucai said that their mission was "a small success."
Sitting next to Li Mu's bed, he smiled and said: "When the war in Yueqing is over, even if the reputation of the anti-Japanese army is established, the recruitment of new soldiers will not be a problem. As long as Ling Su and others can recruit more recruits, With training, the anti-Japanese army will soon be able to expand to 5,000 people."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince lay on the bed. He was silent for a while, then lowered his eyebrows and said, "Zi Heng, do you think Ling Su is worthy of such a big responsibility?"
Shen Yi was silent for a while, then shook his head and said: "I don't know, but Ling Qianhu's family has been Qianhu for generations. His ability in leading troops to fight is hard to say, but he is still good at training new soldiers."
Li Mu shook his head: "I mean, is he capable enough to lead the entire anti-Japanese army?"
Shen Yi shook his head again: "I'm afraid not now, but I believe people will always grow."
"Um…"
Li Mu nodded slightly and said: "This Ling Su, after all, his family has been passed down from thousands of families for several generations, and he does have some abilities, but..."
"I'm afraid he doesn't have much time to grow up."
Li Mu lay on the bed and said silently: "Zi Heng should know in his heart that sooner or later, you and I will have to return to Jiankang."
He glanced at Shen Yi and asked: "I am the commander now. When I return to Jiankang, the imperial court will probably build the capital of the anti-Japanese army. Can the imperial court promote Ling Su to the commander of the capital?"
Shen Yi shook his head silently.
Not to mention that he has already been promoted to commander. When Li Mu returns to Jiankang, it will be difficult for Ling Su to be promoted to commander.
But there was one thing Li Mu was wrong about.
According to the cake the emperor drew for Shen Yi, when this patrol is over and he returns to Jiankang, he will be promoted to the head of the Ministry of War.
In other words, after Li Mu returned to Jiankang, he had nothing to do with the anti-Japanese army, but Shen Yi probably would not completely break up with the anti-Japanese army.
Shen Yi was silent for a while, then looked at Li Mu and asked, "What does the prince want to say?"
"Right now, you are in charge of the money and food for the Anti-Japanese Army. As for the war, I will delegate everything to Zi Hengqian and Ling Su."
"But after I return to Jiankang, it is impossible for Ling Su to take charge of the anti-Japanese army."
Li Mu said silently: "The imperial court will send a new capital commander to take charge of the anti-Japanese army. When the time comes, the new capital commander..."
"Will we still delegate all the power in our hands like now?"
After hearing this, Shen Yi finally understood what Li Mu meant.
Li Mu paused and continued: "Furthermore, this dynasty emphasizes civility and restraint on military affairs. When the time comes, there may be a governor who will be in charge of the capital. Those civil servants take things for granted and rely entirely on their own imagination. It is easy to The anti-Japanese army we worked so hard to build has led us astray..."
Shen Yi exhaled a breath, lowered his eyebrows slightly, and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, you can't change anything about these things, and I, a seventh-grade official, can't change it."
Li Mu shook his head: "There is no way I can tell His Majesty these words, but if the opportunity is right, Ziheng, you can tell His Majesty in person."
"During this patrol, you and I have seen and heard too many tragic stories about common people, and we all know what life has been like for the common people along the coast these years."
"The southeast coast cannot continue to be chaotic."
Shen Yi naturally understood what Li Mu meant.
If we want to quell the Japanese pirates, Qi Jiguang is not enough, we need Hu Zongxian even more.
But now, Lingsu is still too far away from Qi Jiguang, and Southeast also lacks a capable Hu Zongxian.
Mr. Shen exhaled a breath of turbid air, lowered his eyebrows and said, "I understand what the prince means."
"What I mean is, let's all do the current things first. As for the things in the temple..."
"We have to wait until we return to Jiankang."
Li Mu closed his eyes and sighed, then nodded helplessly: "This is what we have to do..."
…………
After the anti-Japanese army left the city, they did not come back for a whole day and night.
This time, Shen Yi was extremely anxious.
If it weren't for someone from the Di Reporting Department delivering news about the anti-Japanese army all the time, Shen Yi might have gone out of the city to look for Ling Su himself.
It was not until the evening of the next day that Shen Yi waited for the exact news from the Di newspaper department. After receiving the news, Shen Yi breathed a sigh of relief, returned to his residence, and had a solid sleep.
This sleep lasted until dawn. In the early morning of the next day, Mr. Shen stretched himself greatly, then lazily got up and changed into clothes.
The subordinates handed over the news that came from the Di News Department last night. According to the latest news, Ling Su and others are already on their way back to Yueqing, and they are expected to return to Yueqing in the afternoon.
With this news, Shen Yi was completely relieved. He first went to the wounded soldiers camp of the anti-Japanese army to visit the wounded soldiers, and then went to Yueqing County Yamen to have tea with Magistrate Zhong and chat by the way. Magistrate Zhong refused to send troops that day, and was not even willing to lend his sword and armor to Di to report the matter.
Shen Yi mentioned this matter casually, but Magistrate Zhong was sweating coldly. The Yueqing County magistrate couldn't help wiping his sweat, and then couldn't help explaining to Shen Yi, saying that he didn't know the specific situation at the time, and he didn't have any orders from his superiors, so he didn't dare to do anything without permission. The argument goes like this.
Seeing that Magistrate Zhong was so nervous, Shen Yi just smiled, drank a few cups of tea with him, then got up and walked away.
Finally, it was afternoon.
As soon as Shen Yi finished eating, he went to wait outside the east city gate of Yueqing. After waiting for about half an hour, he finally saw the flag of the anti-Japanese army. Ling Su and Xue Wei, both of them had blood on their shirts. Riding on a horse, leading more than a thousand people behind him, he drove slowly towards Yueqing City.
Shen Yi, Magistrate Zhong and other Yueqing local officials went out of the city to greet him. After more than a hundred steps out of the city, the group of people walked up to Ling Su.
Ling Qianhu jumped off the horse neatly, bowed his head respectfully to Shen Yi and clasped his fists: "I have seen Shen Sizheng!"
After saluting Shen Yi, Ling Su looked at Zhong Ping beside him, but turned a deaf ear to Zhong Ping and ignored him.
Magistrate Zhong was not angry and stood aside without saying a word.
Shen Yi smiled and said: "I heard that a thousand people from Ling Qianhu went out, but this time more than 1,500 people came back. How come 500 people suddenly appeared?"
This is asking knowingly.
Shen Yi already knew the general results of this anti-Japanese war in advance, but he still asked about it in front of Zhong Ping.
Although Ling Su had a tired look on his face, after hearing Shen Yi's words, a smile appeared on his face. He lowered his head to Shen Yi and said, "Go back to Sizheng, we will live up to the imperial envoy's high expectations on this expedition. Cut off the heads of more than 300 Japanese pirates, captured more than 400 Japanese pirates, and rescued nearly 500 civilians!"
Shen Yi's face was full of smiles.
He knew the situation of the war against the Japanese.
This time, Ling Su and others were very lucky. Not long after they left Yueqing, they discovered that two groups of Japanese pirates were fighting among themselves. One of them wanted to kill the other, but Ling Su naturally caught him and took the item directly. great merit!
Ling Qianhu took a step forward, bowed his head respectfully and said, "Excuse me, Sizheng, what should be done with the hundreds of Japanese prisoners?"
"Kill him."
This time Shen Yi answered without hesitation. He waved his hand lightly and said in a very calm tone: "Kill them all."