Zhang Yangquan asked Shen Wansan about Xu Shouhui's situation again. Shen Wansan considered his words and replied: "From what I can tell, Tianwan's army is at the end of its war effort and will be wiped out by the Yuan army sooner or later!"
Zhang Yangquan said: "Does Xu Shouhui have no hope at all?"
Shen Wansan nodded and said: "Yes, when Qizhou fell, more than 400 officials had no time to escape and were all killed. In addition, when Peng Yingyu died, many generals of the Tianwan Army committed suicide and were buried. Now the senior officials of the Tianwan Army There’s not much left.”
Zhang Yangquan suddenly asked: "Where is Ni Wenjun now?"
Shen Wansan was stunned for a moment and said: "He retreated to the Mianyang Lake area and is collecting the defeated troops. From what you put it, Ni Wenjun seems to be the force with the largest number of troops in Tianwan's army."
Zhang Yangquan nodded. Xu Shouhui will be controlled by Ni Wenjun in the future, probably starting from this time.
Shen Wansan's judgment on Cai Ye was completely correct.
A few days later, Cai Ye sent someone to send a reply, promising not to plunder the merchant ships under the protection of Jiangdu Army, but he also made a request, hoping to buy some food from Jiangdu Army every month.
He didn't ask for much food, so Zhang Yangquan agreed.
Since then, Cai Ye has never robbed merchant ships passing through Tongzhou.
Since late January, more and more businessmen have successfully passed through the transaction.
Because Goryeo still respected the Yuan Dynasty as its orthodoxy, most of the merchants communicated with Japan.
They brought a large amount of goods from the Japanese country, the most common of which were sulfur and iron ore, followed by mercury, gold sand, sea cucumbers, Japanese knives and other in-demand commodities.
Before you know it, it's February, the spring is cold, and you can already feel a slight warmth in the sea breeze.
After entering the first month of the month, the General Manager's Office began to collect taxes, which were called household taxes.
After officials from the General Administration visited the countryside, they found that the people in Jiangdu spent more money than expected.
Finally, with Zhang Yangquan's permission, the officials reduced the household tax to 228 yuan. Households with a population of more than five people would pay more according to the number of people. Zhenzhou, Tongzhou and Taixing did not need to pay.
This modification was accepted by the common people, because they didn't have much money, so they used grain as a substitute. After all was collected, the general manager's warehouse had more than 100,000 shi of grain.
At the same time, Tongzhou's maritime trade has become more and more prosperous, and the city's shipping department's tax revenue has been rising. In less than a month, it has collected more than 40,000 tax dollars.
There were often official ships flying the flying dragon flag with the character "Zhang" returning from Japan. The ships were loaded with a load of iron ore, and were protected by two three-masted warships on the left and right.
After the business became stable, Zhang Yangquan ordered the merger of the porcelain shop in charge of Shu Ting and the cloth shop in charge of Xu to establish a handicraft department.
Then through the Shipping Department, the cloth and porcelain produced by the Handicraft Department were sold to Japan by sea, and then a large amount of iron ore was purchased from Japan.
Now that more than 20,000 stones of iron ore have been accumulated in the Ordnance Bureau's warehouse, Jiangdu Army's iron shortage problem has been completely solved. Not only does it no longer need to buy from elsewhere, it can also sell some to others.
On this day, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the Commander's Mansion in Haozhou City and found that a meeting was taking place in the lobby of the Commander's Mansion. After asking, he learned that everyone was discussing going to Jiangdu to buy iron ore.
"How is the recruitment situation?" Guo Zixing asked him.
After Zhu Yuanzhang rescued the siege of Haozhou City, he was sent by Guo Zixing to Huaiyuan County to recruit troops. He just came back today and replied: "I have admired more than 700 soldiers!"
Guo Tianxu snorted and rolled his eyelids: "It took three months to recruit so few people. It's really impressive!"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer.
Guo Zixing glared at his son and patted Zhu Yuanzhang on the shoulder.
"There is a shortage of people everywhere now. It is no longer easy for you to recruit 700 soldiers. We are discussing going to Jiangdu to buy iron ore, but unfortunately we don't have enough money. Do you have any ideas?"
"Jiangdu has always been short of iron. Can we buy iron ore?" Zhu Yuanzhang was very confused.
Zhang Tianyou laughed and said: "That's the old almanac! Manager Zhang opened the Shibosi Tongban in Tongzhou, and a large amount of iron ore was transported by merchants from the Japanese country to Jiangdu. Now many rebels have begun to buy iron from Jiangdu's army!" p>
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "There are many pirates in Tongzhou, and it is easy to encounter official shipping ships of the Yuan Dynasty. How can Tongzhou merchant ships get through?"
Guo Zixing sighed: "I was surprised at first, but later I learned that General Manager Zhang had formed a navy in Tongzhou, and the pirates had almost been wiped out."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "Where is the Changshu navy? Will they allow Tongzhou ships to go to sea?"
Guo Tianxu hummed: "The Changshu Navy has been seriously injured due to Fang Guozhen, so it may not be able to defeat the Tongzhou Navy! At present, the water in the wells on both sides does not interfere with the river, and no one cares about the other!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flickered for a while and he said: "Jiangdu's army has established a navy so quickly, and it will definitely visit Jiangnan in the future!"
Guo Tianxu said angrily: "Why do you care so much? What we are talking about now is the purchase of iron ore. If you have no other choice, just shut up!"
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a while and said, "Can I exchange coal ore with them?"
Zhang Tianyou shook his head and said: "We have coal mines, there is no shortage of coal at all!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Then don't buy it for now. We can attack Chuzhou. According to detailed information, there are a lot of ordnance in Chuzhou City!"
Guo Zixing glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "When Tianyou attended the wedding banquet of General Manager Zhang, he mentioned this matter to General Manager Zhang. General Manager Zhang did not want us to attack Chuzhou!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "If he doesn't fight himself, why shouldn't he let us fight?"
Zhang Tianyou glared and said: "Don't forget, the defenders of Chuzhou were defeated by Jiangdu's army. Let's take advantage of it. What should we do if Jiangdu's army raises an army and accuses them?"
Zhu Yuanzhang squinted his eyes and said: "The Yuan army is about to go south, and the Jiangdu army has no time to take care of it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us! We should attack Chuzhou immediately, then go down to Hezhou, and then cross the Yangtze River and go south!"
Guo Tianxu scolded: "That's nonsense. Jiangdu's army helped us repel the Tatars, but you went to occupy other people's land. Aren't you afraid of the ridicule of the world?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and said: "Chuzhou is not the territory of Jiangdu Army at the moment. Even if we capture it, others will not say anything! What do you think of your adoptive father?"
Guo Zixing hesitated without answering, obviously a little tempted.
At this moment, Tang He suddenly walked in from outside the door, looking very anxious.
"Tang He, what happened?" Guo Zixing asked.
Tang He glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and said solemnly: "Shuai Peng's injury recurred and he died!"
Everyone's expressions changed. Now Zhao Jun is trying to annex them fiercely, and it is only because of Peng Da that he can't succeed. Now that Peng Da is dead, the Guo family army will be in an isolated and helpless situation.
Guo Tianxu asked: "Who is leading the Peng family army now?"
Tang He said: "Peng stay early!"
Guo Tianxu breathed a sigh of relief and said: "That's okay. Peng Zaozhu has always hated Zhao Junyong, so he should still stand up for us!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "Peng Zaozhu's prestige cannot compete with Zhao Junyong. Both of their families were originally Xuzhou Red Scarf tribe. I am afraid that Peng Zaozhu himself cannot protect himself and will be annexed!"
Guo Tianxuxu changed his expression and said: "What should we do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while and said: "Father, we can't defeat Zhao Junyong and Sun Deya now, we need to capture Chuzhou as soon as possible and make it a safe place!"
Zhang Tianyou said anxiously: "No..."
Guo Zixing stretched out his hand to interrupt him and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The Yuan army has not yet gone south. We are afraid of Jiangdu's army attacking Chuzhou rashly!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I will prepare for the attack first, and then attack Chuzhou after the Yuan army goes south!"
Zhang Tianyou said anxiously: "If we send troops to attack Chuzhou, Zhao Junyong will definitely find out, and Chuzhou will only fall into his hands!"
Guo Zixing was stunned for a moment, then showed hesitation.
Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly said: "Father, don't worry. I only brought more than 20 riders out of the city. Zhao Junyong never thought that I would attack Chuzhou with such a small number of people!"
Guo Zixing was surprised and said: "How can you capture Chuzhou with so few people?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "My son will go to the nearby area to recruit some green forest heroes. Now that the Haozhou Army is famous, recruiting thousands of people is not a problem!"
Zhang Tianyou asked anxiously: "If Jiangdu's army defeats Yuan's army, what will Xingwen do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "At that time, we will dedicate Chuzhou to them. Taking advantage of this period, we can recruit troops and horses in Chuzhou to increase our strength!"
After hearing this, Zhang Tianyou could no longer object.
Guo Zixing nodded and said: "Okay, Yuan Zhang, I allow you to choose 20 people from the camp to accompany you!"
"Thank you, foster father!"
That night, Zhu Yuanzhang selected the twenty-four most brave and skilled men from the camp. At dawn the next day, everyone had a good meal and rode their horses to leave Haozhou City.