Having said that, Yang Fan actually knew very well that it would be pure nonsense to say how much Cheng Mingzhen recognized him.
The more capable a person is, the less likely he is to surrender to others. This is true for Xue Rengui, Su Dingfang, and Cheng Mingzhen.
However, Yang Fan has advantages and a bright future.
Who doesn't know that Yang Fan married two of the most dazzling jewels of the royal family?
Besides, who doesn’t know that Yang Fan went to the south of the Yangtze River to open up new shipping routes and conduct overseas trade?
There are huge benefits here.
What's more, the complete conquest of Jiangnan was the obsession of His Majesty Li Er, and it was also the food base prepared for the Eastern Expedition.
Joining Yang Fan's command is equivalent to becoming a pawn in His Majesty Li Er's eastern expedition to Goguryeo.
Those children from aristocratic families would rather spend a lot of money to serve under Yang Fan, not just to gain credit and get into Li Er's eyes.
However, Yang Fan doesn't care about the purpose of these people joining. As long as they can join his command, Yang Fan is confident to conquer them!
Xue Rengui is like this, Wang Xiaojie is like this, and Cheng Mingzhen is like this.
What's more, as a time traveler, if you can't conquer a few famous generals for your own use, wouldn't it be a waste of God's gift?
The two were chatting happily, and suddenly there was a shout from the shore.
Yang Fan looked up and immediately smiled!
Several fast horses galloped along the shore, and the knights on the horses shouted loudly.
"This is Wannian County Lord's fleet? Is the County Lord on board?"
Even when I heard Xi Junmai shouting in a loud voice not far away: "But General Su, General Zhai, General Wang..."
"It's us!"
"Haha! My father-in-law kept talking all the way. I thought some generals were delayed, so I'm very sorry for that. The helmsman should hurry to the shore and ask the generals to come on board!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Fan felt the boat beneath him slowly rowing towards the shore.
Cheng Mingting said in surprise: "Master, who are these people?"
Yang Fan laughed loudly and said: "Su Dingfang, Zhai Changsun, Wang Xiaojie..."
Cheng Mingzhen was horrified and lost his voice: "But Su Dingfang, who followed Duke Wei to defeat the Turks, and Zhai Changsun, the former leader of the Xuanjia Army?"
Yang Fan raised his nostrils and said proudly: "Haha, you are all old acquaintances, General Cheng can reminisce about old times!"
These are all veterans who have experienced the Sui and Tang dynasties. Although they may not have met each other, their names must have been heard.
They were officials in the same dynasty, so it is not an exaggeration to say that they are old acquaintances.
Cheng Minting's eyes shone, he stood up excitedly, grabbed Yang Fan's arm, looked at Yang Fan eagerly and said:
"Grand Governor, we have agreed that this time when we go to Jiangnan, we will hang out with you. As long as there is a place for us to use our skills, whether it is to charge into battle or lead a horse to fall, as long as you say a word, someone dares to say
If you say no, you will twist off my head and use it as a urinal!"
There is no way, the names of Su Dingfang and Zhai Changsun are too attractive!
Regardless of the dazzling generals of the Tang Dynasty at this time, they are all famous generals who are good at conquering and fighting, but when it comes to meritorious service, who can compare with Li Jing?
Especially Li Jing, who defeated the Turks with thousands of soldiers and captured the Turkic Khan alive, he was like a military god!
To break through the Turks' tent is a greater achievement than wiping out ten Liu Hei cliques, and it is enough to go down in history!
It's a pity that Li Jing has now retired and lived in seclusion. As his disciple, Su Dingfang has implicitly become Li Jing's successor.
Being able to work with such a disciple of a military god is not only the greatest recognition, but also allows me to learn more tips on arranging troops and formations!
Therefore, although Su Dingfang's reputation and official position at this time are not very popular, in the eyes of the military attache, he still has unparalleled attraction!
What shocked Cheng Mingzhen the most was that Zhai Changsun actually joined Yang Fan.
You must know that this is the fourth leader of the Xuanjia Army!
The first three leaders of the Xuanjia Army were Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and Yuchi Gong. These three are now in high positions of authority. It can be imagined that Zhai Changsun is not a simple person.
Yang Fan can conquer these two people, which fully reflects his ability.
Of course, Yang Fan could also understand Cheng Mingzhen's surprise, although the birth and death time of Zhai Changsun were not recorded in the history books.
But he was originally Xue Ju's subordinate. Zhai Changsun, who was under Xue Ju's tent, participated in the Battle of Qianshuiyuan. In this battle, Li Shimin was defeated and returned.
Originally, Xue Juhui was one of Li Shimin's biggest enemies, but unfortunately, he fell ill and died after fighting Li Shimin.
Although Xue Ju's son was very talented, he was very cruel, so he was very unpopular.
After being defeated by Li Shimin, Zhai Changsun led his men to take refuge with Li Shimin.
When Li Shimin led the army to attack Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, Zhai Changsun participated in the battle and led the Xuanjia Army, Qin Qiong and others to charge into the battle, unstoppable.
As someone who followed Li Er in the early days, Cheng Mingzhen had of course heard about Zhai Changsun's bravery, so he was even more shocked.
Of course, what Cheng Mingzhen envies even more is Wang Xiaojie.
This teenage general has only been with Yang Fan for two years and is now a powerful general from the fourth rank.
His official position is much higher than that of him, a veteran who has followed Li Tang for a long time!
Although Cheng Mingzhen does not talk about fame and fortune, he
While he was talking, the huge ship had docked, and more than a dozen horsemen on the shore dismounted.
Boarding Yang Fan's ship along the bridge lowered from the warship, the horses were led by servants to the cargo ship behind them.
Wang Xiaojie bowed first and said: "The last general Wang Xiaojie has met the Grand Governor."
Followed closely by Su Dingfang, Zhai Changsun and others.
However, before they could figure out why Zhai Changsun came with Su Dingfang, he saw the last chubby child pretending to be an adult and said: "Student Di Renjie is here, please take him in!"
Di Renjie?
Didn't this guy go to school at Chongxian Hall?
Di Renjie in history was a talented prime minister, so don't delay your future by accompanying him to the south of the Yangtze River.
However, Yang Fan is also confident that even if Di Renjie serves under him, his achievements will not be lower than the original historical achievements.
Looking at the civil servants and generals in front of him, Yang Fan counted them carefully with his fingers.
Xi Junmai, Su Dingfang, Zhai Changsun, Xue Rengui, Wang Xiaojie... If you add Cheng Mingzhen, less than half of the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty are already serving under him.
If you add Wang Xuance, Pei Xingjian, Di Renjie and other civil servants, it can be said that the stars are shining brightly.
For a moment, a surge of pride surged from my heart.
There were too many ships. As soon as the warships led by Yang Fan docked, because the fleet was too large, the too many ships reduced their maneuverability, their passage speed was slow, and the river suddenly became congested.
This situation will inevitably cause dissatisfaction from other passing ships.
It's just that ordinary merchants or ordinary people will inevitably feel guilty and short of breath when they see such a huge fleet.
Even if we were delayed for a long time, no one would dare to have any opinions. At most, they would secretly curse a few words.
However, there are always some people who can't stand Yang Fan's behavior. The forest is big, and naturally there are all kinds of birds.
Upon seeing this, a group of soldiers maintaining the river course rushed over to maintain order.
On the navy ship, a heroic young man stood on the bow and shouted: "Yang Fan is really arrogant. Do you really think that Tongguan is his family's territory? I am waiting to see how embarrassed you are when you arrive in Jiangnan."
"In my territory, even dragons are crawling around. Why don't you hurry up and ask them to get out of the way?"
At this time, the Yang Fan warship was pulling alongside, and Xi Junmai was picking up Su Dingfang and others aboard.
Because the boy's words were loud, Yang Fan and Xi Jun listened to them all.
I saw Xi Junmai glaring angrily, turning to look at the young man more than twenty meters away and cursing: "How dare you, rat, dare to be rude to the governor, are you looking for death?"
The heroic young man was also furious and shouted fearlessly from afar: "This is Zhang Baoqing, the patrol officer of Tong, and Zhang Liang, the Duke of Yun, is my adoptive father. You actually ignored the imperial law and landed on the shore without authorization, causing
The river is congested, which is an unforgivable crime. You, a little guard, actually scream and seek death?"
Of course Zhang Baoqing knew who the other party was, he just said it deliberately to disgust Yang Fan!
Thinking back to the time when Zhang Liang's two adopted sons were beheaded by Yang Fan in Tubo, Yang Fan and Zhang Liang could be said to have become an everlasting hostility.
It's just that Zhang Liang has been forced by Li Er to be assigned to the south of the Yangtze River to pacify the Shanyue people, so there is relatively little intersection between Yang Fan and Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang had a total of 500 adopted sons, and Zhang Baoqing was one of them.
Now that he has the opportunity to embarrass Yang Fan, Zhang Baoqing will certainly not let it go.
However, Xi Junmai quit the job. It was obvious that the warship carried the banner of the Grand Governor, but most people didn't know it. As a court official, Zhang Baoqing couldn't possibly not know it.
Now I ask questions knowingly, obviously to lose Yang Fan's face.
As the saying goes, the master humiliated his minister to death, Zhang Baoqing said something rude in front of him, and Xi Junmai was immediately furious!
Although Zhang Baoqing has Zhang Liang, the Duke of Yun, as his backer, and Zhang Liang, the Duke of Yun, is one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, Xi Junmai doesn't care about this!
He already has a strong personality, and now Zhang Baoqing is deliberately looking for trouble. Xi Junmai immediately yelled and scolded: "You are a bully, even your adoptive father would not dare to talk to our chief governor like this. Who are you?"
After that, I will take the guards and go to teach that guy a lesson.
Xi Junmai has long regarded Yang Fan as his master, and of course he cannot tolerate others insulting Yang Fan.
Yang Fan waved his hand with a smile and said with a smile: "Junmai, you are just a rat, why do you need to go to war? What's more, if a dog bites you, will you bite it back?"
"Our mission on this trip is arduous, and it's not worth delaying our trip for such a trivial person. Let's hurry up and get going!"
Cheng Mingzhen did not expect that Yang Fan would put the overall situation first and not fight with his own will, and he was greatly impressed.
Feeling that he was far behind in the situation, he said respectfully: "I admire the high righteousness of the Governor. I will go back to the ship first to protect the safety of the imperial concubine. I am waiting for the day when I can fight side by side with the Governor!"
"Haha, there will be a chance!"
“It’s a deal!”
"It's hard to chase the horse!"
The two looked at each other from a distance and smiled.
When Su Dingfang and others got on the ship, they naturally saw Yang Fan's behavior, but they were a little shocked.
Yang Fan has never been so subdued, even if the other party has the founder of the country as his backer.
However, everyone's jaws were soon dropped, especially Cheng Mingzhen's eyes widened suddenly, his mouth grew big, and his face was filled with disbelief!
I saw Yang Fan waving to the helmsman, and the huge warship lightly drew an arc in the river, and then crashed towards Zhang Baoqing's warship.
Seeing that his name was announced, Yang Fan's words softened and he was so proud of himself.
He said proudly to the soldiers around him: "You are the river patrol general. This is our territory. Anyone who dares to resist us will be disrespectful to His Majesty."
"What's more, my adoptive father is Zhang Liang, Duke of Yun State, who has built up half of the country for His Majesty. Yang Fan just relied on his smooth talk to get a high position. Even if this Yang Fan is the emperor's son-in-law, he still has to call me my adopted father, and follow us
Compared to the Zhang family, how can the Yang family be nothing?"
The soldiers standing behind him suddenly became frightened.
Yang Fan is a piece of shit, so who do you think Zhang Baoqing is?
If you Zhang Baoqing and Yang Fan don't deal with it, don't drag us into the water!
Don't say that you are just Zhang Liang's adopted son. Even if you are His Majesty's biological son, wouldn't Yang Fan be able to beat him up whenever he wants?
What's more, two of Zhang Liang's adopted sons had already been killed by Yang Fan, and Zhang Liang didn't even dare to let go of one of them.
I was just trying to persuade my boss to say that this Wannian county magistrate was a character not to be trifled with.
But before the words were spoken, the soldiers opened their mouths in horror, pointed their fingers forward in unison, and shouted: "General, is Wannian County Duke crazy? He actually dares to command a battleship to ram us?"
Hearing this, Zhang Baoqing subconsciously looked up and was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped!
Yang Fan's warship was still leaning on the shore before, but now it made a bend on the river. The bow of the ship broke through the river and the water rolled up was divided to both sides. The speed increased rapidly, and it ran diagonally towards his own ship.
!
Within a few breaths, the battleship arrived in front of us.
Among the people who were stunned, one could clearly see Yang Fan standing proudly on the bow of the ship with a mocking face!
"General, get out of the way quickly, or it will be too late!"
The soldier shouted loudly, ready to pull Zhang Baoqing to jump off the ship at any time.
However, Zhang Baoqing did not move. He did not believe that Yang Fan really dared to command the warship to hit him!
You must know that he represents the imperial court. Once Yang Fan bumps into him, wouldn't it be like a rebellion?
Of course, the more important thing is that Zhang Baoqing's warships were among the top of the Tang Dynasty, called battleships. They were invincible on the water.
Compared with his own battleship, Yang Fan's battleship is obviously smaller.
Even if Yang Fan hits it with all his strength, the boat will be destroyed and everyone will be killed. He doesn't believe that Yang Fan really dares!
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, battleships were invincible on the water!
This was the largest main warship in the Sui and Tang dynasties, with a maximum capacity of 800 warriors, which was equivalent to the cruiser of later generations.
On this Tang Dynasty cruiser, a stepped duplex structure was adopted.
The soldiers are distributed in steps, which can give full play to the personnel advantages during battle, and at the same time provide good protection for the auxiliary combatants operating the ship, greatly improving the survivability of the warship.
It can be said that fighting ships are a good complement to tower ships. These two kinds of warships constitute the main body of the Tang Army's Great Wall on the Sea.
The battleship has a five-story structure and is more than a hundred feet high. There are six shooting poles on the left and right, fifty feet high.
Each wooden mast is tied to a boulder with a windlass underneath. During battle and when enemy ships are approaching, the windlass can be used to quickly lower the boulders and destroy the enemy ships.
If you miss a hit, you can quickly retract it and release it again. If enemy ships are surrounded on all sides, you can also attack it with two prongs, which shows its strong combat effectiveness.
In the original history, a war that determined the hegemony of East Asia broke out at the mouth of the Baijiang River. The Tang Navy and the Japanese Navy met in a fateful way.
At that time, the Fuso people had an absolute advantage in military strength.
Fuso Navy has more than 1,000 warships of various types and a strength of 40,000.
The Tang Dynasty Navy commanded by Liu Rengui actually had less than 200 warships and more than 13,000 soldiers.
1,000 to 200, this was the ratio of enemy and friendly warships at that time.
The Fuso people have an absolute advantage, and the entire battlefield is backed by Baekje. It can be said that the Fuso people enjoy half of the treatment of the home field. The situation is very unfavorable for the Tang army, and it is difficult to win.
Just when Fuso's commanders were already looking forward to victory, the battlefield turned out to be one-sided as they expected, but it was Fuso who fell.
Under the outstanding command of the famous general Liu Rengui, the Tang army showed weakness to the enemy and lured the enemy deeper. When the Fuso fleet entered the Baijiang estuary, numerous warships blocked the narrow channel. The advantage in the number of warships did not become the key to victory.
, instead became a burden for Fuso’s failure.
At the moment when the Fuso fleet was in chaos, Liu Rengui did not give his opponent a chance to readjust and immediately sent a big gift package - arson.
Because the waterway was blocked, Fuso was in a dilemma. The Tang army burned down more than 400 warships in its huge fleet, and injured countless soldiers.
After this battle, the Fuso people deeply understood what it means to shake a giant tree with a mayfly. The Tang Dynasty is a giant tree that they can never shake, and the navy of the Tang Dynasty is the sharpest claw of the Chinese dragon.
In fact, apart from Liu Rengui's excellent command, there was a generational difference between the Tang fleet and the Fusang fleet. The Tang navy was simply too powerful.
At this time, the battleship Zhang Baoqing was on was the most advanced, so he was confident.
In fact, Zhang Baoqing has already longed for the scene where Yang Fan becomes soft.