I

"Brother, brother, does this suit look good?" Zhao Zhenfang ran in bouncing around.

Zhao Han was cooling off by the pool. Although it was the autumn harvest season, the autumn tiger in Nanjing was even hotter.

Fei Rulan and Pan Qimei also came in, and they were wearing new clothes, it seemed that they had just gone out to visit a tailor shop.

Fei Rulan was better in tube top Perot shirts all in one color, with sleeves reaching to the wrists. Zhao Zhenfang and Pan Qimei were both wearing half-sleeved sleeves, their snow-white arms were exposed.

Don't think that ancient women dressed conservatively. From the paintings left by the Song and Ming dynasties, we can see that women in summer dress very openly.

There are sleeveless shirts, and both arms are completely exposed. You can still see a tube top inside, and you don't even wear a tube top, which vaguely reveals that.

Of course, this is in my own yard.

When going out, they will wear an extra bijia (double-breasted vest with no sleeves and collars).

Fei Rulan smiled and said, "The clan brother (Fei Ruyi) also moved to Nanjing and opened a clothing store, please let us be the first batch of customers."

"It's pretty." Zhao Han praised.

Zhao Zhenfang was holding a bag of melon seeds in her hand, sitting by the pool and knocking non-stop: "I heard that eldest sister is going to Gaoyou?"

Zhao Han nodded and said, "When Gaoyou is captured, my brother-in-law will go over there to be the county magistrate."

The eldest sister's matter has been settled, Xu Zhiyuan quietly reconciled with his original partner. His original wife married Zheng Yu, and followed Zheng Yu to Fujian to be an official.

In addition, the Xu family is temporarily split into three branches.

One stayed in Jiangnan, one moved to Fujian, and one moved to Hunan. This kind of big family will continue to be dismantled in the future, not only the Xu family, but many big families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang will also be dismantled.

Fei Yinghuan, Lou's family, and Fei Rumei's family were all in Zhejiang at this time, and Fei Yinghuan's official position was the prefect of Jinhua.

Fei Rulan sat by the pool for a while, feeling terribly hot. Then he got up and left, and came back with Xiyue after a while, and put a few bowls of "milk ice" on the tray.

"I learned how to relieve heat a few days ago." Fei Rulan said with a smile.

Milk ice can be divided into milk and goat milk. Milk is added to the ice, and condiments such as jam are added, which is not much different from modern ice cream.

The method of making ice with saltpeter existed in the Tang and Song dynasties.

Cold drink shops in night markets in the Song Dynasty did not close until midnight.

When Fei Rulan and the others came to Nanjing, they didn't enjoy much else, but tried all kinds of street snacks and drinks.

Zhao Han shaved the ice cream with a spoon, and it felt icy in the mouth, and the heat disappeared three points immediately. He commented: "The taste is too sweet, you can put less sugar."

"I think it's just right." Pan Qimei said, licking the ice cream.

Zhao Zhenfang nodded again and again: "Yes, it's just right, it won't taste good if it's not sweet."

Zhao Han could only agree that the sweetness was right. Looking at the people in front of him, he couldn't help but think of the women drinking milk tea all over the street.

Women are all the same in ancient times and modern times.

Everyone was eating cold drinks when Zheng Sen suddenly came to see him.

The kid ran to the pool, first winked at Zhao Zhenfang, and the younger sister immediately rolled her eyes back.

Zheng Sen cupped his hands and said, "Commander, my father heard that the Shanghai Navy does not have enough warships, so he is willing to sell 20 warships at a low price."

"I have a heart." Zhao Han was neither happy nor angry.

The warship that Zheng Zhilong is willing to sell must not be small, but it is not big, so it can be regarded as a medium-sized ship. But there is almost no ocean-going capability, and the Dutch shipbuilders have to be recruited to build them slowly using Western-style shipbuilding methods.

Both Chinese and Western sea ships have their own advantages.

If you want to improve your combat effectiveness, a western-style warship is better. This has nothing to do with shipbuilding technology, but is determined by the hull structure.

Zheng Sen hesitated to speak.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Your father wants to be an official?"

"He always wanted to be an official." Zheng Sen said helplessly.

Zhao Han said with a smile: "I want to be an official, but I don't want to part with the Nanyang trade, and let the merchant ships of various countries pay him protection fees. Can he take advantage of all the benefits in the world?"

Zheng Sen sighed, "My father won't listen to persuasion."

Until now, Zhao Han has not appointed Zheng Zhilong as an official, and his identity is still the Daming Coastal Defense Guerrilla.

Seeing that Zhao Han's territory is getting bigger and bigger, Zheng Zhilong is a little anxious.

Zhao Han was not in a hurry, and let Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch wait until he took up more land inland.

The autumn harvest is over and the grain is in storage. It is time to send troops.

…

The South Court Army did not move for the time being, and half of them stayed in Guangdong to guard against the enemies of Guangxi. Half of them entered Fujian to suppress bandits. There are a large number of bandits in the mountainous areas of Fujian, and they must continue to be suppressed to stabilize.

Middle School Army——

Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu, as the main lieutenants, landed in Taixing and Tongzhou (Nantong) and occupied the salt-producing areas of the Jianghuai River. The enemy was the salt lords and Yanhu rebels there.

East Court Army——

Fei Ruhe and Wan Sitong set out from Yangzhou along the Grand Canal, with the strategic goal of capturing Huai'an. Then divide the troops to advance eastward, help Zhang Tieniu block the north, and then occupy the salt-producing areas together.

West Court Army——

Li Zheng and Xiao Zongxian were the main lieutenants. Starting from Jiangpu County, they first captured Fengyang Mansion, and the ultimate goal was to reach Xuzhou, mainly fighting against the uprising soldiers.

Northern Army——

Huang Shun and Fei Yinggong were the main lieutenants. They first attacked Luzhou Prefecture, and then went to Lu'an Prefecture, mainly fighting against Luo Rucai.

In addition, Huang Yao, the head of the Northern Military Academy, continued to suppress the chieftains in Shizhou Prefecture, and now he has farmers and soldiers in his hands. After these farmers and soldiers have seen blood in actual combat, next year they will be expanded into a mountain division of 7,500 people, which will be responsible for the southwestern operations in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

…

Luzhou.

Luo Rucai was already going crazy, he had been besieging Fucheng for three months, but he was still unable to capture the city.

You must know that the soldiers of Luzhou have already been taken away, and the defenders of the city are all the townspeople and citizens!

General Yang Chengzu said: "King Zhao Tianwang is about to call, whether to surrender, fight or leave, you have to make a decision first."

Luo Rucai sighed: "The surname Zhao will not tolerate me, and surrender is impossible. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are two bastards, they are both thieves, but they refuse to fight together. If they join forces, plus us, what is the world?" Can't go?"

"They all want to be emperor." Yang Chengzu shook his head.

"Being the emperor? The mud on the trousers hasn't been cleaned yet," Luo Rucai sneered, "I want to be the emperor, but I can't tolerate me. Now I have to face that Zhao alone."

Among the rogue bandits in the late Ming Dynasty, Luo Ru was an outlier, ranking second in military strength for a long time.

He saved Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng.

Especially when Li Zicheng was rescued, Luo Rucai fell seriously ill. As soon as he heard that Li Zicheng was in trouble, he immediately sent troops to rescue Li Zicheng.

This guy doesn't trust the government, and his philosophy is "thieves don't fight thieves", and he wants to overthrow the Ming court. When there were conflicts among the rebels, he was in charge of mediating. Once Zhang Xianzhong was almost killed by Li Zicheng, and it was Luo Ru who sent Zhang Xianzhong 500 cavalry to help Zhang Xianzhong escape from a dangerous situation.

Yang Sichang's evaluation of Luo Rucai is: "Qu Kui is the most cunning of the cunning, he has been trained to be the most refined and fierce in the past twenty years, and he will never die or surrender!"

Luo Rucai's old battalion is indeed brave. In terms of combat effectiveness alone, it may surpass the soldiers of Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng.

However, this guy has poor military discipline and likes to enjoy himself.

Luo Rucai had dozens of wives and concubines, and also raised several theater troupes, and his generals followed suit.

After escaping from Zhang Xianzhong's territory, Luo Rucai's wives and concubines were scattered. In just one year, he had dozens of wives again.

The cavalry of this guy has recovered to 2,000, and there are thousands of old battalion infantry. The combat effectiveness is likely to be close to that of the Qing elite.

Huang Shun and Fei Yinggong led 7,500 soldiers and 12,000 civilian husbands, and marched towards Luzhou Prefecture in a mighty manner. The reason why there are so many civilians is because there are no rivers along the way, and the expanded army has a lot of baggage.

Luo Rucai personally led 2000 cavalry to attack, but he couldn't find a chance to strike.

In desperation, he ordered to withdraw from the siege and chose to confront the Datong army.

The Datong army went straight to the outside of Luzhou City. Zhuzhi Feng Daxi, the prefect of Luzhou, said, "Jiangxi soldiers are coming, open the city quickly to welcome them!"

Seeing that the Datong soldiers were welcomed into the city by the officers and soldiers, Luo Rucai was so angry that he almost spat out old blood.

He was also a traitor, he besieged Luzhou for three months, the whole city's soldiers and civilians rose up to resist, but Zhao Han's soldiers were able to enter the city in a big way.

"Walk!"

Luo Rucai's entire army withdrew back to Lu'an, but on the way, this fellow led the cavalry and suddenly plunged obliquely in the direction of Shucheng County.

He did not fight positional warfare with Datong soldiers, but harassed Shucheng, which had already divided the land, and harassed the logistics and food roads of the Datong army by the way.

Two thousand cavalry came at a gallop, and the peasant association and peasant soldiers had no time to react.

"kill!"

The bandit cavalry broke into the village, killed everyone they saw, and left with only a small amount of food.

Many of the people in Shucheng moved from the south, and they only finished dividing the land for half a month. It's just that the peasant association has been formed, and the peasants and soldiers have just put up a show, and they haven't even had time to practice.

"Dang Dang Dang Dang!"

"Woo! Whoa! Whoa!"

Bells were ringing and whistles were blowing again in the village, and the peasants, soldiers and peasant associations quickly assembled.

Luo Rucai killed dozens of villagers, and when he saw the rest of the villagers assembled into an army, he immediately ordered to turn around and leave.

Arriving at the next village, there was another attack and killing. After the villagers gathered, Luo Ru escaped again with the cavalry.

Two thousand cavalry marched through villages and towns, raiding and killing hundreds of peasants in three days.

He had no other intention than to disturb the rear of the Datong Army so that Huang Shun and Fei Yinggong, who had just occupied Luzhou, could not concentrate on attacking Lu'an.

Zhao Han's shortcoming of not having cavalry was finally exposed, and he couldn't even chase after him. He had to mobilize several times the number of troops to chase and intercept him.

Huang Shun and Fei Yinggong had nothing to do about it. In ten days, more than 2,000 farmers were killed or injured.

Luo Rucai's cavalry rushed into the village and chopped it down, and they didn't deliberately massacre the village. Anyway, they ran away after killing people, and they couldn't even touch the shadow of ghosts.

In desperation, Huang Shun simply ignored it and led his troops to attack Luo Rucai's territory.

"Son of a bitch!"

"It's not to grab food, it's just to kill people. If I catch Luo Rucai, I will cut him into pieces!"

When Zhao Han got the news in Nanjing, he was furious and sent the cavalry from Jeju Island ahead of time. The Mawari horses continued to breed, and the Jeju pony was temporarily used to fight, only to kill Luo Ru so that he would not be allowed to kill everywhere.

It only takes a few days to go back and forth from Shanghai to Jeju Island.

Hu Dinggui, Wang Yaochen, and Chen Tangong came with cavalry, while Lu Xiangguan stayed in Jeju Island to manage the civil affairs.

In a fit of rage, Zhao Han called Lu Xiangsheng, and ordered Lu Xiangsheng to lead the cavalry to pursue the enemy.