A temporary military camp outside the city of Guangzhou, Guangdong.

After inspecting the entire military camp, Zhang Dongtao looked at Li Yan and spoke.

"Brother Li, the climate in Guangdong is really different from that in the north. It's already the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, so I can't feel the cold. If we were in the north, we would have wrapped ourselves in thick cotton clothes..."

Li Yan nodded and spoke.

"Brother, we have occupied the entire Guangdong Province. I don't know if the Tang King Zhu Yujian will try his best to send officials here. If that is the case, I really won't be reconciled..."

The look on Zhang Dongtao's face changed slightly. He and Li Yan had discussed and decided not to attack Guangzhou, but to go north into Huguang, alarming Zhang Xianzhong who was entrenched in Sichuan and Huguang, completely disturbing the situation in the south, and forcing Zhang Xianzhong to take action.

Knowing that the two of them had not yet made a complete decision, the Tao court issued a decree quickly, requiring them to occupy the entire Guangdong Province, try every means to stabilize the situation in Guangdong Province, and then launch a large-scale march towards Guangxi and Yunnan.

Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan occupied the entire Guangdong Province as required. However, they were somewhat unable to stabilize the place. There were not many officials in the prefectures and counties of Guangdong Province left. Those who stayed had little salary.

There was no source for the time being, and they could only rely on forcibly collecting local taxes to sustain themselves. Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan could not come up with money, and they had no way to send officials to the local area, so they had no choice but to write a memorial to the emperor and the court explaining the practical difficulties at hand.

The emperor's imperial edict came in time. It did not mention the dispatch of officials or the payment of salaries. It still asked Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan to stabilize the local situation. At the same time, he told them that if the Longwu court must send officials to Guangdong, then don't.

Alert these officials and let them do their jobs well in the provincial, prefecture and county yamen.

The imperial examinations and palace examinations will not end until March, and the imperial examination candidates will also need to undergo training ranging from three months to half a year. In a short period of time, the imperial court will indeed be unable to send a large number of officials to Guangdong Province.

, by the time the imperial court dispatches officials to Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places, the situation in the south should be basically clear.

After careful analysis and discussion of the emperor's imperial edict, Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan came to the conclusion that the imperial court's focus would not affect Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other places for the time being.

Li Yan still knew some about local affairs. After the army arrived in Guangzhou, Li Yan discussed with Zhang Dongtao and, in the name of the Guangdong Governor's Yamen, sent documents and announcements to Fuzhou and County, requiring local governments not to exploit the people.

Fuzhou and counties that are temporarily unable to provide officials with sufficient salaries can tell many officials that their salaries will be in arrears for a certain period of time, and eventually the governor's office will find a way to make up for it. At the same time, the Fuzhou and county offices will immediately report the actual situation of officials in various places so that the governor's office can

Practically grasping the situation, the document places special emphasis on spring plowing matters and requires governments at all levels to implement all spring plowing matters.

This announcement from the governor's Yamen quickly stabilized the local situation, at least the situation at all levels of government.

After the announcement was issued, Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan quickly dispatched some scouts to various places in Guangdong to check. The information they received pleased them. Spring plowing had already begun in some places, which showed that the local government was still doing things, just because of the shortage of salaries.

, many local officials have abandoned their official positions and gone home. The government's manpower is obviously insufficient. Some local officials are even directly supported by local scholar-bureaucrat families.

If we grit our teeth and survive for about half a year at most, the situation in the south will become clear.

Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan had clear goals and were not particularly anxious.

Who would have known that at this time, the Longwu court was actually preparing to send officials to Guangdong Province.

"Brother Li, doesn't it say in the imperial edict that if the Longwu court sends officials to Guangdong, we don't have to worry about it, just let them do their jobs well. Now the court is not yet ripe for large-scale stabilization of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places.

, as long as we don’t disturb the situation in these places, we will have fulfilled the emperor’s instructions..."

Li Yan nodded again.

"What the elder brother is saying is that if the Longwu court sends officials to Guangdong, it will be helping the court to do things. Why not be happy? As long as we don't disturb those local officials, there is one thing we cannot ignore.

Yes, that is, the taxes collected cannot be taken away by the Longwu court, but must be kept for local officials to use..."

The taxes must not be taken away by the Longwu court, otherwise Guangdong would really have no way to maintain it.

In addition, to the east of Guangzhou Prefecture, there is a large-scale wharf, which is usually engaged in maritime transportation. In the past, it was directly controlled by the Ming Dynasty and paid some trade taxes. However, Zheng Zhilong rose up in Fujian and in order to monopolize the maritime trade business, he directly

The suppression of the Guangzhou Port led to its collapse. Many merchants doing business here moved to Quanzhou, Fujian.

The location of the Guangzhou wharf is far stronger than that of Quanzhou wharf in Fujian, but the main maritime power controlled by Zheng Zhilong is all in Quanzhou. Although the merchants doing business in Quanzhou are forced to pay money to the Zheng family, they can still carry out operations.

For those merchant ships that secretly transported goods to Guangzhou or forcibly transported goods to Guangdong, if they were discovered by the Zheng family's warships, not only would their goods be completely lost, but their lives would also be difficult to save.

After such troubles, the business of Guangzhou's shipping terminal is naturally sluggish.

In the imperial edict, the emperor specifically mentioned the shipping terminal in Guangzhou.

"Brother Li, you and I have visited the shipping terminal. It is too depressed and there are almost no ships docking. Normally, no one would pay attention to such a terminal. Why would the emperor mention it..."

Li Yan thought for a moment, then looked at Zhang Dongtao and spoke.

"Brother, you see, the transportation and maritime trade along the coast from Fujian to Guangzhou are almost entirely controlled by the Zheng family. As a result, the Zheng family is so rich that it can support the expenses of the Longwu court alone without much pressure.

The emperor asked us to pay attention to the shipping terminal in Guangzhou, is he trying to provoke the Zheng family and Zheng Zhilong..."

Zhang Dongtao nodded thoughtfully.

"Brother Li, you are right. I think this is what the emperor means. The reason why he did not mention his name in the imperial edict is to let us make a decision to see if our strength can compete with the Zheng family. If we are confident

, the emperor and the court will definitely take action..."

Li Yan nodded vigorously.

"What the elder brother is saying is that it looks like we have to take action, but on the one hand we need to march towards Guangxi, and on the other hand we have to pay attention to the shipping terminal. Our strength is obviously not enough."

Zhang Dongtao smiled.

"Brother Li, this matter of controlling the shipping terminal will definitely be too much for you and me. This requires dispatching the navy. If we can't control the shipping merchant ships, what is the use of just controlling the dock? The Zheng family clearly knows the location of the shipping terminal in Guangzhou Prefecture.

It is stronger than the shipping terminal in Quanzhou, but it ignores the shipping terminal in Guangzhou Prefecture because he, Zheng Zhilong, controls the shipping channel. I heard that the Zheng family owns more than 3,000 large and small ships in Fujian. This kind of power is huge enough.

..."

Li Yan didn't know the strength of Denglai's new navy, so he thought about it and spoke cautiously.

"Brother, we can send scouts into Fujian to conduct reconnaissance to see how powerful the Zheng family's navy is. Only by knowing ourselves and our enemies can we make good suggestions to the emperor and the court. If the Zheng family's navy is too powerful,

I suggest taking a long-term approach and taking it step by step..."

Zhang Dongtao smiled.

"Brother Li, I know what you are thinking. Don't worry, our Denglai New Army navy is extremely powerful. As long as the navy moves south, the navy of the Zheng family will never be an opponent. Defeating them will not count at all.

What, the reason why the emperor and the court did not take action immediately is because the north has suffered from years of famine and war, and the people are in dire straits. The court must first stabilize the place. When the north is basically stabilized, the emperor will definitely order the Denglai New Army to attack in full force...

"

Li Yan nodded again.

"So that's it, then I have some suggestions."

Zhang Dongtao looked at Li Yan and narrowed his eyes.

"Brother Li, are you thinking of suggesting to the emperor and the court that Denglai's new army launch a large-scale attack on the south without worrying about the situation in the north? Do you think that the emperor does not need to worry so much..."

Li Yan had a wry smile on his face and nodded helplessly.

"My elder brother was right. I think the imperial court can directly launch an attack on the south and unify the south as soon as possible. In this way, it can also make a comprehensive plan..."

Zhang Dongtao patted Li Yan's shoulder hard.

"Okay, Brother Li, I think so too. Let's start from the Guangzhou Shipping Terminal first."

"The geographical location of Guangzhou Shipping Terminal is very important. If we can understand the situation in Quanzhou, find a breakthrough point, and touch the power of the Zheng family at sea, then we can make suggestions to the emperor and the court to let Denglai's new navy

It is moving in the direction of Fujian and Quanzhou on a large scale."

"The battle at sea will not have much impact on the land. Even if our Denglai New Army navy completely wipes out the Zheng family's navy, the Zheng family will be the only one who is really affected. The common people don't care."

"Zheng Zhilong, the patriarch of the Zheng family, was once a pirate and an overlord of the sea. I think he encountered too many disturbances. If he is smart enough, he should know how to choose. If he must resist stubbornly, then we will not be polite.

.”

"Once the Zheng family cannot support it, the Longwu court will definitely not be able to maintain it. If the Longwu court collapses, the situation in the south may become clear in the shortest possible time. Local officials will either submit to the court or defect to Zhang Xianzhong. There is no other choice.

.”
Chapter completed!