Chapter 236 Developing Firearms and Building the Shenji Camp

In Jinling City, in the Imperial City.

Chen Huaian, who had just been crowned emperor, had returned to the Imperial City of the capital from Longcheng, the fief of the Prince of Jin, to handle government affairs. He was accompanied by Princesses Liu Shujun and Yue Qiluo.

As for the rest of the family members of the Prince of Jin's mansion, they were still staying in the Longcheng Palace temporarily. When the coronation ceremony was held in the first month of the lunar calendar, the whole family would move to Jinling City.

After meeting with the two people separately, Chen Huaian had already made a decision on the matter of enthroning the new dynasty's empress.

However, he was not in a hurry to announce the matter to the world, and the wedding was also scheduled for the coronation in the first month of the lunar calendar.

Chen Huaian also wanted to use the matter of enthroning the empress to test the loyalty of the civil and military officials of the new dynasty.

When he received the military report from Pang Xianchu, the commander of one of the southern expeditionary troops, which was sent back from Yongzhou City of the Nanyue Kingdom at an expedited speed of 800 miles, it was already three days after the southern expeditionary army was defeated in Yongzhou City.

Chen Huaian, who received the military report from the front line of Yongzhou, was furious. He thought to himself, is Li Zongmin shameless?

I have already decided to give you respect, but you actually played a trick of surrender with me, and almost got the loyal and brave general Pang Xianchu involved.

What can a soldier endure!

This Nanyue Kingdom must be destroyed!

Here, Chen Huaian's imperial edict to destroy the Nanyue Kingdom is still on the way, and the second military report from the front line of Yongzhou was sent to the palace in Jinling City at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

The content is very short, but the amount of information is very large.

The general idea is that the soldiers of the Longcheng army on the southern expedition are mainly northerners. Fighting in the hot and unbearable Nanyue Kingdom, many soldiers are not used to the climate and there are large-scale non-combat casualties.

In addition, the walls of Yongzhou City are tall and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even though the brave general Pang Xianchu led the troops and personally attacked Yongzhou City several times, he still failed to break the city.

Pang Xianchu reported to the new emperor Chen Huaian whether he could wait until the weather turned cooler before recovering Nanyue to reduce the non-combat casualties of the Longcheng army!

After receiving the second military report from Pang Xianchu, Chen Huaian finally couldn't sit still.

A mere Nanyue Kingdom and a mere Li Zongmin must not become obstacles and stumbling blocks before my coronation ceremony.

Chen Huaian immediately summoned the admiral of the navy Qi Jiguang, together with the Minister of War Li Jingyu, the Minister of Works Hu Zhijun, and the Minister of Revenue Jiang Xiao for an emergency meeting to make plans for Pang Xianchu, who was blocked in the southern expedition to Nanyue.

In the imperial study of the palace, the new emperor Chen Huaian sat on the dragon couch, drinking tea and discussing matters with the civil and military officials of the new dynasty.

Chen Huaian said: "My dear ministers, the matter I have summoned you to discuss today is that my Longcheng army was blocked in Yongzhou during the expedition to Nanyue;"

"Most of the soldiers of the Longcheng army that conquered Nanyue are from the north. It is inevitable that they are not used to the hot Nanyue land. In addition, the defense of Yongzhou City is strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Nanyue garrison guarding the city has made sufficient preparations;"

"Therefore, I am going to form a surprise force to reinforce Nanyue!"

When the emperor said this, Li Jingyu, who was the Minister of War of the previous dynasty and temporarily served as the Minister of War of the new dynasty, immediately stood up and said: Your Majesty, we just received the news that the army was blocked in the expedition to South Vietnam;"

"Before coming to see Your Majesty, I have already drafted a preliminary memorial to mobilize the army in the two lakes to reinforce the front line in Yongzhou. The climate in the two lakes is similar to that in South Vietnam, and the army is in high spirits and eager to serve Your Majesty and the new dynasty;"

"Your Majesty, this is the memorial I drafted. It contains the specific situation of the troop deployment and the generals in charge. Please take a look!"

After saying that, Li Jingyu took out the memorial that had been prepared long ago from the wide cuffs of his official robe and presented it to Chen Huaian with both hands.

Hmm!

Chen Huaian nodded, gave Li Jingyu an affirmative look, and took the memorial and read it.

I have to admit that Li Jingyu is a guy who is good at grabbing olive branches.

Since his surrender, Li Jingyu's handling and feedback on the tasks assigned to him by Chen Huaian, whether it was to reorganize the six ministries or to deal with the current blockage on the front line in Yongzhou, were timely and effective.

Just from his "well-prepared" memorial, it can be seen that he put in a lot of effort and put in a lot of effort.

In fact, Chen Huaian already had the answer to the strategy of breaking the deadlock in Yongzhou.

The reason why he still convened these people to discuss matters was, on the one hand, a means for him to win over the hearts of the people, and on the other hand, he needed to ask them to work together to complete his entire strategic deployment for the establishment of a new military branch.

Therefore, Chen Huaian just pretended to read the memorial provided by Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, for a while, and then said: "Lord Li, I have read the memorial you submitted, it is very good!"

"The dispatch of troops from the two lakes to reinforce Yongzhou will be carried out according to your memorial!"

"Minister, obey your order!"

Li Jingyu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that his efforts to work late last night were not in vain!

If he works harder now, he will have more hope to hold the position of Minister of War after the emperor ascends the throne in the future!

Chen Huaian said again: "I summoned all of you today, and there is another matter that requires you to work together in unity and implement it as soon as possible!"

Swish!

When the emperor said this, several people immediately perked up and pricked up their ears to wait for the emperor's order.

Chen Huaian continued: "My dear ministers, the obstruction of the Dragon City Army's expedition to the Kingdom of Nanyue has inspired me to decide to form a new branch of the army to strengthen my Dragon City Army;"

"Of course, this is not a new military branch. It has already appeared on the warships of our Longcheng Navy and has been tested in actual combat!"

At this point, Admiral Qi Jiguang of the Navy finally realized why the emperor summoned him to discuss matters today.

Qi Jiguang asked tentatively: "Does the emperor want to form a special firearms military branch?"

Hahaha!

Hearing this, Chen Huaian immediately laughed heartily and said: "The one who knows me is General Qi!"

Until then, the chief officers of the other three departments, including Li Jingyu, realized after being at a loss that the new military branch the emperor was referring to should be the "firearms cannon" unit equipped on the navy warships.

Although these people have not personally witnessed the cannons equipped on the Longcheng Navy warships, they have shown terrifying dominance on the battlefield.

However, on the day when the Longcheng Jingnan army broke through Jinling City, the thunderous sound and the performance of the 100,000 rattan armored soldiers of the Nanzhao Kingdom who threw away their armor and weapons and were in disarray, made everyone feel fearful of that terrifying weapon from the bottom of their hearts.

Next, Chen Huaian said word by word: "My dear ministers, I have decided to form a firearms army based on the artillery equipped on the warships of the Longcheng Navy Fleet, and call it——"

"Shenjiying!"