Jiangnan West Road, Hongzhou.

Hongzhou, which is close to the Ganjiang River, has been built in Han for hundreds of years and has developed to a large scale. Because it is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, especially after the imperial court moved the capital from Chang'an, Guanzhong to Shannan in recent years, Hongzhou, which is close to the Han River, has become increasingly prosperous and prosperous.

Hongzhou Port has also become a large inland port. Hongzhou, like Jiangxia, Ezhou and Jiangling City in Jingzhou, has become a commercial center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and is also a ship manufacturing center. Many ships running on the Yangtze River and Han River are manufactured here.

Although it is not as prosperous as Yangzhou and Dengzhou, Li Chao believes that it will not take long to break through the population of 100,000 and become another important town in the Tang Dynasty.

There is the Yangtze River and Ganjiang River water conservancy, which is a natural advantage. Hongzhou has shipbuilding and transportation industries, and the Li family's Jingdezhen is not far away. The Li family's porcelain has now become a large order for domestic and foreign sales, and basically all have to go out through Hongzhou Port. Moreover, Jiangnan West Road is still a grain-producing area.

As soon as Li Chao led the royal army to Hongzhou, he was warmly welcomed.

Like emerging commercial cities such as Dengzhou and Yangzhou, the conservative forces here are not as strong as emerging industrial and commercial forces. The Li family and Cheng family and other upstarts are very strong here. Under their leadership, there are a large number of emerging industrial and commercial owners here. Li Chao thinks that these people can be called emerging capitalists.

The Zhenguan New Policy, for these people, is to protect their interests. They are all very supportive. Without the development of open industry and commerce, there would be no prosperous trade today, and they would not make so much money. Even without the stalls in the Zhenguan New Law, they would not be able to hire more workers.

In terms of industrial and commercial taxation, although there seems to be more taxes, there are more taxes for famous people and less donations for no names. Everyone's life is getting more and more prosperous, and even the status of businessmen has improved a lot now.

In Hongzhou City.

The autumn wind is rustling, the plants and trees are withered and the leaves are falling, indicating that winter is coming, and the three years of Zhenguan are about to be over.

A banquet is being held in the Xuanfu Yamen in Jiangxi.

Jiangxi Xuanfu held a banquet to welcome Li Chao and Wang Jun. Jiangxi’s military and political circles and business circles also came to welcome him. At the same time, today it was a fundraising meeting held by the business circle for Wang Jun.

Li Chao is actually not short of money, and the King's Army is not short of food.

In his fleet, there were special grain ships and ordnance ships, full of grain and ordnance. However, Li Chao was still very happy that everyone was so enthusiastic.

"Liu Zhenghui, Li Gao led 50,000 infantry and cavalry, riding more than 1,000 large and small ships. He just left Jiangxia and was coming to Hongzhou." The Xuanfu Envoy's surname was Zheng, and the Zheng clan of Xingyang was also a relative to Li Chao, and he was able to come to Hongzhou to be Xuanfu Envoy, which was actually based on Li Chao's connections.

Although the Xuanfu Envoy is now a vassal official in charge of the territory, the imperial court is more than 20 times today. As a civil servant, the Xuanfu Envoy is still a little lower than the chief officials of the Central Government Office of the Beijing Central Government.

Li Chao recommended him to be the Jiangxi Xuanfu envoy, which is actually mutually beneficial. After all, Hongzhou is also an important stronghold for emerging capitalists, and Li Chao still hopes to have his own people to take care of him.

"Fifty thousand, the number of people is really quite large." Li Chao was not afraid of the number of 50,000. Over the years, he has been considered a veteran on the battlefield. He clearly knows that fighting does not depend on quantity.

"Don't the Duke of Defense come?"

"The Duke of Wei seems to lead troops to guard Jiangxia."

Li Chao knew why Li Jing did not come. After all, Li Yuan did not trust Li Jing, and wanted to use it and was suspicious. So, although Li Jing was named in the end, the ridiculous thing that Liu Zhenghui led 50,000 soldiers to attack, but Li Jing led 5,000 soldiers to defend the city in the rear.

But this is good, if Li Jing doesn't come, he is more confident.

If Li Jing comes, Li Chao will not really deal with it carefully. Li Jing is not an ordinary person, he is a soldier. The Supreme Emperor has only famous generals like Li Jing, but he dare not really use it. How can he win?

Zheng Xuanfu Envoy sighed, "It's really unexpected that Li Jing actually voted for the Supreme Emperor."

"Because of the situation, it was a last resort." Li Chao exonerated Li Jing. He believed that Li Jing was not really a vote for the Supreme Emperor. But no matter what, Li Jing was unlucky enough.

During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he asked someone to contact Li Jing to support Li Shimin, but Li Jing remained neutral. Afterwards, Li Shimin finally dispelled his prejudice and reused him again. As a result, at this critical moment, Li Jing lost the chain again.

After this rebellion, Li Jing is probably going to have to rest at home completely.

But no longer, Li Shimin will no longer trust Li Jing.

"Duke Zhao is sure to defeat Liu Zhenghui?" Zheng Xuanfu Envoy asked with some concern. After all, Li Chao only had more than 10,000 people, but the other party had 50,000. "I can mobilize thousands of troops, and also summon young and strong men to help defend Hongzhou."

"Since Duke Wei has not come, no matter how many soldiers Liu Zhenghui has, it is just a native chicken and a treasure. I will fight against Liu Zhenghui to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. Duke Zheng just needs to close Hongzhou City and wait for good news."

After Zheng Xuanfu's envoy left, Li Chao sat alone in the hall. He brewed himself a pot of new tea and sipped slowly.

Ten thousand to 50,000, the number is huge, but Li Chao is not conceited by underestimating the enemy.

This will be a water battle. He will tell Liu Zhenghui what water battle is. Water battle is not on the water, but fighting by boat is called water battle. Liu Zhenghui's 50,000 people are not navy troops at all. They are infantry and cavalry, and more than half of them are recruits.

The newly recruited civilians, craftsmen, and teenagers.

Many people were even dizzy when riding on a boat, let alone fighting on the water.

For them, ships are just tools for crossing the river, but not combat weapons.

After drinking a cup of tea, a person came quietly.

"Is it information about Li Jing?"

"Yes, there is the Shadow's investigation of Li Jing, and a reply letter from Li Jing to Duke Zhao."

The two armies were about to fight, and no one expected that Li Chao would come to Li Jing and write to him. Li Jing also wrote back to Li Chao. If Liu Zhenghui knew about it, he would definitely not have come so confidently.

Li Chao always believed that Li Jing would not go to Li Yuan without seeing the situation clearly. He was just because his family was controlled by Li Yuan and had no choice.

After reading Li Jing’s reply.

Li Chao chuckled a few times.

"The few suggestions Li Jing made to Liu Zhenghui and others are completely correct. If Liu Zhenghui adopts this method, we will really be stopped in Jiangxia and cannot enter. Unfortunately, Liu Zhenghui and others cannot listen."

After reading this letter, Li Chao was completely at ease.

"Come."

Wang Xuance walked in, "Teacher, what are you asking?"

"The wind is blowing, it's time for us to set sail. Let's send orders. Tomorrow morning, our fleet will leave Hongzhou Port and sail into Pengze."

Pengze, also known as Penglize, and Poyang Lake, is a large lake between Hongzhou and Jiangzhou, connecting the Ganjiang River and the Yangtze River.
Chapter completed!