At this time, it is on the north side of Yangzhou.

At the entrance of the Huai River, Prince Chengqian personally led a fleet to sail into the Huai River.

The fleet forward is Xue Rengui, the commander of the Lijiapo squadron of the South China Sea Fleet. Next to him is Zhu Zhendong, the butcher of the squadron land warfare division commander.

This time, not only did the 50,000 troops come around the sea, but also a large merchant fleet behind them. This was organized by major shipping merchants and many merchant ship owners under the call of the governor's court, parliament and chamber of commerce.

Carrying big pieces of medicine, food, clothes and other disaster relief items, they come with the fleet.

This time, the Southern Army's massive advance was called flood control and disaster relief.

Many of those goods were donated by people from all over the south, but the big head was actually produced by those big merchants.

Before this time, many people actually opposed the dispatch of troops.

The ministers represented by Yang Shidao believed that the current flood was a big flood, and sending troops at this time would feel like taking advantage of the dangers of others. Moreover, the floods were serious and it was not convenient to send troops, especially during major disasters, which often resulted in major epidemics. If the army was infected with plague, it would be more than worth the loss.

But Zhang Chao doesn't think so.

Floods are just an opportunity.

The once-in-a-century flood caused the Jianghuai River Basin to become disaster areas, with countless people suffering from disasters, and even led to many areas controlled by the imperial court. All large and small cities were either flooded or became isolated cities.

At this time, the Southern Army, which had a strong navy, was just like a bonus. At this time, sending troops and using the title of disaster relief can not only win people's hearts, but also capture the city more easily.

As for the fact that you have captured the territory now, it is equivalent to taking a burden.

Zhang Chao does not think it is a burden.

In fact, the court is not short of food now, which is not more than ten years ago. In recent years, the court has expanded greatly, arable land has increased, and grain reserves have become more and more abundant, and there is food everywhere.

It just needs rescue organizations and resettlement aftermath, but the harvest is also huge.

As for plagues, timely prevention and control will prevent plagues from breaking out. If you ignore them, there will be people, animals, dead bodies everywhere, and plagues will be more likely to break out.

In the end, Cheng Qian was convinced.

Zhang Chao personally led a large army to attack Yangzhou, which was guarded by 30,000 troops, and Chengqian took 50,000 troops from the sea to the north and entered the Huaihe River to attack Chuzhou, Haozhou, Shouzhou and others.

Ma Zhou stayed in Runzhou.

There are also two partial troops, respectively, attacking Xuanzhou in Jiangnan, Hezhou, Luzhou and other places in Huainan.

This is an excellent time to attack.

The flood caused different places to be disconnected from each other. Those big cities became lonely cities and were very passive in defense. Even many cities were flooded. At this time, it was simply a victory.

Huainan Road and Jiangnan Road, this is what Zhang Chao vows to win.

Although this flood may not start for the time being, there will always be a time when the water recedes. If you have the opportunity to not take it, then when will it be? If you can take Huainan, Zhang Chao will attack Jiangxi and Huainbei in the next step.

Go to capture Dengzhou, Jiangzhou and other important cities on the river and seaside.

This is quite a bit like that during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Liu Yu fought in the Central Plains in the north.

Everything was as Zhang Chao expected, and the Southern Army was progressing smoothly.

After the flood, the Jianghuai River and Huai River were a terrible country, but the Southern Army was like a fish in water under the transportation of naval warships and could advance quickly. It was difficult to stop it along the way.

Under Yangzhou City.

Army gathered.

Behind it is a rescue fleet composed of chambers of commerce and other parties to rescue and resettle the people, and the people sigh.

And under the city, Zhang Chao waved his hand.

A cannon has been pushed directly under the city.

There are also cannons on the top of Yangzhou city.

But Cheng Mingzhen's face looks ugly.

Everyone has cannons, but Zhang Chao's cannons have a greater threat. These cannons can break through the thick walls of Yangzhou City and allow the 50,000 troops outside the city to attack the city.

And his cannons can only increase their lethality at most.

"Why isn't it raining now?"

Yang Hongli raised his head and asked the sky, wanting to scold this thief.

Once Zhang Chao comes, it won’t rain anymore.

God is favoring Zhang Chao.

If there is a continuous heavy rain, Zhang Chao's cannon will definitely not be able to hit.

"Why do you have to resist stubbornly and let the military and civilians in the city suffer the fire of war and endure unnecessary casualties? As long as the two open the city, one will ensure the safety of everyone in the city and not kill one. If the two want to leave Yangzhou, one can also give away gifts."

Cheng Ming shook his head.

How can you surrender without fighting if you bear the grace of yourselves?

Zhang Chao was helpless.

"King Zhao, do you want to attack?"

"Since I'm not persuaded to surrender, I can only fight. Prepare and follow the second plan."

······

Hanjing.

The continuous heavy rainstorms also caused the water level of the Han River to soar, and the water levels of the Danjiang River, Tanghe, and other tributaries of the Han River also rose.

Because of the construction of the Western Canal, there is now the Danjiang Reservoir in the northwest of Hanjing and the Hanjiang Dam in the southwest. Even nearby rivers such as Tanghe and Baihe have many sluice gates.

In the past, these reservoir dam ship locks made water conservancy irrigation on the Xiangden Plain, which was very convenient for water shortage, and also made shipping and transportation more convenient.

However, nowadays, Hanjing is facing the threat of floods.

The Danjiang Reservoir and the Hanjiang Dam both had to increase the flood discharge to ensure the safety of the dam. However, once the flood discharge was released, the downstream flood disasters were aggravated, and large areas of land were flooded.

A large number of people in Xiang Deng area were affected by disasters, and many of them fled to Hanjing.

The emperor's plan to go south was forced to stand, and there were vast oceans everywhere. How to go south and how to transfer military supplies?

Even the planned 200,000 troops could not complete the assembly, and many soldiers in the palace became victims and fled.

"There must be a truce."

Fang Xuanling was a loud voice at the joint meeting of the Three Courts of the Imperial Front, where the emperor was absent.

The current situation is no longer a problem of quelling chaos, and the issue of disaster relief is even more urgent. Even the city walls and edges of Hanjing were gathered, so how can we fight?

"Who is willing to follow someone to the palace to give advice?" Fang Xuanling asked.

Although Changsun Wuji was not optimistic about this kind of advice like a ward-tempering method, he also knew that there was no other good way to save the current situation.

The emperor basically did not preside over the morning court now, and even the imperial predecessors rarely attended. The ministers of the Central Secretariat served as the government, and then most of the memorials submitted were transferred to the Privy Council, which were reviewed by Hanlin scholars of the Privy Council, and finally returned.

Changsun Wuji heard that the emperor is yawning during the day and is drowsy all day long, but at night he is fierce and often controls a few girls at night.

At first he thought someone was spreading rumors, but later he went to the palace to meet the emperor and found out that it was indeed the same as the rumor.

The emperor lost a lot of weight and turned blue. But the emperor himself said that he was in good health and was in great spirits after convinced the pill. Even that day, the emperor was happy and gave him an elixir of immortality to him, saying that the medicine was extremely precious.

Taking one pill can last at least one year.

After taking the pill home, Changsun Wuji threw it to his dog for food.

He didn't believe in elixir divination. But the emperor believed it very much. Zhang Chao told the emperor that things were like gods and gods, but the emperor really believed it.

What happened later was as Zhang Chao expected, which made him a little skeptical at one time. But later, Changsun Wuji didn't believe it anymore.

If Zhang Chao could really see those, why did he protect a person who would kill his children and prosecut his family as the emperor?

So, these things are unreliable after all.

Even the destiny is false, wouldn’t the elixir of immortality be even more false?

But the emperor believed it and said that Qin Shihuang was looking for the elixir of immortality like Emperor Wu of Han, but they did not find it, but they found it themselves.

"Go together!" Changsun Wuji responded.

Shangshu Ling Yuwen Shi is old, and he doesn't want to participate in these things. He used to be the same as Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda and others, but unfortunately these old friends have long died.

He hesitated.

Fang Xuanling's eyes swept over.

"Yuwen Linggong, are you scared?"

Yu Wenshi was helpless, "Go together."

After the three Linggongs made their statements, the others naturally had no reason to retreat. Most of the military affairs of the Privy Council led the troops outside. Qu Tutong, the old marshal, took charge of the Privy Council without any ambiguity, and said with a loud voice.

There were originally twenty-seven prime ministers, but now there are only eighteen in Beijing.

Some of the other nine led their troops outside, some were like Wei Zheng, and were still imprisoned.

The eighteen prime ministers, with their heads on their heads, wearing purple robes, holding jade scepters in their hands, holding their heads and chests, heading up toward the palace gate.

In front of the palace gate, guards wearing golden plate armor stood solemnly. Their bodies were clamped by plate armor, and their eyes were exposed behind the holes in the surface armor.
To be continued...