0p0 Chapter 672 On the way back
Chapter 672 On the way back
Seeing with their own eyes that Lu Cheng walked on the waves and crossed the river as if walking on flat ground, not only the bandits on the boat, but even Dian Wei and Xu Chu on the shore wanted to bow down to him.
In a moment, Lu Cheng had crossed twenty feet of the river surface, jumped up under the gaze of hundreds of people, and landed steadily on the bow of Zhou Tai's ship.
The pirates on Zhou Tai's ship were so scared that they fell to their knees, shouting "Greetings, God!" and "God, please spare our lives."
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were also very frightened, and Jiang Qin could hardly hold the weapon in his hand.
Zhou Tai was still the more courageous one, and he bowed and said, "I wonder...I wonder what the governor wants to see us about?"
"I am Lu Cheng, the governor of Liaodong. Liaodong is in need of naval commanders. Are you two willing to follow me to Liaodong, command the navy, and fight in all directions?"
When Lu Cheng said this, although he was smiling and looked very friendly, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin did not dare to be careless. They just looked at each other and bowed down: "We are willing to obey the orders of the governor."
Lu Cheng nodded slightly, "That's great. If you have families, you can come with us, and we will take care of them. In addition, if any of the pirates under your command are willing to go to Liaodong, they can all go with you. Although we have built some warships in Liaodong, we lack soldiers who are good at naval warfare. If you have any familiar pirates who are willing to go to Liaodong, you can bring them with you. You can bring as many soldiers as you can recruit."
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were delighted when they heard this. If this was the case, going to Liaodong would definitely be a good choice. Not only could they get rid of their identity as pirates, but they could also become generals, which would bring honor to their family.
"Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin greet the lord and are willing to serve him at his service."
"Youping, Gongyi, please stand up quickly."
After successfully subduing the two naval commanders, the Liaodong navy could finally be built up.
In fact, after occupying Liaodong, Lu Cheng began to gather all kinds of craftsmen in Liaodong, including carpenters and shipbuilders, and chose suitable places in the coastal areas within the Bohai Sea to build port docks.
Lu Cheng had detailed drawings of various types of ships from the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. As long as he had a group of skilled craftsmen, a master craftsman who could understand the drawings, and standard measuring tools, he could start building ships by following the same pattern.
Of course, in the beginning they could only build some small fishing boats and pleasure boats. After continuous practice, the craftsmen’s experience gradually matured, and they were able to build some slightly larger warships and merchant ships.
Lu Cheng also asked the intelligence department to send people to search for shipbuilding craftsmen in Jiangnan and send them to Liaodong.
After subduing Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, Lu Cheng stayed nearby for a while, waiting for the two to gather a group of pirates willing to follow them, and then take their families and head north in a mighty manner.
Many of Zhou Tai's pirates were bachelors, many were willing to follow Zhou Tai to Liaodong with their families, and many were going after Lu Cheng. Lu Cheng's walking on the waves on the river that day was indeed very intimidating.
As a result, the entire team had five or six hundred people, including men, women, young and old.
When the group returned to Linhuai East City, Lu Su had already sold his property, packed up, and prepared to take his entire family to Liaodong.
Lu Su was a man of charity and good deeds who helped the people, and he was well-known in the local area. Some people who had no worries and had received favors from Lu Su were willing to follow him when they heard that he was leaving, and another one or two hundred people gathered together.
With more people, the pace of travel became much slower.
In order to take care of the elderly and the weak in the team, Lu Cheng also asked the intelligence department to provide support along the way and sent some caravans to accompany them to ensure that no one would die on the road.
In order to save time, Lu Cheng also sent Dian Wei to lead a group of people to meet Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai in the north of Yuzhou.
When they came here, everyone was riding two horses, so they were naturally very fast. When they returned, they had to go much slower.
Fortunately, with Lu Cheng, the medical saint and martial saint, leading the team, all the ignorant people they met along the way were eliminated, and various emergencies were dealt with in a timely manner, making the journey surprisingly smooth.
After joining forces with Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai, the number of some people had reached nearly a thousand.
When passing through Shanyang, Li Dian went back home again. When he came back, he brought 300 young and strong people with him.
When the sons of these aristocratic families go out to fight, their families will naturally arrange a team of personal soldiers to accompany them. These personal soldiers are either children of the same clan or children of farmers. The whole family shares weal and woe with the master family, and naturally they are extremely loyal to the master family.
Not only Li Dian, but Xu Chu's family had also sent some people to Liaodong in advance.
After the group passed through Yuzhou, passed through Yanzhou, and entered Jizhou, the Zhen family had already sent people to meet them in advance.
Seeing Lu Cheng chatting and laughing with the eldest son of the Zhen family who came to greet them, Guo Jia, Lu Su, and Xi Zhicai looked at each other and said, "I have heard that Liaodong has a close relationship with the Wuji Zhen family. It seems that what they said is true."
The guard Li Tie at the side said, "Gentlemen, you may not know that the head of the Wuji Zhen family, Shangcai Ling Zhen Yi, intends to marry his eldest daughter to the master. Maybe, they will get married in the near future."
Xi Zhicai nodded upon hearing this: "I have heard for a long time that the Wuji Zhen family is very wealthy and has inherited a salary of 2,000 stones. They are worthy of the lord."
Li Tie added: "In fact, the daughter of Mr. Cai Yong is also in love with the lord."
When Guo Jia and the other two heard this, their eyes lit up: "If the lord has Mr. Cai as his father-in-law, the issue of family background will be easy to solve."
"I really want to get to Liaodong as soon as possible, to see the academy that the lord mentioned, and to meet Mr. Bo Ji."
"I am more interested in the collection of thousands of volumes."
After entering Jizhou, they were picked up by the Zhen family caravan and their journey became much faster.
Soon, the group arrived in Wuji. Lu Cheng, Guo Jia, Lu Su and others moved into the Wuji Zhen family's fortress.
Zhen Yi was also surprised to see the scholars such as Guo Jia, Lu Su, Xi Zhicai, and the generals such as Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhou Tai who were following Lu Cheng. He congratulated them repeatedly: "Shou Xin has really found many talented people during his visit to the wise. Congratulations."
Since the Zhen family has already decided to invest in Liaodong, they are naturally happy for Lu Cheng to have so many talented people under his command.
"Thank you, Master Zhen, for your support."
"It's all my duty. I know you are busy with official duties and can't stay for long. I have already prepared a dowry for Jiang'er in advance. Let Jiang'er go directly with you to Liaodong this time."
"In that case, thank you very much, father-in-law."
Hearing Lu Cheng change his words, Zhen Yi laughed: "Very good, very good."
After staying at the Zhen family for two days, Lu Cheng led the team again and headed for Liaodong.
This time, the Zhen family sent a large number of people, escorting a large amount of dowry, to Liaodong together with Zhen Jiang.
Not only that, Zhen Yi also sent his youngest son Zhen Yao to Liaodong, saying that he would study at Liaodong School.
As a result, the group was so large that there were nearly two thousand people.
The movement of such a team naturally attracted the attention of counties and counties along the way.
However, the team raised the banner of the Liaodong governor, and the counties along the way did not dare to stop them.
When the group entered Youbeiping County, a cavalry suddenly appeared in front of them to stop them. Although there were only a few hundred cavalrymen, they were all wearing silver armor and white robes, riding white horses, and they came and went like the wind, and in the blink of an eye they arrived in front of the team.