My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 326 Zhang Fu's Last Expedition

If it was just to ennoble Liu Rong, there would be no need for Zhu Zhanhe and Zhang Fu to come together, so Liu Rong can be sure that the two have other purposes.

Sure enough, Zhu Zhanhe and Zhang Fu looked at each other, and then said: "Liu Zongbing, this time you wiped out the Japanese pirates in Liaodong, and you fought very well. It is estimated that after this battle, the Japanese pirates will never dare to come to Liaodong again, but compared to the north, the Japanese pirates on the southern coast are more serious."

"No, didn't the prince wipe out a group of Japanese pirates last time? I heard that the southern coast is much calmer now?"

Liu Rong asked in puzzlement when he heard Zhu Zhanhe's words.

"That can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. The coastline in the south is too long and it is very difficult to defend. The guards are not as good as the troops in the north, so it is easy for the Japanese pirates to take advantage of the loopholes."

Zhu Zhanhe paused at this point, and then continued seriously.

"So Grandpa Huang decided that instead of defending all the time, it is better to take the initiative to attack and completely solve the problem of Japanese pirates!"

"Take the initiative to attack? Could it be that... Your Majesty wants to use troops against the Wa Kingdom?"

Liu Rong is worthy of being a general guarding one side, and he immediately guessed what Zhu Di meant when he heard Zhu Zhanhe's words.

"That's right, Your Majesty has decided to send troops to capture the Kyushu Island of the Japanese Kingdom. It will be a one-off battle. I will personally command the troops this time, and my son will be the supervisor!"

Zhang Fu next to him finally spoke at this time.

Before that, Zhu Di hosted the North Korean envoy Li Zhan in the palace, and asked him about North Korea's views on the joint dispatch of troops.

In the end, Li Zhan patted his chest and promised that North Korea would do its best to assist Ming Dynasty in sending troops. After all, for them, the Japanese pirates were a direct threat, and the Japanese country behind them was an even greater threat.

Now that Ming is willing to send troops, he can solve North Korea's biggest threat in one fell swoop. Although North Korea is surrounded by Ming, the Koreans don't care at all. After all, many Koreans regard Ming as their mother country, especially Korean scholars like Li Zhan, who are more willing to serve as officials in Daming.

It can be said that on this point, Li Zhan, the North Korean scholars, and Li Fangyuan, the king of North Korea, have a different standpoint. To the scholars, North Korea is just a small puddle, while Ming Dynasty is like the sea. Of course, they are more willing to soar in the sea.

But Li Fangyuan wanted to protect his small puddle from being swallowed by the sea.

Knowing the opinions of North Korea, Zhu Di finally persuaded the cabinet and decided to send troops.

Zhu Di also attached great importance to this dispatch of troops. Although the Wa Kingdom was a small overseas country, the Mongolian Yuan expedition to the Wa Kingdom failed. Although it was a natural disaster, it cast a layer of mystery on the Wa Kingdom.

Therefore, after discussing with the cabinet, Zhu Di decided to send Zhang Fu to lead the army. After all, in the entire Ming Dynasty, Zhang Fu was definitely the leader of military generals. No matter in terms of talent or prestige, he was by no means comparable to other generals.

Of course, Zhang Fu had the merits of destroying the country before, so he should not have been sent out again, lest his merits be too high to overwhelm the master, so after thinking about it, Zhu Di decided to send Zhu Zhanhe as the supervisor of the army, so as to involve Zhang Fu's power in the army.

Zhang Fu also knew that this was likely to be the last time he would lead troops into battle. After this battle was over, he would probably have to stay in the cabinet to retire.

But Zhang Fu was also thankful, because he met the emperor Zhu Di, and Zhu Di himself was the commander in chief of the army. Jing Nan and Bei Zheng made Zhu Di great achievements, so no matter how great Zhang Fu's contribution was, he couldn't compare to Zhu Di, and he didn't have to worry about being liquidated afterwards.

Therefore, Zhang Fu was also extremely attentive to his last expedition. He and Zhu Zhanhe came to Jinzhou Wei early in order to meet with Liu Rong and discuss a plan to send troops.

"Liu Zongbing, this time we will send troops to Kyushu. The British Duke will be the General Conquering Japan, and you will be the right deputy general. Together with the British Duke, we will go out together!"

At this time, Zhu Zhanhe took out another imperial decree, announcing Zhu Di's appointment of Liu Rong.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Liu Rong knelt down again to receive the decree, and at the same time he was quite excited.

This time when he went to war against Japan, the Duke of England was appointed as the general, and Zhu Zhanhe, the heir of the King of Han, was the supervisor. Although he was only a deputy general, if he performed well and made military exploits again, maybe he, Uncle Guangning, might be granted the title of Marquis.

Thinking that he still had a chance to be a Marquis, Liu Rong wanted to roar excitedly. During the time of Jing Nan, many of his older brothers were able to be Marquises, but he made a few mistakes and missed the chance to be a Marquis.

"Liu Zongbing, besides you, there is also a left general this time, who is mainly in charge of the navy and warships. After all, we are going on an expedition to Japan, and the role of the navy is extremely important."

Zhang Fu introduced with a smile again at this time.

"I don't know who is worried about General Zuo?"

Liu Rong asked curiously.

"The candidate for General Zuo was recommended by me. You must know General Liu. He is Commander Zhang Fu Zhang who is in charge of shipping."

Zhu Zhanhe smiled and said.

"It turned out to be Commander Zhang. I heard that he also assisted the prince in destroying the Japanese pirates before. It must be no problem for him to lead the navy!"

Liu Rong laughed immediately when he heard Zhang Fu's name.

Before that, Zhang Fu was in charge of shipping and transported grain to Liaodong many times, so Liu Rong and Zhang Fu had known each other for a long time.

"General Zhang is mobilizing various naval forces, and it will take some time to arrive. I have also mobilized various armies and rushed to Jinzhou Wei to gather. It is estimated that in two months, all armies will arrive."

Zhang Fu spoke again.

Zhang Fu had already made arrangements for this attack on Kyushu. He and Liu Rong were in charge of the army, and Zhang Fu was in charge of the navy.

Although this is a cross-sea expedition, the navy plays a very important role, but the most important thing to conquer Kyushu is the dispatch of cavalry and infantry, so Zhang Fu asked Liu Rong to assist him.

"My subordinate understands!"

Liu Rong immediately clasped his fists in salute.

"In addition to our Ming's army, there is also North Korea's army, which will also send troops with us. However, North Korea is small and weak, so there should not be many troops, so they are mainly responsible for logistics."

Zhu Zhanhe continued.

In this war, North Korea is mainly used as a logistics base. Of course, with North Korea's national strength, it simply cannot support such a huge war. At that time, various materials will need to be transported from Daming, and these materials will also need to be transported through North Korea.

Hearing that the court has made so many arrangements, Liu Rong is more confident about this battle.

A few days later, Zhu Yong's mission returned from North Korea and brought back the news that Li Fangyuan had agreed to send troops jointly.

Then Zhu Di sent someone to discuss with Li Fangyuan about the plan for a joint troop dispatch. North Korea could only send 3000 troops and more than 200 warships. Although this troop strength was much lower than that of Ming Dynasty, it was already all that Li Fangyuan could use.

(End of this chapter)