Dominate the Country

The imperial physician was summoned soon, and then the whole prince's mansion was filled with joy. Even the guards and attendants inside and outside the mansion had bright smiles on their faces. The reason was simple: the princess was pregnant.

It was known to everyone that Chen Ming had few children. So far, he had only one legitimate son, and no daughters. In this era of high infant mortality, this was absolutely unsafe.

Although Chen Ming's position in Chen Han was firm and unshakable, the defect in his children became more and more obvious, just like Chen Ming's unshakable and stable position.

Especially since the Han Wang Chen Hui, who was over 40 years old, had another son and a daughter, how could Chen Ming, the prince who was invincible on the battlefield, be so useless in this matter?

Now that Li Xiaomei was pregnant, His Royal Highness Chen Ming, the prince, was already ecstatic.

God had pity on him, he was only 20 years old. In the 21st century, he couldn't get married at this age. But in this era, Chen Ming was already secretly worried about the lack of children. Although on the surface he did not put any pressure on Li Xiaomei and the others.

Li Xiaomei lay on the bed with a somewhat stupid look, holding her belly with both hands, her face full of disbelief. She... was actually pregnant, pregnant now?

Chen Ming sat down beside the bed, and when Li Xiaomei saw him, she could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes and they flowed down. God knows how miserable she was about this matter. Many nights she even wanted to push Chen Ming to the side yard to sleep, and she didn't know how many tears she shed when she was lying alone in bed.

Nanny Wang also wiped the tears from her eyes, and the "suffering" that Li Xiaomei suffered in this matter could not be hidden from those around her.

Chen Ming sat by the bed, holding Li Xiaomei's hand and stroking it gently, his heart was extremely excited and excited, and he didn't know what to say for a while. This child came too suddenly, too surprising. He patted Li Xiaomei's hand: "Okay. It's all right now."

Li Xiaomei's heart couldn't help but warm up when she heard his voice, and her tears fell faster. "Yes, it's all right now, it's really all right..." In this era, women are always the ones who suffer when it comes to infertility.

Chen Ming hurriedly hugged her and said, "Why are you crying more urgently? Don't cry anymore."

Li Xiaomei shook her head, leaned her head on his shoulder, and said, "I'm happy in my heart, really happy. I didn't expect this child to come now. I thought I would never get pregnant again." And she was sick during the New Year. Li Xiaomei didn't think she would get pregnant in a short time. As a result, the surprise came suddenly. She touched her lower abdomen and suddenly became worried. She drank medicine for ten days in a row. Wouldn't it affect the child?

"Happy, I'm really happy..." If she hadn't been concerned about her image in front of Chen Ming, she would have wanted to bury her head and cry.

Chen Ming hugged his wife and laughed, and also revealed a sense of relief. He put one hand on Li Xiaomei's flat belly. It was still hard to tell that the child was less than two months old. The doctor said it was only one and a half months old. So the seeds were planted in the first ten days before the New Year. Now there was another little life. It was his offspring, his and Li Xiaomei's child, the second child.

The voice of Nanny Wang came from outside. Nanny Wang was a former neighbor of the Li family. She had worked in a wealthy family in her early years. Her son and daughter-in-law were both dead, and she had no legitimate relatives. She had received a lot of favors from the Li family. When Li Xiucai "slipped away", he left fifty taels of silver to Nanny Wang, so that she could give it to Li Xiaomei. The two sides got in touch, and Nanny Wang simply came to the mansion and became Nanny Wang. "Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Liu Liangdi and several selected concubines in the mansion are here to congratulate Your Highness and Your Highness."

Chen Ming became the crown prince, and the Crown Princess was naturally Li Xiaomei's, but the women under the Crown Princess also had corresponding titles, right? According to the Han, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, there are three ranks: Liangdi is the first, Xuanshi is the second, and Cairen is the third.

Liu Wanyun is naturally Liangdi, and the rest are Xuanshi when Chen Ming waved his hand.

Liu Wanyun and others outside the door all had smiles on their faces. People who don't know would think that Chen Ming's harem is peaceful and harmonious, and the wives and concubines live in harmony. Otherwise, how could the concubines be so happy that the wife is pregnant?

But if you ask Liu Wanyun, she will spit in your face, "Fool. Of course I'm happy. The Crown Princess is pregnant, so the Crown Prince is free, right?"

If no one is pregnant, Chen Ming's attraction only exists in "favor". But no matter how favored he is, he can't surpass the Crown Princess.

But now the Crown Princess is pregnant. When the news spread quickly throughout the backyard, Liu Wanyun and others opened their mouths wide. Then, when they thought of the "wise and powerful" Crown Prince, it was not just love, but children.

As long as they can give birth to a child, this child will be their support for the rest of their lives. For the women in the harem, how long can the king's love last? Only with children can you really have support. So when they entered the room and a group of beautiful women congratulated Li Xiaomei and Chen Ming, Chen Ming suddenly felt the eyes of his women looking at him..., it was so hot.

He didn't know that he had just evolved from a piece of "fat meat" to "Tang Monk meat".

"These foxy women dared to..." in front of the Crown Princess.

After Chen Ming left, Grandma Wang was trembling with anger. Those shameless women, shameless, so shameless! He actually dared to seduce His Highness the Crown Prince in front of the Crown Princess. His face was so full of coquettishness that he wanted to drag His Highness into the house right away. This, this... is so shameless.

Li Xiaomei leaned on the pillow with a nonchalant look on her face. The most precious thing to her now was the child in her belly, and as for the child's father, he had to take a step back.

"Mommy, please don't say these words again. It's not good for others to hear you." She would be thought to be intolerant. "If you hook it up, hook it up. I already have a body, can I still dominate the prince?" It is not only the prince's responsibility to spread the branches, but also her responsibility as the princess.

Being able to seduce someone is not a skill. "Being able to conceive is a real skill!"

…

The spring breeze in February is blowing on the earth, the spring scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is bright, and everything is revived. The willow silk has given birth to small buds, and the grass has poked its head out to welcome the spring. The new year has arrived again.

But on the northern sea, Haiphong is still bitingly cold.

Tian Qing, who was sailing north from Wusong Port, was covered in thick cotton clothes. He stood on the poop and looked at his fleet. There were twenty large and small warships and six transport ships, which contained a newly formed marine battalion.

The order to attack came early. But considering the ice floes in the northern seas, it was postponed until February.

The northeasterly wind has weakened a lot, but it is still far away from the formation of the southeastern monsoon in summer and autumn. Twenty-six ships were driven northward with difficulty by the northeast wind.

After crossing Chengshanjiao, the easternmost protruding part of the Jiaodong Peninsula in Shandong, what was surprising was that they found two slow sailing boats on the sea surface of Ninghai Prefecture—before they reached the waters of Dengzhou Prefecture. It is a sea ship patrolled by the Qing army.

The two shuttle boats immediately discovered the Fuhan fleet flying the red military flag. Facing the overwhelming enemy and shouldering the heavy responsibility of guarding the safety of Shandong's territorial waters, they turned around decisively and went crazy. of escape.

But the speed of catching the shuttle boat is really a tragedy. It wasn't long before they were overtaken by two small Tongansuo ships.

At this time, the two shuttle boats also found that they could not escape. They started to fight back desperately with the few small cannons on board. One of the two shuttle boats was a medium-sized one and a small one. One was equipped with five cannons. One carries two artillery pieces. There were also some shotgun soldiers standing on the side of the ship and shooting at the Fuhan warships, regardless of whether they could hit them.

The two small Ansuo ships did not carry many cannons, four each. But four cannons, two three-pound cannons, and two five-pound cannons. Even without loading fire dragon bombs, it would be a piece of cake to sink two shuttle boats on the sea. What's more, all they have to do is to block these two shuttle boats and wait until their own large forces come up.

The order to fire was given, and the four artillery pieces fired one after another, three catties, three catties; five catties, five catties; the four shells roared towards the Qing army ships at a distance of five or six hundred meters. Due to the strong wind and waves on the sea and the fact that it was the first round of shelling, the accuracy was not very good. All four shells fell into the sea.

The Qing army's counterattack was the same as that of the Fuhan army. No one on either side was hit in the first round. The speed of the warships on both sides continued to approach.

When the distance between the two sides narrowed to about 400 meters, the ship turned around and the second round of shelling began.

The Qing army did not create miracles, and their morale was greatly reduced. Now their counterattack can only be regarded as "firing artillery", firing artillery just for the sake of artillery. There was no thought of sinking or damaging enemy ships. Every time the artillery fire of the Fuhan Army roared, it was aimed again and again.

Three of the four shells missed, and one of them broke the main sail of the small sailing boat.

There was a hole as big as a window in the hard sail. The hot bomb also ignited a little fire, but due to the blowing of the sea defense, the fire did not burn into a raging fire, but quickly extinguished.

But if there is one, there will be two. Soon a five-pound iron bullet hit the side of the Qing army's boat. Immediately, a small hole was opened on the side of the boat. Tian Qing held up the telescope and could see it from a distance. The Qing army was in panic on the boat.

There is no suspense in this battle. Tian Qing wanted to capture these two Qing warships, but the result was that they captured these two ships. The sails were smashed and the mast was torn off by chain bullets. The Qing army had no choice but to surrender.

The combat effectiveness of Tian Qing's fleet is much higher than theirs.

By interrogating the prisoners of war, Tian Qing knew that the destination of the two warships was not in Ninghai Prefecture, but in Yantai.

Yantai? Tian Qing is very unfamiliar with this place name. The only seaports in Shandong are Jiaozhou and Dengzhou, and the other one is Zhifu Island. Where does Yantai come from? Let the prisoner point it out on the map. It is indeed an inconspicuous place. It is said that in the 31st year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from invading, the Ming Dynasty built Qishan at the northern foot of Qishan to guard the city of Qianhusuo. At the same time, it also built a beacon tower on Beishan, and Beishan was changed to Yantai Mountain. . Yantai got its name from this.

But let’s talk about it in detail, Zhifu Island. Tian Qing suddenly realized. He just said, that place looked familiar, it turned out to be there. Who in this era knows about Yantai and whether Zhifu Island will be available soon?

Besides Jiaozhou and Dengzhou, this should be the third most famous port in Shandong.

Shandong Luying Navy has limited strength and no longer dares to patrol long distances. Previously, one Shandong Navy was stationed in Jiaozhou - later Qingdao, and the other was stationed in Dengzhou. North Dengzhou was connected to Tianjin Navy, and south Jiaozhou was connected to Liangzhou. River water division.

But how dare they do this now?

The warships docked in Jiaozhou Bay were all small speedboats, mainly for reconnaissance. The few remaining main warships were stationed in Dengzhou Water City. Later, Beijing considered that the distance was too far, so it ordered the Dengzhou Navy to transfer some of them to Yantai.

"Qing, Tartar... Tartar, still set up artillery forts in Yantai, and two or three thousand Lu Yong garrisons."

The one kneeling in front of Tian Qing was a thousand-man commander of the Qing army. At this moment, he had no dignity as a soldier and called the Qing Dynasty Tartar. All the military intelligence he knew was told without leaving a single bit.

"Two or three thousand Lu Yong, fifteen large and small warships, and three artillery forts." Tian Qing shook his head regretfully. He had too few people under his command. If there was one more Marine battalion, he would definitely dare to pay attention to Yantai.

"Let's go to Haining Prefecture. Yantai is a hard bone, don't chew it. Let's eat fat meat." Although according to the prisoners' account, there were also two battalions of green camps stationed in Haining Prefecture, plus one or two thousand local militiamen.

But Haining Prefecture is not near the sea, there is no fort, and there is a river to the east of Haining Prefecture City - Jinshui River, which flows north into the sea. The river is wide, no less than fifty feet, although the water depth is a little shallow, but the transport team composed of small warships and Fu ships is enough to enter.

Tian Qing can organize a team to sneak attack Ninghai Prefecture City.

If Ninghai can be broken, the shock to Shandong will definitely be greater than the gains and losses of an "inconspicuous" small seaport.

Under Tian Qing's order, five small warships entered the mouth of the Jinshui River first, followed by six transport ships. Eleven ships rushed to the outside of Ninghai Prefecture City, six transport ships rushed directly to the dock, and five small warships opened fire and bombarded a Qing army camp outside the dock.

Ninghai Qing army did not focus on guarding here at all. The Qing army camp that the fleet commander thought was actually just a team of yamen runners and village militiamen. Their task was not to guard or fight, but to maintain order at the dock, with a total number of only about a hundred people. After being bombarded by the cannon, they all collapsed.

The Marine Battalion, which served as the vanguard this time, took only a quarter of an hour to completely control the dock under the leadership of the battalion officer Lü Lun. Then the troops of each team gathered together, and the Qing army in Ninghaizhou City also received the news and organized a team to rush to the dock.

Lü Lun only had time to gather three teams of troops, and then he went up without showing any weakness.

Back then, he and several of his iron brothers blew up the ten largest gunboats of the Qing Army's Taihu Navy for two thousand taels of silver. Lü Lun and his men wanted to hide their identities and run away to other places to become rich. But who knew that the Fu Han Army would become stronger and stronger as it fought. Lü Lun, who was itching in his heart, led two brothers who were still willing to fight to join the Fu Han Army Navy, and then stepped up to the current position of battalion officer.

The Marine Battalion did not have heavy firepower, and their only battalion had eight medium-sized mortars. Of course, there are still ten cannons on five small warships behind them.

"Boom boom boom..."

The Qing army rushed in hastily and ran into the crossfire of solid shells fired by ship guns and shrapnel shells fired by mortars.

When their top officer was shot and killed by the sniper of the Fu Han Army, when the three teams of Marine Corps soldiers lined up in three rows and fired neat volleys, pressing towards the Qing army, the thousands of Qing soldiers and local militias who rushed out in a hurry scattered.

The walls of Ninghaizhou City are not tall or thick, but there are cannons on the top of the city. The cannons of the Fu Han Army need to be carefully unloaded from the warships, and the fleet in the Jinshui River also needs to be careful of the fire ships dropped by the Qing Army upstream.

There are some Qing Army Green Camp soldiers standing on the top of Ninghaizhou City, mixed with a large number of young men in messy uniforms. Although they know that the attack launched by the Fu Han Army at sea is mostly guerrilla warfare, and there are very few land soldiers, this gives them more confidence and courage when facing the Fu Han Army. But the Qing army here was poorly armed and their morale was still very low. The recent defeat made them lose the confidence to win.