Chapter 41: The Dragon Enters the Vast Ocean

  Li Zhen nodded and said seriously: "I will pay attention, you also take care of yourself."

  A faint smile appeared at the corner of Zi Lan's mouth, but suddenly she felt a little shy and embarrassed.

  She had already expressed her feelings to Li Zhen and made up her mind to marry him.

  Now Li Zhen is about to leave, and it's unknown when they can meet again. But Li Zhen still doesn't say anything pleasant, like a wooden stump. Zhilan feels a bit disappointed in her heart. She wants to speak but stops herself, thinking for a moment before swallowing her words without speaking. Isn't the person in front of her just this kind of personality? Yet she has fallen in love with someone like that.

  Li Zhen glanced out of the window curtain at the carriage still waiting for him and said: "Time is pressing, I have to go."

  Xilan pursed her cherry lips and said in a low voice: "You're leaving, don't you have anything to say to me?"

  Li Zhen gazed intently at Zhilan, thought for a moment, and said: "After I return to the Jiangbei Grand Camp, I won't stay in the Jiangbei Grand Camp. I will soon head to Shanghai. Once the rebels in Shanghai are pacified and things settle down, you can come to Shanghai."

  At this moment, Zhilan's eyes shone with a strange light.

  She nodded softly and agreed, then took out a string of Buddhist beads from her bosom and handed them to Li Zhen, saying: "This is the Buddhist beads blessed by Master Yuanhai of Tan Tuo Temple. Wear it on your hand, and it will protect you from harm."

  Li Zhen Dai's hand moved swiftly, his head quickly shifted, and his lips smacked onto Zhilan's lips.

  In an instant, Li Zhen lifted up the curtain and got off the carriage.

  Zhilan sat dazed in the carriage, and only came back to herself when Li Zhen had disappeared from view. She lifted the curtain of the carriage and gazed at the vehicle that was already moving forward, a reluctant look in her eyes as she murmured: "Others aren't forbidden, why sneak around?"

  ……

  Qishan took Li Zhen, Huang Shihai and Yang Banhou with him to leave Beijing, passing through Tianjin, entering Shandong, and finally entering the territory of Yangzhou, returning to Jiangbei Dajiang.

  We didn't stop along the way, so we quickly returned.

  In the Chinese military headquarters, Qi Shan gathered all the generals to discuss matters when they found that He Ming was not present, but no one mentioned it. Wu Qigong looked at Li Zhen with inquiring eyes, and saw Li Zhen nod slightly, immediately understanding what had happened.

  Qishan sat above and said, "The Shanghai Small Knife Society is making trouble again and has surrendered to Hong Xiuquan, which makes the bandit's momentum even more arrogant. It also puts great pressure on both the Jiangbei Dajiang and Jiangnan Dajiang camps. This time after returning to the camp, Li Zhen, as the Shanghai Dao, will take charge of supervising the Jianghai Customs and go to Shanghai to rectify the situation and eliminate the Small Knife Society."

  The news spread and the generals in the camp discussed it endlessly.

  Only Wu Qigong was blinded.

  Li Zhen is his assistant, the guarantee of his promotion, but he went to Shanghai, isn't this pulling out his foundation? Just as Wu Qigong was sighing in his heart, Qi Shan continued; "In order to support Li Zhen's trip to Shanghai, Huang Shihai's entire battalion of soldiers were taken to Shanghai by Li Zhen, and equipped with 900 foreign guns and 80,000 rounds of ammunition."

  "Li Zhen was personally promoted by the official, and he grew from a hundred officials to a general in just four months. But Li Zhen had ability and talent, so the official could use him."

  Qishan's eyes swept over the crowd of generals and said in a deep voice: "This official hopes that you can exert your own abilities, train soldiers to fight, and train soldiers who can defeat the bandits. I also hope to see more people like Li Zhen."

  Li Zhen felt a sense of admiration in his heart, Qi Shan was indeed an old fox.

  Declare orders, unexpectedly used to motivate the generals under his command, really formidable.

  After the announcement was made, the generals left one after another. Li Zhen stayed behind alone and discussed some matters with Qi Shan, before leaving Qi Shan's tent and returning to his own camp.

  At the moment, Li Zhen called Huang Hu, Huang Shi Hai, and Yang Ban Hou to come over. His eyes fell on Huang Hu's body, asking: "Huang Hu, it has been more than a month since you left. What is the situation with the 120 special forces soldiers who are reading books? What about your own situation? And what about the training situation of the other 800 plus soldiers? Report to me one by one."

  Huang Hu smiled and said, "Sir, the soldiers of the Sharp Blade Special Forces are all educated."

  "What book did you read?"

  Li Zhen's gaze was as sharp as a knife, making Huang Hu slightly uneasy in his demeanor.

  "Sir, the soldiers of the Sharp Blade Special Forces have read 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu and are doing all right. As for me, I'm still in the process of learning to read and will slowly adapt."

  "Good riddance!"

  Li Zhen suddenly raised his voice and let out a loud shout.

  Huang Hu trembled with fear and didn't dare respond.

  Huang Shi Hai let out a sigh in his heart, but did not offer any words of help. As for Huang Hu, this was not necessarily a bad thing; only after this incident could he learn from the lesson and calm down to study books and military strategies.

  Yang Banhou remained silent, quietly waiting for Li Zhen's decision.

  "Huang Hu gritted his teeth and said: 'Sir, I was wrong.'"

  Li Zhen said: "I think it's great to know what's wrong and correct it, but can you do that? Some things, don't assume you're not capable and give up. Since you don't consider yourself the commander of an elite special forces team, then be a small soldier in one. From today on, Yang Banhou will enter the elite special forces team, responsible for training, urging all soldiers to study military tactics, read books and recognize characters."

  "Yes, I understand."

  Yang Banhou was overjoyed in his heart, and unexpectedly he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility.

  Li Zhen smiled and said: "Still calling yourself 'the lower one'?"

  "Yes, I will obey!"

  Yang Banhou cupped his fists in response and asked again: "Sir, I am in charge of the Dagger Special Forces, what specific tasks will we be doing?"

  Li Zhen said: "As for the special forces of the Sharp Blade, you can ask Huang Hu directly and let him cooperate with you. However, I have to tell you that among the 120 soldiers in the camp, each one is a brave warrior, and you must calm them down. If they get angry and come to me to complain, I won't be able to support you. Everything depends on yourself. Especially at this stage, it's just letting them read and recognize characters, which isn't difficult. I hope you can complete it successfully."

  Yang Banhou nodded and agreed.

  "Huang Shi Hai said: 'Sir, we are going to Shanghai immediately, what preparations should we make?'"

  Li Zhen said: "You go and receive the 900 guns and 80,000 rounds of ammunition first, then send out elite soldiers to scout out the situation in Shanghai. The focus is on the British, American, French, and the Shanghai Daotai's situations."

  "Yes, I will understand later."

  Huang Shi Hai nodded in agreement, already feeling a huge pressure, but also with some excitement.

  After finishing his tasks in the camp, Li Zhen stood up and walked towards Wu Qigong's camp.

  After entering the camp, Li Zhen bowed his fist and said: "General Li Zhen has seen the general."

  Wu Qigong laughed and said: "Li Zhen, I thought you wouldn't come."

  Li Zhenqin smiled and shook his head, saying: "At the beginning, without General's recommendation, Li Zhen would not have been able to make a name for himself. This time going to Shanghai, I don't know when I can see General again, hoping General will take care of yourself more. The bandits in Yangzhou must be careful, lest they be attacked by the bandits."

  Wu Qigong nodded in agreement, a smile spreading across his face.

  Li Zhen, you haven't changed at all!

  Wu Qigong's face was full of smiles as he said, "You must be careful when you go to Shanghai. Shanghai not only has thieves and bandits, but also foreigners who are difficult to deal with. However, since you have defeated the Russians and received the emperor's praise, I believe that you will definitely quell the rebellion in Shanghai. As you depart for Shanghai, I wish you a speedy success and hope that you will soon be enfeoffed as a marquis or general." Wu Qigong had heard about the events that had occurred when Qi Shan went to Beijing and was proud of Li Zhen.

  At least Li Zhen was his subordinate soldier and he promoted him personally.

  Li Zhen cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, General."

  Then Li Zhen said a few more words to Wu Qigong before turning around and leaving.

  On October 15, Li Zhen led the soldiers to leave Jiangbei Camp. The more than 200 old, weak, sick and disabled people in the camp had been dispersed by Li Zhen, with each soldier receiving ten taels of silver as a settlement fee, which was also Li Zhen's intention. Huang Shi Hai felt some sadness, but could do nothing about it.

  From this moment on, Li Zhenlong returns to the great sea, and the eagle flies high in the sky.

  PS: The first of three updates, a new volume begins, thank you Little Dong.