Shen Yi, the backbone, expressed his position that as long as he had some emotional intelligence, he would not contradict Shen Yi in front of everyone. As a result, everyone present bowed their heads and said nothing.
Shen Yi looked around at the crowd and said, "Since no one is talking, let's take a look first."
"Just act accordingly."
Mr. Shen said in a deep voice: "At the very least, let's wait until the end of the year."
The food supply in Xuzhou City can easily last until the end of the year.
But if it comes to next year, it will be a bit difficult.
With sufficient food and grass, Shen Yi was still very confident in defending Xuzhou City.
After all, attacking a city in this era is by no means an easy task. It is normal for both sides to fight for a year and a half.
The reason why Shen Yi previously considered withdrawing from Xuzhou City when necessary was because he was worried that Xuzhou City would be surrounded by a 200,000-strong army of Qi people. At that time, they would not be able to get out. If the reinforcements from the south did not come to save them, the Huai'an army would be in danger. Maybe he was trapped and died in Xuzhou.
He was only worried about being trapped to death, but he was not too worried about Xuzhou City being breached.
After the meeting, several generals dispersed. Shen Yi rubbed his temples, stood up, and prepared to go to the south gate to see the situation on the battlefield.
As soon as he walked out of the restaurant, he glanced south, suddenly changed his mind, turned around and walked towards the Zhizhou Mansion Yamen.
Jiang Sheng followed Shen Yi and was a little surprised: "Master, are you not going to the south gate?"
Master Shen shook his head: "Go back to sleep."
Since the city defense battle in Xuzhou will become the norm in the future, there is no need to watch it anymore.
Get used to this situation gradually.
Otherwise, as a coach, running around here and there will not bring any other benefits and will only exhaust yourself to death.
After walking a few steps, Shen Yi looked back at Jiang Sheng and said, "Go and tell Lin Sheng that there is only one Qi army left on all sides of Xuzhou City, and the other three sides are weakly defended. I need to recover with Jiankang as soon as possible." Communication.”
"when necessary…"
Mr. Shen said calmly: "The Huai'an Army can try its best to cooperate with him."
Jiang Sheng lowered his head.
"I understand, sir."
After giving orders to Jiang Sheng, Shen Yi strode back to Zhizhou Yamen. After taking off his armor, he fetched hot water to wash away the dust and dust on his body. He returned to the bedroom and fell asleep.
At this time, others can mess up, but he, the coach, cannot mess up.
After waking up, it was already the next morning.
The sunlight streamed in from the window and reflected in front of his bed.
Mr. Shen stretched and just stood up from the bed when Jiang Sheng's voice came from outside the door: "Young Master."
Shen Yi rubbed his eyes and sat back on the bed: "Come in."
The door was pushed open with a creak, and Jiang Sheng walked in cautiously. He lowered his head to Shen Yi and said, "Sir, the people from the inner guard have arrived. They said they were sent by His Majesty to see you."
Shen Yi blinked, a little surprised, but he immediately realized that it was probably after Luo Yong brought the news back to Jiankang that Jiankang finally responded.
He nodded and said, "I know, I'll go see them after I wash up and get dressed."
Having said this, he paused and asked, "How was the battle last night?"
Jiang Sheng lowered his head and said: "Yesterday, the Qi people attacked the south gate. They fought until midnight and then retreated one after another. General Xue fought hard on the tower until midnight and killed many enemies."
"But no one has told me the exact number of people..."
Shen Yi nodded, found his coat and put it on, then washed his face. He said, "Where are the inner guards?"
"In the front living room."
Shen Yi straightened his hair a little, walked out, and said, "Go and inform Senior Brother Zhao. Tell him that from today on, all wound medicines in Xuzhou City will be confiscated."
"Everyone is under military control. Anyone who disobeys will be punished on the spot."
Jiang Sheng immediately lowered his head.
Mr. Shen had already put on his clothes and walked to the front hall of Zhizhou Yamen for receiving guests. At this time, there were three people sitting in the front hall, all wearing plain clothes. They looked like Ordinary people.
Seeing Shen Yi walking in, the three of them stood up in unison, clasped their fists and saluted: "I've seen Mr. Shen before."
Shen Yi returned the salute and said with a smile, "Do you recognize me?"
Among the three people, the leader looked to be in his early forties, with a decent appearance, but his skin was a bit dark. He smiled and said, "Nowadays, any one of the inner guards who doesn't recognize Minister Shen is not worthy of serving as an inner guard."
Shen Yi shook his head: "You are serious, you are serious."
"What do you call them?"
The middle-aged man at the head clasped his fists and said with a smile: "The commander of the inner guard is Du Yong. I am a member of the Qi family. Shilang Shen calls me Du Qi."
After he finished speaking, the two followers behind him bowed their heads and announced their homes one by one.
"Internal Guard Captain Fang Ting."
"Internal Guard Captain Zhang Qian."
When Shen Yi heard this, he was slightly moved.
The inner guard is different from the imperial guard in another world. It is more elite and does not have too many personnel.
Therefore, the official establishment of the inner guard was only one guard, that is, five thousand people, with Lu Sheng, the third-rank commander, as the leader.
The commanding officer is from the third level.
That is, Lu Sheng's deputy.
This sounds ordinary, but the status of the internal guards in the imperial court is definitely not low, and the power is great. Therefore, the commander in front of me, who looks extremely inconspicuous and almost like a peasant, is actually a real big shot!
Shen Yi held up his hands and said, "It turns out it was Deputy Commander Du who was negligent."
"I don't dare, I don't dare."
Du Yong looked sincere and said, "Compared to Minister Shen, this official is really not worth mentioning."
Shen Yi sat down on the main seat, asked the three people to sit down, and then said with a smile: "Deputy Commander Du is on the seventh day at home. What a coincidence, I am also at home on the seventh day. What a great fate."
"This is my honor."
Having said this, Du Yong lowered his head slightly and said: "Shilang Shen, I have been ordered to come here to report to you."
"Secondly, I will stay in Xuzhou City from now on, assisting Mr. Shen in his work, and obey your orders, Mr. Shen."
He smiled and said, "The main thing is to help Mr. Shen deliver the news."
When Shen Yi heard this, he was overjoyed and said with a smile: "You are here at the right time. The situation in Xuzhou City is complicated now. I am worried about how to communicate with the court..."
Du Yong lowered his head and took a sip of tea, looked at Shen Yi, and said: "Shilang Shen, His Majesty has ordered..."
After hearing these four words, Shen Yi was about to stand up to receive the order when he was grabbed by Du Yong. Deputy Marshal Du smiled and said: "Master Shen, this is your Majesty's message. You don't have to salute. Just follow me." When an official salutes, even a subordinate official cannot bear it."
He continued: "Your Majesty has ordered that from now on, all intelligence about Northern Qi by the internal guards, except for one copy sent to Jiankang, will be copied and sent to Minister Shen."
Shen Yi looked at Du Yong and held his breath: "Deputy Commander Du, what I want to ask is, Emperor Yongping of Northern Qi..."
Du Yong lowered his head slightly and said: "It is true that he is not in good health. After many visits by Yandu's spies, it is basically certain that Emperor Yongping will die soon."
Shen Yi frowned: "I have heard these four words "I will die soon" too many times. I need accurate news."
Du Yong quickly lowered his head and lowered his voice and said: "The inner guards went to great lengths to tie up an imperial physician who had diagnosed Emperor Yongping's pulse, and spent a lot of effort to pry open his mouth."
"According to him..."
"Emperor Yongping should only have three months to half a year to live..."
After hearing this, Shen Yi sat silently, his eyes flashing.
Du Yong stood up silently, took out a box from his arms, and coughed lightly: "Shilang Shen, you need to kneel down to take this."
Shen Yi looked up at him and then at the small box in his hand, thoughtfully.
But he got up and knelt down.
Du Yong opened the box and took out a gold medal from inside with both hands, his voice was respectful.
"The Holy Father decrees."
"I will give Shen Yi, the Minister of War, a gold medal for mobilizing troops. He can mobilize 20,000 forbidden troops in Huai'an. If necessary... he can control the Huaihe Navy on an ad hoc basis and take charge of all military affairs in Xuzhou..."
After reading these words in one breath, Du Qi looked at Shen Qi and said with a smile: "Shilang Shen, just accept the gold medal."
Shen Yi raised his head and looked at the golden sign, feeling that his thoughts were a little wandering.
As in a dream.
(End of chapter)
