After Zhao Lu left, Emperor Hongde sat on a chair, put aside the accounts in his hands, then picked up the memorial of the Ten Deadly Sins and read it carefully.
The more he looked, the happier he became, and his face almost glowed red.
"The Huai'an Army is really a good medicine for the court."
The emperor closed the memorial and murmured: "Since the Huai'an army occupied Xuzhou, not only the civil servants in the meeting hall have become much more comfortable, but also the chronic disease of the Huaihe Navy has been cured."
After muttering something in a low voice, the emperor lay down on his soft couch, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the pleasure of victory.
At this time, in the conflict between Shen Yi and the Zhao family that lasted for several years, Emperor Hongde became the biggest beneficiary of the incident.
Zhao Clan, who had troubled the Dachen royal family for almost two generations, suddenly and lightly passed away in the wind as Zhao Lu lowered his head.
It's like it never appeared.
This made Emperor Hongde feel more relaxed than ever before.
Because when Hong Dechao arrived here, even if he made no progress in the future Northern Expedition, what he had harvested now was enough.
Even if he now has no political achievements and no results from the Northern Expedition, he, as emperor, can be regarded as one of the most outstanding emperors since the Great Chen Dynasty came to the south.
The credit goes directly to Emperor Xianzong!
After an unknown amount of time, the eunuch Gao Ming came back from outside. He stood cautiously beside the emperor, lowered his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, General Zhao has been sent back to the Anping Marquis Mansion."
The emperor was still lying on the soft couch, without even opening his eyes, and said lazily: "I have heard that several deputy commanders from the fifth military camp are coming to the palace to see me."
Gao Ming lowered his head and said yes, then turned around and ordered the eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to convey the order.
After doing these things, he returned to the emperor. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty, several slaves in the harem spread the news that the Queen and Concubine Hui met in the back garden this morning. There seems to be a conflict..."
The emperor was in a good mood. Hearing this, he opened his eyes, sat up straight, and glanced at Gao Ming.
"What's the conflict?"
"The Queen said that Concubine Hui didn't understand the rules and didn't go to the Queen's place to salute on time..."
"And Concubine Hui said that the empress cut off the ice in Zhaode Palace to relieve the heat..."
The royal family has always had its own icehouse to store ice in winter and use it to cool down in summer. As the empress of the harem, these "resource allocations" are naturally decided by Empress Sun.
Eunuch Gao paused and continued.
"After the Empress returned to the palace, she said that she was so angry that Concubine Hui had induced fetal irritation. At this time, a doctor had already gone to check for a pulse..."
When the emperor heard this, he felt a headache. He rubbed his head and said, "I am not so worried about state affairs. These women can't rest for a day!"
Eunuch Gao lowered his head and asked: "Your Majesty..."
"I won't go if I don't."
The emperor shook his head and said: "I still have a lot of things to deal with. I have to meet with the people in the meeting hall of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and I also need to meet with the generals of the fifth military camp. At this critical moment, where can I have the energy to deal with these boudoir matters? "
"Report it to Kunde Palace and let the Queen Mother do justice to them."
Eunuch Gao lowered his head slightly and said yes.
However, he knew in his heart that if the matter was reported to the Empress Dowager, Empress Hui would definitely suffer.
And it must be a big loss...
………………
Xuzhou Mansion, South Gate.
The battle is still fierce.
But it's not as intense as before.
Because the conquering southern army is also a human being.
In more than a month of offensive, even if the number of people killed by the Conquering South Army did not exceed 10,000, the number of casualties definitely exceeded 10,000.
There are countless people injured.
In this state, although Tu Yuan's military strategy did not change, the morale was no longer there, and the Southern Conquest Army was not fighting as hard as before.
Shen Yi stood on the city tower and glanced at the Southern Conquest Army heading towards Xuzhou from a distance. He looked back at Zhao Zhuo who was standing behind him and said with a smile: "Brother Zhao has been in Xuzhou for several days. Now that you have visited all four city gates, how do you feel?"
At this time, Zhao Zhuo had arrived in Xuzhou for about five days. Shen Yi did not arrange errands for him, but asked him to look around the four gates to understand the situation of Xuzhou City.
Zhao Zhuo was silent for a while, then lowered his head slightly and said, "Shilang Shen, I don't understand. With the current strength of the Qi people, it is unlikely that they can capture Xuzhou, so why do we need to attack like this?"
He frowned and said, "This is a strategy that completely disregards the lives of soldiers."
Mr. Shen looked calm and said with a smile: "I didn't understand it very well before, but I probably figured it out now."
"The Northern Qi Dynasty's southern army has changed its generals. To the new general Tu Yuan, these southern army are just numbers. No matter how many people died, he doesn't take it seriously."
Having said this, Shen Yi paused and continued: "To be honest with Brother Zhao, reinforcements from the Qi people are already on the way. It is estimated that they will all arrive at Xuzhou City in five or six days."
"At that time, there will be nearly 200,000 Qi troops outside Xuzhou City."
Master Shen looked at Zhao Zhuo and said with a smile: "Now, our Huai'an army can advance and retreat freely. At that time, we will have to stick to Xuzhou and it will be difficult to get out."
"that time…"
Shen Yi looked at Zhao Zhuo's expression and said calmly: "Maybe I need General Zhao and Brother Zhao to help me."
Hearing these words, Zhao Zhuo understood Shen Yi's intention in calling him over. He thought for a while, lowered his head slightly and said, "Shilang Shen has been ordered to control the Huaihe Navy. As long as there are orders from the general, the Huaihe Navy will naturally obey."
Shen Yi said with a smile: "Without General Zhao's nod, not to mention my general order, even the imperial decree, I am afraid that the Huaihe Navy cannot be mobilized."
Zhao Zhuo raised his head and looked at Shen Yi. After being silent for a while, he suddenly said: "Senior Minister Shen, my father should be in Jiankang by now."
"My father may not have the final say in the future of the Huaihe Navy."
He paused and continued: "If there is any discord between the Huaihe Navy and Shen Shilang in the future, Shen Shilang cannot be blamed on our father and son."
Hearing his words, Shen Yi was stunned for a moment, then frowned: "Master Zhao, have you gone to Jiankang?"
Zhao Zhuo lowered his head and said, "Doesn't Shilang Shen have a Di Reporting Department under him? It is said that he has reached the level of supernatural power. Once the Di Reporting Department investigates, it will become clear."
Master Shen put his hands behind his back, looked at Zhao Zhuo, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhao wants to sow discord between me and His Majesty."
"Don't dare."
Zhao Zhuo lowered his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty favors and trusts Minister Shen. This is something everyone knows, and it cannot be provoked by the general."
"As long as your Northern Expedition goes smoothly, Mr. Shen, His Majesty will definitely support the Huai'an Army. There is no problem."
Shen Yi looked at Zhao Zhuo and narrowed his eyes.
The implication of Zhao Zhuo's words is obvious, which means that once the Huai'an army fails in the Northern Expedition, he, Shen Yi, may fall out of favor.
As for the Zhao family, they might be able to escape from the disaster and survive.
Hearing this, Mr. Shen smiled and said, "Brother Zhao may not have figured it out yet."
"I'm just a scholar in Jiangdu Prefecture. The Northern Expedition or not doesn't mean much to me. I'm a second-ranked Jinshi. It's really not good. I can't be a magistrate in the local area. Being a county magistrate is more than enough."
"Although I want the Northern Expedition, I, Shen, am not the one who wants the Northern Expedition most."
Master Shen put his hands behind his back and walked away.
"You, the Zhao family, have failed to see this clearly and are now in the predicament you are in today..."
…………
A few days later, the Southern Conquest Army began to shrink back and basically stopped its attack on Xuzhou City.
Shen Yi came to the east gate again and looked at the Qi Ren camp in the distance with a telescope.
Su Ding stood behind him, slowly put down the telescope in his hand, then looked at Shen Yi and said: "Mr. Shen, these Qi people withdrew very simply, as if they were giving up the attack on Xuzhou."
Shen Yi shook his head and said: "The Emperor of Northern Qi has transferred all the generals of the northern frontier army, which shows his determination to attack Xuzhou. The Qi army will never give up so easily."
"They are retreating now, maybe..."
Mr. Shen looked solemn: "Maybe reinforcements have arrived."
Now that there is information from the internal guards, Shen Yi's ears and eyes are a little smarter. Basically, he can grasp the situation near Xuzhou and even the situation in Yandu.
According to the intelligence from the internal guards, reinforcements from Northern Qi arrived in Xuzhou in the past few days.
Su Ding hesitated for a moment and asked: "Mr. Shen, their reinforcements have arrived, how should we respond?"
"Of course we will continue to guard Xuzhou."
Su Ding was silent for a while and then asked: "Mr. Shen, how long are you going to stay here..."
Hearing this, Shen Yi looked to the north.
"Hold until the old guy kicks his legs..."
