Was there any pressure from within the imperial court for the Northern Expedition?
Of course there is, and the pressure is not small.
After all, the Huai'an Army has not suffered a defeat yet, but has only shrunk its strategy, and has already been criticized by the ministers in the rear.
Zhongshu even began to send letters to Shen Yi to inquire about the situation of the war.
This pressure from the court has always existed.
However, these pressures only reached Shen Yi's level, and were shouldered by him without any further pressure.
Because of the pressure from the court, it is very likely that the generals who are actually fighting below will make some irrational or unreasonable decisions.
This is something Shen Yi cannot allow.
As for the trivial matters in the court...
As long as the emperor didn't speak, these pressures were not a big deal to Shen Yi himself and he could withstand it.
After giving orders to the deputy general of the Pioneer Army, Wan Zhong, Shen Yi asked him in detail about the current battle situation of the Pioneer Army, and then asked him to go down and rest first.
This is currently one of the most important ways of communication between the Huai'an Army and the Chinese Army.
Ling Su, Su Ding and Xue Wei were not comfortable returning to Yanzhou, so they would send their lieutenants back to Yanzhou regularly, firstly to report on the specific battle situation, and secondly to ask Shen Yi for further instructions on the battle situation.
The left route army often sent Zhong Ming or Liu Mingyuan back to Su Ding.
Ling Su will send Zhang Meng back.
As for Xue Wei, it can only be Wan Zhong.
After explaining some things, Shen Yi let Wan Zhong go to rest.
After Wanzhong left, Ye Chan walked out of the bedroom behind Shen Yi's study after a while. She came to the desk, bent down, used a clip to add a piece of charcoal to the stove, then stood up and walked to Shen Yi's side, softly saying : "The vanguard army retreated some more."
She looked at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "I'm afraid someone in the court is criticizing the young master again."
"Let them speak."
Shen Yi curled his lips and said, "I've never been afraid of them talking, but now those people only dare to talk about me behind my back."
He snorted and said, "They pissed me off. After I returned to Jiankang, I confronted them one by one to see if they could speak out in front of me."
Today, Mr. Shen is truly in a high and powerful position.
Now, he is thousands of miles away in Yanzhou, and those gossips in the court may dare to whisper a few words behind his back. When they meet, who will not be respectful and bow their heads and call Shen Zhongcheng?
Ye Chan covered her mouth and smiled, then said: "Young Master is becoming more and more domineering."
With that said, she walked up behind Shen Yi, gently massaged Shen Yi's shoulders, and said, "It's just that it's almost the end of the year, and the master's original plan to fight a big war in the second half of the year may not come true."
Shen Yi nodded and said "Yeah".
"Man's calculation is not as good as God's calculation."
"I didn't expect Qi Ren to be so cowardly and retreat blindly."
"If they took the initiative to ask for war, the war in Shandong should be ongoing at this moment. Unexpectedly, they waited until the Yandu Forbidden Army came for reinforcements before they started to take the initiative to fight."
"At this time, it's not easy to force yourself. You have to fight with them."
Although Ye Chan couldn't understand exactly what "pull" in Shen Yi's words meant, she could get a rough idea. She thought about it and continued: "It seems that Zhou Yuanlang is really powerful."
"It ruined the master's plan."
"It just delayed it for a while."
Mr. Shen yawned and said lazily: "Xue Wei is right. Things like war cannot be rushed. We are not in a hurry. The only one who is anxious is Qi Ren."
"A month ago, the Qi people increased their troops by 50,000 forbidden troops. At that time, our three armies were under great pressure. But now, we have basically withstood the pressure and can go back and forth with them."
Having said this, Shen Yi opened a letter from Zhongshu and glanced at the contents. He rolled his eyes slightly and said, "These old men keep talking about these things all day long. It gives me a headache."
"Chan'er, please reply to them and tell them."
"The situation on the battlefield in Shandong is good. Everything is under the control of Your Majesty and the Huai'an Army."
Ye Chan sat down and looked at Shen Yi: "Master, do I need to write the letter to Zhongshu from my concubine?"
"Just write it."
"Your handwriting now is 80% to 90% similar to mine. They can't tell."
Mr. Shen looked at the documents on the side and said helplessly: "I still need to reply to His Majesty and Uncle Zhao. You will write one copy, and I will write two copies."
Ye Chan pursed her lips and smiled, then agreed.
Mr. Shen also spread paper and dipped it in ink, and began to draw big cakes for His Majesty the Emperor every day.
At the end of the pie painting, Mr. Shen thought for a while and wrote the last sentence.
"On the frontline battlefield, the people of Qi are clearly superior and secretly inferior."
"Now the land of Qilu is actually half in the hands of the ministers."
After writing this, Shen Yi felt it was inappropriate again, so he crossed out the word "Chen" and changed it to "Your Majesty".
Letters to the emperor must be transcribed again, and this one is just a draft.
There is no way, after all, if you are not careful, it will be disrespectful, even among the nine tribes, no one will be careless.
However, at the end of the letter, Mr. Shen still cried about poverty as usual.
The general meaning is that the Qi people will increase their troops by 50,000. Even if the Chen court does not increase its troops, it will send more supplies of various kinds so that the Huai'an army can better resist the Qi people.
After finally finishing all three letters, Shen Yi took Ye Chan's letter and read it again. After confirming that it was correct, he sealed the envelope and asked Jiang Sheng to send it out.
At this point, the matter has been settled. Mr. Shen stretched out, looked at Ye Chan, and said with a smile: "There are too many chattering people in the court, and they are annoying me. This year At the end of the year, I will probably have to go back to Jiankang to deal with them, will Chan'er go back with me?"
Now, whether it is the Yushitai or some other yamen, they have begun to point out the Northern Expedition.
In the past few years, Shen Yi has been "on business trips" and has basically never returned to the court. Even when he returned to Jiankang, he rarely went to court. Over time, some people in the court seemed to think that Shen Yi was weak and could be bullied.
Nowadays, although the war in Shandong is progressing slowly on the surface, it is getting better day by day in the dark. If Shen Yi has time to return to Jiankang this year, he will really have to deal with those talkative people.
After not being in the court for a long time, some people in the court no longer take Mr. Shen, the minister of the Ministry of War, who is at the peak of the third rank of the Great Perfection, in their eyes!
cough…
The reason why I say this is because until now, the piece of pie that Emperor Li Er drew for him as governor of Shandong has still not been implemented.
However, according to Mr. Shen’s information, it should be almost done. Before the end of the year, he will be successfully promoted to the second rank and become a serious feudal official and a second rank official!
Side by side with Jiang Shangshu!
When Ye Chan heard this, her face turned red with embarrassment, but she still nodded firmly.
"I will go back with you, Master."
………………
Yanzhou magistrate's office.
Zhang Fuzun was also extremely busy.
Because during this period, in addition to the local people in Yanzhou, many people came from other prefectures in Shandong and even from Henan prefectures, demanding land distribution.
Although the government has confiscated a lot of land, which is enough for the time being, it should not be long before it is all divided.
Zhang Fuzun finally handled the official business, and after leaving the magistrate's office, he went all the way to Shen Yi's General Military Mansion and met Shen Yi in the study.
As soon as they met, Zhang Fuzun vomited his bitterness.
"Zi Heng, now not only people from Henan are coming to ask for land distribution, but even some original Dachen people south of the Huaihe River are crossing the river and asking for land distribution!"
"If this continues, it is estimated that within a month or two, there will be no more land left."
Mr. Shen stood up, pulled him to sit down, and laughed dumbly: "When the land is divided, it will be divided. Why worry about it?"
Zhang Fuzun looked at Shen Yi and said softly: "But once the land is no longer divided, will the people's attachment you mentioned, Zi Heng, still be there?"
"Of course there is."
Mr. Shen looked calm: "We will divide the land, not just in Xuzhou and Yanzhou. How much land we conquer in the future will be allocated to these people."
After a pause, he continued: "But this matter is a bit sensitive. I have already reported it to the court. After this year, the Ministry of Revenue should send someone down to help take care of the fields."
"That couldn't be better."
Zhang Fuzun breathed a sigh of relief: "It saves me the trouble of working alone."
Master Shen poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile: "By the way, senior brother, have you divided up the Kong family's land in Qufu?"
"No."
Zhang Jian was stunned for a moment, then answered honestly: "Have you not confiscated the Kong family's fields?"
"Not yet, but we can divide it."
Mr. Shen took a sip of tea by himself and said calmly: "His Majesty said before that he would confiscate 90% of their family's land and leave only 10% to their family. I have remembered this."
"While the people from the Ministry of Revenue haven't come yet, let's allocate their land according to His Majesty's wishes, which can be regarded as benefiting the people."
"future…"
Mr. Shen said in a low voice: "It will be difficult to handle when some slanderous scholars arrive."
Zhang Jian blinked and asked, "Can it be done?"
"We have one hundred thousand troops at our disposal."
Master Shen said lazily.
"What can't be done?"
(End of chapter)
