Governor's Yamen.
It was still early spring, and the weather in the north was cold. The two senior brothers lit a brazier and finally felt a little warmer.
Ling Su and Su Ding were sitting below them.
Lord Shen rubbed his hands, exhaled a mouthful of white mist, and said with emotion: "It's colder in the north than in the south. At this time, spring should have arrived in Jiankang, the capital of Jiangdu."
As he said that, he looked at Ling Su and smiled: "General Ling is from Taizhou, so he probably can't stand the cold."
Ling Su lowered his head slightly and said, "When I first arrived in the north two years ago, I was really unbearable. Now..."
He also smiled and said, "Now, I'm more used to it."
Mr. Shen lowered his head to drink tea and said with a smile: "If our Northern Expedition goes well, General Ling will probably guard the north in the future. It will probably be even colder than now."
Everyone laughed, and Su Ding on the side smiled and said: "If we go to Yandu in the future, Mr. Shen and Mr. Zhang will probably go to Yandu to become officials."
"It's colder there than in Shandong."
Shen Yi smiled hoarsely and did not answer.
Zhang Jian smiled and said, "The banquet for Zi Heng and the generals is already being prepared. Let's go over here to have a meal after cooling off."
After saying that, Zhang Jian thought for a moment, smiled at Ling Su and said: "I just heard from Zi Heng that the two generals have been promoted to the second rank of generals of the country, and I forgot to say congratulations to them. "
He said with a smile: "Now, in terms of rank, the two generals have surpassed Zhang. When they meet, Zhang has to call them lower officials."
This is just a joke.
Even a second-grade general of the Forbidden Army is far less valuable than Zhang Jian, the chief envoy of Shandong.
Both men bowed their heads slightly.
"Master Zhang made fun of you."
Zhang Fantai said with a smile: "The two generals should start this year's war soon. If there is anything you need help from the local government, you can tell me now."
"If it can be done, the local government will try its best to help you."
The two of them looked at Shen Yi who was drinking tea at the same time.
Mr. Shen put down his tea cup and said softly: "As for helping, the Ministry of Revenue probably won't be able to provide much military rations this year. Most of them need to be purchased by our people. When senior brother is free from work, he can help the Huai'an army. In Shandong, buy some grain."
Speaking of this, Mr. Shen smiled and said: "Don't worry, we will buy according to the market price, and we will not buy too much, leaving the people of Shandong without food."
"That's no problem."
Zhang Jian nodded without hesitation and laughed softly: "But ordinary people, even if they are divided into land, cannot harvest much food in a year. If the Huai'an army is short of food, they can "borrow" food from the big families in the area. "
Shen Yi was thoughtful: "What does senior brother mean?"
Zhang Jian smiled and said: "For example, a big family like the Kong family."
"There is a large plain in Shandong. In previous years when there was a lot of food and there was a good harvest, ordinary people had no food. But the big families in the area are definitely not short of food."
Shen Yi nodded and said with a smile: "This is also an idea."
"If there is a shortage of food then, please ask my senior brother to come forward and "borrow" some food from these big households for me as an emergency."
Zhang Fantai said helplessly: "How can I borrow it from them?"
Shen Yi smiled and said, "I'll give my senior brother two Qianhuying camp calls, so we can always borrow them, right?"
Zhang Fantai was overjoyed and said with a smile: "There are two thousand-household camps. Not to mention borrowing, even if we rob them, there will be no problem."
Master Shen looked at this senior fellow who was a serious scholar and felt that he was acting strange now.
it seems that…
Did you learn from yourself?
While Mr. Shen was thinking, Zhang Jian had already stood up. He said with a smile: "I'm going to see how the food is being prepared. You guys chat for a while. When it's ready, I'll send someone to invite you."
After that, he cupped his hands and walked away.
All three people stood up to see each other off.
After Zhang Jian left, Shen Yi sat back on the throne, then looked at his two subordinates, and said, "Now that we have returned to Jinan, let's briefly talk about tactics and strategy."
He looked at Ling Su and said: "The fighting has already begun in Henan. We are now keeping an eye on the Northern Qi court. Once the Northern Qi recruits troops in Henan, our two armies will immediately go north."
"General Ling went north from Daming Mansion to attack Zhending Mansion in Northern Qi."
Having said this, he looked at Su Ding again and said, "General Su, go north from Dengzhou and attack Hejian Mansion in Northern Qi."
Both of them stood up and clasped their fists respectfully.
"I will obey your orders!"
Mr. Shen rubbed his temples and continued: "One more thing is that what I told you before is to set up picket camps in your respective armies to inspect generals and possible spies in the army."
"This matter needs to be handled with caution."
Lord Shen warned: "It can't be ineffective, and it can't be used as an excuse to use chicken feathers as command arrows to win over the opponent in the army."
"Both of you, you have to keep an eye on this matter yourself."
Shen Yi looked calm and repeated: "I will also keep an eye on this matter myself."
The two bowed their heads again.
"I will finally understand!"
…………
Three days later, Ling Su and Su Ding left Jinan City together.
One headed east to organize the Left Army in Dengzhou.
The other is heading west, ready to attack Daming Mansion and Zhending Mansion further north of Daming Mansion.
At this time, the war in Runing Mansion in Henan Province had already begun, and the fighting was fierce.
After Xue Wei led the vanguard troops to Runing Mansion, he began to capture the prefectures and counties of Runing Mansion bit by bit according to the marching style of the Huai'an Army.
By the end of February, Xue Wei had successively conquered Shangcheng, Guangshan, Luoshan and four prefectures and counties in Xinyang Prefecture.
For a time, the Huai'an Army's vanguard army became famous on the battlefield in Henan.
With the cooperation of Pei Jun of the West Route Army, by mid-March, the entire Runing Mansion was already on the verge of collapse.
On March 17, the local yamen in Kaifeng Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture, and Guide Prefecture in Henan began to open recruitment lists in accordance with the orders of the imperial court.
But at this time, the situation in Henan was very bad. Few people were willing to join the army, and even fewer people were willing to be Zhu Li's lackeys. After several consecutive conscriptions failed, Northern Qi officials in Henan began to forcibly recruit young people from Henan. Join the army.
When the news reached Jinan, it was already late March.
After receiving the news, Shen Yi's two warrants were sent out almost immediately.
At this time, a month had passed since Mr. Shen arrived in Jinan.
The warm breeze is warm and the spring breeze begins to caress the earth again.
Mr. Shen rarely had free time. He stood on the tower and looked north.
Zhang Jian and Zhang Fantai had more and more officials under their command recently, and they rarely had some free time. Together with Shen Yi, they stood on the tower, looking into the distance.
Mr. Shen was lost in thought for a while, then turned to look at Zhang Jian and said softly: "Brother, this year's big battle has finally begun."
Zhang Jian looked at Shen Yi and shook his head slightly: "Go straight to Yandu. I'm afraid you, Shen Ziheng, are the only one in the court who has such crazy ideas."
Mr. Shen smiled slightly.
"Facts have proven that the Qi people are not as scary as we originally thought."
Zhang Jian thought thoughtfully and asked softly: "But fighting straight up like this doesn't seem to be your style, Zi Heng. Are you really going to fight Qi Ren head-on this year? No more tricks?"
Mr. Shen narrowed his eyes slightly and laughed softly: "Who said no?"
"Today, the Northern Qi Dynasty has invested too many resources in Henan. If our army goes north, if they return to protect Yandu's capital, Henan Province can probably be easily conquered."
"If they withdraw from Henan, they will deal with my two armies heading towards Huanglong."
"Then the difficulty of removing the seven prefectures and one state in Henan will suddenly drop."
Mr. Shen said in a leisurely tone: "The Qi people are already weak. If we lose the Central Plains again, even if we can survive temporarily, it will only be a matter of time before we are defeated."
Zhang Jian turned to look at Shen Yi, lowered his head and thought for a while, and said slowly: "This two-pronged approach is indeed wonderful, but..."
"Is there no flaw?"
"flaw…"
Mr. Shen raised his head and looked north.
"Of course there is, and it's huge."
"But this flaw requires a bold person to discover it. After discovering it, you need to be even bolder to deal with it."
After saying this, Shen Yi looked north silently, seeming to see the Yandu city he had never seen before from a distance.
Now, the key to the problem is not on the battlefield of Hejian Mansion or Zhending Mansion, let alone the battlefield of Henan.
And in the Yandu court.
Lord Shen was lost in thought for a while, muttering softly.
"Do you dare to stud?"
(End of chapter)
