There are military camps and Shen Zhanran's tent in the suburbs of the capital.
Shen Zhanran sat in front of the case and looked at the letter in his hand solemnly.
The letter came from Gong Yonggu from Mizhi. In the letter, Gong Yonggu first apologized tactfully, saying that he was unwilling to join the army. Only because Li Yan and Yu Yin suddenly sent troops, he had no choice but to go west in order to avoid Yu Yin and others suffering losses. Enter.
Then he told Shen Zhanran very excitedly that after he led his army into Shaanxi, he not only defeated Jierhalang and recovered Yulin and other places, but also defeated Prime Minister Hui Deng's troops in Mizhi.
Now he has advanced towards Yan'an. If everything goes well, he can capture Yan'an in about ten days.
However, Gong Yonggu also had a worry. He was attacked by Prime Minister Hui Deng at night. He used his plan to attack Hui Deng in the name of encircling and suppressing the rebels.
If he attacks Yan'an openly now, he may become enemies with Zuo Liangyu, so he wants to mobilize Li Mou and others from Yulin to attack Yan'an.
However, he heard that Wang Yuncheng had led his army to the north. If he transferred Li Mou to Yan'an, it would be too late.
Therefore, he wanted Li Mou to attack Luliang first where Zuo Liangyu was, and lead Wang Yuncheng and others to rescue him. Then he would seize Yan'an in the name of Hao Yaoqi...
After reading Gong Yonggu's letter, Shen Zhanran couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
He pondered for a while and then wrote: "Brother Hongtu won the victory. When I heard about it, I was both happy and worried for him."
"I'm glad, brother, in just ten days, we have recovered one-third of the land in Shaanxi. Even if Sun Wu and Wu Qi come back to life, it will be difficult to overcome it!"
"Worry, my brother is walking with wolves and wants to fight with tigers. It is really very dangerous."
"You must know that Your Majesty has sent a message earlier, saying that Li Yan set up a trap with his death and wanted to lure his brother into the pot. I think Li Yan should have made arrangements for Li Mou and others. Although the defeat of Xi'an was not planned, there are also rumors that Li Thief Died in the rebellion."
"But I feel that the rebels have been entrenched in Shaanxi for many days. There are tens of thousands of people in the territory, and there are also rebels in Gansu, Qinghai and other places. They should not be defeated so quickly."
"So I still hold on to my previous view and believe that I can no longer use Li Mou and others. They must be locked up in Yulin until the situation becomes clear later, and then we can deal with it."
"At the same time, brother must not mobilize Datong's troops to avoid a surprise attack by the Jurchens or rebels and endanger the capital."
"As for the attack on Yan'an, I think we should not rush it. Although Zuo Liangyu has different intentions, he is consistent with our goal in dealing with the rebels. If we attack now, we will only hurt our own combat effectiveness." .”
"Furthermore, my brother has acquired a large area of land in Shanxi and Shaanxi, and it will take time to digest it. If we blindly pursue the city, we may be in danger of being robbed..."
After Shen Zhanran finished writing, he read it again carefully. He felt that although the words were a bit fierce, he thought that Gong Yonggu was already lost at the moment. If he didn't pour some cold water on him, he might make a big mistake.
So after he sealed the letter, he sent someone to rush it out eight hundred miles away.
Then he slowly walked to the march map and carefully studied the situation in Shaanxi.
At this time, a soldier came in to report that Zhu Cihong was here.
After hearing the news, Shen Zhanran quickly walked out of the tent and went to the camp gate to greet him.
When he rushed to the camp gate, he found that in addition to Zhu Cihong, Li Jing, Wang Jiayan and others were actually here.
Shen Zhanran was slightly startled, and was about to step forward to salute, but was stopped by Zhu Cixiang, who called him "Sir."
After a warm current surged through his heart, he invited Zhu Cixiang and his party into the big tent.
After everyone exchanged greetings, Zhu Cixiang revealed the purpose of his visit.
It turned out that due to Gong Yonggu, Wu Sangui, Zheng Hongkui and others suddenly sending troops, the loss of money and food doubled.
Fortunately, after Shen Wushuang returned to Beijing, he donated three million taels of silver, which temporarily eased the money issue.
But there has been no solution to the problem of food.
Because there was not much grain in the capital, and Guo Sheng, Dang Shousu and others had caused trouble to Jiangnan, the amount of grain in the south was less than expected, and the grain in the capital was also decreasing day by day.
But now the three places are in urgent need of food. If food is transported according to their requirements, the capital will be short of food.
But if they are not given food, they are afraid of affecting the morale of the army.
Wang Jiayan thought this was a good opportunity to regain lost ground, so he wanted to distribute the money at a discount based on the quantity demanded by the three places, but Li Jing refused.
Because Li Jing felt that the war in the three places had exceeded initial expectations, and the food in the capital was not enough to support the war, he should let the generals take charge...
Shen Zhanran was silent for a while, then looked at Li Jing and said, "Master Li, I wonder how much food is left in the Ministry of Revenue, and how much is in Tongzhou?"
Li Jing was stunned for a moment and said: "The Ministry of Revenue currently has about 300,000 shi, and the grain stored in Tongzhou is about 100,000 shi."
After Shen Zhanran secretly made some calculations, he pondered: "Your Highness, I think it might be better to transport half of Tongzhou's grain to Anguo's army, and the other half to the capital in case of emergencies."
Zhu Cixiang heard this and said with some confusion: "Nowadays, Ningyuan and Shaanxi are both at war, and Wu Sangui, Zheng Hongkui and others are... impatient people. If we don't provide them with food and grass, I'm afraid the morale of the army will be unstable!"
Shen Zhanran shook his head and said: "Your Highness, you don't need to worry too much!"
"As far as Wei Chen knows, Wu Sangui only has more than 10,000 people on his trip and does not need much food and grass. In addition, he is attacking Ningyuan by surprise. It is impossible for Obai and others to transport the food in the city, so he should not be short of food. "
"Now that he is so anxious for food, he just wants to stock up in advance to prepare for the future."
"As for Zheng Hongkui, there is no need to worry. They had enough food for more than a month when they were in Beidaihe. Now it is only half a month, so they will definitely not be short of food."
"Ping Xigong may be the one who is really short of food, but the situation in Shanxi and Shaanxi is still uncertain. If we rush to transport food, it may fall into the hands of the rebels, which will be detrimental to the overall situation."
"But Mr. Pingxi is in a war, and he cannot be short of food. According to my opinion, we might as well let Mr. Ni raise food outside Datong and transport it to Shaanxi. In this way, Mr. Pingxi will not be short of food in the short term."
Wang Jiayan heard this and said with some worry: "Sir Shen, although what you said is reasonable, if we don't distribute food, if the war fails due to food shortage, wouldn't it be detrimental to the overall situation?"
Shen Zhanran shook his head and said: "Master Wang, please forgive me for speaking frankly. No matter whether grain is distributed or not, it is difficult to win in these three places, and it may also endanger the capital. That's why I suggested transporting grain into the city."
"If anything changes, the capital will have enough food to remain invincible."
Wang Jiayan said with some displeasure: "Now the imperial army is so powerful, why is Mr. Shen so pessimistic?"
Shen Zhanran said in a deep voice: "Master Wang, I am not pessimistic. I really have no chance of winning."
"You must know that the Jurchens have always been wary of the Han army. This sudden return of Zu Dashou to Jinzhou is most likely a conspiracy."
"Wu Sangui and Zheng Hongkui both sent troops without permission, without planning in advance, and they went their own ways during the war. In addition, the matter of their ancestor's birthday is still in doubt, so what chance of victory do they have?"
"As for the Shaanxi incident, you should also know very well that Gao Jie and Zuo Liangyu are not reliable. If the rebels counterattack, they will not fight hard."
"Although Ping Xigong currently has more than 100,000 troops, half of them are surrendered troops. Not only can they not be used in battles, but they must be divided for defense..."
Although Wang Jiayan was a little worried at first, he gradually became relieved due to frequent good news.
After listening to Shen Zhanran's words, the previous uneasiness immediately surged up.
Some people died, but not completely...
