Yongle 227, January 10th.
This day is the 227th New Year of Daxia. The streets are filled with red Spring Festival couplets. Every household lights up lights and lights and sets off firecrackers to welcome the arrival of the New Year. I hope that the new year will have a good harvest and a harmonious family. prosper.
The Su family compound.
Su Yu and his second brother were also posting couplets, and there were two young men in festive clothes helping.
These two people are Su He and Su Ming, who came back from abroad overnight, which are Su Yu's fourth and fifth brothers.
The two are now company bosses, but they can only act as deputies to Su Yu and Su Zhiqing.
In the hall, seven women and four young and beautiful girls were making dumplings. Everyone was talking and laughing. It was very lively and harmonious.
As for the owner of the house, Su Yuanzhong, he was having fun with a pipe and a little girl. This was Su Yuanzhong's youngest daughter, only six years old.
The entire Su family compound has a clear division of labor, and everyone is busy welcoming the New Year.
At noon, after the dumplings were cooked, the chef began to serve the dishes one after another. Everyone gathered around the table. After Su Yu lit the firecrackers, the formal meal began.
On the table, thirty-six delicacies were spread, and the aroma filled their nostrils.
"Began to eat."
As Su Yuanzhong took the lead to put down his chopsticks, the others also started to use their chopsticks to eat. In the Su family, there are no complicated rules. You can eat whatever you want, and everyone eats with open belly.
"Father, I respect you to be as blessed as the East Sea and live as long as the Southern Mountains."
Su Yu raised his glass and had a drink with his father. The other three people also began to toast Su Yuanzhong, which made Su Yuanzhong smile. This was exactly what he wanted to see.
After dinner, the family played mahjong.
Su Yu gave all his younger brothers and sisters red envelopes, worth 8,888 silver dollars each, and then played mahjong with his second brother, fourth brother, and fifth brother for entertainment.
In the evening, the family began to have New Year's Eve dinner.
The new year has officially arrived. After Su Yuji and his son finished the New Year's Eve dinner, they made tea in the hall and discussed the general trend of the world and how to develop in the new year.
Su Yu gave several insights on business, including vigorously developing industry, petroleum, special medicines, etc., and planned a development path for the Su family's business.
This night of chatting was a very important milestone for the Su family to establish its hegemony.
...
Early the next morning, Su Yu heard his father's angry roar. He quickly got up and came to the hall to ask his father what happened.
At the same time, his second brother and two younger brothers also came to the hall.
"Why!"
Su Yuanzhong slapped the document in his hand on the table and shouted, "The imperial court sent me a decree early in the morning. It said that in order to maintain local security, the imperial court planned to establish a garrison headquarters in Shanglu, and the New 7th Army would be led by General Wang Sheng. , the New 13th Army, and the New 19th Army were stationed in Shanglu to prevent the restlessness of the garrison of the great powers."
"This court wants to insert 100,000 troops into our hearts!"
Su Yu gritted his teeth and said.
"Not only that," Su Yuanzhong continued, "the imperial court established the South Route Army, which consisted of 30 corps, 10 of which were in Anhui Province next to us, corresponding to the Shanglu Garrison Headquarters led by Wang Sheng. , can attack us from both front and back at any time."
"What if we don't agree?"
Su Yu asked again.
"If you don't agree, I'll just wait until your eldest brother's body is collected," Su Yuanzhong gritted his teeth and said, "The court didn't know what method they used to make your eldest brother addicted to smoking. Our first rescue failed, but fortunately the court didn't discover it. "
"What!"
"Get addicted to cigarettes!"
Su Yu clenched his fists and shouted, "What exactly does the court want to do?"
"Obviously," Su Zhiqing said, "the imperial court has done whatever it takes to control Big Brother."
"That's right," Su Yuanzhong gritted his teeth and said, "For the time being, we can only endure it until we get your eldest brother out. Fortunately, the court is not just targeting us this time. The governors of Guangdong and Guangxi have shared the strength of 13 armies for us. , in order to target our Southern Alliance, the imperial court dispatched 30 armies with a total strength of 900,000."
"Then what if we can't save him!"
Su Yu directly stated another situation, which was related to the overall situation and had to be discussed.
Su Yuanzhong was very happy that Su Yu could raise this question, because the Su family needed such people, otherwise, there would be no fight for hegemony.
"Then don't worry about so much!"
Su Yuanzhong gritted his teeth and said, "Organize three more rescues. If the rescue fails, we will give up."
"alright."
Su Yuanzhong looked at Su Yu and said, "Shanglu now needs you to go back and take charge. After that, I will send three armies to station around the imperial troops and form a pincer attack with your security headquarters. I will make sure that they can't stay here." Comfortable, restless.”
"clear."
"However," Su Yuanzhong reminded, "no matter what, you cannot fire the first shot."
"I know this."
"Um."
Su Yuanzhong nodded and said, "Then go ahead."
After that, Su Yu left the Su family compound directly, without even eating breakfast, and took the special train back to Shanglu with the guard battalion. He knew that once he left, it would not be easy to come back again.
Now the imperial court obviously wanted to attack his father and the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi. The 900,000-strong army was intended to be used against his father and the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi. As for why the imperial court did not start a war, as his father analyzed, the imperial court also needed an excuse. .
After all, civil war is not a trivial matter. It involves millions of soldiers and tens of millions of people.
Once the war starts, I don't know how many families will be torn apart, so this excuse is very important. No one wants to be a villain.
The imperial court pressed forward step by step just to force his father to take action first.
In this way, the imperial court can label his father a rebel, and then attack his father naturally. Even if the people complain, they will only blame his father and not the imperial court.
Therefore, when he goes to Shanglu this time, he will definitely be targeted by the imperial army. The other party will definitely try every means to force him to fire the first shot, so that the imperial army's South Route Army can move south to encircle and suppress his father.
This is why his father reminded him not to fire the first shot.
"commander."
Wang Wen looked at Su Yu's worry and said, "Actually, I know what you are thinking, but you are stuck in a corner. This first shot is not about not being able to shoot, but it depends on what slogan you use."
"Oh, what do you say?"
"The imperial court has lost its beloved. Just tell me, a birthday banquet for the Holy Emperor today costs 7.7 million silver dollars, but look at how many people are starving to death on the roadside."
Wang Wen said angrily, "In fact, the people have long since stopped supporting such a court. In the dozen or so provinces under the jurisdiction of the court, there are more than 170 tax payments, which is overwhelming the people. I am afraid that such a court will The people have long wanted it to be shattered!”
