Qin Zi walked in a hurry on the road. After dinner, he went to bed early before the sun set.
In the official hall, Wang Xiaolie slowly stood up, walked to the door, and looked at the sunset on the horizon.
Your own judgment is correct. After the battles of Jingmen and Huangtiandang, the Jin army did not dare to cross the river on a large scale, and the Song-Jin war entered a stage of strategic stalemate. A clear-minded person can see at a glance that setting up towns and envoys widely is not a long-term solution.
In the areas where towns and envoys were set up, there were very few places that the court could control. Those who occupied the place were either local tyrants or defeated soldiers, and some were regents. Nowadays, the world is full of bandits and the imperial court has insufficient troops, so it can only set up towns and envoys to restrict the powerful factions in these places to a smaller area. Wait for the imperial court to breathe again, and then slowly eliminate them one by one.
Your own territory is at the forefront, so you can only set it as a governor. In another place, perhaps the imperial court would not be able to part with its troops.
The original eight-state army suddenly became four states. How could the territory of the four states support a large army? Thinking of this, Wang Xiaolie narrowed his eyes.
Chen Yuyi came over and whispered: "Observe, listen to what editor Qin said. It is the imperial court's intention to divide the place and prevent the governor's territory from becoming too large. What the imperial court does is really not good for us!"
Wang Xiaolie said: "This is obvious. To prevent the local power from being too strong and threatening the imperial court, the governor's territory is not allowed to exceed the five states. The surrounding areas are in charge of the five states' army. Why? Because the land is barren and the people are poor, and the people of the five states' army are The household cannot compare with two or three states in other places. Don’t think too much about this matter, the court’s intention is obvious. What we have to do is to think about how to deal with it.”
Chen Yuyi was silent for a while and then said: "Even if there are some oversights in the imperial edict, we ministers can only follow the orders."
Wang Xiaolie looked at Chen Yuyi and said: "What if the Jin army comes to attack Dengzhou this autumn? The Jin army attacks Henan first, should we help? Should I send troops to attack Caizhou? ?Consultant, think more."
Chen Yuyi sighed, his face turned gray.
Of course Chen Yuyi understood what the court's intention was. But as a minister, he cannot disobey the court's orders and can only obey them. But he was Wang Xiaolie's councilor, and he was a suppressed force. It was really difficult to be caught in the middle.
At this moment, Chen Qiudao came in hurriedly. Seeing Wang Xiaolie and Chen Yuyi standing there, he said, "Observe, what do you think of the imperial court setting up a town governor? In my opinion, the territory of the town governor is too small to be a member of the Jin Army!"
Wang Xiaolie said: "The places where the envoys are set up are beyond the reach of the imperial court. When the local army becomes stronger, the court is also worried. If this is not the case, why bother with the trick of envoys!"
Chen Qiudao lowered his head and thought for a while, then sighed: "That's true. Alas, it seems to be observed that if you make great achievements twice a year, just when you are about to serve the country with all your heart, your territory is reduced by half, how can you be willing to do so!"
Wang Xiaolie looked at Chen Qiudao and then at Chen Yuyi. After thinking for a while, he said: "Editor Qin worked hard along the way and took a rest early. If there is nothing to do in the evening, I will prepare some food and wine here. We will discuss this matter in detail."
After hearing the imperial edict, Chen Qiudao and Chen Yuyi felt in a dilemma. After hearing what Wang Xiaolie said, there was no objection.
In the yard, Wang Xiaolie and three others were sitting under the ginkgo tree. Drink and chat.
Chen Qiudao said: "Observation saved Shaanzhou at the beginning of the year and Jingmen a few months later. How great a contribution he made! If there are several generals like observation in the world, the Jinlu would definitely not dare to go south! It's time to give observation a promotion. When the imperial court is doing its best, why should we set up an envoy to suppress it?"
Chen Yuyi said: "Xiang and Deng are thousands of miles away from the imperial court across all roads in Hubei, so how can we rest assured? Which general in the world can hold an army of fifty thousand at this time? If it is near the two Zhejiang roads, that's fine. The imperial court is divided. To control it, it happens to be in the west of Beijing——"
Chen Qiudao said: "At the crooked end of Shaanxi Road, there are also heavy troops. Privy Council Zhang gave instructions to Shaanxi and went to the stage to pay homage to the general. Everyone praised him!"
Wang Xiaolie drank a glass of wine and looked at the slanting moon slowly emerging from the sky. After a while, he said: "The imperial court has such difficulties because it does not have a large army. There is no large army in the local area and it cannot stop the Jin army from invading south. With a large army, it is afraid of threatening the imperial court. At this time, the officials need to be decisive and unified. The power of subordinates. If you can't do it, you will suffer from internal friction."
Chen Yuyi shook his head: "How many people have advised the officials to be stationed in Ezhou, connecting Sichuan and Shaanxi at the top and Jiangnan at the bottom. The officials just refused."
As an emperor, one of Zhao Gou's big problems was that he couldn't do it when he needed to make decisions and unite the strength of his subordinates. Because Zhao Gou's own tens of thousands of soldiers were exhausted after the Miao and Liu mutinies, and then the Jin army crossed the river to pursue them. Zhao Gou did not have a trustworthy army around him, so he did not trust the army outside.
The three of them drank in silence for a while. Chen Qiudao said: "Observe, if I go to Fuzhou, what do you want?"
Wang Xiaolie said in a deep voice: "From Ruzhou to Xiangyang Prefecture, it is not easy to train this large army now. Now that it has begun to have a large scale, it is impossible to distribute it to any other officials. Also, the place is dilapidated, and I don't know how much effort it took to make it look like it is now. .How can it be easy to let go?"
Chen Qiudao sighed. He said: "I haven't been observing for long, but I understand the truth. There is no army around, so I can't be the governor. But the imperial edict is here, and it's hard to refuse it directly."
Wang Xiaolie nodded and said nothing for a while.
Most of the governors appointed by the imperial court were in unstable places, and many were just in name only. Fortunately, western Beijing and Hubei are not in a position to take office, but the governors of many places in Huainan are actually unable to take office. Either there are bandits in the territory, or the Jin army is not far away, so the village can only be defended.
After drinking a few glasses of wine, Chen Qiu said: "After much thought, I can't go to Fuzhou. We don't have to worry about the town and governor, so we can just do things as before. Wang Tixing already knew Caizhou, and he didn't What a change.”
Chen Yuyi said: "The imperial edict is here. Are we going to resist and disobey it?"
Chen Qiudao shook his head: "The purpose of setting up a town to appease the army is to appease the army. Wang Tixing and I don't have an army, so what can we do to appease it? Now there are eight state armies under our rule. Many things have just begun. It is the time to do big things. Why? Can they be separated? If they are separated, how can we support a large army with only the four state capitals?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "There are only four state capitals, and they can't even support the current 50,000-strong army. If I hadn't robbed the Jin army's supplies in Jingmen, I would still have to pay the officials' salaries. The eight state armies are so difficult. , needless to say the four states.”
Speaking of this, Wang Xiaolie said flatly: "We are across the Hubei Road from the imperial court. It is a long distance away. It is impossible for the imperial court to know everything. We will discuss it again when Wang Tixing comes in a few days. If Jinlu commits suicide in the south, the world will suffer. Li Chao, we raised the army to resist the Jin invaders outside and save the people at home! Why should we care about our own glory and wealth! No matter what the court’s intention is, the most important thing is to preserve the army and the ability to fight against the Jin army! "
Chen Qiudao and Chen Yuyi nodded. After a while, Chen Yuyi said: "How should I tell Editor Qin?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Editor Qin just conveyed the order, what's the use of telling him? I will not accept your fate! There is no need to say this, we can just do what we want!"
Chen Qiudao and Chen Yuyi nodded and didn't speak for a long time.
Chen Qiudao knew that if he didn't have soldiers in his hands, he couldn't take it seriously. If he really goes, the soldiers and officials under him are all appointed by Wang Xiaolie, who cares about him? The relationships I had established with everyone in Xiangyang over the past few months were all gone.
The court's intention was very clear. Wang Xiaolie's territory was too large and needed to be separated. The Zhenfu Envoy was equivalent to a vassal town in the Tang Dynasty. A vassal town had the territory of eight states and tens of thousands of troops. How could it handle the imperial court? Just a piece of paper cannot divide Wang Xiaolie.
After drinking until midnight, Chen Jiudao and Chen Yuyi went back to rest. Wang Xiaolie was sitting in his study, lost in thought.
This year he has achieved two consecutive achievements, so the court naturally attaches great importance to it. But he was from King Qin's army and had no connection with Zhao Gou. When the difficult time passes, his own army will be targeted.
At this time, an army of fifty thousand was not a very large number. Not to mention Qu Duan of Shaanxi's large army, there are many bandits in Jinghu and Jiangxi who claim to have armies of hundreds of thousands. Of course, the imperial court knew the number of regular troops and knew that these figures were unreliable. But who knows whether Wang Xiaolie's tens of thousands of troops are reliable? It still occupies a large territory, covering eight states, and is stable, so the court will definitely be suspicious.
If Chen Qiudao and Wang Ruohai cannot take up their posts as governors, what will the court do? After thinking for a long time, Wang Xiaolie shook his head. In fact, the court could do nothing. They were too far away and the imperial court was too weak, so there was really nothing they could do against the local powerful factions like themselves.
