In the back office, Sui Heng read the account book again, put his hand on his forehead and said: "In the past six months, I have spent nearly 150 yuan of money from the public officials! Oh my god, I don't know the details. I really didn't know the expenses were so huge!"
The lady sitting aside was indignant. Said: "None of these officials are honest! I heard that they have to repay their money, but I don't know how much money was mixed in the account! One hundred and fifty coins, in my opinion, half of them are false accounts!"
"What can I do? The money has been spent, and now I can only let them repay it." Sui Heng could only sigh. "After you pay back the money, you have to pay close attention to your family's accounts from now on! You can't just let the public officials pay the accounts casually like before!"
The lady said: "Why, do you still dare to let public officials buy things in the future? Money cannot pass through their hands!"
Sui Hengdao: "According to the rules of the imperial court, my county magistrate has two nuns. But now the nuns are not allowed to hire themselves, they are sent by the government. They are specially for our family. There is nothing wrong in giving money to them."
The lady looked disbelieving. Now when the accounts are settled, my husband has been an official for half a year and actually has to pay back 150 yuan. Basically, all his salary has been returned. As a big family member, I rely entirely on my husband's salary to make a living. How can I dare to trust others?
At this moment, an official came in and said: "I have reported to the county magistrate that new envoys from Jin, Jun, and Fang towns have come to the county. They said that the envoys from the town will enter the county tomorrow. They don't have much food and grass. Please ask the county magistrate to prepare more food and grass as a courtesy."
Sui Heng was stunned: "What Jin, Jun and Fang are the governors? Fan Zhicai, the governor who was appointed a few months ago, died before he even took office."
The official said: "I asked about it, and it turns out that it is Privy Zhang who has appointed the newly appointed governor, named Wang Yan."
"That's it." Sui Heng nodded.
Before the Battle of Fuping, Wang Yan disagreed with Zhang Jun's strategy, and the two were very unhappy. After the battle failed, Zhang Jun did not want Wang Yan to stay with him anymore, and was worried that the Jin army would use Jinzhou to enter Sichuan, so he sent him to Jinzhou.
After thinking about it, Sui Heng said: "This year's autumn tax revenue has not been sent to the state, but it can be lent to Wang Zhenfu. But how can I, the county magistrate, decide such a big thing? I will write a letter to Dengzhou tomorrow. It’s up to the magistrate to decide.”
The lady said: "The person who came here is also the governor, so he should report to Xiangyang."
"Yes, yes, I want to repay Xiangyang!" Sui Heng nodded repeatedly. "I will write a letter immediately and send it to Xiangyang. This Wang Yan was originally a rich man from Hedong, and later joined the army. When the Jin people invaded the south, he organized a rebel army in the Taihang Mountains, called the 'Eight-Character Army', and it was quite powerful. Later, he came to Kaifeng Mansion and had some friendship with our Zhenfu. The Zhenfu must have arrangements for such a person."
In Xiangyang, Wang Xiaolie was shocked when he received Sui Heng's report. Back then, I went to Kaifeng Mansion to seek refuge with Zongze, met Wang Yan, and received a lot of help from him. Unexpectedly, he was sealed nearby.
The three prefectures of Jin, Jun, and Fang have a special status and are located in the mountains to the west of Dengzhou and Xiangyang. Although the place is barren, it is an important passage to Sichuan and Shu from the west. Going upstream along the Han River, one can reach Jinzhou, which is Ankang in later generations. Going west from Jinzhou is Xingyuan Mansion, which is also Hanzhong.
The Han River connects the east and west of China and plays an important role. Especially before the Han Dynasty, the Western Han River had not flowed southward due to earthquakes, and one could follow the Han River all the way to Longxi. Liu Bang could build a plank road openly and cross Chencang secretly, but Zhuge Liang could only leave Qishan Mountain, which is related to the change of flow direction of the Western Han Dynasty water.
At this time, Sichuan and Shu were important financial resources for the Song Dynasty. Therefore, the governor of Jin Junfang died of illness before taking office. There were no officials in the three states, and Wang Xiaolie did not get involved in the three states. If he occupied the three states of Jin Junfang, it would definitely arouse the vigilance of the court, and Wang Xiaolie did not want to face such trouble.
After putting down the official document, Wang Xiaolie thought for a while and wrote a letter to Wang Yan, asking him to meet him in Qiande County. This time Wang Yan came from Guanzhong and followed Danshui to Shunyang. Then go south, along the Han River to Junzhou and Jinzhou.
Five days later, Wang Xiao arrived at Qiande County and sent someone to invite Wang Yan, who was stationed at the place where the Dan River merged into the Han River. In the afternoon, Wang Yan took seven or eight soldiers to the outside of Qiande County.
Wang Xiaolie came out of the city to greet Wang Yan. When he saw Wang Yan, he hurriedly dismounted. He saluted and said, "I haven't seen you for several years, but your Zhenfu style remains the same!"
Wang Yan dismounted, took Wang Xiaolie's hand, and looked at him. Said: "But you are different, you are no longer the young man you were when we met!"
After saying that, the two laughed and entered Qiande City together.
When I arrived at the county government office, I ordered tea to be served. Wang Xiaolie said: "I really didn't expect that I would send my brother to Jinzhou to be the governor. In the past two years, there have been no officials in the three states. It was only thanks to a few local tyrants that there was no chaos. I heard a lot of things in Xiangyang .”
Wang Yan said: "Your army is in Xiangyang, why don't you send troops to occupy the three states? The imperial court has no soldiers, I don't think I will blame you."
Wang Xiaolie was silent for a while and then said: "Since my brother asked, I can't tell lies. The three states are the main route to Sichuan and Shu from the west. If I send troops to occupy them, I'm afraid the court won't be willing. The west is from Sichuan and Shu. This is an important land for grain taxation and there is no room for failure.”
Wang Yan nodded, smiled, and said nothing.
Everyone understands the truth, there is no need to say it out loud. Now Wang Xiaolie has an army of tens of thousands and is not very restricted by the imperial court. If he occupies the road into Sichuan and Shu, how can he be accommodated? Zhang Jun will definitely try his best to make Wang Xiaolie uneasy.
After drinking tea, Wang Yan said: "I came to Sanzhou with 800 troops. I was afraid that if there were few soldiers, we would be unable to pacify something if something happened. With you by my side, what else do I have to worry about? I heard that you have been very prosperous in the past few years. There are tens of thousands of troops, and their combat power is unmatched by others."
Wang Xiaolie said: "To be honest with my brother, I have tried my best and only managed to train tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. Now I can only defend myself. If I send troops, it will not work. There are 100,000 Jin troops in the north without strong reinforcements. How dare you Twisting the tiger's beard lightly?"
Wang Yan said: "If Li Yanxian of Guozhou was in trouble, wouldn't you save him?"
Wang Xiaolie was surprised. He said hurriedly: "A few months ago, when Wu Shu advanced to the west, Li Yanxian voluntarily gave up his troops to Shaanzhou because he did not have many troops. Now all his troops are stationed in Guozhou and are not on the main road. Who will attack him?"
Wang Yan sighed: "Once Fuping was defeated, the Jin army had no strong enemy in Guanzhong. At this time, they were plundering land everywhere, and no one could defeat them. Wushu was afraid that Li Yanxian would send troops from Guozhou to seize Shaanzhou again, so he led his troops back and wanted to take them. We must first defeat Li Yanxian and eliminate our worries."
After hearing this, Wang Xiaolie said: "Li Yanxian has more than 10,000 soldiers. It is not that easy for Wushu to defeat Guozhou, right?"
Wang Yan said: "This moment, that moment. After the new victory, the dragons and snakes in many places relied on the Jin army, and their strength was no longer what it used to be. Privy Zhang was afraid that after the Jin army defeated Guozhou, they would go all the way south to capture Jinzhou, so he sent me Come and defend. And it seems that it will be very difficult for Li Yanxian to defend Guozhou. Without reinforcements, I am afraid that even Shangzhou will not be protected."
Wang Xiaolie was silent for a while after hearing this. This was something I didn't expect. Originally, he thought that if Li Yanxian gave up Shaanzhou and entered the mountains, the Jin army would not kill them all. According to Wang Yan's words, Wu Shu was worried about the safety of his retreat and would not give up until Li Yan's immortal power was destroyed.
Guozhou and Shangzhou are the barriers to the north of Dengzhou. If these two places are lost, Dengzhou will no longer be safe, which is inconsistent with Wang Xiaolie's strategy. After thinking for a long time, Wang Xiaolie said: "Wushu brought only 30,000 fine cavalry to Guanzhong. Even if other servants are included, the number does not exceed 50,000. If I go north to support with all my strength, I don't know if I can hold it."
Wang Yan said: "The distance from Dengzhou to Guozhou is hundreds of miles away, and it is all mountainous. If you have few troops, it will be difficult to resist the Wushu army. If you have more troops, it will be difficult to transport food and grass. It is a dilemma. I only have 800 soldiers. Ma, unable to rescue Li Yanxian, can only wish him good luck."
Wang Xiaolie frowned and was silent for a long time before saying: "The safest way is to let Li Yanxian continue to retreat south. When they reach Lushi County, the Jin Army's supply line is too long, so it will be easy to defend. The problem is that Wu Shu entered Guanzhong At that time, Li Yanxian originally wanted to defend Shaanzhou, but I persuaded him to give up and the whole army withdrew to Guozhou. It will not be easy for him to retreat south again. "
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie sighed deeply.
From an overall perspective, it is still a time when the Jin army is aggressively attacking and the Song Dynasty is resisting step by step. If the Jin Dynasty army does not enter Guanzhong, Li Yanxian can naturally defend Shaanxi Province. When the army comes, Shaanzhou will not be able to defend it, and it will be difficult for Guozhou to defend it. Even if Wang Xiaolie provided full support, Li Yanxian would have to retreat to Lu's front line and use the mountains between Guozhou and Lu to defend the Jin army. The Lu family was relatively close to Dengzhou, and it was also convenient for Wang Xiaoye to support him.
The problem is that Li Yanxian risked his life and fortune to regain Shaanzhou, and the heroes in Hedong in the north obeyed his orders. If Guozhou is withdrawn and contact with the Hedong Rebel Army is cut off, Li Yanxian is likely to disagree.
