In Taoyuan Fairyland in the west of Luoyang City, Wang Xiaolie looked at a patch of apricot blossoms in front of him and said, "Let's take a rest there."
At this time, the apricot blossoms are in full bloom, and their jade-white petals look like the ocean. It has a light fragrance, which is refreshing when you smell it.
Walking into the sea of flowers, Cui Qing moved out a chair and gave it to Wang Xiaolie. Then he brought out a small folding table and placed tea, fruits, etc. on it.
Wang Xiaolie glanced at it and said with a smile: "It's rare for you to be so attentive. Being so particular makes me look like a rich kid on a trip."
Cui Qing said: "Xuan Fugui is a hero of one party, how can he be compared to the descendants of rich people?"
Wang Xiaolie laughed and said to Wang Ruohai and others standing on the side: "Come and sit down. Since Cui Qing is attentive, let's enjoy it."
Wang Ruohai, Ma Kuo, Wang Yan and others also moved out of their seats and sat down at the table.
Wang Xiaoxian said: "Li Yanxian is in Fengsheng Prefecture, Niu Gao is in Hedong, and Shao Ling is in Shaanxi. We are the only ones left in Luoyang from the headquarters back then. Speaking of which, it is still a bit lonely. I wonder what will happen after this autumn. We will not attack the Jin Army again, and we will be reunited then."
Wang Ruohai said: "Then it depends on the Holy One's decision."
Ma Kuo said: "We have to see how the officials do things in the past six months to know whether they will still need to make a decision in the second half of the year."
When Wang Ruohai heard this, he was stunned for a moment and then nodded silently.
Wang Xiaolie saw that the topic was about to turn to whether to rebel again, and said: "Let's chat casually, let's not get into any serious topics. Dongsou, please give us a brief introduction on how to arrange our army."
Wang Ruohai said: "Li Yanxian led four divisions of Zhang Chi, Tian Rong, Zhai Cong and Zhang Yin to station in Shengzhou and Yuzhou, threatening Youzhou; Xie Li Nongling's headquarters and one of Li Xing's divisions stationed in Xiangzhou to threaten Daming Mansion; Jiang Min He led his headquarters in Datong Prefecture to guard against the Xia Kingdom. Shao Xing led his headquarters in Fuzhou to guard against the Xia Kingdom; Niu Gao led two divisions, Dong Xian and Wei Yang, to garrison in Taiyuan and garrisoned in Hedong; Shao Ling led two divisions, Ni Qing and Lin Wei. It is stationed in Jingzhaofu, guarding the land in the pass, and also guarding against the Xia Kingdom. The rest are scattered armies and cannot be called divisions. Only Cao Zhiyan, who organizes and trains new troops on Jingxi Road, can be regarded as an independent force."
Wang Yan said: "With this arrangement, all the troops are outside, and Luoyang looks empty."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Luoyang is within the borders of the country and there are no strong enemies around. Why do we need to station a strong army?"
Wang Yan said: "Now the officials are stationed in Xiangyang, which is only a few hundred miles away from Luoyang. We still need to be on guard."
Wang Xiaolie smiled but said nothing.
Wang Ruohai said: "The current military deployment of the imperial court is that Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong are stationed in Xiangyang, Yue Fei is stationed in Jiangzhou, and Han Shizhong is stationed in Chuzhou. The defense against the Jin army has decreased, while the defense against our army has increased."
Ma Kuo said: "Especially the two armies of Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong are stationed in Xiangyang. There is no puppet Qi army on the opposite side. They are obviously on guard against Xuanfu."
Wang Ruohai said: "This arrangement is really inappropriate. Should Xuanfu -"
Wang Xiaolie said: "It is not the duty of ministers to deploy a large army to guard against the imperial court. If there is an accident, we can only rely on Cui Qing's army and Cao Zhiyan's newly trained soldiers."
Ma Kuo and Wang Yan wanted to talk more, but Wang Xiaolie waved his hand to stop talking.
Cui Qing has an army of 5,000 people. They are well-equipped and well-organized. They are an elite force that cannot be doubted. In fact, the most important thing is Cao Zhiyan's new army. Wang Xiaolie selected a large number of well-trained veterans from other armies, accounting for almost a quarter of the entire army. After going through the training in the recruit camp, these recruits will be integrated into the army. Before that, the veterans were all fully-organized armies with quite strong combat effectiveness.
Although there are no fully organized divisions on the opposite side of Xiangyang, the combat effectiveness of the army is not weak at all. Although Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong had 70,000 to 80,000 troops, they were unable to command Luoyang and had to fight hard in every state they passed through.
Now that the quarrel with Zhao Gou was like this, it was impossible for Wang Xiaolie not to be on guard.
Seeing Wang Xiao's success, Ma Kuo and Wang Yan sighed and said nothing more.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I know you are worried about me. Now that we are in such trouble with the imperial court, it is difficult to say what the imperial court will do. Once the imperial court makes a decision and orders Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong to attack us while our army is outside, the result will be difficult to predict. . Being a minister is like this, how can we not take risks? When we say that our purpose is to expel the Tartars and restore the Central Plains, we cannot just talk. If the army is transferred back to Luoyang, there will be changes in the border areas. By then, Should we send troops to quell the incident, or should we ignore it? Neither is appropriate. It is better to deploy troops in all directions and let us wait and see what happens."
Wang Ruohai said: "Xuanfu is in a dangerous situation to show the court's sincerity. But I heard that the court was very strict with Xuanfu. These days, the Privy Council has repeatedly asked Cao Zhiyan to explain his recruitment situation, and his tone has become more and more severe. I'm worried that if he does it again, In a few days, the court will make big moves."
Wang Xiaolie said: "The officials did not use the army to deal with the puppet Qi and the Jin Kingdom, but instead used it to deal with me. How sad!"
After speaking, he shook his head and stood up. Said: "We agreed to come here today to see how the wheat is growing and to relax. Let's take a look at the wheat."
Others stood up one after another and followed Wang Xiaolie out of the apricot blossom forest and came to the wheat field.
In his previous life, Wang Xiaoyou was used to green wheat fields in spring. Walking on them was like walking on a green carpet, and he couldn't see the yellow soil at all. Of course, the wheat seedlings in this era are not as thick as those in the previous life. If he had not been in this world for many years, Wang Xiaolie would have suspected that the wheat fields here were damaged.
Taking the soldiers to see the wheat was of course because of the military rations. This year there are five new army divisions and a population of more than 100,000. It is not easy to feed their bellies. Since the spring of this year, people in the army have been particularly concerned about food.
He went down to the field to pull out the wheat and took a look at it. Ma Kuo said to Wang Xiaolian: "Last winter there was a heavy snowfall, and this year is another good harvest year. Xuanfu, look at the roots of this wheat, which are strong and dense. It will definitely be there in summer." It’s a good harvest!”
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "It is indeed a good harvest. As long as it is a good harvest, it is a good thing."
Looking into the distance, millet is planted in places with poor water sources, mixed with beans, black beans, etc. They all look lush and green, creating a scene full of vitality.
Wheat cannot be grown without water. Even in Luoyang, it cannot be grown in many places. Millet is still an important food crop and is grown in large quantities on the hillside. Since soybeans are becoming more and more popular for oil extraction, and soybean straw is an excellent pasture, more of them have been planted in the past two years. Unfortunately, the water and soil in Luoyang are not suitable for growing cotton. Although Luoyang has become a nearby textile center, there is still not much cotton.
Wang Xiaolian looked at the green countryside, and his heart was filled with joy.
(End of chapter)
