Nian Qianyao's face was gloomy as water, when the Great Righteous Army in Xinglin Town secretly evacuated, although he received the news, he was worried that there was fraud in it, and did not dare to send troops to pursue it at night.

"General, this is a letter from the enemy chieftain."

Hu Qiheng saw the face of his own adult, and roughly guessed something in his heart, so he couldn't help but smile, but handed over the letter left by Chen Daoxian.

Letter? This is a rare thing, how can there be a war to leave a letter to the enemy general, don't you want to surrender?

With a little disdain on his face, Nian Qianyao opened the envelope at random, opened the letter paper and took a look, but this glance attracted his gaze, and then he read it word by word.

Hu Qiheng saw that Nian Qianyao's attitude had changed, and probably understood that this letter was not simple, and he didn't urge Nian Qianyao at the moment, he held the tea and tasted it carefully.

"Good means ......."

A trace of solemnity appeared on Nian Qianyao's face, he handed the letter to Hu Qiheng, and said in a low voice: "Yuan Fang might as well take a look at this letter, this Chen Daoxian, it's really not simple, and I don't know if it's the one behind him......"

Hu Qiheng immediately took the letter, and soon read it, with a smile on his face, "This is really a character, Liu Ruhan released him, I'm afraid that I won't be able to find the grave to cry if I regret it in the future....... He hopes to be able to defect to the Qing Dynasty, and it is estimated that his temporary residence in Qianzhou is false, but it is true that he hopes that our army will deal with Liu Ruhan, does the general want it? As he spoke, he compared his hand to a knife and slashed it down.

Nian Qianyao didn't answer, just closed his eyes and thought deeply, "What is certain is that Chen Daoxian did betray Liu Ruhan, he took over the 30,000 people sent to him by Liu Ruhan, it is impossible to completely digest it in a short time, if our army pursues now, even if we can intercept him, it will be difficult to completely exterminate him...... Just, what's in it for us in this way? ”

Yes, Nian Qianyao's words are to the point, Chen Daoxian fled to Qianzhou, he must still be in a wait-and-see state, if the Qing army goes north to Qianzhou, I am afraid he will continue to flee further, even if the Qing army catches up, it will be difficult to completely defeat this army, and the whole situation will change even more, which is definitely not a good thing for the Qing army.

On the contrary, if you reach a tacit agreement with Chen Daoxian and attack Xi'an directly, in the case of the lack of these 30,000 troops, it will be more difficult for the remaining rebel army in Xi'an to resist the all-out attack of the Qing army, and there is a chance to take back Xi'an and completely destroy Liu Ruhan to solve the crisis in Guanzhong, what can Chen Daoxian's 30,000 people do at that time? Whether it is surrender or death, it is not up to him to decide.

Thinking of this, Nian Qianyao let out a long sigh, "It's still important to take Xi'an as the priority, but for Chen Daoxian, don't rest assured, when you leave five thousand people in Xinglin Town, first, to monitor Chen Daoxian's movements, and second, if the timing is not right, you will take the army back to ........"

Hu Qiheng nodded lightly, he himself had figured it out in his heart, this was basically the best countermeasure today, and he agreed.

"Order the whole army, take a short rest, and attack Xi'an!"

On November 23, the Qing army, under the leadership of Nian Qianyao, conquered Xingping and Xianyang all the way and arrived at the city of Xi'an, while the Great Righteous Army stationed in these two places was almost defeated in a battle, and could not really confront the Qing army head-on.

At this time, Liu Ruhan, who was in Xi'an City, had just received the news of Chen Daoxian's defection, and he was coerced into defecting with an army of 30,000, which made him feel as if he had been fooled, and he directly used a knife to chop Liu Quan alive, but at this point, he also had to face a problem - that is, to defend Xi'an City, can he hold it?

In Liu Ruhan's original plan, he hoped that Chen Daoxian would take these 30,000 people to delay the footsteps of the Qing army, and then kill Chen Daoxian by the hands of the Qing army, and he took the opportunity to strengthen the defense line around Xingping and Xianyang, so as to fight an offensive and defensive battle with the Qing army, and use Xingping and Xianyang to drag down the Qing army.

But the problem is that Liu Ruhan didn't expect Chen Daoxian to have such ability, he won 30,000 troops overnight, and then went north to Qianzhou to be a fisherman, and the Qing army really cooperated very much, taking advantage of this strategic gap, he took Xingping and Xianyang in one fell swoop, so that at this time in Xi'an, only one Xi'an city was still in Liu Ruhan's hands.

In the face of the 100,000 Qing army in the northwest, Liu Ruhan had no confidence that he could hold Xi'an, on the one hand, he sent people to Qiancheng to seek support from Chen Daoxian - anyway, everyone is a grasshopper on the same boat, Xi'an can stay in Qiancheng without him, Chen Daoxian can stay in Qiancheng? On the other hand, it is to ask Ning Chu for help, and the reason is very simple, if Xi'an is lost, then Henan will become the next target of the Northwest Army.

Although Liu Ruhan sent people to seek support, he actually knew in his heart that both sides wanted him to die, so he immediately recruited troops in the city, hoping to be able to hold Xi'an City.

It's just that Nian Qianyao has always been vigorous and resolute, so after besieging Xi'an City, he began to attack the city.

Due to the large number of artillery of Nian Qianyao's Northwest Army, and the artillery strength of the Great Righteous Army was relatively insufficient, when the siege battle really started, the firepower of the Great Righteous Army defending the city fell into disadvantage, and most of the soldiers of the Great Righteous Army were not elite, so the casualties were extremely heavy.

Of course, the city of Xi'an is very strong, and the scale of each major battle between the two sides is tens of thousands of people, so despite the heavy casualties, the city of Xi'an was not conquered after all, but fell into a longer siege, and the two sides launched a bloody battle around the city of Xi'an.

.........

In fact, this time the plan for Liu Ruhan was led by the Privy Council and the Military Intelligence Department, and the specific implementer of the plan was now Dong Ce, deputy director of the Intelligence Department of the Privy Council, so all the details have been mastered by Nanjing.

"Your Majesty, the 'poison pill' plan has been implemented more than halfway, and it is generally within our expectations, but the massacre launched by Nian Qianyao against Fengxiang Mansion was not expected, and this is a mistake in our work."

Dong Ce stood in front of Yutu, with a somewhat heavy look on his face, and at the same time a little apprehensive.

Ning Yu looked at the strategic form map of Shaanxi and nodded slightly, he also understood in his heart that Fengxiang Mansion was not in Ning Chu's hands at all, and there was no way to take more measures, so he couldn't blame the intelligence officers, but when he thought of the people who died in the hands of the Qing army in the intelligence, as many as tens of thousands, he felt a little sad in his heart.

Xing, the people suffer; Death, but also the people suffer.

In the foreseeable years to come, similar events should recur, and as long as the Qing court is not destroyed, this possibility will always exist. It's just that the current Ning Chu, if he wants to unify the whole country, he still needs more foundation.

After all, the time to rise is too short, Ning Chu is like a balloon, blown into a behemoth in just a few years, from a county and a government, to the entire south today, which is destined to Ning Chu needs more time to precipitate and accumulate.

"The follow-up is even more critical....... Our purpose is not to let the righteous army perish, but to let Liu Ruhan be replaced by Chen Daoxian, which is very critical and difficult, so it will also test our way of action and methods, whether we can be more meticulous. ”

Ning Yu commanded slowly, and his finger pointed at the city of Xi'an, "If we don't intervene, it is obvious that Liu Ruhan and Chen Daoxian alone will not be able to resist Nian Qianyao's attack, so when necessary, the Fu Han army also needs to participate." ”

"The Privy Council has a plan in this regard, and at present there are three divisions of our Han Army in the direction of Henan, namely the second division in Shaanzhou, the eighth division in Luoyang, and the twelfth division in Kaifeng, which are currently gradually assembled, but these 30,000 people still need to guard against the Qing army north of the Yellow River, so they can't all go to Xi'an."

Dong Ce's finger clicked on the map, and his expression was slightly solemn, "Your Majesty, the army expansion plan is still on paper, which will have a certain impact on the Privy Council's follow-up plan.......

It's just that before he finished speaking, he felt the sternness in Ning Yu's eyes, as if he had seen through his thoughts, which made Dong Ce panic and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the minister has said a lot.....

Ning Yu nodded slightly, in fact, he also understood in his heart that there was a reason for Dong Ce's words, because the Privy Council was now only responsible to the emperor, the military was basically not bound by the cabinet, which led to the call for army expansion becoming louder and louder, and the idea of making meritorious contributions became stronger and stronger.

Of course, this system will definitely not be maintained like this forever, and Ningyu will continue to change in the future. However, in this period of time, it is very necessary, because once the military is controlled by the cabinet, it is easy to make the army wrapped up in politics, which does not meet Ning Yu's requirements and positioning for the army.

"The expansion of the army will be decided after the year, there is no major war in Ningchu at the moment, 20,000 people should be enough, we are not the protagonist in this scene, this real protagonist, we have to show Chen Daoxian, let's beat the side drum."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After finishing the matter, Dong Ce was about to retreat, but he was unexpectedly stopped by Ning Yu again, and the emperor's face at this time showed a little evil smile, as if he had caught Dong Ce's sore feet.

"I heard that you plan to marry Xu Chengliang's sister?"

Dong Ce's old face suddenly turned red, and he said a little shyly: "Your Majesty, this matter has not been decided yet...... But we're not small now, aren't we still in contact......."

Xu Chengliang has now been promoted to the commander of the second division, the two have not seen each other all year round, one is in Nanjing, the other is in Henan, although the relationship has not become unfamiliar, but it is not like in the past, but now it has become a family.

Ning Yu laughed, "This is a good thing, you don't usually have to be sad, treat yourself with more girls, if you want to marry in the future, I will be the main marriage for you." ”

Dong Ce hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty, the minister wants to think about this matter, and only His Majesty is the most suitable, but he didn't dare to open this mouth, but now His Majesty took the initiative to say it, which made the minister breathe a sigh of relief." ”

Ning Yu sighed, looked at Dong Ce and said in a low voice: "You have been coming and going in the wind and rain all these years, and it has been really hard, and it is not bad to be able to start a family now, but you don't just take care of yourself, Xu Chengliang has been leading the troops all these years, and he has to help him also run the family business." ”

Thinking of Xu Chengliang's temper, Dong Ce was a little distressed, and sighed: "It's not that the minister hasn't helped him, but Your Majesty, this kid, you also know that if there was someone who could be bolted, it would have been fine, but isn't it true that no one can bolt it right now?" ”

Ning Yu thought about it, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, it really made sense to say it.

After Dong Ce went down, Ning Yu was indeed concerned about the expansion of the army, but before the expansion of the army, he had to take a plate of his own family resources, so he sent someone to invite the first assistant Ning Zhongjing, the second assistant Cui Wancai, and the Ministry of Finance Shangshu Dong Lin over.

Dong Lin, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, was Ning Zhongyuan's cronies back then, and he has always been loyal, and he has made a lot of contributions after the incident, and his talents are also more prominent, so after changing the rule of officials, he was directly promoted by Ning Yu to the secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

After the three of them arrived at the Fengtian Palace, Ning Yu did not beat around the bush, took out the original plan of the Privy Council to expand the army, and said softly: "Ladies and gentlemen, now the Privy Council is reaching out to me to ask for money, but I don't have any money, so I can only ask you for it, do you want to come up with a way here?" ”

Ning Zhongjing took the fold, and frowned before he opened it, he knew that the expansion of the army had gone through a lot of twists and turns, and Ning Yu was even preparing to issue treasury bonds in the court, but he gave up because the time had not come, but looking at the meaning of the moment, he couldn't wait, he couldn't help but sigh softly, took a cursory look, and handed the fold to Cui Wancai.

Cui Wancai also knows the origin of these contradictions, generally speaking, Ning Chu's expansion speed is too fast, so that the financial aspect can not keep up with the rhythm at all, and is always on the verge of bankruptcy, so there is no more money to take out to expand the army.

To put it simply, it's not that the cabinet wants to pass the buck, but that it really can't come up with the money to expand the army, or the family is too thin, and it is difficult to maintain too large an army in the face of the gold-swallowing monster of war.

"This year, we basically took the entire south very smoothly, especially the battle between Liangguang and Guangxi ended very cleanly, strictly speaking, it was much earlier than our expected plan, originally this military expenditure could be saved, but His Majesty ordered several divisions in the south to approach the Yunnan-Guizhou border, so it is equivalent to advancing next year's war, and this money will naturally not be saved....."

Cui Wancai tactfully told Ning Yu that the reason why the imperial court had no money was entirely because it had advanced the plan too much...... This is a good thing in all respects, but it does not help to ease the financial pressure, but there is a tendency to further increase.

Ning Yu was silent for a while, and said tentatively: "In terms of other expenses of the imperial court, can they be reduced again?" ”