As soon as they heard that they were going to stay in Sanjiangkou City to dig ditches, many people were unhappy, and Chen Jingyi was the first to complain, "Lord Li, the brothers followed you out to kill the enemy, but this ability is all used to cut trees, build bridges, dig wells and dig ditches, we can't explain to our brothers!" ”

"Yes, these are all capable of the people! We are the best in the Southern Navy! "Lin Changsheng's bow and crossbow camp is second only to the White Horse Camp in cost, and his arrogance is second only to Chen Jingyi

Deng Liang also chimed in, "Yes, the brothers are always doing these rough and heavy jobs, and they are quite aggrieved!" ”

Only Cai Guishan was silent, neither objecting nor applauding, holding his cheeks in a daze.

Meng Crow and Zhu Asan also felt that the manpower required to dig the ditch was too great, so it was better to lead the army north as soon as possible.

Li Xiaofei was unmoved, and patted Cai Guishan on the shoulder, "Guishan must have a better opinion on digging a ditch, so don't hide it, say it and let all the brothers hear it."

Everyone looked at Cai Guishan together, hoping that he could make a final decision.

Cai Guishan clapped his hands and said slowly, "It doesn't matter whether you dig a trench or not."

As soon as they heard this, everyone felt that the matter of digging a ditch was going to be yellow, so they all stood up, "It seems that Lao Cai also has the same opinion as us"

Cai Guishan waved his hand, "No, no, no, I am bringing a camp of dead soldiers, the narrower the moat, the easier it is for us to swim over, it is best if the river is still clean, there are no thorns thrown in it, and there are no tiles and thistles on the bank of the river, then it is the best!" ”

Only then did everyone know that Cai Guishan was talking the opposite, and Cai Guishan supported Li Xiaofei's decision to dig a ditch.

Chen Jingyi was a little displeased: "I'm waiting for this way to conquer the city, after all, the defense is a minority, we can't just spend our manpower for this city in Sanjiangkou!" ”

Cai Guishan just wanted to refute, but Li Xiaofei motioned for him to stop, "General Chen, dig a ditch and build fortifications, and the brothers who stay behind will lose dozens or even hundreds of lives in the future, dare to ask if this Southern Navy guarding the city is your brother Paoze!" Today, if we sweat a little more and get tired, the brothers who will be stationed here in the future will shed less blood, and if you don't want to, I won't force it! ”

Chen Jingyi was stunned for a moment, and then refuted it was nonsense, and what Li Xiaofei said was for the sake of the overall situation of the Southern Navy.

Lin Changsheng was the first to admit his mistake, "Lord Li, I was wrong, I only thought about attacking in the next place, and I never thought about the hardships of the brothers who defended the city!" We will definitely work hard to dig a ditch! ”

Zhu Asan's face was flushed, "In vain, I have been here to defend the city for a few months, but I didn't think of these things, digging a ditch to strengthen the city defense, we should rush to the front!" ”

Meng Crow was a little surprised, "Master Li, you are faster than my hair, hey, I am convinced!" Digging a ditch, I, Lao Meng, will do it with all my might, if anyone opposes it again, I think he is a spy sent by the enemy! ”

"Okay, my Chen Jingyi's White Horse Battalion, I can kill the enemy on the horse, and I won't lose to you when I get off the horse to help the brothers strengthen the city defense!"

As for the matter of digging a ditch, it was decided, and in half a month, the original moat was widened and the mouth of the river was connected again.

At this time, Zhou Dapeng's messenger came and informed Li Xiaofei of the situation in Qiantang, and the letter also asked Li Xiaofei to lead the four battalions of men and horses to continue westward, and Zhou Dapeng waited for him in Qiantang a hundred miles to the west.

After Zhou Dapeng withdrew his troops from Qiantang, Yuan Hong did not dare to relax, and sent scouts to investigate and send out

Now Zhou Dapeng really led troops west.

Taishou Qian Shiming was busy writing a statement of meritorious service, and Yuan Hong broke in from outside, "Lord Qian, I advise you not to rush to report meritorious service, the subordinate personal soldiers inquired and said that it was Lu Jinglian that Lord Lu had been to the enemy camp." If you take the meaning of Lord Lu and the court as your credit, I am afraid that you and I will not be able to bear the blame."

Qian Shiming's pen stopped in mid-air: "I'll write a table and ask the imperial court and Jiangnan Jingluo Mansion to always be okay!" ”

Yuan Hong bowed as soon as he arched his hand, "This is an adult's business, and the lower officials will not intervene!" ”

As he spoke, Yuan Hong retreated, and sent his own soldiers to contact An Siqing and inform An Siqing of the situation in Qiantang.

Lu Jinglian returned to Jinling with Zhou Dapeng's letter, and Jia Yuanen, who was urging grain and grass at this time, also rushed back.

Lu Jinglian told Jia Yuanen, He Wuji and others all the situation in Zhou Dapeng's military camp, hoping that there would be a joint letter from these people to negotiate peace with the South China Navy.

Some officials from Luoyang were counted down by He Wuji and Wang Tiezhu because of the previous encounters, and they were silent at the moment, just waiting for Jia Yuanen to talk to He Wuji.

Jia Yuanen read the letter several times, "Judging from what the letter said, and the departure of the Southern Navy from Qiantang, Dapeng can still be trusted this week, we can go and talk to them!" ”

He Wuji experienced the Hengxi Incident outside Jinling City back then, and naturally thought that such a thing as negotiation was extremely unreliable.

"He Mou thinks that this peace negotiation is not credible, they can obviously take Qiantang, but they don't take it, in order to win our trust, and then take advantage of our unpreparedness to detain our Great Wei officials to sneak attack our Great Wei city during the peace talks!"

"It's not impossible, they have already taken the Sanjiangkou in the east, and now they can take Qiantang at any time in the west, and maybe they will fight Danyang! If it were me, I wouldn't have come to negotiate peace! "Of course, Yan Ruohua wants to stand on Jia Yuanen's side

"If you want me to say it, it's not reliable. I think that at present, it is better to strengthen the city defense, and order all localities to strictly defend it, so as not to give the Southern Navy a chance to take advantage of it! Xu Erhu immediately stood up to support He Wuji

Jia Yuanen put down Zhou Dapeng's letter, "Then do you have a way to defeat the Southern Navy, or how to make Great Wei break through this unfavorable situation of being attacked on both sides!" ”

Jia Yuanen glanced at He Wuji and the other generals to see their reactions.

He Wuji didn't speak, because as the commander, he knew that the current forces in Jiangnan could not defeat the Southern Navy, and at most he could only keep Jinling.

The rest of the generals were also silent at the moment, whether it was about recruiting troops or encircling them was empty talk, so they chose not to say it.

After being quiet for a while, Jia Yuanen began to speak again: "At present, our troops, food and grass cannot guarantee that we can fight two opponents at the same time. And Jiangnan's opponent is even more powerful, and our chances of winning are not great! Since the South China Navy is interested in peace talks, we might as well first gain time and wait for the siege of the capital to be lifted, and then free up our hands to solve the Jiangnan problem. ”

Lu Jinglian couldn't help it, "Sancheng of the money and grain in Jiangnan is in Qiantang City, if the Southern Navy is not sincere, I'm afraid it would have broken the city to get the money and grain!" They deliberately left Qiantang for us, not because they were kind-hearted, but because they didn't want our Great Wei to collapse so soon! They want us to die with Cui Ju in the capital and reap the benefits of the fishermen! That's what they're really for! It's just that we can buy time to get rid of Jing first

The siege of the city. ”

In this analysis, He Wuji also patted his head, "I just said that the Southern Navy is not so benevolent and righteous, and it is really some old and cunning people!" It's just that after Cui Ju and Cui Ju died, we had to face a more powerful Southern Navy, so what should we do then? ”

"In the land of the four wars, the situation is not as good as the people, and Jiangnan will be lost sooner or later, so I think the next step on the imperial court side should be to seize Jingxiang and even Bashu in front of the Southern Navy, and lose the eastern corner of the Sangyu harvest! In this way, we can have the capital to compete for the world in the future! Jia Yuanen moved the idea of Ping Nance out again

"Lord Jia really has a higher level of knowledge than us, so He also agrees to the peace talks, but this peace talks South Navy wants us to send high-ranking officials, Lord Jia, you see?" He Wuji agreed to the peace talks, but he was afraid that he would go, and the incident of the Hengxi Revolution had been deeply imprinted in the hearts of the people who wielded knives and killed people back then.

Jia Yuanen knew what He Wuji meant, and raised his right hand, "Jia Mou will go now!" Marshal He can sit in Jinling! Lord Lu has been on envoys many times, so naturally it is indispensable. The rest of the civil and military officers also chose five people to go with me, so as to be a witness for me and Lord Lu! ”

"Could it be that Lord Jia wants to decide to make peace with the Southern Navy without consulting the emperor and the court?" Shaoqing Tao Gu of Dali Temple looked at Jia Yuanen and He Wuji, and his eyes widened

"There will be no disapproval of the king's life outside! What's more, the emperor has asked Lord Jia to preside over the overall situation of Jiangnan, and act cheaply! Tao Shaoqing insisted on raising the bar? He Wuji immediately rebuked Tao Gu.

"How can diplomacy be done cheaply? It must have the emperor's decree and the imperial court's edict! Otherwise, it is trespassing! "Tao Gu does not give up.

"Dare to ask Lord Tao, how long will it take for Jinling to Luoyang, and along the way, we must avoid the army sent by Cui Ju to intercept and kill our army's messenger, and wait for the emperor's edict to Jinling, I am afraid that the Southern Navy has already arrived in the city! Today's matter, I, Jia Yuanen, are in charge, if the court blames me in the future, I will bear it alone, and it has nothing to do with you! Jia Yuanen's last sentence was full of neutrality, and Tao Gu had no choice but to sit down.

Lu Jinglian also shouted: "The matter of negotiating peace is something that I, Lu tried his best to prosper!" Even if you want to cut me with a thousand knives, I will admit the guilt! If you don't dare to go, I'll go with Master Jia! ”

"Lord Jia and Lord Lu also underestimate me too much! Although I, Yan Ruohua, am a scholar, I am not afraid of the South China Sea swords and guns! Yan Ruohua and several other civil officials stood up and expressed their willingness to follow Jia Yuanen and Lu Jinglian to negotiate peace.

"You civil officials who are powerless are not afraid of death, and our generals must not be cowardly! I'm Xu Erhu! ”

"Ding Chun is coming!"

"Zhao Tiande!"

"Huang Kunshan!"

"Mu retreats!"

"I am willing to follow Lord Jia from birth to death, and be sent at your disposal!"

The five generals also stood up, and He Wuji smiled with satisfaction, "Okay, you wait for the five envoys, remember not to break the prestige of my Wei army!" Be sure to protect them! ”

Jia Yuanen bowed to these ten people, "Jia Mou has thanked you here, for the sake of safety, I think Marshal He will choose a good place to negotiate peace with the Southern Navy!" ”

He Wuji thought for a moment, and two words popped out of his mouth: "Jinhua!" ”

The five generals all nodded, "Marshal He is really far-sighted, this Jinhua is mountainous, the cavalry of the Southern Navy can't enter, as long as our army is ambushed in the dense forest, it can respond to support at any time!" ”