On the last day of September, God dropped the first snow of the winter.

The snow fell for a day and a night, and it still didn't stop. The raging north wind drove the gray-black clouds from behind the mountains to the north, and the rolling clouds seemed to press down on the battlements of the city walls. The snow was swept by the cold wind, swept over the bare treetops, and raged through the city in patches. The ancient city of Yanzhou is shrouded in vast white.

When the pale sun peeked out of the gap in the dark clouds to look at the world, the bell and drum tower in the east of the city rang the chiming bell. Jackdaws, perched in a forest of trees at the base of the city walls, flew up and circled over the city with the melodious sound of copper bells.

Chen Pu held one hand behind his back, standing under the dripping eaves of the upper room of the west courtyard of the Yanshan Admiral's Mansion, staring at the group of black dots dancing back and forth under the cloud curtain, with a contemplative face.

She was repeatedly thinking about how to solve the current situation in Yanshan, which had been eroded.

Since the news of the defeat of the Northern Expedition in early September and the burial of 60,000 soldiers in the grassland returned to the Central Plains, the world clamored for the anger of the imperial court, and an urgent edict of 800 li, from the governor Xiao Jian down, Yang Du, Li Wei, and Guo Biao...... All the generals of the camp who were responsible for the deacons were almost locked up; Sima and Sima Governor of the various armies participating in the war were all removed from their posts pending investigation; Each camp has a director, a master book, and a counselor, and all of them are removed from their posts; In addition, the general of Shangzhuguo and the prince of Xianguo, Duanmu Jing, were appointed as the head of the Yanshan camp and the governor of Yanshanwei, and went to Yanzhou to preside over the overall situation...... It must be said that the imperial court's angry handling with soothing the turbulent public opinion is really inappropriate, and the Yanshan camp and the Yanshan Admiral's Mansion, Weimu Mansion, Weifu and other important yamen have all become empty shelves with no one in charge because of the officials in charge, and General Duanmu has not yet crossed the Yellow River. What's even more terrifying is that the army was defeated, and several chasing troops who were exhausted also followed the defeated army into Yanshan, and separately captured more than a dozen border villages such as Lankou, Liuzhen, Zhutang Pass, and Chishengguan in Yanzuo Yanzhong, and seven county towns such as Qixian, Yingxian, Pingcheng, and Yanbian also fell into the hands of the enemy, and more than 100,000 people were displaced. In addition to the Tuqi people who were approaching step by step, all parts of Yanbei were also full of defeated soldiers who had fled back, harassing the good and invading the place, and turning most of Yanshan into a miasma. What's more, the bandits from all walks of life, who were afraid of the prestige of the army last winter, also showed their banners to plunder everywhere at this time, and their arrogance became even more arrogant, except for not daring to openly besiege the prefectures and counties, they dared to do anything else, and the giant bandits in Duanzhou turned over the mountains and harriers, and even killed more than 100 guards who were ordered to move their defenses.

Just when this disaster appeared one after another and everyone was helpless, another bad news came from the south: Duan Mujing, the prince of Xianguo, accidentally fell from his horse in Quzhou and died on the spot with a broken neck......

Not only was Yanshan's side shocked by this news, but the imperial court also did not expect this situation to occur, starting from the third day when Chen Pu learned that Duanmu General Starfall, for five consecutive days, Shangjing did not even send a piece of paper to Yanshan. Obviously, with Xiao Jian's detention, Yang Du's dismissal, Li Wei's imprisonment and Duanmujing's unexpected death, the imperial court can no longer send a senior official who can defend the town alone, and they are also helpless against the current situation.

But the situation in Yanshan continues to deteriorate. The Zhao soldiers who were temporarily gathered in Yanxi Yanzhong, first, did not have a unified command and dispatch, and second, the soldiers with low morale were war-weary and fearful, and several counterattacks ended hastily, not only did they not recapture the lost city and fortress, but in the end, even the sortie position was occupied by the Turks. Immediately after the loss of Yandong Ruqizhai, then the first line of Beizheng, Mengguan and Yaozhai was all lost, and the people of the Ci Dynasty entered Chu County and threatened Duanzhou.

In half a month, the situation in Yanshan has been almost out of control.

It was also at this time that Sima Shangcheng, the Yanshan Zhongjun who had been lying on the sickbed, put forward a suggestion that Chen Pu, the military affairs counselor of the Yanshan camp, the head of the military department, and the general of the Zhuguo, temporarily take over the Yanshan camp, pretending to be the commander of Yanshan, and temporarily acting for all military and political affairs in Yanshan!

The officials in Yanshan, who were not involved in this case, were all stunned in front of this unbelievable suggestion. They were so surprised that they couldn't even say a word for or against.

Chen Pu was also frightened by Shang Cheng's suggestion. How could she meddle in the military and politics of Yanshan? How could she meddle in real affairs? She...... After she reacted, she hurriedly explained to Shang Cheng the reason why she couldn't do this as soon as possible. Through her narration, Shang Cheng learned that Chen Pu had a special inside story when he joined the army: in the spring of the eleventh year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, her husband went to Dingjin on a business trip, and in May, he died in Anzhou; At that time, they had just been married for less than a year.

“…… At that time, only his body was found, but his head was not found. Chen Pu said as he burst into tears. Later, I had someone take the money and go to the Tututs to buy his head back...... Then I sued my father and let me enter the Liyuan camp. I thought that one day, I would be able to avenge him with my own hands. But the ministers disagreed. She was silent for a long time, then wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, "Later, it was my father who issued an edict and read it out in front of the Manchu civil and military forces, saying that after I entered the camp, I would not ask about military affairs, not be involved in military orders, and not interfere in military affairs, so the ministers made concessions." I was appointed as the deputy head of the Gyeonggi camp. As she spoke, she probably remembered some grievances, and tears welled up again.

As soon as Shang Cheng heard this, he knew that this was because the important ministers of the imperial court were afraid that Chen Pu would rebel against the army, so they arbitrarily arranged for her the false name of the deputy head of the camp, but in fact, it was useless at all. He heard Wen Mu say that the Gyeonggi camp was a military yamen set up in the early days of the Great Zhao Dynasty to defend the Beijing division, and the Liyuan camp and the southern camp were collectively called the Gyeonggi Guard, but after the country stabilized, it gradually lost its effectiveness, and then during the reign of Gaozong or Xianzong, the Liyuan camp was assigned to the military department, and the southern camp was assigned to the Pingyuan general, and the Gyeonggi camp located outside the city of Shangjing became a complete decoration. It is only because the emperors of the Taizu and Taizong dynasties are the head of their own camps, and the emperors who succeeded to the throne later also followed the old system, so this yamen has not been abolished.

He comforted Chen Pu for a few words, and immediately turned the topic back to the grim situation facing Yanshan at the moment. He solemnly told Chen Pu that a convincing and unified command was needed to resist the attack of the Turks externally or to pacify and coordinate the erosive situation internally. Xiao Jian and they were removed, so Chen Pu is now the supreme commander of the Yanshan camp, coupled with her identity as the princess of Zhao Changsha, no matter what aspect she is, she must take up the burden of saving the situation. As for Chen Pu's concern about "no interference in the military", everything is based on national affairs first, and the people are the most important, not to mention that the situation is urgent now, and she can't excuse herself! This is her duty and responsibility!

Although Chen Pu has little experience, she is not a pedantic person, and she does not understand the truth of "rushing to power", but there is another reason why she does not want to take over the power One by one, she faces so many difficulties, and she doesn't know what to do with such arduous and complicated affairs.

Shang Cheng's advice to her is that when you encounter things, listen to the opinions of the people below, spread out and discuss and solve problems together, first civil affairs and then military, step by step. In fact, what she had to do was very simple, that is, to gather everyone together for a meeting, to discuss a reliable and feasible method, and then to issue and supervise it in the name of the camp and the Admiral's Office.

But Chen Pu is also worried about whether the officials will agree to her taking charge of the military and government, or whether they will pretend to agree on the surface, and then disobey the law.

Shang Cheng was not worried at all. He analyzed to Chen Pu that there was no need to worry about things in the army, because more than half of the soldiers who returned to Yanshan were brought back by her, and these soldiers could listen to what she said; As for the local officials, there are three things they are most worried about at the moment: one is that they are afraid of the invasion of the rout, the second is that they are afraid that they will not be able to use the money and grain stored by the yamen to resettle the fleeing people without clear instructions from above, and the third is that they are afraid that as long as Chen Pu can gather the army and as long as the team can listen to her dispatch, it is impossible for the local officials not to support her, at least they will not oppose her.

What happened next also proved that Shang Cheng's analysis was very reasonable.

At the emergency meeting of the various yamen departments of the Weizhi held in the name of the camp, after Shang Cheng publicly proposed that Chen Pu take over the acting governor's mansion of the camp, when the officers of the guard army expressed their approval, the civil officials led by Wei Mu Lu Ji did not openly express their opposition. Lu Ji only asked two questions:

The first question is when and how will General Manager Chen prepare to deal with the current increasingly serious problem of rout;

The second question is that Governor Chen needs to immediately order all prefectures and counties to immediately open their official warehouses and help the fleeing people.

This is actually an acknowledgment of Chen Pu's temporary identity.

With a trace of apprehension and worry, Chen Pu sat behind the handsome case in the conference hall for the first time in his life. She immediately followed the method taught by Shang Cheng, and solicited everyone's opinions on the two things raised by Lu Ji in the Xingying Council Hall, and then issued several orders, one was to open a warehouse to save people, the second was to order the defeated troops in various places to immediately report to the local garrison, the third was to order the front line to hold on, and the fourth was to make an abridged summary of the content of this meeting, and then report it to the imperial court with an emergency army report of 800 miles.

Then she began to wait anxiously. She had to wait not only for the news of the return from all over the country, but also for the attitude of the imperial court towards this matter. In any case, what she is doing now is actually a great crime of resisting the decree......

These days, whether it is to pacify the refugees or to rectify the defeated army, things are going relatively smoothly, and the resistance to the Turks has been relatively successful, although not much lost territory has been recaptured, but at least the enemy has significantly slowed down the southward movement. Regardless, she's happy with her recent performance.

Just yesterday, the court proclamation she had been thinking about came down. But to her surprise, what was sent was not an edict drawn up by the three provinces to be used today, but an official document from the Ministry of War: Sima Li Shen, the former Yanshan Weiyou Army, was reinstated; Ximen Sheng, the former commander of the Hussar Brigade of the Liyuan Battalion, transferred Yanshanwei and served as the Sima of the Left Army; Sima Shangcheng of Yanshan Weizhong Army, recorded the first level of merit. And the important ministers of the upper three provinces that she has been thinking about, as well as her father and emperor, surprisingly did not have a word of instruction.

She thought about it repeatedly for a long time before she gradually understood the truth: it seemed that on the issue of her temporary takeover of Yanshan's military and political affairs, it seemed that the imperial court had never happened to this matter, and it also adopted an attitude of neither admitting nor denying it.

In any case, this attitude without attitude is the best outcome. She should have been happy about it. I don't know why, when she saw through the meaning between the lines of that official document, there was no excitement and excitement in her heart, but a heaviness that she had never experienced.

“…… It's your responsibility. ”