Since a heavy rain before the summer solstice, it has been more than ten days of sunny weather. The northern part of Yanzhong, which had just been relieved a little, was once again facing an increasingly severe drought, and people were calming down a little, and they became more and more irritable because of the damn weather.

From mid-April onwards, rumors circulated everywhere that the Guards had suffered a great defeat on the steppe. Some people say that tens of thousands of people died in Liuzhen alone, and some people say that more than half of the Duanzhou army did not come back, and some people rumored that even the commander who went out to fight was blind, and he himself died on the grassland, and Yan Shanwei was about to be replaced with a new commander; Some people even saw with their own eyes that hundreds of thousands of people had gathered on the grassland, sharpening their knives and preparing to wave their troops south...... All this gossip makes a lot of noise. If it weren't for the government Zhang urgently posted a notice to refute the rumors, no one knows what kind of situation would have happened in the end. There is also a controversy over the government's "Re-persuasion of Nongsangwen". It is said that the imperial court will soon re-examine the details of the land leases and rents in various places, and it is likely that a separate tax will be levied on those who have land but do not concentrate on the business...... There is also the big weather that lasts for more than a month, and the white poisonous sun has dried up the land and cooked people. In short, all the upsetting things come together, and the teacher is frizzy every day from morning to night, and he can't look at anything and can't do anything.

Shang Cheng, who had just arrived home in Yanzhongbei, was also very troubled now.

Needless to say, in the battle that just passed, Da Zhao once again suffered defeat. Although in the local battles, the Duanzhou Guards achieved some results, but it could not cover up the bleak withdrawal of the Liuzhen Guards in any way. In this sortie, the three prefectures of Duanyan and Fang were combined, 3,789 enemies were killed, a total of 1,268 people were captured and captured, 4,373 soldiers of the Zhao army were killed, nearly 10,000 were seriously wounded, and more than 600 people were missing. Just from the comparison of these few simple data, this sortie on the grassland cannot be called a "victory".

There is no doubt that he, the Admiral, bears the main responsibility for the defeat of the campaign. Therefore, as soon as he returned to Liuzhen in late April, he immediately delivered an official letter to Shangjing. In this official document, he first described in detail the various situations experienced by the Yanshan Central Army and the First Division of the Left Army led by him in this grassland operation, and attached a general schematic map of advance and retreat and a number of detailed maps of specific battles in chronological order. In the official document, he also reviewed some of his hasty and wrong decisions. The underestimation of weather changes and disease epidemics in the steppes led to serious non-combat attrition of the army, which was caused by his ineffective supervision. In addition, in the spring, he had already realized a serious problem, the medicinal materials and ordnance hoarded in Liuzhen could not support the twenty-five battalions to fight in the grassland for more than two months, and the two transshipment divisions of Ge Ping and Liuzhen also lacked sufficient means of transportation. However, he miscalculated the likely situation of the development of the war and was confident that he would be able to achieve the objectives of the campaign quickly, thus ignoring this problem. This had very serious consequences in the later stages of the campaign. Due to the lack of sufficient raw cloth, disinfectant wine and medicinal materials, many injured soldiers could not receive timely and effective treatment. Because of the lack of medicinal materials, the wounded could not be treated; Because of the lack of horses and wagons, the wounded soldiers could not be transferred to the rear in time; Especially during the retreat of Mogan and Luhe, the remains of many soldiers could not be brought back, so they had to give up...... This has dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Central Route Army. During the Luhe Blockade War, the phenomenon of self-injury and self-mutilation of soldiers occurred frequently, and even some battalion outposts who had shown bravery and tenacity in the previous battles also appeared to be afraid of war and avoid war......

Li Shen's matter, he also explained and reviewed it in the official document. Li Shen did have merit in the battle of the Baiyu River Valley, and he did not deny this. However, he pointed out more clearly that after the Baiyu River Valley, it was also a fact that Li Shen did not obey orders and missed the battle. More crucially, Li Shen hid a lot of important information from the Wei Mansion and the Admiral's Mansion. Li Shen reported to the Weifu that the two cavalry brigades of the right army pursued westward immediately after the battle of the Baiyu River Valley, but in fact, the two cavalry brigades only sent a battalion to follow and reconnoitre; He neither fought to the west to join the Central Route Army, nor did he stay in the Baiyu River Valley to expand the victory, but only swept away and hurriedly retreated; He not only blocked the news of the withdrawal of the Right Army, but also set up posts on the traffic arteries between Duanyan and the two prefectures, strictly forbade Duanzhou to report the news to the Health Bureau, and successively detained a number of local officials who tried to report the real situation to the Health Bureau; The right army also deployed four brigades and six battalions in the left area of Beizheng near Ma Zhichuan and the old Tang Post Road, the purpose of which was self-evident, that is, to come out and grab credit when the Chinese army was defeated...... All this is a fact, and there are parties to prove it! Li Shen refused to give the order before the deadline, and then there was a panic report, which eventually led to a sharp turn for the worse on the battlefield and the defeat of the battle, and the evidence is conclusive and beyond doubt! In this case, Huo Shiqi, the prosecutor of the Yinjian Capital of the Yanshan Admiral's Mansion, immediately decided to enforce battlefield discipline against Li Shen, which can only be a merit, and must not be a mistake! Moreover, when the Central Route Army was in a desperate crisis, it was also Huo Shiqi, who urged the Right Army to urgently dispatch to save the Central Route Army from the brink of danger, which was also a great achievement!

This document was sent to Shangjing by 600 miles. On the second day of the fifth month, the approval of Shangjing came down.

The approval is very simple. Since the founding of the Great Zhao Dynasty has never been a precedent for dealing with an army of Sima in the past hundred years, the imperial court has attached great importance to it in addition to being surprised. After asking for instructions, the three provinces immediately dispatched three squires from the six departments, led by a scholar of Wenyingdian University, and immediately went to Yanshan to thoroughly investigate and investigate this matter. The approval document also emphasized that because Huo Shiqi, the main party involved in the case, was related to Shang Cheng, for the sake of fairness, Shang Cheng must recuse himself during the investigation of the case.

Of course, Shang Cheng knew that he had to avoid suspicion. But the court did not stop his post, and second, did not remove his officials, but asked him to recuse himself, how could he avoid it? Where does he go to avoid? He wanted to call himself sick, and he was really sick and had a headache so much that he couldn't sleep well at night, but the war had just ended, and all kinds of things were coming, he just wanted to rest for a while, not to mention whether Guo Biao and Zhang Shao would agree, even Lu Ji and Di Xu would not approve. Since he returned to Yanzhou from Liuzhen, these two people completely ignored his eye disease, and had to look for him more than a dozen times a day, no matter how big or small, they had to come to him to discuss. Of course, he was grateful for their trust. But the Health Department wanted to build a few new small courtyards in Xicheng for the officials to be accommodated, and it was too much for him to make up his mind about such a small matter. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder, could it be that Yan Shanwei couldn't leave him Shangcheng?

The answer, of course, is no.

He knew very well in his heart that whether it was Guo Biao, Zhang Shao, or Lu Ji Di Xu, they did not do this because they didn't care about his physical condition, but because they wanted to let the court know through these things, the current Yanshan could not be without him for the time being.

In fact, he himself did not want to take time off to rest for the sake of poor health. He can't let others take responsibility for this mess he created! He still has a lot of things to do, and he can't pick on them at this time! More importantly, after more than a year in the past, he already knows the current situation in Yanshan very well, whether it is the situation in the Weijun Army, the situation in the Yamen, or the local situation, he is very familiar with it. At present, the situation in Yanshan has changed greatly, and he also knows what Yanshan is most in short supply, and he also knows how to take the next two steps, and he will try to do everything well. Even if there is no guarantee that everything will have a good outcome, at least there are many detours......

It is precisely for this reason that in the documents delivered to the imperial court, while deeply examining his mistakes, he also earnestly stated that he hoped to continue to serve as the governor of Yanshan.

He knew that this was a bit excessive. He did so, and falling into the eyes of others, usually left an impression of "arrogance". But he didn't care what others thought of him. He felt that the two prime ministers were well-versed in affairs, and the three provinces and the imperial court should be able to understand his thoughts.

The court did understand and believed in him. In early May, he was already told both cryptically and explicitly that the court had agreed to keep him in office.

But he still had to avoid the imperial court's investigation of Huo Shiqi.

In the end, he accepted Lu Ji's suggestion and went to the northern area of Yanzhong for a walk, walked around the barracks, looked at the people's feelings, and took a break by the way.

But how can this heart be scattered? The battle is over, but he needs to preside over the summary of the war, how can he relax? Li Shen was executed on the battlefield, and the people's hearts of the right army fluctuated, can he rest assured? The right army guards the gate of Yandong, and Sima's position is inseparable from people for a moment, if this person is not appointed early, or the person appointed is not capable, maybe something will happen; The Ministry of War did not express its position on the personnel issue of Sima of the Yanshan Right Army for a long time, obviously waiting for Yanshan's recommendation. At such a juncture, he, a fake admiral with the right to recommend, is wandering around with his sleeves in his hands, can this not teach people to be anxious? There is also a spring drought and a summer drought in the central and northern regions of Yan, and the local government is busy with drought fighting.

Fortunately, Uncle Seventeen's affairs have finally come to an eyebrow, and he can finally come back.

As soon as he arrived in the city, his family didn't care about going back, so he went directly to inspect the Yamen and met with Huo Shiqi.

Now, he had just returned home, shaved some food to fill his stomach, and immediately met several groups of guests in front of and behind the house. Those who talk about military affairs, those who talk about government affairs, those who talk about water conservancy, those who talk about education, and those who seek officials, sue for complaints, curry favor, and are familiar with each other...... There are all kinds of guests. When he sent the last group of people away, they all beat the drum of the fourth watch.

He didn't even have the strength to wash the stinky sweat all over his body, so he lay down on the kang and muttered in his heart: If I knew this, I shouldn't have stayed in office......

He immediately fell into a deep sleep.