Zhen Qian nodded in agreement with Shang Cheng's opinion. In fact, the Ministry of War judged the same. The military department thought that until the internal stability was achieved, the king of Donglu Valley would not retaliate on a large scale; Only after the contradictions between the tribes of the steppe have been resolved and the mutual distrust has been eased will it be possible for the Turks to carry out a large-scale military operation; Therefore, within a year or two, the situation between Yanshan and Bohaixi will enter a period of relative relaxation, and the bad situation in Yanshan, which will continue to face sudden exhaustion at any time for several years, will also be greatly alleviated. These Great Zhao are favorable, and the two Wei towns of Yanshan and Bohai have a certain amount of time to recover.

Shang Cheng lowered his eyelids, put his arm on the coffee table, held the tea cup in his hand, and silently listened to Zhen Xiang's long relays of the judgment of the military department.

From the bottom of his heart, he was very unimpressed by what Zhenqian said. When is this all the time, Shangjing is still talking about what kind of recovery! Yes, in the next year or two, as long as Da Zhao does not take the initiative to attack, most of the people who are busy stabilizing the internal turmoil will not come to provoke, and a short-term "peace" prospect without a major war can be fully expected. But this is not a period of relaxation, but a stage of accumulation of strength on both sides, a calm before the storm. It is conceivable that when the king of Donglu Valley completely quelled the contradictions between the various departments of the left wing of the Turks, and when the people of the Turks summed up their experience and learned lessons from the successive defeats, then a more fierce and cruel war would inevitably follow!

Of course, although he was very unhappy, he didn't think that Shangjing was really so short-sighted. What he can see through, it is impossible for Tang Xing, Zhang Pu, these prime ministers and monks to not see through! Zhenqian, the soldier who had dealt with him many times, suddenly appeared in Fangzhou, and the real purpose may be to pass on the news to himself: the Ministry of War believes that it is impossible to launch a large-scale war in the short term, and the Prime Minister's Office also agrees with this judgment, and at present, Siwei Town in the north must seize the opportunity to reorganize its armament to facilitate another war; In particular, Yan Shanwei must stop, first put aside the matter of dealing with the Tuqi people and cleaning up the king of Donglu Valley, and seize the time to restore agricultural production that has been seriously damaged in the continuous natural disasters and wars, no matter what, Yan Shanwei must wait until the imperial court solves the major matter of the southern expedition! This is probably the subtext of the trip to Fangzhou.

He gradually understood why when it came to military merit rewards just now, Zhenqian would have a negotiating tone of informing the bill. He thought it was strange at the time, the soldiers were only in charge of fighting, and the meritorious service reward was the business of the princes in the court, and for no reason to tell him these inconclusive things What did this recuperating general do? Now he's finally figured out the actual joint. This is the prime minister's public office showing goodwill to himself, and it is Zhang Pu, who insists on going south, is sending a reconciliation code to himself. It's no wonder that when Zhen Qian mentioned that he would enter the Shangzhu State to seal the county, he would put an inexplicable word "Yu" at the front of the words. Isn't "giving" just "giving"? What do you think of giving you a county with the title of Shangzhu State and a real seal? If not, you can discuss it again......

The real power of the Shangzhu State, the actual feudal county, whether it is the title and title, Shang Chengdu is very satisfied. He even felt that what he had done was not worthy of such a reward. The whole army of Dazhao is up and down, and there are only twenty or thirty people in the Zhu State and the Shangzhu State, and there are even fewer people in charge of the army, and there are only a few people in the Shangzhu State in the army. Thinking that he was about to be on a par with a famous general like Xiao Jian and Yang Du who had been famous for a long time, what else could he not be satisfied with? The title of the county seems to be not very high, but no matter how low it is, it is a real knighthood. Although he doesn't quite understand the difference between the real seal and the false seal, he can think that Shangjing did not hesitate to take out a lot of the false title of the founding of the country and the open prince to reward meritorious soldiers, and one letter will attack three or five or seven generations, but he held the real title tightly in his pocket, and he didn't want to take it out at all, thinking that the two must not be equated. As for Zhen Qian not mentioning how many generations this Ying County son can inherit the lord, he didn't take it to heart, thinking that when he came to the Ministry of Rites to officially issue a proclamation, he would inevitably have an explanation.

But satisfaction is satisfaction, but he still has something to say. Even if he knew that as long as he promised to stop for a year or two, most of the county would become a county magistrate or even a county marquis, he still had to say it. Not only did he have to say, but he would do it if he could!

After Zhenqian finished speaking, he lowered his head and drank water, and then he refilled the hot tea soup for Zhenqian before he spoke: "I understand and appreciate the hard work of Shangjing and your kindness." ”

A smile didn't appear on Mako's face. His words were far from finished, and Shang Yanshan's words were obviously still there. He sat up straight in his chair, staring at Shang Cheng at eye level, waiting for Shang Cheng to continue.

Shang Cheng pondered for a while, as if he was reconsidering his words, and only after a while did he speak: "We all know that whether it is the rectification of the Donglu Valley King's internal rectification or our recuperation, in fact, the purpose is the same, that is, to deal a heavier blow to the opponent in the next cruel war. ”

Zhenqian nodded. As for the difficult situation that may arise in the next war, the military department also has some predictions. However, the southern expedition was imminent, and the opponent was not only Nanzhao but also Tubo, and the military department really could not be distracted from looking north, so it could only hope that the progress of the war in the southwest would end quickly, and then turn back and support the north. However, he also stated in the name of the Ministry of War that even if there was a southern expedition, the Ministry of War would continue to send military materials such as grain, straw, armor, and equipment to Yanshan, but the quantity was not as good as before.

Shang Cheng ignored Zhen Xiang's words. The existing hoarding of military resources in Yan Shanwei's three major warehouses was enough to support his idea. Even the problem of insufficient troops, which had taught him to scratch his head the most, was no longer worried. He was only worried that Shangjing would not stop him. Hey, speaking of which, the military autonomy of the commander of Da Zhao's northern Siwei Town is very large, and it is generally up to him to decide whether to fight or not, at most he will send a submission to the military department before the war, or make a record after the war. But I don't know why, but he always can't do it. He knows that this has nothing to do with self-confidence or not self-confidence, mainly because of the habit that has been cultivated for a long time. On important issues, he cannot assert himself. What he planned was a large-scale military operation, a regional strategic decisive battle, and he had to get the approval and cooperation of Shangjing......

Thinking of the decisive battle planned for next year, his heart was heavy. Not because of the war, but because he was not sure to persuade Shangjing. He felt that it was impossible for Shangjing to agree to open up a battlefield in both the southwest and Yanshan directions at the same time. In this case, there must be concessions, and there is a direction in which the fighting must be postponed or cancelled. However, preparations for the southern expedition have been going on for a long time, and the various units participating in the war are either in place or ready to go, and the grain and military resources are also in place, so it is unlikely that it will suddenly call a halt. Considering that the Southern Expedition was planned by the right minister Zhang Pu and the old marshal Xiao Jian, and that Park wanted to use the victory of the Southern Expedition to display his political ambitions, and Xiao Jian had to rely on this war to ensure the status of the Xiao family in the army, the Southern Advance faction finally got the right to speak militarily and led a war, and he wanted to persuade the imperial court to delay the launch of the war in the southwest, which was almost fishing for the moon in the water.

He fell into thought again, and after a long time, he said very slowly: "The new defeat of the king of Donglu Valley, and there are many contradictions within the Tulu people, it is certain that Yanshan will not suffer a large-scale war disaster in the next one to two years. But the enemy can rest and recuperate, but we can't. The weaker the enemy, the more we need to step up our offensive. Recently I have a new idea to force the main forces of the left wing of the Turks to fight a strategic decisive battle in our chosen area next year......"

From what he spoke, Zhen Qian knew that he would definitely not give up easily. He has dealt with Shang Cheng in Shangjing and Yanzhou, and knows that this guy's character is tenacious and resolute, and his thoughts are cautious and dense, and even the military department knows that the weakness of the left wing of Tuqi is a rare opportunity to use troops, how can this guy not see it? However, both the Ministry of War and the Prime Minister's Office believed that although the left wing of the Turks had suffered heavy losses, the hundred-legged insects were dead but not stiff, and in the case of the enemy's main strength, if Da Zhao really used troops, he might not be able to have much practical benefit, but it was better to learn from Shang Cheng's method of exchanging grain for war horses, and secretly instigate the internal fighting of the tribes on the left wing of the Turks, so that they could not only wedge deeper resentments within the Turks, but also further weaken the enemy, and did not need to consume some strength of Da Zhao, so why not? How do you know that Shang Yanshan doesn't have this unique vision at all, and he will have a "decisive battle" when he comes up, and he will still have to conduct a "strategic decisive battle......

Zhen Qian only explained a few words, but Shang Chengcheng interrupted him and said, "There is nothing wrong with the idea of going to Beijing to 'drive away tigers and devour wolves', but you all ignore and underestimate the person of the king of Donglu Valley. Alegu Three and Da Tengliang finished the matter of the two slaves not listening to the dispatch, if he can't solve it in three or five strokes, he, the prince, will be the end! You guys don't know this guy. This person is not only very shrewd militarily, but also not simple politically, you have exhausted the left wing of the Ci Dynasty and borders the capital of Yanshan and Dingjin in the Bohai Sea, why does he only recognize Yanshan to fight? The weak strength of Yanshanwei is a reason, and the more important reason is that Yanshanwei is the closest distance to Shangjing, and when Yanshan is in an emergency, Shangjing will inevitably be shaken, which is the fundamental reason why the king of Donglu Valley repeatedly attacked Yanshan. Moreover, it can be seen from the defeat of Mogan in the 19th year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty that if the king of Donglu Valley gathered all the forces of the left flank of the Broken Force, Yanshanwei would not be able to stop his pace of going south at all, but he would not attack Yanshan with all his strength, and he could not see that he had the intention of crossing Yanshan and going south. Isn't the profound meaning of this worth pondering? ”

It was really stunned. He really didn't think about it. Not only him, but also the Ministry of War, or the Prime Minister's Office, or even the entire Da Zhao, no one may have thought deeply about the truth. He asked, "What is the reason why he is not going south?" ”

Shang Cheng shook his head and said, "I don't know either." I don't know where the hundreds of thousands of people are now, and what they're doing. I know one thing that the left wing of the Turks has weaknesses right now. There are contradictions and disunity within it, and several tribes that follow in the footsteps of the king of Donglu Valley are very weak, and they are holding back their resentment about the fact that other tribes have preserved their strength, and this is our opportunity to expand the results of the war. I conceive it this way, next spring, taking advantage of the opportunity that the people of Tuqi do not dare to go deep into the southern grasslands easily, build several beacon towers along the way from Yanshan to Luhe, and build two troop cities on both sides of the Luhe River. These two cities don't need to be too big, and they can accommodate a few battalions, but at least two cavalry battalions can be deployed. In this way, with the two military villages as the center, our army will be able to control a large area from Yanshan in the south to Moganxi in the north to the Alegu River, which will greatly reduce the space for the activities of the Tuduci people. At that time, if the king of Donglu Valley didn't solve these two troop cities first, he wouldn't be able to do anything, not to mention that he couldn't teach Da Tengliang and Wannu'er, the two disobedient tribes, even the tribes of Heishui River, would have to make trouble with him! ”

Zhen Qian opened his mouth and looked at Shang Cheng in a daze. It wasn't until Shang Cheng finished speaking, and after a long time, that he gradually woke up from the shock. He swallowed his saliva vigorously and glared at Shang Cheng without saying a word...... It was another long time before he exhaled sharply and asked, "Since it is a decisive battle, the king of Donglu Valley must move with all his troops, so many soldiers and horses, how can Yan Shanwei deal with it?" "He finally found a loophole in Shang Cheng's plan!

Shang Cheng smiled lightly, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea soup for a long time, before he said with a smile: "Da Tengliang and Wan Nu'er are afraid that the king of Donglu Valley will clean them up now, and it is too late to protect themselves, how can they send troops?" The three divisions of Alegu are also responsible for the defeat in Blackwater City, and even if they send troops, they will at most respond to the scene, and it is impossible to exert much force; The four divisions of Shanzuo were hit hard, and they resented the unfair handling of the king of Donglu Valley, so they must find an excuse not to send troops or send fewer troops. Those who can have the same heart as the king of Donglu Valley, except for the big tent soldiers, are only the tribes of Heishui. 20,000 big tent soldiers, 20,000 tribal soldiers, the total strength is only 40,000. The total number of border troops of the whole town of Yanshan is also 35,000, and this battle is based on the city, and the battlefield is also selected by us. ”

Before he could complete his analysis, Zhen Qian already knew the outcome of this battle. As long as this battle starts, the result is destined to be as the blind man said, defeating Yu Luhe, the king of Donglu Valley! But this is not the purpose of his coming to Fangzhou, let alone the result that the Prime Minister's office wants. He tried to calm his mind, and then picked out a possible omission: "Although the plan is good, but building a city is not a trivial matter, it takes a long time, and I am afraid that it will cost the people and money......

Shang Cheng laughed and said, "Really, you're talking nonsense with your eyes open." I remember, you have presided over the affairs of building the city many times in Quang Nam, right? You can help you see, in a place like Luhe, there are two walled cities for hoarding troops, how much does it cost to consume food? He stood up, picked up a thin book from the big case, and handed it to Zhenqian. This is a detailed outline of the construction of the city that I have asked someone to make, and there are craftsmen, money, grain, stones, wood, and patterns. ”

Zhenqian took the booklet, and first looked at whose handwriting it was. If you want Shang Cheng to break the idea of a decisive battle, you have to pinch his idea of building a city first. Hmph, no matter who he is, he is half of the people who built the city, and he has the name of the squire of the military department, who dares to say that the city is easy to build, he will shut up first!

Li Feng, the manager of the craftsman battalion of the Yanshan Fangzhou Military Department? Okay, it's still a small official of the Ministry of War, just find a reason to let him be promoted to one level and then transferred back to Beijing......

Shang Cheng sat in the chair and said with a smile: "This Li Feng is a bit interesting. This person and I are fellow countrymen, and they are also from Yixian County, and they are still a showman. In the seventeenth year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, he went to Duanzhou to go to the state for the test, but he met a girl who went to see off her relatives, and she fell in love with others as soon as they met. As a result, he coaxed the girl to elope with him without taking the state exam, and was caught by the girl's father and brother and sent to the government, and finally sentenced to stay in the border army of the town. This person can also build cities, and when he stayed in the town, he also presided over the maintenance and rectification of two small military villages, and when the border army was promoted to the guard army in June and July, he was also on the roster and followed the brigade to Fangzhou. Some time ago, someone heard that I was looking for someone who could build a city, so they recommended him. Now follow me as a guard, and by the way, take on the position of steward in the craftsman's camp. ”

Zhenqian was deflated when he heard it. can be turned to the side by Shang Cheng's eyes, this guy named Li Feng is probably a little bit of real ability. He flipped through the booklet casually, the handwriting was neat and the drawings were clear, and he didn't see a single blackened smear after two or three pages, and he definitely used a lot of thought. He didn't bother to look carefully, so he turned to the last page directly, and didn't look at the total expenditure of any stones, silver, money, and grain, but only looked at the construction period and service.

"There is a city in the north and the south, how about the big and the small...... If there are 6,000 soldiers, it will be done in a month. ”

Look at the fart!

He pinched the booklet and thought about it for a long time, and then found a question: "What if the king of Donglu Valley comes to commit crimes during the construction of the city?" Also, what if the king of Donglu Valley was worried about the lack of troops and sent troops from other places, such as from the east, where the Turks were confronting the rest of the people? ”

Shang Cheng also had a long calculation about this problem: "The king of Donglu Valley was originally cautious, and he suffered our big losses one after another, and his fate hung by a thread on both occasions, how could he not plan first and then act?" In the early days of our city, he would not have made a move, but when he decided to do so, our city was built. If he didn't go to Luhe and fight Yandong instead, then he would have to convince the other tribes first; If he wants to send troops from somewhere else, it will take time. He came early, so let's use Yan Shanwei's existing forces to fight him; If he came late, he would need the imperial court to coordinate and transfer troops from the Central Plains into the grassland. Let's try to solve the whole problem of the left wing of the Turks at once! ”

Zhenqian fell silent again.

Personally, he completely admired Shang Cheng's new strategy, and in the spring and summer of next year, he forced the king of Donglu Valley to fight a decisive battle at Luhe, and strive to solve the left flank of Tuqi once and for all. But judging from the direction of the court, it is impossible for him to stand up and support this strategy. Recently, as Vice Minister Dong Quan was impeached by the imperial historians because of a trivial matter and was anxious, the momentum of the Northern Advance faction in the imperial court was greatly affected, and the Southern Advance faction immediately became arrogant. Supporting Shang Cheng will inevitably affect the preparation of the Southern Expedition, and the conquest of the Southern Zhao State is the first major move after the Southern Advance faction returned to power, and they will never allow anyone to point fingers at this matter. In addition, the leader of the Southern Advance faction, Zhang Pu, the right minister, has not had a good time recently. Last year's treasury revenue fell slightly compared with the year before, and Zhang Pu, who was in charge of court affairs at that time, was questioned by many people, and this year's situation is even worse, and it is expected to be worse than last year. Under such circumstances, Zhang Pubi needs to achieve a hearty military victory at any time, use it to divert people's attention, use it to alleviate people's suspicions about him, and use it to establish his prestige. The southern expedition is unstoppable, and anyone who may obstruct the southern expedition, and anything that may affect the southern expedition, will be squeezed out and attacked by Zhang Pu and the southern marching faction......

Now, he has seen that the contradictions between Shang Cheng and the Nanjin faction cannot be coordinated at all, and Zhang Pu's hint of reconciliation has also been ignored by Shang Cheng, so he has to directly highlight his true intentions without concealment.

He lowered his gaze, stared at the brick cracks on the ground diagonally opposite, and said dryly: "I came to Fangzhou this time, in addition to consulting General Shang on the issue of the left wing of Tuqi and the king of Donglu Valley, I also brought greetings from all the prime ministers by the way. The Prime Minister's Office hopes that you will be able to return to Beijing to continue your recuperation. After all, Yanshan is a bitter cold place on the frontier, lacking medical treatment and medicine, no matter in any aspect, it is far inferior to Shangjing. ”

This sudden sentence made Shang Cheng completely stunned. He stared blankly at Zhenqian and didn't react for a long time. At this time, he actually wanted to transfer him out of Yanshan? How is this possible? How could he go at such a critical moment, when he was about to see the difference? He is the Admiral of Yanshan, can Yanshan leave him? No! Will he be able to leave Yanshan? Even more can't ......

He finally reacted. He was no longer the Admiral of Yanshan. In fact, he was never the Admiral of Yanshan, but the fake governor of Yanshan. He is not even a fake governor of Yanshan now. Why can't Yan Shan leave him? What qualifications and reasons does he have to stay in Yanshan?

He silently removed his blindfold. Anger, irritation, resentment, reluctance, and a hint of shame, all sorts of emotions rolled in his chest. His face was flushed, the veins on his forehead were bursting one by one, and the wings of his nose were wide open, snorting white steam. Because of anger and unwillingness, his teeth clenched tightly, and the muscles on his cheeks were ridged one by one. For a moment, he really wanted to overturn the cases in front of him and smash everything that could be smashed......

He used all his strength to press the flames that were surging in his heart, and asked calmly, "Who will replace me?" "He forgot one thing again, one by one, he is not the Admiral of Yanshan now.

Zhen Qian didn't realize that Shang Cheng was not the governor of Yanshan at all, and when he heard Shang Cheng's question, he said very carefully: "The imperial court is about to appoint the Marquis of Zhaoyu County and the Zhuzhu State to come to Yanshan as the admiral." ”

"Zhuxu is more capable than me?"

Shang Cheng's question, Zhen Qian couldn't answer it at all. The ability of the preface...... Alas, it is better not to say this. And Shangcheng's ability ...... Of course, there is nothing to say.

"Tough advice?" Shang Cheng remembered Zhang Shao's private letter two months ago, which was about this matter. He really didn't expect that Zhang Shao and Zhang Jixian would be able to anticipate things like gods!

Zhenqian nodded. He knew that at this point, he was letting Shang Cheng and Yan consolidate the dead beam, and even Xiao Jian couldn't get out of it. But he couldn't admit it. When Shang Cheng went back to Beijing, he could know the ins and outs of the matter by asking casually, rather than letting Shang Cheng inquire, it was better to simply admit it. Anyway, it's not Shang Cheng he offended. And he was also very angry that Yan Gu was going to go to Yanshan one by one, and Yanshan's affairs would be in trouble! Go to the strictness of the thief, many of these things have to be counted on the head of the military department, and the tangle caused by the military department has to come forward to solve it!

"Zhang Pu nodded in agreement?"

Zhen Qian noticed that Shang Cheng did not call Zhang Pu "Zhang Xiang" anymore, but called him by his first name, obviously hating Zhang Pu to the extreme. He nodded again.

"What did Tang Lao Xiangguo say?"

"Tang Xiang is sick and has been recuperating at home, so he probably doesn't know about it yet." Zhen Qian said dryly, "On the fourteenth of last month, Tang Xiang accompanied the Holy Monarch to watch the lanterns at Zuoye Gate, but he was accidentally caught in the cold wind and had a headache that he couldn't be a director, so he didn't deal with court affairs anymore. Now the Prime Minister's Office is presided over by Zhang Xiang. ”

Shang Cheng sneered and said, "The cold wind enters the body, and you still have a headache?" Well ill! Wonderful headache! The old Xiangguo is the old Xiangguo, and even the timing of the illness is just right. I just don't know if there is anyone else in Shangjing who also has a headache besides him? You say, if I die in Fangzhou and don't leave, or simply go to Yanzhou to recuperate, how many people will have a headache? ”

If this is true, you can't even interject. If Shang Cheng doesn't enter Beijing, Zhu Xu won't want to take office, otherwise those arrogant soldiers and fierce generals will be able to eat Zhu Xu alive. Even if Shang Cheng enters Beijing, Zhuxu will not have a good time in the future. Those generals in Yanshan were all brought out by Shang Cheng and brought out for use, and they followed Shang Cheng to achieve today's achievements, except for Shang Cheng, I am afraid that no one's account can be bought. These guys are now all highly meritorious, high-ranking and high-ranked, not to mention Zhuxu, even if Xiao Jian and Yang Du came to Yanshan in person, I am afraid that they will not be able to control the scene! Nowadays, there are many people waiting to see the jokes of the preface......

"Yan Gu agreed, Zhang Pu nodded, and the rest of the people, who stood up against it?"

Zhenqian still didn't speak. It's not that this matter can't be said, but there are too many people who don't oppose it, and it won't be clear for a while. There is one who stands up against it, and he can't say it yet. As far as he knew, he was the only one who opposed the transfer of Shang Cheng from Yanshan......

Shang Cheng completely understood. Hey, others are treating him as Tang monk meat! In the autumn campaign, Yan Shanwei broke Heishui City on the one hand, and Yandong won a big victory on the other hand, two battlefields were attacked and defended, the attack was like a bamboo, and the defense was impregnable...... The big and small hills in the army want to bite and pull a few people away. It just so happened that he was sick again, so he was transferred away under this pretext and came up in a different order. Xiao relied on everyone's help to get the position of Yanshan Admiral, of course, he couldn't stop everyone from coming to Yanshan to reap the benefits, it was just that the Yanshan dragons were leaderless and the people were scattered, and everyone and I would divide the generals of Yanshan. Hmph, good thoughts, good calculations! Fuck his good skills!

But he can think through other people's minds, but he can't stop it from happening. The Yanshan Guards are not his private army, these generals are also the generals of Da Zhao, others are clearly pulling people under the banner of the Ministry of War, what can he do? He couldn't do anything. Even if he is Shangzhuguo and Yingxian immediately, he still can't do anything.

"One last thing," Shang Chengtie said with a blushing face, "Lao Zhen, did you nod or shake your head at that time?" ”

Zhen Qian said with a bitter face: "I shook my head. But I can't talk alone. ”

Shang Cheng stared at Zhen Qian deeply, nodded and stopped talking to him. Stood up and shouted: "Someone, send off!" ”

Early the next morning, Yue'er and Erya returned to Yanzhou with the maid and servants. Earlier, Shang Cheng also left Fangzhou City with more than a dozen guards. He wanted to enter Beijing quickly, and presented the key points to the military department and the prime minister's public office in person, hoping that the imperial court would change its mind and let him continue to supervise Yanshan......