Chen Dong spoke first: "General Yue, Chen feels that Ezhou's troops are meagre and self-protection is still insufficient, so if you want to divide your troops to open up a grain road for Xiangyang, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate." The atmosphere in the tent was suddenly a little strange, the generals looked at each other, everyone looked strange, and they all chose to be silent, and the tent was so quiet that it could be heard.

After a while, Yue Fei said expressionlessly: "Lord Chen is a civil official, so don't interfere too much in the matter of the battle array." ”

Chen Dong's face suddenly sank: "General Yue, you can't say that!" ”

Usually, Chen Dong never asks about martial arts. However, Xiangyang and Ezhou are each their masters, and in the case of insufficient troops, it is no longer a simple battle formation to spend strength to open up a grain route for Xiangyang. Zhao Xingde's face was embarrassed, since the Baoyi Army arrived in Ezhou, although the people of the Baoyi Army and the Zhenguo Army were not distinct, they did not have much interaction. Zhao Xingde, the military advisor of the Baoyi Army, and Yue Fei, the envoy of the Zhenguo Army, also did not have a deep relationship. This time, Chen Dong pulled him over, and he also had the intention of using him to persuade Zhenguojun, but before he could say anything, he was blocked back by Yue Fei's words.

Zhao Xingde's identity as a guest hesitated for a moment and said: "A wise man has a thousand thoughts, and there must be a mistake." A fool thinks a thousand times, and he also has one. The major affairs of the country are in Rong and worship. Although the civil and military affairs have different paths, but the major events that are really related to the national fortune should be discussed more and work together in harmony. ”

Yue Fei glanced at him, then at Chen Dong, and after a moment of silence, he explained in a deep voice: "Xiangyang is the gateway to the southeast half of the wall, and there is no room for error. If the Liao army conquers Xiangyang, it will hoard grain and grass in Xiangyang, and it can be connected with the Liao Kou in the east at any time, and it will be difficult for our army to recover Huaibei. Defend the river must defend Huai, Huaibei is no longer restored, Liaokou and I share the danger of the river, the southeast half of the wall is everywhere under the Liaokou soldiers, as long as the cavalry is transferred from east to west, our army can only be tired of coping, not allowed to fight, drag on for several years, after the Jiangnan soldiers are tired and the people are poor, Liaokou can raise troops to sweep away, and finish their work in one battle. Now the Liao army is trying its best to cut off the grain and grass between Xiangyang and Ezhou, that is, to force Liu Yanqing to withdraw from the army, and go down to Xiangyang without a fight, if we want to keep the southeast half of Xu Tu to recover, we must also keep the grain road of Xiangyang, so that Liu Yanqing has the heart to hold on and not retreat, Xiangyang is easy to defend and difficult to attack, once it is captured by the Liao army, it will be even more difficult to fight back. He rarely took the trouble to explain like this, paused, looked at Chen Zhao and the others, and said coldly, "The Zhenguo Army still has to discuss military affairs, if the two adults have nothing else, Yue will not send it." "It's an eviction order.

The generals looked at each other, their faces were a little embarrassed, Zhang Xian stood up and hugged his fists and said, "Send Lord Chen." He took the lead, and the other generals also got up and said, "Lord Chen, don't send it." "Zhao Junshi walks slowly—"

"You-" Chen Dong choked in his throat in one breath, how could he bear it as a person with high ability and arrogance, and immediately turned around and walked out. Seeing this, Zhao Xingde also sighed, arched his hand to the generals in the tent, and walked out of the Chinese military tent behind Chen Dong.

"Boss!" Chen Dong finally couldn't help laughing, and said loudly to Zhao Xingde, "It's just arrogant!" ”

Seeing that Zhao Xingde was silent, Chen Dong said angrily: "When I was in Guangzhou, I gave in to Yue Pengju everywhere, and now I am even more tolerant of the country, I didn't expect him to be so domineering!" He took a breath and added, "What is he doing as a member of the Zhenguo Army?" Could it be the three towns of Hebei in the Tang Dynasty? Zhao Xingde's face changed, the three towns of Hebei were built by Tian Chengsi and other remnants of Anshi, and they had never been dissatisfied with the imperial court. Chen Dongkou did not choose to speak, and actually compared the three towns of Hebei to the national army, Zhao Xingde persuaded and explained: "General Guanyue is a human being, and there is no problem with the words loyalty and righteousness. ”

"Humph!" Chen Dong said indignantly, "He has no problem, do I have a problem?" ”

"You two are virtuous and good generals," Zhao Xingde had no choice but to say to the mud, "At this time, the expulsion of the northern captives should be the most important, since General Yue insists on maintaining the Xiangyang grain route, Xiangyang is indeed related to the safety of the southeast half of the wall." For the sake of the big picture, let him go. Thousands of troops are easy to obtain, but one will be hard to find! ”

"At this time, do you still agree that Yue Pengju should be in charge of the military alone?" Chen Dong said in a low voice: "Yuan Zhi, in this world, you are the only one who has this mind. To be honest, I give priority to the food and salary of the Zhenguo army, do you really have no other ideas? He looked at Zhao Xingde, as if he wanted to see any hidden dissatisfaction in his eyes.

Yue Fei was strict in governing the army, and his headquarters was known as "freezing to death without demolishing houses, starving to death without plundering". When the South China Sea was reclaimed, the soldiers and the people were one, and there was once a soldier of the Zhenguo Army who sold his wife and children because of the large population of his family and the lack of military salaries, and it was not for the sake of plundering, which can be seen from the strictness of the military discipline of the Zhenguo Army. However, soldiers are also human beings, and subordinates cannot be maintained by military discipline alone. Therefore, the payment of military salaries to the Zhenguo Army was also the most timely and sufficient among the armies in Quang Nam. All the soldiers of the Zhenguo Army were paid full military salaries according to the standards of the forbidden army, while the military salaries of the Baoyi Army were paid according to the standards of the Xiang Army, and many of the state and county volunteers who were included in the Baoyi Army only had rations but no military salaries. Not only that, since the Ezhou uprising, there has been no time when there is enough food. Sometimes even the grain and grass of the Zhenguo army are insufficient, and they have to rely on the Zhenguo army to find their own way, rely on setting up cards to collect taxes, and return to Yibo to buy and other methods to make up for the remaining part. Whether it is ordnance, grain and grass, or military salary, the Baoyi Army is ranked behind the Zhenguo Army, and can only be supplemented by more diverse methods.

Thinking of this, Chen Dong felt a little guilty, and said thoughtfully: "The Zhenguo Army is the only family, and it has never been a solution, and it is unfair to the Baoyi Army to favor the Zhenguo Army in terms of food and salary. Or, from now on, the two families will divide the food and salary equally, do you think it is okay? He looked at Zhao Xingde with a sincere expression, and added, "In the future, the volunteer battalions in the prefecture and county will be given priority to supplement the Baoyi Army to make up for the gap in the strength of the two armies." ”

A gust of south wind blew, Zhao Xingde's eyes were slightly momentary, he looked at the river in the distance, several sailboats went downstream, the commercial tax on the river is now one of the main sources of wealth in Ezhou, the merchant paid a tax in Jiangling, and he had to pay another tax in Ezhou, after leaving the place controlled by the Li Society, he met the officials appointed by Zhao Qi, maybe he had to pay the tax again, therefore, the prices in the southeast area were expensive. If this situation continues, I am afraid that the people will be miserable.

Zhao Xingde was silent for a moment, raised his two palms, and clenched two fists at Jiang Feng. "Shaoyang, the Zhenguo Army and the Baoyi Army are like Ezhou's right-hand men. If both arms are stretched out to hit someone, side by side, neither fist has enough strength. You can only have power by retracting one fist and punching out the other. Now we have a small amount of food and food, and if the soldiers and horses of the Baoyi Army and the Zhenguo Army share the food and salary equally, they will be embarrassed to be on the battlefield. Rather than this, it is better to strengthen your arm with all your strength, and only at a critical time can you give Liao Kou a fierce blow! He withdrew his fist, looked at the distance, and said in a low voice: "You don't have to worry about the stall of the Baoyi Army, I can still maintain it." ”

Chen Dong shook his head and sighed: "If everyone takes care of the overall situation like Yuan Zhi, why worry about the immortality of the north!" ”

"Then when others come to sue the Baoyi Army, you can help me take care of it more." Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "Didn't the Quartermaster House give a lot of white slips for the arrears of food and wages, and the food and clothing of my Baoyi Army are not completely lost." ”

Now Ezhou's grain and salary still need to be collected through the state and county officials, and the state and county officials are recommended by the county gentry, because the military tax is getting heavier and heavier, the gentry are dissatisfied with the delay, and the state and county are not easy to urge, so the transfer of grain and grass is often delayed, and even simply fight with the military quartermaster to make a white slip of arrears. The Baoyi army was again lined up behind the Zhenguo army, so when it was the turn of the Baoyi army's rations, the quartermaster's treasury was empty enough for the rats to hold a meeting, and the battalions could only get back a pile of white slips owed by the state and county. The Quartermaster Office asked the Baoyi Army to ask for food from the state and county, and Zhao Xingde also agreed. Regarding the saying in some places that "the Baoyi Army is a chaotic army and a bandit army, and the Zhenguo Army is the righteous officer army", Zhao Xingde just laughed it off and let his subordinates do their own thing, and he took the blame of the state and county himself.

Chen Dong nodded and promised: "You can bear the humiliation, how can I be a person who doesn't know right from wrong." ”

"That's fine." Zhao Xingde smiled slightly, he still had some confidence in the ability of Lu Mingyu, Luo Xianshi, Xia Mao'er, and Zhang Wushu to raise salaries, and it was just a lesson to those who were in arrears. He pondered for a moment, and then said: "There is still some truth in what General Yue said about the civil and military affairs, and he entrusted him with military affairs. Shaoyang, convening the state and county to promote the sage and fake prime minister is what you have to hurry up with. On popularity, on talent strategy, the prime minister is none other than you, don't hesitate! Otherwise, if the name is not right, it will not be good, and it will be difficult to implement everything regardless of whether it is to conquer the north or to set the southeast. I'm still afraid that the night will be long and dreamy, and it will change later. If you don't get people's hearts right as soon as possible, it will only become more and more chaotic, and when you are loyal and treacherous, and only look at the strength, even if it costs ten times more, it will be irreparable. ”

"What Yuan Zhi said is," Chen Dong said with a sad face: "It's just that I'm not sure yet." He looked left and right, hesitated for a long time, and said in a low voice, "How does Yuan Zhi think that Jingdong Road appeases Hou Huanyin?" ”

"Hou Huanyin?" Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, and he didn't know why he mentioned this person, so he replied directly, "I've heard of it, but I'm not familiar with it." "Hou Huanyin is a native of Jingdong and West Road, after he came out, whether it was Cai Jing as the prime minister, or later Zhao Zhifu Qin Hui and others were in power, they were all steadily officials on Jingdong and East Road, and they have been pacified by Jingdong East Road. But outside of Jingdong and Lianglu, Hou Huanyin's influence is much smaller. After the fall of Bianliang, he responded to Chen Dong's initiative of "respecting the Son of Heaven and not obeying orders" on Jingdong Road, so that everyone in the world knew his reputation.

"Now there are more than 100 states and counties that do not obey the order, and there are only more than 30 counties where our colleagues have the advantage of the society, and Hou Huanyin controls more than 20 states and counties on Jingdong Road, if I retreat to the second place and recommend him to be a fake prime minister, Jingdong East Road and the southeast are far away, and Hou Huanyin is also difficult to control remotely, use me to do fake political affairs, and echo him from afar, so that the situation of the election of the prime minister can be controlled." Chen Dong said with a worried face, "If I fight with Hou Huanyin, I'm afraid that more than 20 states and counties in Jingdong will fall to Zhao Qi and Cai Jing,......"

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xingde interrupted him and said: "This is a righteous name, and it must not be able to be manipulated by others!" ”