Zhou Yuanqing's thoughts and actual practices seem to be somewhat contradictory; But this kind of inconsistency is almost everyone's fate. Those who are unwilling to do it, but can't help it, even if they are like Zhou Yuanqing and are already a monarch, they still can't avoid it.

Therefore, before the crown prince succeeded to the throne, Zhou Chang'an, who was quite important, would inevitably be sent by him to an idle errand, and then divided into extremely remote areas to be a happy and wealthy prince. And this result has nothing to do with whether the crown prince can tolerate people after he ascends the throne. The root cause is because the fourth prince, Zhou Changan, personally formed the spy leader of Chiwu!

So on the other hand, why did Zhou Changan embark on this path? Of course, it is also out of the intention of Emperor Zhou Yuanqing himself. However, this kind of unreasonable behavior does not mean that Emperor Zhou Yuanqing is disgusted with his fourth son.

Zhou Yuanqing had a total of thirteen heirs, and nine survived in the end; Among them, the son who is most favored by him is precisely the fourth prince Zhou Changan.

However, the abolition of the long and the young has been the way to take trouble since ancient times. Even Wang Fang, the prime minister of Zuo, who has a close personal relationship with Zhou Changan and has a wild and uninhibited style, has never shown any intention of "easy storage". Therefore, even if Zhou Chang'an is talented, he far exceeds the crown prince Zhou Changyong; But he is not the eldest son after all, so he can only accept his fate.

From the king's point of view, Emperor Tianyou's arrangement can be said to be beyond reproach; However, from a father's point of view, how could Zhou Yuanqing, who has great ambitions, not be haunted by this?

However, the world is unpredictable and unpredictable; Zhou Chang'an, who had been secretly selected as an outcast, actually led a group of defeated troops to squeeze in the crowded Hedong City, and survived for more than 30 days; It not only greatly frustrated the Qin army, but also aroused the determination and courage of the Northern Yan army and people to defend the territory and resist the enemy.

Not only that, when he was forced to abandon the city and flee north, he not only avoided the huge losses that the first party to retreat must bear, but also left the Qin army with a useless ruin! Such a result has greatly exceeded everyone's expectations!

Since the situation of the war has changed, the strategic direction naturally needs to be replanned.

"Wang Zuocheng, in your opinion, will the city of Bingzhou be able to stop the pace of the Qin army going north?"

After Wang Fang finished reading the front-line military intelligence report, he handed it to Cai Xi, and after thinking about it for a long time, he said in a rather worried tone:

"Cai Donkey has already sent the urgently requisitioned grain, grass and ordnance to Bingzhou City in advance, so it should not be a problem in terms of baggage support. As for the weakness and chaos of the defenders of the city of Bingzhou...... It is expected that there will be a military mighty four princes to lead the army to garrison, and Wang Kenong, the governor of the Three Jin Dynasty, even if he is mediocre and incompetent, the city of Bingzhou will never be lost faster than Hedong City. However, the most reassuring place for the ministers was not the annexed city of the Three Jin Dynasty, but the ......"

Cai Xi put down the military information in his hand and suddenly replied:

"Zhongzhou, Huaiqing Mansion!"

"Exactly."

As the two prime ministers were worried; If you look at the overall situation, the gains and losses of one city and one place are not a big deal. But the loss of Hedong City is not as simple as it seems on the surface. At least for the Qin army, pulling out the nail of Hedong City is of great strategic significance.

With Hedong City here, no matter whether the Qin army is moving north or south, it will never be able to avoid this strategic point. If you can't spread out the offensive formation, then no matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the Qin soldiers is, it will be completely useless. They can only bite the bullet and consume each other with Zhou Yuanqing, the last elite of the Northern Yan.

However, the 400,000 elite soldiers saved by Emperor Tianyou smashed pots and sold iron fought fiercely in Hedong City for more than a month, and the losses were very heavy; Although the Northern Yan Imperial Court could levy military service again, the quality of the soldiers was not the same. As for the guards of the various state capitals and counties, they are a group of silverfish with hollowed out bones; Not to mention the extremely low combat effectiveness, it is also a common practice to eat empty salaries to make up heads, and I am afraid that even a full battalion cannot be found, and it will not be useful at all.

If the Qin army was beaten out of anger by Zhou Chang'an, and moved the army north with one mind, taking the route of annexing Zhou City, Yangquan Pass, and Shimen City, it would be okay to say; can empathize with Zhou Chang'an, who would give up the storming of Zhou Chang'an; Instead, they divided their troops and went south to attack the small city of Zezhou......

In this way, the main force of the Qin army, which had the momentum of great victory, could wave its army into the north of Zhongzhou along the north bank of the Yu River; Then go all the way to the north and go straight to the bottom of Yanjing City.

I couldn't be clearer about my own affairs. If the main force of the Qin army chooses to march on the northern front; Then there is an increasingly experienced Zhou Changan who commands operations at the front and stabilizes the morale of the army; Then whether it is Yangquan Pass or Shimen City, they can squeeze the last drop of blood of the soldiers of the Qin army; But if the opponent chooses to take a detour, even if it is just to divide the troops...... Then according to the civil and military officials of the towns and counties along the way, as well as the garrison force; If you can block the Qin army for ten days, it can be regarded as the manifestation of the ancestor of the Zhou family!

"Wang Zuocheng, I remember that after Xiaosi left Beijing, you were in charge of the affairs of Chiwu, right? What is the recent trend of Nankang? ”

As soon as he heard Emperor Tianyou's question, Cai Xi, who had not waited for Wang Fang to answer and comprehend, immediately coughed lightly twice and took the lead in replying:

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that it is feasible to transfer dogs to garrison Huaiqing Mansion, but the Zhongzhou army must not move! But with only the dog and the 20,000 new recruits, they could not resist the direction of the Qin army. ”

There is no doubt that from the geographical point of view, if the Qin army divides its troops into two routes and attacks the north bank of the Yu River; Then Huaiqing Mansion, which is under the jurisdiction of Zhongzhou Road, must bear the brunt. Although Cai Ning, the governor of Zhongzhou, is currently training recruits in the Beida Camp outside Yuzhou; But the 100,000 elite veterans of Zhongzhou are still in various stations on the north bank of the Huajiang River, guarding against a sneak attack by Nankang to the north.

But with only those 20,000 new dings, it is still stretched to hold Yuzhou City; What's more, it is necessary to take the initiative to leave the strong city defense and lead the army westward to hold the strategic Huaiqing Mansion, so that it is possible to block the Qin army from the gate of Zhongzhou Road.

In terms of official affairs, the 20,000 Xinding, who could not even hold a knife, could never be the opponent of the Qin army's tiger and wolf; In terms of personal matters, Cai Xi didn't want his son to be forced to go to Huaiqing Mansion to die.

In the end, the war discussion meeting in the imperial study ended unhappily. Even if Emperor Tianyou is the king of a country, he can't criticize Cai Xi for "protecting the calf"; After all, the big truth that people have pulled out is enough to stand.

However, half an hour after Cai and Wang left the palace, Tang Fuquan, the chief eunuch of the inner court, brought a very strange news to Emperor Tianyou: Cai Ning, the governor of Zhongzhou, Cai Anguo, was asking for a face outside the south gate of the Zijin Palace.

After Zhou Yuanqing asked Cai Ning, who suddenly returned to Beijing, about the intention of this visit, he was even more surprised:

"Anguo, I won't tell you. Half an hour ago, your father had just left the palace. As for your request for war, I have also consulted with the two wise ministers. We all thought that the threat of Nankang was far greater than that of the Qin rebels. If I transfer you to Huaiqing Mansion to sit in town, then where will I go to find another Cai Anguo to guard the southern gate of Beiyan? ”

When Cai Ning heard this, he replied succinctly:

"Your Majesty, there will be enough reliable information in the end to protect Nankang for a period of time, and there is no time to look north. Moreover, when the last general goes this time, he will not mobilize the elite soldiers of Zhongzhou, and will also follow the deputy of the last general for many years to stay in Luzhou to preside over the overall situation. As for the important town of Huaiqing Mansion this time, he will only bring 20,000 new dings at the end. ”

Cai Xi was not there, and Zhou Yuanqing wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to agree; But just before he spoke, Cai Xi's gray beard and slightly clumsy back flashed in his mind, and he finally sighed and handed over a secret letter on the bookcase to Cai Ning for a look.

This secret letter was written by Zheng Qian, the great military advisor of the Heavenly Blessing Army, and was sent back to Beiyan by Chiwu's spies day and night. The newspaper did not mention a word about the merits and demerits of the battle ahead, and the whole article introduced the new siege equipment that appeared in the Qin army's array, that is, the culprit that led to the destruction of Hedong City-Jiche.

After Cai Ning saw it, his face finally showed a little solemnity, but he didn't see the intention of retreating:

"Your Majesty, even if the power of this thing is really as Mr. Zheng said, the last general will not be afraid at all! There will be a 100% chance that this thing can be burned before it gets close to Huaiqing Mansion. ”

After listening to this, Zhou Yuanqing nodded a little hurriedly, and then took out another secret letter and handed it to Cai Ning, who insisted on asking for battle:

"This report has just been delivered, and I haven't even read your father and Wang Zuoxiang. After you finish reading it, if you still insist on going to Huaiqing Mansion, then I will no longer stop you. ”

Sure enough, this secret letter is the detailed story of Zhou Chang'an's return to the horse gun, leading 8,000 cavalry troops to rob the camp late at night, and finally being defeated.

"This ...... Your Majesty, I wonder how the Fourth Highness is now? Have you escaped unscathed? ”

"Wang Kenong has already sent someone to take him back to Bingzhou City, and the hospital is already on his way to Sanjin, and it is expected to be fine. An Guo, I don't know what you plan to do now? ”

Cai Ning closed his eyes and thought for a long time, then replied solemnly:

"Back to Your Majesty, the last general is the governor of Zhongzhou Road, and Huaiqing Mansion is located on the ground of Zhongzhou Road; This time, the rebels of Qindi invaded the territory on a large scale, and the duty of the last general should go to Huaiqing Mansion to defend against the enemy! ”

Emperor Tianyou looked at Cai Ning for a long time with a complicated expression, and then nodded heavily.

Three days later, Cai Ning, who worshiped the general of Zhongzhou and was awarded the title of Loyal and Brave Marquis, led 20,000 new soldiers under his command, ordered all the ordnance and food, and drove to Huaihua Mansion in a mighty way; In the camp of the Qin army in the west of Hedong City, Wang Yi, the military division of the Qin army, was also surrounded by twelve medical officers accompanying the army, and he was anxious.

summer scorching, mosquito breeding; The corpses towering like hills and the bloody mud as soft as a swamp under Hedong City finally erupted in a chain of full-scale festering......