In the autumn season, the sky is high and cool, the large and small trees in Jinling City are lush, and occasionally a gust of wind blows down a few yellow leaves, reminding pedestrians that winter is coming.

At this time, Jinling City, although the outer city wall has not yet started large-scale repair, there are many defects, but the Jinling Incident has been more than two years, and the traces left by the war in the city are in the continuous repair, there is not much left, and it has been restored to the prosperity of the past at the fastest speed.

At the beginning of the year, the situation was critical, but after all, it did not directly affect the south bank of the Yangtze River, on the contrary, under the strong threat from the outside, there were many fewer things in the court.

It seems that as long as it has passed like this, Da Chu Zhen will have a solid foundation and will be forever eternal.

It was getting late, and Shen Yang, whose temples were already completely white, and Qin Wen and Zuo Qian, who had been completely frosted in the matter, walked out of the government office, and saw that a few lights had been picked up in the courtyard, but they looked so dim and dull in the twilight.

A carriage has been prepared here to take Shen Yang back to the mansion.

Riding in and out of the imperial city by carriage and horse is a privilege that Shen Yang and other rulers and princes and ministers at the political level can only enjoy after being rewarded by Emperor Yanyou, Qin Wen and Zhang Qian can only walk out of the imperial city on foot, and they can only take the chariots and horses prepared by the servants outside the gate of the imperial city to return to the mansion.

However, when they were about to say goodbye to Shen Yang, they saw Shen Yang frowning slightly, standing in front of the steps and stopping his steps, they didn't know that Shen Yang suddenly thought of something at this time, so they stood there patiently and waited.

"You two go back with me first." Shen Yang came back to his senses and said to Qin Wen and Zhang Qian.

Xue Ruogu, Qin Wen, and Li Tang were expelled from Xuzhou by Han Qian, and they have been reused by Shen Yang, Xue Ruogu was demoted to Liyang as a county commander, Li Tang served as a ministry, and Qin Wen worked in clerical government affairs, so he stayed by Shen Yang's side and served as a minister in Menxia Province.

In the previous dynasty, he was in charge of the transcription of the departments of the courts, and the refutation was lost, and in the later period, he gradually grasped the power of refutation, and Zhang Qian served as the post of the left legacy, which had the meaning of admonishing officials and speaking officials, although it could not reach the level of participating in political affairs, but it was also the core official of the province.

Zhang Qian was the chief of Taowu Ji at the beginning, and when he was infected with the epidemic and starving people for the Dragon Bird Army, he recruited Taowu Ji as a cantonment military government, Zhang Qian stayed under Shen Yang as an official, and then he was very reluctant, and won the trust of Shen Yang and Emperor Yanyou, and in just a few years, he rose from a small official in the township to a Qing important member of the province, and he can also be called a person who is flying in the officialdom of Dachu.

Seeing that Shen Yang was invited, Qin Wen and Zhang Qian didn't know what was going on, but they could endure it, and they got into the carriage and galloped out of the imperial city together, heading towards Shen Yang's prime minister's mansion.

Before arriving at the mansion, Shen Yang instructed his family: "Go to King Shou's Mansion and ask, if Lord Shou is in the mansion at this time, can he not hesitate to see him." ”

Hearing that Shen Yang was going to see Shouwang Yang Zhitang at this time, and it seemed that he was going to lead them over together, Zhang Qian asked: "Xiangye is looking for Shouwang to discuss the expansion of the water division?" ”

Yang Zhitang wrote a letter to admonish, advocating that the remnants of the sailor be received under the Youlongwu army that moved to Runzhou, and temporarily organize a naval army, except for Shen Yang, the officials who did not want to see King Shou expand his power to Jiangdong also strongly opposed it, and this matter was delayed.

Han Qian's relationship with the imperial court during this period was basically quite pleasant and tacit, and at the same time, the dependents of more than 2,000 remnants of the sailors were all left in the Zhutun Camp Military Mansion, if they were forcibly detained, it would be a strong melon not sweet, after April, in addition to the nearly 300 generals of the old department of the Zuoguang German Army and the old department of the Longque Army, almost 2,000 other sailor generals were sent back to the south bank by Han Qian.

It's just Han Qian's kindness, Shen Yang's efforts to rebuild the Great Chu Water Division, but it has not been realized.

Theoretically, the military households of the Zhucang military government only need to rotate for four months of military service every year.

That is to say, under normal circumstances, one-third of the number of soldiers under the rule of the Zhucang Military Government will be assigned to active service, and two-thirds will remain at home in the Zhucang Military Government to engage in farming and recuperate.

These troops were rotated in three phases, with an average of four months per person per year. After the death and wounding, the brother dies and the brother succeeds, and the father dies and the son succeeds, and the total size of the number of troops remains roughly unchanged.

Only in the event of a major war, when a fuller military mobilization is to be carried out, at most all the troops can be requisitioned into the battalion, and the period of service can also be extended indefinitely, but the extra-long extension of service after the war must be converted.

Otherwise, if there is one less main labor force in the soldiers' households, the small farming of the dependents will be more difficult, and they will become more impoverished, and the morale of the generals will be suppressed if they stay in the army for a long time.

Not only did the main force of the naval division rush to Hongzepu before and after, but in fact, since the reorganization of the Wuya Army on the left and right, the number of troops in its cantonment military government has basically been in a state of overstaffing and overtime service.

The defeat of Hongzepu and the loss of so many generals, including more than 10,000 shipwrights and sailors, directly led to a significant drop in the number of sailors, and the number of troops that could be conscripted became extremely limited.

And since Shen Yang and others resolutely opposed the new formation of the naval army under the Youlongwu Army, Yang Zhitang, who was able to serve as a privy envoy in May, opposed the transfer of more soldiers from other cantonment military offices to the naval division.

From the early left and right dragon and bird army, to the later Yueyang army, and then to the current forbidden army and the guards and pro-army departments, they are all in the same line, and they have endured extremely frequent and heavy combat missions over the years.

Last year, not only was the naval division heavily damaged, the Youshenwu Army was almost wiped out, the two forbidden armies of Huaixi suffered casualties under the city of Chaozhou, and the troops stationed in Deng Xiang and Zheng Hui also suffered great defensive tasks.

In addition to guarding the pro-army, the generals of the forbidden army generally have problems such as overmobilization, overdue service, and the need to replenish new soldiers.

Not to mention other thoughts and interests entangled, this alone makes Yang Zhitang's proposition supported by many generals in the army.

What's more, the central finances are so tight, and it is necessary to give priority to ensuring the clamping of Shuzhou and Tangyi against the Shouzhou army, and stabilize the gateway to the north of Jinling, and there are not many resources that can be used elsewhere.

Even Shen Yang agreed with Yang Zhitang's judgment that the Liang Army's naval division might attack and disturb the coast, but the importance of allocating troops and reorganizing the naval division was still ignored by most of the generals in the court.

Most of the generals and ministers of the DPRK and China still thought that the wind and waves of the sea would be the biggest shelter along the Jianghuai coast.

Everyone believed that the Liang army was clumsy with naval forces and warships, and even if it had an advantage in the frontal battlefield, it would divide its forces to attack and harass the coast, but the scale would definitely not be large, and the existing coastal defenses were enough to resist.

Not only that, Yang Zhitang also insisted that the existing sailors and soldiers strictly implement the rotation system, and resolutely repatriated the remnants of the overstaffed and overdue service to the military government for recuperation.

As a result, the establishment of the naval division of the Left Fifth Tooth Army was not abolished, but there were less than 1,000 generals left who could be recruited into the battalion in rotation.

As for the construction of new ships, warships, and the recruitment of shipwrights and sailors, it is impossible to talk about them without allocating large sums of money and food.

This actually made the state of the Left Five Tooth Army, like the Dragon Bird Army before the formation of the Hungry People, in a state of near paralysis.

More often, the remnants of the Zuo Wuya Army were only guards and horses traveling by boat for princes and ministers, and they were not capable of taking on the heavy task of defending the lower waterways of the Yangtze River, let alone defending the coastal areas of the Yangtze River and Huai River from enemy attacks.

The reason why Zhang Qian asked this was that the Huaidong Salt Field had been attacked by the Liang Army's sailors many times in the past month, and the casualties had become heavy.

Yesterday, the salt and iron envoy officially sent a letter requesting the imperial court water diverter to reinforce the Huaidong salt field.

Although outside the Privy Council system, the Salt and Iron Envoy Department has thousands of salt guards in the Huaidong Salt Field, and at the same time, not to mention the rivers and rivers in the salt field, the transportation of forage and salt is mainly transported by river, and there is also a certain scale of naval army, but in the past, the salt soldiers were mainly to govern the salt people, arrest the salt barons, and crack down on river bandits and lake bandits.

However, the Liang army's newly formed Youlou ship army in Haizhou was still exploring the mode of naval warfare at the beginning, and the scale of the troops was small, and it was not very familiar with the tide and the situation of the tidal flats and silt along the Huaidong salt field, especially in June and July, when there were frequent storms at sea, and the Liang army did not dare to make big moves, but only dared to attack and harass at close range and on a small scale, and accumulate lessons and lessons.

In the vicinity of Huaikou, which was closest to the enemy, the salt and iron transport envoy's guard salt soldiers were relatively well prepared, and they reaped considerable results in several battles.

In addition to hundreds of heads, more than 10 Asakura sea ships were also captured, and Emperor Yanyou also issued a decree to commend Zhang Chao, who was in charge of the salt and iron transshipment envoy after the new emperor ascended the throne, was more or less carried away.

Zhang Chao's appointment as the salt and iron transport envoy was a compromise for Huang Hua to serve as the Hunan propaganda envoy, and Yang Yuanpu also needed to have a trusted minister to control the largest financial resources of the center except for the household department.

And Zhang Chao was also quite satisfied with this position, and transferred a lot of generals from his lineage to come in, thinking that the salt and iron transfer envoys would be regarded as their own territory, so they also opposed the intervention of the Right Dragon Martial Army in the defense of the Huaidong Salt Field, and chose to stand with Shen Yang, and opposed the formation of the Sailor Division under the banner of the Right Dragon Martial Army.

At one time, he even showed off to Shouwang Yang Zhitang with several early achievements of the salt soldiers, showing that the combat effectiveness of the salt soldiers was not weak, in order to further seek to strengthen the support of the salt soldiers in the court.

Although the captain of the Langzhou Department of Salt Guard, who served as the main general of the salt guard, did not take the initiative to attack, but when neither side made low-level mistakes, he still fought hard power.

In mid-to-late August, taking advantage of the passing of the rainy season, the Liang Army's naval division attacked and harassed the salt works south of Huaikou, which was not only larger in scale, but also more impeccable in organizing operations.

At this time, the disadvantages of the lack of training, armor and warships were fully exposed.

Three days ago, the largest forage field near Huaikou was attacked, thousands of stacks of firewood and grass hoarded to cook salt were set on fire, more than 200 salt soldiers were annihilated, dozens of nearby salt villagers were also destroyed, and thousands of salt people were coerced out to sea and evacuated to Haizhou.

Coupled with the previous results, in less than twenty days, nearly a quarter of the Huaidong Salt Field was in a wail.

At this time, Zhang Chao realized that the problem was serious.

Every year after the storm season, the sea has become more and more calm, the rain is less, and the large weeds are withered and yellow, it should be a good time to harvest forage and take brine and boil salt, if it is not for the defense situation in the Huaikou area is not improved, even if the Liang army and the naval division do not expand the scale of the attack, the salt matter in the next year will be greatly affected.

However, the problem is not only here, which means that the judgment of Shouwang Yang Zhitang in early April asking the Youlongwu army to form a new naval army to prevent the Liang army's naval army from attacking and disturbing the Jianghuai coastal area is correct, and it also means that the Liang army is very likely to expand its attacks on the Jianghuai coastal areas and even the Jiangdong coastal prefectures and counties south of the Yangtze River estuary in the future.

It's just that the princes and ministers of the central government are also more aware of the importance of coastal defense, but the focus of the problem is still to directly rebuild the Zuowuya Army Naval Division, or to form a new naval division under the Right Longwu Army, and to undertake more defense along the river and coast east of Runzhou.

Failure to reach a consensus on this issue will ultimately lead to inexhaustible disagreement.

Shen Yang wanted to go to see Yang Zhitang in person at this time, and Zhang Qian guessed that it was probably for the reconstruction of the water master, which was understandable.

Although Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang can meet from time to time in the political affairs hall, when the two meet, the other ministers are also together, involving too many interests and interests, and there are many things between the two that cannot be explained clearly or thoroughly.

Even if you want to compromise, exchange interests, even if Shen Yang wants to make a certain degree of concession, at this time, you can only talk to Shouwang Yang Zhitang privately, but I don't know what kind of turmoil will come out of this in the eyes of people with a heart.

What Zhang Qian didn't understand was that Shen Yang seemed to have the intention of bringing him and Qin Wen with him, or was there something else to discuss with them before going to Shouwang's Mansion?

Shen Yang nodded, saying that he wanted to visit King Shou's Mansion at this time, it was indeed for the purpose of rebuilding the water master, but he didn't say anything more, and invited Zhang Qian and Qin Wen to follow him into the mansion first.

After drinking tea for a while, the servants who had contacted the Shouwang Mansion first had not returned, but Zhang Qian and Qin Wen saw Xue Ruogu walking in.

Xue Ruogu was still serving as the commander of Lishui County at this time, although Lishui County was not far from Beijing, and the fast horse could go back and forth in one day, but Zhang Qian and Qin Wen really didn't know that Xue Ruogu was in Beijing at this time.

Xue Ruogu is older than Zhang Qian and Qin Wen, and before being expelled from Xuzhou by Han Qian, he served as the governor of Shi, but because he offended many people in the clan and clan when he served in Yueyang and in the court, he was demoted to Lishui.

Zhang Qian and Qin Wen stood up to give Xue Ruogu a salute, Xue Ruogu returned the salute, and asked Shen Yang: "Ruogu has been back in Beijing for the past two days, and I have heard a lot of rumors about the marriage between the Marquis of Qianyang and Wang Wenqian's daughter, and Xiangye has already picked up the matter of the Chishan Society with King Shou, right?" ”

"Not yet, if King Shou is in the mansion today, I plan to see him later." Shen Yang said.

"How can Xiangye hesitate and delay for so long?" Xue Ruogu's tone couldn't help but complain a little.

Qin Wen and Zhang Qian were a little surprised in their hearts, although they had known that Xue Ruogu would not give face to anyone when he straightened up, but they also did not expect Xue Ruogu to speak in such a tone to Shen Yang.

Of course, they couldn't guess what kind of secret was hidden behind the matter of the Chishan Society for a while, and it was up to Shen Yang to find out with Shouwang Yang Zhitang as soon as possible.

After Han Qian guarded Tangyi, he had closer contacts with Huaidong, which was nothing special in the eyes of the generals and ministers of the DPRK, after all, Tangyi and Yangzhou of Huaidong had to face the enemy troops stationed in Chuzhou together, and the generals and ministers of the DPRK also saw that the cooperation between Huaidong and Tangyi was cautious and precautionary.

In August, Han Qian sent people to Yangzhou to sell their fields and houses to recruit nearly 20,000 displaced people to Shitangyi, and there was no restriction on Huaidong, which was a bit special.

Although Huaidong has become increasingly embarrassed since the spring and summer, and urgently needs a large amount of money and grain to make up for the shortage of military funds, Han Qian sold his farm house in Yangzhou, and lent Huaidong 200,000 or 300,000 yuan of money and grain before and after, with Huaidong's urgent need, this can be regarded as the reason why Huaidong had to make compromises with Han Qian and Tangyi, but the problem is that Huaidong has not openly and formally asked the imperial court for help.

At this time, some rumors about the marriage contract between Han Qian and Wang Wenqian's daughter spread in Beijing, saying that Ruan Yan had reintroduced the marriage contract in Fanchang, and Han Qian left Fanchang and returned to Xuzhou to keep filial piety, but it could not be regarded as a refusal to marry.

At this time, the discerning person also realized that these rumors were deliberately spread behind the scenes, and combined with the increasingly close cooperation between Tangyi and Huaidong during this time, it was natural to think that these rumors were very likely to pave the way for Han Qian to officially marry Wang Wenqian's daughter.

After Han Qian officially married Wang Wenqian's daughter, it also meant that the relationship between Tangyi and Huaidong would enter a new stage.

Qin Wen and Zhang Qian are in important positions, so they can naturally see these subtleties.

Although it has always been taboo for generals guarding Xinjiang to form parties and run private businesses, under the current situation, Qin Wen and Zhang Qian do not feel that this is something unacceptable.

It must be said that the former subordinate of the Shenling Division of the former dynasty and the Changchun Palace made Lu Qingxia inseparable from the Queen Mother, and secretly held the power of auxiliary government, isn't it much more serious?

Of course, Xue Ruogu's outrageous words shocked them, and at the same time made them realize that the problem hidden beneath the surface of the water might be more serious than they had imagined.

Shen Yang didn't blame Xue Ruogu for his disrespectful words, sighed slightly, and said: "I was still negligent about the attack on the coast by the Liang army'......s sailors, and I didn't really pay attention to it, thinking that even if King Shou was bewitched, it would not become a big harm, and some things were delayed until now, and I haven't made it clear to King Shou."

Zhang Qian couldn't bear it at this time, and asked directly: "But I don't know what is in the dark of Lord Shou?" ”

"......" Xue Ruogu glanced at Shen Yang, and saw that he had no intention of stopping him, so he said, "When I got Ren Lishui last year, I also thought simply, and I thought in my heart at that time, even if things are not so simple, if there is really any secret in Shang Wensheng's assassination case, it should be revealed, and the truth should be returned to the world." After arriving in Lishui, I also found some evidence to confirm that Wei Zhen and the Criminal Department had a lot of concealment when investigating the assassination case, intending to retaliate against Han Qian's suppression of the Gyeonggi sect during the Jinling rebellion. However, when I sent people to Guangde Mansion to search for further evidence, I accidentally found that as early as June and July last year, a considerable part of the old troops of the Zuo Guangde Army had gathered in the fishing villages along the Taihu Lake, and I think Han Qian should have been in Jinling at that time......"

"How is that possible?" Zhang Qian asked in surprise, "Even if Chen Jingzhou had secretly colluded with Han Qian a long time ago, how could so many officials in the prefecture and county not notice this?" ”

Chen Jingzhou went to Guangde Mansion to stabilize the situation in the later period, and did not have the power to remove a large number of official positions occupied by the sons of the clansmen in Guangde Mansion.

It is possible that Chen Jingzhou is hiding some things for Han Qian, but if there are really signs of a large-scale gathering of the old army of Zuo Guangde, and the officials of Guangde Mansion, who are the children of the clan lords, are not blind, and the whistleblowing letters must not be sent to Beijing like snowflakes?

"The old headquarters of the Zuoguang German Army gathered in the early stage were all people who had been seized from the fields, so the discrete aggregation of these people was negligent to the local officials." Xue Ruogu said.

“……”

Zhang Qian gasped.

The assassination of Shang Wensheng caused a surge of public sentiment among the Gyeonggi clansmen, so that for a period of time, the Gwangdeok Mansion was in a large prison lawsuit, and under the instigation of many officials from the clans, a large number of the old units of the Zuoguang German army were seized after the war.

There was already a desire to expel people, so when these people left their territories, the local officials naturally turned a blind eye, which caused a big loophole in which large-scale gatherings of people were neglected by the localities.

As early as June and July last year, Han Qian sneaked to Jinling to secretly gather the old headquarters of Zuoguang's German army, what did he want?