"These old rivals of mine have all come together again this time!"

Han Qian flipped through the latest letters and newspapers from Jinling, smiled and put the ink pen on top of a stack of documents, stretched his waist and said to Xi Ying.

"If Shen Yang and Yang En can continue to control the Chu court center, the relationship between Liang and Chu may be able to ease for a few years, but they are old after all. And Shen Yang has dominated the phase for more than fifteen years, which is only three or five cases in the previous dynasty, even if there is no Yang Zhitang, Huang Hua, Yang Yuanyan and others fanning the flames behind his back, he will continue to fall in love, he will be like sitting on pins and needles, right? Xi Ying knelt on the side of the long case, sorted out the case for Han Qian, and said, "However, with your little lover in the south, she will not easily let Shen Yang and Yang En leave the court; And Emperor Chu and Emperor Chu have also begun to have their own opinions, and he should also trust Shen Yang and Yang En more. I think Shen Yang and Yang En may be able to support the DPRK for two or three years, so that they will not be forced to resign this year......"

"What's my little lover?" Han Qian asked with a smile.

"Such a precious bell, Luoyang Academy barely controlled the deviation to one-eighth of a moment, you can't wait to send it to Jinling to offer treasures, you are really worried about others!" Xi Ying said.

"Am I not thinking about you?" Han Qian stretched out his hand to take Xi Ying into his arms.

Xi Ying dodged out of the way, and glared at Han Qian with disgust: "Don't look anywhere, what kind of hands are you doing?" ”

Now only when she accompanies Han Qian out of Luoyang to inspect military and political affairs, avoiding the eyes of Zhao Ting'er and Wang Jun, will she have a warm relationship with Han Qian, but rarely sleep by Han Qian's side; In Shangyang Yuan, Han Qian didn't want to be beaten by her, and she didn't want to get any canonization.

Han Qian sat Xi Ying opposite the imperial case, smiled helplessly, back to the topic just now, he had long noticed the rumors with ulterior motives that were gradually spreading in Jinling City, combined with the latest information from today, the situation in Jinling City was indeed worrying, and said:

"Youthful enthusiasm is the easiest to take advantage of. Sima Tan raised the land of Xu Si to Chu, such a big temptation, few people in Chu Ting could not be moved, but Sima Tan must see Yang Zhitang return to the center before he can rest assured to vote. Emperor Chu is young and vigorous, full of thoughts about opening up the territory of Great Chu, Shen Yang and Yang En don't stand up to dissuade it, if they stand up to dissuade it, they don't necessarily need Yang Yuanyan, Huang Hua, and Yang Zhitang to do anything behind the scenes, the first thing to see Shen Yang and Yang En who are impatient and unpleasing to the eye may be the teenager they cultivated single-handedly. ”

"Young and frivolous, maybe he really only cares about staring at the big beam as the enemy, and can't see the danger and murder around him - if Shen Yang and Yang En also realized this, maybe they would have been disheartened, right? However, in this way, isn't your little lover in more trouble, and he can't even control his own son? Xi Ying asked.

"Maybe that makes the final problem a little easier?" Han Qian also said with a hint of uncertainty.

At this time, Qin Wen walked in and reported that Wang Zhe had brought the information of the Shouzhou Army that had been reorganized recently to Lingyun Pavilion with the officials of the General Staff Office, and asked Han Qian if he wanted to see it now.

"Li Zhihe, Tian Cheng, and Guo are all in the Staff Mansion?" Han Qian asked.

"It's all at this time." Qin Wen said.

"And they sent them all over." Han Qian said.

Qin asked people to go to the staff office to summon Li Zhihe, Tian Cheng, and Guo Ke to see him, and Wang Zhe took the officials to move a large stack of materials into the main hall first.

The information involved in these materials, Wang Zhe, Yin Peng and others will report to Han Qian at any time, but Han Qian is always used to personally going through the information for a period of time every once in a while, hoping for new discoveries.

"Xu Mingzhen has been bedridden for a few months, Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting led 3,000 cavalry in Bianliang, and they didn't do anything, what is there any movement in Songzhou?" Han Qian asked Wang Zhe while flipping through the papers.

"Xu Mingzhen is suffering from a serious disease, this news has been repeatedly confirmed, and it is currently his son Xu Sizhao who is handling the affairs of the Shouzhou Army in Songzhou; There was also news from the inside that the reason why Xu Mingzhen sent Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting to Bianliang for reinforcements should be a precautionary ......," Wang Zhe said.

"It's not surprising." Han Qian said.

"However, among the generals of the Shouzhou Army, there are still some discussions secretly spreading, saying that after Xu Mingzhen died of illness, if Xu Jin is in charge of the Shouzhou Army, it can remove the obstacle to rejoining the Chu Court," Wang Zhe said, "Weichen suspects that even if Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting were sent to Bianliang for reinforcements, these small actions in Song Zhou were actually made by them in secret......

Han Qian shook his head and smiled, and said with emotion: "They are all smart people!" It is true that even though Xu Jin, Zhao Mingting and others were on the list of rebels that year, in any case, Xu Hui and Xu Mingzhen and others were the main culprits who must be punished. ”

"Since Duke Wen and Lord Wen can be pardoned by Chu Ting, and finally serve in front of the king's account and be reused, in the eyes of many generals of the Shouzhou Army, as long as Xu Mingzhen dies of illness, it is not Xu Sizhao who succeeds Xu Jin, Zhao Mingting and others to rejoin Chu Ting, how can they have the opportunity to repent and reform themselves in Chu Ting, and even redeem their merits," Wang Zhe said, "And more importantly, under Xu Mingzhen, although Xu Jin is an adopted son, his ability and prestige are stronger than that of his sister-in-law Xu Sizhao - at least under the current situation, Xu Sizhao is not a successor who can make Zhao Mingting, Xu Jin and other Shouzhou army generals feel at ease; What cannot be confirmed now is whether Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting secretly contacted the people of Xinwangfu or Shouwangfu......"

…………

…………

Li Zhihe, Tian Cheng, and Guo Ke quickly rushed to Lingyun Pavilion after receiving the edict.

Rubbing his hands and walking into Lingyun Pavilion, Tian Cheng saluted, sat down behind the long case, and said: "It's cold when I see it this day, and the generals besieging Jincheng are going to endure a hard life!" ”

"When I opened the window this morning and saw the hoarfrost in the garden, I realized that it was really cold." Han Qian said.

When Feng Yi completely sent the mission of Shu State, and rushed from Liangzhou to Jinling, Kong Xirong, Han Donghu, and Li Xiu led three routes of soldiers and horses, and successfully captured Yangcheng west of Zezhou and many pass cities in the south of Taihang, and advanced the troops to the city of Jincheng in Zezhou Prefecture.

At present, in addition to Kong Xirong and Han Donghu, 60,000 soldiers and horses are led to attack Jincheng from the north and south, and control Taihang and Qin

Outside the passes of the Water River Valley, Li Xiu led the Taiyue camp army to sweep north of Zezhou and southern Luzhou.

Whether it is a friend or a friend, fighting in the ice and snow is an extremely difficult thing.

However, the most important thing for Daliang to be vigilant against is not that tens of thousands of generals must insist on fighting in the ice and snow, but that the situation on the southern front may change subtly at any time.

On the northern front, there are generals such as Wen Bo, Kong Xirong, Han Dong, and Li Xiu who are responsible for the operation and defense of Taiyuan and Jinnan, and the situation is relatively clear.

Now it is difficult to stabilize the Shu army, but there are waves in Jinling City, and the situation is no longer secretly dominated by them.

Han Qian couldn't wait to send Feng Yi to Jinling, but it might not be able to play much of a role.

At present, the Mongolian army is still constantly recruiting troops and horses from Taiyuan, Heshuo, Yanyun, and even from the Bohai Sea, filling in the city of Luzhou in the north of southern Jin; In addition to the strategic position of the Jinnan region as a link between Taiyuan and Heshuo and Hanoi, Han Qian also believed that the Mongol army must have noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere within the Chu court.

In fact, in addition to the variable of the Shouzhou Army, the situation of Sima's surrender to Chu Ting has basically become clear.

No matter how great Liang's advantage in the naval warships is, if the relationship between Liang and Chu turns bad, Huainan Province only uses the existing 30,000 garrisons to fight against the Chu army surrounded by nearly 200,000 troops on three sides, and it is determined that the Chu army will not turn its face first, and it is more or less blindly confident and arrogant.

And at this time, they could not even rule out the possibility that Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan had conspired to send troops to attack and capture Huaixi; Their lack of troops in Huaixi will also be a direct incentive for Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuan to perform.

"Zhang Xian and others advocated in Jinling that Emperor Yanyou led the army to win the great victory of Xichuan at the age of fourteen, and the intention is still quite obvious,"

Li Zhihe said in a deep voice in response to the latest letter,

"If Emperor Chu is the only Empress Dowager Changxin behind him, no matter how Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan do things, the Empress Dowager Changxin should be able to delay until four years later and then call Emperor Chu to govern, but the Empress Dowager Changxin and the Empress Dowager Mingcheng were respected together, and the legacy was truly reflected at this time. Once Emperor Chu is young and vigorous, instigated by others, and has a conflict with the Empress Dowager Changxin, the Empress Dowager Mingcheng will become the most critical move for Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan to promote the development of the situation! ”

"So, it is still possible for Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan to bypass Chu Ting, use the soldiers and horses they directly control without authorization, take the risk of attacking Huaixi, and then take advantage of Emperor Chu's youth and vigor to resist the reproach of Empress Dowager Changxin and Shen Yang, Yang En and others, so as to drag the entire Chu army into the battle?" Tian Cheng frowned and asked with a hint of uncertainty.

Han Qian nodded, the information gathered from many sides now all pointed to this possibility, and they must also take precautions in this direction at present.

At present, Yang Yuanyan directly controls 30,000 elite soldiers and horses in Chuzhou, and the soldiers and horses of the first line of Shouwangfu are mainly stationed in Yangzhou and Runzhou, with 20,000 soldiers and horses, in addition to more than 15,000 elite soldiers and horses led by Zhao Zhen stationed in Suizhou.

This is the strength directly controlled by Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan, which is as high as more than 60,000 people.

If one considers that Sima Tan's Xu Sijun is likely to take the risk of participating in their plan, then they have a great advantage over the Great Liang's garrison in Huaixi.

However, Han Qian believed that Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan had suffered so many losses under their men over the years, so they should not blindly think that they would be able to take Zhunxi in the shortest possible time, and they should not be so blind that they would be able to resist Daliang from sending elite reinforcements to Huaixi from western Henan and Yongzhou after attacking Huaixi.

Therefore, even if Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan will take the risk of bypassing the Chu court center at first, they will inevitably have to find a way to drag the Chu State into the war against Daliang in the future.

Only in this way can they have enough self-confidence to capture the entire Huaixi and hold the line of the Huai River.

And after they first used troops without authorization, the young and vigorous Chu Emperor Yang Bin will most likely become the key to whether they can successfully drag the entire Chu State and the entire Chu army into the war.

"With Yang Zhitang's caution, he may still have to persuade Gu Zhilong to participate in their plan before he dares to act so risky," Wang Zhe said, "Now we have two points that we can't confirm, one is whether Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting secretly sent people to contact Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan?" If so, it would also be a factor that contributed to Yang Chi-tang's risk-taking; Another is whether Gu Zhilong himself also has the idea of taking risks, and our secret pile is not sure at present...... On the other hand, we may be able to make a fuss from Xu Jin and Gu Zhilong, so that Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan will dispel the idea of taking risks. ”

If Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting can be persuaded to seize the Shouzhou army and surrender to Liang after Xu Mingzhen's illness, instead of going to Chu State, this will directly change the pattern of the situation on the southern front, and the shock to Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan will definitely not be less; At the same time, Gu Zhilong can draw a clear line with Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan, and become the main peace faction that supports the Empress Dowager Changxin, which can further weaken Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan's confidence in taking risks.

"Do you think it is possible that Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting are willing to hand over their military power and be happy to be rich men?" Han Qian looked at Li Zhihe and Tian Cheng and asked.

Li Zhihe and Tian Cheng both shook their heads, saying that it was good for Wang Zhe to send people to secretly lobby Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting, but this possibility was not high.

In their opinion, even if they want to send people to contact Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting, they can directly send messengers with Han Yuanqi and Zhao Wuji, who are sitting in western Henan, but it is not appropriate to expose the high-level spies who have been lurking in Songzhou all these years.

"Is it necessary to shrink from the south of Jincheng to the south with the Second Central Marching Army now?" Li Zhihe asked.

At present, Gao Shao, Yang Qin, and Lin Haizheng are in charge of Huainan Province, and although they have fully increased their vigilance, this cannot change the fact that there are only 30,000 troops stationed in Huainan Province, and even if the military reserves are urgently expanded, there will only be 50,000 horses available.

Han Yuanqi and Zhao Wuji had more soldiers and horses in western Henan, but they had to defend Dengzhou Mansion, Yunyang Mansion, and Junzhou Mansion in the southwestern part of Henan, and they had to resist Zhu Rang, Liang Ren's troops and Xu Mingzhen's Shouzhou Army in the east, and they could only transfer one if necessary

More than 10,000 soldiers and horses went to reinforce Huainan Province.

However, at this time, if Han Donghu's Second Central Camp Army was to be ready to go south to reinforce Huainan at any time, it would inevitably slow down the offensive against Jincheng, which would directly affect the war arrangements for Jinnan.

To put it bluntly, this is also the natural disadvantage of Daliang being in the middle of the world and facing enemies on all sides.

If they directly transfer tens of thousands of elites to the south now, it will be able to force Yang Yuanyan and Yang Zhitang to give up their adventurous behavior, but the Mongolian army in the north will also have a chance to breathe, not to mention, the situation drags on, and the Eastern Liang army and the Shu army may reverse.

Han Qian pondered for a while: "You see, can Lin Haizheng be transferred to the deputy envoy of Henan Economic Strategy and the commander of the Henan Camp Army, and Zhao Wuji will be appointed as the deputy envoy of the Economic Strategy and the commander of the Huainan Camp Army, and at the same time, the two elites of Cao Ba and Li Qi will be replaced with the Chuzhou garrison......"

"Wouldn't it be too risky?" Li Zhihe couldn't help but ask worriedly.

In the past six or seven years, the war in Daliang was mainly concentrated on the northern front, and even if the scale of soldiers and horses was comparable, the soldiers and horses of the northern front were superior to those of the southern front in terms of physical fitness, drills, combat experience, and even equipment.

With Zhao Wuji and Lin Haizheng, and at the same time the most elite Cao Ba and Li Qi two brigades of infantry and cavalry and Tuzhou defenders were reversed, the combat effectiveness of the Chuzhou defenders will be greatly improved, but after the infantry, cavalry, and naval army of the Huainan Eastern Front have been strengthened, plus a reserve brigade stationed in the south of Chuzhou, the total strength is only about 17,800 people.

In the east of Chuzhou, Yang Yuanyan led 30,000 soldiers and horses to be stationed in Chuzhou, Shouwangfu had 10,000 garrisons in Yangzhou, and on the northeast side of Chuzhou, across Hong Zepu was Sima's Xu Si army, and the scale of soldiers and horses that could be mobilized was as high as more than 60,000 people.

In recent years, although Daliang has made every effort to develop the craftsmen of Heluo and Dengjun, and after the middle of the year, a large number of engineers were dispatched to Yong, Qi and other places, and Yongzhou College also began to prepare for the construction, but Huainan is still an important town for Daliang.

Among them, Wujian Mountain, west of Chuzhou Prefecture, accounts for more than one-third of the entire coal and iron mining and smelting scale of Daliang; The shipyards of East Lake and Shouchun account for seventy percent of the Daliang shipbuilding industry; The textile industry in Donghu and Chaozhou accounts for half of the girder......

Traditionally speaking, even if the battle plan against Jinnan is abandoned halfway, it should first ensure that the Huainan front line is foolproof, and even ensure that the enemy army is blocked on the periphery as much as possible, so that it cannot be given the opportunity to enter the depths of Huainan and wreak havoc.

"If you are worried that it is too risky, then let Lu Ze lead the first and second cavalry of the Imperial Guard Army to carry another hundred spring-arm chariot crossbows, and temporarily return to the Huainan camp army to control it, so as to focus on strengthening the defense of the Chuzhou frontline. In addition, it is not possible to send more troops and horses to the southern front. With Yang Zhitang's courage, if I transfer too many elites to Huainan, I'm afraid he will have to retract again......" Han Qian said with a lazy stretch.

Li Zhihe and Tian Cheng glanced at each other, still a little hesitant.

After recovering Guanzhong, in addition to the responsibility of the first and second central marching armies to defend the national capital from the left and right wings, Han Qian also reorganized the first and second garrison brigades into the Luoyang Imperial Guard, mainly responsible for the garrison of the national capital Luoyang City and the guards of Shangyang Yuan.

Guo Ke also led the imperial guards, Huo Li and Lu Ze were the commanders of the brigades, and the imperial guards were organized into six capitals, plus logistics support personnel and security divisions, with a total of only 8,000 men and horses, only about half of the main town army, but it was an elite cavalry combat force formed by elite military attaches and veterans from various departments.

However, no matter how elite the imperial guards are, there are only more than 2,000 cavalry in the two capitals, how much can they strengthen the Chuzhou defense line?

Seeing that Li Zhihe and Tian Cheng were quite hesitant, Han Qian leaned forward and said: "You also said that although there are many enemy troops east and north of Chuzhou, Yang Yuanyan, Yang Zhitang and Sima Tan dare to take risks rashly, and the first batch of troops they mobilized cannot be too much-I will now transfer Zhao Wuji, Cao Ba, Li Mo, and Lu Ze to Chuzhou, as long as they can severely defeat or even completely annihilate the first wave of enemy troops, the situation in Jianghuai will not get out of our control, and it is possible to avoid a full-scale war between Liang and Chu!" ”

Li Zhihe and Tian Cheng pondered for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement with Han Qian's more or less risky plan.

Xu Si's army seems to be able to mobilize the most soldiers and horses, but Sima has always been an old slippery head, not to mention, Xu Si's land wants to attack Huainan Province (Huaixi), Chuzhou in the south and Shouzhou army in the west, they will not give him an excuse, they have to cross more than 100 miles of open Hongzepu in order to enter the northern part of Chuzhou or the eastern part of Haozhou.

However, the strength of Sima's naval army was not strong, and if they wanted to send troops across Hongzepu, they would have to wait for the soldiers and horses of Chuzhou and Yangzhou to enter Chuzhou.

Even if Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting secretly colluded with Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan to seize the military power of Xu Mingzhen and Xu Sizhao's father and son, it would take a process for them to launch a mutiny and truly control the Shouzhou Army, and it was impossible to send troops at the first time.

Huang Xi's Zuo Wuxiang army under the command of the envoy was stationed in Chizhou, while Gu Zhilong's Yongjia army, although it also had nearly 10,000 elite troops transferred north, was also stationed in Xuanzhou, Runzhou and other places south of the Yangtze River.

These two soldiers and horses are blocked by the Yangtze River, even if they participate in the adventure plan led by Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan, they will inevitably be the second echelon.

In addition, under the direct control of Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan, Zhao Zhen led the Right Wuxiang Army stationed in Suiyang, but if the Right Wuxiang Army wanted to attack Huainan Xinyang Mansion to the north, it needed to first conquer Wusheng, Pingjing and other passes between Tongbai Mountain and Huaiyang Mountain.

After careful analysis, the Chu army can mobilize a lot of soldiers and horses in the periphery of Huainan, but Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan want to bypass the center of Chu Ting, and the first wave of forward soldiers and horses that enter Huainan is quite limited, and the largest estimate is 40,000 garrisons in Chuzhou and Yangzhou.

If Feng Yi, Wen Ruilin, and Han Jianji could use diplomatic means in Jinling to prevent Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuanyan from rashly sending troops, it would naturally be best.

Otherwise, they used the elite infantry cavalry that seemed to be inferior in strength to lure Yang Zhitang and Yang Yuan to perform the soldiers, and lured their forward soldiers and horses to the west of Fan Lianghu Lake to inflict heavy losses.

Even if they wanted to take advantage of Yang Bin's youthful vigor to compete for the dominance of the center of the Chu court, even if their first offensive into Huaixi did not win an inspiring victory, at least they had to let the government and opposition of the Chu State see the hope of victory, so that it was possible to suppress the Empress Dowager Changxin, and it was possible to drive the seemingly conservative Shen Yang and Yang En out of the court......