The commanders took out their bitter gourd faces at the same time, shook their heads and sighed, and said in a lamented voice: "When my lord first came, I didn't know the dilemma of Sichuan. Originally, the elite of the four major Rong Divisions were all deployed on the front line of Xingyuan Mansion, led by the Cao Youwen brothers, Cao Gong was brave and fierce, and his subordinates were all fierce soldiers, and the whole Sichuan at that time transferred strong soldiers to him. Unexpectedly, the bloody battle of Yangping Pass, Cao Gong was martyred, his soldiers and horses were wiped out, and the remaining soldiers from all over the country were much worse, and the defense of the city was acceptable. ”

Chen Longzhi felt that the problem was a little serious, and the anger that had just subsided had some signs of emerging, he frowned and said: "The Sichuan system has more than 100,000 soldiers, is it possible that Cao Youwen died in battle, and there is no one who can replace him?" The imperial court has never levied taxes in Sichuan over the years, and they have all been reserved for the use of the envoys to raise soldiers, so they have raised such a look? ”

The rulers looked at each other in embarrassment and fell silent.

Yuan Jianzhi coughed and relieved them of the siege: "Lord Chen, in fact, they also have difficulties, raising soldiers for a thousand days, and using soldiers for a while. There are soldiers to keep them, so that they can be pulled out when needed. If you don't raise soldiers on weekdays, what will you use them? Lord Chen also knows that when it comes to money, there are many ways in the middle, you take a bite and I take a bite, and the rest ends up on raising soldiers, not much. ”

This is a straightforward and profound statement, but anyone who has led soldiers understands what he means. How can Chen Longzhi not understand?

"It's a bit too much." Chen Longzhi snorted and said: "Sichuan is close to Western Xia and borders the Jin State, even if the Mongols don't fight, there will be wars every year, how can you not be careless in such an important place?" Now that it's like this, who's responsible? ”

Yuan Jianzhi glanced at him, smiled dryly and didn't speak, but there was a meaning in his eyes: You are the envoy, don't you just let you be responsible for carrying the blame?

Several commanders also hurriedly poured bitter water, telling how there was a lack of military spending, there was simply not enough armor and weapons, and they wanted to recruit strong soldiers but had no military salaries, and all the people who came were people with yellow faces and thin muscles, and it was impossible to train the troops if they wanted to.

The more Chen Longzhi listened, the more impatient he became, waved his hand to let everyone shut up, and said categorically: "Even if there are many disadvantages, the matter of going north must be carried out, and the generals will go back first, and give you three days to rectify the soldiers and soldiers, and after three days, in this Gongzhou Mansion and the official's pro-military camp, show the banner, and set off together!" ”

Everyone in the audience turned a little pale, but because of Chen Longzhi's official position and authority, it was impossible to refuse under the pretext, so he could only agree to it, but his attitude was not reluctant, and he was vague and unstraightforward.

As the twelfth grandson of Cao Bin, the founding general of the Song Dynasty, Cao Youwen once rode alone to the Tianshui Army at night, scattered his wealth and recruited 7,000 troops within three days, and saved the Tianshui Army in the siege of the Mongols.

Such a fierce man is still dying in Yangping Pass, let everyone here go, who can come back alive?

Chen Longzhi probably saw through everyone's thoughts, and said in an unhurried deep voice: "This official has made up his mind to break the kettle and swear to live and die together in Sichuan!" The official's family of 563 people, all came here with the official, three days later, the official will take the whole family together, if you meet the Mongols, the official's family to meet the enemy in front, you and so on to support the army behind, all of them are united, not afraid of the north captives will not retreat! ”

Yuan Jianzhi and the others raised their heads suddenly, their eyes widened in surprise, and they panicked: "No, no!" My lord, the future is dangerous, the war is dangerous, how can there be a reason to fight with your family? If you have to do this, it is better to arrange your family members in Gongzhou Mansion, and we can go north with you. ”

Chen Longzhi's face was resolute, and he waved his hand lightly like a pond of water: "There is a way that is the soul of the general, and one general is afraid of death, which will affect thousands of troops." The official is in Lianghuai, there is this habit, where is the official, the whole family is here, everyone sees the official's family together, they will feel that the chief official is not afraid of death, who dares to kill the enemy without heart? said that everyone will, but this official is so consistent with his words and deeds, no one will be unconvinced, even if the time is desperate and irretrievable, my Chen family is loyal to the martyrs, and all the martyrs can leave a name in history! ”

"This ......" Yuan Jianzhi, who wanted to persuade him again, had nothing to say, but sighed and sighed a few words, although this envoy was stubborn, he was really dedicated to serving the country, what else could he say in the face of such a person?

Let's all follow along!

So the generals said a few more words, and left one after another, and they were going to send troops in three days, and there were many things to prepare.

Yuan Jianzhi also wanted to leave, but was left behind by Chen Longzhi's sentence "Lord Yuan stays".

What else to say? Yuan Jianzhi was a little puzzled, didn't he say everything that should have been said?

"Lord Yuan, in fact, this official also knows that the soldiers in Shu have no fighting spirit, they will have no good talents, and the situation is a hundred times more dangerous than the battle situation in Jinghu and Lianghuai!" When everyone was gone, Chen Longzhi whispered to Yuan Jianzhi, at this moment, his body collapsed, bent over and leaned on the back of the chair, and the appearance of the strong and majestic in front of the generals just now, his face was full of melancholy, and his forehead was wrinkled tightly, as if he was several years old in an instant: "If you really want to go north, it is very dangerous." ”

"That adult is still ......" Yuan Jianzhi couldn't understand, he blinked his eyes, trying to think about why.

"I have to do it." Chen Longzhi sighed on his back: "Thousands of troops are easy to get, but the military heart is difficult to stand." Sichuan has been defeated again and again, and even the bottoms are gone, and the Mongols are a hundred times more terrible to the Sichuan generals than the Jin people in previous years, you have also seen it, as soon as I said that I was going north, those generals were scared, such an army, can still fight? ”

He sighed, as if there was suddenly an inexhaustible depression in his chest: "The official also knows that what Peng Daya said is not unreasonable. If the fence is firmly entrenched, the wolf will not be able to enter, the wolf will not be able to eat the mutton, and after making a fuss for a while, it will walk away boringly. ”

"But the Mongols are not wolves, they are tigers! The tiger can tear down your fence and break in and swallow your flesh! ”

"This official came from Lianghuai, passed by Jinghu, and met with the Jinghu envoy Meng Heng Meng, a good general of the country, who had destroyed the Jin country with the Mongols, and he couldn't be clearer about Mongolia."

"Lord Meng said that the first thing to do when the official came over is to push the defense line forward, from the current Kuizhou Road in eastern Sichuan, and strive to advance to the front line of Longzhou in Lizhou, set up a pass with the mountain, rebuild the Rongsi of Xingyuan Mansion, and protect the peace in Sichuan, with the support of Sichuan's population, wealth, money and grain, and fight with the Mongols to consume, which is the safest strategy."

"Otherwise, once the Mongols take Sichuan, operate a little, and then come to Kuimen, the money and grain of the people on the four roads of the entire Sichuan Gorge will become the goods in the Mongolian bag, and the Xiangyang line will be attacked on both sides, and the difficulty of holding on will be several times more. At that time, it will be almost impossible to fight back to Sichuan. ”

Chen Longzhi looked at Yuan Jianzhi, and the strong worry about the country and the people in his eyes almost made Yuan Jianzhi numb, and the sense of responsibility that cares about the fortunes of the country and the life of his family is insignificant pressed like a mountain.

(End of chapter)