"Well, it's too slow to go to sea once every three years, and it's naturally best to go to sea every year. I heard that when Yang Congyi was in charge of the Hui Yi Division, he left a lot of people in the South and West Seas and built several strongholds. Zhao Yan seemed to say casually.

When Liu Xi heard this, his heart couldn't help jumping, and he said after a brain teaser: "Yes, I heard that when Lord Yang supervised the shipbuilding team to Nanyang for the first time, he left some people in Zhancheng, Sanlivija Qi, Tianzhu and other places, which were originally prepared to save supply time when the fleet returned the same way, but I don't know why, when the fleet returned to the Great Song Dynasty, I didn't bring those people back with me. Later, every time the Great Song Huiyi fleet went south, those who stayed in Nanyang provided a lot of help to the fleet, and after a long time, a relatively stable stronghold was formed. Over the past 20 years, the Huiyi Office has successively expanded several strongholds, and now there are no less than eight strongholds in Nanyang and Western Oceans, and the time for the fleet to stay in each place has been greatly shortened, and there are more places to go. ”

After listening to Liu Xi's answer, Zhao Yan didn't speak, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"The next time the fleet goes to sea again, you send a trustworthy person to follow and see for yourself, you don't have to participate in the fleet's return, but you have to know how the fleet is traded and how to supply along the way."

Liu Xi hurried to be.

"Is there anything special going on in the Yang Mansion lately?"

"The eldest prince of the Yang Mansion came to Bianjing at the beginning of the month, but I heard that he went south a few days ago."

"Why did you come to Bianjing at this time, and why did you leave in a hurry?"

"I don't know. It is said that the eldest prince of Yangfu has been living in Quanzhou since he was born, and a few years ago, the Yangfu family came to Bianjing, and he stayed alone in the Southern Academy to study. This time he came to Bianjing suddenly, and he really didn't know the reason, but the reason why he left Bianjing, the minister had heard a little. It is said that he was not very satisfied with the family affairs that Mrs. Yang had set for him, so he ran away in a bad mood. ”

"Negative runaway? Ignoring the rules and regulations? ”

"Lord Yang is not in Bianjing, Yang Gongzi has been studying alone in the south for many years, he has never been to Bianjing, he has not lived together for many years, and his relationship with Yang Fu is estranged, which is also reasonable."

"How old is that kid?"

"Eighteen or nineteen."

"At this age, it's normal to be disobedient and emotional. He ran away from home, how did the Yang Mansion react? ”

"As always, there's not much movement."

"That's interesting. Send a message to the queen, if you have time, invite the Yang family members into the palace to talk about it, and care more. ”

"Obey."

"The Huiyi fleet can't come back this year, and money is still a big problem. Liu Xi, you should pay attention, it's winter, there are many places to use money, and the court has to rely on you for money. ”

"Yes, I understand."

After a while, Liu Xi retreated, and Zhao Yan began to review the mountains of folds on the imperial case.

In the years of moving north to Bianjing, although Zhao Yan was very tired and hard every day, fortunately, any of his decisions were no longer affected by Emperor Zhao Gou, and he no longer had to consider his thoughts, opinions and suggestions, and his heart was very relaxed.

And with the full support of Shi Hao, Yang Congyi, Chen Kangbo and others, he really grasped the power of the Great Song Dynasty in Bianjing, and now Chen Kangbo is gone, but there is Shi Hao inside, Yang Congyi and Yu Yunwen outside, the situation in Bianjing, Jiangbei is becoming more and more stable, and the imperial court is becoming more and more popular in the north.

Although the court has been in a difficult situation in recent years, Zhao Yan's heart is full of hope, he believes that he can be a good emperor, and he can do things that Taizu and Taizong have not done, because he has a group of loyal ministers and good generals, and they sincerely think about him and the people of the Great Song Dynasty!

Guanzhong and Hedong have never been to the frontier, and Zhao Yan really wants to see what the frontier looks like at this time.

Hedong, Xinzhou, Yanmen Mountain.

The vast white snow flooded Yanmen Pass, and the barracks, school grounds, sentry posts, city walls, etc., everything exposed to the sky was covered with more than a foot of snow.

This is the first snow in Yanmen Pass this year, and it is said that it is still a little later than in the past, even so, the soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army from the Central Plains are not grateful to God, because the cold of Yanmen Pass, even if they are hot-blooded men who are not afraid of death, they can't stand it.

The enemy troops outside Yanmen Pass have put on leather jackets, and the Great Song Northern Expeditionary Army on the gate is still wearing cloth clothes, a gust of wind comes, and the biting chill penetrates into the body from the gaps in the armor on the body, and the hands and faces that have been exposed will be numb when they leave the barracks.

Xin Qiji spent great effort in Xinzhou and Taiyuan Mansion, and only collected more than 1,000 sets of cold jackets, and sent them to Yanmen Pass can only be replaced by the soldiers standing guard.

Even if there are some leather jackets, the hands and feet of the soldiers on duty still can't take care of their heads, feet, and faces, since the beginning of winter, most of them have frostbitten hands and feet, and they are roasted with charcoal fire when they return to the camp, which is itchy and unbearable, not to mention how uncomfortable it is.

Because of the cold winter, the Northern Expeditionary Army at Yanmen Pass basically lost its long-lasting combat capability, and it was difficult to maintain even the sentry post.

Fortunately, after the winter began, the enemy army outside the pass gradually weakened its offensive against Yanmen Pass for some reason, and nearly half of its troops were withdrawn. In this way, the Northern Expeditionary Army was able to take advantage of the geographical advantage of the city to hold the pass, and it has not been lost so far.

However, if the enemy army once again organizes a 30,000-strong army to attack continuously day and night, with the current situation in which the combat effectiveness of the Northern Expeditionary Army is very seriously weakened, Yanmen Pass will definitely not be able to withstand it.

Whether Yanmen Pass can be held or not is related to the entire Hedong and even Guanzhong.

The importance of guarding Yanmen Pass, the officers and men of the Northern Expeditionary Army on the pass are not understood from top to bottom, but now the supply of armaments and materials is insufficient, and it is difficult to support them to fight in the cold in the north, which is a great blow to the morale of the soldiers.

With the arrival of deep winter, it is more difficult for the officers and soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army in autumn clothes to resist the cold.

Yuan Hua, the commander of the capital, knew the importance of wintering clothing to guard Yanmen Pass, and had sent people back to Taiyuan Mansion several times to urge the Marshal's Mansion to ask for armaments, but every time he got a reply that the wintering armaments were already on the way and would arrive soon.

It's been half a month, and he said that he would arrive soon, but he still hasn't arrived today, and he hasn't even arrived in Taiyuan Mansion, which makes Yuan Hua very worried.

If the wintering armament can be delivered quickly, he is confident that he can hold the Yanmen Pass and reduce the number of casualties among the soldiers.

If it can't be delivered, or if it doesn't, even if the soldiers desperately hold the pass this time, the next heavy snow will fall, and even if the soldiers on the pass fight to annihilate the whole army, they may not be able to hold it.

The generals of the various armies asked several times a day when the warm armament would arrive, but Yuan Hua could not give any definite answer, so he could only tell them that the imperial court had prepared and was transporting it to Yanmen Pass.

Every time it is like this, after a long time, the generals will lose their temper, after all, the brothers who have been born and died with them for many years are frozen, and they have to give them a definite answer.

At this time, Yuan Hua could only comfort them and make them believe that Lord Yang and the deputy marshal had fought every time they fought in the past, no matter how difficult the supply was, when Lord Yang would let everyone starve out of food, and this time it would be the same.

Since the imperial court has been preparing for many years before launching the Northern Expedition, it should have already considered the problem that the cold climate in the north is unfavorable to the soldiers fighting and defending, but the road from the Central Plains to Hedong is rugged and difficult, and the transportation of grain and grass is difficult.

Many of the generals of the Northern Expedition were promoted from the army that went north from the Yangtze River to the Huai River and the Yellow River, and almost all of them fought under the command of Yang Congyi.

Back then, when they were ordinary soldiers, the generals had food, they had food, and even in the most difficult times, there was not much time to go hungry, so they still believed in Yang Congyi, although they never had the opportunity to see him in person again.

But if the soldiers' cold protection problem is not solved, Yuan Hua has always been in suspense.

As soon as he had time, he would involuntarily walk to the south of Yanmen Pass, looking at the valley passage leading to the direction of Xinzhou, and every time he hoped to see a team of pack horses full of goods entering the mountain, but there was nothing in the field of vision.

Today, in the evening, the sky was already dark, Yuan Hua walked out of the barracks again, first inspected the north of the city, and then walked to the south of the city.

In the south of the city, the ancient road leading to the outside of Yanmen Mountain was completely covered with thick snow, and it was blank and nothing could be seen.

Today is still a day without news, Yuan Hua couldn't help but sigh.

Raising his eyes to look at the southern mountains in the twilight of the night, he felt sad.

Tomorrow, I have to face the reproaches of the generals, and I have to patiently explain to them and soothe their emotions, who makes him the ruler of the capital, who is their superior, and who makes them guard the vital Yanmen Pass!

When he was old, his body was not as good as before, and after standing in the city for a while, he felt that the cold air entered his body, and he couldn't bear it, so he turned around and walked towards the north of the city.

He is the commander of Yanmen Pass, others can fall, but he can't, because Yanmen Pass is too heavy.

Just as he had just left the distance of more than ten zhang, he vaguely seemed to hear the sound of the quiet Chengguan near the quiet Chengguan, and suddenly stopped, turned his head to look in the direction of the gate.

When I listened carefully, I found that there was indeed a sound of guan.

Without waiting for Yuan Hua to speak, a personal guard understood, and immediately ran quickly towards the closed door.

After a few moments, the guards rushed to report, "Good news, my lord! People from Taiyuan Mansion have arrived, and winter clothes have arrived! ”

When Yuan Hua heard this, he couldn't hide the joy in his heart, but his face was numb from the cold, and he could only see his shining eyes.

couldn't wait for the other party to come to report, Yuan Hua couldn't wait to walk quickly towards the closed door.

Inside the gate, two people and four horses, with packages on their backs, more than two horses and two fewer horses.

Without waiting for inquiries, the first lieutenant officer immediately reported that 20,000 sets of winter clothes had arrived in Taiyuan Mansion, and the Shuaifu was organizing the transportation to Yanmen Pass.

During the report, Yuan Hua found that the clothes on the officers of this colonel were obviously different from them, and the whole body was a large circle thick, and the neck and hands were completely wrapped by other things.

Looking at the sweat on the tip of the other party's nose, I couldn't help but sigh, this equipment is called cold!