……

May 27, Yong'an City General's Mansion.

Liu Ce sat quietly in front of the desk, his eyes full of deep thought.

On both sides of the hall in the mansion, the Jingwei battalions at all levels and the main generals of the newly attached army waited for Liu Ce to speak, and there were two kneeling in the middle, one Xu Wenjing and the other Zuo Shuo.

It has been three days since he returned to southern Hebei, and Liu Ce has become silent, sitting alone in front of the desk every day to meditate.

During the time of his expedition outside the Saiwai, the situation in Jizhou was also changing rapidly, and the troops attacking various towns in northern Hebei had expanded their territory to the north of the Milu Plain for thirty miles.

But that's all there is to it, the price paid is the lives of a full 8,000 soldiers, although four towns were captured, but the grain and grass problem that was already plaguing southern Hebei was even more severe, and the offensive had to be stopped.

Seeing that Liu Ce was frowning these days, Xu Wenjing decided to take the blame and took the initiative to ask for punishment in front of Liu Ce with Zuo Shuo.

Zuo Shuo was already out of a desperate situation from the moment Liu Ce captured the Autumn Wind Ranch, and retreated to Yong'an with 5,000 Yancheng Jizhou people and dozens of truckloads of military rations.

Helplessly, there were still many Hu Nu blocking the way, and after the siege was over, only 2,000 people and 300 escorts (including soldiers of the Jingwei Battalion) arrived in southern Hebei.

"Get up...... After a long time, Liu Ce said calmly, "This time it is the responsibility of this general, what does it have to do with you?" If you want to be punished, you should first punish the general. ”

Zuo Shuo was not half happy when he heard this, but said with tears in his eyes: "General, it is all the fault of the last general, if it were not for the last general's meritorious service, there would not be today's situation, causing our army to suffer such a large number of casualties, the last general is willing to die for the crime, and I hope that the general will be fulfilled!" ”

Xu Wenjing also said: "General, it's all my thoughtlessness, and my subordinates are willing to share the same crime as Zuo Qi!" After saying that, he also bowed heavily.

A trace of gloom flashed in Liu Ce's eyes, the veins on his forehead twitched slightly, and he said: "It should be punished, but if you kill the two of you like this, it will be too cheap for you, this crime will be recorded for the time being, and it will be liquidated next time, Zuo Shuo will go and get thirty military sticks later." Rise up first, for there are more important matters to discuss. ”

"Thank you, General......" The two of them got up and thanked them.

Xu Wenjing exhaled quietly, he didn't want to really die, his ambition hadn't been realized yet. But Zuo Shuo felt extremely guilty in his heart, especially when he saw the general's handful of silver hair, he was really more and more annoyed.

Liu Ce glanced around, and then said: "This Jizhou incident, our army suffered huge casualties, the families of the soldiers who died in battle need to be compensated, the lost armor needs to be replenished, and the construction in various places needs to spend a lot of financial and material resources, and now I don't have so much money and food under my rule, what can you do to alleviate the current difficult situation for the time being?"

When everyone heard this, they also frowned secretly, and let them go into battle to kill the enemy, but how could they give advice on these problems?

Liu Ce glanced at them, and finally his gaze fell on Xu Wenjing.

Xu Wenjing knew that only he could say a few words at the moment, so he said to Liu Ce: "General, the current situation is indeed a lot ......of difficulties, you might as well ask Guan Qi to contact the traders of various provinces and form a chamber of commerce as soon as possible."

"It's been too long......" Liu Ce shook his head, "I need to raise at least thirty-five million taels of silver as soon as possible, and the General's Mansion now has only 700,000 taels of silver, which is not even a fraction of it. ”

Xu Wenjing was stunned when he heard this: "General, such a huge amount of silver, I can't get it together for a while, Guan Qi is already willing to donate 500,000 taels as a pension for the soldiers of the Jingwei Battalion who were killed and injured in Yancheng, and the only way to do this is to sell salt and iron for profit......

Liu Ce shook his head again: "At present, iron must be used everywhere, and the Jizhou Iron Works is still under construction, and there is no excess iron for sale.

As for salt, do you think there will be any consequences for the current sale with great fanfare? You're a businessman, don't tell me, you don't know. ”

Xu Wenjing naturally knew that the consequences of the sale of salt and iron now would cause a lot of trouble for the scholars to covet them, especially now that they had no energy to intrigue with them anymore.

Thinking of this, Xu Wenjing was also a little discouraged: "In addition, my subordinates haven't thought of any better way, but general, should you go to Yuanzhou?" The court has been waiting for your canonization ceremony for two months......"

"Canonization?" Liu Ce then remembered that there was still this matter, "Let's see how much grain the imperial court can give me this time to buy me, without further ado, I will leave for Yuanzhou City in the afternoon." ”

"General, aren't you going back to the Han Tomb?" Xu Wenjing asked cautiously, "Miss Song has been thinking about you these days......

"Yanran ......" Liu Ce's eyes flashed with tenderness, and then said, "Send someone to inform her that I'm fine, so that she doesn't have to worry, the business is important, the matter of the court needs to be settled in the end, and there is no way to delay it, by the way, I will see if there is a way to raise money and food." ”

Xu Wenjing nodded, suddenly thought of something, and said to Liu Ce: "General, these days, my subordinates have found out from Su Si that there is also a secret decree in Suwen, which is rumored to re-establish the position of former military governor. ”

"Former military governor?" Liu Ce raised his forehead and thought for a while, as if he had mentioned it when he was chatting with Qin Mo Yebin before.

In the early days of the Great Zhou Dynasty, due to the strong national strength, Taizu Weihuang deliberately separated the military from the government, and in addition to the highest level of political officials in various provinces as political governors, the military side established the post of governor of the five armies.

The governors of the five armies are: the governor of the middle army, the governor of the left army, the governor of the right army, the governor of the former army and the governor of the rear army.

The Governor of the Central Army is in charge of the Imperial Guards of Shendu and the provinces in the central region, mainly in charge of the forbidden army in front of the palace, the left and right governors are in charge of the local military positions in the north and south respectively, and the rear military governors are mainly responsible for logistics and troop replenishment.

As for the former military governor, he is responsible for the military affairs of the prime minister of the front-line border army, and is the top priority among all the governors, and he must meet the lifeblood of the country's survival that war may break out at any time, which is directly related to the survival of the country.

However, since the rise of the scholars, the position of governor has become more and more marginalized. In addition, due to financial austerity, many officers and soldiers in various localities have become the private soldiers of the clan lords, and the royal family has vigorously implemented a preferential treatment policy for the nobles, and the post of governor of the five armies has been abandoned since 150 years ago, and has been occupied by the family in the name of the governor, forming a local centralized power system integrating the military and the government, which has also led to the ability to compete between the power of the nobles and the royal family.

Now, in order to prevent the scholars from getting bigger, Wei Zhi did not hesitate to take a risky move to re-establish the post of military governor.

But the Far East has always been the most dangerous region, and the position of the former military governor can be described as a hot potato, and the Jiang family's power is deeply rooted here, even if it is established, it is very likely to become their puppet.

What's more, this position is tantamount to sharing power with Jiang Xun, who would dare to take it so boldly?

"Governor?"

Liu Ce muttered to himself and began to think deeply.

Xu Wenjing continued: "General, the position of former military governor is not trivial, in this turbulent autumn, who can have the ability to control this position, it is equivalent to controlling the border army of the entire seven provinces of the Far East for his own use......"

Liu Ce's eyes flashed, and he suddenly got up and said firmly: "The position of this military governor, this general is going to be decided!" ”

After these days of experience, Liu Ce completely understands the importance of power, and it is feasible to bury his head in his own slow development, but the current situation is so bad, if there is no absolute power to assist, it will take many years to rise.

You can wait, but what about the people on the grassland who are waiting for your rescue? Can they wait?

What's more, the honor of the fallen soldiers must be improved, and no matter how they change, they are still the head of the district flag, how to give them the treatment they deserve?

In addition, brave and warlike soldiers who follow themselves also need to have the benefits of meritorious service rewards, preferably land and official positions, as well as prestige and glory to their ancestors!

As long as he has this position, he will have the right to recruit troops from the Far Eastern provinces, and he will have an excuse to start a war on his own initiative, and he will be able to justify his name and not be left behind.

In this way, the combat effectiveness of the officers and men under his command can always be maintained at a high level, and they can also obtain due military ranks and positions, as well as rich benefits, which can be described as fame and fortune.

Of course, even if you get the position of former military governor, if you want to make a difference in this world full of scholars, you still need to have a certain amount of courage and planning, especially if you are still a Shu clan.

However, others may be afraid of offending Jiang Xun, but Liu Ce is not afraid, others will take the position of military governor as a façade, but Liu Ce will not.

As long as the position of military governor is in hand, this position will be brought into full play and will never be wasted.

Now Liu Ce urgently needs any power to improve his strength, only enough power can realize the ideal in his heart, although this road is full of blood, he also resolutely decided to step out in person.

"Immediately prepare a new military uniform for me, bring the newly made iron saber, this general is going to the governor's palace to meet Li Suwen, I want to see who dares to rob me of the post of military governor!"

After speaking, Liu Ce walked out of the general's mansion, leaving everyone with a solemn face looking at his disappearing back.

Only Xu Wenjing looked at Liu Ce's back, and a smile flashed at the corner of his mouth and said: "General, you have finally taken the first step, and after you obtain this position, you will never be able to turn back, and the days to come will slowly let you embark on the path of the imperial dragon, until the king ...... the world."

……

On the first day of June, on the outskirts of Yuanzhou City.

Because Liu Ce did not show up for a long time, Princess Yuxiang, who was going on a trip with Cui Yingxin, was very anxious.

As soon as she came, Cui Yingxin's belly was getting bigger and bigger, and she couldn't hide it, so why did she have the face of the royal family? I thought that Liu Ce would be a few days late, and I didn't want to have no news for months.

Although Cui Yingxin is not a royal person, after all, she still has the name of "Anyi County Lord", isn't it? She didn't know if Liu Ce's Shu clan would accept this result, and she had also inquired about this Liu Ce since these days...... It seems that it is really difficult to get along.

Second, I have been away from the capital for a long time, and I am afraid that my father and mother will be worried, and I miss it very much, and my heart is like an arrow.

Third, the most important point is that her husband Li Suwen has been pestering Jiang Ruoyan these days.

Since Jiang Ruoyan was so unreasonable to herself that day, Princess Yuxiang was extremely disgusted with her, and she was lukewarm to herself in the mansion these days, which made her so unhappy, and she had made up her mind not to let her serve a husband with her.

But Li Suwen couldn't give up every time he saw her, and he pestered her several times, which also made Princess Yuxiang jealous.

Fortunately, she found that Jiang Ruoyan avoided Li Suwen every time, which made her heart a little more relaxed.

"Hmph, this little slut of the Jiang family is really self-deprecating, and he will actually favor a humble Shu clan, this palace wants to meet that Liu Ce, what charm makes her so embarrassed by this palace."

With countless thoughts, Princess Yuxiang secretly made up her mind to wait for Liu Ce to appear in front of Li Suwen and humiliate the "dog man and woman" of Jiang Ruoyan and Liu Ce.

……