Although the matter of recruiting An Jiamin and Chang'an was carried out in secret, the news spread quickly.

The failure of the imperial court to recruit peace made people realize that a decisive battle between the two sides was inevitable. The officials and people of the imperial capital fell into panic again.

On February 17 of the second year of Tianshun, the ship sent by Chen Yejun arrived in Niuzhuang in southern Liaoning and brought important materials such as silver taels and copper obtained by him and Feng Ziying from the south, solving the problem of raw materials urgently needed for large-scale production of bullets.

On February 20, Chen Yejun led the 2nd and 3rd regiments of the Beihai Volunteer Army to land in Weihaiwei, Shandong, and advanced to Zhili.

On the sixth day of the first month of March, He Jialin, Zhou Tong, and Ma Qingshan, who had previously retreated to the northwest, regrouped and made a comeback.

This time, they recruited a total of 40,000 soldiers and horses, and officially played the banner of the Liberation Army, with Princess Chang'an as the main body.

At present, the Northwest Guangfu Army has been stationed in Datong.

On the ninth day of the first month of March, Chu Yuanji, the former governor of Dade Zhili, led the original remnants of 7,000 people, plus 15,000 soldiers and horses newly recruited from Henan, Shaanxi and other places, a total of 22,000 people, known as 50,000 people, and began to march towards Zhili.

Along the way, he issued a message, vowing to crusade against the rebels of the three feudatories, recover the great virtue, and played the banner of the Liberation Army, serving the princess of Chang'an.

At present, except for Li Gan's part of Bashu, Zhili, the imperial capital, and the area west of Shanhaiguan, which are still under the control of the three feudatories, the rest of the places have all fallen under the control of the Guangfu Army and the Beihai Volunteer Army.

Due to the loss of Gwangju and Jiangsu, the two most important sources of taxation, the imperial court's revenue was almost completely cut off. At present, the expenditure has long been beyond the means.

The military salary has not been paid for three months, and the officials' salaries have not been paid for three months.

In the army, war-weariness and disappointment began to spread, and the phenomenon of soldiers and even officers deserting continued to appear.

Some of the officials and servants of the yamen have disappeared, and most of them are still on errands, and most of them are ordering a job to cope with errands.

On March 11, news came out of the imperial capital again,

The right attendant of the military department, Hou Xiaolian, the grandson of Hou Guogong of the former Dade Dynasty, suddenly disappeared overnight.

Shi Guangzhu, the grandson of the former Dade Emperor of the Imperial Dynasty, who was formerly a waiter in the Ministry of Rites and is now the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, was seized by the Jinyi Army when he led his family to sneak out of the imperial capital. Emperor Tianshun Long Yan was furious and ordered his whole family to be beheaded at the entrance of the vegetable market.

At this point, in the original system of the four kings and eight princes of the founding of the Dade Dynasty, the eight princes have all disappeared.

The three feudal lords of the four kings are currently struggling to support half of the country, and the remaining Beijing King is water-soluble, and is currently supporting the princess of Chang'an in Shengjing.

At the same time, in the south of the Yangtze River, the northeast, and the northwest of the Great Deshi Forest, scholars have begun to openly discuss Wu Zetian's exploits.

During the reign of Wu Zetian, the achievements of developing agriculture and conquering the Tibetan, Western Regions, and Khitan cultural and martial arts were repeatedly mentioned.

Especially when Wu Zetian was in power, regardless of his background, he expanded the scale of the imperial examination, greatly increased the number of people admitted to the imperial examination, and personally interviewed the imperial examination talents in the imperial palace, which was regarded as the beginning of the palace examination in the later dynasties, and it was talked about by scholars.

Although the scholars in the imperial capital did not dare to discuss it publicly, whether it was the Hanlin Academy or the Guozijian, they also talked about Wu Zetian in private.

These are all regarded as public opinion preparations for Chang'an to be the emperor.

In the streets and alleys of various places, there are children singing ballads "Chang'an, Chang'an, long-term peace and stability." ”

In the ancient capital of Chang'an, Shaanxi, there is auspicious news.

It is said that many people in the local area have seen a phoenix flying there in the sky above Qishan. This is not only the reproduction of the ancient legend of Fengming Qishan, but also the auspiciousness of Chang'an who is about to become the empress, showing that Chang'an is the empress and is the destiny of heaven.

Some of the local governments, which had been watching from the sidelines, are now the most active. The magistrates came to the table one after another, asking Chang'an to ascend the throne as soon as possible and restore the great virtue.

Jia Min fought against the Mogu people, crippled the Mogu people, greatly damaged their vitality, and effectively deterred the northern and northwest barbarians, so that they no longer dared to covet the Central Plains, so the pressure on the northern and northwest frontiers was suddenly reduced.

Yue Qifeng, the general of Wuwei who had been on the sidelines, issued a message, led 20,000 soldiers and horses, raised troops to the king, played the banner of the Liberation Army, and supported Chang'an as the co-lord of the world.

General Wu Wei is the most important general in the Northwest Frontier and has a reputation in the Frontier. His actions led other frontier generals to follow suit, and they all played the banner of the Liberation Army and supported Chang'an.

In order to raise military salaries, Han Tiandou issued an order, and the major families and princes and ministers in the imperial capital offered silver and goods, and the taxes of merchants were increased by fifty percent.

A large number of people were recruited to build defensive cities in Zhili and the imperial capital. The young men were drafted as soldiers to expand the army.

The price of grain in the imperial capital began to skyrocket, while the market prices of real estate and gold fell again and again.

The Five Cities Terracotta Division and the Shuntian Mansion strengthened the inventory of the city gates and did not allow the outflow of people. The outsiders around the imperial capital who wanted to enter the city were also forbidden to enter the city, so they had to stay outside the city, forming a new gathering area.

Just when there was a lot of excitement in various places, Jia Min, who had previously defeated the Ningguta army and the northeast defenders, swept Goryeo, and disabled the Mogu people, but there was no movement for several months.

The 3rd and 4th Brigades of the Beihai Volunteer Army, the South Wendura Cavalry, and the North Wendula Cavalry also did not make any moves.

The outside world has not seen any of their actions, and in their station, especially Guan Xiangtun, it has actually been very lively in recent months.

This kind of liveliness, one is training, and the other is the production of arsenals.

In the first battle against the Mogu people, the ammunition brought by Baochai from the North Sea and the inventory of the arsenal were almost exhausted.

There was no war for several months, first, it was necessary to rest and replenish the troops. The second is to wait for ammunition. The third is to wait for the progress of the war in the south between Feng Ziying and Chen Yejun.

This is also Jia Min's last resort.

After withdrawing troops from Heishuitun and returning to Shengjing in the first month, King Beijing and scholars Ji have been encouraging Jia Min to attack Shanhaiguan, and then drive straight into the imperial capital to fight a decisive battle with the three feudatories.

Later, Chang'an was also moved, and he also urged Jia Min euphemistically.

However, they were all resolutely rejected by Jia Min.

At this time, Jia Min, Wei Ruolan, Jiao Li, Liu Cheng, Jia Lian, Chen Yeqing, and Dai Zhi were in the arsenal.

The original Hu family compound has more than tripled in size. At the edge of the courtyard wall, a long new shed was built, which was full of ammunition.

"Now these ammunition can be supported for a while, thank you, Mr. Dai."

"Chief Min is polite, this is what the old man should do. Watching boxes of ammunition come out every day, the old man is happier than anything else. ”

"That's not enough, we have to continue to produce. It is because of the lack of ammunition that we caused such heavy casualties last time in the Mogu people, and there will never be such a thing in the future. ”

"Yes, our warriors are all incomparably precious, and it is really not worth the casualties to fight with them with sabers, bows and arrows."

Wei Ruolan took the opportunity to interject.

A group of people talked, entered the house, and began to drink tea.

As soon as he entered the house and sat down, Chang'an came with Lichun and Zuo Linliang.

After a few greetings, Chang'an entered the topic.

"When does Chief Min plan to attack Shanhaiguan?"

"No hurry, wait. When the soldiers and horses from all over the country are approaching the imperial capital, it is not too late to attack. ”

"I came here this time because I want to ask Chief Min for advice."

Chang'an seemed to hesitate for a moment, but still spoke.

"Your Highness doesn't have to be polite, just say what you have to say."

Now, the relationship between Jia Min and Chang'an is relatively close. However, in front of outsiders, the two still kept an appropriate distance.

"The people on my side think that some of the previous big wars and vicious battles were fought by you, and you didn't make much credit. Your people here, on the expedition to Mogu, need to rest, so they want to take some responsibility and prepare to fight more. ”

"They want to attack Shanhaiguan, right?"

"That's right, so I came to ask if it was feasible."

"They are not controlled by me, and they can hit wherever they want. However, from a personal point of view, I advise you not to rush to attack Shanhaiguan. If they really want to fight, I won't stop them. Let's hope they win. However, I and the Windula people will not go here. ”

"In that case, I'll go back and talk to them again."

After sending off Chang'an, everyone returned to the house.

"It seems that Luo Xingshan and Liu Huaide want to take advantage of this opportunity to grab more credit."

Wei Ruolan immediately got to the point.

"Yes, they didn't have any decent records before, and the situation here is almost all caused by us. Now that I saw troops rising from all over the country, I thought that the three feudatories were already sick cats and could take advantage of the opportunity. ”

Jia Lian's insight is not bad.

"I don't think it's a wise move for them to attack Shanhaiguan. Shanhaiguan is close to the mountains and seas, the pass is strong, and they have no firearms, so it is difficult to overcome, even if they are barely defeated, they will also suffer heavy casualties. ”

Chen Yeqing also joined the analysis.

"They are different from us, they don't care much about the casualties of the soldiers, they always think that if there is no one, they can recruit and recruit at will. As everyone knows, some recruits are not of much use, and there is not much combat effectiveness in a team without experienced veterans. Sir Min, I don't think they're fighting well, what do you think? ”

Wei Ruolan looked at Jia Min with an inquiring eye.

"If they are willing to fight, they will be asked to fight, and there are some things that will only be understood if you have to suffer some losses."

Jia Min smiled faintly, obviously unwilling to care about these things.

"Yes, don't they want to take the credit, so let them take it. They need military merit, we don't need it, if they clean up all the three feudatories, it will save us from taking action. ”

Chen Yeqing seems to be very open-minded.

"They probably think that we always win battles, and that the enemy is nothing more than that. Don't you know that watching others fight is not the same thing as fighting yourself. They saw that we had won the battle, and that the training and preparation we had done for the war, the skill of making ammunition, and the silver taels we had spent, seemed to have been ignored by them. ”

"This is just seeing wolves eating meat, not wolves being beaten, right?"

"The soldiers and horses of the three feudal clans, when they were in Dade, were also considered elite divisions. Although it is not our opponent, it is not easy for Liu Huaide and them to win. ”

"Forget it, leave them alone. Before these three feudatories were defeated, they began to have selfish intentions, and it was better for them to suffer some losses. What are we supposed to do, I'll invite you to a drink today. ”

"Chief Min, please have a drink, but you have to have a few drinks."

Everyone relaxed and no longer paid attention to the matter of the Liberation Army.