In the middle of the night, Tokyo is still scorching hot.

A shower in the evening did not bring down the temperature, but made the summer night even more sultry because of the warm humidity.

Han Gang was wearing a thin shirt and silk trousers, shaking a palmetto fan in his hand, and leaning on a rattan drawer recliner. The old vine on the surface of the woven drawer is dark brown and shiny, and the continuous water ripple pattern takes a lot of craftsmanship from the craftsman, and it is cool and breathable to lie on it, and it is not as panicked as the bamboo bed.

Li Xian is a capable person, and Han Gang learned about this when he was in the south. Compared with Wang Zhongzheng, who was so lucky that people had nothing to say, Li Xian, a eunuch, deserves the evaluation of being familiar with military affairs.

After Li Xian was attacked and killed by Zi Hu, the deputy general of the fourth general of the Hedong Road, he immediately led the army north, first using the few cavalry under his tent to hang the 2,000 iron harriers who were fleeing, and the infantry used the fastest speed to destroy 11 large and small water sources within 100 miles in a row, and then made a gesture to destroy more water sources, seducing this group of iron harriers who still had the heart to continue to attack the official army and collided with them.

Li Xian succeeded. The Iron Harriers, who had broken their minds in each way, bit the one with the smallest number of troops, less than 2,000 people, but it was an elite led by the head of the Zhe family, Zhi Kexing—and an elite of the same number led by Li Xian himself—directly broke their teeth.

Due to the fact that the Song army forbidden army had popularized iron armor, horse chopping swords and divine arm bows, the judgment of elite and non-elite had lost the most critical basis, and the iron harrier, who could only roughly judge the strength of the Song people from the number of people, was killed by the counterattack of the folded and defeated beyond expectations, and lost all confidence in a single encounter. And then, after the rout, the Iron Harrier was pursued by the cavalry of the Song army. Although they had lost less than a third of their total strength in the course of being counterattacked and pursued—the advantage of the cavalry—the Iron Harriers, who had been sent out as a surprise soldier, had lost the possibility of achieving their purpose.

But Li Xian's luck is not as good as Wang Zhongzheng after all. After Li Xian dealt with the Iron Harrier, he had to move south with his whole army and move closer to the seed in order to get supplies.

After Wang Zhongzheng recovered Lanzhou and conquered Zhuo Luo and the Southern Military Division, he burned down the palace of Western Xia at the foot of Tiandu Mountain, and also found an imperial village by the Niche Valley River - this is the manor in the name of the lord of Western Xia - in which nearly 80,000 stones of grain were hoarded, plus the fields that had not yet been harvested, there were always more than 100,000 stones. For some reason, this imperial village has become a forgotten corner by the party members, but it was bumped into by Wang Zhongzheng. Even if he laid the seedlings of Mingsha City, he only got more than 33,000 stone bundles of millet and weeds in the cellar.

Miao Zhu defeated Mingsha City and Gao Zunyu conquered Weizhou, both of which were news from ten days ago, and now the two of them should go to Lingzhou City, right? Han Gang shook his fan and thought.

The speed of information transmission in this era is a little too slow, and for those who have penetrated deep into the two roads of Huanqing and Jingyuan, the city of Tokyo can only get their news twelve or three days ago. However, in terms of time and distance, if it goes well, it should be that Lingzhou City has already been seen.

In the plan, the six roads are to meet under the city of Lingzhou, but at present, only the two roads of Huanqing and Jingyuan have done it.

Wang Zhongzheng still has a long way to go, and it is even less likely that Chong Ge and Li Xian will complete the plan. The people of Hedong Road have suffered too much loss, and all the grain and grass have to rely on Yanyan Road. And the situation of Yan Yanlu will not be much better. Moreover, Han Gang did not believe that the strange soldiers sent by the party to harass the rear would only have two thousand horsemen.

In such a situation, if all the soldiers and horses gather under the city of Lingzhou, the logistical pressure will be too great, and it will not be possible.

But with only the people and horses of Huanqing and Jingyuan, can Lingzhou City be defeated?

Zhao Ji and Wang Qi seemed to be optimistic, but Han Gang didn't see it that way. And if you can't beat it, it will only be a fiasco, and there will be no possibility of even retreating.

But from Han Gang's point of view, there is still some good in the bad things after all.

Wang Zhongzheng didn't have time to rush to the city of Lingzhou, once the front was defeated, he would definitely not take the initiative to rush up again, and Wang Sunchen went west. There is a shortage of grain and grass on Yanyan Road and Hedong Road, and it is difficult to cross the Hanhai.

In this sense, even if the battle is lost, except for the two roads of Huanqing and Jingyuan, the losses of the other roads will not be too great. As long as the Western Army does not lose too much vitality, it will have a chance to make a comeback in the future.

Although the defeat of the Western Army is something that Han Gang does not want to see, it has come to this point, and it is not caused by himself, and Han Gang will not take the responsibility on himself.

Ten years ago, Han Gang was lingering on the sickbed in this season. Eight years ago, Han Gang was just a petty official who had just made some contributions.

At that time, he would never be so arrogant as to think that he could change the country immediately, at most, he would fan the flames in front of Wang Anshi.

But with the elevation of the official position, once upon a time, it became the mind that everything must be done?

In the past, I did things according to the trend, with the help of the power of the Son of Heaven or the powerful ministers, to achieve my own goals. At the moment, it is against the emperor's thoughts, and he still wants to make his wishes come true, which is not so simple. Trending and going against the trend are two different things.

The higher you go, the more restraints you have.

When he was still on Xihe Road, the pressure from the court was resisted by Wang Anshi and Wang Shao, and he just had to do the work at hand well.

Up to now, the errand in hand is just a gesture for Han Gang, and Han Gang is still a little short of qualifications for national events before he can justifiably participate in it.

The current situation is actually the result of wanting too much to interfere in the government's affairs. Even if he wants to keep the Western Army, there is no way for others to appreciate it.

Having made clear their attitude and doing their job well, the parties with the closest relations in the Western Army will not be in great danger, so what else is there to worry about? Since it can't be changed, it should be put down directly.

In the past, Han Gang never fantasized about the result too perfectly. If the effort can be rewarded by 30%, it will be considered a passing grade for him. Reaching 60% can be called satisfaction, as for higher returns, don't go to luxury, as long as you can maintain such open-mindedness, the result is a constant surprise. And the current situation, if you use it well, you can also have surprises.

Han Gang suddenly laughed, expecting the idea of a surprise was also undeserved.

"What are the officials laughing at?"

Zhou Nan asked outside the door, lifted the curtain and walked in. For ventilation, the door of the study was left open, and only a curtain was made of a gauze tent to prevent mosquitoes.

"I'm laughing at how much I've been thinking about it all this time." Han Gang smiled and raised the fan in his hand.

Han Gang's answer was clueless, but Zhou Nan didn't ask much. Turning around, he picked up a covered bowl from the tray held by a little maid behind him and handed it to Han Gang.

The jade-colored porcelain bowl is cold to the touch, and the outer wall is condensed with fine and dense water droplets. Lift the lid of the bowl and inside is a bowl of chilled cheese as fine as clotted cream.

Zhou Nan sat down beside Han Gang, holding a light Luo Tuan fan embroidered with peonies in his hand, the loose cuffs faded to the elbow bend, and the smooth half of the forearm was exposed, and the skin became more and more like jade under the lamp. Han Gang scooped a spoonful of crisp cheese, put it next to Zhou Nan's arm, and looked at it under the lamp, it was really the same.

"No wonder there's a saying that's crispy like cheese." Han Gang sighed sincerely, but his gaze moved upward. Two months after giving birth, Zhou Nan's waist has recovered as before, and the original plump place is more plump, and the color is especially better than the arm.

Meimu glared at Han Gang with anger and disgust, and Zhou Nan sat up straight and wrapped his clothes a little tighter.

Han Gang smiled, when he wanted to see it, he could always see it, and lowered his head to concentrate on tonight's dessert.

Chilled cheese is made with fresh goat's milk, sugar and mash, and is chilled after it is cooked, which is cool and has a sweet and sour taste. If you add some fresh fruits, such as honey. Peaches and watermelons taste even better. It is similar to cold drinks such as ice cream that relieved the summer heat in later generations, and it is the most popular dessert among the children of the Han family in summer.

However, the cost of crisp cheese is not low, and it is only sold in large restaurants at the main store level outside, and the rest are only affordable by wealthy eunuchs. Of course, the Han family will not be unable to afford it. Crisp cheese can be eaten hot or as a cold drink, and the nutrition is not bad, so it is used as a recipe for food supplements, and it is eaten daily by children, and Wang Yi and Zhou Nan often eat it.

Zhou Nan shook her fan, she was actually a little afraid of the heat, and complained: "Official, you don't use ice cubes to relieve the heat, so that the family will suffer with you." ”

Han Gang put the last spoonful of crisp cheese into his pouting mouth, and said with a smile: "The heart is calm and naturally cool." No amount of ice cubes can compare to the natural cool breeze. ”

Han Gang has achieved the direct bachelor of Longtu Pavilion, giving charcoal in winter and ice in summer. There are thirty catties of ice a day, but it is not very useful. Thirty catties is a lot, only two buckets, the only advantage is that it is clean, and it is taken from the Jinshui River in winter.

The Jinshui River is a special source of drinking water in the palace, and there are few sweet wells in the palace for the Son of Heaven's family, and the palace maids below are all dependent on the water of the Jinshui River. When the river flows through the city, the channels are covered with heavy stone slabs, and there are guards to prevent people from stealing the water, and the water quality is first-class.

And the mansions of wealthy families in the north basically do not lack ice cellars dedicated to ice storage. In the ice cellar under the kitchen of the Han family, a large amount of ice is also stored. It's not much, it's only twenty or thirty thousand catties, a dozen cubic meters.

There is so much ice at home, but Han Gang doesn't like it. He didn't like the damp feeling of using the ice, and it didn't matter if it was hot.

Han Gang picked up the fan and changed his hand, and by the way, he also helped Zhou Nan fan the wind. Zhou Nan squinted his eyes with great enjoyment, curled up beside Han Gang like a cat.

"Don't be too greedy, it's not long since I gave birth."

Zhou Nan snorted, but he didn't open his eyes.

Han Gang's sixth son is almost two months old. Originally, Zhou Nan was quiet when she was pregnant, and she thought it was a daughter, but who would have thought that it was a son again.

The Han family has no shortage of sons, but Han Gang wants to have another daughter, and when he was born to know that Lu Dao is a son, he was even a little disappointed. However, such complaints must not be transmitted, otherwise the Son of Heaven will be mad when he hears it.

But it's good to have a son, and when you're a little older, you can pass it on to your two brothers, and you can repay your parents' wishes. Han Gangben, who came from later generations, didn't care about these things. What's more, after passing on to the brother's room, can you still launch the Lu to let the two deceased brothers raise? It's not in your own home! It's just a name.