On the seventh day of July, in the afternoon, Zhou Fashang received a letter from Pengcheng to stay in Dong Chun, the Xuzhou army launched a sneak attack on Jindi Pass last night, after a vicious battle, although the rebels were defeated and successfully regained Jindi Pass, but the losses were very heavy, and they had lost their combat effectiveness.

After reading the letter, Zhou Fashang immediately fell silent, looking at the map spread on the desk and was silent for a long time.

His previous guess was correct, the reinforcements from the eastern capital were the white-haired thieves, and the king of Qi saw that there was no hope of seizing the prince, so he ordered the white-haired thieves to take advantage of the Xingyang battlefield, and the golden cicada broke out of its shell. This plan is really ingenious, without flaws, and it does not leak. Now Dong Chun has "captured" Jindi Pass, and his troops are on the Tongji Canal, but under the pretext of heavy losses and inability to fight again, he does not control the Tongji Canal, does not restore the smooth flow of the Tongji Canal, and leaves an unresolved "tail", which is clearly to help the King of Qi "blackmail" the Holy Lord.

"Ming Gong once predicted that the war in Xingyang would end soon, but I didn't expect it to be true." Seeing that Zhou Fashang was silent, he thought that Zhou Fashang had no intention of grabbing merit and did not want to attack Zhuzhu, so he hurriedly said, "Duke Ming, now Shun Zhenggong (Dong Chun) has captured Jindi Pass, just wait for us to take Zhuzhu again, and King Xun will wave his troops north again to contain the rebels on the front line of Tiger Prison and Xingyang, then we can quickly restore the smooth flow of the Tongji Canal, so that the battle in Xingyang is coming to an end, and we can concentrate on attacking the eastern capital." ”

Zhou Fashang glanced up at him and smiled meaningfully, "Did you not understand this letter, or did you not understand the battle situation in the Eastern Capital?" ”

Mai Mengcai was stunned for a moment, did he say something wrong? What's wrong? In a flash of thought, he quickly sorted out the many messages he had received in the past two days.

The province reported urgently, Wei Wensheng was defeated in Mianchi, retreated to Shaanxi, and now the Xijing army is fighting with Yang Xuan on the front line of Hongnong Palace and Changping. Hongnong Taishou Cai Wang Yang Zhiji has led an army to Hongnong Palace to support Wei Wensheng. Considering that Tongguan is critical, Wei Wensheng has urgently written to Xijing, asking the right military general Huangfu Wuyi to quickly increase the troops of Tongguan to ensure that Tongguan is not lost. For this reason, the province implored the sailors to intensify their attacks on Luokoucang and find ways to contain the rebels on the battlefield of the Eastern Capital, so that they would not send troops to support Yang Xuangan.

Cui Hongsheng, the ambassador of Hebei, wrote to Zhou Fashang that considering that the situation in Liyang had stabilized and the situation in the eastern capital was becoming increasingly critical, and the province had repeatedly urged him, he decided to go west to Heyang and join the province.

Zhuojun deputy guard, Wu Benlang general Chen Ling also wrote to Zhou Fashang that Cui Hongsheng had led the army westward, and Qu Tutong, the general of the right guard, had also arrived by order, urging him to rush to the battlefield of the eastern capital, so he had to pull out the camp and rush to Heyang day and night.

The king of Qi also wrote to Zhou Fashang that Qu Tutong, the general of the right guard, arrived in Liyang on the third day of the first month, and after learning about the battle situation in the eastern capital in detail, he went to the province.

Analyzing the information from all parties, it is now beneficial to Yang Xuangan, once Wei Wensheng is defeated again, Tongguan is lost, and Yang Xuangan is killed in the pass, then the battle situation will be out of control, and the counterinsurgency is not a matter of one or two days, so after Dong Chun captured Jindi Pass, Tongji Canal was already in the bag, the rebels were no longer in the Xingyang battlefield, and the top priority for the sailors was to attack the rebels on the battlefield of the Eastern Capital, forcing Yang Xuangan to fight on two fronts, and put Yang Xuangan in the dilemma of suffering the enemy on his belly and back, so that the shape shì reversed, can effectively help Wei Wensheng defend Tongguan, as long as Tongguan is not lost, Yang Xuangan will be surrounded, and it will be difficult to escape the disaster of destruction in the end.

However, starting from the interests of the Jiangzuo people, the sailor division can not rush to attack the eastern capital, but also continue to let Wei Wensheng and Yang Xuangan fight, the Guanlong people cannibalism is of course the worse the better, in addition, the existing strength of the sailor division is insufficient, only more than 10,000 people and 100 warships, and there are no other friendly troops on the left and right flanks, it is very easy to form a lone army in depth, once there is an accident in the process of attack, or even defeated by the rebels, it is not good to go out, that is, to move stones to their own feet, self-inflicted trouble.

With such an analysis, it is most appropriate for the sailor to stay on the Xingyang battlefield for the time being, and it just so happened that Dong Chun, who stayed in Pengcheng, sent a letter asking for help, which was in the middle of it. It's just that what is the meaning of Zhou Fashang's words? Did a certain not understand the battle situation in the Eastern Capital, or did he not understand this letter? Mai Mengcai was puzzled.

Zhou Fashang waited patiently and did not urge. He watched Mai Mengcai grow up, especially since Mai Tiecane died on the battlefield, Zhou Fashang regarded it as his own, at such a critical moment, of course, he had to be careful to mention it.

"The last general is dull, please advise Ming Gong." Mai Mengcai did not dare to delay, bowed down as a courtesy, and humbly asked for advice.

"Why did Shun Zhenggong (Dong Chun) go against the norm and not only launch an attack at night, but also take Jindi Pass at any cost?" Zhou Fashang asked, "According to the scouts, a large number of rebels crossed the Tongji Canal to reinforce Jindi Pass two days ago, so compared with the previous days, Shun Zhenggong was actually at a disadvantage and did not have the conditions to attack Jindi Pass at all, but why did he suddenly attack with all his might?" What exactly is his purpose? ”

Mai Mengcai suddenly realized that the problem was here in Jindiguan. After thinking about it carefully, there was really something wrong with this battle, and Dong Chun's behavior was really abnormal. If something goes wrong, it is a demon, and the battle of Jindiguan must have something to do with the King of Qi on Liyang's side.

"Xu Guogong (Yuwenshu) has arrived."

Mai Mengcai suddenly had an epiphany. Not only did he not understand Dong Chun's letter, but he also did not understand the battle situation in the Eastern Capital, so he made a wrong judgment.

The Holy Lord successively sent two ministers back to Beijing to be responsible for quelling the rebellion, among which Qu Tutong, the general of the Right Waiting Guard, was "exploring the way", and the one who really spoke on behalf of the Holy Lord was Yu Wenshu, the general of Zuo Yiwei. Qu Tutong to Liyang did not play any role, while Yuwen said that Liyang had a great effect, which directly determined the development of the situation in the Eastern Capital. The king of Qi wants to "blackmail" the holy lord, and Yuwenshu bargains with the king of Qi on behalf of the holy lord, at this moment, of course, the king of Qi must hold the Tongji Canal firmly in the palm of his hand, otherwise once the battle situation in Xingyang changes, for example, the sailor suddenly defeated the rebels and controlled the Tongji Canal, or the king of Xun Yang Qing suddenly "made a great deal of power" to restore the smooth flow of the Tongji Canal, wouldn't the King of Qi be dumbfounded?

This should be the reason why Dong Chun attacked Jindi Pass overnight at any cost, but holding the Tongji Canal in the palm of his hand does not mean that the Tongji Canal will be restored and unblocked. So the mystery is in Dong Chun's letter, Dong Chun's meaning of this letter asking for help is actually very straightforward, I have suffered heavy losses, I have no combat effectiveness, and I can't restore the smooth flow of the Tongji Canal, but you don't take advantage of the fire to rob, don't grab food from the bowl of King Qi, otherwise you will bear the consequences.

Who dares to snatch food from King Qi's bowl? Who wants to clash with the King of Qi? Who thinks that the long-term has to be plunged into the whirlpool of the battle for the imperial system? It is certain that this letter was not only received by Zhou Fashang, but also by Yang Qing and Liu Changgong, the king of Xun, and Dong Chun issued a solemn warning, no one should go to the muddy waters of the Tongji Canal.

"Duke Ming, now that Duke Xu Guogong has arrived, should we speed up the attack and quickly advance to the eastern capital?" Mai Mengcai asked cautiously.

Zhou Fashang smiled, "Now that Xu Guogong has arrived, will Rong Guogong (come to protect his children) be far away?" ”

Mai Mengcai's old face turned red and he was ashamed. I didn't even see such a simple thing, and I was really stupid.

Xu Guogong and Yu Wenshu rushed back to the Eastern Capital from the battlefield of the Eastern Expedition thousands of miles away, will the sailor warship of Rong Guogong come to protect the children from the Eastern Capital? Now in the Guard, which army is absolutely loyal to the Holy Lord? The sailor who came to protect the children. Last year, the Navy was defeated in Pyongyang, and the Holy Lord tried his best to protect it, not only did not punish him, but rewarded him generously. Since tens of thousands of the main forces of the sailors are coming day and night, is the battle situation in the Eastern Capital still worth worrying about? It is foreseeable that as soon as Laihu'er arrives, the shape will be quickly reversed, Wei Wensheng and the Xijing army will desperately defend Tongguan, and Yang Xuangan is under siege, and defeat is just an overnight thing.

"Pass the order down, and attack Luokou again tomorrow." Zhou Fashang said unhurriedly, "Returning to Shun Zhenggong (Dong Chun), saying that a certain is storming the front line of Luokou and the Tiger Prison, and when a certain person takes the Tiger Prison, the wrench is in his bag." ”

Mai Mengcai understood and bowed down to promise.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, General Zuo Yiwei and Xu Guogongyu Wenshu arrived in Liyang in a chariot.

The King of Qi personally went out of the city to greet him, his posture was very low, and he was very enthusiastic, while Yuwenshu didn't know if it was too tired or other reasons, he looked sluggish and exhausted, coupled with gray hair and deep wrinkles, giving people a sense of crumbling and dying.

When Yu Wenshu met, he asked if the North-South Grand Canal was unimpeded? As a result, the answer made him very disappointed, the Tongji Canal has not yet resumed operation, and it is still in a state of cut-off, that is to say, from the beginning of Yang Xuangan's Liyang Mutiny on the third day of the sixth month to the present, the Grand Canal has been interrupted for more than a month, whether it is the Northern Xinjiang Zhenshu or the Eastern Expeditionary Army, they have all fallen into a grain and grass crisis, which is too terrible, and the consequences are too strict.

Yu Wenshu asked, when will the Tongji Canal be able to resume operation?

King Qi did not reply directly, but gave a detailed introduction to the battle situation in Xingyang. Yuwen Shu knew it well, and he knew King Qi's thoughts at a glance.

Next, Yuwen Shu began to pay attention to the battle situation in the Eastern Capital, but King Qi's narration made his mood fall into a trough. He had already expected that the Eastern Capital would not be too good, but he didn't expect Wei Wensheng to be defeated by Yang Xuangan, and the Xijing army was even almost wiped out, and Tongguan was already in danger. The situation was beyond his imagination and made it tricky for him.

Seeing that Yuwenshu was silent, King Qi asked the Holy Lord about the recent situation very cautiously, and then made an explanation for himself to enter Beijing to quell the rebellion without the consent of the Holy Lord and the permission of the Eastern Capital, in fact, it was to test Yuwenshu's attitude towards him, after all, he wanted to "blackmail" the Holy Lord, but the object of the negotiation was Yuwenshu, so what Yuwenshu's attitude towards him was, and a certain Cheng dù directly determined the outcome of the negotiation.

Yuwen's words made King Qi "happy".

"The Grand Canal is unimpeded, and the king's way back to Beijing is unimpeded."

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