In the first month of the eighth year of Longsheng, Emperor Yong's secret edict Jinghai Marquis Jiang led the East China Sea Army to the south, and on the eighth day of February, the East China Sea Army broke the Navy Mountain. On the same day, Sun Ji, the commander of the Nanyang battalion, was trapped in Xiangyang.

――"Zizhi Tongjian-Yongji IV"

Shang Weijun put down the case file in his hand with satisfaction, this is the document of Jiaxing Mansion, the Criminal Department has approved the decision, the palindrome is already on the way, it will only take a few days, this document will arrive in Jiaxing. This was a very small case, but an official who abandoned his post and fled was sentenced to beheading, and he didn't need the attention of the dignified prime minister, but Shang Weijun believed that Lu Can would definitely obstruct or come to intercede. He was thinking about whether to resolutely refuse Lu Can's intercession and kill that Jing Changqing, or to give Lu Can a favor and let him make more concessions, but no matter what, he had the upper hand. Chengye's children are really getting better and better, and they can think of such a method, but I don't know if it's the credit of Song Yu.

While he was pondering, Ning Qian hurriedly walked in and reported: "Xiangye, the general Lu Can is outside asking to see you. ”

Shang Weijun perked up and said, "Mr. Ning, how is Lu Can's expression?" ”

Ning Qian said worriedly: "His face is cold, although he can't see the change in mood, but he is obviously very angry and dissatisfied, Xiangye must be careful." ”

Shang Weijun waved his hand and said: "It's okay, this time the prime minister has a reason, he beheaded Hu Cheng who abandoned his post and fled privately in front of the army, I just want to kill a Jing Changqing, and carefully investigate it, this person may not know how to escape, even if he is sentenced to a crime of collaborating with the enemy, it is not impossible to sentence him to the crime of collaborating with the enemy, and it is already very tolerant if he does not kill the Jing family." Okay, you go on a blind date to welcome the general. Shang Weijun got up and walked out, this time he was polite and thoughtful, and he definitely didn't give Lu Can an excuse to play on the topic.

At the foot of the study, Lu Can stood with his hands in his hands, his expression was cold, like ice that would not melt for thousands of years. Shang Weijun's heart was full of pride, the momentum that was suppressed by this junior a few days ago returned to him, he seemed to smile and descended to greet him, and said: "I don't know what the general has to do here, but what is the difference in military salary, if so, the prime minister will inevitably instruct the officials of the military department and the household department to do their best." ”

Lu Can's eyes flashed with a cold light, he naturally knew Shang Weijun's intentions, but it was a pity that he didn't have time to get involved with Shang Weijun for a person, he said coldly: "Shang Xiang knows that the Yongjun has entered the country now?" ”

Shang Weijun's body was shocked, and he blurted out: "How is it possible, the Yongjun army has just returned from a big defeat, why did it make a comeback so quickly?" ”

Lu Can's eyes flashed with a mocking light, and said: "A moment ago, Lu received a spy report that the Yong army of the Nanyang battalion had come to Xiangyang again, this time it was menacing, not like a feint, this is not enough, Xiangyang has General Rong to guard, forgive it is okay, but another military report said that the Dayong water army has captured Dinghai, and the Yuhang water battalion is insufficient, so it can only hold the Qiantang waterway and prevent the Yong army from going deep into the inner abdomen. If the Dayong Navy controls Hangzhou Bay, Wu County and Yue County will not be guaranteed sooner or later, and what the consequences will be when the time comes, Xiang Ye can understand. ”

Although Shang Weijun was not very familiar with military affairs, he also knew that the two counties of Wuyue on the southeast coast were important places for money and grain in Southern Chu, and if they were invaded by the Dayong Water Army, the foundation of Southern Chu would float, and even if there was a danger of Jianghuai, they would also be controlled by the enemy. Thinking of this, his face was already pale, and he asked with difficulty: "Why didn't the Yongjun attack Ninghai, but took Dinghai." ”

Lu Can said lightly: "Ninghai Haijun Mountain is the throat of the Yangtze River into the sea, if there is a loss here, then Taizhou and Yangzhou will be in danger, if the Yongjun army goes upstream, Jianye will be burned, but it is precisely because of this that the naval army of Ninghaijun Mountain does not dare to slack off a little, and occupies the geographical advantage, so the Yongjun does not take Ninghai." Although the Navy Mountain covers Hangzhou Bay, it has not been a war for a long time, and the armament is exhausted, so it is no wonder that the Yongjun army is difficult to give up. ”

Although Lu Can's tone was light, Shang Weijun still heard the coldness in his words, the two military mountains in Ninghai and Dinghai were set up by Emperor Wu of Southern Chu, which was an important military town to defend against Haikou, and has always been directly governed by Jianye, in recent years, there has been no war in Wuyue, Shang Weijun suspects that the two military mountains are costly, and he has reduced military spending several times, although Lu Can has admonished him many times, he is still unmoved. It's just that the two military mountains are not treated equally, and Zhao Qun, the main general of Ning Haijun Mountain, is a royal family, so Shang Weijun just ignores it, and the food and salary from Haijun Mountain is almost only enough for food and clothing, and even the repair of the ship cannot be carried out. Unexpectedly, now that the Yongjun army has broken through Dinghai Mountain, wouldn't it make Shang Weijun lose face, if it weren't for his own governance now, such a crime would be enough to make him lose his official position and abandon his post. He hesitated for a moment and said: "The Yongjun army attacked Dinghai, which was also unexpected, the general must have seen and taught here, and I don't know how to deal with the enemy?" ”

Lu Can said coldly: "Dinghai is lost, Hangzhou Bay has become an undefended place, but at this moment, we need to strictly guard Yuhang, to avoid the Yongshui army into Qiantang, otherwise Wu Yue will inevitably not be protected, secondly, Huiji, Yuyao, Zhenhai, Jiaxing, Haining, Pinghu all need to divide troops to defend, this time the invading Yongjun must be the East China Sea Army, they are originally from the sea, no one is invincible in the naval battle, our army can only hold the coast steadily, do not allow the Yongjun army to invade, in order to have some chance of winning, but in this way, the two counties of Wuyue will spend countless food and salary troops, Please order the tax reduction of the two places, and let the counties organize the righteous army to defend the territory against the enemy, only in this way can the pressure of our army in Wu County and Yue County be reduced. ”

Shang Weijun heard a heartache, the land of Wuyue is rich and abundant, even if it reduces the tax revenue by one percent, it will also be a heart-wrenching loss, but now that it is so critical, it can only be so. If you don't form a righteous army, relying on those weak and incompetent defenders, Wu County and Yue County will definitely not be protected, if you don't want to reduce taxes, how can those people have the energy to reorganize the army and run the army? Thinking about it, most of the officials in the land of Wu Yue are children of the family, and there are very few capable people, and they need to be transferred back. Thinking of this, he had no choice but to say: "Everything is decided by the general, and the prime minister will hand over the military power of Yuhang Water Camp and Dinghai Mountain to the general." Although the situation is like this, Shang Weijun deliberately left Ning Haijun Mountain, and now that Ning Haijun Mountain is still safe and sound, he naturally does not want to hand over such a naval army to Lu Can. Lu Can understood his intentions, just smiled coldly, and left, leaving the remorseful Shang Weijun to wander there uneasily.

Yuejun Hangzhou Bay into the sea, there are Daishan, Dinghai, Putuo Islands, Emperor Wu Zhao involved in Dinghai County, set up a military mountain, the general jurisdiction of Daishan, Putuo water camp, Dinghai Mountain power is the largest, Pinghu, Haining, Yuyao, Zhenhai were under its jurisdiction, until Shang Weijun Bingzheng, because the sea frontier has nothing to do, the Dinghai Navy Mountain has repeatedly reduced the food and salary, so that the water camp is erosive, the soldiers are tired, will be the East China Sea Army in one fell swoop to capture Daishan, Dinghai, although Putuo is still in the hands of the Southern Chu Water Army, but it is already in danger.

I stand on the high cliff, looking at the sky, through the blue sea in front of me, is the Yuejun Zhenhai, and from here to the northwest across the sea, is Wujun Pinghu, the west of the Pinghu Lake is Haining, and from Haining landing, fast horses, it does not take a day, you can reach Jiaxing, where I was born, but also the place where my mother buried the bones, remembering that my father died of illness in Jiangxia, I almost had to sell myself to bury my father, and I could not afford to send my father's coffin to Jiaxing and my mother for burial. Later, I won the champion, but I did not reconcile with the Jing family, and there was no soul transfer, after all, my mother's cemetery is also owned by the Jing family, and my father would not want to send someone under the fence. Thinking of my mother's lonely grave, I couldn't help but sigh softly in my heart.

Xiao Shunzi stepped forward and said, "Childe, it's windy at a high place, let's go back." ”

I said lightly: "Is Cong'er still competent to follow Haitao?" ”

Seeing this, Xiao Shunzi had to sigh: "Although Dinghai Mountain has been abandoned for many years, all the documents and books are still there, but they have been buried in the dust, Young Master Cong has been by your side for many years, and it is very effective to sort out these documents, and Jiang Hou has a lot to rely on." ”

At this time, a green shadow came up, and Xiao Shunzi didn't need to look back, so he smiled and said, "Young Master Cong is here, presumably the paperwork has been sorted out." ”

Before I could answer, Huo Cong had already arrived in a hurry, and said with a deep salute: "Sir, the disciple has already sorted out all the documents, including the precise nautical chart of Hangzhou Bay, Jiang Hou asked Mr. to go and discuss the next step of the war." ”

I glanced at the blue sea again, but unfortunately the clouds and mountains blocked the way home, and I couldn't see the hometown, and with a slight sigh, I turned around and walked down. Except for a few of the tiger guards under the mountain, they are all new faces. Over the years, most of the Tiger Ben Guards who had been with me that day had been promoted, but these new guards were only stronger in force, and the sword formation I taught back then had been refined by the Tiger Ben Guard, and now they are Xiao Shunzi, and they can't get cheap to them in a hurry. But this time, Hu Yanshou is still my personal commander, and I think it was the emperor's arrangement, and it was enough to wronged him, the commander.

Huo Cong followed me and said excitedly: "Sir's strategy makes the disciples obey, the north and south have always fought for the world, and they have all been competing for victory in Jianghuai, I didn't expect Mr. to come out of the way and capture Wu Yue from the sea, even if it can't be destroyed, it will definitely be able to shake the foundation of Southern Chu." ”

I said lightly: "This strategy was not the first thing I thought of, this strategy was originally planned by Emperor Wu of Southern Chu, but I used it in turn." ”

Huo Cong was shocked, showing a puzzled look, even Xiao Shunzi also showed a curious look of interest, I smiled when I saw this: "In the past, I was ordered to sort out the imperial notes, and among them was the imperial approval of Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu is very diligent in government, the imperial approval is extremely rich, but also involved in many military and political affairs, for example, he is very concerned about Dinghai, Ninghai two military mountains, personally planned the water camp fortress, and many times additional food and salary, but also carefully draw the sea charts around the place, I saw that he showed domineering between the lines, by no means a partial peace, so he carefully read his imperial handwriting over the years, and finally speculated that he had the intention to build the two major military mountains into offensive and defensive weapons. On weekdays, it can prevent the Haikou and Dayong naval army, and when it comes to the critical time, it can go north along the coast and erode the coast of Qingzhou and Youji. Since ancient times, the dispute between the north and the south is often won or lost in the Jianghuai, but Emperor Wu thinks that the southerners are weak and not as brave as the northerners, rather than fighting bloody battles on land, it is better to invade from the coast, after seizing the sea frontier, and then invade inland through the river, and the length and shortness of attacking the enemy are better than the expedition from the land route. This kind of strategy is unprecedented, and I am also very emotional after seeing it, it is under the influence of Emperor Wu that I will offer a plan to capture Dingjun Mountain and invade Wuyue. It's a pity that Emperor Wu went too early, so that no one inherited the great cause. Later generations only know that the two army mountains protect the sea and cannot be moved lightly, but they do not know the purpose of their original establishment, and even the Dinghai Mountain was reduced by the Southern Chu court, so that it was so tired that it cheapened us. ”

At the end of the words, we have already descended the cliff, Hu Yanshou made a gesture, those tiger guards have already protected the three of us, Dinghai Chuping, it is inevitable that there will be some remnants on the island or spies of the Southern Chu Army, so for my safety, Hu Yanshou will not dare to relax for a moment. We walked along the barren grass road to the Dinghai Governor's Mansion, the Dinghai Camp has no money to renovate over the years, even the road on the island is covered by weeds, the water camp is even more dilapidated, and only the Dinghai Governor's Mansion can be seen, which is still carved and painted, magnificent. Seeing the luxurious mansion in the midst of desolation, Xiao Shunzi couldn't help but smile and said: "The lord here is so confused, no wonder the Dinghai army will break through as soon as it is attacked, and it has no combat power." "I also have a kinship, nodding again and again, even if I have the intention to embezzle some military salaries, I can't afford to spend it on the mansion, isn't this deliberately to arouse the hatred of the soldiers, it really makes me wonder if the chief general of Dinghai is Dayong's secret spy.

Before he reached the gate of the house, Jiang Haitao and his generals had hurriedly greeted him, and now he was nearly thirty years old, since seven years ago, after the East China Sea was attached to Dayong, Jiang Yong, the Marquis of the East China Sea, abandoned Dayong's high-ranking officials Houlu and went to sea in a hurry, and the East China Sea Army was commanded by Jiang Haitao. Although he is a little straightforward and not very familiar with officialdom, he has a virtuous helper and good assistance, coupled with his outstanding ability to command the naval army, and the care of Emperor Yongdi Li Zhen and King Li Xian of Qi, there is no trouble to hinder. This time, Emperor Yong ordered him to go south to attack Wu Yue, which was no problem for him, the only thing that gave him a headache was that Jiang Zhe actually went with the boat. It's not that he doesn't want Jiang Zhe to point fingers at him, it's just that he is worried that if something goes wrong with Jiang Zhe, he can't afford it.

When he got closer, Jiang Haitao was about to bow and salute, although he and I have the title of master and apprentice, if the title is discussed, he is still above me, and he worships me as a master and apprentice, wouldn't it make it difficult for the generals under his command, so I hurriedly stopped: "If you want to perform this great gift, say it in private, do you still want your generals to perform a big ceremony with you?" ”

Jiang Haitao turned his head and looked at the generals behind him, and couldn't help but be surprised, stepped forward and bowed and said, "Sir, now that the situation in Dinghai has been decided, I want to hear Mr.'s opinion on how we should attack Wu Yue." ”

I followed Jiang Haitao towards the Funei Festival Hall, and said as I walked: "You must already have a plan, I don't know what you want to do?" ”

Jiang Haitao said: "If you can break through the Yuhang water camp, Hangzhou Bay will be invincible, but Yuhang has always been extremely heavy on the water camp, I'm afraid it won't be able to succeed." I intend to take the coastal state capital first. ”

I said: "Recently, Jianye will have a move, Shang Weijun has always been the most greedy for merit, this time Dinghai was captured by our army, he will definitely hand over Dinghai Mountain to Lu Can, but he will not let go of the military power of Ning Haihai Mountain, so we don't have to worry that the Ninghai Sea Camp will go south to attack Dinghai, but should beware of Lu Can's counterattack." Since the Yuhang water camp is not easy to capture, our army does not need to rush to attack Yuhang, Huiji, Yuyao, Zhenhai, Jiaxing, Haining, and Pinghu are all important towns in Wuyue, but they are not well armed, our army took advantage of the fact that Lu Can has not yet arrived in Yuejun, and first looted the grain treasury of these important towns, because the grain is in the enemy, and then even if Yuejun is recaptured by Lu Can, our army also has the capital to gain a foothold. You can also plunder the young men along the coast and place them on isolated islands, which can force them to farm on the islands to make up for the shortage of money and food for our army. In this way, even if the Ninghai battalion can prevent our army from getting supplies from Qingzhou, it will be useless. As long as he has a firm foothold, Wu Yue will fall into the hands of our army sooner or later. ”

Jiang Haitao smiled when he heard this: "This is a common move we have when we are pirates, robbing money and food, harming the enemy and benefiting ourselves, I can't imagine that we have to do this today, the land of Putuo is the most suitable for detaining prisoners, originally I was going to attack it in a few days, but now it seems that I should start quickly." Please rest assured, sir, within ten days, the young and strong people along the coast of Yuejun will fall into my hands. When Lu Can came to Yuejun, he could only sigh gloomily and sit back and watch Wu Yue's land be ransacked by me. ”

I shook my head and said: "That's not necessarily, most of the time will still be a stalemate, he doesn't have enough troops to expel you from Dinghai, and you don't have enough military strength to occupy Wuyue, but don't worry, Lu Can can't stay in Yuejun for a long time, Changsun Ji was ordered to attack Xiangyang, this time there will be a gain, and then Lu Can will naturally not be able to stay in Yuejun to fight against you." ”

Jiang Haitao said thoughtfully: "Sir, don't worry, these days, I will let Lu Can fall into Yuejun, so as to echo the battle in Xiangyang." ”

I smiled slightly, this kid is very clever when it comes to marching and fighting, and when I show a little bit, he knows that the main target this time is in Xiangyang. Thinking that I insisted on going south with the navy this time, the excuse was that I wanted to see the naval battle, but in fact, I wanted to take the opportunity to go back to Jiaxing, solve the problem of the Jing family, and pay tribute to my mother by the way, I don't know if he has the courage to let him go? Thinking of this, I showed a weird smile, Jiang Haitao, who was walking next to me, shuddered, missed his face, and had an ominous premonition in his heart.

At this time, Lu Can was going straight to Yuhang by boat, this time he brought 10,000 soldiers from the Jiujiang Water Camp, and decided to enrich them to the Yuhang Water Camp. I didn't have the heart to see the scenery on both sides of the strait, Lu Canxin said, just give me three years, I can train an elite army in the land of Wuyue, recapture Dinghai, and drive the Yongjun away. But a wisp of worry surged in his heart, this time the Yongjun trapped in Xiangyang, is it really just a feint, this time the East China Sea Army Kou Wu Yue has been out of his expectations, if there is any change in Xiangyang this time, I am afraid that the situation is dangerous, sighing lightly, Lu Can knew that he had no choice, Wu Yue's land, Shang Weijun has always been not allowed to interfere with himself, if it were not for this Yongjun Kou Wu Yue, Shang Weijun would not allow himself to take over the military and political power of Wu Yue, and if he did not go to Wu Yue in person this time, I am afraid that it will become a place of capital enemies. And Xiangyang, after all, there is still Rong Yuan, it should be able to support it, comforting himself in his heart for a moment, Lu Can finally put all his thoughts on how to improve the defense line of Yuejun and prevent the Yongjun army from entering the inland of Kou.