"Hehe, did my brother come this time to bring food, grass and supplementary ordnance to my younger brother? The younger brother and his subordinates can't wait to cross the Yangtze River and go south, not the younger brother boasts, as long as His Majesty gives an order, the younger brother will be able to break through the Yangtze River defense line and take Jiankang City in one fell swoop. Liu Kun's face was full of excitement, and he took Zu Li's arm and chattered non-stop along the way.

Zu Ti smiled, and did not answer Liu Kun's question directly, but said with a smile: "Brother Xian shocked Jiangnan this time, Your Majesty was overjoyed when he heard it, and said that in the future expedition to Jiangdong, he must choose Brother Xian as the handsome!" This time, on behalf of His Majesty, Brother Yu came to express his condolences to the Huainan soldiers, hoping that everyone would guard against arrogance and rashness, and not be careless and give the enemy an opportunity. ”

"This brother, please rest assured, the Huainan Governor's Mansion will never let the enemy take advantage of any opportunity. Brother, how many troops has the emperor sent to us this time, and when will he be ready to attack. Liu Kun is now full of river crossing operations, and even he has planned several river crossing routes.

Zu Ti looked at the two brothers who were left around, so he no longer had any scruples, and said directly: "Brother Xian, Your Majesty has canceled the request of the Huainan Governor's Mansion to fight south this time!" ”

"What?! This...... This...... Why is that? Liu Kun was taken aback, he never thought that the emperor would disagree with the army crossing the river, "Brother, why is this?" What a good time to cross the river at this time, once we miss it, we don't know when it will appear again, and the younger brother just doesn't understand that His Majesty doesn't agree with me to go south. Brother, is there someone slandering in front of His Majesty? ”

"Be careful! What nonsense are you talking about!? Who is slandering the DPRK?! Besides, with His Majesty's wisdom and martial arts, how could he be bewitched by villains? Foolish brother, I don't agree with you crossing the river to the south, am I also a villain? Zu Ti glared. startled Liu Kun.

"No, no, no, the little brother didn't mean that, the elder brother misunderstood the younger brother. The younger brother just said the wrong thing in a moment of anger. Seeing his brother and boss angry, Liu Kun couldn't help but be afraid.

"Alas, brother, let me tell you the truth, Your Majesty believes that the strategy of first the north and then the south cannot be changed, which is related to the future fate of the Hu people and my Han people. Since last year, the situation in the north has become increasingly unstable. It turns out that we also have allies in the Tuoba tribe. But now? From Guzang to Youzhou, there are millions of Hu people distributed in the entire north, and His Majesty cannot move the power of the imperial court south at this time, otherwise once the Hu people find an opportunity. Then the world is in danger! Zu Ti explained to Liu Kun bitterly.

Liu Kun was silent when he heard this. He had been in the Privy Council for many years. I still have a good understanding of the strength of the Hu people in the north, and I know that what Zu Ti said is true. But seeing the opportunity to pacify Jiangdong slip away from his eyes, he was unwilling to think about it.

"Brother. Didn't Your Majesty prepare for the Northern Expedition in two years' time? It is better to let the younger brother lead the main force of Huainan to the south first, as long as the imperial court replenishes some weapons, grain and grass, and the younger brother is confident that tens of thousands of horses in Huainan will set foot in Jiangdong. ”

"Brother Xian, I haven't seen you for many days, I didn't expect you to learn to speak big, tens of thousands of horses and you want to pacify Jiangdong, you really don't take Wang Dao, Wang Dun and Jiangdong Shi in your eyes. If it weren't for the Jiangdong people's own civil strife this time, would you be able to defeat the Jiangdong Sailor so easily? Brother listened to his brother's advice, first hold the army for the time being, and in the future, it will not take three or five years, and the court will definitely take you as the commander to lead the army to cross the river to the south! ”

"Alas! The little brother just can't let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Liu Kun drank a glass of wine unwillingly, and then put the wine cup heavily on the table.

"Brother Xian, don't be frustrated, there are many opportunities, this time for the sake of the overall situation, I will temporarily wronged the Huainan soldiers, I hope you will explain to the soldiers well, don't let them have any misunderstandings."

It was only at this time that Liu Kun understood why the emperor sent an important minister, Zu Ti, to announce the decree, if someone made trouble, I am afraid that Zu Ti was really needed to suppress it.

"By the way, Brother Xian, Your Majesty has also given you a secret mission, I hope you will cooperate, so that the court can successfully complete the pre-war preparations."

"Oh? What do we need to do? "Since he learned that there was no hope of crossing the river this year, Liu Kun has become listless, and at this time, he heard that His Majesty had a secret mission entrusted to him.

"Your Majesty asks you to continue to make the illusion of going south to cross the river to attract the attention of all parties in the world, so as to conceal the true intention of the imperial court to prepare for the Northern Expedition." Zu Ti said seriously, "Brother Xian, before I came, His Majesty told me that I must tell Brother Fool that you must make preparations for crossing the river south as false as true. ”

"Shhh That seems a bit difficult! Brother, you see, on the one hand, I need to explain to everyone that the imperial court is not ready to cross the river to the south, and on the other hand, I want my subordinates to create an atmosphere of going south, which is probably a bit difficult for a strong man! Liu Kun said with a frown.

"What can you do about that virtuous brother?"

"Well, in the opinion of the younger brother, it is better to conceal the true intentions of the imperial court, only tell the senior officers above the rank of lieutenant in the army, and then spread the news of the imperial court's preparation to cross the river to the ordinary soldiers in the army, only in this way can we confuse the truth with falsehood." Liu Kun deserves to be an expert in psychological warfare, and he immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

"Well, yes, Brother Xian's trick is really powerful, okay, just do what Brother Xian wants. But you have to be careful not to get the gun off the rails. If it weren't for Your Majesty's conscientious efforts to take charge of the Military Service for many years, I'm afraid your position as the governor of Huainan would have come to an end. ”

"If you dare to go to war without authorization this time and disrupt the deployment of the imperial court, I'm afraid even the gods won't be able to save your brother. His Majesty will never tolerate someone sabotaging his strategic deployment again and again, and Brother Xian must not make mistakes again. Before the Hu people in the north are not exterminated, the virtuous brother must endure loneliness. "Zu Ti was afraid that Liu Kun would 'accidentally' cause a war between the north and the south again, so he told him a lot.

"Ahem, ahem! What is the elder brother talking about, the younger brother knows! A trace of embarrassment flashed on Liu Kun's face, it turned out that he really had a little caution in his heart, but he was told by Zu Li.

"Brother Xian, don't take it seriously, Your Majesty has listed the Hu people as the number one enemy, and all the focus of the imperial court in the next three to five years will be on the Hu people in the north. If Brother Xian really dares to provoke a dispute without authorization, I am afraid that there will be a prison sentence waiting for you! ”

"Please rest assured, brother, the younger brother must remember his brother's teachings, and he will never dare to start a war lightly!" Liu Kun saw that Zu Ti said so seriously, and finally attracted his attention.

"Well, it's good that you can think so, and you also have to prevent your subordinates from making small moves from you. Everyone is a soldier, who doesn't want to make contributions on the battlefield? Therefore, you are also optimistic about everyone, if something happens in the future, you, as the highest military governor of the Huainan region, will definitely not be able to escape responsibility. ”

The arrival of Zu Ti made the morale of the Huainan soldiers even higher, and many people talked in private, thinking that Zu Ti's arrival meant that the imperial court was ready to take action against Jiangdong, and this trend even affected Sima Rui in Jiangdong. After receiving the news that Zu Ti had inspected Huainan, he immediately ordered the pace of moving south to be accelerated.

Some of the magnates in Jiankang City also began to go south to Wuxing County in the midst of the chaos, and because the time was too urgent, there was a lot of chaos in the middle. Although Sima Rui decided to go south, he was not prepared to give up Jiankang.

In order to prevent the north from crossing the river to the south, Sima Rui adopted the advice of his staff and designated Dantu Town (now Zhenjiang), Jiankang, Wuhu, and Jiangling as important military towns along the south bank of the Yangtze River. With these four places as the core, the entire Jiangbei defense line was constructed, in which Wang Dun sat in Jiankang and commanded all military and political affairs along the Jiangnan line.

After Gan Zhuo's army was defeated and killed, the rising momentum of the local scholars in Jiangdong was severely suppressed, and they had the upper hand in the matter of moving the town, so when fighting for the leadership of the Yangtze River defense line, the Jiangdong people were suppressed by the northern scholars. In addition to Wang Dundong's transfer to Jiankang to be responsible for the overall situation, Wen Xian was transferred to Jiangling by him to serve as the assassin of Jingzhou at this time, Wang Dun's brother Wang Han sat in Wuhu, and his henchman Qian Fengdan took care of the safety behind Jiankang.

Under the deliberate construction of Zu Ti and Liu Kun, the Huainan Governor's Mansion was actively preparing for the war in Jiangdong in the south, except for some high-ranking generals. Coupled with the help of some newspapers, by the end of the fourth year of Hongwu, the whole world seemed to know that the imperial court was preparing to go south to Jiangdong to quell the rebellion in the coming year.

After receiving the news, Liu Yuan of Bingzhou excitedly gathered his powerful subordinates and prepared to plan a sneak attack on the Great Jin. Under his strict orders, hundreds of thousands of Xiongnu and Qian cavalry were transferred out of their garrisons and secretly transferred to the south and west of Bingzhou, and he did not forget to inform several of his allies.

The Xianbei of Hexi, the southern part of Tuoba, the Duan clan of Liaodong, and the two Xianbei of Yuwen also strengthened their combat preparedness after receiving the news and prepared to participate in the sneak attack plan. The movements of the Hu people in the north were soon transmitted back to the Great Jin Dynasty by the secret disks of the Intelligence Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency. Sima Shu did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly gathered the cabinet ministers together to discuss countermeasures.

"Have you figured out the purpose of the Hu people? And how are the war readiness in various places? Sima Shu asked.

"Your Majesty, according to the latest military reports, the Huns in Bingzhou have increased the number of troops in the southern part of Bingzhou, and Hexi Xianbei also has the intention of attacking Guzang, as for the southern part of Tuoba, Tuoba Liuxiu in order to consolidate his rule, he is eager to enhance his prestige by fighting south. The only thing that is relatively small may be Liaodong Xianbei. Zu Li replied.

"It seems that this time the Hu people are not small! No matter what, let's talk about how prepared our side is, this time we have to defeat the Hu people no matter what, and in the future, the focus of the cabinet and the Privy Council must be all devoted to the affairs of the Northern Expedition. The logistical problem will be handed over to the cabinet to deal with, and the supply of materials for the army must be guaranteed, and the military department must come up with a detailed strategy to resist the enemy as soon as possible, and must annihilate the invading Hu army. (To be continued......)