On February 13, Li Fangwei, an envoy of the Southern Dynasty, set off from Luoyang to return to China. After staying in Luoyang for more than two months, Li Fangwei learned that the Northern Dynasty had no intention of reconciling with the Southern Dynasty, and it was only after he learned from unofficial channels that Sima Yu had taken up the post of Jiangbei Defense Commander-in-Chief that he suddenly realized that the war between the Southern and Northern Dynasties over who belonged to the world was inevitable.

In the previous days, he tried his best to ask for a final meeting with Han Jian, the emperor of the Northern Dynasty, to get an accurate answer, but he did not see him, and in the end he could only return to China gloomily. Originally, he betrayed King Hui and defected to the empress, and he came to the north as an envoy in a desperate way, but in the end he didn't dare to go back until the matter was done, but he also knew that Sima Yi was now in Jiangbei, and he thought that with Sima Yi as his backer, how could he go back and have an explanation.

The day before parting, Li Fangwei received a letter from Sima Yi from Yangzhou, which also reassured him that he would not have to worry about anything else when he returned, which also gave Li Fangwei a final reassurance.

On the day Li Fangwei left, at noon on February 13, Han Jian in the Luoyang Imperial Palace convened the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs to discuss the matter of military aircraft. In almost everyone's mind, now the Wei Dynasty should enter a state of recuperation, instead of continuing to send troops to Jiangnan, but Han Jian's absolute authority in military affairs in recent years has not allowed others to be qualified to make irresponsible remarks, which has also caused dissatisfaction among some courtiers, but in the court discussion, no one raised objections.

Han Jian specially set up the Prime Minister Jiangnan Yamen, with Ning Yuan, the minister of Lingshangtai, as the leader, and concurrently led the Prime Minister Jiangnan Yamen, and at the same time transferred many civil officials and military generals of the imperial court to the Prime Minister Jiangnan Yamen, in fact, it was also an attitude to the outside world, even if the war had not yet started, but the Wei Dynasty had been ready to take over Jiangnan, and had begun to prepare for the establishment of rules and regulations. In order to ensure that whether it is a city occupied by soldiers and horses, or a city obtained by surrender and surrender, it can basically be collected in a regular way. The Wei Dynasty had made all preparations to send troops to the Southern Dynasty.

At the same time, it was the tension of the situation in Jinling, and then a large-scale increase in troops began in the city of Yangzhou, led by Yangzhou Taishou Suihua. By the end of February, the total number of soldiers and horses around Yangzhou had suddenly increased from 50,000 to more than 100,000, but most of these 100,000 soldiers and horses were old, weak, sick and disabled, not to mention the experience of regular combat, and they did not even have daily training, and military uniforms and weapons could not be issued in place. The whole thing is to pull in a battle to fill the number.

On the contrary, the north has begun to be on the front line of the southern dynasties, Jiangdu and Yuzhou have increased their troops one after another, because the spring sowing in the north has not yet ended, Yuzhou and Jiangdu mainly make a defensive posture, soldiers and horses to Jiangdu and Yuzhou local garrison soldiers and horses, after the assembly, the number of soldiers and horses is only sixty or seventy thousand, but they are also elite soldiers who can fight well.

In mid-February. The Wei Dynasty transferred more than 100,000 soldiers and horses from the north to the south of the Yellow River, and these 100,000 soldiers and horses were successively dismissed and returned to their hometowns. After the end of spring sowing, it will be reassembled, for the two important southern fortresses of Yuzhou and Jiangdu, the Wei Dynasty court stationed troops and horses regardless of the importance of the troops, basically in an average way to distribute the soldiers and horses requisitioned back from the north to the localities. Because Jiangdu still has a large number of local soldiers ready to be recruited at any time, in fact, in terms of soldiers and horses, the number of soldiers and horses in Jiangdu far exceeds that of Yuzhou. According to the layout of the military forces in late February. If the Wei Dynasty takes Jiangdu as the main direction of sending troops, the Wei Dynasty will send more than 100,000 soldiers and horses to the Jianghuai generation, and these 100,000 soldiers and horses are basically elite soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in the battle against the Xianbei people, plus the militia and reserves supplied in the rear, plus the people who transport troops. The combat force of Jiangdu to the south exceeded 200,000.

Therefore, by the end of February, not only the people in Yangzhou City fled, but even the number of deserters in the army increased substantially, and it was claimed that 300,000 troops had been sorted out to prepare for the invasion of the Northern Dynasties, but by the beginning of March, the defenders in the entire Yangzhou City did not exceed 30,000, and the original 300,000 Yangzhou citizens did not have 100,000 left at this time, and the city had shown a state of panic before the war, and everyone was in danger.

Even so, Sima Yi in Yangzhou still sat upright on the Diaoyutai and did not move, even Sui Hua also felt the pressure on his head increasing, Jinling would send an official document of reprimand every day or two, teaching Sui Hua the poor governance of the local area caused the refugees to cross the river, countless refugees outside Jinling City, and even the refugees in the Jiangjiang area began to flock to Jinling. Although Jinling City is close to the Yangtze River and is likely to become the main target of the northern attack after the outbreak of war, after all, it is the dragon qi at the feet of the Son of Heaven who is blessed by the dragon's breath, and the people still hope to go to Jinling to seek partial peace.

On February 26, Han Jian issued a holy decree in Luoyang, announcing that he would personally visit the capital of Xingjiang. This is the second time after the empress of the Wei Dynasty was forced to declare "patrol luck" in Jiangdu, Han Jian's announcement of the tour was in early March, in the eyes of the outside world, Han Jian returned to his rear base in Jiangdu, on the one hand, to stabilize the rear, and the second point was to prepare for the dispatch of troops to Jiangnan.

The Son of Heaven patrolled the fortification, which was a top priority for the Wei Dynasty's court, and the court began to prepare immediately, because Han Jian's southern tour of the river would also bring all his dependents, even including the former empress Yang Rui and the noble concubine Ning who had not yet entered the palace.

It stands to reason that Han Jian will not attack the Southern Dynasty in person, after all, ensuring the stability of the rear is the most important thing, so that even if the war against the South cannot be successful, at least the stability of the north can be maintained, and there will be a chance to send troops again in the future. But now that Han Jian has decided to lead the troops in person, he still shows a posture of moving the palace to Jiangdu, which will make people feel that after several years of victory, he has become arrogant and out of control, which also makes the Southern Dynasty feel that the Northern Dynasty has reached the end of the crossbow, and the Southern Dynasty is already "winning" in this war.

On the first day of the first month of March, Han Jian had already made preparations for the southern tour, including the escorted soldiers and horses, as well as the supplies along the way and the dispatch of the carriages and horses, and even the Jiangdu side was ready to welcome the Son of Heaven into the city. The whole world, including the people in the court of the Northern Dynasties, also paid attention to the upcoming Han Jian's southern tour, but in fact, at this time, Han Jian was secretly preparing his plan to surprise attack the Southern Dynasties, and the vanguard had already set off, just because of the special channels, whether it was the Southern Dynasties or the Northern Dynasties, they didn't realize that Han Jian was using himself as the focus of the incident, paralyzing the enemy and paralyzing his own people at the same time.

That night, Han Jian went to Yang Rui's dormitory to spend the night. Yang Rui was dissatisfied with the fact that she was about to break Zhou Zhang's southward journey, and she hoped that she could stay in Luoyang, after all, Luoyang was the seat of the royal orthodoxy of the Wei Dynasty, and even if she was not the empress now, she didn't want to leave her homeland.

When Han Jian arrived at her dormitory, Yang Rui didn't even have the patience to get up and salute, and he ignored Han Jian.

It's Hui'er. is still staying in Yang Rui's bedroom, even if she was once disliked by Yang Rui, Hui'er still dutifully became Yang Rui's personal palace maid, and even Han Jian gave her the opportunity to canonize the concubine, but she refused. At this time, there was one more palace maid in Yang Rui's bedroom, that is, the woman who had thrown herself into the well in the palace during the draft girl, surnamed Chen, as for the name Han Jian, I don't know, Yang Rui would let Chen's little girl go outside first when he came to Yang Rui before. In Han Jian's view, this is Yang Rui's defense against his "bad intentions" towards Chen's little girl again.

"The southern tour of Jiangdu is something that has been planned for a long time, even if you don't want to go, you have to go together, if you think Li'er is still young and wants to leave her in Luoyang, it is up to you." Han Jian was afraid that Yang Rui was worried that his daughter would not be able to withstand the long journey at a young age, so he made a certain compromise. Originally, Han Jian just wanted the family to return to their roots. Even if he can't win a battle against Nan, he is ready to settle his family in Jiangdu for a long time. With Jiangdu as a companion, the capital exists.

Yang Rui said: "No matter where she goes, she will walk with me." ”

Han Jian stood up and said, "That's good, no opinion, I'll leave in three days." The car has been prepared, and after arriving at the place, if there is a water and soil adaptation. You can still take a temporary rest, and you don't need to be in a hurry to travel this time, and you can arrive at the end of April. Two months to Jiangdu, this section of the road will not be too urgent. ”

Yang Rui glanced at Han Jian, who had asked her to accompany her. Han Jian said that it made her feel the glory of dominating the rivers and mountains, and she was quite disdainful in her heart. Yang Rui did not approve of the use of troops in the south from the beginning, after all, the internal troubles had just been eliminated, and the country was still unstable, so it was strange to launch a southern invasion like this, and it was no wonder that he was undefeated. In her opinion, the best way is to maintain the status quo and be at peace with the Southern Dynasties, and to use troops against the South will only have to wait for decades of recuperation.

While speaking, Hui'er had asked the little palace maid to bring the dinner over, because it was two generations of emperors who ate together, and they still attached great importance to the screening of meals. At the dinner table, Yang Rui didn't say a word, and Han Jian was not surprised, since he came back from the north at the end of the year, his relationship with Yang Rui has not been completely eased, and the two have maintained this lukewarm relationship, but at least Yang Rui is not very exclusive to things between husband and wife, every time Han Jian comes over, he doesn't say anything, but what to do at night or what to do.

After dinner, Yang Rui has to bathe and change clothes first, which is also the rule that the concubine must have to serve the king, although Yang Rui does not have an official title in the palace, but the specifications for her in the palace are still the concubines rather than the former emperor, but Han Jian has special preferential treatment for her in private, and even exempts her from the red tape of going to the lord of the six palaces to ask for peace, Yang Rui is the only woman in the palace who can transcend the existence of the six palaces system.

In the past, when Yang Rui was in power, she would go to the pool every time she bathed, and occasionally went with Han Jian, but after abdicating the throne, even if she bathed, she could only bathe in her own bedroom. At the beginning of March, the weather was still a little cold, and there was a lot of hot water prepared for bathing, and there was a palace maid to serve by the side.

When the bath bucket was brought in, Han Jian didn't have to shy away from it, so he sat next to the screen, and he didn't even need to separate the screen. Because of Yang Rui's special status, even if the palace maid is a female official, she is not allowed to come over to disturb Yang Rui's life, Yang Rui wants to bathe, and the only people who can serve around her are Hui'er and the new Chen girl.

Appreciating the former empress bathing is nothing to be proud of for Han Jian, and there are more women around him, so he is a little paralyzed for many things. Yang Rui, on the contrary, felt a little humiliated, and would rather have his back to Han Jian. Because what she is doing now is no longer up to her, since Han Jian is the emperor, and the emperor stays in her bedroom, then she must face Han Jian as a concubine, even if she really wants Han Jian to go out and wait first, she has to bathe in her clothes under Han Jian's gaze. These rules are also the rules of the imperial palace of the Wei Dynasty.

Han Jian sat there, thinking about things a little absent-mindedly in his heart. At this time, Han Jian's main thing was to solve the problem of how to solve the old power in Luoyang after he left Luoyang, Han Jian repeatedly stated that he wanted to maintain the old system of the Wei Dynasty, but with the victory of the first battle against Xianbei, his throne gradually tended to be stable, and under the tradition of a son of heaven and a courtier, he must also cultivate his own connections rather than continue to take on the responsibility of the old minister of the Wei Dynasty. Even the military generals and civilian officials of the original Jiangdu system had to be gradually replaced by new people, and the internal system in wartime and peacetime was different, and if the peacetime country was governed by people who fought with him in the south and north, it would be difficult for local government decrees to be implemented.

"Your Majesty, Niangniang has already bathed...... a very delicate voice came, but it was the little daughter of the Chen family who came to Han Jian to salute.

Because Yang Rui did not have an official title, and the little daughter of the Chen family did not know how to call her in Han Fitness, she could only use the general "Niangniang" as her honorific title for Yang Rui. Han Jian came back to his senses, and at this time, Hui'er had already helped Yang Rui dry the water stains, and then Hui'er put on a wide nightgown for Yang Rui, and then tied the belt for her.

After everything was finished, Yang Rui turned around, or because of some cold, Yang Rui's face was still a little pale. At this time, Hui'er had turned around and called the palace maid outside, the palace maid did not have much strength, and she needed to take out some of the water in the bath bucket first, so that the bucket could be moved out entirely, and then some of the scattered water stains on the ground were completely wiped clean by human hands.

While the palace maids were doing all this, Han Jian sat upright as usual, and Yang Rui had to stand there and wait according to the rules, Han Jian, as the emperor, had no order, and she couldn't even sit.

When everything was sorted out, the palace maids retreated, and even Hui'er and Chen's little daughter also withdrew from the tent, just when Hui'er was about to close the tent curtain, Han Jian glanced over there, in the past, when Yang Rui was pregnant, she always left Hui'er to replace her to marry Han Jian.

The curtain was finally lowered, and Yang Rui frowned slightly: "You have finally become Your Majesty, and you can show off your might?" ”

Han Jian looked at Yang Rui, who seemed to be sulking, got up and stepped forward and said, "What kind of tantrum do you have, if you don't want to, it's a big deal to waive these rules in the future." ”

Yang Rui snorted coldly and said, "Then you can justifiably drive our mother and daughter out of the palace?" ”

Han Jian had a feeling of being speechless. (To be continued......)