In late October, Yanjing has fallen its first snow in winter this year.

After winter, from the swallow thistle, to the river Huai, thousands of miles of land are ice and snow. The frozen white earth, the horse's hooves clattered and clicked, like stepping on an iron plate, and the galloping horseshoe seemed to be able to slip out of Mars when listening to the sound.

After winter, the Hehuai Plain is the world of cavalry.

The annexation of Xi Hu and other clans restored the size of the cavalry controlled by Yanjing to 200,000. To the west to Hezhongfu and the east to Dengzhoufu, on the entire Hehuai and Shandong defense lines, the cavalry increased to 100,000, the infantry increased to 160,000, and the naval army increased to 30,000.

At least in winter, Yanjing did not have to worry about the Southern Dynasty having the ability to break through the defensive line from the eastern front to the north.

In winter, to the north of Changli, Jidong and Liangliao coastal waters are usually frozen, and the depth of sea ice varies from several miles to tens of miles, and even the ports to the south of Jinhai will be frozen in the most serious cases. The inland rivers where the swallow thistle enters the sea will freeze firmly; Without these rivers, the Southern Dynasties did not carry out large-scale infiltration inland, even if they took the sea route to force their troops to the coastal waters of Jinhai and Changli.

The first snow after the beginning of winter means that Yanjing City has entered a harsh winter, and it also means that the tense strategic defense situation of the year can be relaxed a little.

In the royal hunting village in the north of Yanjing, the sound of horses' hooves is like a shower in the snow, and roe deer, hares, and elk are driven to flee in the bushes. At this time, a large group of wild animals stopped in front of a bush, listening to the sound of horses' hooves all around, and for a while they didn't know where to flee, and when they were stunned, Leng Buding shot dozens of sharp arrows from the oblique side, and fiercely drilled into the body of the wild creatures, stirring up blood beads and sprinkling them on the snow, and suddenly dozens of prey twitched and struggled with their hooves, and even more snow particles were everywhere.

Dozens of young men in armor and bows galloped out of the dense forest on the flanks, ignoring the bloodstains, picked up the prey they had shot, placed it horizontally in front of the saddle, and galloped back again, the young man at the head was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and lifted the elk weighing three hundred pounds in front of the saddle effortlessly, and also lost the foal he stepped on, and shouted: "Zuo Lin hunted a big deer, dedicated it to the emperor, and wished the emperor good health and ......longevity."

"Zuo Lin has the courage of his father, great, reward!" Yezir put on a big robe over the dragon robe, stood in front of the hunting platform and watched the royal children hunting, untied the blade from his waist, and asked the courtiers around him to reward those who hunted the giant deer.

Zuo Lin is the son of Yeji Luorong, and the people who hunt with him are all children of the royal family, the older ones are only twenty years old, and the younger ones are only fourteen or fifteen years old, but they have all practiced martial arts since childhood, and they are skilled in bows and horses. Although it is wild hunting, it also shows the foundation of the Yandong tribe to establish the clan with martial arts. The martial arts of these royal sons are not weaker than their fathers, and they are still early from corruption and decay, which also shows that the armed forces of Yandong and Yanxi Zhuhu are still on the rise.

The prey in front of the viewing platform has been piled up like a hill; The royal children were sweating profusely, but their interest was undiminished, and they piled up their prey in front of the hunting platform, and then galloped into the depths of the jungle with their horses. For these wild enclosures, the hunting village released a number of bears and tigers, and whoever can hunt the bears and tigers is the supreme glory......

Ye Zier also liked to hunt in his early years, but at this time he was not allowed to do so, so he could only stand on the hunting platform, looking at the prey piled up like a hill under the stage, and said to the courtiers around him: "Zhang Xiang has worked hard for Dayan all these years, and the deer hunted by Zuo Lin will be given to Zhang Xiang to nourish his body......"

These prey are to be rewarded to the ministers, and the greater the prey, the heavier the reward and the greater the emperor's grace.

Zhang Xie hurriedly knelt down and thanked him.

"Many princes and ministers think that after this winter, the setbacks suffered by the Battle of Jingxiang will be overcome," Ye Zier sat back on the brocade couch and asked Zhang Xie, "Zhang Xiang, what do you think?" ”

Although Ye Zier said this to ask Zhang Xie, the princes and ministers on the hunting platform did not dare to be sloppy, withdrew their thoughts from watching the hunting, and were sitting upright to listen, and the jade concubine standing beside Ye Zier also looked at Zhang Xie.

In addition to Fan Wenlan, Zhang Xie can be said to be the most knowledgeable Hanchen in the court.

Zhang Xie thought about it in his heart, knowing that this question was not easy to answer.

It is true that the defeat in the Battle of Jingxiang was the biggest crisis faced by the Northern Yan after invading the swallow thistle.

At that time, the Western Front Corps led by Ye Ji Luorong lost more than half of it, and the morale of the generals was seriously damaged, while the defense line in Hehuai and Shandong was only 150,000. Due to the drastic attrition of the war on the Western Front, the war readiness materials on the entire Hehuai and Shandong defense lines were in short supply; Including the defense line of the sea lock, which has just been built, the scale of the naval division is only more than 10,000 people, and it is not yet capable of forcibly blocking the Bohai Sea and not allowing the Huaidong naval army to enter. Especially the people of Jinzhong and Yanji were panicked, and for a while, almost every day in Yanjing City, there were Hanchen who surrendered to the old man and returned to his hometown.

In the Battle of Jingxiang, Huaidong not only severely defeated the troops of the Northern Yan and Western Fronts, but also solved the two forces of Hao and Luo in one fell swoop, with nearly 400,000 troops, of which nearly 300,000 were deployed on both sides of the Huaishui from Nanyang to Haizhou. If the Henan armies and the Huaidong army had worked together, it would have been almost impossible for the Northern Yan to hold the area south of the Yellow River.

In the face of such a big crisis, at that time, Yezier decisively changed the offensive into a strategic contraction, sealed Chen Zhihu as Qin, cut the pass to defend the envoys, and shrank the main force of the cavalry of his own tribe to Jinzhong and Yan Ji, not only to give up the area south of the Yellow River.

At that time, even the most arrogant generals realized that the situation was unfavorable to Beiyan, as long as Lin Jian gritted his teeth and launched the Northern Expedition, Beiyan would face an extremely difficult bloody battle.

No one expected that Lin Jian delayed for two years and did not carry out the Northern Expedition, and even if he sent troops to participate in the Goryeo War, the scale was very effective, so that the defense zone of the two sides of the Goryeo Civil War was still maintained on the Asan line.

These two years are too precious for Beiyan. Not only did the lost soldiers replenish themselves, but they also concentrated on strengthening the Hehuai and Shandong lines, increasing the strength of the entire Hehuai and Shandong defense lines by 60 percent. After four years of construction, the number of naval divisions has risen to 30,000.

In particular, there was a severe drought in southern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang last year, while the wind and rain in the north were generally smooth, grain production increased on a large scale, and there were no large-scale wars after two years of recuperation, thus changing the previous situation of material shortage.

Compared with the initial defeat of Jingxiang, the situation of Beiyan has been completely improved; It is not inappropriate to say that the negative impact of the Battle of Jingxiang has been eliminated.

However, it is difficult to say whether the whole situation is as optimistic as the princes and ministers think.

"Although the setbacks of Jingxiang, but the decline of the past two years has gone, it is really the merit of His Majesty's governance of the country," Zhang Xie said steadily, "At this time, the Southern Dynasty Huaidong erected the son, and the usurpation was important, and the national funds were spent on the garden matter, which is also the blessing of Dayan, but the old minister thought that he was prepared for danger in times of peace, and he was prepared to be prepared......

Zhang Xie's words are too high, so that people can't find the slightest loophole, but it is useless to think about it, Ye Zier can not hide the disappointment in his heart, looking at the sky is not too late, and said: "Today's hunting stops here, the interests of the children are not exhausted, Xu continues to hunt ......" Then the princes and ministers retreated, and he returned to the palace to rest first.

"The emperor is not satisfied with Zhang Xiang's answer?" Walking into the warm pavilion of the hearth, Concubine Yu waited for Ye Zier to untie the big fur and asked.

"The generals and ministers of the DPRK and China all thought that Lin Jian would usurp the matter first, and they also thought that Lin Jian consumed national funds in Jiangning, built a museum and built an iron bridge, and lost his mind for playthings, which really benefited Dayan," Ye Zier said, "I am worried about whether I am too optimistic......

"Lin Tie built an iron bridge in Jiangning, built a museum, and collected rare playthings at home and abroad, these two items alone are a million taels of silver can't be beaten, and it is not enough to say that his playthings are demoralized," the Jade Concubine said, "In addition, Lin Tie paved the way for usurpation, and did not hesitate to divide the field tax and the tax in the locality." Although this move completely weakened the power of the six ministries and made all the central officials attached to the Privy Council, it also caused the central revenue to be sharply reduced. Although Lin Jian used various means to concentrate the military and political power of the Southern Dynasty in one person, if he was not in a hurry to usurp and use these resources for military preparation, the pressure on Dayan in Hehuai and Shandong would definitely be much heavier than now......

What Concubine Yu said was almost the consensus of the ministers of Yanjing, and Ye Zier couldn't refute it.

Lin Jian spent huge sums of money to build iron bridges and museums in Jiangning, especially the new tax sharing system that Lin Jian vigorously implemented last year, and there is absolutely no other explanation for it except to pave the way for usurpation.

Under the new system of tax sharing, a considerable part of the land tax and the tax will be distributed to the localities, so that the revenue of the central government controlled by Jiangning will be sharply reduced by at least 5 million taels of silver last year. If Lin Jian was not in a hurry to usurp the throne and become emperor, and used this part of the silver money for military equipment, he would be able to expand the army on a large scale and organize the Northern Expedition last year.

The biggest benefit, and arguably the only benefit, of the new system of tax sharing is to completely weaken the imperial party, so that the officials of the Huaidong family can not only control the center, but also infiltrate the localities on a large scale - if it is not for Lin Tie paving the way for the usurper to become emperor, why?

Lin Jian implemented a new policy in Jiangning to promote the further enlightenment of the social atmosphere, and in fact, it could not prevent Yanjing from obtaining more accurate information about Jianghuai from all aspects.

Matters such as the Jinchuan Iron Bridge and the Museum themselves must be made public to the general public, and the secret agents sent by Yanjing to Jianghuai can naturally easily obtain relatively accurate information.

Listening to Concubine Yu's judgment of the situation in the Southern Dynasties, Ye Zier didn't blame Concubine Yu's knowledge for being limited to this, and now most of the generals in the court thought so, he could still put forward higher requirements for a woman like Concubine Yu, just shook his head lightly and said:

"When others saw Lin Tie building a big iron bridge in Jiangning, they thought that he was discouraged and wasting national funds, but Jiangning dared to put two or three million catties of iron in a big iron bridge; Not to mention the iron materials used by Jiangning on the iron bridge, it is one-third or even one-half of the iron smelted in a year in the Yanjing official iron field, that is, Yanjing can come up with so much iron, can Yanjing craftsmen have the ability to build a big iron bridge on the Wei River? In this incident, doesn't it show Jiangning's national strength, and Yanjing has been left far behind? In addition, Lin Jian was willing to invest such resources on an iron bridge, not so much that he was demoralized, but that he used this method to stimulate the rapid development of the craftsmen of the Southern Dynasty. Caused by the Jinchuan Iron Bridge, the southern bridge-building technique must be far above Yanjing. This principle is not fundamentally different from the rapid development of Huaidong's shipbuilding technology. ”

Concubine Yu didn't expect the emperor to be silent these days, all she thought about was this matter, and she remembered the Huaidong iron-bone ship she saw last year.

Ye Zier once asked the Tieshan Shipyard to imitate the Huaidong iron bone ship, but the skill of the craftsman was very different, and several times the iron material was wasted before and after, and a qualified iron bone ship was not built - it is not difficult to imagine how many resources Huaidong consumed to succeed when building the first iron bone ship.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, but if Huaidong gritted his teeth and built the first iron-bone ship, it would be much easier to take the second and third iron-bone ships, and the resources consumed would be much less.

Huaidong relied on these iron-boned boats and the simplest water collision tactics to force the Dengzhou sailors to sail near the sea defense line.

"The lessons of the Battle of Jingxiang are not far away," Ye Zier sighed lightly, "Although the Southern Dynasty will consume 500,000 taels of silver for an iron bridge, as long as the Jinchuan Iron Bridge can be successfully built, it means that Huaidong's bridge-building craftsmanship will make great progress from it-and the battle of Miaotanling, which caused our division to have 70,000 or 80,000 soldiers who could not be withdrawn, and the Huaidong Army was trapped in Xiangyang and annihilated. This kind of gap is invisible, and the ministers of the court and the central government are still complacent about the abundance of horses and food, which is what worries me the most. ”

"However, what is the explanation of the new tax policy and the creation of a museum?" Concubine Yu asked hesitantly.

"Xu is Lin Lian's intention to usurp the throne and become emperor first," Ye Zier said, "The secret agent reported that Emperor Yongxing's health of the Southern Dynasty was not as good as day by day, and he could die at any time, so it is not an accident that Lin Lian planned this matter first." But even if Lin Jian plotted to usurp the throne first, it would not give us more than three or five years to breathe; The creation of a museum, even if it is a plaything, is really limited, perhaps to confuse us do not know......"

At this time, a courtier came in with a wooden box and said, "Luoyang is a secret ......."

"Oh......" Ye Zier took the wooden box, cut the lacquer and took out the secret fold that Ye Ji Luo Rong had hidden in the box, and opened it to read.

"What did King Chengji say?" Concubine Yu asked.

Ye Ji Luorong was defeated by the Prince of Qimu because of Jingxiang, and was renamed the King of Jijun.

"The Cao family sent Ren Jiwei's secretary to Luoyang, and said to Luo Rong that after the death of Emperor Yongxing, if Lin Jian plotted to usurp things, Yuzhou would support the new emperor and invite Yan to form an alliance," Ye Zier said, "Ren Jiwei went to Xuchang to see Dong Yuan at this time, and Xuchang also put forward a series of conditions," Ye Jier frowned and thought for a moment, and instructed his courtiers, "Summoning Zhang Xiang and Prince Mu to discuss ......"

Yan Xiao's hunting lasted for ten years, and it was only on the third day, and Zhang Xie, Ye Ji Xijin, Fuqu Mengye, Nahe Wugu and other important ministers also lived in the hunting camp with Ye Zier, and they were summoned in an instant.

The ministers rushed to the dormitory to discuss important matters, and the jade concubine retired first.

Compared with the public council held by Lin Tie in Jiangning, Yanting still has a strong tradition of tribal deliberations, and although Yezier is the king of Khan and the emperor of the Mandate of Heaven, it is actually difficult to specialize in national affairs. Ye Ji Luorong, Ye Ji Duodi, and Ye Ji Baishi led the troops outside, Ye Ji Xijin was the only surviving king of the previous generation, and Fuqu Mengye, Nahe Wugu and others were all the patriarchs of Fuqu, Nahe and other tribes, and they were all princes and important ministers who had the right to discuss state affairs.

When Jingxiang was frustrated, Ye Zier sent a secret envoy to Yuzhou to canonize Cao Yiqu as the king of Shu, although Cao Yiqu ignored it, but also opened the prelude to the secret alliance between the two sides.

But in any case, the Cao clan had only seized Sichuan and Shu before, and nominally respected Jiangning, whether it was the famous division or the comparison of the strength of the two sides, the Cao clan did not dare to take the initiative to send troops to provoke Jiangning.

Although Lin Jian had the heart to guard against the Cao family, the main contradiction that Jiangning faced after the Battle of Jingxiang was still in the north and not in the west. Therefore, Lin Jian would not focus his strategy on the western front, and only deployed 40,000 water infantry troops in Jingzhou and Yiling to guard against Cao's westward exit from the Xiajiang River, and deployed 200,000 heavy troops on the eastern front of Xushou and Yihai, which posed great military pressure on Shandong in the north.

If Cao Yiqu set up another son of the Yuan clan as the new emperor in Yuzhou, he would actually have to compete with Jiangning for the orthodox position, which would have to intensify the contradictions with Jiangning, and Huaidong's military center of gravity would inevitably move westward, which would reduce the pressure on Yanjing on the Hehuai and Shandong defense lines.

"Emperor Yongxing's life is not long in coming, and Lin Jian is also stepping up his plot in Jiangning; But if Lin Jian still has some patience and makes his youngest son a puppet after Emperor Yongxing," Zhang Xie said, "Does the Cao clan dare to immediately start supporting the children of the Yuan clan as the new emperor in Yuzhou?" ”

Ye Zier nodded, Zhang Xie was vague in some things, and neither party could be offended, but he could still hit the nail on the head in some things.

At present, Emperor Yongxing is still there, the Empress Dowager Liang still has the name of temporary regent, and the Cao family has limited strength, so he does not dare to risk the world's great power, set up a new emperor, and directly confront Huaidong.

As soon as Emperor Yongxing died, if Lin Jian committed rebellion and abolished Yuan as emperor, the Cao family would set up a new emperor in Yuzhou, and he would be able to have a righteous name, which was also the only opportunity for the Cao family to seize the righteous name.

Cao Yiqu is already sixty-seven, although his energy is okay, but his age is not forgiving, he obviously doesn't want to miss the last opportunity.

According to reliable information, Emperor Yongxing and Liang's health are getting worse and worse, and it can be said that their lives are short, and they may die anytime and anywhere. However, it is true that Lin Tie stepped up his plot to usurp in Jiangning, but it does not mean that he has no patience at all, and after the death of Emperor Yongxing, Lin Tie is not without the possibility of setting up Emperor Yongxing's youngest son to ascend the throne as a puppet - by this time, does the Cao family still have the courage to set up a new emperor and confront Huaidong-for-tat?

The Cao clan supported the new emperor in Yuzhou, which would share the great military pressure on Yanjing, so Yanjing very much hoped that the Cao clan could set up a new emperor in Yuzhou and intensify the contradiction with Huaidong.

However, nothing is wishful thinking, and the Cao family has the Cao family's trade-offs. The risks far outweigh the benefits, and the Cao family will not be stunned, if they are not fully prepared, once they attract the main force of Huaidong soldiers and horses to the west, they will only block their last retreat.

Cao Yiqu sent Ji Wei to Luoyang and Xuchang this time, on the condition of establishing a new emperor, hoping to get more substantial support from Yanjing, so as to better consolidate his foundation in Sichuan and Shu.

Similarly, Yan Jing can't believe in the Cao family without reservation, and here is also worried that the Cao family will not be able to set up a new emperor after getting the benefits - in that case, Yan Jing will lose his wife and break his army, making the world laugh.

Ye Ji Xijin looked at Ye Ji Luorong's secret fold from Luoyang, looked at the series of conditions put forward by the Cao family's secret envoy, and said: "Cao Yiqu is really a lion's mouth, and Dong Yuan has a lot of appetite; However, as long as they make an alliance and Yongxing'er dies, regardless of whether Lin Jian immediately abolishes Yuan and becomes emperor, they will support the new emperor, and it doesn't hurt to promise them these conditions......"

As long as Emperor Yongxing dies, even if Lin Jian sets up the son of Emperor Yongxing as a puppet, the Cao family can still claim that Emperor Yongxing killed Lin Jian in Yuzhou, make a few false edicts, and set up a new emperor, and still be able to win some righteous names.

What's more, Lin Jian was implementing a new policy in Jiangning at this time, and offended the traditional gentry forces very much, if the Cao family fought with Jiang Ning on the cause of Emperor Yongxing's death, most of the traditional gentry forces would choose to believe the Cao family.

Yezier took Yezirorong's secret fold back and weighed it on the long case.

The Cao family also realized the sharpness of the Huaidong naval army, although Sichuan and Shu also had a tradition of shipbuilding on the rivers of Luo and Sichuan, but the shipbuilding craftsmanship was obviously not the same as that of Huaidong, and even lagged behind Yanjing. The Cao family hoped that Yanjing could send craftsmen to help them build some high-quality warships, although the ships built by Yanjing craftsmen were far less sharp than the Huaidong warships, but on the gorge with dangerous terrain and treacherous currents, the Yanjing ships occupied the upstream advantage and could compete with the Huaidong warships.

Therefore, the first condition of the Cao family was that Yanjing would assist them in building warships and controlling the water army, and also to enhance their ability to resist the Huaidong army's westward advance along the Xiaxia.

In addition, the Cao family also asked Yanjing to provide them with some war horses and animal power, and at the same time asked Yanjing to order Chen Zhihu to withdraw the garrison west of Tianshui so that the Qiang people could live there.

The three generations of the Cao family guarded the northwest and had a close relationship with the Qianghu in the northwest. Many of the generals who worked for the Cao clan were Qianghu people. However, after the Northern Yan captured Guanzhong, the Cao family retreated south to Sichuan and Shu, and the Qianghu tribes were also forced to move westward, and the Cao clan lost the most important foreign military support. Therefore, the Cao family hoped that Chen Zhihu could give up the land to the west of Tianshui, and ask the Qianghu tribes to move back here, connect with Sichuan and Shu, and continue to be used by the Cao family, increasing the combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses under the jurisdiction of the Cao family.

Dong Yuan's demands were very simple: first, he wanted to completely control the Funiu Mountains in the upper reaches of Luoshui, so that he would have a base to retreat from in order to compete with Huaidong in the future; The second is to ask Hezhong Prefecture to provide 500,000 stone grain and grass and some armor and weapons to the Funiu Mountains, thinking that the soldiers and horses of Xuchang can support a year's consumption in the most difficult time; the third is to allow the households of Hezhong Prefecture to flow to Xuchang, so that Xuchang can obtain Ding Zhuang and increase the grain land; Fourth, once Xuchang is attacked from the south, Yanjing's garrison in Hezhong Mansion and Daliang has the obligation to help.

Of course, Dong Yuan did not dare to directly put these handles into the hands of Huaidong at this time, so the above conditions were carried out through a group of soldiers and horses deployed by the Cao family in the Funiu Mountains at this time. Once the Cao family supports the new emperor, Dong Yuan will also support him in Xuchang, depending on Yuzhou, the Cao family will assign the soldiers and horses in the Funiu Mountains to Xuchang under the jurisdiction of Xuchang, and the grain, grass and weapons drawn by Yanjing to the Funiu Mountains will naturally belong to Xuchang.

The conditions proposed by the Cao family and Dong Yuan are not simple, if these conditions meet Cao and Dong, and Cao and Dong delay not establishing a new emperor and confront Jiang Ning, then Yanjing will lose more than it gains.

Yezir also had a hard time making a decision.