I saw the beginning of March, which was supposed to be the season of spring flowers in March, but the land of Jiangdu was shrouded in unusually late heavy snow. It snowed heavily for several days, and the streets were deserted, and even the transmission of some official documents was hindered.

But at this time, the war in the north suddenly changed, and the Luoyang army and the Beiwang army jointly moved south, approaching Jiangdu from Luozhou.

Because of the delay in the news, even the time for the Eastern Prince's Mansion to receive the battle report from the front line was also delayed, and it was also delayed in formulating military plans.

On the evening of the ninth day of the first month of March, Han Jian came to the temporary residence of the imperial court of the Chengdong Mansion, which was also the place where the emergency military meeting was held. The meeting was attended not only by the staff and generals of the Eastern Palace, but also by some members of the Imperial Military Department and the Cabinet.

It is a matter of life and death in Jiangdu, this battle is very important in the eyes of the Eastern Prince's Mansion and the imperial court, and if you are not careful, it may bring about a catastrophe.

"East King!"

"East King!"

When Han Jian arrived, the officials who had been waiting for a long time stood up and saluted.

Han Jian waved his hand to signal that everyone didn't have to be too formalistic at this time, as soon as he entered the house, someone behind him took down the big dazon for him, and this person was Lin Xiaoshu, the big butler of the East Prince's Mansion.

As the "real power figure" of the Dongwang Mansion today, and Lin Xiaoshu, who is fully responsible for the grain transportation of the Dongwang Mansion, will also attend today's meeting, but Han Jian's "personal staff" Yang Li'er did not attend. This is mainly related to Yang Li'er's identity. As for Han Song and Han Cui, they did not attend the meeting. According to the two of them, since they have delegated power to Han Jian, they have completely delegated power.

Han Jian arrived. It means that the meeting has officially begun.

Han Jian, as the host of the meeting, is also the most powerful speaker in the audience, even if it is an official of the current imperial court, he must be restrained by him. At the moment of "national disaster", the political struggle is still secondary, and the people of the Luoyang faction in their own court also know that they can't fight Han Jian in the land of Jiangdu, so they have also stopped in these days.

“…… The rebels moved south from Siye, Dangyang, and Lining, and their soldiers and horses were unknown. There is also news of rebel infestations in Maoping and Anzhou. The cities of the Northland were closed, and the heavy snow blocked the post road. The frontline battle report was delayed by about two days. The news from the front is not yet clear......"

The generals in charge of intelligence made the latest battle reports on the front line one by one, so that those present knew that now that the situation was urgent, and it was already burning their eyebrows.

This time, the Northern Luoyang Army and the Northern Wang Army did not advance from one point. It's about attacking more. The whole broke through from multiple points on one front. The road was blocked due to heavy snowfall. The news from the front line also lagged behind by two or three days, which means that the battle report that Jiang Du got now is the news from three or four days ago.

After listening to the battle report, someone analyzed the battle report. None of the people present were speechless, Han Jian looked around at everyone, and said in a calm voice: "It seems that this time, we are going to fight in an all-round way." ”

In the past, even if the Luoyang Army and the Beiwang Army dispatched more than 100,000 soldiers and horses at a time, they only captured a city in Luozhou, and the area involved was very narrow. But this time it was different, although the enemy army would not be more on the way, but because the points were very scattered, they could not be broken at once, so they could only resist on one front and rely on the stability of the city to hold on.

"Now that Jiangdu soldiers and horses have been sent to the north, the emptiness inside Jiangdu is the most important thing." A general on the side reminded.

Han Jian glanced at him, the general didn't have much impression of him before, he only knew that he was a member of the Luoyang faction of the imperial court, serving in the military department.

Regarding the defense of Jiangdu, Han Jian did not reveal much to the Ministry of War, so the people on the side of the Ministry of War could only rely on guesses. Previously, Jiangdu sent several batches of troops and horses to the north, and in the eyes of outsiders, Jiangdu's defense would be empty. But in fact, there were as many as 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers and horses left in Jiangdu in Dongwangfu, although they were not elite generals and most of them were garrisons, but they could also cope with the war.

"I won't mention the defense of Jiangdu now." Han Jian expressed his attitude and said, "The most important thing is to ensure that the rebels will not harass the city of Jiangdu and resist in the north, not in Jiangdu. ”

Han Jian's meaning is very clear. Now even if the Luoyang Army and the Beiwang Army kill them, as long as they don't reach Jiangdu City, then Jiangdu City will definitely be safe. As long as some cities in the north of Jiangdu are not lost, it is not very likely that the Luoyang army and the Beiwang army will bypass the south, and if you want to make a surprise attack, you must first be able to ensure the support of grain and grass, and there are a bunch of enemy cities behind you, which is a taboo in offensive warfare. Although there are many Luoyang army and Beiwang army, they can't take care of so many cities at the same time, they can only fight one by one, which takes a long time, and it is not what Yang Yu and Yang Ke want.

"What does the East King think?" As a civilian official, Gu Weipan should not attend this kind of military meeting.

But among the people present, only his official character was theoretically above Han Jian, and he asked this sentence on behalf of the people of the Luoyang faction of the imperial court.

Now that others are coming, they have to listen to Han Jian's meaning, no matter who proposes what the construction is, as long as the Dongwang Mansion headed by Han Jian does not adopt it, it is tantamount to saying it in vain.

"The northern cities can't hold out." Han Jian also said bluntly.

After Han Jian finished speaking, the people present talked a lot.

Although what Han Jian said is also in line with the current reality, many people still expressed concern.

Sticking to it means that the area outside the city is completely handed over to the Luoyang Army and the Beiwang Army, and the initiative is given up, which is also equivalent to "the loss of the country" in disguise.

"King Dong, now the rebels are only one or two hundred thousand, do you need this?" After discussing with the people of the Luoyang faction behind him, Gu Weipan stepped forward to inquire.

"That Mrs. Gu...... But is there a good building? Han Jian glanced at the people behind Gu Weipan as he spoke.

Those officials, who say that they are staff members, have never been on the battlefield, and the affairs of the battlefield are only on paper. The reason why they opposed Han Jian's proposition was not because Han Jian's strategy was inappropriate, but because the strategy of sticking to it would put Jiangdu in a difficult situation, and giving up the vast land outside the city would mean that the city would become an isolated city.

Gu Weipan shook his head and didn't speak.

Han Jian said: "Now it's not a matter of soldiers and horses, the army of the Northern King, who has been fighting with the Xianbei people for a long time, is brave and good at fighting, this time they are going south, although Jiangdu is not a wide grassland, but they can also give full play to their cavalry advantages." If we go out of the city, it is equivalent to giving up our strengths, and we can't hold on to the city, and in a few months, the river will be lost. ”

Gu Weipan sighed and said, "Since this is the case, then it is appropriate to stick to the city......

As soon as Gu Weipan said this, the people from the Luoyang faction of the imperial court stopped talking.

However, Gu Weipan changed his words and said: "If you want to stick to it, I'm afraid you will have to guard against internal troubles." ”

Hearing Gu Weipan mention "internal troubles", Han Jian knew what he was talking about. In most of the prefectures and counties in Jiangdu, although the garrison was responsible for the defense of the city, in wartime, the head of the local administration also took care of the heavy responsibility of defending the city, and the military and the government shouldered both the shoulder. Such a problem is to prevent wartime policy inconsistency and facilitate scheduling.

But the problem is that if this "leader" defects, the city will not be protected.

Some military generals may have the integrity of serving the country loyally, but in wartime, it is the civilian officials who are responsible for the defense of the city, and the civilian officials sometimes "act in the right and interests", to put it bluntly, they see the wind and steer the rudder.

Once Jiangdu falls into a situation where he cannot hold out, over time, these civil officials will think that the general trend has gone, and they will choose to "defect to the Ming Lord", and when the time comes, they will open the door and surrender, and the strategy of holding on will be ineffective. Moreover, this kind of thing is easy to "contagious", once the surrounding cities surrender, more civilian officials will feel that the general trend has gone, and a chain reaction will be formed.

Han Jian nodded and said, "I will consider this matter." ”

Han Jian just said that he would consider it, but did not say how to solve it, which made Gu Weipan very worried.

Gu Weipan's relationship with Han Jian was different from that of other Luoyang faction officials, he was genuinely thinking about the imperial court and hoped that Jiang could get through this difficulty. The more calm Han Jian looked, the more likely he was to have an accident, and in the final analysis, he was still a little worried about the young and vigorous Han Jian.

After the meeting, it was all about how to move grain and grass in the event of a holding out, or how to form a "joint defense" between cities, and how to support the rebels in the event that they bypassed the city and attacked other cities.

For these problems, there are maps, as well as ready-made official roads and grain routes, and reasonable plans must be made, and even which city to subdivide. In the north of Jiangdu, not all cities can hold on, many small county towns, their own city walls are low, Luoyang Army and Beiwang Army can be captured in less than a day or two, and now Dongwangfu wants to protect, it is not these small cities, but big cities. Only if the city is kept, the vast area between the cities, even if it is all enemy troops, theoretically these areas have not been lost. In this era, the city is the symbol of regional prosperity and the brain of a local administration.

When it comes to the issue of joint defense, Han Jian mainly arranges the officials of the Dongwang Mansion, which has already made the people of the Luoyang faction dissatisfied. When it came to grain transportation, Han Jian kept explaining things to Lin Xiaoshu, which made the people of the Luoyang faction completely indignant.

This time with the empress to Jiangdu, there are also a lot of officials who serve in the household department and the treasury department, although the household department and the treasury department have experienced Han Jian's "looting" before, but there are many "talents" in this area in the court, Han Jian did not ask them to be responsible for grain and grass, but found a woman to be responsible for such a big matter, and this woman is still an ordinary housekeeper in the East Palace, how can they not be angry?

"His Royal Highness the King of the East, I don't know how to end up borrowing grain from the Qi Dynasty?" An official walked over and said directly to Han Jian.

Han Jian recognized this person, it was Sun Xiaoning, the new head of the household department. It is said that it is the book of the household department, but it does not have any real power, after all, in Jiangdu, many imperial court yamen themselves are ornaments.

"Sun Shangshu said to borrow grain? Has the Dongwangfu ever borrowed grain? Han Jian asked rhetorically.

"Huh?" This time, not only Sun Xiaoning was surprised, but even the people around him were a little surprised, the matter of borrowing grain had only happened for two months, and they were all speculating about when Jiangdu would hand over the city to Nanqi to fulfill the exchange conditions, but Han Jian said at this time that there was no matter of borrowing grain at all? (To be continued......)