Jiangning had the Northern Expedition from time to time, but the main time was in the forest of the Haizhou Overseer, and it was delayed until September of the seventh year of Yongxing, and there was no actual action to prepare for the Northern Expedition.

Although in the waters south of the Shandong Peninsula, there were frequent frictions and casualties between the naval divisions of the two sides, and in the Hehuai area, where nearly 600,000 soldiers and horses were gathered on both sides, the post-war calm period extended for 20 months, which was unimaginable for both sides of the enemy.

The quiet period of one and a half years after the Battle of Jingxiang made the Yanhu soldiers and horses, who were heavily damaged after the Battle of Jingxiang, also get a rare opportunity to recuperate.

Even at the height of the fighting on the Southern Front, Yanhu did not stop expanding westward; In the sixth and seventh years of the Mandate of Heaven (Yongxing), the annexation of Xi Hu and other clans made the scale of the cavalry directly under the jurisdiction of Yanjing rise to 200,000 again, and the cavalry lost in the Battle of Jingxiang was replenished.

At the same time, Huaidong had been reorganizing its armaments in the two theaters of Xushou and Yihai under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Front and the Northern Army, but there was no sign of large-scale expansion of armaments until the end of August and the autumn of the seventh year of Yongxing.

Lin Jian not only patiently did not start the Northern Expedition, but also sent several horsemen to gallop into Xuyang and Xuchang in the autumn, and sent a military order ordering the reduction of the size of the army in the six towns of Henan.

"What is the idea behind this demon fox?" Yuan Guizheng, with frosty white temples, pressed the battlement wall with his puzzled hands, and looked at the fields outside Xuchang City with a solemn expression, Lin Tie was slow to press his troops in the direction of Xu Shou and Yihai, so that they couldn't figure out Lin Tie's mind in Xuchang, "Isn't he afraid that the longer the time drags on, the sharpness of the Huaidong Army will also be frustrated?" ”

Dong Yuan led his troops to the north, Xuchang was still a ruined city, after more than a year, although it was hard, it also recovered some appearance. In the area near the city, more than 100,000 acres of wheat fields have also been reclaimed, and after autumn, the wind blows, setting off golden ears.

It's just that compared with the nearly 90,000 garrisons around Xuchang, the newly reclaimed more than 100,000 acres of wheat fields are nothing.

After more than ten years of war in Henan, there is not a single one of the people, except for the small family who moved north with the ministry, Dong Yuan has recruited exiles and adopted orphans in Xuchang for more than a year, and the total number of young and strong people is not more than 30,000, while in the old days, there were nearly 300,000 households in Xuchang Mansion alone.

In the current situation, it is absolutely impossible for Xuchang to restore his old outlook.

"Lin bound the emperor in the capital, and no longer concealed his wolf ambitions. For him, the first priority at present is to usurp the world of the Yuan clan. He retreated to Haizhou to supervise the army, but he didn't have the slightest intention of rectifying the army, nothing more than retreating to Haizhou to watch the situation in Jiangning," Governor Liu Ting muttered, "He is now full of exterminating dissidents, where can he have the heart to think about the Northern Expedition?" ”

Yu Xinyuan and Cheng Yuqian both resigned and left Jiangning one after another; Yuan Hancheng was placed under house arrest in Shouzhou, and it was usually difficult to get out of the palace;

Although Zhang Yan and Shen Rong are still in Jiangning, it is actually difficult to do anything. There were no soldiers and no food in their hands, and the decrees of Emperor Yongxing and the Queen Mother could not even get out of the palace gate.

Although Dong Yuan still controlled the soldiers and horses of the four towns of Henan, Yue Lengqiu controlled the elite of the other two towns of the Henan Army behind Xuchang, and Lin Jian never relaxed the construction of the defense area in the upper reaches of Huaishui and Nanyang, so that the soldiers and horses of Xuchang were isolated. The imperial party was isolated in Jiangning, and it could not get the support of Xuchang's soldiers and horses.

Yuan Guizheng turned his head and glanced at Dong Yuan; Dong Yuan, who is about to know the destiny of heaven, also has a little frosty hair on his temples, his face is like water, deep and mighty, his brows are high, and he doesn't know what he is worried about.

Liu Tingzhou so categorically said that Lin Tie no longer had the ambition of the Northern Expedition, but put all his thoughts on usurping the throne and becoming the emperor - although this is also the more and more speculation of the Xuchang people, Yuan Guizheng still has deep doubts in his heart: Lin Tie is only thirty and two years old, so he will not have the patience for three or five years, but it is really difficult to find other explanations for Lin Tie's delay in starting the Northern Expedition.

Lin Tie's delay in the Northern Expedition not only gave Beiyan a chance to breathe, but also gave the Cao clan enough time to gain a firm foothold in Sichuan and Shu - it can be said that the slower Lin Tie dragged on, the more he lost the opportunity of the Northern Expedition.

At first, everyone thought that Lin Jian would start the Northern Expedition after rectifying half a year after the Battle of Jingxiang, at that time, the Northern Yan was greatly injured and demoralized, and the Cao family had an unstable foundation in Sichuan and Shu, so they did not dare to send troops directly from the west flank to contain Huaidong's soldiers and horses in Lianghu, which was undoubtedly a good opportunity for the Northern Expedition to recover the Central Plains - no one expected that Lin Jian would delay for almost two years, and he did not look like he was going to do it.

It has been two years since the Cao clan retreated into Sichuan and Shu, especially after the Battle of Jingxiang, although Beiyan did not return Guanzhong to Cao, and Cao did not accept the title of Shu King of Beiyan, but the trend of secret alliance is well known to the discerning people.

Northern Yan named Chen Zhihu as the king of Qin, so that he guarded the pass, and took practical actions to reduce the military pressure of the Cao clan in northern Sichuan. Although the Cao clan has been in the two rivers for seven years, the center of gravity of the early Cao clan is still in the north, not in the south, and it is still used to subordinate the ministers and the original eastern Sichuan system to make Qin Zongyuan govern the eastern Sichuan and southern Sichuan.

In the past two years, the Cao clan has been able to concentrate on the development of forces in eastern Sichuan and southern Sichuan.

After the summer of this year, Cao Yiqu even used Qin Zongyuan to secretly set up a pawn and have a rebellious heart, so he did not play Jiangning and punished the Qin clan.

This incident actually showed that the Cao clan had completely mastered eastern Sichuan; It's just that Lin Jian reacted surprisingly indifferently to the extermination of Qin Zongyuan's clan, and only ordered Cao Yiqu to move the Qin clan's side branches to Jiangning, and he had no intention of pursuing Cao Yiqu's crime of unauthorized killing.

This series of events seems to show that Lin Jian has no intention of intensifying the contradiction with the Cao family......

****************

At this time, a group of more than 100 people and horses slowly came from the northwest direction.

The northwest direction of Xuchang is Hezhong Fu. Although this team of chariots and horses came from Hezhong Mansion, they were not envoys of Beiyan, but Ren Jiwei, the envoy of the Cao family who secretly borrowed from Guanzhong and Heluo to come to Xuchang.

Dong Yuan, Liu Tingzhou, and Yuan Guizheng gathered at the head of Xuchang City, hoping that the Cao family's envoy would come over.

There were several flying horses galloping towards Xuchang City, and Ren Jiwei was indeed in the convoy.

"Cao Yiqu's political affairs rely on the four heroes of the Ren family, Tingzhou, return to the government, are you like me, you have already appreciated the demeanor of the four heroes of the Ren family?" Dong Yuan frowned, and asked Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Guizheng sideways.

Liu Tingzhou was silent, Ren Jiwei's intention to secretly carry out Xuchang, and the two sides had already communicated in advance. Without a certain degree of tacit understanding, how could Cao Yiqu be in a hurry to send such an important person to envoy Xuchang?

Cao Yiqu killed the entire Qin Zongyuan clan in June, one was to completely control eastern Sichuan, and the other was to test Jiang Ning's attitude.

The former eastern Sichuan system caused Qin Zongyuan to be defeated and surrendered to the Cao clan in the first year of Yongxing, and lost the division of the two rivers. However, Cao's control over Sichuan and Shu was very limited at that time, and only the general Wei Shiyan led 10,000 elites to garrison Yuzhou. And its foundation in Guanzhong, threatened by Yanhu, Jiangning proposed a strategy to join Cao to resist the capture, and Cao accepted the appointment of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

In this context, Qin Zongyuan's defeat and surrender to Cao was deliberately ignored by both sides, and he was able to serve as the envoy of the two Sichuan Xuanfu after the Yongxing New Year. Although the military power has been weakened to the extreme, the Qin clan still has deep roots in the two rivers, especially in the east of Sichuan; The 10,000 soldiers and horses stationed in Yuzhou in the early days of the Cao clan were actually far from enough to "crush the head snake of the ground with a strong dragon".

In the later period, Jiang Ning's side also deliberately wanted to help the Qin clan restore its power to balance the Cao family - Cao Yiqu killed the entire Qin clan with thunder this time, to put it bluntly, it was a provocation to Jiang Ning, and he played a chess hand first to see Jiang Ning's hand.

If Lin Jian was not in a hurry to become emperor, how could his attitude towards the Cao family be so weak this time?

Of course, the signs are not limited to this one; Cheng Yuqian's resignation to the old man and his self-preservation is also a clear signal. Although Cheng Yuqian did not have any great achievements at this time, he became the prime minister of the political affairs hall after Chen Xiyan, which is exactly the ability of him to watch the wind and the situation for half his life, which is beyond the reach of others.

It was precisely because of the judgment that Lin Jian might depose Yuan and become emperor in the near future that Cao Yiqu would be eager to send Ren Ji Wei to secretly pass through Guanzhong and Heluo to return to Xuchang to contact.

Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Guizheng followed Dong Yuan to the city to welcome Ren Jiwei into the city.

There are very few businessmen in Xuchang, so they are not afraid of Huaidong eyeliner penetrating in; Moreover, the Cao family is still a vassal of Yuan Yue, and the Cao family sent people to Xuchang, even if the news leaks out, there is nothing to worry about. Could it be that no matter how well they cover it up, Huai Dongzhen believes that they have no contact with the Cao family?

Ren's four heroes became famous quite early, but Ren Jiwei was only a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing an ordinary green robe, his goatee was very sparse, and his appearance was not good.

If it weren't for Yuan Jinsheng, who had secretly sneaked into Yuzhou before, Yuan Guizheng would have suspected that the person in front of him was really a talented man in Guanzhong who was as famous as Wang Chengfu who was in charge of the colonization merchant Yinzhuang when he was a teenager.

Liu Tingzhou, Yuan Guizheng and Dong Yuan looked at Ren Jiwei, and Ren Jiwei also took the opportunity to salute Dong Yuan, Liu Tingzhou, and Yuan Guizheng. Although Ren Jiwei has never seen Yuan Guizheng, his father, Ren Yang, who was the imperial history of Zuodu and the leader of the Western Qin Party back then, has a very high opinion of Yuan Guizheng, thinking that if he is not born in a noble family, his achievements may not be under the protection of Su back then. It is precisely because Yuan Guizheng has talent and strategy, and he thinks very highly of himself, and he has tossed so much over the years that he has been willing to wait and end.

Dong Yuan can rise to the authority of Xinjiang as a small official, and naturally he is definitely not a person who can be underestimated - it is such a talent, especially the military power that Dong Yuan held in the early days, which has always been heavier than Lin Binding, but over the years, under the suppression of Huaidong, there has never been a way to raise his head, so that Ren Jiwei does not think that the danger of Sichuan and Shu occupying the Xiajiang River can take Huaidong lightly.

"Governor Cao sent Ji Wei to Xuchang, and there is really something to present to all the adults to read." After Ren Jiwei entered the city with Dong Yuan, he just sat down in the post house, and without too much temptation, he went straight to the point and entered the theme.

What is the current situation in Xuchang, Ren Jiwei can see it with his own eyes after he left Hezhong Mansion and traveled all the way south; Dong Yuan had no way to pretend in front of Ren Jiwei, so he only said: "Please also ask Lord Ren to show ......"

Ren Jiwei took out a piece of Ming yellow brocade silk from his possession, unfolded it on the table, and saw a dazzling three-line blood letter: "The Shu Governor Cao Yiqu and the Shu generals know that the Duke of Chongguo and the privy envoy Lin Tie are worried about the emperor's grace, specializing in court politics, appointing people for personal gain, bullying the clan, forbidding the clan daughter, and intending to occupy the ...... privately"

Dong Yuan, Liu Tingzhou, and Yuan Guizheng were shocked when they saw it, but they didn't expect that what Ren Jiwei brought was the blood edict of King Qin.

The so-called prohibition of marrying the daughter of the clan refers to the fact that the Queen Mother intends to give Princess Yangxin to the Hou Shizi of Chong'an as his wife after the New Year. It is said that Lin Jian sent a knife to the Chong'an Hou Mansion to congratulate, which frightened the Chong'an Hou to lead the family to kneel in front of the palace gate to refuse the marriage, and quickly made the newly adult son marry Lin Xulu's young daughter, so that the matter was over.

Although Dong Yuan was shocked, he could still sit still, but he just glanced at Ren Jiwei suspiciously.

"In early July, some mountain people crossed the Shu Mountains into Yuzhou, claiming to be sent by Zhang Yan, the internal envoy, and asked to see Cao Du; When Cao Du saw it, he had to see this edict. Cao Du knew that this matter was not trivial, so he sent Ji Wei to Xuchang to discuss with you......"

Hearing Ji Wei say this, Yuan Guizheng knew that most of this blood edict was fake. No matter how stupid Zhang Yan is, if he can send someone out of Jiangning, he should also come to Xuchang first, how can he give up the near and far and send someone to Yuzhou to contact first? Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if this blood edict is true, Lin Jian will not abolish Emperor Yongxing and stand on his own, what is the difference between this blood edict and a piece of waste cloth? Lin Tie has a heavy army in Jingxiang, does Cao Yiqu dare to lead his troops and horses to the east along the Xiajiang River?

Cao Yiqu asked Ren Jiwei to carry the blood edict with him, which undoubtedly showed his contemptuous attitude towards the blood edict.

"Lin Lian is good at provoking complaints, and it is also known to the world, but this blood edict is not trivial, although it is a letter from the emperor's relatives, but it is not sealed, outsiders say that this is fake, how can we tell if it is true?" Dong Yuan asked.

"Although the emperor's edict is no longer able to leave Beijing at this time, I think that you should have the edict issued by the emperor before you come to your side. Even if there is no seal, whether it is true or false, you can know it by comparison," Ren Jiwei said, "Moreover, the truth of the edict is not what outsiders think, but in the heart of Lord Dong, thinking that this edict is true or false." ”

Dong Yuan couldn't help laughing, Ren Shuda, the third of the four heroes of the Ren family, was famous for forging the ancient people's calligraphy; At this time, there is no point in dwelling on the truth or falsity of the blood edict.

Ren Jiwei took out the blood edict, which only showed that the Cao family intended to take the initiative in the future development of the situation.

Dong Yuan did not intend to talk to Ren Jiwei directly, and after the banquet, he left with Liu Tingzhou first, and left Yuan Guizheng in the post house to accompany Ren Jiwei.

After the child, Yuan returned to Zheng to say goodbye to Ren Jiwei and came to see Dong Yuan; Liu Tingzhou was also in Dong Yuan's line, waiting for Yuan to return to politics.

"If Lin Jian abolishes the emperor and stands on his own, the Cao family intends to set up a new emperor in Yuzhou, hoping that Xuchang can support the ......," Yuan Guizheng said.

"Did Ren Jiwei say that the Cao family intends to set up whom?" Liu Tingzhou asked anxiously.

Although Emperor Yongxing and his two sons were placed under house arrest in Jiangning, the ancestor lineage of Yuan Gao has gone through thirteen generations of reproduction and inheritance, and there are more than 2,000 sons of the "Jian" generation. Although most of the Zongzi of the "Jian" generation were killed after Yanhu's invasion, there were still hundreds of people scattered all over the place.

Although there is a close and distant blood relationship with the four emperors of Qingyu, Delong, Chongguan, and Yongxing, these sons are at least the descendants of Yuanyue, and they are not worried about finding a person to support.

Liu Tingzhou was loyal to the Yuan family, and even wanted to plan to make the second son of Emperor Yongxing escape from Jiangning, but this plan was very dangerous, even if he supported other Yuan children, he also attached great importance to blood kinship - Dong Yuan would not care about the object of support, no matter who was just a puppet.

Dong Yuan's eyes stared at the map spread out on the long case.

The Cao family has consolidated its foundation in Shudi, and it will only take two or three years, not to mention that it is not deep-rooted, and the soldiers and horses under his command will be restored to 1340,000 people, which is not even as good as when it was in the heyday of Guanzhong, let alone compared with the 400,000 elites of Huaidong. But the Cao family dared to have the ambition of establishing a new emperor, and in the final analysis, it still relied on the special terrain of Sichuan and Shu.

Sichuan and Shu is the real land of the four stops, Huaidong can not beat Guanzhong, if you want to use troops against Sichuan and Shu, you can only enter Shu from Jingzhou and Yiling along the Yangtze River Stream. The passage of the Xiajiang River east of Yuzhou is very narrow and steep, and the Cao family only needs to fill in the upper reaches of the Xiajiang River and the cities east of Yuzhou with 350,000 elites, and they can block the Huaidong elites outside Sichuan and Shu.

No matter how many soldiers and horses in Huaidong are, no matter how elite they are, it is extremely difficult to forcibly break through the natural danger of the Xiajiang River, not to mention that Huaidong is still restrained by the soldiers and horses of Beiyan in Shandong and Guanzhong in the north, and it is impossible to use troops against Sichuan and Shu with all their might.

In addition, Sichuan and Shu are much richer than Guanzhong.

Although Guanzhong is the capital of the six dynasties, but since the Chen Dynasty, Guanzhong has been increasingly ruined due to excessive cultivation, a small drought in three years, a major drought in five years, and Jingwei and other floods are not drought, but also small and large floods, making Guanzhong a bitter cold place in the northwest for nearly two or three hundred years.

Although Guanzhong had a maximum of 8 million people, its actual military potential was not strong, and the two rivers, and Bazi in western Sichuan alone had 3 to 4 million mu of fertile land and 3.4 million households.

After the Cao family entered Shu, they did not have enough food to raise soldiers, but they did not have enough foundation. Therefore, Cao Yiqu considered that after Lin Jian usurped the Yuan, he was not in a hurry to stand on his own, but to set up another descendant of the Yuan family as the new emperor and win the hearts of the people of Liangchuan - Lin Jian implemented a new policy, almost offended the old gentry forces, and the gentry class in Jianghuai, Zhejiang, Fujian and Lianghu were unable to resist the new policy implemented by Lin Lian, but the gentry in Liangchuan and other places were resistant, which actually made Cao Yiqu set up a new emperor in Yuzhou and had the foundation of popular support.

Dong Yuan is also extremely envious of the natural advantages of the Cao family, if he can occupy such a powerful terrain as Sichuan and Shu and rule over four or five million Shu people, even if he can't take the world, he is still sure to keep a corner of the land.

Regarding Cao Yiqu's intention to set up a new emperor in Yuzhou after the usurpation of Lin Bin, Dong Yuan just smiled bitterly and said: "Cao Yiqu is not ambitious, and he also wants to learn from Huaidong's 'Son of Heaven to order not to obey'!" ”

"Lin Jian has the heart to usurp the throne, and the world can attack him together!" Liu Tingzhou said.

Liu Tingzhou would not be naïve enough not to know Cao Yiqu's ambitions, but if Lin Jian really wanted to abolish the emperor and establish a new dynasty, he could only hope that the Cao family, who was in danger of Sichuan and Shu, could set up a new emperor and preserve the orthodox bloodline of the Yuan family-

Dong Yuan glanced up at Liu Tingzhou, and he also had a slight headache for Liu Tingzhou - this old guy even wanted to instigate Xuchang Qingjun to the side. Dong Yuan didn't ask Liu Tingzhou to have more contact with Ren Jiwei, because he was afraid that Liu Tingzhou would take the initiative to sell Xuchang's foundation.

It's not that Dong Yuan doesn't want to set up a new emperor, but there is a river and a flat horse in the south of Xuchang, and Huaidong uses troops against Xuchang from Nanyang, Shouzhou, and Huaiyang, without any cover. Although Yue Lengqiu's attitude is still warm and ambiguous, with Yue Lengqiu's temperament, he will definitely not fight, otherwise how could Lin Lian let Yue Lengqiu go out of Zhenwuyang to contain them? Dong Yuan knew that if he set up a new emperor in Xuchang, he would not be able to block Huaidong's concentrated all-out blow.

More importantly, Xuchang's grain and grass are far from being self-sufficient, and with only 10,000 soldiers and horses, it is far from being qualified to set up a new emperor, let alone Bingqingjun.

However, once Lin Jian usurped the throne and became emperor, and the Cao family set up a new emperor in Yuzhou, whether Xuchang continued to forbear, or supported the new emperor established by Yuzhou with a clear banner, is a choice that people cannot easily decide, but must make a decision immediately.

In the past, Dong Yuan may have chosen to forbear, but when Lin Lian's military order to reduce the number of troops in Henan towns came, Dong Yuan had no way to endure if he wanted to forbear—he couldn't wait for the soldiers and horses in Henan to be cut before making a choice, right?

"Lin Lian ordered the towns of Henan to reduce their troops, and Yue Lengqiu has arranged for Deng Yu and Tao Chun to reduce the number of troops in Wuyang and Zhengyang," Dong Yuan said, "Tingzhou, return to government, what do you think of this?" ”

"Deng Yu and Tao Chun, don't block the troops, they want to cut their own military power, let them go," Yuan Guizheng said, "However, the eastern front delayed the northern expedition, so that the Northern Yan had a chance to breathe, the Northern Yan not only increased the strength of the eastern front, but also the enemy of the western line of the river and Huai blocked by Xuchang, and the soldiers and horses of Zhou Zhizhong also increased to 60,000, in addition to the Northern Yan in Luoyang, there were 20,000 elite cavalry. Xuchang's forces were reduced again, and he was unable to control the enemy...... I think it's okay to ignore it. ”

"I'm afraid that Jiang Ning will directly deduct food," Dong Yuan frowned and said, "You can't make everyone hungry and carry it; The Cao family is based on the rich land of Sichuan and Shu, but they are not worried about the lack of grain and grass......"

"Dong Du wants to?" Yuan Guizheng can understand what Dong Yuan means, but he also hopes that some words will be said directly by Dong Yuan.

In the past two years, Xuchang has cultivated more than 10 acres of wheat fields, and can harvest less than 200,000 stones of wheat every year.

With such a big difference, Jiang Ning's side will be paralyzed there if he gets stuck in his neck, and there is no room for struggle at all.

All the provinces in Henan are ruined, but the Hezhong Province, which is the closest to Xuchang, has not been greatly damaged due to Liang Chengyi's long-term rule, and has also accommodated a large influx of displaced people.

It is not particularly difficult for Hezhong Mansion to squeeze out an extra 200,000 or 300,000 stone grains to supply Xuchang every year. In the final analysis, Dong Yuan wanted the Hezhong Mansion to secretly supply grain to Xuchang - however, Xuchang and Henan were hostile sides, and when Lin Jian did not formally usurp the throne and "obeyed the Son of Heaven to order not to obey", how could Dong Yuan dare to put the handle of fornicating with the enemy country into the hands of Huaidong, and how dare he make a rafter for Huaidong to seize the excuse to beat him?

Of course, there is no compromise.

The Cao family withdrew from Guanzhong, but it was not true that they were willing to give up Guanzhong. More than two years ago, in addition to the main force of the Cao family retreating south from Sichuan and Shu, in the mountainous area between Guanluo and Luo, they also left a small number of elite soldiers and horses to do guerrilla attacks and containment.

Even if the Cao family secretly made peace with Beiyan at this time, the Cao family did not intend to withdraw all the troops between the Guanluo Mountains, but doubled down on the liaison and organization of the mountain people between the Guanluo Mountains, but the direct conflict and friction were reduced. Chen Zhihu and Zhou Zhizhong were in Guanzhong and Heluo, although they no longer sent troops to suppress them, but the blockade was still not withdrawn - after all, everyone wanted to seize the initiative in their own hands.

In the south of Hezhong Mansion and west of Xuchang, Funiu Mountain called a bandit of about 5,000 people entrenched, in fact, secretly controlled by the Cao family. Dong Yuan didn't want to have a handle in the hands of Huaidong, and he couldn't buy grain directly from Hezhong Mansion, but if he incorporated this bandit army in the Funiu Mountains and got the grain and straw they stored in the Funiu Mountains, Huaidong could completely make it impossible to catch the handle......

However, how to talk about it, Dong Yuan still wants Yuan Guizheng to come forward, and the soldiers and horses he deployed earlier at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain are also the troops of Liang Chengdong, who was controlled by Yuan Guizheng.

Yuan Guizheng thought about it for a long time, and also knew that if Xuchang did not solve the food problem, he would not be able to take back the initiative at all, and the Cao family had the intention of setting up a new emperor in Yuzhou, and there was no Beiyan and Xuchang to contain the main force of the Huaidong Army in the north, and they were also worried that Huaidong would transfer the main forces west to deal with them......