People in the 21st century are accustomed to calculating food in units of weight, and will think that this is the norm. In fact, different degrees of dryness of grain directly lead to changes in weight. Correspondingly, regardless of weight, the change in the volume of grain is relatively constant. Before the advent of modern grain drying equipment, grain was calculated by volume, not by weight.

45,000 stone of grain was sent to Yangzhou, and the news that there were still 60,000 soldiers and civilians in Yangzhou was sent to Zhao Jiaren through the flying pigeon. In the Song Dynasty, one stone of grain was about 120 catties, and 45,000 stones was 5.4 million catties. The average of 90 catties of grain per person. Even if there are some other grain outputs in Yangzhou City, so much grain can support it for another half a year at most. If the next supply is not carried out within half a year, the people in Yangzhou will probably starve to death.

After receiving accurate information, the issue was discussed within the imperial court. Previously, Zhao Jiaren did not invite Zhang Shijie, the commander of the Imperial Forest Army, who guarded the little emperor, and Wen Tianxiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, to attend this level of meeting, but this time the two of them finally attended.

Hearing the situation in Yangzhou, Zhang Shijie couldn't help but sigh: "It's better to ask Li Zhizhi to break through." ”

After listening to Zhang Shijie's words, Lu Xiufu glared at Zhang Shijie, got up and said: "Yangzhou is located at a critical point, once it is abandoned, Huaidong will no longer be my Great Song Dynasty." ”

Yangzhou's geographical location is indeed very important. It is located north of the Yangtze River and is the entrance to the Grand Canal after crossing the Yangtze River. After the surrender of Lin'an, Yangzhou held the passage of Mongolia to the north. At this time, Haizhou was still in the hands of Zhao Jiaren, and the 500-mile inland canal from Haizhou to Yangzhou was crisscrossed, and it was difficult for cavalry to use in this area, so the Mongol army was not able to control this area.

"Yangzhou must be saved." Wen Tianxiang agrees with Lu Xiufu's opinion.

Zhao Jiaren also agrees with Lu Xiufu's opinion, since Li Tingzhi can stick to such a point, there is no reason to abandon Li Tingzhi. In the past, the Zhao family worked for others, but now he is working for himself. So he said: "The Mongol army is no longer able to move south at this time, and there is no reason for us to watch the Mongols plunder Jiangnan and Jiangbei here." I am going to try to recover Huaidong Road first. ”

"How do you collect it...... Recovering Huaidonglu? Zhang Shijie was shocked by such a fierce suggestion, and he stammered a little when he spoke.

"Huaidonglu was not taken away by the Mongols, and it is not yet possible to recover it. It's just that those Huaidong officials are impetuous, and they need to be replaced. Zhao Jiaren put forward his own opinions, but also slightly modified the inappropriate wording.

As soon as he heard such an aggressive action, Wen Tianxiang immediately said, "Captain, I am willing to go." ”

"Hmm." Zhao Jiaren nodded, this was Wen Tianxiang in his mind. "All those of our army whose homes are in Huaidong must participate in this battle."

This order is normal, although Zhao Jiaren said that he was taking over Huaidong, but everyone knew that this was more like a statement of putting gold on his face. Huaidong has been isolated behind the enemy, and the officials have left Germany, which is no different from the recovery. Then the use of local soldiers in Huaidong is also a necessary choice.

However, Zhang Shijie felt uncomfortable in his heart at this time. When he arrived in Fuzhou, he was very surprised to see that Zhao Jiaren had run Fuzhou like an iron bucket. After the surrender of the Lin'an Imperial Court, the Great Song Dynasty system had basically collapsed, but Zhao Jiaren relied on his seafaring guild to quickly rebuild the imperial court. The civil and military officials did not need to recruit the scholars of the old court, and only relied on the cadres of the Navigation Guild and the students of the Navigation Guild School, and the court quickly completed the reconstruction. Zhang Shijie had to wonder whose court this court was now.

Zhao Jiaren's request to gather the Huaidong people was not excessive, but Zhao Jiaren's request finally exposed Zhang Shijie's army to Zhao Jiaren's orders. In Fuzhou at this time, the group with the most Huaidong people was the Imperial Forest Army composed of the army brought by Zhang Shijie.

Returning to Fuzhou with a heavy heart, Zhang Shijie was very depressed. But even if he was depressed, there was nothing he could do. Now it's not that Zhao Jiaren needs the little emperor, but that the little emperor needs Zhao Jiaren. It's not that Zhao Jiaren needs Zhang Shijie, but Zhang Shijie needs Zhao Jiaren. If they leave Fuzhou, Zhang Shijie's gang will immediately go hungry. In troubled times, everyone stores food. Because of the collapse of the system, the ability to collect taxes has declined, and the ability of various regimes to collect grain from the local government has greatly decreased.

Li Tingzhi is thousands of miles away, and Yangzhou is still the land of fish and rice, so he was still forced to seek food from Zhao Jiaren. Compared with Li Tingzhi, Zhang Shijie doesn't even have his own territory.

After a sad night, Zhang Shijie continued to be the commander of his Imperial Forest Army the next day, responsible for the safety of the little emperor. At noon, an officer came to Zhang Shijie, "Commander Zhang, I heard that the imperial court recruited soldiers from Huaidong and went back to Huaidong with the imperial court?" ”

As soon as Zhang Shijie heard it, he knew in his heart that the news had finally reached the Imperial Forest Army. These nearly 20,000 or so Imperial Forest Army are actually pieced together, and they are basically the troops of the palace front division from Huaixi or Huaidong. Zhang Shijie's cronies are less than thirty percent of the number in this army, and even Zhang Shijie's cronies are quite excited when they hear that they are going to fight back to their hometown.

This made Zhang Shijie feel very painful. Regardless of what Zhang Shijie thought, his soldiers were not interested in the internal struggle between the royal family. To be more precise, they, like the ordinary people of the Great Song Dynasty, are full of a sense of distance from the upper echelons of the Great Song Dynasty. The fights between those big names are all fairy fights.

Because of this, no matter what Zhang Shijie personally thinks of Zhao Jiaren, the Imperial Forest Army has a strong awe for Zhao Jiaren's Zhao clan. Their reason is very simple, it is precisely because of Zhao Jiaren that everyone has a reliable place to go to Fuzhou.

As for why Zhao Jiaren did not serve in the imperial court before, these soldiers did not want to share the same views as Zhang Shijie. Since officials, including Zhang Shijie, said that the court was full of traitors, which caused the Great Song Dynasty to reach such a point, if Zhao Taiwei went to Lin'an to be a big official at that time, wouldn't it mean that Zhao Taiwei was in cahoots with those traitors?

Zhang Shijie was also afraid that if he clearly expressed his jealousy of Zhao Jiaren, he would leak the news, so even if he asked, he would knock on the side, and he didn't dare to let people grab the handle. So when he came to such a conclusion, Zhang Shijie felt very desperate. These officers and soldiers are loyal to the Great Song Dynasty, so loyalty makes everyone unable to see what Zhang Shijie can see.

Now facing these happy soldiers of the Great Song Huaidong, Zhang Shijie is even more desperate. Zhao Jiaren can easily take over Zhang Shijie's army, or use the reason that Zhang Shijie can't refuse at all. Once Zhao Jiaren took control of the Imperial Forest Army, the little emperor only became Zhao Jiaren's puppet. This court is the court of the Zhao family.