June 13 is Mu Hongshang's birthday. It seems that since she was fifteen years old and her birthday, her birthday has always been very unhappy. For example, this year, it was another day when even she was not in the mood to celebrate her birthday.

It has been more than half a year since the drought in the north, although after the summer grain was put into storage, the emperor quickly ordered Xie Xiang to personally supervise the transfer of grain to the north for disaster relief, but there was grain to eat, and the problem was only half solved. In order to let the people have a way to live, An Guogong began to organize a part of the people to dig deep wells in various parts of the north, and the northern defenders also began to organize people to go up to the Jueyu Mountain and Cangqi Mountain to get water.

This can solve at least part of the problem, so at least within the Great Zhou defense line, although the people in the ten northern states have suffered disasters continuously, they have disaster relief food and can drink water, so they will not die of thirst and starvation, and the people's hearts are still stable.

But the drought for half a year, or led to extremely serious consequences, at the beginning of June, Yunwang Mountain ignited a mountain fire, destroyed most of the forest in the middle of the mountain, near the snow line, the snow melted down the mountain on the narrow river no longer has dense forest shelter, the evaporation of the source of the Yuncang River began to become huge, and then the sun was exposed, the weather was hot, the original wide Yuncang River finally broke off, and the Yunlan River, which also originated from Yunwang Mountain, also left only a thin and narrow one, like a small river ditch.

On the day the fire in Yunwang Mountain ignited, An Guogong foresaw the possibility of the Yuncang River being cut off, and he sent a letter to the capital every day to warn the situation that the Yuncang River might be cut off.

The Yuncang River originates from Yunwang Mountain, flows from west to east around Shuozhou City, bypasses Cangqi Mountain and enters the sea, it can be regarded as the gap between the northern border of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Rongdi grassland, in the past, if the Rongdi people want to invade the northern border pass in a big way, they must go around the Yunwang Valley or wade through the gentle place of the Yuncang River at the foot of the Cangqi Mountain.

Originally, the Yunwang Valley was under the control of the Rongdi people, nine years ago, the Shuobei general Mu Chengde recovered Shuozhou and regained control of the Yunwang Valley.

The interruption of the Yuncang River wiped out this natural line of defense, and the Rongdi people could pass through the dry riverbed of the Yuncang River without any obstacles and effortlessly surround and invade the border pass three states.

The long-term natural disasters had already brought the fragile peace agreement between the Great Zhou and Rong Di on the verge of breaking, and the Yuncang River was cut off at this time, which would definitely encourage the Rong Di people, who were already facing great pressure to survive, and in this case, there was little need to consider how to choose.

The Rongdi tribes, who were still in the civil war, quickly reached an agreement, and they began to gather their most elite cavalry and quickly rushed towards the border of the Great Zhou.

After receiving the letter, An Guogong sent urgent military information to Beijing, and at the same time ordered Mu Zhengyi to quickly go to Heng'an to mobilize the troops of Heng'an, Ningzhou, Fengzhou, and Shengzhou camps, while Mu Chengxin personally went to Danzhou camps, and the defenders of Dan, Wei, and Pingzhou quickly moved closer to the border gates.

Mu Chiyi, who had the best riding skills, took An Guogong's warrant and tiger talisman, led a team of light horses, and quickly passed through the Jueyun Pass to borrow troops from Qinfeng Road. There are nearly 700 miles from Yanzhou to Fengzhou, half of which is a mountain road, but An Guogong asked Mu Chiyi to return within five days.

On the fifth day, 1,400 miles back and forth, more than 700 miles of mountain roads, this is almost an impossible task, but Mu Chiyi responded and took people to set off on the same day.

When the emergency military situation entered Beijing, it was just in time for the early dynasty, and Li Xiang and Xie Xiang were arguing over the candidate for the head of the household department.

He Wenmao was convicted of a capital crime, and he was beheaded after the autumn, and there was no possibility of overturning the case. The vacancy of the household department and the position of real power in the second grade is naturally the focus of contention among the political forces of various factions. Xie Xiang and Gu Scholar, who chose to hold a group, are naturally discussed, and the two of them currently have the same interests, so the negotiation is quite smooth, and after the two discussed, they put forward two candidates, one is a student of Gu Scholar, the current Dali Siqing, and the other is Jiang Wenbin, the current squire of the military department.

These two are candidates carefully discussed by Scholar Gu and Xie Xiang, both of whom have made meritorious contributions in the He Wenmao case, and their nominations are also reasonable. Scholar Gu and Xie Xiang have already discussed, no matter which one the emperor prefers, as long as it is his own person, it is easy to say, and the interests can always be balanced.

The two reached a consensus that if Jiang Wenbin became the secretary of the household department, let Gu San go to the military department and be a waiter, and if the emperor chose the secretary of Dali Temple, let Xie Changjing enter Dali Temple. No matter what, it can be done, but the Yiwang faction can't be allowed to take advantage, the household department must get it, and the military department must also be firmly guarded.

King Yi and Li Xiang are not stupid, Xie is quite sparse, and after proposing the successor of Hubu Shangshu, Zheng Jin immediately understood that not only Xie Xiang has fallen to Zheng Jin, but even Gu Daxue has chosen King Xin.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for Zheng Jin, so he immediately instructed Li Xiang to nominate a suitable candidate. For the sake of insurance, Li Xiang did not recommend Wen Chengping, who has a good background but mediocre ability, but selected a pragmatic official with very bright political achievements and a down-to-earth person among the Li officials.

The two factions of King Yi and King Xin were determined to win this position, and they did not give an inch, and they quarreled endlessly for several days.

Of course, the emperor also has his own ideas about the new candidate for the head of the household department. His preferred candidate is none other than Jiang Wenbin. First, because Jiang Wenbin is a pragmatic official with good ability, he has not made any mistakes or omissions in the military department for many years.

The more important reason is that Jiang Wenbin has a good relationship with the Anguo Mansion, and has many years of experience in the military department. At present, the situation in the north is delicate, but there is often great resistance to the military appropriations between the DPRK and China, so the emperor actually wants to change to a Hubu Shangshu who is willing to cooperate well.

Jiang Wenbin proposed by Xie Xiang is really in the emperor's mind, but the Hubu Shangshu is very important in the end, and the contradictions in the court are fierce, and the candidate proposed by Li Xiang is really good, so the emperor did not make a decision at the first time.

He originally wanted to wait for two more days, he wanted to listen to the opinions of the ministers again, and he also wanted to see how Zheng Ying and Zheng Jin would deal with the current contradictions. It's just that he didn't expect that the Yuncang River was cut off, prompting Rong Di to openly tear up the peace agreement. The situation in the north had taken a turn for the worse, and there was no room for him to hesitate any longer.