Zhou Xing frowned: "Minister officials? Why do you think that? ”

Yuan Bin threw a peanut into his mouth and said with a smile: "It's very simple, our intelligence department has also found it." ”

He saw that Zhou Xing and Lao Dong were a little puzzled, so he continued to explain: "We once intercepted a secret report sent from Luoyi to Jiangnan, although the person who sent the letter did not know who the traitor was, but it was certain that the other party was a person with status. Moreover, what was recorded in the letter was also discussed in the court. ”

Zhou Xing looked at Dong Tianxing: "Who could it be?" ”

"Don't look old," Dong Tianxing was stunned: "It's definitely not me." ”

Zhou Xing smiled dumbly: "Of course I know that it's not you, the old man, do you still need to defend yourself?" There are really three hundred taels of silver here. ”

Dong Tianxing smiled: "Hey, I was also scared by the look in your eyes just now, just like a knife." However, in my opinion, the suspects can't escape from the officials from Yizhou. ”

"The two of us thought together," Zhou Xing nodded: "I also think that the Yizhou officials are the most suspicious." However, some time ago, there were not 100 people who came here from Yizhou one after another, but 80, which is not a big range, nor small is not small, and it is not easy to investigate. ”

Dong Tianxing thought for a while: "You can start with Lao Jianhua first." Didn't he work in Beiya back then? Find out who you have been in contact with. ”

Zhou Xing shook his head: "I don't think it makes much sense to do this." Shen Changshi and Lao Jianhua have a common hatred, and for so many years, he has already screened all the people related to Lao Jianhua several times. ”

Yuan Bin asked, "Is there no one else in the Xuanjia Legion except for Lao Jianhua?" Why do you always revolve around him? ”

Zhou Xing was stunned when he heard this: "Counting other people, the scope is even greater." ”

Dong Tianxing seemed to think of something, and smacked his mouth and said: "I remember that Lord Shen told General Murong before that there seems to be a person surnamed Di in the Xuanjia Army, who is the eyeliner that Lao Jianhua planted next to Xie Guang, and he is also Lao Jianhua's apprentice. ”

"yes, how did I forget about him." Zhou Xing slapped his thigh: "That guy is sleek and sociable, when he was in the imperial capital, he used to call many people brothers, we can start with Di Xian." ”

Dong Tianxing reminded: "You must remember to hide it from Tian Mu." ”

Zhou Xingying said: "That's natural, Tian Mu is also one of the suspects, and he must not be alerted in the slightest." ”

As soon as Tian Mu was mentioned, Yuan Bin couldn't help but be angry and scolded again and again.

Zhou Xing smiled and comforted him a few words, and then admonished: "Brother Yuan, please after you return to Hangzhou, you must protect our Lord Changshi, and all the brothers of the Reverse Scale Division are grateful." ”

Yuan Bin readily agreed: "Brother Zhou, don't worry." We have received a clear order from Lord Yudra to protect Shen Changshi at all costs. Daduhu also personally selected two hundred elites from the white-robed army, and at this time they were on their way from Western Xinjiang to Jiangnan. They have only one mission, that is, as a personal soldier and a dead soldier, they have always been by Lord Shen's side. ”

Hearing this, Zhou Xing and Dong Tianxing couldn't help but be surprised and happy.

Both of them had been to the Western Frontier before, and of course they knew what kind of existence the white-robed army was.

Hundreds of strong soldiers, invincible in the world!

The elite of the two hundred elites is no less powerful than thousands of troops. With them, unless the other party mobilizes a large army and sets up a bureau to encircle and suppress, no one will want to touch half of Shen Lie's hair.

Zhou Xing raised his glass and shouted: "Respect the capital!" ”

-

Early the next morning, Yuan Bin rode alone, left the eastern capital of Luoyi, and returned to Jiangnan.

At the same time, the three Assassin confessions he had brought with him were also presented to Emperor Li Bing.

At this time, there were five people standing under the imperial steps: Wei Zixuan, Tian Mu, Gong Chengze, Dong Tianxing, and Murong Xue.

Li Bing gently put the confession on the table and sighed, "Murong, you were a little careless this time. ”

Tian Mu was stunned when he heard this: Careless? Still slightly? Some? I'll go, the emperor's such an understatement is equivalent to directly exonerating Murong Xue?

He was about to speak, when he suddenly saw Wei Zixuan on the other side shaking his head at him, suggesting that Tian Mu must not say anything.

I only heard Murong Xue say: "Your Majesty, the unfortunate death of Liu Guiren is the crime of the minister, and I implore Your Majesty to punish it severely." ”

Li Bing said lightly: "Hasn't the Zhenjiang army named Yuan Bin already found out the reason?" The traitor Li Kui was so mad that he actually sent one hundred and thirty-two outlaws to ambush the convoy of relatives all night. Those Nanyang soldiers are also useless, and besides, they are not the troops under your command, so they are naturally not very easy to use. In that chaotic situation, mistakes are inevitable, and you can't be counted as your fault. This matter is over, and there is no need to mention it in the future. ”

Murong Xue arched her hand and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty for your forgiveness." However, if you forgive the minister, how should you explain it to the government and the opposition? ”

"Explain how you want," Li Bingman snorted indifferently: "Mingfa Court Report, by the way, copy these confessions into it, and tell the officials and the people who are the real masterminds behind the scenes!" ”

Wei Zixuan hurriedly praised: "Your Majesty is wise! In this way, right and wrong are clear at once, and people all over the world will spit on the traitor Li Kui! ”

Li Bing bowed slightly, and then said: "In addition, give the Liu family a decree to posthumously crown Liu Yanru as Mrs. Zhao Guo, receive the fourth rank, and give a pair of tourmaline phoenixes." Liu Yanru's father, Liu Lun, was crowned Viscount of Liling; His mother, posthumously named Mrs. Sanpin. ”

"The ceremony of canonizing the imperial concubine was held as usual. Feng Ma Yunfang was named Concubine Shu and was in charge of Shangyang Palace, and Murong Ling was named Concubine Hui and was in charge of Yixiang Palace. ”

The five ministers bowed their hands together and obeyed the order with a loud voice.

Li Bing continued: "My marriage will be discussed here first. Now, let's talk more about the war. ”

Dong Tianxing, as a squire of the military department, hurriedly said when he heard this: "Your Majesty, the southern army has been divided into two routes, with a total of 330,000 troops, and they are encircling and attacking Tongguan. According to Ma Hongjie, the general offensive will be officially launched before the end of the month. ”

Gong Chengze hurriedly said: "The Tongguan guard will be the Turkic Marshal Helian Xiong, and he has two main legions of the Golden Clan under his command, with a strength of between six and eighty thousand. In addition, there are two tribal legions, about 50,000 men, and some subordinate armies in the western frontier. The strength of the defenders of Tongguan was close to 150,000, and the southern army, as the attacking side, did not have a particularly large advantage in strength. ”

"That's true," Li Bing nodded: "Dong Aiqing, you send a letter to Ma Hongjie and tell him that if you gnaw on a hard bone like Tongguan, 330,000 may not be enough, and you have to transfer troops again." There is a shortage of people, and I can support them here. Be sure to take Tongguan! ”

"Obey." Dong Tianxing responded.

Li Bing pondered for a moment, and then said, "What is the situation with Bao Yuchun?" ”

Dong Tianxing replied: "Since last month, the naval army has successively left the Mingzhou base, marched upstream from the mouth of the river, and successively captured Jiangyin, Jinling, Chaisang, Ezhou and other important towns on the south bank. Later, they received the news of the imperial court's move north, and immediately sent troops to invade Hanshui and implement a blockade. Up to now, except for the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Officials and the Taifu Temple, which had left early, arrived in Luoyi, the rest of the government offices were all stopped in the south. ”

"Damn!" Li Bing was so angry that he slapped the case: "Bao Yuchun, a traitor, in vain Emperor Fei trusted him, but he didn't expect to defect to the rebels in the end." Ladies and gentlemen, do you have any good ideas? You can't watch the court being trapped in the south all the time. ”

Gong Chengze said: "The biggest problem at present is that there are not enough warships to deal with Bao Yuchun, whether it is Dajiang or Hanshui, it has become the world of his sailors." ”

"There are some warships," Dong Tianxing was a little worried: "The state capital of Jiangbei and the Jinhe River valley have a naval garrison. But there are not many of them, and the size of the ships is far inferior to the opponent's, and the combat power is weak. ”

"How many are all of them?" Li Bing asked.

Dong Tianxing replied: "The minister used to be in charge of ordnance, and the information at hand was relatively accurate. In the area under our current control, there are about 400 warships of various types that can be mobilized, which is only one-fifth of the opponent's. ”

Murong Xue said: "The enemy is outnumbered, so we can only adopt the tactics of concentrating forces and raiding the enemy's weak links." ”

Dong Tianxing shook his head: "General, your idea is a land war mentality, a vast area, and it can indeed be interspersed with detours by the army. However, in water warfare, the warships could only move along the course of the river, and could not bypass the enemy's main fleet and attack its weak points. To put it simply, as long as Bao Yuchun sends heavy troops to block all the places where the waterways meet, our fleet can only break through. ”

Tian Mu frowned and said, "Can you use the army to fight the navy?" ”

"Unless the naval warships are all parked on the shore and cannot run after being beaten, the army will not be able to help them at all." Dong Tianxing smiled bitterly: "If you come, the other party will leave immediately; You cross the river, and the other side attacks. After all, the surface blockade could not be lifted. ”

He paused slightly, then continued, "There's a bigger problem. The Xuanjia rebels commanded by Lao Jianhua are currently encroaching on the southern state capitals one after another. Their ultimate goal was the Bashu region, or the Yizhou court, located in the upper reaches of the Great River. The minister feared that the garrison in Yizhou might not be able to stop the rebel attack. Besides, there must be Lao Jianhua's internal response in it, ready to make trouble at any time. ”

Wei Zixuan couldn't help but say in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this problem is too serious!" If you really let Lao Jianhua serve the court, the consequences are unimaginable. ”

Li Bing's expression at this time was difficult to see: "Don't just report the funeral!" I know better than you how serious the consequences will be! Countermeasure! What I want is a countermeasure! ”

Murong Xue pondered for a moment and said, "For the sake of today's plan, we can only change the route of the imperial court's northward migration and give up the smooth and easy-to-walk galloping road, so that we don't have to think about crossing the big river and the Han River anymore." ”

"Don't go down the road?" Gong Chengze was a little puzzled: "Which way to go?" ”

"Go far! Into the mountains! Murong Xue's tone was firm: "As soon as you come out of Bashu, go directly to the north and enter Shennong Mountain." As long as you can climb over the lofty mountains, you can continue to the north, cross the Hanshui Valley, and then enter the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains again, pass through the large mountainous area south of Wuguan, and go straight to Nanyang and the Central Plains. ”

Li Bing and the others were dumbfounded when they heard this: "Obediently, do you want the lives of those princes and ministers?"