"Brother Fan is really smart, I admire you. I came to you today just to know what you think about the imperial court's dispatch of troops to Yingzhou this time."

Li Xun had been with Brother Fan for several years, and he greatly admired his strategy and intelligence. He also participated in the Yingzhou military campaign. Li Xun wanted to hear Fan Zhongyun's opinion.

Fan Zhongyun smiled and did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Zhu Zhengguo and asked, "Zhu Zhengguo, what do your troops think of this dispatch?"

Zhu Zhengguo pondered for a moment and said: "Many people are talking about this matter and are in high spirits. They feel that this is a great opportunity to make contributions."

"Oh! You think so too?"

Zhu Zhengguo heard the disapproval in Fan Zhongyun's tone and said in astonishment: "Isn't it true? The Forbidden Army has three armies, left, center and right, each with fifty thousand soldiers. Once the court decides to send troops, it will definitely choose one of the three armies. Those are fifty thousand elites.

However, Yingzhou only has 15,000 troops, and the military strength gap between the two sides is more than three times. Is it still difficult to win? Several leading generals of the right army of the Forbidden Army have written to the Ministry of War several times to request a war, hoping to seize this credit."

Fan Zhongyun laughed loudly and said: "What's there to argue about? This time we send troops to Yingzhou, it will definitely fall on your right army."

Zhu Zhengguo asked in confusion: "How do you say this?"

Fan Zhongyun drank a glass of wine and said slowly: "The Chinese army is led by Yu Wenzhen, the general of the auxiliary state, but the actual command power is in the hands of the eunuch Wang Anmao. This is the army of the direct line of the emperor. It has the responsibility to guard the capital and cannot be taken lightly.

Come out, the Left Army has been almost completely wiped out since the battle with the White Turban Army five years ago. Now it has only just reached its full strength. However, its equipment and training are insufficient, and it has never experienced a war. They have no hope for the time being.

No, so this expedition to Yingzhou can only be carried out by the right army of your forbidden army."

After listening to Fan Zhongyun's words, Zhu Zhengguo nodded repeatedly, feeling that what he said was very reasonable.

"Hey! The imperial court wants to take this opportunity to attack and destroy the Yingzhou Jiedu Envoy and strengthen his majesty. The idea is good, but what if it fails? Wouldn't it be even more majestic?"

Fan Zhongyun sighed, raised his head and drank the glass of wine, and continued: "Jiangnan taxation is related to the fundamentals of the imperial court. The Yingzhou Jiedushi intends to blackmail the imperial court. Naturally, the imperial court cannot sit idly by and ignore it. It is certain to send troops. If the imperial court

With 50,000 imperial troops as the main attack force, several Jiedu envoys close to Yingzhou were ordered to assist. Even if they did not send troops to attack, they would still make a show of it. In this way, Yingzhou Jiedu envoys would definitely divide their troops to defend it.

We couldn't muster all our strength to fight, but what now? Hong and Jiang Jiedushi took the initiative to write a letter requesting to go to war. The imperial court considered the overall safety of Jiangnan and refused their request. However, other Jiedushi gathered troops to wait and see, silently, and the imperial court did not do anything.

Without any coordination, but sending troops alone to attack Yingzhou, wouldn't it be sacrificing one's own strength? It is really an unwise move."

"Brother Fan, from your tone, it seems that you are not very optimistic about sending troops to Yingzhou this time. Could it be that the imperial court will fail with its superior troops?"

Li Xun heard something and asked aloud.

Fan Zhongyun shook his head and said silently: "How can there be a constant force in military affairs? The military governor of Yingzhou has 15,000 soldiers. It is not that he does not have the strength to fight. If the imperial court sends troops to Yingzhou this time, will it win or lose?

I, Fan Zhongyun, am not a god and cannot predict the future, but... looking at the internal relationships among the left, center and right armies, I can also analyze some advantages and disadvantages."

Li Xun asked: "Brother Fan, please come here so that I can understand."

Fan Zhongyun nodded and said: "The power of the leading general of the Forbidden Army has been eclipsed, and the power of command has fallen into the hands of the eunuchs. It seems dangerous, but in fact, the person standing behind it is the current emperor. Everyone knows it well. In this way,

No one dared to say anything, and the generals had nothing to argue with. They only had to act in accordance with the emperor's orders. Therefore, the Forbidden Army's Central Army was the most stable among the three armies. The Left Army had just been integrated, and its commander was determined to be

The great general of the country, Wang Renpu, came from a well-known and wealthy family. His elder brother was Wang Renzhi, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and one of the Prime Ministers of the Political Affairs Hall. His family had disciples and former officials all over the country and was extremely powerful. It was a wealthy family second only to the Yang family.

, Wang Renpu himself has been in the army for many years and has made many military exploits. He has been in charge of Lingnan Road for many years as the deputy envoy of Lingnan Province and the governor of Mozhou. Regardless of his birth status, qualifications and prestige, it is not something that his five generals can do.

It is expected that the left army will be safe."

Having said this, Fan Zhongyun narrowed his eyes, tapped his fingers on the table, pondered for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "The right army is very different. Although the father and ancestors of Anguo General Huang Shen both became prime ministers,

He is a first-class noble, but his family is only from a humble family, with not many people and not many talents. Before Huang Zhen's grandfather, his family was located in the right corner of Longxi and was a small family with a small surname. The whole family has been around for hundreds of years.

There has never been any famous official in the family, and now, only one member of his family, Huang Zhen, is in a high position. The rest of the clan members do not need to express themselves at all. Even Huang Zhen himself is not very capable, and he is nicknamed a mediocre general. And he

The five leading generals under his command, among them Gu Yong, Zhan Tai Jingming, and Zhao Feidu, all came from famous families. These people have always looked down upon Huang Chong and were extremely dissatisfied. If he went out to fight, the right army would already be unstable.

We’ve already lost a round before we even fought.”

Li Xun listened very seriously, his head lowered in deep thought.

Zhu Zhengguo glanced at Fan Zhongyun, but he didn't care much in his heart. He felt that he was overthinking it. A war is a war, there are so many twists and turns. It's just that the two of them were not familiar with each other. Although they were disdainful, they couldn't speak out to refute.

Yu Guang was just an ordinary citizen. He only cared about whether his family's food harvest was good or not. These national affairs had nothing to do with him, so he couldn't eat or drink by himself while everyone was discussing them. He was very bored there and kept yawning.

As for Yan Yi, he looked at Fan Zhongyun blankly. He said so much, and Yan Yi didn't understand a word he said. When Fan Zhongyun finished speaking, he said "Oh", lowered his head, drank and ate food.

Fan Zhongyun saw the gestures of Zhu Zhengguo and others in his eyes, smiled, and said nothing. He finally looked at Li Xun who was deep in thought. He still had something to say in his heart. He hesitated for a moment, but finally did not say it out.

.....................

It was the fifth day of the seventh lunar month in the fifth year of Taiping.

Zhao Zhi officially issued an edict to remove Zheng Ze from his post as the envoy of Yingzhou and recruit him to return to Beijing to report on his duties.

Zheng Ze ignored the emperor's edicts and orders and ignored them completely. He gathered troops and horses in Yingzhou to organize food and grass, and his rebellious intentions were obvious.

On July 15th, Zheng Ze ordered his generals to lead 3,000 troops and occupied Pinghu County in the neighboring state. He gathered his troops here to strengthen the city defense, forming a forward position and guarding the road to Yingzhou. He openly broke with the imperial court.

Shameful.
Chapter completed!