As the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army of the Northern Expedition, Shen Yi must make a plan and make all the preparations that should be made, regardless of whether the emperor comes or not.
At the same time, Shen Yi also replied to a letter from Mr. Zhao.
After all, from Zhao Changping's point of view, he didn't really want the emperor to leave the capital.
But at this time, Shen Yi didn't feel comfortable traveling with Prime Minister Zhao, so he could only bite the bullet and say that he had sent a letter to the palace.
As a close confidant of the emperor, he can only write private letters now and cannot publicly dissuade the emperor.
Master Shen spoke sincerely and wrote a letter to Zhao Shang overnight.
At the same time, all preparations that should be made are being carried out in an orderly manner.
In this way, they were busy until the next morning. The two brothers didn't sleep much. They got together to discuss all the preparations that needed to be made and plans to deal with various situations.
At noon the next day, when Master Shen was preparing to go back to his residence to catch up on his sleep, he realized that Su Ding and Ling Su had been ordered to rush back and were waiting for his summons.
As for Xue Wei...
Because Xue Wei is now the main attacker, he will be unable to separate himself for a while and will still be entangled with the Qi army near Ningyang.
After Master Shen washed his face, he did not continue to sleep. In his study, he met the two generals who had rushed back overnight.
At this moment, the three of them basically didn't sleep much, and each had a big dark circle under his eye.
Shen Yi asked the two of them to sit down and stopped talking nonsense, keeping the story short.
"Currently, although the Qi people have thoughts of retaking Yanzhou, they are still fighting relatively conservatively overall."
Mr. Shen paused and said, "I guess it's because their backbone hasn't arrived yet."
The inner guards were deeply infiltrated in Yandu. Shen Yi now knew about General Tuyuantu and was once again appointed as a general to lead the Imperial Army and the remaining soldiers of the Southern Conquest Army, and come to take charge of the war in Shandong.
Today, General Tu is probably still on the way and has not arrived.
Therefore, although the Qi army seemed to be ready to fight, when it came to fighting, their attitude was relatively conservative and they seemed to be retreating.
For example, it has been seven or eight days since Xue Wei attacked Ningyang. During these few days, on certain local battlefields in Ningyang, Qi's troops must have had a slight advantage. However, during this period, Qi's troops had a slight advantage. Although there was a slight collision with Xue Wei, there was no full contact.
So far, the casualties on both sides are only three to four thousand.
Moreover, the Qi people seemed to be giving up on Ningyang and continuing to retreat north.
Shen Yi paused, looked at the two generals, and said: "According to my intelligence, General Tuyuantu of the puppet Qi will go south to take over Shandong's military."
"Counting the days, it should be these few days before we reach Shandong."
"What I mean is that while Tu Yuan has not yet arrived in Shandong, or he has just arrived in Shandong and has not yet become familiar with the situation in Shandong, our army should press further north to leave some room for future wars. "
Shen Yi said this tactfully.
The so-called room for pulling is actually to leave some room for retreat if the war goes wrong.
Of course, the reason why the Huai'an army pressed north at this time was mainly to cope with the emperor's northward movement, so as not to expose the emperor to the faces of the Qi people after he arrived in Qufu.
However, it is absolutely impossible to talk about this kind of thing to Ling Su and Su Ding at this time.
This is not a matter of trust or distrust, but a matter of principle in doing things. The saying goes that if a minister does not keep secrets, he will lose his virginity. This is roughly the truth.
The two looked at each other, stood up and clasped their fists at Shen Yi: "Mr. Shen's orders."
"You two, one in the east and one in the west."
Shen Yi said in a deep voice: "General Ling, take Dongping Prefecture from the west. The best situation is to take Dongping Prefecture and continue northward."
"General Su, go east and go north along the Surabaya River."
Shen Yi looked at the two people and said, "The best case scenario is to push the battle line near the city of Tai'an Prefecture."
Hearing Shen Yi's words, both of them were a little surprised.
Because this plan is a bit too radical.
Ling Su thought for a while, lowered his head and said: "Mr. Shen, there are still many Qi troops in Dongping Prefecture. I'm afraid it will be difficult to capture them in a short time."
Shen Yi nodded.
"So I didn't force it."
"You lead the troops near the city of Dongping Prefecture. If there is a chance, take Dongping Prefecture and continue north. If there is no chance."
Shen Yi said softly: "Just watch the Qi army in Dongping Prefecture for me and don't let them move."
Hearing Shen Yi's words, Ling Su breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his head and said, "I will obey your orders!"
As for Su Ding, he lowered his head slightly and said, "Mr. Shen, is it a bit rash to enter Tai'an Prefecture at this time?"
"I didn't ask you to capture Tai'an."
Shen Yi took a sip of tea and added: "I just want you to drive the left army over."
"Now on the border of Shandong, the strength of the Qi people is similar to that of our Huai'an army. No matter what, they can't surround us."
"If you move the army to Tai'an, the Qi army in Ningyang will be worried. Let's surround them."
"The entire Qi army's left turn will be delayed."
Shen Yi looked at the two people and continued: "But I still say the same thing. I only provide you with ideas for fighting and the general direction. The battlefield is changing rapidly, and specific situations need to be dealt with in detail. You cannot be rigid, let alone follow the diagram. "
This is the benefit of Mr. Shen being a leader. In terms of fighting, he almost gives these subordinates the greatest autonomy, ensuring sufficient flexibility when implementing specific tactics on the battlefield.
More importantly, no matter whether these flexible tactics are effective or not, or whether there are problems or how big the problems are, Mr. Shen, the leader, is willing to take responsibility for them.
In other words, the responsibilities within the Huai'an Army are divided internally, and the responsibility of the entire Huai'an Army lies with Shen Yi.
In this way, the generals below can do whatever they want during the war.
The two stopped talking nonsense and bowed.
"The last general takes command!"
Mr. Shen rubbed his temples and said: "That's all I can think of for the moment. Time is not urgent for what I said. The two generals are not in a hurry to go back today. They can get together in the afternoon to discuss what I said. Strategy, if you have any different opinions, you can come to me later."
"Have a meal at my place tonight and I'll treat you."
The two bowed their heads again.
"The general will obey his orders."
………………
In the blink of an eye, it was a few days later.
In Jiankang City, in the Ganlu Hall.
Eunuch Gao held a document in his hand and stood beside the emperor.
His Majesty, the Emperor, was currently looking through the newly vacant Jinshi officer positions handed over by the Ministry of Personnel. When he saw Gao Ming standing behind him, he turned back to look at Eunuch Gao and said calmly: "At this time on weekdays, isn't it? You're waiting here, what's the matter?"
Eunuch Gao held the document in his hand, handed it to the emperor, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, this is a secret letter from Shilang Shen to you."
He didn't wait for the emperor to take it, and then said: "This letter was sent by the inner guard, but not long after it was sent, Shilang Shen seemed to have received the secret letter written by his majesty, so he sent someone to the inner guard. I chased this letter back."
"The book in your hands now is a copy of the original."
The Emperor was startled for a moment, and then he burst into laughter: "Really, you guys, since he has chased him back, why do you want to make a copy?"
Eunuch Gao looked respectful, bowed his head slightly and said: "The internal guard is just in case of any loss, so it is a backup."
He paused and added: "Only Du Yong, a colleague of the commander, has seen it. Du Yong is a person who can never be forgotten."
The emperor didn't take it seriously and said: "After he received my letter, he chased it back, so I probably already know what is written in this letter."
Emperor Hongde yawned, waved his hand and said, "Don't look at it."
Eunuch Gao lowered his head and said, "That slave will be burned right now."
When he was about to leave with this document, His Majesty the Emperor looked at him helplessly, shook his head and said, "I'd better hand it over."
Eunuch Gao lowered his head slightly. There was not much emotional expression on his face. He just lowered his head slightly and said, "Yes."
He handed over the thick envelope.
The emperor took out a whole pile of letter paper and couldn't help but let out a "huh" sound.
"As expected of a person who came from two ranks of Jinshi. He is really good at writing."
Although he said that, His Majesty the Emperor still gave Mr. Shen a lot of respect. He read what Shen Yi wrote from beginning to end, then put the letter on the table and touched his chin thoughtfully.
After a long time, he shook his head slightly: "Shen Qi can speak well after all. After being persuaded like this by him, I actually don't want to go."
But soon, His Majesty the Emperor frowned, looked back at Eunuch Gao, and asked, "Gao Ming, did Shen Qi send this letter before he received my letter, or after?"
Eunuch Gao was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, they all came back on the same night, almost at the same time, and it was only tea time. Shen Shilang sent someone to chase him back, so it's not easy to tell. It was before Or later…”
When His Majesty the Emperor heard this, he narrowed his eyes, then lowered his head to look at the thousands of words long article on the table, and said softly: "But no matter what, this letter will not be written after he received my letter. Yes, isn’t it?”
Eunuch Gao lowered his head and looked at seven or eight thick pieces of letter paper.
"Yes, it's definitely too late."
The emperor looked at the documents on the table and was lost in thought for a while, then he laughed and cursed: "This Shen Qi is still as cunning as ever."
"However, since he pretended not to send this letter."