In Shen Yi's view, Northern Qi now has only the last way out.
That's Stud.
Or to use a more civilized word, it is gambling on the fate of the country.
How to bet?
Overwhelm everything.
Nowadays, there are still hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops near Yandu. Add in the border troops in the north and the emergency troops, and it will not be a problem to mobilize 300,000 combat forces within half a year.
The 300,000 troops did not need to be sent to Henan, but were all suppressed in Shandong. Shen Yi only had 89,000 troops left in Shandong, and there was absolutely no way he could resist.
At most, it means retreating to Jinan City, and even Jinan City has no way to retreat.
Because the difference in numbers is too big, they can completely surround Jinan without attacking. Over time, the Huai'an army will suffocate themselves to death.
In other words, as long as Northern Qi dared to gamble on the fate of the country, Shen Yi could only transfer all the troops from Henan to Shandong to fight against the Qi people.
In this way, the Qi army in Henan will be free, and the Northern Qi will have a lot of room for maneuver.
Even if both sides were seriously injured in this battle, Northern Qi could at least keep Guo Zuo and even take advantage of this opportunity to regain some of its lost territory.
However, making this decision requires great courage.
Because as long as Northern Qi does this, no matter what the outcome of the war is, no matter whether they win or lose, they will definitely be in chaos, not only political and military chaos, but the economy may directly collapse.
Zheng'erbajing's vitality was severely damaged.
Here, we still don’t consider whether the Tatars in the north will take the opportunity to go south.
Of course, for the Northern Qi Dynasty, they were not a Han dynasty. In theory, they had no natural responsibility to resist the Tatars.
Previously, the Northern Qi Dynasty actively resisted the Tatars, which had nothing to do with national sentiments or feelings for the country. It was mainly to protect its own vested interests.
In other words, even if the Tatars are allowed in, it won't be a big problem.
At most, part of the area was occupied by the Tatars. Even if the Northern Qi Dynasty was severely damaged, it would take ten years to recover. By then, it would be too late to clean up the mess in the north.
For the rulers of the Northern Qi Dynasty, this result was not difficult to accept. It was nothing more than a hardship for the people.
For Northern Qi, the most difficult decision was whether or not to deal with the Southern Dynasty's attack at a huge cost and risk pushing itself to the brink of collapse.
In other words, is the current war situation so bad? Is Shen Qi worth what they do?
This requires a very courageous person to discover this only fighter opportunity and make this difficult decision.
In addition to these two factors, this courageous man must also keep his word in Northern Qi.
That is, centralization.
To what extent is power centralized?
You don’t need to be at the level of the founding emperor, probably...
It's almost as good as Emperor Hong De's.
As for Emperor Zhaowu, Zhao Kai, it is difficult to say whether he is courageous enough, but he has only been on the throne for two years, and he has been... not very upright. It is difficult to say whether he can have the prestige of Emperor Hongde.
In addition, within the Northern Qi Dynasty, there was a natural division between Hu and Han, and they wanted to unite their interests on this matter.
The conditions are too harsh.
On top of the city wall, Mr. Shen looked at it for a while and felt that it was not interesting. He turned around and pulled Zhang Fantai's sleeves and said with a smile: "The weather in early spring is still a bit cold. It's boring to stay on the city wall. Come on, senior brother, I Invite you to drink."
"During the Chinese New Year, His Majesty gave me several jars of thirty-year-old wine. I brought a jar, opened it today, and drank from it."
Zhang Jian looked at Shen Yi and said, "You are so injured that you can't drink alcohol. Why don't you eat fat food?"
"It's been almost two months and I'm already fine."
Mr. Shen said with a smile: "I haven't had a drink since I was injured. This is also one of Qi Ren's sins. Sooner or later, I will have to settle accounts with them."
With that said, he took Zhang Jian and left.
Zhang Jian was pulled for more than a dozen steps, and then he shook his head helplessly: "You, the Northern Expedition commander, are doing a very leisurely job. You only send out the generals below, and you are just doing nothing in Jinan City."
Master Shen laughed.
"It does look like this on the surface, but senior brother doesn't know how difficult it is to raise such an army first, and now to coordinate hundreds of thousands of people."
"If we didn't have a staff team now, I might not even be able to get out of the governor's office."
Zhang Fantai followed Shen Yi and said with a smile: "If I had known that you would achieve what you have today, I'm afraid Uncle Lu would have come to serve as your adviser early in the morning."
Shen Yi smiled slightly.
"Speaking of which, I really need someone close to me who knows the basics and coordinates the staff for me. Senior brother has a suitable candidate who can be recommended to me."
"My mentor is definitely not good enough. He is old and still has to teach and educate people in Jiankang."
Zhang Jian's heart moved slightly.
Nowadays, Shen Yi has a very large organization under his command, so the words "coordinating staff" may not sound very conspicuous, but in fact, it can be said to be a prime minister-like role in the "Huai'an Military Group".
Zhang Jian looked at Shen Yi and smiled: "To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't get rid of this official position, I would have given you a job as an aide to Ziheng."
"Senior brother, it's a joke."
Shen Yi couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that you still have to rely on fate to find someone who is loyal to Sasuke."
Zhang Fantai thought about it seriously and suddenly said softly: "If we look for it from our academy, it seems that one of the seven Ganquan sons resigned and returned home in his thirties, and he will be in his forties this year."
Shen Yi shook his head slightly.
"It's better not to bother senior."
The Seven Sons of Ganquan are one generation older than Shen Yi's generation. Not to mention whether they are willing to come, if they really come, there will be no distinction between priorities.
Zhang Jian thought for a while, but couldn't think of any suitable candidates, so he shook his head.
"I can't think of it either. I'm too lazy to think about it."
"Let's go drink."
The two brothers happily reached a consensus and went to drink together.
…………
Yandu, Xiude Hall.
Compared with the joy in the city of Jinan, the Imperial City of Northern Qi and even the entire Yandu seem to be cast in a layer of gloom and mist.
At this time, in the side hall of Xiude Hall, Zhou Yuanlang knelt in front of Emperor Zhaowu, holding a document in his hand. After reading it carefully, he took a deep breath and looked up at Emperor Zhaowu.
"emperor…"
At this time, Emperor Zhaowu's eyes were already covered with bloodshot eyes.
He looked at Zhou Yuanlang and was silent for a long time before he said, "Sir, you have also seen the news from the front line."
"The war in Henan became more and more intense. Two armies of the Huai'an Army suddenly moved northward, rushing all the way to Hejian Prefecture, and all the way north from Daming Prefecture..."
"them…"
Emperor Zhaowu looked at Zhou Yuanlang intently, and his tone was a little chilly: "We are not far from Yandu!"
"Sir, you have always been very wise and resourceful, how can you teach me now?"
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head slightly, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He clearly felt that something was wrong with Emperor Zhaowu's mood.
What is certain is that once he fails to answer this question, or the answer dissatisfies Emperor Zhaowu, then...
It would probably be difficult to save his life.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yuanlang knelt on the ground, lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, the first thing you have to do at this time is to boost the people's morale."
Emperor Zhaowu's eyes were dark.
"Speak directly."
"I have read all the information about Shen Yi in detail recently. He was a Jinshi in the 28th year of Yongping in the Southern Dynasty. However, he really became famous not after he became a Jinshi, but before he became a Jinshi."
"To be precise, in the 27th year of Yongping, he was appreciated by Emperor Hong De for founding Di Bao and came into Emperor Hong De's sight."
"In fact, even before he was awarded Jinshi, he had already become the eighth-rank official in the imperial examination."
"This newspaper department is very interesting."
"I carefully read all the information about Di Newspaper Division. Di Newspaper Division is now in the hands of Shen Yi. Although it has developed into an intelligence yamen, in fact, Di Newspaper Division has been divided into two."
"The other Di News Department is responsible for printing and distributing Di Bao of the Southern Dynasties. Various intelligence information is written in Di Bao..."
"I got a few copies of the newspaper. After reading it in detail, I found that this thing is extremely powerful."
"It can be said to be a sharp weapon."
"With it, you can control the world's mouthpieces."
"In the newspaper, as long as the sentences are slightly modified, bad news may become good news."
"I believe that the morale of the Southern Dynasties has soared in recent years, mostly because of this newspaper. Because of this, even Shen Yi can't get involved in this newspaper department. It is directly managed by the eunuchs of the Imperial City of the Southern Dynasties..."
"Our court can also follow the example of the Di Newspaper Division and create the Di Newspaper of Daqi..."
Emperor Zhaowu was silent for a while and shook his head slightly.
"You can do it, but this method is too slow to take effect. For Da Qi now, it is already a bit too late."
"I need some quick results."
"I was just about to say..."
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, Da Qi has not won a victory for too long, and now it needs a big victory."
"But in fact, the victory or defeat in the hearts of the people does not lie on the battlefield, but on things like Di Bao Si..."
Zhou Yuanlang thought for a while and continued: "Moreover, this great victory must involve the participation of Han generals..."
"At the same time, it would be best for the superior generals to also participate."
Having said this, Zhou Yuanlang knelt on the ground and lowered his head.
"There is one more thing, which I think is the most important thing."
He lowered his head and gritted his teeth and said, "That is to concentrate our strength and give Shen Qi's Huai'an army a heavy blow, so that they will not dare to go north unscrupulously!"
"We can't let them fight on two fronts so easily!"
Emperor Zhaowu narrowed his eyes and said softly: "The Han general you are talking about is Zhou Shizhong, right?"
"I never meant this!"
Zhou Yuanlang said quickly: "My father is not the only general in the Han Dynasty..."
Emperor Zhaowu looked at Zhou Yuanlang carefully, and after a long time, he said quietly.
"Recently, too many people from the same clan have spoken ill of the Han people in front of me."