Li Zhun, on the whole, doesn't have any big problems, but because he has only been studying and not having any contact with people, his grasp of people's hearts is not very accurate.
Although his strategy for the Northern Expedition was unworkable in many places, it was generally quite admirable and could be considered a workable resource.
Shen Yi chatted with him for about half an hour, and finally chose to leave him in the Xiangshui Camp, letting him read and think more as an army clerk, and practice for a while.
In the next few days, Shen Yi was busy with military affairs along the Huaihe River as usual. It was not until the fourth day that the news he assigned to Jiang Sheng finally came. So Master Shen set off from Xiangshui Camp and rode a fast horse all the way.
Head west, towards Hongze Lake in the west.
In the morning of the next day, he finally arrived at a small town by Hongze Lake.
There were already some soldiers guarding the entrance of this small town. When these soldiers saw Shen Yi and others, they immediately moved out of the way. A middle-aged man who looked like a general clasped his fists at Shen Yi and said, "Shen Yi"
"Servant", and then took Shen Yi all the way to the only small restaurant in the town.
After going up to the second floor, a middle-aged man in gray cloth was already sitting quietly on the table by the window on the second floor. It seemed that he had been waiting for Shen Yi for a long time.
Shen Yi did not salute, but sat directly opposite the middle-aged man. After taking a look at him, he said indifferently: "Master Hou came early."
The middle-aged man sitting opposite Shen Yi is none other than the chief military officer of the Huaihe Navy, the Marquis of Anping, and the general Zhao Lu!
General Zhao lifted the wine bottle on the table, poured a glass of wine for Shen Yi, and said with a smile: "Servant Shen invites me, I dare not not come."
At this point, he made a "tsk" sound, looked up at the young man in front of him, shook his head and sighed: "The twenty-two-year-old minister of the Ministry of War, Zhao has never heard of it in his life."
Shen Yi took the wine glass he handed over and didn't drink it. He just smiled and said, "General, do you think the current official appointments in the imperial court are too childish?"
"That's not true."
Zhao Lu said calmly: "To be honest, I don't like your personality as Shen Qi because you are too unsociable, but I recognize your contribution."
"You should be given the title of Minister of War. To be honest, if you are not too young, there would be no problem if you return to Jiankang and serve as Minister of War."
Having said this, Zhao Lu lowered his head and took a sip of wine, then looked at Shen Yi and said indifferently: "Let's get down to business, Minister Shen is at your majesty's place. He and I, the Huaihe Navy, are incompatible, and now he has made an appointment with me in private.
If you meet here, you won’t be afraid that the imperial court will find out. Your Majesty will doubt you?"
Mr. Shen lowered his head and took a sip of wine.
"I'm afraid I won't come."
He looked at Zhao Lu, took a deep breath, and said: "Master Hou is a busy man, and Shen has a lot of things to do now, so let's not talk nonsense, I will get straight to the point."
Mr. Shen said expressionlessly: "I believe Mr. Hou can also see that the war in Huai'an is about to start again. When the war in Huai'an starts, I would like to ask the Huaihe navy to go north to attack Qi to relieve Huai'an of some pressure."
Zhao Lu looked at Shen Yi quietly and suddenly smiled.
"Shilang Shen, why?"
Shen Yi took the initiative to grab the jug, filled it for himself, and toasted Zhao Lu with a glass of wine. Then he said calmly: "Master Hou is a smart man. There are many things that I don't need to explain. I will only say this once."
"At this time, the Huaihe navy cooperates with me to march north to attack Qi. This is the only way for the Zhao family to survive."
"Tsk."
After General Zhao took a sip of wine, he said quietly: "Shilang Shen, you have such a strong tone now."
"It's obvious that you, Huai'an, can't stand it any longer. You come here to beg me, but you still act like you're condescending and giving advice."
He looked at Shen Yi and said indifferently: "This is what I don't like about you, Mr. Shen. You have lived too smoothly in your life. You don't know how to bow your head or ask for help."
"I'm not begging the Marquis. I made it very clear. I'm trying to save the Marquis."
Mr. Shen looked at Zhao Lu and said expressionlessly: "To be honest, I hesitated for a long time about meeting Mr. Hou in private, because I don't like the Zhao family very much, and I don't really want to save the Zhao family."
Zhao Lu squinted his eyes and smiled: "But Mr. Shen has no choice, because..."
"The destruction of Huai'an is imminent."
"Huai'an will not be destroyed."
Mr. Shen looked calm: "But people will die, many people."
"The Marquis should know very well that after the battle in Huai'an this time, the Zhao family's favor with His Majesty will be almost completely exhausted. By then, our Huai'an army will suffer heavy casualties at most, and Your Majesty will not be able to endure it anymore.
An ally is in trouble and the Zhao clan is as immovable as a mountain."
"Isn't it difficult for Mr. Hou to figure this out?"
"I, the Huaihe Navy, will never fail to rescue friendly troops."
Zhao Lu said quietly: "When the war breaks out in Huai'an, Zhao will personally lead his troops to rescue them."
"It's useless to work without exerting effort."
Shen Yi looked straight at Zhao Lu: "Whose army does the Marquis think the Huai'an Army belongs to?"
The Huai'an Army has always been an army directly under the emperor. This has been the consensus of the imperial court. Whether it is Zhongshu Zaifu or Zhao Lu, they all see it clearly.
"No matter whether the Marquis moves or not, as long as the Huai'an army is seriously damaged, even if your Majesty replaces me, you will definitely be angry with the Zhao family, even if you are not able to touch you in a short time..."
"The pros and cons of this can naturally be understood by the Marquis, so I don't need to say more."
When General Zhao heard this, he did not answer. He just lowered his head and took a sip of wine. Then he looked at the table and said slowly: "As expected of a second-ranked Jinshi, he is really sharp-tongued."
"This is true."
"After the Battle of Huai'an started, the Huaihe navy crossed the Huaihe River, attacked the Northern Qi Dynasty, and made great contributions. This is the only way for the Zhao family to survive at present."
"This is currently the only way for the Zhao family to regain their relationship with the Tian family."
Mr. Shen looked at Zhao Lu and said calmly: "Master Hou should know that I am very disgusted with your Zhao family. I was also beaten by your fourth daughter. In the court, I hope that your Zhao family will fall down and fall."
A smash."
"But now, I am still willing to show you a way to survive, Mr. Hou."
Zhao Lu looked playful: "Because you, Mr. Shen, don't want your foundation in Huai'an to be completely wasted."
Shen Yi shook his head slightly.
"Because in my eyes, the lives of your Zhao family are far less important than the lives of my Huai'an army brothers."
"So, I took the risk of being misunderstood by others and made an appointment with the Marquis."
When Shen Yi said this, he stood up from his position. He cupped his hands towards Zhao Lu and said, "Of course, good words can't persuade a damn ghost."
"The decision on what to do is in your hands, Lord Marquis. We still have military affairs in the army, so I won't disturb Lord Marquis."
"Farewell."
Zhao Lu sat on the chair and looked up at Shen Yi's back.
"If the Huai'an army is wiped out in this battle, my Zhao family will still be as stable as Mount Tai even if it angers the emperor."
At this time, the small building where the two of them were located was guarded by who knows how many people under the roof, and no one could come up, so they spoke a little bolder.
Shen Yi stopped, turned around and grinned at Zhao Lu.
"How many people are going to die?"
"Last time, more than 60,000 people were able to conquer Huai'an."
"I can still retreat to Huai'an City."
"Even if it's fighting in the wild."
Mr. Shen narrowed his eyes and said with murderous intent: "If the Qi people don't kill a hundred thousand people, they can't defeat my Huai'an army. Lord Marquis, think about how many people the Qi people are willing to die in Huai'an."
"Even if the Huai'an Army is defeated in this battle, the battle report reported to the court will not be ugly, and the Huai'an Army will definitely continue to exist."
Mr. Shen glanced at Zhao Lu for the last time.
"Unless you, Lord Marquis, lead the Huaihe Navy and attack Huai'an City together with the Qi people, it is just a fool's dream to defeat the Huai'an army."
After saying that, Shen Yi no longer hesitated, turned around and went downstairs, got on his horse and left.
Zhao Lu stood on the second floor of the small building with his hands behind his back, watching the horses of Shen Yi and others drifting away. For the first time, confusion appeared in the general's eyes.
After a long time, he sighed.
"Why is there no such person among the descendants of my Zhao family..."