Yuan returned to the government and rushed to Xuzhou the day before Lin Fu's wedding.
In the past year, most of the areas under the jurisdiction of the Henan Zhizhishi Department in the northern part of Hehuai and Henan have fallen.
North of the Huaihe River, the eastern line reaches as far north as Peixian County in northern Xuzhou, with a depth of more than 300 miles on the north bank of the Huaihe River; while the western line, from the north bank of the Huaihe River to Woyang, has a depth of less than 200 miles.
Although Tao Chun had enough soldiers and horses in Woyang, he did not have enough cavalry and could not restrict the Yanlu outposts from crossing the tributaries on the north bank of the Huaihe River southward to the bank of the Huaihe River.
Although it was most convenient to come from Nanyang and take a boat east along the Huaihe River via Xinyang to Siyang and then go north to Xuzhou, but when the Yuan Dynasty returned to power, Yuan Jinsheng and his entourage of more than a hundred people could not hire a boat in Xinyang.
Even if the river gang forces in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River still have some remnants after the war, Dong Yuan was transferred to Hongzepu to transport supplies from Weiyang and Dongyang to Haozhou and Shouzhou, and from Shouzhou to Xinyang there were only a dozen or so ships. The ships are all official ships.
Although Yuan Guizheng had the title of Marquis of Yongchang, he could not hire two or three boats capable of navigating the dangerous shoals of the Huaihe River for himself and his entourage.
Yuan Guizheng and his party traveled a long way by horse through Guoyang, Huaiyang and Xuzhou. It was very hard and they even bumped into Beiyan's outpost troops on the way. Only after arriving in Huaiyang did they relax a little.
Huaidong deployed a considerable number of cavalry on the fortress defense line in the north of Xusi, which could prevent Yanlu outposts from penetrating into Xusi's hinterland. It was only after Yuan Guizheng entered Huaiyang that he saw the Chun organization in Huaiyang. In the plowing situation, the fields are full of green wheat seedlings. The roads and bridges are also in good condition. Defense blockades have been built at both ends of the Bianshui ferry. As a key point of military control, there are soldiers guarding it.
Last year, before the war in Xuzhou, Yuan returned to power. Yuan Jinsheng and his son went to Jining via Xuzhou to meet Liang Chengchong. They stopped in Xuzhou for a few days. This time they came back to Xuzhou. Only half a year had passed. The scene was very different, and it was definitely not Xinyang. What Guoyang can compare to - maybe Dong Yuan's talent is not bad, and there is support from the Wu Party behind him, but in the end it is too far behind Huaidong.
Several riders came over on horseback. The first two stopped their horses when they reached them and raised their voices and asked, "Can the Marquis of Yongchang and his party come?"
Yuan Jinsheng came forward to negotiate with the reins. There were more than a hundred of them, all riding horses and carrying knives, passing through the county. It was impossible not to be interrogated. When they passed Huaiyang, they were interrogated several times - Yuan Jinsheng also After getting rid of the arrogance and frivolity of those days in Jiangning, he has traveled north and south in the past two years. He is used to suffering on horseback, and his muscles and bones have become strong. He raised his hands and said: "Not bad, we are about to go to Xuzhou to congratulate Pengcheng County Duke..."
"Master Young Marquis!" Chen Xiaoyan, Gao Zongting's bookboy, came from behind on horseback. He dismounted and bowed, "My husband is waiting in the pavilion in front for Master Young Marquis and Master Hou to come over..."
As the saying goes, "a faded phoenix is not as good as a chicken", Yuan Jinsheng did not expect Lin Fu to come out of the city to greet them. Gao Zongting, the chief counselor of Huaidong, came out of Xuzhou City to welcome them in person, which surprised him, so he hurriedly rode there with Chen Xiaoyan Meet my father at the back.
Compared with the last time we met in Chongzhou, Yuan Guizheng's face was even more frosty, and they both drove faster to meet Gao Zongting at Sanli Changting.
The Yongchang Marquis Mansion has long lost its former glory. In the past two years since Yuan Guizheng, he has left Jiangning to work for the Liang family. Rather than wanting to restore the past glory, it is better to leave Jiangning, a place of right and wrong, so as not to give Emperor Yongxing a hard time. When they arrived, they were not happy, so they randomly found a pretext and killed all the people in the Yongchang Hou Mansion.
Huaidong did not mean to neglect, and asked Gao Zongting to leave Xicheng early to welcome Yuan's return to power.
"My lord is busy with trivial matters, so I specially asked Zongting to come out of the city to greet the Marquis. Don't be surprised by the Marquis." Gao Zongting walked down from the pavilion and bowed to Yuan Guizheng.
"Pengcheng Gong is out." Whether Liang Chengchong can gain a foothold in Nanyang has a lot to do with whether he can get enough help from Huaidong. Yuan Guizheng came here this time with the intention of being humble. Gao Zongting came out of the city to greet Huaidong.
The attitude shown by Dong made him feel relieved and quite comforted.
Gao Zongting invited Yuan Guizheng to ride with him. The newly-made four-wheeled carriage in Huaidong was light and spacious. Yuan Jinsheng led his retinue and the retinue who had followed Gao Zongting out of the city together, and rode towards Xuzhou City.
Yuan Jinsheng also lamented in his heart that when he was in Chaotianyi, Lin Fu was still a small character who relied on the Gu family and was not taken seriously by them. Now he has the power to dominate the country and can make people in the world sleep and eat with just a stamp of his feet.
, that’s only seven years!
Many people were busy preparing for the wedding of Lin Fu and Liu Miaozhen, but Lin Fu, the groom and husband, had nothing to do. He was serving Yuan Guizheng in the palace, while Yuan Jinsheng held a banquet to wash away the dust, and stood with Su Mei in the courtyard.
Seeing Gao Zongting accompany Yuan to return to power, Yuan Jinsheng and his son came in and said with a smile: "Tonight's small banquet, there are only a few of us, the Marquis must not feel deserted..."
Gao Zongting explained with a smile: "In the past few days, a ban on alcohol has been introduced in Xuzhou City. The adults also laughed and said that anyone who drank alcohol was not exaggerated. There were a few guys climbing poles to go to the shelves and inviting too many people. The scene was probably very ugly...
…”
Yuan Guizheng also smiled happily, and saluted Su Mei, who was wearing a bun, and said, "I've met Madam..."
"Su Mei met the Marquis. Xiaoman felt unwell, so he asked Su Mei and the Marquis to apologize." Su Mei returned the greeting.
After Xiaoman grew up, she looked more and more like Su Mei. Yuan Guizheng suspected that Xiaoman was also Su Mei's widow, but Xiaoman had already been brought into Lin Fu's house by that time.
Although the fundamental purpose of Yuan Guizheng was to take advantage of her sisters, the two sisters have been able to escape the mire over the years, and the Yongchang Marquis Mansion also has some kindness to protect them.
Although it is suspected of shooting oneself in the foot, the Sumén case and the Akino Prison assassination case implicated in it are sharp tools to question the orthodoxy of the imperial power inheritance since Emperor Delong, but the initiative has been completely controlled by Lin Fu.
in the hand.
Yuan Guizheng didn't know whether Lin Fu had such ambitions, but at least at the moment, when the total number of troops in Hanghu, Huinan, Jiangzhou, Huaixi, Lianghu and the imperial camp would be 400,000, Huaidong's ambitions
It’s not advisable to expose yourself too early…
"After the Qiu period in Huaidong, we will march into the east of Fujian. Before the Marquis comes, I will present the secret to the imperial family..." Lin Fu's first sentence after entering the banquet was to get straight to the point.
"..." Yuan Guizheng thought that Huaidong might soon take action against the She family, but he did not expect that Lin Fu would tell the truth so frankly. He was not afraid that the news would leak out and let the She family prepare in advance.
There is nothing that can be done about the news leaking. Huaidong's situation on the southern front is very obvious. If Dongyang County is captured, Huaidong is in southern Zhejiang. The deep defense line in southern Zhejiang can be concentrated in the eastern section of Quzhou. The defense line can be shortened by more than half.
This means that the garrison can be reduced by nearly half. And by capturing Jin'an Prefecture, the She family can be driven to the middle and upper reaches of the Min River, and all the coastal prefectures and counties in eastern and southern Fujian can be recovered. As long as the war starts on the southern front,
When the time comes, it is always better to do it sooner rather than later.
The She family would not imagine that Huaidong would not start from Mindong, so there would be no problem of information being leaked. The key point is that Lin Fu must firmly defend the Huaihe defense line before attacking Mindong from the south in the autumn.
It's not just a problem with Xu Si's defense line, the situation in Huaixi and Nanyang must be stabilized before autumn.
It is difficult to accurately predict whether the war on the southern front will progress smoothly and how long the main force of Huaidong will stay on the southern front.
With the Huaiyang Army and the Fengli Army guarding the Xusi Defense Line, the Huaibei Northeast Line can almost ensure safety, but with this small amount of troops, it can only protect the Xusi Defense Line.
Once Yan and Hu took advantage of Huaidong's fierce fighting on the southern front, they decisively launched troops to attack Huaixi and Nanyang, but Dong Yuan and Liang Chengchong failed to make preparations. At that time, Huaidong sent out troops to threaten the flanks of Yan and Hu's troops advancing southward.
Liang Chengyi of Hezhong Prefecture and the Cao family farther west are trapped by Chen Zhihu, and the next problem becomes difficult...
Dong Yuan fixed his eyes on Luo Xiancheng in Suizhou, and Huaidong also fixed one eye on Luo Xiancheng in Suizhou. This is probably the most unpredictable and unstable factor in defending the Huaihe defense line.
Luo Xiancheng was silent at this time, because he and Chen Zhihu were still separated by Nanyang, six to seven hundred miles apart. If Luo Xiancheng dared to join Yanhu at this time, he would be seeking death.
Once the Yan captives take advantage of Huaidong's entanglement in the southern front to fight in a stalemate after the autumn, they raise troops to capture Nanyang and open the passage to Xiangyang, or they raise troops to capture Xinyang and open the passage to Suizhou. What choice will Luo Xiancheng make at that time?
It's hard to say.
Lin Fu didn't dare to take that risk easily.
"If the Marquis doesn't come to Xuzhou, I will send people to Nanyang to see the Marquis and the Marquis of Jinxiang," Lin Fu said. "Dong Yuan is doing well in Huaixi, but there are too many resources that Nanyang can use.
Tight. Now that Chen Zhihu has been asked to cut off contact with Hezhong Mansion, life must be very tight..."
"That's true. How can I say this?" Yuan Guizheng felt relaxed. As long as Lin Fu still took care of the overall situation, he would not let the situation in Nanyang go unnoticed. It was indeed the right time to come to Huaidong.
"The Huaidong Military Division coordinates the purchase of grain from the prefecture and county. Japonica rice costs eight cents per stone and is shipped to Xinyang. The shipping fee is 30% higher. After the autumn comes, Nanyang will be guaranteed to have a grain reserve of 200,000 stone. What do you think, Lord Marquis?
" Lin Fu asked.
The price of rice shipped to Xinyang is just over one tael of silver, and the price of rice in Jiangning has already exceeded this amount.
Some time ago, when Yuan Guizheng went to Xinyang to raise grain, he offered a sky-high price of six taels of silver for one stone of rice, but he could only buy a thousand stone of grain.
luàn Food in the world is precious, while gold and silver are cheap. I didn't expect Huaidong to have such a sufficient supply of rice. Of course, Huaidong controls the export of grain, and it is also very criticized by others.
Nanyang can have 200,000 shi of grain reserves for the winter. Even if Nanyang City is besieged by the Yanhu army, it can grit its teeth and hold on for more than half a year. Obviously, the Yanhu army cannot be besieged when both wings are threatened.
Nanyang for more than half a year.
"Peng Chenggong is really quick to talk. This has really solved Nanyang's problem. I really don't know how to express my gratitude." Yuan Guizheng said.
"Su Mei, Xiaoman and I have benefited a lot from the Lord in the past, and today we are just repaying the kindness in the past..." Lin Fu said with a smile, as if the grievances with the Liang family had long ago disappeared with the murder of Liang Xi.
Now I just want to facilitate a good thing that will reciprocate. "The grain ship needs Dong Yuan's approval to pass through Huaixi. I will write to Dong Yuan, but over to Shouzhou, it is best for the Marquis to go there in person. In addition to the grain,
It’s better not to tell Huaixi about the price. Huaidong is also very nervous about food. If Huaixi reaches out to me to ask for food, it will be really difficult..."
The Wu Party supported Dong Yuan to establish a foothold in Huaixi, which meant that Huaidong was restricted. At this time, Huaidong would naturally have a good relationship with Liang Chengchong and Yuan's return to power. Fighting from far away and attacking near, this has always been the case.
"After eating the wedding wine of Peng Chenggong, I will go to Shouzhou to find Dong Yuan..." Yuan Guizheng said. Feeling the kindness shown by Lin Fu, Yuan Guizheng was naturally very happy. The hard work and worries along the way were gone.
Sweep away.
Nanyang was crying for food. Yuan Guizheng returned to Nanyang early to organize people to transport grain to Xinyang. He would not stay in Xuzhou for a long time. He immediately discussed other supplies - iron materials, farm tools, arrows, armor, ordnance, mules and horses and other important supplies.
, Lin Fu also provided Nanyang with consumption at an affordable price for half a year, and even considered supplying Nanyang with a batch of war horses.
There are mountains and plains to the north of Nanyang. Once the Yanlu outposts infiltrate, Liang Chengchong will not be able to survive without a single cavalry in his hands.