In late May, the temperature in Chongzhou was already considered hot. Yuan Yan was wearing a thin shirt, exposing half of her jade-like arms, and was sitting on the edge of a bamboo couch, reading letters sent from Nanyang to Queen Mother Liang.
Queen Mother Liang suffered from an eye disease that could not be cured. As a result, she could only see confused shadows. When letters came, she couldn't read them at all. Fortunately, with Wu Yan by her side, she was better than a few maids.
"Huaidong is purchasing medicinal materials in Xinyang. Nanyang lacks medicinal people. Although it occupies half of Tongbai Mountain and there is Funiu Mountain to the west, it is impossible to exchange medicinal materials with Huaidong for grain and salt. The tone of the Hou Ye's letter is still very serious.
It's a pity..." Yuan Yan said based on the content of the letter.
"Yes, without output, no matter how much wealth you have, it will only be in vain. And Nanyang can't support 20,000 soldiers and horses with such a small population. In the future, if Dong Yuan wants to cut off the waterway, Nanyang will be anxious first, right?
"The last words of Empress Dowager Liang were asked by Miao Shuo.
Miao Shuo has been in charge of Yudong Palace for these years. Although he has little military ability, he has a lot of political knowledge. Especially after the relationship between the Liang family and Huaidong has improved recently, the life of the Hailing Palace has become much more comfortable. Except for Nanyang,
In addition to the uncontrolled correspondence between Jiangning and other places, he was no longer restricted from entering Chongzhou City. He could also see the records of Jiangning and various counties in a timely manner, and the news was no longer blocked. He said: "Huaidong is a good means.
, I heard that Weiyang and Jiangning cloth and iron are almost all produced in Huaidong, and the price of grain in Jiangning, Weiyang and other places is almost twice as high as that in Huaidong. As long as Nanyang, Xinyang and other places cannot be self-sufficient in grain, iron, cloth and other products
, relying on Huaidong; Dong Yuan can't restrain Huaidong's tentacles from extending to Huaixi. If the local clans in each prefecture and county speak good things about Huaidong, nothing can be determined in the future..."
Empress Dowager Liang knew what Miao Shuo meant by "maybe", so she sighed lightly and asked: "Nowadays, people are saying everywhere that Huaidong is going to attack Mindong after the Qiu Dynasty. Huaidong handed over the secret to Jiangning.
It has also become a clear deal, and the emperor has also issued an edict. This battle after the fall is really crucial..."
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Zeyuan in front of Zangjin Bridge in Jiangning is the residence of Yu Xinyuan, the censor of Zuodu, and his family in Jiangning City.
In the small pavilion of Yu Mansion's Dongyuan Garden, Yu Pijiang sat beside his father Yu Xinyuan, talking to Xie Chaozhong who was a guest in Yu Mansion.
When Xie Chaozhong went south with Xinning, his family members all stayed in Yanjing and were not involved in the war. Only three of the Xie family's children took advantage of Emperor Chongguan's breakout from Yanjing and fled to Jiangning to join Xie Chaozhong.
Although Xie Chaozhong gained the trust of the new emperor and took charge of the Jiangning imperial camp, his foundation in Jiangning was too shallow. There were not many direct descendants in the Jiangning imperial camp who could be used, and countless people were eyeing the position of commander of the imperial camp.
, had to find a strong support in Jiangning City.
Yu Xinyuan and Chen Xiyan were both the mainstays of the Wu Party. Zuo Du Yushi was in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and was the head of Jiangning's officials. He himself was from a wealthy Danyang family. Xie Chaozhong continued to marry Yu Xinyuan's niece, which was regarded as his wife.
Jiangning city has a foundation.
Yu Xie and Yu Xie took advantage of each other and were considered powerful in Jiangning City, but not everything went as planned.
"It's not that I don't give my uncle face, it's just that Chen Xiyan, an old man, really doesn't know how to praise me. Years ago, the Imperial Camp Army allocated 20,000 troops and horses to Dong Yuan. It's true that the money and food were not reduced, but it was also because of the debt I owed to the Imperial Camp Army before.
It's just enough to make up for the previous debt. Now this old man wants to deduct money and food from the Imperial Army, but he also talks about improving the army and streamlining administration. "Yu Xinyuan is a military general and speaks rudely. He has no scruples in criticizing Chen Xiyan in front of Yu Xinyuan,"
The imperial army defended the imperial capital. What was Chen Xiyan's intention to reduce the number of troops in the imperial army? Cheng Yuqian, an old man, also joined in the fun and said that he wanted to purge the imperial army. He said that he wanted to purge the imperial army, but he didn't just join forces to do it.
Do I thank Chaozhong?"
The imperial army once expanded to 100,000, and Dong Yuan took 20,000 with him, and another 80,000 were assigned to the Eighth Army.
Xie Chaozhong has been in charge of the imperial camp for nearly two years, but the combat power and military appearance of the imperial army that inherited the Jiangning garrison are far inferior to those of Li Zhuo's period; he even brought Dong Yuan 20,000 troops to Huaixi
, and in the end they were all cruelly broken up by Dong Yuan and made into garrison soldiers.
Dong Yuan had other motives for expanding the garrison troops in Huaixi, but the main reason was that the imperial army's troops and horses were simply unavailable.
After the autumn of last year, 20,000 imperial soldiers and horses followed Dong Yuan into Huaixi. Not to mention confronting the Yanlu cavalry, there were many deserters who could not bear the hard work when they moved in. As a result, during the Xuzhou War, Dong Yuan did not fight at all.
He did not dare to use the soldiers and horses of the imperial camp, so he could only rely on Xiao Kui'an's troops.
Dong Yuan reported the various performances of the Imperial Army's troops and horses in Huaixi, and Liu Tingzhou also made a secret report about the incident, which made Chen Xiyan worried that when the enemy troops came to Jiangning City, although the Imperial Army's troops and horses were numerous, they were likely to
It will collapse without a fight.
The other is that the imperial army has too many soldiers and horses, and the pressure of money and food consumption is too great. Huaidong's power is expanding more and more. Chen Xiyan is more determined to clean up the imperial army and supports Dong Yuan to break up the 20,000 imperial army that was transferred to Huaixi.
Setting up a garrison is the first step.
However, Xie Chaozhong would never think that he did not have the ability to run the army, and would only think that Chen Xiyan would cause trouble for him in everything. Even when the Imperial Camp was discussing matters regarding the Imperial Army, Chen Xiyan would never invite only Xie Chaozhong.
Instead, Xie Chaozhong and the eight commanding generals of the imperial camp were present together.
The Imperial Camp Army was inherited from the original Jiangning Garrison Army. Six of the Eighth Army commanders were generals from the Jiangning Garrison Army. They were closely related to their old boss Cheng Yuqian. They were qualified to attend the Military Council of the Imperial Camp Division, so naturally they were
Ignoring Xie Chaozhong, his explosively rising boss, Xie Chaozhong naturally regarded him as Chen Xiyan, and Cheng Yuqian was afraid of restraining him.
Even the 20,000 imperial soldiers and horses were scattered and organized as garrison soldiers for Dong Yuan. Most of the generals and commanders were promoted by Xie Chaozhong. They were eager to leave Huaixi, the place where the Fourth War was fought, and they did not resist when they were sent to Jiangning.
But after arriving in Jiangning, they naturally complained that Dong Yuan and Liu Tingzhou were making things difficult for them, and asked Xie Chaozhong to rearrange general positions in the imperial army.
On the one hand, Xie Chaozhong wanted to arrange more general posts for the imperial army, but at this time Chen Xiyan advocated the purge of the imperial army and streamlined the troops and administration, which caused several quarrels in front of Emperor Yongxing.
Xie Chaozhong has been full of resentment these days. How could he not complain in Yufu now?
Although Yu Xinyuan was the head of the official position, he was not listed in the rank and was excluded from the Imperial Camp Division and the Military Leading Division, which really controlled military and financial power. Therefore, he could not help Xie Chaozhong during court disputes.
Going deeper, after Chen Xiyan retired, the Wu Party was headed by Yu Xinyuan. However, during the Ning-Lu dispute, Huaidong pushed Chen Xiyan out and contacted Yue Lengqiu. Cheng Yuqian and others jointly supported Ning Wang. Chen Xiyan supported him and established him.
Due to his meritorious service, he naturally became the first among all the prime ministers, while Yu Xinyuan only received the post of censor of Zuodu.
After missing the phase, Yu Xinyuan felt an indescribable loss in his heart.
Listening to Xie Chaozhong's complaints, Yu Xinyuan just had a sullen face and said nothing.
"Streamlining the imperial army and reducing the money and food, where do you want to invest it?" Yu Bijiang asked, "I saw that when Chen Xiyan recommended Yue Lengqiu to go to Jiangzhou, he had already thought about this step; now Huaidong plans to go to Jiangzhou in Qiu
Later, Chen Xiyan used troops against Eastern Fujian, and Chen Xiyan also advised to strengthen Jiangzhou, asking Yue Lengqiu to use troops against Yuzhang in Jiangzhou at the same time after the autumn. Chen Xiyan became more and more confused as he got older, forgetting who had punished him back then, and now he was focused on
To support Yue Lengqiu..."
After King Ning succeeded to the throne, Yu Pijiang was sent to Haozhou, and at that time Chen Mingzhe went to Jiaxing.
As both rising stars of the Wu Party, Yu Pijiang was naturally compared with Chen Mingzhe in everything. Although they were both prefects, there was a huge difference between Haozhou and Jiaxing. Although he knew Haozhou, Yu Pijiang felt that
Full of complaints.
When the Yanlu army went south last year, the Hehuai River was in turmoil. Seeing that even Haozhou could not be saved, Yu Pijiang excused himself from Haozhou due to illness, and Liu Tingzhou concurrently served as the governor of Haozhou.
Yu Bijiang had been "sick" in Jiangning for more than half a year and wanted to come back to serve, but Chen Xiyan asked him to recover from his "illness". Why didn't he feel resentful in his heart?
Liu Yefei's defection to Huaidong was revealed. Yu Xinyuan originally thought that he would be able to make up for Yue Lengqiu's position, so he organized the prosecutors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to impeach Yue Lengqiu. Naturally, he also wanted to settle his old grudges with the Chu Party; but at that time Chen Xiyan
But he tried his best to protect Yue Lengqiu.
Chen Xiyan wants to protect Yue Lengqiu, not because he has forgotten the past party struggles, but because there is really no reputable official in Jiangning who knows more about military affairs than Yue Lengqiu.
Although Yue Lengqiu was a civil servant, he reorganized the Yanshan defense line as a minister of the Ministry of War, served as the governor of East Fujian to suppress the She family, and then served as the governor of Jianghuai. He performed well and defeated the Changhuai Army, Huinan Army and Luzhou Army.
They all had deep influence. With Yue Lengqiu in Jiangning, whenever there was a war, the new emperor only valued Yue Lengqiu's opinion the most, and there was no stage for Xie Chaozhong to perform.
Yue Lengqiu paid homage to the prime minister in the temple, controlling the situation of the imperial court and suppressing local forces, which was of great benefit and no harm; Chen Xiyan's protection of him was also for the sake of the overall situation.
Yue Lengqiu finally resigned, but Yu Xinyuan failed to take up the post that was left vacant after Yue Lengqiu left. Mainly because Lin Xuwen, who was backed by Huaidong, strongly opposed it and contacted others to oppose the Wu Party. Two people at the same time
After occupying the position, Emperor Yongxing was also worried that the Wu Party was too powerful and was not suitable for checks and balances; Yu Xinyuan complained that Chen Xiyan did not speak for him this time.
Chen Xiyan wanted to streamline the Imperial Army and cut down on money and food to increase investment in Jiangzhou and Huaixi, but this aroused new and old grudges among Xie Chaozhong, Yu Xinyuan, and Yu Pijiang.
Xie Chaozhong and Yu Xinyuan were complaining, but Yu Xinyuan didn't say much. His government was not just for a quick talk, he had to think more deeply.
Huaidong planned to attack Mindong after the Autumn, and Chen Xiyan also asked Yue Lengqiu to use troops against Yuzhang in Jiangzhou.
The situation in Huaixi gradually stabilized. Jiangning, who was fully committed to protecting Jiangzhou at this time, was able to support Yue Lengqiu and use troops against Yuzhang at the same time.
This strategy is to make it difficult for the She family to take care of each other, and at the same time to suppress Huaidong's too strong light. Chen Xiyan wants to use Yue Lengqiu to divide Huaidong's power to curb Huaidong's ambitions from continuing to expand.
As long as Yue Lengqiu can successfully regain Jiangxi and Dong Yuan can gain a foothold in Huaixi, Lin Fu can only stay in Huaidong temporarily. Chen Xiyan's intentions are not bad, but this situation is difficult for Yu Xinyuan.
It's extremely disadvantageous.
On the one hand, Xie Chaozhong's authority will be reduced, and may even be emptied, and become a means of controlling the imperial army in name; on the other hand, if Yue Lengqiu can successfully regain Jiangxi, in order to prevent Yue Lengqiu from becoming powerful in Jiangxi, he can only
Allowing him to return to the court and worship the prime minister again will completely eliminate the possibility of Yu Xinyuan worshiping the prime minister in a short period of time?
More importantly, Chen Xiyan regarded Dong Yuan as a member of the Wu Party and valued Dong Yuan more. Besides Dong Yuan, he paid more attention to cultivating his disciple Chen Mingzhe. At this time, Yu Xinyuan also felt that Chen Xiyan had completely abandoned him.
I feel that I am afraid that Chen Xiyan will completely kick him away in order to consolidate his position within the Wu Party.
"Chaozhong, if you lead the army to Jiangxi, are you sure?" Yu Xinyuan asked suddenly.