It was a snowy night in Hangzhou with the sound of rain. Under the hall, candles were shining brightly. The servants and maids were sent down to wait outside. Chen Mingzhe, Chen Huawen and his nephew were sitting across from each other.
Chen Mingzhe sat on the floor with a bitter look on his face. He looked up and saw that his second uncle Chen Huawen had frosty hair on his temples and said, "My second uncle has frosty hair on his temples..."
Chen Huawen forced a smile and said: "It happened the year before last. It's normal for me to have gray hair. Look at you, you're not even thirty yet, and you don't necessarily have less gray hair on your temples than I do."
Chen Mingzhe smiled bitterly. In the past two years, so many things have happened in the country and at home. With so much work and hard work, no one can have a moment of leisure. How can he care about the gray hair? He asked: "Is it really too late to save Meng Yishan?"
"
"All the 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers and horses of the She family in Ningguo came out. This attitude is really to swallow up Mengyi Mountain before Huaidong's soldiers and horses move north," Chen Huawen said, "In these years of leading the army, I can count
You can know some truth. The She family's old nest was lost to Huaidong. If it had been anyone else, the people's hearts and morale would have collapsed long ago. However, the Zhejiang and Fujian troops won successive victories in Daqingxi, Yuling Pass, and Huizhou, and they forced the
When people's hearts and morale gather together and don't disperse, this is the so-called mourning army! The mourning army will win, but the mourning army cannot last long. The She family must win in Jiangning or Jiangzhou before this energy is vented.
A big breakthrough - the She family was so vicious that they took a full breath without letting go, they were fighting for their lives. Huaidong's soldiers and horses seemed to be fast but slow, so why not Yue Lengqiu? Jiangzhou Army entered Chizhou on the 14th
, but where are we going today? In the final analysis, we don’t want to go head-to-head with the Zhejiang and Fujian troops who are fighting for their lives, but Meng Yishan bumped into them!"
"Eating the king's salary and sharing the king's worries, Jiangning is in danger, and the Hanghu army is supported by the imperial court, how can we retreat?" Chen Mingzhe knew that he was a little angry when he said this, but after returning from Xiaoshan, there was a feeling of anger in his heart.
, not to mention not happy.
"That's true. Meng Yishan is a little greedy, but he has no ambitions and is loyal to the emperor. Others don't know this. You and I know it, but some people in Jiangning City regard the Hanghu Army as
Foreign troops are here to take precautions!" Chen Huawen said.
Chen Mingzhe felt bitter in his heart. Hearing what his second uncle said, he also judged that Meng Yishan would not be able to hold on until reinforcements from Huaidong arrived.
Chen Huawen continued: "How good was the situation before Xie Chaozhong went to Huizhou? Since Huizhou was defeated, if the Hanghu army could enter Jiangning to assist in defense, and the Jiangzhou army and the Huaidong army gradually approached from both sides, the situation would not be compromised.
I am now worried that Meng Yishan will be defeated in Liyang, and the Jiangzhou soldiers and Huaidong soldiers and horses cannot enter the outskirts of Jiangning in time, can Jiangning be defended?"
"Second uncle stayed in Hangzhou, were you worried from the beginning?" Chen Mingzhe asked.
Chen Huawen said: "Over the years, the rise of Huaidong has been right in front of us. Huaidong pointed out various shortcomings before Xie Chaozhong went to Huizhou, but the emperor turned a deaf ear. Can I turn a blind eye?"
Chen Mingzhe said: "I can finally understand why my father can safely hand over Haiyu's children to his second uncle."
"I'm just a little timid and pragmatic. I don't have the same merits as you. When it comes to writing, I'm far less talented than you are, Mingzhe." Chen Huawen sighed. "I think Prime Minister Chen also saw that Huaidong was prepared but was unprepared.
We don’t dare to rush to mobilize Huaidong’s troops in Hailing into Jiangning.”
Chen Mingzhe was speechless. If Huaidong had really anticipated today's situation but did not take any precautions, it would not be difficult to guess what he was thinking. But the world could not blame Huaidong for his good moves and bad moves by the emperor.
Bad debts can never be blamed on Huaidong, but the depth of Huaidong's calculations always sends chills down one's back.
"Will Huaidong dethrone the emperor?" Chen Mingzhe unconsciously asked the most critical question in a lowered voice.
Chen Huawen shook his head and said: "If Jiangning City can be defended, with Prime Minister Chen here, Yue Lengqiu's Jiangzhou Army can also enter the outskirts of Jiangning in time, and the situation will not be so bad. Although the emperor has made a few bad moves, but
If Huaidong is not unethical to the point of anger and resentment, Huaidong will not risk the disapproval of the world to abolish Li. At least before Yue Lengqiu and Dong Yuan, Huaidong will make some compromises, and there will be good things to do in the court in the future.
Look; if Jiangning City is not defended..."
Chen Mingzhe nodded, feeling very heavy.
If Jiangning City is not defended, the emperor will either die with the city or abandon the city and flee.
As an emperor who has lost his capital and a lost country, the remaining imperial troops will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. Even if Huaidong is not established or abolished, the emperor and Prime Minister Chen will lose their right to speak. Naturally, the government can only be controlled by Huaidong.
Of course, in order to control the government in Huaidong, there are still some factors that need to be settled, such as the remaining troops of the Hanghu Army, such as Yue Lengqiu, such as Dong Yuan in Huaixi, such as Hu Wenmu in Jinghu.
If Meng Yishan's troops were defeated in Liyang, the remnants of the Hanghu Army would be dominated by the Haiyu Army headed by Chen and the Bai Nao Navy led by Su Pinxiao, with a total strength of only more than 15,000. Especially when attacking Tonglu, Su Pinxiao
The navy suffered heavy losses.
Thinking of this, Chen Mingzhe said again: "Huaidong should also send someone to contact Su Pinxiao, right?"
Chen Huawen nodded and said: "Since Lin Fu said such serious words in front of you, Su Pinxiao may have a tacit understanding... Lin Fu has been in Xiaoshan for eight days. It is impossible to deal with the departure of the army all the time.
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Su Pinxiao was originally the leader of the Taihu Water Village forces. In the end, the Taihu Water Village forces were able to form the Bai Nao Army and merged into the Haiyu Army in the 11th year of Chongguan. Chen Xiang's support was on the one hand, but Lin Fu also contributed a lot - Chen Mingzhe
The situation here is very clear.
Although both the Wu Party and the Bai Nao Army were rooted in Wu, they were still different.
The Bai Nao Army mainly came from the bottom, and the Wu Party was the representative of the gentry forces in Wu. In terms of influence on the Bai Nao Army, perhaps Huaidong was more profound.
In addition to Lin Fu's early activities in the Taihu Lake area, including the bloody battle in Jiyang, which gave Lin Fu himself a high prestige in the counties along the Taihu Lake, Lin Fu later embarked on a large-scale construction project in Chongzhou and purchased a large number of goods from the counties along the Taihu Lake.
The supplies were mainly delivered through Jiyunshe and the water fortress related to the Bai Nao Army.
Su Pinxiao and many of the generals of the Bai Nao Navy came from rough backgrounds, and were no more loyal to the court than the gentry. Moreover, with the performance of the court and Huaidong over the years, perhaps the dignitaries in Jiangning city were sitting in the well watching the sky, while Su Pinxiao and the generals of the Bai Nao Navy should be
It's as clear as drinking water from home.
Chen Mingzhe thought to himself: My second uncle said that Su Pinxiao and Huaidong had a tacit understanding, so he was probably just taking the situation lightly.
Now Su Pinxiao led the remaining troops of the Bai Nao navy into Taihu Lake, saying that they were fighting in conjunction with Mengyi Shan. However, after Meng Yishan was ordered to march westward to Liyang, Su Pinxiao's navy also remained in Taihu Lake. If Su Pinxiao had already formed a tacit understanding with Huaidong, Huaidong sent more troops
Ma went to take over the defense of Changxing County, which also meant that Taihu Lake was actually under the control of Huaidong.
To say that Huaidong had a profound influence on the Bai Nao navy, how could the Chen family get rid of Huaidong's influence?
In the past two years, Jiangning has had to maintain hundreds of thousands of troops, tens of thousands of officials and the inner court, and has continuously imposed heavy taxes on Pingjiang and other prefectures. Although Pingjiang is rich, the people are overwhelmed. It is not without civil unrest.
However, unlike in the past, where there was only one town of Ning Haijun in the counties around Taihu Lake with less than 10,000 soldiers and horses, the Hanghu Army had 60,000 troops at its peak, and they were able to put out the civil riots in time when they first started, so no big troubles were caused.
.
If Mengyi Mountain is destroyed in Liyang, the Hanghu Army will be weakened to the extreme. Even if Huaidong has no ambitions, will it still be able to suppress the boiling public anger in the counties around Taihu with only the remaining troops of the Hanghu Army?
In the early years, Huaidong tied the Haiyu Army's military food supply to Huaidong through the "raw silk and rice" trade. After the Northern Zhejiang Zhizhishi Division reorganized the imperial Hanghu Army, the Hanghu Army's money and food were unified and financed by the Military Chief Division.
, finally got rid of Huaidong's control. However, wars were still frequent, the price of raw silk in the Jianghuai area continued to fall, and the highly profitable overseas raw silk trade was firmly controlled by Huaidong. Although the Chen family owned more than 2,000 hectares of mulberry orchards
, but life was extremely difficult.
In the past, the harvest of one acre of mulberry orchard was equivalent to two or three acres of grain fields, and Pingjiang became richest in the world.
Nowadays, the harvest of one acre of mulberry garden is far less than that of one acre of grain field, but the labor invested in one acre of mulberry garden is more than that of growing rice and wheat. And the price of rice in Jiangnan keeps rising. Haiyu County is getting more and more
Wansangnong, the weavers, and the large number of refugees fleeing the war, have become a sharp knife hanging above their heads that may fall at any time.
This crisis can be easily solved if Huaidong seeks help. First, Huaidong will import a large amount of grain to Haiyu and other places to suppress rice prices. Second, Huaidong will increase the purchase price of raw silk and other fabrics from Haiyu and other places, or Huaidong will
Dong opened up the overseas raw silk trade to allow raw silk and silk merchants in Pingjiang Prefecture to participate.
After the Ninglu War, Yudong County, which was just across the Dongjiang River from Haiyu, was placed under the jurisdiction of Huaidong. Wang Chengfu was appointed as the county magistrate, and he built embankments and cultivated land. The grain fields in Yudong increased from more than 400,000 acres to over 100,000 acres.
One million acres. Just the increase in grain production in Yudong County transferred to Pingjiang can greatly alleviate the food crisis in Pingjiang Prefecture.
Pingjiang Mansion is the most important base of the Wu Party. What reason does Huaidong have to help the Chen family resolve the crisis?
Chen Mingzhe felt really painful in his heart. He should have made up his mind to destroy the mulberry crops back then, and he would not be as passive as he is today.
If what Lin Fu said in Xiaoshan today is interpreted as an ultimatum, and the Chen family does not give in, Huaidong is likely to use means to aggravate the crisis facing Pingjiang Mansion. Once a large-scale civil war spreads along the coast of Taihu Lake,
There was chaos, and the Hanghu army was unable to suppress it, so it could not prevent the Huaidong soldiers and horses from openly entering.
Chen Mingzhe looked pained, and he was absolutely unwilling to betray Chen Xiyan.
Chen Huawen sighed: "Chen Xiang tried his best to use Dong Yuan to control Huaixi and Yue Lengqiu to control Jiangzhou. It was a good game. However, Chen Xiang's painstaking efforts were still regarded as having different ambitions by the emperor, which led to the result.
With today’s terrible situation, who can we blame?”
"I..." Chen Mingzhe felt miserable.
"Go back to Jiaxing; Lin Fu is coming to Hangzhou the day after tomorrow. I will lead a group of troops to accompany him to aid Jiangning. Fuyang will ask the Huaidong Army to help guard..." Chen Huawen said.
Chen Huawen led the army to accompany him, which also means that he means to advance and retreat together, but he will not rush to express his position. If Meng Yishan defends Liyang, or Yue Lengqiu enters Jiangning City first, Chen still has other options.
Chen Mingzhe nodded dejectedly, not wanting to say anything more.