With the decision to leave Tongguan in the east, the city of Xi'an settled down in an instant.
The undercurrents of the past surged and dissatisfaction drifted away. The gentry and powerful men kept to their own devices and tried their best to serve the Qin army.
Grain purchase, pig iron, wood, sulfur, nitrate and other production materials continued to flow into the military camp.
For a time, the whole of Xi'an seemed to be at peace, except Governor Sun who followed suit.
However, Sun Chuanting knew that this was an illusion, this was the last calm before the decisive battle.
The promotion of official positions in the imperial court and the death of the King of Chu seemed to put most of the pressure on his shoulders, and he could only withstand it forcefully.
"Governor Xian, there is a letter——"
"Mr. Zhao, send it in!"
Sun Chuanting rubbed his temples and said tiredly.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man in his forties walked in.
He has a long beard, is tall and thin, has an upright appearance and bright eyes.
He was Sun Chuanting's close friend, Shanxi scholar Zhao Shu, whose courtesy name was Shizhi, who was mostly used for logistics and planning.
"What?" Sun Chuanting raised his head, looked at the military advisor, and said with a smile: "At this time, who else is writing to me?"
"There are three letters!" Zhao Shu rubbed his neck, sat down, and chuckled: "The first letter came from the capital. It was written in early May and was only delivered in the past two days."
"Oh?" Sun Chuanting was stunned and said doubtfully: "I don't have many friends in Beijing, and there are quite a few who slander me."
"Shoufu Zhou was imprisoned, causing great turmoil in the capital!"
Zhao Shu sighed and said: "The person who wrote you the letter is Wu Zong, the deputy minister of the cabinet. He was also arrested last month."
"Oh?" Sun Chuanting was surprised and hurriedly took it over and looked at it.
I saw that there were not many words in the letter, about a hundred or so, and the main content was to advise myself not to send troops easily.
"Wu Cifu, it's quite difficult."
Sun Chuanting smiled bitterly and said: "The imperial court is exhausted, so it would be difficult for him to lead the troops. Your Majesty, this is a difficult thing for someone to do!"
Zhao Shu nodded in agreement, and then said softly: "So, Your Majesty will hang half of the country on you, which can be said to be a last-ditch battle!"
Sun Chuanting was silent.
Of course he heard the advice, but the sword from above was given to him, so what could he do?
"The other letter was written by Zuo Yunzhong and Liu Lishun. It is also a warning. I hope you will not send troops."
Seeing his expression, Zhao Shu couldn't help but take out another letter and said.
"There are quite a lot of sensible people in the imperial court."
"So what can this do?" Sun Chuanting said helplessly: "Who made us be so eager for success today? We wish we could lead troops today and eliminate thieves tomorrow."
After saying that, Sun Chuanting said rather boredly: "Brother Shi, you'd better take it out directly. If you still want to dissuade me, let's leave it at that."
"This seal does not come from Beijing, but from Huguang."
"Huguang? Wasn't it ravaged by intruders?"
Sun Chuanting stood up directly, looked directly at Zhao Shu, and said seriously: "Are you going behind my back and having an affair with the traitor?"
"Who do you think I, Zhao Shu, am?"
Zhao Shu was angered by these words. He stood up directly and looked at each other and said: "This letter comes from Xiangyang. It is Qiu Zhitao, the son of the great scholar Qiu Yu."
"Qiu Zhitao?" Sun Chuanting was surprised, and then said: "I heard that his grandfather died after scolding Luo Rucai, why did he go to the robber's house again?"
"Luo Rucai was killed by Li Zicheng and annexed his people. Qiu Zhitaocai entered Xiangyang and served as a minister and garrisoned Xiangyang City."
"Really?" Sun Chuanting hurriedly took the letter and read it at a glance.
Half a quarter of an hour later, he sighed heavily and said with a smile on his face: "With him as the internal coordinator, I'm afraid I'm 70% sure of this battle."
Qiu Zhitao said in his letter that when he was fighting Li Zicheng, he spread rumors in Xiangyang City that Zuo Liangyu's elite troops had arrived, shaking the morale of the intruders and forcing them to retreat to rescue them.
When the time comes, the Qin army pursues them closely enough to find loopholes and defeat the intruders.
"Duke Xian, Qiu Zhitao, is just a scholar. This plan is extremely immature, and the effect may not be as good as imagined."
Zhao Shu questioned.
"At this point, do we still have a choice?"
Sun Chuanting asked rhetorically.
At this time, Zhao Shu was speechless.
"Brother Shi, I have to go now that things have come to this!"
Sun Chuanting said in a deep voice.
Seeing this, there was no possibility of change, and Zhao Shu couldn't help but said: "We cannot draw out all the elites from the three sides. If they are defeated, they will be the last remaining capital."
"You're right."
Sun Chuanting nodded and agreed: "Besides, the three sides are already empty. We are deploying troops. We are afraid that the Tatars will invade the border. Moreover, their soldiers and our army do not know each other and have no cooperation, so it is not suitable to act together."
"So, as of now, the only ones with some elite soldiers are Qin Liangyu's white-armed soldiers."
"White soldier?"
Sun Chuanting recalled the past, and recalled Qin Liangyu's full head of silver hair and unyielding face, and couldn't help but said: "Sichuan is generally stable, and we can mobilize white-pole soldiers to fight together."
"Qin Haoming is a heroine. With her here, his chances of winning are greatly increased."
In the past thirty years, Qin Liangyu followed the officers and soldiers in the southern and northern wars, and he has made outstanding achievements. It was because of his four thousand Sichuan soldiers that Sun Chuanting defeated Gao Yingxiang and wiped out the traitors in the entire Shaanxi Province.
"Okay, then I will write a letter and ask her to come with the troops."
"Ask someone to bring five thousand taels of silver to her and her whole family. If they destroy their family to help them out, I'm afraid they won't have enough food and grass."
Sun Chuanting recalled the pairs of bare feet, the simple white poles, and the velvet robes that did not cover his body, and he admired them deeply.
"Yes!" Zhao Shu agreed.
"In addition, you can go to the imperial court on my behalf to request a battle."
Sun Chuanting said in a deep voice.
"Duke Xian, there is no turning back when you fire your bow."
Zhao Shuyan said sincerely and persuaded him again.
"I have no choice for a long time."
Sun Chuanting closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed deeply.
"Hey -" Zhao Shu had no choice but to pick up the pen and start drafting.
Sun Chuanting read it, deleted it a little, and added some information about Qiu Zhitao's internal response, bragging about our strength and saying that we can defeat thieves in just one month's words.
Zhao Shu polished the pen again before it could be completed.
Holding this memorial, he felt heavy in his heart and felt inexplicably sad.
Even Sun Chuanting, a decisive and upright Confucian general, needed to brag about himself and express his confidence to the court.
"Brother Shi, Your Majesty, you like to read this kind of thing. What you just wrote is too restrictive."
Sun Chuanting said softly: "Exaggeration, publicity, and success in one battle are what I like today."
When Zhao Shu heard this, he burst out laughing.
At this time, a messenger suddenly came rushing over and said breathlessly: "Report to the governor, there is an urgent report from Tongguan."
"Tongguan?"
Sun Chuanting was surprised. He took three steps and two steps, picked up the letter and read it.
Zhao Shu was also full of surprise. He said: "Isn't the intruder in Xiangyang? There is no news from the spies. Why did they suddenly invade Tongguan?"