At dawn, white fog rolls on the river, making the distant shores and mountains appear as if they are in a fairyland, covering up the mess and ruin left by the war.
Six two-thousand-stone galleys raised their sails, creating ripples on the calm river surface, and clusters of fine waves hit the sides of the ships.
Han Qian stood on the side of the ship, standing with his hands behind his hands. The cold river wind blew up his robe sleeves and crown hair, flying back. At this moment, his thin face was like thin ice in the puddles on the river beach.
Cold.
When midnight passed, there were no warships chasing from behind, and there were no large numbers of war cavalry galloping out from the south bank. Yang Qin, who had been tense all night, relaxed slightly at this time, rolled up his sleeves and walked out of the room, saying: "Third Prince, this is
We should have already acquiesced in the fact that we will return to Xuzhou, right?"
Of course, that's what he said, but Yang Qin didn't feel like he could completely relax before he actually returned to Xuzhou.
At this time, they still had no way of knowing for sure that Yang Yuanpu had not issued a secret order to the soldiers and horses staying in Yueyang or the local soldiers and horses in Langchen and other prefectures, telling them to set up a blockade at the mouth of Dongting Lake or on the narrow Yuan River to intercept.
In addition, a large number of people in Xuzhou remain in Langxi and Guangde. It is unknown whether they will be arrested and purged...
Han Qian sighed slightly. Although it was not his wish to reach this point, he was very excited and excited at the thought of being able to return to Xuzhou, reunite with Zhao Ting'er, and see his son whom he had not seen for several months after he was born.
.
Although he will leave a mess behind after he leaves, and he cannot fully predict how the situation will develop and evolve in the future, but now is not the time to worry about it. There are unnecessary troops to block it, and water to cover it up.
He is no longer the angry young man who just experienced the dream world and lived in fear.
The sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly deep in the mist.
Although the sound of horse hooves was not intensive, Yang Qin was still vigilant because of the rapid running. Kong Xirong, Guo Que and others from the three ships behind also came out one after another wearing armor. Even if they did not sail the ship directly to the north bank, they ordered the generals to operate it.
Pick up a scorpion crossbow and other war weapons just in case something happens.
"Master Han, Master Han, if His Highness has something to say, I will pass it on to you. Please, Master Han, please wait for Zheng Chang!"
A dozen fast horses soon caught up with the fleet. Zheng Chang sat on the bumpy horse and screamed with all his strength across the river more than 200 steps away.
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After burning the incense, Zheng Chang boarded the speedboat on a leather raft.
"When I arrived in Fanchang City, I didn't have the opportunity to sit down and have a couple of glasses of wine with Mr. Han. I didn't expect to be in such a situation, saying goodbye to Mr. Han. It's really embarrassing!" Zheng Chang boarded the boat and raised his hands to Han Qian.
"Han Qian acted willfully and caused Master Zheng to run around all night. It is really a sin." Han Qian said.
Looking at Han Qian's eyes as deep as stars, Zheng Chang also felt inexplicably great pressure, but he couldn't tear away the hypocrisy and directly negotiate terms with Han Qian. He had to first express the words he had thought up along the way: "I want to
Speaking of sins, when Chuzhou mentioned the marriage, we should have thought that Chuzhou had evil intentions, but in the end we were slow to think and did not expect that Chuzhou’s fundamental intention was to force Mr. Han to leave Fanchang. The big mistake has been made, please still
Lord Han, please forgive me."
"I originally wanted to capture Jinling and return to Xuzhou to renew my filial piety. Now that His Highness has all the adults around him, there is nothing that can make Han Qian worried. So I left Fanchang early, so I thought there is nothing wrong with it." Han Qian thought.
Qian said.
Seeing Han Qian and Zheng Chang's calm demeanor, as if they were talking about a very insignificant matter, Xi Rong, who was standing aside, wanted to roll her eyes, almost going into a sword fight. Can you please just sit down and sit down?
Negotiate terms?
"Your Highness is deeply sorry for not being able to detect the traitor earlier, which caused Mr. Han to suffer so much grievance. If it weren't for the heavy military situation, His Highness would have wanted to come and say goodbye to Mr. Han in person." Zheng Chang said.
Han Qian smiled inwardly, secretly feeling that if Yang Yuanpu really had the magnanimity and courage to come and see him off, he would really look up to him. At the moment, he just bowed his hands to Fanchang City hypocritically and said, "I miss you, Your Highness."
"Master Han returned to Xuzhou, but how to attack Jinling next, we can't completely stay out of it," Zheng Chang took out a brocade bundle from the sleeve of his wide robe, which was the official seal and official robe that Han Qian left at his residence, and said,
"His Highness said that Master Han once was his 'Master Han', and he will always be his 'Master Han', and he will always be the advisor of Da Chu to join the military."
Han Qian smiled and said, "Your Highness, you are serious."
However, when Zheng Chang handed over the official seal and official robe, he did not refuse and asked Xi Rong to put them away for him, leaving a step for both parties to go down.
Next, Zheng Chang talked about the fundamentals, and the fundamentals were the treatment of Zuo Guangde's army and the more than 300,000 women and children in Guangde, Langxi, and Anji counties after Han Qian left.
Although Zuo Guangde's army only has more than 10,000 men, it has more than 300,000 women and children to support it, so it has great military potential to exploit.
Li Pu originally wanted to force Han Qian to mobilize the Zuo-Guangde Army. At that time, he estimated that the Zuo-Guangde Army could expand to 25,000 to 30,000 people in the shortest possible time.
In addition, Guangde's strategic position is extremely critical.
Previously, Han Qian occupied Guangde, forcing Gu Zhilong and Yi Fan to defect, and then the situation was quickly reversed, which is clear evidence of this.
At present, the grain and fodder needed by Yueyang's soldiers and horses are mainly transported from eastern Zhejiang and southern Zhejiang through the channel at the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain.
Yueyang might not dare to rush to attack Jinling before completely controlling the Zuo-Guangde Army and the three counties of Guangde, but Han Qian was at ease, and they did not dare to break out and carry out a bloody purge of the military attaches and generals belonging to the Xuzhou line of the Zuo-Guangde Army.
repression.
Otherwise, even if they can concentrate their forces to suppress Zuo Guangde's army nearby, who knows what Han Qian will do to the eight states of Hunan where they are based when he returns to Xuzhou?
At present, only Chai Jian and Zheng Hui lead less than 13,000 to 4,000 troops to defend Hunan.
Even if we do not consider the reaction of Zhang Wei and Du Chongtao who took control of Jingxiang, there are nearly 30,000 rebels who have withdrawn and defended Yongzhou in the south of Shaohengzhou alone and are restless.
The premise of everything is not to undermine the current overall situation of attacking Jinling.
Only after capturing Jinling will the overall situation be truly under their control.
Han Qian looked at the surging river and said: "Those who want to return to Xuzhou, please do not stop them; those who want to stay, please treat them kindly."
The vast majority of people were seeking food and clothing, and regarded the southwest corner as a dangerous route. Han Qian did not expect more than 300,000 old, weak, women, and children to move to Xuzhou.
Besides, there is not so much land in and around Xuzhou to accommodate so many people - he made such a big compromise, but in the final analysis, he does not have the conditions to accommodate so many old, weak, women and children, so he can only take a step back.
"Zheng Chang will definitely bring Mr. Han's words to His Highness!" Zheng Chang bowed his hands and saw that the sun had already risen. He had reached a consensus on the most critical issue, so he said goodbye without further delay and disembarked from the ship.
Watching Zheng Chang leave, Xi Rong asked curiously: "It's really strange that Zheng Chang didn't ask which one of Shen Yang and Wang Lin really had the problem before he left?"
"It is more beneficial to the family's interests that Shen Yang is suspected by Yang Yuanpu. What does he want to do to figure this out?" Han Qian said with a smile.
"Then you insist on dragging Shen Yang into the water in your letter because you are worried that after the capture of Jinling, Shen Yang will try to weaken the interests of the family members and cause death?" Xi Yi asked, "What a pity. , Shen Yang will probably not understand your kindness, and will deeply hate your slander."
"I do things as long as I do what I want, regardless of whether he appreciates it or not," Han Qian said with a smile, "When they capture Jinling, they will be the first to force the concubine Wang Chan'er to hand over power, right? I just hope that this little old man can Do more things and don't fall into this first wave of political strife."
"By the way, if we just leave like this, the world will soon know that you were forced to leave because of the engagement, and the Wang family girl will only become more embarrassed," Xi Rong sighed lightly, "I always doubt her When I came to Fanchang, I already knew that I would be used by you like this."
Han Qian curled his lips, but didn't say anything in the end...
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The white morning mist rolled in the courtyard. Although it was not so dark that you could not see your fingers, the mulberry and elm trees outside the courtyard wall became faint.
Yun Puzi had no official position and could not stay in the inner house after all. He bid farewell to Princess Qingyang and returned to a side courtyard in Dongjing Lane.
Yun Puzi was very young. In the early morning, Princess Qingyang sent someone to pull him over and interrogate him for a long time. When he came back, he was already very sleepy. He yawned, opened the door and walked into the yard. When he entered the house, he saw that the fire was extinguished in the stove. , the room was very cold, so I took out the fire folding box and thought about lighting up the stove to drive away the cold air.
After the two disciples who were following him were killed by Yao Xishui, Yun Puzi excused himself that they had something to do and left Fanchang City. Except for temporarily recruiting a blind soldier from Princess Qingyang to guard the door, there was no one else around to serve him. .
The firewood that started the fire was a little wet. Yun Puzi knocked it with the firewood for a long time without lighting it. When he was about to give up, he suddenly realized something behind him. When he turned around, he saw Yao Xishui sitting quietly on the bed. I don't know if she has been there before he entered the house.
"Why is Miss Yao so interested in coming to me so early?" Yun Puzi was startled, glanced at the cold dagger in Yao Xishui's hand, and asked with narrowed eyes.
"What exactly did Han Qian promise you?" Yao Xishui stared at Yun Puzi coldly, as if Yun Puzi made the slightest move, the dagger in her hand would rush towards his face.
"Miss Yao, what are you talking about?" Yun Puzi narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, holding his hands on the table.
"Han Qian lacked an excuse to leave Fanchang from the beginning to the end. How can I trust you?" Yao Xishui stared at Yun Puzi and asked.
Yun Puzi smiled bitterly, sat down at the table, and asked: "What's the reason? Miss Yao must kill me, is she so casual that she doesn't even bother to find a decent excuse? Let's bring up the engagement between Wang Wenqian's daughter and Han Qian again. , but Miss Yao forced me to mention it in front of Princess Qingyang. Now that Han Qian has escaped, Yang Yuanpu may have become suspicious of Princess Qingyang. Princess Qingyang sent someone to call me over in the early morning. After some cross-examination, I almost tied up the old Taoist and tortured me. I admitted that Princess Qingyang treated me like this. None of us are Han Qian's opponents, but Miss Yao, you are really called an old Taoist. There are hundreds of mouths open to speak, but no one can explain it. Miss Yao, ask yourself if you feel guilty. How can there be any reason in this world to be so suspicious? You must suspect someone who has doubts. I also want to ask Miss Yao, you Did you get any benefits from Han Qian privately?"
"Did you just happen to have a whim that day to visit my eldest brother?" Yao Xishui didn't believe that Han Qian left the city and left Fanchang on a temporary basis, but he must say that these were plots that Han Qian had arranged long ago, and it was she who took the initiative to find out about the engagement.
Yun Puzi conspired.
Of course, there is another possibility, that is, when Han Qian brought Wang Jun to Fanchang City, he had already expected that they would make a fuss about the engagement. Over the years, he in Fanchang City was just waiting for them to take the bait.
However, this does not mean that there is anything wrong with Yun Puzi's health. Yao Xishui came over later, mainly because she had an intuition deep in her heart that Yun Puzi was unreliable and wanted to see Yun Puzi's reaction in person.