Under the leadership of Li Zhigao, Gao Chengyuan and others, tens of thousands of imperial troops and soldiers from various states, including horse, infantry and naval forces, surrounded Chaozhou City. Deputy Privy Envoy Li Pu, Marquis of Xinchang, led Wei Zhen and other officials to arrive in Chuzhou City in person to supervise the supply of grain, fodder and ordnance.
While waiting for the supplies to be transported, Wang Wenqian was in Yangzhou City, two to three hundred miles away, but he didn't feel relaxed either.
Detective Ma has detected signs that Liang Jun had gathered on the north bank of the Huaihe River, but for the time being there was no intention to cross the Huaihe River and go south.
Under such a situation, as long as Liang Jun does not cross the Huaihe River to interfere, it means that the Forbidden Army can attack Chaozhou freely.
Although the Anning Palace rebels had no intention of abandoning Chaozhou, their intention to mobilize more elite troops from Huozhou and Shouzhou to reinforce Chaozhou and fight the main force of the Forbidden Army in a decisive battle near Chaohu Lake did not seem obvious.
If the Forbidden Army suffered heavy losses under Chaozhou City, or if they simply defeated Chaozhou with a tragic victory, the situation facing Huaidong would not be urgent. However, if the Forbidden Army succeeded in regaining Chaozhou with a great victory, or even the Chaozhou defenders would directly surrender to the city.
, the situation faced by Huaidong is completely different.
Since the stronger and more elite Liang Army is involved, it is possible that the Liang Army may cross the Huaihe River and move south at any time. After regaining Chaozhou, the imperial court will probably not rush to send troops to attack Huozhou and Shouzhou in the short term, but it will definitely do everything possible to attack Huozhou and Shouzhou in the next step.
Suppress the living space of Huaidong.
Even if the imperial court is not eager to withdraw from the feudal vassal immediately, it will control the size of Huaidong's troops and horses, forcing the Huaidong troops' defense direction to focus on the northwest and north, focusing on the confrontation with the Anning Palace rebels and Liang Jun.
Even though during the Jinling War, a large number of slaves and descendants of noble families were forcibly migrated across the river from Changrun and other places, the total population of the five states in Huaidong was still less than one million.
In fact, there was no need for the court to exert pressure. Wang Wenqian had already deeply felt that Huaidong currently had to raise 120,000 soldiers and horses, which was already quite overwhelmed.
It is reasonable for Huaidong to eventually reduce the size of its total military force and maintain an elite combat strength of about 50,000 people. More young and strong labor must still be used in agricultural production.
But here, many things affect the whole body, involving many things.
If Huaidong takes the initiative to dismantle its troops, might it cause the court to think that Huaidong is weak and make inappropriate noises about withdrawing the feudal vassal?
Or maybe people like Yang Zhiyuan and Li Zhigao were insidious enough. After they recaptured Chaozhou, they stationed their army in the eastern part of Chuzhou, forcing Huaidong to maintain a huge active military force and forcing Huaidong to double the internal exploitation and oppression.
, thus causing chaos within Huaidong.
In any case, Wang Wenqian could predict that after the imperial army regained Chaozhou, Huaidong would be the key strategic target of Yang Yuanpu and the princes in the court.
Wang Wenqian was distracted in the morning attending to official duties in the state government office. After noon, the city became extremely hot and muggy. Seeing that the sky was getting a little cloudy, he left the city surrounded by his retinue, thinking that he would hide in the cool Jianyuan in this hot summer.
Official duties were taken down.
Wang Jun's mother died of illness very early. Wang Wenqian served in Chuzhou in his early years, and he had two beauties given by the king as his concubines. In these years, these two beauties are also in their mid-teens, and they usually
He lives in Jianyuan and does not stay with Wang Wenqian to serve him personally.
Not long after Wang Wenqian returned to Jianyuan, Prefecture Sima Yinpeng chased him from the city. They were also talking about the use of troops by the Forbidden Army in Chaozhou. It was not until dusk that Wang Jun was nowhere to be seen, and Wang Wenqian curiously called him to Jianyuan.
The steward asked Wang Jun where he went today.
"There are a few artists who are selling sex. I heard that they escaped from Guangde Mansion. They have been performing in Zhuyu Bay below for the past few days. The lady has been hanging out in Zhuyu Bay for the past two days. She should be at the foot of the mountain at this time.
." said the steward.
"After all, Guangde Mansion didn't cause any trouble." Wang Wenqian sighed regretfully.
When the situation was the most tense, he fully expected that Guangde Mansion would cause large-scale civil unrest, and ordered Yin Peng to send some people there to fan the flames.
In that case, they would not be angry at being forced back to Jiangbei. More importantly, even if the imperial army at that time was not weak and could suppress the civil unrest caused by Guangde Mansion, the area near Gyeonggi Province was once again destroyed in such a short period of time.
The outbreak of war will also greatly weaken the vitality of Nan'an and Yang Yuanpu's foundation.
Of course, the large-scale civil unrest in Guangde Mansion actually means that the suspicion between Yang Yuanpu and Xuzhou will become so deep that there is no possibility of change.
Who would have thought that civil unrest did not break out in Guangde Mansion, but it was Sizhou who was next to Xuzhou's bed who broke out the slave uprising first. Then the Shu army launched a provocation in Qianjiang River, causing Yang Yuanpu and the princes in the court to attack Guangde Mansion.
The attitude quickly changed from repressive to conciliatory.
Due to the special nature of the Guangde Army, it is extremely difficult for informants to penetrate. Although Wang Wenqian and Yin Peng sent people to infiltrate Guangde Mansion many times, they were still unfamiliar with many specific situations.
Although Wang Wenqian deliberately took in the refugees who fled from Chuzhou during this period, the Huaidong Kingdom was still a part of the Chu State. It was unusual for landless farmers from Guangde Prefecture to cross the river and flee to Yangzhou to escape the famine.
Wang Wenqian originally thought of sending someone to call the few entertainers who had escaped from Guangde Mansion to Jianyuan to inquire about the situation in Guangde Mansion, but seeing that it was getting late, the sky became clear instead, and the sunset glow spread across the sky.
It is so magnificent, but Yin Peng is invited to go down the mountain to Zhuyu Bay.
The main peak at the northern foot of Shugang is only forty or fifty meters high. Walking out of Jianyuan, standing halfway up the mountain, you can even see the long street of Zhuyu Bay. There is a rope hanging on the street, and a woman is doing various things on the rope lightly.
A shocking action.
Surrounded by dozens of retinues, Wang Wenqian and Yin Peng walked down the mountain into the long street of Zhuyu Bay, which only took a stick of incense.
Only then did they notice that the rope was tied between Wang Er's teahouse and the second floor of the inn across the street. The servant waiting in front of the street reported that Wang Jun was on the second floor of the teahouse, so Wang Wenqian and Yin
Peng quickly climbed up to the second floor and watched the artists from Guangde Mansion doing various juggling in front of the building.
Wang Jun was sitting in front of the window. When he saw his father and Yin Peng coming, he kicked out all the guests on the second floor and said dissatisfiedly: "You guys coming here are really disappointing."
"If there's anything to spoil the fun, just give me more rewards later." Wang Wenqian said with a smile.
He mainly wanted to know more about the situation in Guangde Mansion, so he had no interest in having fun with the people.
Wang Wenqian invited Yin Peng to sit down at the table in front of the window. He saw that one end of the rope was tied to the eaves outside the window. The girl on the rope looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old. She was as light as a swallow and was standing on a thin foot with one foot.
On the rope, a gust of wind blew over, and my body swayed slightly with the thin rope but did not fall off. This skill is indeed good.
"You have been wandering around Zhuyu Bay for two days without anything. You should know these artists selling sex, right? You call two of them to come over. I have something to ask them." Wang Wenqian said.
"Daddy, if you want to shout, you can do it yourself, I won't do it for you." Wang Jun knew that Yangzhou was behind the turbulent undercurrent of Guangde Mansion last year, and he also knew that his father came down the mountain to look for these things.
Most of the prostitutes who were fleeing wanted to understand the current situation in Guangde Mansion. She couldn't stop it, but she didn't want to help.
Wang Wenqian had nothing to do with Wang Jun. The steward next to him walked to the window and shouted at the girl standing on the rope, asking her to inform the leader of the juggling troupe to come to the second floor of the teahouse to listen to the questions.
At this time, I saw a young woman, who was like a spiritual ape, using a bamboo pole, and the next moment she stepped lightly on the thin rope, walking barefoot in the air.
The young woman seemed to have an ordinary face, but a pair of jade feet exposed under the legs of her trousers were tender and beautiful. There were also a pair of silver bells tied to her feet. However, she walked on the rope without making any sound.
Yin Peng was standing next to Wang Wenqian, admiring the pair of extremely beautiful feet. The next moment, he suddenly realized that something was wrong and held his knife across the window to stop the woman from barging in.
"Master Yin is really vicious. One moment he wanted the servants to come in, but now he wants to point his sword at me. Does Master Yin want the slaves to come in or to leave?" The woman put her foot on the window sill and asked with a condescending smile.
"Xi Rong, why are you in Zhuyu Bay!" Wang Jun shouted excitedly.
"Not only am I in Zhuyu Bay, Han Qian is also in Zhuyu Bay. I wonder if Miss Jun wants to see him?" Xi Rong asked with a smile.
"What did I see him doing?" Wang Jun said embarrassedly, but then he understood, "Has Han Qian come here to see my father?"
"I wonder if Mr. Wang and Mr. Yin have the courage to meet my master?" Xi Rong asked, standing barefoot in front of the window and staring at Wang Wenqian, who had a gloomy face.
"So you are the famous Mrs. Xi," Wang Wenqian looked at Xi Yin with a gloomy face, and then said to Yin Peng in a deep voice, "Yangzhou is poor, but you still have to be generous enough to invite a few people from the juggling class upstairs for tea.
.”
No matter how cautious he was, he knew that Han Qian and Xi Rong were not here specifically to assassinate him when they appeared in Yangzhou, so he simply asked Han Qian and his men to come to the teahouse immediately.
Xi Rong did not let Yin Peng or the other two guards around Wang Wenqian go downstairs to inform. She stood in front of the window, turned to the other side of the street and shouted: "Master, the governor wants you to come over to receive the reward!"
After a while, Han Qian, wearing patchwork clothes, came upstairs accompanied by Kong Xirong and He Liufeng. He walked to the window and sat down at the table. He first bowed his hands to Wang Jun and asked: "Farewell to Fanchang, is everything okay?"
"Ahem!" Wang Wenqian couldn't help coughing, and signaled to Han Qian that if he had something to do, he should hurry up and talk about it. There was really no need to engage in small talk...
