In the small pavilion in front of the trickling stream, Zheng Pu, who was resting at home, sat alone and took a nap with his eyes closed.
In recent days, the affairs of the Prime Minister's Office have not become complicated, but the trivial matters in the family home have become more numerous.
He was nicknamed Cai Ji's second daughter, who had been in the world for more than ten days; and Zhang Yan, who was nearly four months pregnant, was very unhappy, so she inevitably regarded him as the target of venting her grievances due to her emotional fluctuations.
For the first time in his life, he had the understanding of "having a strong wife at home and not daring to return home".
cough!
All in all, he has been suffering from happiness these days.
But leisure time is short-lived after all.
When I was young, the servant came in a hurry from the begging house. Before anyone arrived, he came with a voice, "Reporting to Sir, a military officer from the Prime Minister's Mansion has come to inform you. The Prime Minister asked Mr. Lang to go and discuss the matter immediately."
Why does the Prime Minister want to recruit me so urgently?
Could it be that there is something wrong with Wei Wei!
Zheng Pu, who woke up after hearing the sound, quickly got up and walked back home to change out of his home clothes, while he was also thinking about it.
After galloping all the way, when they entered the Prime Minister's Office in Hebei County, they found that other important officials in the council hall, such as Xiang Lang, Yao Min, Ma Su and Dong Jue, were already there. Even Zong Yu, who was stationed in the military camp outside the city, rushed back.
Already.
And at this time, the discussion has already begun.
Yao Miao, who was responsible for the calculation and storage of staple food and baggage, was talking about something. The prime minister sitting high in the middle listened carefully, still holding a pen in his hand, as if he accidentally jotted down some important things.
When he saw Zheng Puzhen arriving, he didn't wait for him to salute, so he nodded briefly and looked at him, then sat down and listened.
Zheng Pu bowed quietly and sat down at the end of the reserved left side. There was also a military newspaper cloth lying on the table. Judging from the sign, it came from Hexi.
After unfolding it and taking a closer look, I saw only a few words recorded.
Said: "On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, about 20,000 cavalrymen of the Xiahou Ru army who countered the Wei Dynasty passed through Quwu Mountain via the Shuiquansha River and were trapped in the Fortress of Guanyin. There were about 5,000 cavalrymen of the Qinlang army of the Wei Dynasty, and on the same day they drove to the east of Wushaoling. Three of them
The armor and clothing of the Qianqiu are completely different, and they look like tiger and leopard cavalry."
It was Xia Houru, who was stationed in Wuyuan County, Bingzhou, who invaded!
Moreover, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, who had selected a hundred generals and turned into the personal army of the Emperor Wei, were even sent here!
After reading it, Zheng Pu couldn't help but feel surprised, and he also knew why Yao Min spoke first.
The three armies have not moved, and the grain and fodder are on the way first.
The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry of the Wei Dynasty even sent over half of the Guanzhong Jingqi, who had been killed in a single step. This shows that this attack was planned for a long time, and they would definitely not stop and return in a hurry.
The Prime Minister wanted to let everyone have a general understanding of the current situation of grain and supplies in Longyou, and then make suggestions to defend against the enemy based on the actual situation.
It's just that the actual situation is not good.
After Yao Miao explained in detail the situation of the counties and counties in the north at the critical moment, he raised his hands and spoke with a slightly sad tone, "Prime Minister, gentlemen, the grain stored in various places and the war horse trade grain gradually transferred from Sun Wu can be shared at most.
Thirty thousand troops go out to fight in March. Because the troops and horses stationed at all levels also need to be prepared, and the spring plowing season will be in a few months, if the war lasts for a long time, it may cause the counties in Liangzhou and Longyou to enter the predicament of being out of touch.
.unless."
At this point, he paused and turned his gaze to the Prime Minister.
After seeing the Prime Minister's invisible nod, he gritted his teeth and continued, "Unless, in the name of the imperial court, the land of Bashu is taxed with additional taxes, or the emperor is asked to follow the example of Emperor Xiaowu of the former Han Dynasty and use the form of benevolence.
Collect food from the noble families and the people."
Increase the tax and collect food~~
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell into a long silence.
Because the people of Bashu are now on the verge of depletion, if they add more taxes and levy grain, it will be a waste of military power, and it will also destroy the image of benevolence and caring for the people that the court has finally established.
At least, the violent and harsh rule against the Wei Dynasty that Qiao Zhou had previously propagated could no longer be preached.
"Oh, since it's not yet time to add more gifts, we won't make this proposal."
Seeing that everyone was silent, the Prime Minister put his pen down on the case and said slowly and calmly, "Gong Xi, let's talk about the Jiangdong family's recent purchase of war horses."
"promise."
Dong Jue, who was at the bottom of the army, quickly accepted the order and said loudly, "After Military Advisor Zheng returned from his mission, the Jiangdong wealthy family was led by Uncle Zhuge, the youngest son of General Wu, to purchase more than 200 war horses every month. However, since mid-winter last year
Since November, the number has dropped sharply to forty or fifty horses per month, and most of them are purchased cheap riding horses. The reason is unknown because of the inconvenience of transshipment in late winter, or because all the food from the people in Jiangdong has been purchased as military rations."
"Um"
In response, the Prime Minister responded with a slight nasal sound.
Because the Prime Minister knew the specific reason: he had received a private message from his brother Zhuge Jin.
We also know that Sun Quan is making large-scale preparations for this year's troops. Those Jiangdong aristocratic families are driven by profit and have countless followers, so there is not much food left to purchase a large number of war horses.
But no matter what, this is still bad news for the big man.
However, what Dong Jue said next finally made everyone feel relieved, "Prime Minister, news came from the Prime Minister's Office in Chengdu a few days ago, claiming that the raw silk exchanged from Jingnan has arrived in Bajun, and the quantity is extremely large. Everyone.
The weavers in the Shu brocade workshops in counties and counties are already in place, and the Silk Road trade can be resumed in at least two months."
Jingnan is surrounded by mountains and has many low hills and gentle slopes that are not suitable for paddy fields, but it is very easy to grow mulberry and hemp.
Therefore, there is an accumulation of raw silk in Jingnan every year, which is resold by merchants in other places during the winter. Bashu, which has Shu Brocade as one of its pillar industries, is the largest buyer.
In other words, after two months, the imperial court can use these Shu brocades to exchange for cattle and sheep from the Qianghu tribe in Liangzhou, which can be used as food for the soldiers or transferred to the wealthy families in exchange for grain.
More or less, it can help replenish the army's food supply.
"Very good."
The Prime Minister smiled broadly and nodded, but did not forget to say, "Gong Xi will put more thought into this matter and tell Chengdu to speed up the production of Sichuan brocade. It can save one day."
After saying this, Dong Jue turned his attention to Zong Yu again without waiting for him to accept the order.
Meng Yan, commander of the Tiger Infantry Army, was garrisoned in the area of Ayang City and could not discuss the matter in time, so Zong Yu, who was serving in the Central Army and garrisoned in Ji County and was involved in the affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion, reported the matter on his behalf.
He was already prepared, but he didn't hesitate and quickly raised his hand.
"Prime Minister, because of the great victory in the battle on the Lushui tributary in the west of the river last year, our army thought that Wei Wei would not invade in a hurry. Moreover, because it was the end of the year and there was nothing to do, there were many soldiers in the army who had taken turns to return. Today, we are here
Apart from the garrison troops and horses in various places, only the 18,000 soldiers of the Central Army can go out for the expedition. If the soldiers who have returned to various places are summoned by postal post to return to duty, it will take more than a month before they can all return to the army.
.”
Alas, another bad news.
It has to be said that the Wei State unexpectedly marched from Bingzhou this time, both in terms of strategic purpose and timing of the advance.
The Han army fell into a passive position for a while.
