In a snowstorm that swept through Guanzhong, the second year of Yuanhe came.
The heavy snow did not stop until the early morning of the third day of the first lunar month. The warm sunshine came out, and Chang'an, which was covered with thick snow, gradually became lively.
Every household is clearing the snow from their roofs and in front of their doors. There are rows of soldiers and militia soldiers on the street, and everyone is working hard to shovel the snow with wooden shovels.
Groups of children were running and playing in the streets and alleys, making snowmen and having snowball fights, making the city of Chang'an resound with laughter during the first month of the year.
The palace of Prince Jin was very quiet. Guo Song stood in front of the window and looked at the lake not far away. There were many palace maids skiing on the ice of Ningcui Lake. Guo Song saw his eldest daughter Guo Weiwei and several younger siblings also there.
Play skiing on the ice.
I also saw Zhang Lei’s eldest daughter, Zhang Yuer, also with Guo Weiwei.
At this time, several strong horses came running on a long sleigh, and the children all cheered and ran towards the sleigh, one after another getting on the sleigh. There were several sleighs, and many palace maids secretly climbed aboard.
Guo Song watched the sled gliding rapidly on the ice, and there was laughter on the ice.
At this time, the door behind him opened, and his wife Xue Tao walked in with a cup of hot ginseng tea.
"It's just been brewed, please drink it while it's hot!" Xue Tao put the ginseng tea on the table.
Guo Song turned around and smiled: "I thought you were by the lake."
Xue Tao pursed his lips and smiled, "Caichun and the others are here!"
"Sit for a while!" Guo Song closed the window to block the influx of cold wind.
There is a large brazier in the room, the charcoal fire is burning brightly inside, and the room is as warm as spring.
Xue Tao sat down in front of the brazier and said with a smile: "Sometimes I want to see the scenery outside the window, but as soon as I open the window, the cold wind rushes in. If I close the window, the room becomes too dark, so I can't have both."
His wife's words made Guo Song suddenly think of glass. It is not difficult to make glass. By melting quartz sand, borax, barite and other substances, and removing the impurities, you can get pure and transparent glass. The general manager has a special glass workshop.
There are similarities in the process, just change the raw materials and you can get glass.
"Husband! Husband!"
Seeing that her husband was lost in thought, Xue Tao pushed him gently and said, "The tea is going to overflow!"
Only then did Guo Song wake up from his deep thoughts, quickly straightened the cup, smiled apologetically, and asked again: "Is Cheng'er gone?"
"He went out early in the morning. He said he was going to the West Market today to investigate the price of rice. Alas! This kid is addicted to working in the newspaper office."
Guo Song took a sip of tea and said slowly: "It will be good for him to let him experience more and understand more about people's livelihood!"
Xue Tao sighed, "I don't worry about anything else, I just worry about his safety."
"Don't worry about safety. He is protected by many personal guards and peripheral internal guards. No one can harm him. More importantly, almost no one in the court knows that he is working in the newspaper office."
Xue Tao added: "I heard from him that he has made some new friends. They are all children of aristocratic families. They often drink together. Does your husband know?"
Guo Song nodded and smiled: "How could I not know that the children of the Xiao family and the Lu family in Jiangnan are all court officials, and there is also Han Yu. He went to Hebei to take office, and Cheng'er went to practice for him. They are all
They are the pillars of the imperial court and there is no problem in interacting with them."
At this time, a maid outside the door reported, "Your Highness, the Commander-in-Chief of the Song Dynasty in the Jin Wei Mansion has something urgent to see you!"
Guo Song nodded, "Ask him to wait at Qilin Hall, I'll be there right away!"
"Husband, go and do your work! I'm going to see some little ones."
Xue Tao went downstairs first. After Guo Song finished drinking the ginseng tea, he got on the carriage and drove towards the Qilin Hall outside.
Song Tian had been waiting for a while, when Guo Song's carriage arrived, and he rushed to greet it.
"See Your Highness!"
"It's cold outside, why don't you wait inside?" Guo Song asked as he got off the carriage.
"Ji Zhi is a little impatient!"
"What happened?" Guo Song stopped and asked.
"Your Majesty, there is news from Quanzhou that Yao Shun has agreed to send troops to assist Zhu Si in attacking Li Na."
Although this result was expected by Guo Song, when it actually came, Guo Song was still very happy. He couldn't help rubbing his hands and said with a smile: "It didn't go as I expected. In the end, I still died because of my greed for words."
superior."
Song Tian was stunned and didn't understand what he meant. Guo Song had already entered the Qilin Hall, and he quickly followed him.
Guo Song came to the wall and looked at the map on the wall with his hands behind his hands. Quanzhou inherited the most powerful navy in the Tang Dynasty, with the largest number of warships and the most skilled soldiers. If he used the iron fire thunder, he might be able to
Destroy this naval force, but this is not the result you want to see.
The best result is to take this naval force for his own use. Thinking of this, he asked again: "Is it as simple as deciding to send troops?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the pigeon letter simply stated that this was decided jointly by the Yao brothers and their sons-in-law. It can be said that they unanimously agreed. As for the specific details, I don't know the details."
After a pause, Song Tian couldn't help but ask: "His Royal Highness just said that Yao Shun agreed to send troops out of greed?"
Guo Song nodded, "The Yao family is anxious to find a retreat. Their retreat is to Liuqiu Island, but they lack resources, especially population, so Zhu Si promised them the population of Dengzhou and Laizhou, which is fatal to the Yao family
The temptation, I knew they would fall into it.”
"But the question is, how could Zhu Si know what they want?"
Guo Song smiled and said, "This is actually a three-party negotiation, and we are behind the scenes!"
Song Tian suddenly thought of Lin Yaozu, and then he realized what he was doing. He quickly clasped his fists and said, "What does Your Highness need from Jin Wei Mansion?"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "The Jin Wei Mansion needs to do two things. First, it should fully assist Lin Yaozu in continuing negotiations with Luoyang. Second, the Quanzhou Intelligence Station should do everything possible to find out the other party's troop dispatch plan. Once the other side sends troops, it must immediately notify Yangzhou."
Song Tian bowed and said: "I understand my position, I will definitely get things done!"
.........
Although Chuzhou has also entered the New Year, the training of soldiers has not stopped.
Chuzhou is located to the north of Yangzhou and reaches the Huaihe River in the north. It was once the largest salt-producing land in the Tang Dynasty. After Zhu Si captured it, he received a large supply of salt.
Chuzhou was taken away by the Jin army, which interrupted the salt supply of the Zhu Si Dynasty. This was the main reason why Zhu Si was eager to attack Li Na. Zhu Si now relied on several salt lakes near Zhengzhou to cook salt. The output was small and the supply was obviously in short supply. Luoyang has already
There are signs of a sharp rise in salt prices.
Zhu Si must capture Laizhou and Dengzhou to obtain a stable supply of salt.
There are 40,000 soldiers trained in Chuzhou, mainly Yangzhou's 30,000 surrendered troops and Liu Shining's 10,000 troops. They have gone through several months of training and have gradually transformed, regardless of their military appearance, morale, physical strength and combat skills.
greatly improved.
Guo and Song previously had an army of 300,000, but with the vast territories such as the south falling into their hands, the 300,000 army seemed a bit too much, so Guo and Song began to train troops to surrender.
Zhu Si's surrender, Liu Pi's surrender, Liu Shining's surrender, Yangzhou's surrender, as well as the troops from Jiangnan and Lingnan. The total number of these southern troops is nearly 200,000, which will bring the total strength of the Jin army to five
One hundred thousand people are enough to control the entire world.
That afternoon, Li Bing and Wang You came to the Chuzhou camp. They came to Chuzhou for different purposes. Li Bing came to inspect the military training, while Wang You went to Haizhou and passed through Chuzhou.
"If I go to Haizhou for a long time, it's best to know the time of entry for the troops. I'm worried that the night will be long and I'll have many dreams."
Wang You shook his head and said with a smile: "It is not up to us to decide when to enter Haizhou. I estimate that it will be next month at the earliest. It depends on the Lord's arrangement! Entering Haizhou too early may alert the enemy."
A trace of worry flashed in Li Bing's eyes and he said: "But if we are stationed in Haizhou as the Qi army, I think we will not alert the snake. I am mainly worried that Zhu Si's army will also attack Haizhou and ruin our plan. Our army will simply advance
Entering Haizhou will put an end to Zhu Sijun's thoughts."
Wang You thought for a while and said: "The general is right. Otherwise, the general should apply to the lord to explain the situation clearly and let the lord make an overall judgment."
Li Bing also knew that it was not up to him to decide when to lead the army into Haizhou. Every step involved, and all aspects were involved. They had to get approval from His Highness the King of Jin before they could take action.
Li Bing nodded, "I understand. I will immediately send an eagle letter to His Highness to explain the situation!"
Li Bing sent Wang You to the Huaihe River. The Huaihe River had a lot of rain this year and did not freeze. Wang You and Li Bing said goodbye. He then crossed the Huaihe River by boat and headed for Haizhou, escorted by three hundred cavalry.