Xie Ming

The military secrets were discussed in a stormy manner, and it was revealed that Wu Sangui had sent secret envoys to communicate with the emperor, intending to surrender the city of Kaifeng after his departure.

It was difficult to persuade him, so Peizhong had no choice but to ask for the details of the meeting.

When he heard the name Zhuxian Town, his brows furrowed even deeper.

"Hey, Zhuxian Town, it's the place where General Yue Fei of the Southern Song Dynasty fought the last battle of his fourth northern expedition."

"From this conversation, it's clear what he's thinking, huh?!"

At this moment, Xiao Lang pretended to say this in order to facilitate the success of his plan.

As he spoke, he suddenly stretched out his hand, passed it over the eaves, and caught a piece of raindrops in his palm.

"Oh, General, you are just picking up the good stuff."

"As for Zhuxian Town, as I remember correctly, in the 15th year of the lunar calendar, Li Zicheng defeated the Ming army there, and then besieged Kaifeng and invaded a large area of ​​Henan Province."

"How can we know that Wu Sangui didn't have this intention when he set up this trap?!"

Peizhong argued that he was willing to take the risk to save Xiao Lang, and it was rare for him to directly contradict his own general like this.

Seeing that he went to investigate, Xiao Jingchuan was helpless and could only smile bitterly.

After pondering for a while and sighing continuously, he finally expressed his pain.

"Alas, Peizhong, I, Xiao Jingchuan, know that you are doing this for my own good."

"But, the current situation is actually more difficult than you see."

"There are some things and words that I won't talk about, and it's not appropriate for Minglu to talk about them with you in private."

"Just tell me about the overall situation of our military in Henan right now."

"I will station troops in various places and assign territories for each of your tribes to station there."

"Yu Jun considered that this was something that had to be done."

"And Minglu, as the quartermaster officer of the Central Army, is assigned to various places to collect the money and materials paid by the army. This is also what he should do."

"But, after all, we are in Henan, and we have only been doing business there for a short time."

"Whether it's governing or serving the troops, farming or reopening the market, these are by no means achieved overnight."

"The benefits that can be drawn are already very limited."

"As for the current situation, Minglu has recently spoken frankly, and the generals in various places are trying to recruit troops and expand their forces, but they are not cooperating with Minglu in many aspects. They have learned to hide things, fearing that they will take on more military supplies than they receive."

"Yes!"

"I can understand this situation to some extent. It's not that the various departments are doing this out of any malicious intention."

"It's just that I just want to get more for my team."

"It's easier to get things done if you have money and food."

"To prepare for military training, expand the army, and recruit soldiers is to make extensive arrangements for military deployment."

"None of these require a lot of money to invest!"

"I can understand."

"But, if this happens, Minglu might have a harder time collecting local military supplies."

"When he saw something was not right, he couldn't say anything. After all, they were brothers, so he had to show some sympathy to avoid making things awkward."

"Ugh--"

"You don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are until you run a household."

"Minglu and I were in a tight spot and tried every possible way."

"But raising the armaments for each unit of the army is still a headache."

"Nothing, I just don't have much money."

Xiao Lang talked a lot, pouring out his grievances with a sad look on his face.

During the conversation, Peizhong heard the real situation of military supplies and bowed his head, feeling ashamed.

Although recently, within his department, Qi Peizhong himself did not take the initiative to conceal the logistics.

But we can't stop the military officials below from acting on their own initiative.

What a lot of things, it's not like he was completely unaware of this kind of thing.

In the past, he had just turned a blind eye and had not given it much thought. However, after hearing what the general said, he realized how tense the situation was and felt uneasy.

But, after all, this matter is not just about his army.

The situation among the brother troops of other departments may be even worse and is not uncommon.

Therefore, when Xiao Jingchuan came here, Peizhong didn't bother to argue with him so as to avoid any quarrels.

Seeing the situation, Xiao Langdang also realized that Peizhong was in trouble and bitter, so he did not make any harsh criticisms, but just continued the conversation.

"Ah, that's why I am so concerned about this opportunity to meet you."

"Kaifeng is an important city, you see."

"It guards the Yellow River and has been a thoroughfare for four miles since the Song Dynasty."

"There are constant ferry trips along the river."

"Not only will it be convenient to prepare military supplies, but the trade there is prosperous, and we can collect a lot of tax money."

"Right now, the war between the Jiannu and the rebels in the north is intense, and it is difficult for us to turn around and fight back."

"I don't care what Wu Sangui is thinking."

"Since there is hope of occupying Kaifeng to solve the urgent problem, I must give it a try."

"Other things are fine."

"Just Minglu alone is already almost unbearable."

"If I can take a breather after doing this, then it won't be a loss."

"Can you two understand how I feel right now?!"

Xiao Lang's plan to settle the accounts is truly in line with the saying that every family in this world has its own troubles.

Where is there a time when everything goes as planned and everything goes smoothly? !

Upon hearing this, Sun Peizhong drank the hot ginger tea handed to him by the waiter behind the hall.

"Oh, I see."

"Since that is the case, I will not persuade you any more."

"Qi Gang, I just calculated carefully. If we are to meet here, Zhuxian Town is at least 150 miles away from our troops."

"Even if there is a sudden change, it will take half a day to mobilize cavalry to help, even if the horses die."

"That's absolutely not possible."

"Do you have any thread left in the north?"

"If I secretly lead my troops northwards"

Peizhong understood General Xiao's painstaking efforts and felt a little sad. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and felt that it was useless to persuade him any further.

So, instead of gathering here and sighing, it is better to think about some practical preparations.

Since this matter must be done, in terms of early prevention, he still wants to gain every possible advantage and try to minimize Xiao's risk.

"Well, it's not impossible to move the army northward."

"However, the enemy troops are well-defended near Tongxu."

"Let's restore the new rebel troops from Henan to guard there. I think even if we want to contact Wu Sangui in the north, since they are not our own troops, there will be no communication."

"I feel that this matter must be handled with caution."

"If our feint causes the Northern Army to misjudge, then... the gain will outweigh the loss!"

Qi Gang also had a headache about these details.

After all, this was an accidental incident initiated by Lin Beimian.

He had not made much preparation before this.

As a last resort, he was afraid that it would be difficult to make a decision at the moment. Sun Peizhong was a capable and cautious man, so he took a deep breath when he saw this situation. He turned back and saw Guan Changting setting up the map frame together. Xiao, Qi and Sun were seriously discussing the follow-up matters.

Bargaining, how many miles to set up camp, how many people to bring with you, how to deal with sudden changes, how to withdraw.

No matter how big or small the matter is, we must make sure it is put into practice.

(End of this chapter)