Chapter 4 Waiting for news
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With the strong north wind, one thousand and fifty hundred sea boats sailed south in the sea against the wind and waves. The fleet was long and extended to two hundred miles away. Above the big ship, gray clouds flew past the sky, and the turbid and surging sea water was endlessly covered by foam.
The surging waves rolled towards the big ship in a terrifying and calm manner, and rose violently, forming a dark green arch wall with a glittering luster cast like steel, which hit the wall of the big ship with a loud bang.
After nearly twelve days of sailing, it has reached the third day of the second month. The fleet departing from Luhe Port has gradually reached the south and is about to reach the estuary of the Yangtze River.
Yang Yuanqing stood on the bow of the boat with his hands behind his back, squinting at the surging waves on the sea. He had gradually gotten used to the wind and waves on the sea and began to appreciate the wild beauty of this stormy waves with a calm heart.
"Your Highness!"
Zhang Long walked up with difficulty and advised: "Go back to the cabin! The storm is too strong, and his highness will be swept into the sea."
"Is this the storm?" Yang Yuanqing asked with a smile.
"This is not enough. A few years ago, I experienced a storm on Xiaoliuqiu Island. The sky was like dark ink, and the huge waves rolled up dozens of floors. Our big ship was like a toy for children. That feeling was really like being swallowed by a devil."
Zhang Long remembered the experience many years ago and was still scared, "Compared with that time, it can only be regarded as a small wind and a small wave now."
Yang Yuanqing smiled, "I also think it's Xiaofeng and Xiaolang, Zhang Long, how far is it from the estuary of the Yangtze River?"
Zhang Long thought for a while and said, "We passed Turtle and Snake Island in the morning. At this speed, we can reach the estuary of the Yangtze River in the evening and Jiangdu tomorrow morning."
Yang Yuanqing nodded and turned to walk into the cabin. He went to the cabin to see his son first. Due to seasickness, Yang Ning was still asleep due to seasickness. Yang Yuanqing then walked to the cabin next door. This was the military machine room. There was a sand table in the cabin. Marting Sima Wei Yunqi stood in front of the sand table and was concentrating on thinking about something.
"Isn't Wei Sima seasick now?" Yang Yuanqing asked with a smile.
Wei Yunqi was dizzy at the beginning, but now he seemed to be getting used to it. He smiled embarrassedly and said, "I feel much better these two days. I asked just now. It seems that I can reach the estuary of the Yangtze River at night, and there are basically no wind and waves there."
“Just get used to it.”
Yang Yuanqing walked up and asked again: "What is Wei Sima studying?"
"Report to your Highness, I am considering Jiangyang Cang. I heard that this is Li Mi's grain warehouse, which stores hundreds of thousands of stones of grain. If we can seize this granary, we can gain a foothold in Jiangnan."
Yang Yuanqing walked forward and looked at Jiangyang Cang on the sand table. Wei Yunqi had already planted a red flag on it. Wei Yunqi pointed at Jiangyang Cang and said, "Jiangyang Cang is actually a city with a circumference of about twelve miles. According to the scale of this city, the maximum number of troops garrisons is three to four thousand. Our fleet can be parked at Jiangyang Wharf and then go directly to the city from Caohe."
Yang Yuanqing pondered for a while and asked again: "How far is Jiangyang County Changjiang Wharf from Jiangyang Cang?"
"It's about five or six miles away, but it's actually built close to the Yangtze River."
"Then you don't have to go to Caohe. The army goes ashore directly and attacks Jiangyangcang at night!" Yang Yuanqing made a decision directly.
.........
Jiangdu City had already fallen silent. Li Mi personally led an army of 150,000 to fight against Xiaodu's coalition. He also sent general Chen Zhiluo to lead 20,000 troops to station in Pengcheng County in the north to defend the Sui army in the Central Plains to the south. There were only more than 10,000 defenders guarding Jiangdu City, and were commanded by Li Mi's confidant general Zhang Tongren.
Although the city of Jiangdu became quiet due to the departure of the army, the business was still prosperous. After years of ups and downs of the Sui army, the people of Jiangdu have taken the war between warlords very indifferently and have long been accustomed to it.
As long as it is not a military massacre, the war will basically have nothing to do with the common people. Everyone should make money when they should, and they should get married when they should get married. There is no sign of closure in major stores and taverns, and their business is still booming every day.
Although Jiangdu is located in the north and south corners of the Yangtze River, its economic status as the main canal transport hub also determines its commercial prosperity. Its geographical location of the north and south determines its strategic importance, which makes Jiangdu have a very high political status in the Great Sui Dynasty. Yang Guang even positioned Jiangdu as the accompanying capital.
Jiangdu City is the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River. Its circumference is nearly 60 miles. When it was prosperous, it had a population of one million. Merchants from all over the world and merchants from overseas countries gathered in Jiangdu. Although the population of Jiangdu also decreased sharply after experiencing the rebellion at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Jiangdu did not suffer devastating damage, which still had more than 70,000 households and 500,000 people, making it the third largest city second only to Chang'an and Taiyuan.
At night, Bing Yuanzhen left the house. At this time, he was completely ignored by Li Mi. Li Mi led the army westward and did not arrange any of his affairs. He was nominally appointed as the Minister of Rites. In fact, he had no position in the military.
But at this time, Bing Yuanzhen did not complain. He rode a donkey and walked towards the military camp located in the south of the city calmly. The military camp was not very large, covering dozens of acres of land. The barracks were rammed with soil, with a total of more than fifty rows. There were walls outside, and more than 10,000 soldiers guarding Jiangdu were stationed here.
More than 10,000 troops were divided into three shifts, and they took turns to patrol and defend. The main general was Li Mi's confidant general Zhang Tongren. Zhang Tongren was also from the Wagang Army. At best, he could only be considered a third-rate character in the Wagang Army. He was gradually valued because he was first to follow Li Mi. He has now become the third most popular among the generals after Shan Xiongxin and Wang Bodang.
Zhang Tongren has a fat face, a fierce appearance, and a very irritable temper. He is illiterate, which makes him feel a little embarrassed by the fact that he is in charge of Jiang Ducheng. In just two days, he is overwhelmed and several of his participating in the military are not effective, which makes him upset and cursed all day long.
In the main general's room, Zhang Tongren held a whip in his hand, and while whipping several soldiers hard, he cursed: "I am not able to read and ask you to do things. Look at the good things you have done. Some brothers received two stones of rice, while others were starving. How do you do things? Do you want to force your brothers to rebel?"
Several military officers covered their heads and squatted on the ground, enduring the whip and not daring to say anything. It was normal to have a little confusion just now, but Zhang Tongren could not tolerate it, which made the officers extremely angry, but no one dared to speak.
At this time, a soldier rushed in and reported: "Report to the general, Secretary Bing is looking for a meeting outside the camp."
"Who is it?"
Zhang Tongren was stunned. He immediately realized that it was Bing Yuanzhen who came. He was very happy and kicked several people hard, "Get out of here!"
He also rushed out to greet him. Bing Yuanzhen was a veteran of Wagang Village. During the time when Zhai Rang was in charge of Wagang, he was under one person and above ten thousand people, and he was extremely authoritative. A small character like Zhang Tongren did not even have the qualifications to flatter him.
However, the times of the world changed, and Bing Yuanzhen fell, but Zhang Tongren became a popular general. He was able to show off his power and show off in front of Bing Yuanzhen, which was quite satisfying for Zhang Tongren.
Zhang Tongren ran out of the military camp and saw Bing Yuanzhen leading the little donkey standing next to the camp gate. He couldn't help laughing, "Why didn't Bing even ride a horse? He turned into a peddler riding a little donkey?"
In the orthodox courts of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Minister of Rites had a very high status. Generals would salute when they saw the Minister of Rites. However, in Li Mi, civil officials had no status. An ordinary general was annoyed and could insult the important officials of the court in the street.
Although Li Mi also wanted to establish an orthodox ritual system, his foundation was the Wagang Army. The Wagang generals led by Shan Xiongxin almost did not buy the account of "civilization and military over military". More importantly, Li Mi's group of civil officials, such as Pei Yun, Yu Shiji and others, were captured and surrendered ministers, and even Li Mi did not trust them. How could they make the military generals respect it?
In fact, Li Mi knew very well that although he wanted to establish order, establishing order would inevitably offend military generals. This was an unbearable consequence for Li Mi, who relied heavily on military generals. Li Mi had to implement the first military strategy and then consider the balance between civil and military after stabilizing the world.
The sarcasm of Zhang Tongren on the opposite side, Bing Yuanzhen was not annoyed and just bowed down, "I was bored at home and wanted to find something to do. Will General Zhang take shelter?"
Although Zhang Tongren was in a mess and was reluctant to ask for Bing Yuanzhen's arrival, he was not too stupid. Will recruit Bing Yuanzhen to do things unhappy? However, this idea only flashed. After all, he was a veteran of the Wagang Army. He was not willing to give face, as long as he reported to Li Mi in time.
"Haha! I am so eager to do things in the army. As long as Shangshu Bing does not mind the small temple, I have nothing to say, Shangshu will ask!"
Bing Yuanzhen smiled and waved her hand, "Please, General Zhang!"
Bing Yuanzhen followed Zhang Tongren into the military camp.
.........
In the evening, Bing Yuanzhen left the military camp and rode a donkey to his house calmly. He walked through a slightly remote street and stopped in front of an inn with a string of lanterns hanging at the gate. He looked at the inn sign, "Shunlai Inn", it's this place.
Bing Yuanzhen officially decided to accept Yang Yuanqing's pardon that night. Once he decided to be loyal to Yang Yuanqing, his mind began to survive.
After all, Bing Yuanzhen was also the number one strategist of the Wagang Army. He was talented and although he was mean and greedy for money, he had a high strategy. He patiently waited for the opportunity. Two days after Li Mi left Jiangdu, he started to take action to handle all military government affairs for Zhang Tongren.
Bing Yuanzhen turned his donkey head and went straight into the inn. He happened to meet Wang Shunyuan coming out of the inn. The two of them looked at each other and laughed at the same time. Wang Shunyuan bowed and said, "A rare guest! Why did Shangshu Bing come to the shop?"
"Give you something."
Bing Yuanzhen handed a piece of stacked paper to Wang Shunyuan, then turned the donkey's head and left. Wang Shunyuan hurriedly walked to the backyard. He entered the house, closed the door, and slowly spread the paper roll in front of the table. It turned out to be a map, one foot wide and two feet long. There was a line of words written on the map, "Jiangdu City Defense Map", and there were dense annotations next to it.
Wang Shunyuan was overjoyed. What he needed most now was this thing. With this map of Jiangdu City defense, it would be easy for the Sui army to take over Jiangdu General. (To be continued)
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