Dawn of the Empire

460 Chapter 86

Chen Dongxian said: "General Yue, Chen feels that Ezhou's troops are meager and self-protection is not enough. If we want to divide our troops to open up food roads for Xiangyang, it may be a bit inappropriate." Looking at each other, everyone had strange expressions on their faces, and they all chose to be silent in response, the tent was so quiet that a needle could be heard,

After a while, Yue Fei said expressionlessly: "Master Chen is a civil servant, so don't interfere too much with the battle."

Chen Dong's expression darkened immediately: "General Yue, you can't say that!"

Normally, Chen Dong never asked about martial arts.However, Xiangyang and Ezhou are their own masters. With insufficient troops, it is no longer a simple matter of battle to spend strength to open up food roads for Xiangyang.Zhao Xingde's face was embarrassed, since the Baoyi Army arrived in Ezhou, although the people of the Baoyi Army and the town police were not clearly separated, they hadn't had much contact with each other.Zhao Xingde, the military adviser of the Baoyi Army, and Yue Fei, the Jiedu envoy of the Zhenjiang Army, did not have any close friends.This time Chen Dong pulled him to come here, and he also wanted to use him to persuade the town police, but Yue Fei blocked him before he could say anything.

Zhao Xingde's status as guest minister, he hesitated for a moment and said: "A wise man has a lot of worries, and he will lose something. A fool has a lot of worries, but he will also gain something. The important affairs of the country are between the soldiers and the priests. Although civil and military affairs have different paths, we still need to discuss more , it’s good to work together.”

Yue Fei glanced at him, then at Chen Dong, and after a moment of silence, he explained in a deep voice: "Xiangyang is the gateway to the southeast half, so there is no room for loss. To defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River. If the Liao army conquers Xiangyang, they will stockpile food and grass in Xiangyang." If the army advances eastward, Huaibei will not report. Then, the danger of the great river is shared with me, and the southeast half will be difficult to protect. Moreover, Xiangyang is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Once it is captured by the Liao army, it will be difficult to fight back. Now the Liao army is trying its best to cut off the food and grass between Xiangyang and Ezhou. It is to force Liu Yanqing to retreat and go to Xiangyang without a fight. Liu Yanqing has the intention to stick to it." He paused, looked at Chen Zhao and the two, and said coldly, "The town secretary still has to discuss military affairs, if the two adults have nothing else to do, Yue will not Send it off." It was actually an order to evict the guest.

The generals looked at each other with embarrassing expressions, Zhang Xian stood up and clasped his fists and said, "Send Mr. Chen off." As he took the lead, the other generals also stood up one after another and said, "Mr. Chen, don't send me off. ""Mr. Zhao walks slowly——"

"You—" Chen Dong choked on his throat. He was a proud and arrogant person, how could he bear it, and immediately turned and walked out.Seeing this, Zhao Xingde also sighed, bowed his hands to the generals in the tent, and followed Chen Dong out of the tent.

"Domineering!" Finally, Chen Dong couldn't help but shouted at Zhao Xingde, "It's simply domineering!"

Seeing that Zhao Xingde was silent, Chen Dong said angrily: "When I was in Guangzhou, I gave in to Yue Pengju everywhere, and now I am even more tolerant for the country. I didn't expect him to be so domineering!" He took a breath, and said, "He What's the point of being a governor? Could it be the Three Towns of Hebei in the Tang Dynasty!" Zhao Xingde's expression changed, and he realized that the Three Towns of Hebei were the vassal towns built by Tian Chengsi and other Anshi remnants, who had always disobeyed the court.Chen Dongkou didn't hesitate to say anything, he actually compared the three towns in Hebei to the top, Zhao Xingde persuaded him: "General Guan Yue is a man, loyalty and righteousness are not a problem."

"Hmph!" Chen Dong said angrily, "He has no problem, so do I have a problem?"

"You two are virtuous and good generals," Zhao Xingde had no choice but to say softly, "At this time, the most important thing is to expel the northern captives. Since General Yue insists on maintaining Xiangyang's grain road, Xiangyang is indeed related to the safety of the southeast half. For the sake of the overall situation, Let him be tolerated then. Thousands of soldiers are easy to get, but one general is hard to find!"

"At this point, do you still agree with Yue Pengju taking sole control of the military?" Chen Dong said in a low voice, "Yuanzhi, in this world, you are the only one with such a mind. To be honest, I will give priority to the food and salaries of the townspeople, and you Do you really have no other ideas?" He looked at Zhao Xingde, as if he wanted to see any hidden dissatisfaction in his eyes.

Yue Fei was strict in running the army, and his troops were known as "not demolishing houses to death from freezing, and not looting to death from starvation."During the reclamation in the South China Sea, soldiers and civilians were integrated. There was once a soldier who suppressed the army because his family had a large population and the military salary was not enough to support him. He actually sold his wife and children. It can be seen.However, soldiers are also human beings, and subordinates cannot be maintained only by military discipline.Therefore, the payment of the army's salary in the town is also the most timely and sufficient among the troops in Guangnan.All the soldiers in the town are paid according to the standard of the imperial army's recruitment, while the salaries of the Baoyi army are paid according to the standard of the Xiang army, and many prefectural and county volunteers who are included in the Baoyi army only have rations but no military salary.Not only that, since the Ezhou incident, there has not been enough food and payment.Sometimes even the food and grass of the township bosses are not enough, and the township bosses have to find their own way to make up for the rest by setting up cards to collect taxes, returning to e-boot and other methods.Whether it's ordnance, food, or military pay, the Baoyi Army ranks behind the suppressors, and can only rely on more varied methods to supplement. In this regard, Zhao Xingde fully encouraged his subordinates to cross the sea and show their talents.

Thinking of this, Chen Dong felt a little guilty, and thought about it: "The town's family is the only one, it's still not a solution, and it's not fair for the Baoyi army to favor the township's salary. Or, from now on, the two families will share the food and pay equally. , Do you think so?" He looked at Zhao Xingde with a sincere expression, and added, "From now on, the volunteer battalions in prefectures and counties will be given priority to the Baoyi Army to make up for the gap in strength between the two armies."

A gust of south wind blew by, Zhao Xingde's eyes flickered for a moment, he looked at the river in the distance, several sailboats were going down the river, the merchant tax on the river is now one of Ezhou's main sources of income, merchants paid a tax in Jiangling , In Ezhou, there is another tax to be paid. After leaving the area controlled by the Lishe, you may have to pay another tax when you meet the officials appointed by Zhao Qi. Therefore, the prices in the southeast are high.If this situation continues, I am afraid that the people will be in dire straits.

Zhao Xingde was silent for a moment, raised his two palms, and made two fists against Jiang Feng. "Shaoyang, the Suppression Army and the Baoyi Army are like the right arm of Ezhou. If both arms are stretched out to hit people, and if they go hand in hand, the two fists will not have enough strength. You can only retract one fist and the other. Only one punch can give us strength. Now we have little food and little food. If the soldiers and horses share the food and pay equally with the townspeople, it will be an embarrassing task on the battlefield. Instead of this, it is better to strengthen your arm with all your strength. I can give the Liao Kou a hard blow!" He withdrew his fist, looked into the distance and said in a low voice, "You don't have to worry about the Baoyi Army, I can still maintain it."

Chen Dong shook his head and sighed: "If everyone cares about the overall situation like Yuan Zhi, why worry about the Northern Captives not being destroyed!"

"Then when others come to sue Baoyi Army, please help me take care of it." Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "Didn't the Military Supply Office give a lot of IOUs for the arrears of food and salaries? landing."

Now Ezhou’s grain and salary still needs to be collected through the prefectural and county officials, and the prefectural and county magistrates are recommended by the county gentry. Because the military supplies and taxes are getting heavier, the gentry are dissatisfied with the delay, and the prefectures and counties are not easy to urge because of their feelings, so they transfer grain and grass. It is often delayed, and even simply set up an IOU with the Military Quartermaster Office for arrears.The Baoyi army was ranked behind the town police, so when it was the Baoyi army's turn to pay, the treasury of the military supplies government was so empty that rats could hold meetings, and the battalions could only get back a bunch of IOUs owed by the state and county.The Military Supply Office asked the Baoyi Army to ask the prefectures and counties for food and salaries, and Zhao Xingde also agreed.Regarding some places saying that "the Baoyi army is a 'rebellion' army and bandit army, and the suppression of the Communist Party is the army of the rebel army", Zhao Xingde just laughed it off and let his subordinates do their own thing, and he himself took the blame from the state and county.

Chen Dong nodded, and agreed: "You can bear the humiliation, how can I be a person who doesn't know right from wrong?"

"That's good." Zhao Xingde smiled slightly. He still has some confidence in the ability of Lu Mingyu, Luo Xianshi, Xia Mao'er, and Zhang Wudi's subordinates to collect wages, and he just happened to teach those guys who owed money and food a lesson.He pondered for a while, and then said: "General Yue's saying that civil and martial arts are different, there is some truth, and entrust him with general affairs. Shaoyang, it is what you want to call the prefectures and counties to elect sages and pretend to be prime ministers." Hurry up. In terms of popularity and talent, you are the prime minister, so don't hesitate! Otherwise, if the name is not correct, the words will not go well. Whether it is to guard the north or to decide the southeast, everything will be difficult to carry out. I am afraid of long nights and dreams If you don't straighten people's hearts as soon as possible, it will only become more and more "chaotic". When loyalty is hard to separate and only strength is the only thing to see, it will be a waste of money Ten times the price is irreparable."

"Yuan Zhi said that," Chen Dong said with embarrassment, "it's just that I'm not sure yet." He looked around, hesitated for a while, and said in a low voice, "Yuan Zhi feels that Jing Dongdong How about Hou Huanyin, Lu's appeasement envoy?"

"Hou Huanyin?" Zhao Xingde was taken aback for a moment, not knowing why he mentioned this person, and replied directly, "I've heard of it, but I'm not familiar with it." When people are in power, they have been steadily serving as officials on Jingdong Road, and have been serving as appeasement envoys on Jingdong East Road. The foundation in these two roads can be said to be extremely deep, and they are known as capable officials.But outside of Jingdong Road, Hou Huanyin's influence is much smaller.After the fall of Bianliang, he responded to Chen Dong's proposal of "respecting the emperor and not obeying 'chaotic' orders" on Jingdong Road, so that everyone in the world knew his reputation.

"Nowadays there are more than 30 prefectures and counties that do not follow the orders of 'chaos'. Our colleagues in Lishe only have more than 20 prefectures and schools. Hou Huanyin controls more than [-] prefectures and counties on the Jingdong Road. If you recommend him as a fake prime minister, you will be sure. East Jingdong Road and Southeast are far away, and Hou Huanying uses me as a fake political adviser to echo him from a distance. In this way, the situation is under control." Chen Dongmian revealed "Worried" said, "If I fight with Hou Huanyin, I'm afraid that more than [-] states and counties in Jingdong will fall to Zhao Qi and Cai Jing..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xingde interrupted him and said: "This is a duty of righteousness, and it is absolutely impossible to 'operate' in the hands of others!"