Chapter 2187 Gui Zijuan is a shadow, a life-saving straw

Ye Xianggao's words slightly livened up the somewhat stagnant atmosphere. After all, Feng Ziying still brought a surprise to everyone in Shaanxi, and quickly put down the most serious civil unrest in the three prefectures of northern Shaanxi.

Now the chaos is basically limited to the eastern part of Xi'an Prefecture. Of course, this is also the most difficult challenge, because although the eastern part of Xi'an Prefecture has a relatively good drought situation and logically should not have such fierce chaos, this area is relatively prosperous. The rebels from the south of Yan'an Prefecture poured into this area in large numbers, and the strength of the rebels in this area doubled, and they have already advanced into Pingyang Prefecture in Hedong and Shanxi.

Feng Ziying put down the rebellion with one hand, and also began to investigate corruption cases and collect the stolen money. This step was the same as his method in Beijing, so that the collected stolen money could alleviate the relief pressure.

After all, the three hundred thousand taels of silver given by the court was just a drop in the bucket. If he didn't find another way out and the problem of homeless people and hungry people was not solved, even if he quelled the civil unrest in front of him, he would not be able to solve the root problem. Once the civil unrest is provoked, it will still happen. The epidemic has resurfaced, and to solve the problem of survival of the homeless and hungry people, money and food are not enough.

It is inevitable that the interests of some people will be harmed here, but some of the people here are considered sensible people. They know very well that if this is not done, Feng Ziying will not be able to handle the situation in Shaanxi, so sometimes Feng Ziying can only be allowed to operate. After all, the overall situation is important. .

"Yes, Ziying has calmed down Shaanxi, and the northwest is stable. We can also free up our hands in Shanxi to deal with it." Li Sancai also nodded in agreement, "Xiang Ye, is it time to send the northwest army into Shanxi? If this continues, I I am a little worried that the situation in southern Shanxi will worsen. We cannot think that we can reverse the situation just because the rebel army has been blocked from attacking Linfen. I am very worried that the rebel army to the east of Xi'an will cross the river in large numbers and march eastward. We will make a decision at that time. , it’s a little too late.”

Ye Xianggao hesitated and glanced at Fang Congzhe and Qi Yongtai, "Zhonghan, Chengfeng, what do you two think? The Northwest Army has recovered Shandong and has rested for some time. Feng Tang proposed to attack Xuzhou, and It seems that he is full of confidence, and he also said that Chen Jixian is willing to cooperate in a flanking attack on Niu Jizong and Sun Shaozu, what do you think?"

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy to defeat Xuzhou, right?" Fang Congzhe hesitated, "In fact, Niu Jizong and the others withdrew from Jining and Yanzhou on their own initiative, but Xuzhou is different. It is Nanzhi's territory. If Xuzhou is lost, it can be said that Jiangnan will Under our military front, Huai'an, Fengyang, and Yangzhou are completely undefendable. Niu Jizong and Sun Shaozu can't see this, right?"

Qi Yongtai was also a little undecided. It was certainly a good thing to capture Xuzhou in one fell swoop, but the situation in Shanxi was not optimistic. Although the rebel army's northward attack on Linfen was frustrated, and the Shanxi Town army was steadily moving south, the situation had not been completely reversed. If If we continue to delay, if the rebel army regains momentum, the threat to Shanxi will be too great.

"Daofu, is Chai Guozhu's Shanxi Zhennan Division confident of solving the situation in Pingyang? I always feel that the number of troops is still too small. If something goes wrong and the situation deteriorates again, it may affect Lu'an Prefecture and Zezhou. "Qi Yongtai looked at Li Sancai.

Li Sancai also felt embarrassed when Qi Yongtai asked him.

This is indeed difficult to predict. Chai Guozhu's Shanxi Town has never recovered after the wave of losses caused by Su Shengdu. The situation of the Shanxi Dusi Guards is not satisfactory either. Now they are making do with the Shanxi Town. , It’s hard to say that he is guaranteed to win against the rebel army. This is what he is most worried about.

But Fang Congzhe obviously wanted to attack Xuzhou first, but if he wanted to attack Xuzhou, he couldn't draw out the Northwest Army. This was something Li Sancai couldn't accept.

He did not want to offend Fang Congzhe, and he said realistically that it was necessary to capture Xuzhou, but would he just bet that Shanxi Town could solve the Pingyang rebellion? What if it fails?

This question is a challenge for everyone. Making a decision means being responsible for the results.

 The hall felt a little dull for a while.

“How about letting the Northwest Army continue to attack Xuzhou, and let Sun Chengzong lead a part of the Northern Army to march westward into Shanxi?”

Seeing that everyone was silent, Ye Xianggao could only make this suggestion himself. This suggestion came with risks, because various intelligence showed that the Jianzhou Women were mobilizing their troops to prepare for some action, and Lin Danbatour also made changes. , the Northern Army Corps led by Sun Chengzong was to join forces at Jizhen and stationed on the line from Shanhaiguan to Yizhou Guard just in case.

 But it is already early winter. In theory, fighting in winter is detrimental to both parties, especially the attacking side. Do Nurhaci and Lindan Batur really want to take risks?

"No!" Qi Yongtai and Li Sancai shook their heads repeatedly, "Nurhachi is ambitious, and Lindan Batur seems to be tempted by Nurhachi. If there is no Northern Front Army stationed in Liaoxi, Nurhaci and Lindan Batur will definitely want to Something happened."

"But if they want to cause trouble, shouldn't they start in September? It's already October, and it's going to snow soon. Will they fight in winter?" Even if Ye Xianggao doesn't care about military affairs, Proficient and aware of the difficulties of winter combat.

 This question is also difficult for both Li Sancai and Qi Yongtai to answer.

This is indeed the case in theory, but no one can guarantee that there will be an accident.

Sighing, Ye Xianggao also felt a headache, "Long Jinwei also said that Fengzhou Bailian outside the Datong border wall was ready to move. Su Nang was not satisfied with his status as General Longhu, and still coveted Bu Shitu's status as King of Shunyi. , is also going to cause trouble, but so far, there are various signs, but no real action has been taken. However, all our main elites on the nine sides have been restrained, and they cannot even fully respond to the Jiangnan chaos. To quell the civil unrest in Shaanxi and Shanxi, we are also restrained in Huguang. Could this also be a conspiracy?"

When Ye Xianggao said this, the other three people felt that they really felt this way. Why did these foreign enemies act so skillfully?

The elites in the other five towns except for the three sides and four towns have been held back. Now we can only rely on the Northwest Army to solve the Jiangnan problem. This is a bit weak and we have to rely on Chen Jixian's Huaiyang Town, but Chen Jixian was at both ends again, and the situation was never truly reversed.

"Everyone, I would like to remind you that if we cannot completely regain Jiangnan before next summer's grain harvest, the imperial court's finances will completely collapse, and it will be difficult to maintain it no matter what means are used." Fang Congzhe emphasized his tone, "This is not alarmist, but a fact. Huang Ruliang has reported the financial difficulties of the Ministry of Revenue three times. In order to support the Shandong Campaign and the reconstruction of Shanxi, Datong, and Xuanfu towns, he has borrowed three million taels of silver from Haitong Bank. Now that southern Shanxi is to be pacified, Chai Guozhu has requested more money. Five hundred thousand taels of silver for food, wages and relief. In addition, if we want to continue to move south to Xuzhou, or even recover Huai'an and Yangzhou, we will need at least eighty to one million taels of expenditure. This does not include the needs of the war that may break out in Liaodong..."

Fang Congzhe, as the second assistant in charge of finance, is most concerned about financial issues. Only by completely regaining Jiangnan can the financial problem be solved. Otherwise, if it is delayed until next year, the imperial court itself will collapse if nothing else.

Fang Congzhe’s words became the last straw that broke the camel’s back, and even Qi Yongtai fell silent.

 If we don’t regain Jiangnan, nothing will be done, and the finances will drag down the imperial court. Even if the Northwest Army divides its troops to pacify southern Shanxi, what about food and wages?

Ye Xianggao sighed and made the final decision: "Then it's settled. Sun Chengzong will still go north to garrison in western Liaoning, let Feng Tang lead the northwest army to capture Xuzhou as soon as possible, and wait for an opportunity to go south to recapture Huai'an and Yangzhou. Leave Fengyang aside for the time being, and it makes sense to take them back. Not big, Huai'an and Yangzhou must be taken back, no matter how we negotiate with Chen Jixian, even if it is a temporary concession, we must cross the river before summer next year!"

"What about Jinnan?" Li Sancai asked, hesitating for a moment before adding: "I remember Ziying seemed to have said that he asked the Tongguan Guards to cross the river to defend Puzhou, and also saved the salt and salt in Si Yancheng. The lesson has not been lost, but he can only stop here. If the situation in Shaanxi improves, can he be allowed to consider appropriately responding to Chai Guozhu in the south?"

Fang Conzhe glanced at Li Sancai suspiciously: "Does Shaanxi still have enough strength? The Tongguan Guards only have a few thousand soldiers, right? Amitabha is the only one who can defend Puzhou. How can he still have the strength to launch an attack to coordinate with Chai Guozhu? I'm still worried. What if the rebels in Xi'an suddenly go south to go to Gongtong Pass? Is Feng Ziying trying to frighten the rebels with an empty city strategy? "

Not to mention, Feng Ziying was really talking about an empty city strategy. Before, she had expected the Xi'an Four Guards to come over for reinforcements, but she didn't expect the Xi'an Four Guards to be in such bad shape, so she could only bluff for a while.

Fortunately, the rebels were also a little afraid of the name of Tongguan Guard, and their goal was to go to the city to get more money, goods and food. They were not very interested in attacking a purely military fortress, so they never attacked in the direction of Tongguan Guard. Meaning, this made Feng Ziying feel at ease.

But this situation is not sustainable. Once the rebel army detects it, or if that rebel army really wants to conquer Tongguan to show its prestige, it will be troublesome.

 That's why Feng Ziying wanted Guyuan's army to march into Xi'an to quickly solve the problem of Xi'an's four guards. After that, he immediately moved eastward to open up the main road from Weinan to Tongguan, which must be in his own hands.

"If the Guyuan army marches to Tongguan Guard and can quickly deal with the rebels in the east of Xi'an Prefecture, then can we consider coordinating southern Shanxi?" Li Sancai still refused to give up. "Although the elites of the three sides and four towns except Yulin Guards They have been beaten almost completely, but after all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. If you squeeze it, you can still squeeze out 81,000 troops. But if you want to go out to fight, the food and salary problem will be difficult to solve. It depends on Ziying's skill. That’s solved.”

Li Sancai said hopefully: "Send Ziying a letter and talk about it. If possible, try to help."

 (End of this chapter)