Lord of the House

It was snowing at night in Hangzhou, and there was the sound of rain. Under the hall, the candles were shining brightly. The servants and maids were all sent down the hall to wait outside.

Chen Mingzhe sat on the ground with a bitter face, looked up and saw his second uncle Chen Huawen had frosted hair on his temples, and said, "Second uncle and both temples are full of hair..."

Chen Huawen smiled reluctantly and said, "I had it the year before, and it's normal for me to grow white hair; if you look at you, you're not even 30 years old, and the white hair on the temples is not necessarily less than mine."

Chen Mingzhe smiled bitterly. In the past two years, there have been so many things happening in the country and family. It is hard to work hard, and it is impossible to be leisurely. How can you care about the long gray hair? He asked, "Is it really too late for Meng Yishan to save him?"

"The 50,000 or 60,000 troops of the She family in Ningguo poured out. This is indeed to swallow up Meng Yishan before the Huaidong troops go north," Chen Huawen said, "I have led the troops for these years. I can know some truths. The old nest of the luxury family has been lost to Huaidong. If it was someone else, people’s hearts and morale would have collapsed long ago. People's hearts and morale gather together and do not disperse. This is the so-called sad soldier! The sad soldier must win, but the sad soldier cannot last for a long time. A big breakthrough - the extravagant family is extremely vicious, and they are fighting for their lives. Huaidong's troops seem to be slowing down, so why not Yue Lengqiu? Jiangzhou army entered Chizhou on the 14th , but where did we go today? After all, we didn’t want to confront the fighting Zhejiang and Fujian troops, but Meng Yishan bumped into it!”

"Food the king's wealth, share the worries for the king, Jiangning is in danger, and the Hanghu army is supported by the imperial court, how can you hold back?" Chen Mingzhe knew that he was a little angry when he said this, but after returning from Xiaoshan, there was a stagnation in his heart. , not to say unhappy.

"It's true, Meng Yishan is a little greedy, but he has no ambitions and is loyal to the emperor. This, others don't know, you and I are clear, but some people in Jiangning City regard the Hanghu Army as a Foreign soldiers come to guard!" Chen Huawen said.

Chen Mingzhe felt bitter in his heart. Hearing what the second uncle said, he also judged that Meng Yishan could not insist that the reinforcements from Huaidong would arrive.

Chen Huawen continued: "How good was the situation before Xie Chaozhong went to Huizhou? Huizhou has been defeated, if the Hanghu Army can enter Jiangning to assist in the defense, the Jiangzhou soldiers and Huaidong soldiers and horses will gradually approach from the two flanks, and the situation will not leak a thousand miles. Right now, I'm worried that Meng Yishan will be defeated in Liyang, and Jiangzhou soldiers and Huaidong soldiers can't enter the periphery of Jiangning in time, can Jiangning be able to defend?"

"Second uncle stayed in Hangzhou, did you worry from the beginning?" Chen Mingzhe asked.

Chen Huawen said: "Over the years, the rise of Huaidong is just around the corner. Before Xie Chaozhong went to Huizhou, Huaidong pointed out various drawbacks. The emperor turned a deaf ear. Can I turn a blind eye?"

Chen Mingzhe said: "I can finally understand why my father can rest assured that Hai Yu's children will be handed over to the second uncle."

"I'm just a little timid and pragmatic, and I don't have any other strengths. The articles and talents are far less than Mingzhe's," Chen Huawen sighed, "I think Chen Xiang also saw that Huaidong had anticipated and was unprepared. I didn't dare to rush Huaidong's troops in Hailing into Jiangning."

Chen Mingzhe was silent, if Huaidong really expected the situation today, but did not take precautions, it would not be difficult to guess his mind. The world can't accuse Huaidong of making a good move to the emperor's hands. This bad debt can never be counted on Huaidong's head, but Huaidong's calculation is so deep that it always makes people's back cold.

"Will Huaidong abolish the emperor?" Chen Mingzhe asked the most crucial question in a low voice unconsciously.

Chen Huawen shook his head and said: "If Jiangning City can be defended, and with Chen Xiang, Yue Lengqiu's Jiangzhou army can also enter Jiangning's periphery in time, and the situation will not be so bad. If he didn't lose his virtue to the point of anger and resentment, Huaidong wouldn't risk the world's anger to do things like abolition. At least before Yue Lengqiu and Dong Yuan, Huaidong would compromise, and there will be good dramas in the court in the future. Look; if Jiangning City doesn't defend..."

Chen Mingzhe nodded with a heavy heart.

If Jiangning City did not defend, the emperor would either die with the city, or abandon the city and flee.

As the emperor who lost the capital and the prime minister who lost the country, the remaining imperial army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. Even if Huaidong does not rise and fall, the emperor and Chen Xiang will lose their right to speak, and the government can only be controlled by Huaidong.

Of course, Huaidong wants to control the government, and there are still some factors to be settled, such as the remnants of the Hanghu Army, such as Yue Lengqiu, such as Huaixi Dongyuan, such as Jinghu Hu Wenmu.

If Meng Yishan's troops were defeated in Liyang, the remnants of the Hanghu Army would be dominated by the Haiyu Army headed by the Chen family and the Bainao water army of Su Pinxiao, with a total strength of more than 15,000 people, especially when they attacked Tonglu, Su Pinxiao. The navy suffered heavy losses.

Thinking of this, Chen Mingzhe said again: "As for Su Pinxiao, Huaidong should also send someone to contact him?"

Chen Huawen nodded and said: "Since Lin Fu has said such serious things in front of you, Su Pinxiao may have a tacit understanding... Lin Fu has been in Xiaoshan for eight days, and it is impossible to deal with the issue of the army all the time. ."

Su Pinxiao was originally the leader of the Taihu water village forces. In the end, the Taihu water village forces were able to form the Bainao Army and merged into the Haiyu Army in the eleventh year of Chongguan. Chen Xiang's support was one aspect, but Lin Bie also contributed. - Chen Mingzhe The situation here is clear.

Although both the Wu Party and the Bai Nao Army were rooted in Wu, there were still some differences.

The Bainao Army mainly came from the bottom, and the Wu Party was the representative of the squire forces in Wu. In terms of influence on the Bainao Army, perhaps Huaidong was deeper.

In addition to Lin Fu's activities in the Taihu Lake area in his early years, including the **** battle in Jiyang, Lin Fu himself had a high prestige in the counties along the Taihu Lake. Later, Lin Fu started construction in Chongzhou, and purchased a large amount of money from the counties along the Taihu Lake. The supplies were mainly carried out through the Jiyun Club and the water villages related to the Bainao Army.

Su Pinxiao and many generals of the Bai Nao water army were born in the rough, and their loyalty to the court was no better than that of the gentry. Moreover, over the years, the performance of the imperial court and Huaidong, perhaps the dignitaries in Jiangning city sitting in the well and watching the sky, Su Pinxiao and the generals of the Bainao water army, should be clear as if they were drinking water into their stomachs.

Chen Mingzhe thought to himself: The second uncle said that Su Pinxiao had a tacit understanding with Huaidong, and I was afraid that he was just taking the situation lightly.

Now Su Pinxiao leads the remaining troops of the Bainao navy into Taihu Lake, which is said to be fighting with Meng Yishan, but after Meng Yishan was ordered to go west to Liyang, Su Pinxiao's navy also remained in Taihu. If Su Pinxiao has formed a tacit understanding with Huaidong, Huaidong will send troops to take over the defense of Changxing County, which means that Taihu Lake has actually been controlled by Huaidong.

To say that Huaidong had a profound influence on the Bainao army, how could the Chen family get rid of Huaidong's influence?

Over the past two years, Jiangning has to maintain the support of hundreds of thousands of troops, thousands of officials and the inner court, and constantly impose heavy burdens on Pingjiang and other governments. Although Pingjiang is rich, the people are also overwhelmed. It's not that there was no civil unrest, but unlike in the past, there was only one town of Ninghai Haijun in the counties surrounding Taihu Lake with less than 10,000 troops. At its peak, the Hanghu Army had 60,000 troops. What a mess.

If Meng Yishan is destroyed in Liyang, the Hanghu Army will also be weakened to the extreme. Even if Huaidong has no ambition, will it still be able to suppress the boiling public anger in the counties around Taihu Lake only with the remnants of the Hanghu Army?

In the early years, Huaidong tied the supply of military rations for the Haiyu Army to Huaidong through the "raw silk and rice" trade. After the reorganization of the envoys of the northern Zhejiang system and the reorganization of the former Hanghu Army, the money and food of the Hanghu Army were unified by the military leaders and divisions, and it was considered to be free from the control of Huaidong. However, wars were still frequent, the price of raw silk in the Jianghuai region continued to drop, and the highly profitable overseas raw silk trade was firmly controlled by Huaidong. Although the Chen family owned more than 2,000 acres of mulberry orchards, life was extremely difficult.

In the past, the harvest of one mu of mulberry orchard was equivalent to two or three mu of grain fields, and Pingjiang was also the richest in the world.

Today, the harvest of one mu of mulberry orchard is far less than that of one mu of grain fields, but the labor invested in one mu of mulberry orchard is more than that of rice and wheat, and the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River keeps rising. The more than 100,000 mulberry farmers and weavers in Haiyu County, plus a large number of refugees who escaped the war, have become a sharp blade that hangs overhead and may fall at any time.

This crisis can be easily resolved if Huaidong seeks help. First, Huaidong will import a large amount of grain to Haiyu and other places to suppress the price of rice. First, Huaidong will increase the purchase price of raw silk and other fabrics from Haiyu and other places~www. wuxiaspot.com~ or Huaidong will open an opening for overseas raw silk trade to allow raw silk and silk merchants in Pingjiang Prefecture to participate.

After the Battle of Ninglu, Yudongzhi County, which is only separated from Haiyu by the Dongjiang River, was placed under the jurisdiction of Huaidong. million acres. Only if the increased grain production in Yudong County is transferred to Pingjiang, the food crisis in Pingjiang Prefecture can be greatly alleviated.

Pingjiang House is the most important foundation of the Wu Party. What reason does Huaidong have to relieve the crisis for the Chen family?

Chen Mingzhe's heart is really painful. He should have made up his mind to destroy the mulberry crops earlier, and he would not be as passive as today.

If the words Lin Fu said in Xiaoshan today were interpreted as an ultimatum, and the Chen family did not give in, Huaidong would probably use means to exacerbate the crisis facing Pingjiang Mansion. Once a large-scale civil unrest broke out along the coast of Taihu Lake, and the Hanghu Army was unable to suppress it, it would not be able to prevent the open entry of Huaidong troops and horses.

Chen Mingzhe looked painful, and told him to betray Chen Xiyan, and he was completely unwilling.

Chen Huawen sighed: "Chen Xiangshen tried his best to use Dong Yuan to go out of Huaixi and Yue Lengqiu to go out of Zhenjiang Prefecture. It was a good game of chess, but Chen Xiang's painstaking efforts were still regarded by the emperor as having different intentions, which led to the result. Who can be blamed for today's bad situation?"

"I..." Chen Mingzhe felt miserable in his heart.

"Go back to Jiaxing; Lin Fu will come to Hangzhou the day after tomorrow, and I will lead a group of troops to assist Jiangning, and Fuyang will ask the Huaidong Army to defend..." Chen Huawen said.

Chen Huawen led the army to accompany him, which also means that he means to advance and retreat together, but he will not be in a hurry to express his position. If Meng Yishan held on in Liyang, or if Yue Lengqiu entered Jiangning City first, Chen's family still had other options.

Chen Mingzhe nodded sullenly, and didn't want to say anything. My QT room is open! More vulgar official QT room number [9167] Click to enter