Tibet

That morning, Li Ye rode a carriage along the city wall to the court room of the Daming Palace. As soon as he sat down, Du You placed a book with a vermilion label in front of him.

This is a report from Li Dongran, the governor of Xuzhou. A batch of goods shipped from the south of the Yangtze River, about 300 ships, was intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army in Fuli County, Xuzhou.

Li Ye's face immediately sank. In order to avoid the epidemic, Li Xilie's troops withdrew to Luzhou and Shouzhou, and Nan Jiyun's 30,000 troops rushed to defend Yangzhou. Now the water transportation in the southeast has been smoothed.

Li Ye never expected that the fleet would be intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army in the Central Plains. Did he have the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard?

"What is the intercepted cargo?" Li Ye asked.

"Reporting to Your Highness, it seems to be green vitriol!"

Li Ye was furious. Green alum is the main raw material for making sulfuric acid, and sulfuric acid is the key raw material for making explosives. Wenzhou is a major alum-producing place. This is the first batch of green alum shipped from Wenzhou.

The green vitriol they currently use is transported from Bashu by camel. Although the current inventory is sufficient and does not affect the production of sulfuric acid, the nature of intercepting the imperial strategic materials is extremely bad.

Li Ye paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He originally planned to capture Hedong Road first and then attack Li Xilie in the autumn. Now that Wang Zhongsheng appeared, he had to change his plan.

He immediately wrote a note and gave it to Du You, "Give it to Li Xiangguo. We will hold a military and political meeting this afternoon."

Du You hurried away, and Li Ye found Wei Yingwu again and told him: "Go and notify the Intelligence Bureau. I need all the information about Wang Zhongsheng!"

"Your Highness, we are going to inspect the Danba Canal today!" Wei Yingwu reminded.

Li Ye had a headache for a while. He had long said he was going to inspect the Danba Canal and had been putting it off until now. But he had no choice but to do so. The Wang Zhongsheng incident made him lose his mood.

"Let's wait another day! Hurry and get Wang Zhongsheng's information."

"Follow the order!"

Half an hour later, a thick file was delivered to Li Ye's desk. This was all the information about Wang Zhongsheng, including the latest news about his seizure of Songzhou and Bianzhou.

Li Ye read through them carefully, and he suddenly discovered that Wang Zhongsheng had occupied the five states and also controlled Li Tan, the king of Shu. Next, he would definitely take action against Zhang Boyi, the military governor of Yingbo.

According to Yang Shaoan's account, Li Xilie and Wang Zhongsheng had close contacts. Li Ye even suspected that they had secretly formed an alliance. Unexpectedly, the attack on Wang Zhongsheng was already imminent.

In the afternoon, military and political affairs were held in the Round Hall of Zhongshu Province.

Military and political discussions are equivalent to temporary court meetings, with at least hundreds of people participating.

Including Li Ye, the Supervisor of the State, and more than a dozen officials from the Supervisor of the State.

Nine members of the Political Affairs Hall, officials from the Zhongshu Province and the Menxia Province, as well as the subordinates of the Seventh Assistant Prime Minister, officials from the Yushitai and Jianyuan, and the main officials of each temple supervisor, in a word, all officials above the fifth rank must participate.

The round hall is a small hall, divided into upper and lower floors. The upper part is the auditorium seat, and the lower part is the discussion seat. Officials of fifth rank and above are qualified to observe, but the content of the discussion has nothing to do with the officials themselves. It is just a qualification to participate in the meeting.

The lower seats are occupied by important officials who actually participate in military and political discussions, mainly Supervisor Li Ye and nine members of the Political Hall. Behind the chief officer sit several deputies.

Sitting behind Li Ye were Wei Yingwu, Du You and three Intelligence Bureau officials.

"when--"

The clear sound of the cloud board knocking sounded, and the round hall immediately became quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on Li Ye, the supervisor.

Li Ye raised the memorial and said slowly: "Early this morning, I received a memorial from Xuzhou Governor Li Dongran. He secretly reported to the court that a fleet of more than 300 cargo ships sailed from the south of the Yangtze River, loaded with millions of kilograms of green beans. Alum was intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army in Fuli County.

Two months ago, 300,000 kilograms of grain shipped from Jiangnan disappeared in Xuzhou. Needless to say, it must have been intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army.

Next month, 1.5 million yuan of tax money will be shipped out from Jiangnan. If it is transported by water from the Central Plains, it will definitely be intercepted.

Everyone, this means that Wang Zhongsheng has completely betrayed the imperial court. He wants to become a new vassal town. This is absolutely unacceptable, so I am considering changing the plan and moving the attack on Hedong Road to autumn or even winter. Wang Zhongsheng must be destroyed first, so that To ensure the smooth flow of water transportation, I want to hear everyone’s opinions, please speak freely! "

Li Dai is the right prime minister, and he wants to express his position first. Li Dai slowly said: "All vassal towns and warlord forces are the legacy of the Anshi Rebellion and must be eradicated. This is our goal. The difference is just in priorities.

Wang Zhongsheng dared to intercept the imperial fleet. This is of a very serious nature and cannot be delayed. It is the most urgent matter. I support the attitude of supervising the country and cannot tolerate it. It must be eradicated seriously and quickly. "

At this time, Zhang Li asked: "Excuse me, the Ministry of Industry, how is the progress of the Danba Waterway?"

Li Xian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, turned around to inquire and said to Zhang Lida: "The Danba Waterway is currently progressing smoothly. It is expected to be officially connected next spring. After the connection, ships with a thousand stone can be used. After it is widened in the future, ships with a thousand stone can be used directly."

Zhang Li immediately said to Li Ye: "I suggested that we expand the transit warehouse in Shangluo County and transport the goods from Jiangnan to Xiangyang in ships of 10,000 stones, and then use ships of 3,000 stones to transport them to Shangluo.

Of course, after the Danba waterway is widened in the future, there will be no need to transit in Shangluo, and the three thousand stone ships will be transported directly to Chang'an. I suggest that next month's 1.5 million tax money be transported to Shangluo County first, and then shipped again next spring. Come to Chang'an. "

Li Ye nodded, "This plan is acceptable!"

At this time, Dugu Lie discussed with his men for a moment, raised his hand and said: "Your Highness, according to the latest news from the Ministry of War, there is currently no Tian Shenyu garrison in Fenzhou. Perhaps Shuozhou and Daizhou are restrained by our army, so Tian Shenyu does not dare to divide his troops.

However, Beizhi heard that Tian Shenyu was also recruiting troops in Taiyuan. Once the training was completed, his army would inevitably go south. Beizhi suggested sending 20,000 troops to Fenzhou first. As long as the Fenzhou channel was blocked, Tian Shenyu's army would not be able to go south. "

Dugu Lie's suggestion was approved by everyone. With a small but broad approach, he could control the southern part of Hedong Road with 20,000 troops.

Li Ye said happily: "This is a good suggestion from Prime Minister Dugu, I agree to adopt it!"

At this time, Li Mi also said slowly: "Your Highness, I believe that Li Xilie may have joined forces with Wang Zhongsheng, and even the information Wang Zhongsheng received was provided by Li Xilie. If this is the case, Wang Zhongsheng will soon attack Bozhou and Yingzhou, and Li Xilie Together, if Li Lingyao to the north of Bianzhou is added, a Central Plains strategic corridor will be formed from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River, which is very unfavorable to the imperial court.

The humble position suggested that His Highness immediately send 30,000 cavalry to Chenzhou, and Luoyang would provide logistical supplies to support Zhang Boyi.

At the same time, let Ma Lin's army cooperate with the Luoyang army to destroy Li Lingyao's army, thus cutting off the Central Plains Corridor. "

Li Mi proposed the concept of the Central Plains Strategic Corridor, but a closer look at the map shows that this trend has indeed formed, with only Bozhou and Yingzhou missing. It is indeed reasonable for Wang Zhongsheng to take Bozhou and Yingzhou next. .

After the military and political discussions were over, Li Ye immediately ordered Xi Wanli's 30,000 cavalry stationed in Shaanzhou to rush to Chenzhou to support Zhang Boyi, and also ordered Luoyang to provide logistical supplies.