Wei and Jin cooks

With Zhao Hu's help, the Ministry of Revenue quickly collected grain and grass. Most of the grain and grass was raised in Yuzhou. Zhao Hu contacted grain merchants and landowners in Yuzhou. With Zhao Hu as a guarantee, they were willing to lend grain to the Yamen on credit.

Yes, even if Zhao Hanzhang had a good reputation and good credibility among the people, the court's credibility was still not high in the eyes of businessmen and landlords, at least not enough for them to spend their accumulated grain.

But Zhao Hu can.

Although Zhao Hu is very aggressive in business, loves pleasure and loves to brag, the businessmen and landlords who have interacted with him all believe in his sincerity. The most important thing is that if he breaks the contract, they have the means and ability to split him up. property and get compensation, but for Zhao Hanzhang...

If Zhao Hanzhang doesn't return it, they will have absolutely nothing to do with her.

Therefore, the bottom line of whether to sell or borrow is still whether the buyer can deliver the money and can afford to pay it back.

In their eyes, Zhao Hu is someone who can pay and repay. As for Zhao Hanzhang, no one in the world knows that she is poor.

After Zhao Hu calculated the food received on credit and borrowed, he immediately handed the bill to the household department.

Chang Ning calculated that, plus the two batches of food he had raised, he could support an army of 200,000 to fight until April next year.

He breathed a sigh of relief and immediately handed the booklet to Zhao Hanzhang.

After Zhao Hanzhang looked through it, he ordered the county governments in various places to take over the grain and grass, and then asked them to find a way to send the grain and grass to the front line.

The people escorting the grain and grass included local garrisons, drafted conscripts, and hired migrant workers. No matter what method they used, Zhao Hanzhang had to complete the transportation of grain and grass before the eighth day of December.

Only then did she start mobilizing troops.

The civil and military ministers of North Korea and China held different opinions on her sending troops this time, and the conflict was fierce, because there were basically half support and half opposition.

In fact, both sides are reasonable. The opposing ministers believe that the people's power has eased now, but there are still a large number of refugees in the wild who have not returned. They are still suspicious of the court. At this time, they should continue to give priority to stability and lighten the corvee and the tax. , attracting refugees and mountain bandits to return.

Moreover, no one knows how long this battle will last. People's hearts are still very fragile and can easily collapse. They believe that stability should be the priority. Since Zhao Hanzhang has sent Liu Kun to persuade King Langya, why not wait a little longer? We can also engage in a diplomatic war and wait for a year to allow the people to recover more before taking action.

Zhao Hanzhang thought they were right. She had planned this before the Jiangnan Anbu incident happened. Zhao Hanzhang had applied for a fight several times before, but wasn't she turned him back?

But this time, that time.

Jiangnan Anbu was broken and Yuan Li was arrested. He only sent people to rescue them, but it might not be possible to rescue them, so he still sent troops.

If Jiang Nan doesn't move this time, he will be more confident and he should hit them back hard when they test him.

The ministers who supported her sending troops also believed that she could not retreat. "Morale is very important. If we don't fight back this time, the outside world will think that we are just showing off and are afraid of Jiangnan. By then, not only will Jiangnan's morale be greatly boosted, but other people with ulterior motives will also I will also have delusional thoughts.”

"It's better to take this opportunity to conquer Jiangnan and truly unify the world."

Zu Ti also wrote a letter personally asking for a fight.

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a while and ordered Zu Ti to be the general marshal of the southern expedition, Zhao Shen to be the vanguard, Zhao Ju and Wang Yifeng to be the generals of the north and west marches respectively, and obey Zu Ti's orders.

He mobilized troops from Jizhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou and Jingzhou. Zhao Hanzhang also transferred 20,000 people from the Zhao family army in Luoyang to Zhao Shen, and was able to assemble a total of 400,000 troops to go south.

"You can mobilize 20,000 troops from Luoyang to go south," Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Shen said, "Whether you can secure your position as Minister of War will depend on your military exploits."

Zhao Shen agreed with excitement.

As soon as Zhao Hanzhang decided, the stalemate was immediately broken, and the opposing ministers had no choice but to go all out to ensure the success of this southern expedition.

Zhao Hanzhang sent Zhao Shen to the door. When no one was around, he whispered: "Find a way to protect Yuan Li. I will bring you the imperial doctor from the palace. When you get there, contact Wang Yifeng. She is interested in Yangzhou." I’m more familiar with Wang Dun.”

Zhao Shen agreed, but he was actually a little reluctant. He joked: "Some ministers in the court said that Yuan Li was a treacherous villain with cruel methods and should not be associated with him. If he died in Wang Dun's hands, he would have deserved his death."

Zhao Hanzhang: "If I go by what others have said today, cousin Shen is the person who should be feared the most. I don't know that Yuan Li is a traitor, I only know that he is loyal and of great use to me and has made great contributions to the country, so why should I ask Shen Tang?" Brother, help me save him."

Zhao Shen suddenly understood, if Zhao Hanzhang would let Yuan Li die in the enemy camp today just because others said he was a traitor, then one day she would be able to criticize Zhao because others said bad things about her. The predicament is indifferent and even contributes to it.

Zhao Shen took a deep breath, cupped his hands and said, "The last general has taken orders and will work hard to rescue General Yuan."

Zhao Shen ordered troops and horses to go south from Luoyang via Yuzhou, while Zu Ti also led a large army to pass through Yanzhou and go south to Xuzhou. Finally, the two sides met at the junction of Xuzhou, Yuzhou and Yangzhou.

Zhao Ju, Zhao Ming, Mi Ce and others also took action. Zhao Ming was responsible for the logistics of grain and grass, while Mi Ce led the Yuzhou army south to obey orders.

It was also the first time that Zu Ti commanded so many troops and was responsible for such a large battle. However, Zhao Ju and Mi Ce were both veteran generals. Zhao Shen had less experience, but he was smart and smart. His military capabilities were not weaker than those of Zhao Ju and Mi Ce. Mi Ce and Wang Yifeng can also independently command Jingzhou operations, and their cooperation efficiency is particularly high.

The most important thing is that Zhao Hanzhang absolutely trusted Zu Ti. He provided enough food and grass, and even armaments were provided as much as possible. The whole army was united. For so many years, Zu Ti had never fought such a rich and comfortable battle.

He held back his tears and whispered to his general Zuo Min: "I really didn't expect that the general would trust me so much. If I don't defeat Jiangnan, I will repay her with my life."

Zuo Min also felt that sending troops this time was very enjoyable. In the past, as long as they sent troops, before they arrived at the place, they had to requisition a batch of grain and grass from the local people despite the scolding of the local people, otherwise the army would not be able to move forward.

Even though they were fighting for their country, many people resented them.

But this time, they had food and grass to go ahead, so they did not have to forcefully requisition local food and grass. The military orders were strict and they did not harm the people. The team carried the flags of Zhao and Zu, and they were greeted wherever they went. There were also people and squires who took the initiative to see them off. Grains, vegetables, meat and eggs.

Of course, they won't take the people's things for free, as long as they keep whatever they have left behind, they will pay for it.

That's right!

They actually have emergency funds in the army, in case the medicinal materials are not enough after the battle, they can replenish them locally. I am so touched that they actually have spare money to buy medicinal materials and food.

Zuo Min: "General, the soldiers are really good. We are just marching. Now the army can eat two and a half dry meals a day. The logistics officer I heard said that during the official battle, we can eat three meals, and they are all dry." Yes. This is how the general calculates food and fodder in court, and prepares it according to this number."

Zuo Min couldn't help but whispered: "If I had known that General Zhao was so wealthy, I should have joined the Zhao army years ago."

"...This year too, have you forgotten that when we attacked the Huns last year, everyone gnawed grass roots and ate tree bark?" Zu Ti said: "The general has endured hardship himself, and now that he has the conditions, he does not want his soldiers to suffer like this again. You have been keeping a close eye on the situation recently, and there must be no theft of food and fodder in the army. If I find out, I will deal with it according to the military law before the general takes action!"

Zuo Min agreed with a serious face and was about to retreat when he thought of something and stopped and said: "General, where should Zhao Shi be placed?"

Zu Ti said: "Let him be the vanguard general of the left army. If the general wants to use Zhao's children, then they will have to fight with their lives."

Zuo Min agreed and went down to deliver the order with a grin.

See you tomorrow