Compared with the happy gathering here of the Yellow Shirt Army, the officers and soldiers stationed along the front line of Changcheng seemed much more depressed.

For them, the New Year is no different from usual. At most, each person can have a full meal with a little bit of meat in it.

As for the delicacies, sweetness and wine, only those who are officials are eligible to enjoy them.

The only thing that makes them happy is that the Yellow Shirt Army's offensive has stopped in the past two days, and they no longer have to worry about it all day long.

After the defeat at Linfeng Mountain, there were still 70,000 to 80,000 defeated troops gathered by the official army, but these 70,000 to 80,000 people would definitely not be able to compete with the rapidly expanding rebel army.

Therefore, various provinces in the south of the Yangtze River once again mobilized their troops and forcibly recruited soldiers to send to the front line. This allowed Yu Wenchenghua to have more than 100,000 troops and barely maintained the front line at Changcheng.

Nowadays, the war against rebellion can be roughly divided into two main battlefields. The first one is Jiuchang Road, where Yuwen Chenghua leads his army to confront Chen Tiansheng. The second one is where Zhao Zhongtian, the Minister of War, leads another group of troops to attack the rebels on Tai'an Road.

In these two battlefields, the total strength of both sides totaled 30 to 400,000 people, making it a great battle.

Compared with Yuwen Chenghua who lost the entire Huaijiang Road, the war on Tai'an Road was relatively passable. Zhao Zhongtian, who was a military general, won many battles.

If Chen Tiansheng hadn't sent troops to help Huang Ji on Tai'an Road, I am afraid that the entire Tai'an Road would have been recaptured by the army by this time.

But both the officers and soldiers on Jiuchang Road and Tai'an Road are facing a problem. The army has not paid military pay for several months, or it can only pay part of the elite soldiers.

Why can the yellow shirt army on the opposite side develop and grow? Because as long as you feed them until they starve to death, they will follow you. But the officers and soldiers are different. You have to give them money, otherwise why would they come all the way to fight.

In particular, there are many soldiers in the army who were forced to join the army in an emergency. These people have a lot of resentment in their hearts. They are dragged to fight without being paid. Isn't this deceiving people?

If a riot breaks out among these people, something big will happen.

That's why Shangguan Taiqing went to the front line to reward the three armies, giving some money to the soldiers to appease everyone's emotions.

Unfortunately, the uncle's journey was delayed many times along the way. He hurriedly and slowly failed to reach the front line before the New Year, and almost lost all the military pay from the imperial court.

This New Year, frontline soldiers almost spent their time filled with complaints.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the eighth year of Jingtai's reign, the belated Shangguan Taiqing finally arrived at Changcheng, bringing with him the military pay that everyone had been waiting for.

At the gate of Changcheng, Yuwen Chenghua personally led a group of civil servants and generals out to greet Shangguan Taiqing's carriage. The officials standing in several rows raised their heads and looked into the distance from time to time.

Their bright red official robes were also covered with thick furs to keep out the cold, and the cold wind was biting on everyone's cheeks.

In addition to Yuwen Chenghua, Zhao Zhongtian also rushed to Changcheng early with several generals to wait.

Judging from their official positions, both Yuwen Chenghua and Shangguan Taiqing were ministers. Yuwen Chenghua also had the title of a first-class general who conquered the south, so theoretically he did not need to come out to greet him in person.

But this time Shangguan Taiqing represented the emperor. Even if Yuwen Chenghua was unwilling, he could only stand in the cold wind with his nose in his hands and wait.

"Sir Yuwen, I heard that Uncle Guo's convoy encountered rogue bandits in Zhuqian County and was almost robbed. Gee, these rebels are really brave." Zhao Zhongtian chuckled softly from the side, with a hint of ridicule in his tone.

Yuwen Chenghua's face darkened. Logically speaking, Zhuqian County was his rear area, but there were rebels there and attacked the government convoy. Zhao Zhongtian was clearly saying that it would be unfavorable for him to suppress the rebellion.

"It's just a bunch of thieves. Our army's defense line is nearly a hundred miles from east to west. It's not surprising that some fish have slipped through the net." Yu Wen Chenghua replied coldly.

Zhao Zhongtian is the minister of the Ministry of War and the deputy general of Zhengnan. Although his official position is lower than that of Yuwen Chenghua.

However, since the expedition, Zhao Zhongtian rarely gave him face and did not take Yuwen Chenghua seriously at all.

Anyway, the current record of Zhao Zhongtian's troops is much better than that of Yuwen Chenghua. This is a fact.

From Zhao Zhongtian's point of view, this war is an opportunity for him. As long as Yuwen Chenghua keeps defeating the war and wins the war himself, then when the war is over, the position of Minister of War will definitely be his.

As for the fifth Xinrou, Zhao Zhongtian didn't pay much attention to him. No matter how smart he was, his qualifications were still not enough.

"Haha~"

Zhao Zhongtian smiled slightly: "I hope that when Lord Shangguan arrives later, he can explain to Uncle Guo like this."

Yuwen Chenghua frowned and stopped talking to Zhao Zhongtian.

After a while, the motorcade that stretched for several miles finally appeared at the end of the road.

A carriage took the lead and stopped in front of everyone along with the honor guard symbolizing the royal family.

Shangguan Taiqing, who slowly walked out of the carriage, had a smile on his face, without any trace of the anger from the past few days.

It's not like he got angry now in such a large public, he still has some energy to cultivate his energy.

All the officials shouted in unison:

"Welcome to you, Sir Shangguan, long live my emperor!"

"My colleagues fought for the country to suppress the rebellion. Now I am going to the front line on behalf of Your Majesty to reward the three armies! To show the emperor's virtue!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Queen Mother!"

Everyone knelt on the ground and solemnly performed the etiquette of an audience with the emperor.

After going through a series of etiquette procedures, Shangguan Taiqing came to the two leaders with a smile.

As for the reward materials and fine wine in the military tents, they were distributed by specialized officials.

"Master Yuwen, Master Zhao, thank you for your hard work, haha." Shangguan Taiqing cupped his hand casually.

"My uncle has come here thousands of miles, and it's really hard work because of the fatigue of the carriage and horses. I am just sharing your worries for Your Majesty." Yu Wen Chenghua also had a smile on his face.

"Huh, the main credit for suppressing the rebellion is Master Yuwen. I was just following Master to fight." Zhao Zhongtian said with a smile.

Yuwen Chenghua's face darkened again. People who didn't know what he was talking about thought he was complimenting him, but in fact Zhao Zhongtian was digging a hole for him.

"hehe."

Shangguan Taiqing smiled slightly and said softly, seemingly casually: "Xiaguan was ambushed in Zhuqian County during his trip and almost died for the country. It doesn't matter if I die, but if the supplies that the imperial court finally took out are gone, I will.

It's hard to escape the blame for death.

In terms of countering rebellion, I wonder if Lord Yuwen can tell me why there are more and more rebels as we fight against rebellion?"

Just when Yu Wen Chenghua was about to speak, Shangguan Taiqing walked away with a wave of his sleeves: "Let's go, the gate of this city is empty. If we turn around, we will be attacked by rebels!"

Zhao Zhongtian glanced at Yuwen Chenghua with a mocking look on his face, followed Shangguan Taiqing into the city, not to mention how comfortable he felt.
Chapter completed!