The ministers retreated, and Zhao Gou left Qin Hui behind. Zhao Gou looked at the sand table and said, "There is a detail in Li Hui's short report. The captured soldiers are all newly recruited soldiers, and their armor is rough. I find it very strange. Repeatedly
After thinking about it, I suspect that Zhang Jun's troops sent to the west of the Yangtze River are false, and his real goal is to cross the Yangtze River from Yangzhou and attack Zhenjiang Prefecture."
"Your Majesty's suspicion is indeed justified. If Zhang Jun attaches great importance to Jiangnan West Road, how could he use new troops and hastily withdraw his troops? From this point, we can conclude that Zhang Jun must have used a small number of newly recruited troops to hold back our main force on Jiangnan West Road.
, but his main army is concentrated in the Yangzhou area. If this is the case, Jiangnan West Road must make a quick decision and bring back the main army in time."
Zhao Gou was silent. He just suspected it, but he had no evidence.
At this moment, the eunuch at the door reported, "Your Highness, Prime Minister Xu has something urgent to see you!"
"Announce him to come in!"
After a moment, Xu Xiantu hurriedly walked into the imperial study and said: "Your Majesty, Luo Ji, the prefect of Yangzhou, sent someone across the river to report secretly that Zhang Jun's army is gathering in Yangzhou, and I'm afraid he has some plot!"
Zhao Gou's eyes lit up. The news came at the right time. As expected, he guessed that Jiangnan West Road was false and Zhang Jun's real target was Zhenjiang Prefecture.
He immediately ordered: "Send my order to Li Hui, asking him to attack the enemy with all his strength, recover the Jiangnan West Road within five days, and then return immediately with the army!"
Xu Xiantu said anxiously: "Your Majesty, if you are too eager, something may happen easily!"
Zhao Gou snorted coldly, "Zhang Jun hopes that my army will drag on Jiangnan West Road for ten days and a half. My judgment will not be wrong. Zhang Jun pretended to attack Jiangnan West Road and actually attacked Zhenjiang Mansion. Mr. Xu, please don't do it again."
I was wrong!"
Zhao Gou's words were very serious, and Xu Xiantu had no choice but to sigh to himself. The emperor is always in a hurry. Last time he rushed to attack Haizhou, which resulted in the destruction of the entire army of 100,000 men. This time he rushes to attack Zhang Jun's army, and he doesn't know what will happen.
.
But Xu Xiantu did not dare to persuade him too much. If he persuaded him too much, he would be hated by the emperor no matter whether he won or lost. It would be better to remain silent. If something happened, it would have nothing to do with him.
Xu Xiantu and Qin Hui both retreated, and Zhao Gou stood alone in front of the sand table with his hands behind his hands, staring at Jiangnan West Road for a long time without saying a word.
In the Xinfeng Tea House, Hu Yun pointed at the newspaper and smiled at Wang Mu: "How do you Beijing News judge this? Look at this headline, 'Zhang Jun is second only to Liu Guangshi, it will be broken soon', Zhang is too confident!
Jun Ke is much better than Liu Guangshi."
Wang Mu took a sip of tea and said calmly: "This is not written by us. This is a letter submitted by Zhu Shengfei, the prime minister of the country. The letter submitted by the left prime minister, of course we will put it on the front page without changing a word. The signature below is also his.
"
"Is this Chang Sheng Gong Zhu Xianggong?"
"Of course it's him. Did you think he was a man named Chang?"
Hu Yun laughed, shook his head and said: "Now the whole court is full of optimism, and they probably regard Zhang Jun as Liu Guangshi's second best."
"Isn't it true? How can they achieve great things without the support of the people and nobles?"
"of course not!"
Hu Yun looked at both sides and whispered: "Zhang Jun has the secret support of His Highness, but Liu Guangshi does not. Zhang Jun's army has tens of thousands of barrels of kerosene, more than 10,000 war horses, more than 500 warships, and two elite soldiers."
With more than 100,000, how can Liu Guangshi compare?"
"So there's something wrong with this victory?"
"Zhang Jun was just showing weakness on purpose. If he really withdrew his troops, he would definitely walk along the west bank of the Gan River. How could he expose a weak brigade to the Song army's nose and let the other side win easily?"
"What you said makes sense. What is Zhang Jun's strategy?"
"The arrogant soldier's strategy is to lure the enemy deep into the enemy's territory and take advantage of the emperor's weakness of being greedy for power and rushing into the enemy's territory, leading the Song army into a place of no return."
Wang Mu frowned slightly, "How could the emperor be so stupid?"
Hu Yun laughed, "Actually, the emperor is not stupid. He is just talking on paper. He takes everything for granted. What he met was Zhang Jun who was pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger. There was also a far-sighted His Highness King Yong behind him. How could he win?
Pass?
For example, if Luo Ji, the prefect of Yangzhou, sent someone to deliver an urgent message, the emperor would definitely believe it! How could Luo Ji be loyal to Zhang Jun, a traitor?
But he never imagined that what if Luo Ji was loyal to King Yong?"
Wang Mu nodded, "In this way, Zhang Jun and the Emperor are just two chess pieces."
"That's right. Only His Highness is the chess player. We are the spectators. Let's enjoy this great game."
In Jingzhao, Lu Jiao once again approached Lu Wei. This time Lu Wei did not refuse, but invited him to drink tea at Qingfeng Tea House.
"Brother, what's going on? Didn't you go to Lin'an? Why are you back again?"
Lu Qiao drank a cup of tea and sighed: "Forget it, my father thought that he could be reused by going to Lin'an, but he didn't expect that he would not be welcomed at all. All his old friends in the past avoided him.
The housekeeper tore off his name badge and kicked him out, which was extremely humiliating. Fortunately, his eldest brother gave him a sum of money. He was disheartened and went to the countryside with his mother to retire."
Lu Wei smiled and asked: "Then why don't you go together?"
Lu Jiao's eyes widened and he said angrily: "I'm less than thirty years old, you ask me to go to the countryside to retire?"
"That's right! You haven't married yet. Your father hasn't considered it?"
"That man was very selfish and would not spend a penny on me. My mother also listened to him, so I had no choice but to go out on my own. Fortunately, I still have a few friends who found jobs for me."
Lu Wei suddenly became vigilant, "Is it your errand to come to Jingzhao?"
"Don't think too much. It's not an intelligence secret. I'm working for a trading company to collect some business information. It has nothing to do with the military."
Lu Wei nodded, "I see, that's a good thing. Don't touch military secrets again. King Yong has spared you once. If you do it again, you will lose your head."
"I promise it has nothing to do with the military. I just want to know some information, such as the price of land, the price of food, income, etc. This is all normal business information and should be made public. It is not illegal!"
Lu Wei smiled slightly and said: "This is not illegal. Let me give you a tip. You can buy a copy of "Beijing News" every day. The information you want to know is all in "Beijing News."
Lu Jiao hesitated and said: "These news are too common. We all get paid for the news. To provide this news, we only need two or three dollars a month, which is not even enough to eat. We must provide something valuable once, knowing that there are very few people.
This way I can get more money."
Lu Wei shook his head, "Don't think about it. The lesson learned last time was too profound. Everything I told you was valuable military information. Once it is leaked, I won't be able to live with it. Even if my sister is a princess, it will be useless."
"Brother, please take pity on my little brother! The only thing that is valuable to me is this surname, otherwise they wouldn't want me."
Lu Wei asked: "Tell me the truth, are you a government businessman or a private businessman?"
"Hey! Actually, I am a government official, so I want to know some valuable information without making it difficult for you. Big brother, please help me!"
Lu Wei was silent for a moment and said: "Okay! Just this once, it won't be the same next time!"
"ensure!"
Lu Wei said slowly: "Fengzhou on Lingxia Road has been captured by the northern nomadic army. The situation in Lingzhou is critical. We will soon mobilize a large number of troops to the north. There will be a big battle in the spring tomorrow and we need to buy a lot of medicinal materials. This is an opportunity.
!”
Lu Qiao was overjoyed. This was important information. He hesitated and said, "Brother, I don't have any money for food. Can you lend me some money?"
Lu Wei took out ten taels of silver and threw it to him, saying coldly: "If I find out that you go to the brothel again, don't come to me again."
Lu Qiao patted her chest and said, "I have changed my mind and promise not to go there again."
Lu Qiao was so anxious that he took two bites of snacks and left. As soon as he left, two internal security spies flashed out from the next door. Lu Wei nodded to them.
The two got on the carriage and followed Lu Qiao's ox cart from a distance.