Last night, Zhang Yangquan faintly heard thunder in his sleep. When he got up today, he found that the sky outside was overcast and it was raining lightly.
It is now early April, and the weather is often cloudy and rainy.
In the past, Zhang Yangquan's mood was easily affected by the weather and became depressed. However, it is different now. He is in a very comfortable mood and is looking forward to more weather like this.
Rainy days are not suitable for fighting, transporting grain and grass, and not conducive to siege. Therefore, this kind of weather is good for him and Zhang Shicheng, but not good for the Yuan army.
Geng Si received news yesterday that Zhao Junyong was leading the Haozhou army and was approaching Xuzhou. The former army had left Gaoyou and went to Xuzhou for rescue.
Affected by the weather, the Central Army and the Left Army attacked the city intermittently in the past few days, especially the night attack which completely stopped.
For this reason, Zhang Yangquan has been in a very relaxed mood recently. It would be great if this situation could continue until Tuotuo was removed from the position of head coach!
With a good mood, Zhang Yangquan arrived at the Governor's Mansion, only to see Xu Baisheng waiting outside the study.
His heart suddenly tightened. Xu Baisheng was waiting for him so early. Could something big have happened?
Just as he expected, as soon as the two of them entered the study, Xu Baisheng handed over his hands and said: "General Manager, I just got the news that Chuzhou was captured by Guo Zixing's adopted son!"
Zhang Yangquan's heart sank slightly, he walked behind the desk and sat down, then extended his hand to signal Xu Baisheng to sit down as well.
"How to defeat it, please tell me in detail!"
Xu Baisheng said: "They pretended to be our army and scared away the Yuan army in Chuzhou!"
"Scared away?"
Xu Baisheng said: "Yes, Zhu Yuanzhang had a man named Hua Yun who was as tall as General Zhao and had a face as black as coal. The Yuan army regarded Hua Yun as General Zhao and thought that our army had defeated them and would collapse without a fight.
!"
Zhang Yangquan secretly sighed. He didn't expect Chuzhou's Yuan army to be so useless. If he had known better, he would have let Zhao Desheng defeat them first.
At this point, it was useless to regret. He thought for a while and said: "General Xu, tomorrow you will lead your troops back to Zhenzhou and keep an eye on Hezhou. You must not let Zhu Yuanzhang capture it!"
Xu Baisheng raised his hands and said: "Yes!" He paused and said: "General manager, if he attacks Hezhou, can I take Hezhou first?"
Zhang Yangquan said: "Okay."
Xu Baisheng said again: "General Zhao proposed to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for Chuzhou, what do you think?"
Zhang Yangquan was silent for a while, then waved his hand and said: "Forget it, Chuzhou is not ours in the first place, and Guo Zixing is not in a good situation now, so just give Chuzhou to them."
Xu Baisheng agreed and was about to retreat. At this moment, a personal guard came in and said that Hu Guangcao wanted to see him.
After a while, Hu Guangcao entered the study and said urgently: "General manager, there is something that the old man thinks I should report to you!"
Zhang Yangquan asked: "What's the matter?"
Hu Guangcao said: "Recently, the old man's family members of several craftsmen were kidnapped, and the other party asked them to sneak into the Gunpowder Department to find out the gunpowder formula!"
Zhang Yangquan's face changed slightly and he said: "It's another good thing done by meticulous work! Didn't the city defense people care about it?"
Hu Guangcao said with a bitter face: "The old man went to see Deputy Commander Liang who had defended the city. He always said he would help save people, but to no avail! And as far as the old man knew, two craftsmen under Jia Jiancheng died.
At home!"
Zhang Yangquan said angrily: "What did Liang Rong do? When Geng Si was in charge of the city's defense, nothing like this had ever happened in the city!"
Xu Baisheng suddenly said: "General Manager, Liang Rong is good at fighting, but he is not good at taking on such detailed errands!"
Zhang Yangquan took a deep breath and said to Hu Guangcao: "You should go back to the Ordnance Bureau first. I will handle this matter."
Hu Guangcao resigned as promised.
Zhang Yangquan touched his forehead and said with a wry smile: "It was a bit hasty when I transferred Liang Rong to the city defense. General Xu, who do you think is more suitable to take charge of the city defense?"
Xu Baisheng said: "The general in waiting is smart and changeable, and he should be able to handle big tasks!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded. Monkey is indeed a good candidate. Qin Lingjun has also talked to Monkey several times recently. I believe he will not make the same mistake as last time.
"Okay, I'll think about this again!"
Xu Baisheng cupped his hands and said, "I will retire at the end."
That afternoon, Zhang Yangquan called Monkey over and appointed him as the deputy commander of city defense, replacing Liang Rong.
Early the next morning, Xu Baisheng led his troops back to Zhenzhou. Zhang Yangquan was worried that Tongzhou would be raided by the Changshu navy, so Shan Zhu also returned with the Tongzhou soldiers.
After a few days of this, the weather cleared up, and the Yuan Army's Central Army and Left Army finally began to attack Gaoyou.
Zhang Yangquan did not dare to be careless and immediately sent someone to invite Qin Lingjun and civil and military officials to the General Manager's Mansion for a meeting.
Because Zhang Yangquan asked Xu Baisheng and Shanzhu to lead their troops back, the generals knew that he did not want to fight the Yuan army head-on, so they did not say much. Most of the people who spoke were civil servants.
Wang Mengdao: "The Yuan army was unable to attack for a long time, and Gaoyou army was allowed to rest for more than ten days. In my opinion, their attack on the city will not go smoothly, and we should continue to wait and see what happens!"
Sun Hong said: "But there are not many defenders in Gaoyou. No matter how stubborn they are, if all the defenders die, the city will still fall!"
Luo Guanzhong said: "The Yuan army is currently attacking the city with only the central army and the left army. The central army only has more than 40,000 people. Its morale is low and there is nothing to worry about. The main problem lies with the left army!"
Guo Niansheng twisted his beard and said: "Yes, Dong Tuanxiao just captured Xinghua and almost surrounded and suppressed our navy. The army is in great power. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Gaoyou army to defend!"
Ma Yulin laughed loudly and said: "Otherwise! In my opinion, the Left Route Army has a fatal weakness!"
Everyone asked: "What?"
Ma Yulin raised his chin and said: "The biggest problem of the Left Army is internal! Dong Tuanxiao is the deputy commander, but he controls the entire army. King Xining is the commander, but he is suppressed by the deputy commander. Is there no contradiction in this? It should be.
Use the strategy of alienation and differentiation and let them divide themselves!"
Qin Lingsi asked: "How to separate and differentiate?"
"This..." Ma Yulin couldn't answer for a while. He only had one general direction at the moment, and he hadn't thought clearly about how to operate it.
Zhang Yangquan's eyes flashed slightly and he said: "I called you here suddenly. I guess you won't be able to think of a good solution for a while. Let's break up the discussion for now. Everyone should go back and think about it and discuss it tomorrow!"
Everyone agreed in unison and retreated.
That night, when Zhang Yangquan was closing his eyes and relaxing in his study, Qin Lingjun walked in with a tea cup.
She closed the door with her heels, poured Zhang Yangquan a cup of tea, then moved a chair to sit next to him, stared at him and said, "Okay, you can talk now!"
Zhang Yangquan was stunned and said: "What did you say?"
Qin Lingjun raised her eyelids and said, "Don't think I don't know. During the meeting today, after Ma Yulin finished speaking, you looked obviously wrong. You must have been thinking of something!"
Zhang Yangquan laughed and said, "I can't hide anything from Madam!"
Qin Lingjun smiled and said: "Tell me quickly, what idea did you come up with?"
Zhang Yangquan put down his teacup and said slowly: "It's just an idea at the moment, and many areas still need to be improved."
"Is it like Ma Yulin said, to alienate the Left Army?"
"Yes, that's wrong!"
Qin Lingjun lightly hit him and said angrily: "What does it mean to be right or wrong?"
Zhang Yangquan took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Right refers to the right direction. It is true that we must start from the left army, but it is useless to divide and divide!"
"Why?"
"Left Army coach Xining Wang and deputy coach Dong Tuanxiao do have many conflicts, but Dong Tuanxiao has completely controlled the Left Army, and Xining Wang has been sidelined. No matter how serious the conflict between the two is, Xining Wang has nothing to do with Dong Tuanxiao.
!"
Qin Lingjun nodded and said, "What should we do?"
Zhang Yangquan blinked and said with a smile: "The King of Xining can't deal with Dong Tuanxiao, but there is someone who can!"
Qin Lingjun was stunned and said: "Who?"
"Of course I have to take it off!"
Qin Lingjun frowned and said: "I'm afraid this won't be easy. Since Tuotuo is willing to let Dong Tuanxiao serve his crime, it shows that he values his ability very much and will not easily remove him from his position!"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "It is precisely because Dong Tuanxiao is guilty of meritorious service that Tuotuo will not trust him. Don't forget whose crime Dong Tuanxiao is guilty of! We just need to make Tuotuo suspicious of Dong Tuanxiao!"
”
Qin Lingjun said: "Duo Tuo is a cunning old man. Even if he is suspicious of Dong Tuanxiao, if he doesn't see conclusive evidence, he probably won't take action against him!"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Who said there is no evidence?"
Qin Lingjun was stunned.
Zhang Yangquan said slowly: "Do you still remember that Chahan Timur released the water channel and let Uncle Fang and Li Er come back?"
"Of course."
"Then have you figured out the reason?"
Qin Lingjun shook his head.
Zhang Yangquan picked up the teacup, took another sip of tea, and said, "I do have a suspicion!"
"What?"
Zhang Yangquan said with burning eyes: "Chahan Timur opened the water channel because he did not want to fight. But he is not afraid of us, but he does not want to lose both sides with us!"
Qin Lingjun pondered: "Do you think he wants to preserve his strength?"
Zhang Yangquan said: "Not only that, he should suspect that Dong Tuanxiao deliberately pushed the situation to this point, wanting both him and us to lose!"
Qin Lingjun was surprised: "Dong Tuanxiao did it on purpose?"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Think about it, during the Gaoyou Water War, Uncle Fang and the others successfully escaped Dong Tuanxiao's siege, which made me determined to fight Chahan. If Uncle Fang and the others were wiped out, I would
Will they gather a large army to fight Chahan in the field?"
Qin Lingjun frowned and said, "Do you suspect that Dong Tuanxiao let Uncle Fang and the others go on purpose?"
Zhang Yangquan touched his nose and said: "Judging from the results, I think it is very possible. As long as we help him eliminate the Chahan Army, Tuotuo can only rely on him!"
Qin Lingjun thought for a while and said: "Your speculation is based on the premise that Dong Tuanxiao has selfish motives, but I heard my father mention this person, saying that he is resolute, upright and selfless!"
Zhang Yangquan said lightly: "Geng Si recently sent back a message saying that Jia Lu had asked the generals of the Left Army to deliberately defeat the battle in Xinghua so that Dong Tuanxiao could be reactivated. Do you think there was no Dong Tuanxiao's instruction behind this?
”
Qin Lingjun was startled and said, "Could it be that father misjudged this person?"
Zhang Yangquan said slowly: "If it weren't for this news about Geng Si, I wouldn't have thought so much. In short, Dong Tuanxiao does have a problem, we just need to think of a way to let Tuotuo investigate him!" p>
Qin Lingjun said: "How about sending another fake letter, saying that he deliberately let his subordinates lose the battle in Xinghua, and also deliberately let our navy go in Gaoyou Lake!"
Zhang Yangquan laughed and said: "I really want to send such a letter, but it will help him! How could such a shrewd person like Tuotuo be fooled twice? Instead, he would think that we are harming Dong Tuanxiao, and everything in the letter is
Fake!"
"Then how can we make Tuotuo doubt him?"
Zhang Yangquan sighed and said: "My thoughts are stuck here. Tuotuo is not that easy to deceive. If you send news remotely, it will be counterproductive!"
Qin Lingjun suddenly said: "Then why not send someone over to deliver a message to him!"
Zhang Yangquan was stunned and said: "Who to send?"
Qin Lingjun's eyes flashed brightly and she said, "You can send Bo Luo Buhua!"
"Polo is not beautiful? King of Zhennan!"
Qin Lingjun smiled and nodded.
Zhang Yangquan shook his head and said: "Tuotuo knows that Polo is not in our hands, and if he suddenly lets him pass, Tuotuo will definitely suspect that it is our conspiracy!"
Qin Lingjun thought for a while and said, "Then if he tells another person first, and then that person tells Tuotuo, do you think it can be successful?"
Zhang Yangquan was stunned and said: "The other person? Who?"
"King of Xining!"
Zhang Yangquan wondered: "Does he have a good relationship with the King of Xining?"
Qin Lingjun nodded his chin: "They are cousins. One is guarding Yangzhou and the other is in charge of gathering. I heard Uncle Chen say that the relationship between the two is very close, better than that of brothers!"
Zhang Yangquan's eyes flashed and he said: "Since we have this relationship, we can let him give it a try!"
"How are you going to try?" Qin Lingjun asked.
She felt that Boluo Buhua had been locked up in prison, and even if he agreed to act according to her instructions, if he returned to Yuanying, he might immediately rebel and tell everything!
Zhang Yangquan had already outlined the overall plan in his mind and said with a smile: "This is actually easy. All we need to do is let him know that Dong Tuanxiao is colluding with us without knowing it!"
"The problem is that he is in prison now. If he is suddenly released, he will definitely become suspicious!"
Zhang Yangquan said with a smile: "Of course you can't just release it. This requires two people to help!"