It was just dawn, and Pugu Chengen had been busy for a while.
The saint held a large court meeting today, accompanied by hundreds of civil and military officials, and all local officials in Qizhou participated. After the court meeting, the saint also called a considerable number of officials to ask questions. At this time, meals were provided, all under the supervision of Pugu Cheng'en.
"Is everything ready?" Pugu Chengen stepped into the temporary wooden house, looked at the food being cooked, and asked.
"It's coming soon. It will be done before the next court." The palace man replied.
Pugu Chengen nodded, but did not leave. Instead, he stood there, watching the palace people and Huangmen busy at work.
The sage was a martial artist, and he trained his muscles and bones all the year round, practicing endlessly on long spears, foot bows, and heavy swords. From time to time, he would also gather people to play polo or go hunting in the mountains.
In fact, Pugu Chengen didn't understand. He was already the master of the world, so why did he still practice these things? Isn't it tiring? But he didn't dare to ask, he could only observe and guess by himself. In his opinion, the long-term martial arts career has already
Let the saint get used to this, and if he doesn't dance with guns and sticks often, he will feel uncomfortable all over.
Duke Li Tangbin of the State of Lu also had this problem. He practiced hard early in the morning and sometimes even sparred with his nephews and nephews, shouting and shouting with such murderous intent that it was incomprehensible.
These warriors don't know how to enjoy themselves, and they are born to work hard. On a darker note, they may have a strong desire to kill buried deep in their hearts. Once they are free, this desire cannot be suppressed, and they have to use other methods.
Divert attention.
But then again, it's better than sitting around, cutting up human flesh piece by piece with a knife and eating it for fun, right?
The palace servant opened the lid of the steamer, and a plate of fish was already steamed.
Pugu Chengen came back to his senses and went up to take a look.
From the time of Lingxia, the breakfast of saints has been dolphin, fish and chicken, plus corn porridge - sometimes substituted with physalis, cheese and the like.
Today I practiced martial arts and held a court meeting, which consumed a lot of energy. Pugu Cheng'en specially asked someone to steam a big cod fish - this name was given by a saint.
In addition to cod, there is also kingfish (large yellow croaker), which is prepared for the courtiers.
Pugu Cheng'en checked one by one. He mainly looked at the size of the fish. They were all carefully selected to ensure that they were consistent in size. The courtiers who participated in the questioning were not simple. Some people gave them big fish, while others gave them small fish. Inadvertently,
But it offends people.
There were footsteps outside the kitchen, and after a while, a small yellow door came over and whispered in Pugu Chengen's ear.
"Okay, pack the lunch box immediately and enter the palace." Pugu Chengen waved his hand and ordered.
The palace people packed the meals quickly, then carried the food boxes and followed Pugu Chengen to the palace.
There are many houses built outside the palace, all built last month, for the residence of civil and military officials.
The saint's tour lasted for more than a day or two. The officials naturally needed a place to live, so wouldn't they have to cut down trees and build houses? When the weather gets cold, if the saint has not left yet, these houses will have to be renovated.
There was a stone staircase outside the main entrance of Taishan Palace, and it was filled with palace guards who came with them. They carefully checked the food boxes of the palace residents before putting them in.
Pugu Chengen silently counted the time and carefully controlled his pace. When he arrived at the entrance of the side hall, the saint, the prime minister, and the privy envoys had just sat down.
Shanggong Jieshi nodded to him, Pugu Chengen did not dare to neglect, trotted away, and led the palace people into the side hall.
"The Jin army roughly has two groups of soldiers and horses. One is the army led by Li Keyong, which goes to Luzhou and enters Xingmingci. The offensive is very urgent. The second one is coming from the direction of Youzhou, and Li Cunzhang is left behind from Youzhou. Commander, according to the report of Zang's envoys, there are tens of thousands of people, following and pursuing them all the way. The morale is very high." An old but thick voice sounded in the side hall, and Pugu Cheng'en knew it without looking, it was Chen Cheng, the minister of Zhongshu. say.
He ordered the palace servants to take out the meals and place them in front of everyone's desk one by one. Then he did not dare to stay. After bowing, he left.
"The taste of the East China Sea is exquisite, and the food is so delicious. It's better for Chen Shilang to take a break, otherwise the fish will be eaten by us, the emperor and his ministers." Shao Shude joked.
Chen Cheng also smiled and said: "The stone-headed fish is a good thing."
The word "鲞" (xiǎng) is said to have been invented by King Helu of Wu. It is a beautiful fish, which shows that Helu also likes to eat large yellow croaker. Of course, as a marine fish with a large production along the coast of China, it is normal for large yellow croaker to be popular among people.
In the Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda also recorded: "I use ice to raise fish, and I am unbeatable." That is to say, some people insist on eating fresh fish, so after catching the fish, the fishermen can only sprinkle ice cubes on them and send them all the way to "Wu County" ”.
To be honest, this is a bit luxurious. I don’t know who was an official in Suzhou at that time and had such high requirements. Normally wealthy people could only eat the kind of "coarse salted" and hung on the mast to dry. Already.
Shao Shude concentrated on the cod in front of him. The cut cod was steamed just right, and he ate it happily.
Because this kind of fish lives in deeper waters, it was difficult to catch in nets in ancient times. In Europe, people have fished on the sea since the Vikings. There are more than a dozen or dozens of fishing rods on a boat, and it looks like a fish from a distance. What a wonder.
The caught cod is often about one meter long, with a big and round belly, and the meat is tender. The Europeans have been fishing for hundreds of years, and they have wiped out the world-class Newfoundland fisheries. They use all kinds of fishing nets and don't care at all. For the benefit of future generations, it is said that billions of fish have been caught, creating the famous "protein dividend" era.
During the Industrial Revolution, the height of Europeans increased by ten centimeters every hundred years, which was inseparable from the large intake of protein. In contrast, the population of the Qing Dynasty surged, far exceeding that of Europe, but everyone only had sweet potatoes to eat, and their height dropped and they became extremely thin. This kind of low-quality population growth is really pointless, and you are not qualified to serve as a soldier.
"It's a pity that it's not fresh fish." Shao Shude sighed: "I really want to board a ship of the Ping Navy and go to sea with them."
"Your Majesty, no!" Pei Zhi immediately advised.
Shao Shude laughed and said, "I am joking."
Pei Zhi felt relieved and said: "The sea is unpredictable. Something can happen to the Chishui Army, but your Majesty must never have anything happen to you."
It is no secret to the ministers that the Chishui army will board ships from Denglaiqing in batches and cross the sea to attack Youzhou. Pei Zhi is really afraid that the saint will follow him on board the ship if he is interested. Isn't that nonsense? What if on the way?
If something happens, the new dynasty is over, and no one can control the situation. Even if everyone still remembers the kindness of the Shaw family and reluctantly supports a certain prince to ascend the throne, judging from the current trend, there will definitely be trouble and the death of the second prince.
The possibility is very high.
"Your Majesty, when it comes to going to sea, the Chishui Army has been waiting for a long time. I don't know when they can set off?" Privy Councilor Yang Yao asked.
"Ge Congzhou has made the decision in this matter, and I will not interfere." Shao Shude said, "Ge Congzhou is on the front line, and he knows the situation of the Jin army best. It would not be a good idea for us to intervene rashly."
The goal of the Chishui Army is very clear, which is Youzhou.
According to the intelligence gathered at this meeting, the main force of the Jin army in Youzhou has moved south in large numbers and is heading straight for Cangzhou. For this matter, Shao Shude felt that he should praise Zang Dubao. This man made his fortune as a pioneer when attacking Lingzhou.
The commander-in-chief was very clear-headed. After learning that the Jin army had reached the Lutai Army, he sent Wang Jianji, the envoy from the capital Youyi, to lure the enemy, fight and retreat, all the way south, making them farther and farther away from Youzhou.
In order to be realistic, I did take a lot of bait along the way. One time, I even failed to operate it well, and the false defeat turned into a real defeat, and I lost a lot of manpower.
On July 25th, news came from the city walls of Cangzhou that the Jin army had captured the enemy and was in a state of silence. The three armies of Lu and Long had set up camp 20 miles north of the city and sent their cavalry south to harass the Xia army attacking the city.
Zang Dubao, the envoy of the East Route Recruitment, had already ordered all armies to reorganize and strengthen their camps to prepare for the Jin army. However, the siege operation still did not stop. Wei Bo, Luoyang, Huaihai Confucius, servants from all walks of life, and even the imperial army took turns to go into battle.
, the attacks are endless.
After knowing that reinforcements were approaching, the morale of the defenders was greatly boosted. Lu Kuang, the son of Lu Yanwei, spent all his family wealth and rewarded the troops to boost morale. The effect seemed to be good, and the defenders worked harder.
From a military perspective, it is most taboo to defend a city. Without external reinforcements, as time goes by, the defenders will gradually become demoralized and their morale will continue to decline. After reaching a critical point, they will easily collapse. And if there are reinforcements
, they will have hope and be able to maintain a relatively good morale, which will make it difficult to fight.
Cangzhou and Dezhou are two typical examples now.
The morale of the former was greatly boosted, and it seemed that the Xia army had almost no hope of breaking the city. The morale of the latter was getting lower and lower.
I can't hold on any longer - it's just a sign now, but if I continue to hold on, collapse will happen sooner or later.
As for Nanpi and Ge Congzhou who were guarded by Lu Yanwei, they did not have enough troops and did not adopt a frontal attack. The two sides are currently mainly engaged in confrontation. The cavalry of the Dingnan Army went deep into the territory of Chengde to loot and destroy the enemy's morale. To this end, they fought with
The Chengde cavalry fought repeatedly, with heavy casualties on both sides.
With such a situation in the Northern Expedition, the Xia army can only be said to have the upper hand, and the Cangjing army is not in danger of collapse in a short period of time. Perhaps it was this understanding that made the Jin army increase their stakes and decide to go all out for rescue.
In Shao Shude's view, it is not yet time to execute the cross-sea attack order.
Li Cunzhang's troops have not yet all assembled in Cangzhou, and the troops that arrived first were still more cautious. They went to the village 20 miles north of the city, and their morale was still in a strong state, and they still needed to work hard.
"Your Majesty, Li Keyong has conquered Wu'an and is taking command. Should we remind Generals Cai and Lu?" Chen Cheng asked.
Li Keyong left Luzhou from the east and brought a lot of soldiers and horses, but in terms of strength, they were still not as good as the Tiande and Wuwei armies. Logically speaking, there was no need to worry. However, Shao Shude also understood what Chen Cheng meant, and he was worried
Cai Songyang and Lu Huaizhong relied on their strong troops and gathered the main force to fight Li Keyong in a decisive battle.
Compared with the one-game decision-making system, the best-of-three-game system, and the best-of-five-game system, any fool knows which one has greater chance. Li Keyong should be seeking to decide the outcome in one battle now, even if he has a greater chance of losing, but
They also thought about making a one-time deal and trying their luck. What if the wind direction was favorable to them that day, or there was some other accident?
Therefore, everything he is doing now is to force the German army and the Wuwei army to fight him. In normal times, this would not be a bad idea, because Shao Shude can afford to lose. But now he has a bigger goal, so Chen Cheng is very unhappy
It is recommended to do this.
"Shilang Chen's words are reasonable, but what we are competing for now is patience." Shao Shude put down his chopsticks and said: "In the past, Li Shi's army was strong and strong, Qianshuiyuan faced Xue Ju, Hulaoguan faced Dou Jiande, and Mingshui faced Liu Heitai. They still held a stalemate for dozens of days.
, stay in the strong wall until the most advantageous fighter opportunity appears. I also have the patience, but——"
Shao Shude thought for a while and said: "I have already discussed the strategy with Ge Congzhou in detail, and he is very knowledgeable. Cai Songyang and Lu Huaizhong are also stable people, and they will not be provoked by Li Ke and rush out of the city to fight with a few words.
I'll just wait and see what happens, and as long as there are no big gains, don't interfere in the frontline war at will."
