In early February of the second year of Xingping, the spring breeze was like shearing.
Kaiyang, the courtyard in the governor's mansion.
Huo Si was walking around the courtyard with the charming Huo Qi, blowing by the soft spring breeze, admiring the growth of young buds and the catkins filling the sky.
Huo Qi was at the age where she loved to play, her little face was flushed with excitement, while the familiar beauty was taking care of her daughter, while occasionally looking back at Wang Zheng, her eyes were infinitely gentle.
In this scene, Wang Zheng beside him seemed to have no time to pay attention to anything else. He was just sitting on the stone bench in the pavilion, holding a book and studying it carefully. His expression was calm, but his brows were slightly furrowed.
What's the bad news?
Such an appearance made Huo on the side not dare to disturb him, and just thought to himself.
Speaking of which, Ah Zheng has been like this for several days.
Little did she know that what worried Wang Zheng was not what was written in the book.
On the contrary, what is written between the lines is actually good news and good news.
It was sent by Pan Zhang's envoy. It said that just three days ago, he had fulfilled his mission and completely captured and occupied Jiqiu County.
Langya County has a total of thirteen counties, but now half of them have fallen into the control of the royal government. More importantly...
That is, the click of the mound means that the passage to Donghai County has been completely opened.
The East China Sea is now the political and economic center of Xuzhou.
Tao Qian, the state pastor, is also in Tan County, Donghai County.
The road from Jiqiu to Tan County is smooth, and the two cities are even less than a hundred miles apart!
If this news were presented to Tao Qian, it would indeed make him feel puzzled and uneasy. But for Wang Zheng, although this was good news, it was expected.
However, his gloomy mood in the past few days did not become cheerful because of this good news.
the reason is simple.
If he wanted to capture Xuzhou, Wang Zheng believed that the Heavenly Army's troops were extremely sharp. Without external intervention, Tao Qian and the Xuzhou soldiers, who had been severely weakened, would not be able to stop them.
And regardless of whether Ji Qiu is removed or not, the internal worries that are now emerging still exist.
When Linzi was captured, a talent-seeking order was promulgated. Later, Kaiyang and other four other cities also promulgated royal policies. As a result, not only were there few people who responded, but a few finally came, but most of them were lazy and scoundrels.
This made Wang Zheng very angry.
I can allow unscrupulous people, but that doesn’t mean I allow you to come and eat and drink by cheating?
If he wasn't afraid of the negative consequences, he would have torn these people's hearts out alive.
The territory suddenly expanded, and the lack of available people became instantly apparent.
He is no longer just a civil servant in internal affairs.
In addition to Yunting, a key garrison point in the northernmost part of Xuzhou facing Qijun and Beihai Kingdom, and Renqiu, which Pan Zhang captured, there are actually seven cities that must be garrisoned.
As for Wang Zheng's subordinates... there are currently very few people who can take charge of their own affairs.
Not only must one be proficient in military matters, but one must also have the ability to coordinate internal and external affairs.
You must know that since no major purges were carried out when he came to Xuzhou, the power of the wealthy gentry and prominent families in these places was unharmed.
Although the system can lock the loyalty of subordinates and provide them with divine power, it cannot improve their capabilities in internal affairs and other areas.
After thinking for a long time, apart from Yu Ban Pan Zhang, there was only one Kaohsiung who was worthy of this task.
Just send him to Yunting...
With a decision in mind, Wang Zheng thought of other places.
Pan Zhang had to stay at Jiqiu to guard against possible counterattacks from the East China Sea.
As for Xu Fang Yu Jin, one person is responsible for training troops and the other is responsible for recruiting troops. Xu Fang is the key training target. Wang Zheng will naturally take him with him when he attacks Pengcheng Kingdom...
As for Yu Jin, he must stay and guard Kaiyang...
There are also the remaining Dongguan, Dong'an, Yangdu, Linyi...
Holding his forehead in thought, Wang Zheng felt helpless. If he didn't send capable people to these places to calm them down, he was also worried that when the army came up behind, there would be a fire in the backyard...
It's just...there's really no one.
Just as he was upset about this, he heard footsteps coming from a distance.
Wang Zheng looked up and saw that his own soldiers, who had only seen him for a while, were already running towards him in small steps.
"What's the matter?" he asked in surprise, "in such a hurry?"
"General Tiangong, a scholar in civilian clothes came outside the palace, claiming to be here to save the general from danger."
The soldier's voice was loud, and Huo's mother and daughter, who were not far away, also looked over curiously.
Who is this killer? Do you really think that I don’t dare to kill someone?
"oh?"
Wang Zheng, who was already in a bad mood, was unhappy and angry when he heard this, and said solemnly: "Save me from danger?"
"yes."
If intelligence can make you more flexible, I will use all my attribute points in the future!
Wang Zheng, who was already depressed because most of his subordinates were from illiterate backgrounds, became even more angry when he looked at the soldiers in front of him.
The tricks of these people are all the same. They open their mouths and say shocking words, thus scaring you honest guys.
"You actually believe this nonsense and come here to report it to me. Could it be that... you also think that I am in danger now?"
This soldier has been with the king for a long time and has learned some of his habits. Hearing this calm tone, there was no fierceness in it, but his face turned pale with fear, and he quickly knelt down and kowtowed.
"General, with the protection of the Yellow Sky, his life will be safe and everything will go well. How can he be in danger?"
"I also think that Confucian scholar is full of nonsense. It's really that guy... his mouth is like grease. He is so eloquent."
"I haven't seen the general show his face for many days. I frown and think hard every day. It seems that I have some huge problem and confusion..."
"Look at that scholar, he doesn't look like a liar. He was confused for a moment and lost his mind."
"I thought maybe he was sent by Huang Tian to relieve the general's worries, so I just...had the courage to come and report this matter to the general."
After hearing the sincere words of the soldier, and seeing him kowtowing continuously as he spoke, Wang Zheng's expression softened slightly, and he felt a little unbearable:
"If you're interested, get up and talk."
"How can you still fulfill your duty of guarding the house if you hurt yourself?"
but...
Speaking of being trapped, the fact that our family is currently short of available people is considered a predicament, and the wealthy families in Kaiyang are probably well aware of it at this time.
But when it comes to danger...
Wang Zheng chuckled.
In troubled times, the emperor is the one with strong military strength and his own system. To put it bluntly, what if he rules purely by violence?
Kill a lot of heads, kill a peaceful age!
What the Manchu Qing Dynasty could do, could it be that Wang Zheng couldn’t do it?
Thinking like this, he still asked casually: "What did the Confucian scholar tell you?"
"He said that the general came here with thousands of troops and horses. He must be plotting against Xuzhou and aiming at the world."
"The delay in moving after taking Kaiyang must be not worrying about the horse, but worrying about the horse's horse."
"He has three strategies that he can offer to the general."
"Oh?" The previous ones were all nonsense, and it wasn't until this point that we got to the point. Wang Zheng raised his eyebrows and asked, "What are the three strategies?"
"The next best thing to do is to place swords on each family's neck and whip people out, which can relieve the urgent need."
"The middle strategy is to abandon the yellow turban body, promise to use inducements, and imitate Guangwu's old deeds, so that he can become a temporary hegemon."
Hearing this, Wang Zheng was moved in his heart.
Wang Zheng, who came from a later generation, was naturally aware of the biggest problem of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
It means the power has been relinquished.
Compared with Zhu Yuanzhang who relied purely on his own strength, without compromise or tampering, and won the world with his three-foot green sword, and followed such a glorious and righteous path, he naturally became in charge of the world in a true sense.
The Supreme Emperor of Decision.
Only the Han and Ming Dynasties can achieve the righteousness of the country.
What we are talking about here is the Western Han Dynasty.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty and Jin Dynasty, even the founders Liu Xiu and Sima Yan could not be so majestic and domineering.
It’s not surprising that Wang Zhengneng knows this. After all, he stands on the shoulders of giants and has been popularized in the era of information explosion.
But there are probably not many people in the world who can see this clearly.
Now he finally became interested. He looked at the soldiers first and showed approval:
"It's hard for you to remember such a long speech."
"Hey..." The soldier scratched his head and said with a naive smile: "It concerns the general. It is such a big thing. I recited it several times when I came here, for fear of making any mistakes."
"Haha." Wang Zheng couldn't help but laugh, nodded and asked again: "What's the best strategy?"
"He refused to say it. He insisted on meeting the general to report it in person."
After pondering for a moment, Wang Zheng first looked towards Huo Si. The woman understood and immediately led Huo Qi towards the depths of the courtyard.
Watching the beautiful woman's back, Wang Zheng turned to his soldiers and said, "Then let's lure him here."
"Here!"
Watching the soldiers turn around and walk out, after thinking for a while, Wang Zheng added:
"By the way, you go to the kitchen first and ask someone to bring some fresh fruits and prepare new tea."