The two chief ministers entered the east side hall and saw Zhao Yanxun standing at the sand table in the hall, accompanied by two privy councilors, and Lin Dagui standing on the south side of the sand table.
"See Your Highness!"
"No gift!"
When the two chief historians got up, Zhao Yanxun waved to them and motioned them to come to the sand table.
Looking at Beidi County on the sand table, Zhao Yanxun said: "A few months ago, I sent Lin Dagui to Beidi County to investigate the situation here!"
"In the past five months, I must have found out a lot of useful information, so I invite you all to come and listen together today!"
Crossing his arms, Zhao Yanxun said calmly: "Lin Baihu, let's start!"
"I accept your order!"
After sorting out his thoughts, Lin Dagui said: "In the autumn of the 23rd year of Tai'an, the Hu people from the north gathered outside the military pass and continued to harass our border. In order to prevent the Hu people from invading southward... the imperial court mobilized a lot of troops into the north!"
"By the spring of the 24th year of Tai'an, Beidi County had gathered tens of thousands of troops. It was also at that time that monsters broke out and news from various places was cut off!"
These situations are known to everyone in the palace, especially Cheng Wenguang and Chen Anmin. As local officials in Longyou, they are very busy with these matters.
"Monsters broke out, but the population of Beidi County is sparse, and the situation is slightly better than that of Longyou, so the armies of Beidi County survived a lot!"
Hearing this, Zhao Yanxun asked: "A lot of the troops stationed in the North have survived, which means... not many people have survived?"
Lin Dagui replied: "Monsters invade and people suffer, not even one out of ten can survive!"
Everyone present had expected this result, and Longyou was almost in the same situation.
Zhao Yanxun said again: "Tell me about these imperial troops and what their structure is!"
"After the monster broke out, all the armies in the North were in chaos and fighting on their own...now they have become three forces!"
"They are the Forbidden Army on one side, the North Guards on the other, and the reinforcements from various guards on the other!"
Pointing to the sand table in front, Lin Dagui introduced: "The Forbidden Army is entrenched in the Wuding Mansion area, with a strength of about 20,000, including nearly 10,000 cavalry!"
The imperial army was the elite of the Jin court, and the cavalry was the elite among the elite. Zhao Yanxun's expression became solemn when he heard this.
The 20,000 soldiers on the side of the Forbidden Army alone pose a huge threat to Longyou, who has less than 20,000 soldiers.
"Among the Forbidden Army, Long Zhi's left guard is the strongest. He has five thousand cavalry under his command. The commander Xu Longsheng suppresses the rest of the guards and leads the guards of the Forbidden Army alone!"
Seeing Zhao Yanxun and others looking thoughtful, Lin Dagui did not rush to continue.
What he just said carried a large amount of information, and everyone present had to slowly digest it and evaluate the situation.
After a few breaths, I heard Zhao Yanxun say: "Go on!"
"yes!"
"Of the three forces, the Forbidden Army is the strongest, followed by the Northern Capital Division!"
"When the war was about to break out, the Beidi Dusi transferred manpower from various guards. The original strength was nearly 60,000. After the melee, there were only more than 40,000 men left. Now they occupy the northern part of Bei'an Mansion and Yangling Mansion!"
After the Forbidden Army entered the Northland, they were pushed to the front line, and the Northland guards who were originally in the front retreated.
"Now the Beidi Guards Station is the former capital commander Qianshi in charge of the army, and the capital commander Li Jing was killed by him!"
Hearing this, Zhou Chengping couldn't help but cursed: "Rebellious ministers and traitors!"
Zhao Yanxun did not comment. When the apocalypse comes, survival comes first. Who cares about the rules of the court?
Looking at the general terrain of Bei'an Mansion on the sand table, Zhao Yanxun continued: "Keep talking!"
"The last party is the army from various garrison stations to reinforce the Northland. There are nearly 50,000 troops. Among them, Guangyang Dusi is the strongest, with more than 15,000 troops!"
Nodding, Zhao Yanxun said: "So these foreign guards are led by the Guangyang Commander-in-Chief!"
"Reporting to your lord, although the Guangyang Dusi is strong, its internal armies each defend their own side, and they are just barely united to fight against the Imperial Army together with the Northern Dusi!"
Lin Dagui's sentence directly explained the relationship between the three parties.
Two weak versus one strong, a tripartite confrontation.
At this moment, several ministers in the palace also had a clearer understanding of the situation in Beidi County.
"I remember that this time the imperial court used troops and appointed a governor to control the troops and horses of various ministries. Did this governor do nothing?" Zhao Yanxun turned his back to everyone and asked.
Looking at Zhao Yanxun's back, Lin Dagui bowed and replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, I have known about this matter. When the monster broke out, Governor Wang Chengxun tried his best to suppress the various ministries and asked them to protect the country and the people... and severely punished those who disobeyed military orders!"
"At the beginning of the monster outbreak, this Governor Wang chopped off the heads of one commander, seven Qianhu and twenty-eight Hundreds!"
Turning around, Zhao Yanxun said in a deep voice: "So, this Commander Wang... is very strict in managing the army!"
At this time, Chen Anmin said: "Your Highness, Governor Wang Chengxun, his ancestor was the founding duke of the country. When it was passed down to the sixth generation, because there was a scum in the government that harmed the people, Emperor Mu Zong was so angry that he demoted him to one rank!"
Emperor Mu Zong was the grandfather of Emperor Tai'an, so this was at least fifty or sixty years ago.
"Wang Chengxun inherited the title of Marquis in his family and has been working hard to revive the family!"
Speaking of this, Chen Anmin couldn't help but sigh: "This man is indeed capable. He has participated in many wars. At the age of twenty-two, he was appointed to the Imperial Army. In twenty years... he was promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Former Army.
Doctor Lu!"
The former military commander has reached the pinnacle of his military service. The key is that he is only forty-two years old.
"It seems that this man wants to make great achievements and restore his position as Duke of the country, so he runs the army very strictly!" Zhao Yanxun said in a deep voice.
Looking at Lin Dagui, Zhao Yanxun then asked: "Why did the northern armies finally lose control?"
Lin Dagui replied: "Reporting to your highness, in May of the 24th year of Tai'an, this Wangdushi was inspecting the city defense and was shot to death by an arrow from behind!"
In May, that is, two months after the zombie outbreak, it had only been a month since Zhao Yanxun arrived in Longyou.
Without the support of the imperial court, the so-called governor was just a title. Wang Chengxun brutally suppressed various ministries and was destined to be killed.
It's a pity that Governor Wang spent most of his life working for the Zhongxing family, but in the end it was all in vain.
When everyone was silent, Lin Dagui continued: "Your Majesty, I also found out in Beidi County that the scouts sent by the Forbidden Army have crossed the river to find out our situation!"
"The Forbidden Army has sent people to the Northern Capital Division, and they want to join forces with them to go south to seize our food and city!"
This is the real breaking news, and only by combining the previous foreshadowing can we know how serious the situation is.
Lin Dagui continued: "The three parties are already prepared for this, and they may send troops when they can!"
The Forbidden Army is sending spies, and the Northern Dusi is also sending spies. There is no way to guard against these people.
Just listen to Guan Hetai say: "Your Highness, the situation is not optimistic, our military needs must be prepared early!"
