The sky cleared up after the heavy snow, and the world was wrapped in silver.
Inside the pavilion, beside the stove, Shao Pingbo finished reading the copied reports and pushed a stack of confidential documents to the desk.
The Blackwater Station staff took the confidential letters and burned them after reading them. They piled the less confidential ones on the side of the desk, ready for Shao Pingbo to read at any time.
After the Blackwater Station staff finished burning what needed to be burned and left, Shao Sansheng offered hot tea to Shao Pingbo, who was deep in thought. He asked, "Is it serious this time?"
Shao Pingbo seemed to be talking to himself. "The change in Cangzhou shocked the world. This is a drastic change that can change the structure of the world. It is not something that Nanzhou's attack on Dingzhou can compare to. Nanzhou's attack on Dingzhou is an internal matter of the Yan Kingdom. It is an internal conflict of interest. Niu Youdao still wants to borrow the power of the Yan Kingdom. Anyone with eyes knows that he will not make a big deal out of it. The change in Cangzhou is different. It is a real collusion between the inside and the outside. It is a real rebellion. Anyone with eyes knows that the shadow of the Song and Han Kingdoms is behind this. "
Shao Sansheng: "Tai-shu Xiong …"
Shao Pingbo suddenly raised his eyes and his gaze shot out.
"Uh …" Shao Sansheng quickly changed his words. "It is His Majesty. Hasn't His Majesty already sent people to pressure the two countries?"
Shao Pingbo looked at the silver fox cloak on his body and raised his hand to touch it. "It is not only His Majesty. According to the Blackwater Station, Qi and Wei are also pressuring the Han and Song. The three Western countries do not want to see any of the four Eastern countries become powerful, but it is beyond their reach. The Han and Song will not care. Even if the Qi Kingdom threatened to cut off the supply of warhorses, it would still be difficult for the two kingdoms to waver. The two kingdoms are well aware that there is no harm in cutting off the supply now. The attitudes between kingdoms will always change. As long as the two kingdoms succeed, the Qi Kingdom can only accept reality. "
Shao Sansheng: "Zhao is in a critical position. What is Zhao's attitude?"
Shao Pingbo: "The internal situation of the Yan Kingdom is very similar to the situation of the Qin Kingdom before it was destroyed. This is a rare opportunity after the Qin Kingdom was destroyed. There is a chance to eat to their heart's content, and no one wants to miss it. Hai Wuji was not someone to be trifled with. He also wanted a share of the pie, but due to the pressure from the Philippines, his attitude was currently wavering. The Six Kingdoms all have something to ask of him, so Hai Wuji must take this opportunity to reap the benefits. He'll first reap the benefits before anything else. When the time comes, it'll be up to him whether or not to send troops to intervene. "
Shao Sansheng said worriedly, "If Yan can't hold on any longer, won't the master of the Northern State be in danger?"
This was not a groundless worry. Just because of the Shao enterprise's change, the State of Korea would not let Shao Dengyun go after it succeeded.
"I was just about to talk to you about this. His Majesty has already thought ahead and will send someone to receive him." Shao Pingbo propped his hands on the table and stood up. He walked out of his seat and paced back and forth. "The problem now is that we need Father's cooperation. Otherwise, it will be difficult to take him out by force. But his father would not easily abandon his brothers. He could not tell his father about this directly, otherwise he would definitely refuse. Therefore, you need to find a way to contact the old butler, Yang Shuang. Just say that you are leaving a way out for Father and hope that he will consider for Father's sake. You must be able to persuade him and let him secretly prepare for the rescue. Once the situation goes wrong, he will immediately cooperate with Father from inside and outside and bring him safely to Jin State. "
Shao Sansheng nodded repeatedly. "Okay, I'll arrange it as soon as possible."
Shao Pingbo walked to the railing and stopped. He sneered with his hands behind his back. "This time, Niu Youdao is in big trouble!"
…
In the Thatched Cottage Villa, Niu Youdao stood on the lofty attic and looked into the distance.
He had been like this for the past few days. Everyone in the villa felt the impact of Yan's drastic change on the Thatched Cottage Villa.
Gongsun Bu, in particular, was asked by Niu Youdao to strengthen the collection of intelligence on the Han and Song Kingdoms.
It was windy high up. Guan Fangyi climbed up the attic, her dress fluttering in the wind. She walked to the side of Niu Youdao, who was standing with a sword in his hand. She reminded him, "Do you see that pavilion over there? Someone has been watching you. Your appearance makes her very uneasy."
Niu Youdao knew who she was talking about. He said with a hint of melancholy, "A storm is brewing. Heiyun is threatening to destroy the city. The Thatched Cottage Villa is like a small boat in the raging waves!"
Guan Fangyi felt the pressure in his words. "It's not just her. Daoye, you are everyone's backbone. If even you are like this, it makes everyone very uneasy. Cheer up. I believe in you. There is no road ahead that you can't cross. "
Niu Youdao shook his head. "I am not a sage. I can take shortcuts, but when it comes to big situations, I have never experienced it. I don't have much confidence and I can't be sure. Hong Niang, to tell you the truth, I am trying to deal with it based on the situation. I am already thinking about where we should move once the Yan family can't hold on. But I can't take all the people in Nanzhou with me. "
Guan Fangyi was silent. She understood the great pressure he was under. Under the general trend, Nanzhou was actually vulnerable. No matter how good Nanzhou was at fighting, it couldn't hold on against the serious Yan imperial court. If it couldn't even hold on against the Yan imperial court, how could it hold on against the powerful enemies that attacked the interior of the Yan family? If things really reached that point, it would mean that he would have to give up the painstaking efforts he had made in Nanzhou, and at the same time, it would mean that he would have to give up some people.
She understood that once some things were done, there was no way to give an explanation to those who had given up, and there was no way to face his own heart. This was an extremely difficult choice.
As the wind blew, someone came upstairs. It was Yuan Gang. Seeing that Guan Fangyi was also there, he stopped at the top of the stairs and didn't come over.
Guan Fangyi looked back and suddenly looked unhappy. She could see that Yuan Gang must have some secret matter that he couldn't say in front of her.
She hated this about Yuan Gang the most, but with the incident with Uncle Chen, she didn't have the confidence to speak in certain aspects.
Something was wrong. Niu Youdao also looked back and then looked at Guan Fangyi, who was rolling her eyes, curling her lips, and snorting coldly. He couldn't help but be amused. The hand holding the sword loosened and turned to face Yuan Gang.
Only then did Yuan Gang walk over and hand him two secret letters.
The first letter. Niu Youdao glanced at the paper and casually replied, "No reply." Then he handed it to Guan Fangyi.
Guan Fangyi glanced at Yuan Gang coldly, as if to say, "It's still in my hands."
She looked down at the contents of the letter and understood what Niu Youdao meant by "no reply." It was another letter from Tang Yi through Yuan Gang and Weiguo's communication channel. She was representing Weiguo as a lobbyist, persuading Niu Youdao to defect to Weiguo.
This wasn't the first time Tang Yi had sent a letter. Niu Youdao never replied. He didn't give any reply at all.
Yuan Gang was indifferent to her disdain.
As for the second letter, its origin was not small. It was a secret letter from the Grand Minister of the Yan imperial court, Gao Jiancheng.
Recently, Niu Youdao had been closely monitoring the situation and took the initiative to contact Gao Jiancheng.
The main idea of the letter was:
This matter concerns the nation. There is no possibility of the imperial court withdrawing the heavily fortified troops gathered at the borders. They won't give the Han and Song Kingdoms an easy chance to invade. Currently, the troops from the prefectures near Cangzhou have adopted the tactic of constant harassment to delay the rebel army in Cangzhou. The imperial court has successfully forced the three major sects to make a move. The three major sects have also forced a few feudal vassals to mobilize troops to the Cangzhou region to encircle and suppress the rebel army.
Although the feudal vassals have sent troops, they are unwilling to exhaust their resources. They are unwilling to bear the full burden of money and food. In turn, they are forcing the imperial court to provide military supplies. The imperial court has no choice but to agree. If they don't provide military supplies, the feudal vassals can use the excuse of not having enough to eat and can't move at any time to stop marching.
Currently, the Minister of Public Works, Tong Mo, is in charge of raising military supplies. There is no longer any profit to be made from the commoners. Tong Mo's words are very powerful. The wealthy families who are on good terms with Tong Mo are very supportive. Their own people are the first to set an example. After that, they mercilessly take action against those who don't cooperate. Those who are guilty will be dealt with according to the law. Those who are innocent will be framed and confiscated. More than a dozen families were destroyed and many people were killed. There were officials among them. However, Shang Jianxiong turned a blind eye to this.
Tong Mo's actions shocked many people. Finally, a large number of wealthy families are forced to help generously. Within ten days, over a hundred million gold coins have been raised. Moreover, the situation is not out of control. This makes Shang Jianxiong very happy!
After that, under Tong Mo's suggestion, the imperial court did not allocate all of the over a hundred million gold coins to the feudal vassals. They can't feed the feudal vassals' troops. They are worried that the feudal vassals will not do anything after taking the money. Therefore, they only took out about ten million gold coins for emergency use. They were sent in batches to supervise the feudal vassals' troops. The remaining ninety million gold coins were secretly kept by the imperial court for emergency use.
This is a top secret of the imperial court. In the imperial court, only the Minister of Public Works, Tong Mo, the Minister of War, Shang Yongzhong, and the Minister of War, Gao Jiancheng, know about this.
What's more, Tong Mo felt that it is not a good idea to rely on the power of Yan State alone. Therefore, he took the opportunity to drag the three western states into this mess. He made Jin State agree to lend him a large number of weapons, Wei State agree to lend him a large number of food, and Qi State agree to lend him a hundred thousand warhorses.
At present, Yan can't take out the money and can only borrow it. He said that he will repay it slowly in the future.
The three western states are urgently gathering materials to be sent to Yan in batches. They want to help Yan defeat the conspiracy of Han and Song.
Tong Mo took this opportunity to help Yan obtain a strong national capital and turn a bad thing into a good thing.
Tong Mo said that he is borrowing it, but he has no intention of paying it back.
Emperor Shang Jianxiong was pleased and praised Tong Mo for being experienced and a pillar of the state. Tong Mo's position is becoming more and more stable!
At the end of the letter, it is mentioned that the war is urgent. The Minister of War, Shang Yongzhong, should go to the frontline in person. However, Shang Yongzhong is worried that he will lose his position if the war goes badly. Therefore, he finds an excuse not to leave the capital. Shang Jianxiong is also worried about Shang Yongzhong's ability and does not force him.
In the end, no matter how many things Tong Mo brings, the real key is the victory of the war. Once the war is lost, all the things will belong to others.
Gao Jiancheng told Niu Youdao to be careful. Tong Mo suggested that if the war goes badly, he will ask the three major sects to force the Nanzhou army to eliminate the rebel army!
Tong Mo is a vicious person. Once the Nanzhou army leaves their nest and territory, even if they win, it will be difficult for them to go back.
Consuming the Nanzhou army is one of the reasons. Without the supply of resources from their territory, Tong Mo can cut off the supply of the Nanzhou army at any time. Without food, the army can not go back to Nanzhou.
After reading the letter, Niu Youdao secretly sighed. No matter how vicious Tong Mo is, he has been a minister for so many years. He is really not someone to be trifled with. At the critical moment, he can still turn the tide and support this broken ship of Yan State. In the past, I have always heard bad things about him.
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