Ye Hua waved his army to attack Jinling, and the news quickly spread to the city, the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River with a population of one million, was shaky, trembling, and rumors were spreading, from the officialdom to the people, all of them were in chaos.

All kinds of bad news kept coming, so that people panicked, as if it was the end of the world.

"The weak brigade of tens of thousands of people, the name of a champion marquis, scared the princes of Jinling like this, such a courageless rat generation, actually stealing the imperial court and holding power. Let them continue, my Tang Dynasty will die one day! ”

A young official, said angrily, he was dressed in a blue official uniform, only the lowest grade of the imperial history, he had just been admitted to the Jinshi a few years ago, in the officialdom of the Southern Tang Dynasty, he was a very small character, according to the reason, he was not qualified to speak at all.

But this person was quite bold, and he went directly to Chen Qiao, a left-behind university scholar.

Chen Qiao is the prime minister appointed by Li Hongji, he has three advantages, one of which is good writing, excellent pen, and the will he writes is always fair and decent, and he is deeply trusted by Li Hongji.

Secondly, he is very filial, he has been a filial son since he was a child, according to the opinion of Master Confucius, non-filial sons are not loyal ministers, and Chen Qiao is also a standard loyal minister.

In the end, he was obedient, Li Hongji implemented a lot of new laws, and also touched the interests of the old school, and others opposed it, but Chen Qiao, every time he obediently led the order, no matter how difficult it was, he would do his best to do it.

It is these three points that Li Hongji appreciates very much and is attracted to him.

He took Xu Xuan to Yangzhou to supervise the teacher, and entrusted the government affairs of the court to Chen Qiao.

Frankly speaking, if it was a time of peace, or if the country was stable, Chen Qiao would be able to shoulder this burden, but at this juncture, all Chen Qiao's advantages turned into disadvantages.

He is just an obedient follower, but he is not a virtuous man who can turn the tide.

For example, before Ye Hua asked Yang Ye to attack the Southern Tang camp, someone suggested that 30,000 people should be transferred back to Changzhou to hold on, and at the same time strengthen the vigilance of Jiangyin.

But Chen Qiao felt that Ye Hua had just arrived in Suzhou and was unable to launch an attack, not to mention that the army entered the city and disturbed the people, which would inevitably cause resentment among the people...... He hesitated for several days, and finally Chen Qiao finally figured it out and let the horses withdraw, but when the order was sent over, Yang Ye had already broken through the camp and randomly seized Jiangyin, Ren Tianxing Sailor attacked Runzhou, and Ye Hua's troops besieged Changzhou.

At this time, some people suggested that Pan Chengyou's subordinates were all Fujianese, and they were separated from the Southern Tang Dynasty and could not believe that they should send trustworthy people to defend the city.

Chen Qiao looked around, but he didn't find a good general, and he felt that Pan Chengyou was an honest and honest person, who was deeply favored by the Son of Heaven and would definitely fight to the death, so he didn't send troops.

It stands to reason that since he trusted Pan Chengyou, he should have been fully authorized to send military grain and grass over to encourage Pan Chengyou to defend Changzhou, but as a result, he did nothing.

If it is said that one mistake is accidental, then continuous mistakes show that Chen Qiao can only be the prime minister of the peace, and when he encounters a major event, he hesitates, which is really deadly!

Zhang Xun saw through this, so although he was a rookie, although his official position was low, after seeing Chen Qiao, he behaved extremely strongly.

"Xianggong, although Da Zhou is violent, but he is strong on the outside and dry in the middle, it is not worth mentioning!"

Chen Qiao frowned, and said unhappily: "State affairs are difficult, it's not the time to talk big!" ”

"I didn't say anything big!" Zhang Xun said proudly: "Xianggong, Your Majesty commands an army of 300,000 and is stationed in Yangzhou to fight a decisive battle with Guo Rong. According to the news, the Zhou soldiers are short of food, and the morale of the army is floating, if His Majesty can defeat Guo Rong, relieve the siege of Yangzhou, and then bring the victorious soldiers back to Jiangnan, Ye Hua will collapse without a fight, and the others will not be worth mentioning. ”

Chen Qiao pondered his head, "The key to this battle is indeed tied to Your Majesty, but how can our courtiers help Your Majesty share your worries!" ”

Zhang Xun secretly slandered, he didn't even have this decision, what can you do old thing!

"Chen Xianggong, Ye Hua sent troops this time, in my opinion, he should want to attack the capital and shake the morale of the army. The instability of the capital will inevitably affect the morale of the soldiers in front, and once the morale is damaged, it will be difficult for His Majesty to defeat Guo Rong. ”

"Therefore, the top priority is to boost the morale of the army, stabilize Jinling, stabilize Runzhou, and wait for Your Majesty to break the enemy."

Don't really say it, although the official is small, he talks eloquently and calmly, which makes people dare not underestimate him.

Chen Qiao is still a person who cherishes talents very much, he took the initiative to get up, pulled Zhang Xun to sit opposite him, and sighed: "The young man can be said, the so-called national disaster shows loyalty, what are your clever plans, hurry up, the old man will definitely listen to you." ”

Zhang Xun was sincerely afraid, "Chen Xianggong, the current situation is indeed dangerous, but it is not impossible, I think that I can go to Jiangzhou to transfer troops, and let Zhu Lingyun raise an army of 100,000 to rescue Jinling!" ”

mentioned Zhu Lingyun, Chen Qiao woke up like a dream.

That's right, there's still a team of centaurs, how can I forget.

It turned out that Li Hongji, in addition to passing through Wu Yue, also tried to annex Jinghu, and he set up heavy troops in the area of Ezhou and Jiangzhou, with a total of 150,000.

This is also the last big army in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Li Hongji went north to Yangzhou, but he was not willing to transfer.

Now transfer Zhu Lingyun to rescue, is it appropriate?

Chen Qiao made the same mistake again and hesitated.

Zhang Xun was really anxious, "Xianggong, if you don't transfer troops, Ye Huabing is coming to Jinling City, once foreign aid is cut off, millions of people in the city will be short of food, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Yangzhou will be cut off, how can you be worthy of Your Majesty's kindness?" ”

This remark hit Chen Qiao's weakness, he finally figured it out, he couldn't do it if he didn't do it!

"Okay, I'll draft an order for you now, you go to Jiangzhou immediately, ask to see Zhu Lingyun, and ask him to get the men and horses of Jiangzhou and Ezhou, go down the river, and within ten days, rush to the outside of Jinling City!"

"Understood!"

Zhang Xun hurriedly left Jinling with a handwritten message...... As soon as he left, Ye Hua's striker Zheng Yanhua rushed to twenty miles south of Yuhuatai and stationed there.

According to Ye Hua's order, Zheng Yanhua did not attack Jinling, in fact, he only had 5,000 men and horses, and attacking Jiancheng was no different from a moth fighting a fire.

Ye Hua also rushed to the barracks half a day later, and with Ye Hua came, in addition to the large group of people, there were also many carriages, which were filled with sacks.

"Zheng Yanhua, you immediately go around, recruit people, and build fortifications for us, remember, we don't use people in vain, and anyone who works for us will be given salt!"

It turned out that the sacks brought by Ye Hua were all table salt.

As mentioned earlier, due to the sanctions of the Great Zhou, the price of salt in the Southern Tang Dynasty was very high, and a bucket of salt could be sold for 300 Wen, or even 500 Wen, and it must be a real copper coin, and you can't fool around with a lot of money.

Even though it is so expensive, there is a lot of sand mixed in the salt, which is very tricky.

Ye Hua occupied all the salt farms in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and took Huating County, the most important thing is salt, anyone who works for Da Zhou, one pound of salt a day!

At the beginning, those strong laborers saw the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou, and all fled, but two days later, not only did no one run, but some people took the initiative to run to work.

All of them were ragged and haggard, and there was no meat on them, all of them were ribs.

But the work was not sloppy, from morning to night, busy, the military camp was built, the trenches were dug out, and the earthen walls were piled up...... They are like ants, working hard.

When the sun went down, the soldiers of the Great Zhou would send everyone to the campfire and line up to receive salt.

One pound per person, no more, no less.

The moment they got the salt, many people cried.

This is hard currency!

As if holding a treasure, they came to the side, stared carefully, the white salt grains, without any impurities, grabbed one grain, put it in their mouths, it was bitter and salty, but no one was willing to vomit, swallowed it all.

On the third day, these people even called their friends and townsmen, and they worked for Da Zhou together, and they didn't feel anything wrong at all.

After all, a court that can't even afford to eat salt really has nothing to be nostalgic for.

Five days later, the barracks for 50,000 men and three trenches two feet wide were completed...... But there were still people who were reluctant to leave, and they gathered around the Great Zhou military camp, begging constantly, hoping to get a little work, even if it was only half a catty of salt a day.

Facing this scene, Ye Hua showed a satisfied smile.

"Folks, I've heard that many officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty have said that our Da Zhou is a cannibal ghost with a blue face and fangs, but in fact, they are all lying to you! Our soldiers in the Great Zhou are all good families, fair in business, and never oppress the good, this time to go to the south of the Yangtze River, but also to sweep away the rebels, so that everyone can live a good life. If there are people in your family who serve in the army, tell them that if they take refuge in the Great Zhou, they will not only be guilty of the past, but they will also be able to get a share of the land. If you can bring one person, I will give one pound of salt, and if you bring two people, I will give two pounds of salt, and so on. ”

After hearing this, these people's eyes lit up, and finally they had work again, they ran away, looking at the backs of these people, Zheng Yanhua was dumbfounded.

"Oh my God! Master Hou, you, you are going to use salt to buy Jinling City! ”

Ye Hua shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "You can't buy it, but it's enough to shake people's hearts." I have sent to inquire about the salt that has been paid a high price for the salt in the hands of the people. ”

Zheng Yanhua was puzzled, and Ye Hua laughed loudly: "There are people in the city who are making a fortune, Jinling City seems to be monolithic, but in fact it is not much better than honeycomb!" ”

Ye Hua's move, the city naturally knew, they were angry and hateful, but helpless, Zhu Lingyun's army had not arrived, and they did not dare to go out of the city.

Just let Ye Hua toss, what else?

Chen Qiao just ordered to be on strict guard, not allowed to trade with Da Zhou, let alone do things for Da Zhou.

Such a weak order has no deterrent effect. From the third day onwards, the black market in the city has appeared one after another in the big week of salt, greedy for cheap people crazy to buy and hoard, the news spread ten, ten hundreds...... The salt capital has entered the city, will Zhou Bing be far away?

When Chen Qiao got the news, he was furious and immediately ordered to seal down the black market and arrest the relevant personnel.

Don't say it, let him catch a big fish - Song Xun, the former prime minister and nephew of Song Qiqiu, the Duke of Chu, smuggled 20,000 catties of salt from outside the city, worth 1,000 yuan, and let Chen Qiao catch it, what should I do about it?