Chen Mingzhen stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the clouds and clouds in the river, the worries that pressed on his heart were always difficult to solve, the low-hanging clouds seemed to be pressing on his heart, and the sky was so overcast that it seemed to be snowing.

Hangzhou has not seen snow for several years, Chen Mingzhe looked at the sky, looked like it was going to snow, his worries were heavier, rain and snow weather, Huaidong soldiers and horses could not go north faster.

Although Xiaoshan is on the south bank of the Qianjiang River, it has always been subordinate to Hangzhou, and it is also Huaidong who sent troops to recover Xiaoshan, and the Hanghu Army wanted to use the Huaidong Naval Army to fight against the Zhejiang and Fujian troops in the upper reaches of the Qianjiang River, so Xiaoshan was temporarily placed under the jurisdiction of the Zhedong Establishment Division.

On the river south of the southern foot of Nanping Mountain, dozens of specially made cabinless flat-headed boats are anchored and locked, connected by iron chains, and paved with pallets to form a pontoon bridge that is more than four miles wide and long, spanning the Qianjiang River and connecting Hangzhou and Xiaoshan.

A team of mules and horses was carrying supplies from Xiaoshan to Hangzhou.

After Lin Jian arrived in Xiaoshan, he sent people to Hangzhou on the 13th to negotiate, wanting to borrow the road from Hangzhou and Lake to help Jiangning.

It is not simply a matter of transit, taking the land route through Hanghu Lake into Jiangning, the logistics supply of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses is a big problem, and Lin Tie intends to directly take over the defense of Changxing County, the capital of Huzhou, by the Huaidong Army.

When the Zhejiang-Fujian army obtained sufficient materials from Huizhou that originally belonged to the western Zhejiang army, the Huaidong army would be in a very disadvantageous position when it entered the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain.

Changxing County is located in the northwest of Huzhou Prefecture, next to Taihu Lake, Huaidong grain and grass can be launched directly from Chongzhou, from Jiyang into Taihu Lake, to Changxing County, with Changxing County as a logistics transit base, will be able to effectively support Huaidong soldiers and horses in the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain to Maoshan line and other broad areas to fight with the Zhejiang and Fujian army.

But in the face of Lin Lian's request, not only after Meng Yishan left, Wang Yue, the general judge of the Hangzhou Prefecture and the military envoy of the Hanghu Army, who was in charge of the affairs of northern Zhejiang, hesitated, even Chen Huawen, the deputy general of the Hanghu Army who stayed in Hangzhou, was confused for a while and did not stand up to support this request of the Huaidong Army.

Hangzhou discussed behind closed doors for a day, and decided to send soldiers and horses to defend Changxing County with the Huaidong Army, and also proposed to send officials to accompany and supervise the transit of Huaidong soldiers and horses.

Meng Yishan was ordered to lead the troops into Liyang, the situation for the Hanghu army suddenly became severe, if the Huaidong soldiers and horses could not go north in time, the Hanghu army was more than 10,000 tired soldiers, and they would have to resist the Zhejiang-Fujian army alone between the west ridge of Taihu Lake and Maoshan Mountain.

The private letter between Meng Yishan and Chen Xiyan reached Hangzhou and reached Chen Huawen's hands on the 16th, and on the next day, the Hanghu Army lost a series of battles with the Zhejiang-Fujian army in Yaojiachong, Saitang and other places in the south of Liyang, and was forced to retreat to Liyang, which had no danger to defend. It was not until the 17th that Chen Huawen took Meng Yishan's letter and forced Wang Yue to bow his head and agreed to unconditionally hand over Changxing County to the Huaidong Army to take over, but the most precious four days had been wasted.

On the 18th, more than 300 sentinels of the Huaidong Army went north to spy on the deployment of enemy troops at the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain.

Although it was rainy weather on the 19th, fortunately, the rain was not strong after the winter, and the Huaidong Army's baggage troops still used a large number of mules, horses and camels to transport some materials, and followed the troops to the north, but the main force of soldiers and horses could not be pulled out in such weather.

Chen Huawen stayed in Hangzhou and couldn't leave, and even had to guard against the Zhejiang-Fujian army from Dusong Pass and Qianqiu Pass to attack Anji and Linshui, and he had to keep an eye on the defense over there, and he was even more worried about the delay of the Huaidong soldiers and horses - if the Huaidong soldiers and horses were delayed for a day, Meng Yishan, who was guarding Liyang, would be one more threat. Although Meng Yishan's greedy behavior made Chen Huawen dislike it in his heart, Meng Yishan's decision to destroy the Zhejiang-Fujian army in Liyang would damage the overall strength of the Hanghu Army and Chen Xiyan's faction, which was definitely not what Chen Huawen was willing to see.

Rushing Chen Mingzhe from Jiaxing to Hangzhou, Chen Huawen could only let Chen Mingzhe go to Xiaoshan to meet Lin Lian.

Chen Mingzhe crossed the river by boat at the Nanpingshan ferry, but he didn't feel the wind was strong on land, and after getting on the boat, he felt that the waves were shaking, and it was a pontoon bridge in the distance, and it was also blown to shake left and right with the river waves, and he often had to use two or three people to pull the mules, horses and livestock across the bridge, so as not to let the mules and horses be frightened and interrupt the whole process of crossing the river.

The ferry port on the south bank is full of military camps. One after another, until outside the northern city of Xiaoshan, it is impossible to see how many soldiers and horses Huaidong has gathered in Xiaoshan.

Huaidong sent officials, and Chen Mingzhe followed him into Xiaoshan City, just in time for Lin to enter the city from the south gate, and met Chen Mingzhe before proceeding. Lin Jian sat on horseback with a whip, looked at Chen Mingzhe, and said with a smile: "How can Mingzhen have the leisure time to come to Xiaoshan?" ”

"General Yishan is trapped in Liyang's unfavorable engagement with the enemy, and hopes that Huaidong soldiers and horses will come to relieve the siege," Chen Mingzhen saluted, and now Lin Lian's status is far from being comparable to him, and said, "The Hanghu army can't stand the toss on those little foundations, and I also ask the Duke of Pengcheng to help!" He took out a private message written by Chen Xiyan to Lin Jian from his arms, "This is Chen Xiang's letter to Peng Chenggong......"

Lin Lian turned over and dismounted, handed over the horse whip and horse to Sui Hu, took the letter, and opened it in front of the gate to see, and between the lines, you could feel Chen Xiyan's sincere heart that he was exhausted and still had to exhaust his efforts for the imperial court.

Lin Jian put the letter away, and his heart was full of emotion.

Chen Xiyan can't say that there is no flaw in virtue, in order to compete for the position, he even did not hesitate to connive at the Qu family bandits to ignore Gu Wuchen and him to the death to smear the Chu Party, this method is not only far from bright, it can even be said to be very vicious, but after Chen Xiyan became the first assistant, he rarely had any selfish intentions, and he was always trying his best to stabilize half of the Yuan family.

Maybe in Chen Xiyan's heart, for the sake of the overall situation, he can do whatever it takes, which is quite similar to Tang Haoxin, so that Lin Tie can hardly remember the old hatred against Chen Xiyan.

"There is a soldier and horse that will cross the river and go north tonight, looking at the weather, I'm afraid I won't be able to make the trip......" Lin Jian looked up at the sky, and didn't say anything.

Chen Mingzhe is not easy to say anything, the pontoon bridge is already steep and narrow, he has seen it with his own eyes, and the wind and waves blow and shake endlessly, if it rains or rains at night, it is impossible to let a large number of soldiers and horses pass, even if the boats and boats cross each other, there are not enough boats, and if you want to cross the river with 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers and horses, it is far slower than taking the pontoon bridge.

Lin Jian invited Chen Mingzhen to walk side by side with him, and introduced Huaidong's plan to send troops as he went, saying: "As long as it is not raining heavily tomorrow, I will send another 9,000 soldiers and horses; Next, I will personally lead more than 20,000 infantry armor to think that the Chinese army, and the rear army will have 20,000 infantry armor and baggage troops to be dispatched, but when the main force of Huaidong soldiers and horses marches west along the southern foot of the Taihu Lake West Ridge, it should be after the 28th, can Meng Yishan hold out until that time in Liyang? ”

Crossing the river from Xiaoshan to Liyang, about 400 miles of twists and turns, in the case of about 20,000 troops of the Zhejiang-Fujian army at the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain, Lin Bin's plan was completed in less than seven days, and the speed was not fast, the key was whether Meng Yishan could hold up in Liyang until the main force of Huaidong soldiers and horses arrived.

Chen Mingzhen was also worried in his heart, but he would not show cowardice in front of Lin Lian, and he was also afraid that Lin Lian would have more excuses to delay the dispatch of troops, and Meng Yishan's situation in Liyang was more dangerous, so he just said: "Chen Xiang has always said that Peng Chenggong is a person who values affection and righteousness and takes the overall situation into account, and the court is dangerous, and Peng Chenggong must be the mainstay that the court can rely on......"

"I have always respected Chen Xiang, even if Chen Xiangming knew that Huaidong was worried about the Jiangning Incident and worked hard to raise 10,000 soldiers and horses in Hailing half a year ago, Chen Xiang finally hoped that the Hanghu Army would advance to Jiangning, and I had no complaints! Even if Chen Xiangchao is worried and worried that I will be Cao Cao, I have no complaints about Chen Xiang! Chen Xiang deliberately wants to use Dong Yuan and Yue Lengqiu to balance Huaidong, and I still have no complaints about Chen Xiang! Lin Jian directly led Chen Mingzhen into the official hall, and saw Chen Mingzhe hearing the word "Cao Cao" in his mouth, his body trembled obviously, standing at the door, and said with an unchanged face, "Even if there are all kinds of injustices and speculations, I am sincere to the court and loyal as before; Presumably the same is true of Chen Xiang, which is also where I respect Chen Xiang, which is called 'pampering and not being surprised'. However, no matter how much you are pampered and humiliated, you can't stop the monarch and the ministers from suspicious. Before the autumn, Chen Xiang kowtowed in front of the palace and bled out, and he couldn't stop the emperor's determination to bury the good situation with his own hands. Meng Yishan led the Hanghu Army to the north, intending to enter Jiangning City to assist in defense, even if he was a little selfish, but he was also loyal and sincere to the imperial court. 10,000 Jiangnan brave soldiers were sent to the emperor under the knife of the luxury family! The luxury family is begging for the opportunity to attack it without a split and break it, the Huaidong soldiers and horses have not moved, and the Hanghu army has taken the initiative to send it to the blade, how can the luxury family be soft-hearted? ”

Chen Mingzhen stood there stunned, he thought that Lin Jian would hide it even if he was ambitious, where did he think that he would not hide the slightest accusation of Emperor Yongxing's mistakes?

"The emperor's mistake lies in his fear of wolves and tigers, indecisiveness and indecisive temperament, and all the low-hanging fruit wins and turnarounds are buried one by one, Cheng Si is painful!" Lin Jian didn't care about Chen Mingzhe's face, and said to himself, "Brother Mingzhe, do you think what I said is right?" ”

"......" Chen Mingzhen smiled reluctantly and said, "What Peng Chenggong is worried about is beyond Mingzhe'...... reach."

"You don't have to keep an eye on the Huaidong soldiers and horses in Xiaoshan," Lin Jian said, "I will cross the river the day after tomorrow at the latest, and I won't say anything to Brother Mingzhe." As soon as you believe me, over there in Hangzhou, you have to coordinate with Brother Mingzhen on your behalf......"

Lin Jian had already said that he was so dead, and he had no intention of staying as a guest, and Chen Mingzhe couldn't die in Xiaoshan, and after meeting Fu Qinghe, Song Fu, Gao Zongting, Liang Wenzhan and others, he hurriedly crossed the river and returned to Hangzhou.

When crossing the river, sleet fell from the sky, Chen Mingzhe was more depressed and worried, this kind of weather, even if the Huaidong soldiers and horses were pulled, the speed would be much slower than usual, I only hope that Liyang is also rainy and snowy weather, which can block the offensive of the luxury family against the Hanghu army.

Meng Yishan led his troops to the north, Su Pinxiao also led a naval army to the north into Taihu Lake, Chen Huawen took on the responsibility of staying behind, nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses were mainly stationed in Fuyang, Linshui, and Anji, and he himself was in Hangzhou to coordinate the transit of Huaidong soldiers and horses.

Seeing Chen Mingzhen returning at night in the rain and snow, Chen Huawen asked eagerly: "When will the Huaidong soldiers and horses be able to pull out?" ”

"Tomorrow, as long as it is not snowing, there will be nearly 10,000 elites going north......" Chen Mingzhen only hurriedly ate a few mouthfuls of food in Xiaoshan, and his body was also wet with rain and snow, wet, and went into the city to Chen Huawen's house in Hangzhou, cold and hungry, he is also a dignified prefect of Jiaxing, and he is too down-and-out, Chen Mingzhen told the second uncle Chen Huawen the plan that Lin Tie promised to send troops, and also told Lin Tie some of the words judged on the recent situation, and asked, "Second uncle, what kind of thoughts do you say Lin Tie has?" ”

Chen Huawen pondered for a moment, inhaled a cool breath and said, "I'm afraid Lin Lian's words are said to our Chen family!" ”

Chen Mingzhen has never thought about this, and after being reminded by his second uncle Chen Huawen, he thought: Isn't it, Lin Jian is really warning the Chen family not to be indecisive and bury the good situation that the Chen family is facing in front of him!

Chen Mingzhe sat there with a pale face, without saying a word!