Huaixi 100,000 soldiers and horses, the withdrawn Changhuai army accounted for nearly half, the current military pressure on the Wuyang side is not large, to go west to encircle and suppress the remnants of Chen Hansan, and unite Liang Chengchong to fight Luo Xiancheng, Tao Chun as the commander of the Western Front is a matter of course. Tao Chun himself thought so too, and when he heard that Dong Yuan intended to solve the threat on the Western Front first, he took the initiative to ask for help.

Dong Yuan put his hands behind his back, looked at the mountains on the other side, and said: "It's good for General Tao to take the initiative to ask for battle, but after Chen Zhihu enters Henan, the western front can only be slowly plotted, to avoid startling the snake, at present, we can only use the name of encircling and suppressing Chen Hansan to increase troops in Xinyang, and only after Liang Chengchong has a firm foothold in Nanyang, can he go to Tuluo to offer his ...... again."

Nanyang is located in the Nanyang Basin of the western foot of Huaishan-Tongbai Mountain, is the place where the south ship and the north horse are exchanged, goes south along the river, can pass through the Han River, and can go to Henan by going out of the city road, which is the traffic channel of Jingxiang in the south and Ruluo in the north.

Nanyang was occupied by Luo Xiancheng, but during Chen Zhihu's appointment as Henan's envoy, the soldiers were very sharp, Luo Xiancheng was afraid, took the initiative to give up Nanyang, retreated to Xiangfan in the south of Nanyang, and distanced himself from Chen Zhihu's department, and then Luo Xiancheng intended to go south, wanting to respond to the luxury family, and put pressure on Luzhou and Jiangxi, and never returned to occupy Nanyang.

In recent years, Luo Xiancheng has hesitated between recruiting and not recruiting, and he has no intention of expanding his power to Nanyang, but Nanyang has been plundered by Luo Xiancheng, and all counties are ten rooms and nine empty.

Liang Chengchong led his troops into Nanyang a few years ago, but in fact he only occupied a piece of land, and he had to rely on Hezhong Mansion in the north and Huaixi in the east to gain a firm foothold in Nanyang, but it was by no means easy.

Liang Chengchong has not yet gained a firm foothold in Nanyang, so Huaixi went to fight Luo Xiancheng vigorously, not afraid of 10,000, afraid of what if, afraid that Luo Xiancheng would go out, send troops to fight Nanyang, and then surrender Chen Zhihu, and the situation in the north and south of Huaishan will be bad.

It is imperative that Huaixi operate Xinyang first.

Xinyang is the western line of Huaixi, the northern foot of the Huaishan-Tongbai Mountain junction, also known as Yiyang, adjacent to Nanyang, is an important place in southern Henan, but it is also devastated by the flow of disasters and becomes a remnant land.

At noon, when the peasant households were lighting fires and burning stoves, standing on the Kip Stone Mountain and looking at the north and south, it was almost impossible to see the smoke rising from the countryside, and the eyes were full of devastation. Liu Tingzhou felt something, his eyes were full of tears, and he didn't know that this mountain and river would have to be ravaged for a long time before it could be cleaned up and let the people live and work in peace and contentment.

Tao Chun had something else in his heart, seeing that Dong Yuan had no intention of letting him go to Shouxinyang, he couldn't help but think about his future way out-

From Jinan to Lu Jingyan, he followed Yue Lengqiu all the way to today. Under Yue Lengqiu's wings, Tao Chun did get a lot of benefits, from the previous generals to the town generals who have tens of thousands of male soldiers in their hands today.

I thought that the Changhuai army would be able to get the dispatch to guard Huaixi, but who would have thought that Yue Lengqiu would be affected by Liu Yefei and Chen Hansan's defection to the enemy, and was forced to resign.

At this time, whether it was the needs of the situation or the decree of the imperial court, Tao Chun had to be restrained by Dong Yuan first.

In the Eastern Fujian Army, Tao Chun had dealt with Dong Yuan for many years, and he couldn't figure out his thoughts. The Huaixi armies, although the Changhuai army has the most soldiers and horses, the strongest, but over the years, running around, fighting in the south and the north, there is always no place to take root, he intends to keep Xinyang, but also wants to learn Huaidong in Xinyang to carry out the battle, no matter how the court fights in the future, there is always a place for him.

It's just that in front of Dong Yuan, Tao Chun is somewhat lacking in confidence.

Others don't care about Tao Chun's little Jiujiu in his heart at this time, after Chu King Yuanhan moved to Shouzhou, he didn't feel that the conditions in Shouzhou were difficult, and he didn't care about the repair of the palace for more than a month, followed Dong Yuan and Liu Tingzhou to wait before and after, inspected the military and politics, observed the people's conditions, and took out tens of thousands of taels of silver from his own pocket to help the refugees, and praised him as a virtuous king for a while.

"Since the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Fu and Cao Cao have built fortifications to defend Huai in Kip Stone Mountain, and recruited displaced people under Kip Stone Mountain, camped in Tuntian, and accumulated military rations, thinking that it was the foundation for guarding Huai," Yuan Hancheng stood on Kip Stone Mountain, and pointed out the intention of the country, and asked Dong Yuan, "Lord Dong, what do you think of what this king said?" ”

Kip Stone Mountain is divided into two mountains in the north and south, the South Mountain is on the south bank of the Huai River, the North Mountain is on the north bank, the two mountains stand in the Huai Mountain, the situation is majestic and dangerous, it is the key point of Shouzhou to defend the palace. In the early years of Huaisi Liuwo, Shouzhou City was destroyed, and the military fortress on Kip Stone Mountain was only left with remnants, only the mighty Huaishui flowed between the cliffs, unchanged for eternity.

"What the prince has seen is very wise, and Dong Yuan is not as good as him." Dong Yuan arched his hand, but he was also worried in his heart.

What Yuan Hancheng said was general, Dong Yuan set up his line in Shouzhou, and also did everything possible to make the king of Chu move to Shouzhou, which meant to run Shouzhou.

The so-called management, the most effective in the past dynasties, is nothing more than the recruitment of displaced people, Guangying Tuntian, the reason why Huaidong can rise, and this also has a great relationship. But to run Shouzhou, you need to invest a lot of resources, and Dong Yuan can't conjure up gold, silver, grain, and straw empty-handed, so what kind of business can you talk about?

As far as the money and grain allocated by Jiangning are two million taels of silver a year, which is not much under the current overstretched regime in Jiangning, but to give Huaixi 100,000 soldiers and horses, and to support Nanyang Liang Chengchong a part of the money and grain every year, and to repair and consolidate the city from Wuyang to Xinyang to Shouzhou, there is not much left.

From Dongyang Mansion to the north, there is hardly a single intact city in Huaixi, and to consolidate the Huaixi defense line, these cities must be repaired. For example, on this Kip Stone Mountain, the fortress must be built immediately, the ferry port must also be built, and a water camp connecting the north and south of the Huai River must be prepared.

Not to mention the recruitment of displaced people, just to straighten out the military and political affairs in Huaixi, and double the amount of silver, Dong Yuan will feel tight, where can he get the extra money and grain to recruit the displaced people, and buy cattle, iron tools, and seeds from other places to hoard the land?

************

After looking at the terrain from Kip Stone Mountain, Dong Yuan returned to his dilapidated but neatly cleaned up line, and asked Tao Chun to be invited.

"Chen Zhihu has entered Henan, and he is currently sharpening his knife Huo Huo, and he wants to use troops against Liang Chengyi of Hezhong Mansion, but the pressure of Vortex Yang is indeed not small, with Xiao Kui'an guarding Vortex Yang, I am not at ease, I can only put the burden on your shoulders, I hope you can understand my difficulties." Dong Yuan said to Tao Chun.

After returning from Kip Stone Mountain, Tao Chun knew that this was the end, but when he heard Dong Yuan say this, he felt better.

Tao Chun licked his lips and said, "Xiao Kuian's didn't fight a tough battle, and Chen Zhihu is in the north, and the adults want to use Xiao Kui'an, and the last general is still a little worried." ”

"It's okay to make meritorious contributions and seal your wife and son, but first of all, you still have to be loyal to the court, everything you and I have is not given by the court?" Dong Yuan said earnestly, "I am relieved that you guard the vortex yang, and I really want Xiao Kuian to go to the letter of the sun, let him fight with Chen Hansan, sharpen it, and only then can it be reused in the future Northern Expedition and the recovery of the homeland...... When it comes to the Northern Expedition, Huaixi will not succeed if it is not operated, Huaixi will not operate well, and the Northern Expedition will have no stamina, just like a fist that is punched out, it is useless to fight fiercely in the first punch, the key is to fight fiercely. At this time, the imperial court was on fire everywhere, and now it has allocated two million taels of silver to Huaixi, which is already the limit, and it is just reluctant to use this silver to raise troops and build cities, and it is necessary to tighten the belt to live, so how can you run Huaixi? ”

"If you put your head on the battlefield, pin your head to your waist to fight the enemy, and deduct your food, your face is too ugly, right?" Tao Chun said with a dark face, thinking that Dong Yuan was going to withhold Changhuaijun's food money, and he was going to be annoyed when he was on fire in his heart.

"You misunderstood me," Dong Yuan asked Tao Chun to calm down for a while, and said, "The 50,000 generals of the Changhuai Army, 250,000 stone rice grains and 350,000 salaries every year, I will not shorten you a single grain, and I will also give you everything else that should be given...... But that's not enough! ”

In addition to the army's food and silver, the soldiers' clothing, shoes and socks, ordnance and arrows, and camp tents and fortresses all consume a lot of money and food; Everyone is licking blood at the edge of the knife, and if they win, they will naturally have a reward for silver, and they will also have a pension for the dead and wounded. But Jiang Ning allocated a total of two million taels of silver to Huaixi, and Tao Chun also knew in his heart that Dong Yuan said that he was not short of him, and he was embarrassed to ask for more.

"Hmm......" Tao Chun snorted lightly, and then suppressed the nameless fire just now, and patiently listened to Dong Yuan to say more.

"You have been leading troops for more than ten years, and I won't repeat it to you, I will allocate you 250,000 stone grains and 350,000 taels of silver every year, and you raise 50,000 soldiers and horses, and 30,000 elites are also raised," Dong Yuan said, "My idea is that the Changhuai Army will cut off some of the old and weak, move to Shouzhou as a pawn, and only retain 20,000 to 30,000 elite combat power in the direction of Wuyang, do you think it?" ”

Tao Chun thought to himself: If there is enough money and food, he will keep 30,000 elite soldiers in Wuyang, and remove 20,000 people as auxiliaries, or he can stay in Wuyang to settle in Tuntian, why do you need to hand over 20,000 people to Shouzhou as pawns? Dong Yuan said it well, the food and salary are not short, but in fact, if 20,000 soldiers and horses are cut, the cost of ordnance and arrows and camping will be greatly reduced, and anyone can do this deal! Besides, the elimination of 20,000 old and weak people and handed them over to Dong Yuan as pawns is also the manpower to run Shouzhou, Dong Yuan is really a good calculation.

Tao Chun was silent, and Dong Yuan said, "This is also what Lord Liu meant. The imperial court is so difficult, we can't unite in Huaixi, we don't go to the weak and keep the strong, we don't concentrate the elite to build a small but elite soldier, we don't eliminate the old and weak to carry out Tuntian and run Shouzhou, even if we barely maintain 100,000 soldiers and horses, we will only get more and more tired - I won't ask for Huaidong in the future! ”

At the mention of Huaidong, the green tendons on Tao Chun's forehead jumped.

The parting of ways in Jinan is an eternal pain in Tao Chun's heart, and he also knows that Lin Jian and others are worried about this matter, although the war in Huaixi said that Changhuai finally got out of trouble, but Huaidong's mind is also bent on weakening the Changhuai army.

Thinking that Dong Yuan was almost expelled from Hangzhou, in this regard, he really had to stand on the same front with Dong Yuan to avoid bullying Huaidong again.

Tao Chun's face was cloudy and hesitant for a while, and finally felt that his arms couldn't twist his thighs, and he replied in a deep voice: "Then according to what the adults say, I will remove the old and weak when I return to Voryang and move to Shouzhou as a pawn......"