Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao stayed in Anqing Mansion for two days and was extremely depressed.

He thought that even if he was the emperor's honor, he would lead troops to war, even if he was not invincible, he would have to be the will of the people, and his army was in a uniform manner and had a strong momentum.

Who would have thought that there was a problem when the troops arrived at Jiujiang Prefecture. After retreating to Anqing Prefecture in a panic, the intelligence system did not act. The news sent back was contradictory and chaos. Even the specific movements of King Ning's troops could not be investigated clearly.

A moment ago, it was said that the army of Ning Wang had arrived around Anqing Prefecture City. Later, he came to report that King Ning just sent suspicious soldiers to come, and there were not many people. In the end, there was a rumor that there was no sign of Ning Wang's soldiers in the surrounding area for a hundred miles...

Anqing Mansion City was originally quiet and peaceful, but it made the wind and shudder. Zhu Houzhao finally felt the embarrassment of Emperor Yingzong's ambitious expedition to the Oirat.

The biggest problem is not that there is insufficient troops and food, but that he is confused about how to continue the future war and the difficulty of collecting intelligence, which makes Zhu Houzhao unable to predict the future development of the war, which makes him feel extremely powerless.

"...The Duke of Wei led his troops here. I believe that in another three or five days, he will arrive on the other side of Anqing Prefecture and echo each other. At that time, we can attack and fight against the decisive king's troops..."

Zhang Yuan painted a big cake in front of Zhu Houzhao, and Jiang Bin listened without saying a word... At this time, he seemed to be supervising Zhang Yuan to prevent Zhang Yuan from saying something unfavorable to him.

Even if Jiang Bin and Zhang Yuan cannot communicate effectively, there is still a certain understanding between them, that is, they must give Zhu Houzhao hope and not criticize the war.

Zhu Houzhao's face was heavy. In the past two days, he didn't care about food, drink and play. He was much more diligent in the military than before. First, because Anqing Fucheng entered wartime control, and all places for food, drink and play such as Jiaofangsi were banned. Second, Zhu Houzhao was not in that mood.

It is related to his own life, and even if he eats, drinks and has fun, he cannot let go of his heart.

Zhu Houzhao heard Zhang Yuan talk for a while and asked with a dark face: "Why are the Duke of Wei so slow? In addition, are you sure that King Rebellion will not send troops to block the attack halfway?"

Zhang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? The Duke of Wei has an army of 50,000!"

Jiang Bin asked, "The King of Wei has many soldiers, and the number of people on the battlefield is not determined by the number. How did Eunuch Zhang determine that Duke Wei can lead his troops to the other side of Anqing Prefecture City as scheduled? Maybe King of Wei wants to use Anqing Prefecture City as bait and intercept the Duke of Wei's troops halfway?"

Zhang Yuan couldn't help but feel angry. He tried hard to calm Zhu Houzhao, but Jiang Bin jumped out and sang against him, saying as if all the evil consequences in front of him were caused by him.

However, Zhang Yuan understood Jiang Bin's thoughts and thought to himself: "This war is setback, and the boy named Jiang is the biggest responsible person. He is now asking me, isn't he just trying to shirk responsibility?"

Zhu Houzhao said: "While the Duke of Wei's troops marched, they must be wary of the rebel king's troops sending troops to attack. They must be notified immediately."

Zhang Yuan quickly agreed: "Your Majesty said so well. I will send someone to inform Duke Wei."

Zhu Houzhao was very anxious and said, "Anqing Prefecture City is still stable for the time being, but I can't tell what it will be like in the next few days. I remembered that when Xuanfu was in the first place, I didn't even know that the Tatars were withdrawing troops. I have been kept in the dark... This time I must not be the head coach who keeps his eyes closed and listens!"

"Send people to investigate the mobilization of the troops of the King of Rebels. If the King of Rebels is insufficient, I may take the opportunity to lead the troops to attack and firmly control the situation around Anqing Prefecture City!"

Before Zhang Yuan could receive the order this time, Jiang Bin already bowed his fists and said, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

...

...

Zhang Yuan and Jiang Bin came out together to meet the saint, and neither of them paid attention to each other.

At the gate, Jiang Bin's people hurried to pass on the information. Jiang Bin called the person to the corridor and asked. Zhang Yuan wanted to get close to listen but was stopped by the guards.

Zhang Yuan shouted, "What's the matter that cannot be known to our family?"

Jiang Bin ignored Zhang Yuan. His subordinates blocked Zhang Yuan outside the corridor. After a long time, he came back from asking about the situation, looked at Zhang Yuan coldly and quickly walked to the inner courtyard.

Zhang Yuan caught up with him a few steps: "What happened?"

Jiang Bin said confidently: "It has nothing to do with Eunuch Zhang. Your Majesty has asked Eunuch Zhang to do things. If you don't leave, I will drive people away."

Zhang Yuan was angry. As the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Sili Supervisor, he was comparable to a cabinet minister in the court. How powerful is it? He is now unable to fight with the emperor and a slander in front of him, and he is very unwilling to accept it.

But he also knew that he could not confront Jiang Bin, who had the support of the emperor, so he simply swallowed his anger and prepared to investigate the information obtained by Jiang Bin from other channels.

After leaving, Zhang Yuan came to the camp by car. As soon as he walked into the central army tent, the scout came to inform him that Jiang Bin had sent a large number of personnel across the river.

Zhang Yuan stomped his feet in anger: "What did the boy surnamed Jiang do long ago? Now, in order to win the merits, I thought of sending people across the river to obtain information. Isn't it too late?"

Zhang Yuan was angry that he had not been ahead of others. He was about to find someone to ask if there was any emergency military information. When Li Xing happened to come to see him in a hurry, he said, "Eunuch Zhang, did you hear that King Ning sent troops to fight head-on with the troops commanded by Duke Wei?"

Zhang Yuan asked in surprise: "When did something happen?"

Li Xing was also surprised: "Now it's spreading outside, saying that King Ning gave up the garrison in the prefectures in Jiangxi and transferred all the troops to attack the Duke of Wei. He probably wanted to defeat the Duke of Wei and then use all his troops to attack the city of Anqing... How could Eunuch Zhang not know about such important news?"

Zhang Yuan was unable to determine the authenticity of the news and said nervously: "If this is the case, the matter will be quite good. It would be better to send troops across the river to pick them up now."

Li Xing was very surprised: "Eunuch Zhang had not had a meeting with the emperor before? How did you tell His Majesty?"

Zhang Yuan was about to explain something, but suddenly he thought that he had no reason to explain this to the other party, and thought to himself: "The person surnamed Li probably wants to talk from me... It's not certain who he has done for behind his back."

Zhang Yuan said: "Your Majesty has issued an order to send someone to investigate the situation on the other side of the river and the upper reaches of the river. You don't have to worry about this matter."

Li Xing said helplessly: "I am a good intention... There is very little information coming from all over the place. After our troops retreated to Anqing Prefecture City, no reinforcements have arrived yet, and King Ning's troops have not arrived. There must be a big conspiracy... At this time, should Your Majesty give up Anqing Prefecture City in time and return to Nanjing to command the city in the middle to be safe?"

Zhang Yuan said angrily: "Your Majesty was in charge of the expedition, and he rashly withdrew to Nanjing before the chaos was resolved. How do you explain to the people of the world? Your Majesty Li is capable, and you dare to interfere in such matters casually, and aren't you afraid of being questioned by Your Majesty?"

Li Xing was threatened and even though he knew that Zhang Yuan could not do anything to him, he still kept silent.

Zhang Yuan immediately said: "We don't have time to talk nonsense to you, so we have to make arrangements immediately, send people to cross the river by boat, and find out the enemy's situation... If Wang Zhen sends the main force to advance eastward, he must report to His Majesty as soon as possible to make arrangements."

...

...

The atmosphere in Anqing Prefecture City is depressing.

There were no ships coming and going on the river. On the other side of the river, there were Ning Wang’s troops stationed. The flags in the other camp covered the sky and the sun, but there were very few soldiers walking out. Moreover, heavy fog often occurred on the river these days, and it was still impossible to see clearly the situation in the opposite camp at noon, which made both sides very cautious in spy intelligence and basically stopped sending scouts.

In the silence, news about King Ning's troops dispatched troops to fight the decisive battle between the Duke of Wei Xu Qi slowly spread, and an uproar in the city.

Wang Lingzhi and Liu Xu and other direct generals from Chenxi were determined to lead troops across the river immediately to confront Ning Wang's troops.

In front of the emperor, Jiang Bin was still lobbying that he did not want Zhu Houzhao to send troops across the river to fight.

In Jiang Bin's view, the best way to protect the emperor and himself is to keep the army as still as a mountain to ensure the absolute safety of Anqing Prefecture City. Even if Xu Qi's troops really fight against the main force of Ning, the victory or defeat will not affect the troops along the way.

"Your Majesty, according to the latest information, there are indeed not many soldiers and horses against the king on the other side of Anqing Prefecture. It seems that he is afraid of His Majesty's majesty and put the main attack on the Duke of Wei... The Duke of Wei is very scheming and will not give King Ning a chance to take advantage of it. Even if he fails temporarily, he can choose to retreat and set up defense step by step. The prefectures along the river in Nanjing have strengthened their defenses, and King Ning will definitely not be able to fall well."

Zhu Houzhao listened carefully, but in the end he did not get the answer he wanted. He shook his head disappointedly: "Wei State is trying hard to move closer to us. Perhaps he is not prepared for the sneak attack of the King of the King of the Demons... If King of the Demons wins, will I withdraw back to Nanjing or stay in Anqing Prefecture City at that time?"

Now Jiang Bin dared not speak nonsense.

Zhu Houzhao murmured to himself: "Fortunately, Shangshu Chen is in the Jiangnan area. With him there, there should be no problem in Nanjing, right?"

Jiang Bin suddenly realized that when Zhu Houzhao encountered problems in leading the troops, he would naturally think of Chen Xi. Even if Zhu Houzhao was reluctant to let Chen Xi come out to receive the credit, he would subconsciously regard Chen Xi as the most stable move, giving him enough confidence to continue fighting against King Ning ahead.

Jiang Bin didn't want the emperor to put his trust on others, so Qiqiai said ai: "Your Majesty, so far, Lord Shen has not made any moves, and things may... are unusual."

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Jiang Bin and asked, "Why is it unusual?"

Jiang Bin lowered his head and said, "I dare not comment casually."

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand impatiently: "You think I don't know what you mean? Are you trying to say that Shangshu Chen may be bribed by King Ning, right? Don't worry, no matter how capable King Ning is, he will never be able to bribe Shangshu Chen. Shangshu Chen is my husband, the uncle, or the duke, and now he is the most powerful minister in the court. What reason does he have to join King Ning?"

Hearing this, Jiang Bin's eyes suddenly lit up, and he felt as if he had found a point to attack Chen Xi, but he immediately kept silent and thought silently.

Zhu Houzhao sighed quietly: "Unless King Ning promised to do it for him by the emperor...but how is this possible? This time it is a war between me and King Ning. Shangshu Chen will make a choice and he knows who to support."

...

...

A heavy rain in Jiangnan caused the temperature to drop sharply.

It was rainy for two consecutive days, and the people were basically not visible to the streets and alleys in the city. The major factories and enterprises were busy, basically not affected by the rain and started construction day and night.

Chen Xi stayed in the government office and did not go out. He mainly handled the official affairs at hand, and was basically military and political affairs in the city.

When he was away, Tang Yin came to work hard. When he came back, he was responsible for doing these things.

Amid the rustling rain, footsteps came from outside. Chen Xi looked up and saw Tang Yin coming in with an umbrella. He looked a little embarrassed, his hem was almost wet, and it was obvious that there was a lot of wind and rain outside.

After Tang Yin bowed and sat down, the servant brought the hot tea. Tang Yin picked up the tea cup and took a sip. He felt the heat in his mouth, and then muttered: "The weather is so cold."

Chen Xi walked out from behind the desk, sat down on the chair beside Tang Yin, and smiled and said, "It's cold and I'm still out? Why don't you stay in the house to accompany your family? There's nothing to do in the yamen these days..."

Tang Yin smiled and said, "Look at what you said, am I here to enjoy the happiness or work as a job? Where can I live so many quiet days? I still have to be busy and feel at ease... Here is the account of purchasing wood in the past month, and it was only sent to Shangshu Chen after checking it. In addition, some merchants from the south are waiting for the news. It has not yet been decided where to purchase the next batch of wood."

Chen Xi took the account book, opened it and looked carefully. It was recorded on Xincheng's purchase of wood from various places.

The most important thing in Xincheng is, besides stone and wood, shipbuilding is mainly based on wood. However, as time goes by, Xincheng's cost of copper and iron has also increased sharply, but these things are obviously not something that Tang Yin can handle, and he doesn't know that many of the numbers on the books actually change to the right hand.

Chen Xi put down the account book: "Now that the sea route is open, you may transport wood from Ryukyu Island. The ship will be sent out for more than half a month, and news will probably be heard back in a few days."

With the sea boundary roughly calmed down, Chenxi's demand for materials is no longer limited to Huguang and Jiangxi, which is also related to the difficulty in transporting materials in the riverside areas.

Chenxi tried to disperse the new city's demand for resources, not sticking to a certain place to supply, and fully and reasonably utilize the resources of the offshore islands. Tang Yin and he had been to Fujian and Guangdong and helped him stay on Qiong Island for more than a year. He is quite familiar with this.

Tang Yin said: "No matter where the transportation is transferred, the court has basically cut off the supply of funds. It is probably insufficient to rely on ourselves to use the items. Especially with the Folang Jiren, the supply of silver has decreased, and our expenses have increased rapidly, but there is no input. Where can I afford to rely on the goods they have made to sell money?"

Commodities manufactured in new cities poured into various provinces. The market was gradually opening up and revenues were increasing steadily, but with the beginning of the war along the river, many things became "luxury goods". In addition, water and land blockades have caused great problems in commodity sales.

Chen Xi's expression was very relaxed: "The main body of the new city has been formed. In addition to the ships that need to continue to be built on a large scale, other non-essential projects can be slowed down, and some factories also need to stop production... In the past two months, they will be saved first. If there are idle labor, they will be sent to fish and farm."

"Do you want to farm again..."

Tang Yin has always been awesome and does not like to be responsible for farming and fishing. In his opinion, these errands are not thankful.

When the emperor came, Tang Yin had no more chance to show himself. He was not very interested in leaving the emperor and did nothing.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Where did you get the food if you don't farm? You can't expect to transfer food from the side to support me? Now there is a war in the south, and the grain harvest in various places will not be too good. If you want to get the new city on track, there will be no problem with the food. You can only use idle labor for fishing and farming. If Brother Bo Hu, you don't want to be responsible for this, you can let Yaochen and the others go. Brother Bo Hu is still specializing in purchasing wood. If there are new trends in the war along the river, we cannot be confused."

Tang Yin looked up at Chen Xi, as if he was very concerned about the situation in Anqing Mansion, and asked anxiously: "Is there a new order for your Majesty to come?"

Chen Xi smiled and shook his head: "No."

Tang Yin was very regretful: "I thought it was a bloodless war, but who would have thought that there would be a setback... His Majesty was the same. For that tone, he ignored the lives and death of the people? If Shangshu Chen led his troops to quell the rebellion, it would definitely be a matter of one and for all... I really don't know what His Majesty thought."
To be continued...