Jiang Zhihe accepted Xiao Cheng's cheerful congratulations with some embarrassment.

Jiang Xiong defeated Liu Zheng on the Han River. This was a powerful navy that the Liao army had finally obtained in the south. It originally wanted to use this navy to control the entire Han River and spy on the Yangtze River Basin.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin was killed halfway. The Wujiang Navy came all the way and defeated the Hanjiang Navy in one battle. Now, although Liu Zheng still has more than a hundred ships, his main force has been lost and he has to be reduced to

Zero, hiding everywhere.

What makes Jiang Zhihe embarrassed is that Jiang Xiong is just a concubine of the Jiang family, and he was also the guy who was released to raise the bandits and respect themselves.

However, I don't know if this guy got Xiao Cheng right. At that time, Xiao Erlang spent a lot of money to buy Jiang Xiong from him.

Ten years later, Jiang Xiong returned again, but it made all the Jiang family's children eclipse.

Liu Zheng was rampaging across the Han River, and Lu Wenhuan sent people to beg Jiang Zhihe countless times for rescue. However, the Jinghu Navy controlled by the Jiang family was too timid to confront Liu Zheng.

In addition, the Liao Dynasty was at its peak at that time and had the potential to sweep the world. Jiang Zhihe also received a letter of persuasion from the Liao Kingdom to surrender. However, while he was still hesitating, Xiao Cheng had already arrived, and brought him with him.

Tens of thousands of troops came from land and water.

More importantly, at this time, the emperor of Liao Kingdom, Yelu Jun, actually died.

This made Jiang Zhihe's mind, which was still a little wandering, suddenly stand upright.

At the critical moment, a member of the family actually died. This is because God forbids them from taking full credit!

It seems that God has no intention of abandoning the Song Dynasty.

Jiang Zhihe believes in heaven and destiny.

So his position suddenly became firm.

Immediately afterwards, he learned of Liu An's existence.

After examining Liu An's jade plate and Princess Jing's suicide note, Jiang Zhihe confirmed Liu An's identity.

This further convinced him that Zhao Song should not die.

In this case, of course he has to be the important minister to care for the orphans.

If he disliked Jiang Xiong earlier, now Jiang Xiong is simply his lucky star.

Jiang Zhihe is not that kind of pedantic guy. How could a guy who can do tricks like raising bandits to respect themselves, not know the importance of severity?

In times of peace, scholars are of course more valued, and the imperial court will certainly support scholars to suppress military commanders, lest the military commanders have any wrongdoings.

But in times of war, the status of generals will inevitably become higher and higher, and this is independent of human will.

Because of the turmoil in the world, it is definitely unrealistic to convince people with virtue. If you want to convince people, you must first rely on your fists. Only after you have conquered people, will you come to discuss moral issues with you.

So Jiang Xiong has now become his biggest support.

Jiang Zhihe was not afraid that Jiang Xiong could fly into the sky.

Is your surname still Jiang?

Even if you want to disown your ancestors, your parents will not agree.

And no matter how you clarify it, in the eyes of outsiders, your surname is still Jiang.

That's enough.

Of course, since Jiang Xiong is to be regarded as his greatest support, something must be done.

However, Jiang Zhihe didn't want to give up the position of patriarch of the Jiang family just like that. Even if he was gone, he didn't want to give it to Jiang Xiong. The position of patriarch must be taken over by his son.

But in order for his son to compete with Jiang Xiong, he must occupy a place in the future court, and at least be appreciated by Xiao Cheng.

This is an obvious truth.

Xiao Cheng will definitely control the power of the court in the future. As long as his son can firmly hold Xiao Cheng's thigh, he will be able to securely take the position of the head of the Jiang family.

Figure out Jiang Xiong. In this way, the direct line of the Jiang family will not move aside or decline.

"Although Jiang Xiong has some minor achievements, it is still due to Xiao Futai's many years of strategizing. He just happened to meet the situation at the right time." Jiang Zhihe said humbly.

Xiao Cheng laughed loudly and looked very proud: "Jiang Futai, now Liu Zheng is defeated but not dead. This man is a veteran on the water, and the Han River has been his home base for many years. Although Jiang Xiong won, the Liu thief

It’s not easy to deal with either. If you can’t kill a snake, it will be counterattacked. So next, we must increase our troops and ships to aid the Han River. We must pin the Liu thief to the ground and never stand up again!

"

"That's right!" Jiang Zhihe said sternly: "After the Jinghu Road Navy returned a few days ago, it has been getting ready and ready to go at any time, and Jinghu Road has also prepared hundreds of thousands of stone grain and grass.

, it can be shipped to Xiangyang at any time to help our army secure this gateway."

"Jiang Futai is really smart!" Xiao Cheng clapped his hands and laughed: "Xiangyang guards our gateway to the Han River, and there must be no mistakes. It's just that Jiang Futai, the Jinghu Navy went to Xiangyang and merged with Jiang Xiong's navy

As one, it is better to unify the issue of command authority. If the authority is not unified, it will easily cause trouble, don't you think?"

Jiang Zhihe knew it well: "Of course Jiang Xiong is in charge. However, Xiao Futai, for the navy's logistics supply and other matters, Jiang feels that it is better to entrust another reliable person!"

"Extremely yes, extremely yes." Xiao Cheng smiled: "Last time I saw Brother Guangping, he was calm and careful. If Jiang Futai can let Brother Guangping do things, I think this position belongs to him."

Jiang Guangping, Jiang Yuan, is Jiang Zhihe’s eldest son.

"It's an honor to be valued by Futai." Jiang Zhihe was overjoyed. He didn't need to beat the drum too hard. Xiao Cheng was indeed a discerning person. In this way, no matter how powerful Jiang Xiong was, Jiang Yuan had all the logistical and military needs in his hands.

, Jiangyuan will be able to compete with him.

Moreover, Jiangyuan can also use this to make friends with powerful generals such as Lu Wenhuan and Fan Wenshun. Just like Lu Wenhuan, when he talked with Xiao Cheng earlier, Xiao Cheng revealed his intention to hand over the entire South Beijing Road to Lu Wenhuan.

Although most of the South Beijing Road is now occupied by the puppet Zhao, as long as Lu Wenhuan captures a piece of it, it will belong to him. This person will definitely be reused in the next new dynasty.

Jiang Zhihe was satisfied, and so was Xiao Cheng.

It's impossible for Jiang Zhihe to pull Jiang Xiong back, but if he wants to take advantage of Jiang Xiong's power, Xiao Cheng can't do anything, and Jiang Xiong can't do anything either. If Jiang Xiong really wants to fall out, he will be slandered by the world.

Who gave him the surname Jiang, and he is really from the Jiang family!

Xiao Cheng's reuse of Jiang Yuan and Jiang Guangping is not considered a private favor.

After all, Jinghu Road has always been controlled by the Jiang family. Such a wealthy family has been rooted in this land for hundreds of years. The intricate relationships will often make you stunned. I want Jinghu Road to be in the next battle.

He has been sparing no effort to support Xiangfan, so Jiangyuan must be reused.

Based on Xiangyang and looking at Nanyang, once Nanyang can be captured, it will be of great benefit to the future Northern Expedition.

Both of them deserve what they deserve!

"Jiang Futai, please sit down for a moment. Luo Gang, Cen Zhong, Chen Qun and Hu Yi are all coming over. There are some things that we need to come up with together!" Xiao Cheng said with a smile.

Xiao Cheng summoned ministers from all over the south to come to Jiang Fufu on Jinghu Road for an alliance meeting. Luo Gang on Yunnan Road, Cen Zhong on Guangnan West Road, and Chen Qun on Kuizhou Road were naturally the first ones to arrive. They can also be regarded as Xiao Cheng's

The core of the core is Jiang Zhihe, and now Jiang Zhihe can barely be considered one.

"Is it about?"

"I think I heard about it when I came to Futai. It was about Xuzhou!" Xiao Cheng said.

Of course Jiang Zhihe knew the importance of Xuzhou to the entire south.

Like Xiangyang, Xuzhou is also a gateway to the entire south.

Xiangyang also has geographical advantages. With one city in hand, it can block thousands of armies.

Xuzhou is not just a city, it is related to the entire Huaihe River Basin!

To defend the Jiang River, you must defend the Huai River, and to defend the Huai River, you must control Xuzhou.

The key is that we know it, and the enemy also knows it!

Now it can be imagined that Liu Yu, who lost Xuzhou, must have counterattacked like a madman.

Even if Xie Hong, the governor of Suzhou, and Liu Jun, the governor of Bozhou, were prepared, they only had the power of two states, and their strength was limited after all.

However, according to the envoys sent by the two to ask for help, Cheng Shao, the envoy of Huainan West Road, had no reaction at all about their occupation of Xuzhou.

"I heard that Cheng Shao has already set off on his way to Jiangling Mansion." Xiao Cheng said helplessly to everyone in the hall: "This man is really funny. He can't even tell the difference between light and heavy.

It is important to come to Jiangling Mansion to support His Majesty, but compared with Xuzhou, it is not worth mentioning!"

"Chongwen, in the eyes of some people, the contribution of supporting the establishment is far more important than Xuzhou!" Luo Gang sneered: "So what if Xuzhou is lost? And from the letters from Xie Hong and Liu Jun

Look, it was these two people’s idea to seize Xuzhou. I’m afraid Cheng Shao is still complaining about these two people causing trouble over nothing!”

"Incompetent person!" Cen Zhong said coldly: "Since this person is here, I mean, there is no need to go back. Anyway, when the court is newly established, there will be vacancies everywhere. Seeing that he is so active in going to Jiangling

For the sake of the government coming to support him, give him a position so that he can enjoy happiness!"

"That's an idea!" Xiao Cheng said with a smile: "Now I'm afraid that other roads can't be counted on for a while. Let them use their own capital to rescue Xuzhou. I'm afraid they won't be willing, and I'm even more worried about them.

Agreeing on the surface but procrastinating secretly will only make things worse."

"So we can only send troops by ourselves!" Luo Gang waved his fist and said: "And a key place like Xuzhou is not in the hands of our own people. I really can't worry. Chongwen, then Xie Hong and Liu Jun directly sent the envoys

The intention of sending him to you is too obvious. And this gift is so big that you have to accept it and acknowledge his kindness!"

"That's right!" Xiao Cheng nodded and said: "I invite you all to come here today. First, let's discuss who to send. To coordinate the Huaihai war, this person must first be able to overpower Xie Hong and Liu Jun in terms of status.

Okay. Secondly, this time we must go by water, which is faster. From the Yangtze River to Hangou and then to the Huaihe River, there are many places to cross along the way. How can we avoid conflict with the places?

At the same time, it is also a big problem to get supplements from the local level so that we can arrive in time. Xiao Anke has not yet ascended the throne, and we don't have the status to order the states and counties along the way. If they don't let us pass, we can still

Call him?"

Hearing what Xiao Cheng said, everyone turned their attention to Hu Yi.

This person sounds like a miserable person.

Ever since Xiao Cheng decided to help Xiao Cheng, this man has been running around non-stop, using his reputation to pave the way and build bridges for Xiao Cheng.

Seeing that everyone was approaching him, Hu Yi did not refuse. He immediately stood up and said: "I would also like to ask your Majesty to write a letter in your hand and stamp it with a small seal. Hu took this letter and searched for it along the way. They didn't

It’s okay to send troops to rescue them, but if they still dare to create difficulties, Hu will give up his life and scold them to make them infamy for thousands of years.”

Everyone is a coriander.

Hu Yi is very good at scolding people, which means that Xiao Cheng, a stranger, can withstand it, but others really can't stand his tricks.

"Chongwen, which general do you like to lead the army?" Luo Gang said: "Yang Wanfu must not be moved. It is really hard to find other leaders who can stand alone."

"How is Wei Wu?" Cen Zhong said suddenly.

Wei Wu was Xiao Cheng's former general. When Cen Zhong went to Guangnan West Road, he followed him to Guangnan West Road. But now it is another general who really holds the military power on Guangnan West Road. Wei Wu is gradually becoming more and more powerful.

Marginalization is also something that can be imagined.

This time when Cen Zhong came out, he specially brought Wei Wu with him. The intention was very clear, that is to let Wei Wu take this opportunity to make new achievements and then become independent. In this way, it would not appear that Cen Zhong had crossed the river and burned the bridge.

"Wei Wu's ability to coordinate such a big situation is probably not good enough!" Xiao Cheng shook his head and said, "I do have a candidate."

Luo Gang was slightly startled when he saw Xiao Cheng's eyes falling on him. Of course he knew that the person Xiao Cheng was talking about was definitely not him. He thought about it and understood: "You mean Gao Yingxiang?"

Xiao Cheng nodded and said: "This person has a good academic background and experience in leading large armies. More importantly, he has a good view of the overall situation. The Huaihe River Basin is of great importance and we need such a person."

"If Gao Yingxiang is sent there, it would be better to use Wei Wu as his deputy." Luo Gang muttered: "Three thousand soldiers can be sent from Yunnan Road, three thousand soldiers can be sent from Guangnan West Road, and three thousand soldiers can be sent from Guizhou Road. This is the combination.

The local soldiers and horses on the two routes to Huainan are not bad in terms of manpower. Anyway, once Xiao An ascends the throne and establishes the imperial court, he can legitimately make a series of adjustments to the two Huaihe Rivers, and many things can be straightened out.

"

"What do you think?" Xiao Cheng looked at everyone.

"We can also send three thousand troops on Jinghu Road!" Jiang Zhihe was unwilling to be left behind and also offered to send troops.

"The focus of Jinghu Road is still to support Xiangfan, but this time, we still have to trouble Jiang Futai to collect enough ships to send our army and other troops to quickly support Xuzhou." Xiao Cheng said with a smile.

"Of course there is no problem with this. The road to Jinghu, apart from anything else, has many ships and sailors."
Chapter completed!