As soon as he stepped out of the sedan chair, the biting cold wind blew, and Xu Xiangqi shivered involuntarily. He stretched out his hands to tighten his fox fur robe, shrunk his neck and quickened his pace. In front of the vermilion gate, there was already someone also wearing a luxurious robe.

The young people were waiting there.

"Xu Shangshu!" The young man bowed.

"Qi Mo, why are you still waiting for me outside in such a cold weather?" Xu Xiangqi stopped and said to the young man with a smile.

"If it were someone else, Qi Mo would certainly not do it, but when Xu Shangshu comes, how dare Qi Mo not come? Otherwise, if my father knows about it, he will definitely punish me to face the wall again and reflect on my mistakes!"

The person who was called Qimo was Si Jie, the second son of Si Junchao, the second assistant of the dynasty, whose courtesy name was Qimo.

Xu Xiangqi laughed and said, "Ci Fu's family tradition has always been strict. Thank you for your hard work."

Si Jie smiled and said sideways: "Qi Mo will guide Xu Shangshu."

The former pacifier of Jiangnan East Road, now the second assistant to the dynasty, Si Junchao, stood at the door of the study.

"Dongting." Xu Xiangqi cupped his hands and bowed. "Your legs can't bear the cold. Get in quickly, get in quickly."

"It won't bother me for a while. These legs are just an old problem and I have been taking medicine." Si Junchao said with a smile.

The two of them gave way to each other at the door for a while, but Si Junchao finally entered the room first, followed by Xu Xiangqi. After Si Jie came in, of course he only served him tea and water.

There is an earth dragon installed in the house, which is very rare in Jiangning. Because Si Junchao has a pair of old cold legs, but he can't bear the cold at all, so he specially installed an earth dragon in this house.

As soon as Xu Xiangqi entered the door, he took off his fox fur robe. He was obviously very familiar with the situation in this room.

It's cold and windy outside, but it's as warm as spring inside the house.

Separated by a door, it's like two worlds.

Looking at the small coffee table in the study with several plates of side dishes and wine bottles, Xu Xiangqi said with a smile: "Green ants' new fermented wine, red clay stove, it's snowing in the evening, can you drink a cup without it? Dongting, how interesting!"

At this time of year, wouldn’t it be nice to get together with close friends and have a few glasses of warm wine?”

Si Junchao picked up the jug and poured Xu Xiangqi a glass. It was not cheap green ant wine, but expensive Yin red wine. This wine came all the way from the Western Regions and was transported to the south of the Yangtze River, but not ordinary people could afford to drink it.

Yes.

"I think so, but now our chief assistant won't let us stop!" Si Junchao sighed and said, "Have you read the report from Liangjiang today?"

"I knew something was wrong when he went to Liangjiang!" Xu Xiangqi said angrily: "I finally settled down, but I didn't want everyone to have a good time this winter. The chief assistant gave me an order to let

I will immediately collect the reward money and send it to the front line so that I can pay the reward to the soldiers. It won’t be long before the Chinese New Year. Is there any extra money at this time?"

"Young man, you are so angry!" After taking a sip of wine, Si Junchao gently rubbed his knee joints and said, "In such weather, you can still patrol the ground and go to the battlefield to care for the soldiers. I heard that

, he went to Xiayi himself."

"The dignified first assistant is not doing his job properly!" Xu Xiangqi said disdainfully.

"But I heard that those big-headed soldiers really bought it! After some operations, the prestige of the chief assistant among the soldiers has increased a lot."

Xu Xiangqi took a mouthful of food, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, and said with a smile: "Why does this guy come here again? Who doesn't know that now the officials only follow his orders, and if he makes such troubles, he will not be afraid of others.

Are you saying that he is trying to buy people's hearts and has evil intentions?"

"Doing this just shows that he is selfless and generous in his heart!" Si Jun said calmly: "There are two sides to this, it just depends on how you say it."

"In this regard, we have unique conditions!" Xu Xiangqi said: "The southwest is his world, but in Jiangnan, we have the final say. Shilin Qingyi, how many people does he have, and how many people do we have?"

Looking at Xu Xiangqi, Si Junchao said: "I don't care at all. Moreover, this battle was won cleanly and tens of thousands of enemies were wiped out. Even Huang Hai was captured alive by Wei Laizi. When the news of Lubu's victory came, the whole city burst into cheers!"

"

"Lords of Liba, what else do you know besides cheering!" Xu Xiangqian sneered: "If they know what winning this battle means to them, I would like to see if they can still laugh?"

Si Junchao laughed and said: "As soon as Xiayi is defeated, the army will attack Shangqiu and Songcheng. Huang Chun has limited strength. With such a heavy blow, he is afraid that he will not be able to defend Shangqiu and Songcheng. Wei Laizi will probably be killed directly."

Force Kaifeng, if that’s really the case?”

"If this is the case, I'm afraid a war is inevitable!" Xu Xiangqi said: "How could Qu Zhen tolerate Kaifeng being threatened? How could the Liao people sit back and watch Kaifeng be captured by us?"

"So, the chief assistant will definitely mobilize a large number of troops to the front line!" Si Junchao said. "This is his real purpose of launching this attack!"

"Dongting, what do you mean?" Xu Xiangqi pondered.

"This time, if we don't agree to his request, he will transfer his direct troops from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi." Si Junchao said: "It took us a lot of effort to prevent him from sending more troops.

How can he succeed if his direct troops are transferred out of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi?"

"Dong Ting said that he agreed to his request to mobilize troops, but the troops he transferred were our troops?" Xu Xiangqi asked.

"Exactly!" Si Junchao stuffed a piece of cold mutton into his mouth, chewed and said, "We will give him as much as he wants."

"But Dongting, our soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River have not fought for many years, and their combat effectiveness is worrying. If we go to the front line, are we afraid that something will happen? Don't look at those people who are shouting fiercely and beating their chests loudly, but you really

If we want them to fight against the enemy, I'm afraid not many of them can do the job!" Xu Xiangqi said worriedly.

"We are about to eliminate the bad and keep the good!" Si Junchao frowned: "In this current situation, the importance of the army will probably become more and more important. Why is Xiao Erlang so arrogant in front of you and me? Isn't it because Xiangyang is

Is his direct descendant, Xuzhou, his direct descendant? If our people cannot hold up a position in the military, then when we speak in the court, we will naturally be shorter than him."

Xu Xiangqi nodded: "That's what I said, but the people sent up suffered too many casualties, or did they miss the overall situation? Lost Xuzhou?"

"Then it's a matter of frontline command!" Si Junchao laughed sinisterly: "This is a good time to use this to question Gao Yingxiang, the general manager of the eastern marching camp. This man is the former chief assistant of Dali, or the eldest son of the former emperor of Dali.

The country was destroyed by Xiao Erlang. It is easy for people to believe that he was resentful and deliberately harmed our Song Dynasty soldiers. As for Xuzhou, I don’t think it will be lost. That is where Gao Yingxiang’s eastern base is located, so even if the front line

After suffering a defeat, as long as Xuzhou is not lost, it can still be saved. And do you think that these two people, Qu Zhen and Liu Yu, can really cross the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River? Dream! Even the Liao people are just in the

They can bully us with their fast horses and arrows in the north, but if we go to the south, the water system as dense as a spider web will make it difficult for them to move forward."

Xu Xiangqi laughed and clapped his hands and said, "I feel relieved when Dong Ting said this. You should look at things comprehensively and plan carefully. No matter what happens, it will be our benefit. If this is really the case, then we have to work hard."

Think about it, who among our candidates can replace Gao Yingxiang as the general manager of the Eastern Bank!"

"That's right." Si Junchao said: "By agreeing to Xiao Erlang's request this time, we can kill two birds with one stone. First, it can allow the army in our hands to experience some wars, thereby improving its combat effectiveness and preventing Xiao Erlang's family from being alone.

Secondly, if we can successfully overthrow Gao Yingxiang, then we will have the opportunity to control the important place of Xuzhou. In this way, we can compete with Xiao Erlang."

"I'm afraid Lu Wenhuan will nod for this matter!"

"Lu Wenhuan has always advocated the Northern Expedition. So we fully support sending troops. It's not too late for him to be happy! How can he hinder it?" Si Junchao said.

"Okay, I'll arrange the money and food later." Xu Xiangqi said.

"No, no!" Si Junchao said: "There is no need to worry about money and food. The imperial court has no money now!"

Xu Xiangqi looked at Si Junchao in confusion.

"How can we send troops if we don't have money?"

"Raise money from merchants, squires, and officials in Jiangnan areas!" Si Junchao said: "We will definitely fulfill the chief minister's request. If he wants money, he will give him money, and if he wants grain, he will give grain. If he has no money or grain, we will

Find a way to get him money and food! He will definitely be satisfied."

Xu Xiangqi blinked his eyes, finally figured it out, and gave Si Junchao a thumbs up.

"This is killing three birds with one stone! But Dongting, there is one thing, we have to be careful. The places south of the Yangtze River don't want to fight or are unwilling to fight. Once we recruit troops and send them to the front line, we are afraid that something will happen in the places.

, now that Xiao Erlang is not in Jiangning, this responsibility falls on us."

"So what? Does the root still lie with the chief minister? Who doesn't know that the chief minister has the final say in the Jiangning court, and we can only be regarded as embellishments. We are just carrying out the chief minister's orders. If something goes wrong,

It also needs the chief assistant to solve it."

"That's right!" Xu Xiangqi laughed, raised his cup, and said, "There is still a bell-ringer needed to solve the problem! This time, let's look at the methods of the first assistant. They say that the first assistant has the ability to turn decay into magic. We are just waiting for it.

You can also learn a lot by observing it up close.”

What would happen if a group of soldiers went to the battlefield?

What should we do if the people get into trouble because of raising wages?

What should we do if we lose the battle on the front line?

These were the problems they deliberately presented to their chief assistant, Xiao Cheng.

As for Xiao Cheng, if something goes wrong while answering a question and the whole situation collapses, they are too lazy to think about the consequences.

In other words, they simply looked down on Qu Zhen, Liu Yu and their ilk.

The next day, there was a court meeting.

The imperial palace requisitioned the former Jiangning Prefecture magistrate's office.

As the residence of the prefect, the original Yamen was extremely magnificent and spacious, but as the palace, it immediately seemed cramped.

Except for some extremely important departments located here, other yamen now have to find other places to work.

Originally, Si Junchao, Xu Xiangqi and others wanted to requisition some buildings on the left and right for expansion, but Xiao Cheng rejected it directly.

The reason is simple.

This is just a temporary residence for the officials. Our goal is the Northern Expedition, to fight back to Kaifeng, and to return to the city of Tokyo.

In this case, why are you still spending so much money building palaces here?

It is better to save money and food, recruit one more soldier, and make one more sword, one spear, and one more feather arrow, which will increase the chances of victory in the Northern Expedition.

Under such politically correct slogans, the proposal to build a palace was immediately discontinued.

Regardless of the officials of the Jiangnan faction, they don't want to fight at all, and they don't want to fight to the north at all. But these words can only be kept in their hearts and must not be spoken out. Anyone who dares to say it will definitely be punished.
To be continued...