"At the beginning of last month, the Minister of War, Lord Li, was summoned by the Emperor to discuss the strategy for pacifying the Northern Di Tartars!"
"The Tartar leader, King Zhelan, in northern Shuozhou is becoming increasingly arrogant. He has gathered thousands of his men and is planning to invade the border southward."
"I, Your Majesty, have bestowed upon me the Iron Certificate for the Suppression of the Enemy, and have assumed the office of Commander-in-Chief of the Hedong Circuit, commanding all military affairs in Hedong."
"You are all military commanders from various prefectures in Hedong. You are burdened with heavy responsibilities in the face of national crisis. You must obey orders and follow them. You must not retreat out of fear, you must not act on your own initiative, you must not..."
"Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed!"
Fan Nan immediately gave an opening speech, and all the generals and officials in the tent were startled and said in unison:
"We all obey the commander's orders."
"I am the emperor's salary, I am loyal to him, and I have no choice but to protect the country and the people!"
Seeing the high spirits of the crowd, Fan Nan was very pleased. "This Governor and you will work together to share the worries of Your Majesty."
"The commander-in-chief is personally at the front, and the three armies are fighting bravely. This battle will surely be won!"
A red-robed civil servant with a crane embroidered on his chest took up the conversation and spoke loudly.
The person who answered was Pei Lun, the governor of Hedong Province.
The central institutions of the Dayin Dynasty consisted of three provinces, six ministries and nine temples, and the local governments were divided into three levels: prefectures, prefectures and counties.
The main officials at the Dao level included the Xuanfushi, who was in charge of government affairs; the Yunyunshi, who was in charge of finances; and the Jiedushi, who was in charge of military affairs.
In addition, an inspector general was appointed to supervise the operation of the above three systems: political, financial, and military.
These four envoys were officials of the third rank, the same rank as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.
However, Fan Nan was a temporary military commander sent by the central government, and the officials of Hedong Road were nominally under his command.
Pei Lun, the governor who was originally in charge of the military affairs of Hedong Road, naturally had to give up his position and become Fan Nan's deputy.
"The soldiers fighting in the front rely on the sufficient food and supplies in the rear. Thank you, Lord Pei, for this battle!"
Fan Nan bowed to Pei Lun.
Pei Lun smiled slightly and responded, "I will do my best."
Logically speaking, when the Northern Di King Zhelan led his troops south, it should have been Pei Lun who was responsible for commanding the troops in Hedong Road to meet the enemy.
But now the court actually sent a minister of war to supervise the troops. Does it mean that they don't trust him as the governor of Hedong Road?
Fan Nan came to Jinyang with the imperial edict and met with a group of officials.
Seeing this, Pei Lun asked Fan Nan to take charge of the overall situation in Jinyang and leave the front-line combat to him on the grounds that Fan Nan had just arrived and was not familiar with the situation.
However, as soon as Fan Nan arrived, he revealed his identity as the commander-in-chief and demanded to take over the military power of Hedong Road, and made all the military commanders of the 23 Zhechoufu in Hedong obey him.
Pei Lun initially planned to sideline Fan Nan, hinting that the captains of various Zhechoufu would not obey his orders.
Fan Nan immediately issued the first order and moved the command headquarters to Shuozhou.
At the same time, he ordered that all Zhechoufu must lead their troops to gather within a limited time. Those who failed to do so would be beheaded and replaced by Guoyi Xiaowei.
If the Captain Guoyi fails to arrive on time, he will be beheaded and the centurion will take his place.
In addition, each Zhechoufu must be fully staffed. If there is any vacancy, the person will be executed!
With one order, the whole Hedong Road was in an uproar.
The captains of each Zhechoufu conscripted able-bodied men to supplement the empty salaries, causing chaos for a while.
Fan Nan led his men to Shuozhou to set up a camp. The Zhechoufu in various places marched hurriedly and all arrived within the specified time. None of them delayed the assembly time.
After all, Fan Nan held the iron certificate of pacification of the rebels and had the power of life and death.
These captains did not want to use their heads to test the sharpness of the imperial sword easily.
Pei Lun also followed Fan Nan to Shuozhou. No matter how wronged and dissatisfied he felt, he could only endure it for the time being.
His trusted subordinates from various prefectures came to him privately to complain, but he could only ignore them.
Now, the troops from all the prefectures have arrived, and all the captains have also gathered in the big tent. In front of everyone, Fan Nan handed over the logistics work to Pei Lun, confirming that Pei Lun had no direct command authority in this battle.
Of course, Pei Lun couldn't openly compete with Fan Nan here.
Otherwise, Fan Nan would report him for disobeying assignments, and Pei Lun would not be able to bear it.
In addition, Fan Nan was also the Minister of War, the immediate superior of the Jiedushi of each region, and was responsible for the assessment of the Jiedushi.
Therefore, Fan Nan's words were very effective when he came to Hedong Road.
After receiving Pei Lun's public promise, Fan Nan nodded in satisfaction. He was not afraid that Pei Lun would not obey. With such an attitude, the captains below did not dare to act rashly.
"Twenty days ago, this Governor went incognito to the Jingbian Military Town in Shuozhou and climbed Black Camel Mountain to observe the enemy's situation."
"I have also gained some understanding of the military equipment and morale of the border towns along the Hedong Road..."
Fan Nan stopped talking halfway and looked at the generals in the tent with a smile on his face.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone was in an uproar.
Pei Lun looked at Sun Jizong of Shuozhou Prefecture with surprise, as if asking why such a big thing was not reported to him?
The latter shook his head blankly, then glared at Yang Jian next to him with a complicated look.
The military commanders of other prefectures had no idea what was going on. They whispered to each other and looked at Pei Lun.
Everyone's expressions fell into Pei Lun's eyes at once.
It seems that Fan Nan kept this private visit a secret from everyone present.
Only Fan Nan's student, Yang Jian, the commander of Shuozhou, knew about it and helped Fan Nan conceal it from everyone in Hedong Road until now.
"Master Fan, what do you mean by this? Do you not trust the tens of thousands of soldiers in Hedong Road?"
Pei Lun couldn't help it now.
Fan Nan did this just to test Pei Lun's background first!
Pei Lun's words resonated with the generals, and there was another round of whispers.
"Master Pei, I haven't even finished what I'm saying. Why are you so anxious?"
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