Chapter 573 Feeling Sincerity
Xuzhou, Guangling County, Dongtai County
Qin Zhao summoned important generals of the Pingzhou expeditionary force to discuss matters.
As soon as Sun Congyi came in, he asked, "Brother Qin San, are we going to fight?"
"You're quite clever, indeed." Qin Zhao didn't deny it. "Didn't we tell Bai Xingzhi before? We'll let the King of Jin feel our Pingzhou's sincerity."
Guo Chong smiled and said, "After all, the King of Jin gave us a city for free. We would feel bad if we didn't give him something in return." They are all people with conscience.
Yue Shu also said, "We've been on the expedition for such a long time, and the only time we fought back was when we first landed in Dongtai County and Jiangdu. The boys are all looking forward to stretching their muscles."
Sun Congyi smacked his lips. These seniors were all eager to fight.
Qin Zhao looked at the map and asked Guo Chong, "Mr. Guo, which of the four places do you think has the weakest defenses: Yancheng, Xinghua, Gaoyou, or Guangling County?"
These four places are adjacent to Dongtai County and Jiangdu, which they occupied, in the northwest.
Xie Wei is now leading his troops to garrison four places to guard against them.
Guo Chong stroked his beard and said, "The imperial court will definitely focus on guarding against Yancheng, Xinghua, and Guangling County, especially Yancheng and Guangling County."
The focus was on guarding Yancheng because it was in the north. Xie Zhan would definitely be wary of the Pingzhou expeditionary force and the Pingzhou headquarters heading north and south in both directions, trying to open up a route from Pingzhou to the East China Sea.
The imperial court will certainly try its best to prevent their expeditionary force from connecting with the headquarters.
The same principle applies to deploying heavy troops in Xinghua.
As for guarding against Guangling County, it is because if they take Guangling, they can better connect Dongtai County, Jiangdu and Qutao.
These three places have different meanings for the Pingzhou Expeditionary Force and are considered to be important military locations.
Is Gaoyou the only place that is not that important to the Pingzhou Expeditionary Force?
After analyzing this, Sun Congyi pointed at the map and asked curiously, "Which county should we attack first this time?"
Qin Zhao and Guo Chong looked at each other and smiled, "It must be Gaoyou."
"Eat something soft first, and replenish some food supplies."
Sun Congyi: ...
He thought that Third Brother Qin had told him not to worry about the food problem because they had enough food. It turned out that they had to go and rob the food themselves?
Qin Zhao smiled but said nothing.
Yue Shu glanced at the map and nodded, saying, "I guess the imperial court couldn't have imagined that our Pingzhou expeditionary force, while weak, would attack the useless Gaoyou."
After occupying Gaoyou, they can move south or north.
Sun Congyi stroked his smooth chin. "Xie Zhan, the Grand Commander of the Army, knows about Mr. Guo's existence. Is it possible that they are doing the opposite and deploying a large number of troops in Gaoyou as well?"
"Then there's no other way. I'll just have to force it."
The formulation of strategies and tactics requires logic. If the imperial court really deployed heavy troops in Gaoyou as Sun Congyi said, then we can only say that they are crazy.
"Hopefully, this move of ours can relieve some of the pressure on King Jin."
"That's a must."
"General Yue, this attack on Gaoyou is left to you." Qin Zhao said.
"What about our Sun family army?" Sun Congyi asked hurriedly.
Qin Zhao told him, "The highest-ranking general in charge of garrisoning Yancheng, Xinghua, Gaoyou, and Guangling County is Xie Wei, who led your previous Southern Expedition Army. It's not advisable for your Sun Clan Army to be exposed too early. How about you just play support from the back this time?"
"Okay." Although Sun Congyi wanted to lead the Sun family army to achieve merit, he knew the priorities. At present, so many family members of the Sun family army were still in Chang'an.
When he led his troops into battle, he would wear an armor mask and try not to meet the court generals.
…
That day, Ning Changge asked to see Lu Songli.
Ning Changge's face looked very bad, "Governor——"
"What's wrong?"
"I received a letter from home." As he spoke, Ning Changge presented the letter with both hands.
Jiang Yizhou stepped forward to take it and presented it to Lu Songli.
Jiang Yizhou is now the chief clerk of the governor's office, responsible for assisting Lu Songli in handling all official affairs, which is equivalent to the position of secretary-general of the office in later generations.
Lu Songli took a while to finish reading the letter. The letter mainly said that Ning Changge's grandmother was seriously ill and asked him to return to the south.
"The elder is seriously ill, so we should really go back," said Lu Songli.
"Governor, not only did I receive letters from home, but all the scholars in our Southland received letters from home."
"Um?"
Ning Changge said solemnly, "All the letters from home are calling us to go back, either explicitly or implicitly." This made him suspect that there was a problem with his family's safety.
"What do others say?" asked Lu Songli.
“Most of them want to go back and take a look.”
"Okay, I understand. If anyone of you wants to go back and take a look, please count the numbers and report them to me, and I'll have someone arrange it."
Ning Changge was stunned. "Governor, will you let us go?"
Frankly speaking, Ning Changge was surprised that the governor had no hesitation or hesitation before letting them go. After all, they had a small presence in Pingzhou, and if they all left, it would have a negative impact on the state.
Lu Songli laughed, "I said, we in Pingzhou are free to come and go. Besides, all good things must come to an end. But you must make sure to hand over the relevant work."
"Don't worry, Governor." At this time, Ning Changge was extremely grateful that Pingzhou had so many talented people. At least there was a group of students in Liaodong Academy who could take over their work.
Ning Changge hesitated for a moment and asked, "Governor, if we return to the Southland and the court allows us to serve as officials..."
It's not that he overestimates himself, but he believes that this group of scholars has been trained in Pingzhou for more than a year, and their ability to govern the local area is no worse than that of the county magistrates he has seen before.
"Then go ahead!" Lu Songli said, "In the future, no matter where you are, if you have the opportunity to use your talents to benefit the people, go for it. Just remember that what you do is for the benefit of the Han people, that's all."
Ning Changge is like a seed cultivated in Pingzhou, spread all over Dali.
"Governor..." Ning Changge saw in Lu Songli the broad-mindedness of a leader who cares about the world.
For a moment, Ning Changge wanted to ask the governor if there was any way to get their families out. But he quickly dismissed the urge, knowing it would be difficult. The South was Xie Zhan's base, and their Pingzhou forces were too far away to reach him.
Ning Changge was very sad. He had learned a lot in Pingzhou during his more than one year. Pingzhou was a beautiful place where he had a group of like-minded friends.
Seeing that he was sad, Lu Songli smiled and changed the subject, "You should go back by water, quickly."
"But didn't the Cao Gang and our Pingzhou temporarily suspend their cooperation?"
"Don't worry, it's no problem." Lu Songli felt that if Xie Zhan wanted to lure Ning Changge and other southern scholars back to the South, he would definitely not let this become a problem. You know how fast the water route is.
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