"The Longde Prefecture in the south has already asked Deputy Governor Li to send troops to advance carefully..." This time it was Ma Kuo who answered.
"Is it to save face for Qu Duan and the Imperial Camp Cavalry?" Zhao Jiu shook his head, but was too lazy to say more. "How about the north?"
"So that the emperor knows that the Xinzhou defenders in the north do not believe that Taiyuan has fallen, and they are resisting tightly. However, Wang De is still a brave man after all. After leading his troops forward, he fought five fierce battles in two days and won one after another. Baijingzhai, Chitangguan, and Shilingguan have all been captured. Now we should be close to Xiurong, the capital of Xinzhou. If Xiurong is captured, Dingxiang will be in sight..." This time it was Han Shizhong who came to report. "After taking Dingxiang, we can advance to Yanmen and threaten Datong."
"In that case, the progress is smooth." Zhao Jiu nodded, without commenting, but looked at Wu Jie with some confusion.
There is no other reason. Taiyuan City has been taken. According to the current progress, all directions are in a state of sweeping, and this sweeping cannot be completed in a short time. As for the attitudes of Wanyan Salihe and Yelu Mawu, although they are a bit unexpected, they are not surprising in the war years. Just say it... So, this time, they specially called him to the city for military discussion. What exactly do they want to say?
Wu Da certainly understood, and immediately bowed and stepped forward, stating the fundamental reason for inviting Emperor Zhao to attend this military meeting: "So that the Emperor knows, there is a discussion among the generals... Yanmen and Datong must be taken, but since Xinzhou is advancing smoothly, and Yelu Ma Wu in Jingxing is unwilling to surrender, can we send an army from the north of Wutai Mountain, through Puyinxing, and out of Pingxingzhai (Pingxingguan)... If this is possible, the Jin army will certainly be in chaos, and Jingxing must be surrendered immediately... Besides, our army is gathered in Taiyuan, and we already have a lot of military strength. There is no reason to throw military supplies here."
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Who exactly is this 'general'?"
"It's Wang Sheng, deputy commander of the left army of the imperial camp." Wu Jie did not dare to hide it.
Zhao Jiu nodded. It was natural for this person to ask for a fight, but he still did not comment: "Then do you think this is feasible?"
This sentence is still nonsense. If these people think it is not feasible, they would not have called him.
"After discussion, we believe it is feasible." Sure enough, Wu Jie nodded his head and replied, just as expected.
"In that case, let the scholars issue the decree." Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded in agreement, but he said a few words. "Whether Wang Sheng or someone else will go, and how many people will they lead, you can discuss it among yourselves, Wu Jie will summarize the decision and report to me... However, just like I entrusted the rear to you gentlemen because you gentlemen were willing to put personal interests above public interests, you must also put military affairs first and not delay military strategies."
This was not a serious statement, and could not even be considered a warning, but Wu Da still quickly agreed, and the other governors also expressed their opinions one after another.
But Emperor Zhao just smiled and didn't care. Then, when the military meeting was over, he left calmly.
However, after leaving the inner city of Taiyuan, Zhao Jiu did not head all the way south to enter the camp in the south of the city. Instead, he asked most of his close ministers and followers to go back directly. He, Yang Yi Zhong, Liu Yan and some of the imperial guards rode out of the west gate, and when they reached the bank of the Fen River, they slowly rode south.
It is already after the New Year, and the freezing period should have ended at any time, but this matter still depends on God's will. In fact, the Fenshui River is still frozen, as if waiting for a special spring breeze.
Zhao Jiu walked southward along the river bank. He could see many soldiers busy coming and going on the shore... they were fetching water, fishing, communicating across the river, transporting supplies, etc. So, when he reached the southwest of the city, which was the gap left after the explosion a few days ago, the official dismounted again and had a brief chat with the soldiers who were fetching water. Upon learning that the ice layer had indeed become thinner, he gave some instructions, asking these people to be careful about melting the ice.
It seems that he is not tired of it.
After the conversation, they walked further north and came to the place where they had stopped their horses when they arrived at the city of Taiyuan that day. Seeing the main camp in front of them, Zhao Jiu sighed slightly on his horse for some reason, and then stopped his horse on the shore like he did that day, without moving... Only this time, he had his back to the city, looking at the glacier and the military camp, in the opposite direction.
Of course, they can meet each other, no matter which way they face. This time, there should be no Jurchen cavalry coming to break through the formation.
Yang Yi Zhong and Liu Yan knew Emperor Zhao's temperament, so they did not take it seriously at first. They both stopped their horses and followed him without saying anything extra.
However, as the sun set in the west, leaving only the afterglow, Emperor Zhao remained motionless... Moreover, the two could see clearly that the emperor had no intention of watching the sunset... so they felt somewhat helpless.
So after waiting for a while, Yang Yi Zhong and Liu Yan looked at each other and then divided the work tacitly - Liu Yan turned around and rode away on his horse, going into the camp to find more people to make necessary preparations, while Yang Yi Zhong, after hesitating for a moment, took the initiative to step forward and ask a few questions.
"Nothing... I just don't want to enter the camp." Zhao Jiu was honest. "I don't like the atmosphere in the camp these days."
Yang Yizhong, who had noticed something from the subtle details, was not surprised: "The emperor is still worried that because the city was too easy to capture, the army would be too arrogant and impatient to hide. Will there be a defeat?"
"That's about right!" Zhao Jiu finally turned around and laughed in the sunset. "But the atmosphere in the army is not just about arrogance, and what I am worried about is not just the defeat of arrogant soldiers."
Yang Yizhong thought about it for a moment and said, "Forgive my stupidity. I can only see that the atmosphere in the army is not simply high morale. In addition to the troops asking for battle, they also see the good situation and are blindly relaxed... I can't think of anything else."
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