Chapter 944 The Great Yan Winds Rise

The wind blew softly, and the surrounding area was filled with the ripe scent of the countryside.

In the first two or three years after Gou Moli settled in Fancheng, the area south of Fancheng was still in the mire of entanglement with the Chu army. Not only were the sentry cavalry of both sides fighting in pairs here, but also the Jianghu and local small forces they supported were tearing at each other in small territories.

When Zheng Fan first entered the Fourth Rank, he also brought the Devil Kings to "level up," taking advantage of the environment at that time.

But now,

It's different.

Thirty-six military fortresses, twelve land fortresses, and six water fortresses—these are the solid military presences controlled by Fancheng. On the basis of this established system, they often have the advantage of local dependence.

If Qu Peiluo and Fan Zhengwen could only build a few wooden fences here back then, Gou Moli first set up a firebreak zone, then planted flowers and plants in the inner circle, and occasionally made some fine repairs. The outside world was full of bloody storms, but the inside could be described as "living and working in peace."

Of course, it is a little unfair to Qu Peiluo to make such a pure comparison. After all, Fan Zhengwen was in charge of Fancheng, and Qu Peiluo wandered around the periphery, which meant that the military and political affairs were somewhat separated. Gou Moli, on the other hand, grasped everything with one hand, and also had ample supplies from Jin.

However, being able to put a Barbarian King on the auxiliary side battlefield is an extremely bold move.

Especially for the Chu Kingdom, where famous generals have been withering in recent years, it is enough to make Zheng Fan's brother-in-law drool with envy.

At this moment, Zheng Fan and the Sword Saint were sitting together playing chess. They were no longer playing Go-moku, but serious Go. However, the Regent's chess skills could not be considered terrible, but only average.

Fortunately, the Sword Saint's Go skills were only slightly better than the Regent's. There was no need to hold back, and the two could easily enjoy the game.

Gou Moli stood beside him, acting as a foil while pouring tea and water.

On the periphery, the Brocade-clad Guards had already been deployed to take charge of the surrounding security.

Zheng Lin and Da Niu sat on either side of Tian Tian.

"Brother, why did the Chu people just let Uncle Gou grow stronger here step by step?" Zheng Lin asked curiously.

The road from Jindong to Fancheng is not easy to travel, and the troops in Fancheng are not very large. It can be said that Gou Moli was building up his strength step by step right under the noses of the Chu people, opening up the situation.

Tian Tian replied, "Before you were born, the Chu army attacked Fancheng, but Father led his troops from Zhennanguan on a surprise attack and caught them off guard.

Brother Xian Ba personally beheaded the head of the Chu Kingdom's Dugu Family Pillar in that battle and obtained military merit.

It's not that the Chu people don't know that Fancheng is like a thorn in their side, but the Chu people have no choice. Unless they have enough confidence to block the Zhennanguan line, otherwise, with our army responding from both ends, it is almost impossible for the Chu people to take Fancheng."

Da Niu, who was sitting on the side, was drawing on the ground with Long Yuan. At first, it didn't seem like anything, but gradually, Tian Tian discovered that Da Niu was actually drawing a map of the terrain from Zhennanguan in the east to Fancheng in the west.

"It's like when I play games with Big Python. If I grab its tail, its head will come over. If I grab its head, its tail will come over." Da Niu turned to look at Tian Tian and said embarrassedly, "When I ran away from home earlier, I was afraid of getting lost, so I memorized some of the sand table in Father's signing room."

The advantage of a spiritual child is not only in the physical "precocity," but also in the intellectual advantage.

This is actually easy to understand. Being able to get out of the "swaddling clothes" state earlier, crawling earlier, standing up earlier, and exploring the surrounding environment earlier, the cognition of things will naturally be much earlier than ordinary children.

At this moment, a team of cavalry appeared in the distance, led by Liu Dahu and a general of Barbarian origin.

Liu Dahu dismounted and came to the chessboard to report:

"Your Highness, the person has arrived."

Zheng Fan nodded and continued to move his pieces.

Soon, three men walked over here. Two of them were dressed in traditional Shanyue clothing, and the other was wearing Chu clothing.

Gou Moli, who was pouring tea, put down the teapot and smiled at them kindly.

"You're here?"

The three men looked at each other.

They knew Gou Moli, and they also knew Gou Moli's identity in Fancheng and Jindong. Now, two people were sitting, and Gou Moli was standing to serve them. Then… the identity of the man sitting in the white python robe was obvious.

The three men immediately knelt down:

"We pay our respects to the Regent."

The three men were actually from the Shanyue tribe. One was called Meng Na, one was called Ba Gu, and the other, who was wearing Chu clothing, was given the surname Xia because his tribe had been tamed by the Qu family in the past. Now, he was called Shang Lou.

The large, complex, and chaotic area south of Fancheng was actually at the core of the Qu family's fiefdom. After the Qu family was removed, even almost uprooted, a power vacuum was formed.

The tribes of these three men were actually located relatively far away, in the south of the south, extending to the southern end of the Qishan Mountains. If they continued south, they could reach the southeastern border of the former Qian Kingdom.

However, that place now belonged to Chu because General Nian led his troops to attack it in the past.

The strength of the three men's tribes was not very strong. In the face of a full-fledged regular army, they could be said to be insignificant. However, these local snakes could sometimes play an extremely outstanding role, especially in military adventures. With their internal and external cooperation, they could achieve surprising results.

Zheng Fan waved his hand, casually threw the chess pieces on the chessboard, ignoring his hopeless chess game, and turned to look at the three kneeling men, pretending to deal with official business.

However, the Prince did not speak, but picked up a bunch of grapes placed next to the chessboard and placed them in front of the three kneeling men.

"The Prince is rewarding you," Gou Moli reminded.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

The three men took the grapes together, divided them, put one grape in their mouths, and smiled as they said they were sweet.

"Hehe."

The Prince smiled, stood up, and didn't say anything more to them.

His presence here, meeting them, was actually better than a thousand words. There was no point in being courteous and humble, and there was no need for it.

Gou Moli immediately walked over, motioned the three men to get up, and asked them to follow him to discuss matters.

Zheng Fan stretched,

Yawned,

Walked to where Tian Tian and the other two were sitting, first picked up Da Niu, then kicked his still-sitting son with his boot,

And said;

"Pack up your things, it's time for us to go back."

"Father, I came here like this, what things do I have to pack?" Zheng Lin asked rhetorically.

"Pack up your heart."

"…" Zheng Lin.

"Daddy, will Brother Tian go back with us?" Da Niu asked curiously.

"Yes, he will," Zheng Fan replied.

Tian Tian immediately bowed, "Yes, sir!"

In the military, a military salute should be performed.

Zheng Fan had sent Tian Tian to Gou Moli to train for a while. However, when the real national war began, Zheng Fan hoped that Tian Tian could stay by his side.

It's not that the side battlefield is not important. After all, Zheng Fan made his brilliant achievements by relying on the side battlefield, but now that he had this opportunity and this status, why not put his son by his side and let him directly face the operation of the army's central command?

Moreover, for a child Tian Tian's age, even if he didn't say it, he would definitely crave a head-on battle.

Zheng Fan never liked to create a "fair and selfless" image to the outside world, and he was too lazy to do things like using his own son as an example.

The Brocade-clad Guards began to collect their teams, and the return journey began.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Regent had come to "tour the mountains and rivers" with his children, but in reality, the children were just a side trip. As the real host of a great war, he couldn't feel completely at ease until he personally walked around Fancheng and took a look.

Now,

He could rest assured.

Traveling by boat, with his daughter by his side, the journey was not monotonous.

After leaving Mengshan and entering Wangjiang, he could clearly see that the number of cargo ships going downstream from Jin was beginning to increase.

Fancheng had its own set of systems. Fan Zhengwen was not good at fighting, but he was good at operations. After Gou Moli took over, he took care of everything from mines to blacksmith shops to agriculture.

Zheng Fan had also seen the treasury, and it was very full.

But for the national war that was brewing, it was not enough, far from enough.

Many battles in the past were won, but they had to be withdrawn, or they were always risky, including Li Fusheng's current death. The root cause was still in national strength and logistics.

Now, after five years of recuperation,

He, Zheng Fan,

Could finally free up his hands to fight a rich man's war!

Zheng Fan did not disembark in advance to return to Fengxin City in the east, but took a boat all the way to the Yupan City area, and even landed on the east bank.

Gongsun Zhi's son Gongsun Zan and Gong Wang's son Gong Lin each led a team of elite cavalry and had been waiting on the west bank for a long time.

It was already very normal for Jindong's troops to appear west of Wangjiang. Since last year, the troops from Jinzhong and Jinxi, and even some troops from Yan, had gradually begun to rotate over.

"This subordinate pays respects to Your Highness!"

"This subordinate pays respects to Your Highness!"

Zheng Fan walked off the deck and nodded to the two generals kneeling in front of him.

They had also served under his command and could be considered the second generation of generals in the Jindong lineage.

Looking again at Tian Tian, who was standing beside him in silver armor,

It was impossible for the Regent not to have the feeling of "new talents emerge from generation to generation" in his heart, but this feeling was indeed good.

The Prince's large carriage had already been prepared, and Zheng Fan got into the carriage.

Then,

The escort troops cleared the way in front and behind, the Brocade-clad Guards held up the ceremonial guard, and the Regent's procession went straight into Yingdu.

You must know that

The Regent had not crossed Wangjiang for many years.

The officials of Yingdu had already been notified. The current prefect of Yingdu, Liu Dan, led all the civil and military officials of Yingdu, along with Prince Cheng Situ Yu, to kneel and welcome the Prince's arrival.

If, when Zheng Fan was still the Prince of Pingxi, the officials of Great Yan knelt to welcome him because of the tacit understanding that military merits had been the most noble for hundreds of years in Great Yan, then now, the title of Regent had given Zheng Fan the right to sit with the Emperor in terms of legality.

Kneeling was right, and it was kneeling without any complaints or discomfort.

In addition to the local civil and military officials of Yingdu and Prince Cheng's mansion, there was another team kneeling in the welcoming procession, holding up a canopy and golden umbrellas.

For other imperial envoys, this canopy was just a symbolic gesture, but for him, it was actually used to block the sun, and it was still not enough.

No matter how big the canopy was, it couldn't cover this mountain of flesh.

Tian Tian rode out and ordered:

"The Regent orders that the imperial envoy get on the carriage."

"This subordinate obeys."

Xu Wenzu stood up with the support of the people around him.

The others continued to kneel.

When Xu Wenzu got into the carriage and opened the curtain to enter, Zheng Fan was sitting on the throne inside. Behind him, the heads of two children were faintly visible.

"This subordinate Xu Wenzu pays his respects to the Regent. May Your Highness live a thousand years!"

"Okay, don't kneel. It's too difficult for you to go up and down," Zheng Fan said with a smile.

Xu Wenzu also laughed and didn't force any etiquette.

In fact, he was an imperial envoy and didn't need to kneel, but in front of this person, there was no need to grasp any detailed etiquette.

Xu Wenzu sat down, took out a small bottle from his arms, poured out some pills, put them in his mouth, swallowed them with the tea that Liu Dahu brought, and then gasped for air for a long time.

Old Xu was fatter, and even more serious than being fat was that the aura on this guy was obviously very chaotic, which meant that the three highs on his body were very serious.

"Old Xu, be careful to take care of your body."

"Hehe," Xu Wenzu smiled. "Look, didn't I come to refine oil?"

Xu Wenzu patted his big belly, immediately arousing "a thousand layers of waves."

Xu Wenzu did a very good job as the prefect of Yingdu. Three years ago, he was summoned back to Yanjing and entered the cabinet, directly jumping the line to become the second assistant based on his qualifications.

The year before last, the chief assistant Mao Mingcai returned to his hometown to observe mourning, and Xu Wenzu automatically became the second chief assistant since the Great Yan had its own cabinet.

Half a year later, the Emperor issued an edict, stating that it was necessary for the sake of the country, and seized Mao Mingcai's affection, ending Mao Mingcai's mourning and allowing him to return to the court.

In the following half year, it could be said that there were two chief assistants in the cabinet, but the two did not compete for position. In fact, there was already a tacit understanding between them and His Majesty.

Now,

Xu Wenzu came to Yingdu from Yanjing with the job of chief assistant of the cabinet, imperial envoy, and inspector of Jindong's patrols;

He returned to this land that he had once struggled and cultivated on.

The current prefect of Yingdu, Liu Dan, was a close minister of the Emperor, and could be considered to have been recruited by the Emperor when he was still a prince.

When Xu Wenzu's imperial envoy delegation entered Yingdu the other day, Prefect Liu took the initiative to give up the prefect's mansion, indicating that Xu Wenzu should live in it.

Xu Wenzu did not decline and directly moved in.

This was very incompatible with the so-called words such as "humility", "mud-slinging", and "mediocrity" in the officialdom, but in fact, these words were basically used by well-wishers in folk teahouses, plus the yamen officials who watched the county magistrate, the registrar, the county lieutenant, and other adults fighting with each other, further taking it for granted and thinking that the real high-level officials of a country must also be following this rule of the game;

Unfortunately, things were not like this. When the Son of Heaven's gaze fell on you, when the Son of Heaven bestowed you the imperial envoy flag and sent you out, you had to do things, you had to produce results, and you had to fulfill the will of the Emperor and the court. There was one problem with standing too high, and that was that you couldn't hide even if you wanted to.

On the first day Xu Wenzu entered Yingdu, he moved into the prefect's mansion where he had lived for several years.

This meant that the entire Yingdu had completed the transfer of power. The current prefect, Liu Dan, automatically fell to the position of deputy. Next, everything in Yingdu, even the entire Jinzhong, and radiating to Jinxi, as long as it involved the direction of Jindong, would be under Xu Wenzu's control and dispatch.

"Out, I can finally breathe, Your Highness. Don't laugh at me, but living in Yanjing City is not only less comfortable than Yingdu, but even worse than Huto City, hahaha."

"Hehehe."

Zheng Fan also laughed and said, "That's why there is a saying among the people that it's better to be a county magistrate than a second-rank minister."

"Your Highness, you don't need to tell me how to fight the war. What you need, what you want, write it on the memorial and send it to me with an urgent 800-mile delivery.

I won't give any excuses, I won't complain about any hardships, and I won't say anything about the hardships of the people's livelihood to you.

I only have one sentence,

If one day Your Highness finds that there is not enough food sent to the military camp,

You go look,

The last car is carrying my own fat!"

"Old Brother, with these words from you, I can rest assured," Zheng Fan changed his sitting position and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest. "This battle is stable."

Strong soldiers and horses are on my side,

Sufficient logistics are on my side,

The generals are of one mind on my side,

The Emperor and I are standing together,

It is not impossible to lose. If measured by ten years, twenty years, thirty years, or even the words "tyrannical" and "militarist" in history, it is of course possible to lose;

But at the moment,

Zheng Fan really couldn't think of a reason why he could lose.

Such a situation,

A heaven-defying start that many famous generals throughout history could laugh awake from in their dreams,

If he could still screw it up,

Then Zheng Fan could only admit that he was a waste.

At this time,

Xu Wenzu spoke again:

"Your Highness, it's a pity that the old Marquis is gone. If the old Marquis was here at this time, how good would that be?"

Xu Wenzu was from the old Zhenbei Marquis's mansion, and he called Li Liangting "old Marquis" in private.

"He would be gratified, Old Xu. I remember… it's been ten years, right? It seems like it's been more than that. In the Imperial Garden, I saw the old Marquis roasting lamb legs there.

He said that this Great Yan was still too small, and competing for it was really uninteresting."

"That's indeed what the old Marquis would say, haha."

"It's coming."

Zheng Fan's eyes became serious,

Xu Wenzu, who was sitting below, also immediately restrained his smile, stood up, and although it was very difficult, he still knelt down:

"In the past, my Great Yan was fortunate to have the late Emperor, the old Marquis, and the Southern Marquis;

Now, my Great Yan is fortunate to have His Majesty and Your Highness.

Since the winds of the Great Xia rose eight hundred years ago, the feudal lords fought for hegemony and the world was contested;

Zhu Xia, Zhu Xia,

It has been called for too long, and the more I listen, the more awkward it feels. It is time to change the title.

May our descendants,

Whether the wind blows from the desert, or blows in from the snow, or echoes from the valleys and marshes, or chases the blue waves of the East Sea;

Wherever the wind sweeps,

All is Xuan (black);

Wherever the sun and moon shine,

All is Yan land!"