Zhang Jianqing thought about it for a long time, and then he suddenly realized, what a bullshit "Persuading People to Be Good", how come he didn't know about this, it must be Zheng Junzhi who lied to him.
　　That means the Shangshu or the Shilang had some special instructions. It is probably impossible to convince He Tongzhi, who has been in the army for a long time, unless he is a high-ranking official.
　　Zhang Jianqing came up with a plausible explanation, and only He Tongzhi himself couldn't make it.
　　He was shocked and surprised at first, and then sweating profusely, but he found that Zheng Junzhi had no intention of showing off or criticizing, and just asked him not to show it to the outside, so he was relieved a little.
　　He felt that this person was of great importance, and was probably a favorite of the imperial envoy who had received some kind of order. He had no idea that the two thousand cavalrymen were only used by His Majesty the Emperor to help his little father, who was like his mortal enemy, escape at a critical moment... In fact, it was still for the Empress Dowager's sake, and he was just protecting him as a favorite of the Empress Dowager.
　　This confirmed Dong Lingjiu's judgment. How could Zheng Yuheng use this imperial edict to escape? He was taking good care of himself by not risking his life.
　　After Commander He had no more objections, they traveled for about seven days and arrived at the Yinsu exchange area at the end of March in Huining.
　　This place is different from Kyoto, where spring has already come and flowers are blooming. In this area, the ice on the river has just melted, and there is even residual snow that has spread from winter to today. As the season goes on, people not only fail to take off their clothes, but instead put on more clothes.
　　Zheng Yuheng also roughly understood what the military officials in the capital meant when they said that if they did not return to the capital in late autumn, the chance of winning would be reduced to less than 30% when snow fell in winter.
　　The northern border was too cold, and fighting in summer was the most advantageous for us. If winter came, the cold alone would reduce most of the combat capabilities of non-native cavalry, which was not a good choice.
　　At the end of March, the baggage transport team finally joined up with Deputy Commander Li at the front.
　　That's right, Deputy Commander. This man was named Li Zongguang, with the courtesy name Shande. He was heroic and brave, but he was rough and barbaric. He did not allow his subordinates to call him Deputy Commander, so his subordinates and the commanding officers below him could only call him Commander, which showed his obvious ambition.
　　Li Zongguang, like He Tongzhi, followed the bad habit of looking down on civil officials and thinking that they were just good at talking, but he had some brains. When he saw the two officials from Beijing coming, he first glared at He Tongzhi fiercely, and then ordered his men to count the baggage and record it in the account book.
　　Zheng Yuheng and Zhang Jianqing happened to be officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and they were very familiar with the amount in the account book, so they handed it over directly to the military grain officer.
　　"Why did you bring them here?" Li Zongguang, with a cold northern air, asked He Tongzhi privately, "What do you mean? Since you asked your general to kick down from the front line to feed the horses, you can't even figure out this kind of mess?"
　　He Tongzhi said, "General, this is a Beijing official. He is a doctor of the six departments, close to the emperor, and is different from those poor scholars in the local corners."
　　"Tsk." Li Zongguang was very disdainful, but since the people were here, he couldn't just send them back. He looked at the two and said, "They won't be in the military camp to supervise the firing?"
　　"I'm afraid they will." He Tongzhi said, "General, don't be angry, this is different, this..."
　　Li Zongguang pushed He Tongzhi away and turned back, not listening to a word. He Tongzhi had no choice but to sigh secretly, thinking that this deputy general should not be too arrogant in front of the emperor's incognito envoy, otherwise he would lose his head. Don't blame me for not reminding you. I was just following orders.
　　After Zheng Yuheng handed over the accounts and food supplies, he also listened to the military affairs. He saw the grain officer count the numbers issued one by one, and said casually: "It was difficult along the way. I heard that although General Li was on both sides, he was the first general in the country to fight against Beisu. The nearest village said that he forced back 20,000 households with 8,000 soldiers."
　　The other party shook his head and said: "It's a strange rumor. The Sixth Prince has only 3,000 households, and we have more people. The two sides just met in the lower reaches of the Dahan River. The two sides faced each other, beating drums, shooting arrows, and building trenches."
　　Zheng Yuheng said again: "Is that so... our military camp has positions elsewhere?"
　　"Sir," the other party smiled, "since there are not tens of thousands of troops stationed here, why should we divide them into two places? Besides, even if there are 100,000 soldiers, they are strong when they are united and weak when they are divided."
　　Zheng Yuheng nodded in agreement and smiled without saying anything.
　　He walked out of the tent, and Zhang Zimo followed. The two walked out, passing by soldiers in armor and holding guns, and walked to a gentle slope on the westernmost side of the camp, where there was still some ice and snow.
　　Zhang Jianqing blew into his hands, rubbed his face, and held the collar of the jacket over his official uniform. He was about to call Zheng Junzhi back, but the other party suddenly turned around, stood on the slope and looked at the camp, and said, "Zimo, there are not even 5,000 people here."
　　Zhang Jianqing was stunned for a moment and couldn't believe his ears: "Junzhi, are you stupid? What nonsense are you talking about? What we are transporting is..."
　　"Our food and supplies are enough for 10,000 households to eat for a month." Zheng Yuheng raised his hand and pointed at the camp. "If it was a difference of 100 or 500, it might not be noticeable. But pretending to ask for 10,000 food, telling the outside world that there are 8,000, but there are actually only more than 4,000 soldiers, right in front of you and me."
　　"Junzhi," Zhang Jianqing felt a chill on his spine, and his hands and feet were numb, "What did you say? This..."
　　"I've seen people who earn money from the court by drawing salaries without doing anything, but I've never seen people drawing salaries without doing anything to this extent." Zheng Yuheng said calmly, "These are the subordinates of General Geng Zhe of the Shenwu Army. They are armed to the teeth. How much silver did the wasteful copper and iron weapons, shields and chariots cost? Even so, this is still an elite force, said to be an army that is always victorious."
　　"Once the army moves, it costs thousands of gold a day." Zhang Jianqing's throat was dry, "No wonder they all want to fight. If they don't fight, there will be no way to make a fortune!"
　　Zheng Yuheng said, "This matter must be reported, but major matters cannot be delayed. Even if they really drew salaries without doing anything, I see that they don't care. There are people from all armies, and it is definitely not just Deputy Commander Li who is unified. On the contrary, this place is too close to Beisu, and if a fight breaks out, we will need people to hold it back. General Li cannot be moved for the time being. So, just pretend you don't know about it."
　　Zhang Jianqing got hot-headed and breathed out, "How can I... Don't you know?"
　　Zheng Yuheng glanced at him and said, "If he finds out, we will be killed in the 'chaos' whenever we meet an enemy." It
　　was a cold day, but Zhang Jianqing was sweating. He wiped off the sweat, grabbed Zheng Yuheng's arm, and said hurriedly, "Brother Zheng, we are still responsible for all the transportation of the Heguan route in this battle. We must not die in this place. My wife is waiting for me at home."
　　Zheng Yuheng said, "Zimo, when the food and wages are distributed later, you don't have to check too carefully."
　　Zhang Jianqing nodded.
　　Not long after, the two returned to the camp from outside.
　　Since the two seemed to be not concerned about the inspection of food and wages, Li Zongguang was very happy, so he didn't immediately think about how to control and threaten the two scholars. He specially prepared wine and sent soldiers to deliver it to the two people's tents, and then got drunk with the soldiers in the camp, and boasted about the overall situation of the Northern Expedition. During this period
　　, Zheng Yuheng was still cold and taciturn, and didn't say a word more.
　　That night, Zheng Yuheng and Zhang Jianqing were in the same tent, and soldiers were patrolling outside the tent in shifts. After Zhang Zimo fell asleep, he lit a small candle, rubbed his stiff hands in the dim candlelight, and picked up the pen.
　　Zheng Yuheng's hands were wrapped in bandages. The wounds underneath were changed every day and had healed a lot. The place where he held the pen had long been calloused, so he didn't feel any pain.
　　He dipped the ink and wrote a few lines carefully. He folded it up and put it close to his body. Then he spread another piece of paper, relaxed his whole body, and exhaled.
　　At this time, Zheng Yuheng put aside the vigilance and caution of the work, stroked the letter paper, and wrote again. The words on the tip of the pen were much smoother and lighter.
　　"I send this heart to Tan Niang..."
　　...
　　March 9th, night.
　　Dong Lingjiu put on his clothes and got off the bed. He sat with his head propped up behind the curtain and listened to the urgent military report from six hundred miles away.
　　Leaving aside the transfer from the previous province, this report was submitted directly to the inner court by the Ministry of War. It was about Geng Zhe's nearly 80,000 troops and horses paved a bridge across the river and surrounded the Lizhou City that Beisu had looted and occupied before. They attacked the city on the same day. The generals left behind by Beisu were the generals of the Sixth Prince Zhuli Alitai. When they saw that Dayin surrounded them with ten troops, they immediately abandoned the land and fled without sending a single soldier.
　　It was a victory report.
　　But Dong Lingjiu's brows were still furrowed.
　　She flipped through several official documents and said coldly, "They didn't consider Lizhou City as a city to be occupied."
　　There was a spark in her words, and the people who were about to come up to congratulate her retreated and knelt on the spot.
　　"The four counties of Kangzhou, where sheep and horses are fat and strong, are heavily guarded by them, and there is no sign of them moving. But when this group of northern barbarians came to Lizhou City, where most of the elderly and weak were, they burned houses and burned land, killed people for fun, and looted gold and left. They didn't want this city at all. Even if they took it back, it would be a ruin. This is all the fault of the governor who abandoned the land and betrayed his country and master!"
　　Li Ruixue was one of the few who could understand. She stepped forward and silently poured tea for the queen mother.
　　Dong Lingjiu closed his eyes and suppressed the murderous intent that was surging up in his mind. He took a sip of the tea and asked, "Where is the emperor?"
　　Ruixue replied, "His Majesty is in the Ministry of War."
　　"Still in the Ministry of War?"
　　"The military reports are arriving day and night, and no one knows when they will arrive. It is inconvenient for His Majesty to stay in Guiyuan Palace, so he has been in the Ministry of War for the past two days and one night, and even has meals with you adults."
　　Dong Lingjiu felt relieved. He sighed and said, "It's better this way. Otherwise, I will always get up and wake him up, which will not only disturb him, but also the pregnant queen."
　　At this moment, outside the brightly lit Cining Palace, someone else kowtowed and said in a voice, "I am Chen Qinghang, the servant in front of the emperor. I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager."
　　Dong Lingjiu said, "Come in."
　　Chen Qinghang stood up, bowed his head and respectfully handed the official documents and letters in the box in his hand to Ruixue. Ruixue took it and presented it to Dong Lingjiu.
　　Dong Lingjiu opened the box, and inside were spies from various armies, but most of them were on the front lines and in the war supervision army. One was to supervise the Shenwu Army, fearing that these military generals who had always had conflicts with the civil officials would not distinguish the importance of the war and "accidentally kill" the civil officials accompanying the army, and do some dirty fighting. The second was to prevent the emergence of traitors like the governor of Lizhou City, and nip the danger in the bud.
　　She read them one by one, and paused in the one with familiar handwriting, rubbed the paper a few times, and said: "This word..."
　　Ruixue said from the side: "It's cold in the north, and the handwriting of the ink is not as good, which is also normal."
　　"No." Dong Lingjiu was silent for a moment, and said, "...I hurt my hand."