In this way, Qiu Yizhi from the north of the Yangtze River and Zheng Xin from the south of the Yangtze River started a war of words. This war was related to who the people of the world would support, which was more important than the real fight on the battlefield. Therefore, Qiu Yizhi did not ask Lin Shuhan to take care of the trivial government affairs, and he was dedicated to writing articles to deal with Zheng Xin's specious arguments. Lin Shuhan was inspired by the spirit of a scholar, and he did not have to worry about the documents, so he was happy to write all day and argue with Zheng Xin from the south of the Yangtze River.
After arguing for more than a month, the 20,000 Bohai cavalry that Qiu Yizi had been waiting for for a long time were finally assembled and requested to enter the country through Youyan Road to fight.
Qiu Yizi hoped that this group of elite new forces could add a heavy weight to the scale of victory for his side, but he also felt that the Bohai people were not of his race after all, and if they had penetrated deep into the heartland of the Han Dynasty, there was no guarantee that they would have no ulterior motives.
However, the Bohai people went south to fight at their own request. If they were to send troops to monitor them all the time, it would not only add to the already stretched military burden, but also hurt the morale of the Bohai people. It would be a loss. So Qiu Yizhi had an idea. He thought that according to the agreement, the Han people would be responsible for the supply of food and grass for the Bohai Iron Cavalry. Then, they would supply only three days' worth of food and grass every three days, so that even if the Bohai Army intended to cause trouble, they would not be able to do it.
Dali Khan, the ruler of Bohai, was a hero who could stand on equal footing with the old emperor Zheng Rong and Turkic Bishimi. How could Qiu Yizhi's little trick be hidden from his eyes? Seeing that Qiu Yizhi was quite wary of him, but unwilling to withdraw the army, he used a little trick to ask Princess Yiran and her son with Qiu Yizhi, who had originally followed the army to the south, to return to Bohai to recuperate on the grounds of acclimatization and occasional minor illness.
Qiu Yizi certainly knew Dali Khan's intention, and cursed him harshly in his heart, but when he put himself in Dali's shoes and thought about it, he was immediately relieved. He felt that as long as he could win the decisive battle with Zheng Xin, and then take advantage of his victory and the emptiness of Bohai to ask Dali for people, Dali would certainly not be able to resist.
Therefore, despite some minor disagreements, the cavalry from the Bohai Kingdom still arrived at Tongguan on time.
In order to prevent the Hu people who came south to help in the war from harassing the people after entering the pass, Qiu Yizi asked Wang Shijie, the defender of Tongguan, to set up a camp outside the pass for the 20,000 cavalry to station, and ordered him to guard the pass strictly and not to be careless at all. He also sent Yelu, a sensible person, to restrain the Bohai people, while Prince Wudun was forced to stay in the capital.
Just like that, it was already early summer. The troops under Qiu Yizhi's control, plus the 20,000 cavalry of Bohai and the imperial guards he had reorganized and trained, totaled nearly 100,000 troops. Together with the troops under Dai Luanxiang who were working behind Zheng Xin, the total number had exceeded 100,000.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi felt that although Zheng Xin had nearly 300,000 men under his command, only 230,000 or 240,000 of them could be commanded as he wished. With 100,000 men under his command, his chance of winning a battle against him was actually over 70%.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi made a special trip to Lin Shuhan and asked him to draft another declaration of war, inviting Zheng Xin to cross the Yangtze River to decide the outcome.
However, Lin Shuhan thought that his current military strength was only half of Zheng Xin's, and the chance of winning in a head-on confrontation was not very high. It seemed that he should not rush to find an opportunity for a decisive battle with Zheng Xin. He should take advantage of the current trend of the two sides' strength increasing and decreasing, and continue to wait for a month or two until the balance of power is reversed before looking for an opportunity for a decisive battle.
Qiu Yizhi gave three reasons for this:
First, the early rice in the south of the Yangtze River will mature in a month or so, and Zheng Xin's food and grass supply, which seems to be a bit tight for the time being, will be completely solved. However, it will take another month for the rice in the north to mature. Qiu Yizhi's current advantage in logistics supply will turn into a disadvantage.
Secondly, the Han Dynasty has been unstable in recent years, especially the Jiangnan Road, which is an important place for national finance and grain, has experienced several wars and has reached the point where it can no longer afford to toss. If Zheng Xin continues to confront him, he will inevitably impose heavy taxes in Jiangnan. If it continues to delay, the Han Dynasty will inevitably suffer a great loss of vitality, and it will be even more difficult to restore the national strength.
Third, the Turkic Piximi was cruel, treacherous, and ambitious. Seeing that the Han Dynasty was busy dealing with internal strife and Bohai was drawing elite troops, he must have some intentions. If the time dragged on too long, Piximi would definitely take action. At that time, there was an invasion from the Turks in the north and a fight with Zheng Xin in the south. It would be unpleasant to be attacked from both sides.
At the end, Qiu Yizhi added: "Mr. Lin, please rest assured. I know Zheng Xin very well. He imitates my adoptive father, the late emperor, in every way, but he only imitates the superficial aspects. Especially in the use of troops and fighting, he may be able to win a battle that is sure to win, but once there is a change, he has no ability to respond at all. It's easy for us to deal with such a person, right?"
Although Lin Shuhan was not familiar with military affairs, he felt that Qiu Yizhi was too confident. He was a little worried about him, but he couldn't pour a bucket of cold water on him. He could only say, "He who plans for victory before the battle has made many plans; he who plans for defeat before the battle has made few plans..."
"What's more, there is no chance of winning?" Qiu Yizi interrupted Lin Shuhan and said, "I have read the military strategy of the military sage countless times. I appreciate your kindness in reminding me to be cautious, but I am Qiu Yizi, who is like this. If there is a 60% chance of winning, I will try it. What's more, the chance of winning now is far more than 60%!"
Lin Shuhan was stunned by his words and looked into Qiu Yizi's eyes silently.
Qiu Yizi also felt that his attitude was a bit impatient and rude, so he laughed twice to ease the embarrassment, and said, "Sir, please write an article for me to fight against the rebellion. If your article spreads throughout the world, Zheng Xin's morale will surely be greatly hit, and our army's chances of winning will be even greater. Well, I have an important matter to deal with Zhao Chengxiao and others, so you can go ahead and do your work."
After saying that, Qiu Yizi turned around, turned around, and walked out.
Lin Shuhan looked at Qiu Yizi's conceited and resolute back and sighed - this Qiu Yizi was no longer the Qiu Yizi he knew back then...
Qiu Yizi indeed had important things to do.
Originally, Zhao Chengxiao had followed his orders and was responsible for the task of reorganizing and training the imperial guards. He was already very busy, but today, Qiu Yizi specifically called him to the capital. Even Zhao Chengxiao felt a little strange and asked, "Sir, you called me here today. Is there something important you want to do?"
Qiu Yizi smiled slyly: "Is it important to go to see the emperor?"
In the past, meeting the supreme emperor would be a very important matter. However, the emperor Zheng Qi was supported by Qiu Yizhi, and Qiu Yizhi's meeting him was like taking out a puppet that she had carefully dressed up, so it was not important.
But despite the fact, Zhao Chengxiao still couldn't get around the obvious etiquette between the emperor and his subjects, and said, "It's important, it's important. But the clothes I'm wearing don't seem to be very solemn. How about I change into clean clothes and go with you, sir?"
He had just returned from a military training exercise, and his clothes were old, dirty, and had several holes in them, which really made him look "undignified".
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "I didn't expect that you, Zhao Chengxiao, have become so particular before you even get promoted. Since you can wear this 'undignified' outfit to see me, why can't you wear it to see the emperor? Why are you so particular?"
Zhao Chengxiao smiled innocently: "Aren't you and I family? I didn't think so much about it..."
"Our own people", "our own people", these three words lingered in Qiu Yizhi's mind for a few rounds, making him feel very emotional. He sighed and said, "Okay, don't change your clothes. I have also made an appointment with Yuchi Jiming to go with you. It's not good for a grown man like you to change clothes while asking a little girl to wait."
Zhao Chengxiao heard this and quickly replied, "Yes, sir, please set off now. I will lead the way. I just wonder where Miss Yuchi is now?"
Qiu Yizi replied: "She is now with your bandit brothers. Let's meet up with them first and then go to the palace together."
Yuchi Jiming's father died in Tongguan. He first followed Qiu Yizhi's order to escort his father's body back to his hometown for burial. Then, according to his father's will and Qiu Yizhi's arrangement, he inherited the Yuchi family's business and the title of "Master of the Martial Arts World". He was busy like this for nearly two months, and only reappeared by Qiu Yizhi's side today.
Zhao Chengxiao saw that Yuchi Jiming had not seen him for more than fifty days. The childish look on his face had long since disappeared. Although his eyes were still as round and big as before, his expression was as unpredictable as a bottomless pool of water. He quickly bowed and said, "Little Master, I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you?"
Yuchi Jiming also bowed in return and only replied, "General Zhao, how are you?" Her voice was also like a calm lake, making it hard to understand.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Chengxiao couldn't help but swallow his saliva and dared not say anything more.
Qiu Yizi had something important to do, so she called everyone present and said, "Come on, follow me into the palace!"
Qiu Yizhi was not far from the palace. After turning a few corners, they arrived at the gate of the palace. Today was different from the past. The leaders of the guards guarding the palace were all promoted by Qiu Yizhi from his own soldiers. Seeing that the benefactor had come, there was no reason to stop him. They quickly made way for Qiu Yizhi to enter the Forbidden City with a group of ferocious soldiers.
Qiu Yizi first led his men all the way to the "Shuli Hall" where the emperor met people and did business. However, he saw that the emperor Zheng Qi was not there. He asked the eunuchs serving in the hall and found out that Zheng Qi had gone to pay his respects to the "Lizheng Palace" where the Empress Dowager was.
So Qiu Yizi led his men and turned to the outside of the "Lizheng Palace". When he asked the guards outside, he found out that the emperor was indeed talking to his grandmother, the Empress Dowager, in the palace.
Qiu Yizi shouted loudly outside the palace: "Your Majesty, I, Qiu Yizi, would like to see the Emperor and the Empress Dowager!" Without waiting for anyone in the palace to answer, he pushed the door open and entered the palace. As expected, he saw the Emperor having a heart-to-heart talk with his grandmother.
The two of them, grandparents and grandchildren, were quite surprised and angry to see Qiu Yizi coming uninvited.
The Empress Dowager said, "Yizi, this is my bedroom. Why did you come in without permission without being summoned?" Because her husband Zheng Rong had passed away, she changed her self-proclaimed name to "Aijia".
Qiu Yi smiled and said, "Just now I seemed to hear that it was the Emperor who summoned me, so I dared to come in. I really dare not accept the word 'without permission', so please ask the Empress Dowager to take it back."