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Zuo Liangyu was shocked and angry when he received the news that Wuchang was captured by Ma Yongzhen. At the same time, he also knew that he had no way out, so he had to fight to the death and attack Xiangyang. After three days of fierce attack by his 70,000 troops regardless of casualties, the weak Xiangyang city was finally captured by him.
Then Zuo Liangyu, as if he had been injected with chicken blood, first sent his general Lu Guangzu to fight against Meng Changgeng, a general of the Dashun Army who came back from Jingzhou for support, and defeated him in one fell swoop.
He also sent General Li Guoying to attack Zaoyang, General Xu Ensheng to attack Gucheng, and General Zhang Yingxiang to attack Suizhou, all of which were conquered.
Zuo Liangyu himself led Generals Chang Deng, Xu Yong, Zhang Yingyuan, Xu Yuxian and others to the north to Xinye to meet Zheng Siwei. Zheng Siwei mobilized garrisons from Nanyang and other places, totaling more than 40,000 people, to fight Zuo Liangyu in Xinye for three days, but the outcome was unclear.
At this time, civil strife broke out in Nanyang. Lu Teng, a centurion in the Nanyang garrison who had surrendered to the Dashun Army, colluded with landlords and gentry in the city, such as Wan Youcheng, and took advantage of the emptiness of the city to launch a sudden attack, overthrowing the Dashun Army regime in Nanyang in one fell swoop.
A fire broke out behind Zheng Siwei, and the army was in chaos. Zuo Liangyu took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, defeated Zheng Siwei, beheaded more than 5,000 people, and seized a large number of weapons and supplies.
At that time, Li Zicheng was still busy sweeping Shaanxi and was unable to reach Henan. Zuo Liangyu took the opportunity to expand his army and captured Shiyan, Ruzhou, Yiyang and other counties. The landlords' armed forces in various places also responded. Zuo Liangyu's reputation was greatly shaken, and he claimed to have 300,000 soldiers and marched straight to Luoyang.
In Jiangxi, after Meng Ke successfully occupied Jiujiang, he followed Qin Mu's order to expand the army by another 10,000 people, 7,000 land forces and 3,000 naval forces, increasing the Jiujiang naval and land forces to 30,000 people. At the same time, he used the stolen ships to train the navy in Poyang Lake.
Qin Mu was worried that Zuo Liangyu would turn around to attack Wuchang and Jingzhou, so he quickly dispatched food and weapons and ordered Ma Yongzhen and Ling Zhan to prepare for war. He also went to Yuezhou to train the navy and supervise the construction of warships.
On the other hand, the Jianghan Plain north of Yuezhou had just been recovered, and the local administrative structure needed to be rebuilt, and refugees who had no place to live due to the war needed relief. Various livelihood governance needed to be started immediately, so Qin Mu had to leave Changsha and go to Yuezhou to take charge.
Before going to Yuezhou, Qin Mu convened a meeting in the meeting hall of the governor's office.
Zhuge Min said happily: "When Zhang Xianzhong went south to Huguang in August, autumn crops had already been planted in various places. Although field management was greatly affected during the rebel occupation of Huguang, which reduced the harvest of autumn crops by at least 30%, judging from the statistics of various states and counties today, Huguang can still be self-sufficient in grain this year. Now General Ling and General Ma have captured Wuchang and Jingzhou respectively. The 800-li Dongting Lake and the Jianghan Plain are under our control. The areas around Dongting Lake and the Jianghan Plain are rich in resources. It is not an exaggeration to say that if Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will be prosperous. Your Excellency has ordered work-for-relief and major water conservancy projects. If nothing unexpected happens, Huguang will surely have a bumper year next year, and the food strategy proposed by Your Excellency will be guaranteed."
Since Qin Mu proposed the food strategy, it has been continuously improved by Zhuge Min and others. The food strategy is no longer something that remains on paper, but is implemented clearly and step by step. Among them, the development of water conservancy with work instead of relief is one of the important steps to implement this strategy.
Qin Mu glanced at the dozen or so officials sitting there. He frowned and said, "Strengthening the army is naturally the top priority, but food strategy is equally important. As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you won't be worried. Only when food is guaranteed can we stabilize the morale of the army and the people. We must do a good job in repairing water conservancy projects with work-for-relief this winter. How about this, Mr. Zhuge doesn't have to go to Yuezhou with me. You can lead people to coordinate the construction of water conservancy projects. He Tengjiao is working hard now, but he can't make me feel at ease after all."
Zhuge Min mentioned this matter with the intention of asking Qin Mu to strengthen management. Among the three staff members, Zhuge Min's military strategy was slightly inferior to Li Yuan and He Liang, but he was slightly better than Li Yuan and He Liang in managing people's livelihood. Qin Mu entrusted this matter to him, which allowed him to give full play to his strengths, so he agreed immediately.
Qin Mu went on to say, "In addition, the Jianghan area has just been recovered, and the prefecture and county structure has been established. In terms of people's livelihood management, it is far from enough for me to control and command from Yuezhou. I will trouble Mr. Li to rush to the Jianghan area and take full charge of related matters."
"Thank you for your trust, my Lord. I will do my best to stabilize Jianghan as soon as possible."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Mr. He, just go to Nanchang. Now that Jiujiang has been taken, if we transfer supplies from Huguang, the losses on the road alone will be incalculable, and we need the cooperation of Nanchang. And it is not a solution for Nanchang to just ignore us. We need to go there to unify them. After Mr. He goes there, we need to use both soft and hard tactics... Forget it, you can decide how to do it in Nanchang based on the situation. I only have one request, that Nanchang make a smooth transition, and it is better to make slow progress than to cause any more disturbances. We have expanded too fast, so we should focus on stability for now and not toss around anymore. Mr. He, you can decide the scale when you arrive in Nanchang."
"Yes, sir."
"You are all in charge of your own side and have placed great hopes on me. I want to warn you here. Don't be jealous of others' talents, form cliques, and exclude those who are different from you. Be careful to discover and promote talents with real skills and knowledge, so that all aspects can recover as soon as possible." Qin Mu paused for a moment, then said leisurely, "Since ancient times, the most important thing for a prime minister is his mind and tolerance. He may not be a thousand-mile horse, but he must have the vision of a good horse trainer; he does not need to make a big splash, but to have a bird's-eye view; he must not be impatient for quick success, but must have the patience to accumulate sand into a tower. Well, I won't say more, you can figure it out for yourselves."
Zhuge Min and the others really needed to think about Qin Mu's words carefully. They looked at each other and knew in their hearts that Qin Mu was not just warning them.
Qin Mu should have given them a test to see who has the ability to be a prime minister. They need to give full play to their abilities and show them off in this test. At the same time, Qin Mu also pointed out what kind of prime minister he needs. He doesn't want someone who can just impress, but someone who can coordinate the overall situation and focus on the long-term.
Then they need to think about it. Performing too brilliantly may not necessarily be a good thing, but the tasks assigned must be completed well and there must be continuity. To put it bluntly, you cannot just focus on the task assigned by Qin Mu. It is like playing chess. You cannot just take one step at a time. You must consider the continuity and feasibility of the following steps.
For everyone, this exam was undoubtedly crucial. If anyone failed, they would lose the best chance to advance to the "phase". Therefore, everyone accepted it with awe, as if they were walking on thin ice or facing the abyss.
After Qin Mu made some arrangements with Shao Hua, Liu Boquan and others, he took Yang Shen and his personal guards, as well as Luo Yingzhang, the ambassador of the Ministry of Works who was specifically in charge of shipbuilding, and sailed to Yuezhou.
Qin Mu's main purpose of going to Yuezhou this time was to supervise the construction of warships and the training of the navy, not to go into battle. He had promised to take Qiao'er back to her hometown to pay homage to her mother, so he happened to take her with him this time. Since he brought the little girl with him, he naturally had to take Yang Zhi with him. Yang Zhi insisted on taking Dong Xiaowan on board as well, and they went to Yuezhou on the same ship.
Sima An sent Yang Zhi to Changsha last time. Although he didn't say it clearly in the letter, Qin Mu could understand what he meant. He was reminding Qin Mu that he couldn't just focus on military and political affairs at this point, and it was time to consider his offspring.
Even Yang Shen reminded Qin Mu to pay attention to the matter of offspring.
In this era, the crown prince is regarded as the foundation of the country. Without a crown prince, the country is unstable and loses its continuity. Qin Mu has become a local overlord, but he has no relatives and friends, and is still a "lonely man".
Those who wanted to follow him naturally hoped that he would have children soon so that the "career" they were engaged in would have continuity.
Qin Mu himself understood this truth, so he brought Yang Zhi along not only to avoid favoritism, but also because he really hoped that Yang Zhi could give birth to a son soon to stabilize the "foundation of the country."
Yang Zhi brought Dong Xiaowan along, perhaps with this consideration. She felt sorry for Qin Mu, and now she has been in Changsha for some time, but her belly has not shown any signs of pregnancy, so she can't help but think more about it. She brought Dong Xiaowan along, perhaps with the intention of increasing the chances of continuing the Qin family's incense.
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ps: Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year!
.(To be continued..)
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