In late October, Yanjing has already received its first snowfall this winter.

After the winter comes, thousands of miles from Yanji to Hehuai are covered with ice and snow. The frozen white ground makes a clicking sound when horseshoes step on it, just like the galloping horseshoes stepping on an iron plate. The sound seems to be able to

Sneak out of Mars.

After winter, the Hehuai Plain is dominated by cavalry.

The surrender of the Xihu and other tribes restored the number of cavalry controlled by Yanjing to 200,000. From Hezhong Prefecture in the west to Dengzhou Prefecture in the east, along the entire Hehuai and Shandong defense lines, the cavalry increased to 100,000, and the infantry

The number increased to 160,000, and the naval force increased to 30,000.

At least in the winter, Yanjing did not have to worry about the Southern Dynasty's ability to break through the defense line from the east to the north.

After the onset of winter, the coastal waters north of Changli, Jidong and Liangliao are usually frozen. The depth of the sea ice ranges from several miles to dozens of miles. In the worst cases, the ports south of Tianjin Sea are even frozen.

And the inland rivers that flowed into the sea would freeze solid; without these rivers, even if the Southern Dynasties used sea routes to transport large-scale troops to the offshore areas of Jinhai, Changli and other places, they would not penetrate into the interior on a large scale.

The first snowfall after winter means that Yanjing City has entered the severe winter season, and it also means that the tense strategic defense situation of the year can be relaxed a little.

In the Royal Hunting Village in the north of Yanjing City, the sound of horse hooves was as fast as a shower in the snow, and deer, hares, and elk were driven away in the bushes. At this moment, a large group of wild animals stopped in front of a bush, listening to

Hearing the sound of horse hooves all around, he didn't know where to run for a moment. When he was in a daze, Leng Buding shot dozens of sharp arrows from the side, piercing into the body of the wild animal, causing blood drops to sprinkle on the snow.

On the ground, dozens of prey suddenly twitched and struggled with their hooves, scattering snow particles everywhere.

Dozens of young men wearing armor and holding bows galloped out of the dense forest on the flanks. Regardless of the blood, they picked up the killed prey, laid it across in front of the saddle, and then galloped back on the horse. The young man in the lead was only sixteen years old.

At the age of seven, he effortlessly lifted the elk weighing three hundred kilograms in front of the saddle. Thanks to the horse he was riding, he shouted: "Zuo Lin has hunted a big deer and presented it to the emperor. I wish you the best."

May the Emperor be blessed with good health and longevity..."

"Zuo Linyou is my father's bravery. It's great. I'll reward you!" Ye Jier wore a big fur coat outside his dragon robe. He stood in front of the hunting platform and watched the royal family's children hunting. He took off the sword from his waist and called to the people around him.

The courtiers took it to reward those who hunted the giant deer.

Zuo Lin is the son of Ye Ji Luorong, and those who hunt with him are all children of the royal family. The elder is only twenty, and the younger is only fourteen or fifteen years old. However, they have all practiced martial arts since childhood and are proficient in bow and horse. Although they are wild

Hunting, but it also shows that the tribes of Yandong use force to establish their clans. The martial arts of these royal children are not weaker than their fathers, and they are still far away from corruption and decline. On the other hand, it also shows that the martial arts of the tribes of Yandong and Yanxi are still upright.

Is in a rising phase.

The prey in front of the hunting platform has been piled up like a hill; the royal disciples were sweating profusely, but their interest remained undiminished. They piled the prey in front of the hunting platform and then rode horses into the depths of the jungle. For these wild enclosures, hunters

The village releases a number of bears and tigers, whoever can hunt the bears and tigers will be the supreme honor...

Ye Ji'er also liked hunting in his early years, but at this time, his health was not allowed. He could only stand on the hunting platform, looking at the mountains of prey under the platform, and said to the courtiers around him: "Prime Minister Zhang has worked hard for Dayan these years and has made great contributions."

, the deer Zuo Lin hunted was given to Zhang Xiang to nourish his body..."

These prey are all meant to be rewarded to the ministers. The bigger the prey, the heavier the reward and the greater the emperor's favor.

Zhang Xie hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

"Many princes and ministers believe that after this winter, the setbacks suffered in the Battle of Jingxiang can be overcome." Ye Jier sat back on the brocade couch and asked Zhang Xie, "Prime Minister Zhang, what do you think?"

Although Ye Ji'er said this to ask Zhang Xie, the princes and ministers on the hunting platform did not dare to be careless and took their minds away from watching the hunting. They were sitting upright and listening carefully. The Jade Concubine standing next to Ye Ji'er said,

He also looked towards Zhang Xie.

Apart from Fan Wenlan, Zhang Xie can be said to be the most knowledgeable Han official in the court.

Zhang Xie thought deeply and knew that this question was difficult to answer.

It is true that the defeat in the Battle of Jingxiang was the biggest crisis faced by Northern Yan after it invaded Yanji.

At that time, more than half of the Western Front Corps led by Ye Jiluorong had been lost, and the morale of the generals was severely depressed. In Hehuai, Shandong's defense line only had 150,000 troops. Due to the excessive consumption of the war on the Western Front, the entire Hehuai Army was

, there is a shortage of combat readiness materials on the Shandong defense line; including the sea-locking defense line, which has just been built, the navy has only more than 10,000 people, and it is not yet capable of forcibly blocking the Bohai Port to prevent the Huaidong Navy from entering. Especially in Jinzhong, Yan

The people in Ji were panic-stricken, and for a time, almost every day in the city of Yanjing, ministers surrendered to the Han Dynasty and returned to their hometowns.

In the Battle of Jingxiang, Huaidong not only severely defeated the northern Yanxi troops, but also eliminated the She and Luo forces in one fell swoop. It had nearly 400,000 troops, of which nearly 300,000 were deployed on both sides of the Huai River from Nanyang to Haizhou. If it had been

With the armies of Henan and Huaidong working together, it would be almost impossible for Beiyan to defend the area south of the Yellow River.

Faced with such a big crisis, Ye Jier decisively changed his attack to strategic contraction, granted Chen Zhihu the title of Qin, cut off Guanzhong envoys to defend, sent the main force of his own cavalry to the center of Jin, and Yan Ji contracted, not only preparing to abandon the area south of the Yellow River

Mental preparation.

At that time, even the most arrogant general realized that the situation was not favorable for Beiyan. As long as Lin Fu gritted his teeth and launched the Northern Expedition, Beiyan would face an extremely difficult and bloody war.

No one expected that Lin Fu delayed the Northern Expedition for two years. Even if he sent troops to participate in the Goryeo War, the scale was very effective, so that the battle defense zones of both sides in the Goryeo Civil War were still maintained at the Asan line.

The past two years have been too precious for Beiyan. Not only have the lost soldiers been replenished, but they have also concentrated on strengthening the Hehuai and Shandong lines, which has increased the strength of the entire Hehuai and Shandong defense lines by 60%. The locking sea defense line

After four years of construction, the size of the navy has increased to 30,000.

In particular, there was a severe drought in the south and western Zhejiang last year, while the weather in the north was generally good, with a large-scale increase in grain production, and two years of rest without any large-scale wars, changing the previous situation of material shortages.

Compared with the initial defeat of Jingxiang, the situation in Beiyan has been completely improved; it is not inappropriate to say that the negative impact of the battle of Jingxiang has been eliminated.

However, it is difficult to say whether the entire situation is as optimistic as the princes and ministers think.

"Although we have experienced setbacks in Jingxiang, the decline in the past two years has ended. It is really a contribution to your majesty's ability to govern the country," Zhang Xie said calmly. "At this time, the Southern Dynasty in Huaidong is setting up a son, and the main purpose is to conspire to usurp the country, which also consumes the country."

Spending money to play in the garden is also a blessing for the Yan Dynasty, but the veteran believes that only when you are prepared for danger in times of peace can you be said to be prepared for danger..."

Zhang Xie's words were of such a high level that one could not find any loopholes, but upon further reflection, they were of no use at all. Ye Zier could not hide his disappointment. He looked at the sky and said, "We will stop here for today's hunting.

My disciples are still interested in hunting, so I hope to continue hunting..." He ordered all the princes and ministers to retreat, and he returned to the palace to rest first.

"The emperor is not satisfied with Prime Minister Zhang's answer?" After entering the warm pavilion with a floor-burning stove, Concubine Yu waited on Ye Ji'er to take off his big fur and asked.

"The generals and ministers in the court thought that Lin Fu would usurp the throne first, and they also thought that Lin Fu was consuming national funds in Jiangning, building museums, and iron bridges, just for fun, but he actually had great benefits for Dayan," Ye Ji'er said

, "I'm worried that I am too optimistic..."

"Lin Fu built iron bridges in Jiangning, built museums, and collected rare and precious toys from home and abroad. Even a million taels of silver could not buy these two items alone. It is fair to say that he lost his ambition by playing with things," Yu Fei said, "In addition,

In order to pave the way for usurpation, Lin Fu did not hesitate to distribute land and tax taxes to local governments. Although this move completely weakened the power of the six ministries and made all the officials of the central government attach themselves to the Privy Council, it also caused a sharp decrease in the annual income of the central government. Although Lin Fu passed various

He used various means to concentrate all the military and political power in the Southern Dynasties on him. But if he was not eager to usurp, but used these resources for military preparations, the pressure on Shandong would definitely be much heavier than it is now..."

What Concubine Yu said was almost the consensus of the officials in Yanjing, and Ye Jier could not refute it.

Lin Fu spent huge sums of money to build an iron bridge in Jiangning, and the museum was second to none. Especially the new tax-sharing system that Lin Fu vigorously implemented last year could not find any other explanation other than paving the way for tampering.

The new tax-sharing system allocates a considerable part of the land tax and interrogation tax to the local governments, which caused the annual income of the center controlled by Jiangning to drop sharply by at least five million taels of silver last year. If Lin Fu was not eager to usurp the throne and claim the throne, this part of the silver

Used for military preparations, last year we were able to expand our troops on a large scale and organize the Northern Expedition.

The biggest benefit of the new tax-sharing system, which can also be said to be the only benefit, is to completely weaken the imperial party and enable the officials of the Huaidong line not only to control the central government, but also to infiltrate into the local areas on a large scale - if Lin Fu hadn't usurped the throne

Paving the way for becoming emperor, why?

Lin Fu implemented a new policy in Jiangning to promote further enlightenment of social atmosphere. In fact, there was no way to prevent Yanjing from obtaining more accurate information about Jianghuai from all aspects.

Matters such as the Jinchuan Iron Bridge and the museum were to be made public to the general public. Naturally, the spies sent by Yanjing to lurk in Jianghuai could easily obtain relatively accurate information.

Hearing that Concubine Yu also judged the situation in the Southern Dynasty in this way, Ye Jier did not blame Concubine Yu for her limited knowledge. Most of the generals in the court now thought so. He could still put forward higher requirements for a woman like Concubine Yu.

He just shook his head slightly and said:

"Others saw Lin Fu building a large iron bridge in Jiangning and thought he was playing with things and wasting national money. But Jiangning dared to invest two to three million kilograms of iron in a large iron bridge; not to mention the iron used by Jiangning on the iron bridge.

The iron material is equivalent to one-third or even one-half of the iron material produced by Yanjing Guanzuo Iron Works in a year. Even if Yanjing can produce so much iron material, Yanjing craftsmen can build a building on the Wei River.

A big iron bridge? Doesn't this incident show that Jiangning's national power has left Yanjing far behind? In addition, Lin Fu is willing to invest such resources on an iron bridge.

It is said that he used this method to stimulate the rapid development of craftsmen in the Southern Dynasties. With the Jinchuan Iron Bridge built, the bridge-building skills of the South must be far superior to those of Yanjing. This reason is consistent with the rapid development of Huaidong's shipbuilding skills.

There is no fundamental difference.”

Concubine Jade did not expect that the emperor had been silent these days and was only thinking about this matter. She thought of the Huaidong iron-framed ship she saw last year.

Yejier once asked Tieshan Shipyard to imitate the Huaidong iron frame ship, but the skills of the craftsmen were very different. They wasted several times of the iron material and failed to build a qualified iron frame ship.

It is not difficult to imagine how many resources Huaidong spent on building its first iron-framed ship to achieve success.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, but if Huaidong grits his teeth and builds the first iron-frame ship, then it will be much easier to build the second and third iron-frame ship, and the resources consumed will be much less.

Huaidong relied on these iron-framed ships and the simplest water collision tactics to force the Dengzhou Navy to stay near the sea-locking defense line and not dare to sail far.

"The lessons of the Battle of Jingxiang have not gone far," Ye Ji'er sighed. "Although the Southern Dynasty spent 500,000 taels of national funds for an iron bridge, as long as the Jinchuan Iron Bridge can be built smoothly, it means

Huaidong's bridge-building craftsmanship will make great progress from it - and in the Battle of Miaotanling, our division's 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers were unable to withdraw, which was a key factor for the Huaidong Army to be trapped in Xiangyang and annihilated.

, even if the Huaidong Army unexpectedly built iron cable suspension bridges on both sides of the Han River, and asked our naval forces to come forward and follow them, they could not completely destroy them. This kind of gap cannot be seen, and the ministers in the court are still complacent with their strong horses and sufficient food.

, this is what worries me the most.”

"What's the explanation for the new tax policy and building a museum?" Concubine Yu asked hesitantly.

"Perhaps Lin Fu intended to usurp the throne and proclaim himself emperor first," Ye Ji'er said. "The secret agent reported that Emperor Yongxing of the Southern Dynasty was in poor health and could die at any time. It is not surprising that Lin Fu planned this first. But even if

Lin Fu planned to usurp the throne first, which only gives us three to five years of breathing time; building a museum, even if it is a plaything, is really limited, maybe it is to confuse us, we don't know..."

At this time, a courtier came in with a wooden box and said: "Luoyang Mizhe..."

"Oh..." Ye Ji'er took the wooden box, cut the paint and took out the secret fold that Ye Ji Luorong had hidden in the box, opened it and read it.

"What did Prince Chengji say?" Concubine Yu asked.

Ye Jiluorong was defeated by Prince Pemu in the Jingxiang War and was renamed Prince of Jijun.
To be continued...