All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 229 Layout
The chariots and horses are like dragons, and the troops are like tides.

Large groups of Western Army troops marched past the city of Bianliang in a mighty force.

Tong Guan, the most powerful eunuch in the Song Dynasty, was appointed as the envoy to Jianghuai, Jingzhou and Zhejiang, and commanded the elite Western Army in Shaanxi. He selected the imperial guards of Bianliang City, totaling 150,000 troops, and marched to the southeast to quell the Fang La Rebellion.

On the top floor of the Xuande Tower, Emperor Zhao Ji waved to Tong Guan who was riding away on his horse.

Tong Guan, who was on horseback, also looked back frequently, gazing at the official with tearful eyes.

What a touching scene of deep affection between the monarch and his subjects.

Although Tong Guan was a eunuch, he was tall and strong, with a strong face and a full beard. He really had a beard, and it was unclear why eunuchs would have beards.

This is an army of 150,000, almost the last elite troops of the entire Song Dynasty.

Now that he was released, Emperor Zhao Ji would naturally do his best to win over the generals who commanded the troops.

Tong Guan also had to show his loyalty to the emperor, which was a great test of his acting skills.

Both sides of the Imperial Street were filled with people coming to see him off, and Chen Ran was among them.

He didn't pay attention to Tong Guan's beard, but was staring at the foreign cavalry.

These foreign people include the Dangxiang people, the Qiang people, and many other miscellaneous Hu people who are unaware of their own identities.

Seeing Chen Ran constantly looking at those foreign cavalrymen, Zhao Mingcheng, who had no interest in military affairs but had to come because of his status, yawned and said, "These foreign cavalrymen are also interesting. They are willing to join the army and fight even without military pay."

"Oh?" Chen Ran became interested. "What do you mean? Could it be that the education of the Song Dynasty has reached such a level that the foreigners are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Song Dynasty? If they have such ability, why don't they go directly to Liao and recapture Yanyun?"

"How is that possible?" Zhao Mingcheng sneered. "Who would believe in education, except for those who have read too much and become stupid? Although these barbarians have no military pay, the court has allowed them to plunder after breaking into the city."

Chen Ran narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhao Ji on the Xuande Building.

After a moment, he let out a soft 'huh'.

This guy really doesn't treat the people as human beings!

"Zihou." When the generals left along the Imperial Street, Zhao Mingcheng stood up impatiently and said, "I have made an appointment with a few friends to study a jade sceptre that I recently received. It is said that it is engraved with the shapes of heaven and earth, yin and yang, and the eight trigrams. I'll leave the Privy Council's mission to you."

"Don't worry, Defu."

Chen Ran smiled and said, "Everything will be taken care of."

He had no achievements and no inheritance from his ancestors, so even if he entered the Privy Council, he could only do temporary assignments.

Simply put, it's a temporary worker.

Zhao Mingcheng was a nobleman who could not stand worldly things and did not work, so he left all the work to Chen Ran.

Seeing that he was doing everything in an orderly manner, he simply stopped going to the Privy Council and let Chen Ran take his place.

Of course, Zhao Mingcheng has said many times that if he has the chance, he will report to the government and give Chen Ran an exceptional promotion, allowing him to be converted from a temporary worker to a regular employee.

In response to this, Chen Ran smiled and said that he was waiting for his good news.

I saw Zhao Mingcheng get on the carriage to find his friend to continue his research on bronze and stone inscriptions.

Chen Ran winked at Wu Song who was in a teahouse on the street.

Wu Song came out and followed Chen Ran straight to the Privy Council.

Logically speaking, the Privy Council, as the highest military command organization of the Song Dynasty, should be on high alert, even more so than the White Tiger Hall.

But in fact, since Di Qing, the Privy Council has basically fallen into the hands of literati.

The Privy Councilor and his Deputy Privy Councilor were both standard Western Palace ministers, all wearing large turbans.

The Prime Minister of Xifu at that time was Zheng Juzhong, a standard scholar-official.

He was busy with factional struggles in the court all day long and might not come to the Privy Council once every three to five days.

Even if they came, they would at most look at the official documents. They never cared about the specific handling of affairs.

This was also the behavior of most of the literati in the Song Dynasty.

They serve as officials to realize their ambitions, to change the world according to their own ideas, to fight to the death with their enemies, and to travel around.
There are many reasons, but the only reason is not dealing with government affairs.

As a result, most government affairs fell into the hands of officials.

These petty officials may seem insignificant, but their greed is sky-high and they cause the most profound harm to the people.

As for the Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council (co-director of the Privy Council), the previous deputy envoy was Wang Xiang, who was unlucky and was dismissed from his post. Now Tong Guan, who has already left the city of Bianliang, is in charge remotely and is just a figurehead.

Therefore, in the highest military command organization of the Song Dynasty, the person who actually gave orders became Zhao Mingcheng, the head of the Privy Council.

Zhao Mingcheng's interest in military affairs was far less than his love for bronze and stone inscriptions.

He helped Chen Ran get a job in the Privy Council, mainly to help him handle official business.

When Chen Ran and Wu Song swaggered into the Privy Council, among the many people coming in and out, no one expressed any objection.

Even people I have known before will take the initiative to say hello.

Arriving at Zhao Mingcheng's office, Wu Song was full of surprise. "Is this the Privy Council? The defense is too lax."

In his impression, the Privy Council, a place of important military affairs, should be even more important than the White Tiger Hall.

But I, an outsider, was able to enter so openly. This was really...
"The court is like this now." Chen Ran sat down behind the desk, spreading out his hands to grind ink and spread paper. "Everyone is busy fighting for power, busy engaging in party struggles, and busy making money. No one cares about other things."

Wu Song was angry and said, "It's better not to have such a court!"

"Isn't that what we are doing?" Chen Ran smiled, picked up the pen, and quickly wrote out a transfer order.

After writing, he took out several official seals and used them respectively.

Wu Song walked forward curiously, but was shocked to see that what Chen Ran was holding in his hand was actually the seal of the Privy Councilor!
"The Xifu lords don't do things, but things have to be done after all." Chen Ran smiled and put away the seals. "They can just put all the seals together and give them to the people who do things. In this way, the people who do things don't have to keep looking for them to use the seals." "This is really..." Even Wu Song was shocked when he heard about this. "My lords, this is simply a child's play!"

"exactly."

Chen Ran blew away the ink and said, "So only Cai Jing, who is capable of getting things done, can rise straight to the top."

He handed the transfer order to Wu Song and said, "Go to Qingzhou quickly and bring the troops here."

"Leader!"

The civil officials of the Song Dynasty were busy with internal fighting and factional struggles, the military generals were focused on pacifying the southeast, and the emperor was still playing his balancing strategy.

No one noticed that a troop of tens of thousands of soldiers were heading towards Tokyo City from the Jingdong Road.

When the counties and prefectures along the way saw the transfer order Wu Song brought out, most of them simply ignored it.

A small number of responsible people would send official documents to Tokyo City to investigate and verify the matter.

All these official documents were sent to the Privy Council and to Chen Ran's desk.

The mobilization of troops is under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, so it is natural to send them here.

However, the Privy Councilor was busy fighting for power in the court all day long.

The Deputy Privy Councilor went to Jiangnan to fight.

The Privy Council was even more straightforward and did not even come to work.

Once these documents fell into Chen Ran's hands, they naturally had no effect at all.

He will seriously reply to these states and counties with official documents, stating that this is a normal military mobilization of the Privy Council and you do not need to ask about it.

A large number of troops arrived outside the city of Tokyo safely, and even the expenses for food, drink and accommodation along the way were reimbursed by the Privy Council.

This is a treatment that many elite soldiers cannot enjoy.

There is no other way. Chen Ran writes his own account and then approves it himself. It is very simple and convenient.

No one in the court, whether inside or outside, noticed that there was such a bold person in the Privy Council.

This shows the chaos in the Song Dynasty court.

This is not just for the sake of being black, this is a real thing.

At this time, the internal struggle in the court of the Song Dynasty was very fierce, and the new party and the old party were almost directly wielding the knife. It even forced Cai Jing to retreat to protect himself and refused to intervene.

In addition, the literati have always despised military affairs, so it is normal that no one pays attention to it in the short term.

Moreover, after Gao Qiu's death, all the imperial guards were eyeing the vacant position of Palace Commander and were busy running around to make arrangements. No one would care about the affairs of the Privy Council.

In addition, Tong Guan had brought the elite troops selected from the Western Army and the Capital Guards, but had not yet arrived in Jiangnan to start the war. The country was in a calm period before the war, and intensive war reports had not yet flooded in. Naturally, no one paid attention to the Privy Council.

As for the people in the Privy Council, each of them is an old hand and keeping quiet is the only way for them to protect themselves.

This period of time was not long, and no one in the court even paid attention to it.

But Chen Ran accurately seized this window of opportunity and successfully mobilized tens of thousands of troops to the edge of Tokyo City.

"The main force of the Western Army's elite troops went to Jiangnan."

In the Privy Council, Chen Ran stared at the huge map and planned his actions. "Among the hundreds of thousands of Bianliang Imperial Guards, the last batch of soldiers who were able to fight were also taken to Jiangnan."

"In other words, the only thing that can threaten me is Tong Guan's army."

"We will start when the troops are entangled with Fang La. With the deliberate blockade, it will take at least two or three months for the news to pass through, which is enough time for them to be deeply involved in the battlefield."

"We still have to do what needs to be done. All the food and goods in Huaixi, Jingxiang and other places must be transferred to Dongjing City. They cannot be left to Tong Guan for military expenses and food for the enemy's return."

Chen Ran got up and went out, planning to find Zhao Mingcheng and encourage him to write a letter to get all the money and grain from Huaixi and other places to Tokyo City.

As soon as he went out, he was surprised to meet Zheng Juzhong, the Prime Minister of the West Palace, who rarely came here on weekdays.

Chen Ran was stunned at first, then he bowed and said, "Hello, sir~~~"

"Ah."

Zheng Juzhong, who looked a little tired, looked at Chen Ran and said slowly, "I heard that Zhao Chengzhi invited a talented person to help him. The affairs of the court are handled in an orderly manner. I think it must be you?"

"I am so ashamed to accept your praise for my great talent." He said he was ashamed, but actually he was already planning in his mind. Once Zheng Juzhong noticed something, he would immediately activate the backup plan and kill this person first and then lead the troops into the city immediately.

Zheng Juzhong, who had no idea that he was wandering outside the gates of hell, called out to Chen Ran, "Come with me."

They walked all the way to Zheng Juzhong's public housing, and after they sat down, servants served them tea.

After a brief greeting, Zheng Juzhong simply stated, "Everyone in the hospital praises your outstanding ability. I have also checked it out and it is indeed very good."

He showed curiosity. "I heard that you didn't pass the imperial examination, nor did you get into government through imperial favor. But you have such ability, which is really rare."

"What's so rare about it? I've done these things countless times in other worlds, and I know them by heart."

For Chen Ran, who had served as a grand commander-in-chief, these military affairs were not difficult at all.

"My lord, you are too kind." Chen Ran said modestly, "I am ashamed. I am ashamed."

"You are so talented, but you don't have a good background. It's really not right." Zheng Juzhong stroked his beard. "I want to recommend you. What do you think?"

After hearing this, Chen Ran finally understood that this old man wanted to win him over.

Sure enough, people with ability will be valued wherever they go.

Thinking of this, Chen Ran understood that he could use Zheng Juzhong to take away all the wealth and food supplies in Huaixi, Jingxiang and completely cut off the retreat of Tong Guan's army!
(End of this chapter)