Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

A young man named Li Fa,

He was summoned before Zhao Yuan to receive orders.

Li Fa is from Jingyan.

Later generations belonged to Leshan.

According to the family genealogy, they belong to the descendants of Li Shimin.

But whether this thing is real or fake is hard to say.

Two years ago, he represented the Li family of Jingyan.

He took the initiative to go to Shandong to serve the country.

Zhao Yuan saw that he was young,

Not even twenty years old,

Then he tested his knowledge again.

He then kept him by his side to serve him.

Li Fa is not well-known in history.

His son, Yi Sun-sin, was somewhat famous in the Southern Song Dynasty.

His grandson, Li Xinchuan, is even more famous.

Zhao Yuan instructed, "You shall act as a messenger and go to Taiyuan to bestow rewards upon the officials and soldiers."

"Be more enthusiastic,"

"We must not be arrogant, lest we discourage the soldiers defending the city."

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Li Fa replied.

Zhao Yuan pointed to the two pairs of binoculars in front of him.

“I assembled this myself,”

"And hand it over to Zhang Xiaochun and Yang Weizhong."

"Yes!"

They said there was no grain to give to Shanxi.

But we should send some over.

If there isn't enough food, make up for it with money and goods.

Both Luoyang and Chang'an are preparing supplies.

They were sent to the Tongguan warehouse for storage.

They were transported to Taiyuan along with Li Fa.

Not only was Zhang Guangdao ennobled,

His soldiers also received rewards.

Zhang Xiaochun and Yang Weizhong, who held their ground in Taiyuan, were not granted titles.

However, the former was directly promoted to Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shanxi.

The latter was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Shanxi Army.

The Shanxi soldiers under their command

Soon to be ordered to reorganize,

They remained under the command of Yang Weizhong.

The disbanded Zhong family army

Most of their weapons and armor were transported to Taiyuan.

To improve the combat effectiveness of these Shanxi soldiers.

The Zhai brothers, whom Han Shizhong persuaded to surrender in Luoyang,

Along with their troops,

They were incorporated into Yang Weizhong's new army.

The current Zhao Yuan regime,

We're truly surrounded by enemies on all sides!

In the southeast there was Zhao Ji, and in Jinghu there was Prime Minister Zhong.

In the northwest was the Western Xia, and in the north was the Jin Dynasty.

Moreover, all of them are in a state of war.

Zhong Xiang has already made his move.

In winter, a detachment was dispatched to capture Baishui Town and Yidu.

And 70% of the navy was stationed in Yidu.

An attempt was made to block the vital passage for waterways leading out of Sichuan from the Yangtze River.

As for Zhao Yuan's navy

Most of them went downstream.

Ruan Xiaoer, Zhang Shun, and Li Bao are training and expanding their naval forces.

Prepare to cross the river and pacify the southeast during the summer and autumn seasons.

In this way, they simply couldn't defeat Zhong Xiang's navy.

Now, supplies from Shandong must pass through Hubei.

It is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and results in extremely high losses during transportation.

Local officials are also having a major headache.

They are requesting Zhao Yuan to deal with Zhong Xiang's navy first.

"Looks like we need to change our plans,"

Zhang Tang looked at the intelligence sent by Jing Xiang.

"If Zhong Xiang isn't eliminated, the transportation of supplies to Sichuan will be difficult."

"The amount of food consumed along the way more than doubled."

"Even if we don't get rid of Zhong Xiang, we must first eliminate the fake Chu navy!"

Wang Yuan said, "If we don't fight Zhao Ji this year,"

"Judging from the nature of those incompetent rulers and treacherous officials,"

"They will not send troops north on their own initiative."

"But Prime Minister Zhong might not be so sure,"

"Wait until this person is pacified before the Seven Buddhas are established,"

"They are very likely to attack Jiangling and Jingmen during the summer and autumn seasons!"

"It's not a question of who we fight,"

"But who will definitely come to attack us?"

Shi Yuangong smiled and said, "Prime Minister Li (Li Bangyan) still has acquaintances in the southeast."

"He can send someone to deliver the silver,"

"I guarantee that Emperor Huizong will not send troops this year,"

"Be a good boy and enjoy your wealth in the Southeast."

Zhang Tang said, "That makes things even easier."

"This year, we will focus all our efforts on attacking the puppet state of Chu."

"They don't necessarily have to be wiped out,"

"But we should at least set two goals."

"First, to severely damage or completely annihilate the puppet Chu navy,"

"Second, we will occupy the cities on the south bank of the Jing River."

"Yidu, Songzi, Gong'an, Shishou, Jianning, Huarong, Yueyang,"

"These seven prefectures and counties must be captured,"

"As long as we capture these seven cities,"

"Even with a large army, Zhong Xiang will find it difficult to achieve anything."

Chapter 1688 Farming When Food is Shortage

Zhao Yuan sighed, "If we had attacked Prime Minister Zhong instead of Zhao Ji..."

"The scale of the war would be impossible to control,"

"More troops need to be moved south from Tokyo."

"The newly reorganized Huai Army,"

"We also need to bring some over."

"The southern provinces this year,"

"Don't even think about storing any more food,"

"All of it will be consumed in the war against Chu."

Food shortage, food shortage

We're still short of food!

Emperor Huizong of Song overdrawn the people's resources excessively.

It has caused widespread suffering among the people.

Zhao Yuan used this to raise an army and gain power.

But now they've taken over a bunch of territories.

They must bear the negative consequences.

Let alone large-scale grain requisitioning,

Ordinary people can live without government relief.

Zhao Yuan was already satisfied.

There are plenty of people; we can mass produce troops immediately.

Armor can also be manufactured quickly.

Even military discipline wasn't an issue.

But food can't be conjured up!

"Grain has been collected from Lianghuai,"

Zhao Yuan said,

"Transfer another 10,000 troops from Tokyo south,"

"First, defend the cities on the north bank of the Jingjiang River."

"Wait for the summer grain harvest in Nanyang and Xiangyang,"

"Then we can send troops to fight Zhong Xiang,"

"Winning quickly is always the best option."

"If it drags on until autumn, we will procure grain from the Huai River region to provide support."