Chapter 1174 Imminent
That morning, Li Ye rode a carriage from the city wall to the court room of Daming Palace. As soon as he sat down, Du You placed a memorial with a vermilion label in front of him.
This was a memorial from Li Dongran, the governor of Xuzhou. A batch of goods shipped from Jiangnan, about 300 ships, were intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army in Fuli County, Xuzhou.
Li Ye's face immediately sank. In order to avoid the epidemic, Li Xilie's army withdrew to Luzhou and Shouzhou, and Nan Jiyun's 30,000 troops rushed to defend Yangzhou. Now the canal navigation in the southeast has been unblocked.
Li Ye never thought that the fleet would be intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army in the Central Plains. Was he so bold?
"What is the intercepted cargo?" Li Ye asked.
"Reporting to Your Highness, it seems to be green vitriol!"
Li Ye was furious. Green vitriol is the main raw material for making sulfuric acid, and sulfuric acid is the key raw material for making explosives. Wenzhou is a major alum production area. This is the first batch of green vitriol shipped from Wenzhou.
The green vitriol they are currently using is transported from Bashu by camels. Although the current inventory is sufficient and does not affect the production of sulfuric acid, the nature of intercepting the court's strategic materials is extremely bad.
Li Ye paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He originally planned to seize Hedong Road first and then attack Li Xilie in the fall. Now that Wang Zhongsheng has emerged, he must change his plan.
He immediately wrote a note and handed it to Du You, "Give it to Prime Minister Li and hold a military and political meeting this afternoon."
Du You hurried away, and Li Ye called Wei Yingwu again and told him: "Go and notify the Intelligence Bureau. I need all the information about Wang Zhongsheng!"
"Your Highness, I have to inspect the Danba Canal today!" Wei Yingwu reminded.
Li Ye felt a headache. He had said that he would inspect the Danba Canal a long time ago, but he had delayed it until now. However, there was no way. The Wang Zhongsheng incident made him lose the mood.
"Let's do it another day! Hurry up and get Wang Zhongsheng's information."
"Yes!"
Half an hour later, a thick file was delivered to Li Ye's desk. This was all the information about Wang Zhongsheng, including the latest news about his capture of Songzhou and Bianzhou.
Li Ye read through it carefully one by one, and suddenly found that Wang Zhongsheng had occupied five states and controlled Shu Wang Li Tan. The next step was to take action against Yingbo Jiedushi Zhang Boyi.
According to Yang Shaoan's account, Li Xilie and Wang Zhongsheng had close contacts. Li Ye even suspected that they had secretly formed an alliance. Unexpectedly, the attack on Wang Zhongsheng had reached the point of imminent.
In the afternoon, the Zhongshu Province Yuandian held a military and political meeting.
The military and political meeting was equivalent to a temporary court meeting, with at least hundreds of people participating.
Including Li Ye, the regent, and more than a dozen officials from the regent's office.
Nine members of the Political Affairs Hall, officials from the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel, as well as the subordinates of the seven assistant ministers, officials from the Censorate and the Court of Remonstrance, and the main officials of the various temples and supervisors. In a word, all officials above the fifth rank must participate.
The round hall is a small hall, divided into two floors, the upper floor is the audience seat, and the lower floor is the meeting seat. Officials above the fifth rank are qualified to listen, but the content of the meeting has nothing to do with the officials themselves, it is just a qualification to attend the meeting.
The meeting seat below is for important officials who really participate in military and political meetings, mainly Li Ye, the regent, and nine members of the Political Affairs Hall, and behind the chief officer sit several deputies.
Behind Li Ye sit Wei Yingwu, Du You and three intelligence officials.
"Dang--"
The crisp sound of the cloud board knocked, and the round hall immediately became quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on Li Ye, the regent.
Li Ye held up the memorial and said slowly: "Early this morning, I received a memorial from Li Dongran, the governor of Xuzhou. He reported to the court that a fleet of cargo ships from Jiangnan, about 300 ships, fully loaded with more than 1 million catties of green alum, was intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army in Fuli County.
Two months ago, 300,000 catties of grain transported from Jiangnan disappeared in Xuzhou. Needless to say, it must have been intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's army.
Next month, Jiangnan will transport 1.5 million guan of tax money. If it is transported through the Central Plains again, it will definitely be was intercepted.
Ladies and gentlemen, this means that Wang Zhongsheng has completely betrayed the court. He wants to become a new vassal. This is absolutely not allowed. So I am considering changing the plan and postponing the attack on Hedong Road to autumn or even winter. Wang Zhongsheng must be eliminated first to ensure smooth transportation. I want to hear your opinions. Please speak freely! "
Li Dai is the right prime minister. He has to express his position first. Li Dai said slowly: "All vassal and warlord forces are the legacy of the Anshi Rebellion. They must be eradicated. This is our goal. The difference is only the priority.
Wang Zhongsheng dared to intercept the court fleet. This is very serious and cannot be delayed. It is the most urgent matter. I support the attitude of the regent. It cannot be tolerated and must be severely and quickly eliminated. "
At this time, Zhang Li asked: "Excuse me, Ministry of Works, how is the progress of the Danba Waterway?"
Li Xian, the Minister of Works, turned around and asked, and said to Zhang Li: "Currently, the Danba Waterway is progressing smoothly. It is expected to be officially connected next spring. After the connection, ships with a capacity of 1,000 stones will be able to pass. After the widening, we can directly use the 3,000-stone ships. "
Zhang Li then said to Li Ye: "I suggest expanding the transit warehouse in Shangluo County, first use the 10,000-stone ships to transport from Jiangnan to Xiangyang, and then use the 3,000-stone ships to transport to Shangluo.
Of course, after the Danba waterway is widened, there is no need to transfer in Shangluo, and use the 3,000-stone ships to transport directly to Chang'an. I suggest that the 1.5 million guan tax money next month be transported to Shangluo County first, and then transported to Chang'an next spring. "
Li Ye nodded, "This plan is acceptable! "
At this time, Dugu Lie discussed with his men for a moment, raised his hand and said: "Your Highness, according to the latest news from the Ministry of War, there is currently no Tian Shenyu garrison in Fenzhou. Perhaps Shuozhou and Daizhou are restrained by our army, so Tian Shenyu does not dare to divide his troops.
However, Beizhi heard that Tian Shenyu was also recruiting troops in Taiyuan. Once the training was completed, his army would inevitably go south. Beizhi suggested sending 20,000 troops to Fenzhou first. As long as the Fenzhou channel was blocked, Tian Shenyu's army would not be able to go south. "
Dugu Lie's suggestion was approved by everyone. With a small but broad approach, he could control the southern part of Hedong Road with 20,000 troops.
Li Ye said happily: "This is a good suggestion from Prime Minister Dugu, I agree to adopt it!"
At this time, Li Mi also said slowly: "Your Highness, I believe that Li Xilie may have joined forces with Wang Zhongsheng, and even the information Wang Zhongsheng received was provided by Li Xilie. If this is the case, Wang Zhongsheng will soon attack Bozhou and Yingzhou, and Li Xilie Together, if Li Lingyao to the north of Bianzhou is added, a Central Plains strategic corridor will be formed from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River, which is very unfavorable to the imperial court.
The humble position suggested that His Highness immediately send 30,000 cavalry to Chenzhou, and Luoyang would provide logistical supplies to support Zhang Boyi.
At the same time, let Ma Lin's army cooperate with the Luoyang army to destroy Li Lingyao's army, thus cutting off the Central Plains Corridor. "
Li Mi proposed the concept of the Central Plains Strategic Corridor, but a closer look at the map shows that this trend has indeed formed, with only Bozhou and Yingzhou missing. It is indeed reasonable for Wang Zhongsheng to take Bozhou and Yingzhou next. .
After the military and political discussions were over, Li Ye immediately ordered Xi Wanli's 30,000 cavalry stationed in Shaanzhou to rush to Chenzhou to support Zhang Boyi, and also ordered Luoyang to provide logistical supplies.