Chapter 1663 Resurgence

If the various imperial edicts issued from Yanjing, bestowing the title of king on some, earl on others, and official positions on still others, were merely a prelude,

Then what followed,

Accompanying the end of the war to drive out the wild men, the entire land of the Three Jins quickly entered a state of resurgence, like a trapped beast that had been confined for too long.

The Battle to Open Jin had shattered half of Jin, and the chaos of the wild men had ravaged the other half. In terms of economy and people's livelihood, it had indeed caused great losses and impacts on the Three Jins. However, precisely because many old patterns and orders had been broken, reorganizing was simpler and easier.

Marquis Jingnan was now King Jingnan. At the same time, the auxiliary military system in the Three Jins began to be rapidly established.

The earliest group of Jin military leaders who had surrendered and defected were reappointed and promoted. From their original roles as extras, they were pushed to the real forefront, able to serve as city guards of small cities or chief generals of military strongholds.

The remaining army of the former Cheng Kingdom was similarly treated, some being transferred and others being absorbed.

In recent years, after several major battles, while the Yan people had consistently achieved victory, the losses in the process were not small. Moreover, the Three Jins were essentially another Yan Kingdom. Without the help of the native Jin army, it would be difficult to form true control, let alone deal with external threats.

Admittedly, this approach would inevitably allow the power of Jin generals in Jin to grow. Once the coordination was not good, the newly incorporated Jin territory could easily experience division and rebellion. However, most people believed that as long as King Jingnan was in Yingdu, this situation would not occur.

The Battle to Open Jin and the war to drive out the wild men had given King Jingnan unparalleled prestige in the Three Jins. Neither the Yan army nor the Jin army dared to act presumptuously in front of him.

As for the common people, because of King Jingnan's self-destruction of his entire family, in Zheng Fan's words, he had always had a "fear" and "deterrence" buff towards the common people.

This seemed bad, but from the perspective of a ruler, it was a very good blessing.

People tend to take advantage of those who are reasonable, principled, and care about their reputation, while most people will choose to back down after weighing the options when dealing with those who have tattoos on their foreheads.

The words might be crude, but the principle was true.

Moreover, in this situation, with King Jingnan's order, each department, whether belonging to the Yan army or the Jin army, had to select elite soldiers to fill the ranks of the Zhenbei Army (Army of the North) under the Jingnan Army.

Those who dared to disobey would be killed without mercy!

For those military leaders, their own elite soldiers were their precious darlings, but King Jingnan had just been crowned king, and no one dared to provoke his "three fires of a new king" at this time. On the other hand, regardless of what the people thought of you, the soldiers, whether Yan or Jin, were extremely enthusiastic about joining the Zhenbei Army and the Jingnan Army, especially the Jingnan Army.

Firstly, the reputation of a strong army was there. Soldiers naturally had that fierce spirit of competition and bravery, and at the same time, there was no lack of the boldness to join if they couldn't beat them.

Secondly, with the enthronement of King Jingnan, everyone knew who had the final say in the military of the entire Three Jins in the next few years, and who was the real "big shot."

Various factors led to the Jingnan Army recovering extremely quickly after the war, and even expanding.

However, reasonably speaking, only King Jingnan at this time dared and could do this kind of thing, directly treating friendly troops as "reserves." If anyone else dared to play like this at any other time, don't blame them for inciting a mutiny.

At the same time, the issue of "replenishing soldiers" that the First Prince had mentioned to Zheng Fan before leaving Xuehai Pass did indeed arise.

Although Zheng Fan was nominally King Jingnan's direct subordinate, a rising star in the Yan military, and even a rising force,

Xuehai Pass did not receive any new troop replenishment, not even a token gesture of sending a thousand or eight hundred people.

In addition, in the uninhabited area outside Xuehai Pass, even if General Zheng wanted to conscript or shamelessly grab strong men, no one would let you.

If it weren't for the fact that the Shengle migration team led by Blind Si Niang and the others was still on the road, which could be a source of hope, Xuehai Pass would truly be a desolate sight.

Logically speaking, Xuehai Pass was extremely important, and their master was a direct subordinate, so they should have been "revived" as soon as possible, but they didn't receive this treatment.

Xue San and Liang Cheng had speculated privately,

Aside from the unlikely possibility that their master had suddenly "fallen out of favor" or that King Jingnan had directly transferred his affection,

It was intentional.

Xue San believed that on his way back to Yanjing, the First Prince should have gone to see King Jingnan again to report the matter of leading barbarian soldiers into Xuehai Pass to use barbarians to control barbarians.

Therefore, knowing that nearly ten thousand barbarian cavalry would be stationed in Xuehai Pass soon, King Jingnan would naturally not allocate the currently valuable soldiers to Xuehai Pass.

Moreover, ten thousand barbarian soldiers, without being disbanded and directly given to one person to use, was undoubtedly something that superiors didn't like to see. It wasn't necessarily that they didn't trust Zheng Fan, but they felt that if these ten thousand people were still "complete and intact," they might not be suitable for command.

If Xuehai Pass were to be replenished with soldiers at this time, the number might be reduced when ten thousand barbarian soldiers came in.

Therefore, not replenishing troops in such an important place was to pave the way for the complete packaging of barbarian soldiers later, so that the imperial court had no choice but to forcibly accept this arrangement for the sake of the overall situation.

Liang Cheng thought even deeper, because barbarian soldiers were easier to digest. From the perspective of brainwashing, barbarian soldiers were indeed easier to manipulate than Yan and Jin people.

Replenishing troops at this time and sending a few military leaders over would not be suitable for the future integration of the Xuehai Army.

Their master had said that King Jingnan's words in Xuehai Pass were like teaching himself how to be a warlord.

For the sake of the Xuehai Army's stability, he naturally wouldn't want to mix sand into it at this time.

In short, the final conclusion was still very simple, which was… wait.

The Little Marquis, oh no, now he was the Little Prince, was still in their hands. King Jingnan's milk money and upbringing fees could not be cut off.

Ever since meeting with the Wild Man King, Zheng Fan had imprisoned the Wild Man King, and San'er was responsible for delivering food every morning and evening, not allowing him to contact anyone.

Earl Zheng continued to live a life of wealth and leisure, practicing his saber in the morning and riding his horse around in the afternoon, while counting down the days until Si Niang and the others would arrive.

Seeing that winter was coming to an end and the footsteps of spring were approaching, General Zheng's heart gradually began to stir.

On this day, a military messenger came, asking when Earl Zheng planned to take back the Pixiu (mythical wild beast) that was being fostered outside Yingdu City.

That night, General Zheng put on his armor without saying a word, rode his horse, and left Xuehai Pass with a hundred cavalry guards, heading straight for Yingdu.

Originally, Zheng Fan planned to have Blind Man and Si Niang bring the Pixiu with them when they migrated through Yingdu. And most importantly, no matter how long it was fostered, with Earl Zheng's current status, no one would chase him for any feeding fees, fearing that he would default.

Earl Zheng had climbed up from the grassroots, so he naturally knew some of the tricks inside.

Therefore, after a simple thought, the scene of this letter asking was very clear.

It was probably King Jingnan asking:

"Ask that kid when he's coming to pick up the Pixiu."

Then the subordinates followed King Jingnan's order and sent out a messenger.

The other layer of meaning was to let himself go over at this time.

The reason for not issuing a military order was because, as the current commander of Xuehai Pass, it was very inappropriate to leave his post and run around without any major battles or troop deployment needs.

This was also because Earl Zheng's current status and position had not been completely clarified. When Xuehai Pass was really developed in the future, with a sufficient population and abundant troops, if Earl Zheng didn't show his face in the city for three or four consecutive days, this piece of information might be passed on to the ears of many important figures:

What exactly are you, Zheng Fan, trying to do!

The actions of a local military commander in a domain can easily cause a chain reaction and involve all aspects.

Of course, that was just a situation that might occur in the future, and it wasn't yet the case.

Admittedly, even if King Jingnan directly issued a military order, no one would say he was wrong, and Zheng Fan would have to come over obediently. But he believed that with Zheng Fan's shrewdness, he could understand the meaning, and he didn't bother to spend too much thought on these trivial matters.

Earl Zheng came, quietly came,

He planned to see King Jingnan first,

After all, his old boss had just been crowned king, and he hadn't congratulated him in person yet,

Although Earl Zheng also knew that Tian Wujing actually didn't care about being King Jingnan at all.

Because before the Tian family was exterminated, the whole family, young and old, was actually dreaming of coercing the imperial court and His Majesty to bestow the title of king to stabilize the world.

The Tian family gathering that day, said to be cheering for the Empress's visit to her family, was actually happy and honored that the Tian family's prestige could be further enhanced.

What was the meaning of having King Jingnan, or whether it was hereditary, for Tian Wujing at this time?

After seeing King Jingnan, Zheng Fan planned to wait here for Si Niang and the others to come over, and then go back with them.

To be honest, with Liang Cheng guarding Xuehai Pass, he really didn't worry about anything going wrong.

Going from the east to Yingdu, he would definitely pass Wangjiang, and also pass Yupan City.

Zheng Fan saw the "city wall" surrounding Yupan City. The city wall was not very high, but it was enough. This method could completely trap the Chu army in the city, bringing them both physical and mental pressure.

Zhennan Pass was still in the hands of the Chu people. After Tian Wujing last attacked Xuehai Pass, he did not launch a northern expedition to the snow plains, because the original border between Jin and Chu, which was the pass where Situ Lei had made his reputation and military achievements, had been seized by the Chu army during the chaos of the Cheng Kingdom.

The troop replenishment during this period and the rapid deployment of auxiliary troops mainly composed of Jin generals, actually also had the intention of accumulating strength early, so that if the Chu people dared to go north to rescue Yupan City, they could have a good fight with the Chu people in the wilderness again.

Now, it depended on how stable the Chu country was domestically, and at the same time, it depended on whether the Chu people had the courage to send troops at this time to fight with the Great Yan Iron Cavalry, which had just won a great victory, in the wilderness.

Not attacking Zhennan Pass was not handing over the initiative, but even if Zhennan Pass was in the hands of the Chu people, the Yan army still had the initiative.

Most importantly, thanks to the wild men's scorched-earth policy, it was equivalent to preparing a clear field in advance. If the Chu army wanted to forcibly send a large army north, then the military supply line would have to be very long.

Perhaps,

It would be another version of the First Marquis of Zhenbei's great defeat of the Qian army a hundred years ago.

In Zheng Fan's view, the Chu people in Yupan City should be very short of food, because they did not expect that the wild men, this "pig teammate," would eagerly "burn" their controlled area into a white ground. At the same time, Situ Yi, who was originally responsible for helping the Chu army search for food in the rear, was killed by Zheng Fan, and the food that had been collected and prepared to be transported to Yupan City for the Chu army to spend the winter was also burned by Zheng Fan without hesitation.

Therefore, the reason why Zheng Fan was able to make a great contribution in the previous battle was really not just as simple as defending Xuehai Pass.

Because Zheng Fan's team was still quite large, Jingnan Army scouts soon came to verify their identities. Then, under the guidance of the scouts, Zheng Fan went alone to the Wangjiang River outside Yupan City.

Even now, Zheng Fan didn't know what Tian Wujing had called him over to do. Although I'm actually very leisurely, I've been working hard to create the illusion that I'm very busy, okay?

Tian Wujing's command tent was set up alone by the Wangjiang River. At the same time, there were many officials entering and exiting it, not from Yingdu, but from the Yan Kingdom.

In addition, when Zheng Fan came in, he also saw officials wearing different official uniforms busy on the other side.

These were not the official uniforms of Great Yan.

Zheng Fan had also seen what the official uniforms of the Qian Kingdom looked like,

So,

These were envoys sent by the Chu people?

Zheng Fan had heard that King Jingnan had ordered that any envoys who came to Yupan City should be killed immediately, not giving Yupan City any chance to communicate with the outside world.

Therefore, these Chu officials in front of him should not have come from Yupan City, but from the Chu Kingdom.

This was,

Negotiating?

With Zheng Fan's status, no one stopped him from entering and exiting here, but after going in and looking around, he found that King Jingnan was not inside.

After leaving the command tent and asking a guard, he learned that Tian Wujing was outside the command tent. Finally, Zheng Fan found King Jingnan in a white python robe by the river.

"This subordinate greets King Jingnan!"

Zheng Fan solemnly saluted King Jingnan.

Tian Wujing bent down,

Washed his hands in the river,

And said:

"Do you know why I called you here?"

"Um… private matter?"

"You could say that."

"Please, Marquis, no, Your Highness, make it clear."

"I called you here……"

Tian Wujing shook the water droplets from his hands,

Wiped his hands casually on the python robe without any pity,

And said:

"To look at the scenery."

"……" Zheng Fan.

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I've been exploding for the past few days, I didn't rest well yesterday, I really can't write today, so it's just one chapter, let me take a break.