this day!

Li Mi, escorted by hundreds of guards, led a group of civil and military personnel to inspect the warehouse in Jiangyang County.

The warehouse is only three or four miles away from the Yangtze River. There is a canal connected to the Yangtze River. The river wind blowing from the Yangtze River is very strong, and the big flag with the word "Wei" on the flagpole blows loudly.

Jiangyangcang is Li Mi's largest warehouse. More than two hundred large warehouses form a warehouse that is slightly smaller than Luokou Cangcheng. The circumference is about fifteen miles. The grain in the Cangcheng is more than two million shi.

A large number of soldiers, armor, tents and other supplies.

Surrounded by hundreds of guards, Li Mi carefully inspected Jiangyang Cangcheng and raised a series of safety issues such as fire and waterproofing. This was an important place related to the fate of the Wei Dynasty, and there was no room for him to be careless.

From the beginning to the end, Li Mi had a dark face and seemed to be in a very bad mood. In fact, he had never been really happy since he went south. Although he was victorious in the military, he was not going well at all politically.

The Jiangnan gentry has been in the south of the Yangtze River for more than a thousand years and is deeply rooted. Whether it is the gentry with overseas surnames who have traveled south or the gentry who have lived in Jiangdong for generations, they are extremely exclusive and have always regarded Jiangnan as a forbidden area. Even the center of the imperial court is not allowed to interfere.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty could only adopt appeasement measures. He asked his second son Yang Guang to sit in the south of the Yangtze River. First, Yang Guang had the power to pacify the Chen Dynasty, so that the Jiangnan nobles did not dare to rebel. Second, Yang Guang was the son-in-law of the Xiao family. This identity was closely related to Jiangnan.

The nobles and clans interacted and reached some compromises. Later, in order to better appease the old officials of the Chen Dynasty, Yang Guang accepted the fourth daughter of the empress Chen, Princess Guangde, and the sixth daughter of Princess Yuzhang, Chen Ting.

The nobles were tied to the Sui chariots, but despite this, repeated rebellions were often staged in Jiangnan. It was not until Yang Guang officially ascended the throne and promised the real interests and power of the Jiangnan nobles that these people could help Yang with peace of mind.

Maintain local stability.

A strong emperor and a unified dynasty still ended up compromising. One can imagine the plight of a foreign warlord like Li Mi with an uncertain future.

During this period, no matter how much he tried to appease and please, he could not get the support of the Jiangnan gentry. The reason was that Li Zitong and Shen Faxing were the spokesmen supported by the Jiangnan gentry. He had annihilated these two southern forces. The key was that the gentry could not provide them with the benefits they needed.

, if it satisfies the appetite of the Jiangnan gentry, it would be an injustice to the generals under his command, which would chill everyone's hearts. The army is his foundation, and Li Mi would not be able to disappoint the generals before the war. Between the two, Li Mi

Naturally, he chose the army that was loyal to him, rather than the Jiangnan gentry who put their family first and favored both sides.

The Jiangnan nobles were naturally dissatisfied. They did not dare to confront Li Mi directly, so they used their own influence to incite the people. As a result, the people in Jiangnan did not support Li Mi and regarded him as a foreign invader. The officials he sent were killed.

Death means that he cannot gain a foothold, so the only territory he really controls is the four counties of Jiangdu, Liyang, Danyang, and Piling. The other counties of Wu, Yuhang, Kuaiji, and Xuancheng are not worthy of their real names. And Liyang and Danyang are still because

Because of Du Fuwei, there were no gentry, so he copied Du Fuwei's policies and quickly settled down.

In desperation, Li Mi could only strengthen the management of the army so that there would be no conflict between the army and the local people.

Speaking of which, I have to thank Yang Tong for this. If Li Mi had done this five years ago, the army would have already begun to collapse. However, Yang Tong's concept of building a mighty division and a civilized division not only strengthened his army, but also affected other

Among the princes, in this regard, Li Mi, who stood out from the chaos, was undoubtedly the one who learned the most. He had seen too many illegal things, and he knew that the reason why this group of "grass bandits" transformed into the current Wei army was completely

Thanks to the strict military law, he grasped the military law very tightly. Regardless of the combat effectiveness of the Wei army, he could win countless hearts wherever he went in terms of obeying the law. If Yang Xuangan, whom Li Mi was loyal to at the time, had such a civilized army,

The army can definitely sweep the world, and the people welcome it. Unfortunately, time has changed. Compared with the Sui army whose concept of "mighty and civilized" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the influence of the Wei army among the people is still far behind.

Jiangnan is a new territory for Li Mi. His influence here is far less than that of the Central Plains where he has been cultivating for many years. If he is given a year, he is fully confident in winning the hearts and minds of the people here, but obviously, his enemies will not

Give him a chance to recuperate. Therefore, before the war came, he took the next best thing and focused on improving military quality. He only hoped that the people in Jiangnan would not be disgusted with the Wei army and would not cause him any trouble during the war.

His idea was good, but the Jiangnan people and Jiangnan nobles did not appreciate it. What made Li Mi most angry was that he collected more than 70,000 troops from Li Zitong and Shen Faxing, but they all fled one after another, even if they killed more than a thousand

People cannot stop the tide of fleeing.

Li Mi even doubted whether his development in Jiangnan was correct, but now, he has no way out, and he doesn't even have time to win the support of the Jiangnan nobles, because he has never stopped since he set foot on the land of Jiangnan.

The south is not a peaceful land either. Among the six forces in Jiangnan, he only destroyed the weakest two. Du Fuwei, Xiao Xian and Meng Jiigong are all threatening his survival, and Lin Shihong is only in name only.

Allegiance.

Li Mi also had to admit that Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian were more difficult to deal with than others. When they captured Danyang County, they were jointly counterattacked by Du Xiao and his army lost more than 60,000 men. If they had fallen to Li Zitong, Shen Faxing's

Forget about the miscellaneous soldiers, but in order to settle the situation in one battle, he sent out all the elite troops. This loss hurt so much that his heart almost broke.

What makes Li Mi even more anxious is that he received intelligence yesterday that the troops of Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian are mobilizing frequently again. Looking at this posture, even an idiot can guess that these two families will join forces to deal with Li Mi again.

After inspecting the last warehouse, Li Mi and a group of civil servants arrived at the Cangcheng official office. The unfavorable situation made him forget about the place, so he started discussing with everyone.

"Regardless of whether Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian were ordered by Yang Tong, but the coalition forces are approaching fiercely, we have to pay attention. I would like to ask, should we consider defending against threats from the north?" Li Mi looked around and finally settled on the general.

On Shan Xiongxin.

Shan Xiongxin understood that he was referring to the Sui Army. Although the information from the Tang Dynasty has not yet been confirmed, the Sui Army must be considered in the overall situation. Otherwise, it will fall into a situation where it cannot take care of both ends. If the land of Huaibei is abandoned, then the Sui Army will definitely

The president drove straight in and joined forces with Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian. Even if the two sides did not join forces, the Wei army would face enemies from both sides and would not be able to escape the fate of destruction, so it was necessary to gain a strategic buffer time.

"If we deploy too many troops in Huainan, once the Sui army moves south from Lu County and Langye County, Pengcheng, Xiapi, and Donghai will be in danger. Similarly, if the Sui army in Yingchuan takes action, then Liang County, Huaiyang,

Runan is also threatened. I suggest that Pengcheng County and Huaiyang deploy some elite troops to defend against the Sui army's surprise attack. We don't ask for merit, we just need to delay it until the coalition forces of Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian are defeated, so that we can free up more troops.

Use more troops to deal with the Sui army's massive march southward."

Li Mi thought for a while and asked Fang Xuanzao, "What do you think of Shangshu Ling? Do you think Li Yuan's information is true?"

Fang Xuanzao also thought about this issue and said: "Whether Li Yuan's information is true or not is no longer important. Li Yuan is a smart man and will not be ignorant of the truth. At this time, he does not want us to fail, otherwise he will be next.

. And even if Qingzhou is not destroyed, if Yang Tong really wants to destroy Dou Jiande and eradicate the remaining chaos in Qingzhou, he only needs to send 30,000 cavalry to sweep over. With Dou Jiande's little strength, Yang Tong has no need for more than 100,000 Sui troops.

?Based on this calculation, Yang Tong can at least withdraw 100,000 troops from Qingzhou and go south, which will not allow us to be careless. Yang Tong is now ostensibly concentrating on dealing with Li Yuan, but he has always been scheming and often acts unexpectedly, so we have to be on guard.

I agree with the general’s suggestion.”

Li Mi sighed slightly, "I thought so too, but the time left for us is too little. We must wipe out Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian as soon as possible to consolidate our power in the south. If we don't take advantage of this gap

Calm Jiangnan, and when Yang Tong attacks with all his strength, we will really have no chance."

After hearing this, everyone began to understand why he was so depressed.

"And!" Li Mi's eyes were focused on the faces of the generals like knives, and he said in a sharp tone: "This is a very important moment. We cannot have internal chaos, and we cannot afford the consequences of civil chaos, so military discipline must not

Relax! We must not give the Jiangnan gentry an excuse to encourage the people to rebel."

"Your Highness, why do we have to accept the arrogance of these nobles? Let's just kill them all. Not only will we get money and food, but we will also keep the place in chaos." Sun Changle said carelessly.

"I would like to give it up, but they have deep roots in Jiangnan. We can kill the Jiangnan gentry on the surface, but we can't clean up their descendants scattered everywhere. Once we take action, these people will inevitably rise up and cause trouble. Our main enemy now

The coalition forces of Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian, as well as the Sui army, really do not have the energy and time to spend with these greedy Jiangnan nobles."

Li Mi smiled, and seeing that everyone sitting here was a close confidant, he no longer concealed the murderous intention in his heart. An endless chill flashed across his majestic face: "The Jiangnan nobles regard our brothers as foreign invaders and bandits.

So why should I be so polite? These people are like spoiled children, one or two of them are self-righteous and extremely arrogant. They underestimate us too much and actually think that we are thieves. Hum, we can't

They are not ordinary thieves, but the ancestors of thieves. Murder and arson are our old profession."

"Haha!" Everyone present laughed loudly.

Li Mi also smiled and said: "Brothers, please be patient for a while now. When we get through this difficulty, we will go back and settle the matter! I will never let my brothers be wronged in the slightest."

"Your Highness is wise." The generals have been feeling a lot of jealousy during this period. They also saw that Li Mi had to compromise many times and had long been furious with the Jiangnan nobles. When they heard Li Mi make this promise, they all responded loudly with satisfaction.

Li Mi waved his hand and returned to the topic: "If the Sui army goes south, Pengcheng will be the main battlefield. It will face more than 100,000 elite Sui troops. However, I can only send 40,000 elite troops and 20,000 southern troops. Who is willing to take on this arduous task?" Mission? Who can hold on until Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian are destroyed?"

"Your Highness, I'm finally going to ask for orders." Shan Xiongxin asked for orders boldly.

"The general is commendable for his courage, and I am very pleased, but I need the general to lead the army on my behalf to deal with Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian." Shan Xiongxin is brave and loyal, but lacks resourcefulness. Li Mi is not at ease. The suitable person in his mind is Xu Shiji.

While Li Mi was thinking about it, Xu Shiji asked for orders: "Your Highness, the general is willing to take over this important task."

"Okay! I will ask Sun Changle to serve as your lieutenant."

"Here."

"Next is Huaiyang, Wang Bodang. I will give you 20,000 elites and 10,000 Southern troops. Chen Zhilue will serve as deputy general. You two remember, I am not asking you to attack, as long as you keep Li Jing out of the country. You will win. If Li Jing attacks Liang County in the northeast, you two can attack Yingchuan and force Li Jing to retreat. You must not let Li Jing join the Qingzhou Sui army. Otherwise, the pressure of world achievement will double. Don’t underestimate it. This flanking mission.”

"Here." Wang Bodang and Chen Zhilue solemnly responded.

"Is there anything to add to the Shangshu Order?" Li Mi asked Fang Xuanzao.

Fang Xuanzao said: "Send an envoy to Nanyang to explain to Li Yuan the serious relationship between lips and teeth. It would be great if we can form an alliance to help each other."

Li Yuan frowned and thought for a while, and felt that this was a good idea, but he was a little worried, so he asked: "Li Yuan asked me to trick my letter, will he agree?"

Fang Xuanzao smiled and said: "It can't be said that we tricked him. After all, we withdrew from the Western Central Plains in accordance with the covenant. The failure to take over those territories is because of Li Tang himself. This has nothing to do with us."

"That's right."

"Your Highness, both Li Tang and Wei are powerful opponents of the Sui army. No one can deny this huge gap. Even if Li Yuan disagrees, there are sensible people under his command. They will help us convince Li Yuan."

"Okay!" Li Mi no longer asked, but urgently arranged for someone to send the envoy.

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Chapter completed!