Huo Guang looked at Sang Hongyang quietly, as if waiting for him to make a decision. Huo Guang himself had almost guessed why Sang Hongyang prevented Liu Quya from pacifying the Northern Army camp, and it was indeed not for this reason that he came to Sang Hongyang tonight.
Sang Hongyang lowered his head. After a long time, he put one hand on the fence and said in a heavy tone: "Aocang has no more grain to adjust."
Sang Hongyang is now in his forties, which is not considered young at all. His body, which was originally upright, seems to be slightly bent by invisible pressure at this moment!
"Continue talking." Huo Guang's face was expressionless, but his voice became very low.
"Shanglin Garden is out of food" Sang Hongyang's voice continued, adding a lot of helplessness and bitterness.
"That's why I'm here!" Huo Guang's voice fell into Sang Hongyang's ears. He slightly raised his head and looked at Huo Guang, and their eyes met in the dark night.
Sang Hongyang said nothing more, just stared into Huo Guang's eyes, as if waiting and asking.
"I need someone, someone who knows the Han Dynasty well. In the next few months, I need him to be fully responsible for the transportation and deployment of grain and grass for the entire Han Dynasty. As long as we survive these few months, our army will counterattack after the autumn harvest. At that time." Huo Guang's voice had a unique calmness, as if as long as he did as he said, all difficulties would be solved.
"Now tell me your answer" Huo Guang glanced at Sang Hongyang one last time, and after saying this, he turned around and looked like he was about to leave. Huo Guang took steps and walked down to the attic by himself. He didn't care what Sang Hongyang's final answer was. He didn't have much time to stay here anymore.
Sang Hongyang saw Huo Guang's back, then glanced at the night view of Chang'an at his feet. Finally, he gritted his teeth and bowed to Huo Guang, saying, "I am one of the three great men of the Han Dynasty, and I have no shirking responsibility for this matter."
When Huo Guang finally heard Sang Hongyang's voice, he paused slightly, then turned his back to Sang Hongyang and said, "Go to court early tomorrow."
Sang Hongyang¡¯s family servants were still waiting under the attic. Seeing that only Huo Guang came down, these people were full of curiosity and confusion. However, Huo Guang ignored these people and walked towards the gate of Anping Hou Mansion.
After a while, Sang Hongyang walked down to the attic accompanied by A Heng. Looking at the curious family members, Sang Hongyang showed the majesty of a censor doctor: "Watch your mouth tonight. If you do, If you don¡¯t stop, you won¡¯t have to speak again in the future. Let¡¯s all go away!¡±
Sang Hongyang¡¯s family members didn¡¯t know what happened in the attic, so they all left cautiously. And he was still standing under the attic, with only Ah Heng behind him holding a lantern.
"A Heng" After a while, Sang Hongyang's voice sounded again.
"Master Hou!" A Heng's whole body was hidden in the shadows, and his voice was as respectful as ever.
¡°Go and inform the Young Master and the Da Nong Ling to come and see me immediately.¡± Sang Hongyang seemed to have made some decision, and summoned Wang Yong and Su Yan in the middle of the night.
"No." A Heng responded, and when the voice disappeared, the person disappeared.
Huo Guang walked out of the Anping Hou Mansion alone, which was in sharp contrast to the crowd of people who greeted him when he entered the house. Everyone thought that something unpleasant had happened between Huo Guang and Sang Hongyang. Sang Hongyang did not even follow the basic etiquette of sending guests out.
Huo Guang got on the carriage. Before the driver could start the carriage, Huo Guang said to the left and right: "Don't go back home yet, go to Du Zhou's house."
The carriage started slowly and headed towards the former imperial censor's residence. The general personally came to visit, and everyone in Du Zhou's house who could come out naturally came out to greet him.
Soon Huo Guang arrived outside Du Zhou's residence. He got off the carriage and looked at Du Yannian and Zhao Yinhua. In addition, there were two middle-aged men on the other side of Du Yannian. They were older than Du Yannian and looked like they should be. He was Du Yannian's brother. Although Huo Guang had never seen them before, he knew that their names were Yanshou and Yankao.
"Greetings to the general!" Du Yannian was in front, leading the whole family to bow and salute.
"Everyone, please excuse me and take me to meet my uncle!" Huo Guang stretched out his hand. He didn't act like a general here. No matter what the world thought of Du Zhou and the Du brothers, whether they were ruthless, corrupt officials or nepotistic ministers, in Huo Guang's eyes, these were all his own.
"Du Zhou once served as a censor, and his residence was of a very high standard. In addition, he was not as incorruptible as ordinary cruel officials. Over the years, he had a lot of wealth and his residence was luxurious.
Huo Guang was led to Du Zhou's bed by Du Yannian and others. Huo Guang saw that Du Zhou was in a very bad state. Although he was not unconscious yet, he was already a little confused. Huo Guang called out a few times, but Du Zhou didn't see how old he was. reaction.
"Let uncle rest, Yannian and Yinhua sit with me for a while. "Huo Guang said with some regret when he saw Du Zhou's appearance, and then asked Du Yannian and Zhao Yinhua to sit with him for a meeting. The implication was that he had to discuss matters with these two people alone.
"The study in the mansion is quite elegant and quiet. Please move it, General." Du Yannian and Huo Guang have cooperated for more than ten years. The two have a tacit understanding. As soon as Huo Guang opened his mouth, he knew what to do.
Soon, Huo Guang, Du Yannian and Zhao Yinhua sat down in the study room of Du Zhou's house. One is Huo Guang's confidant, and the other is a disciple who regards Huo Guang as his father. These two people are also the people Huo Guang trusts most in Chang'an.
"Originally, I planned to make my uncle the prime minister, but now it seems I have to find another candidate." Huo Guang said directly. He didn't need to hide anything in front of these two people.
The position of prime minister is still very important. Huo Guang needs a senior minister with both qualifications and ability to serve as prime minister. More importantly, this candidate must be guided by Huo Guang. At this time of internal and external troubles, Huo Guang did not want to find a prime minister who was always against him. Du Zhou was originally the best candidate, but unfortunately his physical condition forced Huo Guang to find someone else.
"Actually, you don't need to worry too much about the choice of prime minister. In my opinion, you should leave the prime minister's position empty first. Teacher is the auxiliary minister written by the emperor in the imperial edict, so we can take this opportunity to replace the prime minister's power with a general." Zhao Yinhua She spoke her thoughts without any scruples. Although she was a female prostitute, she participated in the whole process of cheating and forcing the emperor to marry her. She already had a deep understanding of this game of power.
"My subordinates also think what Yin Hua said makes sense. Since the general has already taken charge of the court, it doesn't matter whether he is the prime minister or not." Du Yannian also said, he really followed his husband's lead.
"You two are becoming more and more bold It is not impossible to not want the Prime Minister, but in this case, the General's Palace must be established immediately. The burden of the history of the General's Palace can only fall on you, Yannian Now, you have to choose the other subordinates yourself." In front of two close people, Huo Guang finally showed a relaxed look on his face.
"I will definitely live up to the great general's trust. There were still some of our people in the Jingzhao Yin Mansion back then. I believe that as long as my subordinates speak, these people will still be called." Du Yannian answered with his hands raised. He was quite optimistic about being appointed as the chief of the General's Mansion. Not afraid. Huo Guang, the general who oversaw the affairs of the government, had great power at the rank of chief minister in his palace. Although he was named chief minister, he was actually an important minister with a fortune of two thousand dan. It would not be an exaggeration to call him a junior prime minister.
"This is the best. I can rest assured that you can do things. But now we are short of manpower. I wonder if your two brothers can be used?" Huo Guang naturally trusts Du Yannian very much. If he wants to replace the prime minister's power with the general's palace, Huo Guang doesn't think much of it. Worried, but after all, he has been away from Chang'an for several years, and Lu Bode, Yang Pu and others are either dead or outside, and some are already old and can no longer take on heavy responsibilities. Currently, there are indeed not many people he can use in Chang'an. Du Yannian naturally turned his attention to Du Yannian's two brothers.
Du Yanshou and Du Yankao are now only minor officials with a few hundred dan. Although they also hold some positions, they are not important.
"Although we do not avoid relatives when promoting talents, I am afraid that my two brothers are only capable of running a county at most. If they want to share the worries of the general, they are still not capable enough!" Du Yannian said with some embarrassment. Ordinarily, Du Yannian should be happy that Huo Guang intends to reuse his two brothers, but he knows that everything Huo Guang does is important. If he is not capable and is entrusted with important tasks, it will only hinder Huo Guang. Even if it is his own brother, Du Yannian will do his best. dissuade.
"In that case, let's find an opportunity for them to be governors of a county." Huo Guang nodded and said. Since Du Yannian said that Du Yanshou and Du Yankao could not be entrusted with important tasks, he no longer had any hope.
"In addition, from now on, Yinhua, you will be responsible for the communication between Chang'an and Hexi. Although Tang Mei is in charge of Hexi, Orobazuo is not an idle person. You will report our current situation to Hexi as soon as possible. In addition, I also need to keep abreast of the situation in Hexi." Huo Guang looked at Zhao Yinhua solemnly and said. Although he now takes control of Chang'an, only the four counties of Hexi are his true foundation, and that is his inheritance.
"The student has noted it down." Zhao Yinhua responded respectfully.
"Finally, I have one most important thing to say to you two. Because it's too important, I'm worried that there may be some flaws in it. Please consult with me carefully." Huo Guang said seriously after a moment.
Seeing Huo Guang's serious expression, Du Yannian and Zhao Yinhua couldn't help but sit up straighter and looked at Huo Guang attentively.
"Now the Han Dynasty has strong enemies on three sides. In the absence of absolute superiority in troops, I plan to focus on defense in the early stage. We will delay the time until after the autumn harvest, and then launch a major counterattack after the autumn harvest. However, to complete this strategic arrangement, we must Two conditions must be met. First, our army's food and grass can sustain Guangcheng and Fushi's armies until the autumn harvest. The second is that??Our Hexi Army must stop Xi'an's 250,000-strong army at two passes"
"If it's just a matter of food and grass, wouldn't it be better to fight quickly? Teacher, why do you have to wait until after the autumn harvest?" Zhao Yinhua asked puzzledly. Although she was smart, her vision for such a large strategic layout could never reach the level of Huo Guang's. the height of.
After Du Yannian listened to Huo Guang's strategic plan, although he had not yet heard Huo Guang talk about the details, he seemed to have some understanding and probably understood some of the reasons.
Huo Guang placed several teacups on the table and placed them in different positions. Then he pointed at these teacups and said: "There are two reasons. First, the Huns from Korea are entering the country. They are well prepared and have experienced several great victories. Now the enemy's morale is high, and our army hastily responded to the battle. Not long after the defeat, now the enemy is strong and we are weak, and we have no advantage in terms of strength on the two fronts, and even have some disadvantages. If we go to war rashly at this time, we may have no chance of winning. The best thing is to delay time and wear down the opponent's energy."
Huo Guang eloquently said that there were 180,000 Han troops in the north, of which 100,000 were already exhausted infantry, and the other was the Wusun and Xiongnu coalition forces he had brought. Such an army could defeat the 20 Xiongnu troops with high morale in the front. Huo Guang knew that it was impossible for Wan Dajun to attack. Although Youzhou is reinforced by 100,000 troops from Liang Wang Liu Xiang and Liu Kang, only 10,000 or 20,000 of these 100,000 can be called elites. The rest are just farmers and slaves forming a temporary army. None of these people have ever been on the battlefield. Not to mention killing people. If these 100,000 people were to fight against Wei Youqu's 60,000 troops now, you don't need to think about it to know that the 100,000 Han troops would be killed and defeated.
"The second is the change in time. In fact, whether it is the Huns or North Korea, they are fighting far away from the rear. In this case, what do they consume the most? In fact, it is also food and grass. The longer time goes by, the more obvious this problem will be. . To supply tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of military expenses, the transportation of these materials itself is an extremely huge project, and the consumption during transportation is also extremely huge. Even if our opponents are well prepared, the huge demand for food and grass will not It may support them for too long. With North Korea's background, even if they prepare for many years, it will only be enough to last them until autumn at most. Once the food and grass cannot be maintained, the morale of its military will be chaotic. As long as the morale of the military is chaotic, our army will counterattack. time. As for the Huns, as soon as autumn comes, they will not dare to stay any longer. A heavy snowfall can completely turn them into rootless ducks. They will not lose all their cattle, sheep and the forage they need for winter. Come south of the Great Wall?"
Du Yannian and Zhao Yinhua listened carefully to Huo Guang's analysis. Their eyes gradually brightened, and their expressions also showed slight excitement.
The fact is as analyzed by Huo Guang. Although North Korea and the Huns are now aggressive and have the upper hand, the Han Dynasty relies on its vast territory and huge population. As long as the war is postponed, as time goes by, the balance of victory will be It will continue to lean towards the big man.
The Xiongnu planners He Shidao and Wu Wei actually discovered this problem early on, so their initial plan was to win over Li Guangli and support Liu Kun, the king of Changyi, as emperor to achieve the purpose of indirectly controlling the Han Dynasty. It was a pity that all this They were all disrupted by Huo Guang's sudden appearance.
"With Mr. Dayuan in charge in Hexi, there shouldn't be any big problems. So now the problem has returned to Guangcheng and Fushi. How to make the defenders in these two places hold on until the autumn harvest?" Du Yannian lowered his head and said thoughtfully. They They have great trust in Huo Tang, and this trust is no worse than trusting Huo Guang.
"The teacher just said that food and grass are needed to support the two defenders. Could it be that the court has run out of food now?" Zhao Yinhua was lacking in the overall situation, but he was very aware of the details. Huo Guang just mentioned it casually, and she found the key.
"I met Sang Hongyang before I came here. Aocang and Shanglinyuan are both out of food" Huo Guang frowned and spoke out the most serious problem at hand.