South Zhili, Huai'an Fucheng, Wing Room of the Caoyun Governor's Mansion.

On the table were imperial edicts and urgent documents from Xuzhou City, as well as letters from Song Yihe, governor of Huguang.

Zhang Guowei, the Minister of War in Nanjing, and Ding Qirui, the Governor of Water Transport, sat on both sides of the table.

The rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong's troops had been besieging Xuzhou City for several months. The state government sent several urgent documents. Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui were completely unified in their opinions on whether to rush to Xuzhou City and decided not to rush to Xuzhou City.

They believed that Zhang Xianzhong had 400,000 men. If the sergeants and canal transport soldiers from the Nanjing Camp rushed to Xuzhou City, the entire southern Zhili would be in a defenseless state. Under such circumstances, Zhang Xianzhong's troops suddenly attacked Huai'an, Fengyang and even Nanjing.

The army cannot rush to help quickly in a short time.

In the final analysis, neither Zhang Guowei nor Ding Qirui were willing to take responsibility. In the eighth year of Chongzhen reign, Li Zicheng once captured Fengyang Fucheng. As a result, Yang Yihe, the then governor of water transportation, was executed by the court and abandoned the city. Yang Ze, the eunuch guarding the mausoleum, committed suicide. Wu Zhenying, the patrol censor, guarded the border.

, this matter left a deep impression on the two of them, and they were unwilling to repeat the same mistake. Especially Ding Qirui, as the governor of water transportation, was directly responsible for the defense of the four prefectures and three states in Jiangbei, so he had to be even more careful.

The imperial edict was stern in tone, requiring Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui to rush to the aid of Xuzhou City.

The location of Xuzhou is very critical. The Cao Canal flows through Xuzhou. If Zhang Xianzhong captures Xuzhou, the water transportation will definitely be affected. Once the water transportation is affected, there will be problems with the supply of grain and other materials in the north, especially in Beizhili. The emperor and the court

It should be from this aspect that they asked the Nanjing Ministry of War and the Governor's Office of Water Transport to rush to Xuzhou to defeat Zhang Xianzhong.

Strictly speaking, Xuzhou's defense matters are directly under the responsibility of the Water Transport Governor's Mansion. Ding Qirui, the Governor of Water Transport, is directly responsible. Zhang Guowei, the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, can sit back and ignore it. However, the situation is different now, especially since Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai claimed the responsibility in Kaifeng Mansion.

After the king, the situation in South Zhili suddenly became tense. Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui must unite and work together to defeat Zhang Xianzhong and protect the safety of South Zhili. Otherwise, the situation in South Zhili will worsen and neither of them will want to die well.

Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui both knew that the generals would not accept the orders of the foreign emperor. The imperial edicts needed to be considered, but to command operations in full accordance with the imperial edicts, what else did the people below need to do.

Needless to say, the emergency documents of Xuzhou Prefectural Government are all the same old ones, and Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui do not need to pay special attention to them.

What made the two of them feel strange was the letter from Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang.

In the letter, Song Yihe reported that the Huguang Governor's Yamen, in accordance with the requirements of the emperor and the imperial court, would dispatch the army from various towns in Huguang to the Huangzhou area to prevent the rogue Zhang Xianzhong from attacking Fengyang and Luzhou, and to protect the safety of Huguang.

Huangzhou Mansion in Huguang is close to Luzhou in South Zhili. It is far away from Xuzhou and can be said to be completely unrelated. Why Song Yihe wrote the letter was not very clear to Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui. After careful analysis, the two

, thinking that it was possible that Song Yihe had received an order from the emperor or an edict from the court, so he expressed his attitude.

It is impossible to ask the troops from various towns in Huguang to rush to support South Zhili. As the governor of Huguang, Song Yihe only needs to be responsible for the security of various places in Huguang. Besides, Huguang is close to Henan Province, and the entire Henan Province is

Controlled by Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, Huguang Province was in great danger at all times. How could Song Yihe mobilize troops to fight in southern Zhili.

Comparatively speaking, Nanzhili is much safer. Although it has been attacked by rogue bandits, most of it is still safe.

Zhang Guowei looked at Ding Qirui, sighed and then spoke.

"Sir Ding, Xuzhou is an important water transportation route. If it is captured by Zhang Xianzhong, water transportation will definitely be affected. The emperor is probably worried about this, so the imperial court issued an edict. What do you think should be done?"

Zhang Guowei, as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing and the Counselor of Machinery, was actually responsible for the deployment of the entire southern military force, with the exception of the Water Transport Governor's Mansion. The Water Transport Governor's Mansion was directly responsible to the emperor and the court, independently owned the water transport soldiers, and controlled the military strength of the four prefectures and three states in Jiangbei.

Returned to the Nanjing Military Department for deployment.

Ding Qirui also looked at Zhang Guowei and spoke expressionlessly.

"Master Zhang, I think that even if Zhang Xianzhong captured Xuzhou, he would not be able to stay for a long time. Our army is eyeing Fengyang and Huai'an, waiting for him to fall into his trap. Xuzhou is not a big place and has always been a bit barren. Zhang Xianzhong's four troops are

With more than 100,000 people, it is impossible to maintain it. The governor of Huguang, Mr. Song Yihe, wrote a letter, which reminded me that after Zhang Xianzhong's troops captured Xuzhou, it is very likely to move in the direction of Huguang. You see, north of Xuzhou is Shandong Province

, Henan Province is to the east. If the city of Xuzhou is captured, Zhang Xianzhong's next choice is either Huai'an or Fengyang, or passing through Fengyang and entering Huguang. Therefore, we do not need to send out a large army to help Xuzhou for the time being. We can deploy a large army.

Waiting in Fengyang area, waiting for Zhang Xianzhong to surrender..."

Zhang Guowei nodded and agreed with Ding Qirui's analysis.

"Master Ding's analysis is accurate. In my opinion, the troops in the four towns and three states in Jiangbei are mainly deployed in Fengyang Prefecture to prevent Zhang Xianzhong from jumping over the wall and attacking Fengyang Prefecture. The Suzhou area can be used for key defense. If Zhang Xianzhong's troops dare to attack Fengyang Prefecture,

If there is chaos in Yang Mansion, it will be completely wiped out."

Ding Qirui nodded accordingly.

"What Mr. Zhang is saying is that if the Nanjing capital camp is deployed, some of it can be deployed to Huai'an City. The water transport soldiers and most of the troops from the four towns and three states are deployed to the Suzhou area. The defense of Huai'an City must be empty.

If Zhang Xianzhong's troops suddenly attack Huai'an Fucheng, the defense will be difficult..."

Zhang Guowei was stunned for a moment, not expecting that Ding Qirui would make such a request.

In fact, in terms of the defense of Southern Zhili, Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui have their own division of labor. Ding Qirui is mainly responsible for the security of four prefectures and three states, including Huai'an Prefecture, Fengyang Prefecture, Luzhou Prefecture, Anqing Prefecture, as well as Xuzhou, Hezhou and Chuzhou, and Nanzhili Prefecture.

Zhang Guowei was responsible for the defense of other places under the jurisdiction of Zhili, as well as the entire south. If the situation in the Central Plains had not been completely chaotic, Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui would not have had any intersection.

Although the emperor has a clear intention, the Nanjing Military Department and the Water Transport Governor's Office are jointly responsible for the defense of Southern Zhili to resist the attack of Zhang Xianzhong's troops. However, Zhang Guowei is most concerned about the safety of Nanjing City. If all the sergeants from the Nanjing Beijing Camp are transferred to Jiangbei

, which led to the empty defense of Nanjing City and led to the attack of Zhang Xianzhong's troops. Zhang Guowei could not bear the consequences.

On the contrary, if anything goes wrong in the four prefectures and three states in Jiangbei, Zhang Guowei will not bear the main responsibility. At most, he will be reprimanded by the emperor and the court. The main responsibility will still be borne by Ding Qirui.

Therefore, in terms of the overall defense of Southern Zhili, Ding Qirui is mainly responsible for the four prefectures and three prefectures in Jiangbei, and Zhang Guowei is responsible for other places under the jurisdiction of Southern Zhili. Unless Fengyang Prefecture is threatened, Zhang Guowei does not need to mobilize a large number of troops for reinforcements.

"Well, Mr. Ding, you know the overall defense of Nanzhili. I think we should proceed according to the plan we determined before. Hasty changes may cause accidents."

Zhang Guowei's refusal was somewhat direct, perhaps because he was worried that Ding Qirui had other ideas, so he then added.

"Master Ding, I think that in critical moments, it is still necessary to mobilize some troops from the Nanjing Camp and other towns to guard Huai'an City, but the number of sergeants cannot be very large..."

Ding Qirui waved his hand slightly.

"I know Master Zhang's difficulties, so I would be very grateful if I could mobilize some troops to help defend the city of Huai'an."

The eyes of Zhang Guowei and Ding Qirui collided again, and there was a spark, but there was no expression on their faces.

In fact, what they hoped for most was that Zhang Xianzhong's troops could go to the west. To the west was Henan Province. Everyone was happy when Zhang Xianzhong's troops entered Henan Province.

Finally, Zhang Guowei spoke again with a concerned tone.

"Master Ding, the imperial edict is quite harsh in wording. I think Master Ding still needs to reply. How to reply requires deep thinking. The emperor and the court do not know the specific situation of Nanzhili. If Master Ding does not give a detailed explanation

, I am afraid that I will be misunderstood. Of course, as long as Mr. Ding needs it, I am willing to sign the memorial and explain it to the emperor and the court together..."

Ding Qirui's face finally showed a smile.

"Thank you Mr. Zhang for your concern. I was just thinking about how to reply to the emperor and the court. What do you think of the reason I just said? The Nanjing Ministry of War and the Water Transport Governor's Mansion are each responsible for their own responsibility. When the situation is urgent, they will communicate with each other.

Rushing for reinforcements is more important than Xuzhou, Nanjing and Fengyang. If there is a loss in these two places, neither Mr. Zhang nor I can explain it to the emperor and the court..."

Ding Qirui's tone was also very sincere and moving. Unfortunately, Zhang Guowei's face had no expression.

...

Zhang Guowei stood up to say goodbye and left the Water Transport Governor's Mansion. He was going back to Nanjing immediately.

In the end, Zhang Guowei did not sign Ding Qirui's memorial to the emperor and the court. He was in an angry mood and could not possibly sign the memorial. The emperor and the court clearly requested the Nanjing Ministry of War and the Water Transport Governor's Mansion to assist each other and be jointly responsible for the security of Southern Zhili.

But in Ding Qirui's memorial to the emperor and the court, he still emphasized the importance of Fengyang and Nanjing. Wouldn't this be a lawsuit against Zhang Guowei to the emperor and the court?

Of course, Zhang Guowei's thoughts were different regarding his responsibilities. He would not devote himself wholeheartedly to helping Ding Qirui. The Governor's Office of Water Transport was so rich that he didn't know how much benefit he got from water transport. Why didn't he think of the Nanjing Ministry of War at that time? When he met

If you are in trouble, you want to rely on the Nanjing Ministry of War. There is no such good thing in the world.
Chapter completed!