Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 393

Zhongqing City Imperial Palace, in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

All the ministers of the cabinet and the counselors of the military aircraft department gathered here and played in front of Xiao Cheng.

Sun Bin, Counselor of the Military Aircraft Department, came out to report at this time:

"Your Majesty, the General Who Conquers the North is going to camp!"

"General Zheng Bei did not know his plans. He had joined forces with Zhuge Liang, the official secretary of the Ministry of War, and led an army of [-] troops into Anshun County. The camp of the Chinese army was moved to Xingyuan Mansion. Wherever the army went, Xia's army was defeated. There was nothing to be done. Resist, and have captured Suidingfu, Jinzhou and other places under Anshun County!"

Xia Guo relied on the natural danger of Yangping Pass, which had already been attacked and broken by the cloud army.Xingyuan Mansion was empty of troops, so naturally it was difficult to stop the offensive of the [-] Yun Army.

In less than a month after the defeat of the Xia army in Jiangyang County, the Yun army successively captured Xingyuan Mansion, Suiding County, Jinzhou and other big cities.The entire Anshun County is still in the hands of Xia Guo, but there is only one Yunyang Mansion left.

On the dragon chair, Xiao Cheng nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice:
"The road between Jiangyang County and Anshun County is rough and difficult. The transportation of food and supplies is related to the danger of the frontline army, and we must not be negligent!"

Having said that, Xiao Cheng paused slightly, and said in a deep voice:

"The decree is that Zhuge Liang, who is a doctor in the Ministry of War and a former judge in the Military Governor's Mansion, will move from Jiangyang County, Sipin, to be appointed as the Zuo Counselor of the Announcement of Political Affairs, and to be in charge of grain and roads."

Anshun County is empty of troops, so the war has been going smoothly so far.On the contrary, it is difficult to keep up with the supply of food and grass for the army.

Although the local people did not resist being subsumed under the rule of the Yun Kingdom, Anshun County was newly attached, and the local prefecture and county government offices were not established, so it was impossible to mobilize the people, and it was difficult to collect enough food and supplies, which affected the frontline troops.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang, an all-around talent, was on the front line, and Xiao Cheng immediately transferred him to a local official position, responsible for the transportation of grain and grass materials.

"Observe the order!" Sun Bin cupped his hands and stepped back slowly.

At this moment, Military Aircraft Counselor Wei Liao also took a step forward and reported:

"Your Majesty, Shaoyang County Wu Xiang General Di Qing reports back."

"General Di Qing of Wu Xiang led his troops into Shaoyang County, and now he has occupied Yongzhou, Baoqing Mansion, Bangzhou, Tanzhou and other places in Shaoyang County. Xia Jun's commander, Deyang Hou Qimo, led his troops to retreat to Hengyang Mansion, relying on Jiancheng to resist us. The army is attacking."

Shaoyang County has a large population, and compared to Anshun County, which is dominated by mountains and hills, it is even more prosperous.

Therefore, under the rule of Shaoyang County, there are four prefectures and five prefectures, which are divided into Baoqing Mansion, Hengyang Mansion, Gaoping Mansion, Shenchuan Mansion, Tanzhou, Yongzhou, Bangzhou, Yuanzhou, and Qianzhou.

At this time, Shaoyang County was split into two, with the western part being occupied by the Yun Kingdom, while the eastern part was still firmly in the hands of the Xia Kingdom.

Compared with Anshun County's progress, Di Qing seems to be slower here.

But thinking about it carefully, in the battle of Yongzhou, Xia Jun's coach Zimmer immediately made a decisive decision and ordered the evacuation, causing most of Xia's army to evacuate.In Shaoyang County, there are still nearly [-] elite Xia troops struggling to resist.

But for more than a month, Di Qing was able to occupy half of Shaoyang County, which is already impressive enough!

Xiao Cheng nodded slightly, and said loudly:

"The Xia Army of Shaoyang County are all elites. To make such progress, the frontline soldiers have already tried their best to serve them. Send Di Qing my oral order and let him fight hard. Don't worry!"

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Wu Qi suddenly stepped out and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, there is also a battle report from Leizhou!"

"General Anton Yang Dayan led his troops to isolate Leizhou from Xiaguo for nearly two months. Our navy finally wiped out the main force of Xiaguo's Leizhou navy six days ago. The land of Leizhou belongs to my Dayun."

Having said that, Wu Qi immediately cupped his hands and said in a deep voice:
"Now that Leizhou has been conquered, there are no more barriers for the counties along the coast of Xia Kingdom! The minister remonstrated and ordered General Anton to lead his troops to attack Shaoyang County from Shenchuan Prefecture. Our navy marched from the sea, both by sea and by land. In response to General Wu Xiang, the Xia army will be attacked from the front and back, and the guards will not be able to look after each other, and it will be difficult to defend for a long time!"

When Xiao Cheng heard the words, he immediately said in a deep voice:

"Quite! Your military aircraft department will come up with a regulation, and I will approve and issue an order!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Cheng looked around at all the officials present, and said in a deep voice:
"According to the six counties in the southwest, attacking Jiangzhou County in the hinterland of the Xia Kingdom, and advancing into the Central Plains, is the first step for my great cloud to rule the world. There must be no mistakes! You should go all out and never be negligent!"

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, all the officials bowed down and saluted, and shouted:

"Come on, follow your orders!"

At this time, Wang Zhi and Lu Bing walked into the hall cautiously and waited quietly.

When Xiao Cheng saw the two, his eyes moved, and he said in a deep voice:
"You all go back first, if there are other things, come back later!"

Hearing this, the ministers subconsciously glanced at Wang Zhi and Lu Bing who walked into the hall.

Now there are two people, Wang Zhi is in charge of the affairs of the East Factory, and Lu Bing is temporarily in charge of the affairs of the sticky pole office.The two big spy chiefs did not wait outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation to be summoned, obviously they had something important to report.

Thinking of the imperial examination fraud case that made His Majesty furious and ordered the three divisions to jointly investigate and the two yamen to co-investigate, all the ministers immediately understood, and hurriedly bowed and bowed to leave.

When everyone retreated, Xiao Cheng looked at the two of them, his eyes sank slightly, and said:
"But there is news from Weichu Mansion?"

When Wang Zhi heard the words, he quickly bowed and said:
"Returning to Your Majesty, Lord Di Renjie, Minister of Dali Temple, entered Weichu Mansion yesterday. Lord Hai Rui, the censor of Zuoqin, has also been taken to the mansion for proper placement... In addition, the accompanying imperial doctor has also made a diagnosis. Lord Rui didn't hurt the root, he just needs to be raised for a few months to recover!"

When Xiao Cheng heard this, his expression softened slightly, and he said in a deep voice:
"From the palace, select a few precious medicines that warm and nourish the body, and send someone to send them to Weichu Mansion quickly."

"Yes!"

Xiao Cheng paused, then asked again:
"Besides that, have the two of you found any clues?"

Lu Bing cupped his hands slightly, and replied:
"Your Majesty Qizuo, the assassin who assassinated Mr. Hai was a knight-errant who received money to do things, and did not know who ordered him. I checked at Shangyu's backup office, and indeed found no clues."

Xiao Cheng frowned, and said in a deep voice:
"A mere knight-errant can assassinate Hai Rui? I remember that many of Hai Rui's servants are masters!"

Before Xiao Cheng recruited students from hundreds of schools, there were quite a few Legalist disciples, who either felt that they were not talented enough, or favored the power of the Yushitai, so they did not choose the imperial examination, but directly entered the Yushitai to serve as officials.

These people carry the inheritance of the Legalists, and there are no high-level warriors, but many of them carry five or six levels of martial arts cultivation.A knight-errant who could assassinate Hai Rui so easily?
"This assassin is an orphan. He didn't even have a teacher. He was just a knight-errant. He even made a living in the market in his early years. It's just that in the past two years, he has had many adventures. His martial arts cultivation has broken through the eighth level... I have repeatedly checked and interrogated him. He even sent people to check his wealth history, and found nothing unusual."

Xiao Cheng heard this, sneered, and said:
"Hehe, it's still the protagonist's life...Assassination of the imperial court official is an unforgivable crime, so let's punish him directly!"

"Yes!"

At this time, Wang Zhi spoke again:

"Your Majesty, in the past month, in the local government-run academies in various states and counties, there have been sudden and sudden deaths of teaching staff. The servants have been careful, and they have sent people to check. It is true that someone secretly murdered them."

Xiao Cheng narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice:
"How much is involved?"

Wang Zhi lowered his head and replied in a low voice:
"23 counties in 38 prefectures, involving [-] government-run academies..."

A cold light flashed in Xiao Cheng's eyes, and he smiled angrily:
"Over the past few years, the Ministry of Rites has hosted a total of more than [-] government-run academies!"

"This is a talent selection system for the country that I painstakingly set up. In the past two years, it has cost the national treasury hundreds of thousands of dollars. But I didn't expect that nearly half of the academies were involved in it? Well, how dare you dare to make a move on this Hands and feet!"

If it weren't for the war between Yun and Xia that caused the imperial examination to be postponed for several months this year, I don't know how many people would start with the places in the local government-run academies and mix them into the imperial examination.

At that time, when this imperial examination fraud case broke out again, the name of imperial examination fairness disappeared.Afraid of criticism from the government and the public, Xiao Cheng had no choice but to reform the imperial examination exemption quota in government-run academies!

You must know that the scholars from the local government-run academies are academic officials specially cultivated by Xiao Cheng in order to prevent the dispute between the schools of thought from extending to the court and turning into a party struggle.

It is related to the stability of the court, now someone dares to tamper with it, this is the reason why Xiao Cheng is so furious!

Xiao Cheng's eyes were sharp, he looked directly at the two of them, and said coldly:
"I want you to help Di Renjie find out the matter at all costs and by all means. The current situation is such that officials at all levels should not move lightly to avoid turmoil in the court. But in private, the minions of the people behind the scenes, As long as you dare to reach out, don't let me chop it up!"

When the two heard the words, they immediately bowed down and saluted, and said in a vibrating voice:
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the minister (servant) should do his best to find out who is behind the scenes for Your Majesty!"

Wang Zhi and Lu Bing bowed to salute and left quickly.

Xiao Cheng sat on the dragon chair, his expression and eyes were full of coldness, obviously he was in a bad mood.

Seeing Xiao Cheng like this, Feng Bao, who was standing by the side, turned his eyes and said cautiously:
"Your Majesty, do you still remember the Battle of Zouma Ridge a while ago? Lieutenant Yang Zaixing led hundreds of cavalry to resist [-] Xia's army on Zouma Ridge. In the end, Xia's army either died or surrendered, and all of them were wiped out."

Xiao Cheng didn't know why Feng Bao suddenly brought up this matter at this moment.

But the Battle of Zoumaling was a great victory in which tens of thousands were annihilated and more than ten thousand elite Xia troops were forced to land. It even made Xingyuan Mansion unable to resist the soldiers of the Yun army, making the overall situation of Anshun County doomed.

When Xiao Cheng heard Feng Bao mentioning the Battle of Zouma Ridge, his originally icy expression softened slightly, and he nodded and said:
"Yang Zaixing led [-] cavalrymen to stop the [-] Xia army. They fought desperately for half a day. Yang Zaixing was hit by dozens of arrows, but he still led the army to charge. There are less than a hundred cavalry left, people are blood men, horses are blood horses..."

Speaking of this, Xiao Cheng didn't wait for Feng Bao to answer, and said to himself:

"You mentioned this matter at this time, but you reminded me! Previously, the court was also concerned about the military policy system, and it was not good to reward too much. I have always wanted to give rewards... so, you do it yourself, from the palace. Another [-] silver will be allocated from the treasury, and in my name, these [-] soldiers will be rewarded. If they have nephews, they will be sent to the local government-run academy to study and practice martial arts, and they will be selected as appropriate when they become adults!"

When Feng Bao heard this, he hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty is wise, in this way, the whole army will no longer have any worries, and they will be ashamed for His Majesty!"

Speaking of this, Feng Bao showed a flattering smile on his face, bowed his waist and said:

"However, in fact, this servant just wanted to say that the commander of the [-] Xia army in the Battle of Zoumaling, the left general of the Xia Kingdom, Qiu Tianlu, was captured by our frontline army and has now been taken to Beijing. Your Majesty, do you want to take a look? "

Presenting captives under the gate has been such an etiquette in the army since ancient times.It can not only promote the prestige of the country, but also subdue the enemy.At the same time, it also implies the meaning of pleasing the king.

Obviously, seeing that Xiao Cheng was unhappy just now, in order to please Xiao Cheng, Feng Bao came up with a trick to please him.

Hearing this, Xiao Cheng paused for a moment, gave Feng Bao an angry look, and said:
"No need, I don't have time to spare..."

Speaking of this, Xiao Cheng hesitated slightly, his eyes suddenly changed, he looked at Feng Bao and said:

"What is the background of this Xia Guo left general Qiu Tianlu?"

When Feng Bao heard this, he hurriedly said:

"Chou Tianlu is also a famous general of the Xia Kingdom, who was promoted by the old Xia Emperor Yu. Like Qi Mo, Deyang Hou of the Xia Kingdom, he has been defending against the Turkic invasion in the northern border. very similar..."

"But to be honest, speaking of it, this Qiu Tianlu is notoriously unkind among the generals of the Xia army, and he is completely different from General Zhengbei! It is precisely because of this that this Qiu Tianlu army The popularity is extremely poor. He has made outstanding achievements, not much worse than Zimmer, but he still hasn't won the title."

Xiao Cheng nodded slightly when he heard the words, and said in a deep voice:
"By the way! I also remember that the news from the sticky pole said that because of this Qiu Tianlu's unpopularity, Xia Jun who came to meet Yang Zaixing saw Yang Zaixing's suspicious soldier, so he didn't want to take the risk of being trapped. Rescue Qiu Tianlu and evacuate immediately, only then can these [-] Xia troops be retained..."

The penetration of sticky rods in the southwest of Xia Kingdom is very serious, and they are very clear about the affairs in the southwest of Xia Kingdom, and even the detailed military reports reported by Xia Jun can be obtained.

Corresponding back and forth, Chengxian Xia Jun's lies are naturally self-defeating.

Hearing this, Xiao Cheng pondered for a moment, his eyes flashed, and he said with a smile:
"If you say that, then I really want to see this one, General Daxia Zuo!"

When Feng Bao heard this, he hurriedly said:

"Yes, servant girl, let's prepare now..."

Xiao Cheng raised his hand to stop him, and said angrily:

"However, a general from the four directions of the Xia Kingdom wants to offer up prisoners? Is that why I have no cards?"

Hearing this, Feng Bao froze for a moment, and asked again:
"Then His Majesty is saying that Qiu Tian should meet His Majesty face to face?"

Xiao Cheng's face darkened slightly, and he said in a deep voice:

"Xia Guo is too big, to swallow it forcibly, the price is too high..."

Speaking of this, Xiao Cheng felt a bad taste in his heart, and suddenly smiled and said:
"Properly place him in the merit forest, grind his temper, and then let him see me!"

Feng Bao was stunned when he heard this, and murmured:
"Gongdelin?"

"Look for a house, and give the name 'Gongde Forest' to the civil and military officials of the Xia Kingdom who will house the captives in the future."

Feng Bao blinked his eyes, he really didn't understand Xiao Cheng's wicked taste, but he could only bow down to answer.

(End of this chapter)