The eldest son of the red mansion

Chapter 224
All the civil and military personnel in the court hall were discussing in low voices. At this time, the doctor Yushi next to him saw that the time was almost up, and the emperor would come right away.So he came out of the class, stood in the center and said loudly: "Everyone, civil and military, should be quiet, and don't make any more noise, otherwise you will be punished according to the law."

It is his duty for the doctor to do this, and every time the emperor is in a great dynasty, there will be such a thing.

All the civil and military officials fell silent when they heard the censor doctor's words. Sure enough, not long after, the emperor entered from the back hall of the Qianqing Palace and sat on the throne with the support of the eunuchs.

The emperor was sitting on the throne, and Dai Quan, who was next to him, followed the rules, stepped forward and shouted loudly: "All ministers, if there is a book, I will play it early, and if there is no book, I will leave the court."

The three cabinet scholars Li Lu, Yan Mu, and Pan Yong went out of class and knelt in the court together, and said at the same time: "Your Majesty, the army of the capital is now gathered, and they are no longer afraid of the Tatars. Whether you want to send troops to fight, please Your Majesty Make a decision." This should have been discussed a few days ago, and today is just a formality.

The emperor heard what the three great scholars said above, and asked the officials below: "The three great scholars are right. What other ministers have to say, now is the time to speak freely."

Liu Wan, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came out of the class and said: "Your Majesty, the hundreds of thousands of troops gathered in the capital now cost money and food, so it is better for the army to fight as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be a long time, and I am afraid that the food and grass will not be enough."

This is a disadvantage of the Central Plains Dynasty. In many battles, it is not the bravery of the sergeants on the battlefield and the strategy of the coach that determine the outcome of the battlefield, but the supply of food and grass in the logistics.

During several wars against Houjin in the last years of the Ming Dynasty on Earth, if it wasn't for the lack of food and grass, the emperor urged the commander in front to fight the decisive battle with Houjin.The Ming Dynasty will not lose so badly.

The materials needed by the grassland peoples to come to the Central Plains are all nearby plunders, and their food and grass supply is very easy, so they can fight the Central Plains peoples for a relatively long time.Furthermore, relying on their immediate skills, they can come and leave whenever they want, so the Central Plains people have nothing to do with them for a long time.

The other important ministers also talked about it, but most of them agreed to a decisive battle as soon as possible. They knew the supply of food and grass in the capital.There are nearly a million people in the capital alone, and these people also need to eat. Adding hundreds of thousands of troops, the little food that the emperor confiscated may not last long.

The emperor sat on the top and listened to the discussion below. Seeing that all the ministers agreed to a decisive battle, he opened his mouth and asked: "Since all the ministers agree to a decisive battle as soon as possible, then I don't know who will be the leader to lead the army."

When the emperor asked such a question, the officials below immediately kept silent, because it was related to the military power of hundreds of thousands of troops, and it was not easy for them as subordinates to speak out.

Seeing that all the ministers were silent, the emperor opened his mouth and said, "Since you don't have any suitable candidates, then I will order generals. Wang Shuixiao of Beijing (made up)."

When King Beijing heard the emperor's roll call, he immediately got out of the class and knelt down, saying: "My lord, Shui Xiao is here."

"You are a veteran in the battlefield for many years. I think you will be in charge this time. How about you?"

King Beijing touched the ground with his head and respectfully replied: "Although I am not talented, I still have a heart of loyalty to the country. If Your Majesty lets you lead the army, if you can't win, please kill me as an old man."

"Prince Beijing, you must remember what you said. If you can't win, you will be beheaded. If you win a big victory, I will definitely reward you." The emperor said with a serious expression.

This time the emperor was a bit of a gamble. He had had enough of the invasion of the Tatars over the years.This time I intend to teach the Tatars a lesson, so I put all my eggs in one basket to fight the Tatars.However, the emperor still kept back. The 15 troops of the three major battalions did not need to go out to fight.When winter came, the enemy army naturally retreated to the grassland.

King Bei Jing said impassionedly: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this time the Tatars will surely know how powerful they are."

In fact, regardless of the impassionedness on the surface of the King of Beijing, in fact, he is also beating the drums in his heart. Although he fought against the grassland people a few times when he was young, the troops he led at that time were much stronger than the current ones.

Now King Beijing Jing said that because of helplessness, the emperor has already ordered generals, can you still refuse?Fortunately, he knew that Jia Ke's soldiers and horses were still very elite. Even if they couldn't win, they could rely on Jia Ke's soldiers and horses to maintain an invincible situation with the Tatars. His old life could be saved.

The emperor was still a little worried, but at this point there was nothing to confess, so he winked at Dai Quan next to him.

Dai Quan comprehended, picked up an imperial decree from the imperial case, stood on the imperial steps and read aloud: "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the edict said: The Tartars are rampant, they lead the invasion of our territory, don't think of favors, lead the beasts to eat people, Today, the Heavenly Army is launched to conquer disobedient ministers. Wang Xiao of Beijing started in the army and has served in the army for several generations. Now he is the marshal and orders all the generals.

King Bei Jing immediately knelt forward a few steps, raised his hands high, and said loudly: "Minister, Shui Xiao accepts the order, thank you Lord Long for your kindness, my emperor, long live, long live, long live."

Dai Quan walked down the imperial steps and put the imperial decree in his hands.King Beijing received the imperial decree, but before he stood up, the emperor spoke again: "You go to rectify the army now, let the army camp outside the city, and fight the Tatars."

"Sir, Shui Xiao respectfully obeys the Holy Order."

After the emperor instructed Shui Xiao, he said, "Where is Prince Teng, the envoy of the Jingying Festival?"

Wang Ziteng hurried out of duty, knelt down at the foot of the imperial steps, and shouted: "Your Excellency, the Beijing Camp Festival envoys Wang Ziteng to meet you."

"Start to rectify the Beijing camp from now on, immediately go to the top of the city to defend, and don't let the Tatars take advantage of it."

Wang Ziteng immediately kowtowed and replied: "My lord, let's rectify the army's defense of the city, so that the capital will not be troubled."

Seeing that today's business has been finished, the emperor said: "All the ministers and workers still have something to play, come and play as soon as possible, if there is nothing else to play, they will all be dispersed."

Everyone knew in their hearts what happened today, the Selectors would defeat the Tatars, and other matters could be discussed after the Tatars had retreated, so they all remained silent.

Seeing that all the ministers had nothing else to say, the emperor gave Dai Quan a wink, and Dai Quan took a few steps forward, came to the imperial steps and shouted loudly: "Retire."

Today's court meeting ended like this. It didn't take half an hour from the beginning of the court meeting to the last court dispersal. Jia Ke stood there the whole time without saying a word. From Jia Ke's point of view, what was decided at the court meeting today may have been decided a long time ago. The emperor discussed with several confidant ministers, today's court meeting is just a formality.

After the court dispersed, the crowd went out in twos and threes, and Jia Ke was still closely following the King of Beijing. When he was about to reach the gate of the palace, the King of Beijing turned around and said to Jia Ke, "Go back and bid farewell to your family, and then lead the people out of the city to set up camp. , I will let the other ministries set up near you, and then my big tent will be set up in your big camp."

If someone else heard this, it might feel normal.But when Jia Ke heard this, he felt something was wrong. According to Jia Ke's understanding, if the king of Beijing wanted to set up a large tent in the army, he should set it up in Liaodong Jiedu, which has the most soldiers and horses and the highest status among the various envoys. In the army, now he wants to set up a big tent in his army. There must be some reason he doesn't know.

But Jia Ke didn't ask, but nodded in agreement. The King of Beijing Jing nodded in satisfaction, and went straight back to the mansion in the sedan chair.

Jia Ke didn't dare to neglect, stepped out of the palace gate, rode back to the mansion immediately, and arrived at the Rongguo Mansion.Instead of going to the inner courtyard, he went directly to Jia Zheng's outer study, where Jia Zheng was waiting for him.

As soon as Jia Ke met Jia Zheng, without waiting for Jia Zheng to ask questions, he told the truth: "Father, Prince Beijing was appointed Marshal in the court today, and he will lead the army to camp outside the city in a while. Father takes his leave, and then he will go to the army immediately, and send troops out of the city to set up camp."

Jia Zheng felt a little apprehensive after hearing this, and asked uneasily, "Last time you told me that the Tatars are not defensive this time, but really, they didn't lie to me."

"Father, don't worry, the Tatars are brave, but this time we have gathered hundreds of thousands of elites, and now that the weather is getting colder, the Tatars' fodder may not be able to keep up. Even if they can't win this time, the opponent It won’t last long and we will definitely retreat.” Jia Ke believed that his side’s odds of winning were eight or nine points, not to mention that there were tens of thousands of people around to support him, even his 10 horses were enough to hold a stalemate with the Tatars .

But Jia Zheng did not give it for nothing. He thought for a while and said, "I have thought about it these days, and I think you are still a little optimistic. Although you have 10,000 elites, most of them are infantry. Once the Tatars The Tartars are starting to wander away, I am afraid your army will not be able to keep up. How can you fight a decisive battle with [-]+ elite Tatar cavalry with only [-] cavalry?"

After hearing Jia Zheng's words, Jia Ke was taken aback for a moment.He didn't expect Jia Zheng to say such a truth.What's more, what he said is also reasonable. Now the imperial court is not afraid of a decisive battle with the Tatars. It is afraid that the Tatars will neither fight nor leave, but wander around in all directions, spending time with the imperial court.

It seems that they are worthy of being the descendants of Rong Guogong. Although they did not join the army, they still know some things in the army under the influence of their ears and eyes.

Jia Ke thought carefully about Jia Zheng's question, and then answered him helplessly: "My son hasn't thought about it yet. And this time, the Jiedu envoys will come to reinforce, each doing his own thing, and the soldiers can't be mixed together. What my father said This is really difficult.”

After Jia Ke finished speaking, he stood there with closed eyes and meditated, and finally said to Jia Zheng: "I don't think the Tatars will wander around. The soldiers of their tribe are already returning to their hearts. If they hold on to Ars for a long time Leng Khan may not be able to stabilize the morale of the army."

After hearing Jia Ke's words, Jia Zheng also felt helpless. After all, the Central Plains Dynasty will have few war horses in the future. When dealing with the northern peoples, they can only defend every time.This is also a helpless move.

In fact, if Jia Ke had all the soldiers now, he could have 10,000+ cavalry, but this is his last family property, so how will it be revealed to the court.

After Jia Ke bid farewell to Jia Zheng, she did not enter the inner house, but went out directly with her own soldiers.Only Jia Zheng was left anxious in the study.

Jia Ke brought his soldiers to the station in Xuanfu Town. As soon as they arrived in the big tent, Fan Kang and Zheng Kai came to meet each other.

Jia Ke told them about today's court affairs, especially about the king of Beijing Jing who was going to set up a big tent in their camp, and after finishing, he stared at Fan Kang with his eyes.

Fan Kang thought for a while, and came to a general conclusion in his mind, "My lord, the king of Beijing set up a big tent in our camp, and he didn't set up a big tent in the big camp when Xie Hu, the governor of Liaodong, was in accordance with the usual practice. What's wrong with Xie Hu? The cunning Wang of Beijing has already seen the secret, so he is avoiding suspicion. As for what's wrong with Xie Hu, there is too little information now, so I can't guess."

(End of this chapter)