Jiuxi

Chapter 487 Chapter 485 [The ground is like a chess game]

The five military ministers filed in, and the prince stood aside, observing their expressions.

There was no panic or panic as he had imagined, only a little solemnity, and the prince gradually felt relieved.

After everyone saluted, Liu Shouguang stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, I and others were just discussing the military strategy of Jiangbei in the Military Academy. Suddenly, we received an urgent military report from the Taiping Prefecture Governor's Office, so we hurriedly entered the palace to seek permission."

Li Duandao: "What's the matter?"

Liu Shouguang said in a deep voice: "According to the report from Wei Anchun, the governor of Taiping Prefecture, starting from November 14th, a large number of Nanzhao Kingdom's scouts appeared at various border crossings. On November 19th, that is, six days ago, Wei Anchun got the exact news, and the leader of Nanzhao mobilized 100,000 soldiers, claiming to be 300,000, to attack the border of Taiping Prefecture in two directions. The Taiping Prefecture Governor's Mansion had less than 40,000 troops. Strictly guard the border crossings and ask people to come to the capital for help. "

"Nanzhao..."

Li Duan frowned, covered his chest, and his face suddenly became ugly.

"Father!"

The prince had been paying attention to Li Duan's situation and couldn't help but walk over worriedly when he saw it.

"absurd!"

Liu Shouguang said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Wei Anchun mentioned in the military report that the leader of Nanzhao sent a nondescript proclamation before raising troops, falsely claiming that the land of the Four Prefectures south of Taiping Prefecture was the old land of Nanzhao. He I want my country to cede the land of these four prefectures, so that we can withdraw our troops and stop fighting, otherwise we will attack many of our borders."

The prince was finally worried and asked the eunuch to go to the Tai Hospital to find Masaki Qiuriang. The five military ministers had to temporarily come to the outer hall.

Li Daoyan's tone was sincere and sincere. In fact, his status was not suitable for making such suggestions. If he were a suspicious king, he would probably think that the leader of the Jiangnan clan wanted to seize the opportunity to seize power.

Lu Chen glanced at this colleague with a family background, thought for a moment and replied, "It should be related to the movement of Jingguo's army south."

"I'm fine."

The ministers also had worried faces. Lu Chen looked at the emperor's pale face and felt heavy emotions in his heart.

"Your Majesty, your dragon body is not well. How about you take a rest for a while, put aside all other matters for the time being, and let me prepare corresponding suggestions first, and then let your Majesty review them?"

Lu Shizhou bowed and quickly left Wenhe Hall.

Lu Chen felt that this sentence was meaningless. Of course, Nanzhao had to respond in time when it used weapons. Is it possible to sit back and watch the other party invade the border?
The question now is whether Da Qi can open another battlefield in southern Xinjiang. If the emperor chooses to fight back fiercely, it will obviously be difficult to complete it with the more than 30,000 soldiers and horses of the Taiping Prefecture Governor's Office. It is bound to transfer some troops from the Beijing Camp, and then the Who will be the marching coach?
The atmosphere in the outer hall was very solemn, partly because of the sudden problems in the south, and partly because of the emperor's deteriorating physical condition. These important ministers saw it, and it was like a heavy boulder weighing on their hearts.

Li Duan waved his hand and said to Lu Shizhou: "Invite the two prime ministers on the left and right, and Zhong Cheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, into the palace."

When Li Daoyan, Xue Nanting and Zhong Cheng came to Wenhe Hall one after another, the prince also walked out of the inner hall and said solemnly: "My lords, please."

The eight important ministers echoed in unison.

Han Zhongjie stood next to Lu Chen and said softly: "What does Marquis Lu think of Nanzhao's invasion?"

"The slaves obey the order."

Li Duan nodded happily and continued: "Liu Qing's family, what is Nanzhao's purpose of raising troops this time?"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Han Zhongjie nodded and said: "Yes, if it weren't for Jing Jun's arrogance, the leader of Nanzhao would not have the courage to take the initiative to provoke him. Seeing Da Qi in crisis, he also wanted to pounce on him to gain some benefits. Such a despicable and shameless person really deserves to be kill."

Everyone agreed and followed him into the inner hall.

The emperor had just left, and the emperor was sitting on the couch. His complexion looked much better than before, with a bit of rosy color.

But Li Duan obviously didn't think so. He squeezed out a smile and said: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, I'm fine. Now there are constant wars on the border north of the Yangtze River, Jing's army is aggressive, and there are disputes in the south, and Nanzhao is approaching with a hundred thousand troops. At the border, the situation faced by Daqi is already very difficult. At this critical moment, all the dear friends must work together to protect Daqi. "

Xue Nanting immediately refuted it coldly, and then said: "The territorial boundary between our dynasty and Nanzhao has been demarcated a hundred years ago, and the two sides have had no objections for a hundred years. Although there are occasional border disputes, our dynasty has always He has not invaded the territory of Nanzhao. Who can he deceive with this shameless excuse? He just thinks that we are currently at war with Jingguo and want to take advantage of it! Your Majesty, I think this is a despicable and despicable act in the face of the leader of Nanzhao. , we must give a strong counterattack, otherwise there will be endless consequences.”

Li Duan said warmly: "You don't need to be angry, Prime Minister. Nanzhao has been coveting our Taiping Prefecture for a long time, but as you said, they have never dared to initiate a war. This battle will definitely be fought, but I don't want it to happen." The commotion is too loud to prevent people in the country from being panicked. My dear friends, who is willing to lead the troops south to teach the people of Nanzhao who don’t know the heights of the world?”

The last sentence was obviously addressed to a group of military ministers.

Lu Chen raised his eyes and found that the emperor was not looking at him. Remembering the emperor's sincere and heartfelt entrustment when he just returned to the capital, he gave up the idea of ​​asking for leave.

After a brief silence, Zhang Xu, the commander of Wuwei Camp, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to lead troops to southern Xinjiang!"

Li Duan nodded and said: "Okay, Zhang Qing's family is indeed the most suitable candidate." This is related to Zhang Xu's resume.

He first transferred from a civil servant to the Beijing army as a general, and then was promoted to the governor of Taiping Prefecture. Three years ago, he resigned due to physical illness and returned to Beijing to recuperate. He was very familiar with the situation in Taiping Prefecture and southern Xinjiang. Most of Wei Anchun and the soldiers in Taiping Prefecture had been trained by him in the past, and they were obviously the best choice to deal with Nanzhao's 100,000-strong army.

Zhang Xu said calmly as usual: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will resolve the crisis in southern Xinjiang as soon as possible."

Li Duan praised: "I am naturally relieved. I wonder how many troops Aiqing will need to bring with her when she goes south this time?"

Zhang Xu pondered: "There are currently more than 30,000 soldiers and horses in Taiping Prefecture. I only need to lead the Xiongwei Army and Qiangwei Army of the Wuwei Camp southward."

This is more than 25,000 infantry.

Li Duan immediately agreed, then looked at Xue Nanting and said: "The army will need all the logistical equipment needed to move south. Zhongshu will coordinate with various ministries to make arrangements."

Xue Nanting said without hesitation: "I accept the decree."

All the important ministers in the palace knew that if it hadn't been for the crackdown on rebellious parties in the past few months and the seizure of massive amounts of money and supplies from the homes of King Guo and other wealthy families who conspired to rebel, it would have been difficult for Da Qi to deal with enemies from both the north and the south at the same time.

Nanzhao thought that Da Qi was at its weakest now, but they didn't know that the monarchs and ministers here were focused on filling the treasury. Although the Jing army in the north was not that easy to deal with, they would not be afraid of the so-called 100,000 troops he had pieced together.

After finalizing the countermeasures, the ministers bowed and resigned one after another. Everyone had something to do, so naturally they couldn't take any time off.

"Lu Chen stays."

Li Duan said calmly.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen stood there.

When the palace became quiet, Li Duan no longer maintained the majesty of a king as before, slowly leaned on the couch and asked Lu Chen: "Where do you think Qing Yugong's real goal is?"

Lu Chen glanced at the prince standing by the couch and replied calmly: "Your Majesty, I think it is Jingzhou."

"Why?"

"I have read through most of the battles in the north and south over the past thousand years. The most recent war was more than 160 years ago. I mobilized 300,000 troops to pacify the south of the Yangtze River for one and a half years. I am not sure. Did the Emperor Taizu and Qing Yugong read this history, but the decision made by Emperor Taizu at that time was the optimal strategy for the Northern Army to go south. At that time, Emperor Taizu divided his troops into three groups. One group went down the river from the upper reaches of the Hengjiang River. The two trained their navy at Qinshui in Pingyang Prefecture in Jingzhou, and the three sent troops across the river from Huaizhou and finally met in Yongjia City to determine the overall situation in Jiangnan. "

"continue."

"The current situation before Jingjun is also very clear. Shazhou has chosen to side with us, and Feiniao Pass has cut off the possibility of Jingjun passing through Shazhou. Qing Yugong's battle is not just for the defeats of the previous two years. Reviving Jingjun's prestige is also to prepare for crossing the Yangtze River in the future. As long as he grasps this core purpose, I feel that no matter how many tricks Qing Yugong plays on the battlefield, he will eventually settle on the word "crossing the Yangtze River". If the army wants to cross the river, Jingzhou Pingyang Mansion and Huaizhou Guangling are the inevitable choices. After comprehensive consideration, Qing Yugong's real goal should be Jingzhou Pingyang Mansion. "

Prince Li Zongben was fascinated by what he heard. Looking at Lu Chen, who was two years younger than him, he couldn't help but secretly sigh that maybe this was his talent.

His analysis was simple but clear, and he had a maturity and stability far beyond his age. If it were Li Tianrun or Xiao Wangzhi, Li Zongben would definitely not have such emotions.

Li Duan said slowly: "In other words, Qing Yugong's various actions in Dingzhou are still making plans?"

“It’s hard to tell whether it’s true or false.”

Lu Chen's tone was calm, and he continued: "I only know that if Pingyang is not lost, our army will not be truly passive. In terms of chess games, Dingzhou can be regarded as a big dragon. If it is reoccupied by Jing's army, it will be very important to our court." It is indeed a huge loss, but it will not completely destroy the situation in Jiangbei. Pingyang is the key point, and the gain or loss here is related to the safety of our defense line along the river, so I sincerely request your Majesty to send troops north to support Jingzhou! "

A sentimental look appeared on Li Duan's face, he raised his eyes and looked at Li Zongben and said, "Show him Li Tianrun's memorial."

"Yes, Father."

Li Zongben walked to the imperial case, took out the secret book from Jingzhou, then turned around and handed it to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen opened it and took a closer look, not wanting to miss a single word.

After a long time, he closed the memorial with a very complicated expression on his face.

There is both admiration and unspeakable sadness.

Li Duan said quietly: "Nanzhao's 100,000-strong army seems to be approaching menacingly, but with Zhang Xu's ability to lead the troops, I am still worried about the situation in Jiangbei. Before you entered the palace, I was hesitating whether to agree to Li Tianrun's memorial. Please. You are familiar with the situation in the north, and I want to hear your opinion."

At this moment, Lu Chen felt that the secret fold in his hand was as heavy as a stone.

(End of this chapter)