Jiuxi

Chapter 954 952 [Devote All]

"Duke Wei, I have brought the Emperor, Prime Minister Xue, and Prime Minister Xu to see you."

Empress Dowager Ning and Li Daoming sat beside the bed, while Xue Nanting and Xu Zuo sat a little further away.

In addition, Li Liangyu and Yuan Yuji were also in the room.

Looking at Li Tianrun, who was leaning on a soft pillow, looking haggard but trying hard to force a smile, Empress Dowager Ning's eyes were moist and her face was sad.

Although Li Tianrun had already retired from the court when she came to power, she knew the contributions of this Duke to Da Qi.

He served in the army for thirty years and devoted himself to saving the country.

Li Tianrun spent fifteen years building an iron wall of defense in Jingzhou, trained a large number of loyal and capable generals, and personally led more than 100,000 brave and strong soldiers. These are extremely precious assets of the Da Qi.

For the country's border defense, he worked hard day and night and almost died of exhaustion while serving as the Grand Commander of Jingzhou.

You have to know that Li Tianrun is only 52 years old this year, four years younger than Xiao Wangzhi, but at this moment, one can't see any trace of his former greatness and courage. All he can see is a dying man with a skinny body and sunken cheeks. Even his eyes, which used to be bright and shining, have become cloudy.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I cannot meet you today."

Perhaps because of drinking a bowl of ginseng tea, Li Tianrun's condition was better than an hour ago, and his voice was not as weak.

"Those empty formalities are worth nothing."

Queen Mother Ning shook her head and said with concern: "The most important thing for the Duke right now is to take good care of his health. I and the Emperor hope that the Duke can recover soon."

"Thanks to your majesty and the emperor for their favor, allowing me to be unbridled for once, but etiquette cannot be abolished, and the relationship between monarch and minister must be remembered."

Li Tianrun hinted at something, and turned to look at the prime minister next to him and asked, "Does Prime Minister Xue agree?"

Xue Nanting naturally would not object.

The relationship between the ruler and his subjects is the principle he has adhered to throughout his life. From Li Duan to the current Empress Dowager Ning and the young emperor, his loyalty has never changed.

He said respectfully: "The Duke has devoted himself to the country and served the king with utmost respect. He should be a role model for all ages. Nanting respects and obeys him."

Neither Empress Dowager Ning nor the right prime minister Xu Zuo beside her had any objection to Xue Nanting's praise, because Li Tianrun had retired very decisively at the beginning, and even Li Liangyu's position as assistant minister of the Ministry of War had long since resigned, and he had no greed for power at all.

"Prime Minister Xue's praise is unworthy."

Li Tianrun brushed it off, then looked at Queen Mother Ning and asked, "Your Majesty, I heard that the court is worried about the silver treasury?"

"To be honest, it is true."

Queen Mother Ning briefly explained the situation of the national treasury and Lu Chen's strategic plan, and then said, "I have discussed with the two prime ministers several times in the past two days, but have not yet reached a conclusion. The ministers in the court have written to the emperor, all saying that it is better to postpone the advance. Only more than ten people support the plan of the Prince of Huai'an, headed by Nanxun Marquis Li Jingda. I can't bear to see the Duke of Huai'an still worrying about state affairs when he is seriously ill, so I haven't sent anyone to the mansion to inquire."

"Well……"

Li Tianrun responded and then fell into deep thought.

The house was very quiet.

Be it Empress Dowager Ning, the two prime ministers, or even Li Liangyu who was standing solemnly beside the couch to serve, they were all extremely patient and calm people who would not become anxious or uneasy in such an atmosphere.

Even the young emperor Li Daoming was sitting quietly and obediently beside the empress dowager.

After a long while, Li Tianrun slowly said, "Your Majesty is hesitating, is it really because of the silver box?"

Empress Dowager Ning quietly tightened her hands in her sleeves.

Li Tianrun did not wait for her to answer, and said to the two prime ministers: "Prime Minister Xue is good at planning for the country, and Prime Minister Xu is upright and decisive. Both of you are outstanding people of your generation, and you are not pedantic. With your skills and talents, it is not easy to solve the silver box issue, but at least it will not be so difficult. In my opinion, you are worried that Lu Chen will be added with the merit of rebuilding the Great Qi, and the court will have nothing to reward him, so it is inevitable that something unbearable will happen, right?"

A complex emotion appeared on Empress Dowager Ning's beautiful face.

She knew that Li Tianrun pointed his finger at the two prime ministers in order to save face for her and the emperor. Xue Nanting was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Since the king is open and honest, Nanting will not lie. I do have this worry."

Xu Zuo said more bluntly: "Now the Prince of Huai'an has made amazing achievements and commanded 200,000 soldiers. His status is the highest among all the ministers. Looking at the current situation, there are not many ways for the court to restrain him. The first is the support left by Emperor Gaozong, the second is the righteousness between the monarch and his subjects as the Duke just said, and the third is the military pay and food supplied by the court to the army. Looking at the glorious history, the first two are ultimately lost due to the unpredictable human heart. Only military supplies and logistics can barely play a role. The Duke, who has been a soldier all his life, should know the key points."

"Of course I know this."

Li Tianrun was actually somewhat relieved to hear their frank words, and then said: "Let's not talk about this today. I want to talk about the overall situation between Qi and Jing."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only did Empress Dowager Ning and the two prime ministers wait in awe, but even Li Daoming quietly sat up straight and listened attentively.

In the past two days, the court has not reached a decision on Lu Chen's request to continue his advance. In fact, it cannot be entirely blamed on the suspicion of Empress Dowager Ning and the two prime ministers.

They just thought the situation was very good, and they did not have a high-level judgment on the war and border military affairs. Lu Chen, Xiao Wangzhi, Zhang Xu, Chen Lanyu and others were all in Jiangbei, and the only military heroes who had a say in the court were Li Jingda and Shen Yulai.

Even putting aside Li Jingda's political stance, Empress Dowager Ning did not quite believe in his strategic vision.

Although Shen Yulai was loyal, he had never been to the frontier to lead troops in his life.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Ning and the two prime ministers discussed it several times and all felt that there should be no problem in temporarily postponing the advance. However, they were worried that Lu Chen would be furious, so they did not reach a conclusion.

Li Tianrun asked softly, "Your Majesty, do you know when Da Qi was most dangerous in the past sixty years?"

Empress Dowager Ning thought for a moment and replied, "Early this spring, the Emperor of Jingguo led the entire nation to march south. If our dynasty is not careful, the country will collapse."

"No, in my opinion, it was when Heluo fell twenty years ago."

Li Tianrun shook his head and said slowly: "Although the Jing army is coming aggressively this year, Emperor Jing knows that he can't conquer the world in one battle, because our emperor and his ministers are united in purpose. Even if we lose Dingzhou and Jingzhou, our army will be able to defend Pingyang City and the entire Huaizhou. Emperor Jing just wants to suppress the upward trend of our dynasty and stabilize Jing's rule in Jiangbei. A united and tenacious Da Qi, a Da Qi with the full support of the thirteen states in the south of the Yangtze River, cannot be destroyed by the Jing army. Even without Lu Chen and those new firearms, our dynasty can hold on for at least thirty years."

Empress Dowager Ning nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

Li Tianrun continued, "It was different twenty years ago. Emperor Chengzong and several princes died in a palace fire. The court was paralyzed, the government was in a panic, banditry was rampant, and the people were in chaos. That was the most vulnerable time for the Great Qi. The first major mistake made by Emperor Jing and Qing Yugong in their lives was to think about internal affairs first and then external affairs. They thought that since they had occupied so much territory in Jiangbei, they might as well recuperate and take their time. This rest lasted for twenty years, wasting the peak condition of the Jing army and giving our dynasty the most precious time to lick its wounds."

By the end, he looked very tired.

Li Liangyu felt uneasy, but did not dare to speak to persuade them.

Xu Zuo pondered and said, "Does the Duke mean that if you don't kill the snake, you will suffer from it?"

"That's pretty much what it means."

Li Tianrun sighed and continued, "The Kingdom of Jing is different from our Great Qi. They have been established for less than 40 years, and have only had two emperors. Before that, they were barbarians and did not have the inherent concept of monarch-subject relationship. Now that Emperor Jing has died on the battlefield, it is foreseeable that there will be civil strife in the Kingdom of Jing, which may take a year or so, or three to five years. In the end, someone will definitely stand out and become the new ruler of the Jinglian clan. During this period, the enemy is the weakest, and our army will not encounter too strong resistance, so Lu Chen decided to strike with all his might."

"When the internal situation of Jing State stabilizes, the only choice for the rulers to further win the hearts of the people is to target our dynasty. Your Majesty, Marshal Yang Guangyuan was a genius, but he could only take a defensive stance against the Jing Army. Why? It's not because he nurtured the enemy or because he was incompetent, but the further north you go, the more suitable it is for the Jing Army's cavalry to gallop. Most of our dynasty's infantry have two legs. How can they outrun the enemy's four legs? So south of Heluo, our army can use the terrain to offset the Jing Army's mobility advantage, while north of Heluo, the Jing Army naturally has the initiative in the war."

"As I said before, Emperor Jing made a fatal mistake back then, which gave our dynasty a chance to regroup. How can we repeat the same mistake now?"

After Li Tianrun finished speaking, he turned to look at Li Liangyu, who quickly handed him the ginseng tea he had prepared.

Noticing this detail, Empress Dowager Ning felt sorry for her, but she also knew that this was not the time to be sentimental, so she didn't say much.

Xue Nanting thought carefully for a moment and said, "This is good advice, Duke. However, the Prince of Huai'an now has new firearms in his hands. If he destroys the Black Armor Dragon Cavalry of the Jing Army in one battle, he should be able to completely reverse the gap in military strength between Qi and Jing, and be able to eliminate the advantage of the enemy cavalry on the northern plains."

"Prime Minister Xue, war is never that simple."

Li Tianrun spoke calmly and patiently, "First, the advantage of firearms is that they catch the enemy by surprise. Lu Chen had been planning for a long time for the battle on Lei Ze Plain. He first allowed several Jing troops to trap our garrisons in various places, creating a situation where they were forced to fight. Then, he used various inducements on the battlefield to make Emperor Jing determined to achieve his goal in one battle. The light and heavy cavalry launched an attack at the same time, giving our firearms battalion a chance to rest and wait for the opportunity. In the future, the Jing troops will definitely pay attention to this point and will not rush into our firearms."

Everyone was thoughtful.

Li Tianrun continued, "Secondly, if we drag on the time and allow the Jing army to occupy the land north of the Yangtze River, won't they know how to use the power of firearms? Throughout history, underestimating the enemy has led to defeat. The Jinglian people are now proficient in the art of siege, so how can we be sure that they won't use firearms against firearms? Prime Minister Xue, Prime Minister Xu, the officials below can be blinded by victory, but you two are the prime ministers of the dynasty, so you must not be so proud and repeat the mistakes of your predecessors!"

Xue Nanting and Xu Zuo were shocked and showed shame on their faces at the same time.

(End of this chapter)