Chapter 1870 The clever woman in Renzijuan has no rice and is stretched.

Today's court meeting is a great dynasty, involving all cabinet ministers, seven ministers and ministers, plus the censors of the capital procuratorate, the deputy censors of the capital, the censors of the capital, and of course the left and right supervisors as decorations.

It was the first time for Zhang Chi and Zhang So to participate in such a formal court meeting. Especially when facing the ministers, ministers and censors who were rarely seen in such a complete manner, they both sat upright and did not dare to say anything. They were deeply afraid of the court officials. If you throw the topic to yourself, if you answer it wrong, you will lose a lot of points in the eyes of the princes, and it may affect the future succession of the throne.

 It is better not to say anything than to say something wrong.

Facing Li Sancai's accusations and blame, Zhang Jingqiu knew very well that this guy was really anxious. He coughed dryly, looked around, and then slowly spoke.

As the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he must respond to the other party's words. Otherwise, if this hat is placed on the head of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, it will be a dereliction of duty on the part of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

"Daofu, Liu Baichuan was the first to surrender when Ningxia suppressed the rebellion, and he was not the last to be recruited. It was precisely because of his surrender that the rebels disintegrated internally and the counter-insurgency was completed quickly, and Both the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Long Jinwei have investigated and found that Liu Baichuan actually did not agree with Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu and Xu Chao who joined forces with Kuaibai to rebel. This is recorded in the Fusi of Long Jinwei North Town."

"So what if you surrender? Didn't you just surrender when you saw something was wrong?" Li Sancai retorted arrogantly.

"Daofu, you can't say that. Zitang and Xiuling and I were all there when the rebellion was put down. We all know Liu Baichuan's situation very well. He is not the kind of person who pursues fame and wealth. If it weren't for Shi Guangjue's greed, Ningxia Town would be He tortured the people to the point of deprivation, but he did not force these people to rebel. To be honest, even the father and son of Kuaibai Kuai Cheng'en and their Cangtou Army were really strong generals and arrogant soldiers. In my opinion, they are no better than Niu Jizong. The Xuanfu army is much inferior. What a good thing it would be if they could stay at this time to pacify Jiangnan? Perhaps if there was no rebellion in Ningxia, Prince Yi Zhong might not have the courage to rebel."

Chai Ke came forward to refute, but his tone was quite polite.

After Zheng Jizhi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, became an official last year, Chai Ke became the second-ranking figure among Huguang scholars in the DPRK after Ying Zhen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce. Xiong Tingbi, Yang He, Guo Zhengyu, Bi Ziyan and other Huguang elite scholars had high status. And still be below him.

And it was he who went out to quell the rebellion as the right minister of the Ministry of War, and put down the rebellion in Ningxia in one fell swoop. He also had a say in military affairs, and even Li Sancai had to give him a little favor.

“Zishu, you think too highly of the moral character of these warriors.” Li Sancai said calmly.

"Daofu, let's just talk about it. Liu Baichuan shrinks his troops and retreats to the Jize and Quzhou front lines. It's nothing. He only has 20,000 people. He wants to defend from Julu to Dongming in the south. Anyone with a discerning eye will know that it's impossible. , Feng Zitang left him hundreds of miles on this line just to deceive others with a false shot. Otherwise, how could Liu Dongyang break through Dangshan, Fengxian, and Peixian in one fell swoop and seize Xia Town? Although Chen Jixian's Huaiyang army was a little weaker, but After all, he is also a veteran who has led troops for many years, so he will not be fooled so easily. If you don't play the trick well, how can you hide it from him? "

Chai Ke's words made Li Sancai speechless for a moment, but fortunately Yang He smoothed things over, "Zishu, but Liu Baichuan's withdrawal not only lost a large area to the east of Zhending Mansion, but also the northern part of Guangping Mansion." and the eastern part of Shunde Prefecture were lost. Even Shunde Prefecture was shocked. The prefect of Shunde wrote to the court and almost ran away. Niu Jizong got a big deal. There are five or six counties in this area."

“The loss of Zhending Mansion is not Liu Baichuan’s fault.” Chai Ke glanced at Yang He.

Of course he understood that Yang He meant that he didn't want to make things unpleasant with Li Sancai, but Li Sancai agreed to Xu Dahua's recommendation to let Su Shengdu take charge of the army. As a result, the 50,000 Shanxi town army was annihilated, which made Chai Ke heartbroken. Now Where can we get these 50,000 people to supplement the northern line?

Although he was not the Minister of War, this defeat directly shook the foundation of the imperial court. The capital was shaken, there were a lot of discussions in the capital city, and the people's hearts were floating.

If countermeasures cannot be taken immediately and the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army occupy such a large area in Beizhi and Shandong, not only will the effect of Feng Tang's perfect raid in the south be greatly reduced, the key is that the Xuanfu Army may be If the army and the Datong Army can continue to delay like this, then the court will be in danger.

"Five or six counties are nothing, and they may not be able to hold them firmly. The key is how we can take them back quickly." Chai Ke glanced at Zhang Huaichang, the Minister of War, who had been silent, "Mr. Huaichang, the current situation cannot be delayed. If it is delayed, the summer grain harvest may be delayed. We cannot let Niu Jizong and Sun Shaozu have free time to harvest grain on their current territory. We know the consequences of this and we cannot afford to delay it!"

Chai Ke's heavy words made everyone present except Zhang Chi and Zhang Su look gloomy. Yes, once the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army hold on to the current situation and delay it until the second half of the year, or even the autumn grain harvest, then it may be really difficult. The world is in chaos.

The Shandong and Beizhi area is considered to be in the best condition in the entire Northland. With the loss of grain from Jiangnan, Huguang and Shandong and the Beizhi area, the seriousness of the drought in Shanxi and Shaanxi must rely on the imperial court to provide relief, otherwise there will be big trouble. , can we still rely on Henan?

"We must find a way to drive Sun Shaozu's Datong Army back to Shandong. Zhending, Shunde and Guangping must also be recaptured, and it is best to capture Dongchang Prefecture. Only in this way will the Xuanfu Army and Datong Army be unable to rely on Shandong can maintain it." Han Xu came out and said: "But now the imperial court has no soldiers. It will definitely not be possible to rely on You Shilu's soldiers alone, but the soldiers at You Shigong in Ji Town can no longer be used. We have to If we don’t guard against the Chahar people taking advantage of the situation, people in Gyeonggi are already unstable. Once the Chahar people come in, I’m afraid it won’t be the same situation as the year before last.”

Han Xu is one of the few ministers here who knows the military. Apart from Zhang Huaichang, Zhang Jingqiu, and Chai Ke, Yang He is the only one who knows half of the military.

Zhang Jingqiu slowly shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not enough to capture Dongchang Mansion, or it doesn't mean much. If they hold Yanzhou Mansion and open up the canal channel with Xuzhou, even if they lose Dongchang Mansion and Jinan Mansion, they can still If we drag the war into the second half of the year, we will be in big trouble."

Zhang Jingqiu looked deeper, or said it clearly. As long as the war drags on to the second half of the year, the court will be in trouble. If it drags on to the end of the year, the court may not be able to maintain it and the situation will collapse. At that time, I am afraid that everyone will have to give up. Giving it to Nanjing is better than Shanshan's rebellion sweeping across the entire Northland, right? By then, maybe everyone in the Zhou Dynasty will no longer have the surname Zhang.

The imperial court has made several judgments on the crisis faced by Shanshan and Shaanxi, and has also sent many special envoys to secretly visit Shanshan and Shaanxi. The results are extremely dangerous, like a mountain full of hay, only a few sparks are needed. It can ignite. If these local governments do not receive financial and food support from Jiangnan and Huguang, it is almost impossible to solve the crisis there. The outbreak of the crisis is a matter of time and timing.

In addition to this crisis, there is also the problem of people's hearts in Jiangnan. Once the war breaks out all over the north, then those businessmen in Jiangnan who are still secretly supporting the imperial court and some gentry who are still waiting and watching will immediately fall into the arms of the Nanjing puppet government. , by that time the imperial court would not be able to maintain it at all.

"In other words, we must at least capture Shandong within this year. This is not only a war need, but also a declaration to Jiangnan and Huguang that the imperial court has the ability to regain various places one by one, and is achieving it step by step. This can also encourage "People's hearts and minds." Ye Xianggao finally spoke, "What we have to face is not only the frontal Xuanfu Army and Datong Army, but also the people's morale in various places. This is the key to supporting our court from falling."

"Brother Jinqing is right. This duel is not only a battle on the battlefield, but also a battle for the people's support and morale. How to win the people's support and morale requires proving the court's victory from all aspects. The battlefield is the most important link. If we win the Shandong War, we can prove ourselves, win the hearts and morale of the people, and then gain more support. This will also give us more strength to win the war. This is A virtuous circle,..." Fang Congzhe also joined in.

"In the final analysis, we have to win the battle before us." Qi Yongtai said solemnly: "But how can we win it now? Where do the many more troops on the northern front come from?"

"Perhaps one can be transferred from the new Xuanfu army that is being formed?" Zhang Huaichang thought hard and finally squeezed out a sentence.

"How much can be withdrawn? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand?" Li Sancai asked.

"Where is the capital camp? Or the three pro-in-arms?" Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs asked tentatively as he looked around Long You. He was not familiar with military affairs. He only knew that there were only these two armies in the capital city now.

"Beijing Camp?" Li Sancai sneered, "Can you go to the battlefield with the Three Guards Army? Are you not afraid of repeating the story of the Three Tun Camps?"

With one sentence, everyone present was speechless. The defeat of the Santun Camp was a shame for the Jingying, and the combat effectiveness of the Shangsanqin Army was probably not as good as that of the Jingying. Can they go into battle?

"The Xuanfu Army can mobilize one, but it is far from enough. Otherwise, we have to mobilize troops from western Liaoning." Zhang Huaichang sighed. He also looked down on the Jingying and Shangsanqin Army, "But the Jianzhou Jurchens On the other hand, although the Inner Khalkha people have promised to help and provide support, this kind of thing that places hope on outsiders has never been done. It can only be the icing on the cake, and cannot be expected to provide help in the snow."

There was silence in the main hall, and I really couldn't think of any other way. But without 30,000 to 50,000 new troops, why should we drive Sun Shaozu away?

 (End of this chapter)