Aspiring to the Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 204 The one who knows me is Luo Youdu!

Wei Renpu put down his bowl and chopsticks, and said: "When it comes to military and state affairs, you don't think about victory, you think about defeat first. In this life and death, it is most taboo to leave no room. The current situation is very good, and I think it can't be destroyed."

The situation in Dazhou is very good now.

But under the great situation, it relies on the weak foundation support.

The turmoil caused by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the late Tang Dynasty was too harmful to the Central Plains.

In terms of territory, the Great Zhou occupies the Central Plains, and its territory is indeed the widest.

However, the various places have suffered from wars and turmoil, the economy has withered, and people's livelihood is exhausted.

In recent years, Guo Rong has successively mobilized troops. He first fought the Northern Han Dynasty and Khitan decisively in Gaoping, then took the four states of Shu State to force Mengshu to surrender, and then fought against the Southern Tang Dynasty in Jianghuai non-stop.

No problem does not mean there is no problem, but victory covers up all problems.

Once you suffer a big defeat, all kinds of potential problems will pop up all at once.

Wang Pu, as Guo Rong's most trusted adviser, was in Bianjing when Guo Rong personally conquered, and he knew all too well about the potential crisis of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Can understand the meaning of Wei Renpu's six words "not thinking about victory, but thinking about defeat first".

Logically speaking, Da Zhou really needs a period of recuperation now.

It's not a short-term recovery, but a long-term recuperation, the kind of three to five years.

As long as there is a five-year recovery, Da Zhou's current situation is fully capable of pulling out an army of 20, not to mention the current [-] cavalry, [-] or [-] will not be a problem.

This is really not blowing.

Some people have been talking about the fact that the Song Dynasty had no land for raising horses and no cavalry.

But in fact, the capital of the Song Dynasty was second only to the Sui Dynasty.

There was no shortage of horses in the Song Dynasty, what was lacking was a good horseman and people on horseback.

During Taizong's Northern Expedition, there were 17 horses.

The generals of the Song Dynasty even regarded Khitan's good horses as regular products.

Song Jun not only has horses but also is very picky, he doesn't look down on Khitan's horses at all...

Song Zhenzong once had a conversation with courtiers and said: "Nowadays, the generals like to use cavalry, and the more they win; and the more cavalry are full of valleys, but the use is limited, and they will move forward with a wall. If there is a small disadvantage, they will not be able to." Stopping is not the so-called teacher of temperance."

Even the emperor of the Song Dynasty said bluntly: What we lack is not horses, but people who ride on horses.

Therefore, there is no land for raising horses, and the theory of horse politics cannot be used.

The horse administration in the later Zhou and early Song Dynasties was still very clever, but it was later discovered that raising horses was too expensive, and the return for such a large investment was not obvious, and they were abandoned by themselves.

Luo Youdu sighed: "Wei Xianggong is old enough to seek the country, how can I not know it. It's just three to five years, too many changes, I'm afraid the time will not be with me!"

Now he has two big concerns in his heart.

One, and the most critical, is Guo Rong's lifespan.

Guo Rong is 36 years old, full of energy, just in his prime, able to draw a bow and race a horse. Luo Youdu didn't see any problem with him at all.

Whether he will die of illness in two years, Luo Youdu can't guess for sure.

If Guo Rong lived a long life because of his appearance, then all problems would not be a problem.

No one dared to rebel under Guo Rong's rule, it was no different from courting death.

But once things are irreversible, it is impossible for Guo Zongxun to hold down the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty.

The national power will inevitably be greatly affected, and many separatist forces in the surrounding area will also have other thoughts.

At this time, it is one step away from splitting and infighting.

Great Zhou's strength will inevitably be greatly affected. At this point, why should he take Youzhou again?
Second, he was not sure whether the Khitan Sleeping Emperor could survive for more than ten years.

In history, Yelujing had a hard life, facing all kinds of rebellions, he couldn't hurt him at all, but suppressed them all fiercely.

In the end, it was because of his own death. After getting drunk, he asked for food, but the attendant didn't hear it, so he wanted to kill him. Unwilling to sit and wait for death, the servant brother, Yan Renhua brother and chef Xin Gu, six close confidants killed him. It is similar to Zhang Fei's death method.

It stands to reason that Luo Youdu has always been active in the south of the Yellow River, and has never been to the north of the Yellow River, so he has little influence on Yanyun Land.

But the facts show otherwise.

Because of the addition of Luo Youdu in Dazhou, the momentum is stronger than in the previous life.

Comparing the virtuous rulers of the Great Zhou Dynasty with the virtuous rulers of the Khitan and Liao Kingdoms, they are far from each other.

What is most panicking now are those Hanchens who have completely regarded themselves as Liao people, especially the most representative Han family.

These people know better than anyone what the consequences will be once the Central Plains Dynasty really rises.

It is impossible for them to sit still.

It is also because of these two major concerns that Luo Youdu is so radical.

No matter what the future holds, let's take Youzhou down first.

At that time, even if all kinds of changes do occur, with the Yanshan defense line in hand, they will not fall into the situation where the Song Dynasty has no danger to defend.

Naturally, Guo Rong's life and death cannot be said.

So now Luo Youdu can only zoom in on the situation inside Khitan.

"If you don't take advantage of the Khitan's internal turmoil, it will be even more difficult to deal with them when their internal conflicts are resolved. Unlike our Central Plains, which has suffered from wars, their turmoil is limited to the struggle for royal power and position. It does not shake the foundation, and it is easy to recover. vitality."

Wang Pu glanced left and right, shook his head and said with a smile, "So-and-so understood, the two of you have already understood the problem thoroughly. Where did you come to discuss with so-and-so, it's clearly a choice."

He pondered for a moment and said: "How about this, the two gentlemen each make a concession. If the horse government can't let it go, you can build the foundation first and cultivate high-quality horse breeds. As for breeding, you can delay it a little bit. The money saved can be used to buy war horses, expand Cavalry. The Privy Council can transfer some money and silk from other places for the purchase of horses."

Luo Youdu let go first and said: "This method is the best of both worlds."

His main purpose is to get more funds to buy war horses.

It's not impossible to kill chickens and take eggs, but people in this era don't know Guo Rong's situation. The current situation of Khitan alone is not enough to make Da Zhou put all his eggs in one basket.

It is already a perfect result to be able to obtain funds for horse purchases as much as possible.

The three made the final total, and then handed over to the imperial court the Great Zhou Ma Zheng drafted by the Privy Council, and waited for Guo Rong's approval according to the procedure.

The Privy Council was in charge of military and state affairs, and the memorial went through a special channel, and it was sent to Guo Rong's imperial case that afternoon.

Giving priority to the memorials of the Council Hall and the Privy Council is an unspoken rule that any emperor would acquiesce to. Guo Rong picked up the results of the Privy Council's discussions on horse affairs almost immediately.

The memorial wrote in detail the way the Privy Council reformed the Da Zhou horse administration.

Seeing the novel way of buying war horses, the Great Zhou Emperor couldn't help laughing, and said to himself: "This method was only figured out by him, Luo Youdu."

He watched it several times, feeling itchy.

It is not without reason that Guo Rong likes Luo Youdu.

The biggest problem with Guo Rong's personality is his impatience. He likes to take risks and dares to take risks.

In history, he ascended the throne for only six years and fought four battles.

Passive once, active three times.

However, the passive defense of the Battle of Gaoping forced him into an active war of annihilating the country.

Not one of the four battles was not decided by Guo Rong himself against all opinions.

The battle of Gaoping was hindered by Feng Dao.The battle against Shu was hindered by Fan Zhi and Wang Pu. In the battle of Huainan, because Shouzhou could not be attacked for a long time, most courtiers urged Guo Rong to withdraw his troops.

As for the final Northern Expedition Youyan, it was even more so.

Civil officials had opposed it before, but this time they opposed Guo Rong's attack on Youzhou and became generals.

It is recorded in the book that "the emperor and the generals discussed attacking Youzhou, but the generals thought it was impossible, and the emperor refused to listen."

Apparently there are not a few of these generals who do not want to attack Youzhou. I don't know if they have cast a shadow under the city of Shouzhou.

After all, Luo Youdu fought for a year in the offensive and defensive battle of Shouzhou. Without Luo Youdu, Zhou Bing fought for a year and a half, and almost lost to Liu Renzhan, Zhu Yuan, and Lin Renzhao.

Guo Rong's impatience caused great headaches for the civil servants and generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Looking at Luo Youdu who seemed to be more anxious than himself, Guo Rong said with emotion: "The one who knows me is also Luo Youdu!"

Without much thought, Guo Rong ticked off the memorial, and then ordered Luo Youdu to be called to the imperial court to appease him.

"Young Du, don't worry. Don't look at me calmly, but my heart is just like you. I wish I could lead my troops to the north, recover my Chinese territory, and shake my prestige in China. I want Taishi Feng to know that I can't be better than Tang Taizong, and I have never been able to." Make a big mountain."

Luo Youdu couldn't help but laugh, this Feng Dao has been dead for several years, so what?

How big is this resentment!

When Feng Dao persuaded Guo Rong not to let him conquer in person, Guo Rong compared himself with Tang Taizong and Dashan.It is said that Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty also personally conquered, and that the mob of the Northern Han Dynasty would be like a mountain pressing eggs if they met my teacher.

Feng Dao replied directly: Your Majesty is not Tang Taizong, and your Majesty is not Dashan.

Guo Rong stroked his beard lightly, and said: "Ma Zheng really can't be left behind. I will find a way to allocate some money and silk from other places to buy war horses, so as to enrich the cavalry establishment."

Luo Youdu saw that he was overjoyed, and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Luo Youdu thought for a while, and said: "Your Majesty's Northern Expedition matter is very important, but people's livelihood cannot be ignored. You must not be short of people's livelihood for the sake of armament..."

Guo Rong said: "Don't worry, sir, I will remember all the lessons learned in history, and I will definitely not repeat the same mistakes."

Luo Youdu felt relieved, bowed and said, "Your servant is worrying too much."

Looking at Luo Youdu in front of him, Guo Rong suddenly thought of something, and said: "You are now a Jiedu envoy, why don't you recruit tooth soldiers and have comprehensive guards? How can you go to the battlefield without loyal tooth soldiers by your side?"

Luo Youdu hesitated a little, bowed and said: "I have low martial arts skills, let Zhang Qiong and the others do the charge. There is no need for the soldiers to accompany you around... and I always think that the soldiers are bad habits in the previous dynasty and are not worthy of respect. Just a little Guard, just keep safe."

Guo Rong's expression was slightly complicated, if the military officials of the whole court had such a heart, why would he have trouble sleeping and eating?

Guo Rong looked at Luo Youdu, and the more he looked at it, the happier he was, and he said: "The Privy Council must not slack off, and the Imperial Army Division is the same. I will give priority to making up the amount for the Imperial Army Division when I bought the army horse this time. This move must be given to Li. Prime Minister and Zhang both inspected and complained, and during the Northern Expedition, they behaved well so that their mouths could be silenced."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Luo Youdu was instantly excited and bowed loudly.

Guo Rong waved his hand with a smile and said, "Go!"

　Thank you book friend Xiaoya for the [-] reward, thank you for your support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)