Jiuxi

Chapter 823 821 [Public and Private]

In the Sifang Pavilion, Yu Wenjun, the envoy from the State of Dai, was like an ant on hot pan. Every once in a while he would go to find Qian Sui, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple who was specifically responsible for entertaining him.

Three days had passed since he had gone to the palace to ask for help, but the Qi court still had not given him an accurate answer.

Now, the Dai State had lost three important towns on its southeastern border, and had lost more than 20,000 soldiers in more than ten battles, but it was still unable to stop the Jing Army's massive offensive.

Perhaps for the State of Qi, more than 20,000 soldiers and horses would not be considered a serious blow, but the State of Dai had only 150,000 or 160,000 troops in total. How could it afford such a loss?

Yu Wenjun was extremely anxious, but he could not enter the palace at will, so he could only ask Qian Sui repeatedly.

"Don't be anxious, my envoy. This is a serious matter. Our Majesty needs to discuss it carefully with the other lords in the court. Please be patient and wait."

Qian Sui's attitude was very gentle, but such perfunctory words could not reassure Yu Wenjun. He said with great difficulty: "Qian Shaoqing, can you allow me to enter the palace to meet your Majesty?"

"Ahem, your majesty is very busy, I'm afraid this is not appropriate."

Seeing that he was so anxious, Qian Sui whispered, "Let your Excellency know that Duke Qin of our dynasty returned to the capital yesterday and is now in the palace. I believe a conclusion will be reached before sunset."

"Duke Qin is back?"

Yu Wenjun was delighted, believing that with the courage Lu Chen had shown over the years, he would definitely facilitate Qi's Northern Expedition.

However, unlike what he had imagined, at this moment in the Chongzheng Hall of the Imperial Palace, Lu Chen was not passionate, but rather a little solemn.

At this moment, besides him, there were also the Left Prime Minister Xue Nanting, Duke of Rong Xiao Wangzhi, the six ministers of state, and various military ministers in the hall.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Li Zongben looked at Xiao Wangzhi as usual and asked, "What do you think about Daiguo's request for help, Duke Rong?"

Xiao Wangzhi said slowly, "Your Majesty, our dynasty does not border Dai, so we cannot provide direct support. If we want to resolve the crisis facing Dai, we must make Emperor Jing withdraw most of his troops. This means that our border troops must march north in large numbers, otherwise it will be difficult to shake Emperor Jing's determination."

Li Zongben asked again: "Does the Duke agree to send troops north?"

"That is not what I meant."

Xiao Wangzhi shook his head and said seriously, "As mentioned before, our dynasty and Dai are separated by the territory of Jing. The border troops will definitely not achieve their goals by fighting a little, unless they attack with all their strength. However, the strength of the Jingzhou Governor's Office is not as strong as before, at least it is not suitable to mobilize troops this year, and the Dingzhou Governor's Office is restricted by the terrain and it is difficult to deploy the battle line. The Jing army only needs to defend two important roads to resist for a while. Since ancient times, it has been easier to defend than to attack. Unless we have an absolute advantage, we will definitely suffer losses."

The important officials in the palace seemed to be thinking deeply after hearing this, and no one expressed their opinions rashly.

Xiao Wangzhi continued, "Your Majesty, the soldiers on the border need to rest, and the court also needs to recuperate. It is not appropriate to mobilize troops continuously."

Li Zongben couldn't help but glance at Lu Chen.

He didn't expect that Xiao Wangzhi would actually clearly oppose sending troops. At present, the main force of the Jing army is dealing with the Dai Kingdom, and the strength of the southern defense line will inevitably be weakened.

With Lu Chen's reputation, perhaps there is no need for real fighting. As long as he shows a gesture of taking advantage of the situation to march north, I'm afraid the Emperor of Jing will have to think carefully.

In the silence, Minister of Rites Hu Jingwen frowned slightly and said, "What the Duke said is mature and prudent. It is indeed not appropriate for our dynasty to start a war. However, we won a great victory at Feiniao Pass last year and contributed a lot to the country. Now they are in danger and come to ask for help. If our dynasty ignores them, it will be unethical."

Xiao Wangzhi looked at the upright civil servant and patiently explained, "Minister Hu is not familiar with frontier military affairs and does not know how difficult it is to deceive the enemy on the battlefield. I have just said that even if our border troops try to advance northward, as long as they do not really threaten the defense of Heluo City, Emperor Jing will ignore it. Military movements are no joke, and it is unlikely that we can scare the enemies in the north with false impressions. In the end, the Emperor Jing's army will remain unmoved, and our dynasty will waste people's money and resources without any effect."

Hu Jingwen nodded calmly and said, "I don't really understand military affairs, but the court must always consider the consequences. If our court ignores Dai's request for help this time, Dai will definitely not be able to withstand Jing's attack. In the end, our court will not only lose this ally, but also suffer a very bad impact. Let me give you an example. After seeing the fate of Dai, will the seven tribes of Shazhou still sincerely ally with our court as before?"

"meeting."

A calm voice spoke.

Hu Jingwen looked in the direction of the voice and asked in confusion, "Why is Duke Qin so sure?"

Lu Chen said calmly: "I have been to Shazhou and facilitated the renewal of the alliance between Daqi and Shazhou. As long as our dynasty does not take any action that directly harms the people of Shazhou, I guarantee that Shazhou will not waver."

He still did not explain the reason, but since he had made the guarantee in the court, Hu Jingwen could not continue to question it.

Li Zongben asked, "What does Lu Qing's family think about this?"

Lu Chen said calmly: "Your Majesty, I agree with Duke Rong's opinion."

Li Zongben narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly: "Do you really want me to betray my promise?"

Lu Chen looked up at him and said calmly, "Your Majesty, you are too polite. I think we can let the Dingzhou army move forward to attract the attention of the Jing army, but I also think that this move is just scratching the surface and it will be difficult to force Emperor Jing to move his troops south."

Li Zongben fell into silence.

Many things in this world must be considered within the constraints of reality. You can't just rely on clever strategies to fool your opponent. Now the Jing army may not be stronger than the Daqi border army. The problem is that the opponent still has an advantage in manpower, which means that Emperor Jing can dispatch troops more calmly.

The Jingzhou Army was unable to move out, and the only army of Da Qi that could really pose a threat to the Jing Army was the Dingzhou Army. In order to create enough pressure on the Jing Army, the Dingzhou Army had to use their flesh and blood to attack the Jing Army's defense line. Otherwise, any detours and inducements would be useless.

The Jing army is not foolish, especially after suffering too many losses in recent years. Under the premise that Emperor Jing is determined to deal with the Dai Kingdom first, they will certainly ignore all actions of the Qi army and focus on defending the city passes.

What price would the Qi army have to pay to force Emperor Jing to give up attacking the State of Dai?

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

A military hero stepped forward.

Li Zongben looked up and saw Chen Lanyu, the commander of the Jinwu Camp of the Beijing Army, so he said gently, "Tell me."

"I think the opinions of both dukes are reasonable. The key to restricting our dynasty from aiding Dai is that we do not share a border with them."

Although Chen Lanyu rarely spoke in the court, it can be seen from Li Zongben's attitude towards him that this military hero from the Huaizhou military system is in the emperor's heart. He glanced at Xiao Wangzhi calmly and then said, "So I think if you want to help Dai, maybe you can find another way to bridge the gap between our dynasty and Dai."

Li Zongben's heart moved, and he raised his voice slightly: "You mean going north from Shazhou?"

Chen Lanyu replied, "Your Majesty, you are wise. I once led troops west to Shazhou and then north, and I have a general understanding of the terrain there. Last year, the Dai army was able to unexpectedly move south, break through the Jing army's defense line and reach the northern part of Feiniao Pass, catching the Jing army in a trap. Now, our dynasty can follow the old example and send troops north through Feiniao Pass to open a road and enter the Dai territory."

"good."

Li Zongben nodded involuntarily, and just as he was about to issue an order, he suddenly stopped. He looked at Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Chen kindly, and smiled, "What do you think, Dukes?"

Xiao Wangzhi coughed lightly, but before he could speak, Lu Chen said bluntly: "Although Lord Chen's plan is brilliant, it is fanciful."

The ministers looked at him sideways.

Chen Lanyu's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes had turned cold.

Everyone knew his background, and many civil officials actually looked down upon his previous actions of collaborating with the emperor to sideline Xiao Wangzhi.

Not everyone can be grateful and repay kindness, but the vast majority of people will take their reputation into consideration and be decent no matter what. It is rare to see someone like Chen Lanyu.

Therefore, on the day Lu Chen returned to Beijing, he gave Chen Lanyu a great embarrassment outside the city, but it did not cause any disturbance. Even Li Zongben only asked about it briefly.

However, no one expected that at today's court meeting, Lu Chen would still be so disrespectful to Chen Lanyu. This made people wonder whether he really did not like Chen Lanyu's proposal or simply wanted to use it to attack the other party.

Chen Lanyu took a deep breath, looked at Lu Chen and said, "Please give me some advice, Duke."

"Okay, then I'll get down to business and explain why your proposal is unrealistic."

Lu Chen took a step forward and said slowly: "The victory at Feiniao Pass was the result of the concerted efforts of the troops of Daqi, Shazhou and Dai, but the root cause was that Emperor Jing's plan was discovered by us in advance, so the Dai army was able to successfully cut off the retreat of that army. In Lord Chen's mind, Emperor Jing must be a fool. He suffered a loss in this place once, and before a full year had passed, he was going to repeat the same mistake, right?"

Chen Lanyu shook his head and said, "I don't have that intention."

Lu Chen looked him straight in the eyes and said in a deep voice, "If that's the case, why are you so sure that Emperor Jing has no defense against the southwest region? If the northern continent is divided into three parts, Emperor Jing can let the main force of the Jing army attack Dai State, defend the city in the Heluo area, and set a trap in the north of Feiniao Pass. Once our army hastily crosses Feiniao Pass, the Jing army can let our army go north and then use elite troops to intercept our army's retreat, just like we dealt with the Jing army that broke into Shazhou last year."

Chen Lanyu's face turned a little ugly.

Lu Chen brushed his sleeves and said with some disappointment, "It is a taboo in military strategy to march alone into deep territory without support. Could it be that Sir Chen has forgotten even the most basic military tactics after living in peace in the capital for too long?"

As the saying goes, even clay figures can still have tempers. Even if Chen Lanyu had a good temper, he could not help but say coldly, "The Duke's teachings will be remembered by this humble official," after being ruthlessly rebuked by Lu Chen in front of the emperor and more than a dozen important officials.

Li Zongben looked at the scene in front of him with an extremely deep gaze.

The next moment, a cold voice suddenly sounded in the hall.

"Duke Qin, don't you have any selfish motives?"

Everyone was startled and looked over.

It turned out to be another Minister of War.

Zhang Xu, Marquis of Yongding.

(End of this chapter)