Ying Jieyan's words silenced Zhao Hao, and also made him reflect on what he had done at this stage. In the case of a huge disparity in strength with Meng Yuan, he personally led the army to recover Jiangnan, which made his self-confidence swell, and his desire for power became more and more intense. And this is also the source of extreme depression and annoyance after the Queen Mother took over power after returning to Lin'an, and she was suddenly forced to 'cultivate', which was the explosion of the desire for power, and then the reason why she was in a hurry and lost her mind.

The greed for power often makes people lose their minds, recalling that they want to use the strategy of luring the enemy into the depths to annihilate the enemy of Mongolia and Huaixi in order to seize the Jianghuai, in fact, it is crazy enough to think about it now, and they only think of the outcome of victory, but they do not think of the result of defeat. Once this battle is lost, the Mengyuan army will infiltrate Jiangnan, but their army is all engaged in the battle to seize Shouzhou, and there are no mobile forces in hand. Or if Meng Yuan went southwest from Huai to just divert the tiger from the mountain, and the main direction of attack was in Pingjiang, then Lin'an had the possibility of losing again, and the consequences of the loss of the Yangtze River defense line were not difficult to imagine.

Zhao Yu was a little scared when he thought of this, he was simply playing with fire, in order to satisfy his greed for power, he was gambling with the whole country, but fortunately, he stopped in time when he was about to kick the door. As for the integration of internal affairs, he felt that he was a little anxious, as the old man said, he completely lost his patience in the past, and even did not hesitate to use force to solve internal contradictions and establish a military-led regime, but he did not care about the consequences.

This reminded Zhao Yu of what Lin Yutang said when evaluating Wu Zetian in his previous life: Since murder has become a habit, the murderer has lost his horror of murder...... In Wu Zetian's heart, slaughter is greatness and authority. Just as a Western scholar said in the book "Human Nature in Politics": It is absolutely impossible to infer political science from the principle of human nature. And once you are used to solving problems in this way, even if it is really out of precaution, and even the reason is still a little 'selfless', you will gradually lose your heart.

At that moment, the old man's admonition was like giving Zhao Yu a slap in the face, and it also made him sober up a lot. The system that the Great Song Dynasty has followed for 300 years, according to the principle that existence is reasonable, must also have its existence value, of course, it is not excluded that it is also unreasonable. And the evaluation of later generations is often from the perspective of the present, which is inevitably biased. It is not possible to use sesame seeds for one's own benefit, and this principle applies equally to the advantages and disadvantages.

In this way, Zhao Yu also has another interpretation of the 'hypocrisy monarch' of the Great Song Dynasty, although the prime minister nominally holds the actual governance power, but it is also difficult to dictate the dynasty. Because not only are they restrained by Taiwan's advice, but they are also a ruling team, and they need to be held to discuss and form a unified opinion before they can make a decision. And the emergence of power ministers in history is often the era of solitude. In addition, the emperor has the power to appoint the prime minister, and he can choose courtiers with similar governing philosophy to him as the prime minister, or increase the deputy minister to further decompose the power to avoid the appearance of powerful ministers.

Therefore, Zhao Yu thought that although the 'Hypocrite Monarch' was the consensus of the scholars and doctors, there was still a long way to go from the 'Hypocrite Republic' in the actual operation of power. Although this kind of collective decision-making system avoids the uncontrollability of relative power, it reduces the losses caused by biased individual understanding. However, there are also considerable drawbacks, such as the fact that it is easy to lead to indecision due to serious differences of opinion, poor execution of people, inability to respond quickly to emergencies, and even cause party disputes.

In addition, although in the design of the system, various restrictions were made to prevent the emperor from being arbitrary, making it difficult to implement and implement the emperor's edict if it was not countersigned by the rulers. But Zhao Yu thought that if he didn't seal the edicts of the two provinces, they would also not be able to issue and enforce them. In addition, the emperor can theoretically bypass the legal procedures such as drafting edicts and giving things to be reviewed, and he does not need the prime minister's countersignature, and directly promulgates orders in the form of "hand edicts", "internal surrenders", "internal approvals", etc. Even if this kind of private purpose does not have legal legitimacy, it can still command the world and make the prime ministers helpless.

After thinking about the pros and cons, Zhao Hao's heart suddenly became clear that he could use the loopholes in the system and the back door to open a way for himself, without having to resort to force. But it can't be said that he is willing to shackle himself, he still needs to eliminate the dross and clear the way to achieve his goals. The road is still bumpy and uncertain, but it's better than a bloody purge that could trigger a total shock, after all, there are many uncertainties......

"Your Majesty, the matter of the Wu family must be decided as early as possible, so as not to cause extraneous branches!" Seeing that the little emperor was wandering out of the world, and the haze on his face gradually disappeared, Ying Jieyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had figured out the joints. To understand that even if the two are masters and apprentices, the relationship is quite close, but there are some things he still can't say knowingly, he can only let him realize himself, obviously the little emperor has understood the meaning of his words, he asked again.

"Sir, I thought that since there was an appointment in advance, I would order the direct descendants of the Wu family in the dynasty to leave Beijing, and those who served as local officials would be adjusted to deputy positions or idle positions, and the rest would return to their hometowns to raise their children and become cultivators. Duke Xu Guo retained his title and still lived in the mansion in Beijing, so he could leave a son to serve; That Wu Shuo is a gentleman, after the trial and conviction of the division, I will show his father's merits again, spare his life, cut off all titles, flow thousands of miles, and be banned from entering Beijing for life. Zhao Yu thought for a while.

"Your Majesty is also an extrajudicial grace, and the Wu clan can escape with such a serious crime, they will be grateful!" Ying Jieyan nodded and said, he also knew that the crime of disrespect has always been unforgivable, and even if the little emperor is limited to family law to exempt him from capital crimes, it is not too much to even the three clans. However, this disposition eased the tense atmosphere between the DPRK and China, and also gave face to several recommended important ministers, and the Wu family escaped by luck, and they will definitely be able to keep to themselves in the future.

"As for the queen, she can't go unpunished, I plan to let her think about it in the palace, fine her for one year, and temporarily stop presiding over the affairs of the harem as a punishment!" Zhao Yu thought about it and said again.

"Your Majesty is very appropriate to do this, after all, the queen is still young, she is not familiar with the affairs of the palace, and she does not understand the complexity of the court, she can also forgive, and she can be regarded as having an explanation for the courtiers. And His Majesty punished the queen a little, but the throne is still there, and the Wu family can't say anything! Ying Jie Yan stroked his beard and said, he had already discovered the Wu family's hole cards, everything they did was actually around ensuring that the queen was not deposed, and the result was better than expected, so he could naturally accept it with peace of mind and would not cause any more extraneous branches.

"Sir, the matter of the Wu family has been settled, but the external danger is still to be eliminated, I want to seize Huaixi to eliminate the threat to Gyeonggi, what does Mr. think?" Zhao Yu has always been concerned about the southern invasion of Meng Yuan, and thought about a solution, but since the last time, there has been no good plan, and he asked the old man for advice.

"Your Majesty, the current threat from Meng Yuan to our dynasty seems to come from Jiangbei, but the minister thinks that the southwest is more dangerous!" Ying Jie said sternly.

"Oh, what do you say, sir?" Zhao Yu said with some surprise.

"Your Majesty, please come and see!" Ying Jieyan stood up and came to the front of the map hanging on the wall, "The Mengyuan army in Jiangbei that I am facing is the capital of Shandong and Hebei Mongolian armies, which has jurisdiction over 10,000 households on the left hand, 10,000 households on the right hand, 10,000 households on the right hand, 10,000 households in Badu, 10,000 households in Hada, 10,000 households in Mongolia, 10,000 households in Duge, 10,000 households in Habichi, and 1,000 households in Hongze Tuntian. Fuzhi was originally stationed in Yizhou, but after the loss of Jiangnan, it has been moved to Huai'an Fu; The second is the 10,000 households of the Mongolian military capital of Huaibei, Henan, which has jurisdiction over 10,000 households in Basa, 10,000 households in Zahuertai, 10,000 households in Deliedu, and 10,000 households in monks. The original government was in Luoyang, and now it has also moved to Shouzhou, and all the armies under its jurisdiction have also moved south. ”

"After our dynasty recovered the south of the Yangtze River, it quickly established a defense line based on the natural danger of the Yangtze River, rebuilt the city defense in strategic places, set up forts in dangerous places, and stationed seven armies, and deployed the inland water army and the first fleet of the navy, which can quickly maneuver with the help of the Yangtze River and help each other. And there are imperial guards stationed around Gyeonggi, which can defend Gyeonggi and quickly reinforce the towns along the river. ”

"Meng Yuan and our army have fought several times, and it is not difficult to find with Boyan's insight that our dynasty can win with the help of the rapid mobility and troop mobilization ability of the naval army, and the other is an indestructible firearm. The enemy's Jingxiang and Lianghuai naval forces and seaborne naval forces have all been lost, and even if warships are dispatched from Goryeo, it will not be possible to rebuild the naval army in a short time. In the case of our army's heavy defense, even if Meng Yuan came to attack, it would be difficult to succeed without the assistance of the navy! ”

"Well, what Sir said is reasonable, even if the enemy army can break through a little, as long as we send a naval army to defeat its naval army and cut off their channel for mobilizing reinforcements and baggage supplies, we can quickly encircle and annihilate the enemy army crossing the river and restore the defensive line." Zhao Yu nodded.

"At present, the Mengyuan army is stationed in Huaidong and Huaixi with a force of 100,000 households, which is obviously to prevent our army from going north, rather than intending to go south. And Boyan will also worry that after the Huaidong attack is launched, our army will repeat its old tricks from the sea and detour, and encircle and annihilate it with two flanking attacks. Therefore, the minister thought that if Meng Yuan wanted to attack, he would not hit the stone with an egg, but would take a defensive position and confront our army! "Be strict.

"Sir's meaning is that Meng Yuan will follow the strategy of Meng Ge's southern invasion in the past, invade our hinterland from Sichuan Shu or Dali, and then achieve the goal of seizing Jiangnan!" Zhao Yu pointed to the map and said.

In the Southern Invasion War, the Mongols launched a frontal attack from Lianghuai to the Southern Song Dynasty many times at the beginning, but they all ended in failure, during which the Mongol army's offensive was constantly blocked, and it also prompted it to constantly change the means of attack and the direction of attack, so the then Mongol Khan Meng Ge decided to change the strategy of the Mongol invasion of the Song Dynasty.

One army was directly led by Meng Ge to Sichuan, while the other army, led by Kublai Khan, captured Ezhou, and the main purpose of Kublai Khan's army was to contain the military strength of the Southern Song Dynasty and put the Southern Song army in a disadvantageous position of fighting on two fronts; Ezhou is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, has a very important strategic significance, if you can seize Ezhou, even if you can't take Sichuan, you can also divide the Southern Song Dynasty into two, but it is still blocked by the Yangtze River.

In the second war, in order to avoid the natural danger of the Yangtze River, the Mongol army adopted a roundabout encirclement tactic, and planned to divide the troops into three routes: the south road of 100,000 troops directly took Dali State, passed through Guangxi, and entered Changsha; The middle route was led by Meng Ge to Sichuan and entered Chongqing; The northern route was led by Kublai Khan and entered Ezhou. The three-way army planned to meet in Wuhan, and then march east along the river to take Lin'an, in a vain attempt to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop. If it weren't for Meng Ge's death in the Diaoyu City, the Mongol army that captured Dali suffered too much loss and stopped at Changsha, it would have been possible.

"Exactly, now Sichuan and Shu have already fallen into the hands of the enemy, and Dali has surrendered, but our army has only three armies on this front line, less than 100,000 troops, and the defensive area is too large, and it is time-consuming and laborious to support each other, and there are worries about losing one or the other. And Meng Yuan stationed hundreds of thousands of elites in Shaanxi to suppress the rebellious king, once the task is completed, he can enter Shu from Shaanxi and cooperate along the river, and at the same time, the enemy of Dali can also enter the land of Huguang. But there are only some state armies in our rear, not only are the troops weak, but the combat effectiveness is not as good as the forbidden army, and it is impossible to resist at all. Ying Jieyan said.

"Sir's intention, at present, we should adopt the strategy of attacking the west and defending the north, first taking advantage of the fact that the rebellion in the northwest of Mengyuan and Yuan has not ended, and the turmoil in Dali is flourishing, so as to recover the southwest road of Guangxi first, defeat the enemy in Dali, and improve the defensive posture. At the same time, they marched into Sichuan and Shu to seize the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, restore the defense system of Chongqing, and wait for an opportunity to occupy Chengdu, thus eliminating the threat to our hinterland from the Mongol Yuan. Zhao Yu looked at the map and pondered for a moment.

"Yes, only by eliminating the worries of the abdomen and back can we make a northern expedition to the Central Plains." Ying Jie Yan said, "Now is the right time, the Sichuan and Shu regions have been repeatedly warned, the population has decreased sharply, the land is barren, it is difficult to support the army, and the enemy's northwest war is in full swing to support, it is a good time to control Sichuan and Shu, and our army can transport baggage from the Yangtze River and mobilize troops; As long as Zhenjin reappoints the new king, re-presides over the military, and Zhang Lidao's prestige in Dali and his ability to govern, the turmoil will end for a period of time, leaving us not too much time. ”

"What the gentleman said is, but I am still a little worried, although Sichuan Shu is broken, it is still self-sufficient. However, there are many barbarians in Guangnan and Dali, and the people are fierce, and the rebellion is impermanent, and the products are not abundant. I am worried that if our army is involved in it, it will not only involve a large number of troops, but also need to spend a lot of money and food to provide for it, which is really more than worth the loss! Zhao Yu understood what Ying Jieyan said, but he also had his own worries, which was also the reason why he could accept the border people who fled into the Song Dynasty, but he strictly ordered Jiang Cheng not to send troops to participate in the inter-tribal fighting.

"Your Majesty doesn't have to worry too much, although these barbarians lack education and have rebellions from time to time, they can also be a big help for our dynasty to resist Meng Yuan!" Ying Jieyan smiled and said......