Everyone reached a consensus on sending a national-level leader to preside over the expedition to the west, but who to send? At present, there are a total of left and right ministers and three governors in the DPRK and China, and the position of privy envoy is concurrently held by Zhao Yu, and the deputy envoy Han Zhen can barely be among them, but he is a military minister is naturally not considered, and the remaining five people have become candidates.

Lu Xiufu was Li Tingzhi's staff at the beginning of his career, assisting him in handling military affairs, because of his meticulous thinking, methodical work, and unassuming, he won Li Tingzhi's trust and recommended him to enter the imperial court. Later, Lu Hidefu served as the right minister and the deputy privy envoy to coordinate the various ministries and command the army to fight, and did not step down until he arrived in Qionghou.

The army led by the right minister Wen Tianxiang began to recruit troops at the time of the country's break, but the time was extremely short. His military experience came more from taking the initiative to leave the Xing Dynasty and resist the Yuan Dynasty in Jiannan. Although in the end, there was a strong enemy outside and no support inside, but the difficult solo military career in the past two years also tempered him. Later, in the campaign to recover Jiangnan, he was responsible for leading and coordinating the rebel armies of various departments in Huguang and commanding the forbidden army to recover Jiangxi.

Ying Jieyan is a legend in his own right, he was a civil and military jinshi, served as a staff member in charge of military intelligence in the Lianghuai Division, organized and commanded battles, and served as an official at all levels at the local and central levels. After the formation of the Shuaifu, he became an important staff member of Zhao Yun as Wang Shi, and presided over the military and political affairs of the Shuaifu, and had great prestige among the Chinese military officials of the DPRK, but he had mostly done behind-the-scenes work in Qiongzhou for many years, and rarely went to the front to direct operations.

Jiang Xuan should be the most experienced military among the several governors, he followed his uncle Jiang Wanzai to form a righteous army to resist the Yuan since he was a child, starting from the most basic level of officers, until he led the army alone. In the early days of the establishment of the Shuaifu, he was also engaged in military work, and he made great contributions to the formation and training of the Shuaifu, and Zhao Yu's military knowledge also came mostly from his professors, of course, as an emperor, he was also deeply trusted.

"Your Majesty, the minister is willing to preside over the battle of the expedition to the west!" Just as Zhao Yu weighed it, Ying Jieyan stood up and saluted and asked for his life.

"No!" Zhao Yu vetoed it without thinking about it, the old man is over seventy years old, and he still has to take command of the expedition, how can he bear it!

"Your Majesty, although the minister is old, he can still share his worries for His Majesty." Ying Jieyan asked for orders again.

"Mr. Zhi is more honest than Lian, as brave as Huang Hansheng. Mr. presided over the Western Expedition, I am also the most at ease, but after all, the years are not forgiving, I ......" Zhao Yu got up and helped him, let Ying Jieyan sit down, he wanted to explain a few words, but before he finished speaking, he was already choked up.

"Your Majesty, don't be sad, the ancients were not afraid of the horse leather shroud, what are the ministers afraid of, it is better than dying on the bed safely!" Seeing that the little emperor was emotional, Ying Jieyan's eyes were also red, but he still comforted him with a smile on his face.

"Even if I personally conquer Xichuan, I will never let my husband go on an expedition of thousands of miles in ancient years, otherwise my conscience will be uneasy!" Zhao Yu took a sip of tea, stabilized his mood, and said resolutely.

"Your Majesty......"

"Governor, don't say anything more, I've made up my mind!" Zhao Yu saw that he still wanted to say, and waved his hand to take the lead.

"Your Majesty, who does you think is the best person to preside over the affairs of the Western Expedition?" Liu Huang had already felt the attitude of the little emperor, and in order to avoid the two from arguing again, he took over the conversation.

"What do you two think of Governor Jiang?" Zhao Yu sat down again and said.

"Governor Jiang is in his prime, and he is familiar with military affairs, and he is familiar with Huguang officials, so he is indeed a good candidate!" Liu Huang nodded.

"No." As soon as Liu Di's voice fell, Ying Jieyan vetoed.

"You should be the governor, you should be virtuous and not avoid relatives, and Jiang Xuan is not only the emperor's teacher, but also an important minister of the country, why not fight for the country?" Liu Huang frowned and said.

"Juxian can't avoid relatives, but he must avoid suspicion, otherwise he will harm Zongbao and ruin His Majesty's plan!" Ying Jieyan knocked his fingers on the case.

"Hmmm! Yes, Jiang Cheng is now in charge of the military administration of Huguang, if he is transferred to preside over the affairs of the Western Expedition, although it is beneficial to the Western Expedition, it will lose its checks and balances, and it will inevitably be attacked by others. Liu Di's face changed a few times and then nodded heavily, "It's a pity that I am incompetent and can't share your majesty's worries, otherwise the minister would like to go." ”

"I understand Governor Liu's feelings for the country and the people, but this is not the time to be rash." Zhao Yu looked at his annoyed look, and hurriedly said comfortingly.

"There are only two prime ministers left and right among such candidates, and everything is only decided by His Majesty!" Ying Jieyan sighed lightly, he knew his position, and when it came to the two prime ministers, it was inconvenient for him to say more.

"In this way, we can only let Wen Xiang take command and go on the expedition!" Zhao Yu thought for a while and said.

"Your Majesty, Wen Xiang is decisive in killing, but he is a little reckless, so it seems a little inappropriate to preside over the western expedition!" Liu Di was silent for a while, but he still couldn't help but speak.

"Lu Xiang is cautious and calm, but he is not a candidate to expand the territory, and the government is complicated, and I can't do without him. Our dynasty has lost Sichuan and Shu for more than 50 years, it is no longer the past, the situation is complicated, and we must make a decision immediately when we encounter problems, and we cannot hesitate, and this is what Wenxiang is good at. Zhao Yu said.

"But although Wen Xiang once opened Jiannan, he is not good at military affairs, can he deal with the war situation?" Liu Huang asked another question.

"This time to send troops to Sichuan and Shu, the imperial court sent important ministers as commanders, its main thing is to uphold the will, grasp the overall situation, coordinate all parties, and deal with the opportunity to deal with it, so it only needs to strategize, not need to kill on the spot, and the things that fight and kill have their own leaders to do in the future." Zhao Yu said.

"Your Majesty's intention is to ask the Governor of Zuo to Huguang and Sichuan Shu, and grant them expedient powers?" Ying Jieyan asked in a deep voice.

"Of course, since ancient times, there will be no restrictions on the outside, and the generals will naturally grant totalitarian power, otherwise how can they let go!" Zhao Yu nodded.

"Your Majesty has always used people without suspicion, and Wen is not suspicious of people, and Wen is also sincere to the country and His Majesty, but we can't forget the lessons of the past, Emperor Gaozong in the early years of Shaoxing was also very trusting of Zhang Jun, but he lived up to the sacred heart, appointed private individuals, embezzled financial power, and formed a trend that could not be dropped." Liu Huang thought about it and reminded the little emperor very vaguely.

"Governor Liu is too worried, not to mention Zhang Jun's ability and morality, I think he can't be compared with Wenxiang. Then there was Sichuan Shu at that time and the current Sichuan Shu is also the difference between the world, Meng Yuan invaded Shu three times, burned, killed and looted, although this year has recovered, it is no longer the country of abundance in the past, the current self-sufficiency is very difficult, food and salary still have to rely on the wealth of Huguang, which is also the reason why I am reluctant to use troops in Sichuan and Shu. Zhao Hao smiled.

"Hehe, it turns out that Your Majesty has been prepared for a long time, but the minister has thought too much." Liu Huang understood after listening to it and thinking about it for a while, and said with a wry smile.

Meng Yuan has gone through more than 40 years of hard fighting to completely control Sichuan and Shu, the population has decreased sharply under the war for many years, more than one of the ten difficulties, the fields are barren, and all industries are depressed. In this case, it is impossible for the Western Army to rely on the local area to supplement food and salary, so everything needs to be supplied from Huguang, that is to say, Huguang is stuck in the neck of the Western Army, and if it has different intentions, as long as the food and salary are cut off, the whole army will be annihilated. And now the Huguang transfer envoy is Cai Qiao, who is the confidant of the little emperor, and he will take decisive action whenever there is a change......

The next day, Zhao Yu summoned Wen Tianxiang to the palace to discuss the matter, and the two sighed until the evening, and did not leave the palace until the evening, as for what they talked about, no one knew, but everyone found that Wen Tianxiang did not have a decadent Tang color when he left the palace, but was full of spirit. On the third day, Zhao Yu presided over the meeting, convened the chief officials of the Zaizhi and the ministry, and decided to use Wen Tianxiang as the envoy of Huguang Xuanfu and the general deployment of the Western Army to preside over the Sichuan-Shu war, and grant him the right of expediency.

The plan has been decided, Zhao Yu selected a regiment of soldiers from the imperial front army as the pro-army of the Xuanfu Division, and transferred personnel from various provinces and ministries to form the subordinates of the Xuanfu Division, but in order to prevent leakage, everything was carried out in secret. And Wen Tianxiang is an important minister in the court, and it is impossible to hide it from leading the people to leave Beijing, but the war is imminent, and he can't stay for a long time, so at the Shunri court meeting, Zhao Yu issued a decree ordering Wen Tianxiang to inspect the southwest on behalf of the Son of Heaven to cover people's ears and eyes.

After some intensive preparations, before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wen Tianxiang led the crowd to set off from the Lin'an waterway, of course, he could not go to the post empty-handed, not only carrying two secret decrees in his arms, but also carrying ten thousand taels of gold and millions of banknotes for military supplies. They left the port and entered the canal, then turned into the Yangtze River, and sailed up the Yangtze River under the escort of the first section of the navy.

Wen Tianxiang left, but Zhao Hao's heart was hanging, he often looked at the map of the Sichuan and Shu regions in a daze, and often stood for half a day. Due to geographical factors, the upstream Sichuan Basin has natural advantages, and the difficulty of Shu Road and the difficulty of going to the blue sky also shows the difficulty of entering Sichuan. The western part of the Sichuan Basin is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with snow-capped mountains that can be regarded as a no-man's land. The south is the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which is an area inhabited by ethnic minorities, known as the Southwest Yi in ancient times, compared with the Xiongnu and Xianbei in the north, the Southwest Yi is much more docile. The Central Plains region enters the Sichuan Basin, in fact, there are only two directions: the east and the north.

The north road is from Hanzhong to the Sword Pavilion. This line is roughly consistent with the current Baocheng Railway, the earliest by the Warring States Period Qin State Sima staggered Shu to open the road, and Hanzhong is the barrier of Sichuan, into Sichuan first into the Han Dynasty, the history of Han Xin's darkness Chen Cang, Zhuge Liang Northern Expedition is mostly from the Han to the Qinling Mountains to the north, from Hanzhong to the pass of Guanzhong roughly has Meridian Valley, Qishan, etc., different dynasties have different names, the Song Dynasty Baoji near is called Dasanguan.

In other words, the North Road is from Shaanxi to Sichuan in ancient times, and there are three main roads. Among them, the Golden Bull Road is the most important road, because it leads directly from Hanzhong to Chengdu, the political and economic center of Sichuan. The other two roads are also very commonly used, one is Rice Cang Road and the other is Lychee Road.

The Golden Bull Road is the main road into Sichuan, it is the Warring States Period Qin Huiwen King and the Shu King jointly developed, the Qin King gave the stone ox that can pull out the gold to the Shu King, the stone ox is too big and too heavy, so the two sides build a smooth road to transport back to the Shu Kingdom, this road is called the "Golden Bull Road", and later became the official road between the Sichuan Basin and Hanzhong. Shu built Jiameng Pass (called Jiange Pass in the Han Dynasty) on the Golden Bull Road, this pass is surrounded by mountains on three sides, facing water on both sides, the situation is dangerous, and the Hangu Pass of the Warring States Period, the Shanhaiguan Pass of the Ming Dynasty belongs to the same level.

When the Qin State entered Sichuan to destroy the Shu State and the Ba Kingdom, it took the Golden Bull Road. The Three Kingdoms Bell will attack Shu Han, the Northern Song Dynasty will conquer Shu, and the Mongols will attack the Southern Song Dynasty, all of which will take the Golden Bull Road. The gist of taking the Golden Bull Road is to storm the Sword Pavilion Pass with an absolutely superior force. Another important road connecting the Sichuan Basin and Hanzhong is the Micang Road, which is named Micang Mountain, and there are wild beast-infested cliffs along the way.

Later, Cao Cao crusaded against Zhang Lu, Zhang Lu was forced to flee south from Micang Road to Bazhong, Zhang He led the army from Micang Road into Bazhong, but was blocked by Zhang Fei and returned. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Ke Khan's main force attacked the Sword Pavilion Pass from the Golden Bull Road, and the king of Zong, Mu Ge, led the partial division to enter Bazhong by the Micang Road. In the history of thousands of years, the rice cang road is roughly recorded by these two movements.

In addition to these two roads, there is another fork in the Golden Bull Road, the northern section is the same as the Golden Bull Road, and later it branches to the west, about more than 100 miles away from the Sword Pavilion Pass, called the Yinping Road. The biggest feature of Yinping Road is that it bypasses the Sword Pavilion Pass, but its steepness is even more dangerous than that of Micang Road, and the whole army will be wiped out if you are not careful. Only a military genius like Deng Ai dared to take this road into Sichuan and successfully destroyed Shu Han in one fell swoop.

The East Road mainly refers to tracing the river upstream, which can be advanced by land and water. Roughly in the two Han Dynasty, when Gongsun Shu occupied the White Emperor City, this road was widely circulated, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei's entry into Sichuan, and the battle of Wu Shu Yiling can be seen as marching along this route. But this waterway is risky, must pass through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, at that time the Three Gorges was not developed, this section of the Yangtze River on both sides of the river is full of steep walls, there are no alluvial plains, there are no roads, the turbulent river is unfathomable, the waterway is like a slender bottleneck. Therefore, it is very difficult to walk the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, and you can only rely on the slender man to pull the boat and slowly swim upstream.

It can also be seen from this that it is much easier to go down the river than upstream, and it is also easier to use troops. After the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed the Shu Kingdom, the Longxiang general Wang Jun led the Yizhou naval warships eastward to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, all the way to Jianye, the capital of Eastern Wu, and captured Sun Hao, the late emperor of Eastern Wu. In the crucial battle of Sui to destroy Chen, Yang Su led the fleet of the Navy Division to cross the Three Gorges and break the Jingzhou Army of Chen. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Jing led the army out of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and destroyed Xiao Mill, who was entrenched in Baling.

If the strength of the downstream is obviously stronger than that of the upstream, it is not uncommon for the downstream to take Sichuan. At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the general Cen Peng led thousands of warships against the current to pacify Gongsun Shu of Yizhou. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Guangyi counterattacked Kuizhou from Guizhou and succeeded in one fell swoop. Of course, if the external military is strong and controls Hanzhong in the north of the Sichuan Basin and Yiling in the east at the same time, it is very likely that they will attack from both the north and the east. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Fu Youde attacked the Jiange Pass, Tanghe and the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, and both armies broke through the defense with strong forces and joined the city of Chengdu.

But at the moment, Zhao Hao chose to go back 2,000 miles to capture Chongqing, not to mention the difficulties along the way, it can be said that he risked the annihilation of the whole army, and it was also difficult for him to sleep and eat......