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After announcing the generals of the four armies and their respective combat missions, Yuming announced that Tian Hao, Li Jian, and Zhang Xin Yuren would be stationed in Hetao, Hedong, and Luoyang respectively to defend against possible attacks by Li Tang.

Since the Southern Expeditionary Army had four armies and was distributed over a vast area, according to the provisions of the battle plan, a logistics support center was set up in Luoyang, with Fang Xuanling as the chief grain and grass officer, responsible for the weapons and equipment, logistics transportation, and supply of money and grain for the four major armies.

In addition, Yuming also announced: The Minister of Intelligence, Red Sleeves, is located in Luoyang and is responsible for receiving and transmitting the information fed back from the front, and transmitting the latest intelligence collected from the enemy to the armies on the front.

After announcing the arrangements for the armed forces, the next step was to arrange some temporary personnel changes in the country.

Yu Ming announced that during the Southern Expedition War, the affairs of the imperial court would be mainly handled by Xiang Du Ruhui, Shu Meng would be in charge of supervising the state, and other affairs of the DPRK and China would be performed by cabinet ministers.

The total strength of the Southern Expeditionary Army was more than 400,000 men, and if the reserves on standby in Luoyang were included, the total strength exceeded 500,000. For Da Zhou, it can almost be said that he is a soldier of the country. If this battle can be won, Du Fuwei will be destroyed in one fell swoop, and the land south of the Yangtze River will be occupied, then the Zhou army will gain a favorable situation in the war for world dominance. And if it fails, it may be a complete defeat, and even the eastern capital Luoyang, Henan, Hedong, Shandong and other places that have just arrived may be lost.

"Let's go back and get ready, and say goodbye to our families! Seven days later, I will hold a pledge meeting in the south of the city, and the army will immediately leave for the front. The rise and fall of the Great Zhou is here! I hope that Zhuqing and I will work together to open up a future for the world to live and work in peace and contentment! Yu Ming stood tall at this time and said in high spirits.

"Your Ministers obey!" All the ministers bowed together, and then they retreated one after another.

……

How could Zhou Jun's large-scale operation be concealed from Li Yuan and Du Fuwei? Although they did not know the detailed battle plan, they could also find out from the movement of troops of the Zhou army and the transportation of grain and grass.

Li Yuan was very shocked by this, and soon gathered his ministers and held a meeting in the imperial palace of Chang'an City to discuss countermeasures.

"Your Majesty, judging from the information currently available to our army, the Zhou army is massing troops on a large scale to the south, starting from Runan in the west to the sea in the east, including along the north bank of the Huai River, there are a large number of convoys transporting grain and grass to the front. At the same time, a steady stream of troops was sent out from Luoyang, Beiping, Jinan and other important cities to concentrate on the border of the Jianghuai army. According to preliminary statistics, the enemy's assembled forces are at least 400,000 troops, and the spearhead of the attack should be Du Fuwei! Pei Lin reported solemnly. He is now in charge of gathering intelligence, and his status in Li Tangzhong is similar to that of Red Sleeves.

"Father, we must not let Yuming destroy Du Fuwei, otherwise there will be only me in the world to fight against him. At that time, the situation of our army will be critical! After Li Shimin heard this, he hurriedly said.

"Second brother, your words will inevitably increase the morale of others and destroy your own prestige!" Li Jiancheng on the side said with some disdain: "Yuming is indeed powerful, but our army may not be able to defeat him." That Du Fuwei has always refused to submit to my Tang Dynasty, and is only willing to form an alliance. Sooner or later, the Jianghuai Army will become an obstacle to our Tang Dynasty's domination of the world......"

At this time, he said to Li Yuan: "Father, according to the opinion of the sons, we should sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, watch Yuming and Du Fuwei fight to the death, and when both sides are exhausted, my Datang will attack it with a thunderous force, and we will be able to reap the greatest benefits." ”

Before Li Yuan could answer, Li Shimin immediately objected: "Big brother's words are wrong. The combat effectiveness of the Zhou army is strong, and if our army sits idly by, Du Fuwei is afraid that it will be destroyed in a very short time. I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for them to lose at all, and we will only encounter a Zhou army with little loss, but the territory has expanded a lot, and the morale has been greatly boosted. At that time, if our army wants to defeat the enemy, the price will be even greater. ”

"Hehe, second brother, shouldn't you be scared by Yuming because of the fiasco during the Battle of Luoyang? I don't think Zhou Junyue is as strong as you say. If the enemy's strength is overestimated because of incompetence and timidity, it will also be a disaster for me Datang! Li Jiancheng sneered and said. He was worried about Li Yuan not letting him go at the Luoyang Conference, and he was always angry. In his opinion, if he had commanded the battle at that time, perhaps the Tang army would have taken Yuming a long time ago, and even occupied Luoyang City. Where will it be in such a passive situation as it is now.

"That's it! All right! You two don't have to quarrel anymore! Li Yuan finally couldn't help but say at this time. Although he used to be happy to see the two fighting, he thought that this was an encouraging means to motivate them to make progress and make meritorious contributions to Li Tang. But if Naga and Ci become on the same page because of this, and regard the other party as his enemy no matter what the occasion, it is not what he wants.

"Lord Liu, what do you think about this?" Li Yuan turned around at this time and asked Liu Jing. Now Pei Lin and Liu Jing have served as the left and right prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty, becoming his most powerful assistants and his most trusted cronies.

Liu Jing is also well aware of the battle between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, the king of Qin, from the secret fight to the open fight. As Li Yuan's confidant, he also knew that Li Yuan was currently neutral towards these two children, and he did not take sides of the side. In other words, both Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin have an equal chance of becoming the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

In this case, if he supports Li Jiancheng's proposition, he will inevitably offend Li Shimin; And supporting Li Shimin's proposition is bound to offend Li Jiancheng.

If he bets right, it's okay, but if he bets wrong, it will be miserable in the future. The best ending is also to return to his hometown and no longer hold the official position of Datang. And if the future Lord of the Tang Dynasty is narrow-minded, then it is unknown whether he can still have a good death.

Therefore, Liu Jing, who has a keen sense of politics, naturally wants to be left and right, and neither emperor can be offended. This is also the reason why he has not expressed an opinion on this issue.

However, now that Li Yuan asked his opinion by name, he couldn't help but speak.

From the bottom of her heart, Liu Jing is also very optimistic about Du Fuwei. He knew a little bit of the inside story and learned that there were signs of instability within the Jianghuai army. In addition, the strength and combat effectiveness of the Jianghuai army were far inferior to that of the Zhou army, and if the Tang army did not send troops to rescue, Du Fuwei would have collapsed in as little as five months and at most within a year.

At that time, there will be a duel between the Tang army and the Zhou army in the world. Although the territory of both sides is about the same size, in terms of population, resources, food and other comprehensive strength, the Zhou army still has a slight advantage.

Moreover, the Zhou Dynasty did not have a dispute with the King of Qin like Li Tang. There is a lot of internal unity, and in terms of the ability of the generals, it is even better than the Tang Army. really let Li Tang and Da Zhou face off, and the possibility of Tang Jun losing is even greater.

Of course, he didn't dare to say these sincere words. Now I can only think of a euphemism, and neither emperor can be offended.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that what he said with King Qin makes sense!" Liu Jing rolled her eyes and decided to express her wishes as tactfully as possible, lest if she accidentally slipped her mouth and expressed it in an inappropriate way, it would make these two emperors resent her.

"His Royal Highness strategically despises the enemy and is quite heroic, which makes our officers and men full of confidence in victory, which is conducive to our army's spirit and increase the probability of victory in future battles with the Zhou army......"

"His Royal Highness the King of Qin, on the other hand, attaches great importance to the enemy tactically and is cautious in case the cunning Yu Ming plays tricks again and saves our army from unnecessary losses......"

"Therefore, the opinions of the two emperors have merit, how to decide, please ask Your Majesty to decide!" Liu Jing kicked the ball back to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan frowned when he saw that Liu Jing was speaking so incoherently, and then asked the opinions of several other ministers. And these ministers are also ambiguous in their speech, and the content is similar to Liu Jing's. The general idea is that the ideas of the two emperors are worth paying attention to, and they both think it is good. Therefore, how to decide in the end, let Li Yuan decide for himself.

Pei Lin saw that Li Yuan's brows were furrowing more and more, and Fang Zhulie said: "Your Majesty, whether you can send troops to rescue Du Fuwei is also a big deal for my Datang. Today, the news has just arrived, and if you want to come up with an accurate opinion immediately, I am afraid that it will be a little difficult. Let's stop here today, let everyone think carefully, and give Your Majesty an answer tomorrow morning. ”

Li Yuan and Pei Lin have been friends for more than ten years, and the two have a deep relationship, if it weren't for the fact that he is a member of the Pei family, the Shandong Shi clan and the Guanlongmen valve are at odds with each other, Li Yuan would have asked him to be his staff a long time ago. Therefore, the two are very familiar with each other's habits and language. When Li Yuan heard him say this, he knew that he wanted to meet him alone, it seemed that on such an occasion with many people, Pei Lin felt that there were some things that were difficult to say.

"Quasi-play, let's get here this morning! Scatter the dynasty! Li Yuan then stood up and waved his hand.

"Retreat!" An old prisoner immediately clenched his throat and screamed.

The ministers of the Tang Dynasty hurriedly knelt down and shouted long live before turning around and leaving.

And after all the ministers left, Pei Lianfang turned around and walked towards a small door. It was a small road leading to the imperial study, and Li Yuan now had a habit that after the early dynasty retreated, he would usually go to the imperial study to see the new recitals presented by the ministers in the early dynasty.

After a while, Pei Lin walked to the door of the study, and Li Yuan's voice sounded at the right time: "Is it Pei Aiqing?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's Wei Chen." Pei Lin said.

"Come in!" Li Yuan sighed.

...