Shang Cheng was welcomed into the hall by the two prime ministers.

"Yan Du, please be seated." Zhang Pu pointed to a chair in front of a few cases and said, "The Holy Lord has already made the morning court, and he was supposed to summon you immediately, but unfortunately, the two great generals, General Xiao Lao and Du Gao of the Liyuan Daying, were also invited to see him this morning, so the Holy Lord asked us to sit with you for a while." Speaking of this, he glanced at Shang Cheng as if intentionally or unintentionally, and saw the disappointment on Shang Cheng's face flashed and then he looked calm, and he had two points of approval in his heart, picked up the teapot on several cases, and said, "This is the tea soup given by the saint, and it is made of the 'Dragon and Phoenix Xin' group tea concocted by Concubine De Niangniang herself, which is made by boiling the spring water of Xiantong Temple in Dongshan, and it is never seen in the market." Tang Lao Xiangguo and I are also touching your light. ”

Shang Cheng got up and took the teacup, and after thanking him, he sat down again, and took the opportunity to bow his head and drink water, and glanced at the mansion by the way. This is a very ordinary looking room, the space is not large, the furnishings are also very simple, a teapot and bowls and pen, ink and paper inkstones, a few chairs draped in brocade and covered with embroidered cushions, and a screen with inscriptions in the west corner, and nothing else. It is simple, bright and refreshing, which is completely different from the prime minister's office in Shang Cheng's imagination. Still, he soon noticed something out of the ordinary. There was no brazier in this room, and there was no kang in the house, but people did not feel the cold in the slightest, but there was a warm and lazy taste...... He looked down at the ground, and there were all large blue bricks that were square feet. It seems that there must be a heating pipe buried under this house or a fire dragon or something, otherwise the temperature in the house cannot be so high. Of course, it may also be a sandwich wall, which can also be used to heat the house.

He held the teacup and bowed his head silently, but Zhang Pu thought that he was inevitably restrained when he suddenly entered the center, and said with a smile, "We are not asking on behalf of the Son of Heaven, nor are we considering the merits and political achievements of Yan Du, Shang Gong is better to be casual." He checked Shang Cheng's resume and knew that he had been a monk and a monk, and he had also worked hard for a short time, and he relied on the chance of the road to temporarily hold Yanwei. Although this person himself is a little capable, Yan Shanwei has been calm and calm for most of the past half a year, which is a good proof that he is a good proof that he can not compare with the old officials of Huan Hai, whether it is his mind or experience, or the ravines of the city government, so Shang Cheng is in the forbidden, and in the face of the two ruling rulers of the current dynasty to consult in person, it is also human nature to be a little overwhelmed in words and deeds. You must know that many people who come here for the first time are either silent or unprovoked, and there are not a few who are trembling and dazed, compared to the two, Shang Cheng has done a good job now, at least his expression does not reveal any restraint and panic. At least Zhang Pu didn't see any panic in his expression.

"Yes, I remember." Shang Cheng replied respectfully. He put down the teacup, straightened his back and sat upright in his chair, waiting for the two prime ministers to ask questions.

Tang Xing and Zhang Pu, who were seated at both ends of the long case, glanced at each other, and both bowed slightly. Yes, just looking at Shang Cheng's calmness and calmness when he replied, the blind man of Yixian Shang is indeed a character.

Tang Xing twisted his gray beard, nodded and said, "It's better for Yan Du not to be formal." Lu Bofu was in a private message to me not long ago, but he repeatedly said that Zida is an open-minded and hearty person, and when I saw it today, it seems a bit unworthy of the name......"

Shang Cheng heard that Tang Xing was joking with himself, and said with a smile: "Old Xiangguo, don't believe Bo Fugong's words." On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lu Bofu invited me to his house to eat wine and admire the moon, and at the banquet he deceived me into saying a word, and said good things for me in the letter to the old Xiangguo, but it was just his conscience that found out; I don't appreciate it. "One thing to say, the two Xiangguo are both Wan'er. Shang Cheng said again, "I went to Beijing this time, and Bo Fu Gong also had a book trust for me." Because I only entered the city yesterday evening, I didn't have time to visit the old minister's mansion, so the letter is still with me, and I will send it to you when I turn around. In addition, Bo Fu Gong also prepared a big fur with silver fox skin for Lao Xiangguo, and also sent it to your old mansion. ”

Tang Xing said: "Bo Fu has a heart. As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Pu.

Zhang Pu understood, took over the topic and said: "Tang Xiang has Lu Ji's tall feet, which is really enviable. However, Zida, "he also changed his name to Shang Cheng with Tang Xing to show his closeness." "We see you today, although it is not to hear you talk about Yanshan's official business, but it is not all for idle talk. Since the fifteenth year of the Eastern Era, Nanzhao and Tubo have frequently stirred up incidents in the southwest, and the number of cross-border hunting, medicine, theft, and robbery has increased several times compared with the usual years, and it is even more common to bring grain, medicinal materials, cloth, salt, pig iron, and horses with smuggling. In addition, the bureaucrats in the prefectures and counties north and south of the river are also ready to move, although the imperial court has repeatedly appeased and suppressed them, but there are not a few bureaucrats and villages who kill officials and kill to rob money and expose corpses, which makes the local prefectures and counties miserable. The local garrison was slightly insufficient, and it was already quite difficult to cope with the military pressure of Nanzhao and Tubo, and it was even more difficult to suppress the bureaucrats. In the current situation in the southwestern prefectures and counties, it is by no means alarmist to say that 'the government decree does not leave the city'. Especially since the beginning of summer this year, the situation in the southwest has deteriorated, not only the rampant bureaucracy has become more and more intense, but the main forces of the six eastern barbarians of Tubo have gathered on the line from Maozhou to Lizhou and Yazhou, and they are eyeing the southwest of our country. Nanzhao in the south has captured the two county towns of Qiongshui and Panjiang and seven military villages such as Mang and Furong, and the 100,000 troops are stationed in the river, and it seems that there is a tendency to cross the river to attack the two states of Jiarong. In view of this, the imperial court intended to use troops in the southwest and attack the Southern Zhao to deter Tibet. The imperial court planned to set up a camp in Jiazhou, govern the four roads in the southwest, unify the command of the guards in each state, and transfer two or three armies from the Liyuan forbidden army to enrich the southwest. At this point, he stopped the topic and picked up the teacup, bowing his head and sipping the tea. He wanted to give Shang Cheng time to think about what he had just said.

But to his surprise, Shang Cheng almost immediately began to ask: "Regarding the use of troops by Nanzhao, the imperial court has already formed a resolution?" ”

"There is no resolution on this case." Tang Xing said, "The imperial court is secretly discussing this matter. In addition to seeking advice from the veteran generals in Beijing, Shangshu Province and the Military Department also issued an official document to the Governor of the Northern Fourth Wei and the Wei Mansion, asking them to consider it carefully and submit the results to the center in detail. We came to you to inquire only because you happened to be in Beijing, otherwise, you would also receive an official letter from the imperial court. ”

Shang Cheng nodded, and was speechless for a long time. He had already heard the news from Chen Pu, and he had thought about it carefully, and he already had a case in his heart, but now he just reorganized the language.

He lowered his head and pondered, and the two prime ministers did not speak, they both waited with their own teas with a flat face.

After a long time, Shang Chengcai said slowly: "Regarding the use of troops by Nanzhao, I think it is inappropriate. ”

Tang Xing's eyebrows jumped, but his expression was calm, and his hand holding the tea cup didn't even swing his sleeve, as if he hadn't heard it. Zhang Pu was shocked with an "oh", squinted his eyes and stared at Shang Cheng, and said slowly: "Is there a basis for Yan Du's judgment?" ”

"Yes." Shang Cheng said with certainty.

His basis is very simple, that is, neither Nanzhao nor Tubo can have the determination to fight now, let alone prepare for a big fight. In addition, he did not believe that the main force of Tibet would engage in any heavy troops to suppress the border. From the news from the Central Plains to the central ** in Tubo receiving the news, the delay on the road was more than half a year. After the Tibetans confirm that the news is true, they will make up their minds to send troops to make some money, at least until next summer; Could it be that before this, the local ** in Eastern Tubo dared to gather troops and act without authorization? Even if there is a gathering, it can only be a gathering of the young and strong of the tribes. Relying on a group of young people who also want to attack the city and seize the land? Apparently impossible! Moreover, he didn't think that Eastern Tibet would be able to gather many young people in such a short time. Just kidding, he has not been to the Hengduan Mountains, or he is driving a car on the highway, he feels that the sky is high and the earth is wide and sparsely populated, not to mention that now he can only rely on the two legs of people to transmit the news - in addition to the delay on the road, the people of Eastern Tubo themselves also need to discuss the "distribution" plan, and then coordinate the dispatch of troops when all parties are satisfied, I am afraid that the barley will be harvested for two or three seasons. In this case, what kind of main forces are still being gathered? As for the news that Nanzhao sent 100,000 troops to the south bank of the Yangtze River, he didn't know how to evaluate it at all. He hadn't seen this news in the military newspapers. However, whether he had seen it or not, he was sure that it was nonsense......

After listening to Shang Cheng's thoughts, Zhang Pu's face didn't have any unusual expression, but he asked lightly: "Yan Du said that Nanzhao's dispatch of troops is pure nonsense, and I would like to hear from you." ”

Shang Cheng said with a smile: "Nanzhao Kingdom is in Yungui in the early Tang Dynasty...... It was formed by the aggregation of several large tribes in the Dali area, and then continued to develop, constantly absorbing and annexing the surrounding tribes of all sizes to strengthen itself, so that it has today's scale. Let's not talk about how much appeal and influence King Nanzhao had in their country, and whether it is possible for him to launch a war against Dazhao without the unanimous approval of other tribal leaders, but only that this 100,000-strong army gathered south of the river. Does Nanzhao have a population of 4 million? ”

When he suddenly asked like this, Zhang Pu opened his mouth and didn't react for a while, Tang Xing groaned for a while, and said, "There is a record of this matter in the Ministry of Rites." In the fourth year of the Eastern Era, the population of Nanzhao was less than 200,000 households. ”

Shang Cheng knew that there was a lot of moisture in this data. Many tribes in Nanzhao will probably not register their population in the government, and the ** of Nanzhao will probably not go to various tribes of all sizes to conduct any "census", so 200,000 households should be the population of places where King Nanzhao can effectively control. On top of that, make some adjustments, and exaggerate and amplify it a little bit, even if they have four million; According to the ratio of the total population of Yanshanwei to the garrison, the population of Yanshan is less than 1.8 million, and the garrison is 43,000, so the population of Nanzhao can be 4 million...... Eighty thousand? A little less. Then quadruple it, count them as having 200,000 soldiers, although they will definitely not be able to raise so many soldiers......

"Even if the Nanzhao State had 200,000 soldiers, and did not consider the constraints of equipment, training, logistics and supply, etc., it would be impossible for them to station 100,000 troops south of the river. The southeast of Nanzhao is the country of Jiaozhi, the south is Zhenla, the west includes the southwest and northwest is Tubo, the east is from Qiongzhou on the sea to the southwest Yazhou, and there are thousands of miles of land bordering our Dazhao, as long as they are not crazy, they dare not take half of the country's soldiers to gather in the south of the river and want to fight what Jiazhou and Rongzhou. Not to mention whether the fight can be fought or not, just as these 100,000 soldiers move, it is impossible for Jiaozhi, Zhenla, and Tubo to let go of this great opportunity to bite the fat meat......"

For Shang Cheng's very vivid analogy, Tang Xing is noncommittal with an old face, but Zhang Pu is a little uncomfortable One by one, the use of troops against Nanzhao is his proposition, and the 100,000 soldiers of Nanzhao State coveted Jiarong is the reason he found, and now he is so refuted by Shang Cheng to the point, even if he has a deep bearing cultivated by several ups and downs in the sea, he can't help but have a dull face. I wanted to refute a few words, but I felt that it was really difficult to find fault with Shang Cheng's vulgar and simple words, but if he didn't say anything, what difference would it be with him nodding his head and acquiescing? After thinking about it for a long time, he said hesitantly: "The military situation emergency reports from various states and counties in Jiarong Yarong in the southwest can't be fake, right?" Even if there are not 100,000 people, there will always be 70,000 or 80,000 people ”

Shang Cheng smiled and didn't talk. He has been in the army for a long time, and naturally knows some things, many times, the soldiers of the beacon guard post will call the police in a panic as soon as they see the wind and grass, and in order to arouse the vigilance of the boss, the numbers reported are usually extremely exaggerated, obviously there are more than a dozen enemy horses, a report is three or four hundred, if there are really three or four hundred, then it must be thousands, and so there are really thousands of enemies, it is even more terrible, the emergency report is tens of thousands of people, as if the entire grassland is exhausted people, All rolled towards this little beacon at the same moment......

He said: "This is also the case when I want to come to the southwest state. There are probably situations where the enemy is massing, but it is impossible to have so many people, maybe thousands, or tens of thousands, and there is a certain threat and pressure on us, but it is far from the point of making a big move because of this. ”

"Then, according to Yan Du's opinion, how should the imperial court solve the dilemma in the southwest?" Zhang Pu asked.

"I have an immature idea, say it and ask the two Xiangguo to consider." Shang Cheng said, "The imperial court can send important officials to Tibet to settle the eastern Tibetan alliance with gold and silk property, and then promise heavy profits, and ask them to cooperate." It doesn't take too many actions, as long as the Tubo people make a slight gesture on the border of Nanzhao, and at the same time, all parts north of Jiazhou make small-scale feints to Jiazhou, putting on the appearance of preparing for a big fight, and the Nanzhao Kingdom will naturally take the initiative to seek reconciliation. In this way, the crisis in Jiarong and Jiarong will be eliminated, and the two county towns and several military villages that were lost will probably be able to be recovered. ”

"Yes, yes." Tang Xing groaned and said, "What Yan Du said is quite reasonable. ”

Zhang Pu's face was gloomy, and he bowed silently.