The emergency originated in the Western Regions.

Every news in the urgent report is not good news for Da Song.

'In the year of Jiazi, on September 23, the defenders of Xining Prefecture were ordered to escort grain and grass into Qingtang, and at the junction of Qingtang and Huangtou Huifu, they were plundered by unknown soldiers and horses, and their baggage was looted......

'In the year of Jiazi, on September 30, the defenders of Xining Prefecture broke through into Shazhou for help......

'In the year of Jiazi, on the sixth day of the tenth month, Zhu Neng's subordinate general Mencius led his troops and horses into the Huangtou Hui Hui, and was ambushed by the combined forces of the Western Xia and the Huangtou Hui Hui, killing 2,452 people, taking 3,000 prisoners, and 11,349 people......

'In the year of Jiazi, on October 13, Yang Wenguang was ordered to lead the army to attack and force back the combined forces of Western Xia and Huangtou Hui'......

'In the year of Jiazi, on October 16, the combined forces of Western Xia and Huangtou Hui were in Shazhou, stopping at Dunhuang, and Chen Sanxing, the left wing of the Longwei Army, attacked privately, and the left wing battalion was annihilated......

'In the year of Jiazi, October 19, there were 120,000 quintals of grain and grass left, and the remaining soldiers and horses were stuck in Shazhou......

‘……’

Kou Ji guessed that the war in the Western Regions would not go well, but he didn't expect it to be so unsmooth, and it could even be described as bad.

The five people in the Shishitang frowned and were silent.

The Shishido was quiet.

Wang Zeng was the first to speak and broke the peace, "I didn't expect that Huangtou Huifu would actually be embarrassed by Western Xia!" ”

Wang Zeng had some anger in his tone.

Lu Yijian said in a heavy voice: "The road to transport the baggage has been controlled by the Huangtou Hui and the Western Xia, and the Huangtou Hui and the Western Xia coalition army has been forced to Shazhou.

The roads in front and behind our army were cut off, as if they had been alone.

If you are not careful, I am afraid that the whole army will be wiped out. ”

Li Di glanced at the four of them a few times, and said suspiciously: "What I'm more curious about is that when Zhu Neng entered Shazhou, he brought a lot of grain and grass. When Yang Wenguang entered Shazhou, he also brought a lot of grain and grass.

It stands to reason that our army should not be short of food and grass.

Even if the road for transporting baggage is occupied, our army will not be short of food and grass.

Why is there only 120,000 quintals of grain and grass left? ”

Kou Ji frowned and said, "The urgent report didn't explain this. ”

Zhao Zhen groaned: "I sent the dead to investigate one or two? ”

Wang Zeng, Li Di, and Lu Yijian all nodded their heads.

Kou Ji was the only one who shook his head.

Zhao Zhen and the four of them looked at Kou Ji together.

Kou Ji said in a deep voice: "Let's not talk about whether the dead soldiers sent by the official family can break through the blockade of Western Xia and Huangtou Hui soldiers and horses." Even if you can break through, it will take a lot of time to come and go.

By the time we do, it will only take more time.

120,000 loads of grain and grass sounds like a lot.

However, the consumption of grain and grass in our army is obviously somewhat abnormal.

120,000 quintals of grain, I am afraid it is not enough to support our army's consumption in Shazhou.

When we find out about this matter and make a decision, I am afraid that the soldiers in Shazhou will starve to death. ”

Zhao Zhen, Li Di, Wang Zeng, and Lu Yijian frowned even more tightly when they heard Kou Ji's words.

Li Di gritted his teeth and said, "What does Xue Tian eat?" Why had he never mentioned it in his previous documents? Why is there no mention of this in the urgent report? How can something so important be easily ignored? ”

Zhao Zhen looked at Chen Lin beside him and ordered: "You go and see if the soldiers who delivered the letter have recovered, and if they have recovered, take them to the Shishitang." ”

Chen Lin didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly walked out of the Shishitang.

Less.

He led two soldiers in armor into the Shishinan.

The two wanted to give a salute, but Zhao Zhen stopped them.

"The situation is urgent, everything is simple, but the sin is forgiven......"

The two soldiers thanked him.

Li Di immediately asked, "How much do you know about the war in Shazhou?" ”

The two soldiers glanced at each other, and one of them arched his hand and said: "Don't dare to deceive Li Gong, I don't know much about the war in Shazhou." The inferior people have been stationed in Xining Prefecture and have not set foot in Shazhou. ”

Wang Zeng asked, "How did you get the news in the urgent report?" ”

"There are soldiers who are far away in Shazhou, risking their lives to break out of the encirclement, and under the support of Qingtang soldiers and horses, they rushed to Xining Prefecture. Seeing that the situation was urgent, the general of my family immediately dispatched the inferior and others from Xining Post to send the news back in an urgent manner for 800 miles. ”

Lu Yijian asked, "What did those soldiers who broke out of the encirclement say?" ”

When the two soldiers heard this, they were slightly embarrassed.

One of them said in a low voice: "After the lowly people got the urgent report, they immediately rushed to Bianjing City, and they didn't stop at Xiningyi, so they didn't hear the news from them. ”

After listening to the words of the two soldiers.

The five frowned again.

Zhao Zhen waved his hand, "You guys go down first." ”

The two soldiers confessed and withdrew from the Shishitang.

Zhao Zhen glanced sideways at Chen Lin with a solemn expression, Chen Lin nodded, and withdrew from the Shishitang again.

After Chen Lin left, Zhao Zhen asked in a deep voice: "Four Aiqing, how do you think that the top priority should be dealt with?" ”

Lu Yijian said decisively: "If you can't do anything to help Shazhou, then you should withdraw decisively." ”

Wang Zeng shook his head and said: "Now that the Western Xia and Huangtou Hui coalition troops are besieging Shazhou, it is not easy to get out. ”

Li Di snorted coldly: "Why do you want to withdraw? Since you have chosen to fight, you will fight to the end. Western Xia can join forces with Huangtou Hui, and we can also join forces with Qingtang.

We can also send Chong Shiheng and Zhi Jizhong to go out of the Great Wall and stab Xixia's eyes. ”

Lu Yijian sighed, "If we send Chong Shiheng and Zhi Jizhong out of the Great Wall, I'm afraid the Liao Kingdom will not be happy." The Liao Kingdom will never look at me and sit on the big Song Dynasty. Therefore, if we go out of the Great Wall, I am afraid that the Liao State will also intervene in the war. ”

Wang Zeng gritted his teeth and said: "It's not that I'm afraid, it's inevitable." Once we have a big threat to Western Xia, the Liao State will inevitably send troops. They just want to keep Xixia, constantly disgusting us, and constantly restraining us.

In particular, our Great Song soldiers went out of the Western Regions to aid Shazhou, and after they had an enterprising spirit, the Liao State was even more reluctant to see us sit big. ”

Li Di said unwillingly: "The treasury is now empty and can run rats." If we go to war with Western Xia and Liao, we won't have enough money and food to support it.

My Great Song Dynasty has just dismantled the Xiang army in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and now the army is unstable, and when it is still stable, it is not suitable to start a big war with the Liao State. ”

Kou Ji questioned, "So...... Want to give up rushing to help Shazhou? ”

Zhao Zhen, Wang Zeng, Li Di, and Lu Yijian sighed together.

It's obvious.

They already have the idea of giving up on rushing to help Shazhou.

Kou Ji said in a deep voice: "If you want to give up rushing to help Shazhou, I naturally have no opinion." It's just that my Great Song Dynasty finally went out of the Western Regions, and I have to make some achievements for everyone to see.

If you retreat because you encounter difficulties, don't think about setting foot in the Western Regions in the future.

The Western Xia would take advantage of the momentum of annexing the Uighurs of Ganzhou and Shazhou to annex many forces in the Western Regions.

When the Western Xia sits in the Western Regions, it will definitely become a huge threat to my Great Song Dynasty.

Xixia is a wolf, a wolf who has always coveted my Great Song Dynasty.

But if you sit big, you will definitely attack my big song.

Therefore, we can not protect the Shazhou Uighurs, but we must suppress the momentum of the rise of Western Xia. ”

After listening to Kou Ji's words, Zhao Zhen and the four of them fell into deep thought.

After a long time, Li Di spoke: "I agree with Kou Ji's words. The ambition of the wolf son of Western Xia is obvious. If Western Xia rises again, it will definitely become a huge threat to my Great Song Dynasty.

Although Qingtang is my big Song family, his ambition is not small.

If after the Western Xia sits on the throne, he joins forces with Qingtang and Liao, and the three families attack my Great Song Dynasty, and my Great Song Dynasty will be difficult to deal with. ”

Lu Yijian opened his mouth, but he seemed to think of something and didn't speak.

Through Lu Yijian's expression and the topic he was talking about now, Kou Ji roughly guessed what Lu Yi said briefly, but he didn't say it.

Lu Yijian should have wanted to say that the Liao State and the Western Xia had an enmity, and they should not join forces easily.

But he should have thought of the matter of joining forces to attack the Song Dynasty after the Great War between the Liao State and the Western Xia, and he didn't speak again.

Between countries, there are only permanent interests, not permanent enemies.

The wealth of the Great Song Dynasty went deep into the hearts of the four yi.

But if you can cut the meat from Da Song, no one will be unwilling.

Wang Zeng frowned and said: "Now the soldiers and horses led by Zhu Neng and Yang Wenguang have become lone soldiers. The imperial court wanted to rush to their aid, and wanted to tear apart the blockade of Huangtou Hui and Western Xia, so it could only send more soldiers and horses over.

But now, the treasury is empty, and there is no longer enough money to support more expeditions. ”

Zhao Zhen said in a deep voice: "When will all the autumn taxes from all over the country be sent to the treasury?" ”

Li Di sighed and said, "The autumn taxes from all over the country closest to Bianjing City have been sent to Bianjing City. But those money and grain have been used as money and distributed to the Manchu civil and military and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

There have been many turmoils in the government and the opposition this year, and we must not be in arrears, otherwise it will cause even greater turmoil.

And the autumn tax in the distance, even if it is transported into Bianjing, must pay for the expenses of the yamen of various ministries.

The autumn tax in the distance will probably not be transported to Bianjing until the beginning of spring next year. ”

When Kou Ji heard Li Di's words, he said decisively: "You can let the yamen at all levels in the distance exchange the grain from the autumn tax into money and deposit it in the branch number of Jiaozipu in various places."

Then the horse quickly sent the large amount of Jiaozi paved by the word Jiaozi to Bianjing City.

It saves a lot of time in the middle. ”

Zhao Zhen and the four of them were stunned.

Lu Yijian nodded and said, "This move is feasible, and it can be continued." ”

Li Di said decisively: "Now is not the time to discuss whether to continue to use it or not. Since the problem of money can be solved quickly, the imperial court can send people to contact those grain merchants as soon as possible to make up the food needed for the expedition. ”

The king asked, "Who will lead the troops, and where will they be sent?" ”

Lu Yijian frowned and said, "The soldiers and horses are easy to dispatch, but the people who lead the troops are not easy to find. ”

Li Di nodded and said: "The only people who are most familiar with the leaders of the Western Regions in the DPRK are Cao Wei and Zhu Neng. Now that Zhu Neng is in the Western Regions, then the remaining Cao Wei. ”

Lu Yijian sighed and said: "Cao Wei's credit is already big enough, and he is the queen's own uncle, almost to the point where he can't be sealed." If Cao Wei is used this time, who will he use when he conquers Liao in the Great Song Dynasty? ”

The five people in the capital hall frowned in unison.

Kou Ji knows Cao Wei.

But he is not easy to promote Cao Wei.

Cao Wei has reached the point where it is unsealable.

If you make a few more contributions, you will reach the point where your achievements will be high.

At that time.

He was left with two paths to choose from.

Either rebel or commit suicide.

If you want to live, you can't do it.

Even if Zhao Zhen can tolerate him.

The Manchu courtiers couldn't tolerate him.

The civil servants absolutely did not want to see a strong military minister rise.

I don't want to see the scene of their painstaking management of heavy literature and military suppression ruined in a flash.

Kou Ji hesitated and proposed, "What about Li Zhaoliang?" ”

Lu Yijian shook his head decisively and said: "A eunuch, a secret agent, can still toss him to the fullest." The chaotic situation in the Western Regions was something he couldn't deal with at all. ”

Li Di looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Then there is only one person left......

Wang Zeng said solemnly: "After this incident, there is no need to be respectful." ”

Li Di and Lu Yi nodded in unison.

The three of them looked at Zhao Zhen at the same time.

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "Then I will send someone to ask Gao Zhigong." ”

Immediately.

Zhao Zhen sent a eunuch to ask Gao Zhigong.

After the eunuch went out.

The five of them began to discuss which troops to send again.

After discussing it for a long time, it was finally decided to dispatch the two forbidden armies guarding the northwest border.

Two elite forbidden armies, soldiers out of the Great Song Dynasty.

Count the Dragon Guards in Zhu Neng's hands.

Three whole Praetorian armies.

It can be said that it is a big deal.

It's like a big gamble.

Kou Ji discussed and made a decision together, feeling very happy.

He felt that the real Heavenly Empire should be like this.

No retreat, no shrinkage.

With blood and fire, the name of the heavenly kingdom was cast.

to the end.

Kou Ji was still a little proud in his heart.

He felt that if it weren't for his influence, the Great Song monarchs would not have become so tough.

After the five of them finished discussing.

Chen Lin quietly appeared in the capital hall and handed Zhao Zhen a piece of paper.

After Zhao Zhen took a closer look, he slapped the table and got up.

Li Di, Kou Ji, Wang Zeng, and Lu Yijian were all shocked.

Li Di was stunned and said, "What angered the official family?" ”

Zhao Zhen did not hide the anger on his body, and handed the paper in his hand to Li Di, "Look for yourself!" ”

Li Di took the paper and looked at it carefully, his face pale.

After Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian saw it one after another, their faces were very ugly.

The paper fell into Kou Ji's hands.

After Kou Ji saw it, he almost scolded.

However.

Without waiting for him to speak, Li Di took the lead in scolding, "Is Xue Tian an idiot?!" ”

After scolding, it seemed that he didn't feel like it was enjoyable, and Li Di scolded again: "I worked hard, scraped together, and the grain and grass raised for the army, he actually generously distributed it to the people of Shazhou."

The lives of the people of Shazhou are lives, and the lives of my Great Song Dynasty soldiers are not lives? ”

Kou Ji feels the same way as Li Di.

He felt that Xue Tian had a hole in his brain.

On the paper that Zhao Zhen handed to the four of them, the things recorded were far more detailed than the urgent report sent back.

Kou Ji guessed that it should be Wu Desi's people in Xining Prefecture, interrogated those soldiers who broke through from Shazhou, and got information.

The above description of the situation in the Western Regions was very detailed, and all the information that the five of them wanted to know was written.