After Qin Hui and the others got up to send Zhao Gou away, Yu Yaobi, the governor of the political council, asked, "Prime Minister Qin, we still have to discuss how Li Yue should be requisitioned. ”

Qin Hui said: "It's not early, let's talk about it when we get out of the palace." After saying that, he turned around and walked out of the hall.

The other five then left.

As soon as he came out of the vertical arch hall, Qin Xi said: "Dad, how do you know that the emperor wants to use troops against Li Yue this time?" ”

Qin Hui just walked slowly and didn't reply.

Yu Yaobi, the governor of the council, asked: "Yes, Prime Minister Qin, the emperor has never taken the initiative to mention the use of troops against foreign countries before, why must he send troops to deal with Li Yue this time?" ”

Qin Hui stopped, and the two governors and Qin Xi stepped forward, only to hear him say: "Didn't you say everything the emperor wanted to say, this Li Yuexuan stirred up trouble at this time, no matter what, he had to fight, and he could only win and not lose." In the past, Li Yue made a mistake on the side, and he didn't suffer much loss to the Great Song Dynasty, but now the envoys of more than a dozen countries are in Lin'an, and if Li Yue is not beaten, the Great Song Dynasty will have no light on his face. This time, Hui Yi brought back a lot of gold and silver treasures, and Western goods were also exchanged for a lot of money, and the treasury was abundant, so he had the confidence to use troops abroad. ”

Governor Wang Bo asked again: "To what extent does Prime Minister Qin think this expedition against Li Yue should be appropriate?" ”

Qin Hui thought for a while and said, "Didn't the emperor say that if the fleeing prince is captured, Li Yue will also be driven out of Qinzhou." After saying that, he raised his feet and left.

The sun is about to set, and if you don't go out of the palace, waiting for the palace door to close, you will have to have a lot of trouble.

Governor Wang Bo said: "It's easy to drive Li Yueren away, maybe you don't need to rush, before the army arrives, they will run away." But it is not so easy to capture Prince Li Yue, if you don't attack the capital of Li Yue, I'm afraid you won't be obedient. ”

Qin Hui said: "It depends on how the Privy Council deploys troops and how it fights, and if it can't get back the fleeing Prince Li Yue within two months, it will make the Great Song lose face in front of the envoys of all countries, and someone will take responsibility." ”

Wu Ling, the secretary of the Privy Council, said: "As long as Qin Xiang can mobilize enough grain and grass and recruit enough people, why not take Xiao Li Yue within two months." ”

Qin Hui said: "Take Li Yue?" How much does that cost? It's better to do what the emperor wants, just take back Prince Li Yue. Take him alone, and the court will allocate you two million pieces of grain and grass, which should be enough. ”

Wu Ling said: "Qin Xiangmo is not joking, in addition to using the local army to conquer Li Yue, the imperial court must at least send another 10,000 elites of the palace to the south." Putting aside the cost of requisitioning and transferring the native soldiers of Guangnan for the time being, the food and drink expenses of the elite of the former division of the Ten Thousand Palaces and various military resources must be transported by at least 30,000 soldiers, and at least 40,000 people will eat and drink. It costs more than 2.5 million yuan to exterminate more than 1,000 pirates, is it easier to conquer Li Yue than to exterminate 1,000 islands? This is a major matter related to the face of the imperial court, and Qin Xiang still has to be cautious. ”

Wang Bo said: "All of you are tired today, go back and rest early, and discuss the details tomorrow." ”

The crowd stopped talking, quickened their pace, and went to the Hening Gate, arguing a little longer, and when the city gate was closed, they could not get out of the imperial city, and they had to sleep on a hard bed in the city.

The six of them rushed to Heningmen, and the commander of the Yulin Army smiled and said: "Prime Minister Qin, your lords are fortunate, if you arrive one step later, you will have to stay in the imperial city again tonight." ”

Qin Hui replied: "Recently, there have been frequent major events, and the subordinates don't worry about the emperor, isn't that a moth that eats nothing?" ”

The commander of the Yulin Army smiled: "What Qin Xiang said is true. Ladies and gentlemen, get out of the city. ”

Qin Hui went out of the city first, and the five followed.

As soon as they left the city gate with their front feet, they heard the commander of the Yulin army shouting an order: "Close the city gate." ”

Out of Hening Gate, a team of forbidden troops arrived, guarded Qin Hui in the middle, and walked towards the official sedan chair waiting not far away.

When he arrived near the official sedan chair, Qin Hui said: "Your Excellency is also tired today, go back and have a good rest, and we will discuss it again tomorrow." ”

"Qin Xiang walks slowly." The crowd raised their hands to see them off.

Waiting for Qin Hui and Qin Xi to get on the official sedan chair and go away, the other four people got into the sedan chair and went home.

Two days later, the Diligent Palace.

Zhao Gou sat in front of the bookcase and looked at the chapter, and Qin Hui and Wu Ling sat side by side opposite.

After reading it, Zhao Gou asked: "It is quite difficult to conquer Li Yue, is it enough to send only 10,000 elite soldiers?" ”

Qin Hui said: "These 10,000 people are the elite of the palace front division, and it shouldn't be a problem to use one as ten, besides, Guangnan also has three military states, and it is not difficult to recruit 30,000 elite soldiers in Guangnan. ”

Wu Ling said: "With limited military resources, it is difficult to requisition enough sea vessels, and it is not easy to transport these 10,000 elites to Qinzhou safely." As soon as there are many people, the marching time will be extended, and 10,000 people can barely reach Qinzhou in one month, and 20,000 people will have to take two months. ”

Zhao Gou looked at the chapter again, did not speak, and after a while, suddenly said: "Isn't the Xuanwei army that guarded Huiyi before coming in handy?" ”

Wu Ling said: "The Xuanwei army can be from Huiyi, but I am afraid that it will not work to fight, this army was formed in a hurry for the Huiyi fleet, and it went to sea before it was trained for a few months, and it could not be trained at sea, and after two years, there was no combat power left, and it cost military funds to go." ”

Zhao Gou said: "I don't think so, this Xuanwei army once fought with their army in Li Yue, I remember that at that time, they also took a state of land and attached it to the imperial court, they are familiar with Li Yue, if they go with the elite of the palace front division, it will be more or less a help." ”

Qin Hui continued: "Yes, that piece of land was originally Li Yuehe Jingfu, but after they took it, it was changed to Jingzhou, and they also paid taxes to the imperial court once. This army is still combat-ready, and it is not as unbearable as adults say. ”

Wu Ling said: "It is not impossible for the Xuanwei army to go south, but as far as I know, they were temporarily formed because of the return to the exchange, and all the expenses were also borne by the return to the exchange, and now the return to the end of the exchange, the imperial court did not bear their daily expenses, nor did they issue salaries, they have been left to fend for themselves, there were originally more than 4,000 people, a few months have passed, and it is difficult to say how many people are still there." If you want to send them south to conquer Li Yue, you must first give them the status of a standing army, and the imperial court will issue food and salary. ”

Zhao Gou said: "The Xuanwei Army will not be revoked, and it will continue after returning to Yi, giving them the status of a standing army and issuing food and salary." Conquest of Li Yue first, and after the end, he was transferred back to the original place to garrison, waiting for the order of the imperial court, and there was no need to rotate the garrison. ”

Wu Ling said: "Yes, then the Xuanwei army will be added to the sequence of conquest of Li Yue's army, so that the conquest of Li Yue will be more certain." ”

Zhao Gou said: "Qin Aiqing, do you have anything to add?" ”

Qin Hui said: "No, I just hope that this expedition will not drag on for too long, the treasury is not abundant, there are many places to use money, and it can't withstand a year and a half of consumption." ”

Zhao Gou said: "Wu Ling, there must be results in this expedition within two months, and it should not exceed three months at the latest, your Privy Council will discuss it, it is best to send someone to Qinzhou to supervise the army, this battle must be won." ”

Wu Ling said: "Yes, the Privy Council will do their best. ”

Zhao Gou said: "Okay, the matter of conquest of Li Yue is so decided, send troops as soon as possible." Let's go and prepare. After that, he picked up the other pieces.

Qin Hui and Wu Ling got up and said goodbye: "Minister, retire." ”

When the two left, Zhao Gou shouted, "Huang Qi." ”

The queen of the palace answered, and after a while, as soon as the waiter came out, before Zhao Goushu's case, he asked, "Official, what's the matter?" ”

Zhao Gou said: "You said that the Xuanwei Army is available, but it is not clear what Dai Cong's recital says, what is it like, you come with me carefully." ”

Huang Qi said: "Official, I don't know much about the Xuanwei Army in Li Yue, I only heard that they defeated Li Yue's 2,000 elites with 1,000 people, and 1,000 of them were also incorporated into the Xuanwei Army, but most of them stayed in the Zhancheng State. In the battle of Srivijaya in the first battle, I know that the Huiyi fleet was blocked at the entrance of the strait for two months by two powerful families, demanding heavy taxes, and seeing that it was about to miss the best opportunity to cross the sea, as a last resort, the Xuanwei army first burned hundreds of ships of one of the families in the port, and then declared that the family was in rebellion, and after angering them, the Xuanwei army set up an ambush and led the 30,000 elites of that family into a valley to die, and in less than two hours, the 30,000 people were all wiped out. The Xuanwei army suffered less than 200 casualties and won a complete victory, and the Srivijaya was not deterred by the Xuanwei army, and the fleet passed through the strait smoothly. When returning to Srivijaya from the Western Ocean, they were blocked by hundreds of pirate ships in the strait, and the Xuanwei army defeated the pirates again and opened up the sea route. In addition, the military discipline of the Xuanwei Army is also very strict, and when more than 100 sea ships sail on the sea, the team is two or three hundred miles long, all controlled by the Xuanwei Army, and they are sailing day and night, and there is basically no ship left behind or separated. At sea, I don't have much contact with them. ”

Zhao Gou said: "In this way, the Xuanwei Army still has the strength to fight, and it has not insulted the name of Xuanwei." Are there any other deeds? ”

Huang Qi thought for a while and said: "Something else worth mentioning, that is, in the Seljuk country, at that time, I took the delegation to Baghdad to meet their king, just in time for the birthday of the Seljuk king, I stayed there for a few more days, participated in a lot of noble banquets, we also held a banquet before leaving Baghdad, thanked them for their hospitality, and showed the Great Song army formation at the banquet, some Seljuk nobles were not satisfied, so they sent their warriors to provoke, when Yang Congyi, the Xuanwei military supervisor, took the first competition and easily defeated the Seljuk warriors, Later, they continued to send warriors to provoke, and we sent a Taoist who accompanied the group, and defeated the opponent again, and after two consecutive defeats, they did not continue to provoke. ”

Zhao Gou said: "Yang Congyi is the martial arts student from a civilian background when the martial arts school was first established. ”

Huang Qi said: "Yes, it's him." It was he who followed Master Dai to Li Yue's envoy, and he brought a thousand Xuanwei troops with him, and when he arrived in the Zhancheng Kingdom, he became two thousand people, and he also got a piece of land with a radius of more than fifty miles for the Great Song Dynasty in the Zhancheng Kingdom, and stationed a thousand Xuanwei troops, and when he came back, the fleet stayed there for half a month, built a lot of houses, reclaimed hundreds of acres of fertile land, and the troops left behind were also practicing every day. When he was in the Three Buddhas, it was also Yang Congyi who advocated the use of force to open up the sea route, and many people were opposed to it, but they didn't expect it to be really opened later. ”

Zhao Gou said: "In this way, he has learned something in martial arts. He is one of the first batch of martial arts students, and there is more information to collect. ”

Huang Qi said: "Don't worry, I will watch him." ”