Seeing that Chen Gong took over the position of Governor of Youzhou in Liaodong without hesitation, Liu Xie said: "Liaodong is bitterly cold, and Gongtai has to think about it." ”

Chen Gong said: "Serving the court and displaying ambitions is the wish of Weichen's life!" ”

Liu Xie nodded and said: "Very good, now I have three water divisions in Dahan: Youzhou Water Division, the base is in Liaodong, Xuzhou Water Division, the base is in Beihai, and Yangzhou Water Division, the base is in Jiandong." So far, only the Xuzhou Naval Division has the steam warships to go to sea to fight, and only the Youzhou Naval Division has the naval division soldiers who can fight, you can see that there is only three months of preparation time before the expedition, how to use these resources? ”

Zhuge Liang said: "Your Majesty, during the lunch break just now, Wechen has been thinking about this problem, and Wechen thinks it is better than this:

"First of all, we can only send 50,000 troops at most, but 50,000 is enough to deal with the Waren Island. 50,000 sailors, the minister thought that there were at least 10,000 sailors, and it happened that there were people in the Youzhou Sailor Division in eastern Liaodong who could be transferred. The remaining 40,000 are land soldiers, who can be selected from the ranks in Xuzhou or elsewhere. ”

Liu Xie listened carefully to him, and Zhuge Liang said: "Of the 50,000 sailors, 10,000 of them are ...... sailors."

Before Zhuge Liang finished speaking, Zhang Liao suddenly interrupted and said: "Military division, my Xuzhou Navy Division also has 5,000 shipwrights, driving, maintenance, and artillery, and the sailors are going on the expedition, and these 5,000 people must be in place." ”

Liu Xie said: "Otherwise, 5,000 people will be transferred from Liaodong to fill the gap of 10,000 sailors." ”

Zhang Liao said: "This can be had." ”

Zhuge Liang said: "10,000 sailors maintain, operate and protect the warships, so only 40,000 people can really land and fight." Among these 40,000 people, there are 10,000 cavalry, and the main combat power will be concentrated on these 10,000 cavalry. The other 30,000 infantry included logisticians. So to sum up, we don't have a lot of troops. ”

There was silence above the court, and everyone felt that it was an unknown number for the future battle of the Waren Island, even if we had advanced ships and weapons, but the lack of people was a key problem.

Zhuge Liang said: "But the problem can still be solved, now the most critical problem is the issue of the route, because of the unfamiliar with the Haiwen of the Japanese Island, so the route is difficult to determine for a while, once the route is determined, it will be much easier." ”

Zhuge Liang looked around the court, and then said slowly: "Everyone, don't forget, our clothes are steamships and coal-burners, as long as there is enough coal, it can go back and forth many times!" 10,000 sailors are fixed personnel, but the other 40,000 army troops are mobile personnel, and after sending all 40,000 troops over the sea, they can return to the sea and carry out a second transportation, and so on, and so on, can be transported many times. ”

Zhuge Liang turned to Liu Xie and said: "Your Majesty, since it is an expedition to the Japanese Island, then Weichen thinks that it is impossible to achieve a quick victory, and it will inevitably lead to a long-term battle. ”

Liu Xie nodded and said, "It took me three years to pacify the princes, so it can only take three years at most to conquer the Waren Island!" ”

Zhuge Liang said: "Three years is enough time for us to transport a large number of soldiers, and it is also enough for a large number of rotating soldiers to go back and forth." ”

Liu Xiexin said: Why didn't I think of this problem in the first place, the steamship can transport soldiers back and forth. In this way, even if the problem of the source of troops is solved, it will not only solve the problem of the source of troops, but also solve the problem of transporting baggage.

Liu Xie nodded and asked Zhang Liao: "Has the steam warship ever conducted sea trials?" ”

Zhang Liao said: "When the Eastern Wu was pacified, soldiers were transported to Huiji, and there was no problem. ”

Liu Xie asked again: "What about multiple round-trips?" ”

Zhang Liao said: "I have conducted many sea trials, and the biggest problem is the corrosion of the hull, because the seawater is too corrosive. ”

Liu Xie said: "It is true that seawater is extremely corrosive, especially to steel. ”

Zhang Liao said: "So its service life is only ten years, and it must be eliminated and replaced after ten years, and it may not last for ten years." ”

Liu Xie said: "Ten years? That's enough time! As long as the manufacturing capacity can keep up, it's fine. ”

Zhuge Liang asked: "Your Majesty, how many troops do you plan to send this time?" ”

Liu Xie groaned a little and said: "Waren Island, the land of projectiles, the land of barbarism, tentatively set 100,000, and it will be transported in three times." The specific strategic deployment will be determined when the troops are dispatched. Wen Yuan ......"

Zhang Liao said: "Weichen is here." ”

Liu Xie said: "This time to the east to the island of the Japanese people, you will go with me. ”

"Wechen obeys!"

Liu Xie said again: "Kong Ming, Shi Yuan, which of you two wants to go out with me?" ”

Both of them said: "The minister is willing to go." ”

Liu Xie smiled and said: "You both want to go, in my opinion, it is better for Kong Ming to go with me." Shiyuan, you stay and serve as an assistant. ”

Pang Tong said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I just don't know who will govern Your Majesty's expedition?" ”

Liu Xie smiled and said: "It's undecided for the time being, let's talk about it tomorrow." ”

Liu Xie wanted to maintain a sense of mystery and couldn't let everyone know so early.

According to management, if the emperor drives the imperial expedition in person, it is generally the crown prince or important ministers who are in charge, but among the important ministers, only Jia Xu is the only one, but Jia Xu now only manages Chang'an and the royal industry, and has never managed the affairs of the imperial court.

Another one is Luoyang's acting Taishou Cai Yan, since Wang Yun died of illness and Liu Xie was fighting abroad, Cai Yan was appointed to temporarily act as Luoyang Taishou, this agent has been acting down, and has never formally appointed a new Taishou.

However, Cai Yan is engaged in literature and art, and she is a woman, so it is unlikely that she will be left in charge.

Among the royal family, among the adults, there is only the emperor's younger brother Hongnong Wang Liu Bian. Liu Wei was held hostage by the princes when he was young, and he was suspected of rebellion, and he was always restricted from his activities, so it was even more impossible for him to govern.

The princes are all small, and it is impossible for them to govern.

So who will it be? Seeing that Liu Xie looked confident, there must have been a candidate, but I don't know who it is.

Liu Xie said again: "As for the other generals and strategists, I said in the morning, you have three days to sign up, then let's decide in three days." Far. ”

Zhang Liao said: "Weichen is here." ”

The warships of the Xuzhou Navy Division are all in your Beihai port, then you are responsible for the expedition, how much coal, how much ammunition, how much grain and grass you need to bring, Kong Ming, you and Wen Yuan are discussing it together.

Both said yes.

One afternoon, there was another discussion, knowing that it was dark before the court dispersed, Liu Xie asked the imperial dining room to prepare dinner, and the ministers had dinner in the court before they dispersed.

Liu Xie didn't have the heart to eat, but left alone.

Out of the council hall, according to the sky was already dark, Liu Xie looked up at the sky, sighed and said: "It's time to start conquering the world again!" ”

Seeing a woman in red standing and waiting not far away, Liu Xie walked over, and the woman knelt down and said, "Concubine Sun Ren to see Your Majesty." ”