Vertical arch hall.

Emperor Zhao Gou sat in the hall, and six other officials sat in the palace, or wearing purple robes and hanging goldfish bags on their waists, or wearing red robes and hanging silverfish bags on their waists, and seven people were discussing matters in the palace.

I only heard Zhao Gou say: "Qin Aiqing, how do you think this matter should be handled?" ”

Qin Hui, who was sitting on the left, replied: "As far as the minister can see, this small southern barbarian country can be ignored, the states and counties bordering it are all smoky and barbaric lands, the population is sparse, and there is not much land, the people all make a living by hunting, if the Li Yue barbarians come to disturb, they will go over the mountains and dense forests, and the disturbers are only three or two counties, and the population is only 2,000 households, and the damage to the Great Song Dynasty is minimal. However, if the troops are sent south, tens of thousands of people will be used at every turn, and the military horses will move, and the financial consumption will be far greater than the damage caused by Li Yue's barbarians. Moreover, those barbarians who came over the mountains and mountains will not last long, and they will retreat in ten days and half a month, and the ministers think that there is no need to send troops to appease the disturbed prefectures and counties. ”

Zhao Gou arranged it, and asked instead: "Wu Ling, what do you think?" ”

The Privy Councillor said: "The minister has a different opinion. It is difficult for Li Yue to be just a small country, a few years ago, he came to Lin'an to pay tribute, and last year he also sent people to ask for his guilt, but in a blink of an eye, they sent troops to harass the people of the Great Song Dynasty and captured our prefecture and county. The minister advocated that he immediately send troops to attack, defeat Li Yue, and arrest the culprit to Lin An for questioning. ”

Zhao Gou's face remained unchanged, he didn't say yes, he didn't say no, and continued to ask: "Yu Yaobi, what do you see, what should I do?" ”

Yu Yaobi, the governor of the political council, said: "The minister thinks that you can't use the sword lightly. Li Yue lives in Nanyang, thousands of miles away from Lin'an, not to mention sending troops from Lin'an, even if he recruits troops and horses from Guangnan West Road, it is not a month or two to become an army, even if he can become an army, the cost of a battle is in the millions, if he sends the army and horses in front of the palace, it will cost even more. In June, on the southeast coast, the sea invaded the towns, and sent the palace army to exterminate it, spending more than 250 million a month. The demons of Guixi made a rebellion, and sent Zhejiang, Jiangnan West Road military horses to pacify, and the report just arrived a few days ago, spending more than 380,000 yuan in two months. In these two use of troops, neither of the troops mobilized exceeded 10,000 troops, but the cost was so huge that this did not count the losses caused by the requisition of several times the number of laborers, and the monthly cost of using 10,000 soldiers should be around 3 million yuan. If Li Yue attacks and disturbs for a few days, we will have to send troops to deal with it, and it will take about two months for 10,000 people to march to the southern border, and it will cost about 6 million guan. The south is a wild and smoky land, with high mountains and dense forests, not to mention attacking Li Yue, it may be difficult to pass through the mountains and reach the border. Therefore, the minister thought that Li Yue's barbarians could ignore it, or in a few days, they would retreat to the mountains. ”

After listening to this, Zhao Gou was still speechless, and then asked, "Wang Bo, what do you think?" ”

Wang Bodao, the governor of the government, said: "The minister thinks that the use of troops is not beneficial to the Great Song Dynasty, the south is a miasma of smoke, the population is sparse, and the wealth and taxes are very small, and it is really not worth spending millions of dollars for a few small counties that do not produce much." There was a precedent hundreds of years ago, every time the Li Yue barbarians attacked, they would retreat in as little as one month, or as little as three days, and they would not enter the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred miles, and the damage to Qinzhou and other places would be restored by themselves in less than a year and a half. This time, the number of barbarians was small, and at most they could intrude on three or two barren counties, and there was no harm to the imperial court, and the ministers also thought that they could ignore it. ”

Zhao Gou still didn't say anything to him, and asked another person: "Zhang Fu, what do you think should be?" ”

In the imperial history, Cheng Zhang replied: "The minister thought that he should send troops immediately. Whether the army moves or does not move, it will cost money, and even if there are no soldiers, the garrisons in various places will still have to spend money to change guards and move back and forth. Li Yue, a small country on the southern border, dared to attack the Great Song Dynasty for no reason, that is, he saw that the Great Song Dynasty court was too far away from them, and would not make a big fight with them, if he ignored it this time, he would gain an inch, and he would dare to capture a town this year, dare to capture a county next year, and dare to capture three or five counties the year after tomorrow, or even a state and a place. Moreover, the envoys of dozens of countries in the South and Western Oceans are all in Lin'an and have not yet left, if Li Yue violates the border of the Great Song Dynasty and we ignore it, what will they think? Perhaps these countries will not come again to pay tribute in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to send troops as soon as possible, and to win a battle, so that all countries know that the Great Song Dynasty is not weak in force, and as a vassal state, it should be honest and not cause trouble. At this time, the edict should be ordered to Qinzhou Zhizhou to temporarily take several nearby state capitals, organize a team to resist, and then order Guang'an West Road to pacify the rapid requisition of troops to Qinzhou, if you want to expand the results of the war, you can send the Xuanwei army stationed in Mingzhou to the south along the coast, the Xuanwei army has fought with Li Yue's army, but also adapt to the southern climate, although there are not many people, when necessary, it can be used. ”

Zhao Gou still didn't say anything superfluous, but looking at Zhang Fu's eyes, he had a little more approval.

This scene was seen by Qin Hui, and his heart moved.

Zhao Gou looked at the red-robed official who had not yet expressed his opinion, and asked, "Qin Xi, what do you think?" ”

Qin Xi replied: "The minister thinks that the minister's meaning is the same as that of several adults, Li Yue is thousands of miles away from the Great Song Dynasty, a small country, and he can't afford to make big waves, so he will leave if he makes a fuss, don't pay attention to it." ”

After asking all the ministers present, Zhao Gou said: "Li Yue violated the border, everyone also said their own thoughts, whether it is to send troops to punish or let it go, you are all the pillars of the country, naturally you are the joint decision, how to do it or another discussion, the envoys of various countries are in Lin'an, and they have been delayed for a long time, which will damage the face of the Great Song Dynasty." It's still early, let's discuss it again, and it's not too late to go after the result is discussed. ”

Hearing Zhao Gou's words, everyone sat upright and did not speak.

After a while, Zhao Gou said again: "Don't you have anything to say?" ”

"Ahem" Qin Hui coughed a few times, and then said: "Your Majesty, the minister just thought about it again, that Li Yue is a small country, taking advantage of the envoys of the Nanyang and Western countries to come to the Great Song Dynasty to pay tribute, his heart can be punished, and he should quickly send troops to fight back, and when necessary, he can capture his capital and deter the Nanyang countries." ”

As soon as Qin Hui's words came out, the two governors frowned, and immediately one of them said: "The minister thinks that Li Yue chose to commit a crime when the countries paid tribute to the court, which is really a heinous act, and the crime cannot be punished, so he should immediately send elite soldiers to attack Li Yue, and arrest the fleeing prince Li Yue back to Lin'an to ask for the crime, and deter the vassal states." ”

Another governor said: "The minister thinks that Li Yue really deserves to be punished, they don't commit a crime sooner or later, but they choose to come to the Great Song Dynasty thousands of miles away, when they come to the Great Song Dynasty to congratulate, if they don't give them a big lesson, how can the Great Song Dynasty have face." The imperial court should immediately send elite troops south to defeat Li Yue in one fell swoop, not only to capture the prince Li Yue who fled halfway, but also to arrest the king of Li Yue back to punish the crime. ”

As soon as Qin Xi saw the change in the direction of the wind, he immediately said: "The minister thinks that Li Yue must have made careful preparations at this time, and he will come here to damage the face of the Great Song Dynasty." The year before last, Lord Dai sent Li Yue to be besieged for no reason, the envoy failed, and almost died in Li Yue, after the Great Song Dynasty destroyed one of their troops, they had to push out a prince to take the blame, but this prince just arrived in Guangzhou and fled quietly, it is impossible on his own, which must also be the result of Li Yueren's careful planning. Although Li Yueguo is small, he is a wolf with ambition and wants to bite the Great Song Dynasty at any time, hundreds of years ago, he committed dozens of crimes in a row, and each time it became more serious than the other. If Li Yue is not punished this time, I am afraid that many vassal states of the Great Song Dynasty will have different intentions, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to clean up at that time. The minister thought that he should immediately send 200,000 elite soldiers to the south, attack Li Yue in one fell swoop, demarcate prefectures and counties, send officials to manage, and return Li Yue's land to the rule of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

In the imperial history, Cheng Zhang replied: "The minister thinks that all the adults are too radical, Li Yue and the Great Song Dynasty Qinzhou border, Qinzhou to Lin'an is tens of thousands of miles, and the eight hundred miles sent to Lin'an on the way to the urgent war report took a full fifteen days. The elite of the Great Song Dynasty were stationed on the northern border to guard against the Jin people, and the elite was dispatched from the northern border to the southern border, not to mention whether the northern army could adapt to the humid and hot climate in the south, the road was too far away, and the tens of thousands of miles would drag the elite to a vulnerable blow, and they would not recover at all in three or five months. Also, once the elite garrison on the northern border is transferred away, what should I do if the Jin people suddenly go south, a horse north of the Yangtze River, if it is not blocked, it will be able to kill the Yangtze River in three days, so the northern garrison must not be mobilized, not only can not be mobilized, but also strengthen precautions, in case the Jin people use troops against Li Yue in the Great Song Dynasty, they will attack behind their backs. In addition, he sent a small group of water troops from the Dianqian Division and the Xuanwei Army to the south, and crossed the sea from Qiongzhou to attack Li Yue's coastal town, and attacked Li Yue before and after, and Li Yue was bound to retreat. Attacking and destroying Li Yue, it is impossible to do it in a hurry, although Li Yue is a small country, but hidden in the mountains, there are no 100,000 elites, there are no three or five years, it is difficult to destroy them. Therefore, the top priority at the moment is to get rid of Li Yue, as for whether to destroy the country and ask for the crime, you can discuss it slowly, the big war together, the cost must be more than 10 million guan, and you can't get so much money for a while, and it is enough to drive Li Yue away and spend millions of guan. ”

Zhao Gou said: "Okay, since everyone thinks that Li Yue is hateful and his heart is punishable, then give them a lesson and immediately send troops to recruit Li Yue." I have only one request for this expedition, within two months, I will arrest the escaped Prince Li Yue and bring Lin'an to ask for the crime. The cost of military money and grain for the requisition of troops from the north was taken out of the inner treasury, and the prefectures and counties in Quang Nam participated in the conquest of Li Yue, and the household department reduced or exempted taxes and forced labor at its discretion. What do you think? ”

Qin Hui took the lead and said, "The emperor is sage! ”

Everyone echoed: "The emperor is sage! ”

Zhao Gou said: "Li Yue's offense is so decided, how many soldiers and horses to send, who to send, who is the commander, how much food and grass is needed, you will discuss it carefully after you go back, and come up with a strategy within two days, Qin Aiqing, this matter is presided over by you." ”

Qin Hui said: "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Zhao Gou got up and said, "Okay, I'm tired too, you all go back." With that, he turned around and walked into the apse.