On the second day, the routine morning court, all the ministers, princes and ministers all entered the Weiyang Palace.

Liu Xin wore a dragon robe, sat on a dragon chair, looked down, and there was a palace maid holding a fan on the left and right.

The eunuch stepped forward and said to the many civil and military ministers below: "If there is something to do, play early, and if you have nothing to do, you will retreat..."

"Your Majesty, the minister has a book to play." A civil official under the account of the eighth prince took the lead in standing up.

This civil official's name is Li Chang, the official residence is too Shi Yilang, and he has no real power, but he is specially designed to give advice to the Son of Heaven, which is equivalent to a staff member.

Liu Xin asked, "What does Aiqing have to play?" ”

Li Chang replied: "Your Majesty, the Xiongnu raised troops south to invade the Central Plains three times and five times, causing the people to live in a difficult situation and complaining. I also hope that Your Majesty will quickly send troops to Gansu and Shaanxi to suppress the barbarians. lest they sit big and hurt the foundation of our great man. ”

Liu Xin thought for a moment, so he asked: "In the period of Emperor Yuan, the Xiongnu came to attack, and then Emperor Yuan ordered Zhaojun to go out of the fortress and marry Shan Yu. At that time, Emperor Yuan and the Xiongnu made a non-aggression pact, so how could the Xiongnu enter our border? What Aiqing said, can it be true? ”

Li Chang replied: "Back to Your Majesty, this matter is absolutely true. The contemporary Xiongnu violated the original agreement and invaded the Central Plains again, and asked His Majesty to make a quick decision. ”

Liu Xin nodded, and asked the other ministers: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Xiongnu are rampant and cause trouble on the border, which Aiqing has a countermeasure?" ”

"Hmph, what's the little barbarian afraid of?"

Wei Gonghan, the patriarch of the Wei family, that is, one of the three princes of the dynasty, stood up and said: "When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to Helan Mountain, he defeated the Xiongnu in one fell swoop, resulting in no more royal court in Mobei. Now the Huns who came to attack were just some stragglers, but there was no need to worry at all. ”

"No!" The eighth prince shook his head and said, "Lord Wei, the Huns and my Han are feuds. Now that they have once again sent troops across Mobei to invade our border, it can be seen that they must have made sufficient preparations this time. If we underestimate them, we are afraid that it will not be right. ”

Huo Jianghai, the head of the Huo family, who was the prime minister of the three princes, glanced at the eighth prince, frowned, and said, "Eighth prince, then in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?" ”

When the eighth prince heard this, he smiled faintly. A few years ago, he had no soldiers and no power in his hands, and he did not dare to speak in the court at all.

But now it is different, he and the Feng family have joined forces, and they have been planning in Liangzhou for many years, and there are already a few generals under his command, who are not afraid of Huo Jianghai, and said lightly: "Huo Xiangye, the Huns live on nomadism and have always been brave and good at fighting. At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also defeated the Xiongnu in one fell swoop with the strength of the whole country. Therefore, in my humble opinion, we should also do it with the strength of the whole nation. ”

Speaking of this, he said to Liu Xin: "Your Majesty, the minister has heard that Wang Mang of Liaoning is very prestigious and has high virtue. Therefore, His Majesty can summon Wang Mang into the court and let him lead the troops to fight against the Xiongnu and pacify Mobei. ”

"Wang Mang?"

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "Eighth Uncle, I heard that Wang Mang is only twenty-five or sixteen years old, and he has no experience in fighting on the frontier, how can he command the army?" How could a soldier be convinced? ”

"Your Majesty, don't you hear the name of the champion Hou Huo's illness?"

The eighth prince smiled: "Although Wang Mang is young, he is quite talented. Now many of the people of our Han Dynasty worship him as a saint. If he personally led the troops into battle, he would certainly increase the morale of our army, and the people would also be greatly inspired.

And Wang Mang left Qingzhou that year, and it only took five or six years to manage the wild land in Liaoning into a paradise, and the people moved their families to settle down, which shows his ability. ”

Liu Xin nodded, and asked again: "Eighth uncle, according to what you said, although Wang Mang has some talent, but with his own strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to help the Huns, right?" ”

"Your Majesty's words are not bad, with Wang Mang's own strength, of course he can't help the Huns. Therefore, the minister's opinion is that the Huo family, the Wei family, the Wang family, and other princes from all walks of life must send troops to help, and no one should hide at this juncture. ”

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Huo Jianghai and Wei Gonghan were stunned for a moment, and then took a deep look at the Eighth Prince and Liu Xin.

By now, they had already reacted and knew that Wang Mang would definitely enter the court recently. Now the eighth prince and Liu Xin are just singing double reeds and deliberately acting.

They knew in their hearts that if a part of the soldiers and horses under their jurisdiction were handed over to Wang Mang's command, who knew how much would be left when the time came for the big war.

"What a plan to kill people with a knife." Huo Jianghai's face sank, and he said coldly: "Eighth Prince, it seems that you have already arranged for Wang Mang to enter the court, right?" ”

The eighth prince shook his head and said, "Why did Xiangye say this?" I'm just talking about things. Wang Mang has always been loyal, if His Majesty gives an edict, he will definitely enter the court and contribute to the country.

Of course, if your Huo family has heroes who can serve the public and are willing to lead the troops to the battle, then I am in favor. But I guess your Huo family shouldn't have such characters, right? If your Huo family is in such a situation, the Wei family must be the same. Of course, there are no such figures in my royal family. At present, only Wang Mang will lead the army to go out, and this matter can be considered stable. ”

Wei Gonghan snorted and said in a deep voice: "Eighth Prince, we don't talk darkly, what do you want?" If you want to continue to play like this, then don't blame me for not being merciful. ”

Hearing this, the Eighth Prince put away his indifferent posture, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Wei, as you said, we don't say secret words. The Xiongnu are our common enemy, and we must join forces to destroy them, and then we can slowly fight each other.

Now that the Manchu Dynasty is civil and military, who doesn't know what you are thinking? But your minds need to be put aside at this moment, and you need to take the bigger picture into account. If you are willing to bear the infamy of leaving a stench for thousands of years, refuse to send troops to the Huns, and refuse to stick to the frontier, then I have nothing to say.

So what I mean is that your Wei family, the Huo family, and the Wang family each sent 100,000 troops. The rest of the princes sent at least 10,000 troops, and Wang Mang himself also sent at least 50,000 troops.

In this way, the total calculation can make up about 400,000 troops. With such a force, it would be very inappropriate to hand it over to anyone other than Wang Mang to command, and only he is the most suitable for this great task at present.

Also, after exterminating the Xiongnu, these soldiers and horses still need to continue to conquer the barbarians of Beidi, Nanban, Dongyi, Yueshi and other countries, and completely sweep away all obstacles on the periphery of Kyushu. ”

"Hmph, I'll send 100,000 troops, what about you? Could it be that you don't pull a dime? "The Taiwei, who has not spoken, that is, the head of the Wang family, has spoken.

The current head of the Wang family is Wang Xiannian, and the head of the old family completely delegated power to him a year ago.

Now when he heard that the eighth prince said that he wanted his Wang family to send 100,000 troops, and Wang Mang would also send 50,000 troops, he was immediately unhappy.

Wang Mang has always been Xue Fengyi's biological son, although Wang Mang has not had any dealings with the Wang family over the years, and even the relationship is extremely cold, but he is towards Wang Mang after all.

And he expected that the 400,000 troops that had been gathered together would be able to conquer the remaining one-tenth of the sky after conquering Dongyi, Xirong, Beidi, Nanman, Yueshi, Loulan and other countries. It may even be far from enough, and another increase in troops will be needed in the future.

In this way, it is equivalent to entrusting the major families into the water, completely falling into the war, and unable to take care of the affairs of the court.

(End of chapter)