"I think that if there are 200,000 forbidden troops, plus more than 10,000 cavalry, as long as they are used properly, then the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains can be successful!" After thinking about it carefully, Yang Wu replied to Guo Chongtao.

"Two hundred thousand forbidden troops? Plus more than 10,000 cavalry? Guo Chongtao lowered his head and groaned.

The other generals also pondered in their hearts the feasibility of using this force for the Northern Expedition.

It didn't take long for Guo Chongtao to say: "Your Majesty, if you can really have as many troops as you said, it is indeed very likely that the Northern Expedition will succeed." However, if Your Majesty uses 200,000 forbidden troops to go on a northern expedition, how many troops should be left to defend the rear? ”

"100,000 forbidden troops, 100,000 van troops, enough to deter the young people from all sides!" Yang Wu said in a deep voice.

Guo Chongtao laughed: "Since this is the case, will the king have to recruit troops again in the next few years?" After recruiting new recruits, do you have to hone them through actual combat? ”

Yang Wu naturally understood what Guo Chongtao meant by this time, which was nothing more than to borrow the hands of the Shu army to sharpen new soldiers in the next few years after the army was expanded.

However, to be honest, even if he increased the number of troops, Yang Wu did not plan to establish a new army, but expanded the original ten armies, expanding the strength of each army from 20,000 to 30,000, and the total strength naturally increased to 300,000.

The choice to expand the strength of each army was mainly due to two considerations.

The first aspect is that there are some deficiencies in the candidates for governors with sufficient qualifications and abilities.

In the past few years, those governors have basically grown old, and it is foreseeable that when the Northern Expedition comes in the future, there are not many veterans who can still lead troops to the battlefield.

If a few more new armies are built, I am afraid that the governors of some armies can only let those with mediocre abilities serve as governors, which is obviously not what Yang Wu wants.

As for the other consideration, it is based on practical needs.

In recent years, with the rapid expansion of the scale of the war, an army of 20,000 people has become somewhat unsuitable for the scale of the war.

At the beginning of the Qingkou War, Yang Xingmi was only leading 30,000 elite soldiers; After that, Huainan did not send too many troops to foreign wars.

Like Li Shenfu's crusade against Duhong in Ezhou, it was only 10,000 people; Wang Maozhang sent troops to Qingzhou to rescue Wang Shifan, but only dispatched 7,000 elites.

And now? A smaller war will use 40,000 or 50,000 troops, and like this attack on Jingxiang, more than 100,000 troops were dispatched.

The rapid expansion of the scale of this war made the previous system of 20,000 men per army somewhat unable to keep up with the changes of the times, so it was necessary to expand it to 30,000 men per army.

As for Guo Chongtao's suggestion to use the hands of the Shu army to train troops, after thinking about it carefully, Yang Wu did not directly settle down, but decided to put it on hold for the time being, anyway, this matter is not in a hurry.

After staying in Jiangling for a few days, Wang Maozhang's injuries have generally improved, but he is afraid that it will take a long time to recover.

So Yang Wu asked him to return to Jinling with him to recuperate.

Taking advantage of this time, Yang Wu met with celebrities and virtuous people from all over Jingxiang and appeased them to win the hearts of the local people.

Chen Yanqian, who is far away in Jinling, even proposed that this year's imperial examination competition will be held in more than two months, and that the state examinations in other prefectures were held as early as last year, and that Jingxiang had not yet been incorporated into the command of Wu last year.

In this way, those local scholars in Jingxiang who are interested in serving in the Wu State can only wait until the imperial examination two years later.

Therefore, Chen Yanqian proposed to organize a big examination in Jiangling in this short period of time, specifically for Jingxiang scholars, and anyone who passed could participate in this year's imperial examination.

Yang Wu naturally readily agreed to this proposal.

Jingxiang has many scholars since ancient times, and the geographical location here is extremely important, especially for the Wu State, it is a strategic place that can be attacked, retreated, and defended, so it is natural to appease people's hearts.

And his purpose quickly achieved some results, and after hearing that Yang Wu specially ordered a big test to be carried out in Jiangling, all parts of Jingxiang suddenly boiled.

Now that Jingxiang has completely fallen into the hands of Wu State, many local forces are looking forward to how to quickly integrate into Wu State.

In addition, although there were many scholars who were difficult to be reused in the Liang State, they still held the orthodox mentality of the Central Plains in their hearts, and regarded the Southern Wu State as a small local secession country, and were unwilling to go south to take refuge.

But after this Jingxiang War, the decline of the Liang State and the prosperity of the Wu State are already well-known, and even the most dull people understand the general trend of the world today.

Therefore, this time Jiangling opened a big examination, not only many local scholars in Jingxiang actively participated, but also many northern scholars also flocked to it.

In addition, last year, because of the opening of the imperial examination of the Jin State, a part of the northern scholars went south to participate in this year's Wu State Imperial Examination, as well as the participation of scholars on the original Ma Yin's territory, it can be said that this year's Wu National Imperial Examination will be very lively.

Yang Wu was naturally very happy about this situation.

An important reason why the Southern Tang Dynasty in history was so weak was the lack of talents.

Today's Wu State is also facing the dilemma of lack of talent with the gradual aging of meritorious veterans such as Gao Mian, but after Yang Wu's continuous training and promotion, this problem is much less slight than the situation in history.

In early June, when Yang Wu finished dealing with Jingxiang's affairs and was about to leave for Jinling, the news of Zhu Wen's death finally spread.

Zhu Wen, a tyrant who had been rampant in the world for 30 years in the troubled times at the end of the Tang Dynasty, was finally killed by his own son, and this news shocked the generals of Wu Guozhong.

However, Yang Wu was not surprised by this, after all, Zhu Wen in history ended up like this.

The only difference is that Zhu Wen seems to have died some time earlier than in history.

"Fearing authority but not virtue, relying only on authority to deter generals, and using brutality to intimidate ministers, this is not the right way!" Yang Wu sighed in his heart.

Zhu Wen, when he was the strongest, all the feudal towns in the world were intimidated by his great military might, and his subordinates were even more famous and capable.

However, Zhu Wen blindly controlled by authority, but ignored benevolence, and many famous generals under his command did not get a good death in the end.

Uncle Zong and Zhu Yougong, both of them were famous generals of the Liang State back then, especially Uncle Clan, who led the Liang army to defeat the Jin army, surrounded Jinyang City, and even forced Li Keyong to almost flee to the grassland.

If it weren't for the plague that happened to occur in the Liang army, which forced the Liang army to retreat, maybe the Jin Kingdom would have been wiped out at that time, and where would there be today's Li Cunmiao's fame that shocked the world.

However, such a famous general, after being ordered by Zhu Wen to kill Tang Zhaozong, was killed by Zhu Wen in order to get rid of the suspicion of killing the king.

In addition, there are famous generals such as Ding Hui and Liu Zhijun, who also betrayed Zhu Wen for various reasons, and there are even more generals who were killed by Zhu Wen earlier.

Under the control of authority alone, it is okay in a short period of time, but after a long time, all the generals are not fools, everyone has a scale in their hearts, and they all know what is good for them and what is not good for them.

So when Zhu Wen was still strong, he was able to deter his subordinates, so that they only had awe in their hearts and did not dare to resist, but when he fell ill on the bed, Zhu Youqi and Han Qing's fight showed his weakness undoubtedly.

Especially Han Qing, although the reason why he rebelled with Zhu Youqi was the temptation of Zhongwu Jiedu to make this position in it, but it was more due to fear.

If it weren't for Zhu Wen's random killing of heroes, which caused these veterans to feel that their lives could not be guaranteed, he would not have made up his mind to do the big case of killing the king.

In addition to lamenting Zhu Wen's death, Yang Wu also thought of his father Yang Xingmi.

When Yang Xingmi started his business in his early years, he killed many people at the suggestion of Yuan Xian, which certainly expanded Yang Xingmi's power in a short period of time, but it also brought many bad consequences.

Later, Yang Xingmi changed his strategy, mostly based on Huaide, showing generosity, and soon won the support of the Huainan generals, coupled with the defeat of Sun Ru in the Battle of Xuanzhou and the defeat of Zhu Wenjun in the Battle of Qingkou, which made Huainan's cohesion unprecedentedly strong, which laid the foundation of the later Wu State.

However, Yang Xingmi's strategy was too benevolent in some places, especially the local power of Huainan was too strong, and the assassins in various places were equivalent to small feudal towns, which greatly dispersed Huainan's strength and made it difficult for Huainan to take advantage of the confrontation with Wu Yue and other forces.

If it weren't for Yang Wu's later vigorous reforms and strengthening the centralization of power in Huainan, I am afraid that it would be difficult for the current Wu State to have the power it has now.

In addition, Yang Xingmi's strategy for treating his subordinates also has great problems, especially Zhang Hao, a repeated villain, who has betrayed many times, but Yang Xingmi still entrusts him to reuse, and even lets him serve as the commander of the pro-army, which lays a hidden danger for Yang Wu to be killed in history.

"If there is only authority, it will not work, there must also be benevolence; But on the other hand, if there is only benevolence and no authority, it is also impossible to succeed, and it is easy to be deceived by his subordinates. Only by attaching equal importance to authority and benevolence can we control the way. ”

Yang Wu had a feeling in his heart, and at the same time decided that in the future, his son should also teach them authority and benevolence, so that they should not rely too much on one of them, and must pay equal attention to both.

……

Compared with Yang Wu's many feelings, the feelings in the hearts of the ministers are much simpler.

In addition to the shock at the beginning, the joy followed.

"In the past, Zhu Wen killed the monarch and usurped the throne, and now he died at the hands of his own son, this is really retribution!" Among everyone, the most joyful should be Zhu Jin.

Zhu Jin was the envoy of the Taining Festival, and he fought with Zhu Wen for ten years, and finally was defeated and went south to Huainan, but his wife, children, and family all fell into the hands of Zhu Wen, and the fate can be imagined.

Therefore, the hatred between Zhu Jin and Zhu Wen is much deeper than that of the rest of Wu State.

"Yes, although Zhu Youqi passed on the throne to himself in the name of Zhu Wen, and passed on the blame for Zhu Wen's death to Zhu Youwen, how could this trick be hidden from the eyes and ears of the world? It's just a cover-up and a thief. ”

"As the saying goes, if you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself! Zhu Wen should end up like this! The other generals were equally happy.

Although there is no deep hatred between them and Zhu Wen, once the two families of Wu and Liang have been fighting for more than ten years, Liang Zi has long been formed and it is difficult to unravel.

Second, the Tang Dynasty has been established for 300 years, even if it declines in the later period, it is undeniable that the many glories created in its heyday are still worth remembering.

Although the generals of Wu did not have much nostalgia for the Tang Dynasty, they also did not have a good impression of Zhu Wen, the person who destroyed the Tang Dynasty with his own hands.

Now that Zhu Wen is dead, the generals will naturally applaud.

Of course, what will pay more attention to the generals is the next political changes in Houliang.

You must know that Zhu Youqi has done such a big thing, even outsiders can guess it, and people who want to come to Liang can even guess it.

Those ministers in the court, as well as those generals of the Liang army, may also have complicated feelings about Zhu Wen's death in their hearts, maybe there are still people who will be happy because of the "death of the tyrant", but this does not mean that they can accept a person who killed his father and stood on his own feet.

In this way, the situation in the Liang State will inevitably be turbulent, which is also a good and bad thing for the Wu State.

On the one hand, the situation in Liang is turbulent, which will give Wu the opportunity to take advantage of it.

Although the Wu army has seized the strategic location of Jingxiang, in general, the core territory of the Liang State is still firmly controlled by the Liang army, and it is not so easy for the Wu army to attack it.

And if there was chaos in the Liang State, the Wu army would naturally be able to easily seize some territory.

On the downside, also because of the turbulent situation in the Liang State, although the Wu State has the opportunity to take advantage of it, the Jin State also has the opportunity.

In this way, the strength of the Jin State was further enhanced, which was naturally unfavorable to the Wu State in the long run.

Of course, even without the turmoil caused by Zhu Wen's death, the general trend of the continued increase in the strength of the Jin State and the gradual decline of the strength of the Liang State will not change.

As for Yang Wu, although he knew that the civil strife finally ended with the successful accession to the throne by Zhu Youzhen, the king of Jun, he did not know what turmoil had occurred during this period and what opportunities Wu had to take advantage of.

After all, he couldn't remember all the details.

In addition, even if he remembered it clearly, it was useless, because the situation in the world today is very different from the situation in history, and the biggest difference is naturally the rise of the state of Wu.

Although Huainan in history is also a powerful force in the world, it is not comparable with the current Wu State.

And those local forces of Liang who were close to Wu might have felt that Huainan was too weak to protect them in history, so they did not dare to move casually.

But the state of Wu in this life is strong enough, maybe there will be some local careerists who take advantage of the chaos, and it is also a way out to take refuge in the state of Wu at that time.

"It is almost certain that in the next period of time, there will inevitably be some chaos on the side of Liang Guo, and there may be an opportunity for us to take advantage of it. Therefore, after the withdrawal of troops this time, the various departments must rest as soon as possible so that they can be ready to send troops at any time. Yang Wu finally explained.