Zou Fang was indeed a little panicked, looking at Wang Zhen's black and distorted face, his back was soaked with sweat, obviously Wang Gonggong was really angry this time.

And what's worse is that it was he Zou Shilang who pushed Lu Zhen out in front of His Majesty and spoke. Although the person is indeed chosen by Wang Zhen, the prince who is angry will not tell him any reason, and it is natural for him to be angry.

In this case, the only thing Zou Fang could do was to quickly state his position and at the same time repel Lu Jin. Fortunately, the other colleagues were not slow to react, and when they saw this situation, they also stepped forward to support, and finally suppressed Lu Jin's momentum.

But at this moment, an old voice suddenly sounded: "Zou Shilang, it's really inappropriate for you to say this. Lu County Ling can come up and speak, isn't it recommended by you? What's the matter, are you going back on your word again now? ”

As soon as these words came out, the originally noisy scene suddenly quieted down, Zou Fang's body trembled suddenly, and he opened his mouth, but he didn't dare to refute it. The others didn't dare to act even more, and they stood there one by one with a sneering expression, it was Wang Zhen, and his face changed again.

Because the person who said this was Yang Pu, the most famous and oldest cabinet assistant in the court today. Although he has always been peaceful, he rarely puts his qualifications or relies on the old to sell the old, but as long as he opens his mouth, let alone ordinary officials, even today he can only listen.

Moreover, his words really hit the nail on the head, he was originally recommended by Zou Fang, and now he is so accusing him, isn't this a slap in the face? Thinking of this, many officials showed a look of schadenfreude, and they naturally hated this colleague who betrayed his position.

Among them, Zou Fang's boss, Xu Xi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was the most happy, and he also took the opportunity to follow and said: "Yes, such a big court meeting, Your Majesty can't tolerate you being so upside down, are you trying to bully the king?" ”

This big hat was directly buttoned down, which frightened Zou Fang's heart even more flustered, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the minister never dared to have such disrespectful thoughts, but what Lu Zhen said was too sensational, so he spoke out against it." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister feels that what he said does have some truth, and it really points to the problems in my Ming border and the army." Xu Xi naturally would not let go of this opportunity, and immediately went-for-tat.

Zhu Qizhen also showed a look of doubt on his face: "Lu Jin, even I feel that there are many contradictions in what you said, since you said that there are many disadvantages in not using troops against the Mongolian people, why do you say that you should not use soldiers at this time?" ”

Because of their identity, when Zou Fang and they reprimanded themselves, Lu Jin, a small county order, was really hard to refute. It wasn't until now that the Son of Heaven asked, and he bowed down and explained: "Your Majesty, Wei Chenshi never mentioned how many disadvantages there are in not sending troops, and the minister only said that the border army should change. ”

Sure enough, he left a button here. Yang Pu had a warm smile on his face, and looked at this young man deeply, his scheming was really not shallow.

Orthodoxy frowned a little puzzled: "Is there any difference between the two?" ”

"Just now, the minister was about to explain further, but he was interrupted by Zou Shilang's words, and I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!" Lu Jin hurriedly admitted his mistake. However, these words were insinuations, accusing Zou Fang of not doing so, which made his expression stiffen and his heart even more angry.

"Then you should be careful, I would like to hear your opinion." Orthodoxy nodded his head.

Lu Jin hurriedly said yes, and then continued: "Actually, the reason mentioned just now is still part of the reason, and there are some other reasons related to the Mongolian people, which are not conducive to my sending troops. Your Majesty and all of you know that during the Han and Tang dynasties, the Central Plains raised troops to kill the grassland tribes, and even some tribes were completely wiped out. But the minister wants to ask, in this case, why are there still so many tribes rooted in the grassland today? ”

This question was really a bit tricky, which made everyone stunned, and a few subconsciously shook their heads, obviously never thinking about this.

Lu Jin didn't expect them to give him an answer, so he asked himself and answered: "Actually, to put it bluntly, it's just because it's difficult for them to do their best." The grassland in the north is extremely vast, and our Central Plains army invaded it, even if it mobilized millions of people, it still could not truly completely occupy the entire grassland. In this way, the northern Hulu will have a great way to retreat, even if the vitality is greatly damaged, there will still be fire. For example, the Xiongnu, Turkic and other tribes, although their power was weakened because of the blows of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and even extinction was exterminated, but this is just the digestion within the grassland, and the demise of an old tribe will inevitably allow a new tribe to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, after the Xiongnu there was the Turks, after the Turks there were the Khitans, and after the Khitans were the Jurchens and the Mongols.

"For my Ming Dynasty, even if Emperor Taizong is brave and wise, going deep into the grassland a few times can only break the Mongolian people apart, but it is difficult to completely eliminate them, it is precisely for this reason. And today's imperial court, can it really reach the strength of Emperor Taizong? ”

This question, everyone, including the Son of Heaven, did not dare to answer yes, because Emperor Yongle was the ancestor they worshipped, and the ancients had a tradition of thick and thin on the past and thin on the present, so it was naturally impossible to think that the Ming Dynasty was stronger than Emperor Yongle now.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen just smiled and continued: "As the minister just said, the money, food, soldiers and horses to be consumed for the use of soldiers against the Mongolian people are incalculable, is it really cost-effective? ”

This account was put in front of the emperor, and Zhu Qizhen was a little shaken. After all, he is not a mediocre person, and he can still distinguish the importance of it. They will not ignore the thousands of Li people and the country because of their own likes and dislikes.

Lu Zhen continued to strike while the iron was hot: "In addition, there are actually disputes within the Mongolian people now, which may not be a good thing for me Daming. As long as they do not stop internal friction, then the Ming Dynasty can reap the benefits of the fisherman. But once we really use troops against the grassland, I am afraid that the Mongolian people will unite in order to protect themselves. Originally, the Warat Taishi was also a man of great talent and strategy, and it was likely that he would reunify the grassland after some efforts. If I send troops at this time, it will only create better conditions for him.

"Therefore, whether it is from my own Ming Dynasty or against the Mongolian people, it is not a wise choice to raise troops to attack at this time. This is the reason why the minister thinks that he cannot send troops, and he hopes that His Majesty will know it. ”

After saying this, many officials nodded frequently. There are some things they can think of, and some things they haven't even considered, but they don't want to be taken into account by such a small county order as Lu Jin. This made them admire it and attach a little more importance to it.

Even the Son of Heaven also looked solemn at this time: "In this way, it is really not time to send troops." ”

"Lu Jin, you have said so much, but the question just now has not been explained clearly. Your words are inconsistent, but how do you say them? Seeing that everyone nodded when Lu Jin's words were said, Zou Fang didn't feel a little anxious, so he could only hold a little pursuit.

Lu Zhen was already prepared, and said with a smile: "Zou Shilang, don't be impatient, the official has not finished speaking." Mongolian people have always been a big problem for my Ming Dynasty, so naturally I can't let it go. And the situation of the northern border army is indeed not optimistic, so the imperial court must take measures to change this.

"According to Weichen's shallow opinion, for the Mongolian people, I will eventually speak with swords. But this is not now, but in the future. We should spend 10 or 20 years arranging a major plan against the grasslands, weakening them little by little, and at the same time strengthening the strength of our border army, and then destroying this formidable enemy in one fell swoop. ”

"That's nice, do you have anything that really works?"

"Of course." In the face of the other party's provocation, Lu Zhen refused at all: "Your Majesty, the war of annihilation is by no means an overnight thing, and it should be done slowly." Specifically, it is nothing more than to strengthen our Ming border army, for example, every year to transport enough grain, grass and ordnance to the north and hoard it. As long as it is a small amount of hoarding, it will not affect the use of the imperial court, and it will not cause too much pressure on the people. But after a few years and decades of preparation, under the accumulation of sand into a tower and the accumulation of water into an abyss, these grain and ordnance will be enough for the future northern expedition of the army. In addition, during this period, the border army, the Beijing army, and other local garrisons were mobilized more to strengthen the army of the whole country. In this way, when the army is really used against the Mongolian people in the future, there will be no trouble due to the lack of elites, and the border towns can still be guarded by people and horses.

"On the other hand, it is to weaken the power of the Mongolian people in the grassland. At this point, the minister thought that as long as he co-opted and helped some tribes who dared to be enemies of Warat, and helped them to continue to fight against them, so that the Yexian and his ilk could not truly unify the grassland, and let them continue to fall into the quagmire of mutual attack, they would be able to greatly reduce their resistance in the future.

The minister also has a deep understanding of this. Those steppe tribes actually have some opinions about the Warat, especially the Tatar lineage, because they are from a golden family, and after Genghis Khan, there are more complaints about the improper origin of the Warat tribe. If they can be co-opted and used to drive away the wolf, the situation in the grassland will become more and more chaotic. ”

Some of these strategies against the Mongolian people in the grassland were summarized from the materials sent by Wang Zhen, and some were seen and remembered by Lu Zhen from various forums and other places before he crossed over.

This made the officials look at him with a little more surprise and admiration, even a big man like Yang Pu and Xu Xi was also full of appreciation for Lu Jin, feeling that this young man did have great talent and was a talent needed by the imperial court.

And the Son of Heaven was already stunned by Lu Jin's words, he didn't have much military knowledge, and he couldn't make up his mind at this time. In the end, he turned his gaze to the body of a noble military general not far in front of him: "British duke, what do you think about this?" ”