Everyone returned to Naha City, and Shi Luosheng calculated the time, and it was almost time to return to Xiao Daocheng.

Shi Luosheng briefly explained a few words and left in a hurry with Liu Zixuan and Wang Lun, the government affairs of Naba City were still in charge of Takenaka Shigeji and Shi Pre, and the military aspect was in charge of Ling Zhen, Ling Zhen would be stationed in Naha City from now on, in addition, Shi Luosheng also asked Hua Haoxuan and Yin Thief Li and Ji Luer, among the eight generals of the day, to stay behind to assist Ling Zhen in maintaining law and order in the city.

In the past, when there was only Changxing Island, I still felt that there were many people around me, but now there is only one more Naha City, and I obviously feel that there is not enough manpower.

Shi Luosheng repeatedly told Shi to find a way to allocate a group of talents from Naha to make reserves for the future governance of the entire Ryukyu Islands.

After this battle, the five major forces on the Ryukyu Islands, except for Liu Suojing, the other ones either surrendered or were exterminated. In the short term, there will be no new enemies here.

After Jiang Huanyan arranged Anmei Island and Dadong Island, she also planned to take Jiang Wan'er back to Jiaozhou together, and then send Wan'er back to Naha after Shi Luosheng successfully resigned.

Ni Yun was also preparing to withdraw to Xiachuan Island, during this time he knew Shi Luosheng's true intention to defeat Naha, and planned to go back to discuss with Huang Songsheng whether to incorporate Xiachuan into Changxing Island, lest when Qi and Song went to war in the future, Xiachuan Island would become cannon fodder first.

A month later, Shi Luosheng took Liu Zixuan and Wang Lun back to Jianye City, although it was a little later than the return date agreed with Xiao Daocheng, but it was not too much of a mistake.

"General Wei, you can be regarded as coming back, how has the training of the navy been in the past half a year?" Xiao Daocheng saw Shi Luosheng and asked with a little blame.

Shi Luosheng hurriedly apologized: "It's the minister's negligence, this time it was the minister who put the location of the naval army's training in the overseas Ryukyu Islands, so the time was a little longer than expected, but the results of the training were also very obvious." Chen is confident that even if we directly face the Qi National Naval Army next time, we will not be weaker. ”

Xiao Daocheng was overjoyed: "That's great, I plan to transfer a part of the navy to Jingzhou after the beginning of spring next year to prepare for the next expedition to Chu." Chu did not have a naval army, and when they encountered water battles before, they drove the army to the ship as a naval envoy. If such an army dares to go to war with us, they will surely lose. General Wei, what do you think of my thoughts? ”

Of course, Shi Luosheng couldn't sweep away Xiao Daocheng's interest: "Your Majesty's idea is indeed feasible, now that all the pirates in the Xianghu area have been exterminated, our navy can only go to Ryukyu if it wants to fight, and now it is also a good choice to transfer some sailors to Jingzhou." But Your Majesty, didn't you promise the Prime Minister not to use troops outside the country for two years? Why do you start preparing now? ”

Xiao Daocheng smiled: "The soldiers are not tired of cheating, now the whole world knows that I will not use troops externally in two years, if during this period, I send a naval army from Jingzhou down the Yangtze River to attack Xiang Tong's Xiakou, do you think Xiang Tong can hold it?" ”

Shi Luosheng thought for a while and said: "If you plan carefully, let General Deng lead an army to contain Xiang Tong from the land, and then we will suddenly kill from the waterway, it is really possible to catch Xiang Tong off guard, and last time the Qi State also used this trick to sneak attack Penglai of the Yan State." Even if our sneak attack fails, we can calmly withdraw from the waterway, and if Xiang Tong dares to send people to pursue, most of them will not be the opponent of our navy. I don't know this idea of His Majesty, does General Deng know? ”

Xiao Daocheng couldn't help but be happy when he first heard that Shi Luosheng also agreed with his strategy, and then mentioned Deng Yuanjue, his face changed slightly: "General Deng has been fighting for the country for many years, it is really too hard, I decided to let him rest for a while, as long as it is not a particularly important war in the future, you will go out for him, and you young people should also bear more." ”

Tian Wuji of Qi is in his fifties, Xiang Tong of Chu and Ning Zeping of Yan are also nearly fifty years old, and the three of them are still active on the front line of the battlefields of Qi, Chu and Yan. And Deng Yuanjue is only in his early forties, and Xiao Daocheng wants to abandon it on the grounds of hard work. In addition to the meaning of suppressing the family, it is also related to the rapid growth of a group of young generals such as Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan.

In addition, there is another reason why Xiao Daocheng did not say it explicitly, that is, Deng Yuanjue has been named the protector of the country, and he is a very popular minister, if he makes new contributions, how can Xiao Daocheng be rewarded? Do you want to give him up your throne? If there is no reward for merit, then how to convince the following generals? Therefore, Xiao Daocheng was also helpless, so he could only abandon Deng Yuanjue in advance.

Shi Luosheng still had questions: "If General Deng does not go to war this time, then who does Your Majesty plan to send to command the army?" ”

Xiao Daocheng thought about Liu Zixuan, but the relationship between Liu Zixuan and Shi Luosheng was like a person, if Liu Zixuan was allowed to command the army, it would be equivalent to handing over the army to Shi Luosheng. At that time, Shi Luosheng's military power will be greater than Deng Yuanjue's, because when Deng Yuanjue was in charge of the Great Song army, the Great Song Dynasty did not have a naval army.

Xiao Daocheng said: "General Deng's official position remains unchanged, and the army is still in charge of the general, but Wu Teng will do it for him if he leads the troops to fight." ”

Wu Teng is Deng Yuanjue's descendant general, and he will lead the troops instead of Deng Yuanjue, and Deng Yuanjue can reluctantly accept it.

Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan were also the first to come out of Wu Teng's forward battalion, and among the generals of the Song State, except for Deng Yuanjue, Wu Teng was the oldest, and he was a good candidate to go on behalf of Deng Yuanjue.

It's just that although Wu Teng has been fighting for many years, the battles he has fought are mainly defensive, he is a defensive general, and offense is not his strong point.

Of course, these words, Shi Luosheng would only think in his heart, and it was impossible to say them in front of Xiao Daocheng.

When he came back this time, he was still thinking about how to resign from Xiao Daocheng, and now it seems that he doesn't need to speak, Xiao Daocheng has planned to let him lead his troops to attack Xiakou after the spring of next year, and now even if he says it, there will be no result.

After leaving the palace, Shi Luosheng, as usual, went to the General's Mansion with Liu Zixuan.

"You're back, it's not a short time to go out this time, I heard that you have gained a lot in the Ryukyus?" Deng Yuanjue was half lying on the chair, saw the two of them walk in, put down the military book in the book, and said with a pointed smile.

Shi Luosheng was shocked, it seemed that his overseas affairs had been known to Deng Yuanjue. It's normal to think about it, this time there was such a big move, even the naval armies of Song, Qi, and Yan were mobilized, if Deng Yuanjue didn't know at all, then could he still be regarded as the number one general in the world?

Shi Luosheng scratched his head and changed the topic: "Father-in-law, Your Majesty plans to attack Xiakou after the beginning of spring next year, what do you think about this?" ”

Although Xiao Daocheng did not plan to send Deng Yuanjue to the battlefield again, such a big matter must be discussed with Deng Yuanjue first.

Deng Yuanjue picked up the teacup in his hand and didn't answer directly, but asked, "Tell me your opinion first?" ”

Shi Luosheng is also accustomed to Deng Yuanjue's style: "I think Your Majesty's move is also feasible, whether you can take Xiakou this time is still second, if you can intercept Xiang Tong and annihilate his 100,000 army, then Chu State will no longer be a threat to our Great Song Dynasty." ”

Deng Yuanjue sighed lightly: "It seems that you have also been persuaded by Your Majesty, it is true that there will not be much risk in sneaking into Xiakou, but the successive victories may not be a good thing for our Great Song." ”

Shi Luosheng was a little puzzled: "Is my father-in-law worried that His Majesty will be reckless?" ”

Deng Yuanjue nodded silently: "Your Majesty promised the prime minister not to use troops again within two years, but now it's only been a year and you can't help but sneak attack Xiakou, if you win this time, don't expect Your Majesty to stop in the future." At this time last year, he was just thinking that it would be good to win the Chu State once on the battlefield, and then he wanted to capture a city in the Chu State, and then his goal was to occupy the entire state and county. After this time, I'm afraid what he thinks about is how to destroy the Chu State. ”

These words are not alarmist, and Xiao Daocheng's personality of great joy is completely done. In the past two years, although the Song State has won successive victories on the battlefield, it has also emptied the treasury.

It is true that the Song State is the country of Shuize Township, but it can't help but fight for many years, the last time it fought Jizhou was to raise the war with war, if it wasn't for Deng Yuanjue's quick victory over Yongzhou and other four cities, the national strength of the Song State was simply not enough to support and Xiang Tong to fight a war of attrition in Jingzhou.

With the current national strength of the Great Song Dynasty, once the Song army is frustrated on the battlefield and cannot occupy new cities in time to replenish itself, the finances of the entire country will be affected, and the army will also be in danger.

At that time, the crisis can only be resolved by imposing heavy taxes on the people, but after a long time, the people will also be overwhelmed, and the people's grievances will arise, and even more serious may even shake the rule of the Xiao family in the Great Song Dynasty.

Shi Luosheng was lucky: "Is there a way to stop Your Majesty from sending troops?" ”

Deng Yuanjue lowered his head and thought for a while: "Yes, but you need to make sacrifices." ”

"What sacrifice?"

"Only if you lose to the Chu army can you make Your Majesty stop using troops."

After Deng Yuanjue's words were finished, the three people in the room were silent.

What does defeat mean, this goes without saying, can Xiao Daocheng accept defeat? If the battle is really defeated, what will Xiao Daocheng do with Shi Luosheng?

On the way back, Liu Zixuan asked in frustration: "Will we still participate in the Battle of Chu in three months?" If we participate, will we do our best to win or will we deliberately lose to Xiang Tong? If we win, we have to continue to fight, and there will be Shouchun and even the capital of Qi State behind. If we lose, we may not be able to save our lives. ”

Shi Luosheng could only smile bitterly: "People's desires are really unsatisfying, as long as the current desires are satisfied, new and greater desires will appear immediately." Even if I ask Your Majesty to resign now, he will not be able to agree, and it seems that he can only find a way to cheat to death. ”

Liu Zixuan has heard Shi Luosheng mention it many times, and now he is not surprised: "Have you already thought of a specific plan?" ”

Shi Luosheng laughed: "Originally, there was none, but I thought of one in the General's Mansion just now, let's go back to Mr. Wang first, this time we went to Xiakou, and the three of us died together." ”