After carefully analyzing the content of the telegram, Bai Fan muttered: "Don't be too anxious, judging from the battle situation, the combat effectiveness of Tianzhu Kingdom is not as good as that of Datang, at least they don't have thunder in their hands, and if they can win the naval battle, they still rely on night battles to sneak attack, and they are not as good as us in frontal combat."

So there is no need to worry about the fact that they will counterattack Datang to take revenge. ”

Li Jing nodded and said: "Yes, it is precisely this reason, now Hou Junji's trouble is not from abroad, but from home, and the DPRK and China will definitely investigate his mistakes for losing troops and generals by acting privately, and his position as a naval admiral will not be guaranteed." ”

"No, it's not that, Your Majesty is virtuous, and you don't know anyone, the only one in Datang who is proficient in naval warfare is Hou Junji, and he won't change generals in battle anyway, who can shoulder the burden of the navy if he replaces Hou Junji?" Bai Fan retorted.

Li Jing smiled and nodded: "You kid take it for granted, there are many people who covet this position, how can the struggle for power in the DPRK be so simple, look at it, if you don't make a move, Hou Junji will inevitably need to take responsibility for himself." ”

"Hahahaha, Your Majesty hasn't seen the military report yet, Feng An's telegram has been sent to me, this meaning couldn't be more obvious, this Lord of Lingnan is asking me to help, and the position of Lao Hou is still guaranteed by me, I supported him all the way to build the navy, and now that the navy has been trained, is it possible to watch the fruit picked by others? Naturally, I was going to make a move. ”

On the other side, Hou Junji led his troops back to Lingnan in frustration, and when there was a signal in the South China Sea, Hou Junji had already written a telegram to the imperial court.

"Old Hou, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, why be so depressed? You are also a famous general who has been in battle for a long time, and you are used to seeing life and death, why do you act like this? Feng Ang asked.

"Oh, shame! Defeated by a group of small fishing boats, what face will be rampant on this sea in the future? Where am I worthy to be this admiral? ”

"You are the head of the navy, this is the time for you to help the navy hold on, don't worry, I have already asked Zhi to reorganize the armament, you take a rest, and lead the troops to find the field again, the Datang Navy can't clean up the natives of the barbarian land? This time I'll do the logistics for you personally. ”

Feng Ang said sincerely, Hou Junji was moved in his heart, took Feng An's hand and said: "Thank you Brother Feng for such support, the matter of fighting again needs to wait for the court to deal with me, I have already written a petition for guilt."

In the past two days, please do my brother a favor, we have lost more than 10,000 soldiers in this naval battle, and I will help them see them off here. ”

At the same time, Li Erzheng in the palace was holding a telegram with a blue face, and after a long time, he shouted angrily: "Okay, you Hou Junji, dare to send troops without the king's order?" Losing soldiers doesn't count, but they still dare to go to the book to ask for war? Is this navy up to you, Hou Junji, or me?

Come, pass the decree down, and after an hour, the small court meeting of the council hall. ”

In the council hall, the ministers were discussing, and Li Er did not say a word since he read the contents of the telegram, but waited for everyone below to speak.

And the ministers also looked at each other, and no one wanted to be the first bird.

At this time, Li Ji stood up and said: "Your Majesty, although General Hou is suspected of sending troops without permission, his original intention is still good, and he intends to raise the prestige of our country overseas. ”

"Hehe, Li Dashuai is good at excusing people, he Hou Junji is clearly sending troops privately to provoke strong enemies for the Tang Dynasty, and now he is defeated and can't hold it before he dares to ask the court for help, such an act, how can he talk about his prestige overseas? It is clear that His Majesty and the court are not taken into account. An imperial historian stepped forward and said loudly.

Li Ji didn't even look at the man, and then Li Er frowned and said, "What?" Mao Gong, do you think Hou Junji did the right thing? I remember that when Funan was destroyed, you, the commander of the army, had advised me not to be in a hurry, and now you actually supported him Hou Junji to start a war wantonly? ”

"Your Majesty, the minister is not who to support or who not to support, but no matter what, the war has begun, and it is taboo to change generals before the war, for the future of the Tang Navy, Hou Junji should not be severely punished at this time."

"Unfair rewards and punishments? These words come from the mouth of a military department book, which is really incredible.

Your Majesty, Hou Jun has no king, and privately launched a war against other countries to destroy diplomatic relations, attracting strong enemies for the Tang Dynasty, this kind of crime is not punished severely, and it is absolutely impossible to give an explanation to the country, please Your Majesty will be aware of it. ”

Seeing this situation, Li Ji knew that he had done his best, even if he brought the generals to fight the enemy, it would only increase His Majesty's disgust, not to mention that the generals in the army did not necessarily have the same heart as themselves, and not all of them supported Hou Junji.

At this time, Wei Zheng asked Tang Jian, the secretary of Honglu Temple: "Ju Guogong, I am lonely and unheard, I don't know when my Tang Dynasty established diplomatic relations with the overseas Tianzhu Kingdom?" ”

Tang Jian shook his head and said, "How can there be such a thing?" Datang has never been with this Tianzhu country at all, but listening to the people below, there were one or two merchants who had business with that side during the pre-Sui period and the Wude period.

Oh, by the way, speaking of Tianzhu, I remembered, in the second year of Zhenguan, I had a monk named Master Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty, claiming to personally go to Tianzhu Buddha to seek the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, and His Majesty seemed to have summoned him at that time.

Could this Tianzhu be that Tianzhu Buddha Country? So, the Buddhism of the Tang Dynasty was passed from this Tianzhu? ”

Wei Zheng seemed to suddenly realize, "Oh! I see, I don't think it will be bad.

When these people say that the Tang Dynasty and Tianzhu have diplomatic relations, do they mean that the Tianzhu Kingdom spread Buddhist scriptures to our Datang that deceived the people? It seems that you should be devout believers in Buddhism, I don't know if you are the minister of the Tang Dynasty, or the official of Buddhism? ”

"This, surnamed Wei, you are bloody, I don't believe in Buddhism or Taoism, it has nothing to do with Tianzhu, just talk about Hou Junji's guilt, you don't want to deduct the crime." The man's face turned red.

"Hehe, people's hearts are separated from their stomachs, who knows?" Wei Zheng smiled and ignored it, and said in his heart that you are allowed to attack your political enemies and seriously injure them, so you are not allowed to say two words about you?

For a while, there was a war of words in the court, Li Er was annoyed, Hou Junji was his confidant, but this incident really made him troublesome, if it was serious, it would be suspected of supporting the army and standing on his own.

"The minister thinks that General Hou Junji should not be punished."

A firm voice came from outside the hall and resounded in everyone's hearts, and the hall immediately quieted down, and then saw that the door of the hall was pushed open, Bai Fan strode in, and the ministers paid attention, and said in their hearts, why did he come?