In the face of Xue Shao's strong questioning and the anger of the generals, Pei Yan calmed down and said quietly: "General Xue, you heard it right, it is a hundred thousand royal divisions. ”

"But we have 200,000 people in Luoshui's army, and we don't know what to do with the remaining 100,000?" Xue Shao also asked rhetorically in a calm tone.

Pei Yan smiled.

He closed the file in his hand and said unhurriedly: "General Xue, there is something you must figure out. All the armies in the world belong to the Tang Dynasty, not to any general! ”

"Yes, I know." Xue Shao said, "But I need to ask clearly about the imperial court's arrangements for the whereabouts of these 200,000 troops. They are all my subordinates, my robes. After going back, Xue had to explain it to them clearly. Otherwise, Xue was worried that it would cause instability in the army's morale. I'm afraid, it's not a good thing. ”

"Are you threatening the Imperial Court?" Pei Yan's voice sank.

"Xue doesn't dare!" Xue Shao also raised his voice slightly, and said, "Xue just hopes that after he goes back, he can give a clear explanation to the soldiers under his command, Xue does not want to cause contradictions and chaos within the army because of this division of troops, this is Xue's responsibility!" ”

"If General Xue doesn't have the confidence to lead this 100,000 army to win for the country, then the imperial court can choose another famous general to replace him." Pei Yan obviously didn't have the slightest intention of backing down, and said with a heartfelt voice, "As for the arrangement of the other 100,000 troops, it is the secret of the military state, and it is not something you should ask!" ”

As soon as these words fell, the anger in the hearts of the generals present was instantly like a lit gas oil barrel, and it was about to explode collectively. Li Duozuo wanted to stand up as soon as he stood up, Guo Yuanzhen and Xue Chuyu hurriedly pulled him to death, "Don't forget the general's order!" ”

"You don't have to fight." At this moment, Wu Zetian stood up.

Wu Zetian was instructed by the former emperor to consult on the military affairs of "the emperor is not decided", but the political affairs hall is Pei Yan's territory, and she came here today like a "special guest" just sitting on the side seat to listen.

At this time, she walked into the hall and came to Xue Shao.

"General Xue, this palace understands what you mean and understands your distress." Wu Zetian said, "But think about it, now that the Tang Dynasty is in trouble, the imperial court is worth an eventful time, and the 200,000 troops under your command are the daring kings that the imperial court can call at any time." If all of them are handed over to you and taken to the northwest, in case of a change in the military state, where will the imperial court go to requisition soldiers and horses in an emergency? ”

Xue Shao didn't speak, and nodded silently.

"Maybe you and the generals here are thinking in their hearts, in addition to the Luoshui army, aren't there also the government soldiers?" Wu Zetian smiled and said, "This palace will ask you to think about it again, since the beginning of spring, there has been a great drought in Guanzhong, and the first emperor was forced to move the capital to Luoyang. The soldiers of the two capitals have always been mainly peasant households in Guanzhong. Now that because of this drought, it is too late for farmers to flee the famine, so where will there be a few government soldiers? There were a few government soldiers from other Daozhou counties other than Guanzhong, but the number was scarce and the combat strength was really difficult to guarantee. If you only rely on such a small amount of strength to defend the imperial capital, can you generals who are on an expedition be able to rest assured? ”

"What the Queen Mother said is true." Xue Shao arched his hand and said, "Actually, the minister is not against only bringing 100,000 soldiers and horses to the battle. The minister just wanted to ask how these soldiers and horses would be distributed. After the minister goes back, he will definitely face the doubts and interrogations of his brothers, if the minister does not ask clearly, how can he appease the army? ”

"Queen Mother!" Pei Yan seemed to be a little overwhelmed, and said in a loud voice, "The orders of the imperial court are for execution and obedience, not for explanation and questioning!" General Xue Da openly contradicted the cabinet and openly questioned the edict in the political affairs hall, which was already a strict violation. Please expel him from the government hall and discuss it again! ”

Xue Shao and Li Duozuo, these generals, are about to break out on the spot!

"Pei Xianggong, please also calm your anger." Wu Zetian hurriedly said, "Things in the army are different from those of the imperial court, and the feelings of the soldiers must be appeased and taken care of, otherwise they will not be able to fight with peace of mind when they get to the front, which will lay a bad hidden danger for the victory or defeat of the war." Therefore, this palace will make an exception to explain to General Xue. In fact, General Xue's purpose was only to appease the army, he did not intend to target Pei Xianggong, nor did he question and oppose the imperial court's edict - General Xue, is that so? ”

Xue Shao took a deep breath, "Queen Mother, that's exactly what the minister meant!" ”

"Okay......" Pei Yan also barely held back his anger, nodded unwillingly and disdainfully, then sat down, waved his sleeves and made a 'I don't care' posture, "Then please ask the Queen Mother to explain in detail on your behalf!" ”

Everyone present can see that Pei Yan's attitude is very arrogant, and there is also dissatisfaction with the Queen Mother.

Wu Zetian smiled, walked a few steps in front of Li Duozuo and the others, and said: "Generals, this palace knows that you are all life and death robes who share weal and woe and take care of each other. If you are temporarily separated by war, you will definitely have some emotional difficulties. But for the sake of the overall situation of the safety of the country and the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty, you must give up these personal emotions and devote yourself to killing the enemy and serving the country. Hongu believes that you can do it! ”

Li Duozuo and the others are not ignorant, and most of their anger comes from Pei Yan's arrogance and indifference. Hearing Wu Zetian's kind words and persuasion, they all stood up and clasped their fists together, "The minister is ordered!" ”

"This palace knows that the generals of my Tang Dynasty, especially the commands of General Xue, are all good men who are reasonable, righteous and affectionate!" Wu Zetian said with a smile, "This palace can tell you in advance, although you will only take away half of the robes on this expedition, but the other half of your brothers in the robes will be assigned to the command of Zuo Wei and still stay in Luoyang." They will be in the Luoshui camp, waiting for you to return triumphantly! ”

Hearing this, Li Duozuo and the others felt much more comfortable, and clasped their fists together, "Empress Dowager Xie!" ”

"Generals, do you still have questions?" Wu Zetian asked with a smile.

"Back to the Queen Mother, no!"

"Then please sit down, shall we move on?" Wu Zetian smiled.

Li Duozuo and the others all sat down, and Xue Shao also walked back to prepare to take a seat. When he was passing by Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian handed him a "vicious" look, signaling him not to make another mistake.

Xue Shao nodded lightly to show his understanding, and sat back quietly.

Pei Yan glanced at Xue Shao and the others coldly, opened his official file again, and continued to talk about the personnel arrangements and material allocation for this expedition.

In addition to the temporary selection of Cheng Qizhi and the transfer to the left guard as a general, there is nothing surprising in the personnel arrangement, the original team of the right guard basically went out with Xue Shao, and served as various positions in the front march road and the governor's mansion. It is not difficult to see from this arrangement that the Queen Mother, Pei Yan and others are still a little worried that the Luoshui army will be in chaos, so they left Cheng Qizhi to appease.

Although Cheng Qizhi has not stayed in the Luoshui army for a long time, he is not only Xue Shao's old friend and colleague, but also Cheng Wuting's son. If you don't look at the face of the monk and look at the face of the Buddha, the remaining half of the Luoshui army should not make Cheng Qizhi particularly embarrassed.

However, the allocation of army materials made Xue Shao and others feel a fire in their hearts.

For grain and grass, the imperial court only gave Xue Shao 200,000 stones. According to the standard rations in the army, this amount is only enough for 100,000 troops to eat for half a year at most, not counting the various losses and the food and drink of the people, nor the horse feed. It is true that some forage grass can be obtained this season as horse feed, but in addition to eating wild grass, war horses must also have special horse feed such as soybeans and alfalfa, otherwise they will run out of stomach and weak legs, so how can they fight?

And the food of a war horse is six times that of a sergeant!

After conversion, the grain and grass given by the imperial court are only enough for Xue Shao for three or four months at most!

This is not the most annoying thing for Xue Shao and others.

The Luoshui army is a recruit, and recruits have to eat military salaries. Similar to grain and grass, the military salary allocated by the imperial court to Xue Shao was only enough for him to spend five or six months at most, not counting some miscellaneous expenses that were likely to occur, such as various military supplies that had to be purchased at the front line, medical treatment for the wounded and sick, and pensions for the dead.

In addition, the Luoshui army was originally formed to conquer the ten Turks who rebelled in the Western Regions, mainly cavalry, and even the infantry were all equipped with pack horses, so there were a lot of horses in the army, and almost more than two people had them. When the imperial court withdrew to Luoyang to station, the army returned most of the war horses to the six stables of the Chang'an Inner Garden, leaving only a few horses necessary for daily training patrols and emergencies.

Now that he was about to go on the expedition again, the imperial court gave Xue Shao 20,000 war horses and 50,000 pack horses, which was less than one-fifth of the number of horses in the past!

"How can this battle be fought?!" There were really people who couldn't help but roar, Dugu Yizhi.

"Get out!" Without waiting for Pei Yan and Wu Zetian to go crazy, Xue Shaoxian shouted.

Dugu Yizhi angrily punched on the table, and rushed out of the political hall. His good brother Sha Zha Zhongyi also rushed out angrily.

"General Xue, you should discipline your subordinates well." Pei Yan said coldly, "Rushing into the political hall like this, this pavilion has never seen it before!" - Remembering that this is the first time they have come to the government hall, this is the only time to do it! ”

"Thank you." Xue Shao also replied to him coldly, too lazy to talk nonsense with him.

The meeting continued, but it became a one-man show for Pei Yan alone, and no one said anything more. It wasn't until the end of the meeting that Pei Yan handed over the documents developed by the imperial court to Xue Shao and asked him to take someone to Chang'an to receive military supplies, that Xue Shao said to Pei Yan -

"Pei Xianggong, you and I will leave it at that."

Pei Yan was slightly stunned, and didn't understand for a moment whether there was a deep meaning in Xue Shao's words?

Xue Shao smiled coldly and almost snatched the paperwork from Pei Yan's hand, and took the proud soldiers and generals under his command and left.