The next day, there was no early court, and around the time of the morning, Xue Shao and the generals of the right guard entered the palace at the same time, and went to the Zhongshu Provincial Political Affairs Hall to prepare to participate in the pre-war military meeting held here.

Wu Zetian's car arrived almost at the same time as Xue Shao and the others. Xue Shao was about to step forward to pay a salute, when he suddenly saw Wu Yizong, the secretary of the military department, running out of the political hall, Xue Shao hurriedly stopped.

When Wu Zetian got off the car, Wu Yizong personally brought the little horse to let her step on it, and then supported her with both hands very attentively.

"Slave knee!" Li Duozuo was upright and couldn't help but scold in a low voice.

Xue Shao glanced at him and smiled without saying a word.

"General, will we always be in the company of such slaves and maids in the future?" Li Duozuo said in an angry voice.

The military department is in charge of the military of the whole country, and the generals of the 12 guards must be transferred by the military department.

was ridden to the head to shit and pee by a waste slave like Wu Chenghe, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Li Duozuo was definitely not the only one who had the same chagrin and depression, and Xue Shao himself was also one of them. But he just smiled and said to Li Duozuo: "It's like a bad luck with sores on your head and forced to wear a broken hat, as long as the person is not rotten." Sooner or later, this sore will be fine. ”

Li Duozuo suddenly laughed, "Reasonable, reasonable!" ”

The colleagues of the right guard have always been like-minded, and when they heard the conversation between Xue Shao and Li Duozuo, the other generals also laughed.

Hearing the laughter, Wu Zetian turned his head and saw Xue Shao and the others, so he called: "Xue Shao, come here." ”

"Yes." Xue Shao responded to Yinuo and walked over, his eyes signaling his generals to restrain a little and stop talking nonsense.

Wu Ze waved his hand and motioned for Wu Chenghei to avoid.

Wu Chengsi was holding his aunt's elbow affectionately and proudly to accompany her all the way, but as soon as Xue Shao came, he was ruthlessly blasted away, he was embarrassed and annoyed to glared at Xue Shao twice, and then obediently agreed to the promise, and retreated and returned to the political hall first.

Wu Zetian and Xue Shao coincidentally chose to completely ignore these small actions of Wu Chenghe.

"See the Queen Mother." Xue Shao's eyes did not squint.

"No courtesy." Wu Zetian waved his hand and motioned for Xue Shao to walk side by side with him, and the attendants who accompanied him also felt a little farther away.

"Later, when you get to the political hall, no matter what you hear, even if you encounter some injustice, you have to endure it." Wu Zetian said in a low voice, "And these fierce generals under your command also have to endure it!" ”

"Yes." Xue Shao was shocked in his heart, could it be that there was something else?

Wu Zetian didn't say anything more, and walked straight into the political hall. Xue Shao stopped and waited for his colleagues behind.

"The Queen Mother has a good time to teach the general again?" Li Duozuo asked with a smile.

Xue Shao nodded, "Brothers, when you get to the political hall later, just bring your ears and not your mouth, just listen." But if there is any unpleasantness, endure it first. When we go back, the brothers will discuss it with each other - this is a military order! ”

Li Duozuo and the others were stunned at the same time, and then promised, "Obey the general's orders!" ”

"Let's go inside!"

Xue Shao once went to the political hall in Chang'an, which was the place where Fang Xuanling, the famous minister of Zhenguan in the era of Emperor Taizong, once worked. Most of the officials of Zhenguan Dynasty and Qingming Dynasty advocated simplicity, and the old government hall in Chang'an Menxia Province was quite simple, except for the necessary tables, chairs, bookshelves and couch screens, etc., there was nothing else.

Not long ago, Pei Yan took office in the Zhongshu Order and moved the political hall to the Zhongshu Gate, and the Queen Mother personally ordered someone to install the spring here, and decorate the new political hall not inferior to the emperor's imperial study.

After Li Duozuo and the others walked into the political hall, they looked left and right and were very surprised, and whispered that this is worthy of being the official office of the prime minister's office, which is called a brilliant style!

A moment later, the Queen Mother, Pei Yan and other prime ministers came. Everyone was seated, and the meeting began.

"First of all, the Cabinet will announce a new personnel appointment." Pei Yan presided over the meeting as the chief prime minister, and he was the first to speak, "Promotion, Cheng Qizhi will be the general of the Left Guard, and he will take office immediately." ”

Xue Shao and the others were all taken aback, Cheng Qizhi had just been transferred from Yulinwei to the right guard and his butt hadn't been hot for a few days, so he was promoted and transferred so soon?

Cheng Qizhi also came to the meeting today, and Xue Shao and the others looked at him in surprise. Cheng Qizhi himself was also stunned, and he forgot to make a promise.

Obviously, Cheng Qizhi himself did not know about this new personnel appointment and dismissal in advance.

"Cheng Qizhi, you still haven't made a promise?" It was Wu Zetian who reminded loudly.

Cheng Qizhi hurriedly walked out and took the paperwork from Pei Yan's hand. Pei Yan said that tomorrow morning, the imperial court will officially issue an order, which is just your order. After the meeting is over, you can go back to the right guard to pack up and hand over the military affairs.

Cheng Qizhi, like Xue Shao and others, has always been preparing for the expedition with passion, and the imperial court suddenly gave him such an order, which caught him off guard and his brain was a little confused. He took the order in a daze and sat back in a daze, not daring to look up at Xue Shao and the others at all, feeling like a traitor who had betrayed his brother and the collective.

"Next, this cabinet reports a report on the urgent military situation of Longyou 600 miles that the cabinet has just received." Pei Yan said like an announcer, with a expressionless face, "Fengzhou is besieged by 100,000 Turkic rebels, and the situation is extremely critical......

As soon as he said this, Pei Yan's words were suddenly interrupted by a burst of surprise.

"One hundred thousand?!"

Xue Shao was also shocked, he really didn't expect that in just a few months, the Turks would actually gather such a huge army!

"That's right, it's 100,000, just a little more." Pei Yan was still extremely calm and said, "But the most critical thing is not Fengzhou. It is a vast area governed by the Metropolitan Governor of Xiazhou. ”

Xue Shao was taken aback, "Pei Xianggong, could it be that the Turkic army alone plundered Xiazhou?" ”

"General, the Turks are even more daring than you think!" Pei Yan said, "They seem to know the deployment of our Tang Dynasty's military forces well, and they know that Wang Fangyi, the governor of Xiazhou, is leading the Anxi Tiger Division under his command to fight against the ten Turks in Gongyue City, and the Shuofang military town is empty and defenseless. So their three-way elite cavalry crossed Fengzhou, bypassed Shuofang Military Town, and the lone army went deep to the Yuan, Qing, and Jing Prefectures behind the Xiazhou Governor's Mansion! ”

"What?!" Xue Shao and the others were taken aback!

Yuan, Qing and Jing are three states, which are already very close to the hinterland of Chang'an Guanzhong, nearly thousands of miles away from Fengzhou. The audacity of the Turks really made Xue Shao and the others angry. This is not the most important thing, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, an important reason why the Tang Dynasty has been able to subjugate the Zhuyi and the four seas is that the Tang Dynasty has always been able to form cavalry that is enough to compete with foreign races with sufficient horses. Among them, the Longyou Horse Farm is the most important horse farm in the Tang Dynasty, and one of the Guanshan Ranches alone pays tribute to the Tang Dynasty court, as many as 50,000 horses every year.

And the Longyou Horse Supervisor is in the Yuan, Qing, and Jing three states!

The mood of Xue Shao and the others suddenly became extremely solemn, and no one knew better than them how important war horses were to the army and the country!

Of course, Pei Yan knew how much these generals cared about the affairs of war horses, and said in a deep voice: "These three elite Turkic cavalry did not loot the city or attack the military fortress, they ransacked the Longyou horse herding prison and robbed 180,000 good horses. ”

180,000?

180,000!!

Xue Shao and the others took a deep breath, and they all wanted to die!

"For at least twenty years, the Longyou Horse Shepherd Supervisor can no longer provide war horses to Datang. Our army is about to face a situation where horses are scarce and cavalry is weak. Pei Yan's voice became more and more solemn, and he said, "I believe that there is no need to say more about this pavilion, all the generals here want to take back this batch of war horses from the hands of the Turkic rebels." At the same time, we must also rescue many of our compatriots who have been plundered to the grasslands. ”

"Pei Xianggong, there is no need to say more." Xue Shao stood up and clenched his fists, "Please give an order immediately, let this general lead the army to conquer the Turks!" ”

"General Xue is a little restless. This battle is absolutely inevitable, and it will definitely be fought. Pei Yan said, "But how to send troops, the imperial court has its own arrangements." Wait for this pavilion to talk about it in detail. ”

"Okay." Xue Shao took a deep breath and sat back.

"Wang Fangyi's department is still fighting against the ten Turks in the area of Gongyue City in the Western Regions. A few days ago, there was good news back, and I believe that a big victory will be won soon. Pei Yan said, "But Wang Fangyi's troops will not return to Xiazhou, and the army under his command must stay in the Western Regions to prevent the Western Regions from rebelling." In other words, the army sent by the imperial court to rescue Fengzhou and crusade against the Turks this time will take over the vacancy left by Wang Fangyi to guard the Xiazhou Governor's Mansion. The imperial court decided to let Fengzhou, which was now under siege by Turkic rebels, also fall under the rule of the Xiazhou Governorate. In other words, the soldiers and horses that the imperial court is about to send will be the northwest military of the Governor of the Tang Dynasty. The area of Xiazhou connects Guanzhong and the Western Regions, reaches the Turks in the north and rejects Tibet in the south, which is the barrier of the two capitals in Guanzhong against the enemy, which is quite important! ”

In fact, the importance of the Xiazhou Governor's Mansion does not need to be said by Pei Yan, and the generals present all know it in their hearts. But Xue Shao and the others listened with bated breath, because there was no doubt that this was a huge battle, and it was very likely that it would evolve into a protracted national war. Then, the military arrangements made by the imperial court today are likely to be related to all the war, peace, and diplomatic matters between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks for many years to come.

This will be a historic moment.

At the same time, for Xue Shao and others, their fate and their lives for many years to come will be inseparable from the northwest, and they are all closely related to the military conference in front of them.

"The imperial court decided to appoint Xue Shao, the general of the right guard, as the new governor of Xia Prefecture and the general manager of the Shuo Fangdao march, to depose the military and political affairs of the four prefectures of Xia, Yin, Sui and Feng and to supervise the soldiers and horses of the four states, and lead 100,000 royal divisions to go out to fight against the Turks!" Pei Yan talked in a serious manner, "Appointed Xue Chuyu as the governor and ...... of Fengzhou"

"Pei Xianggong, please wait a minute!" Suddenly, someone stood up and interrupted Pei Yan's speech.

Everyone was shocked and looked at the man.

Xue Shao!

Wu Zetian frowned and gave Xue Shao a look, signaling him not to make a mistake.

Xue Shao pretended not to see it, stood up in front of everyone's eyes, and said, "Pei Xianggong forgive me for being rude and offensive!" But because of the importance of the matter, I had to ask him face to face. Just now, I seemed to hear Pei Xianggong say something crucial - 100,000 Wang Shi? ”

Li Duozuo and the others were all angrily exchanging glances, and they all gritted their teeth and thought-We obviously have an army of 200,000, why did Pingkong cut it in half?!

The generals were full of anger, and Pei Yan, the chief prime minister, was questioned and confronted by Xue Shao in public, his face was also quite unsightly, and his eyes were almost full of ice slag.

The atmosphere in the political hall suddenly became a little tense!