"Ladies and gentlemen, I summoned all the ministers to come today, just for one thing, just half an hour ago, I just got the military report, the Qing army Shandong Governor Le Kedehun once again took the initiative to provoke, attacking my Heshui eyeline, in charge of the defense of the Heshui deputy general Wang Yuncheng General has been killed in Jinxiang, since I Emperor Shenzong, my Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Tartars are incompatible, when Nurhachi broke with my Ming in the name of the seven hatreds, it has been thirty years, these thirty years, the number of times the Eastern Capture attacked me is incalculable, The crimes it has committed on the land of my Ming Dynasty can be described as innumerable, we have been defending instead of attacking over the years, the more so, the more these barbarians feel that my Ming is weak and easy to bully, so this time I decided to take the initiative to attack, no longer passive defense, and I think the moment is a good opportunity for the Northern Expedition, the Tartars have suffered heavy losses in successive battles, and the treasury has long been empty, not long ago, Dolgon also sent people to sue for peace with me, which shows that the situation in your country is very serious, so I decided to wave the army to the Northern Expedition to the Tartars this year, Recover my homeland! Cao Bianjiao announced his decision with an unprecedentedly loud voice, that is, the clay people also have three points of fire, the Qing court made peace on the one hand, but attacked the city and killed people on the other, Cao Bianjiao naturally could not wait any longer, waiting for the thunder to kill these beasts.

Although everyone had already received the news, it was to discuss the matter of the Qing army's invasion of the territory, and they knew why Cao Bianjiao would gather everyone to come. But I didn't expect Cao Bianjiao to make such a big move, when the decision to start a full-scale war came out of Cao Bianjiao's mouth, everyone still felt a shock from the bottom of their hearts.

What is the concept of the Northern Expedition? The scale of this battle will by no means be comparable to that of any previous battle, and the manpower and material resources used, as well as the consumption of grain and grass, will be astronomical. Once successful, Daming Zhongxing and even the world will be just around the corner. On the contrary, once it fails, the Ming Dynasty will suffer heavy losses and great damage to its vitality this time, and it can only retreat along the Yellow River, and it will be a corner of the Yangtze River and the south of the Yangtze River.

"General, I have a standing army in various places at the moment, and the Shuibu Horse Army adds up to 400,000 troops, although they have all been trained and matured, but it is too early to compete with the Qing army, of course, as long as the general gives an order, you can go north, or take Shandong directly to attack Beijing, or storm Tongguan to enter Guanzhong, this price will be huge, and I hope the general will think twice!" The excitement came a little, Yuan Jixian stood up for the first time and persuaded him, he was not in favor of the use of troops, but this hasty war between them is really a bit risky, and it is now the time of spring in April, and it is also the time of spring ploughing.

"Hehe, don't be anxious, how to enter the army still needs to be discussed! When I say Northern Expedition, I don't mean to dispatch immediately, the preparation of this money, food and ordnance will always take a while, and now I am ready to lead the army north to repel the Qing army, and you will step up preparations in the rear, so that there will be no delay, and when two or three months have passed, the situation over there will be stabilized, and you are also ready, we can directly enter the army, isn't it more convenient? Cao Bianjiao waved his hand to signal everyone not to be in a hurry to dissuade them, and at the same time explained his mind to everyone.

Wan Yuan Ji nodded, also stood up, and then walked to the shelf on Cao Bianjiao's flank, pointed to the geographical map of the situation of the Daming mountains and rivers hanging on it, and began to analyze: "The foundation of the Qing army was originally not in the Central Plains, but in a corner of Liaodong, but with the imperial court being moved to Beijing City, most of the military horses of the Qing army have been moved to Guannei by him, the number of Qing troops is only 200,000, and there are still many people who guard the nest in the Northeast, although they have three or four hundred thousand people in the Central Plains, However, no less than 200,000 soldiers were included to form the so-called Green Battalion, of which nearly 100,000 were defenders around Beijing. In addition, there were no less than 60,000 troops in Guanzhong and Shaanxi. And the officials around the country, most of them are my original Ming courtiers, in fact, we can also take advantage of it, those green battalion soldiers, can also take the battle of attacking the heart, when they cross the Yellow River and the Qing army decisive battle, step by step weaken their strength, between this and the other, we still have a great advantage, I agree with the general's Northern Expedition...... "Wan Yuan Ji also said carefully, after saying his own analysis, he agreed with Cao Bianjiao's meaning, the Northern Expedition They are very advantageous, the people's hearts are available, the military hearts are available, We can't wait for the Qing court to gain a firm foothold in the north, and it will be even more disadvantageous to carry out the Northern Expedition when the time comes. And Wan Yuan Ji understands Cao Bianjiao, what Cao Bianjiao decides, he will inevitably do, they can't stop it, instead of meaninglessly stopping, it is better to do his best to ensure what Cao Bianjiao needs, and do a good job of logistics for him to win.

Everyone looked at Cao Bianjiao's eyes, everyone was shocked by the resoluteness and ruthlessness in his eyes, after a long time, Cao Bianjiao continued to smile and continued: "Have you heard clearly, although there are many military horses in the Qing court, but the army's heart is unstable and the people's heart is unstable, even if their Eight Banners can fight, what can they do, this is not Liaodong, this is the Central Plains, it is my Ming land, we are fighting on our own land, is our army no advantage?" In addition to what Brother Jiren said just now, there are many other advantages. ”

"What advantages?" As soon as Cao Bianjiao's voice fell, Zhang Shenyan, who had been silent and always thinking, finally spoke up and asked.

"First of all, grain, the states and counties under my Ming Dynasty have gained a lot of grain in the past two years, even if it is only by relying on the land of the two lakes, the grain is enough to support the 300,000 Northern Expeditionary army for a year. A year later, the new grain has been harvested again, and our army's navy is sharp, and the transportation of grain is far faster and more convenient than the land route. In the same way, although the Qing army has a large number of soldiers and horses, not to mention that most of the main forces are mainly cavalry, the north has been plagued by natural disasters for many years, plus they have suffered from man-made disasters on their own, and they are even more trapped in military rations, and he can't mobilize too many military horses at one time! Even if they can mobilize it, they won't be able to support it for long, they don't have so much money and food to support, otherwise why would Dolgon send someone to make peace with me, and want to ask us to ban trade ......" Cao Bianjiao analyzed it in detail and told about the advantages of his own side.

"I see! What the general said is very true! "All of them are people who have been in the court for a long time, and they know that when a large army is stationed, it is completely different from the consumption of grain and grass during the war, and the consumption of the latter is at least twice as high as the former. They still have a certain amount of savings, and the north occupied by the Qing court is a place with serious disasters, and they are afraid that they will not be able to make ends meet for a long time.

At this time, Cao Bianjiao continued: "That being said, the Qing army is strong, and it is very difficult to defeat it in one fell swoop, so the purpose of this Northern Expedition is only to seize the Central Plains, at least Shandong and Shaanxi, of course, it is best to drive the Manchu Tartars back to the Guanwai in one fell swoop and recover the Yanjing ......."