Hearing Xue Shao's words, Princess Taiping was stunned for a moment, then slowly raised her face to look at the roof, and muttered, "Crazy, really crazy!" ”

Then, her tears flowed.

Li Zhi gave Wu Zetian a look, and Wu Zetian got up and supported Princess Taiping, "Taiping, come!" ”

The mother and daughter left the main hall and walked into the side hall. Princess Taiping didn't make a big noise, but just glanced back at Xue Shao faintly when she entered the door.

Xue Shao saw that her eyes were unprecedented loss and pathos. I remember that less than an hour ago, I swore that Princess Taiping would not go on the expedition, and now I will break my promise immediately...... That's it, Gentle Township Hero Mound, if you really want to do something big, you have to be ruthless!

"Xue Shao."

"The minister is here!"

Li Zhiqing coughed a few times and said, "I know that you have great ambitions to serve the country, but you don't have to be in such a hurry. Not long after you took up the post of Qiancai, the army under your command is not well trained and has no combat experience, and there are not enough men and horses to start a hasty matter, if you are sent to this battle, it will be very risky. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister doesn't think so." Xue Shao replied decisively.

Li Zhi frowned slightly, "Tell me, what do you think." ”

"The minister thinks that even if the minister only leads his headquarters with 800 horsemen to quell the rebellion, he will be victorious." Xue Shao arched his hand and said, "There are three reasons for the minister!" ”

"Say."

"First, the king is fighting against the rebels, and the military spirit will inevitably be strong, and the thief army will inevitably be afraid. Although the people of Suizhou were coerced by the thieves for a while, as long as the king arrived, the people would inevitably surrender. Xue Shao said, "The minister only brought 800,000 horsemen to go, but the people of the Tang Dynasty in the area of Suizhou will be our allies!" The desire of the people is driven by the general trend, and our army will win! ”

Li Zhi nodded with satisfaction, "Go on." ”

"Second, there are not many soldiers, but the use of the law." Xue Shao said, "Although the minister is not talented, he has learned the art of war from Pei Gong, and he has participated in several battles in the Northern Expedition and won all of them, not just on paper." Chen Neng relied on the new army of 100 people to end the black sand tooth tent of the Turks, and now he personally led the Wang Division to rebel, and there are more Jade Crown General Xue Chuyu and the resourceful Guo Yuanzhen and the veteran Xiao Zhizhong as auxiliary wings, facing a group of miscellaneous wild bandits who pretend to be ghosts, wilting is invincible? The minister is not arrogant and arrogant, but the minister is sure of victory!! ”

Li Zhi nodded again, "What about the third?" ”

"Third, although the eight hundred guards under the command of the minister have not been in battle, they are all elite soldiers, like newborn tigers and wolves. If it is a tiger wolf, there will always be a first time to hunt in person. Before that, there might be people who saw wolves as dogs and tigers as cats. But a tiger wolf is a tiger wolf, born to eat meat and drink blood! Xue Shao clenched his fists heavily, "Your Majesty, as the commander of a thousand cavalry and eight hundred guards, I will definitely be responsible for the lives of their eight hundred people." At the same time, the minister also dared to entrust his life to these eight hundred brothers! The ministers have confidence in them, they will definitely be the most elite warriors in the world, and they will be invincible in the world! -- The only thing they lack now is the opportunity to temper themselves and prove themselves with actual combat! ”

"Xue Shao, I know your courage and confidence. But......" Li Zhi frowned and lowered his voice a little, "Do you know how much effort, time, and military expenses these eight hundred thousand horsemen have spent?" If I promise you, even if you return triumphantly, can you guarantee that all of them will come back with a lot of 800 people? …… Even if there is one missing, it is an irreparable loss! ”

Xue Shao's expression froze, stunned! …… Li Zhi, Li Zhi, you raise such a group of soldiers, do you just use them as vases to fill the façade? If you don't fight, you might as well eat!

"I know what you think in your heart, you are a general who followed Pei Xingjian's expedition to Luan, you are loyal to the country and use your troops like a god, and you are full of iron and blood, which makes me admire." Li Zhi said, "But the matter of the Royal Forest Army and the field expeditionary force are two different things. Do you understand? ”

Xue Shao blinked his eyes and thought carefully in his heart, as if he understood a little bit - Li Zhi's body was heavy and he was counting on a smooth transition and smooth handover, what he wanted most now was to be able to save a little more strength and capital around him as a guarantee, so he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to buy the hearts of the Yulin Army and Qianqi. At the same time, what he is most afraid of is, of course, the sudden loss of the strength and capital he already has.

If it is lost, he may not have the opportunity to raise such a sum of capital! In the final analysis, Li Zhi thinks that he has no time, and he can't afford to gamble and even more so to lose!

"Your Majesty, a thousand horses need to be polished. The conquest of Bai Tieyu is a very rare opportunity for actual combat. Xue Shao said, "Although the current thousand cavalry looks good when they go out, but Chen believes that at least for the time being, they are not worthy of being called a real army, because they have not killed anyone, never seen blood, and have not experienced the baptism of wind and waves and war." Such a group of people cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility and turn the tide. The Thousand Riders that His Majesty had spent so much manpower, money, time and energy to build, was it just to hope that they would act as decorations, or just play a little deterrent role? ”

This remark can be regarded as speaking to Li Zhi's heart. What he fears most now is a coup d'état or a mutiny after his death. Once such a situation occurs, only the military can turn the tide. But if it is an army that can only scare people if it is useless, it is obviously impossible to do this!

"That'...... What if there is a heavy loss? Li Zhi frowned, in a dilemma.

"Have you ever heard of the story of striking iron?" Xue Shao said.

"How so?"

Xue Shao said: "If a blacksmith wants to make fine iron, he will refine and beat a piece of stubborn iron repeatedly, during which sparks will shine and pieces will fall off. A piece of iron of hundreds of catties is beaten to the end, and there may only be thirty or forty catties left, or even less. But what remains in the end is the real iron essence; What has been polished out before is just a scrap - the army also needs to be refined! A steel army that survives a hundred battles is far superior to a rabble ten times its size! ”

Li Zhi squinted slightly, as if he had clearly heard the meaning of Xue Shao's words - Qianqi is still an immature semi-finished product, and it needs to be polished in actual combat before it can shoulder heavy responsibilities!

"Sue sù me, can you win this battle and ensure that the spirit of the thousand horsemen will not be drastically reduced? Preferably, turn 800 guards into 800 elites? Li Zhi seems to have compromised, but he is also greedy!

Xue Shao smiled, "Your Majesty, the minister can not only meet your requirements, but also make the team of thousands of horsemen stronger and more powerful!" ”

"How?" Li Zhi asked curiously.

Xue Shao told Li Zhi the long-planned idea in his heart - recruit non-commissioned officers or civilian officers who have survived a hundred battles from the field army and enter the Thousand Cavalry!

After Li Zhi heard this, he frowned on the spot: "How can my imperial forbidden army use civilians?" ”

"If you want to be practical, this is the best policy!" Xue Shao whispered, "Sergeants and officers are battlefield veterans who make a living from war and have survived a hundred battles, and civilian officers are battlefield heroes who have made military achievements. On the contrary, although the guards of the Imperial Forest Army who were born in official eunuch families have noble status, outstanding appearance, and can read and write and know etiquette, they also have the bad problems of low eyesight, fear of hardship, love of life and cherish death, and greed for enjoyment, and it is far more expensive to raise them than to raise a civilian forbidden army! - In short, if His Majesty only needed a well-dressed guard of honor, his ministers would never offer such a plan. If His Majesty really needs an elite tiger and wolf army that can come immediately, fight, and win, then His Majesty might as well consider the minister's advice! ”

Li Zhi nodded thoughtfully and slowly, "I have written down your words." I'll think about it! ”

"The minister is willing to ask His Majesty again to allow the minister's invitation to fight!" Xue Shao bowed down again.

"Sizzle......"

Li Zhi seemed to be taking a long breath, and said worriedly: "Eight hundred? …… Eight hundred! ”

Xue Shao really wanted to jump up and pinch Li Zhi's neck a few times, and yell at him - can you be as decisive as a man? Can you be a little bold and domineering like a real emperor?!

"Majesty!"

Suddenly there was a shout, and Wu Zetian came.

"Well, it's a day later." Li Zhi was a little careless, "Sit down!" ”

Wu Zetian walked over but did not sit down, but solemnly bowed to Li Zhi: "Your Majesty, the concubine thinks that Xue Shaozhi's invitation is acceptable!" ”

"Oh?" Li Zhi was quite surprised, "What does the Queen of Heaven mean is that he is allowed to lead eight hundred thousand horsemen to conquer Bai Tieyu?" ”

"The Imperial Forest Army only sent 800 people, but isn't there a military town near Suizhou?" Wu Zetian said, "Not far from Suizhou, there is a garrison army led by Wang Fangyi, the governor of Xiazhou. Why don't you summon him to assist Xue Shao and go to quell the rebellion together? ”

"What?" Li Zhi was a little stunned, "Let Wang Fangyi assist Xue Shao?!" ”

Xue Shao was also a little surprised, who is Wang Fangyi? That is a figure as famous as Cheng Wuting, a barrier and a pillar of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions!

"Why not, Your Majesty?" Wu Zetian said, "Bai Tieyu rebelled and became the emperor, and there must be famous generals sent by the imperial court to supervise the battle and the royal division to conquer in order to demonstrate the majesty of His Majesty. It is true that Wang Fangyi is a veteran of the battlefield and the head of the army, but Xue Shao is the general of the Northern Ya Forbidden Army, the nephew of His Majesty and the concubine of Princess Taiping. With Xue Shao's identity and status, letting Wang Fangyi assist him can reflect His Majesty's trust and respect for Wang Fangyi! ”

Xue Shao heard it, Wu Zetian meant to let Wang Fangyi get rid of Bai Yuyu, I, Xue Shao, just need to go to Suizhou to play soy sauce and practice hard, and in the end, my military skills will not be missing! …… Throughout the ages, similar things have been common!

How could Li Zhi not understand what Wu Zetian meant, but he still blinked his eyes and pondered for a while, and said, "What does Taiping mean?" ”

"Your Majesty, this is a military matter, why do you need to ask about Taiping?" Wu Zetian pushed back with a word.

Li Zhi was almost choked to death, and his face twitched a few times.

At this time, Princess Taiping came out. She didn't look at Xue Shao with an expressionless face, but quietly walked in front of Li Zhi and bowed down, "Your Majesty, if the horse is at home, the son will take care of him fiercely; But if he arrives in the army of the DPRK, then he is the courtier of the Second Sage and the general of the Tang Dynasty...... Erchen, there is no right to interfere! ”

Li Zhi let out a long sigh, "Xue Shao, I'm right!" ”

"Thank you!" Xue Shao is worshipping.

Princess Taiping slowly stood up and walked to Xue Shao's side, looking at him quietly, "I hate you!" …… I hope you, I hope you will return triumphantly as soon as possible! ”