While Cui Jianjiang stabilized the situation and recruited talents, Yang Lian was also asking Emperor Liu Yan for reinforcements.

Originally, as the protector of Andong, Yang Lian could recruit soldiers by himself, but all the places he was in belonged to the territory of the original Goryeo, and this land was not only devastated, there was no conscription at all, and even if there were soldiers to conscript, Yang Lian could not believe that these soldiers would really fight against Goryeo with all their might. Nowadays, the battle against Goryeo has become too long on the front and there is a shortage of troops, and there is also a clear lack of troops to maintain law and order in the rear, and it is still dangerous to control the situation in the long run, let alone the war against Goryeo. Therefore, Yang Lian made it clear in the recital that since the imperial court was determined to fight Goryeo to the end, it was necessary to ******** troops.

Liu Yan, who received Yang Lian's recital, was in a dilemma. It was indeed his intention to attack Goryeo, but it was not his intention. If it weren't for Goryeo's first action to sabotage the peace (in fact, it was caused by Gao Dingbian's inducement), Liu Yan originally planned to maintain the status quo so that he could free up his hands to deal with Tuqi. At present, all of the national strength of the Silk Country is being used to prepare for the war against Turyeo, and it is now in a state of financial constraints, and it is indeed insufficient to expand the war against Goryeo at this time.

The situation that Liu Yan hopes for the most is that under the vigorous blow of the Andong Protectorate, Cui Jianjiang once again put forward a request for peace negotiations, so that the country of silk can be in a more advantageous position in the negotiations. However, the reality is far from the imagination: although Yang Lian captured the new capital of Goryeo, Kaesong, it did not break Choi Jianjiang's will to resist, and to some extent even inspired the patriotic sentiment of the Goryeo people to save the country from peril, so it seems that the war with Goryeo has no end to it. On the contrary, it is necessary to prepare for a long war, which is obviously not in line with the interests of the Silk Country.

To this end, he summoned the officials of the Ministry of War to discuss the matter. Wang Hanxin, as a front-line military general who participated in the war against Goryeo, also attended the imperial meeting.

There was only one agenda item for the meeting. That is, should the war against Goryeo be continued? If it will affect the overall national strategy, it is necessary to accept even the initiative to propose peace to the other side.

The opinions of the people were divided into two kinds, one side was headed by Anjingbian, the head of the military department, who believed that the country of silk was no longer capable of waging war in two directions, and since it was necessary to deal with the Tuqi with all its might, then it was necessary to withdraw from Goryeo in time. If the armistice were to be made conditional on the return of the castle on the front line of Kaesong to Goryeo, then Goryeo would gladly accept the peace talks.

The other side of the opposition (if it can be called one) is only Xue Boren, the squire of the military department, and Wang Hanxin, the general of An Yuan. These two generals who participated in the war against Goryeo both believed that they could not give up halfway, and that Goryeo had a deep grudge with the Silk Country, and as long as they recovered their strength, they would definitely stick a knife in the back of the Silk Country. Rather than wait until that time to have to go back and deal with Goryeo. It is better to completely solve the Goryeo side before the war with Tuqi has not yet fully escalated.

An Jingbian's feud with Xue Boren was well known, and there was almost no unanimity of opinion after they were in the same court, and this time was no exception. An Jing stroked his beard and said to Xue Boren and Wang Hanxin: "I understand the feelings of the two of them very well, as people who have fought bloodily in that land, there must be many colleagues and friends who died there, of course, I hope to completely eliminate Goryeo." However, I would like to remind you two that what we are discussing is China's fundamental interests and strategic plans, and we do not allow personal emotions to influence our judgment. ”

An Jingbian's aggressive rhetoric stimulated Xue Boren, and he was about to retort when he was about to ridicule him. Wang Hanxin took the lead: "Lord Shangshu is right. I do have extremely strong personal feelings about Goryeo, and personally, if I don't destroy it, I feel like I haven't done anything. However, please don't misunderstand, Lord Shangshu, I will not ignore the fundamental interests of our country because of such personal feelings, but the right choice to be made is just in line with my personal purpose. Goryeo is a big problem. We must not raise a tiger for trouble, and only by completely defeating him now can we deal with Tuqi with confidence. ”

"But we need to fight against Tuqi now, and we don't have the strength to deal with Goryeo! Please consider this point carefully! An Jingbian did not back down.

Wang Hanxin shook his head and said: "If you take a long-term view, you will understand." Right now, we are dividing our forces to deal with Goryeo, precisely in order to better defeat Tuqi in the future! Compared with the Tuqi, which was still complete in national strength, Goryeo was already a dying patient. Don't put him to death at this time, and wait until he recovers from his illness and then it will be troublesome to deal with him. Facing two strong enemies at the same time is really disadvantageous to the country! Now that we are looking for the possibility of a joint attack with the Paz Empire, there is still a considerable period of time before a full-scale offensive is taken, and isn't it a godsend to use this time to solve the Goryeo problem once and for all? Is Shangshu-sama going to sit back and wait for Goryeo to recover? Wouldn't it be in the interest of our country to end these two wars at an early date? ”

An Jing said angrily: "Wang Anyuan said it so easily, take advantage of this time gap to solve Goryeo? Think that Goryeo still has half of the country, where can it be defeated with one blow? I'm afraid that the problem that our army will face at that time is that it will be mired in the quagmire of Goryeo and will not be able to launch an attack on Tuchi with all its might. ”

Wang Hanxin immediately shot back: "Then it depends on how many troops our court can allot." If we are determined to attack on a large scale, then it will not be difficult to destroy the stormy Goryeo, but if we hesitate to send only one partial division, then the war will continue and will not end in time, but if we sit idly by and let Goryeo recover, it will definitely become the biggest defeat in the military strategy of our DPRK! ”

"You! You! An Jingbian was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at him, pointing at Wang Hanxin and trembling, but he couldn't speak.

Seeing that the old and the young were making a fuss, Liu Yan hurriedly spoke out to stop him: "Okay, okay, all Aiqing don't have to quarrel, you are all loyal and patriotic people, don't disagree with each other, that is the loss of this dynasty." I have already understood your opinions, so let's discuss them here today, and let me think carefully before making a decision. ”

After everyone retreated, Liu Yan rubbed his temples and sighed, Wu Sicheng was not there, there was one less think tank to give him advice, it seemed that this matter had to be discussed with the queen.

In fact, Liu Yan knew in his heart that even if he found the queen, it might not be useful, because this was indeed a dilemma, if things could go as smoothly as Wang Hanxin said, then he would have done it to Goryeo a long time ago. Because once he starts, he must fight to the end, but at present, the country of silk is indeed not suitable to be mired in the quagmire of the Goryeo War, if the war will be protracted, then he would rather accept peace and sit back and watch Goryeo recover. After all, Goryeo was already broken, and it was not possible to recover in a short period of time, and even if they did, only half of the country would remain, and the threat would be much smaller than before.

What really helped Liu Yan make up his mind to fight to the death with Goryeo to the end was the news that came half a month after the imperial meeting - General Shi Huameng, the head of the Andong Prefecture, was killed in battle! (To be continued.) )