Han Gang saw that the face of the Son of Heaven was getting more and more ugly, and he only felt funny in his heart.

Wang Qi previously catered to the holy will, and borrowed the authority of the Son of Heaven to suppress the rulers to either remain silent or bend to cater to them, and no one was willing.

Even if it is Yuan Jiang, is this old fox really willing to obey Wang Qi in everything? The ruling is not the prime minister's dog!

If Lingzhou has been recovered today, no one will be an enemy with Wang Qi, so they can only choose to avoid the edge for the time being. But now that he has been defeated, where will he be willing to give Wang Jue a chance to turn over? Who doesn't want to take advantage of the situation to pick up a big bargain?

Look at Lu Gongzhu, Lu Huiqing and Yuan Jiang, who doesn't have bloodshot eyes that have stayed up all night, puffy bags under their eyes, and blue-black lower eyelids. It must have been after rejecting the oracle that he recruited his cronies and staff to discuss it until the court.

However, Wang Jue also has an advantage, he was summoned to the palace alone, which means that he and Zhao Ji have two hours of time to discuss. Looking at the appearance and listening to the words, the two of them are unwilling to admit defeat, and they also want to gamble on a round trip - the standard gambler's psychology.

Han Gang listened to the arguments above, but he was honest, he was attending the meeting, not attending, and he would never take the initiative to speak. Anyway, when he looked at Zhao Ji's appearance, he should be about to be unable to bear it.

Zhao Ji's gaze did sweep over Han Gang's body from time to time. While listening to the opinions of the ruling people, he paid attention to Han Gang. I saw that Han Gang was always sitting with his head bowed and pleasing to his eyes, and he didn't see any intention of interjecting in at all.

Because Han Gang had always opposed attacking Xingling before, and had also said some unpleasant things, now that his crow beak was confirmed one by one, Zhao Ji only felt that his face was dull, and he felt uncomfortable when he saw Han Gang in front of him.

In fact, Zhao Ji didn't want to invite Han Gang to the palace to discuss the matter, but the current situation is no different from the prediction of Guo Kui and Han Gang at the beginning. Now Guo Kui is sitting in Hebei, and there is only one Han Gang in the court, but Zhao Kui can't help but ask for his opinion, and he doesn't dare not consult - but the momentary atmosphere is not as important as state affairs.

Zhao Ji looked at Han Gang for a long time, but Han Gang lowered his eyelids, and his figure didn't seem to have moved since he sat down, so Zhao Ji couldn't help it if he wanted to.

The competition between Wang Qi and Lu Gong became more and more intense, and Lu Huiqing and Yuan Jiang more or less helped Lu Gong, Zhao Ji saw that he couldn't go on, so he could only speak: "Han Qing." Now the situation in the northwest, I don't know what you think. ”

Han Gang blinked, his back straightened a little more, and he finally changed back to a living person from the state of wood carving.

The eyes of the monarchs and ministers in the palace were focused on Han Gang. Han Gang stood up, held the wat and bowed his hand to Zhao Ji: "In the humble opinion of the ministers, the defeat of Lingzhou is first of all due to the fact that the lone army is deep, 100,000 troops gather under the city, and the friendly army is thousands of miles away, plus the grain road is long, and a defeat will be out of control. The art of war is cloudy, and before you think about victory, you should think about defeat first. Victory without arrogance, defeat without chaos, can be said to be the use of soldiers. The defeat of Lingzhou was due to the fact that it did not conform to the right path of the art of war. ”

Zhao Ji sank his face and retorted: "The use of soldiers should be complemented by Qizheng, don't you hear that Li Yuxue entered Caizhou at night?" ”

"The minister dares to ask His Majesty, look at the history, and use the strange soldier as the winner, how many other cases are there? How many are there with regular soldiers as the winners? Han Gang unceremoniously blocked back Zhao Ji's words, "Strange, strange." Stranger, very also. The strength is not as good as the people, the strength is not as good as the people, in order to win, in the extraordinary time, do extraordinary things, so it is strange. And those who use strange soldiers, there are many losers, and there are very few winners, which is also the reason why the world is surprised. With 300,000 troops and horses of the Sixth Route Army, you can win the victory by fighting steadily, so why put yourself in danger? When it is not extraordinary, but it does extraordinary things, victory can not add merit, defeat is out of control, Lingzhou's defeat is so far, this is the original cause. ”

There was anger in Zhao Ji's eyes, but he no longer debated with Han Gang, which was too unseemly.

Listening to Han Gang's speech and looking at the expression of the Son of Heaven, Lu Gongzhi had a smile in his eyes. Han Gang was clearly venting his previous grievances. After all, he is too young and vigorous, and what the Son of Heaven wants is a strategy to solve the problem, not who is responsible for the liquidation of the defeat.

But it's okay like this, if Han Gang is in trouble, just beat the side drum, so as not to charge into battle at his own age. Lu Gong thought. Han Gang's words came out, which just made Wang Qi suffer, and the Son of Heaven will settle accounts in the future, and it will also fall on Han Gang, which has nothing to do with his own family.

Lu Huiqing knew that Han Gang was a person, and she was suspicious, squinting her eyes and pursing her lips, waiting for Han Gang's follow-up.

Han Gang took a breath and said: "The defeat of Lingzhou, followed by the general's negligence, the western thieves avoided the battle and lured the officials and soldiers all the way to the city of Lingzhou, knowing that they must have a treacherous plot, and on the shore of the Yellow River, how can they be so confused that the western thieves can successfully break the embankment and release the water?" After this defeat, Huanqing and Jingyuan lost their troops and lost their generals, and it was difficult to use them again within a few years. ”

As soon as Han Gang's words stopped, Lu Gongzhu followed and said: "From Hengshan to Lingzhou, the distance is almost thousands of miles, and the western thieves are chasing all the way, and I don't know how many people will escape from the sky." Please think twice, you really can't use swords anymore. ”

Zhao Jihu didn't speak, Wang Jue looked at the Son of Heaven, and was about to make up words to refute, but Han Gang took the lead, "As the privy said." The defeated army of the two roads fled all the way back from Lingzhou, and there will be iron harriers behind them to pursue, and the road is long, and I am afraid that only half of those who can survive. ”

He paused for a moment and quickly glanced at Zhao Ji, who looked blank, "But compared to the 350,000 officers and soldiers, this is still just a small setback." What needs to be recuperated is only the second road of Huanqingjingyuan, and the main force of Wang Shi still exists, I don't know why Lu Shumi can't use the words of the sword anymore? ”

Han Gang's statement was unexpected, Zhao Ji's eyes lit up, and the four rulers also had different expressions.

Lu Gong didn't expect Han Gang to backhand, his face sank, and his voice was dangerously low: "The two elites are lost,"

"Let's use an analogy. If you take a pound of meat from a dog, you will definitely die, but if you take a pound of meat from an elephant, it will never be fatal. The defeat of Lingzhou, even if the whole army was annihilated, there were only more than 100,000 mourners, more than 300,000 officers and soldiers in this battle, and the six roads were launched together, and now it is less than one-third, and the Song Dynasty of Dingkou tens of millions can still afford it! And the losses that Western Xia received in the First Battle of Lingzhou, they couldn't afford it! ”

"The thieves avoid fighting but don't fight, what is the loss?" Lu Gongzhu used Han Gang's words to refute it.

"How can there be no losses?" Han Gang said with a smile, "The official army is deep in Xingling, and the loss of Western Xia's national strength will only be above the official army." Releasing water, demolishing houses, cutting down trees, burning fields, everything outside Lingzhou City was destroyed. Yinxia, Hexi, Tiandu Mountain, all so. Except for Xingqing Mansion and the wasteland in the north of Western Xia, the rest of the people in the Western Xia Kingdom were either destroyed by the official army or destroyed by their own hands. Compared with the casualties of the officers and soldiers, the losses of the Western Xia have far exceeded this number. ”

"The army of thieves still exists!" Lu Gong said sharply.

"This generation is not a concern. China's victory over the two captives in the northwest is not in military strength, but in national strength. Dingkou, taxes, and products are all far exceeded. If the two countries are fighting for the borderlands, it is a battle for military strength. If it is a war to destroy the country, it is the national strength that is competing. In this "Sun Tzu", eating the enemy for one bell is the original intention of my twenty bells. ”

Zhao Ji and Lu Huiqing both pondered for Han Gang's words, and Yuan Jiang stared at Han Gang, not knowing what he was thinking. Wang Qi was looking at Lu Gongzhu, whose eyes were becoming more and more stern, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, Han Gang was at least not on Lu Gongzhu's side.

Han Gang said loudly: "In the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Yue competed, and the military strength of the Yue State was far inferior to that of the Wu State. Yue Wang Goujian lay down and tasted courage, ten years of life and reunion, ten years of lessons, the woman did not marry at seventeen, and her parents were guilty. This is to build up national strength. Offering beauties, tempting the husband to repair the palace room, consuming the national strength of the Wu State, and deceiving the Wu State to cultivate with cooked rice seeds, it is also weakening the national strength of the Wu State, and destroying Wu in one fell swoop after the most reluctance, is it not just because the husband sent the marshal Wu soldiers to the north to meet the alliance and the country was empty? ”

"Han Qing is right." Zhao Ji was the first to nod. The theory of national strength is to do what he likes, and the reason why the Ming Dynasty and Song Dynasty will win the two captives makes him overjoyed in his heart.

"Since Xining's four-year attack on Hengshan, Western Xia has lost its division and lost ground one after another, and the country's situation has deteriorated day by day - its losses are far greater than that of Lingzhou." Han Gang poked Lu Gong again, he really didn't like this old guy who likes to seek personal gain, but pretends to be honest and selfless, "Before that, he sacrificed 30,000 horses and camels and Liao, and his national strength was less than half of ten years ago. Now the victory under Lingzhou City is just a return to the past. In the month of the war, I have never seen the Iron Harrier go out of battle and confront the official army head-on-dare not resist the enemy outside the country, and the cowardice of the western thief can be seen. Since Yuan Hao's rebellion, until Xining, has the official army ever invaded the territory of Western Xia? ”

"When you go to the army to fight, you must know that the western thieves are cunning." Lu Gong came up in anger and went-for-tat with Han Gang, at the beginning, he was in order to abolish the new law and shake Zhao Xu's will, and dared to say that Han Qi had a heart to clear the monarch's side: "From Jiqian to Yuan Hao, all of them are cunning people, which battle between Sanchuankou and Haoshuichuan was not won by the cunning of the Western Thief, and the defeat of Lingzhou is the latest example." Gao Zunyu and Miao Zhu were both famous generals for a while, but the West Thief broke the embankment but did not find it. ”

"Dare to ask the privy councillor, if the official army goes to Lingzhou City again, there is still a river embankment to dig in Western Xia? How could the officers and soldiers give them this chance again?! Without cunning, how can a mere thief resist the heavenly soldiers! Han Gang smiled, "Cunning is a helpless move when you can't be defeated, people say how cunning foxes are, but fox Encore competes with tigers and leopards?" The tiger and leopard are in the mountains, so why be cunning. ”

"Han Qing's statement of national strength is deeply inspiring to me." Zhao Ji didn't want to hear the two quarrel again, he just wanted to hear how to save the situation in the northwest, "I don't know what Han Qing's strategy is for the current situation, please speak up." ”

"In the old years, the official army was destroyed in one fell swoop and recovered the hometown of the Han and Tang Dynasties. However, the Western Xia was not Cochin, its territory was five times that of it, and its military strength was ten times that of it. I want to capture Western Xia in one fell swoop, and I look at it as a minister, and it is like ascending to the sky. But step by step, the Western Xia will die within more than ten years. This is also because what Hengshan is easy to take, and Lingzhou is rare. If the western thieves are forced into the predetermined battlefield of the official army, the official army will win. If it is to penetrate into the battlefield pre-demarcated by the Western Thieves, the officers and soldiers will be in danger. ”

This is Han Gang's long-standing opinion, and it has not changed to this day.

"Now except for the two roads of Jingyuan and Huanqing, the other four roads have not been seriously damaged. If it is steady, it will be enough to crush the thief in time. Even if there are occasional setbacks, as long as the victory is mine, the thief will not be able to reverse the final defeat. This is the way to overcome the temple. ”

As soon as Han Gang's words fell, Lu Huiqing almost laughed, but soon sighed again.

Speaking of which, Han Gang actually went back to the strategy against Xia that he had been advocating for the past few months, slowly advancing and encroaching. Where is it to help Zhao Ji and Wang Qi talk, they are clearly showing off their prescient views.

Zhao Ji and Wang Qi also fully understood. No matter how much they wanted to get Lingzhou, they could only turn back and act according to Han Gang's plan.

How, exactly?

Everyone's eyes were on Zhao Ji.