The next morning, the court was held in the Liangyi Palace, but Ji Qingchen did not speak at the court meeting, and the court meeting discussed how to stabilize the departure from the country and send troops, some suggested marrying with the country, some suggested making peace with the country, and some suggested fighting with the country, but it was discussed for a morning, but there was no definite result discussed.

After the court meeting was over, Ji Qingchen walked out of the Liangyi Palace, and an attendant stepped forward and said to him, "Your Highness, Your Majesty invites you to the imperial study to discuss matters." ”

"The Imperial Study?" Ji Qingchen was a little puzzled, what did the deliberations in the imperial study have to do with him, but he still came to the study with the waiter.

In addition to Emperor Yan in the study, there are Prime Minister Pei Wenju, Hubu Shangshu Tang Jian, Military Department Shangshu Liu Pingyuan, Military Department Squire Xue Ju, Privy Council Privy Envoy Bai Jin and Ouchi Guard Commander Ji Xing. When Ji Qingchen arrived at the study, everyone didn't seem to have started to discuss the problem, and was circulating a report.

"See Father!" Ji Qingchen saluted Emperor Yan.

Emperor Yan nodded slightly, and let him read the recital that everyone had circulated, and Xue Ju handed the recital to Ji Qingchen. Ji Qingchen took the report, read it carefully, and asked for the content of the report, which was the information sent by the secret guard lurking in the country, saying that the country was ready to send an army of 100,000 to Ningwu Pass.

Ningwuguan already has an army of 100,000, and there are also Tiefutu who have left the country to ride hard, if you add another 100,000 iron cavalry, and gather 200,000 iron cavalry in Ningwuguan at once, what is this trying to do, isn't Sima Zhao's heart known to passers-by?

"Tell me, what should we do?" Emperor Yan opened his mouth and said, and this sentence directly set the theme of the discussion in the imperial study, and he didn't discuss anything, just how to deal with the 200,000 iron horsemen who left the country.

Everyone looked at each other, and then they all moved their eyes to Bai Jin of the Privy Council and Liu Pingyuan and Xue Ju of the Privy Council.

This is because the Privy Council has always come up with a specific plan for dealing with major military affairs, and then the various ministries have discussed and judged it in detail, and then the best strategy is determined and then handed over to the Ministry of War for implementation.

But now the Privy Council has not come up with a decent response plan, so that everyone has to say the response as soon as they open their mouths, which makes everyone feel a little confused.

Prime Minister Pei Wenju is a little better, as the prime minister of Dayan, although he doesn't care about military affairs, he only deals with the country's government affairs, but he has worked hard in military strategy, but he knows a little bit and can say that he is ugly. But as the head of the household, Tang Jian is miserable, he knows what kind of military affairs he knows about money bags? Wouldn't letting him say a way to deal with it be no different from force-good-prostitution?

"Is there anything the Privy Council can do?" Tang Jian opened his mouth and asked, his eyes went straight to Bai Jin, the Privy Council, and now that Li Muzhi is going south to Yizhou, the Privy Council has the final say on him, and he has become a veritable chief of the Privy Council. But Bai Jin's words disappointed Tang Jian, he did not avoid Tang Jian's gaze, but frowned and said, "Because the information obtained is too small, and the news came too hastily, the Privy Council has not formulated a detailed response plan until now." ”

Although the Privy Council is on an equal footing with the Political Affairs Hall, the staffing is far less than that of the Political Affairs Hall, which has six Shangshu in addition to the Prime Minister, but the Privy Council except for Bai Jin and Li Muzhi, who can take ideas, the rest are all Sima and military figures, in addition to sorting out military affairs, there is only the ability to copy and write. Therefore, in the officialdom of Dayan, if anyone is transferred to the Privy Council, it is equivalent to being put into the cold palace, and it belongs to the ranks of derogatory.

Because of the small staffing of the Privy Council and the lack of talent, when Bai Jin focused on the training of the newly recruited soldiers during this time, the Privy Council had such an embarrassing situation, and he did not have time to deal with the 200,000 iron horsemen who left the country in the first time.

However, when Bai Jin said this, everyone did not dare to have the slightest complaint.

Because Emperor Yan didn't complain about Bai Jin, what qualifications did they have to say Bai Jin?

"Yes, we really can't make rash moves until we determine the real reason for leaving the country to increase troops at Ningwuguan." Prime Minister Pei Wenju said, seeing that everyone seemed to be puzzled, he explained, "At present, Dayan has started a war with Beirong, during which although Beirong withdrew from Yunzhou, Beirong's 200,000 iron cavalry are entrenched in Liaozhou, which shows that they are determined not to change, and they still have the idea of going south again tomorrow in the spring." Therefore, in the face of Beirong's strong ambitions, we must not have a fluke mentality, and we should be determined to fight to the death with Beirong. This must put half of our energy on Yunzhou. And the Yi people in Lingnan, marriage can alleviate the contradiction between them and Dayan, but this is still not a long-term solution, as long as we fall into a bitter battle with the Beirong Iron Cavalry, with the Yi people eyeing Yizhou, how can they let go of such an excellent opportunity? Again, this distracts us by half. If we don't handle the relationship with leaving the country well, if there is a situation of three-front warfare, no matter how strong Dayan is, I am afraid that it will also face a huge crisis. ”

"What the prime minister said is very right, we can't help but think carefully about the strong enemy in the north who left the country." Liu Pingyuan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, echoed, "Especially at the current crisis juncture, rashly increasing troops will only arouse the suspicion of Beirong, thinking that the empty army of Ningzhou City will only make the railway cavalry more unscrupulous." Of course, in fact, with the strength of 100,000 iron cavalry and tens of thousands of foot soldiers in Ningwu Pass, as long as the defense work is done, the 200,000 iron cavalry leaving the country will go south, and it will be no problem for them to block it for three or five months. ”

Liu Pingyuan is the secretary of the military department, and if he can say such affirmative words, everyone is naturally convinced.

Xue Ju, as the squire of the military department, naturally agreed with Liu Pingyuan's opinion, but still moved his gaze to Ji Qingchen and asked, "Your Highness has been away from the country for ten years, I don't know what Lu Dao thinks of the increase in troops after leaving the country?" ”

As early as when the chamberlain asked him to go to the imperial study to discuss matters, Ji Qingchen was wondering, discussing military affairs has always been the prime minister and the six books, and the dictatorship of the Privy Council, how could it be his turn to be the governor of a place? Now listening to Xue Ju's question, he knew the reason why he let him come to the imperial study.

"I don't know what Xue Shilang wants to know?" Ji Qingchen asked. He knew that Lu Dao was leaving the country to prepare to increase troops in Ningwu Pass, and the others did not know Lu Dao, so he did not dare to express his opinions rashly, so he could only ask Xue Ju what he wanted to know about Lu Dao.

Xue Ju was a little dazed by Ji Qingchen's question, and was stunned for a moment before he said, "The intention of leaving the country to increase troops in Ningwuguan." ”

"No matter how many additional iron horses are sent to Ningwu Pass after leaving the country, as long as the general leading the army is not a teacher, and the general of Ningwu Pass is not Senior Brother Mu Feng, we don't have to be afraid of him." Ji Qingchen said with a slight smile. As far as he knows, in addition to his own teacher Li Qingyi, only the senior brother Mu Feng has three flavors, and as for the teacher's other apprentice, the second senior brother Tie Yan, seems to be a good commander general, and he has a very good set of training soldiers, but in terms of the use of cavalry warfare, he can only compare with the senior brother.

In Ji Qingchen's point of view, if there is no teacher and senior brother as commanders, their iron cavalry will be equivalent to a group of wolves that have lost their head wolves, and their attack power may still be very strong, but they will fall behind in terms of tactics. With the ability of Liu Donglou and his three Ji Hongchang, what is there to fear from such a cavalry?

Regarding Ji Qingchen's answer, Xue Ju didn't hear the meaning, but just frowned, but Emperor Yan, Pei Wenju, and Bai Jin all understood the meaning of his words, and the anxiety on his face just now was much less.

Emperor Yan then moved his gaze to Liu Pingyuan and asked, "How much is the food and salary of the Ningzhou army?" Are there any storage of soldiers' armor, bows, knives and guns? If there is, let them at least keep what they need for half a year, and if they don't, the military department will immediately allocate a batch of them. As for the reinforcements - just according to what you just said, if the 200,000 iron cavalry who left the country really went south to Ningwu Pass, let Liu Donglou and Ji Hongchang block it for half a year. I think that in half a year, the battle between Liaozhou and Beirong can also be won or lost! ”

Although Liu Pingyuan didn't know why Emperor Yan had so much confidence in Ji Qingchen, thinking that it only took half a year for the war between Great Yan and Beirong to divide the victory, but seeing that Emperor Yan handed over all the affairs of Ningzhou to his nephews Ji Hongchang and Liu Donglou, he was quite happy in his heart, so he bowed down and replied, "No! ”

"For now, our problem should still be on Beiliao." Emperor Yan continued, "Beirong is the key to the crisis of Dayan, if Beirong and Dayan have the upper hand in the first battle in the spring of next year, let alone leave the country, I am afraid that the Lingnan Yi clan will also have a piece of the pie to Dayan." If Dayan wins the battle with Beirong, it is estimated that he will not venture south again, and the Lingnan Yi people will settle down for a few days. ”

"Your Majesty is right, and the old man also means this." Bai Jin said out loud, "The Beirong cavalry is famous for its strength and fierceness, if Dayan can achieve brilliant results in the battle with Beirong, then I am afraid that no matter how strong the soldiers of the Liguo and Lingnan Yi clans are, they will have to weigh it if they want to take advantage of the situation to attack Dayan!" ”

"The younger brother's thoughts are the same as the imperial brother's, and he feels that the Liaozhou battlefield should be put first." Uncle Ji Yun said, "However, for the Lingnan Yi clan, we can't afford to be on guard. Now that the Yi people are short of troops, and they want to rebuild the governor's mansion, there will definitely be turmoil in the hearts of the people and the army. Therefore, the opinion of the younger brother is that we will wait and see what happens when leaving the country, but for the Lingnan Yi people, we need to be more vigilant, and if necessary, we can send tens of thousands of troops to the Yi people. ”

Emperor Yan nodded slightly to agree with Ji Yun's opinion, and moved his gaze to Bai Jin, who was in charge of the new military training chaos of the new expedition. Bai Jin only thought about it and said, "There are 300,000 new soldiers, most of them are state soldiers from various states and counties, as long as you train for a while, there is no problem in killing the enemy on the field." The key is also in the ordnance horses. Like fighting against Beirong, in terms of defense, 300,000 soldiers can go north to defend the city at any time. But what we want is to be able to hit Beirong hard, so that they will not dare to go south for years or even decades to come. This required a large number of cavalry to rely on. However, now that the new sergeants are struggling to supply horses, it is very difficult to train an elite cavalry. ”

"How many horses are missing?" Before Bai Jin could finish speaking, Emperor Yan asked.

"If you want to form a cavalry of 200,000 people, you need 100,000 war horses." Bai Jin replied.

"Is there any way to do this in this regard?" Emperor Yan asked Tang Jian and Liu Pingyuan.

"Ningzhou has provided 80,000 war horses, which is already the limit." Liu Pingyuan returned to the road.

"The household department can take out some of the money to buy war horses for the new army, but someone has to be willing to sell it!" Tang Jian said helplessly, "In the past, we had horse farms in Liaozhou and Yingzhou, and there was no shortage of war horses. But now that they are at war with Beirong, they have occupied Liaozhou and Yingzhou, which have cut off the source of our war horses, and they have left the country and are eyeing Ningzhou, and it is undoubtedly a fool's dream to buy war horses with them. But apart from these two countries, is there any place where you can buy so many war horses? ”

"Leave 60,000 soldiers to form the Yulin Cavalry, and then allocate 40,000 soldiers to the south to support Li Aiqing. The remaining 200,000 yuan will be given to the Governor's Mansion of the Northern Liao Metropolis, and then the silver money for them to buy war horses will be given 30% more than usual, so that they can find a way to solve the horse problem by themselves! Emperor Yan said with a deep groan.

As soon as these words came out, Pei Wenju and Bai Jin looked at Ji Qingchen with ill intentions, very gloating. Liu Pingyuan and Tang Jian breathed a sigh of relief, looking relieved. Only Ji Qingchen's face turned white when he heard Emperor Yan's rogue approach, let himself solve nearly 100,000 war horses, where to solve it himself?

However, Emperor Yan has already spoken, this is the holy decree, what can he do? I can only admit it. However, he still wanted to bargain and asked, "Father, it's not impossible to let the Northern Liao Governor's Mansion solve the war horse problem on its own, but you have to give your sons the power to act cheaply, otherwise it will be difficult for your sons to do it!" ”

"What kind of power do you want to act cheaply?" Emperor Yan asked with a smile.

"For example—let Erchen trade with Beirong, or—" Ji Qingchen said this, muttered for a moment, wanting to give Emperor Yan and the people in the imperial study a period of time, and continued, "Let Erchen form a caravan and find a way to buy it from the country." ”

"What do you mean?" Emperor Yan did not immediately agree, but asked everyone.

Because this issue is not only related to military affairs, but also involves government affairs and diplomatic relations, he wants to ask Prime Minister Pei Wenju for advice.

"Your Highness can give it a try within a small range!" Pei Wenju set the tone as soon as he spoke, and it was not possible to develop any further, there was no room for turnaround.

Emperor Yan looked at Ji Qingchen.

"Yes." Ji Qingchen said.

"You have to do this matter immediately, you can't delay time, and this time you go north, you can also bring these 200,000 new troops back to Caozhou!" Emperor Yan said, his tone became a little indifferent, "I have given you such great support, if it is rude to fight with Beirong in the future, don't do it to you, the Metropolitan Governor, and stay in King's Landing in peace in the future!" ”

Emperor Yan let go of his cruel words, he did not spare any effort to support Ji Qingchen, but he didn't want Ji Qingchen to disappoint him. At the same time, he also reminded everyone in the imperial study, which meant that everyone would spare no effort to support Ji Qingchen to deal with Beirong, but if Ji Qingchen was not in a good position, he would not be merciful.

"No!" Ji Qingchen commanded.

He wanted to leave immediately to deal with the horse problem, but seeing that Emperor Yan had no intention of letting him leave, he held back and continued to sit in the study.

At this time, I heard Bai Jin say, "Your Majesty, Li Muzhi went south to Yizhou and it was difficult to return in a short time, and the old man trained the new army, and also formed a feather forest cavalry, without the two of us in the Privy Council, there is no backbone, in the old man's view, His Royal Highness, as a disciple of Li Qingyi, is proficient in military affairs and the art of war, and is well versed in the way of commanding the army." ”

Speaking of this, Bai Jin pondered for a moment and said to Emperor Yan, "The old man suggested that His Highness be allowed to enter the Privy Council. ”

The government hall and the Privy Council are not subordinate to each other, and besides, the Privy Council is only in charge of warfare, regardless of the ordnance and the appointment and dismissal of generals, and the power of the Privy Council is divided by the Ministry of War.

As the head of the household, there is also no power intersection with the Privy Council, and he has no objection to letting Ji Qingchen enter the Privy Council. But Liu Pingyuan, who is the secretary of the military department, and Xue Ju are different. Originally, the Ministry of War had a part of its powers separated from the Privy Council, which was much less powerful than the other five of the six Ministries. If Ji Qingchen, the prince, is allowed to enter the Privy Council again, it is difficult to say that this powerful prince will take back the power of the military to leave the Privy Council.

But as soon as the two of them were about to object, the imperial uncle Ji Yun on the side had already spoken, "As the governor of Northern Liao, Ji Qingchen, the king of Northern Liao, will face 200,000 iron cavalry in Beirong in the future, and it is a good suggestion to let him concurrently serve as the Privy Council, so that he can give him more power and let him go all out to deal with the 200,000 iron cavalry of Beirong." ”

"Yes! That's what I thought, too. Emperor Yan nodded slightly.

Seeing that Uncle Huang and Emperor Yan both agreed to Bai Jin's suggestion, what could Liu Pingyuan and Xue Ju do if they didn't agree? could only be regarded as acquiescing to Bai Jin's proposal.

In this way, a discussion in the imperial study made Ji Qingchen add another title to his head, the Tongzhi Privy Council Envoy of Dayan Privy Council, which is equivalent to the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, second only to Bai Jin and Li Muzhi.

However, Ji Qingchen knew that he had not been in King's Landing for a long time, and this Tongzhi Privy Council envoy did not have much effect on him, so he did not refusely agree.