The harvest of the early dynasty today is not small, Ji Qingchen, who left the Taiji Palace, was about to return home, when he saw a chamberlain hurriedly stepped forward and said to him, "Your Highness, Your Majesty invites you to the imperial study to discuss military affairs." ”

He has been appointed as the governor of Northern Liao by Emperor Yan, and he has been appointed as the general manager of the Northern Liao marching army, leading the northern army to resist the Beirong Iron Cavalry. The current Ji Qingchen can be said to be the first person in the Dayan military, and he is also shouldering the heavy responsibility of preventing the Beirong cavalry from going south. Therefore, when he heard the words of the chamberlain, he immediately came to the imperial study of the Ganlu Palace with the chamberlain.

Without a report, he walked directly into the imperial study, and found that in the imperial study, in addition to Emperor Yan and Prime Minister Pei Wenju, there were also Tang Jian, the secretary of the household department, Liu Pingyuan, the secretary of the military department, Xue Ju, the chief and deputy privy envoys of the Privy Council, Bai Jin and Li Muzhi, the deputy general of the Long Xiang Army, and Su Jian, the deputy general of the Yulin Cavalry, as well as the imperial uncle Ji Xing, the commander of the inner guard, Ji Qingchen, etc.

It can be said that it gathered the big men from both the Great Yancai and the military.

Seeing Ji Qingchen, everyone saluted him slightly, because Ji Qingchen was too noble at this time, and it was no longer something they could despise.

"See Father!" Ji Qingchen saluted Emperor Yan. After Emperor Yan let him calm down, he gave disciples to Bai Jin, Li Muzhi, Pei Wenju and others, and then sat in the last position. The Great Yan monarchs and ministers looked very casual when discussing politics in the imperial study, and Emperor Yan allowed everyone to sit and talk.

Before, everyone was discussing the issue of money and grain attacks and transportation, so Ji Qingchen didn't interject, and could only listen seriously to the fact that the head of the household was thinking about Emperor Yan's difficulties.

"Your Majesty, Dayan has been in good weather for more than ten years, and during these three years, no soldiers have been used, the treasury is still full, and if you want to support the money and food needs of the 300,000 army for four years, Weichen gritted his teeth and was able to play this part of the money." Tang Jian said carefully, "But now that it is winter, the official road from Hangzhou and Beidu to Yunzhou has been blocked by heavy snow, and it is difficult to transport a large number of materials on the small road, and it is very difficult to transport the grain and grass needed by 200,000 people for three months to Caozhou City in a short time!" ”

"Indeed, the 100,000 Longxiang army went north to Caozhou, plus the Northern Liao army that retreated in Caozhou and the state army in Yunzhou and Shangzhou, the number of soldiers and horses reached 200,000, and the supply of money and grain for these 200,000 people is far from enough in terms of grain storage in Hangzhou and Xingzhou, and the grain in the northern capital to ensure the army of Ningzhou, we can only transfer it from the Jiangnan states, and we must transfer it from the three states of Jin, Qing and Song, I am afraid it will be difficult to complete it in a short time!" Prime Minister Pei Wenju said with a sigh.

"Beirong's 200,000 iron cavalry have arrived in Caozhou, Dayan has reached a life-and-death crisis, even if you use people on your back, you have to transport food to Caozhou City, you can't starve the soldiers who are fighting the front line, otherwise how can this battle be fought?" Bai Jin said sonorously, "Now the grain and grass in Caozhou can only maintain the needs of the existing army for a month, and your military department and household department must go all out." ”

"Privy envoy, although this is said, but-" Tang Jian was still arguing, when he heard Emperor Yan say, "It has been decided that in two months, it is only necessary to transport all the grain and grass needed by the 200,000 army in March to the front line of Yunzhou." This matter does not need to be discussed, it is decided. Also, Liu Pingyuan and Tang Jian, in the future, regarding the war between the army and Beirong, all the money, food and materials will be handed over to you to be fully responsible. ”

"Command!" Seeing that Emperor Yan had already spoken, Liu Pingyuan, the secretary of the military department, and Tang Jian, the secretary of the household department, bowed down and replied.

"This time, Beirong poured 200,000 iron cavalry south, with the 100,000 defeated army in Caozhou City and the 100,000 Longxiang army that is about to go north, it may be very difficult to prevent 200,000 iron cavalry from going south, not to mention that we have to drive Beirong out of Yanmen Pass and recover the lost territory of Yanmen Pass. Therefore, it is urgent to recruit troops from all states across the country, this time I asked the Ministry of War and the Privy Council to collect 300,000 troops from the states, and the Ministry of War and the Privy Council must implement it immediately, Bai Jin, you and Xue Ju are fully responsible for this matter, and you will have to do the work of training the army! ”

"The old minister will give orders and will go all out!" Bai Jin commanded.

"No!" Xue raised his bow and replied.

"Li Aiqing, Ningzhou has Liu Donglou to guard it, and Hongchang's ability is beyond doubt, so I am very relieved to build a new governor's mansion in Ningzhou, but Yizhou is different, the Lingnan Yi clan wolf ambition, eyeing the Great Yan Yizhou and Luzhou, and this time Beirong is moving south, I am afraid that when we rebuild the Nanyi Governor's Mansion, the Yi clan will take the opportunity to invade Yizhou, and Ji Qiankong has brute strength and lack of resourcefulness, and Jiang Rengui is difficult to suppress him, this time you can only sit in Yizhou." Emperor Yan said to Li Muzhi.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, as long as the old minister is in Yizhou for a day, he will never let the Yi army step into Yizhou!" Li Muzhi replied proudly, worthy of being a veteran who has fought on the battlefield all his life, as soon as this sentence was spoken, the momentum was awe-inspiring, and it was very reassuring.

"Yes! In this way, only the battle situation in Caozhou remains! Emperor Yan nodded and said, "I don't know what your opinion is on the battle situation in Caozhou?" ”

Prime Minister Pei Wenju and Hubu Shangshu did not understand Bingge, so they naturally remained silent. This is also the practice of Dayan, Wenchen does not talk about military affairs, and military generals do not involve government affairs.

"Your Majesty, this time it is His Royal Highness the Ninth Highness to stop Rong Man in the north, let's listen to His Highness's opinion first!" The military department Shangshu Liu Pingyuan said.

"Yes!" Emperor Yan glanced at Ji Qingchen and said, "Tell me about it!" ”

For his son's ability in Bingge, Emperor Yan still trusts him very much. In other words, it is because Ji Qingchen studied under Li Qingyi, the god of the army who left the country, and Emperor Yan knows Li Qingyi's military talent very well, so he believes in Ji Qingchen's ability so much.

Ji Qingchen, who was named by Emperor Yan, was not hypocritical, he strode forward and said to the map of Dayan hanging on the wall of the imperial study, "Father, my lords, now the 200,000 troops of Beirong are gathering under Caozhou City and not attacking Caozhou City, not that they are afraid of Dayan's reinforcements that are about to go north, nor because they don't want to go south to the hinterland of Yunzhou, and the troops are approaching King's Landing City, but because they are still waiting for the opportunity. ”

"What kind of timing?" Pei Wenju, the prime minister of Dayan, asked.

"In fact, the Beirong barbarians just want to thoroughly digest most of the Liaozhou, Yunzhou, and Shangzhou occupied by them, and then they will continue to send troops south." Ji Qingchen said, "Because of the heavy snow this year, the cattle and sheep of Beirong have frozen to death, and the life of the Rongdi tribe has fallen into difficulty, and the tribesmen of the tribe have frozen to death and starved to death. To put it bluntly, their invasion of Dayan this time was forced by the situation, and the purpose was only to loot, which made the pace of their attack a little slow. ”

"But as long as they send food and clothing from Liaozhou, Yunzhou and Shangzhou to the tribes, and then gather a large army to attack the city, it is estimated that Caozhou City will add another 100,000 troops, and I am afraid it will be difficult to stop the brutal iron cavalry of Beirong." Ji Qingchen analyzed, "Therefore, the opinion of my father and son is that we should immediately send troops to the north to deal a heavy blow to the Beirong cavalry under Caozhou City with lightning speed, so as to inspire and stabilize the morale and morale of the army on the Caozhou front." Then send a large army to the north one after another to hold the line of Yunzhou, Shangzhou and the northern capital, and be sure to trap the Beirong cavalry in Liaozhou and Yunzhou and Shangzhou for a generation. In this way, they have now sent all the materials they have obtained to the outside of the pass, and there is a shortage of materials needed by their army, and the road to the south is blocked by us, and after a long time, their army can only withdraw because of the lack of money and food, and may automatically withdraw from Yunzhou and Shangzhou, and form a confrontation with us with Liaozhou as the boundary. ”

Emperor Yan and Bai Jin, Li Muzhi, Liu Pingyuan, Xue Ju and other military bigwigs, we nodded slightly to express our agreement with Ji Qingchen's opinion.

Because in terms of the strength of the 200,000 iron cavalry of Beirong, the army of Caozhou City of Dayan is already disheartened and has low combat effectiveness, and cannot be relied on, and it is impossible to use only 100,000 Longxiang troops to prevent the Beirong iron cavalry from going south, and the only way is to clear the wilderness with a strong wall, and then defend the defense line in the south without losing, and use the stupid method of shortage of food and grass to force back, and now it is impossible to send troops to repel the Beirong cavalry.

As for the Beirong army staying in Liaozhou, when Dayan will recover Liaozhou and Yanmen Pass, it can only launch a counteroffensive when the 300,000 army has completed its training.

"Your Majesty, the old minister agrees with His Highness's strategy!" Li Muzhi was the first to speak.

"It's a good idea!" Bai Jin also spoke.

"Yes! Lao Chen thinks it can be adopted! The military department Shangshu Liu Pingyuan said. Among the four military officers, only Xue Ju, the squire of the military department, frowned, and seemed to be a little worried about something. So Emperor Yan looked at Xue Ju and asked, "Xue Aiqing, what do you think?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, His Royal Highness's strategy is safe, but the feasibility is relatively low, not to mention how to defend Yunzhou, Shangzhou and the first line of the Northern Capital will not let the Beirong cavalry go south, not to mention, it is difficult to fight the Beirong cavalry by surprise with the thunderous momentum of the army." Xue Ju pondered for a moment and said, "With the strength of the Beirong soldiers, except for the Yulin cavalry, Dayan has not yet had a cavalry that can be defeated against the Beirong Iron Cavalry. However, the number of Yulin cavalry is only 6,000, even if they pour out, I am afraid it will be difficult to deal a heavy blow to the Beirong cavalry under Caozhou City! ”

"General Xue's consideration is very reasonable!" Ji Qingchen immediately spoke, "But we haven't done this yet, how can the general be sure that our Dayan's iron cavalry can't do this?" ”

"This-" Xue Ju was speechless when asked, what he said just now had already belittled the combat effectiveness of the Great Yan Cavalry, and now that he was questioned by Ji Qingchen like this, he didn't dare to continue to belittle the combat effectiveness of the Great Yan Cavalry again, otherwise he would provoke the anger of Emperor Yan and the military bosses.

"The art of war is cloudy: soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, the Beirong Iron Cavalry 30 years ago was very strong, the Beirong Iron Cavalry was still very strong ten years ago, and the Beirong Iron Cavalry three years ago was still very strong, but this does not mean that today's Beirong Iron Cavalry is still as strong as 30 years ago, still like ten years ago, and as strong as three years ago." Ji Qingchen's cold eyes stared at Xue Ju's face, and said murderously, "Back then, the teacher once said: In the duel between the cavalry, the brave wins when they meet on a narrow road!" On the battlefield, even if you face an enemy several times your size, as a commander, you must have the courage to draw your sword and fight. It is because of his words that the Iron Cavalry of the Leaving the Country can dominate the world, and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the Iron Futu of the Leaving the Country can defeat the hundreds of thousands of troops of Dayan with a very small number of people. And it is precisely because the generals in the Great Yan Army have such a thought as you that they will make the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Great Yan like a flock of sheep, and they still can't flee when they encounter enemies who are hundreds less than themselves. ”

"The general thinks what Qingchen said is right?" Ji Qingchen questioned Xue Ju sharply. Xue Ju's face turned blue when he was questioned by Ji Qingchen, and he could only retort weakly, "Your Highness, please respect yourself, don't insult the minister's hard heart for Dayan——"

"Shut up, you two! What a system of noisy people in the imperial study! Bai Jin immediately shouted and reprimanded. Ji Qingchen, who still wanted to continue arguing with Xue Ju, stopped talking, and Xue Ju didn't argue with Ji Qingchen anymore, just stared at Ji Qingchen fiercely and was silent. However, when everyone heard Xue Ju's analysis just now, they felt that Xue Ju's worries were normal, and they also felt that Dayan lacked such an iron cavalry that was enough to deal a heavy blow to the Beirong cavalry. But when he heard Ji Qingchen's reprimand for Xue Ju, he was relieved when he thought that Ji Qingchen's teacher Li Qingyi was the god of the army who left the country. Because Da Yan has been at war with the country for decades, not to mention Bai Jin and Li Muzhi, even Emperor Yan himself has suffered at the hands of Li Qingyi. Therefore, from Emperor Yan to Bai Jin to Li Muzhi and the main generals of various armies, Da Yan can disdain to leave the royal family and disdain to leave the country's iron cavalry, but he still admires Li Qingyi, who uses cavalry warfare to the extreme.

"Since all of you Aiqing agree with this strategy, then let's go down and prepare! Ten days later, I personally went outside the city to practice for the army! Emperor Yan ordered, and he chose to directly ignore Xue Ju's worries just now.

"No!" The people were commanded to leave.

And Emperor Yan left Ji Qingchen alone in the study.

"Do you have faith?" When there were two of them, Emperor Yan asked.

"Yes!" Ji Qingchen replied.

"And what are your chances of winning?" Emperor Yan continued to ask.

"Less than twenty percent!" Ji Qingchen replied.

"What if we lose?" Emperor Yan coldly questioned Ji Qingchen, with a murderous intent hidden in his eyes.

"I am willing to live and die together in Caozhou City!" Ji Qingchen replied cleanly.

Emperor Yan was silent, because Ji Qingchen's words were equivalent to making a military order to him, that is, to fight to the death. Halfway through, he asked, "Do you have any other requirements?" ”

"Please allow your son to kill with a wolf's blade." Ji Qingchen said.

When Emperor Yan heard Ji Qingchen's request, his eyes glanced at the wolf blade on Ji Qingchen's waist, which frightened Ji Qingchen, because he was in too much hurry just now, he once again forgot to understand the wolf blade, but came to the imperial study with the knife, and now seeing Emperor Yan's expression, he immediately untied the wolf blade and handed it to Emperor Yan. Emperor Yan took the wolf blade knife and slowly pulled it out of its sheath. The wolf's blade out of the sheath was like a dragon out of the cage, and let out a clear groan. Emperor Yan returned the knife into the sheath, handed the wolf blade knife to Ji Qingchen and asked, "Just like you killed Hua Xixiong under Ningzhou City?" ”

"Yes!" Ji Qingchen said in a low voice, he was not sure if Emperor Yan would agree to his somewhat harsh request.

"I-yes!" Emperor Yan said, "However, if you are defeated this time, this wolf blade will cut off your own head, you have to be mentally prepared." ”

"Erchen understands!" Ji Qingchen took the wolf blade with both hands and replied in a low voice.

"Go down and prepare!" Emperor Yan said, "Ten days later, I will practice for you!" ”

"No!" Ji Qingchen exited the imperial study.