Zhao Kuangyin positioned the culprit of the attack on the Beiping army of the Tuanbai Valley and the Han Army, and the ministers who were still talking about it suddenly shut up, and the entire imperial tent was silent, and their eyes were all fixed on Chai Rong after the imperial case.

Speaking of which, to be able to become a high-ranking official and important minister of the Later Zhou court, none of the civil ministers and military generals in the imperial tent are stupid people. Although not everyone can quickly analyze through various information that the behind-the-scenes shili who has been fighting against the imperial court since the Han Dynasty is the Beiping Army, there are actually not a few ministers who have the same ideas and opinions as Zhao Kuangyin. It's just that a few days ago, Chai Rong ignored the opinions of his ministers and insisted on fighting the battle of the Han Dynasty to the end, and most of the ministers who saw the clues adopted a wise attitude to protect themselves. They knew that the Beiping Army was the most suspicious, but they still seemed to be unable to understand the mystery, and even personally put forward the so-called "hook conclusions" and "detour theory", etc., which could not withstand careful scrutiny at all, intending to confuse Chai Rong's judgment of the enemy's approach, and strive to make him recognize the current unfavorable situation for the Great Zhou Dynasty without touching Chai Rong's countermeasures, so as to withdraw the order that it was necessary to capture Taiyuan, and return to the court before the situation deteriorated further.

It's just that as a generation of Ming Jun, Chai Rong is so easy to be fooled and coaxed. Although he had not spoken before, and was noncommittal to the various points put forward by the ministers, the expression on his face fully showed that he did not believe the ministers' statements at all. It was precisely because he saw Chai Rong's reaction to the ministers' discussion that he had not participated in the meaningless arguments of the ministers, and Zhao Kuangyin hesitated again and again, but decided to be a "smart person" like the last time he explained where the Han army's defense of firearms came from, and to make things clear, so as not to continue this meaningless and very disgusting argument that would make Chai Rong very disgusted. Although Chai Rong's strong reaction may be caused by the involvement of the Beiping Army, the current situation does not allow Zhao Kuangyin to think too much about Chai Rong's personal feelings and the reproach he may receive for it, and can only focus on the Jiangshan Sheji of the Great Zhou. After all, no one knows whether the Beiping army will have a tougher and more direct way to force the Zhou army to withdraw from Taiyuan after this trick of pretending to be a Khitan army to attack the Zhou army's baggage will not work.

However, the expected thunderous anger did not appear, and after listening to Zhao Kuangyin's analysis, Chai Rong still had an unwavering expression. In fact, with Chai Rong's wisdom, it is impossible not to see the strangeness in the attack on the Han army of Tuanbaigu, and the first thing he suspected was the Beiping army that he hated but was extremely jealous. In his view, the Beiping Army had both motives to aid the puppet Han against the imperial court -- to weaken the imperial court's strength, attack the prestige of the official family, and win over the puppet Han to form an alliance, and also had the strength -- the Beiping army should have no less than 50,000 troops, and the number of war horses obtained through the First Battle of Youyun reached 60,000 or 70,000. With such strength and sufficient motivation, it is not difficult to send a cavalry army of tens of thousands of people south to help the puppeteers.

It's just that as the saying goes, "the situation is stronger than the people". In the face of such a terrifying opponent, the last time outside Youzhou City, Chai Rong had to endure this breath even if he was unwilling and reluctant, not only could he not sanction these rebel ministers and thieves who had no court and deceived the king, but he had to treat them kindly, give them high-ranking officials, and acquiesce in their de facto secession of the sixteen states of the Beiping Army. At this time, under the city of Taiyuan, the Beiping army once again forcibly attacked, insisting on inserting a knife between the Great Zhou and the puppet Han, which made the battle against the Han Dynasty, which was bound to win, confusing, and the situation was developing step by step in a direction unfavorable to the imperial court. Although Chai Rong was also very unwilling to accept such an outcome, and he stubbornly and stubbornly insisted on not withdrawing the siege and not taking the division when faced with speculation that the defenders of Taiyuan might be secretly supported by the Beiping Army a few days ago. But when he realized that the Beiping Army attached great importance to the preservation of Taiyuan City and the preservation of the puppet Han court, and for this reason, he escalated his actions step by step, and even did not hesitate to send tens of thousands of cavalry south to attack the grain route of the Zhou army, his position gradually changed, and he began to consider whether he could find a more Haode way, not only to complete the great cause of the Han Dynasty, but also not to cause a direct conflict between the imperial court and the Beiping army - after all, Chai Rong had experienced the battle of Youyun in the previous year, and he knew very well that once the imperial court and the Beiping army were completely at odds with each other, When they had to meet face-to-face on the battlefield, not only did their 100,000 army have almost no chance of winning, but it was difficult to say how many ministers and generals would return to Kaifeng alive. It is based on this understanding that Chai Rong did not feel very sudden or shocked by Zhao Kuangyin's statement, and he would not be angry because of it. …,

However, if you don't get angry, you don't get angry, how to answer Zhao Kuangyin's words is very particular. It is obviously not possible to ignore it, it is not reasonable, and it will also show that he Chai Rong is afraid of the Beiping Army. But if you want to take over Zhao Kuangyin's words directly, you have to issue an order to investigate the Beiping Army's collaboration with the enemy. At that time, if the investigation finds that this matter is true, and this possibility is more than ninety percent, it will not only make the imperial court and the Beiping army enemies immediately, but will also disgrace oneself and the imperial court.

Just when Chai Rong was thinking about how to respond to Zhao Kuangyin, Prime Minister Fan Zhen, who realized that the official family was in a dilemma, hurriedly came out of class and asked Zhao Kuangyin: "What is the real evidence for what Lord Zhao said?" ”

"It didn't." Zhao Kuangyin replied truthfully, "Zhao's performance is based on the past performance of the Beiping Army, the benefits it may obtain by assisting the puppet Han court, and its own strength. ”

Fan Zhen nodded when he heard this, turned to Chai Rong and said: "Bixia, the minister thinks that although what Lord Zhao said has some truth, and it is not impossible for a few adults to think that the Khitan people were able to go south because they were acquiesced in by the Beiping Army. However, the Imperial Military Council is not an impeachment of officials by the Imperial History, and you must not chase after the wind and rumors. In addition, the Beiping Army is an important town in the north of our Great Zhou Dynasty, and it has the important task of protecting the border and reassuring the people and pinning down the Khitan, so it seems inappropriate to hastily issue an order to reprimand or directly send court officials to investigate without evidence, so as not to cause unrest in the people and unrest on the border, so as to give the Khitan people an opportunity to take advantage of.

According to the minister's opinion, it is better for the imperial court to issue an order, on the grounds that the enemy's cavalry attacked and disturbed the grain route of the Han army and hindered the Han army's capture of Taiyuan, and ordered the Beiping army to quickly send troops south to assist the imperial court, escort the grain and grass required by the imperial court to destroy the Han army, and destroy this enemy army of unknown origin. If the Beiping Army complied with the order, it can be proved that it did not secretly communicate with the Khitans and let them go south, nor was it the culprit of the robbery of the Tuanbai Valley Han army. If the Beiping army is unwilling to comply with the order, it can be convicted of secretly collaborating with the enemy country and deceiving the king, so that the imperial court can have a reason to deal with it when the time is right. ”

"Master Fan's method seems inappropriate. Although there is no conclusive evidence in the hands of the imperial court now, there is a good chance that the Beiping army was responsible for secretly helping the puppet Han to defend Taiyuan City and Tuanbai Valley to raid and rob the Han army. If this is the case, then even if he obeys the order to send an escort and a large army to suppress it, I am afraid that at most it will only blempty and make a superficial statement, and will never really fight with his own people. At that time, the more than 10,000 cavalry will not only not suffer any losses, but will give the later soldiers and horses of the Beiping Army a chance to share the merits. Zhang Yongde raised an objection on the side.

"Yes, it is likely that things will be as Lord Zhang said, whether the Beiping army accepts the will of the imperial court to come to clear its own cavalry, it will not really allow its own cavalry to suffer any losses." Fan Zhen explained, "But it is also impossible for the Beiping army to kill each other, so it is the safest way to escort the grain and grass baggage." ”

"If the Beiping army colludes inside and outside the country and deliberately introduces our army's grain transportation team into the ambush circle of its own cavalry by taking advantage of the convenience of escorting grain and grass, then wouldn't such an arrangement by the imperial court become a move to send sheep into the tiger's mouth." Zhang Yongde questioned.

Fan Zhen shook his head when he heard this, and said: "Yes, it is indeed possible for the Beiping Army to collude internally and externally and rob grain and grass as Master Zhang said, but Fan thought that such a situation was extremely unlikely. After all, with the strong strength of the Beiping Army, which slaughtered the 300,000 Khitan army in a conversation and laughter, and almost wiped out the entire army, if the grain and grass it escorted were robbed by the Khitans who were defeated by the original subordinates, then the prestige that it had established last year by virtue of the Youyun War would be ruined. The reputation was damaged and the prestige was no longer there, which was quite unfavorable to the sixteen states of the Beiping Army, which had just been surrendered for a year. Compared with whether he could help the puppet Han court keep Taiyuan City, Fan thought that the Beiping Army valued its foundation more. …,

Moreover, the Beiping Army, which killed 300,000 Khitan troops the previous year, was like chopping melons and vegetables, and now it is defeated in the face of the so-called Khitan cavalry army of no more than 10,000. With the ingenuity of the people of the Beiping Army, how could they use such inferior moves.

Therefore, Fan thought that unless the Beiping Army rebelled immediately after receiving the order, it would inevitably obey the order and send troops south to escort the grain and grass. In this way, although the Beiping army could not attack its own people and attack the cavalry army that attacked the Baigu army of the imperial court and robbed the Han army with heavy grain and grass, it could at least make its cavalry stand down and no longer pose a threat to the grain route of the imperial army of the Han Dynasty, so as to ensure that the imperial army could successfully take Taiyuan City. As for the Beiping Army, some credit will be shared for this, which is also the proper meaning of the question. If the Beiping Army is not given some visible and tangible benefits, how can it give up its original intention of helping the puppet Han. Moreover, the small benefits given to the Beiping Army are not worth mentioning at all compared with the gains of the imperial court to eliminate the puppet Han, and there is no need to consider it. ”

Although what Fan said was based on the premise that the Beiping army would not rebel immediately, everyone, including Chai Rong, did not think that the Beiping army would rebel if the imperial court was as tolerant and tolerant as possible. Because if the Beiping Army's attempt to rebel against the imperial court was really so strong, it would not have taken such pains to make various arrangements and arrangements in order to help the puppet Han court, but I was afraid that it would have directly waved its army south to fight with the imperial court face-to-face.

It's just that although what Fan Zhen said is very reasonable, this matter is related to the success or failure of this battle against Han after all. Therefore, although Chai Rong was a little moved, he had not yet made up his mind. After he left a sentence to the ministers, "This matter is very important, Rong Zhen thinks about it carefully", he got up and left his seat and walked to the back of the tent.