After receiving the telegram from the committee asking them to return quickly, Zeng Zhilin and Yang Xin naturally did not delay in Lingqiu any longer, and the two said goodbye to Wu Peng the next day and led the men and horses eastward. However, considering the need to protect the pyrite transportation line, Zeng and Yang left the second battalion of the cavalry regiment to Wu Peng before leaving, so that Cheng and Wu stationed in Ulzhou could have a mobile liliang to use - although Tang Chao had two cavalry companies, the strength was limited, and it was already a little reluctant to maintain Yunzhou alone, and then I was afraid that it would be beyond the reach of the whip to take care of the Ulzhou side; Second, Yunzhou and Ulzhou are two or three hundred miles apart, and there is really something urgent, even if the cavalry is fast, there will be the worry of "it is difficult to quench the thirst of the near water". Of course, this arrangement is only a temporary workaround that Zeng and Yang thought of in light of the actual situation in the eight states of Shanhou, especially Ulzhou, and they will still ask the committee for instructions before it is actually implemented, and the committee will approve it.

Although the committee had originally planned to make new arrangements for the deployment of the existing troops of the crossing team after the meeting had made decisions on some important issues, in consideration of the actual needs of the Ulju side, it still agreed to the application of Zeng and Yang and agreed that the second battalion of the cavalry regiment should remain in Ulzhou temporarily. However, a slight difference from Zeng and Yang's plan was that the committee finally split the second battalion into two parts, with the main two companies stationed in Lingxian in Ulzhou Zhishu, and the remaining one company stationed in Lingqiu. Zeng and Yang did not have any objections to this, after all, it was much closer from Lingxian to Lingqiu than from Datong to Ulzhou, and even if some emergency military situation occurred, there would be time for reinforcements.

After Zeng and Yang led their troops to leave Lingqiu, they marched to the "Liangyuan" through Feihukou and Jinpiguan, and arrived at the Xiayunling where the "Liangyuan" is located in the afternoon of June 17 of the lunar calendar. The army chose a suitable place to camp under the Xiayun Ridge, and Zeng and Yang went straight to the "cool garden" on the ridge with their personal guards.

After entering the gate of the "Liangyuan", the two of them did not bother to go back to their residence to see their families, so they went to the military department hall of the council hall in the north area of the "Liangyuan" under the guidance of their subordinates, and met with the brothers of the military department who were already waiting there, and talked about the upcoming meeting.

When Zeng and Yang walked into the meeting hall belonging to the Military Department, there were already three people sitting inside. In addition to Xu Shao'an, who was the first to return to the "Liangyuan", there were also Qian Yuanshan and Muter, who only came back an hour or two earlier than them - in terms of the number of members alone, the Military Department was originally the largest department after the Ministry of Science and Technology, but because most of its members are now stationed outside, there are so few brothers who can come back to attend the meeting.

In addition, because Xu Shaoan and Qian Yuanshan have not been very good at dealing with each other, and Mutel, as a little brother, is not easy to make peace with the two, and he is a straight person who is not very good at enlivening the atmosphere, so before Zeng and Yang came in, the three people in the room were always in a state of silence. Such an atmosphere was obviously very uncomfortable for the straightforward and not very articulate Muttle. But I can't show it in front of the two brothers, and I can't leave early before the meeting starts, which feels quite unpleasant. Therefore, when Zeng and Yang entered the door, Muttel's first reaction was not to come forward and see the two brothers, but to sit there and let out a long breath, and the expression on his face was obviously relaxed.

With the addition of Zeng Zhilin and Yang Xin, the atmosphere in the sub-hall of the Military Department of the Council Hall has finally become more and more lively. After listening to Zeng and Yang give a general explanation of the situation of the recovery of Shanhou Bazhou, Xu and Qian naturally spoke highly of it and praised it. Subsequently, Xu Shaoan handed over a stack of materials to Zeng and Yang, and said, "Here are the relevant materials for this meeting. Including the work report of our military department in the previous year, the operational summary of the Battle of Youyun, the work in the second half of this year, and a series of other topics that will be discussed at this meeting. The two of you will take a look at it first, and if you have any comments or suggestions, please put them forward, and we will discuss them together. ”…,

Zeng and Yang took the information and looked through it carefully, and Xu Shaoan took this opportunity to continue: "These materials have been sent to the twelve, twenty-fourth, twenty-seventh, and Feiyu brothers, and have received their responses and relevant opinions and suggestions. The old twenty-nine and thirty-one have also sent someone to deliver it, and it is estimated that they have seen it at this time, and they will respond soon. ”

Zeng and Yang nodded as they listened, and continued to look at the information in their hands. The content of the information is very rich, and Zeng and Yang read it for a while before reading it.

After reading the information, the two pondered for a while, Zeng Zhilin first raised his head, and said with some suspicion: "I don't have any opinions on other content, brother, I just think that the benefits that the information Zuihou said that we Jihua want from the Later Zhou Imperial Court seem to be a bit ruthless, with the temper of Chai Rong and the ministers under him, I'm afraid they may not agree to our conditions?" ”

Yang Xinyan also nodded and agreed: "I also have this kind of doubt. After all, Chai Rong is a talented and enlightened monarch, and he is a relatively strong emperor in his own right. We asked him for such a high price this time, with his character and temperament, I am afraid that not only will he not agree to our request, but he will also turn against us on the spot. ”

"If you turn your face, you will turn your face, we are still afraid that he will not succeed." Mutel was very unconvinced and said, "The Khitan army of 200,000 or 300,000 has been killed by us, and it is not a problem to get Chai Rong's 70,000 or 80,000 people." Besides, our brothers and their soldiers were born and died to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun for him, saving him and his civil and military generals a lot of trouble, and how many soldiers died in the Zhou court. Asking him for such a small return, he is not satisfied. ”

Yang Xin waved his hand when he heard this, and said: "Brother Wei is naturally not afraid of Chai Rong and his seventy or eighty thousand horses, but Brother Wei thinks that it is beneficial for us to maintain a state of peace with the Later Zhou court at this stage. On the one hand, although the Khitans were defeated by us and lost a large number of men and horses, their strength is still there, and they can still gather two or three hundred thousand troops with the strength of the whole country. Moreover, although Na Yelu Jing was brutal and not mediocre, his imperial power was still relatively stable, and there were still some ministers around him who loyally supported him, and the Khitan did not fall apart because of the defeat in the Battle of Youyun. If there is a serious confrontation between us and the Later Zhou court, or even a military confrontation, then the Khitans are likely to take advantage of the situation and stab us in the back. When the time comes, we will suffer from the enemy on our backs, and even if we can support it, we will suffer great losses, and the gains will outweigh the losses. This is also the reason why we allowed Chai Rong to continue to approach the north and stationed under Youzhou City.

On the other hand, even if we successfully resisted the two-sided attack of the Hou Zhou and the Khitans with our strong strength, defeated the two to the ground, and even captured Chai Rong and Yelu Jingsheng alive or beheaded them in front of the battle. But what happens after defeating them and destroying them? At that time, both Hou Zhou and Khitan will inevitably fall into chaos. We can ignore the fight between the nomads north of the Great Wall for the hegemony of the grasslands, but we can't ignore the renewed war on the Central Plains, and we can't ignore the poison suffered by the Han people because of the warlord war.

As for the merits, we can be called meritorious and meritorious in recovering the sixteen states of Youyun, and there is nothing wrong with asking the Later Zhou court for some officials and conditions. But if according to the information, we want to ask the Later Zhou court and Chai Rong for the title of the envoy of the Youyun Festival, and our brothers will manage the sixteen states of Youyun, and the court will listen to the tune and not listen to the announcement, I am afraid that Chai Rong will be difficult to agree. Because in this way, our brothers are actually equivalent to the division of the feudal towns, turning the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun into an independent kingdom, making it impossible for the imperial court to intervene and truly exercise its jurisdiction over this place. In that case, for Chai Rong and Hou Zhou, what is the difference between it and when the Khitans occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun? ”