"He Aiqing, how is the preparation of the Southern Military Region at present?" Situ Mingyue asked after thinking about it.

"Back to Your Majesty, at present, the Fifth and Sixth Army Corps have resumed the establishment of their respective four divisions and regiments after reorganization and replenishment, and are still making further replenishment; the Fourth Army Corps has been stationed in the southern part of Hengzhou Prefecture, and the three Reading Divisions of the Southern Military Region are now stationed there; and the three Reading Divisions of the Eastern Military Region have gone south through Jiujiang Prefecture to the territory of Wenning Mansion, and are now resting there and waiting for orders. At present, the entire Southern Military Region has assembled a total of 20 army divisions and regiments, totaling about 480,000 people, and two naval divisions and regiments of the Eastern Military Region are also heading south under the starry night, and it is expected that they will also arrive in Wenning Province in the next two days, but their baggage transportation may be slower. He Zhiqiu knew the movement of troops well.

"Then according to you, if we fight with the Maqi Khan, what are the chances of winning?" Situ Mingyue's gaze was fixed on He Zhiqiu's face.

"Your Majesty, the outcome of a war cannot be decided solely by the comparison of the number of troops. Although our army has a certain advantage in numbers, most of our army has only reached the south now, and the situation is not yet familiar, to be honest, the morale is not high due to the defeat some time ago, and the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, so the minister does not dare to assert it. He Zhiqiu struggled to express his opinion.

Although He Zhiqiu's words were euphemistic, as soon as he heard them, he knew that what he meant was that the imperial side had no chance of winning, but he was just speaking vaguely. There was a deathly silence in the hall, and all the ministers lowered their heads and chewed on the meaning of these words, not daring to look up at the cold gaze of His Majesty the Emperor, for fear of provoking the fire, and the miserable pleas of Duke Hopkins and Marquis Ma Zhengfeng more than ten days ago seemed to be still echoing in the hall.

Seeing that His Royal Highness's ministers were deliberately avoiding his gaze, Situ Mingyue's heart was even more angry, but when he thought of He Zhiqiu's analysis, the reality was there, if he really wanted them to express their opinions, he didn't know if he wanted to hear them welcome his own words against his will or the truth against his own will?

The dull atmosphere lasted for a long time, seeing that His Majesty the Emperor had not opened his mouth, the ministers were even more frightened, and they all lowered their heads and remained silent, and finally someone broke the deadlock: "Father, the son has a suggestion, I don't know if it is possible?"

"Oh, Lang'er, let's hear it. Situ Mingyue's face softened slightly.

"Since our hundreds of thousands of troops have been stationed on the southern front, it is a little unreasonable to forget it without a battle, Erchen thinks that this Maqi Khan people are not afraid of the imperial army, but now they have forced Liangshan, and they have no choice but to hold on like this. According to the opinion of the ministers, you can order the army to advance south to the border area to maintain a certain pressure on the Maqi Khans, but you don't have to take the initiative to attack, wait for a period of time to observe, whether it is war or peace, and wait until after the Spring Festival to make a decision, father, what do you think?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Ninth is right, now that the spring festival is approaching, the minister thinks that the Maqi Khan people will not take the initiative to attack us at this time, it is better to observe it in time, and then make a conclusion. The minister who came out to support Situ Lang had a sharp face and a short beard, it was Tian Yi, the Minister of Finance of the Empire, and all the ministers of His Royal Highness also scolded the "old slippery head" in their hearts, and at the same time followed the group to echo his words.

Seeing that most of the ministers agreed with this point of view, Situ Mingyue sighed slightly in her heart, so she had no choice but to agree to Situ Lang's proposal and slow down the battle in the southern battlefield. But Situ Mingyue suddenly felt unspeakable irritability in his heart, seeing that none of the ministers in the palace could share their worries, they were all mediocre people who were only stubborn, with hateful faces, a huge empire was actually hit by a small barbarian country, and no one in the Manchu Dynasty dared to take on this heavy responsibility, and the generals appointed by themselves could only keep the status quo, but they couldn't do anything about the Maqi Khan, how could this not make him sad and disappointed!

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was in a bad mood, all the ministers felt like they were sitting on pins and needles, and they all wanted to end the court as soon as possible, so as not to be angry with His Majesty the Emperor and encounter unjustified disasters.

Situ Mingyue saw that His Royal Highness was dull, and no one dared to write and speak, and his mood was even worse, and he wanted to end the court meeting with a flick of his sleeves, but he saw the palace door rushing to inform the doorman and ran into the hall.

"Your Majesty, Li Wufeng, the Marquis of Baisheng, is waiting outside the palace to report on his work. ”

"Oh, he's here so soon? Situ Mingyue's face was relieved, and she coughed lightly.

Wu Feng, who was dressed in a first-class court uniform, walked into the Qinzheng Hall with steady steps, and as soon as he entered the hall, he felt that the atmosphere here seemed to be a little heavy and depressing, and he also had some drums in his heart, but don't let it be like this because of his own audience.

Coming to the middle of the main hall, under the gaze of many ministers, Wu Feng bowed respectfully, "The military and political festival of the northwest county of the minister makes Li Wufeng see Your Majesty!

"Excuse me, flat. Situ Mingyue looked at the seemingly obedient young man in front of him with a complicated expression, and his contradictory mood kept wandering in his heart.

"Minister Li Wufeng was ordered to return to Beijing to report on his work, please ask Your Majesty for permission. Li Wufeng pleaded.

"Li Aiqing, you have traveled thousands of miles, why don't you go back and rest for two days first. Seeing Wufeng's dusty appearance, Situ Mingyue hesitated and said.

"Your Majesty Xie is concerned, but Weichen thinks that the state affairs are important, so he should rest after the debriefing is completed. Wu Feng bowed again.

"Okay, I and all the ministers also want to hear about the situation in the Northwest County in the past two years and the situation of Aiqing's dispatch to Luzon this time, so you can talk about it. To be honest, Situ Mingyue also wanted to know how the originally remote, remote and barren Northwest had developed under the management of Wufeng in the past few years.

His Royal Highness's ministers also quietly exchanged their heads, while carefully looking at the young man standing in the center of the hall, it was really hard to imagine how this guy who was just a little-known wing-level officer in the city guard a few years ago could become a hot prince in the empire in a few years. Many ministers are not very familiar with Wu Feng, many of them are just one-sided friends, and many of them have never met Wu Feng himself.

After obtaining Situ Mingyue's consent, Wufeng asked Duke Ning Yuanwang, the first vice minister in charge of the work of the Imperial Administration Bureau, in accordance with the procedure, and seeing that His Majesty the Emperor had agreed, Ning Yuanwang naturally had no opinion, so Wufeng made a detailed report on the work of both government affairs and military affairs in the entire Northwest Region in the past few years since he served as the military and political envoy of the Northwest County.

From agriculture, From the development of industry and commerce to the construction of urban infrastructure, from the situation around the northwest to the state of public order within the territory, from the rectification of armaments to the improvement of national defense, from the consolidation of political power to the alleviation of contradictions between ethnic groups, from the suppression of rebellion and bandits to the war against the Luope people, Wufeng divided the affairs of the past few years into five aspects and made a comprehensive report, which was the material prepared by Xiao Tang and others for Wufeng in the northwest, and Su Qin polished and embellished the text。

Although Wu Feng's lips were dry, he saw that His Majesty the Emperor and the ministers listened very attentively, and he was secretly happy in his heart.

"Well, Li Aiqing can manage this barren northwest like this in just two or three years, which can be regarded as a lot of hard work, but since the economy of the northwest still needs to be vigorously developed, and the defense also needs to be strengthened, why does Li Aiqing still have the spare strength to take care of the affairs of Luzon outside the country?" After listening to Wufeng's report, Situ Mingyue asked slowly with a smile on the corner of her mouth.

Wu Feng's heart was shocked, although the old man in front of him was smiling, but his question was quite meaningful, his answer was slightly wrong, maybe he might be charged with the great crime of despising the empire and stirring up wars, then the consequences would be unimaginable, he calmed down, sorted out his thoughts, and then replied unhurriedly: "Your Majesty, the reason why Weichen took his own initiative to send troops to Luzon without His Majesty's consent is really a last resort and reason. ”

"Oh, the reason, the reason, the reason Situ Mingyue nodded profoundly.

"Your Majesty, this Luzon is one of the three great powers in the middle of the Central Continent, and its strength is almost the same as that of Comini and Pasha, and its northwest territory borders the territory of Qingyang Prefecture, the northwest county of the empire. ”

"North Luzon has been a place of multi-ethnic mixing for hundreds of years, with complex and diverse ethnic composition, in addition to the Andean as the largest ethnic group, our Tang people have lived and multiplied here for hundreds of years, and there are other ethnic groups also living on this land. It would be a good thing if these many ethnic groups could live in harmony, but since Wechen managed the northwest, the news that the Andeans of Northern Luzon had repeatedly bullied and oppressed other ethnic minorities, including the Tang people, with the support of the local political axe, continued to reach the ears of Weichen, and the Tang people of North Luzon asked Wechen for help many times, but the minister only sent a letter to the local political axe considering the relationship between the two countries, asking him to treat the residents of all ethnic groups equally and not to oppress the ethnic minorities, but the local political axe still turned a deaf ear. ”

Wu Feng's reasoned and well-founded analysis made some ministers in the hall who did not know the situation very well nod their heads frequently, but the vast majority of ministers remained silent.

"Two months ago, Wechen learned that Pasha and Comini had joined forces to raid Luzon, because they were defenseless, the Luzon people were about to collapse, and the country was about to die, and the Pasha Kingdom and the Duchy of Comini were already Andean peoples, especially the Comini were even more xenophobic, and the local Andeans in North Luzon were also under the instigation of some Pasha and Comini spies to launch a rebellion, wantonly looting and harassing the people of other local ethnic groups, including the Tang people, and there was a tendency to intensify. The Tang residents of Northern Luzon reported three times a day to ask Weichen to protect their lives and property, and many Tang and other minority refugees had fled into Qingyang, and at that time, if they wanted to obtain the authorization of the DPRK and China, it was indeed too late, not to mention that the minister thought that Luzon was going to lose the country, and its territory would sooner or later be divided by the Pasha and Komini people, rather than this, it was better for the empire to take over the Northern Luzon region, so that the Tang people in this land would have a home. ”

Wu Feng pretended to be a gesture and only said his thoughts at the end. He also knew that the ministers of the court, including His Majesty the Emperor, were not uninterested in the land of Northern Luzon, but that it was against the imperial court system to send troops without authorization, and without a suitable reason, it would never be possible to explain it.

Wufeng's words were true and false, both false and false, and Situ Mingyue and the ministers all thought it was true, just imagine that in that situation at that time, if you want to get the opinion of the central government of the empire to make a decision, it is obviously unrealistic, and the adage that the foreign monarch will not be granted is also a true portrayal of this matter. What's more, Wu Feng's last sentence only reached the hearts of everyone present, rather than letting other countries occupy it, it is better to cheapen yourself, this is the truth.

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