"Looking back at the elder of the pavilion, the Yunzhou military report is consistent with Hu Changcheng's battle report." After He Qingchang finished answering, he pondered and said: "In addition, the minister once worked with Hu Changcheng in the army, and at that time he was in charge of 30,000 rear troops. As for whether the Wushi Bridge can be repaired quickly, the minister thinks that it should be judged by the Ministry of Industry. ”

For a while, everyone set their eyes on Yu Jianghui, who was also the secretary of the household department and the secretary of the Ministry of Industry.

Yu Jianghui was born with a round face and two mustaches, and he looked very kind. Hearing He Qingchang mention himself, he was stunned for a moment, then Yu Guang quickly glanced at Chen Yuansi, and then raised his eyes to look at the emperor on the throne, his face was embarrassed, and replied: "Your Majesty, the Wushi Bridge fortifications are very complicated, and the damage is not yet clear, and it is difficult for Wei Chen to make an accurate judgment for a while." ”

Gu Shihai frowned impatiently when he heard him speak, and as soon as his voice fell, he immediately said: "The firearms on Wushiguan are only fire thunder and artillery, Yu Shangshu only needs to tell us whether the wooden pillars of Wushiqiao can be blown up with these firearms, and to what extent." ”

Gu Shihai was domineering, and there was a sign of anger, Yu Jianghui's face was a little sneering, he glanced at Chen Yuansi again, and saw that Chen Yuansi had no intention of answering for him, so he had to answer stubbornly: "Gu Ge Lao, Wushi Bridge is a fortification a hundred years ago, but the artillery has only been available in the past few decades. ”

Gu Ge Lao seemed to have expected him to reply like this, so he simply withdrew his gaze and stopped paying attention to him.

However, He Qingchang added on the side: "Please also ask Yu Shangshu to give an explanation as soon as possible." If the Wushi Bridge cannot be repaired, Beidi will have to make a detour to Lijialing to reach Lingshan, and then we will have more than 40 days to prepare for the battle on the south bank of Baishui. But if the Wushi Bridge can be repaired well in the short term, there will not be so much time. Yu Shangshu's judgment has a great impact on this battle, and please be sure to say that it is accurate. ”

Hearing He Qingchang say this, Chen Yuansi turned his eyes to Yu Jianghui and said, "Jiang Hui, this matter is very important, and it is urgent, you can go back to the Ministry of Industry now, and come up with a conclusion today." ”

After Chen Yuansi's words, Yu Jianghui seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and immediately bowed to Chen Yuansi and said, "Xiaguan will do it." ”

Then, he saluted Ye Qianhuai and said, "Please also ask Your Majesty's ministers to retire first." ”

Ye Qianhuai looked at him, then at Chen Yuansi, and said, "You go." ”

Yu Jianghui saluted again and left the Taihe Hall quickly.

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and then Ye Qian thought: "Beidi is pressed by such a large army, leaving no way back, it must know that there is a plague in Wushi Pass." What do you think? ”

Gu Shihai continued: "The plague and Beidi are by no means accidental. The minister thought that this battle could be considered according to the enemy's poisoning. ”

"The news of the plague is completely blocked, don't spread it, it will mess up the morale of the army and the people." Chen Yuansi added.

Gu Shihai nodded, and asked He Qingchang again, "How is Xu Ye there?" Can Yunju have plague-like symptoms? ”

He Qingchang shook his head: "I haven't found it yet." ”

"Send him a message, let him do a good job of protection in the army, recruit more doctors, and be sure to prevent it from happening." Gu Shihai said again.

"The minister wrote back to him last night." He Qing said.

Gu Shihai nodded happily: "You have always done things safely. ”

Then he turned to Ye Qianhuai and said, "Your Majesty, the Yunzhou army now has a total of 85,000 establishments, including 30,000 rear troops in Tuntian and 200,000 stone of military food in the treasury. More than 50 miles along the Baishui River are ferries, Beidi nomadic herders, flexible and mobile, each ferry may be the place where they cross the river. However, if you want to fortify the various ferries, it is far from enough to rely on the current strength of Yunju. ”

After that, he concluded to Ye Tianhuai sternly: "Your Majesty, Beidi must have a long-term plan this time. Regardless of whether the Wushi Bridge is completed or not, the money and food for this battle will be prepared. ”

Gu Shihai was able to immediately blurt out the armament situation of Yunzhou, obviously because he had done his homework before going to court, and the purpose was to ask the household department for money and food.

When it came to money and food, Chen Yuansi took over and said, "Old Gu Ge, 200,000 stone army food is enough for 85,000 Yunzhou troops to eat until the autumn harvest in the second half of the year." You also said that there are still 30,000 Tuntian troops in Yunzhou, and this autumn harvest can produce 100,000 stone of grain. Naturally, there is no shortage of food. As for the recruitment of troops you said above, the old minister disagreed. At present, there are garrisons in Zhongzhou and Yingzhou, and there is no war in the state, so why not allocate them to support Yunzhou? These veterans who have been in the army for many years are more useful than temporary recruits. ”

"Zhongzhou and Yingzhou together are only more than 50,000 or 60,000 garrisons, and half of them are city defense troops, and they have no experience in water and land warfare, which is no different from new soldiers. These garrisons are not idlers, and the garrison is responsible for the security of the state and the patrol of the post road on weekdays. If they are all allocated to Yunzhou, is the stability of Zhongzhou and Yingzhou wanted? Gu Shihai immediately retorted.

He paused, and then said: "The 30,000 Tuntian troops in Yunzhou are now at war, and since they are all requisitioned and transferred, how can there be any people left to come to Tuntian?" Chen Ge Lao said that 200,000 stone military rations can be eaten by 85,000 people for half a year, that is the calculation of the garrison, and the consumption during the march is not this number, and these military rations can be eaten for three months. ”

Chen Yuansi was far less transparent than Gu Shihai in military affairs, and he couldn't argue, so he changed his words and said: "This year, the budget of the military department has been overspent by 7.5 million taels of silver, but not only has it lost more than 1,000 acres of land in Yunzhou, but it has also destroyed the Wushi Pass that was built with huge sums of money. Gu Ge Lao, no matter how rich my Dajing is, I can't withstand the toss of such a loser as the Ministry of War. ”

"Fighting a war is a costly affair. If Chen Ge Lao pities this money, he wants to give away the land laid down by his ancestors. ”

As usual, both of them were angry, and neither of them was willing to back down.

Ye Tianhuai interrupted the dispute between the two and said, "The silver of the war cannot be saved. Chen Ge Lao, find a way to allocate some money from the household department for backup. At this time, in the middle of the war, the responsibility for the loss of Wushi Pass will be ignored for the time being, and the truth will be clarified later. ”

She thought for a while, and then said: "If there is a war in the state capital, it should be sent by the imperial court. As a last resort, there is no need for other state capitals to draw troops. Isn't it difficult to send an elite force of tens of thousands of people from Shengjing to reinforce Yunzhou, right? ”

After speaking, she looked at Gu Haiwang.

As the commander of the Gyeonggi Guard, Gu Haiwang is the person who knows the most about the situation of Shengjing's troops.

"Back to Your Majesty, there are a total of 186,000 people in Gyeonggi Guard, and if you want to be transferred, you can send up to 50,000 people." After Gu Haiwang finished speaking, he suddenly took two steps forward, half-knelt on the hall, and said, "Your Majesty, the minister has asked to lead 50,000 troops to reinforce the Baishui River!" ”

(End of chapter)