"Oh?"

Cao Ju was obviously surprised when he heard it.

"Known as Baiwu to collect 10,000 troops, is it possible that Jinghe can really send an army of 1.5 million?"

Li Jiutang cleared his throat and said loudly: "Back to Your Majesty, Yasukuni has always liked the false and the real, which is really a strange thing, when the former Chu, Yasukuni sent a large army of 500,000 to attack Chu but claimed to be 200,000, and the Chu Emperor and his ministers thought that its soldiers were only tens of thousands, so they sent the veteran general Liao Yi to command 50,000 troops to meet the enemy, but Liao Yi was outnumbered and the whole army was annihilated, and then Yasukuni sent an army of 200,000 to attack Chu, and the whole Chu State thought that its army did not have a million but also 500,000, As a result, too many troops were withdrawn, leaving the defenses of many coastal counties and counties empty, and the Yasukuni army bypassed the defense line by boat, and broke ground one after another. Yasukuni attacked Chu four times, and the ministers saw that there were more than one time and one time less, and in addition, there were many soldiers in Yasukuni who were good at fighting and fighting ruthlessly, and if they fought, they would flock to Jing, so they secretly thought that the enemy army really numbered in the millions. ”

"Where does the grain and grass come from? Where did the armor come from? How many elite armoured troops are 1.5 million? Is there so much iron in the Jinghe Islands? Cao Ju's question almost blurted out.

"Back to Your Majesty, there is a high-yield crop called sweet potato in the Jinghe Islands, it is said that it is produced in the extreme east, it needs to cross 100,000 miles of ocean, 20 years ago, there were merchants who sold this seedling to our dynasty, but we call it sweet potato, the crop yield is extremely high, and it is a good seed that is resistant to drought and cold, and the yield per mu can reach 100 stones."

Cao Ju was shocked, ran down from the dragon chair and asked very seriously, "Baishi?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, if you cultivate properly, you will yield at least 100 stones per mu."

"Is there such a thing? Why not promote it quickly? What about storage? Can the people use it as their staple food? Is it possible to use it as a staple food in the army? Cao Ju asked anxiously.

"Back to Your Majesty, the stems and vines of this thing are edible, the fruits are also edible, and they can also be made into sugar, although the storage time is not as good as rice and rice, but it can be maintained for one or two months after treatment. Before, the scale of sweet potatoes was difficult to grow, and His Majesty had ordered Si Yuanjian and the household department to try it out in Huangzhuang in the early years, and then promoted it in Huizhou, Zizhou, Youzhou and other places, and strictly ordered not to leak it, so there is no news so far, but this thing can now be promoted, and this year the military department has begun to purchase a large number of military rations. ”

"Good! In this way, my army will not be afraid of lack of food. Good! Li Qing continued, continued. ”

"Wechen obeyed. Most of the ordinary soldiers of this Yasukuni are wearing bamboo armor, cloth armor, etc., and a few elites can wear iron armor and bronze armor, so the minister thinks that everyone should wear armor when the enemy soldiers wear armor, but the elite of iron armor and bronze armor has 200,000, which should be the limit. ”

"It makes sense if that's the case. Now there is only the report of the Huizhou Wei Bingzi Battalion, is there any news from Huizhou Wei and the Huizhou Thorn Mansion? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, there has been no new military report since Weichen entered the palace, but it will take time to find out the situation, and it won't take long to have a new situation."

While Li Jiutang was talking, Chen Zhong whispered in Cao Ju's ear: "Your Majesty, Qin Shoufu and Xu Cifu have already arrived outside the hall. ”

"Oh, pass it on."

Qin Kang and Xu Nan walked into the Heart Nourishing Hall one after the other: "Please ask Your Majesty Sheng'an." ”

Cao Ju waved his hand: "The two secretaries don't have to be polite, give the two secretaries a seat." ”

After the two of them sat down, Cao Ju asked directly: "Qin Qing and Xu Qing came together to know about Huizhou, what do the two Qing families think?" ”

Qin Kang got up and said: "Back to Your Majesty, although Jinghe has gone through two hundred years of war, people's livelihood has been damaged and difficult, but his death has been fighting for a long time and is brave, and it should not be underestimated. The front line said that the army of Baiwu gathered thousands of people across the sea and came down to our county in just a few days, which shows the strength of their hearts. And Huizhou is a good port to the east of me, and there are many salt farms, which must not be lost. Moreover, the minister thought that this Jinghe attack on our Dazheng is very likely to mean that the overseas situation has changed, and the two countries of Han and Ji lost their vitality in the war the year before last, and Jingwu is a small country, so it is impossible to stop the Jinghe army, and it is likely that it has been reduced to a subsidiary of Jinghe. Therefore, I should send a large army as soon as possible, otherwise it will be difficult to have peace when it sits in the Great Eastern Xinjiang. ”

Cao Ju nodded and said: "War is inevitable, but I don't know how the enemy's troops are equipped and how to transport grain and grass. Does the cabinet have a plan? ”

Qin Kang continued: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister thought that it could be counted as 500,000. At present, the southeast is tentative, and part of the forbidden army can be transferred directly to the north, and the northeast camp can also dispatch 30,000 elite troops to the south in addition to the main force to strictly prevent the coastal area of Youzhou to avoid the enemy going north, and the troops in the northwest cannot be moved, and the southwest camp can be transferred to the elite 50,000 for later support. Among the five armies, the Weizhou army was already in Huizhou, and the seven thousand iron horsemen of the Yaozhou army could be transferred south from Youzhou. In this way, there should be a large army of 450,000 people before and after, even if the enemy soldiers really have more than one million, with our Dazheng army, we can keep Huizhou safe. ”

After Qin Kang finished speaking, Xu Nan continued: "The great minister and the elder have become a country, and the minister thinks that he can also mobilize various sailors from Youzhou Yunwei Port, Huizhou Tong Port, and Zizhou Nanfu Port to do support. Jinghe came more than 2,000 miles away to feed the army, and there must be a lot of ships needed to feed the army, and our army can disperse and attack to hit the surface, which can have a miraculous effect. ”

"Good! Great goodness!! Cao Ju patted the handrail excitedly and said, "What Qing and the others are thinking is very agreeable." ”

Then he took out a small notebook, which was densely packed with small characters, recording the arrangement of soldiers and horses in various places in Dazheng, and Cao Ju felt a little nervous.

After a moment of silence, he walked to the hanging map and took a closer look, and his seemingly cloudy gaze wandered back and forth over the entire position of Da Zheng, and finally fixed in Huizhou.

"What is the situation in the Northwest? Can we stabilize the front and draw some elites? ”

Li Jiutang stood up and said: "Back to Your Majesty, since the two countries began to form an alliance seven years ago, five years ago the two countries were in a big war, the Yu people were defeated and first withdrew the army and then contacted Qingyu to attack the Western Xia, but Li Zhengqin, the nephew of Li Su, the marshal of the Eastern Xinjiang of the Western Xia, led 20,000 iron cavalry to attack 1,400 miles within ten days, and defeated the army of Ding Ke, the commander of the Yongwei Road of the Yu State, and burned the grain and grass of the Yu State and countless weights, and then the Saha Muye led the Xiao to ride more than 10,000 horseback soldiers and more than 20,000 soldiers to follow up, and occupied the Yongwei Road of the Yu State and the Funing West Road of Funing East Road, The army of Yu's Eastern Expedition completely cut off the way back to China. Three years ago, Yu sent an envoy to say that he was willing to return the land of our dynasty to fight against Western Xia, but unfortunately I was unable to take care of it at that time with troops in the southeast and southwest, and in the past ten years, the northwest has completely relied on the three guards of Banzhou, Dingzhou, Fangzhou and the rebuilt northwest battalion to support, with a total strength of less than 150,000 people, and the Western Xia still has 250,000 troops in Yongzhou and Yunzhou. If troops are transferred from the northwest, I am afraid that Zhang Shuai will have more pressure. ”

"Do you still have the strength to fight on the third front in Western Xia?"

Li Jiutang replied: "Although the Western Xia is fighting on the third line, but Qingyu still has a strong country in the west of the country, its national strength is very strong, the two countries have been fighting for many years, Qingyu is at a disadvantage and has no ability to support, and the Xixia Xijiang Marshal Green Pothos Xiaoying is the top ten surname leaders of the Western Xia, and the military strategy is extraordinary, with the power of one person to shake the 39 states of the Western Regions, and from time to time to loot people and property from Qingyu, it is said that the army has not been defeated for 25 years. ”

"Xixia is also quite a lot of generals, but compared to my Da Zheng, it is like a firefly."

"What Your Majesty said is very true, I think I have more than 200 years of Zheng Liguo, if there are no generals, how can I expand my own territory."

"Well, Li Qing continued."

"Obey. Yu Guo, the old Yu Emperor passed on the throne eight years ago, the new emperor was brutal and unkind, resulting in violence in various places, and chaos was frequent, so it gave the Western Xia an opportunity to take advantage of, and the Western Xia conquered a place, and the literati and landless peasants who were unwilling to form an army of assistants, the Western Xia did not send many troops, it can be said that although it was a three-line battle, the only thing that needed to use a lot of military strength was only me to the northwest. Meng Li Mingtang, the lord of the Western Xia Kingdom, tried to mobilize elites to completely destroy the Yu State, and even transferred 100,000 elite soldiers from the occupied territory, but Zhang Shuai seized the fighter plane to recapture the three counties of Yunzhou in one fell swoop, and it was not until Meng Li Mingtang re-transferred back the 100,000 army to stabilize the situation. ”

Cao Ju said in a deep voice: "I know that Zhang Shuai is not easy there!" ”

Li Jiutang took the opportunity to stand up and said loudly: "The minister thinks that the southeast has just been pacified at this time, and the army must not be moved lightly for the sake of deterrence. The elite 50,000 in the southwest may go north to support Zhang Shuai, and the four guards of Long Xiang will send two guards to aid Huizhou, and the imperial court can recruit new soldiers and civilians on a large scale. ”

Qin Kang looked at Li Jiutang in surprise and asked, "I heard that Li Shangshu thinks that the land of Jinghe and the three states of the small country can dispatch more than a million troops, right?" ”

"The prime minister doesn't know, Jinghe has always liked the false and the real, and the lower officials have seen the war spirit of the previous dynasty and have an impression, Jinghe is indeed likely to send more than one million troops."

"Why is that arranged? Not afraid of insufficient troops? ”

"The four guards of Long Xiang are the garrison division of the Son of Heaven's own army, and if all of them are transferred, then the capital will be empty. And the Jingren ordinary soldiers wear bamboo armor and cloth armor, there is almost no threat in front of my strong bow and crossbow, and a small number of elite bronze armor and iron armor are weak in their protection, and it is difficult to resist the straight knife and heavy hammer, and my seven guards plus Longxiang two guards plus two armies can get 2340,000 armored soldiers, which is enough to deal with. ”

"The lion fights the rabbit, and he uses all his strength. Could it be that Li Shangshu is worried about who has the strength to hit Mingzhou and hit this Pingjing City? Xu Nan asked with a smile.

Li Jiutang was speechless for a while, and only said: "The lower officials are also afraid of what happens." ”

"Alright." Cao raised his head and said, "I don't believe that anyone has this strength, and the war in Huizhou is more important now. The military headquarters should verify the situation. ”

"Obey."

"The cabinet will come up with a plan as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning. In addition, the household department's nucleic acid grain and grass military equipment will be presented tomorrow. ”

Qin Kang Xu Nan also didn't say much and replied: "The minister obeys the order." Dare to ask Your Majesty how much the enemy should be counted"

"What does the Cabinet think?"

"The ministers think it's 500,000."

"Then calculate it at 500,000 first, and then make changes after the detailed military report in Huizhou."

"The ministers obey."

At this time, it was noon, and the cheers were already clearly audible, which meant that King Zhao was about to return to the palace.

Cao Ju said tiredly: "This matter is not to be made quiet, everything will be decided tomorrow." The side hall of Zhuqing's house rested for a while, and the country had a banquet. Step aside. ”

"The ministers are leaving."

After a while, Cao Ke, the king of Zhao, came back to resume his life, but saw Cao Ju looking tired, and thought that he was overworked, so he hurriedly stepped forward to serve, Cao Ju looked at his grandson, who was really more and more satisfied, and couldn't help but smile and asked: "How does Ke'er feel today?" ”

Cao Ke also replied with a smile: "Grandpa Huang, my grandson has the honor to patrol the city today, and I feel happy to see the joy of this people, and hundreds of thousands of people are all praised, and I know the difficulty of the superior." I also think that my Dazheng is thousands of miles away, and the people are not only tens of thousands, but the emperor's grandfather's difficulties and grandchildren have begun to peek at it. I also feel sorry for the emperor's grandfather's difficulties, and my grandson is ashamed! He sighed heavily.

Cao Ju scolded with a smile: "You little cub, you know how to make your imperial grandfather happy." ”

"Grandpa Huang is making fun of his grandson again, but what his grandson says is from his heart, every word."

Cao Ju's eyes were always full of kindness when he looked at his grandson: "Ke'er has grown up, Grandpa Huang can't always let you be in the palace, it's time to go out." ”

Cao Ke couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly ran down to the hall and knelt down and said, "Grandson, thank you for the grace of Grandpa Huang." Dare to ask the emperor's grandfather and grandson if they are going to Haizhou? ”

"No," Cao Ju shook his head and continued, "It's Huizhou!" ”