Above the court, there was a 'buzzing' discussion.

Su Chen turned around and waved his hand at them: "Don't get excited, the expedition to the west, there is still a period of time, I need to plan well during this time, mobilize the elite soldiers and horses of various states, and stir the heartstrings of the people, a country fights a war, or a big war, without the support of the people of Great Xia, it will only be a complete defeat." ”

After that, he slowly walked down the stone steps, step by step: "Since you have decided to fight, then don't just make a show, even if this battle defeats my Great Xia generation, you must completely plant the Great Xia Dragon Flag in the western land." ”

"When you came, I was already thinking about it."

Walking through the crowd, after saying this, Su Chen glanced at a eunuch at the door, who quickly brought someone in.

It was Li Chaofu, he changed his outfit, his hair was neatly combed, he came in in a navy blue brocade robe, and bowed down.

"Minister Li Chaofu greets Your Majesty."

"Show everyone your sketches."

After Su Chen returned to Yanjing, he summoned this person into the palace, gave him a leisure, and then asked the other party to draw the western cities, foothills, and rivers he passed through, starting from Tianfeng Ridge.

After returning to Beijing, the painting will be completed until today.

At this time, a eunuch came in outside, holding a scroll of painting scrolls in his hands, untied the rope made of red silk on it, unfolded the painting scroll little by little, and then raised it above his head and showed it to the civil and military officials around him.

In the picture scroll, the Tianfeng Ridge marked with the Western Regions, there are rolling mountains to the west, as if standing in the reckless sense of 100,000 mountains.

"There are some places in the picture that were added by hearsay, but most of them are in the places where the master and the national teacher Zhang Jiao walked."

With Li Chaofu's explanation, the Chinese generals among the civil and military officials stared at the terrain, place names, and the names of some cities in the west that each other's fingers had swiped without blinking.

"After crossing the Tianfeng Ridge for more than 200 miles, you will enter a plateau, where there is the Satsuma country, and there are many cities, when I fled back with my master, the Satsuma country was being invaded by another barbarian army, and I don't know what happened now, I don't know ......."

Li Chaofu went from being a trader to standing in the Great Xia court, if he wanted to say that he was not panicked, it was fake.

Fortunately, in the past three years of following Zhang Dongshan, he has experienced a lot, and in the face of such a scene, he can recover quickly, and calm down to explain to the civil and military officials of the court, what he has seen and heard in the West.

"The name of the place on this painting may be a little biased, but the approximate location will not change, in the future, Your Majesty will conquer the West, and the minister is willing to lead the way for the horse and the army!"

With the guide, the first step in the conquest of the West can be regarded as a step.

"Float up, go to the side and join the column." Su Chen raised his hand and waved it at Li Chaofu below, this move made Li Chaofu ecstatic, he gave his hand again, and hurriedly stood beside him.

This is the emperor's recognition of his performance, how can he not be happy.

As for the hatred between the family and the country, as early as that day, after the Jinsa barbarians were slaughtered, they disappeared, and now he and Zaha have followed Yanjing.

Zaha was also placed at a horse farm in the western suburbs, responsible for feeding the horses.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have all listened to it and seen the map, the land to the west is still very large." Su Chen stood on the imperial stairs, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces.

"If they covet us, why can't we take their land, and our people and soldiers need more soil to grow crops, what do you think of that over there?"

Su Chen grinned, and his smile became even bigger.

"The Ministry of War is going to be busy next, the soldiers and horses are no longer limited to the few armies under my command that can be used to fighting, I want to recruit soldiers from Yuezhou and Liangzhou, and form a team that specializes in fighting in the mountains and forests.

Su Chen turned around and sat down in the dragon chair, his voice getting higher and higher-pitched.

"The slaves on the snow field also have to be recruited, and there may be cold places in the west, and then their role will come, Anu Tiger!"

The Snow Native Slave general, in the second column on the right, stepped out.

"The minister is here!"

"Convey my will to the Snow Plains, and inform your chiefs that I want 15,000 slave troops, ready for me in the second half of the year!"

"Yes!"

When Anuhu retreated, Su Chen's eyes fell on everyone: "Convey my will to the Taishi Dong Zhuo, Li Dao, and An Lushan over there in Liangzhou, recruit the Western Liang army, and recruit 20,000 Qiang people." ”

"Yuezhou requisitioned 30,000."

"The Qingzhou army of Luyang was transferred to join the Western Expedition, and before the order to go out, all the veterans were recruited, the newly recruited soldiers and horses were trained, and a notice was posted in the Central Plains, if the soldiers and horses of all counties who were interested in joining the Western Expedition could go to Xiahou Yuan to register."

"The Northern Fleet and the Central Plains Fleet have entered wartime training and are preparing more troop carriers, and this time I will advance by land and sea."

"I want the people of the West to see what kind of army the East has, and I want to take their land, and I have taken it!"

Su Chen slapped the dragon case and got up, and in his heroic words, there was a murderous aura that cut off everything, and everyone in the hall accompanied by a high-pitched and heroic voice, as if they had seen the picture of Jin Ge Iron Horse.

In the next few days, one after another holy decrees came out of the imperial city, and carrier pigeons flew across the sky, conveying them in all directions through land and air channels.

The literati in Wang Lang's hands, at this time, also brewed the news that the ferocious side of the Western barbarians wanted to conquer Great Xia, and then fermented and broke out in various places.

At the end of the first month, the news that the Son of Heaven was going to war with the barbarians had already spread across the Hunhe River and entered the Central Plains.

By mid-February, Bingzhou, Liangzhou, Yue, and Wu also learned of the news, and while everyone was still in shock, the emperor's conscription order followed.

In Huizhou, Central Plains, Meng Huo looked at the notice brought by his command, raised his head and glanced at the spiritual seat of the old master Zhao Guangshi, held the notice, knelt in front of the offering table, and lit the notice.

He shed tears and kowtowed respectfully to the spiritual seat three times.

"General Zhao...... This time, the camel wants to lead the Tiefeng Yijie Army and establish meritorious deeds, so that the officers and soldiers in the army can also get good fields and beautiful houses. It also proves to the world that the soldiers and horses in the hands of the old general are not wine bags and rice bags, and I hope the old general will be blessed by the spirit of heaven! ”

Wuzhou, Zhao Kuian sat silently in the banquet, the early sun on the sea crossed the sea level and shone on his face, and after a while, he whispered: "When you are old, there is such a big battle, you should go to it!" ”

When the family heard the news, they were scolded by him and went back.

"The eldest husband was born in heaven and earth, how can he be sick and die in bed!" He drew the sword at his waist and cut off a piece of the corner of the table, and the children who came to persuade him, as well as the old wife, were all frightened by the sword, and their faces turned pale.

"The old man seeks a future for future generations of children and grandchildren, and also for the long-cherished wish of my heart to conquer other countries, since His Majesty has made an order, the old man has only happiness in his heart, you are my relatives, you can't stop it, otherwise it will be like this table!"

Soon, he issued a call to the Wuzhou Navy Division to discuss the matter overnight, and then issued two orders, one urging all the docks in Wuzhou to make every effort to build warships, and the other issued an order to recruit Wuzhou Erlang, who was familiar with water nature, to enlist in the army.

In the Central Plains, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Yuan, Zhang He, and Le Jin drank bitterly all night, and the next morning, at the same time that the conscription order was issued in each county, the granaries in various places, except for the official warehouses for disaster relief, began to transport large bags of grain out.

Workshops were also ordered to build six-wheeled bodies or prepare dry rations for the military.

At this time, Liangzhou was also in full swing, An Lushan's fat body rode on a war horse, and he traveled between various tribes for half a month, and a large number of Qiang people walked out of the mountains and went to the Xiliang army camp stationed outside the western capital.

At the same time as the army moved, the civilian literati group and low-level officials also began to publicize among the common people at the behest of the Hongwenguan and the Fang family, erecting the concept of punishment and revenge in this war against the Western barbarians.

The clamor of all kinds of momentum is getting higher and higher day by day, spreading from city to city, and states and counties of all sizes are in a frenzy.

For such a war, countless people began to run and appeal, scholars jointly wrote to the government to ask to defend against foreign enemies, and the common people talked about the conquest of Western barbarians.

The impassioned remarks of all kinds of literati on the streets, restaurants, and tea shops in the streets of the market have frequently appealed, adding to the fire of this matter.

“…… Many small countries in the Western Regions are now my Great Xia city-states, how can they allow Western barbarians to covet them! It's the border over there, yes.

But that's also, our own children fought with a knife and a gun, and even our Heavenly Son of Daxia personally requisitioned it, which is already our land, and it can't be given to outsiders to run rampant. ”

"That's right, the people of the Western Regions over there, no matter what, they don't deal with us for a day or two, although they have different appearances, they have become the people of Great Xia after all, and they are the same as us. Let outsiders bully, we have to avenge them! ”

"It's Lao Tzu's younger brother who is doing business in the Western Regions, and he almost died in the desert several times, but it was the people from the Western Regions who helped lead the way to get out alive, since the Western Regions is already the land of the Xia Kingdom, then we have to fight for breath, and if our own people are beaten, we have to save face for them!"

In the restaurant and tea shop, the faces are full of anger, and the literati who speak use sharp words to tell about brotherhood.

However, unlike the impassioned enthusiasm of the people, the big families who have been suppressed, or the wealthy gentry, see a different picture.

It was an illusion of countless gold and silver piled up in front of me.

The flames of war burned to other countries, as long as they were won, there would be countless lands and wealth that could be plundered, as the mainstay of the Xia Kingdom, they had a natural keen sense of smell, and they knew very well that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

When someone began to contact the local yamen and was willing to contribute, the middle level of the people in the entire Xia Kingdom had already begun to take action with their own skills.

However, what they didn't know was that their actions for profit were all dominated by Jia Xu of Yanjing, using the low-level power of the Hongwen Pavilion and the Fang family to spread interests to drive the families who valued wealth and slaves.

This is also to reduce the burden of the Xia Kingdom, after all, the granaries of these big families and wealthy gentry are still very rich.

For a time, from Wuyue to the north to the official road between all the cities of Yanjing, countless baggage teams continued to go north, and the south gate of each city, the people who signed up to become logistics laborers, also lined up in a long line, and the officials in charge of registration were busy with a lot of money, and the paper of registration had been piled up in the government.

In April, the slaves on the snowy plains, after the sacrifice of the chief Nayanduo, bid farewell to their families and marched to Yanjing with a group of slave soldiers under the command of Anu Hu.

On the 15th day, the young men who were recruited from far away in Yuezhou entered Luyang in the Central Plains to reorganize into an army, and the veterans of the various armies who had retired in the past returned to the school to carry out fierce drills for these recruits.

In June, the 27 counties of the Central Plains sent 60,000 troops, and then went north to Yanjing, and under the momentum of Li Ru in Bingzhou, the literati also made up 30,000 soldiers and horses to fight.

In Liangzhou, Dong Zhuo's Western Liang Army and An Lushan's Qiang army after training, a total of 50,000 people left Liangzhou.

The people who bid farewell to their relatives spread for dozens of miles on the official road, feverishly waving their hands on the side of the road, or handing over the water from their hometowns, telling their children to kill the enemy bravely.

At the end of August, the Wuzhou Fleet and the Central Plains Fleet were pulled out, their sails covering the sky and the sun, and huge warships like ant colonies were rampant across the sea.

The armies gathered in the north, and the embroidery division in the hands of the Son of Heaven and the elite scouts in the army had begun to travel back and forth between the Western Regions and the Great Snow Mountain.

With the help of Li Chaofu's map, he continued to spread westward, probing for all kinds of information there, and even looking for opportunities to learn the local language.

Scouts and embroidery spies come and go in the Western Regions, the Western Regions Protectorate has completed the registration of the hundred name register, and issued household registration and land contracts, with these guarantees, the former people of the Western Regions have officially become the people of the Xia Kingdom.

At the request of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, a large number of people were busy building a straight road in the Gobi, from Tiele and Changkang to Tianfengling, the road was more than 1,200 miles long, spanning two deserts.

This almost exhausted the people of all the city-states in the middle and south of the Western Regions, plus the help of craftsmen transferred from Liangzhou and Bingzhou, and started construction from the east and west at the same time, and after several months, only the last 500 miles remained.

A large army of expeditions, long runs, and a good road can allow a large number of six-wheeled personnel carriers to carry soldiers to set up camp in Tianfeng Ridge as quickly as possible.

When everything was going on in an orderly manner, Su Chen at this time had just finished the court meeting, and came from the front palace to a side building on the middle palace.

It had just rained heavily and the ground was still very wet.

Su Chen waved away the soldiers who followed, and only brought Dian and Xu in, and Wu Zixun and Zheng He could only wait outside.

Walking into the attic courtyard, the water vapor is swirling, lining the hazy mystery here.

Pale red peonies and verdant old pines seem to isolate this place from the noise outside.

In the courtyard in front of the attic, the rain was dripping in the eaves and falling into a beaded curtain, Su Chen stepped on the wet stone steps and walked into the attic.

There was a dim light inside, a slender figure, a long beard and a short beard, a majestic face, sitting in the first chair, in the flickering lights, as if the whole person was immersed in shadows.

Hearing the footsteps, the man in the lights and shadows raised his face slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Wu Anjun, are you still used to it here?"

Su Chen took off his cloak and threw it to Dian Wei, handed the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow to Xu Chu with the other hand, and walked over to greet the man who got up.

"I came here this time to ask Wu Anjun to come out of the mountain to help."

In the shadows, the man's eyes were flat, his Adam's apple rolled up and down, and he asked in a faint voice.

"Are there many enemies?"

(End of chapter)