The wind drove the rain to sprinkle the high city, and the clouds pressed lightly and thundered.

A sharp and sharp summer rain poured down from the sky, enveloping the majestic Yongjia City in a curtain of rain.

In the hazy sky, the capital of this Qi country was like a sleeping beast.

The sound of rain outside was like a drum, and the atmosphere in the Wende Hall of the Imperial Palace was also a little solemn.

“…… After the Battle of Guangling, the system of fine work sent by the Puppet Yan Inspectorate in Huaizhou had been destroyed, and most of the spies had been purged. In the Battle of Qingxia, our army won a great victory, smoothly pushed back the front, and now in addition to the Panlong Army and the Feiyun Army that returned to rectification, the remaining four armies are still stationed in the north of the Lai'an defense line. The losses of the Guangling army were acceptable, but the Shuangfeng Mountains needed to be strengthened to prevent the enemy from raiding the rear of Huaizhou again. To sum up, the minister thought that Xiao Dudu's request was very reasonable. ”

The warp weaving priest lifted Qin Zheng's posture and stood upright, and he played the report unhurriedly.

The first military general on the right who was over forty years old had a calm face, but he cursed Qin Zheng's old lady fiercely in his heart.

This person's name is Li Jingda, the official worships the general, and Liu Shouguang, another general next to him, is in charge of the 12th Army of the Southern Ya.

The reason why he slandered Qin Zheng's belly was because he was discussing the matter of increasing troops in Huaizhou in the court today.

A month ago, the Northern Yan waved its army south to invade the border, and there was a long debate in the court about how to support Huaizhou.

The reason for such a delay is that everyone knows that Xiao Wangzhi is in charge of nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses of the Huaizhou Seventh Army, and no matter what, he will not be easily broken through the defense line by the Yan people, and he will definitely be as stable as a mountain in a short time.

In the end, the result of the discussion was that Li Jingda drew half of the nearly 40,000 soldiers and horses from the Sixth Army under his command and went north to Huaizhou to support the border war.

Li Jingda was reluctant, but this decision was unanimously approved by the Son of Heaven, the two prime ministers, the privy envoy Guo Congyi, and the general Wang Yan.

Before the three armies of the Southern Ya reached the edge of the Hengjiang River, news came from the north that Huaizhou had won two successive victories and that the army on the Dongyang Road in the North Yan had suffered heavy losses.

Li Jingda was overjoyed, and immediately sent someone to urgently order the three armies to stop their advance, and at the same time asked the ministers close to the DPRK and China to play the Son of Heaven, hoping to transfer those tens of thousands of people back to Yongjia.

It's just that Xiao Wangzhi highlighted several things in the war report, one of which was that Huaizhou had insufficient troops to cope with the next stage of the war, and asked the imperial court to increase the number of troops by 20,000 or 30,000 on the original basis.

What Qin Zheng said was his support for Xiao Wangzhi's recital.

However, after saying the last sentence, Qin Zheng bowed to the Son of Heaven on the dragon chair, and immediately retreated into the corner, just like his style in the court for so many years.

If it weren't for the Son of Heaven asking, he would never have said a word more, and it is rare to take the initiative to support Xiao Wangzhi like today.

Because of this rarity, many important ministers in the palace had to be treated with caution.

They are very aware of Qin Zheng's status in the heart of the Son of Heaven, and many times his statement represents the holy will.

Your Majesty is willing to support Xiao Wangzhi's counteroffensive Northern Expedition?

This thought swirled in Li Jingda's heart, although he was very disgusted, he was not good at taking the initiative to speak, after all, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses staying on the south bank of the Hengjiang River were under his command, and it was unwise for him to be the first to jump out against Weishi, so he quietly turned his head and glanced at Liu Shouguang.

If you want to continue to increase troops in Huaizhou, you will only be able to transfer people from the Sixth Army of Nanya, which Liu Shouguang is in charge of, and this guy can't stand by coldly.

However, Liu Shouguang, who was a few years older than Li Jingda, stared at the ground in front of him, as if there was a peerless beauty on the bare gold brick.

There was silence in the hall.

After a while, the calm voice of the Son of Heaven came from everyone's ears: "Put this matter aside for the time being, and the Qing family will discuss the reward for the soldiers of the border army first." ”

In fact, for this war in Huaizhou, not only Xiao Wangzhi had expected it, but the Manchu Dynasty ministers were not surprised.

After all, the Jing Dynasty behind Beiyan will not always sit back and watch Huaizhou be controlled by the Qi Dynasty, judging from the scale of this war, the other party is obviously not a simple temptation, but really has the intention of attacking Huaizhou.

However, the two big victories in Guangling and Qingxia came just right, at least to temporarily dispel the ambitions of the north and let the Chengping years last for a few years.

The privy envoy Guo Congyi was over fifty years old, and said lightly: "Your Majesty, according to the humble opinion of the ministers, the rewards and pensions of the soldiers of the border army can refer to the old practice of previous years, and meritorious generals may be rewarded with knights." ”

"Then in Guo Shumi's opinion, what kind of title should Xiao Wangzhi give?" The Son of Heaven asked again.

Guo Congyi's sideburns were slightly pale, but his body was still tough, and his old eyes were shining, and he said unhurriedly: "In the Battle of Qingxia, the enemy lost nearly 40,000 troops, which can be described as a great victory that inspires the government and the opposition. Such a great achievement should be given by the duke of the county. ”

The military titles of the Qi Dynasty were divided into eight ranks, namely, prince, county king, founding prince, founding county prince, marquis, uncle, son, and male.

From the time when Li Zhongjing established the kingdom to the present, for more than 160 years, no courtier outside the clan has been named a prince during his lifetime, and the king of the county is the end.

The royal family of the Qi Dynasty was very cautious about the reward of military merits, and when today's son ascended the throne, only two princes were entitled, one of whom had passed away, and the other had also become a prince.

Guo Congyi himself is only a marquis, and Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun are only earls, which is related to the national policy pursued by the Qi Dynasty.

The Son of Heaven on the dragon chair was silent.

A minister on the left calmly retorted, "Your Majesty, please forgive your lordship for disagreeing with each other. Xiao Dudu did have merit, but if it weren't for the fact that Jingzhou Li Dudu had insight into the conspiracy of the pseudo-Yan in advance and ordered the most elite Feiyu battalion under his command to cross the river and gallop down to help Guangling, I am afraid that this important rear town would have fallen into the hands of the enemy. Xiao Dudu's original intention should be to bet that the enemy would not be able to take Guangling, and then fight a decisive battle with the enemy's main force in the Qingxia area, what if Guangling falls? ”

Everyone followed the prestige, only to see that it was the military department Shangshu Ding Hui.

His complexion was fair, his tone was subdued, and he continued: "Governor Xiao is a risky move, and it all depends on the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion to support him. Of course, the victory in the Battle of Qingxia should be rewarded, but the position of the county prince is obviously inappropriate. ”

Guo Congyi's face was pale, and he didn't seem to mind the other party's rebuttal, and said leisurely: "Then how should I be rewarded according to Ding Shangshu's opinion?" ”

Ding Hui glanced at the man on the dragon chair and arched his hand: "This matter is very high, and it should be judged holy." ”

Guo Congyi's first jaw said yes.

The temple fell silent again.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Guo Shumi and Ding Shangshu said is reasonable, it is better to take a compromise method, and crown Xiao Wangzhi, the governor of Huaizhou, as a marquis, and other generals will be rewarded according to the rules."

A calming voice broke the eerie silence.

The owner of this voice has a clear face and a proud body, and it is Xue Nanting, who is facing the right side.

The Son of Heaven thought for a moment and then said, "Accurate." ”

Xue Nanting said again: "Regarding Xiao Wang's previous invitation, the minister thinks that there is nothing wrong with it. Now that the morale of the newly defeated army of Pseudo Yan is low, and the Jing Dynasty has the intention of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, our army can use this opportunity to try a counterattack. The minister believes in the ability and vision of Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun, the two governors, and if they can't do it, they will definitely stop it in time. ”

He paused slightly, and looked around at everyone: "But if you miss this opportunity, when Pseudo Yan rearmament, it will be very risky for our army to think about counterattacking again." ”

The privy envoy Guo Congyi, the general Wang Yan who was in charge of the Sixth Army of the Northern Ya, and the general Liu Shouguang of the Southern Ya were all silent, Li Jingda hesitated slightly, and finally said lightly: "The right minister is reasonable, but Huaizhou is lonely in the north of the river, and it will be difficult to rescue once the battle situation is dangerous." In the eyes of the last general, it is more important to hold Huaizhou steadily. ”

Xue Nanting frowned slightly and said: "The meaning of the general, my soldiers are far inferior to the pseudo-Yan soldiers?" ”

Li Jingda said categorically: "The last general has no such intention. ”

Xue Nanting pressed step by step: "In the first battle of Guangling, 4,000 defenders and 4,000 soldiers of the Feiyu battalion reinforcements fought twice as many as their own enemy, and finally defeated the enemy's generals and captured nearly 10,000 people, most of whom were the so-called veterans of the Jing Dynasty. In the battle of Qingxia, Xiao Wangzhi's troops were only 60,000 when they were full, and in the face of the 80,000 troops mobilized by the puppet Yan Dongyang Road, the final result was to kill 20,000 enemies and capture nearly 20,000 prisoners. ”

"These two battles took place in Huaizhou, one south and one north, both of which began with our army being at a disadvantage, but ended with a crushing defeat of the enemy, does it not show the combat strength of the Huaizhou Seventh Army? Now that the enemy has been defeated like a lost dog, he does not dare to counterattack northward in this case. ”

Li Jingda suddenly regretted that he was going to jump out.

Although this right minister is not obvious, but after all, he is from Wenchen, how can he compete with the other party?

He hung his head stupidly, but there was no fear in his heart.

"Ahem......"

An old man in front of Xue Nanting coughed lightly, and then said to the man on the dragon chair: "The old minister lost his honor in front of his palace, and I hope Your Majesty will forgive you." ”

There was a little more concern in the voice of the Son of Heaven: "What is the crime of the left minister? Do you want to pass on the Imperial Doctor to diagnose it? ”

The old man bowed his hand and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, Longen, the old minister has a sense of guilt." The imperial doctor doesn't need it, the old minister is a chronic illness, it will be like this every summer, and His Majesty doesn't have to worry about it. ”

The Son of Heaven said: "That's good, Prime Minister Zuo still has to take care of his body, I and the court can't do without you." ”

The old man is Li Daoyan, the left minister of the dynasty, before the change of Yuanjia, the official residence of the Great Qi Dynasty officials Shangshu, his clan has branches in many places in the south of the Yangtze River, Wenhua is prosperous to cultivate and read heirlooms, and he is also rich in experience and famous all over the world.

When the son can ascend to the throne today, the first credit will be in this left minister.

Li Daoyan coughed twice, and then said slowly: "Xiao Wangzhi wants to counterattack the Northern Expedition, and of course Pseudo Yan and Jing Chao will also think of this. Huaizhou lost both battles, which does not mean that the north has lost the strength to fight back. Therefore, even if it is a counteroffensive, it is necessary to be cautious, and it is also difficult to supply food, grass and ordnance. ”

He looked up at the man on the dragon chair and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, according to the old minister's shallow opinion, you might as well let the Nanya Third Army on the south bank of the Hengjiang River continue to cross the river and go north, and cooperate with the Huaizhou Seventh Army to implement the next strategy, which can be unified under the unified command of Xiao Wangzhi." However, it is also necessary to tell the governor of Xiao that the imperial court is not ready for a major northern expedition, so it will not continue to increase troops. Of course, it would be a good thing if he could take another bite of meat from the pseudo-Yan, but if he couldn't do anything, he wouldn't be allowed to forcibly push back the front with great joy. ”

The Son of Heaven said: "Zuo Xiang is really insightful, so he will follow Zuo Xiang's words." ”

Lee Do-yan bowed in thanks.

Xue Nanting's sword eyebrows furrowed slightly, and when he was about to speak, he felt a gaze stay on him.

He turned his head to look at it unintentionally, only to see Qin Zheng standing in the distance looking at him, shaking his head imperceptibly.

Xue Nanting sighed in his heart, so he had to give up.

This small court meeting is over, the rain is still loud outside the hall, and the palace people have already prepared rain gear for the important ministers, standing under the corridor of the hall to wait.

Xue Nanting walked out slowly, looking at the gloomy sky outside, and there was a bit of gloom hidden in his calm eyes.

(End of chapter)