Emperor Zhao Zhuan did not make a sound. He was not a Son of Heaven who would slack off in governance. He was very familiar with the Guangling Dao War. Right now, there was only one thing that made it difficult for him to choose. Should he let the two navies at the front and back "delay the opportunity" and first help the ten thousand tigers and wolves of the southern border cross the Guangling River? Or should he take advantage of the West Chu navy taking the initiative to fight a decisive battle with the Guangling navy and have the Qingzhou navy quickly enter the empty area at the western end of Bailu Lake so that they could fight a more secure pincer battle on the eastern side of Bailu Lake and not fall into a situation where the West Chu navy would attack them one by one. Of course, as long as the Nanjiang soldiers successfully crossed the Guangling River, Song Li, who had just entered the capital not long ago, had destroyed most of the West Chu soldiers. Then, on the land of West Chu, the 100,000 elite Nanjiang soldiers would be unstoppable. They even had the hope of surrounding the capital of West Chu. However, from the start, the Guangling rebellion was not a battle purely for victory. Once the 100,000 soldiers of Nanjiang surrounded the capital of West Chu without losing a single soldier, then the victory on Bailu Lake would become an unnecessary battle. If Nanjiang only destroyed the country before the court, that was fine. The worst result was that it was far beyond what the court could bear. If the Guangling Navy and the Qingzhou Navy lost to the West Chu navy personally led by Cao Changqing, if Zhao Bing, who was a border king like Xu Xiao in the past, had ill intentions and disobeyed the situation, then could the Southern Expedition Commander Lu Shengxiang, who only had tens of thousands of men and horses stop the wolves of Nanjiang that had been in battle for a long time? What was even more terrifying was that the southern border and West Chu were colluding and heading north together. In that case, Li Yang could only have Gu Jiantang divide his troops between the two Liao border armies and head south to protect Great An City. The Northern Mang had never fought smoothly on the two fronts of Northern Liang and Youliang to begin with, and there were also close to two hundred thousand soldiers stationed outside the two Liao lines of defense. Could it be that he, Zhao Zhuan, really had to stand on top of Great An City and see the Northern Mang barbarians and the barbarians of the southern border at the same time? However, all these deductions were built on the premise of the worst-case scenario. Therefore, Zhao Zhuan felt some regret in the depths of his heart. Back then, he had listened to the opinions of the Head of the Secretariat Qi Yanglong and the Minister of War Lu Baijie and refused to send troops to Western Shu. Was it wrong? After all, there were only 10,000 Shu soldiers. Even if Chen Zhibao personally led them, how much merit could they take away on the Guangling Road? Could 10,000 people besiege West Chu's capital? Although it was the young Emperor's original intention to not have the King of Shu come out of Shu, when the battle situation became muddy, it was hard to avoid some well-hidden anger. Zhao Zhuan, an Emperor who had everything going smoothly, lacked experience in making decisions. After all, he was not as good as the previous Emperor and could not be compared to his grandfather who had spent most of his life fighting on horseback.
At this time, Zhao Zhuan found the Tangxi Sword Immortal Lu Baijie, who he could not order around as he pleased, more and more of an eyesore. If not for the fact that the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of War, Xu Gong and Tang Tieshuang, were new faces in Great An City, Song Li's experience was too shallow, and those old generals with merit had either died in battle or died of old age, the Emperor would have had Lu Baijie leave the Ministry of War a long time ago. Yuan Guo was immediately preparing to head to the vassal state to be the new Jiedu deputy of the court. Lu Baijie should have been in the ranks, but Qi Yanglong and Tantanon, the two main officials, both expressed their intentions that this matter was inappropriate, which was why it was delayed.
Ever since he ascended the throne, Zhao Zhuan had his own calculations. In his view, the previous emperor should not have followed Yuan Benxi and Zhang Julu's wishes and released Chen Zhibao like a tiger back to the mountain. He should have firmly nailed him to the position of Minister of War. At the very most, he would have given him a military achievement in the Guangling battle. Taking a step back, the same tens of thousands of soldiers. The court did not believe that Chen Zhibao could contend against the Nanjiang army. Perhaps no one doubted that as long as Chen Zhibao remained in the capital as the Minister of War, the Nanjiang army would not have any thoughts of rebellion. It was not that Zhao Zhuan did not understand the previous emperor's original intentions in placing Chen Zhibao in Western Shu. However, Zhao Zhuan was not someone who blindly admired and trusted this adopted son of Xu Xiao. He had a deep suspicion of this white-clothed military saint. Furthermore, as the new monarch, Zhao Zhuan had to admit that the previous emperor and Chen Zhibao had a relationship. Everyone knew that the previous emperor did not have a good impression of all of Beiliang, but he favored Chen Zhibao greatly. Back then, he had almost bestowed the title of King of a different surname on that young man before he was even a year old. Later on, he even had him replace Gu Jiantang as the Minister of War. In the end, he was ten years late and still let Chen Zhibao become the King of Shu. After Xu Xiao's death, he became the only remaining King of a different surname. Zhao Zhuan, on the other hand, did not have such a relationship between monarch and subject. The only people who had such a relationship with him were people like Chen Wang, Tang Tieshuang, and Song Li, who were still a little below the level of top civil and military officials.
The Emperor was silent for a long time, so the entire hall could only be silent.
Gao Tingshu spoke a few thousand words until his mouth was dry and his tongue was dry. He had truly emptied his stomach of the strategic plans he had prepared long ago. He no longer dared to boast and digress in front of the central officials. After carefully glancing at Lu Baijie, who was the backbone of the Ministry of War, he received a look of affirmation. Gao Tingshu thus shut his mouth and did not add to the painting of a snake with feet. The Emperor finally broke the silence and said a few words of encouragement and praise to this new official of the Ministry of War who had many stories in the capital. It could be said that this was in the Emperor's heart. All of the important officials in the hall smiled as they looked at this handsome young man with the nickname of "Taian Jade Tree." Only the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, Jin Lanting, had a hidden and complicated gaze. The Emperor then left the Zhaojiawen and went to the new location of the Hanlin Academy, which was neighbors to the two yamens of the Hall of Governmental Affairs. Today, there was a tea party in the Hanlin Academy. As expected, the Emperor saw Chen Wang, Sun Yin, Yan Chiji, Fan Zhanghou, Li Jifu, and Song Keli. Of course, there were more than these six people in the courtyard. There were dozens of young and old men in the Hanlin Academy, but no matter how they gathered together, they still could not be seen by the Emperor at a glance. At this time, the arrogant scholar Sun Yin was discussing a game with Fan Shiduan, Fan Zhanghou. Chen Wang and the top scholar, Li Jifu, stood side by side on one side, whispering to each other. The current dynasty's uncle in law, Yan Chiji, and the young phoenix of the Song family, Song Keli, who had made a comeback, stood together on the other side. The Emperor walked over to take a look. In the end, he saw that there were a few rare books placed near the chess jars in Sun Yin and Fan Zhanghou's hands. Sun Yin's hands were slightly higher, with four books, while Fan Zhanghou's hands only had two books. It seemed that they were betting on chess. After seeing the Emperor's arrival, not to mention the other men in the courtyard who were in fear and trepidation, these six people's expressions were more or less the same. There were some small differences. Sun Yin didn't move at all. He only focused on the chess game. Fan Zhanghou also didn't get up. This new young man, who had originally raised his arm and was pondering, slowly put down the chess piece between his fingers to show his respect. Yan Chiji and Song Keli both made way. Especially Yan Chiji, who had the most right to be indifferent, his expression was the most serious and respectful. His expression seemed to be even more "forceful" than Song Keli's. Chen Wang walked forward in small steps. After taking two steps, he found that Li Jifu didn't move. He quietly reached out and tugged on the top scholar's sleeve. Li Jifu gave him a grateful glance. The two of them came to the front of the Emperor. Chen Wang smiled and explained to the Emperor, "It was agreed a few days ago that Yuetian would let Sun Yin play two pieces. Including them, a total of six people would use three months' salary to buy books from Gu Fang Zhanghou to bet."
Speaking of this, Chen Wang's smile grew wider, "This idea was proposed by Sun Yin. It's obvious that he wants to cheat me. Who doesn't know that my salary is the most out of the six of them?"
Then Chen Wang moved slightly to make Li Jifu more eye-catching in front of the Emperor. He joked, "Li Jifu has always sent his salary back to his hometown. At most, he would have some loose change left. Thus, this time, he bought the books on credit with me. When he placed the bet, he was the most unhappy. He was worried for a long time, afraid that after the end of the year with great difficulty, he would owe someone a butt of debt again. Your Majesty, this humble subject has a presumptuous request. If Li Jifu and I lose, can Your Majesty help us make up for it? Your Majesty's family is so big that this humble subject and Li Jifu can't compare to it. "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
