Six days after Liu Jun shot and killed the defenders at the foot of Datong City, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou formally held a military meeting to announce the borrowing of troops.
Only generals above Duyuhou and important officials of the Duzong, Xuanfu envoys, and transfer envoys were eligible to participate in the military meeting. Although Zhu Zhi and Shi Zhen had low ranks, as the only military officials in Yingzhou at this time,
Second, representatives with official status were also able to participate in military discussions.
"What, you want to borrow troops from the Red Husband? This is too ridiculous!"
Even though Zhu Zhi had been tempered by the Datong incident, the superior and impetuous temperament of the children of the aristocratic family could not be completely restrained easily. He was sitting in the hall and just heard Liu Shizhong talk about asking the Chihu people to borrow troops. He was dumbfounded.
He stood up impulsively and asked,
"Some people in the court said that Liu Linggong was afraid of the enemy and was timid to fight. The officials did not take it seriously and ordered him to speak up. However, Dai Viet had gathered 100,000 elite soldiers and generals in Yingzhou at this time, while the Khitan had less than 30,000 remaining soldiers in Datong City.
All of them are like bereaved dogs, how could Liu Linggong be so cowardly that he asked the Red Husbands to borrow troops?"
Liu Shizhong expected that there would be criticism about borrowing troops, but he did not expect that Zhu Zhi would jump out and accuse him of being timid and fearful of the enemy. This was his heart disease and also his rebellion. He became furious, slapped the table and shouted: "
I have been fighting for half my life and have more than a hundred wounds from swords and arrows. How can I allow you to speak nonsense and slander? You are a child with a breast mouth, how can you arbitrarily discuss the dangers of using the army?"
"..."
Liu Shizhong had been fighting for half his life, and he still had a lot of power. When Zhu Zhi asked him to stare, he lost a lot of his momentum, but he was also stubborn. He didn't want to give in easily in front of so many people, so he held his neck and asked,
"Whether we are timid or not is not a question for now, but Liu Linggong and Cai Xiaoxianggong, have they ever thought about how easy it is to borrow soldiers and horses from the Red Husbands? What if they have bad intentions? What will Xu Huai do?
, tell me, should we be on guard against the Chihu people having bad intentions?"
Zhu Zhi didn't have any confidence in front of Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou and others. Liu Shizhong stared at him eagerly and looked at Xu Huai with a guilty conscience, hoping that he would stand up and say a few words.
Xu Huai had long expected that the Xiao victorious army would be defeated and the Xuanwu army would inevitably be defeated, but he still did not expect that Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou would make such a showy move.
In addition to being extremely disappointed, he was naturally completely disheartened and did not want to argue with Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou.
Besides, can he win anything with his words?
In order to ensure the northern expedition against Yan, Xiaosheng and Xuanwu armies were mobilized to Hedong. Both Xiaosheng and Xuanwu armies were in Yuhou, and there were nearly 30 senior generals above the command level;
The army did not directly participate in the war this time. Generals Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili and Meng Pingping also asked Tuo Wei to come to Yingzhou. However, in addition to Xu Huai, Wen Hengyue and Yin Chao wanted to change their families and join the Cai clan. They also brought people there this time.
Yingzhou came to see Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou.
In addition, tens of thousands of Xiang troops and rural soldiers were recruited from the states in Hedong to be responsible for the transportation of grain, fodder and ordnance, paving roads and digging trenches, etc., and more than ten responsible generals were able to participate in military discussions.
In the huge hall, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou sat in the middle against the north wall, with three rows of seats on each side. Xu Huai, Zhu Zhi, and Shi Zhen were placed on seats near the door.
Xu Huai pulled Zhu Zhi's sleeve and said:
"Zhu Zhi, please sit down first. You spoke so irritably that you made Mr. Liu Ling angry to death. You have taken this huge responsibility? Besides, don't say that you and I are both infants. Liu Yan, Chen Yuan,
All the military princes in Qujing are here, who is qualified to discuss military and state affairs?"
Zhu Zhi asked Xu Huai to stop and sit back down. His momentum was weakening, but he still complained in a low voice: "Borrowing troops from the Red Husband is not seeking the skin of a tiger, isn't it?"
"Xu Junzhi's words seem to be accusing Liu Linggong. The young prime minister is a willful person?" Tian Zhizhen heard Xu Huai pull Zhu Zhi back to the seat, but there was a gun and a stick in his words, and he stared at him from the opposite side and asked.
.
"Who do you think you are? I am Du Yuhou, the tenth general of the Tianxiong Army, and the patrol envoy of Shuozhou. I once helped Mr. Wang to kill more than ten thousand bandits in Tongbai Mountain, and I also helped Mr. Zhu Lang rescue him from Datong City.
With more than ten thousand soldiers, in front of Liu Linggong and the young prime minister, you still feel humble and humble, and dare not speak loudly. Do you have any moral character? What qualifications do you have to sit across from me and make irresponsible remarks to the generals?"
Xu Huai was disappointed, but also filled with raging anger in his heart. He stared at Tian Zhizhen, patted the case table and asked sternly.
Tian Zhizhen didn't expect that Xu Huai would fall out of favor faster than he could turn the page in a book. He was sternly insulted by him, and his old face turned red, but he didn't know how to refute.
"Mr. Tian is a person valued by Prime Minister Cai. I and the young prime minister invited him to the court to participate in the discussion. Ambassador Xu Jun, what do you think?" Liu Shizhong asked angrily.
"Ah, it turns out that this dog, ah, no, this Tian thing, no, Mr. Tian was invited by Liu Linggong and the young prime minister. Xu Huai was rude." Xu Huai suppressed the anger in his chest, supported the case table with both hands, and stood up
After closing his eyes for a while, he bowed to Tian Zhizhen and saluted, and said, "Please invite the dog, ah no, Mr. Tian does not care about the faults of villains. After the military meeting, please give Mr. Tian a chance to apologize to Xu Huai!"
"
"As the saying goes, those who don't know are not guilty. Xu Huai spoke to Meng Lang. He really didn't know that Mr. Tian was a counselor in Prime Minister Cai's house. He could openly come in and out of the hall to discuss military and state affairs as a private official, and we have made great military exploits for the court.
His generation has become a nipple-mouthed child, and it is Xu Huai and Meng Lang." Xu Huai walked to the front of the hall again, held the sword on his waist, and looked at Liu Shizhong who was sitting in the middle. Cai Yuanyou looked at it and asked, "Xu Huai
Finally, Huai took the courage to ask Liu Linggong, "Have you sent envoys to negotiate with the Chihu people about borrowing troops, and are you just telling the generals now? What benefits can you offer the Chihu people to make them willing?"
Borrowing troops to attack Datong?"
Tian Zhizhen almost suffocated, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou were also so angry that their hair and hair stood on end, but Xu Huai's cotton ball was stuffed with steel needles, making it difficult for them to accuse Xu Huai of what happened in the court.
Another thing is, they announced the borrowing of troops. Although most of the generals in the court were direct followers of the Cai clan, everyone's faces were filled with surprise. Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou also saw it.
Guo Zhongxiong and Liu Yan were both strongly opposed to borrowing troops at first, so they had to forcefully persuade them, and then they were able to send envoys to the Chihu people to negotiate the borrowing of troops.
At this time, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou were somewhat worried that they would have too much entanglement with Xu Huai and Zhu Zhi on this matter, which would eventually cause some twists and turns in the public sentiment.
"Sit back. If you have anything to do, just listen. I won't owe you an explanation!" Liu Shizhong, with a dark face, ordered Xu Huai to sit back down.
Cai Yuanyou pondered for a while and explained to the generals:
"It is often said in military books that using troops is a dangerous and dangerous thing. When encountering an enemy, it is necessary to surround it, attack it if it is five times, and divide it if it is doubled. Our country, Vietnam, has assembled a hundred thousand soldiers and horses in Yingzhou, but only about 60,000 of the Western Army are brave and good at fighting.
It is slightly higher than the remnant enemy in Datong, but we must not forget that on the side of Datong, the Khitan and Xiao Linshi tribes guard Huairen and Jincheng. The Tianxiong army was defeated in Datong. In addition to Yue Hailou secretly communicating with the enemy, we must
It is also an important reason to say that we are careless and underestimate the enemy. The reason why we asked the Chihu people to borrow troops this time is not to underestimate the bravery of the Western Army, but to ensure that Datong is captured without fail. However, this does not mean that we will just sit back and guard Yingzhou and not participate in the siege.
We have already sent envoys to negotiate with the Chihu people to negotiate the terms for borrowing troops. The two sides agreed to send troops to attack Datong City from the north and the south in ten days. If our troops finally invade Datong and capture all of Datong's city, we will finally give the Chihu people
They offered a reward of 200,000 guan. If both sides invaded Datong City, in addition to the reward of 200,000 guan, the Red Army soldiers and horses could plunder the population and property of the area they occupied. So, are they timid?
To defeat the enemy, it all depends on the generals fighting bravely. As long as the generals can take the lead in capturing Datong City and occupying the whole city, and the Red Husbands come to help from afar, the generals will probably not be reluctant to give out 200,000 guan as a reward, right?"
Xu Huai walked back to his seat and sat down. Xiaosheng was in the court hall. Looking at the generals of the Xuanwu and Hedong armies, he saw that although most of the generals were surprised by the borrowing of troops, their emotions were not very intense.
Liu Yan and Guo Zhongxiong, who he thought would strongly oppose this matter, must have been suppressed or persuaded by Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou beforehand.
Most of the generals of the Cai Clan, even though they were somewhat ashamed of showing weakness in their hearts, were fundamentally not vigilant enough towards the Chihu people. This was also the consistent position of the Cai Clan and other warring factions. They were dissatisfied at this time, and more
Being dissatisfied with borrowing troops will cause them to seize Datong's achievements, which will not be as dazzling as imagined.
Therefore, even if they were dissatisfied, they would not be so dissatisfied that Zhu Zhi would directly get angry, nor would they really strongly oppose the decisions of Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou.
Xu Huai was still able to calm down at this time because he saw too clearly the ambition of the Chihu people.
He knew that even if he stopped borrowing troops at this time, as long as Xiao was victorious, the Xuanwu army could not decisively withdraw to Yanmen. As long as the government and the opposition still fantasized about regaining Yanyun at this time, the Chihu people would continue to create opportunities to test Dai Viet's true and false status, and then act brazenly.
Go south.
The stupidity of Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou only exposed the incompetence and weakness of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty in Vietnam at this moment, completely exposing them to the eyes of the princes and generals of Chihu, doubly stimulating their greed and ambitions - perhaps before this, King Chihu was against
He was still hesitant about whether to go south, but after borrowing troops, Xu Huai believed that King Chihu would no longer have any hesitation, right?
Xu Huai was full of thoughts and was indifferent to the subsequent military discussions. He did not even care about the subsequent combat arrangements of Xiao Sheng and Xuanwu armies. Anyway, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou would not arrange for Tongbai Mountain soldiers to participate in the attack on Datong.
After the military meeting was over, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou held a banquet in the camp to entertain the generals. Of course, Xu Huai and Zhu Zhi would not stay for the banquet, so they got up and left directly.
As soon as Xu Huai and Zhu Zhi walked out of the carriage house, Shi Zhen chased him from the alley behind. He first saluted Xu Huai, then grabbed Zhu Zhi and said, "Liu Langjun died for the imperial court. It is not a big deal that his coffin has stayed in Yingzhou.
I want to take a few people with me to escort Liu Langjun's coffin back home and lay it to rest as soon as possible; for many things here, I can only rely on you, Zhu Xiaolangjun..."
"That's okay." Zhu Zhi agreed directly without thinking too much.
"No matter how busy you are, don't rush for a while. Shi Langjun, please accompany us to drink two glasses of water and wine." Xu Huai grabbed Shi Zhen and, without letting him say anything, asked someone to free up a horse and press him onto the saddle...
