Dozens of scholars were thinking a lot, but Chongzhen's heart was untroubled.
After coughing, Chongzhen said: "Everyone is here, let's start."
Hu Guozhu immediately walked to the big screen in the hall, pointed at the map hanging on the big screen and said: "Ten days ago, I took 800 Yiding people north along the canal to search the road."
"No trace of slaves has been found in Yanzhou Prefecture."
"It wasn't until near Nushan Lake in Dongchang Prefecture that I finally discovered that Jian Nu was not harvesting at night."
"We launched an encirclement and suppression campaign against the Jiannu slaves at night. These Jiannu slaves were really difficult to deal with. Several groups of Jiannu slaves broke through and ran away. Only one group was killed and two were captured alive."
"After interrogation, it was found that this time Jian Nu divided his troops into two groups to attack."
"In addition to the east-route army led by Duduo, there is also Azig's west-route army."
"Duduo's east-route army originally came towards our Ming Dynasty, but when they reached Dezhou five days ago, they suddenly changed their route and headed west to Weihui Mansion. Only Prince Hauge of Jiannusu led 6,000 people to retreat.
southwest."
"So we also turned southwest and continued to track the slaves under Hauge's command."
"After passing through Dongchang Prefecture, Hauge's troops headed towards Caozhou and Dingtao. According to our speculation, their ultimate goal is either Kaifeng or Guide."
After Hu Guozhu finished speaking, he stepped aside again.
The civil servants, military generals and scholars in the hall looked at each other in confusion.
Chongzhen can probably understand their mood. It's like a cook who has worked hard for more than half a month to prepare a table of hard food, only to be told that the guests are not coming and have gone elsewhere.
Or maybe, I took off my pants and you just showed me this?
It's really hard to put into words the uncomfortable feeling that scratches the heart and lungs.
After a long while, Jin Xuan asked disappointedly: "Does this mean that Jiannu will not come?"
"I'm afraid that's the case." Hu Guozhu nodded and said, "If nothing else, he went to fight the thieves."
"It's great to go and fight the thieves." At this moment, Cao Hu, Ma Huabao, Jin Shenghuan and other generals of the ten towns also reacted, but the reaction of the generals was not disappointment, but happiness.
"It's good now, nothing will happen without us."
"Now we can sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight."
"It's better for the slaves and thieves to fight so that both sides will lose."
"Remember, there seems to be an idiom for this matter?"
"There is a fight between the snipe and the clam, and the fisherman gets the benefit."
The commander-in-chief of the ten towns stood there to congratulate each other, while dozens of soldiers looked with contempt on their faces.
In the end, Zheng Sen couldn't help it anymore, raised his hand and asked: "Your Majesty, can the young man speak?"
The sixty-four chief scholars only attended the imperial meeting and were not allowed to speak according to the rules. Therefore, Zheng Sen had to seek permission from Chongzhen if he wanted to speak.
Chongzhen nodded: "That's right."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zheng Sen walked to the center of the hall and bowed his head.
After getting up, Zheng Sen first looked around, and then said: "Your Majesty, sirs and generals, I think this is a God-given opportunity, and I, the Ming Dynasty, will never stand idly by."
"What do you mean?" Cao Hu glared and said, "If you don't stand by, why are you going to do the Northern Expedition?"
Cao Hu was originally a general under Liu Liangzuo, and he was indeed the same coward as Liu Liangzuo.
However, Chongzhen was not disturbed in his heart, because he had long known the virtues of these general soldiers. To put it bluntly, there were not many of them who were useful. If it weren't for the fact that Qin Wangshi was too young, he would have replaced these general soldiers long ago.
Not only do these general troops need to be replaced, but the border troops in Thirty Towns also need to be abolished on a large scale.
Because these general soldiers and frontier troops suffered too many defeats at the hands of Jiannu, they all suffered a shadow of defeat, and losing became a habit. The field battles basically collapsed at the first touch, and the ball was useless.
Chongzhen's silence was regarded as acquiescence in the eyes of these warriors.
So Cao Hu got even more excited: "Boy, how many years have you been eating? Have you ever fought against Jiannu on the battlefield? Do you know how powerful Jiannu's big bow is?"
"I really didn't mean to scare you."
"With a small body like yours, whoosh, one arrow was shot through by a Jiannu."
"You haven't even seen the shadow of Jian Nu, and your life is already gone."
Another general named Qin Dapeng is also Liu Liangzuo’s old subordinate. This guy probably has been reading for several years and is still missing his articles: "Confucius said: It is important for a person to know himself..."
As a result, as soon as he opened his mouth, more than sixty scholars burst into laughter.
"Why are you laughing?" Qin Dapeng was furious, "It's important for people to know themselves. This is true."
Zheng Hongkui, the navy commander standing nearby, couldn't stand it anymore. He covered his face and said: "This sentence is correct, but it was not said by Confucius, but by Lao Tzu."
"Uh-huh? Hi, that's what it means anyway."
Qin Dapeng didn't feel embarrassed at all, and said: "Since the old slaves raised their troops, our Ming Dynasty has fought against the Jiannu for fifty years. How many times have we won in a serious battle?"
Zheng Sen retorted: "Didn't Xia Zhen win last time?"
Qin Dapeng said: "Xia Zhen won the battle last time, but it was just a partial army of Jiannu. But this time is different. This time it is a Jiannu army! Do you know that it is a Jiannu army?"
Seeing that Chongzhen still didn't say anything, Qin Dapeng got even more excited.
"This time, not counting the Mongolian and Han armies, there are tens of thousands of real slaves!"
"You scholars have no idea how cruel real slaves are."
"All in all, Jian Nu is really fierce and can't be offended in a field battle."
"So, it's the best thing to be able to use the hands of rogue thieves to consume the slaves."
"We are just watching a show in Xuzhou, waiting for the slaves and thieves to fight and lose both sides."
"Then what?" Zheng Sen asked, "What happens after the Jiannu and the bandits fight to the death?"
"Then? Then it's gone, there's no more." Qin Dapeng said, "Anyway, I'm just watching a show."
Zheng Sen said: "Why don't you take advantage of the opportunity to go to the north when both the slaves and the bandits are harmed? Don't you take advantage of this opportunity to recover the capital?"
Now it was the turn of Cao Hu, Qin Dapeng and other generals of the ten towns to laugh, as if they had heard the funniest joke, the Northern Expedition? These scholars really don't know how high the sky is.
If you can defend the Yellow River, you will burn high incense.
The Holy One just wants to guard the southern half of the Yangtze River.
Returning to the Northern Expedition? Your Majesty said, do you really believe it? Are you stupid?
There was still no expression on Chongzhen's face. Although the generals Cao Hu and Qin Dapeng were cowardly, they were right. The Northern Expedition was seeking death. This was not a matter of too many soldiers but not enough food and pay, nor was it a matter of Beijing.
The question is whether the defense is empty, but with Qin Dapeng, Cao Hu and these cowards, how can you make the Northern Expedition?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Without using Duduo’s main slave-building force, Hauge’s thousands of partial troops can defeat Xuzhou’s Thirty Town border troops in a field battle. Yes, Huang Degong’s
That includes the border troops from the ten towns!
If it were just Huang Degong's Ten Town Soldiers, they could barely compete with Hauge's partial division.
But if you add Cao Hu, Qin Dapeng and twenty other frontier troops, you don't have to fight at all. You will mess up your position. If you put them in the front, they will overwhelm the friendly forces behind. If you put them in the back, they will definitely lead the retreat.
This will then lead to the collapse of the friendly forces in front. This is how Hong Chengchou was defeated in Songshan.
Don't be afraid of opponents who are like gods, but be afraid of teammates who are like pigs.
Qin Dapeng and Cao Hu are the most typical pig teammates.
What makes Chongzhen even more helpless is that he still can't move these pig teammates.
Because Qin Wangshizi has not grown up yet, and the new army is even more invisible.
Therefore, we still need to rely on these pig teammates to defend the Huanghuai defense line and buy time for Ming Dynasty.
So here comes the question, is it really necessary to watch the fire from the other side like Cao Hu, Qin Dapeng and others said?
The answer is of course no, you can’t make an appointment! Because doing this is forcing Li Zicheng to die, forcing Li Zicheng to die, which is also forcing Ming Dynasty to die!
In a word, saving Li Zicheng is saving the Ming Dynasty.
If Li Zicheng were defeated, the Ming Dynasty might also die.
Isn’t it magical? Li Zicheng, who almost single-handedly overthrew the Ming Dynasty, turned out to be the savior of the Ming Dynasty?
But this is reality. Reality is often more absurd, magical, unexpected and incredible than fiction. The Ming Dynasty and Li Zicheng, the number one rebel, actually became a community of destiny.
Thinking of this, Chongzhen looked at Cao Hu again, and Qin Dapeng asked quietly: "Then have you ever thought about it? What if the first-rate thieves cannot and Jiannu both lose? What will happen?"
Cao Hu said: "Even if Jiannu defeated the bandits in the end, they would definitely suffer heavy casualties and be unable to go south, right?"
"That's the truth." Qin Dapeng also agreed, "The bandits are still very good at fighting, and they can definitely defeat the slaves. In this way, our Ming Dynasty can firmly hold the southern half of the Yangtze River."
"I'm afraid not necessarily." Du Yinxi finally spoke.
Du Yinxi didn't speak just now because he was worried that Chongzhen would get excited about the Northern Expedition.
But after listening to what Chongzhen said just now, Du Yinxi knew that his worries were completely unnecessary, so he decisively stood up to defend Chongzhen. The Northern Expedition was not allowed, but it was still possible to send troops to support the bandits.
"Not necessarily?" Cao Hu said with a snort, "Then according to Master Yidu, can the slaves easily defeat the bandits?"
As the troubled times deepened, border town generals like Cao Hu and Qin Dapeng no longer feared the suppression of civilian officials.
Jin Xuan said: "Have you ever thought that if the bandits see that the situation is not right, they will simply abandon Guanzhong and go elsewhere? After all, bandits are originally rogue bandits, and running around is their usual behavior."
"This." Cao Hu and Qin Dapeng were speechless for a moment.
"Du Qing and Jin Qing are right to worry." Chongzhen finally decided, "The bandits will definitely run away when the situation is not right, and there is a high probability that they will take Hanzhong and run straight south via Hubei."
Du Yinxi and Jin Xuan raised their hands and bowed at the same time: "The Holy Spirit is clear."
Chongzhen said: "Therefore, the Northern Expedition is not advisable, nor is it advisable to stand aside and watch. We still have to fight a war and provide the bandits with some support as much as possible to strengthen their momentum and strengthen their determination."
As soon as Chongzhen said these words, the tone was set, and there was no need to argue anymore about whether to fight or not.
What we need to discuss now is how to fight? How many troops should be used, and to what extent?
In this aspect, it is not what warriors like Cao Hu, Qin Dapeng and others are good at. They all shut up and became listeners honestly.
