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The eunuch was really lively and impatient when the emperor came to disturb his concubine. However, he could not blame him. The emperor had a strict order. All urgent military reports must be reported as soon as possible, regardless of time or place.
It was submitted, so the eunuch had the courage to knock on the door of Dongnuan Pavilion, but his words were trembling./
The emperor was not angry. He was still concentrating on cultivating the virgin land under him. As the emperor's movements accelerated, the girl finally couldn't help but moan. The emperor thrust hard, gushing out, and then he turned over happily.
He came down and said in a deep voice: "Wait outside."
The eunuch didn't dare to say anything and waited outside obediently. The emperor stood on the carpet and asked the newly broken-up concubine to help him dress. The little girl was not very good at serving others, and in her hurry, she buttoned all the emperor's buttons wrongly.
The emperor did not get angry, but smiled, pinched the concubine's face, and put on the dragon robe himself.
"Rest here, I will come back when I go." The emperor touched the concubine's hair and walked out of the Nuan Pavilion. His face turned gloomy. A group of eunuchs were already waiting outside, with fox furs, hats, cloaks, and chariots all ready.
The emperor got on the chariot, the guards cleared the way, and the eunuchs followed on both sides carrying lanterns, and walked quickly towards Qianqing Gate.
It is already late at night. According to customs, ministers are not allowed to enter the harem, so the emperor can only come out. The layout of the palace is to sleep in the front and back. Exiting the Qianqing Gate to the east is where the ministers work. Come to Wenhua
The hall is now brightly lit. Cabinet scholars Yang Feng and Meng Zhiqiu, Minister of War Lan Yu, Chief Supervisor of Ceremony and Supervisor of the Internal Factory Cao Shaoqin, and Jinyiwei Admiral Wen Hai have all arrived.
The situation was urgent, so there was no need for those false courtesy. As soon as the emperor arrived, the imperial meeting was immediately held. Lan Yu, the Minister of War, ordered someone to open the curtain on the wall, revealing a huge geographical map of mountains and rivers, showing the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
, Lan Yu pointed at the map and said: "Henan and Shanxi are eight hundred miles away. It is said that Shaanxi and Gansu have fallen into the hands of thieves. The thief Liu Yuanfeng is known as the false prince of Han Dynasty and has proclaimed himself king in Chang'an."
As he spoke, he drew a circle on the map to indicate the area that the thieves had controlled. The emperor knew the territory of the Zhou Dynasty very well. Seeing the circle drawn by Lan Yu, he couldn't help but be secretly shocked. Unknowingly,
Half of the country has changed hands!
The emperor was furious, with his face turning blue and white, and yelled at the ministers: "Are you deaf and blind? You didn't know until now that such a big thing happened. I spent so much money and raised so many soldiers."
What will we do for food?"
Cao Shaoqin and Wen Hai both had a little fever on their faces. Jinyiwei and Neichang didn't focus on this at all. They were only thinking about how to fight for power and make money. They really didn't care about the things happening on the ground in Shaanxi and Gansu. The two of them hurriedly knelt down.
Please apologize.
Everyone was silent and did not dare to speak. Only Yang Feng knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please extinguish the wrath of the thunder. Now that the matter has come to this, it is better to arrange troops and horses as soon as possible before the thieves have a stable foothold."
The emperor could hear Yang Feng's words. He snorted coldly, stopped looking at Cao Shaoqin and Wen Hai, and asked Lan Yu: "What troops and horses do we have that we can use?"
After all, Lan Yu was the Minister of the Ministry of War, and he knew the garrison situation of soldiers and horses all over the country. He pointed at the map with a stick and said: "The soldiers and horses in Shanxi, Henan, and Sichuan happened to be surrounding Shaanxi, and they were attacked from three sides.
, it’s hard to support a thief, it’s just..."
"Just what?"
"Although Shanxi's soldiers and horses are elite, they are responsible for the defense of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. If the troops are moved south, the north may be unstable. Tongguan, the choke point from Henan to Shaanxi, is under the control of thieves. It may be difficult to conquer it for a while. The Sichuan army will attack north.
, it needs to cross Daba Mountain and Qinling Mountains, and the road is rugged and difficult to pass."
In fact, Lan Yu didn't say a word. The local armies in Henan and Sichuan were extremely weak. They might still have some chance of winning against the bandits and horse thieves, but their level of fighting large-scale wars was just about the same. It had been more than 20 years since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. In addition to the border troubles in the north,
In addition to being more serious, the world is at peace, so there is no need to maintain the size of local armies. In places like Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang, the provincial army is just a decoration, with only a few thousand people at most, and they are all old and weak.
They are sick and disabled, do not practice martial arts, do not expand their personnel, and spend all day just eating and waiting to die. At best, they are nothing more than local security forces.
Only Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have stronger armies. This is because Hebei and Shaanxi have to face constant harassment by the Mongols, and the Shaanxi Provincial Army is under the control of the veteran general Fenyang Hou Luzhen, so their combat strength
Quite strong, now that Lu Zhen is gone, all the troops he trained have taken advantage of the thieves. It is really a cold joke that people can't laugh at.
Of course, this does not mean that the Zhou Dynasty did not have available troops. The Zhou Dynasty followed the Song system. The army was divided into several levels. The highest-level imperial army was stationed near the capital, and then the provincial armies of each province.
Below is the local regiment training Baojia.
There are still hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops around the capital, all of whom are strong men. After the imperial court mobilizes, it can recruit no less than a million strong men from the people. The Zhou Dynasty is full of people!
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The emperor was also a mighty hero back then, and he was no amateur in arranging troops. He made a decisive decision and mobilized 100,000 forbidden troops for the western expedition. The Henan and Sichuan Provincial Army coordinated the action, and the Shanxi Provincial Army dispatched elite troops to go south to assist in the war. A three-pronged approach must be taken to defeat the puppet Han regime.
nipped in the bud.
The three armies went ahead without using food and grass, and they were in short supply of money and food for the war. The emperor also ordered Cao Shaoqin to step up the recruitment of foreigners. When the court was in danger, everything must be done vigorously and resolutely. Within three months, one million taels of silver must be raised.
This is just an additional tax levy. When Zhou Ziqing, the Minister of Household Affairs, comes back, he will be asked to collect taxes and grain for next year. Now the Zhou Dynasty has to deal with three wars at the same time, so it has to take ruthless measures.
This imperial meeting lasted until dawn. Hot lotus seeds and white fungus soup was delivered from the imperial dining room. Everyone was honored to have breakfast with the emperor. They were all moved, thanked each other, and expressed their willingness to die for the thief.
The emperor explained everything that needed to be explained clearly, and then returned to the palace to rest. The girl who had just received the rain and dew was still eagerly waiting for the emperor in the Qianqing Palace. After the emperor came back, the dragon was so powerful that he went up to the dragon to fight again.
After a pass, the emperor felt comfortable and energetic. He did not want to sleep anymore. He ordered someone to bring his precious sword and performed a set of sword skills in the courtyard of Qianqing Palace.
The war has really come, but the emperor is so excited and looking forward to it. This is because the opponent's identity is quite special. Liu Yuanfeng, the orphan of the previous emperor, the descendant of the man he can never reach, can defeat him, which is quite a feat.
Yu defeated his father and fulfilled the emperor's long-cherished wish.
The emperor has already made up his mind about the selection of the coach of the Western Expedition. He asked the veteran Lan Yu to take charge, and King Yan to be the deputy commander. The emperor did not give up on his second son. This was to give him a chance to pick up where he was.
The sons of the Zhang family are by no means inferior to those of the old Liu family.
Fighting is nothing more than fighting for money and food. The population of Shaanxi and Gansu and the cultivated land are far worse than those of Jiangnan in the Central Plains. How can that boy Liu Yuanfeng aspire to dominate the world? Is it just relying on the strong men of Guanxi who have been pieced together? Or is it because he has Xiliang as his backing?
?It’s a joke!
Although the Jin Yiwei had implemented a news blockade, the news that the prince of the previous dynasty became king in Chang'an and vowed to fight for the Eastern Campaign still spread quietly in the capital. The common people in the world like to spread gossip to show their abilities. Posts in teahouses and restaurants
With the note saying not to talk about state affairs, they were still whispering underneath, lively.
"Brother Nian, have you heard? The prince of the previous dynasty has been enthroned in Chang'an, and he wants to avenge his father's murder."
"Isn't that right? I heard that Jiuding appeared in the Ba River. This is God's will."
"You just know about Jiuding, there is also a real dragon coming out of the water, and the auspiciousness coming from the sky is a bit interesting."
Shaanxi just lost it and changed its surname without making a living."
"Isn't it because...if Marquis Fenyang is still there, Shaanxi cannot be lost."
The two wanted to talk more, but when they saw someone wearing official clothes entering the teahouse, they fell silent.
…
The Forbidden Army camp outside the city is a bleak scene. Winter is about to start, and the weather is getting colder and colder, but the army is about to set out for the westward expedition. The west is not as good as the red willows and green warblers in the south of the Yangtze River. The deserted beaches and Gobi have snow flakes as big as mats.
Who would be willing to go to such a bitter and cold place, and even fight to the death, and the big guys would be even less willing to do so.
Although he is a master of the forbidden army who is a head taller than the provincial army, his level is only mediocre. He can't do exercises when it rains or snows, and he can't do exercises when it's cold or hot. The officials whore whores for free pay, and the soldiers who fight with cocks.
There is no one who is serious about military training.
The head coach of the Western Expedition has been confirmed to be Lan Yu, Minister of the Ministry of War. The old man is over fifty years old this year. I think he was also a famous general back then. Now his sword is not old and his majesty is still there. After receiving the emperor's order, he went to the Forbidden Army camp to select soldiers.
But after beating the drum three times, less than half of the officers did not come to order.
Lan Yu was furious and ordered the military law team to kidnap the officers who had not arrived. They waited until dark before the generals who were late were arrested one after another. Some were taken from the wine table, and some were tied to the card table.
What's more, they were pulled out of the bitch's bed.
A group of people were waiting in the commander's tent, wearing sapphire-coated copper armor and lake-blue battle robes. They looked majestic, with murderous intent in their eyes. They asked in a cold voice: "According to the military law of the Great Zhou Dynasty, if you can't reach the three-way drum,
How should it be dealt with?”
The soldiers on both sides put their hands on their waists and shouted angrily: "Behead according to the law!"
Lan Yu waved his hand: "Push them all out of the gate and kill them!"
But when his own life was at stake, when had military law ever been taken seriously? These generals cried to their fathers and knelt down to beg for mercy, but Lan Yu remained unmoved and ignored anyone's pleas.
Twenty-eight bloody weapons were delivered to the handsome case, and everyone marveled at Lan Yu's iron fist. For a while, no one dared to slack off.
"Pass this message to all camps to serve as a warning to others!" Lan Yu said.