Cheng Qianli gave Ma Phosphorus another resentful look, then reorganized his words, folded his hands on his abdomen and said: "Okay, even if we don't remonstrate, we can't just let Tanaka Cheng lead the Anxi Army without sufficient preparation.
Congling."
The generals present did not answer his words, and their attitudes were still ambiguous. Cheng Qianli could only talk to himself: "Because of the expedition of the army, the right time, place and people are the same. Our army traveled a long distance to Congling.
The Tubo army waited for work and defended in danger. There was no favorable weather or location, and the only thing left was Renhe. Where is Renhe now? Isn't it in the hands of us? Prime Minister Tanaka is not a stubborn person. Let him see the military spirit.
If the situation is unstable and the soldiers are in danger of fighting, he will naturally not forcefully go against the situation and will naturally return home defeated. In this way, my brothers from the Anxi Army will not be wasted on the battlefield."
Li Siye sat still, thinking in his mind that Fumeng Lingcha did not support Tian Renwan's expedition to Xiaobolu. It was probably not only because the Tang army was poorly prepared and the terrain of Congling was dangerous. He probably wanted to destroy the country and defeat the enemy during this thousand-mile expedition.
It is in line with one's selfish ideas to leave great achievements in one's own hands.
He lowered his head in silence, but raised his eyes to look at the people present, and found that most of them were still watching undecidedly.
The man next to him, Ma Phosphorus, couldn't help it anymore. He put his hand on the table and said, "I just want to ask General Cheng, can you?"
Cheng Qianli turned around and his eyelids twitched. He really didn't want this person to speak. But he was the only one speaking at the banquet, and it seemed too cold to have no one to talk to. So he took a deep breath and said: "You ask
Bar."
"When an army goes on an expedition, it has to spend money and food. Even if it comes back defeated, the money spent is still spent, right?"
Cheng Qianli patted his chest and said, "That's natural."
"Every expedition of our Anxi Army costs tens of millions of money and food, and the expedition against Xiaobolu requires even more. Prime Minister Tanaka prepared carefully. If he died midway due to the right time and place, etc., it would be excusable. If it was because we interfered, it would be unreasonable.
Won’t your consciences feel pain if your efforts are in vain and so much money and grain are wasted?”
Cheng Qianli was speechless: "Ma Phosphorus, you..."
"Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet." General Ma Phosphorus stood up from the sheep's felt, pointed at his feet proudly and said: "Except me, which general can sit here today?
Didn’t he have thoughts about the four towns of Jiedu? Let alone our fumengduhu, he is already a definite candidate for the next Jiedu envoy. Today, Tanaka Cheng is planning an expedition to Xiaobolu. Even if he cannot complete the battle, he will
It can lay the foundation for future victory. If it is true, as Cheng Zhenshi said, it died midway due to unstable people's hearts, the expedition not only failed to achieve results, but also failed to gain experience and lessons, and wasted money and food. When Fumeng Duhu came to power, the Anxi treasury
Already empty, if he wants to expedition to Xiaobolu again, is he powerless? Every penny of Anxi Mansion's money must be spent on the blade, rather than wasted on internal fighting, am I right? If General Cheng has
One day when you are sitting in the position of Jiedushi, shouldn’t you also think about it in this way?”
Beautifully said! Li Siye applauded Ma Phosphorus in his heart.
Cheng Qianli's face was slightly astringent, and he pointed at Ma Phosphorus angrily and said: "Ma Phosphorus, you, what are you talking about..."
Ma Phosphorus smiled at Cheng Qianli pretending to be honest, and stretched out his hand as a sign of stopping: "I will stop talking and won't say any more. I won't say a word. General Cheng, please speak."
Cheng Qianli rolled his eyes and glanced at Ma Phosphorus. He put his hands on his hips and was about to speak, but was speechless and speechless. Ma Phosphorus was blocked by both options. What nonsense!
He glared at Ma Phosphorus fiercely again, but the man was sitting on his knees, poking his sleeves, and turning his head toward the window, so his fierce eyes could not be seen at all.
Cheng Qianli had no choice but to bow his hands to everyone: "In that case, let's get together, have a few drinks and reminisce about old friendships."
Everyone was silent when they were talking about business, but now they started chatting with each other, each filling up the wine glasses on the table and pushing glasses to change glasses.
If Li Siye was only interested in Ma Phosphorus just now, he really appreciates it now. His words and attitude are very to his liking. Anxi of the Tang Dynasty is a melting pot, and at the same time it is all-encompassing and can accommodate all kinds of people.
.
He picked up the wine jar on the table, poured a drink for the other party and himself, held it in his hands and said, "General Ma, those two words you just said are worth drinking two glasses of wine."
"No, I'm very annoying when I talk. It's called saying more and making more mistakes. Saying less means making more mistakes. So now I try to speak as little as possible so as not to annoy people."
Li Siye believed that it only takes a year to learn to speak, but it takes a lifetime to learn to shut up.
He picked up the wine cup and solemnly introduced himself: "I am Li Siye, from Gaoling, Jingzhao. I am currently the warden of Tiaodang camp and join the military in the front line."
"I've heard about you a long time ago, and it's like thunder." Ma Li held the wine bowl in both hands and said, "Ma Li, Fufeng Ma Li of Jingzhao Prefecture, is currently the prison officer of Luntai Camp. By the way, I am a descendant of Ma Yuan, General Fubo of the Han Dynasty."
His historical knowledge was not solid, and he had no idea who Ma Yuan was or what his achievements were. The blank look on his face had just appeared, but Ma Phosphorus's expression had gradually solidified and cooled down.
He quickly adjusted his expression and suddenly realized: "Oh, it turns out that you are a descendant of General Fubo, and the achievements of your ancestors have been passed down to you."
Ma Phosphorus smiled modestly, held the wine cup and said, "It's just that I was inspired by the deeds of my ancestors and did not fall short of the wisdom of our ancestors."
Li Siye secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he was really ignorant. It would be too embarrassing if his secret was exposed in front of Ma Phosphorus.
Today's banquet at the restaurant was hosted by General Cheng Qianli. The two took this opportunity to drink two more drinks, but there was only wine and no food. Can just drinking wine fill their stomachs?
The banquet ended soon, and the sky became completely dark. The curfew restricting entry and exit in the city had begun, but it had no effect on these generals. They bid farewell to each other at the door of the wine shop, got on their horses and went back to their homes.
Li Siye drank a lot of wine, and after handing over to General Ma, he went to lead Hei Pang in the stable in front of the door, but he heard someone calling him from behind: "General Li."
He turned around and saw that it was the arrogant Gao Xianzhi.
The other party seemed very humble at the moment, and the twelve cloaked followers didn't seem to be around.
Gao Xianzhi led the horse up to Li Siye and said, "General Li, if it's convenient, you and I can go together, and I'll tell you something."
"Okay, General Gao, please go first."
Gao Xianzhi got on his horse, and Li Siye got on next. The two rode side by side. Gao Xianzhi asked in a polite manner: "Why didn't General Li say a word at the banquet just now?"
"You didn't say anything either?"
Gao Xianzhi turned his head and said: "I heard that you have a close relationship with Fumeng Duhu. He took you with him when he and Gai Zhongcheng returned to Chang'an for the first time to discuss their merits. I thought you would stand up and support General Cheng."
Li Siye suddenly became alert. Was he trying to trick himself or test his attitude?
He thought about what he should say and what he shouldn't say, and then he slowly said, "General Cheng's mouth is very stupid. It's impossible for Fumeng Duguard to have someone who is important and sharp-tongued around him."
Sent out...could it be to test everyone's attitude? I think next time there will be such a banquet, Fumeng Duhu's real spokesperson will stand up, and some ungrateful people will be excluded."
Gao Xianzhi's eyes lit up, he turned sideways and cupped his hands with appreciation and smiled: "General Li is really smart and attentive. It seems that I will definitely call you at the next banquet."
Li Siye turned his head and took a closer look at Gao Xianzhi's expression. His guess was correct, Gao Xianzhi was the person suitable to stand up and organize the party members for his husband Meng Lingcha. Now he had to think about it carefully. He not only had to consider taking sides,
Also consider the overall situation.
Although Tian Renwan is the military governor of Anxi, he has no foundation in Anxi. It is very likely that Fumeng Lingcha and a group of generals will sideline him. But even if Fumeng Lingcha sidelines Tian Renwan, he will not be able to accomplish anything.
The festival is in the hands of the Jiedushi, who has no right to mobilize troops. Under this situation, Anxi's internal system may become rigid in the past two years, leading to everyone arguing with each other and doing nothing.
This is what Li Siye doesn't want to see. He is still waiting to be promoted, and time waits for no one.
"In fact, there is no conflict between the expedition to Xiaobolu and the expansion of the inn. The two major events can be carried out at the same time."
Gao Xianzhi's body trembled, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Wait, stop it, don't think about it." Li Siye said quickly: "Listen to me, I know about this. When I went to Beijing with my husband Meng Duhu to discuss his merits this year, I went with him to the residence of Right Prime Minister Li Linfu.
Went up to visit. Li Xiang once proposed three things for Anxi in the future, namely, the sudden cavalry to deal with the aftermath, the clearing of the sand pirates to expand the inn, and the expedition to Xiaobolu. Now that the sudden cavalry to deal with the aftermath has been completed, Fumeng Duhu opposed Tanaka Cheng's expedition to Xiaobo.
Lu, we must expand the inn and clear out the sand bandits."
Gao Xianzhi stroked his beard and laughed to hide his embarrassment, then shook his head and said: "The Anxi treasury does not have that much money, so it can only do one of the big things. If we go on an expedition to Xiaobolu, there will not be enough to expand the inn. We can only wait until next year for the new lease.
We need to raise taxes on merchants and merchants."
"If it's just a matter of money, then it's okay to say that if there is no money to expand the Shanglu Station, it can be repaired."
"How can we build a robber-proofing station without money? Let alone build a station in the desert."
"Why not? You can use the power of the people to do it. Don't you know that it is a waste of money?"
Gao Xianzhi opened his mouth and said with an exaggerated smile: "White wolf with empty gloves, which military book is this strategy? Why have I never heard of it?"