Although it is still early October, the busiest farming season of the year has passed, and the people have long been looking forward to the New Year.
The six places in the Tang Dynasty were all the places that suffered the most from wars in the past few decades. What the people wanted was to recuperate and recuperate.
They feel that the past two years have not been bad.
Although Li Xia conquered the Song Dynasty in the first year after becoming emperor, and sent troops out of Hetao in the second year, fortunately, these were only small battles involving no more than 30,000 people, and did not bring too much burden to the people.
Nowadays, people walking on the streets of Chang'an are still thinking about small things like buying new clothes and belongings. Few people realize that a tough national war may be about to befall them and change their lives.
Even if there are people paying attention to current affairs in the wine shops and tea shops, what they say when talking about national affairs is somewhat outdated.
"I heard that the army was fighting the Loop, but I don't know if it has been recovered."
"I only found out where the Loop is after hearing someone tell me a while ago. You said there aren't enough fields in Guanzhong, so what's the point of recovering that far away place?"
"What are you doing? Are you eighteen years old? I'm afraid you have forgotten the suffering of the war in the past few years. If you don't unify the world, can you live in peace for the rest of your life?"
"Sigh." The old man in question sighed, and taught the little boy who had just spoken a lesson, saying: "It makes sense for the army to attack the Hetao. We can't be like those people in the Song Dynasty who only think about ease and ease.
In the end, people will die."
"Um, how did you, Sixth Uncle, Third Uncle, you guys learn these principles, one after another?"
"Of course I heard it in the newspapers!"
"..."
Lu Xiufu, who was tired of work, walked by this tea shop. Listening to the discussions of the people, he frowned sadly and quickened his pace.
He rushed all the way to the Ministry of War, raised his hand to the officer guarding the door, and said: "I am Lu Xiufu of Gongchang Academy. I would like to ask to see Mr. Han, please pass the message."
When Li Xia became emperor, Lu Xiufu resigned.
At that time, Li Xia said that he did not want anyone to die for Zhao and Song under his rule, and he did not want to let them go back, so he asked him to stay and teach.
In the blink of an eye, more than a year later, two months ago, Lu Xiufu heard that his teacher Wang Yinglin had also joined him, and he felt quite complicated.
He wrote to Jiangling and asked his teacher for his views on the general trend of the world and moral integrity.
Wang Yinglin's reply had just arrived. The next day, Lu Xiufu heard from his friend Dong Kai of the same year about a major event.
Dong Kai was now the prefect of Gongchang Prefecture on Gansu Road. He was quite well-informed and directly told Lu Xiufu about Kublai Khan's personal expedition.
"Jun Shi, great changes are about to happen. Your Majesty is still in Hetao at present. The country is employing people. It's time for you to rise up. I can't give you a high position to let you use your talents. Go back to Chang'an. You are a great man in the world, so you should have some great achievements."
as.”
Lu Xiufu did still hesitate at that time, but after thinking about it carefully, he came anyway.
…
Just when he recalled this, the figure in front of Lu Xiufu's eyes flashed, but the clerk had come back and said: "Xianggong Han is not here. Marshal Liu invites Xianggong Lu to come in."
"No longer my husband." Lu Xiufu walked into the military department and said with a straight face: "Lu is no more than a common man now."
The clerk was puzzled and had nothing to say to the scholar.
All the way to the lobby, I heard Liu Yuanli yelling and cursing from a distance.
"Then adjust the food! I am not the head of the household department. I just ask for food. The military pay must be ready within two months..."
At this point, realizing that someone was coming, Liu Yuanli stopped talking, looked around, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
Of course he recognized Lu Xiufu.
When he was still an enemy of Li Xia, he led his troops to a surprise attack on Hanzhong. In front of Yangping Pass, it was Lu Xiufu who fired a cannon and defeated him.
"What are you doing here?"
When Lu Xiufu arrived, Liu Yuanli spoke calmly, full of authority.
He was captured by Li Xia twice in the past. At that time, Lu Xiufu was Li Xia's right-hand man. One of them was a prisoner and the other was a senior official. They were very different.
Now one is a white body, and the other is a marshal, and they are completely different.
"I have met Marshal Liu." Lu Xiufu saluted and said, "Lu wanted to contribute to the country. He just went to Zhongshu to ask for an audience with Mr. Han. I heard that Mr. Han came to the Ministry of War."
"Old Master Han has left," Liu Yuanli said.
"May I ask where he went?"
Liu Yuanli suddenly asked: "Do you want to contribute to the country?"
"yes."
"What does it mean to be a court official in the Tang Dynasty? If you are unhappy, you will resign, and if you want to be an official, you will come back."
Lu Xiufu was silent for a moment and said: "Your Majesty once said something to me, how about sharing encouragement with Marshal Liu today?"
"Appreciate further details."
"There is the subjugation of the country, and there is the subjugation of the world." Lu Xiufu recalled Li Xia's words. Because he thought it was too vernacular, he could not help but change his own style of wording and sentence making, "Those who subjugate their country change their surnames and nicknames. But if etiquette and justice do not exist, they will be rash."
Beasts eat people and poison all living beings, which is called the destruction of the world."
"so what?"
"Is that to protect the world or protect the country? Your Majesty said, those who protect the country are kings and ministers, those who eat meat seek it. But those who protect the world..."
As Lu Xiufu spoke, he straightened his sleeves and said: "Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. Now I am no longer a minister of the Song Dynasty. I am just an ordinary man. When the world is in trouble, I should stand up."
Liu Yuanli chuckled softly and said, "Scholar."
~~
An hour later, a military meeting was held in the Guanzhong Army camp outside Chang'an City.
The elite soldiers have stood in a row outside the big tent, guarding them tightly and not letting anyone get close to them.
Looking at this posture, it seems that even a flying bird cannot land on the top of the tent to listen to what is being said inside.
Not long after the generals gathered, they saw Liu Yuanli striding into the tent with his sword in hand.
"Commander!"
"Place the map."
"yes."
A general turned around again and was stunned for a moment when he saw the person following Liu Yuanli. He kindly stepped forward and reminded him in a low voice: "Commander, today's military meeting is very important, so it would be better not to bring any new staff."
"He is not my subordinate." Liu Yuanli said: "Lu Xiufu, my husband has just returned to power, and his official position has not yet been decided."
"The general has heard of Lu Xiufu's name and is worried that this person is Zhao Song Xizuo."
Liu Yuanli said calmly: "His skills on the battlefield were taught by His Majesty himself."
In a word, the generals in the tent will not say anything more about this matter.
Soon, the map was spread out.
Liu Yuanli stepped forward and glanced at the generals, once again confirming that they were all trustworthy confidants.
"His Majesty has sent a message about the situation in Hetao. Although Kublai Khan is now marching in person, the actual strength of the Yuan army is around 100,000 at most. So whether he goes south along the Qin Road or attacks Xingqing Mansion first, he must divide his troops. Then Guanzhong
As long as we send another 20,000 reinforcements northward, we may be able to hold on until the follow-up reinforcements arrive. Now His Majesty has mobilized all the troops in the territory, which is not very different from the Yuan army."
While talking, Liu Yuanli had already marked the approximate distribution of troops on the map, and then glanced at Lu Xiufu subconsciously.
Lu Xiufu felt his gaze and asked, "Marshal Liu hasn't said where Your Majesty is yet?"
Liu Yuanli ignored him again and said: "Continuing with what I just said, since there is not a huge disparity in military strength between us and Meng Yuan, what is the biggest threat to Kublai Khan's personal conquest?"
He clicked on the Western Regions and drew an arrow from the Western Regions to Xingqing Mansion.
"Here is the main force of the Yuan army, a total of 150,000 troops. By then, the Yuan army will have 250,000 troops. Add in the troops from Shanxi and Henan, and the whole country will have more than 300,000 troops. Even if the troops of the Six Routes of the Tang Dynasty are
Even if all the horses are mobilized, it will be difficult to win."
Lu Xiufu looked at the map and was a little dazed.
He had fought with Li Xia in the Battle of Qishan Road, and he knew Li Xia very well, and he had already vaguely guessed how Li Xia wanted to fight.
Too risky... was his first reaction.
But he shook his head and thought, since Qishan Road can be fought in the first battle, why can't he dare to fight in this battle today?
The Marshal Li of the past has become His Majesty today, how can he even lose his combat power?
Lu Xiufu didn't realize that he might be willing to address Li Xia as "Your Majesty" in his heart. He just stared at a position on the map, waiting for Liu Yuanli to continue.
He had some expectations, maybe he was expecting that he would guess correctly, maybe he was expecting something else.
Sure enough, Liu Yuanli raised his hand and clicked on that location on the map.
"We need to be prepared. If His Majesty defeats the 150,000-yuan army first..."
~~
The wind howled.
Thousands of miles of desolation in the desert.
Kublai Khan's son, Manlage, the king of Anxi in the Great Yuan Dynasty, rode his horse on the road back from the Western Regions.
He is young, handsome, and has a sea turtle on his shoulder.
With a roar, Hai Dongqing rose into the sky and flew eastward.
In the distance, its sharp eagle eyes seemed to see something, and it dived for a while.
It was on the other side of the red mountains, and there was a troop of soldiers and horses also marching.
This army is huge, with nearly 20,000 horses, and the smoke is billowing when galloping. In terms of number, there are only more than 7,000 people, so it cannot be called a large army.
The Hai Dongqing flying in the sky still felt something different. It seemed that even it could realize that the murderous aura in the sky was not friendly to its master...