His Majesty the Emperor summoned him, and Qin Hui subconsciously thought of the military report that was about to be sent back.
Crunch~
The door to the check-in room was pushed open, and Qin Hui walked out quickly: "Lead the way."
"Yes, Prime Minister Qin."
The eunuch didn't have time to wipe the sweat from his forehead and immediately led Qin Hui towards Ziwei Palace.
Not only Qin Hui, but also the ministers who discussed matters in the Wenhua Palace the day before yesterday received the news.
However, compared to last time, the personnel in Ziwei Palace have changed this time. Li Jing is no longer here, and his replacement is Pei Ji, the left minister of the Ministry of War.
In addition, the scale of this meeting has also expanded a lot, and basically all officials of the third rank and above are present.
After everyone arrived, the military report on Li Qian's table was handed to the old eunuch beside him.
"Shilang Pei, you will preside over this meeting. Please share with your adults what was written in the general's newspaper."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Pei Ji came to Li Qian's side, took the heavy military report from the old eunuch's hand, turned his head and glanced at the ministers present.
Many ministers and temple ministers who didn't know what was going on were a little puzzled, but looking at the performances of many elders, they all felt the solemn atmosphere in the palace.
Due to the urgent military report sent the day before yesterday, there were rumors in the capital and in the DPRK that the imperial court was defeated in the past few days.
However, although there are rumors, no definite news has been circulated.
But looking at today's posture, I'm afraid the imperial court has suffered a serious defeat.
Could it be that something happened to the Imperial Guards who went to conquer the Kingdom of Wu?
Without too much nonsense, Pei Ji first gave a brief explanation of the situation in the past few days: "On April 20th, at eight o'clock, the Ministry of War received a report from the Northeast Frontier, saying that from Changmengguan to Dingyongguan, there were seven buildings in total. The pass defense was breached by the Jinlu."
"Commander Wu Sangui, with 70,000 remaining soldiers, retreated to Jiayuan Pass."
Just this sentence almost made all the previously unaware ministers freeze in place, and then looked at Pei Ji with suspicion.
Did you hear it right just now?
Dingyong Pass was broken??
Pei Ji did not pause and continued to tell the situation one by one: "After receiving the report, the imperial court ordered Wu Sangui to gather the remaining soldiers. At the same time, he ordered the Ming and Han border troops to move closer to Dingyong Pass. To this day, Dingyong Pass is guarding Commander-in-Chief Wu Sangui submitted a detailed military report."
The ministers all held their breath. No matter how shocked they were, they had to listen to the military report to the end.
"On the tenth day of April, the Jinlu raised an army of 3,000 troops, broke through Changmeng Pass, and attacked the city all the way. On the 12th day of April, the Jinlu raised an army of 160,000 troops, and raided Dingyong Pass."
"Commander Wu Sangui personally went to the top of the city to supervise the battle. However, Jin soldiers armed with explosives broke open the three city gates one after another and broke into the city. General Dingbo reached all his troops and led 7,000 defenders to the rear, but was completely wiped out by the enemy. Wu Sangui led the remaining army. Seventy thousand, retreat to Jiayuan Pass."
Listening to the contents of the military report, the ministers' faces gradually turned from shock to anger. Finally, someone couldn't help but stood up, blushed and said angrily: "Escape from the battle!"
"This is an escape in the face of battle! As a general, you are so cowardly!"
Although the others haven't spoken yet, the angry expressions on their faces are also revealed. Everyone has similar thoughts to him.
Pei Ji ignored these people and continued in a solemn tone: "The Jin soldiers' offensive continued unabated. Wu Sangui led the remaining troops to defeat over 10,000 enemies. On April 14th, he used the terrain of Yanyuan Town to resist the enemy again."
If you ask how I ran from Jiayuan Pass to Yanping Town all at once... of course I was chased and beaten all the way.
Yanyuan Town is the last important town on the northeastern border. If it is broken through, the Jin soldiers can directly attack the counties of the imperial court!
The minister who was still cursing angrily had already calmed down and stared closely at Pei Ji in front of him.
"Until the military information was reported back, Wu Sangui still led the remaining troops to defend Yanyuan Town."
No matter what happened before, at least the adults were relieved at this moment.
Blocking the Jin soldiers outside the pass and allowing them to break into the pass are completely different concepts.
But before they could completely relax, Pei Ji continued: "According to the Ministry of War, although the Jin soldiers did not conquer Yanyuan, they also sent rangers south, and their destination is not yet known."
The ministers were stunned for a moment, and then their faces turned green with anger as they thought about it. Now they probably figured out the true situation of Wu Sangui.
There is a high probability that he will be trapped in Yanyuan Town and unable to escape.
Although the Jin soldiers could not do anything to him for the time being, he could not do anything to the other party. He could only allow the bandits to divide their forces and bypass Yanyuan Town and plunder the hinterland of the imperial court.
It blocked the golden soldiers, but not completely.
"There are still more than 50,000 soldiers in Yanyuan Town who can fight."
Pei Ji finally summarized the current situation: "The Jin soldiers fought all the way from Dingyong Pass to Yanyuan Town, and were wiped out more than 40,000 people. At this time, they were in a confrontation with Wu Sangui's tribe."
It is said to be a confrontation, but the current Jin soldiers should have 120,000 troops.
Even if 50,000 people are left to confront Wu Sangui and others, 70,000 people can still be divided and go south to plunder.
"Fifty thousand. The imperial court's 200,000 border troops at the northeastern border now only have 50,000 left!"
"We lost 150,000 people and wiped out 40,000 enemies. I have never seen an incompetent general like Wu Sangui..."
The ministers who came to their senses kept scolding each other, and some people suspected that Wu Sangui had committed treason and that it was he and Jin Lu who had colluded with each other to create such a situation.
However, Li Qian did not listen to all these people's words. Although the imperial court had 200,000 border troops, half of them were scattered among many large and small frontier fortresses.
This time the Jin soldiers attacked so fast that they had no time to support and take care of them, and the whole army was easily wiped out.
In addition, the proportion of cavalry in the Jin army was very high, but most of the frontier troops stationed in the frontier fortresses were infantry.
If the border fortress they were stationed at was breached, even if these people wanted to retreat to other fortresses, their mobility would be far inferior to that of the Jin soldiers, and they would have to be overtaken in the end.
Under such unfavorable conditions and taking the initiative to defeat the passive, they suffered such an exaggerated battle loss ratio.
"My lords, please be patient."
Qin Hui only learned about the latter news, but he had already calmed down.
Now is not the time to vent your emotions, but to respond quickly and drive out all these golden soldiers.
After Qin Hui spoke, Cai Jing also came out to comfort the ministers present. After a moment of calm in the Ziwei Palace, the noise soon resumed.
But this time, the ministers came up with plans and thought about how to deal with it.
"Send people to Yanyuan Town as soon as possible to expel the Jinlu!"
"Order the imperial army to put down the war in Wu and go north as soon as possible..."
All said and done, it is still inseparable from sending people and increasing troops.
Pei Ji, who was presiding over the discussion, said: "On the day when the military report was received, His Majesty ordered Zuowei Wei to go north to fight the enemy as soon as possible. All Longxi County soldiers have returned to camp and can march to the border fortress within two days."
Hearing that the imperial court had already responded, the adults' expressions softened slightly, but they still did not give up.
"Wu Sangui is not a man who knows how to fight. The court should send someone over as soon as possible to take charge of the overall situation..." Everyone had further requests.
Ability is one thing, and loyalty is another.
Today's Wu Sangui is unreliable in both aspects, so many adults are clamoring for a replacement.
But it is not easy to change generals at the last minute.
When the Jin soldiers entered Guanzhong, Wu Sangui would definitely know that he had made a big mistake. He had soldiers and horses in his hands, and he still had the capital to negotiate with the court.
But if he is kicked off the position of commander-in-chief, then he will really be nothing, and the court can only deal with him as it wants.
If he is forced to change his general at this time, it is very likely that he will be completely forced to rebel.
"I know what all of you think."
Li Qian stood up from behind the table, and the discussion among the ministers stopped abruptly.
"However, Yanyuan Town has been heavily besieged by Jinlu at this time. Even if I send people there, I can't get in."
The silence of the ministers became even more serious.
"But now the frontier fortress and Jizhou may have fallen into chaos, and they cannot be left unattended."
Li Qian turned his attention to the impatient generals again, and said to the three people at the front: "Uncle Emperor, Grand Marshal, and General, who do you think is the most suitable to preside over the overall situation?"
The imperial troops in Longxi, the Weiwei on the left, as well as the imperial troops on both sides of the Ming and Han Dynasties, would definitely not be able to do it without a central and coordinating person.
"I am willing to go."
It was still the same as the day before, all three people gave the same answer.
Li Qian secretly sighed. It seemed that the time was too short and the three of them could not distinguish themselves.
The civil servants on the other side looked at each other in confusion. During this period, several of them looked excited and wanted to say something, but in the end they held back.
Li Qian opened his mouth, intending to name someone directly, but now he also had concerns.
This kind of matter has related to the fundamental interests of the three people. At this time, the words of Li Qian, a bare emperor with no military power, are not so useful.
Even if he has great righteousness, only one person is selected, and there are two people who are not selected. They have the numerical advantage, so they don't have to abandon him.
If the conflict further intensifies and the three of them fight in the capital and civil strife breaks out, then everything will be over.
At this moment, there was more silence than sound. Although no one spoke, the atmosphere in the store became more tense.
This is no longer a simple conflict of interests, they also have the intention of suppressing the other two.
Just when the tension was tense, a chuckle suddenly came.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the situation at this time is not necessarily so critical that it is irreversible."
Li Qian frowned and turned around to see that it was Cai Jing who was speaking.
The attention of the officials present was attracted, including Li Yuan and the three of them.
Cai Jing smiled and bowed his hand to Li Qian, and then said: "The Ming Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were so frightened that the Jin Lu would not dare to send more troops."
"And among the remaining 120,000 soldiers and horses, most of them have been dragged outside Yanping Town by General Wu and do not dare to go deep. Their real fighting force is only 50,000 to 60,000."
Li Qian frowned slightly and looked at Cai Jing's current appearance.
These words indeed make sense. It is impossible for the Jin soldiers to leave Yanping Town behind and all go south to invade Daqian to plunder.
For these people, Yanping Town is their only way back to the grassland. If this road is gambled, they will be trapped alive in Daqian. No matter how much they grab, it will not work.
But when such reasonable words came out of Cai Jing's mouth, Li Qian felt that something was wrong.
Cai Jing continued: "With the nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses of the left power guard, the 30,000 soldiers of the Longxi County, plus the follow-up support of the Forbidden Army, together with the border troops of the Han and Ming Dynasties, these tens of thousands of golden captives are no longer a serious problem."
The imperial court had a total of five frontier armies, of which the northeastern and northwest frontier armies were the largest.
The other three sides were displayed on the borders of Qin, Han and Ming respectively. The original intention of setting them up was to guard against them.
Of course, such a purpose would not be stated explicitly. The Daqian court euphemistically called it: backup border defense.
According to Li Qian's understanding, it is to flexibly support mobile troops.
Once the Northeast and Northwest borders are in emergency, people like them can quickly support from the front and supplement the border defense forces.
When first established, the scale of the last three sides was as large as the first two.
But for so many years, there have been wars on the northeastern border and the northwest border, but the remaining three sides have always been peaceful.
This resulted in the border troops from the last three sides being gradually transferred to the front two sides, and the scale of the last three sides became smaller and smaller.
To this day, the last three sides have almost ceased to exist in name only, with the number of people on each side being less than 30,000.
And in a stable environment all year round, the combat effectiveness of these 30,000 people... is hard to say.
But no matter what, these are 30,000 people.
So Cai Jing’s words don’t have much of a problem.
"In my opinion, the first priority is to work with all counties and counties to organize township warriors to train to resist the plunder of the Jin soldiers, so as to prevent the people from losing their lives."
Cai Jing looked solemn and continued: "The second is to contact General Wu as soon as possible and ask him to hold off Jinlu and hold on to Yanyuan Town."
Li Qian understood the meaning behind his words. The most important thing now was not the Jin man, but to stabilize Wu Sangui.
If Wu Sangui still loves the imperial court, then everything is easy to say, and these golden soldiers will not be a problem.
But if Wu Sangui defected to Jin Bing... then the situation would completely collapse.
Not only will all the 120,000 Jin soldiers be liberated to invade the south, but the Northeast Border Pass will also be completely in the hands of the Jin Kingdom.
The court would definitely not accept this result.
Li Qian nodded slightly. Everyone can think of these truths, but why did Cai Jing jump out and say these things?
He said with considerable approval: "Master Cai, I heard that you have some friendship with General Wu. Now are you willing to take on this important task for the imperial court and go to Yanyuan Town?"
The civil servants were all stunned, while the eyes of several generals suddenly became solemn.
Cai Jing raised his head in surprise, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, if you can be of use to the court, I will not hesitate to use this broken body."
"However, I am an old person who has traveled thousands of miles and wandered between the swords of war. It is a small matter for me to be in danger of illness and death, but it is a big thing for Jinlu to advance even further!"
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
After Cai Jing finished speaking, Li Qian looked at him quietly for a moment, then nodded suddenly and said with regret, "Master Cai has dedicated his life to the imperial court for so many years, and he is really not suitable to suffer such hardship anymore."
In fact, even if Cai Jing wanted to go, Li Qian would not be able to let him go.
Cai Jing is a dangerous person similar to Li Yuan and others, and under some specific conditions, he is even more dangerous than Li Yuan and others.
Releasing Li Yuan and the others can stabilize the war situation, but if it is Cai Jing... it may have the opposite effect.
Thinking of this, Li Qian frowned again.
After Cai Jing said such a thing, he couldn't really be idle, could he?
What's his purpose?
Li Qian glanced at Li Yuan without any trace. Could it be that he wanted to express his support for Li Yuan?
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from among the ministers: "Your Majesty, I think Prime Minister Qin is qualified for this position!"