When Liu Mingzhi heard the shouts of the imperial guards outside the palace, he shook his sleeves heavily.
"Sanchao! Sanchao!
I want to have a private chat with Master Fan, you should go back to the government office to handle official business first!"
Xia Gongming hesitated for a moment: "Your Majesty, what about your personal expedition?"
"Say it again! Say it again! Let's break up the court!"
"This... veteran resigns!"
"I'll take my leave."
After all the officials left one after another with complicated expressions, Liu Mingzhi sat on the ground with an aggrieved expression and shouted towards the outside of the hall: "Let Fan enter the hall!"
"According to the order!"
"I am a poor monk, and I am here to see Your Majesty. Long live, long live!"
Hearing Fan's relatively familiar voice, Liu Mingzhi raised his eyes and saw Liao Fan, wearing moon-white monk robes and holding a rosary, standing in the hall door and bowing to him.
Looking at the thick black hair on Fan's head, Liu Mingzhi finally understood what the Forbidden Army soldier's words, which should have been said by the monk, meant.
Although today's monks are not as hairless as those of later generations, the length of Liao Fan's hair, which is slightly longer than that of later generations, clearly exceeds the limit for monks.
Liu Mingzhi looked at Liao Fan who was standing not far away with a strange expression on his face.
"No courtesy, sit wherever you want."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Looking at Liao Fan sitting cross-legged on the cotton cushion opposite his left hand, Liu Mingzhi clasped his forehead in silence for a while.
"Liao Fan, do you think I should call you Master Liao Fan? Or should I call you brother-in-law?"
Liao Fan was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly while holding the rosary beads.
"In the vast world, names are nothing more than an existence that can be light or heavy. Your Majesty can call you whatever you want, and the poor monk will all agree."
"Poor monk? That's not right. The fabric and workmanship of your monk's robe would cost you thirty taels of silver to complete.
The poor monks in this world cannot afford to wear such robes.
Since you haven’t practiced in the temple for a long time, you can only earn so much money by alms in a year, right?
I said, are you just eating the soft rice of my young master’s sister-in-law Yan Yu?”
Listening to Mr. Liu's straightforward ridicule, Liao Fan showed a hint of embarrassment on his face and smiled bitterly.
"Amitabha, Your Majesty, with the current level of cultivation of this poor monk, if you perform two rituals for some wealthy families, at least a hundred taels of silver will go into the alms bowl.
It’s not like I’m reduced to the point where I have to be supported by my wife.”
"Don't mind, don't mind, I'm just making a joke for you.
I won’t make fun of you anymore, this young master has come to you for serious business.
In the past, you went to Tianzhu to seek the so-called Mahayana Buddhism, so your understanding of Tianzhu should naturally be quite clear.
I would like to ask you, what do you think of the country of Tianzhu?"
After listening to Liu Mingzhi's words, Liao Fan put away his rosary and took out a stack of documents from the cuffs of his monk's robe, leaned over and handed it to Liu Mingzhi.
"After Your Majesty asked the eldest sister to send a letter to Madam to inform the poor monk, on the way to Beijing, the poor monk heard the document that Your Majesty announced to the world, and he already understood your Majesty's intention of summoning the poor monk.
Regarding the situation in the land of Tianzhu, the poor monk has written a rough summary of the situation while resting on the road, please take a look at it."
Liu Mingzhi looked at the document handed over by Fan and was stunned for a moment. He took the document with a smile and nodded.
“Talk to smart people and you’ll save yourself trouble and waste your breath.”
After looking down at the first few pages of the document for a while, Liu Mingzhi frowned slightly.
"Are you saying that Tianzhu has also fallen into internal troubles similar to the separatism of princes?"
"Reporting to your majesty, this was the situation when the poor monk returned from studying for Buddhist scriptures many years ago. The poor monk has no way of knowing what the situation is in Tianzhu now.
After all, time has passed and many things have changed, and I cannot guarantee that the current Tianzhu is still the same Tianzhu that fell into constant wars due to caste class struggles many years ago."
"That's true. After all, it's been many years. Do you know the situation in this big food country?"
"The poor monk had heard about it back then. It was a small country in the southwest of Tianzhu. Later, it was involved in war with the Parthian Kingdom to the west of the Dawan Kingdom for some reasons.
The final result is unknown to the poor monk.
However, judging from the documents your Majesty announced to the world, the Parthian Kingdom should have been swallowed up by the Dashi Kingdom or surrendered to the Dashi Kingdom."
"Smart, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of Tianzhu's local soldiers and horses?"
Liao Fan paused in the movement of breaking off the rosary beads, and a strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth that he didn't know how to describe.
Liu Mingzhi folded the documents and put them aside, looking at Fan with confused eyes: "Liao Fan, what do you mean by that smile?
What is the combat effectiveness of Tianzhu soldiers and horses?
Compared to my dragon's palace soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, elite soldiers, elite soldiers, and elite soldiers of all battles, what level are they at?"
"Well... I don't know what to say, but the people of Tianzhu are still very courageous."
"I am asking about the combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses, not about your courage."
"The combat effectiveness of the poor monk is really difficult to evaluate, because the combat power of the poor monk is not the same as that of the elite troops of my dynasty.
The combat power of Tianzhu’s soldiers and horses should be pretty good!
The poor monk went to seek Buddhist scriptures, not to fight.
Regarding the evaluation of Tianzhu's military strength, Your Majesty is really putting this poor monk in a difficult position."
Liu Mingzhi was silent for a moment thoughtfully, and nodded clearly: "I understand. Thank you for the content in your document. I would like to thank you for your help on behalf of the soldiers of the army who are about to go on an expedition."
"As long as a poor monk can keep the temples in the world, he will be satisfied.
If there is nothing else, I will resign!"
"Okay! No matter what, thank you for the document you presented to me."
"It's your duty, I'll resign, poor monk!"
"etc!"
"Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"
"When I'm not chanting sutras and meditating, I'll take your wife Yan Yu and my young master's sister-in-law to the house to see her sister if she has nothing to do.
Although our brothers-in-law’s identities are a bit awkward, they are sisters who are closely related by blood after all!”
"I understand, I must resign!"
"No!"
After Liao Fan left, Liu Mingzhi picked up the document written by Fan and read it attentively.
The sixth day of the third month of the third year of Dalong's reign of peace.
All the guards and General Ma rushed to the capital and entered the palace to see him.
"Chen Yunchong."
"Chen Wanmingming."
"Chen Nangong Ye...."
"The acting Marshal of the Northern Mansion, Wanyan, is awesome."
"I am the acting military governor of the Northern Mansion, Yeluha."
"The acting marshal of the new government is Hu Yanyu."
"Chen Xinfu..."
"See Your Majesty."
"All my dear friends, please take your seats without paying any courtesy!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I'm looking forward to the stars and the moon, and finally I've got you guys back, you guys who are so brave and good at fighting. You guys made me wait."
"I know my guilt!"
“The road to Guanshan is far away, so what’s the crime?
I sent a letter to summon you to rush to Beijing eight hundred miles away. You must have heard something about it on the way to Beijing, right?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, I have already understood the whole reason."
"Now that I already know it, I don't need to waste time explaining it to you!
While you are still on your way to Beijing, I have already issued an order to the Ministry of War to inform you and other deputy commanders and deputy commanders under my command to organize the army and prepare for war.
As soon as the plan to dispatch troops was finalized, the army immediately set off for Ganzhou.
You have to obey the authority in a hurry and didn’t say hello to you generals in advance. You don’t blame me, do you?”
"I don't dare!"
"On your way to Beijing, I got a general understanding of the situation in Tianzhu and Dashi from various channels.
Regarding the military strength, terrain, and city conditions of the two countries, the Ministry of War has already prepared a plan. After the court is over, a copy will be handed over to you for review.
After several discussions between me and the Manchu civil and military forces, I decided to send 400,000 elite cavalry to attack the barbarians of the two countries.
As for which guard and which unit of troops to mobilize among these 400,000 soldiers and horses.