Although it was for refuge, Wan He still went to the meeting hall with Changsun Wuji and others to discuss military and political matters. After everyone settled down, Wanhe also glanced at the people sitting down. Li Jing, Liu Wenjing and Changsun. Heng'an is not here. The three of them are currently leading troops in Hebei, presiding over the war against Dou Jiande and Gao Kaidao.
Li Jing was away, and the main person in charge of Luoyang City's military affairs was the veteran general Pei Renji. Although Pei Renji had a broken arm, his many years of leading experience in the counter-rebellion army were enough for Pei Renji to manage Luoyang's military affairs. When he saw Wan He, his eyes moved to On his own, Pei Renji naturally understood what Wan He meant. When he stood up, he said to Wan He: "Your Majesty, since the prince left Luoyang, in the past six months, the Luoyang army has been greatly expanded according to the prince's instructions before he left. Now it belongs to the army. The army under the command of Prince Yu already numbered 200,000. The only trouble is that most of these troops are new soldiers. Although they have been trained for more than half a year, their combat effectiveness still needs to be improved. So this time General Li went to Hebei. Almost all of the 100,000 troops who went there were new recruits."
Two hundred thousand troops. Hearing this number, Wan He almost jumped with excitement. Once upon a time, lack of troops had always been a worry for Wan He. Especially this time, after staying in Chang'an for so long, Wan He had a hard time with Li Yuan's subordinates. We also have an idea of the number of Tang troops. The number of troops led by Li Yuan alone was nearly 100,000. This does not include the 30,000 troops under Li Shentong, the 10,000 troops under Li Shimin, and the 10,000 troops under Yin Kaishan. The total number of soldiers and horses is a full 150,000 troops. If not for the previous defeat of Taiyuan, I am afraid that Li Yuan's troops should have exceeded 180,000. Compared with before, Luoyang's military strength is really far behind. Wan He is very It’s clear. If it weren’t for the constraints of powerful heroes like Xue Ju, Li Gui and Liu Wuzhou at that time, Li Yuan would definitely have gone out to attack Luoyang.
But now, Wan He has an army of 200,000 at hand. Although most of them are new soldiers, but with the soldiers and horses in the hands of Du Fuwei, Xue Shixiong and Luo Yi, Wan He is probably the only one among the heroes in the world. The strongest.
After listening to Pei Renji's words, Wan He also nodded repeatedly. Then he smiled and said: "Very good. The remaining 100,000 troops will step up their training. If possible, send them to Hebei to rotate the soldiers who have participated in the battle. It would be best to let these new recruits go through the battlefield once and let them all see blood."
Wan He has fought many battles in the past few years. His words were also tainted with the ruffian spirit of many in the army. This made all the generals present laugh out loud. Then, Wan He said again: "These two Although the 100,000-strong army is quite large, it is not enough to conquer the world. It is best to continue to expand."
"Your Majesty." Hearing Wan He's words, a middle-aged civil servant suddenly stood up. He raised his hands to Wan He and said, "I feel that it is inappropriate to expand the new army. Now this 200,000-strong army has already become the leader of Henan Province." The county has reached the limit of how many troops it can recruit. If we continue to recruit, my subordinates may cause dissatisfaction among the people. Please be careful, Your Majesty."
"Hmm." Before the middle-aged civil servant stood up, Wan He had not noticed it. Now he realized that there was such an extra person. He looked at the middle-aged civil servant with doubts on his face, and then turned to look at his eldest grandson. The people who greeted Wuji and others at Prince Liang's Mansion this time should be Wan He's confidants. But Wan He had never seen the middle-aged civil servant in front of him.
Seeing Wan He's appearance, Fang Xuanling immediately raised her hands to Wan He and said, "Prince Qi, this lord is a great talent who has recently joined the lord's service. Lord Wei Zheng. Lord Wei once served in Liucheng. This The next time General Li Jing recaptured Liucheng and saw Master Wei's talent, he recommended Master Wei to come to Luoyang and serve the prince."
After Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Wei Zheng also bowed to Wan He and said: "I have met the prince. I also ask the prince to listen to his advice and give up the idea of recruiting troops again. At the same time, he also hopes that the prince can open a warehouse to help. People. Distribute food to the refugees coming south from Hebei. This will also be of great benefit to the prince's reputation."
After Wei Zheng finished speaking, there was no response for a long time. He couldn't help but frown. He thought to himself: Could it be that this King of Liang is another person with a false reputation? If so, then this King of Liang is not a lord who can be loyal to. Thinking of this, Wei Zheng Wei Zheng couldn't help but raise his head and glanced at Wan He in front of him. At this sight, Wei Zheng was dumbfounded. Because at this moment, Wan He was looking at him with his eyes wide open, his mouth wide open, and even... There was drool flowing out of the corner of his mouth. Coupled with his sparkling eyes, he looked like a refugee who had been hungry for three or four days without eating. He looked like he saw a pile of delicious food.
No one can understand the excitement in Wan He's heart at this moment. Wei Zheng. This is the real Wei Zheng. For Wan He, the most famous civil servant in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties is not Changsun Wuji, nor Fang Xuanling. and Du Ruhui, not to mention people like Liu Wenjing and Wang Gui. The one who impressed Wan He the most was undoubtedly Wei Zheng, who was famous for his deadly remonstrances.
Speaking of Li Shimin, we have to mention Wei Zheng. Even in Wan He's opinion, Li Shimin has so many good reputations in history. It is entirely because of Wei Zheng. Wan He has heard so many stories about Wei Zheng since he was a child. At first Wan He had the idea of going to find Wei Zheng, but later he gave up. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng would appear in front of him. No wonder Wan He was so excited.
Wan He was excited when he was excited. But his current appearance made people panic. Seeing Wan He's drooling look, Changsun Wuji and others couldn't help but sweat on their foreheads. In the end, Wei Zheng was overwhelmed by Wan He. He's face was so frightened that he turned pale. Changsun Wuji couldn't stand it any longer. He just covered his mouth with his hands and coughed a few times. With these coughs, Wan He finally reacted. He came over. He immediately laughed a few times and secretly touched the corner of his mouth. Then he smiled and said to Wei Zheng: "Oh, it turns out to be Mr. Wei. Haha. Okay. Okay. With a wise man like Mr. Wei. With your help, I can make a big decision."
Hearing what Wan He said, Wei Zheng, who had already had the intention of leaving, finally breathed a sigh of relief. If Wan He insisted on recruiting troops, he, who had just joined Wan He's subordinates, naturally had no way to stop him. He could only Watching the people of Henan suffer, and now Wan He's appearance made Wei Zheng feel hopeful again. When he said to Wan He, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for taking it seriously. That, what my subordinate just said, about canceling the conscription." What the prince means is..."
"Ah, oh, cancel the conscription, right? Of course. Of course." In fact, the idea of increasing conscription is just an idea that occasionally pops up in Wan He's mind. Wan He has no intention of insisting on it. Now Wei Zheng is so As soon as he mentioned it, Wan He naturally nodded in agreement. He also smiled at Wei Zheng and said, "I have Master Wei to help me. I am better than an army of 100,000 people. There is no need to recruit more troops."
Hearing Wan He's praise, Wei Zheng couldn't help but blush. Now, in fact, he can only be regarded as a nobody. Li Jing recommended him to Luoyang because of Li Jing's respect. And Wan He praised him so much. Wei Zheng also felt dissatisfied. He felt embarrassed, but in his heart he was filled with gratitude that Wan He valued him so much. When he bowed to Wan He, he said, "We have received such great love from the prince. Wei Zheng cannot thank you enough. I can only bow to him with all my heart."
Of course Wan He also knew that he had been a little too explicit just now. Corporal Li Xian couldn't go too far. So Wan He just nodded and asked Wei Zheng to sit back. In short, Wei Zheng has become his subordinate. Then How to reuse him in the future is also a matter of time. Then Wan He named Changsun Wuji again and asked himself what happened in Luoyang after leaving Luoyang.
Changsun Wuji bowed his hands to Wan He and said: "Return to the prince. During this period, nothing happened in the court and the public in Luoyang. On the contrary, some unusual things happened in the palace. According to the spies' reports, it seems that something happened under the empress dowager's control. Some mysterious masters appeared around me. My subordinates deliberately wanted to capture these people, but they were allowed to run away several times."
"Mysterious master." Hearing Changsun Wuji's words, Wan He immediately frowned. The empress dowager mentioned by Changsun Wuji naturally refers to Empress Xiao who was rescued from Yu Wenhuaji before. Originally, Empress Xiao returned to Luoyang. . He also wanted to do something, but he restrained himself after being warned by Wan He. Unexpectedly, Wan He left Luoyang for more than half a year and now he started to be dishonest again. Wan He thought that even if Shen He was He said in a loud voice: "These mysterious masters, can't they even catch the people from Tianyin Sect?"
Changsun Wuji shook his head and said: "It's not that these mysterious masters are so skilled. It's that they were too cautious. They set up several traps, but they all ran away. The subordinates didn't dare to be too showy. . We can only act secretly with the masters of Tianyin Sect. But after a few times, those mysterious masters seemed to have noticed our actions and simply disappeared. Until the prince came back this time, we did not find any trace of each other."
"Empress Dowager?" After listening to Changsun Wuji's words, Wan He also frowned. Now Luoyang City is Wan He's territory. On the surface, there are 100,000 troops stationed in Luoyang. But secretly, there are experts from Tianyin Sect protecting him. . Even if Queen Xiao wants to do something, it is logically impossible to deal with Wan He. However, Wan He feels that there must be some problem. It seems that Queen Xiao is brewing some conspiracy. She is extremely interested in Wan He. Unfavorable. Wan He immediately nodded lightly. He had already made up his mind. In a few days, he must go to the palace in person.