At this time, Lu Hengshan, the minister of the Ministry of War, said disapprovingly: "My lords, this move is unconscionable. The emperor just said that the current strength of our Donglin Kingdom is far inferior to that of Western Chu and Nanliang. Western Chu is known as having
It is known as a million-strong army, and Nanliang Kingdom has always had many soldiers and generals. From this point of view, our Donglin Kingdom can only fall behind. According to Wei Chen, instead of focusing on attacking, it is better to focus on defending."
"Defend to the death?" Ren Xianliang snorted and said, "Master Lu said it lightly. We only defend but not attack. Are we going to let the Chu army and Liang army run amok?"
Lu Hengshan smiled faintly and said: "No, the Prime Minister has misunderstood the meaning of my ministers. What I mean by defending is not to not send any troops, but to give them a heavy blow when necessary when they are unprepared."
Deng Bingtang looked suspicious and asked curiously: "Master Lu means to wait until the Chu army's physical strength is almost exhausted before making another surprise, right?"
"Yes, only in this way can we defeat the Chu army." Lu Hengshan smiled slightly
Ren Xianliang chuckled, "Master Lu, this is so interesting. If you send troops like this, even if you can win, it will only be a small victory. After the Chu army has been repaired a little, it will definitely continue to make a comeback. Besides, do you think
Are the soldiers of the Chu army so stupid? I'm afraid that when our soldiers have just opened the city gate, the enemy suddenly kills them in the middle of the road. Then we will lose our wives and lose our troops."
Lu Hengshan shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, this is wrong. How can you know that it is a blessing in disguise? As long as you have a chance to defeat a strong enemy, what's the point of giving up one or two cities?"
When Ren Xianliang heard this, his brows suddenly knitted together and he shouted: "I dare to ask Mr. Lu what is meant by 'giving up one or two cities and how can we protect ourselves?' Do you mean that what we Donglin State owns is a city? Please forgive me for not being too harsh on the truth.
With your method of demarcating territory and seeking peace, although our Donglin Kingdom is the smallest country among the Three Kingdoms, we will not directly surrender to the other side of Kaicheng."
Seeing that Ren Xianliang put his proposal in such a bad light, Lu Hengshan was very angry, "I'm just making a metaphor, but Prime Minister Ren insists on saying it is capitulationism. Everyone is working for the imperial court, who doesn't want the world to
In peace, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and they are one family within the four seas. Although Western Chu and Nanliang are tigers and wolves, as long as we unite as one, we can drive them out. Our current emperor is a wise king, so why should we surrender to them?
"
"Since Mr. Lu also thinks that we can drive away the Chu and Liang armies, why do we have to sacrifice two cities? Do you know what our soldiers need most at this time?" Ren Xianliang paused for a moment.
, and then said: "It's morale. If, like you said, we just casually abandon one or two cities before the war starts, what will our soldiers think? They will definitely feel that the commander is greedy for life and afraid of death, and even feel that
Our court is very weak. Will they still be willing to sacrifice their lives for the court? I'm afraid that as soon as the battle starts, they will follow the example of their commander and flee."
"I didn't expect that the Prime Minister would misinterpret my intention in this way. I have no choice but to reserve my opinion. Everything will be decided by the Emperor."
"I thought about going to the emperor because I couldn't explain it. Mr. Lu, as a dignified minister of the Ministry of War, can you please stop bluffing before you think about some things?" Ren Xianliang snorted, and then said: "Previous paragraph.
One day, the emperor asked you to count the grain and fodder in the rear area, but you had better say in front of the emperor that the imperial court has too many troops and it is difficult to collect grain and fodder. You have repeatedly asked the emperor to reduce the army. Haven't you thought about the current strength of Donglin Kingdom's troops?
Is it seriously insufficient? Fortunately, the emperor did not listen to your opinion, otherwise how would you have us fight against the two countries?"
Lu Hengshan widened his eyes and said: "Prime Minister, please don't be alarmist here, okay? What I said is for the sake of the people of the world. Think about it, since the emperor took charge, he has opened the imperial examination, abolished the old system, diverted water sources, punished
Corrupt officials, every measure has achieved the expected results. Who in the world today does not know that our Donglin country has a benevolent king? As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for the people. In the past two months, the lives of the people have been improved accordingly, but many
The people in the suburbs are still living without enough to eat. For this reason, I asked the emperor to lay off some old and disabled soldiers. This will not only reduce the burden on the people, but also allow these soldiers who have fought for the imperial court for many years to
Get a better rest, Prime Minister, is it wrong for me to do this?"
"Master Lu, what is wrong with serving the imperial court? But the truth is, I think Master Lu's words are a bit flattering. Who doesn't know that our emperor doesn't like to hear flattery, and your words just make him
The emperor sounds happy, maybe he can transfer you directly to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War."
"You——, I am too lazy to tell you." Lu Hengshan suppressed the anger in his heart and walked to the front of the palace to bow to the emperor. Unexpectedly, Shao Yan was sleeping soundly at this time, and he saw his whole body leaning against the emperor.
On the dragon chair, his legs are placed in front of the table, his hands are held in his arms, his head is tilted to one side, all the beads in front of the crown are draped on his face, and he is snoring from time to time.
Lu Hengshan shook his head with a wry smile, took two steps forward, and said softly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty." Shao Yan still fell asleep. Lu Hengshan frowned, took a few steps forward, and shouted twice more with a slight emphasis.
Shao Yan just turned over and fell asleep again. Lu Hengshan swallowed his saliva and was about to raise his voice to urge him again. Xiao Shunzi on the side quickly winked at him to signal him not to alarm the angry saint.
drive
After a long time, Shao Yan slowly opened his eyes and stretched lazily. It was really comfortable to wake up after this sleep. Not only was he in good spirits, but his whole body was also very strong. Shao Yan yawned unfinished and sat up straight to watch.
It's no wonder that there are pairs of frightened eyes below. From ancient times to the present, it is not uncommon for emperors to take a nap in the court. However, there are few who can sleep as blatantly as Shao Yan.
When Lu Hengshan saw that the emperor was awake, he hurriedly bowed and said with a smile: "The emperor has worked hard for the country day and night, so he should take care of the dragon's body as the top priority."
"Oh, thank you Lu Qing family for your concern." Shao Yan was angry and funny, and asked casually: "Just now, the two Qing families expressed their opinions. I wonder if they have come up with corresponding countermeasures?"
Hearing the emperor's lukewarm tone, Lu Hengshan and Ren Xianliang couldn't help but blush and lower their heads. How could they not hear that the emperor was indirectly reprimanding them?
At this time, Deng Bingtang slowly came to the front of the palace and bowed to the emperor. Through his sad expression, Shao Yan already guessed what he wanted to say, and said: "Deng Aiqing, there is no need to say more, I know that you want to serve the two lords."
To smooth things over, although I fell asleep, my ears are still awake."
After saying that, Shao Yan straightened up and walked to His Highness. Ren and Lu quickly buried their heads on their chests. Shao Yan rolled his eyes at them and said sternly: "One of you is the prime minister of the current dynasty, and the other is in charge of the army.
Minister of the Ministry of War, right now, the anger is burning to your eyebrows. You two are still thinking of attacking each other here. You are really my dear friends."
"I'm guilty," Ren and Lu both knelt on the ground and said in unison. Shao Yan saw that their faces were pale and their bodies were faintly trembling, so he lowered his tone and said, "A chopstick is easy to break, but if it's a pair of chopsticks, it will break."
As for a pair of chopsticks, no matter how strong you are, it is not easy to break so many chopsticks. In the same way, both of you are the pillars of our Donglin Kingdom. If you can put away each other
There is a little suspicion between us, but if we unite as one, why should we worry about not being able to defeat Chu and Liang?"
Having said this, Shao Yan turned back to the civil and military officials and said: "My dear friends, it is the same. Now we are in the midst of a national crisis. We should unite as a team to deal with the outside world. There is no obstacle that cannot be overcome between people. I sincerely hope that
You can resolve your previous resentment. From now on, I don’t want to hear anyone say bad things about other colleagues in my ears. Anyone who violates this rule will be dismissed and investigated."
"The Emperor is wise, I should keep it in mind," all the ministers knelt down and shouted.
Shao Yan shook his head and smiled: "I can't even be said to be a wise monarch. When the world is no longer divided, the people are no longer displaced from war, the civil servants are no longer greedy for money, and the generals are no longer afraid of death. Only those who can do these can be called emperors.
You must be a wise king.”
It was already evening when I returned to the imperial study. I originally planned to convene the ministers to discuss countermeasures, but unexpectedly, the topic changed to another issue due to the quarrel between the two ministers. Although I learned nothing in the court today, Shao Yan was still very happy in his heart.
, firstly, it stopped the enemies of Ren Xianliang and Lu Hengshan from tit-for-tat, and secondly, it eased the intrigues among the ministers. Regardless of whether they would seriously abide by it, at least they already had a sense of unity in their minds.
To be honest, when Shao Yan saw the ministers holding hands and laughing with each other, he felt very happy in his heart. After all, these people are the indispensable branches of a country.
If something goes wrong, it will lead to many unnecessary conflicts.
Shao Yan sat exhausted at the table, flipping through the corrected memorials absentmindedly, and couldn't help but sigh. Xiao Shunzi saw that he looked preoccupied, so he whispered beside him: "The emperor must still be preparing to send troops."
Are you worried about something?"
Seeing Shao Yan just nodding without saying anything, Xiao Shunzi rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't worry. You don't have to trust others. Can't you still trust Marshal Bai?"