"What?" Shao Yan was shocked and confused. He had received good news a few days ago, saying that Jin Dingguo's troops were ambushed in the forest, with countless casualties. Donglin guards Wang Wu and Zhang Er, Zhang Baihu took advantage of the victory and pursued Jin Dingguo all the way south. Not to mention that he was a clay bodhisattva who could not save himself when crossing the river. Even if he wanted to counterattack, he would not be so fast unless he was an immortal.
The soldier added: "Originally, our army has driven the enemy troops out of the country. We never thought that the Nanliang Kingdom would increase its troops by tens of thousands. However, after several battles, our army only has 50,000 horses left. The total number of enemy troops is 150,000. This time, I am requesting the Emperor to immediately send troops to support you on the orders of Marshal Wang."
Shao Yan's face was solemn, and he couldn't make up his mind for a while. It wasn't that he didn't want to mobilize troops to support him, but the entire Donglin Kingdom only had 600,000 troops in total. Bai Ruxue and Bai Mei led 150,000 troops to guard the front line. When Wang Wu and others set out, they took away 100,000 elite soldiers. The remaining 350,000 soldiers were stationed in 21 cities. If they were all withdrawn, the city would be empty. Shao Yan thought about it over and over again. When he couldn't come up with any good solution, he could only follow Yunyun's suggestion and ask Xiao Shunzi to summon the civil and military ministers to discuss the matter.
At the court meeting, when the officials heard that Liang Jun had broken through various cities and was about to launch a massive attack on Changqing, their faces turned pale with fright. In their view, Changqing was the most important line of defense for the Donglin Kingdom. Once it was breached, other Several cities are not a problem at all. I am afraid that by that time, Donglin Kingdom will never be able to recover.
Most of the civil and military ministers were greedy for life and afraid of death. They all complained in private and said nonsense about the court being stingy and unwilling to recruit more troops. Shao Yan was upset when he heard that. When he asked them for money, these Everyone pushes faster than anyone else
Shao Yan had been emperor for only a day or two, and he had long been accustomed to seeing the faces of these villains, so he turned his attention to Dongfang Yi, who was silent and asked: "Dongfang Aiqing, with Liang Jun's current military strength, do you want to break through?" Changqing is by no means difficult, I want to hear your opinion."
Dongfang Yi walked calmly from among the ministers to the front of the palace and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I think you don't need to be in such a hurry. I--" As soon as he finished speaking, all the people in the room were attracted. There was a commotion
"Master Dongfang, this fire is burning to your eyebrows, do you still have the heart to make sarcastic remarks here?"
"Yes, Prime Minister Dongfang, you are an old fool. Liang Bing is about to attack at the door of this house, and you still tell the emperor not to worry. What are you saying?"
"In my opinion, Mr. Dongfang must have been fooled by the soldiers of Nanliang Kingdom. I heard that these people came to the city to burn, kill, loot and do all kinds of evil. How can our Prime Minister not be afraid?" Then the whole room burst into laughter again.
Faced with the ridicule of the civil and military officials, Dongfang Yi did not refute, but smiled. Ren Xianliang behind him was worried that he would anger the emperor, so he quietly winked at him to indicate that he should not talk nonsense, but Dongfang Yi still smiled. Keju then said to Shao Yan: "Your Majesty, I think the gentleman who just said it was right. Although the army of Nanliang fought bravely, it was very unpopular. They also invaded the territory of Western Chu back then. Although at that time, Their troops were five times more powerful than the Chu army, but they still ended in a disastrous defeat. Does your Majesty know why?"
This question was too simple. Shao Yan felt happy and said: "This is called the one who wins the hearts of the people. The Nanliang army only focused on charging into battle and did not care about the life and death of the people. Of course, it would cause dissatisfaction among the people. Rather than saying that they were defeated by the Chu army, Rather, it is better to say that they were defeated in their own hands. If they had not lost the support of the people, Xi Chu would definitely not be their opponent, Dongfang Aiqing, am I right?"
Dongfang Yi nodded cheerfully, "Your Majesty is wise, by the same token, today Liang Jun looted my city and killed my people. They have become the biggest enemies of our Donglin Kingdom. Moreover, I also heard that Jishui, Qiancheng, and Tangzhuang , the people in Xuchang and other places have spontaneously organized a rebel army. Although the number is not large, only more than 10,000 people in total, they are all willing to fight to the death to fight against the foreign invaders. This is what I saw among many soldiers. less than”
"Then according to Lord Dongfang's opinion, all the soldiers of Donglin Kingdom are greedy for life and afraid of death." At this time, Lu Hengshan, the Minister of War, came out, glanced at him and said
Dongfang Yi shook his head and said: "No, Mr. Lu, please don't interrupt. The truth is that we do not mean to criticize our own soldiers. What the truth means is that we can mobilize the people across the country and call on them to defend Donglin Kingdom in the name of the emperor."
Lu Hengshan snorted and said: "Master Dongfang's words are wrong. Let alone those unruly people who are unwilling to help. Even if they are willing, they can't compete with the elite troops of Nanliang and let these people take advantage of them all day long. When a hoe man goes to the battlefield, huh, it's nothing more than lighting a lamp in a latrine - looking for death."
The ministers present nodded in agreement. Prime Minister Zuo Ren Xianliang walked to the center of the hall and said respectfully to Shao Yan: "Your Majesty, I think that the method of 'mobilizing the people' mentioned by Prime Minister Dongfang can be adopted. Since the Emperor ascended the throne, he has been widely Implementing benevolent government, opening up civil service examinations to select talents, cracking down on and punishing corrupt officials, easing corvee work and reducing taxes, digging rivers and building waterways, etc. Under your governance, the entire Donglin Kingdom can be said to be at peace. There is no dispute about this, and the people all praise the emperor. Ying Ming, now that the Chu and Liang Kingdoms are maliciously attacking, how can we, the people of Donglin, hand over a vast river and mountain to these tigers and wolves, so Wei Chen thinks that we can mobilize the power of the whole country to fight against the invasion of foreign enemies."
Seeing that what he said was eloquent, Shao Yan thought about it carefully. Although the emperor is the supreme leader of a country, he still has to rely on the people below him at critical moments. Water can carry a boat but it can also capsize it. He studied history in junior high school. He had learned it in textbooks, and he deeply understood the importance of peasant power. Nowadays, soldiers from Chu and Liang were pressing on the border. Seeing that the situation was getting worse day by day, he had no second way to go. After thinking for a moment, he decided to make a move. An imperial edict was issued to recruit rebels from all over the country to help. Unexpectedly, most of the ministers in the DPRK and China held objections.
Zhao Shun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, this plan is absolutely impossible. Although what the two prime ministers said is reasonable, these rebels are all from farmers. Not only do they have no fighting ability, but they also have a poor sense of obedience. I'm afraid they will They will not be sincerely loyal to the imperial court. Secondly, if the emperor asks them for help, it will appear that our imperial court is incompetent. Once the troops of the two countries are driven away, these so-called rebels will definitely not turn against the imperial court, and even - —" He suddenly stopped here, as if he didn't dare to continue.
Shao Yan said: "What even? Just say it, I will forgive you."
"There is even a disobedient heart." Zhao Shun said this sentence hesitantly, and the civil and military officials in the court shouted wildly, how could this be possible? Doesn't this mean that he is handing over the country to these rebels?
Although the ministers did not speak out, Shao Yan knew their concerns. This kind of thing is not uncommon in history. First, brothers united to fight against foreign enemies. After fighting against foreign enemies, they began to fight for the world. The most obvious ones were the Boxer Rebellion and the Anti-Japanese War in modern times.
"Lord Zhao is right, Your Majesty, if you make a mistake, you will be hated forever. Don't enrich others. You should think twice," Weng Tongshu, the Minister of Rites, stood up and said
Lu Hengshan added: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we can send envoys to negotiate with the two countries, or temporarily cede territory and pay indemnity as compensation, and unite with them to destroy the rebels first, and then make other plans."
To cede territory and pay compensation? To fight against foreign aggression, we must first pacify our country? Shao Yan is very familiar with these two treasonous sayings. Japan, you think I am the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. No matter how bastard I am, I will never do such a thing that humiliates the country and loses power. Shao Yan angrily
He stood up, pointed at Lu Hengshan and scolded: "Shut up! I'll reiterate it again. I can destroy the entire country, but I will never give up even half of the land. If anyone mentions ceding land and paying compensation in front of me again in the future,
Word, I will kill you without mercy.”
"Your Majesty, please obey the decree." The ministers shouted loudly in the court. Lu Hengshan was so frightened that he did not even dare to say a word after being taught by Shao Yan. He hurriedly retreated to the ranks of the ministers. Most of the ministers supported him.
His traitorous behavior, thinking that the emperor was talking about it, had no choice but to keep silent.
"This matter has been settled. Ren Aiqing, I will now appoint you as the imperial envoy. You will immediately go to various places to recruit rebels for me. There must be no mistakes," Shao Yan said confidently.
"I obey the decree" After he kowtowed, Ren Xianliang turned around and was about to walk out of the hall, when he saw a young eunuch walking in from outside the hall, "Inform your Majesty, General Zhang Er is asking for an audience outside the hall."
Zhang Er? Isn't he on the front line? Speaking of this guy, Shao Yan hasn't seen him for nearly a month since the last time we said goodbye, and he misses him very much. Now that he heard that he was back, he was naturally surprised and said hurriedly:
"Quick pass"
After a while, a general wearing red armor and a golden lion helmet came out of the palace. He was holding an iron square box in his hand. When he looked closely, he realized that the armor on his body was a bit slanted, and the edge of the helmet was slightly slanted.
There were still a few drops of blood, and there was a lot of mud on the boots. His expression was very depressed, as if he had just experienced a fierce battle.
"The last general, Zhang Er, bows to my emperor, long live long live, long live long live."
"Pingshen" Shao Yan waved his hand, but saw Zhang Er kneeling on the ground motionless, as if his knees were stuck to the ground and unable to get up. The ministers were very curious, and they kept whispering there.
Shao Yan went down to Zhang Er and reached out to help him. Zhang Er knocked his forehead on the iron box and cried: "Your Majesty, the last general is incompetent. The last general failed to save the city. Changqing was destroyed."
"Wha-what?" Shao Yan took a few steps back in shock and shook his head mockingly. He was just discussing how to fight against Liang Jun, but unexpectedly he was beaten to the punch. Is the Donglin Kingdom really doomed?
When the ministers heard that Changqing had fallen, their faces became uglier. Lu Hengshan walked up to Zhang Er angrily and cursed: "How did you defend the city? The defeated generals still have the nerve to come back? The Donglin Kingdom has enough money to support you people.
What’s the use?”
Zhang Er ignored him and opened the lid of the iron box with tears in his eyes. Lu Hengshan looked over and saw a bloody human head inside. He was so frightened that he quickly stepped aside.
Shao Yan leaned over and looked over, only to see that the head was none other than Wang Wu, who had just been named Grand Marshal of the Protector of the Country. Seeing that his brothers who used to be so lively and lively now had their corpses scattered in various places, Shao Yan was so excited that he vomited out violently.
A large mouthful of blood shocked all the ministers present. Dongfang Yi and Ren Xianliang hurried over when they saw this scene.