Author: Silent

night.

Inside the Cabinet Room of the Royal Palace.

Li Dongyang was still burning the midnight oil to draft the votes. As the night watchman of the cabinet and a member of the newly established Shangting Office, Li Dongyang was shouldering two errands at the same time, and he did not take the errands of the Shangting Office too seriously.

After midnight, there were footsteps outside, and the person from Zhongshushe who was responsible for serving tea and water came and knocked on the door.

"In the Cabinet Department, Eunuch Xiao, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, is here to visit."

Li Dongyang then stood up, first added two pieces of charcoal to the brazier, and then went over to open the door.

Xiao Jing stood at the door with a respectful look on his face, but did not enter.

"Eunuch Xiao?" Li Dongyang didn't deliberately go to salute. It was impossible for Xiao Jing to visit casually in the evening. Since he came, he must have something to do.

Xiao Jing said: "There is important military information, involving the march to Liaodong. Please come and see Mr. Li Ge."

"Your Majesty...have you not slept in peace yet?" Li Dongyang didn't want to ask what happened in Liaodong, because from the previous sporadic news, it seemed that Lu Wan was marching rapidly on the grassland. The news was delayed for six or seven days before reaching the capital. The transmission of the news

The speed is slower than the battle report transmission on Ningxia West Road.

"Please." Xiao Jing didn't say much.

If you are asked to meet the emperor, you don't have to worry about whether the emperor is asleep or not. You will definitely be able to see him when you go.

…

…

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

The lights were bright, and Zhu Youtang could not see clearly at night. In order to save money, he usually put candles in front of his eyes to illuminate, but that night, he used more than a dozen candles to illuminate the entire palace.

Dai Yi and Wei Bin were not there, but Chen Kuan was standing by.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Li Ge is here." Xiao Jing walked in front of Li Dongyang, and the two of them came in directly without announcing anything in advance.

Zhu Youtang looked up.

Li Dongyang hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

Zhu Youtang said: "If it's so late to let Bingkuan enter the palace, will it disturb him too much?"

Li Dongyang thought to himself, if the emperor has important matters to discuss with his ministers, is it too late to worry?

"Your Majesty, do you have important military information?" Li Dongyang asked.

Neither the General Affairs Department nor the cabinet saw it, so the military information should have been passed directly to the emperor, and Li Dongyang was not surprised now.

Zhu Youtang sighed and said, "The news just came was from seven days ago. It snowed on the grassland. Lu Wan, the governor of Liaodong, and Hou Ninghou, were leading troops to pursue the three guards of Duoyan. It has been determined that the one walking on the north bank of Huangshui is Tai.

Ning Dabu and Duoyan Xiaobu, as for Fuyu and Duoyan Dabu, follow another westward road forty to fifty miles north of Huangshui."

While talking, Zhu Youtang asked Chen Kuan, who was standing by the side, to hand over Lu Wan's performance to Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang took it over and looked at it, frowning.

Zhu Youtang said: "The area around Keshidan is originally the activity range of the Chahar tribe. It is where the little Tatar prince and the three guards of Duoyan compete. This battle may take place here. According to Lu Wan's prediction, if everything goes well,

We will catch up with the troops retreating westward from Duoyan Sanwei South Road from the north bank of Huangshui River in two or three days."

Li Dongyang quickly scanned the contents of the memorial and asked: "Your Majesty, I don't understand what the governor of Liaodong said about the ambush of the Ming Dynasty."

"Is there anything you don't understand about this?" Zhu Youtang asked, "Jizhou sent four thousand cavalry, led by Wang Xian and Peng Quan, who had arrived at Huangshui early. This was Bingkuan's speculation that the three guards of Duoyan might march westward.

Route, set up ambushes along the way. Use Jizhou to bring artillery on the grassland to block the westward advance of the Duoyan Guards."

When Li Dongyang heard this, the horizontal wrinkles on his brow almost jumped out of his skin.

He said: "Your Majesty, this move is very risky."

Zhu Youtang said: "The war is approaching, and it is useless to talk about it now. I can't sleep tonight. If everything goes well..."

The emperor also seemed to have fallen into a state of "madness".

Li Dongyang looked at Xiao Jing and Chen Kuan, who had their heads lowered, and then said: "Once the situation of this battle changes, I'm afraid the morale of Ji Liao soldiers in the Ming Dynasty will not be able to recover within three to five years."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "Of course I also know the consequences of losing this battle, but how can there be no invincibility on the battlefield?"

Li Dongyang felt mixed emotions after hearing this.

It seems that the emperor is still sane.

I hope to win, but I also know that I can't win all the time.

"Li Qing's family, don't you think it would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to win with artillery and sky gunpowder now?" Zhu Youtang first raised the topic.

"Yes." Li Dongyang handed over his hand.

It is obvious that the Ming Dynasty has new firearms, which can catch the Mongolian tribes by surprise once or twice.

But in the long run, people will be prepared and won't give them a chance.

Zhu Youtang said: "In the battle at Pianguan, the victory seemed dangerous, but in fact it was just Wang Yue who wanted to show off his merits, deliberately created a dangerous situation, and counterattacked with a surprise force, killing Huosi by surprise."

"This battle, together with the subsequent battle at Ningyuan in Liaodong, was all about waiting for work, relying on Bingkuan's prophecy, and waiting for the Tatars to take the initiative to attack, which can be said to be effortless."

"But when it came to the Battle of Weining Sea, we had to take advantage of the situation in the grassland and travel long distances behind the Tatars to complete a surprise attack. Also after the Battle of Weining Sea, it was impossible for the Tatars, no matter which tribe they were, to give the Ming a head-on attack. There is no chance of fighting, especially when the Ming Dynasty’s artillery and troops are fully equipped.”

Li Dongyang said helplessly: "But Your Majesty, even so, there is no need to let the Ming soldiers go deep into the grassland. This will also give the Tatars a chance to counterattack."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "I don't want to take risks, but if I don't take risks, I'm afraid I won't even have the chance to win in the future."

Li Dongyang wants to say that not winning is not the key, but losing is the key.

Taking risks... once or twice, fighting the Battle of Weininghai is enough. Now His Majesty and that Zhang Bingkuan are still addicted?

Zhu Youtang said: "So far, it seems that the process is going smoothly. The remaining tribesmen of Duoyan Sanwei, totaling several groups, may only be thirty or forty thousand, plus the men, women, old and children of their tribe. Batu Meng It seems that Ke’s troops are not in the East Grassland, so there is a high chance of winning this battle.”

Li Dongyang said: "But Your Majesty, it has snowed on the grassland now. In such bitter cold weather, not to mention fighting, I am afraid that the soldiers' march will also suffer great losses, and it is very likely that they will never return."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Does Mr. Li Ge have to be so alarmist?"

Li Dongyang lowered his head and said with a bit of annoyance: "I am just analyzing the worst case scenario."

"Haha." Zhu Youtang continued to smile, as if he had a chat with Li Dongyang, and his mood relaxed a lot, "The grassland tribes have lived on the grassland for a thousand or two thousand years, and no matter how harsh the environment, they have not let them down. They were completely destroyed and are still a hidden danger to the Ming Dynasty. I know that bad weather will hinder the Ming Dynasty's march, but it will not lead to too bad consequences because of the weather."

Li Dongyang stopped refuting.

"Mr. Li Ge, you will inform the people in the government and the public about Bingkuan's plan for this battle tomorrow. I am a little tired today, so tomorrow's meeting at court will not go through."

Zhu Youtang was looking for reasons for not going to court.

Li Dongyang didn't say anything, he just cupped his hands, which probably meant that he knew.

Zhu Youtang stood up, but seemed to be unsteady on his feet. He held on to the table and spoke in a very slow tone: "I've been feeling restless lately. Since I joined Bingkuan, everything has gone so smoothly. God has been so kind to me. Even the use of troops, which I never dared to think about in the past, can be so smooth... I am afraid that God will take back some of what has been given to me."

"Your Majesty..." Li Dongyang wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhu Youtang reaching out.

Zhu Youtang said: "This is the last battle of the year. In the spring of next year, unless the Tatars invade, I will not take the initiative to use troops again. Now if I want to recall the troops, there is no time. Whether it is Lu Wan, Wang Xian and Wang Xian are both people whom Bingkuan respects. I still have some confidence in them. Mr. Li Ge, please come back."

…

…

Li Dongyang waited for Zhu Youtang to go towards Jiaotai Palace, and then he was led out of the Qianqing Palace by Xiao Jing.

Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty will not go to court tomorrow morning. Does Mr. Li Ge have anything else to ask?"

Li Dongyang raised his head and looked at Xiao Jing, wondering: "Zhang Zhou sent troops with two groups, Eunuch Xiao should have known about it for a long time, right?"

"It won't be long... Mr. Li Ge, please don't misunderstand. Your Majesty forbids you to say..." Xiao Jing quickly cleared his name.

Xiao Jing still wanted to stand with the cabinet. In his opinion, after he was officially promoted to the post of Chief of Ceremony, it would be better to have a good relationship with the cabinet than to have a good relationship with Zhang Zhou.

The position of the Chief of Ceremonies has a direct conflict of interest with Zhang Zhou. There is actually an echo between the cabinet and the Chief of Ceremonies.

Everyone gets what they need.

Therefore, he did not want to antagonize Li Dongyang and other cabinet ministers, nor did he want them to think that he was on Zhang Zhou's side.

Li Dongyang walked in front, Xiao Jing followed behind. Li Dongyang said: "Your Majesty knows that this battle may be unsuccessful, but still insists on listening to Zhang Zhou's way of running the army. If you have to rely on risky moves to win every time, the Ming Dynasty frontier army will The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will also think that in the future, they must take risks to achieve success, and the number of desperate risks will increase. In the future, will the Ming Dynasty's border crossings be based on solid defense or light troops and adventurous advances? "

Xiao Jing said: "Mr. Ge is worrying too much. These things... we don't dare to say it, and we don't have the right to say it."

What is the main thing?

Xiao Jing wanted to say.

Based on Zhang Zhou's mood, if he said he would stick to it, he would stick to it, and if he said he would advance rashly, he would rashly advance.

If Zhang Zhou is allowed to keep winning battles, the emperor will not go against Zhang Zhou's wishes even if he has doubts in his heart. This is the reality.

Xiao Jing looked at Li Dongyang who was walking in front with narrow eyes and said to himself, don't you, Li, know this?

Li Dongyang said: "I am also afraid that the scale of troops used in the grassland will increase day by day in the future. Whether it is Pianguan, Ningyuan or Weininghai, they will all win by cleverness. Now they are deep into Horqin, the grassland, with more than 40,000 troops. If there is any trouble in this battle, , no matter how many gains we made in the past, they are not as good as the losses in this battle."

Xiao Jing asked tentatively: "Do you think Mr. Ge will win or lose this battle?"

"Probably... I'll still get it." Li Dongyang said helplessly.

When Xiao Jing heard this, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
To be continued...