Chapter 277

"Ministers, Prince Lu, Duke Yansheng, Marquis Wuyang, and the memorials of the various officials in Shandong, what do you think?"

Emperor Yongning's question directly made the ministers lower their heads.

Standing from the Emperor's perspective, the change in Shandong was undoubtedly challenging the imperial power.

Theoretically, the officials should stand with the Emperor to jointly maintain the imperial power.

It was just that the situation in Shandong was special; "the people" was just an excuse on the surface, and what was truly thorny was the vassal king and Duke Yansheng.

In fact, the vassal king was not too thorny.

Since the outbreak of the White Lotus Sect rebellion, the number of vassal kings who died had exceeded two digits, and everyone didn't care about adding one more.

Even in the eyes of many officials, it would be better if these rice-eating worms of the clan were all dead.

It was troublesome to involve Duke Yansheng.

The descendant of the sage was not just a name, but also represented the orthodoxy of Confucianism.

If it fell into the hands of the Northern Barbarians, politically, it would be a major blow to the Great Dayu.

People could temporarily avoid the edge, but Confucius's tomb and temple could not move.

Once the grassland coalition army was allowed to disturb the peace of Confucius, the spit stars of the scholars in the world could send them away.

In a dilemma, everyone simply played deaf and dumb.

Anyway, not expressing an opinion would not lead to mistakes.

"Why is no one talking?"

"What is the use of the court raising you?"

"..."

"Chief Minister, you answer!"

Seeing that the Emperor named him, sweat broke out on Wan Junhui's forehead.

On one side was imperial power, and on the other was the spiritual symbol of Confucianism; neither could be abandoned.

"Your Majesty, this subordinate is incompetent!"

Wan Junhui replied uneasily.

It was not that he lacked responsibility, but that this problem had no correct answer.

Defending the capital was political correctness, and guarding the Confucian holy land was also political correctness.

Even if he really had to choose, it should be done quietly; how could it be discussed in the court.

"Trash!"

Emperor Yongning cursed impolitely.

The Chief Minister was a coward, which made him very disappointed.

The land of Shandong was indeed important, but compared to the capital, it was not worth mentioning.

Deep in his heart, he flashed the idea of replacing the Chief Minister again, and then dismissed it.

Since he ascended the throne, this had been the fourth Chief Minister, and the average term of office was less than a year.

Wan Junhui was personally promoted by him; if he hadn't even sat for half a year, it would become a joke.

The Chief Minister chose to play deaf and dumb, and the civil and military officials naturally could not stand out at this time.

Everyone kept silent, no matter how unhappy the Emperor was, it was impossible to replace them all.

The matter reached a stalemate, and the officials once again turned on the traditional skill mode — shelving!

As long as everyone did not give a reply, then no matter what happened, it was the claim of the people below.

Even if a basket was poked, it was the pot of the people below.

If a clear answer was given, and the people below executed it according to the court's order, then the responsibility would fall on them, the decision-makers.

"..."

Outside the capital, the flags of the Northern Barbarians fluttered in the wind.

"The capital of the Yu Dynasty is heavily guarded, and wanting to break the city is by no means a day or two, which can be completed."

"According to news from the inside line, the enemy's reinforcements are rushing from all over."

"Except for our old rival, Liaozhen, which needs close attention, the most worthy of attention is the reinforcements from Liangguang."

"The commander in charge of this army is the uncle of that grandson of Emperor Yongning. At this time, he has landed in Shandong, and the total strength is said to be 100,000."

"Relying on that group of Guifang people, it is mostly not this person's opponent."

"Which of you is willing to lead your own troops to act on behalf of this Chanyu to preside over the Shandong war?"

Hugjile asked with a serious face.

The combat effectiveness of the Yu army had always been a mystery.

The powerful ones were truly powerful, and the weak ones were truly weak.

The powerful troops inside could fight the elite cavalry of theirs to a draw.

Fortunately, there was a group of people dragging their feet inside the Yu Dynasty, which seriously restricted the army's performance, otherwise there would be no business for them at all.

"Great Chanyu, let this subordinate handle this battle!"

"Since this subordinate was promoted to Wanhu, I haven't had a merit that I can take out, just in time to cut off Marquis Wuyang's head for a good start."

Erden said carelessly.

Where there is profit, there is dispute.

Inside the Tatars, there were also multiple interest groups.

It was just that relying on Hugjile's prestige, the internal contradictions were forcibly suppressed.

In order to better manage the tribes, and also to avoid one family dominating, Hugjile divided the tribes into ten Wanhus to manage.

Except for the three Wanhus he led himself, the remaining seven Wanhus only managed six or seven Battalion Commander of tribesmen.

According to the rules formulated by Hugjile, one household corresponded to one soldier.

Father dies, son inherits; brother dies, younger brother succeeds.

One must have someone serving in the army to be able to stand alone.

If there were no adult males in the family serving in the army, then they would face the fate of being split.

Behind the barbarism, it was actually to better continue the race.

In the Tatar tribe with backward productivity, families without young men could hardly live on the grassland.

According to this model, the Tatar tribe, which was all soldiers, had a total strength of about 70,000 to 80,000.

In actual operation, it changed slightly.

Young men on the grassland were productivity, and every Tatar family would give birth to as many children as possible.

A family having multiple males was a common thing.

Under this background, a group of Wanhus, in order to increase the harvest of looting, tacitly filled the strength to the full.

This kind of militaristic play, when constantly winning battles, had no problem.

Once the main army suffered heavy losses, wanting to recover, they couldn't find enough young men to supplement.

As the Great Chanyu, Hugjile turned a blind eye to these drawbacks.

Adults need to be responsible for their own choices.

Weakening the strength of the little brothers was essentially maintaining his rule.

The Tatar tribe had been unified for too short a time, and it was still filled with a large number of other races, and the internal centripetal force was not strong.

"Good, the war in Shandong is yours."

"This Chanyu only has two requirements: fight fiercely for me, and loot fiercely."

"Faced with this behemoth of Great Yu, it is difficult for us to kill them with one stick."

"The best way is to constantly bleed this giant so that they can never recover!"

Hugjile laughed loudly.

In fact, this time entering the pass to loot, he also took risks.

Before the main army set out, most people in the tribe opposed going deep alone, worrying that Liaozhen would play a home-swapping game with them.

Great Yu had a big family and a big business, and they could afford the loss, but the Tatar tribe could not.

If there were tens of thousands of Yu cavalry killing into their rear with empty troops, it was likely to be the destruction of the race.

Fortunately, his planning was successful, spending a lot of money on public relations, which affected the decision-making of the Great Yu court.

In this life-and-death struggle, the enemy made a series of wrong decisions.

"..."

Dengzhou Prefecture.

Large troops set off from the pier, walking with neat steps, rushing to the front line in an orderly manner.

As the Regional Commander of the main army, Marquis Wuyang's face was black to the end.

The court did not give an answer for a long time; anyone who had mixed in officialdom knew that this was a disguised buck-passing.

If the capital fell, he would definitely be a sinner in history.

That group of scholars who mastered the pen would not be polite to throw the responsibility to him, this unlucky guy.

If an accident happened in Shandong, or if Prince Lu or Duke Yansheng's family had an accident, the black pot would still be thrown to him.

On this issue, the status of an imperial relative could not play any role.

That nephew of the Emperor was likely still complaining in his heart why he ran to Shandong to land.

If the Prince of the Blood main army rushed to Tianjin Prefecture all the way and did not stop along the way, this kind of thing would not happen.

Not being a person inside or outside, this was Marquis Wuyang's true situation at the moment.

"Marquis, marching like this is too time-consuming, otherwise go directly to Jinan Prefecture by water."

Li Mu suggested tentatively.

Knowing that his boss was in a bad mood, he was no longer active about the subsequent war.

But the overall situation still needed to be considered.

Rushing over from thousands of miles away, he had to find an opportunity to perform.

The Prince of the Blood main army, since it stayed in Shandong, had to make achievements.

Li Mu had no confidence in defeating the enemy army with high mobility head-on.

The battle merit that was easiest to get now was the Jinan Defense Battle.

"The main master is not in a hurry, what are we panicking about."

"If Jinan is really in danger, it is likely that they would have urged us to hit the road long ago, how could they require us to split troops to reinforce multiple places."

"There are many government troops in Shandong, and there are many people who have the responsibility of guarding the land, so there is no need for us to carry it on our shoulders!"

Marquis Wuyang decisively refused.

The matter of the Shandong government conspiring with Prince Lu and Duke Yansheng to calculate him still made this Viceroy holding great power hold a grudge.

Involving the safety of the country, he could not retaliate in big matters, but finding an opportunity to vent his resentment was feasible.

Rescue must be carried out, but when to rescue, it depended on his mood.

If the rescue operation failed, at worst, he would just rot and go back to live the life of an imperial relative rice-eating worm.

Guarding the land was the obligation of local officials.

In the case that the court did not issue a clear order, as the commander of the guest army, he had enough autonomy.

Compared to the Liaozhen troops who arrived late, he, the Viceroy who managed the four provinces, had already given enough face to the court.

Questioning was non-existent.

Even without considering his status as an imperial relative, there was also the idea of 100,000 Prince of the Blood main army.

Liaozhen could talk about conditions with the court, and Marquis Wuyang now also had the capital to talk about conditions with the court.

In the southern provinces now, they were filled with his old subordinates.

The Great Dayu Dynasty wanted to pacify the White Lotus Sect rebellion, and it just needed these people to contribute.

Under this background, the first thing the court had to do was maintain stability.

"Marquis, if we move the whole army to Jinan, some people will be anxious."

"No matter what they say, we just bite the bullet and say the army is not acclimatized, and there is dysentery in the camp."

"Wait until the Shandong side is anxious, then push the local troops of Shandong out, let them be responsible for guarding the Shengmiao."

"Use them as bait to lure the Northern Barbarian cavalry into the hook, and wait for an opportunity to fight an ambush."

Li Mu suggested, without changing his face.

The Northern Barbarians wanted to eliminate the military power of Great Dayu, and after releasing the bait, the fish would definitely come over.

The problem was that they didn't have a net in their hands, and facing the enemy's cavalry that came and went freely, it was almost impossible for infantry to ambush them.

Large-scale ambush was impossible, but small victories on the local battlefield were still possible.

The only drawback was that the bait was leading in front, and the fish school would follow.

The main army that was originally guarding the Shengmiao was very likely to become a guide, leading the enemy all the way to Confucius's old nest.

Duke Yansheng's name resounded through the world, even on the grassland, it had a great reputation.

If the Northern Barbarians wanted to seize the world, they would definitely not attack them, and would even protect them.

However, the number of Hu people who had such thoughts would definitely not be many.

The Northern Barbarians seemed to have great momentum, but wanting to seize the world was still far away.

Facing the wealthy Duke Yansheng, even if the high-level Northern Barbarians could resist the temptation, the tribes below would not be able to resist taking action.

The grassland coalition army, although dominated by the Northern Barbarians, was essentially an alliance.

Inside the alliance, there were countless small groups.

Even if it was the order of the Northern Barbarian Chanyu, when it was executed below, it would follow and change.

"Releasing such a big bait, will the risk be too big?"

Marquis Wuyang asked with concern.

While beating the Shandong side, by the way setting a trap to pit the Northern Barbarians, he had no opinion.

The problem was that the bait was too fierce, if it was swallowed by the enemy in one bite, that would be big trouble.

Not sending reinforcements in time, leading to the sage not being able to rest in peace, the spit stars of scholars would attack indiscriminately.

The Shandong Provincial Governor would definitely be unlucky, and he, the Viceroy, would likely be scolded bloody.

As for the people below, at most they would be mentioned a few words, and they would likely be forgotten.

This was the price that must be borne as a boss.

"Marquis, the risk certainly exists."

"However, this kind of work must be done by someone."

"If we don't let them go, then our people have to go, and if we are not careful, the army will suffer heavy losses."

"Even if the follow-up plan is successful, it will be overshadowed by the previous losses, making the originally prominent battle merit dim."

Li Mu continued to blather.

The Prince of the Blood main army, wanting to obtain battle merit, was nothing more than two paths.

Either defend the city to the death and wait for the enemy to come and attack.

But this was just hard work.

The grassland coalition army was not stupid, they would not use their own cavalry to attack the city, and if they fought, they would catch cannon fodder.

Cutting a pile of heads, the Ministry of War would also suspect killing the good to claim merit.

After all, the appearance of grassland people and people inside the pass still had obvious differences.

Active attack, luring the enemy to attack, this was a play style with high returns and high risks.

"Forget it!"

"The Art of War says: for a general, the most taboo is to be soft-hearted."

"For the sake of the country, this old man will be ruthless once."

"Send someone to tell the Shandong Provincial Governor's office that we are going to Jinan Prefecture by water."

"Let them prepare ships in the lower reaches of the Yellow River; our ships are mostly sea ships and cannot go deep into the inland rivers."

Marquis Wuyang decisively ordered.

Die Daoist friend, don't die Daoist.

Being able to transfer risks, there was no need to carry it yourself.

If the planning failed, just treat it as if nothing happened.

Anyway, he was just a guest army, being able to help defend Jinan was considered completing the task.

In local warfare, accidents happening on the way to reinforcements were the lack of caution of the Shandong generals themselves.

Theoretically, as long as the infantry formed a military formation, it was also difficult for cavalry to break in.

If it was armored infantry, in special terrain, they could even confront cavalry head-on.

"..."

(End of this chapter)