Shen Zhanran came in and saw that everyone had different descriptions. After Liu Wenbing informed him, he knew what was going on.
He pondered for a while, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the Jurchens are certainly hateful, but the rebels are so powerful that they cannot be eliminated suddenly. In addition, there are melees every year, and the generals fight on their own, so it will take time to subdue them."
"Your Majesty, please put the overall situation first, put aside the wrath of Thunder, and wait until the north is stabilized before it is too late to cut off the Jurchens!"
After Shen Zhanran finished speaking, he kowtowed again and again, while his body trembled slightly.
Because he knew that the public was furious at the moment, not only would he be easily punished if he spoke out to dissuade him, but he would also be criticized by the scholar-bureaucrats once the matter spread.
But he had to stand up, otherwise Zhu Yuanzhang would be unable to dismount.
Because the most important thing now is the people's hearts. As the king of a country, Zhu Yuanzhang cannot ignore this matter, otherwise he will easily chill the hearts of everyone.
But if they really send their troops northward, not only will they be unable to rescue the people enslaved by the Jurchens, but they may also put the Ming Dynasty into trouble again.
Therefore, as a close minister of Zhu Yuanzhang, he must stand up and share the emperor's worries.
Sure enough, after Zhu Yuanzhang heard what he said, his expression softened, but he still said angrily: "Shen Qing, although your words are reasonable, how can we just sit idly by and ignore the Jurchens who insult our people like this?"
After hearing this, Shen Zhanran relaxed a little and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the humble ministers do not mean the common people in the hands of the Jurchens."
"It's just that we must first settle the domestic situation before we fight against the outside world. Nowadays, wars are ongoing and tens of thousands of people have been displaced. They are also your people and are waiting for you to save them. Your Majesty, please think twice."
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was silent for a while, then looked at Jiang Dejing and said, "Jiang Qing, what do you think of Shen Qing's statement?"
Jiang Dejing pondered for a while, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I think what Master Shen said is reasonable. All people in the world are your Majesty's subjects, and there is no distinction between them. I believe that the people who fell into the hands of the Jurchens can also understand your Majesty's painstaking efforts. ....."
After Jiang Dejing finished speaking, he glanced at Wang Shoulin as if accidentally.
Although Wang Shoulin was a rough man, after hearing what Shen and Jiang said, he understood in his heart and couldn't help but secretly curse himself for being confused.
In fact, it was not that he was unclear about the current situation, but every time he thought of Zhang Dayong's tragic death, he felt extremely painful.
In addition, after seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's plans in the past few days, I blindly believed that as long as Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to take action, he would be able to save the people who were enslaved by the Jurchens, and he proposed the Northern Expedition out of anger.
At this moment, seeing Liu Wenbing, Gong Yonggu and others also agreeing, he hurriedly knelt down to apologize and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to put the overall situation first.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay, since all the ministers think that the rebels should be destroyed first and then the Jurchens, let's let the Jurchens go first."
"But all your ministers must keep in mind that there are still more than one million people enslaved by the Jurchens. In the future, we will definitely crush the Jurchens to wash away this humiliation!"
When everyone heard this, they all knelt down and shouted His Majesty's wisdom.
After Zhu Yuanzhang signaled everyone to stand up, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "Shen Qing, how was your discussion with Li Yan today?"
When Shen Zhanran asked, he bowed and said: "Today's peace talks were the same as the previous two days. There was no progress. However, during the negotiations, the Red Lady unexpectedly appeared and accused His Majesty of framing Li Yan, which made the peace talks impossible for a time."
"Despite Li Yan's repeated attempts to dissuade her, the Red Lady just refused to comply. Later, it was Li Mou who came out to dissuade her, and the Red Lady left angrily."
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and said: "Shen Qing, what do you think the red lady's intention is?"
Shen Zhanran said: "In my humble opinion, the Red Lady is not only apologizing for Li Yan, but also reminding His Majesty that the war is coming!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Yes, this red lady is indeed a hero among women. She should be repaying our kindness for letting her go. She is a bit better than Li Yan."
Shen Zhanran was stunned and said: "Your Majesty is wise, but I think Li Yan is also a talented person. It's a pity that he doesn't know people well and cast his talents in secret."
At this time, Jiang Dejing on the side also said: "Master Shen's words are not wrong. I have heard people talk about this man before. He is indeed a man with both civil and military skills. If we can persuade him to surrender, it may be of great help to suppress the rebellion."
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Shen Zhanran, smiled and said to Jiang Dejing: "Jiang Qing, this matter is not urgent. We will discuss it later."
After saying that, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "We asked you to draft an order to send Wu Xiang out of the city. Have you handled it well?"
Shen Zhanran nodded and said: "Wei Chen has drafted a decree and sent it to Mr. Fan. I think he will send it to the cabinet soon. However, Wei Chen is afraid that Wu Sangui is not in the military camp and may not be able to send troops in time, which will ruin His Majesty's important affairs."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "You don't have to worry about this. Since Wu Sangui has sent out troops, his Guan Ning cavalry must have arrived. It's just that he cherishes his wings and refuses to use his blade lightly."
"If he knows that Wu Xiang is out of the city, he should know that we have seen his thoughts. Even if he does not risk his life, he will definitely lead his troops to come in person to gain the name of loyalty and filial piety."
At this time, Liu Wenbing said with some worry: "Your Majesty, even if Wu Sangui leads his army, our strength is only the same as that of the rebels."
"If Liu Fangliang has really led his troops here, I am afraid that there may not be a chance of victory. Will Your Majesty wait until the troops from Datong and Xuanfu arrive before fighting?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "Shen Qing, you have been having peace talks with Li Yan under Zhangyi's gate these days. You probably know the situation of the rebels better than we do. What do you think of this matter?"
Shen Zhanran pondered: "The soldiers of Xuanfu and Datong are surrender troops. Even if they come, we cannot expect them to be able to fight. They can only be used as suspicious soldiers to put pressure on the rebels."
"As for Liu Fangliang's army, Wei Chen doesn't think they will arrive tomorrow. Because judging from the negotiation situation, Li Yan does not have any say and is just echoing the story."
"This shows that Thief Li still trusts Song Xiance. Judging from Song Xiance's skills, the day of siege should be on the 25th, and today is only the 21st, so Wei Chen feels that Liu Fangliang may arrive the day after tomorrow. .”
Hearing this, Jiang Dejing glanced at Shen Zhanran with some suspicion and said in a deep voice: "Sir Shen, the rebels are very cunning, and with Wu Sangui coming to help, even if Li thief trusts Song Xiance, he may not be able to attack the city on another day!"
Seeing the dissatisfaction on Jiang Dejing's face, Shen Zhanran glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang first, and when he nodded slightly, he smiled and said: "Master Jiang is right, but Mr. Li is superstitious about destiny, and his character will not change in the short term."
"In addition, Liu Fangliang not only wants to create false impressions in Baoding to confuse us, but also maintains combat power in order to attack the city. Therefore, although Baoding is only three hundred miles away from the capital, it may take him three days to arrive."
"According to our information, it has only been two days since Liu Fangliang rushed to attack Baoding. Even if he mobilizes his troops northward on the same day, he will not arrive until tomorrow night at the earliest."
Jiang Dejing objected just now because he was afraid that Shen Zhanran would mislead Zhu Yuanzhang and make him indulge in the heresy of destiny.
At this moment, seeing that what Shen Zhanran said was reasonable and well-founded, he nodded approvingly and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, the old minister also agrees with Master Shen's words."
"It's just that this battle is not only related to the safety of the capital, but also related to our Ming Dynasty. Please wait a little longer."
"Because Wu Sangui has come for reinforcements, I believe reinforcements from Nanjing, Wuchang and other places are also on their way. As long as they arrive, they will be able to defeat the rebels."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he knew that although he was loyal, he did not understand the current situation clearly due to his lack of military knowledge. He immediately shook his head and said: "Qing Jiang, in fact, our reinforcements have arrived."
"Because according to Li Ruolian's intelligence, there are many uprisings suddenly appearing in Shanxi and other places. They should be reinforcements operating in Hunan, Anhui and other places."
"But they came without reporting. In addition to the siege of the capital, I'm afraid they also lack confidence in this battle. In addition, Wu Sangui's defeat today should have a big impact on them."
"So if we don't seize the time and fight a turnaround, once the morale of the reinforcements is damaged, our situation will be even more passive."
Jiang Dejing pondered for a while and said: "What your Majesty said is true. The veteran is not talented and is willing to go out of the city to contact reinforcements."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Qing Jiang, you don't need to worry about this matter. The reason why I asked Wu Xiang to leave the city is not only to force Wu Sangui to fight, but also to force him to speed up contacting reinforcements."
"After all, he is outside the city, and he is a man who has been on the battlefield for a long time. He knows how to hide troops better than ours. It will be more efficient to let him find it. Let's study the matter of going to war tomorrow."
Seeing that what Zhu Yuanzhang said was reasonable, everyone immediately put aside their opinions and actively discussed the matter of starting the first battle.
