The soldier hurriedly suppressed his smile: "Sent. Mr. Jian said that he wants to meet these two imperial students for a while. Mr. Jian is rich in knowledge and is a scholar. If he goes to contact the two imperial students, he should be able to gain favor."
Although he is said to be a gentleman, he seems to have no official position, but in fact, this Mr. Jian Qujian holds secrets and is one of Qian Zhidong's staff.
However, in his thirties, he is still young and has a good demeanor. Even Qian Zhidong has no objection to whether Mr. Jian's action is appropriate.
He nodded with satisfaction and asked no more questions.
At this time, just a stone's throw away, the big tent is here.
In fact, Cui Zhaoquan and Supervisor Zhao do not live directly in the main tent, but in the side tent. This is because they have the same status. It doesn't matter who lives in the main tent. It is not good for them to live together. Neither wanted to.
But this big account can be used as a place to do business.
Seeing the soldiers standing on both sides of the line, all standing with their swords drawn, Qian Zhidong calmed himself in the tent and loudly announced: "Southwestern Fusu General Qian Zhidong wants to see you."
There was sudden silence in the tent, and no one answered. Although Qian Zhidong's soldiers showed some dissatisfaction on their faces, they held back.
Qian Zhidong didn't seem to be left out at all. He stood respectfully outside the tent and looked very respectful. If he didn't know better, he might think that this tall man with thick eyebrows and big eyes was a loyal minister and good general.
When it comes to "selling looks", he is really on par with Qin Fengliang.
"General Qian, the two imperial envoys please come in." After a long time, Cui Zhaoquan's soldiers came out and said to Qian Zhidong.
Qian Zhidong didn't need anyone else to lift the curtain, but lifted it himself and stepped in.
This large tent is supported by wooden pillars and is the size of a hall. As soon as you enter, you will see a man at the top, who is a little elegant and a little cold, wearing a third-grade official uniform, sitting in the middle, looking at him with an attitude. cold.
The right side of his face is white and beardless, he is of medium build, not too young, and well maintained. At first glance, he looks pampered and in a high position. If you look closely, you will find that he is used to smiling and seems to be very kind.
This must be Cui Zhaoquan and Inspector Zhao.
At this time, Qian Zhidong did not hesitate at all, and bowed respectfully: "I respectfully send you holy greetings!"
The two imperial envoys didn't speak. There were already some people sitting on the seats below, all generals. When they saw Qian Zhidong coming in, they immediately felt uneasy. They seemed to want to greet him, but they also found that the atmosphere in the big tent was not right, so they could only hold back. Do not move.
"Holy Holy Gong!"
Finally, Cui Zhaoquan spoke, and Qian Zhidong breathed a sigh of relief. After standing up, he saluted again and said apologetically: "Qian Zhidong failed to greet the two imperial envoys in time. Please punish me for my neglect!"
Cui Zhaoquan coughed slightly and said nothing, but Supervisor Zhao looked at it carefully and said with a smile: "General Qian, please get up. I saw you two years ago. Now it seems that your income has been reduced a lot. I'm still waiting for you." With haggardness.”
"Although you are diligent in the king's affairs, you must also pay attention to your body and bones!"
Supervisor Zhao said to the left and right: "Why don't you help General Qian to get up? And you, little Dingzi, go and ask General Qian to take a seat?"
Someone immediately came forward, helped him, moved a chair and asked him to sit down. When Qian Zhidong saw this, he could feel Inspector Zhao looking at him with a half-smile but not a smile, and felt a little chilled in his heart.
Compared to Cui Zhaoquan, the Minister of War, he was actually more afraid of the smiling tiger, who had a smile on his face but could not catch his eyes. He had always been difficult to serve and moody, and he also had the emperor's trust, making him even more difficult to deal with.
"Now that everyone is here!" Cui Zhaoquan glanced at him, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, and said unhurriedly: "The purpose of summoning you this time is to inquire about the military situation in the southwest."
"General Qin is on duty today and is guarding the frontiers. I asked him to go back first, but before he left, he also mentioned some situations in the southwest. Eunuch Zhao and I would like to hear your opinions now."
"The Battle of Southwest seems to have only been two and a half years ago, but in fact there was chaos when this dynasty was founded, and it was either suppressed or suppressed, and it has not subsided until now."
"Although the Emperor is at the ninth level, he has repeatedly inquired about the military situation in Beijing. This time I brought 800,000 taels of military pay, not a penny, as well as ordnance including heavy crossbows."
"The imperial court has repeatedly increased pay and armor, just to improve the situation of the war. Can this battle still be fought? How long will it last? The imperial court has been looking forward to your success and invested so much military supplies and reserve supplies. You must always give the imperial court, I need to give the emperor an explanation!"
The general couldn't help but look at each other and looked at Qian Zhidong.
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, please allow us to carry it up to the sand table for further discussion." Qian Zhidong stood up and said with his hands in his hands.
This sand table existed before the Wei Dynasty. Cui Zhaoquan nodded: "That's right."
In a moment, several soldiers came, carrying a large sand table, and carefully placed it on a big table. On the sand table, there were many hills, and the roads were winding and narrow. It seemed that the mountains were high and the water was beautiful, there were many mountains, and there were many things. From the perspective of traveling to the mountains and enjoying the scenery, it is really difficult to use troops.
The two imperial envoys and the generals gathered around the sand table.
Qian Zhidong pointed to the sand table: "Two gentlemen, please look at this. This is the terrain of the southwest. Our army has repeatedly raised armies and expeditions, spending more than two million taels, but not even an inch of success... I am worried about the humiliation of my ministers, and I am worried about the humiliation of my ministers. As a general, living on a plain diet, looking at my heart and wandering, I am really ashamed and can't help myself, but it's just that I am not willing to do anything to deal with the imperial court."
"It is true that there are many mountains in the southwest, and most of the bandit troops are entrenched in various forts in the mountains. Not only do they occupy favorable terrain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, but there are also many venomous snakes and insects in spring, summer and autumn. As for winter, heavy snow blocks the mountains and even the roads are blocked. It’s hard to find, let alone go into the mountains to suppress enemies.”
"In the previous wars, the casualties were tug-of-war. I also lured the thief chiefs to the plains, and occasionally gained something. But the thief chiefs cannot be fooled again and again. After suffering, they will not come out again."
"And once they retreat into these mountains, how easy is it to force them out? There are not many Southwest troops."
"There are now 30,000 casualties. It is my incompetence. I am ashamed of the emperor, the court, and my colleagues here."
After saying that, Qian Zhidong bowed his head, his voice even choked with sobs. The whole tent was completely silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"What the general is saying is, two imperial envoys, we do not have a big advantage in terms of the number of troops stationed there. The rebel army is made up of all the people, they are familiar with the terrain, and they are all cunning. To end this battle as soon as possible, the imperial court needs to send tens of thousands more troops. .”
"Mark for reconsideration!"
"The general also has something to say. It's not because we are incompetent. The southwest is actually too big. It's full of mountains, and the mountains are connected. Some places are even uninhabited. The bandit chiefs can go there, but if we send people in, they will most likely be trapped to death. ”
"This sand table is just a general outline. There is no detailed map. Unless we use human sea tactics to surround and trap the bandit chieftains, maintaining the status quo is already the result of the great general's hard work. I ask the two imperial envoys to clearly understand this."
Cui Zhaoquan couldn't help but look colder when he saw the generals speaking repeatedly, almost in one breath.
Inspector Zhao looked on with cold eyes. The more he understood Su Ziji's words, it was not that all the generals were in Qian Zhidong's camp, but that it was indeed difficult to fight.
The imperial court's blind persecution will only make them feel sad, and instead sympathize with Qian Zhidong, who is familiar with military affairs and devotes himself to it.
But again, if it were two years ago, it would be difficult for the God of War to solve it quickly, but now, it is different.
Inspector Zhao sneered, stood up, and said, "After discussing with Mr. Cui, our family has a strategy."
"Although the thieves chiefs have 170 villages, the total number of men, women, old and children is actually less than 80,000 people. In the past two years, although the imperial court has lost 30,000 people, what about the enemy chiefs?"
"The enemy chieftains only have 80,000 people. How many young people and how much food and grass are there now?"
As Inspector Zhao's sharp voice echoed inside the tent, and gradually deepened, the generals who were pretending to be respectful but actually disapproving gradually became serious after hearing this, and they couldn't help but look at each other.
Although this is an eunuch, it seems to make sense?
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