"However, we must come up with a response strategy for the Hunan incident!" Liu Chengyou stretched out his hand to touch his stubble, thought carefully, and turned to ask Wei Renpu: "Then Ma Xihe proclaimed himself a vassal of the Puppet Tang Dynasty, but what about the Puppet Tang Dynasty? Any latest action?”
These situations had long been stored in Wei Renpu's belly. The emperor inquired and called them out at any time: "Your Majesty, in September of this year, the pseudo-Tang Dynasty Lord Nama Xi'e accepted the tribute and paid it with one year's tax from Ezhou to help. He raised his troops. In October, He Jingzhu, the Chuzhou regiment training envoy, led his troops into Chu to assist in the battle. Now they have joined forces with the Langzhou army. However, until now, the Puppet Tang Dynasty has made no other moves and is still waiting and watching!"
"Ha..." Liu Chengyou took a moment to appreciate it and couldn't help but laugh: "Li Jing's behavior, in my eyes, is exactly like an animal. Do you know what it is?"
Feng Dao immediately raised his hand and asked, "May I ask your Majesty?"
Liu Chengyou raised his hand, gestured, and said with a smile: "Li Jing, in my eyes, is like a cat that smells fishy. It feels itchy and can't help but poke its paws, but it also looks forward and backward, hesitant!"
"What your Majesty said is very interesting and vivid!" Feng Dao stroked his beard and smiled in agreement: "But in the eyes of my veteran, the pseudo-Tang Lord is also intimidated by the majesty of my big man. In the past few years, Your Majesty has worked hard to govern, Resting with the people, the Han Dynasty's national strength is gradually recovering. If the Han Dynasty does not move, how can the Pseudo-Tang Dynasty dare to act rashly! The Pseudo-Tang Dynasty Lord does not dare to be careless! "
Liu Chengyou is used to Feng Dao's flattery...
Liu Chengyou put away his jokes and returned to seriousness, which made the atmosphere in the entire hall become solemn: "The Puppet Tang Dynasty has moved. If I don't move, wouldn't it be looked down upon."
"What do you think?"
This time, the first person to speak was the Privy Councilor Zheng Renjie: "Your Majesty, I have something to say, but I don't know whether to say it or not!"
"Speak!" After glancing at him, Zheng Renjie's caution was somewhat similar to that of Guo Wei. Liu Chengyou waved his hand and said frankly: "I summoned all the ministers to take into account everyone's opinions, but please speak freely and don't hide anything. !”
"Yes!" Zheng Renjie raised his eyelids, stood up and bowed, observing his official duties, and said in a deep voice: "The King of Chu has repeatedly asked for help from Tokyo, hoping that the imperial court can send troops south to station in Lizhou to suppress Jingnan and the Puppet Tang Dynasty rushed to the aid of Langzhou!"
"Now, the Puppet Tang Dynasty has accepted Ma Xi'e as a minister and granted him food and reinforcements. In my opinion, Your Majesty, as requested by the King of Chu, would send an army south to station in Lizhou to show the majesty of the imperial court. There is no need for too many troops and horses. All you need to do is instruct the Duke of Qi to send out a partial force from Xiangzhou. This will not affect the imperial court's preparations for the conquest of Huaihe..."
Zheng Renjie's words made Liu Chengyou's eyes light up. He couldn't help but look at him twice more, raised the corner of his mouth and asked, "What do you think of Qing Zheng's proposal?"
There were civil and military officials in the palace, and it was Wang Pu who turned it over to the Prime Minister for discussion. It was Wang Pu who said loudly: "Your Majesty, Zheng Chengzhi has agreed to this discussion!"
After saying this, Wang Pu added: "In my opinion, our court's strategy may be bolder. Your Majesty might as well send an envoy to the puppet Tang Dynasty to make an appointment with Li Jing, the leader of the Tang Dynasty, to induce him to join me in a flanking attack on Ma Chu and gain the territory of Chu. And divide it! If the Puppet Tang Dynasty sends troops to attack Chu, and then tries to trap it, dragging down its elite troops, and wasting its money and food, our government will look for opportunities to attack Huainan, and then the difficulty of the conquest will be reduced!"
"Furthermore, uniting the Tang Dynasty and dividing the Chu State may relieve the suspicion of the puppet Tang monarchs. Otherwise, our dynasty is stronger in the north. Even if the puppet Tang Dynasty is greedy, it may be difficult to attack Chu. After all, Hunan is not as vast as Fujian!"
The strategy of attacking Huainan first from the south and then from the north was first proposed by Wang Pu in the court. In the past two years, whether overtly or covertly, it can be said that the entire military and political operations of the court were under Liu Chengyou's personal control and laid the foundation for the strategy of the southern expedition. Get ready.
Therefore, Wang Pu was personally responsible for digging canals, dredging canals, providing convenient preparations for dispatching troops and horses, transporting grain and grass, and always worked hard without complaint. Now that we are pursuing this strategy again, it is obvious that we are sparing no effort, painstaking efforts, and dedicated to the Huainan strategy.
"Haha..." The slightly sarcastic laughter was a bit harsh in the hall, and suddenly attracted everyone's attention.
"Why are you laughing?" Liu Chengyou stared at Tao Gu with a horrifying expression.
When Tao Gu saw this, he panicked and realized that he had lost his composure. He stood up quickly and apologized: "I have violated the rules in front of the palace. Please forgive me!"
"That's all!" Liu Chengyou raised his voice and glared: "I allow you all to speak freely and express your opinions, but it is better to be less arrogant!"
"Yes! Yes!" The ministers were shocked, and Tao Gu also said twice, with cold sweat on his forehead.
Glancing at Tao Gu, he saw that this person is the type who goes wild when he succeeds. If he doesn't beat him, he will easily jump...
After stabilizing his mind, Tao Gu became the good minister with low eyebrows and submissiveness, and said carefully: "Your Majesty, I just think that the proposal of Wang Shangshu needs to be discussed. I am a big man like a tiger, a fake Tang like a dog, and a horse like a sheep. Since the Pseudo-Tang Dynasty is wary of our dynasty, how can they dare to compete with tigers?"
After hearing this, I had to admit that Tao Gu sometimes had some insight into things.
Looking at Wang Pu: "What do you think?"
Facing the gazes of the Emperor and other courtiers, Wang Pu was very calm, without squinting his eyes, and spoke slowly: "Your Majesty, the pseudo-Tang Dynasty separatized Jianghuai and dominated the southeast for decades. For many years, it has never had a conflict with the Central Plains. What's more, Possessing the strength of the water army. With the strength of the country and the number of soldiers and generals, it is inevitable that the puppet lord of the Tang Dynasty will be suspicious of our dynasty, but if he is so jealous, it is not certain that we have not yet fought! "
"Therefore, our dynasty considers itself a fierce tiger. However, if we only regard the Puppet Tang Dynasty as a pig dog or the like and underestimate it, we will only be afraid of setbacks in the war!"
After a pause, he glanced around with his peripheral vision. Wang Pu seemed to enjoy the feeling of having a free discussion in the royal palace, and continued: "Let's talk about the separation of Chu. From the standpoint of the puppet Tang Dynasty, I will take Hunan across Jingnan. , it will also be an enclave, unless the false way is to destroy Guo and wipe out the Gao family in Jingnan. The pseudo-Tang Dynasty has the advantage of being a close neighbor, even if it plots with the tiger, if there is a change, it only needs to persuade Jingnan to cut off our successors. The threat from our government will be greatly reduced. With all due respect, given the current situation, if we understand the situation clearly, our government’s power will not be as good as that of the Puppet Tang Dynasty!”
"Therefore, the difficulty of luring Tang to attack Chu is not as great as Tao Sheren imagined! Your Majesty, please be aware of this!"
"It seems that Wang Qing's 'discussion on dividing Chu' has been fully considered in his mind!" After listening to Wang Pu's discussion, Liu Chengyou sighed lightly.
Without directly expressing his views, Liu Chengyou scanned the bodies of Wang Pu, Tao Gu, Zheng Renjie and others, and suddenly smiled and said: "There are more and more ministers and strategists in the palace! I So happy!"
This time, before it was Feng Dao's turn to compliment, Tao Gu had already taken the flattering position: "Your Majesty, all of you are wise and powerful. All the talented people have come together to serve you!"
Probably seeing that the emperor had been convinced by Wang Pu, Tao Gu quickly changed his opinion: "Your Majesty, Wang Shangshu's considerations are complete, and I think it is feasible!"
There was no trace of reluctance on Tao Gu's face...
Liu Chengyou asked other people, and in this case, they all agreed.
