In the main hall of the Later Li Dynasty, Li Zhenzong was sitting on the throne, but he had no expression, just like a clay Bodhisattva in a temple, sitting there motionless.
On the contrary, in front of him, Zheng Zhi turned his back to him, faced the ministers below, and was speaking seriously: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is advancing towards our country with 30,000 troops. In addition, news came from the northern border that the Ming Dynasty over there The army is also gathering. What do you think should be done?"
After he finished speaking, all the officials below remained quiet, and there was no longer the lively scene when he said he would attack Nan Ruan.
Seeing this situation, Zheng Zhi knew that they were all afraid.
Not to mention that the country is so big, it has always been a great threat to them; just the experience of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in conquering the south and the north in recent years is enough to scare them. Not to mention, the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom had just killed Dong Wu.
In terms of land area, Dongwu and Annan are similar. However, Dongwu is a complete country, while Annan is divided into two factions, the north and the south, and they are fighting each other fiercely.
Zheng Zhi was very angry that the people below him didn't speak. Then he took a look at the confidant general who was the military attaché.
Therefore, this confidant general immediately stepped out of the queue and shouted loudly to other colleagues: "Are you still thinking that when the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty called, you would change dynasties and surrender to the Ming Dynasty and continue to be your officials? Haha, you won't I know that the rebellion mentioned by the Ming Emperor includes you. Do you think you can escape?"
After he finished shouting loudly, he turned around and shouted to Zheng Zhi: "Prime Minister, I think that the emperor of Ming Dynasty has won many battles and has the appearance of a proud soldier. I, Dali, will definitely win this battle!"
"Why do you see it?" Zheng Zhi was overjoyed and asked loudly.
In fact, the words of this confidant general were all taught by him. It is to tell others through the mouths of the people below that they should not be afraid, and they can definitely be beaten.
Otherwise, if they are all frightened and have no morale at all, then what a slap in the face!
He is also worried now. He is afraid that when the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty leads his troops to fight, he will say that he will only kill the chief culprit, and the followers will be pardoned, or that he will allow others to surrender. If this really happened, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would go on a personal expedition and come with the power of destroying Dongwu. He estimated that before the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty arrived, some of these ministers would rebel and sell him out.
Fortunately, judging from current signs, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had no such intention at all. Instead, he made it clear that all officials in Annan were rebellious and must be suppressed.
Thinking of this, Zheng Zhi felt that the Ming Emperor was really a little arrogant. Didn't he know that arrogant soldiers will be defeated?
In this battle, if he were in the position of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he would definitely divide and disintegrate the enemy first. After the overall situation is under control, he will deal with whoever is displeased!
While he was thinking about it, the confidant general had already replied loudly: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty believed that he was a good fighter. Before the army came, he had already issued an explicit edict. Not only did he reprimand the northern Mo for his incompetence, but he also wanted to punish him for his crimes. He also included the Ruan thieves in the south into the rebellion. This is equivalent to forcing all of us in Annan to be on the opposite side. This is his arrogant attitude towards soldiers, and completely violates the essentials of the art of war, which is to make friends from far away and attack close by, and to divide and attack."
Hearing this, many people in the hall nodded.
If the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty pardons the Ruan thieves and joins the Ruan thieves in attacking their Dali country from the north and the south, then the Dali country will really have no chance of winning!
The mood of the officials in the palace was obviously a little higher, and they saw a glimmer of possibility that they could win.
Seeing this situation, Zheng Zhi winked at his confidant civil servant again.
So, the civil servant immediately came out of the queue and loudly reported to Zheng Jie: "Prime Minister, I think that the current national crisis is at the forefront. It is too difficult for us, the Dali Kingdom, to deal with the Ming Emperor's personal conquests with only the strength of our country." . And even if our Dali country can defeat the Ming army, our strength will definitely be greatly damaged. Letting the Ruan thieves sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, it is better to draw the Ruan thieves to fight against the Ming emperor."
For them, they always said that the Ruan clan in the south was a rebel, just like Emperor Chongzhen declared that the Annan side was a rebel and must be pacified. Their later Li Dynasty also always aimed to pacify the Nguyen bandits in the southern separatist regime. During this period, the army was still preparing for war, and it was time to send troops to wipe out the Ruan bandits in the south.
Therefore, when he felt that the pressure was too great this time, Zheng Jie had the intention to join forces with the Ruan family. However, he still didn't have the confidence to say it himself, so he used the mouth of a close civil servant to say it in public to see other people's reactions.
At this time, after hearing this, Zheng Zhi showed no expression on his face. He just glanced at the other civil servants and generals below and asked calmly: "What do you think? Why don't you report it based on the facts?"
"Prime Minister, I second the proposal!" Immediately, another civil servant came out and said, "It is an indisputable fact that the Ming Dynasty is powerful. Since the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty does not care about destroying all of us in Annan together, it is better to unite together. Against the Ming Emperor."
"I second the proposal!" Another civil servant came forward and shouted loudly, "Letting the Ruan thieves also send troops to fight against the Ming Emperor will help weaken the Ruan thieves' strength. Even if His Majesty changes his strategy against the Ruan thieves after the war, it will not matter. As for Ruan Thief, he is too powerful!"
These two civil servants also had Zheng Zhi's instructions in advance. Otherwise, it would be very ugly to see them in the main hall if they could not sing with their hands alone.
Of course other people knew who these civil servants were to Zheng Zhi, and their unanimous statement was obviously what Zheng Zhi himself meant. It can be seen that Zheng Jie was indeed afraid of the Ming Emperor's personal conquest.
To be honest, if the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had not explicitly designated all of them as rebels and had no intention of accepting their surrender, many of them would really have thought of betraying Zheng Jie and continuing to serve as officials in the Ming Dynasty. .
However, this road cannot be taken. After they knew what Zheng Zie meant and saw Zheng Zhe's eyes sweeping over, they all expressed their opinions.
"Prime Minister, although the Ruan thieves are evil, they are our internal affairs after all, and the Ming Dynasty is a strong enemy. I believe that a joint confrontation is the best strategy."
"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty personally led the expedition, and our country, Li, is unable to support itself alone. I second my opinion, and all forces should be united to fight against the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"
"..."
Among these statements, one person suddenly made a statement that surprised him.
"Prime Minister, since the Ruan thieves can unite, why not also send a letter to Mo thieves and unite Mo thieves to fight against the Ming Emperor? This way we can be more powerful."
Zheng Zhi had never thought about this proposal before. In fact, the most powerful person in Annan now is the Ruan family in the south. As for the Mo family in the north, he doesn't pay attention at all. If he hadn't wanted to deal with the Ruan family in the south first, he felt that he could destroy the Mo family with just one wave of troops.
Zheng Jie could guess that it was all because of the great pressure brought by the Ming Emperor's personal expedition that the civil servant made this proposal. Of course, it is also possible that this civil servant has connections with the Mo family and wants to use this to speak for the Mo family to relieve the Mo family's crisis.
If things were going in the past, Zheng Jie would have definitely tracked down the details of this civil servant. But at this moment, Zheng Jie thought about it and felt that what he said made sense. After all, he could unite with Ruan Thief, so there would be no shortage of Mo Thief. .
In the main hall, a consensus was quickly reached on this matter. Whether they are worried about their own lack of strength, or they don’t want other rebels to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers and tigers, in short, under the current situation, they must draw other rebels into the water and join forces to fight against the Ming Emperor’s personal conquest.
As for whether to fight or make peace with the other rebels after the war, it still depends on what Zheng Zhi thinks when he looks back.
After this big idea was decided, morale seemed to have risen. The hall was no longer as lifeless as before, and there were obviously many more people speaking.
Then a military general came out and said: "Prime Minister, our Dali country is not Dongwu. Not only are we well equipped with soldiers and food, but also with the Prime Minister leading us, we will definitely be able to defeat the Ming Emperor who is bound to be defeated by his arrogant soldiers!"
This man was highly suspected of being a flatterer. The other general who came out shortly afterwards actually spoke truthfully. He only heard him say: "What the Ming Dynasty relies on is nothing more than artillery and firearms. We in Dali have red barbarians to help us." , in terms of artillery and firearms, it is also not weaker than the Ming Dynasty. This battle may not be impossible to win!"
Upon hearing this, many people's spirits suddenly lifted and they all agreed.
"Yes, the most powerful artillery in the Ming Dynasty was bought from Xiyi. Now we also have the Hongyi cannon!"
"Can the Ming army's artillery fire accurately? Our artillery is fired by Hongyi himself. When the time comes, it will definitely blast the Ming army's shit!"
"..."
In the main hall, a group of people were waiting. The more they talked, the more confident they became. They felt that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty's personal conquest was no longer so invincible.
Li Zhenzong was sitting on the throne, watching all this, his face still so calm, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with him.
In fact, it seems to be the case, he is just a clay Bodhisattva that Zheng Zie puts on the surface.
Amid these heated discussions, some civil servants saw some hidden concerns and reported them to Zheng Jie.
"Prime Minister, many unscrupulous people in the country believed the rumors of the Ming Emperor and thought they could get land just like those in Yunnan. We must be on guard against this!"
"Yes, Prime Minister, there are also rumors in the army that the emperor will treat them well. This matter must be cautious to prevent changes during the war."
"Prime Minister, I heard that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty used this strategy to incite rebellion when he conquered the chieftains of Yunnan, which caused the chieftain's men to rebel on the battlefield, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty easily defeated them!"
"..."
After hearing these suggestions, in fact, Zheng Zhi naturally received similar reports. He also had a headache because the Ming Emperor's trick was difficult to defeat.
If there were no things happening in Yunnan, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would just talk in vain, and there would be nothing. The key point is that this is what the Ming emperor did in Yunnan, and it is based on facts.
How to break the saying that facts speak louder than words?
