"General, please don't say that!"

He Yin raised his head with an air of righteous indignation and said, "Even if the country is destroyed, I, He Yin, will never surrender to Southern Zhou!"

"good!"

Zhao Cheng said with burning eyes, "This is how Lord He should be!"

As he spoke, Zhao Cheng looked at Liu Ying and said, "As I said before, Lord He failed to persuade me, and Lord Liu must pay with his life, but..."

"Lord Liu dared to speak out, and it was indeed for the sake of the court. Let's put his life aside for now, and hope that Lord Liu can make contributions to the court in the future and earn back his life."

Zhao Cheng looked at Yuan Wushang and asked, "Your Majesty, is this arrangement appropriate?"

Yuan Wushang nodded emphatically and said, "Very good, very good."

Under Zhao Cheng's gaze, Yuan Wushang suddenly felt as if he were naked.

He already knew that Zhao Cheng had seen through his relationship with Liu Ying.

Zhao Cheng spared Liu Ying's life as a well-intentioned reminder.

Zhao Cheng gently closed his eyes and said, "Since Lord Liu does not agree to the southern expedition, then go home and rest. We need to discuss military matters."

Liu Ying bowed to Yuan Wushang and then left the hall.

He Yin also retreated back to the ranks of civil officials.

The hall was instantly filled with peace, as if the argument had never happened.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Yuan Wushang glanced around the hall, then looked at Zhao Cheng and asked, "General, how many troops do you plan to lead on this southern expedition?"

Zhao Cheng replied, "Your Majesty, I would like to hear Minister Tie's opinion first."

Yuan Wushang nodded and said, "Minister Tie, then please speak."

"yes."

Tie Ge stepped forward, thought carefully for a moment, and said, "Changsui has 50,000 garrison troops, and another 30,000 new recruits are training. In addition, Guliang County has 100,000 stationed troops, and Shangyang County and Jingbei County together have 100,000 garrison troops. In my opinion, the troops in Changsui should not be moved. Shangyang and Jingbei Counties are not at war and are far from the south, so we can take all 100,000 garrison troops to the south. Guliang County can also draw 50,000 troops. With 150,000 troops, plus the 80,000 brought back by General Tuotie, and some more drawn from the southern counties, it will not be difficult to gather 300,000 troops."

Zhao Cheng pondered for a moment and said, "The troops stationed in Guliang County cannot be moved. Although we are certain that Wen Tai's westward advance is real and he will not act rashly against us, if half of the troops stationed in Guliang County are withdrawn, Wen Tai and his nephew may inevitably have bad intentions. Transferring troops from Shangyang and Jingbei Counties is a good idea, but we cannot transfer them all. Although Yedan is gone, Mobei is not yet Dongjing's territory. We cannot allow the north to be completely empty."

Tie Ge asked doubtfully, "But aren't there too few people like this?"

Zhao Cheng said, “I will transfer 50,000 troops from Shangyang and Jingbei counties, 80,000 from Tuotie Wuhua, and another 40,000 from Yanchuan and Jingdong counties. In this way, I will also take the 30,000 new recruits from Changsui with me. The 80,000 who returned with Tuotie Wuhua are still in low spirits. Having 30,000 young and energetic new recruits with them can boost their morale.”

Tie Ge said, "But that only brings 200,000 men, while Yang Qingzhi has 300,000! General, I take back what I said before. Why don't we just bring the 50,000 garrison troops of Changsui City as well? With you in the south and 100,000 troops stationed in the west, it doesn't matter whether Changsui City has a garrison or not."

"Yes, two hundred thousand is too few..." the officials murmured. "Besides, there are also thirty thousand new recruits... This is disadvantageous for the General..."

Zhao Cheng walked down the steps, pressed his hands together, and said, "War is not just about numbers. In the previous two battles, Yang Qingzhi only had 100,000 men, but he still managed to defeat Feng Jing and Xiao Luofeng decisively. Furthermore, you must not underestimate new recruits. Which excellent soldier didn't start as a recruit?"

"Don't move the garrison in Changsui City. If anything happens in the west or south, we can't leave my father without anyone to command, can we?"

"Right!" Tie Ge slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot about that."

"Everyone..."

Zhao Cheng clenched his fists tightly and said sternly, "Yang Qingzhi seized our land with a smaller force and insulted our national prestige. This general will also make him taste the bitterness of defeat when outnumbered!"

"Great General, you are mighty!!!" all the officials chanted in unison.

Yuan Wushang stood up and said, "General, I await your triumphant return!"

...

Yongliang City.

The Xijing Imperial Palace was naturally not as grand as the Changsui Imperial Palace. Although it was newly built, its urban planning was far inferior to that of Changsui. Even if Wen Tai wanted to build it more grand, he did not have the means.

In the imperial court, Yuan Li sat upright on the dragon throne, while most of the civil and military officials were whispering among themselves.

Ignoring the commotion among the officials, Yuan Li asked the eunuch beside him, "Have the two Pillars of State entered the palace?"

The eunuch said, "The Grand Pillar has just sent someone to report that he ate at a mutton stew restaurant in the east of the city a couple of days ago, and he has been craving it ever since he woke up this morning. The east of the city is far from the palace, and the two Grand Pillars are on their way, but we will have to wait a little longer."

Yuan Li said unhappily, "I, the emperor of a country, am actually expected to wait with all the officials for him to finish his mutton stew?"

"Your Majesty, please be careful with your words..."

"What are you afraid of?" Yuan Li slammed his hand on the armrest and said in a deep voice, "This is utterly arrogant and outrageous!"

The eunuchs meekly nodded and dared not utter another word.

After Yuan Li ascended the throne, Wen Tai and Wen Hu were promoted further. Wen Tai was appointed as the Pillar of State Chancellor, and Wen Hu was appointed as the Pillar of State General. The two Pillars of State were in charge of important military and political affairs in the court.

Privately, all the officials respectfully referred to the uncle and nephew as the "Great Pillar of State" and "Great Pillar of State".

"In the Battle of Guliang, Xijing was defeated, and Wang Ren died. Did they really think they were invincible?"

Yuan Li looked at the officials talking and said, "Look at the faces of these ministers. Some of them are already getting impatient. Xiang Hua, not everyone is spineless. Only those who are truly respected can win people's hearts. You can't rely on tyranny and force to get by."

The eunuch Xiang Hua sighed inwardly, thinking that as the days went by, Yuan Li's fear of Wen Tai and his nephew was decreasing day by day, and he was becoming less and less fond of hiding.

He knew that more and more people were secretly submitting to Yuan Li.

However, he still did not believe that Yuan Li had the means to resist; he simply believed that Yuan Li was blinded by her own interests and that his advice was useless.

Xiang Hua could only say, "Justice resides in the hearts of the people."

"Um……"

Yuan Li lowered his voice and suddenly asked, "How's the investigation into Gong Xue going?"

Upon hearing this, he glanced at a middle-aged man among the civil officials of Huachao and said softly, "This matter was secretly investigated by Lord Shen using his connections in Dongjing. Miss Gong Xue was injured by Cui Wuming in Yunjing County, but her injuries were not serious and she will recover after a period of rest."

Have you managed to contact her?

Xiang Hua nodded and said, "The palace is heavily guarded. Wen Hu has specially arranged for Xu Qingshan to guard against her. She can't get in unless His Majesty has a chance to leave Yongliang City."

Yuan Li said, "Have Shen Dongzhao protect this line. I must ensure that I can contact Gong Xue when I need her."

Thousands of thousands of people