In short, no matter whether it was done by Liu Yan or Yang Yi Zhong, the fact that they forced a loyal minister to use this method to remind himself shows that Emperor Zhao should indeed reflect deeply.
However, when Zhao Jiu reflected on himself, he found that he seemed to have been a little "frivolous and reckless" and increasingly arrogant since he left Shouzhou... Let alone anything else, from a time traveler's perspective, the careful service of new fawning attendants such as Feng Yi and the flattery of the growing bureaucratic system were all too obvious... Obviously, someone had lost their revolutionary vigilance!
Of course, back to the present, it was too dark, so Emperor Zhao sat there with a lit candle with a blank expression on his face. He didn't look like he was reflecting at all, but rather like he was sulking. This made Han Shizhong and Feng Yi, the only attendant in the hall, feel uneasy... Even Feng Yi, the head of the eunuch department, began to wink at Han Shizhong, as if he wanted Han Shizhong to comfort the emperor.
Han Shizhong watched the emperor remain silent for half a day, and was thinking about how to comfort him so as to save some face for the emperor... But Han Liangchen thought about it and couldn't think of any reason at all, because Wanyan Yinshu really couldn't fight at the moment, and he would be defeated in nine out of ten cases. He, Han Wu, had been so kind to the emperor Zhao, and he couldn't destroy the fortune and prestige that the emperor had worked so hard to build up.
"I was wrong." After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Jiu suddenly sighed, which also made Han Shizhong feel relieved. "But my good minister, you are my confidant. Today you must tell me something... If we can't defeat Wanyan Yinshuke, won't Dengzhou be in danger? With tens of thousands of troops coming together, are we going to sit back and watch Yinshuke swallow up the secondary capital that hasn't been lost yet? There is one thing you may not know. According to Yan Xiaozhong, the governor of Tangzhou, Liu Ji, the transport envoy of Jingxi, has worked hard these days to raise funds. Many warehouses and craftsmen in Sichuan and Jingxi have been gathered in Nanyang. If we lose it and Wanyan Yinshuke burns the city, won't we have to turn around and go to Yangzhou again?"
"Good instructor, I know." Han Shizhong was relieved and responded to these inquiries with a proud attitude. "I just said that we have few cavalry and elite soldiers, and we cannot take the initiative to fight Yin Shuke in the field, but I don't mean that we can't force Wanyan Yin Shuke to leave! And I don't mean that we can't defend Nanyang!"
Zhao Jiu's heart was lifted: "How should we fight?"
"Your Majesty," Han Shizhong said frankly. "There is no need to fight. There are only two things to do now... One is to alert the enemy and make a big noise, so as to tell Yin Shuke that our army has arrived, and it is huge in number and powerful; the other is to quickly seize and surrender the key cities of Ruzhou, Caizhou, Tangzhou, and Yingchang Prefecture! Of course, Wuguan is also very important, so after listening to Liu Yan's words, I still urged him to go to Wuguan as usual..."
Zhao Jiu was thoughtful, and then realized: "Is this a trick to force him to return?"
"I'm not being mysterious." In the dark hall, Han Shizhong's eyes were like lightning, and the corners of his mouth were ferocious. "It's just that I have to do this to protect Dengzhou. Otherwise, if he really dares to sit back and watch me occupy all the dozens of cities on the northeast passage of Nanyang, he will be trapped in Nanyang! Only Yin Shu is experienced in using troops, and he is definitely not a stupid person like Wanyan Wushu who is new to the battlefield. That's why I believe that he will take the initiative to give up the meat at his mouth and return to the army immediately! And if so..." At this point, Han Shizhong became a little cautious again. "As long as Yin Shu can withdraw his troops, we can say that he was defeated by the enemy in Jingxi."
This is a case of falsely reporting military achievements for political propaganda.
However, considering that it would save Dengzhou and force this man to retreat, Zhao Jiu, who had calmed down, was able to accept it.
So he nodded slowly, and then asked seriously: "So, what is the key to this battle?"
"Hurry!" Han Shizhong said firmly. "If we are a little slow, either Nanyang will fall, or Yin Shu will seize Tangzhou and Ruzhou and force the emperor to surrender, so we must seize those cities as soon as possible!"
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily again.
Needless to say, the next morning, Emperor Zhao, who had just made a big plan yesterday, seemed to be in high spirits and gathered all his ministers early in the morning to discuss the war.
In response, the ministers who were struck by a special atmosphere seemed to be very cooperative.
"It's like this. Didn't many officials come here yesterday to recommend themselves, saying that they wanted to go and gather the rebels and bandits in Caizhou?" Emperor Zhao said straight to the point. "And I thought about it last night and felt that I couldn't dampen your spirits... So today I want to tell you that I have granted all your requests yesterday!"
Among the many officials in the hall, except for a few officials who were proud of their status and an official in a red robe who seemed to remain calm, the rest were all very happy.
Not only that, everyone saw that although Emperor Zhao looked calm and spoke fluently, his eyes were red and his voice was trembling, as if he had not rested well last night and was a little angry... Therefore, many well-intentioned people were secretly considering whether to choose a few concubines for the emperor after the war.
However, since we are about to go into battle, it is better to put some things aside for the time being.
Of course, Emperor Zhao, who appeared calm on the outside but was nervous and helpless on the inside, had no idea what these people were thinking. He probably wouldn't care even if he knew, because he really wasn't in the mood to think about his concubine or these people at the moment.
"It's not just that. As far as I know." Emperor Zhao continued to talk, looking relaxed, but secretly gritting his teeth in his heart. "We have been traveling west from Shouzhou. Recently, there are many officials who have no assignments with us. We must give them a chance. And now, since that silver...that Ni Chuhe passed through there, the towns in Tangzhou, Ruzhou, and the southern part of Yingchang Prefecture are basically vacant, mostly occupied by bandits and rebels, and only a few are still in the hands of the government army... In this case, why not let these people go further and recruit and appease them in the states west of Beijing? It will also be better to let these people settle down on the spot, and by the way, provide backup for Han Shizhong to lead 50,000 troops to Nanyang to encircle and kill Ni Chuhe's thousands of soldiers?!"
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