Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly: "Anything else?"
"Yes." Hu Yin calmly replied under the slightly nervous gaze of the military officials. "We must choose a general who knows how to advance and retreat, who is more capable of calculating food and fodder, and who is not arrogant when he wins, nor discouraged when he loses... Compared with him, outstanding courage and strategy are nothing to mention."
Zhao Jiu finally clapped his hands and laughed: "When a man has been away for three days, he should be treated with new eyes. In the past, Minister Hu also knew military knowledge."
"I still don't know anything about military affairs." Hu Yin bowed his hands proudly. "What I said is just a summary of the conquest of Western Xia over the past century... In the past century, the Song Dynasty has never stopped its conquest of Western Xia, and the discussion of the conquest of Western Xia has never stopped. I will pick out the actions that have made progress over the past century and find their commonalities. I will also pick out the actions that have failed miserably over the past century and find their commonalities. Naturally, I can find some explanations... But in the end, it's just talk!"
"It's good to be able to talk about war on paper." Zhao Jiu continued to smile. "When you mentioned the general just now, it seemed like you had something in mind?"
"Yes." Hu Yin suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Han Shizhong beside him, but his expression remained unchanged. "Your Majesty, I was just dancing with a sword like Xiang Zhuang, aiming at Pei Gong. In my words, I was actually admonishing your Majesty. The commander-in-chief of the war against Xia, the Prince of Yan'an, can be a nominal commander, but you cannot entrust him with the real vital blow, otherwise this battle will be lost!"
Han Shizhong was stunned and was about to explode, but when he saw Hu Mingzhong standing tall in front of him, looking exactly like the man who had stood in Zhugao Town on the Huai River back then, he suddenly felt scared and panicked, and he didn't even dare to interrupt or refute.
"What do you mean?" Emperor Zhao asked with a curious look on his face.
"Let the emperor know that Han Shizhong has always been arrogant and indulgent. It is his nature. He is complacent with a little achievement and regards the world as nothing. This has happened more than once or twice. He has achieved his current status only because of the emperor's indulgence." Hu Yin did not even look at the stunned Han Shizhong, nor at the many generals below Yue Fei, but spoke sternly to Emperor Zhao. "Since he saved the emperor at Yaoshan and became the Prince of Yan'an, his old illness has naturally relapsed. The emperor has granted him a double marriage and a general flag when he entered Guanzhong, which made him even more arrogant and oblivious..."
"I didn't..." Han Shizhong finally couldn't bear it anymore and quickly spoke to Zhao Jiu.
But as soon as he opened his mouth, he was met with the half-smile on Emperor Zhao's face, and his heart turned cold, and he immediately shut up.
"How come you are so carried away?" After looking at Han Shizhong, Zhao Jiu changed his position on the stone bench. He put one leg on another stone bench in front of him and started dusting off the spot.
"I only want to say one thing. The emperor had clearly made arrangements for this Xixia matter long ago, with troops, a commander-in-chief, and a deputy commander-in-chief all arranged. As a minister, he actually wanted to forcefully demand the position of commander-in-chief. This is truly treasonous!"
"I didn't!" Han Shizhong turned pale and knelt down in front of the sacrificial house. "I don't know..."
"Get up." Zhao Jiu spoke immediately, but the smile on his face disappeared at all.
Han Shizhong stood up immediately, even more shocked. As for the others, Yue Fei was speechless and expressionless; Qu Duan could not help but turned back and smiled, but quickly looked up at the sky to control his expression; Wang De didn't know what was going on and suddenly started to breathe heavily; as for Liu Qi, Li Shifu, Yang Yi Zhong and others, they just bowed their heads.
"Go on." Zhao Jiu raised his hand and gestured to Hu Yin.
"Yes." Hu Mingzhong bowed again. "I think that the emperor had made definite preparations for this westward march. It was obvious that he wanted to use Yue Jiedu as the commander, Qu Dutong and Wang Fu Dutong as his deputies to make the final strike. The Prince of Yan'an knew the military plan, but he still took the opportunity of dispatching the cavalry back to Chang'an to ask to return to the city to see the emperor and ask for the position of commander. This is one of the reasons!"
After these words were spoken and seeing Emperor Zhao nod slightly, Han Shizhong felt even colder in his heart, but Yue Fei and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
"And the emperor had already made the decision, but never made a direct announcement, apparently for the sake of the reputation of the Prince of Yan'an, the country's top general. As a result, he was blinded by greed and only took the reputation given to him by the emperor as indulgence, and kept pestering for half a month..." Hu Yin continued to speak loudly, but turned to Han Shizhong halfway. "Han Liangchen, I only want to ask you, you have been in Chang'an for half a month, if the emperor wanted you to be the commander, he would have announced it long ago, but you still haven't said it, do you really not understand or are you pretending not to understand?! Emperor, this is the second point!"
Han Shizhong opened his mouth to speak, but he was speechless and began to sweat.
"As for today, the emperor's patience is running out, and we can't stand it anymore. First, I used Han Xin to mock him, then the emperor advised him to be virtuous, and then he wasted a long time until we came to the tombs of Zhou Bo and Zhou Yafu, but he still didn't understand..." At this point, Hu Yin couldn't bear it anymore, and turned his head to face Han Shizhong again. "Prince of Yan'an, let me ask you again... Do you really not know about the relationship between Han Xin and Zhou Bo?"
Han Shizhong must have figured out what was going on at this time. His face turned pale and he went to find Emperor Zhao to explain.
But at the same time, Hu Mingzhong continued to scold:
"If it were an ordinary emperor, it would be nonsense to say that I would just kill you based on your arrogant attitude today. But at the dinner today, I directly didn't give you chopsticks. How would you deal with it?"
"The government asked you to study and cultivate your virtues, but what did you study and cultivate?!"
"It has been like this since the Huai River, and it is still like this today! Do you really think that all the affairs in the world are caused by us civil officials deliberately suppressing you military officials? That day, Prime Minister Zhao was almost shot to death by your subordinates. You really have no responsibility at all? Zhu Gao was arrogant and killed the surrendered generals wantonly. Who was he trying to show off to? Master, Meng'er, who are you talking to?!"
"The emperor promised you the title of a prince in Jingou Town. Did he break his promise? What an honor it is to be given a jade belt and a flag? Your children are only a few months old and may not be fully grown, but you promised the emperor's eldest son to marry your eldest daughter, and Princess Yiyou to marry your eldest son... This is basically to ease your worries after death, but you are still entangled here. Those who know you will naturally know that you are like this. You are used to it by promising the world first! Those who don't know, why don't they worry that you will rebel in the future?!"
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