311, Situation
311, Situation
North County
After the cold winter, Hu Bing made a comeback.
This time, the Hu people seemed to know about the civil unrest in Dayan, and gathered more troops outside the pass, hoping to take advantage of the chaos, break through Yanmen Pass, march south, plunder Dayan's food and supplies, and occupy Dayan's territory.
However, their soldiers at the border were not pushovers. Just because the Hu soldiers wanted to enter the border, they would not let them in to burn, kill and loot.
For this reason, the two sides have fought several times, with casualties on both sides.
Zhao Lang returned to his position and joined the battlefield before his wounds had fully healed. He didn't even go home for the New Year, but spent it with the soldiers at the border.
Now he is a captain in the army and leads a group of soldiers.
However, the ones assigned to him were mostly old and weak, with few young and strong men. He did not say anything about this. He just picked out those who could be used and let the old and weak who could not be used take charge of some matters in the rear.
Before he returned to Beijun, Lu Mingfei had given him a notebook with drawings of how to make several weapons. It just so happened that the people assigned to him could be responsible for making some simple weapons.
The snow in the north had not stopped yet, and the Hu soldiers outside the pass kept provoking them. They also sent out many small teams, trying to cross their defense line and reach their Dayan side.
However, since the war broke out last year, they have moved the people of some border villages to safer places inside the border. Now all the villages on the border are empty. So even if the Hu soldiers come, they can't steal food or capture the people of Dayan.
Almost all of these small groups of Hu soldiers who came over were discovered and captured by them.
This is also thanks to the telescope given to him by their Lord Lu. With this thing, they can see enemies thousands of miles away.
The soldiers on their side squatted on high ground, holding telescopes in their hands, so they could see any movement from the Hu soldiers. If they discovered the enemy early, they could also make timely responses, ambush and annihilate the enemy halfway.
Although he knew how to make a telescope, Zhao Lang did not give the method to his father. He only presented his father with three telescopes.
When he returned to Beijun, he was no longer the eight-year-old boy he used to be.
Zhao Lang knew in his heart that his father had more than one son. Revealing everything to his father too early would do him no good. It would be better to keep all this information to himself and reveal it bit by bit, so that his kind father wouldn't forget about him, his son who was away fighting.
As for how his father would distribute the telescopes, he had no control over that.
However, each of his personal guards had a telescope, and each scout squad also had a telescope.
One day, while they were patrolling the border, his personal guards found him.
"Master, the Lord has sent someone to deliver a letter."
"Send someone over."
"yes."
According to the time, Lord Lu’s letter should have arrived.
Not long after, Zhao Lang met the person sent by Lu Mingfei to deliver the letter and received the letter from Lu Mingfei.
When he got the letter, he did not open it to read it immediately, but asked his personal guards to take the guard who delivered the letter away to rest first.
It was not until he returned to the tent to rest at night that he took out a book and looked up the information word by word according to the arrangement above.
This was the method of writing letters that they had discussed. This way, even if their letter was stolen along the way, the contents of the letter would not be revealed to others.
After translating the entire letter, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
The very next day after he received the letter, his father sent someone to find him and asked him to return to the main camp.
***
Kyoto Prefecture
Before the end of the first month of the year, several princes had already declared themselves kings.
In less than half a year, a huge dynasty was divided into several parts.
Officials in the court quarreled every day. Some advocated sending troops to attack and suppress these vassal kings, while others advocated sending people to appease and surrender these vassal kings.
The officials in the court were divided into two factions, each holding their own views and arguing fiercely.
Since taking over the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Lu Mingfei has been eligible to attend the morning court. However, when he attends the morning court, he just stands in the back and listens to the ministers arguing in the front. As a small soldier, he is not qualified to participate in the arguments and decision-making of the big men.
He saw that Prime Minister Wan, who was standing in the front, did not express any opinion on the matter, which showed that the Prime Minister was also thinking about how to deal with this matter.
Since the big guys haven't expressed their opinions, small fry like him shouldn't even try to show up.
However, just because he did not express his opinion at the morning court session does not mean that the big boss will not ask for his opinion.
After the morning court session that day, he was brought before the big boss by the eunuch.
"Your humble servant greets His Majesty."
"Get up."
The emperor, sitting on the dragon throne, raised his hand and asked the eunuch to bring a chair over for his minister to sit on.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lu Mingfei thanked him before sitting down.
As soon as he sat down, the big boss asked him, "What do you think of what everyone is discussing in the court today?"
Here it comes!
He knew that this big boss would never let him go.
Today the big boss met him in the imperial study, which showed that the big boss felt that their conversation was not afraid of being overheard by others.
But the big boss is not afraid of their conversation being overheard, but that doesn't mean he is not afraid that what he says will reach the ears of those big shots who shouldn't know.
So how do you answer this question?
After thinking about it and pondering it in his mind, he finally answered: "I believe that what you gentlemen said today is reasonable."
"If we send troops to attack these vassal kings, we don't have that many troops to send. This is one reason."
"Secondly, once we send out troops, we'll need food and fodder. The treasury is empty right now, and I'm afraid we won't be able to raise enough food and fodder for the war in such a short time."
"Thirdly, the barbarians outside the Great Wall are eyeing our Great Yan covetously. Once we start internal unrest, the barbarians will take advantage of the situation. They will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to enter the Central Plains, kill our people, and seize our territory."
"So, according to Minister Lu, what you mean is that we should not send troops to attack them?" The emperor's face was gloomy and full of displeasure.
"Your Majesty, I know what you are thinking." Lu Mingfei knew very well that the emperor's power could not be challenged. The big boss must be eager to send troops to attack those vassal kings who declared themselves kings.
But the problem facing them now is very realistic. The imperial court simply does not have so many troops to send out to attack those vassal kings.
Once the imperial guards in Kyoto Prefecture were mobilized, the feudal lords from all over the country would surely send troops to Kyoto Prefecture. Whoever's troops first arrived in Kyoto Prefecture and captured the emperor would be able to sit on the throne and become emperor.
By then, the big boss in front of him would not only lose his throne, but even his life might not be saved.
From his own perspective, Lu Mingfei naturally did not want civil unrest in the country. Because as he had just said, once they started internal unrest, Hu Bing would definitely gather all his firepower to attack the border.
At that time, as long as the Hu soldiers break through the pass and enter the Central Plains, the people of the Central Plains will suffer, and even the lives of these officials may not be saved.
Looking at the boss with a sinister look on his face, Lu Mingfei could only soothe him, "But for now, we still have to be patient for a while and find a way to stabilize the situation internally."
"Your Majesty, why don't we use courtesy first and then force? We should send people to the various vassal kings to persuade them to unite and face the enemy together. We must not give the barbarians any opportunity to take advantage."
"Once the Hu soldiers march south, it will be the people of Great Yan who will suffer. And those vassal kings, as long as the Hu soldiers enter the pass, they will not be able to stay out of it."
"Why don't we first solve the external enemy together, and then sit down and talk about other things."
The current civil unrest was unavoidable. Since it was unavoidable, they had to find a way to minimize the damage and casualties, this was what Lu Mingfei was thinking.
The emperor turned the ring on his thumb, with a sullen face and said nothing.
After saying so much, Lu Mingfei stopped talking. He didn't know how much the emperor had listened to, whether he would listen to his advice or send troops to attack the vassal kings who had declared themselves kings.
After a while, the emperor finally said, "You go back first."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave first." Lu Mingfei stood up.
However, before he could turn around and leave, he heard the emperor say, "Find the deposed emperor as soon as possible."
"...I obey your order." Lu Mingfei didn't expect that at this time, the emperor still had the mind to look for the deposed emperor who was on the run, instead of trying to solve the more important things at hand.
Although he complained in his heart, he still looked respectful in front of him.
Seeing that the boss had no other instructions, he bowed and turned to walk out of the imperial study.
After leaving the palace, he returned to the Ministry of Justice to work.
After becoming familiar with some of the miscellaneous affairs of the Ministry of Justice, he began to participate in the trial of some cases.
Some of these officials were honest and had not committed any crime. They were simply implicated by the deposed emperor. After discussing with his superiors, he decided to give these honest officials a light sentence.
As for those corrupt officials who were arrogant, domineering, and committed corruption and illegal activities when they were in office, after collecting evidence of their crimes, they took this opportunity to deal with them.
On this point, their ministers were even more jealous of evil than he was.
Therefore, he and his superiors had surprisingly similar views when trying cases. Of course, they did not judge cases based on their personal preferences, but based on the laws of Dayan.
For this reason, he worked in the government office during the day and went home to study the laws of Dayan at night.
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