The changes in the Wu Dynasty happened extremely suddenly.
Because Empress Dowager Xi confined all officials in the palace, the Yu Dynasty's spies in Guanyun City did not immediately notice this shocking news, and naturally did not send this information to Shangjing immediately.
Just when Empress Dowager Xi successfully seized power in the Wu Dynasty, in the imperial study in the Shangjing Imperial City, Emperor Xuan and Fu Xiaoguan and three others were discussing the expedition against the Western Rong.
"It's still a bit urgent." Master Yan thought for a moment and added, "Now that the mountains are covered in snow, the Minshan plank road will be even more difficult to travel. It will be difficult for such a large army to enter the Western Wilderness."
Emperor Xuan looked at Yan Shidao and laughed, but then turned to Yan Beixi and asked, "You haven't told him about this strategy yet?"
Yan Beixi bowed and said, "This policy is of great importance, and I, your humble servant, have never spoken to anyone about it."
When Fu Xiaoguan heard this, he immediately understood a little.
The intelligence sent by Eunuch Jia a few days ago said that it was confirmed that the Fourth Prince of the Yu Dynasty had contacted Xue Dingshan, the general of the Western Frontier Army. On the night of November 15th, Xue Dingshan's troops left a team of 1,000 people and headed for Xirong Mansion. Their purpose is unknown and needs to be investigated.
It seems that Your Majesty has also known this news.
At the court meeting today, His Majesty ordered the western border troops to go to Xirong to suppress the bandits. He also appointed Prince Zhenxi Huo Donglin as the military supervisor and asked Prince Jin Yu Wenshu to raise the necessary food and wages on the spot. This was done on purpose!
Sure enough, Emperor Xuan explained the origin of this strategy and specifically mentioned that Xue Dingshan might have rebellious intentions.
"I have pondered this for a long time and have come up with this plan with Prime Minister Yan. Firstly, we want to see if Xue Dingshan is colluding with Yu Wenshu. Secondly, we want to see how Yu Wenshu will manage the logistics of sending the western border troops to the Western Wilderness. Three hundred thousand soldiers and horses will have to worry about food and horses."
This was indeed a good strategy. Fu Xiaoguan analyzed it carefully. It was not easy to enter the Western Wilds, and it was not easy to leave the Western Wilds either. If 300,000 border troops were sent into the Western Wilds, even if they wanted to rebel, it would be much more difficult to fight all the way to Jinling than to come directly from the west.
This was also a helpless move. The national strength of the Yu Dynasty could no longer support such a war. Transferring the western border troops far away was just a way to buy time with strategic depth.
When Master Yan heard this, he was surprised for a moment, then seemed to understand the reason and stopped asking.
Emperor Xuan also looked at Fu Xiaoguan at this moment, "I couldn't talk about it in the court just now, now you listen carefully to me!"
Fu Xiaoguan was shocked. What does this have to do with me?
"I allow you to expand the Excalibur Special Forces to 30,000!"
Fu Xiaoguan was overjoyed. Is there such a good thing?
He saluted quickly, "Your Majesty, thank you!"
Emperor Xuan waved his hand and said, "Don't be so busy thanking me. I still have something to say to you."
Fu Xiaoguan was stunned again and said, "You should be more straightforward."
"I want you to transfer the 4,000 Divine Sword troops from Pingling to the border town!"
Fu Xiaoguan frowned. Transferred to a border town? Not to mention the long journey, what problems could there be in a border town?
"Currently, only a little over 50,000 troops remain in the southern border army. The northern border army's losses from the battle cannot be replaced for the time being, so Yu Chunqiu's troops must remain in the northern border army for the time being. After the peace talks are concluded, Yu Wentian's troops will be stationed in the north, while Yu Chunqiu's troops will head to Shuzhou on the Jiannan West Road."
"I have to be on guard. As long as Shuzhou is held, the western border troops will have no chance of advancing eastward. However, this will drastically reduce the combat effectiveness of the southern border troops. If something goes wrong in the south... it will be a huge problem."
To the south, it is naturally the Wu Dynasty.
The Wu Dynasty is actually now in the hands of Empress Dowager Xi. If this old witch completely controls the government, and if she is really a member of the Moon Worship Cult, Emperor Xuan's concerns are very reasonable.
Now, Official Fu has gone to the Wu Dynasty. He is the elder brother of Emperor Wen and has the orthodox royal bloodline. Can he restore order in the Wu Dynasty?
Fu Xiaoguan thought for a few breaths and nodded.
It is always right to prepare for a rainy day. What if this fat father fails to defeat that old witch? With 4,000 special forces of Divine Sword, they can snipe the enemy on the front line of Qishan Corridor and cause great trouble to the attacking enemy.
"Teacher's Way..."
"I am here."
"With the new year upon us, conscription needs to be expedited. The Northern and Eastern Border Armies are currently short nearly 300,000 troops, which is equivalent to one of the four major border armies of the Yu Dynasty being missing. News has come from the Desolate Country that Tuoba Feng has consolidated power and established an elite force of 400,000 men, named Heavenly Blade..."
"I am deeply worried. If these 400,000 cavalrymen were to break through Yanshan Pass... Peng Chengwu only has less than 200,000 troops at his disposal. How can he stop them?"
Yan Shidao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Privy Council has dispatched officials to various provinces, and conscription will begin immediately after the new year."
"That's great... Kangping, are you really not going to show me the Ministry of Revenue's report this year?"
Dong Kangping curled his lips and took out a thin booklet from his sleeve pocket. "It's only because that kid took away my Right Vice Minister that this has been delayed until now."
Emperor Xuan took the booklet and grinned: "He is your son-in-law, and you still care about this matter?"
Fu Xiaoguan touched his nose and smiled brightly at Dong Kangping. Dong Kangping glared at him and said viciously, "Your mother-in-law asked you to bring your family to dinner tonight!"
"Thank you, father-in-law!"
Fu Xiaoguan bowed quickly. Ever since he poached Li Cai, he hadn't dared to visit Dong's house for a few days. Now it seems that his father-in-law has come to his senses and this trouble is over.
Emperor Xuan frowned as he looked at the booklet. "Of the many plans I made at the beginning of each year, only the implementation of the New Deal has been truly realized. This year, we were invaded by the barbarians and plagued by palace bandits, which has delayed the implementation of the New Deal. Furthermore, our food and fodder, which should have been abundant, are now scarce."
This year, the Yellow River suffered a disaster along both sides. A mature disaster relief strategy was already in place, but due to the need to supply food and fodder for the war, the relief efforts along the two sides of the Yellow River were ineffective. I am aware of this, but it has only caused hardship for the people affected by the disaster and displaced them. Fortunately, it has not led to another situation of banditry.
Now that the war in the north has concluded and the palace bandits have been captured, we cannot let our guard down. The Yu Dynasty faces a very real threat from the west, as well as threats from the north.
Therefore, I believe that the grain from the two routes along the Yangtze River must be uniformly allocated and not moved rashly. Meanwhile, the grain from the east and west routes south of the mountain must be gradually sent to Shuzhou and Shucheng to prepare for Yu Chunqiu's relocation to Shuzhou.
The grain and fodder collected in Huainan Road should be sent to the important southern city of Cangtong as a precaution."
Dong Kangping listened carefully, and Fu Xiaoguan also listened very seriously. He suddenly stood up and walked to the wall where the map was hanging, looked at it carefully, and then frowned.
“Something’s wrong!”
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