Late autumn is coming, and winter is coming.

The cold wave in the north had come earlier, but Dingwu had already put on his fur, although the gorgeous fur was warm and comfortable on his body, but Dingwu still felt that his whole body was soaked with a biting cold.

The battle situation in Yanshan has made Dingwu very worried, although the Hexi army stubbornly resisted, but under the crazy offensive of the Liaodong people, the defense line was gradually forced to retreat step by step, and the Liaodong army was aggressive.

Even so, fortunately, the Liaodong people have suffered heavy losses, so far, they still have not fought Yanshan, and Dingwu has ordered to gather the young people who built the Heavenly Palace and start training, tens of thousands of young people, just practice day and night near the Heavenly Palace, waiting to go to the front line at any time.

Although the situation is critical, Dingwu is still supported by tenacious perseverance, he is the last pillar of the empire, since the day he ascended the throne, Dingwu has been silently saying to himself that until the last moment, it must not collapse.

However, the news from the Western Front, although it did not completely collapse Dingwu, was still a big blow.

The soldiers and horses on the Western Front collapsed, the main general Feng Poyu was killed, and Zhou Ting committed suicide by jumping into the city.

The barbarians withdrew, An Lei and Fan Persie did not say goodbye, and their whereabouts were unknown, and what made Dingwu even more angry was that Yuan Chongshang, the governor of Anyi, turned against him, took refuge in Chu Huan, and even helped Chu Huan take the city of Yunshan Mansion.

The defense of the entire western front was completely destroyed in one fell swoop, and Chu Huan, who occupied Yunshan, could step his iron hooves into Hexi at any time.

Ding Wu really didn't understand why such a major change occurred on the Western Front in a short period of time, although he didn't trust the barbarians, and only used the barbarians as a tool for the time being, but in order to prevent the barbarians from happening, he deliberately put the patriarch of the thirteen tribes of the barbarians under house arrest in Wuping Mansion, but in the end, the barbarians still betrayed the empire.

After Dingwu ascended the throne, because of his physical inconvenience, and because he was in the land of the North Mirror, he did not go to court as soon as possible, and many things were presented by the officials below to the folds, and he reviewed the ruling, and the Shenyi Guard arranged in the city became his eyes and ears to control the city of Wuping Mansion.

But in this moment of crisis, Dingwu finally gathered the ministers together and held an emergency court meeting.

Of course, the number of people in this court meeting was not large, dozens of ministers were arranged on both sides, and Dingwu looked at the two columns of courtiers, and there was a lonely heart in his heart.

He knew in his heart that there could be no clever strategy for these people in front of him, half of them were officials brought by the emperor from the capital, and the other half were local officials from Hexi.

When he took over half of the country, there were few available people in the court, and people like Zhou Ting who dared to speak out and could give advice were already very rare.

Zhou Ting committed suicide in Yunshan, which made Dingwu feel great regret in his heart, he knew that this was the result, it was better to keep Zhou Ting by his side.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you already know the specific situation, how to deal with it next, I don't know what your Aiqing has to do?" Dingwu asked slowly.

All the ministers looked at each other, but none of them stepped forward to speak.

Dingwu frowned, looked at Lin Yuanfang, the secretary of the ministry, and said lightly: "Lin Aiqing, what do you think?" ”

Lin Yuanfang's eyelids jumped, and he stubbornly stepped out and said: "Holy Lord, the defeat of Yunshan, Feng Poyu did not obey the will of the Holy Lord, and went to war without authorization, the crime is unforgivable, but now that he is dead, the minister thinks that he can't let it go, and the minister asks all his family members to be arrested and beheaded." Seeing that Dingwu's brows were tighter, he hurriedly said: "There are also barbarians, at the moment of the war, they are fleeing from the battle, please behead these two chiefs together." ”

When the other ministers heard this, they nodded their heads.

Dingwu said lightly: "Lin Aiqing, killing these people now, can you reverse the situation?" Is it possible to recapture the West Mountain? ”

Lin Yuanfang was stunned and lowered his head, but he didn't dare to speak.

"I want a response, not a pursuit of guilt." Dingwu stared at Lin Yuanfang, "Chu Huan has already occupied Yunshan, starting from Yunshan, it will take less than ten days and half a month to be able to enter the Hexi Corridor, pass through the Hexi Corridor, and as soon as the horse is flat, Wuping Mansion will leak in front of Chu Huan's eyes, I am now going to ask you, how to deal with such a critical situation?" He looked at Ma Hong and said, "Ma Hong, you say!" ”

Ma Hong's body was shocked, and he came out and said: "Holy Lord, this minister thinks that he should quickly deploy troops to strengthen the defense of the Hexi Corridor, once he is controlled by Chu Huan, he can advance and retreat freely, and the consequences are unimaginable." He glanced up at Dingwu slightly, and then continued: "Forgive the minister, the battle situation in Yanshan is blazing, and if you want to recover Xishan at this time, there are many difficulties, and for now, you can only hold the Hexi Corridor first, wait to defeat the Liaodong Army, and then transfer troops to attack Xishan!" ”

When Ding Wu heard this, his face softened slightly, and he said, "There is some truth in this. ”

Hearing Dingwu say this, Ma Hong had some spirit, and continued: "The minister thinks that Chu Huan has just conquered Yunshan, even if he wants to march into Hexi, he will have to wait until the rear is stable, and if he wants to fully control Xishan, Chu Huan will need some time, and as far as the minister knows, his troops are not many, so he should not dare to send troops to Hexi easily, and the imperial court can take this opportunity to deploy the Hexi Corridor and make use of the terrain of the Hexi Corridor to prepare for defense." ”

"I know what you mean." Dingwu said: "In the area of the Hexi Corridor, there are still various outposts, and there are also 2,000 soldiers and horses defending in that area, but this amount of troops is naturally not enough, I want to ask you, if you want to increase the troops in the Hexi Corridor, what should you do?" ”

Ma Hong seemed to have thought of it a long time ago, and said: "Back to the saint, the soldiers and horses of Yanshan naturally cannot be transferred, and the ten thousand horses and horses guarding Wuping Mansion City cannot act rashly. However, the saint had already ordered the training of young and strong before, and there were still tens of thousands of young and strong laborers in the Heavenly Palace, and now that it was time to employ people, the minister thought that it was time for them to go into battle. ”

"Yao Chong, can you hear Ma Hong's words?" Dingwu raised his head and looked at a general.

That military general came from the Royal Guard, and he was also a fierce general of the empire, in order to train tens of thousands of young and strong, Yao Chong, a special award for Dingwu, was transferred to the past, and today the court discussed, but he sent someone to summon him back.

Yao Chong is not a stupid person, today's court discussion, Dingwu specially sent someone to recall him, which has already hinted at the emperor's intentions, stepped forward and arched his hand: "Qiqi Sheng, the minister's training time is still short, these young people have not yet formed combat effectiveness, and they are in a hurry, I'm afraid!" After hesitating for a moment, he finally said: "But as long as the Holy Lord gives an order, the minister should lead these people to the front line." ”

Many people present actually knew very well in their hearts that letting that group of people go into battle at this time was undoubtedly to catch the ducks on the shelves.

A real soldier must not only have long-term training, but also have experience in fighting.

Not to mention that those people didn't have any experience in fighting, and they hadn't even completed the most basic training, so I'm afraid they couldn't use broadswords and spears, let alone formation coordination, etc.

Speaking of tens of thousands, but in the eyes of the real army, it is just a group of Wuhe, if this group of people really goes into battle to fight, once they meet the brave Northwest Army, they will undoubtedly be sent to the mouth of the sheep.

Some people secretly thought in their hearts, instead of letting these people go out of battle, it is better to pay close attention to training, and master more combat skills before the Northwest Army arrives, once the Northwest Army really kills them, they can let these people enter the city to defend it, Wuping Mansion City is huge and strong, and has a huge number of defenders, it may not be impossible to repel the Northwest Army.

It's just that at this time, who dares to say more.

Before Dingwu could speak, Yao Chong changed his words and said, "It's just that before sending troops, the minister has something to ask for the grace of the Holy Lord." ”

"What?"

"I ask the Holy Majesty to set aside a sum of money for settling-in." Yao Chong looked embarrassed: "In fact, these days, those people have been clamoring to go back to their homes many times in private, just a few days ago, some people wanted to sneak away, and it was the minister who killed a few soldiers who escaped, so that they could settle down." They were all young men who had been recruited to build the palace, before! Speaking of this, he hesitated but did not dare to continue.

Dingwu raised his hand and said: "If you have anything to say, it doesn't hurt for you to say it, even if you say something wrong, I will forgive you for your innocence." ”

Only then did Yao Chong have the courage to say: "Back to the Holy Lord, when these people built the palace before, Feng Yuanpo did not lack three meals a day, and promised them that once the palace was completed, everyone would receive a salary, but the Holy Lord had already issued an order to stop the construction of the Heavenly Palace, and ordered to send many people home, and they were still complaining and talking in private!" ”

Dingwu said lightly: "But it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

Yao Chong said: "They privately complained that the court did not believe in its words, not only did they not pay their wages, but even three meals a day have now become two meals a day!" ”

Ma Hong is the secretary of the household department, so he was afraid that the matter would be involved in him, so he couldn't help but say: "General Yao, you should also know that the household department has limited money and food, and it is necessary to focus on the front-line war, and the front-line soldiers are fighting bloodily, so the household department naturally cannot do without their money and food." The group of people in the Heavenly Palace, now that they have stopped building the Heavenly Palace, they don't use much physical strength, they can provide two meals a day, and they have already consumed a lot of stored grain. What's more, it was Feng Yuanpo's promise to them at the beginning, even if they asked them to find Feng Yuanpo, they couldn't Feng Yuanpo's promise, and they had to let the court repay it. ”

"I naturally understand what Ma Butang means." Yao Chong's face was embarrassed: "It's just that in recent days, those people have complained more and more in private, as far as the minister knows, many people are saying that if they want to go into battle and work hard, they must first let them settle their families well, not to mention that they can't eat enough, and they can't bear to starve and not die, but they don't even care about the old and young in the family, so they take the big knife and desperately send them to death!" Seeing that Dingwu's face was not good, he hurriedly arched his hand and said: "The ministers lost their words, please condemn the saint!" ”

Ding Wu shook his head slightly, without reproach, and asked, "How much silver do you think it will take to appease these people?" ”

Yao Chong thought for a while, and then said: "There are nearly 30,000 people there, if you want to settle a small family, so that they don't have to worry about the future, ten taels of silver per person is indispensable, this is still the lowest number, and they are about to go into battle, and the consumption of military horses and equipment is not small!" ”

Dingwu said: "That will cost at least three or four hundred thousand taels of silver." He looked at Ma Hong and asked, "Ma Hong, can Curry allocate 100,000 taels of silver?" ”

Ma Hong arched his hand and said: "Back to the saint, the household department wants to take out four or five hundred thousand taels of silver, and it can still be done now, but if this silver is allocated, then it will be very difficult for the minister to allocate silver to the front line." General Wen has sent people over to ask for money and food in the past few days, and the consumption of the front line is huge, and it is not easy for the ministers to prepare the money and food for the front line now, if the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are allocated to General Yao, the treasury will become more and more empty. After a pause, he finally stubbornly said: "The minister is only worried that with the current consumption, if the Northwest Army really wants to fight to Hexi, there will be no money and food to support Wuping Mansion at that time." ”