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Chapter 426 The imperial court plans to send troops

In fact, Shen Luoyan arranged this to prevent Zhao Mingyuan from becoming suspicious of her.

Shen Luoyan would naturally not make the same mistakes he made under Li Mi.

After all, there are already rumors among the people that they only know the cabinet but not the emperor, so how can she take it lightly.

The carriage went north along Tianjie, heading towards the palace.

After opening the curtain and looking at the neat appearance of the soldiers guarding him on both sides, their tall and straight postures and their military appearance, Zhao Mingyuan couldn't help but nodded secretly.

Well, it seems that the soldiers have been trained well.

Of course, there were also many spectators gathering further afield.

Zhao Mingyuan couldn't help but feel relieved to see that most of their clothes were neat and clean.

Although we know that Luoyang is the capital of the empire, the people have always been rich and prosperous, which cannot be compared with other places.

But at least the people were not sallow and skinny and dressed in rags, and there was no hatred for him in their eyes, which proved that he was not doing too badly.

Of course, Zhao Mingyuan understood that this was not enough, far from enough!

However, in order to reach the standard in his heart, he must first unify the world.

Therefore, after entering the palace, Zhao Mingyuan did not take any rest and immediately held a court meeting to summon civil and military officials to discuss affairs.

All officials reported on their work achievements during this period, and Zhao Mingyuan found that the current situation in Ming Dynasty was very good.

Not long ago, several counties in the south surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Now, the Ming Dynasty has sent people to take over the order, and it is no longer just a name like before.

As for Shen Faxing, the "King of Liang" who had hesitated to surrender before, and Li Zitong, who claimed to be the "King of Chu", these two rebel kings could no longer hold out under the pressure of Song Que's heavy troops.

Buddhism turned to the Ming Dynasty, and the Bashu soldiers changed their flags without bloodshed, which was the last straw for them.

After learning the news, both parties also sent letters of surrender to Daming, waiting for Zhao Mingyuan to arrange for someone to take over.

Therefore, except for Ren Shaoming of the Iron Cavalry Association, the land south of the Yangtze River has been connected to the Ming Dynasty.

As for the Iron Cavalry, it was not that they were tough, but because Ren Shaoming and Zhao Mingyuan had a grudge against their father, so they had no intention of surrendering.

Moreover, even if he surrenders, Ren Shaoming will not end well due to the influence of his dual identity as the enemy of his father's murder and a barbarian.

Therefore, even though he knew he was at a disadvantage, Ren Shaoming was still ready to fight.

Just because he understood that Zhao Mingyuan's big enemy was in the north, he would never use all his strength to deal with him. At most, he would only send a partial force to deal with him.

In this case, he was not without his strength.

However, Zhao Mingyuan did not take such trivial matters to heart. Dealing with the Hu people was naturally handled by Song Que, a Han nationalist.

Since Ren Shaoming is famous for escaping from Song Que's knife, he was finally killed by Song Que's knife, which can be regarded as a well-deserved death.

Nowadays, the only forces that can pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty are Li Tang in Guanzhong and Dou Jiande's Daxia in the north.

After getting familiar with the situation of the Ming Dynasty and understanding his family background, Zhao Mingyuan immediately decided to send troops to destroy the Tang Dynasty.

Hearing Zhao Mingyuan say this decision, all the generals were gearing up and said that they had been prepared for a long time and were waiting for Zhao Mingyuan to speak.

As for civil servants, they have different opinions.

Naturally, their opinion was not to prevent Zhao Mingyuan from going on an expedition abroad.

After all, if Zhao Mingyuan unified the world, then they would be the founding fathers. It may be an exaggeration to say that the dukes will last for generations, but it is not difficult to be wealthy and prosperous for hundreds of years.

Therefore, seeing that the harvest season is approaching, how can they stop it?

However, their difference is that some people think that instead of destroying the Tang Dynasty, it is better to go north to attack Dou Jiande's Daxia.

It seems that there is not much difference in military strength between Li Tang and Dou Jiande. Even in terms of military strength alone, Dou Jiande may be better.

However, Li Tang occupies the land in Guanzhong, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, with the support of the Guanzhong clan, the difficulty of attacking is not comparable to that of Dou Jiande's Daxia.

Therefore, many people advocate that it is better to first attack the easy things first and then the more difficult ones, first to attack Dou Jiande in the northern expedition, and then to attack Li Tang in the west.

As soon as this statement came out, many people agreed.

After all, this strategy does have merit.

If the Ming Dynasty really defeated Dou Jiande, then only a corner of Guanzhong would be left in the world. Why would Li Tang resist the Ming Dynasty, which occupied most of the world's territory and was overwhelming in manpower and material resources?

Since some people agree with it, it is inevitable that some people will object.

"What if Li Tang takes advantage of the Ming Dynasty's campaign against Dou Jiande to leave Hangu Pass and attack Luoyang? How should we respond?

At that time, our Ming Dynasty will be attacked from both sides. Isn’t it in danger? "

Someone immediately retorted, saying: "If we attack Li Tang, wouldn't Dou Jiande also take the opportunity to go south?"

Both sides held their own opinions and argued endlessly.

Listening to everyone's discussion, Zhao Mingyuan couldn't help but think deeply.

In fact, as the Ming Dynasty unified the south and further grew in strength, the only forces that could pose a threat to him were the Daxia of Li Tang and Dou Jiande.

Even if the relationship between Li Tang and Dou Jiande is not good, the current situation is forcing the two sides to naturally reach a tacit understanding and form an alliance to fight against powerful enemies.

Therefore, no matter which side Ming attacks, they will never let Ming deal with them one by one.

However, delays are inevitable, but it is not necessarily possible that they will do their best for allies.

Nowadays, the situation can be regarded as a tripartite confrontation. It is inevitable that the two sides will join forces to resist the Ming Dynasty. But the two of them are naturally not monolithic. They must have their own hidden agendas, hoping to harm both the other side and Ming Dynasty so that they can benefit.

For third parties, the longer the two sides fight, the better. Only when both sides are exhausted or are clearly on the verge of victory will the third party really take action. For Zhao Mingyuan, it was just the opposite. The faster this battle was fought, the better.

First of all, it is taboo to start a war on both sides.

It is impossible for both sides to fight together. The only way is to attack one side mainly and send troops to defend the other side.

As for which side to choose to attack?

Although everyone's analysis was very reasonable, and the pros and cons gradually became clear through the debate, Zhao Mingyuan decided to fight Li Tang first.

Although it is also a way to play easy first and then difficult, in Zhao Mingyuan's eyes, Li Tang's threat to him is far beyond what Dou Jiande can compare with.

Not to mention that Li Shimin had destiny and the famous generals gathered in Tiance Mansion. Zhao Mingyuan could not just watch Li Tang continue to grow because of Qin's geographical advantage of sweeping the six countries in Guanzhong.

Therefore, Zhao Mingyuan made the final decision and decided to attack Li Tang first and then destroy Dou Jiande.

Seeing that Zhao Mingyuan had made up his mind, everyone finally stopped arguing.

Since Zhao Mingyuan insists on beating Li Tang first, let's do it!

After all, in the eyes of most people, although Li Tang has the support of the Guanzhong clan and is geographically advantageous, Dou Jiande is not weak either.

There is not much difference between the two, no matter which one you fight first, it will be a tough battle.

However, it is not clear whether these people who spoke against Dou Jiande sincerely were really thinking about the Ming Dynasty, or were just looking out for Li Tang.

Now that the decision has been made, we will attack Li Tang first, then we will be busy next.

It is not easy to fight a war. It is not as simple as Zhao Mingyuan just talking and ordering the war.

There are countless details, and all aspects need to be considered in detail. This is the so-called temple calculation.

As the saying goes, before the three armies move, food and grass go first.

To destroy the Tang Dynasty, it was initially estimated that the Ming Dynasty would need to send 100,000 elite troops.

To ensure the logistics and food for these 100,000 elite soldiers, more than 200,000 civilians are needed to transport them.

This alone requires careful consideration.

Fortunately, Zhao Mingyuan occupies the heart of the Central Plains, has a strong household registration, and is not short of food and grass, so it is not difficult.

However, we must also consider the impact of deploying a large number of troops in a short period of time to create an internal emptiness.

Will Dou Jiande from the north take advantage of this to go south?

This is naturally something to consider.

Therefore, the important northern town needs a general to garrison to guard against Dou Jiande.

It was even necessary to ensure that if Dou Jiande really led troops to attack, it could be delayed for a while and prevent him from going south.

Regarding this point, Zhao Mingyuan directly appointed Li Jing and led his troops to garrison in the north.

Of course, the southern counties had just surrendered, so they could not relax their vigilance. Zhao Mingyuan was prepared to let Song Que take charge.

As for the attack on Li Tang, this battle that decided the ownership of the world would naturally be conducted by him.

With the order given, all departments immediately took action in full swing.

Although Zhao Mingyuan did not announce the situation of this great meeting to the outside world, naturally such a big news cannot be hidden from those who are interested.

Even the people of Luoyang City noticed that the situation suddenly became tense and realized that a war might be coming.

As the only remaining two major forces, Li Tang and Dou Jiande, naturally pay attention to the movements of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the news was quickly learned by both parties.

When he heard that Ming Dynasty was preparing to conquer Li Tang in the west, Dou Jiande couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.

For him, this was great news.

Although there are three pillars now, Dou Jiande understands that among the three, he is facing the worst situation.

With the Ming Dynasty in the south, the Turks in the north, and even bordering the Li and Tang Dynasties in the west, it can be said that it is in a place of four wars, surrounded by enemies from both sides, and does not dare to go all out to conquer and expand.

Now, since the Ming and Tang Dynasties are about to start a war, it is a good time to take this opportunity to develop themselves vigorously.

I have long disliked the Gaokaidao in the north, so let’s hit him!

It would also allow Ming and Tang not to be afraid of themselves, and to fight with peace of mind, and wait for the opportunity when both of them are tired.

As for Li Tang, his face turned a little ugly when he got the news.

However, fortunately, they had been mentally prepared for this. What's more, they had the natural danger of Hangu Pass to rely on, so they didn't panic.

After hearing the news, he sent envoys to ask for help from all directions, recruited soldiers, and repaired the city wall.

The soldiers of Li Tang were on the alert, always ready to deal with Ming's invasion.

After this meeting, although the Ming Dynasty did not send any troops, the atmosphere of the entire world suddenly changed.

Although the people did not know the details, they also understood that a war was about to begin.

Whether the Ming Dynasty attacks Tang Dynasty or Xia Dynasty, it will be a battle that affects the entire world.

(End of this chapter)