From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 1036

There was no entertainment that night, just sleeping, but it was particularly peaceful.

The old drama was played out in the morning court. As the situation in the Western Regions was revealed, a group of civil officials and royal family members cried out to the sky, stamped their feet in anxiety, and then immediately proposed to cancel the Northern Expedition.

No matter what Zhou Yuan said or how Guan Miaoshan persuaded them, they would not listen.

Deng Bochi even rammed his head against the pillar, trying to force death.

Of course, he was kicked back by Song Wu and failed to hit it.

The next thing was that Wu Xun turned against them and all stood up to support the Northern Expedition. The sudden rebellion confused the royal family, and they couldn't find words to refute for a while.

The young officials finally stood up and expressed their support for King Wei's decision. At this point, the dust settled.

"King Wei, I appoint you as the Grand Marshal of the Eastern and Northern Expeditions of the Great Jin Dynasty. You will form the Northern Expedition Army and be fully responsible for all matters related to the war, and you will have the highest priority."

"From today on, all resources of the Great Jin Dynasty, whether money or policy, will be focused on war."

"Civil officials and military generals, work closely together. Even if it is a gamble on the fate of the country, our Great Jin Dynasty will definitely be the final winner."

Real major events are always decided by a few people. When the old military heroes all stand on Zhou Yuan's side, the court meeting becomes a formality.

The royal family without real power and the old civil officials can no longer influence this decision.

Now that the matter has been finalized, it is necessary to prepare for war in an all-round way. Zhou Yuan's previous preparations are almost complete, but there are still many details to be discussed.

As Xiong Kuohai said: "Since we have decided to fight, Song Wu must go to Gansu Town first, at least to show the other side that we will defend Gansu Town."

"Yerqiang doesn't know that we are going to the north. Song Wu can suppress them. By then, even if Yarqiang finds out, the war in the north may be over, and the pressure on Gansu Town will be much less."

"Another point is that the soldiers in Sichuan must not move. If they move, the U-Tsang Dusi may have problems. At that time, the whole body will be affected and everything will be rotten."

Zhou Yuan took a sip of tea and nodded: "That makes sense. Song Wu must go to the expedition at least half a month in advance. Fortunately, Li He is almost in Shenjing."

Xiong Kuohai said: "I will go with Song Wu."

After this, everyone in the room was silent.

Song Wu didn't dare to speak, Wang Ang frowned, and Zhou Yuan was thinking.

Xiong Kuohai glared and said, "Why are you all standing there? I'm not a young man in his early twenties. If I say I want to go, I must have thought it through carefully."

Zhou Yuan said, "You're not a soldier, there's no need to make such a big fuss."

Xiong Kuohai waved his hand and said, "It's all jealousy if I say too much. Song Wu is young and energetic, and he needs me to help him with ideas. Although I haven't led soldiers, I have led the Ti cavalry, so I have experience."

"I'm good at intelligence work and reconnaissance work."

"Just give me a position when the time comes."

Having said this, Zhou Yuan didn't hesitate any more. He nodded and said, "If Gansu Town is defended, you will be granted a title of nobility when you return."

Xiong Kuohai rubbed his hands and smiled, "I can't break my promise. I have dreamed of being granted a title of nobility and appointed as prime minister for most of my life."

Zhou Yuan said, "Do as you say. The Jin Dynasty at that time could afford it."

"But Gansu Town will not be easy to fight. Yarkand may be very determined."

Wang Ang said immediately, "Finally, we have come to this point. Yarkand is the most powerful Khanate in the Western Regions, but how can it be so easy to get rid of the Turpan Khanate?"

"They have always had ambitions, but who gave them the determination? ”

“There may be the shadow of the Tsarist Empire in this!”

Hearing this, Xiong Kuohai’s hair stood on end and he exclaimed: “Oh no! So! There is a traitor in our Great Jin!”

Zhou Yuan sneered and grinned: “We and the Jurchens are enemies. The Tsarist Empire can’t guess that we will help the Jurchens. Even if Peter the Great is smart, he can only think that we will send some troops to support or push the defense line to Shenzhou. He will never guess that we will support them with all our strength.”

“But if the Yarkand Khanate has received the support of the Tsarist Empire, it means that the Tsarist Empire has thought very far-reachingly and has made strategic plans. "They counted us in from the beginning."

"Therefore, they encouraged and supported Yarkand to unify the Western Regions, put pressure on Gansu and Xihai, and forced us not to send troops."

Xiong Kuohai said: "Support comes at a price. The Tsarist Empire has to compete with the West on the one hand and invade the Jurchens on the other. It is already a bit stretched. Why should it spend money to support Yarkand? This strategic layout is extremely rare and not in line with the interests."

"I am more inclined to believe that it is an insider!"

Zhou Yuan said: "Then it can only be an insider! Someone in our Great Jin has been in contact with the Tsarist Empire or Yarkand for a long time, leaking key intelligence"It's too late to expose it, so that the other party has a factual basis, and then make this strategic layout under extreme conditions."

"Royal family!"

Xiong Kuohai said: "It can only be the royal family."

Wang Ang was horrified and gritted his teeth and said: "I'll check and see if I can find any clues."

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said: "It's too late, the matter is a foregone conclusion, we are destined to face the war between the East and the West, whether we investigate or not, no matter what the result is, it can't change the war situation itself."

"For the stability of the rear and the stability of the court, we can't investigate now, we have to endure."

Song Wu raised his head, obviously with anger, and said in a deep voice: "Why do royal family members want to sell out the country!"

Zhou Yuan said: "Sell out the country? Ha! In the eyes of those royal family members, the country is theirs, and if the country is not theirs, what's wrong with selling it? ”

“They are not looking at the overall interests of the nation, but the interests of the Chen family. In the past few years, King Jing and King Fu have fallen one after another. Your Majesty and I have firmly grasped the power of the Great Jin Dynasty. They realized that something was wrong.”

“For them, it doesn’t matter if they cede some land or even most of the country. As long as they are left with a little and let them make decisions, it is better than not being able to make decisions at all now.”

Song Wu was so angry that he slammed the table and shouted, “What a bunch of useless dogs! When the war is over, I will settle accounts with them one by one.”

Xiong Kuohai said, “Your Majesty, if there is really a traitor, it must be a clan member. When the two sides are fighting on the battlefield, the clan member will definitely take the opportunity to stir up trouble.”

Wang Ang said, “Stir up trouble, stir up trouble, and make you lose military supplies on the front line, suffer a defeat, and forget about the Great Jin Dynasty. At most, I will accompany them to fight to the death. "

Zhou Yuan patted Lord Wangwang on the shoulder and chuckled, "Don't worry, a group of old dogs eliminated by the times can't play any tricks."

"They have too few things in their hands, at most they can only flutter a few times, the most important thing is the battlefield situation."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment before saying: "The Tsarist Empire claims that 300,000 troops are heading south, but it is hard to say whether there are so many."

"Such a long-distance dispatch involves a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources. Even if they have made these preparations in advance, it is not so easy to do."

"I suspect there are no 300,000 people at all, or only tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of elite troops, and the rest are all prisoners captured from Siberia."

"The latter is more likely, which means that their combat quality may not be high."

"Our battle will not be particularly difficult to fight."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan slowly said: "I am afraid that they will drag it out until winter, which will be difficult to deal with. "

"They are a nation that grew up in the snow, and our soldiers may not be able to withstand it."

At this point, his eyes became sharp and he shouted: "We must fight quickly and decisively!"