Late autumn is coming, and winter is coming.

The cold wave in the north had already come earlier, but Dingwu had already put on fur clothes. Although the gorgeous fur clothes were warm and comfortable to wear, Dingwu still felt the bone-black chill soaked in his whole body.

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

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

Although the situation was critical, Dingwu still supported himself with his tenacious perseverance. He was the last pillar of the empire. Since the day of ascending the throne, Dingwu has been silently telling himself that he must not collapse until the last moment.

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

The soldiers and horses on the Western Front collapsed, the main general Feng Polu was killed, and Zhou Ting jumped into the city to commit suicide.

The Yi barbarians retreated at the last moment, and An Lei and Fan Persie's tribes left without saying goodbye, and their whereabouts were unknown. What made Dingwu even more angry was that Yuan Chongshang, the governor of Anyi, actually rebelled and surrendered to Chu Huan, and even helped Chu Huan take down Yunshan Prefecture.

The defense of the entire western front was destroyed in one go. Chu Huan, who occupied Yunshan, could step into Hexi at any time.

Ding Wu really didn't understand why such a major change occurred on the Western Front in just a short time. Although he did not trust the Yi Barbarians and only temporarily used the Yi Barbarians as tools, in order to prevent the Yi Barbarians from causing any changes, he deliberately placed the patriarchs of the Thirteen Yi Barbarians under house arrest in Wuping Mansion. However, in the end, the Yi Barbarians still betrayed the empire.

After Dingwu ascended the throne, he was physically inconvenient and was in the northern mirror, so he did not go on the morning court on the morning. Many things were submitted by the officials below, and he reviewed the rulings. The Divine Uniform Guard arranged in the city became his eyes and ears to control Wuping Prefecture City.

But at this moment of crisis, Dingwu finally summoned the ministers and held an emergency court meeting.

Of course, there were not many people in this court discussion, and dozens of ministers were placed on both sides. Dingwu looked at the two ministers and felt a loneliness in his heart.

He knew in his heart that just these people in front of him could not have any clever plans. Half were officials brought by the emperor from the capital, and the other half were local officials in Hexi.

When he took over half of the country, there were few people in the court who could speak out like Zhou Ting, who were as brave as he could speak out and make suggestions.

Zhou Ting was loyal to himself in Yunshan, which made Dingwu feel very regretful. If he had known that this was the result, it would be better to keep Zhou Ting by his side.

"My dear friends, you already know the specific situation. How to deal with it next? I wonder what good ideas do you have?" Dingwu asked slowly.

All the ministers were interested in each other, but none of them came forward to speak.

Dingwu frowned, looked at Lin Yuanfang, the Minister of Personnel, and said lightly: "Lin Aiqing, what are your opinions?"

Lin Yuanfang's eyes twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Sage, when Yunshan was defeated, Feng Polu did not follow the will of the emperor and went to fight without permission. The crime was unforgivable. But he is now dead. I think I can't let it go. I ask to arrest all his family and behead them all." Seeing that Dingwu's brows were even tighter, he hurriedly said, "There are still barbarians, and they are fleeing in the battle. I ask to kill these two chiefs together."

When the other ministers heard this, they nodded one after another.

Dingwu said lightly: "Lin Aiqing, can we turn the situation around if we kill these people now? Can we retake the West Mountain?"

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

"What I want is a response, not a pursuit of guilt." Dingwu stared at Lin Yuanfang, "Chu Huan has occupied Yunshan. It takes less than ten days and half a month to enter the Hexi Corridor and pass through the Hexi Corridor. The Wuping Mansion is exposed in front of Chu Huan. I am now asking you, how should you deal with such a dangerous situation?" Looking at Ma Hong, he said, "Ma Hong, you said!"

Ma Hong's body was shocked and he stepped out and said, "Master, this minister thinks that he should quickly mobilize troops to strengthen the defense of the Hexi Corridor. Once Chu Huan controls the Hexi Corridor, he will be able to advance and retreat freely, and the consequences will be unimaginable." He looked up at Dingwu with a glance, and then continued, "So I said frankly that the battle situation in Yanshan is in full swing. At this time, there are many difficulties to recover Xishan. For the sake of the present, I can only defend the Hexi Corridor first, wait for the Liaodong Army to defeat, and then mobilize troops to attack Xishan!"

When Dingwu heard this, his face calmed down and said, "This is a bit reasonable."

After hearing what Dingwu said, Ma Hong had some energy and continued: "I thought Chu Huan had just captured Yunshan. Even if he wanted to march into Hexi, he would have to wait until the rear was stable. Chu Huan would still take some time to fully control the Xishan Mountain. Moreover, as far as I know, he did not have many troops under his command, so he should not dare to send troops to Hexi easily. The court can take this opportunity to deploy defenses in the Hexi Corridor, use the terrain of the Hexi Corridor to prepare for defense."

"I know what you mean." Dingwu nodded and said, "There are still various outposts in the Hexi Corridor area, and there are also two thousand soldiers and horses defending there. But this little force is naturally not enough. I want to ask you what to do if you want to increase your troops in the Hexi Corridor?"

Ma Hong seemed to have thought of it for a long time and said, "Reporting to the emperor, the soldiers and horses in Yanshan cannot be transferred, and the tens of thousands of troops in the garrison of Wuping City cannot act rashly. However, the emperor had issued an order to train young men and women. There were still tens of thousands of young men and women in the heavenly palace. Now it is time to hire people, and I think it is time for them to go into battle."

"Yao Chong, do you hear what Ma Hong said?" Dingwu raised his head and looked at a general.

The general came from the Royal Guards and was also a powerful general in the Empire. In order to train tens of thousands of young and strong men, Dingwu specially rewarded Yao Chong to send him over. Today, the court held a meeting, but he sent someone to summon him back.

Yao Chong is not a stupid person. Today, the court discussed, Dingwu sent someone to recall him, which had already suggested the emperor's intentions. He stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, my training has been short, and these young and strong people have not yet formed combat power. I'm afraid!" He hesitated for a while and finally said: "But as long as the emperor gives an order, I will lead these people to the front line."

Many people present actually knew very well that letting those people take action at this time was undoubtedly a rush to put them on the shelves.

A real soldier not only needs to be trained for a long time, but also needs to have experience in fighting.

Not to mention that those people have no experience in fighting, and they have not even completed the most basic training, I am afraid they can't use the big sword and spear, let alone the formation cooperation, etc.

It sounds like tens of thousands, but in the eyes of the real army, it is just a group of Wuhe people. If these people really fight, once they meet the brave Northwest Army, they will undoubtedly be sent to the tiger's mouth.

Some people even thought to themselves that instead of letting these people go out, it is better to train quickly. Before the Northwest Army arrives, they can master some combat skills. Once the Northwest Army really comes, they can let these people enter the city to guard the city. Wuping Prefecture City is huge and strong, and has a huge city-defense force, so it may not be impossible to repel the Northwest Army.

But at this time, who dares to say something more?

Before Dingwu could speak, Yao Chong changed his mind and said, "It's just that before sending troops, I have something to ask the emperor to beg him for approval."

"What's the matter?"

"I ask the emperor to allocate a deposit to settle the family." Yao Chong looked embarrassed: "In fact, these days, those people have been making noises in private to go back to their homes many times. Just a few days ago, someone even wanted to sneak away. It was me who killed several escaped soldiers, which made them safe. They were all young and strong people who summoned to build the palace, before!" Speaking of this, hesitated but dared not continue.

Dingwu raised his hand and said, "If you have anything to say, it's okay. Even if you say something wrong, I will forgive you for not guilty."

Yao Chong then plucked up his courage and said, "Report to the emperor, when these people built the palace, Feng Yuandao had no shortage of three meals a day, and promised them that once the palace was built, everyone would receive a wage. However, the emperor had already issued an order to stop the project of the Heavenly Palace and sent many people home. They were still complaining in private and talking!"

Dingwu said lightly: "But it's okay to say it."

Yao Chong said: "They complained privately that the court had no faith and not only did not pay wages, but even three meals a day have now become two meals a day!"

Ma Hong is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was afraid that the matter would be involved, so he couldn't help but say, "General Yao, you should know that the Ministry of Revenue is limited in money and grain, and the front-line war is the main focus. The soldiers on the front line are fighting bloodily, so the Ministry of Revenue naturally cannot lose their money and grain. As for the people in the Tiangong Palace, they will not be able to use much energy to stop building the Tiangong Palace. They can provide two meals a day, which consumes a lot of grain storage. As for wages, there are now places where money is used everywhere, and where is there any extra silver to pay them? What's more, it was Feng Yuanpo's promise to them at the beginning. Even if they asked them to find Feng Yuanpo, they could not pay Feng Yuanpo's promise, and the court would have to repay it."

"I naturally understand the meaning of Mabutang." Yao Chong looked embarrassed: "But these days, those people have complained more and more privately. As far as I know, many people are saying that if they want to work hard, they must first let them settle their families. Not to mention that if they cannot eat enough, they will not endure it and not starve to death, but they will never ignore the old and young people in the family, and just hold a big knife to die!" Seeing that Dingwu's face was not good, he hurriedly bowed: "I am wronged, please punish the emperor!"

Dingwu shook his head slightly, without any reproach, and asked, "How much money do you think you need to comfort these people?"

Yao Chong thought for a while and said, "There are nearly 30,000 people there. If you want to resettle the family and let them have no worries, ten taels of silver will be indispensable for each person. This is the lowest amount. Just as you are about to go into battle, the consumption of military horse equipment and other equipment is also quite large!"

Dingwudao: "That will cost at least 300,000 taels of silver." Looking at Ma Hong, he asked, "Ma Hong, can Curry allocate 100,000 taels of silver to die?"
Chapter completed!