It is approaching New Year's Eve, and the snow is falling, dyeing many roofs of Jiangcheng County white. In such weather, it is natural to be wonderful to be able to warm a pot of good wine at home, simmer two braziers, keep warm and taste wine, and have a few close friends and friends chat and laugh.

This is what Li Ling is now. His friend who has not seen for more than two days is drinking and enjoying the snow in his study, chatting. He sat opposite him, drinking and talking, which was Xu Cang who came from the capital.

Xu Cang came back to his hometown because he missed Li Ling, but because his mother missed her homesickness and was on the New Year's Day, so he filed a few days off with the Censorate and returned to Jiangcheng with his mother, wife and children before the New Year. However, except for Li Ling, he did not let more people know that he was back. At this time, he naturally came to the Li family's door and chatted and laughed.

However, two people who have been in the court for many years cannot talk about too much other things. After talking about some of their situations after separation, the topic naturally turned to the court's official affairs.

"Prime Minister Lu has repeatedly submitted memorials to retire. It seems that His Majesty can no longer keep him this time." Xu Cang said with emotion.

Li Ling was also stunned, but after thinking about it, Lu Zhen's decision was not abrupt. After all, he was almost eighty. Even if he was well maintained on weekdays, the years would be forbidden. Both physically and mentally, it was obvious that he could not bear it.

But after thinking about Lu Zhen's care for himself a few years ago, he still sighed softly: "Prime Minister Lu has really devoted himself to the Great Yue court in this life. I believe that his retirement and resignation will inevitably make His Majesty and the entire court feel at a loss."

"Yes, Lu Xiangzhang may not be able to see how important he is, but once he thinks that he is going to leave the court, many people are like me, and they feel empty and feel a little uneasy."

"But this may not be a bad thing for the prince. By the way, does he have any expression?"

Xu Cang shook his head and smiled, "What can I say? The prince has been too low-key recently. Since His Majesty asked him to think about his mistakes in the East Palace, he has less contact with others. On weekdays, except for the court meetings that he must attend, he never left the gate of the East Palace. Even the prince's subordinates rarely met him, so naturally there is no explanation for this matter."

"Is that so? It seems that he is learning from the previous lessons and intends to waste time with His Majesty." Li Ling guessed. It was not because he slandered the prince, but this was indeed the best way to protect himself at the moment. After all, he is still the prince. As long as he does not make mistakes, the emperor cannot depose and enact for no reason. In this way, when the emperor really has a good fortune, the prince will naturally take office.

Of course, in this way, the prince's influence and power in the court and the opposition will inevitably suffer great setbacks, which will give the British King a chance. So Li Ling then asked again: "What has the prince made achievements recently?"

"The prince has restrained a lot after your case, and has not been constantly gathering his party members and forming gangs like the previous King Yong. Moreover, he has not low requirements for officials who are willing to rely on him, so our power has not developed too quickly in the past six months."

Xu Cang said, remembering another incident: "Oh by the way, just before I was about to leave Beijing, the prince was about to take over the position of commander of the Northern Expedition, and I don't know if he could succeed."

"Northern Expedition?" Li Ling cared more about this statement, "The court is planning to fight the Northern Expedition again? Are the Guirong people from the north starting to feel uneasy again?"

Xu Cang didn't care too much. After drinking a sip of wine, he said, "You can't say you are uneasy. Since they invaded our northern border two years ago, they have lost their troops and lost their generals. The Gui Rong tribes have become much more honest, and even the autumn and winter borders that are often seen in the past have fewer information... However, just the information sent back by some spies who went deep into the north of the Mo, it seems that there is an internal strife inside the Gui Rong. Not only are there attacks between tribes, but several tribes have been annexed because of this."

He said casually, but Li Ling looked solemn. The situation was not very good, because he remembered the development direction in history.

In the original history, there were also many ethnic groups on the northern desert grassland, attacking each other, but they could not pose a threat to the Central Plains dynasty, and even the Liao and Jin countries in the north. Until a real hero was born on the grassland, he rose rapidly with a sweeping across the world, unifying the various tribes of the grassland in just a few years, and then a long journey of conquest.

In the end, these soldiers on the grassland not only defeated the Central Plains, but also passed through the entire Western Regions, conquered the entire continent, and trampled all Western countries under their feet.

I thought that without the later Southern Song Dynasty, Da Yue would regain large areas of territory in the Central Plains and the north, and even the Mongolian tribes were scattered by the Vietnamese army decades ago, there would be no terrible scenes in history. But now it seems that the wheel of history is moving towards the original trajectory, and time is not much different from the original history.

This naturally made Li Ling particularly solemn when he was shocked: "What do you think of the affairs of Mobei? What does the imperial court think about the affairs of Mobei, and how does Your Majesty view their civil strife?"

Xu Cang didn't understand why Li Ling suddenly became interested in such a thing that had little to do with Da Yue, but he still said truthfully: "Most of the people in the court naturally meant that they were happy to see the ghost Rong tribes killing each other. Without the chaos within them, I'm afraid that the border between Da Yue would not have been so stable for two years.

"However, a few people also suggested that we should seize this opportunity and take the initiative to fight the Northern Expedition. Among them, His Highness the King of England was the most urgent, and even volunteered to lead troops to fight the Northern Expedition.

"It's just that there are few princes in my dynasty who have asked the prince to lead troops, so I encountered a lot of resistance. Before I left the capital, there was still no conclusion on this matter."

Speaking of this, he looked at Li Ling again: "Wen Zhong, do you also think Gui Rong will become a big trouble for us?"

Li Ling's face was solemn and said truthfully: "If it were the current Guirong tribes, there would naturally be no great threat. At most, it would suddenly gather the power of the tribes to invade our northern border like in the past two years, causing some trouble to the northern cities. However, if they really combined a force and respected one person as a khan, the situation would be completely different."

Xu Cang also pondered when he heard this, and slowly his face became solemn: "I really haven't thought about this..."

"Yes, don't talk about you, I actually didn't think about it. After all, Gui Rong is a general term, which is composed of the Liao, Jin and Xia tribes that were destroyed by our Great Yue. The language, culture, and survival habits of these tribes are very different, and there are even many hatreds between each other, so it is indeed quite difficult to unify them, and even if they are forcibly unified, there are likely to be repeated.

"But, after all, it's up to man. If a talented person really comes out, just like Qin Shihuang, a thousand years ago, unified the entire Mobei grassland with force and personal prestige? When those soldiers of the Guirong tribe who were just a mess before and who had their own ulterior motives turned into orders and troops like my Great Yue official army, then my northern border is really dangerous, and even the Central Plains world may face the biggest test."

Xu Cang sat there in a daze, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses, and his eyes also showed an uneasy look: "If it is true as you said, I, Dayue, will I really encounter a great disaster. But the question is, will there really be such a person? Does he have that strength to unify the Guirong tribes?"

"It's hard to say. But judging from the current information, it is likely that someone is making such efforts in Guirong's civil strife this time. The prince should have seen the clues and thought of rushing to defeat them before he united the Guirong tribes. As the saying goes, to defend the enemy outside the national gates, so that we can reduce the losses of our dynasty."

Xu Cang was a little moved by him, but after nodding frequently, he smiled bitterly: "It's just that this is obviously unruly. And if you really want to fight the Northern Expedition, there are actually other better coaches, and the King of England may not be qualified."

"No, I think that now the prince and a few people can really take on this important task in the middle school of Dayue." Li Ling had his own opinion.

“How to say it?”

"You think, there are many old generals in the northern border of Dayue now, all of whom are outstanding and famous. But the problem is that no one is lower than anyone else's status. Dong Gong Wangru from the front line of Yunzhou, Bazhou, Yue Lin, who has been guarding Youzhou for many years, and Shen Chongshan from the front line of Jizhou, are also rare commanders and are deeply supported by the border army. Do you think if anyone is in charge, where will the others be placed and let them obey military orders?

"You must know that the most taboo thing in the army is that the general order is not implemented. If two generals or their subordinates are dissatisfied, this worst case may occur."

Xu Cang was stunned. How could he, a scholar, have too much knowledge of military affairs? He said after a while: "It would be better to let the three generals lead one army to fight..."

"Then there will be a big problem of ordering multiple missions and scapegoating. At that time, the three armies will do their own things and fail to cooperate, but will encounter Gui Rong Qixin. If one of them defeats them, the consequences will be even more serious."

Li Ling said, sighing, "So in my opinion, letting the court send someone with enough identity and ability as the commander of the three armies, and then letting the three veteran generals lead troops to the expedition, may be the best way. And this candidate is indeed difficult to find in the court now. If the prince can still be trusted by His Majesty, there will be no problem, or if His Majesty is now, it will be the only way to let His Majesty lead the imperial army in person."

When they said this, both of them laughed. They knew the situation of the prince better than anyone else. How could the emperor feel at ease to hand over such important military power to him? As for the emperor's personal expedition... His Majesty is over 70 years old, and he is not the founding king who will conquer the world immediately. How could he have a royal expedition?
Chapter completed!