When the imperial meeting was held at this point, everyone expressed their thoughts. Military and political officials and noble sects gradually discovered that the Prime Minister, King Rong and King Ying seemed to have different opinions, but in the final analysis, they all seemed to be considering the emperor.

The Prime Minister is the adopted son of the emperor. He is for the face of the emperor. The emperor's last personal expedition cannot be futile. He spends a huge amount of money to conduct an armed parade on the grassland, which will definitely be criticized. King Rong opposed it and changed his plan and made a light army. He seemed more conservative. The emperor's personal expedition was not good at fighting, but it would be even more unfavorable if he failed. If the siege of Baideng and the change of Tumu Fort appeared again, it would be better to march according to the original plan.

As the nobles and generals participated in the discussion, they had reached the point of being in their own opinion. As the emperor, Li Mingxun sat there and watched coldly for a while. After Li Jun could no longer resist, he coughed lightly and immediately there was a silence in the Qing Palace.

"King of Ying, what kind of results will your plan for the fifth-Road Northern Expedition?" Li Mingxun asked.

Li Jundu said bluntly: "My son naturally hopes that his father can accomplish his contributions in one battle, destroy the northern desert in one fell swoop, and destroy the remnants of the Qing Dynasty."

Li Mingxun nodded slightly: "Obviously, this battle result is hard to achieve, so what if you want to be second best?"

Li Jundu could not answer for a moment. He made a plan for the purpose of completely annihilated the Qing army. After all, this was a national war, an expedition that was devoted to all its might. If he could not gather the remnants of the Qing Dynasty, the results would be somewhat unsuccessful.

Li Mingxun stood up, walked off the imperial throne, took the baton, drew a small circle in Mobei, and said: "This is the Mongolian Plateau, the Xiongnu, Donghu, Xianbei, Wuhuan, Rouran, Gaoche, Turks, Uighurs, Khitan, Mongolia, except for the Jurchens, Manchus and other ethnic minorities, almost all nomadic regimes have risen here. The harsh natural environment makes the soldiers here brave and arduous to fight, and the relatively closed natural environment makes the Central Plains dynasty afraid of it. As long as a hero is born, a powerful tribe will be born here, and then a nomadic regime. The Mongolian Plateau is the place where nomadic peoples are bred. When they develop to a certain extent, they will cross the Xing'an Mountains and enter Liaodong, or cross the vast sea to enter the south of the desert, come into contact with agricultural civilization in the Liaohetao and the Yellowhetao, thus obtaining advanced technology and a more plump grassland, becoming a nomadic-agricultural hybrid, and becoming a threat to the Central Plains dynasty.

When the Central Plains dynasty was interested in the walls that spread the desert south and Liaodong, plowed the grounds of the temple and destroyed the nomadic peoples on the Mongolian Plateau, the nomadic people would move westward and cross the Altai Mountains to enter the Western Regions. The Western Regions oasis was scattered and it was difficult to create a powerful regime. Often thousands of cavalry could sweep away. The nomadic regime had a chance to recuperate in the Western Regions, or made a comeback or dominate the country. In the history of thousands of years, similar scripts have been staged.

This is also the reason why I strongly advocate attacking the northern desert. The white mountains and black waters are already in my hands, and the empire is also in the Western Regions. As long as I control the Mongolian Plateau, the empire will no longer have any powerful threats on the continent. This is the empire's century-old foundation...."

The emperor introduced the geopolitics of the empire and the thousand-year history of China in a steady language, thus extending the strategy of the Northern Expedition. Those who were present had more or less heard of these words. The Ming Dynasty was the lesson of the empire. After three hundred years of Ming Dynasty, except for Taizu and Chengzu, it was suppressed by the nomadic regime for 200 years. The entire empire's finances and resources were invested in the defense of the border walls. Obviously, the empire that believed in expansion, especially the ocean expansion, could not accept such a situation. Because of this, people with vision supported the emperor's Northern Expedition plan.

But the people in front of the emperor didn't know why the emperor said this. Li Mingxun's next sentence made everyone understand: "The Northern Expedition is a national strategy, not a military strategy. The empire's strategic goal of the Northern Expedition is to complete the actual control of the northern desert plateau. There is one thing called actual control: one is whether the empire can establish actual rule locally, and the other is whether the empire can remove the surrounding military threats."

"The first point is undoubtedly." Li Hai was the first to express his attitude.

China's history is the history of the struggle between nomadic civilization and agricultural civilization. In all dynasties, there were four dynasties in the Han, Tang, Yuan and Qing dynasties that could actually rule the grassland. Of course, regimes like the Yuan Dynasty, which were established by grassland nations, did not have much reference value to the empire. In addition, the Ming Dynasty was a completely negative textbook. Chengzu's five northern expeditions achieved undisputed military success, but it still could not solve the threat from the north because it did not implement local rule.

Among the three dynasties of the Han, Tang and Qing dynasties, if the actual ruling time was, the Han and Qing dynasties were far superior to the Tang dynasty, but if the ruling was effective and reasonable, the Qing dynasty was the top priority. The Han and Tang dynasties mainly ruled the grasslands and the Western Regions, and appointed local tribal leaders as officials to rule. It can be said that they were successful and failed. The Zasak system implemented by the Qing dynasty in the nomadic areas not only actually controlled the grasslands, but also "turned enemies into friends", turning the biggest threat to the Mongolian tribes into regular troops of the Qing dynasty. In the end, Mongolia had few rebellions in the Qing dynasty, but instead became the pawns of the Qing court's use of troops against Junggar, Tibet, Russia and other soldiers. The empire's appeasement zone system was precisely because of its effectiveness of its rule that the empire's appeasement zone system was basically derived from the Zasak system of the Qing Dynasty, but there were few details such as marriage.

From the facts, the establishment of the appeasement zone was extremely successful. The empire fully completed its control over the grasslands in the south of the desert, and similar systems could also be extended to the northern desert.

"What the Prime Minister said is that if the empire expeditions in the north, the Qing court got the news and fled westward, and the Manchus and Mongolian tribes followed, the empire was not nothing. The Manchus took cattle, sheep, horses, and Mongolian herders, but they could not take away the plump pastures and rivers, and mountains and rivers. We could move part of the direct-level flag subordinates and vassal Zasak, occupying the land there, conducting development, and then stationing some troops. We could use the land in the north of the desert to block all threats in the northern wall, pushing thousands of miles in front of the wall, and reaching a million troops in a corner. In this way, it would be a great victory." Li Decan, president of the Lifan Academy, praised it with a high high.

But after saying that, the Qianqing Palace was quiet. Li Decan found that many people were looking at him and was suddenly disappointed. His speech just now stole the prime minister's limelight, but also interrupted the emperor's rhythm.

Li Mingxun smiled and continued, "As Li Decan said, even if we have no results in the Northern Expedition and only obtain land, we can achieve established strategic goals through immigration and settlement. However, we cannot pursue such results. If we immigrate to the northern desert, even if Mongolian herdersmen drive cattle and sheep to the northern desert, it will be very detrimental. Moreover, if the Qing court immigrates too many herders in the northern desert, they will be able to master enough power and still threaten the northwest border of the empire.

Therefore, our military goal should be to keep the Manchu and Mongolian tribes controlled by the Qing Dynasty as much as possible. In the Five-Road Northern Expedition Plan formulated by the British King, the plan of the Western Route Army and the Left-wing Army to capture their retreat was feasible, but just this is not enough. We need more solutions."

Li Mingxun finished speaking, and Prince Li Junhua said: "Father, my son-in-law thinks that he might be able to work hard to recruit and appease. Although nomadic peoples live in water and grass and do not have much local complex, large-scale migration will always lose a lot of cattle, sheep and livestock. If we forgive their sins and give them certain treatment, I think many people will choose to stay instead of going to the unknown distance."

"The prince is right."

"We also think this way."

A group of political officials have spoken out to support them. First, this is the area they are good at, and they understand better than those military plans. Second, recruiting and reprimanding is more cost-effective than war, and the pressure on military spending will be much less.

"Today's imperial meeting discusses military plans, and what you said will be discussed separately in the future." Li Mingxun reminded.

Li Junhua was disappointed. It seemed that the protagonist of the imperial meeting would not change. Li Mingxun looked at his eldest son, but Li Jundu didn't say much.

"Do you generals have good ideas?" Li Mingxun asked the generals again.

The generals looked at each other, and Pei Chengyi finally stood up and said, "If we want to minimize the migration of the northern tribes in the west, we will recommend changing the time of march. According to our original plan, we will advance in May, and it will rain heavily in summer. The army will advance along the river, which will make water convenient, and there will be sufficient combat time. We can solve the main battle before it snows in the northern desert in September. Four months is sufficient. However, gathering grass and flying eagles in summer and autumn is also a good time for Mongolian tribes to migrate. At present, our speed of march may not be as fast as the speed of tribes' migration."

"Then when do you think it's more appropriate to advance?" Li Hai asked with a frown. Although the original advancement time was conducive to tribal migration, it was also conducive to the advancement and retreat of the army. After all, the emperor personally fought for it, so the fewer risks and accidents, the better.

Pei Chengyi did not hesitate: "Winter, march in winter!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the Qianqing Palace.

"General Pei is careful. If there is wind and snow in winter, it will be a disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into the snow without the enemy attacking them, and they will be destroyed by themselves!"

"No, winter is too dangerous, the road is blocked, and even the supply and food cannot be transported. The outside world is bitter and cold. I don't know how many soldiers will die of illness. His Majesty personally seeks the battle. What if there is any good or bad thing!"

There was a lot of noise in the Qianqing Palace. Li Mingxun knocked on the floor tiles with his baton to calm down. He signaled Pei Chengyi to continue.

Pei Chengyi said: "Originally, the Imperial General proposed to the War Office for the winter, but considering many factors, it was rejected. Today, what Your Majesty said made the Imperial General suddenly understand and felt that we would march into our army in winter. You all know that the grassland tribes must find a winter pasture to spend the winter and slaughter some excess animals. Life is very difficult. If our army can enter the northern desert area in winter, the migration of the Manchu and Mongolian tribes will lose many cattle and sheep. If they do not move, they will be captured by our army. Just imagine, if the Qing court felt defeated and was determined to move westward, and it will take thousands of miles to travel, and I don't know how many animals and herders would die, our army would kill people without a knife, and punish the Tartars with heaven. The harm of winter migration is impossible for the Manchu and Mongolian chiefs to know. If we can only recruit them at that time, just imagine that migration is a serious injury to the vitality and peace. How many people are willing to move?

Even if the Qing court successfully moved, it would have to go through the most difficult spring on the grassland. The old grass has been gone and the new grass has not yet grown, and it is another major disaster. Not only will the migration, but I will think that there are many other benefits to advance in winter."

Li Mingxun smiled and saw Pei Chengyi spitting everywhere, saying, "Come on, give General Pei tea."

Pei Chengyi thanked him for his kindness, and drank tea and continued, "Then two years ago, when King Cheng advanced to the west, a reinforcement army set out from Gansu and crossed the Gobi desert to Hami in winter. At the end, he also checked the archives in this area and found that there were many benefits. One is that it was convenient to obtain water. On the grassland, there was little snow in winter, especially in the windward places, snow often accumulated above the knees. These snow can be used as water. Although it is necessary to carry more firewood, there is no need to transport water, and the transportation capacity is not a big thanks.

The second is the convenience of carriages. In order to fight the Northern Expedition, the empire built the highway from Datong to Guihua City, and from the capital to Yanbei, where heavy-loaded carriages could be used. Even so, there would be no way to the front. Therefore, according to the army's supply plan, after the army set off, it would use camels, mules and horses to carry baggage as the main supply means, and tens of thousands of large animals were needed. If the ground was advanced in winter, the ground was frozen and hard, heavy-loaded carriages could be fully loaded with the army. The efficiency of carriages was much higher than that of carrying bags, and fewer people were used."

Pei Chengyi did not make too much preparation, so that's all that can be said, but it can be seen that the emperor likes Pei Chengyi's views very much, but those who attended the imperial meeting did not think so. The generals were too concerned about the danger of winter march, while government officials were worried about the increase in costs such as winter clothing.

Seeing that the quarrel was about to start again, Li Mingxun hurriedly controlled the situation: "Let's be quiet. What General Pei said does make sense. Don't worry too much. General Pei didn't say that hundreds of thousands of people were all going in winter, nor did he say that it was before or after snow. Whether he could march in winter on the grasslands should be considered from multiple perspectives. Don't blame him.

Let’s come here for today’s meeting. Just take it as a throwing brick and arousing your jade. When you go back, you will think carefully and discuss it later. General Pei, you are ready to go back. Haha, next time you will be verbally fighting against all the scholars.”

Pei Chengyi knew that it was not easy, so he quickly thanked him. When the generals and officials retreated, only the prince of the clan was left in the Qianqing Palace. Li Dingguo smiled and said, "Pei Chengyi is the leader among the generals of the middle-aged and young generation. No wonder His Majesty let him stay at the forefront for so many years."

Li Mingxun nodded and said, "Pei Chengyi is good, down-to-earth and willing to work hard, and has a deep understanding of the situation on the grassland. This Northern Expedition, we must use him well."

"But this winter march may not necessarily be listened to him..." Li Dingguo was a little worried.
Chapter completed!