Zuo You walked towards the steps from the base of Jinxiang Hall, and couldn't help but stop and look to the west. (The fastest and most stable update) There were dark clouds in the sky, but the cloud hanging westward was the brightest, and the sun was hidden inside. At this time, in addition to listening to the bells and drums on the city tower, the most intuitive way to judge the time is to see the height of the sun.

He walked out of the imperial city through the corridor next to Xuande Gate. He was about to get on his own carriage waiting on the Imperial Street, but he saw Wang Pu's ceremonial guard and stopped by the side of the road. Sure enough, Wang Pu also walked down from the carriage. The officials all had their own pomp, so it was easy to see on the street.

Zuo You begged to the opposite side through the Imperial Street. Wang Pu also returned the greeting next to the carriage.

After the etiquette, Zuo Youcai walked across the Imperial Street with his servants and met and greeted Wang Pu.

At this time, Zuo You looked at a construction site on the east side of the south side of the imperial city, pointed at and said, "Is that the temple built by the inner warehouse?"

Wang Pu said calmly: "It is called Xuanren Merit Pavilion. All civil and military officials who have made contributions to the country and the people in this dynasty will have tablets placed in them after their death, and there will be portraits and life-making records to carve steles for future generations to sacrifice and feel for every year."

Zuo You said: "The officials read the memorial before, and it seems that they were built to burn paper to sacrifice to the fallen soldiers."

"That's right." Wang Pu said.

The two of them talked about it, and suddenly fell into silence at the same time. Zuo You was wondering whether his portrait would be hung inside and whether he would become a respected minister in the future?... I guess Wang Pu was thinking that way.

After a while, the two looked at each other and Wang Pu said, "It's getting late, I'm going to take the lead."

Zuo You blurted out: "The king's envoy's family is also on the east side, why not take a car together?"

After hearing this, Wang Pu laughed and said, "Since we invite each other, I am better to obey my orders than to be respectful."

At this time, the focus of the Great Zhou court was not on guard against the formation of cliques by the court officials. The more serious military generals did not control their brothers and sisters, and the civil servants didn't care who they had a personal relationship with. So they took the same car without any worries.

Zuo You got into the car and asked in a low voice: "The King's Envoy also advocates using troops against the Liao Kingdom first?"

Wang Pu pondered for a long time and said, "At the beginning of the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Jing Wen and Jing rested, and Emperor Wu of Han reduced his vassals and started a war with the Huns..."

After hearing this, Zuo You thought to himself, if the Great Zhou Dynasty had been recuperating for two generations, what else would we do?

Wang Pu continued: "But this time is different from the Han Dynasty. In the early Han Dynasty, the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty, and after the melee at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the world was depressed and the population dropped sharply. It is said that Emperor Gaozu of Han wanted to find four horses of the same color. At that time, it was impossible to have the strength to fight the Huns.

The situation in the Great Zhou Dynasty was much better than in the early Han Dynasty. In Shu and south of the Yangtze River, it had been cultivated for decades, and there was almost no damage. In the Central Principles, the military troops were sufficient, and the warehouse was full of food and fodder, and the imperial guards were strong and the horses were strong. We had the strength to continue fighting.

In addition, the Liao Kingdom is now in a civil strife, and the internal situation is relatively loose, so the time is excellent; but their strength has not been damaged, and as long as a strong master appears, they can quickly recover their offensive power. So I advocated a few years ago that it should not be too late to go to war with the Liao Kingdom."

"It can't be too late." Zuo You completely agreed.

Wang Pu said: "From the previous emperor to the present, there has been a wavering within the Great Zhou Dynasty (to put it more euphemistically). My original proposal was that the country still needed to be consolidated and make plans for a long-term battle with the Liao Kingdom after full preparations.

However, the battle of Jinyang surprised Wang Pu, and his view on this changed. If we can quickly conquer Youzhou and recover Hebei first, the situation will be very good."

Zuo You was not very proficient in military affairs; while Wang Pu was a civil servant, he had served in the Privy Council for a long time and was very familiar with military affairs strategies. Zuo You asked, "If you can conquer Youzhou, can you recover Hebei?"

Wang Pu said: "Of course, at least the chance of winning is very high. Youzhou City is an important city, dominating Hebei, and there is no such a thick city south of Yanshan Mountain. If you occupy this city, you will have a support."

Zuo You didn't think very well about this general statement.

Wang Pu seemed to see that Zuo You was not a person who could understand the military affairs at all. He then took a breath and said in a deep voice: "The situation is like this. It is estimated that it has been many confrontations with the Liao army over the years... (The Great Zhou army is now stronger than before). The Zhou army is not afraid of the Liao army in the field, otherwise there would be nothing to fight in the attack; if you stay in the city and fight with people, how can you talk about attacking?

However, after the main force of the Liao army went south, there were more horse soldiers and stronger mobility; they could not set up a battle with us and achieved a victory or defeat. As long as the main general of the Liao army knew about the troops, they would definitely try to find opportunities. Even if they were defeated ten times, they could repel the Zhou army's attack and even gathered to defeat the main force of the Zhou army's infantry. Even if the Zhou army won ten times, they could not completely eliminate the Liao army's reinforcements, and they would not dare to siege the city under the threat of the Liao army... Unless the military strength far exceeds the Liao army, they would dare to siege the city while fighting the Liao army's reinforcements while fighting the Liao army's reinforcements; otherwise they would be defeated faster by inside and outside.

But once the Great Zhou Dynasty has occupied Youzhou City, it will be different.

Infantry defends the city, and the cavalry moves inside and outside the city. If the Liao army first attacks the cavalry outside the city, the horse soldiers will move closer to the city, and the infantry and cavalry will fight together. If the Liao army dares to attack the city, the infantry will form a formation on the back of the city, and the cavalry will threaten the Liao army's back at any time.

The timing was not good, so the Zhou army retreated to the city and waited for the fighter. The Liao army had no chance to remove Youzhou City, and a large number of horse soldiers went on the expedition. As time went on, it was more wasteful than our dynasty."

Zuo You pondered for a long time and asked again: "Is there enough food and grass in Youzhou?"

Wang Pu said: "The Liao Kingdom has always operated Youzhou, and there is a large amount of grain stored inside and outside, not to mention eating on the battlefield, and the grain and grass gathered by the army after siege in the early stage; even if it is temporarily delivered, it is still time. The Liao army is not strong enough to siege the city. How can we prevent the Great Zhou from transporting grain from the country?"

Zuo You said: "The horse soldiers raid the food road."

Wang Pu frowned and looked at Zuo You: "If Youzhou is in the hands of our dynasty and has strong offensive strength, the main force of the Liao army must be stationed in the north, otherwise what about their food route and retreat?

The Hebei wilderness is thousands of miles away. Unless the Liao army can completely cut off the traffic in the south of Youzhou and encircle Youzhou from the outside, it will not be able to stop our dynasty's supply. It is inevitable that harassment will cause a lot of losses to deliver food on the battlefield. The Great Zhou army also has cavalry looking for opportunities to counterattack, and the Liao army will also have to take risks in harassment."

After hearing this, Zuo You sighed and said, "The officials did not intend to argue with the king, but the ministers and others were planning for the king, so they dared not understand it at all."

Wang Pu said calmly: "I understand."

Zuo You deliberately breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I am good at fighting now, maybe the situation on the battle formation is better than we plan."

Wang Pu said: "That is, when we debated, we did not weigh the lords of the two countries. The Emperor of Great Zhou is wiser than the lord of Liao... The battlefield changes rapidly, and we have to look at the hearts of the superiors and subordinates after all."

He pondered for a moment and said, "I have also had many trade-offs and cons, and the most important reason is that even if the Northern Expedition fails, with Your Majesty's clarity, the situation will not be too bad; the situation in Liao Kingdom at this time will not be as good as us."
Chapter completed!