Gu Zhong lowered his voice and hinted: "Your Majesty wants to ask Mr. Zhou to take a pulse and tell you that your Majesty is strong and not afraid of traveling far away."

Man Bao instantly understood that he still wanted to lead the expedition in person.

Man Bao glanced at Tang He and could only follow Gu Zhong and turned to the imperial study room, asking in a low voice: "Isn't Xiao Yuanzheng here?"

Gu Zhong said in a low voice: "If one more person speaks, you will naturally be more convinced."

It's strange, if only one doctor can say this kind of thing, who would ask two doctors to testify?

Aren't you afraid that there won't be three hundred taels of silver here?

It must be Xiao Yuanzheng who refuses to testify.

Man Bao weighed it in his mind, what would he say to everyone when they met later?

She had a headache. Why would a little imperial doctor like her get involved in such a political struggle?

The moment he stepped into the imperial study, Man Bao remembered what Mr. Zhuang had told him before. As an official in the court, one should not treat public affairs with private matters. No matter what selfish intentions one has, and what bad consequences he will face, the word justice is the most important.

Main.

Man Bao raised his eyes, okay, that's fair.

As an imperial physician, she only needs to tell the truth. As for other things, she doesn't care.

Man Bao calmed down and walked into the imperial study. With a quick glance, he stood behind Xiao Yuanzheng with his hands folded.

Xiao Yuanzheng turned his head slightly and glanced at her, but said nothing.

As soon as Man Bao raised his head, he saw Bai Shan standing by with his hands tied. The two of them met their eyes, blinked at each other, then lowered their heads, obediently listening to the big bosses discussing politics.

The emperor was calmly instructing his chamberlain to hang up the maps. There were two in total. One was a map from a long time ago collected in the Hanlin Academy, and the other was a current map.

The emperor pointed to the northeast and said angrily: "Check for yourselves, how long has this area been divided by Goguryeo? It was just that before. Now the country is stable and the treasury... is not that poor. Why can't we fight?"

The ministers said that we can fight. They are not opposed to sending troops, they are just opposed to you leading troops.

Even Duke Zhao, who had always been on the emperor's side, couldn't help but euphemistically hint, "Don't confuse us. We didn't say we wouldn't fight, we just refused to allow you to conquer in person."

As soon as the emperor heard that they all agreed to go on the expedition, he skipped the second half of the sentence and said: "Since they all agreed, let's order the troops. It is August now, and the war must be ended before the twelfth lunar month, otherwise it will be too cold and the soldiers will suffer

If you can't stop, I will personally escort you back with 20,000 imperial troops."

Ministers:......

Lord Tang had no choice but to go out and say: "Your Majesty, Goguryeo is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and not easy to fight. What I mean is that it is better to take a short rest and wait until next year to send troops again."

The emperor shook his head and said, "Soldiers are valuable and quick. We will wait until next year. Goguryeo has also recovered and is even more difficult to fight. We just need to take advantage of this moment to attack when he is attacked from both sides."

Yin Li said: "Your Majesty, Silla and Baekje have turned against each other."

The emperor twitched his lips. This news was told to him by Yin Li last night. When he found out, he didn't know how to react.

He really couldn't understand these two vassal states, they simply failed more than succeeded.

Form an alliance to fight against Goguryeo. Even if you want to attack each other, you have to wait until Goguryeo is defeated before fighting again, right?

As a result, in the middle of the war, they started to seize each other's territory, showing no respect for the moral principles of allies.

The emperor felt that these two vassals were not only unintelligent but also had poor moral character. He originally wanted to reward them with Pyongyang as a reward after defeating Goguryeo. After all, that part was too far away and would be difficult to manage.

But this time the emperor changed his mind.

He said: "Then secretly send envoys to Silla and Baekje to ask them to temporarily stop fighting and capture Goguryeo first."

"Your Majesty, the envoys from Goguryeo seeking peace are still staying at the post station of Honglu Temple. How are they going to deal with them?"

"I see, if Goguryeo is willing to take a step back, it is not impossible to make peace." After all, sending troops is easy to say, but once they go out, they will have food, armaments, and heavy money.

Before the emperor could object, some ministers shouted: "No, Goguryeo has no credibility. Three years ago, their prince was still studying in our Imperial College. They dared to send troops to attack Yingzhou, and after being repulsed, they sued for peace. Only then did they

How long have you been thinking about capturing Yingzhou? How can you believe that they are suing for peace?"

The emperor was even more disgusted. He pursed his lips and said: "During the last emperor of the previous dynasty, it was because Goguryeo captured Liaodong that the last emperor sent troops to Goguryeo. They fought back dozens of times and approached Liaodong City, but every time they tried to attack the city, they failed.

Pretending to surrender, it’s a pity that the last emperor didn’t have a long memory and always believed it again and again. This gave them an opportunity to take advantage of. How can I make the same mistake as the last emperor again?”

Speaking of which, the emperor and the late emperor were somewhat related. They were cousins. The emperor hated the late emperor for being cruel, but in this world, he hated Goguryeo even more for going back on his word, so he said: "Let Honglu Temple send someone to

Go and contact them, detain them first and not allow them to send any news back."

"Hmph, they are not the only ones who know how to feign surrender. Let them know first that I intend to respond, but they are not sincere enough, and then restrain their information, and wait for me to take them all with me when I go on a personal expedition.

superior."

Ministers:......

There is nothing wrong with the first part, but can you not add the last sentence?

The ministers were tired and once again expressed their opposition to the last sentence.

The emperor pointed at Xiao Yuanzheng and Zhou Man and said: "Xiao Aiqing and Zhou Qing are here. If you are worried, you can ask them to take my pulse and see if I can mount my horse and kill the enemy."

Wei Zhi said solemnly: "Your Majesty, a gentleman will not stand under a dangerous wall. You are a wise king. Don't you even understand this most basic principle?"

The emperor said: "I will not go to the front line, only in the rear."

"Then what's the point of His Majesty's personal expedition?"

"Of course it's to boost morale," the emperor said with a heavy face: "The last emperor of the previous dynasty conquered Goguryeo three times, but failed to capture Goguryeo. Although the King of Goguryeo appeared to surrender, but if you take a closer look, from the previous dynasty to the present

, when was the King of Goguryeo willing to be summoned to the capital? Paying tribute was sporadic, and he was very arrogant."

"I was able to conquer the Eastern Turks, the Western Turks, Gaochang, and Uighur, so why couldn't I conquer a small Goguryeo?" He said: "Since the founding of this dynasty, I have sent troops to conquer Goguryeo twice, but in the end they all failed.

Finally, this time, I will take it down no matter what."

The emperor said meaningfully: "I am personally conducting the expedition, so why should the soldiers accompanying me on the eastern expedition be worried?"

Wei Zhi pursed his lips and asked: "How many troops does Your Majesty plan to send? What result do you expect? If there is no result even if more than half of the troops are lost, will Your Majesty advance or retreat?"

It was because he was afraid that the emperor would invest troops without restraint like the last emperor of the previous dynasty.

It can be said that the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo was a big reason for the boiling public resentment in the previous dynasty and later. Many people voluntarily cut off their limbs in order to avoid being conscripted.
Chapter completed!