In the court, there were endless arguments.

The war faction and the peace faction each expressed their own opinions and began to quote from other sources, quoting the words of saints and historical allusions from previous dynasties. In short, they all felt that they made sense.

As for the emperor, he looked impatiently on the throne as the two groups of people in the audience quarreled with each other, his face quite impatient.

Obviously, the emperor who had just ascended the throne had not yet adapted to his status well.

At this time, he actually hated the behavior of these ministers. He felt that their empty talk was hurting the country, but no one could give him a good plan that convinced him, and there was no word that he could make an immediate decision and follow them.

In the eyes of the emperor, this was obviously the incompetence of the ministers.

At this time, both Li Boxi and Tang Qin may seem to be working for the country and the monarch, but in the eyes of the emperor, they probably have their own selfish motives.

It's hard to trust.

Seeing that the two sides had yet to come up with a result from the argument, the emperor turned his attention to Chu Ge, who had been silent.

Chu Ge's position at this time was Yushi Zhongcheng. Although his rank was not the highest, he was the highest official in Yushitai. He had powers and the right to speak.

Moreover, judging from the look the emperor cast on him, it seemed that... the emperor valued his opinions quite a bit?

Qi Yingzong paused briefly and said in a majestic tone that he was not familiar with: "Li Qing, what do you think should be done about this matter?"

Chu Ge's name in this copy is Li Hao. Hearing the emperor's question about himself, he thought for a while and replied: "Back to the official house, I believe that war and peace are both necessary means. You cannot just ask for war, but also

No compromise is allowed for peace.

"The Jin people are coming now with a fierce force, which is different from the powerful enemies before our dynasty.

"The Jin people have swallowed up the entire north, and their morale is at a high level. At this time, they are probably thinking of overthrowing our dynasty. As the Tang Prime Minister said, it is probably impossible to persuade the Jin people to retreat with some gold and silver.

"So, no matter how high the price we give, the Jin people will definitely continue to open their mouths, thinking that our government must be able to offer more... In this way, it will be a bottomless pit.

"So, the battle in the capital is inevitable.

"But it will be difficult to fight for long. Our soldiers are poorly trained and their combat power cannot compete with the Jin people.

"If we fight rashly in the field, we will only be defeated by the Jin people one by one.

"The only way is to defend the capital and wait for the Qinwang army from all over the world. When our military strength reaches an absolute advantage, especially when the old Xianggong Zhongpingyuanzhong of the Western Army arrives, it is possible to win in a single battle.

"Only when the Jin people are unable to attack for a long time and are deep in the hinterland of our empire can there be hope for peace talks.

"The key is that this time the Jin soldiers went south, our army was defeated at the first touch, and the capital was in danger. This has sounded the alarm for our country.

"This time, we must first defend the capital, wait for King Qin's army to assemble and repel the Jin army, formulate a consensus, and then organize the army to prepare for war. It will take a few years to build a strong army that can compete with the Jin army, and then the world can

No worries.”

Chu Ge's words are basically the best solution in the eyes of later generations.

Everyone knows about the combat effectiveness of the Jin soldiers at this time, but with the current level of the Qi Dynasty, there is no way they can fight.

However, although there is no danger to defend near the capital at this time, relying on the city wall, it is not a big problem to defend the first wave.

To avoid the disgrace of Jingping, in Chu Ge's view, the key points are as follows: first, like in the original history, rely on Li Boxi's power to defend the capital;

The second was to persuade the emperor to wait until the Western Army in Pingyuan was completely ready before going out to fight, so as to gain an advantage in the field and force the Jin people to negotiate a peace;

The third is to secure the main force of the Western Army, make proper preparations, lift the siege of Taiyuan City, and continue to increase Taiyuan's defensive strength;

The fourth is to take this opportunity to strengthen the Yellow River defense line and guard against the second invasion of the Jin soldiers more than half a year later, which caused the Jingping Incident;

The fifth is to promote General Han Fuyue and others after seeking temporary peace, organize the army and prepare for war, and then give full support from the whole country. At that time, they can cross the Yellow River, regain Yanyun, and even attack Huanglong and destroy it.

Fall into the Kingdom of Gold.

If these steps can be completed smoothly, then the Qi Dynasty's Guozuo can at least continue for many more years. With Yanyun and other important towns, properly managed, it can even withstand the rise of the Northern Barbarians and drag them to the point of internal division of the Northern Barbarians.

one day.

If Chu Ge's identity at this time was Qi Yingzong, then no one else would need to propose these five steps. He could just arrange for Li Boxi and other reliable ministers to do it himself.

But at this time he was not the emperor, but just a censor Zhongcheng, so he could only give suggestions.

As for how much the emperor can listen to, only God knows.

In fact, Chu Ge also had other options, such as completely turning to the warring faction or the peace-promoting faction, but this was his first attempt after all. After some consideration, he decided to tell all these things.

In the court, it may not be possible to carry out all these things, but it is useful to arouse some consensus among knowledgeable people.

However, what surprised Chu Ge was that Qi Yingzong had a slightly dissatisfied expression on his face.

"Well, what Li Qing said makes sense."

Is it just "reasonable"... This is obviously the best solution under the current situation!

Chu Ge took a closer look at the reactions of other ministers to him, and found that Li Boxi, the leader of the war faction, seemed a little surprised when he looked at him, but there was also some appreciation in the surprise; as for Tang Qin, his expression when he looked at him was

It is full of doubts, and there is also some emotion and sigh in the doubts.

…

This court meeting ended up being unhappy.

Seeing the Jin soldiers approaching, the court still did not discuss a very clear plan.

In the end, Qi Yingzong only reluctantly made the decision and ordered all the towns and elite soldiers from all over the world to rush to the capital Qinwang. As for the mess of the capital's defense, he was a wise man and left it all to Li Boxi.

Chu Ge didn't know whether Qi Yingzong made this decision because of his own analysis. After all, the reason why the capital could be defended in history was mainly due to Li Boxi.

I hope that my words will have some effect in the ears of the emperor and ministers!

When leaving the court meeting, Chu Ge was about to drive back home, but he didn't expect Li Boxi to stop him.

At this time, Li Boxi was already quite old, but he had a domineering look on his face, and he did not look like a scholar at all. Moreover, his body was quite strong, and his fists as big as sandbags gave people an inexplicable feeling that he was very capable of hitting.

"I have always thought that you, Zhi Zheng, are the best at figuring out what is best for you, so you are now the censor Zhongcheng, and you often speak out for justice, but I have always had some opinions about you.

"It's just your speech in the court today that made me change my opinion. When this army is in danger, I hope Chizheng can put aside his previous prejudices and guard the country of Qi Dynasty together."

Chu Ge nodded quickly: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, we will do our best!"

…

After returning to the mansion, Chu Ge had dinner and paced back and forth in the study.

He was thinking about why the emperor and the officials in the court reacted like this to him after he said those words.

"The key issue here is Li Boxi's impression of me.

"It can be seen that after what I said, Li Boxi's attitude towards me changed. He said that before, he thought that I was good at figuring out what was going on, so he criticized me quite a lot.

"So this is what my character looks like...

"No wonder the emperor was a little disappointed with what I said, and there was something wrong with the way Tang Qin looked at me."

"Good at figuring out the best ideas" is definitely not a good evaluation.

Of course, in terms of officialdom, being able to figure out what the emperor is thinking at this time is naturally the most important thing for promotion and wealth.

But this also means that such people often speak not out of their true intentions, but out of pandering to their superior intentions.

Why did the emperor ask Chu Ge to speak by name, and why did he look forward to what he had to say?

It was because Li Hao, played by Chu Ge, was good at figuring out what was going on. The emperor really wanted to hear something from him that would satisfy him.

For example...how can I leave this mess to others and run away from the capital myself?

This does not necessarily have a definite standard answer, but it is obvious that the answer given by Chu Ge is still far from the standard answer in the emperor's mind.

If he had known that Li Hao was like this, maybe Chu Ge would have considered the option of deceiving the emperor.

Chu Ge had already considered the hidden line between Qi Yingzong and Qi Huizong before.

Why was Qi Yingzong a little disappointed with the answers given by these ministers?

In fact, whether it is Li Boxi from the war faction or Tang Qin from the peace faction, at least what he said in the main hall is still watertight. Especially Li Boxi, he is a very talented and capable person. Strictly speaking, as long as

Qi Yingzong started to hang up without caring about anything, leaving all these matters to Li Boxi, which was enough to sit back and relax.

But Qi Yingzong was still dissatisfied, why?

In the final analysis, it was because these important officials in the court were basically his father Qi Huizong's subordinates.

Therefore, Qi Yingzong was naturally full of distrust towards these people.

Especially for Li Boxi.

In Qi Yingzong's view, his father ran away and went to the south to enjoy a happy life. Li Boxi couldn't stop Qi Huizong, but he forced himself to stay on the front line in the capital, which could be breached at any time. What's the point?

?

Obviously, in Li Boxi's mind, the Supreme Emperor was still more important.

Maybe Li Boxi is indeed capable, but for Qi Yingzong, this kind of ability, prestige, and status will eventually make him feel very uncomfortable.

At this time, the war was fierce and dangerous, so he had to use Li Boxi. He also knew that the success rate of peace negotiations at this time might be very low, so he reluctantly handed over the entire defense of the capital to Li Boxi's hands.

But whenever there is an opportunity in the future, Qi Yingzong will definitely find ways to promote his own people from below, and then find some excuses to throw all the important officials in his original team to the other side.

As for Li Hao, played by Chu Ge, Qi Yingzong's questions obviously contained some hints.

If Chu Ge could give an answer that satisfied Qi Yingzong at that time, maybe Qi Yingzong could promote him naturally, and a bridge of mutual trust could be established between the emperor and his ministers: everyone is his own.
To be continued...