Volume 1 The Wind Rises Chapter 47: Nightmare Mission
Luo Youdu sat upright on a low chair, his face calm but his heart agitated.
Ever since his last conversation with Zhao Kuangyin, Luo Youdu has been thinking of Wang Pu's "Strategies for Pacificating the Border".
There was no reason for Luo Youdu not to seize this promotion opportunity that was offered to him.
Therefore, since then, I have been secretly studying the "Plan for Pacificating the Border" based on the memory in my mind, thinking about how to make improvements based on the "Plan for Pacificating the Border".
Luo Youdu is still self-aware. His greatest advantage is that he is well-versed in history and knows the past, present and future. There is a certain gap between him and Wang Pu, who truly has a grand strategic vision.
If he were to write it himself, he would definitely not be able to come up with a strategic idea that surpasses or is comparable to "Plan for Pacificating the Border".
Therefore, we have been studying and revising the shortcomings of the "Plan for Pacificating the Border" after its implementation in history, and making the revised "Plan for Pacificating the Border" our own.
The most difficult part of the improved "Border Pacification Strategy" is how to prevent the Southern Tang from stabbing you in the back during the Northern Expedition if you don't destroy the Southern Tang?
The capital of the Great Zhou was Kaifeng. Once the Southern Tang succeeded in backstabbing, they could simply cross the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and directly attack the city.
Without resolving this worry , the Northern Expedition would never be able to be fought with full enthusiasm.
The Khitans are not an enemy that can be easily defeated. How can we succeed without fighting with all our strength?
Luo Youdu constantly reviewed the thousand-year history of China and the rise and fall of the Jiangnan region, and discovered a coincidence that was not a coincidence.
The key to the survival of the separatist forces in the south of the Yangtze River in all dynasties lies not in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but in Jiangling in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
The battles of Jin conquering Wu, Sui conquering Chen, Tang conquering Fu Gongju, Song conquering Southern Tang, and even Yuan conquering Southern Song all started with controlling the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Then the warships sailed downstream, destroying all the Yangtze River defenses and thus entering Jiangnan.
This is definitely not an accidental coincidence.
Therefore, he proposed the idea of taking over Nanping, but he was not sure whether it would be feasible.
Now that it has been recognized by a strategic and far-sighted strategist like Wang Pu, it must be extremely feasible.
The results of my own research feel different.
Luo Youdu said confidently: "There is no rush to seize Nanping. As long as we control Jiangling before the Northern Expedition, we will have enough time to find something to hold against Nanping King Gao Baorong. When the critical moment comes, we will not be able to find an excuse. We can use force to seize Nanping by using the excuse of borrowing the road. Of course, it will slightly damage your Majesty's reputation, which is a bad strategy. But as long as your Majesty can put an end to this chaotic world and treat Nanping King well, no one will gossip about it."
In history, Zhao Kuangyin used this method to forcibly capture Nanping, and then took the initiative to attack Southern Tang.
Guo Rong was not a pedantic person. He had raised doubts before because he had not noticed Jiang Ling's role. Now that he knew the key, he no longer cared about reputation and morality.
A gentleman cannot take over the world.
"Good!" Guo Rong clapped his hands and made a final decision, saying, "If there is no major change, our Great Zhou will follow the strategy you set as the direction of development. The first thing is to recover the four states of Qin, Cheng, Jie, and Feng, and drive Meng Chang back to Sichuan."
Wang Pu was also a proud and arrogant person. He was slightly outmaneuvered by Luo Youdu in strategy. He said, "The Yellow River burst its dike not long ago, and the refugees outside Kaifeng City have not yet dispersed. Your Majesty's proposal to mobilize troops at this moment may cause strong opposition from the ministers. We can secretly send people disguised as Qinchuan people to the outside of Kaifeng Imperial City to criticize Meng Chang's tyranny and ask Your Majesty to go out and recover the lost land. This will shut up the ministers and at the same time gain the reputation of going to war."
Guo Rong immediately said, "Let's do it! Wenbo, you will take care of this matter."
As he spoke, he looked at Luo Youdu, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "I intend to send you as the commander-in-chief of this expedition. Are you sure you can handle this important task?"
There was a flash of surprise in Luo Youdu's eyes, and a hint of joy emerged in his heart, but more of it was heaviness.
The chief supervisor is also called the military supervisor.
The power of the military supervisor is flexible. In the Tang Dynasty, the military supervisor was at the pinnacle of power, even surpassing the commander-in-chief of the three armies. But with the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the power and autonomy of the generals became greater and greater, and the military supervisor lost its meaning.
Guo Rong arranged for military supervision at this time, apparently beginning to limit the unbridled power of military generals outside the country.
"I will try my best!"
Luo Youdu stood up and accepted the order, but he didn't dare to make any promises at all.
In this era where strong soldiers bully their generals, strong generals defeat their commanders, strong commanders despise their kings, and it is common for the inferiors to overthrow their superiors, if you are a civilian military supervisor, not to mention the generals, even a small soldier will ignore you.
If you really act like the military inspector of the Tang Dynasty, with all the people around you, they will stab you in any minute.
He will take you to the battlefield and let you die at the hands of the enemy.
If you don't respect it, they will frame you with a crime, stage a small mutiny, and then execute the military supervisor on the battlefield to restore the morale of the troops.
With this huge army out there, what can't those arrogant and brave generals do?
Moreover, there has never been a precedent of a military supervisor in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he will be the first military supervisor in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In other words, Guo Rong's first move of using civil power to suppress military power would solidify his status and position as the military supervisor.
From then on, when military generals went to war, they would inevitably be checked and balanced.
No general can bear this.
It can be imagined that as soon as the order is conveyed, all the generals of the Great Zhou will point their spearheads at himself.
He had already angered many military officials by beheading Wang Jixun, and now he would become the target of public criticism.
Thinking of all this , Luo Youdu felt very disappointed.
Guo Rong also felt that this task was a bit difficult for Luo Youdu, but he was also clear that no one except Luo Youdu could break this situation.
If it were someone else, they might have died inexplicably before the army even reached the front line.
Luo Youdu at least had Fu Yanqing's recommendation, and with Fu Yanqing's prestige in the army, he would not be killed directly.
Although he felt uncomfortable, Guo Rong had to admit that his father-in-law's prestige in the army was greater than that of him, the emperor.
Moreover, in today's meeting, Luo Youdu also proved his ability.
Compared to others with zero success and the risk of losing their lives, Luo Youdu has at least a 10% to 20% chance.
Wang Pu looked at Luo Youdu, who was entrusted with an important task, and a hint of envy flashed in his eyes.
The military generals were too powerful and even overshadowed the emperor.
Suppression is inevitable. Whoever can be entrusted with such a heavy responsibility , once successful, will go down in history and be given an important task.
If I had not been weak since childhood and unable to withstand the turbulence of military life, I would have been the one to shoulder this heavy burden.
Guo Rong said softly, "This time, I appointed you as the military supervisor, it's just an experiment. It doesn't matter whether it succeeds or not. You don't have to worry too much about the results."
Luo Youdu stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I know the importance of this matter and will do my best."
With huge risks comes huge rewards.
In this world, there is no military prestige or power in one's hands, and one can only be manipulated.
Being a military supervisor is undoubtedly an opportunity.
It’s just that the difficulty is a bit terrifying!
