The most romantic little emperor

"By the way, Duke Li, what do you think of Dong Wenwu?" Qin Hao asked indifferently.

Dong Sicheng's heartstrings tightened when he heard this. He quickly bowed to Li Zhen and said with a smile, "The old general has experienced hundreds of battles and is invincible. I admire him very much."

"On the other hand, my good-for-nothing son always causes trouble for Your Majesty. You can tell me what you want to say. I won't mind."

Li Zhen glanced at Dong Sicheng and saw that his words were sincere and did not seem to be false, so he looked at Qin Hao.

Qin Hao nodded and said calmly, "You two are my right-hand men. There are no outsiders here. Just tell the truth."

Li Zhen finally felt relieved. He bowed to Dong Sicheng and said with a chuckle, "Wenwu, that kid, lives up to his name. He is truly a man of both civil and military talents. He has the talent to be a great general. His future is limitless."

"But compared to Wang Jian, he's not quite up to par."

Qin Hao heard this and said with great interest, "Duke Li, don't keep me in suspense. Go on."

Dong Sicheng was neither surprised nor happy, and nodded to signal him to continue.

Li Zhen continued, "I really like this kid Wenwu. He's just like me when I was young. He likes to take risks in battle, and his fighting style is peculiar. He often catches his opponent by surprise and defeats the enemy with a smaller force. He's a rare talent."

"However, the difference between him and me is that I followed Emperor Taizu, starting from humble beginnings and experiencing hundreds of battles before gradually becoming what people call the God of War. That was forged in a specific environment."

"And this kid Wenwu started from a very high point. He has a great family background, the support of the Dong Mansion and the Cui Family, and the backing of His Majesty. His journey has been very smooth, and he has hardly suffered any major hardships."

"Therefore, this will easily cultivate his arrogant character. If he encounters a more powerful enemy in the future, he will inevitably suffer a major setback."

"Take the battle of Yizhou for example. If I were the commander of the Liao army, I would have at least three ways to force him into a dead end."

Dong Sicheng didn't know much about warfare, so he asked hurriedly, "Which three?"

Li Zhen took the tea from Qin Hao and drank it all. He looked at Qin Hao and smiled faintly, "I think Your Majesty can also think of it!"

Qin Hao smiled slightly and nodded, "The Liao army's mission this time is to plunder. It would be the same if they plundered another city. If other cities were attacked by the Liao army, given my brother-in-law's character, he would definitely come to the rescue."

"In this case, a field battle is inevitable, and the Liao army has the advantage in cavalry, so my brother-in-law will definitely be defeated."

"This method is like training an eagle. It depends on your determination. If you defend Yizhou City to the death while other cities are lost, Wang Jian and I will also blame him."

"The second method is to surround but not attack, and then split into two groups. One group will tie down my brother-in-law's forces, while the other group will take a detour and continue southward to plunder."

"If my brother-in-law dares to leave the city to stop us, we will inevitably face a fierce battle. If the other force only pretends to move south but actually lies in ambush, we will not only defeat my brother-in-law's troops, but also capture Yizhou City without bloodshed."

"There's another method that's a bit vicious and against the will of Heaven. It's to coerce the people of Great Xia. When the city gates are lost, the Liao soldiers will infiltrate the civilians. If you dare to shoot and kill the civilians, you'll lose the people's support. Otherwise, the Liao army will take advantage of the situation and capture Yizhou City."

Dong Sicheng was stunned by Qin Hao's words.

Li Zhen clapped his hands and said, "Brilliant! Your Majesty has come up with such a plan in such a short time. I am ashamed of myself!"

Qin Hao waved his hand and said modestly, "I'm just talking nonsense. When it comes to really leading troops into battle, I'm still a long way behind the old Duke!"

He didn't want to dwell on this further and deliberately changed the subject, "By the way, you mentioned Wang Jian just now. What do you mean by that?"

Li Zhen knew what Qin Hao meant and deliberately provoked Dong Wenwu's nerves. He said seriously, "If you say that Wenwu is a natural-born general, then Wang Jian is a natural-born commander. When it comes to commanding the three armies, I, this old minister, can only be ranked fifth at best."

Seeing Li Zhen's high opinion of Wang Jian, Dong Sicheng asked without hesitation, "Who are the ones at the top of the list?"

Li Zhen said directly: "The first one must be Emperor Taizu. The entire Great Xia was conquered by him."

Qin Hao nodded and asked, "What about the others behind?"

Li Zhen hesitated and said, "The second one is the Prince of Jin. Emperor Taizu was able to destroy Daliang thanks to the Prince of Jin. And then there was the Rebellion of the Three Princes. How could the Prince of Jin have the Prince of Wu and the Prince of Ning obey his orders? How could he be just an ordinary person?"

"In the end, even Emperor Taizu couldn't do anything about him. He personally pardoned their crimes, but only ordered the three of them to never enter the capital."

Qin Hao nodded slightly. He had heard about the affairs of his uncles from hearsay, but he had never looked down on them.

Seeing Qin Hao remained silent, Li Zhen continued, "In fact, Emperor Taizong's military talent is also quite impressive, but his political talent is extremely outstanding, otherwise Emperor Taizu would not have passed the throne to Emperor Taizong."

"As for Emperor Taizong's defeat at Yanyun, this was something I never expected. I wouldn't believe it even if you said there was no trace of the Three Kings here."

Then, he changed the subject and said, "As for Wang Jian, I see the shadow of Emperor Taizong in him. Besides his extraordinary martial prowess, he is also amiable and a master of military management. His military strategy far surpasses mine."

"In short, he was born for war."

After saying that, he looked at Qin Hao and said meaningfully, "In fact, there is another person who even this old minister cannot understand."

Upon hearing this, Dong Sicheng also looked up at Qin Hao.

Qin Hao heard the hidden meaning in Li Zhen's words and understood that Li Zhen was talking about him.

He touched his nose involuntarily and changed the subject. "Alright, let's not talk about anything else for now. Let's talk about the punishment for Dong Wenwu! Does Duke Li have any good suggestions?"

Li Zhen asked tentatively, "How about your majesty fine him three years' salary?"

Qin Hao shook his head and said seriously, "Isn't this punishment too light? I'm afraid he won't learn his lesson and will cause big trouble in the future!"

Dong Sicheng frowned and took the initiative to take responsibility. "Your Majesty, I feel really bad that my son has caused you and Duke Li so much trouble. How about I fine him a year's worth of food and wages for his troops and let him figure it out on his own?"

Qin Hao was secretly delighted when he heard this. He looked up at Dong Sicheng calmly and said a little embarrassedly, "Father-in-law, this punishment is a bit too harsh! My brother-in-law must be resentful. This is absolutely inappropriate!"

Dong Sicheng waved his hand and said seriously, "Your Majesty just mentioned the method of training an eagle. I, an old minister, also want to temper his temper. Otherwise, who knows what disaster he will cause in the future."

"Your Majesty, don't worry about these provisions. He has plenty of ways to deal with them, both civil and military."

"I won't hide it from you. I have no way to deal with my wife, mother, and son. But my wife obeys everything the brother and sister say. As long as Wenwu asks, the Cui family will give as much food and silver as they want."

Every family has its own problems. I never thought that the prime minister would have such a low status in his family.

Qin Hao and Li Zhen looked at each other and laughed secretly.

Finally, Qin Hao made the final decision and said, "I didn't expect my father-in-law to be so understanding and righteous. In return, I will not be stingy and will give my brother-in-law the most advanced weapons and equipment, so that he will be more confident in fighting."

"Maybe, when he comes back next time, both you and your son will become Dukes."

Li Zhen, upon seeing this, bowed and smiled, saying, "Congratulations to Prime Minister Dong for making a further step forward. Perhaps your Dong family will become Dukes of two countries in the future. I'll have a drink with you later."

Dong Sicheng never expected that there would be a reversal in this matter and that he would receive such a great promise from His Majesty.

He cupped his hands and smiled, "No problem, no problem! Your Li Mu is not bad either. He will definitely be better than us two old men in the future!"

"Hahaha! I like to hear that."

……