After Zhang Yuan came out of the palace, he was very depressed.

"I was going to stop Your Majesty from sending troops, but now it's a good idea to make Your Majesty send troops in advance. It's so unlucky... If Your Majesty makes any mistakes, the Empress Dowager will have to peel and cramp me..."

Zhang Yuan was anxious but couldn't come up with a solution, so he could only go back to Zang Xianshen to find out.

However, when someone was sent to inform him, Zang Xian's person was not found, which made Zhang Yuan angry.

"These dogs will cause trouble to our family one by one! When you can't find someone at critical moment, let's see if our family doesn't deal with him! Send someone to find him!"

Zhang Yuan was furious and could only vent his vent to his innocent followers.

Just when Zhang Yuan lost his temper, he suddenly came in and reported that someone was asking for a meeting.

"who?"

Zhang Yuan was very surprised. You should know that he usually works in the palace and rarely stays at home. In addition, his whereabouts are secret and there is no contact between Zang Xian in the middle, so someone shouldn't have visited him at this time.

"He is a military general!" the guard reported.

With Zhang Yuan's personality, he would not have summoned him, but now he has a strong position and is also curious about the confidence that this person has to come to see him. He immediately waved his hand: "Bring someone in!"

Soon, the person was taken to the yard. Zhang Yuan came out of the main hall. After seeing the appearance of the person, he couldn't help but frown, "Where have we seen you in our family?"

The person who came was wearing military uniform and was well-decorated, and Zhang Yuan still had a vague impression.

The person who came clasped his fists: "The last general Xu Tai, I have met Eunuch Zhang."

When he reported himself to his home, Zhang Yuan immediately remembered the identity of the person and frowned and asked, "Are you Bai Yu's subordinate?"

“That’s right.”

Xu Tai replied, "The last general is the deputy general of Xuanfu."

Zhang Yuan said angrily: "What are you doing here? The Tatars are raging outside the pass now. Shouldn't you go to the pass to defend the enemy?"

Xu Tai said: "I will summarize some ideas about this battle into a book. I want to submit them to Your Majesty. I have no choice but to come and ask Eunuch Zhang for help."

As he said that, Xu Tai took out a memorial from his arms and gave it to him with both hands.

Zhang Yuan looked disdainful, but immediately his mind flashed with a light and waved his hand: "Take it over and see if you have any good strategies to defend the enemy, maybe it's what our family needs."

In Zhang Yuan's impression, Xu Tai was very capable, but for some reason he was so confident this time. After receiving the memorial, he carefully looked at it and found that the military strategy he offered was not good, but one of them was quite innovative, that is, Xu Tai proposed to gather all the troops to Xuanfu and regard Xuanfu as the main battlefield of this war with the Tatars. In this way, Zhu Houzhao only needed to stay in Xuanfu and not have to risk leading troops out of the frontier.

Zhang Yuan was not sure whether this memorial could be adopted by Emperor Zhengde. He asked Xu Tai in detail about his ideas. Although Xu Tai was mediocre, his understanding of war was still unique, and there was no obvious loophole in this memorial.

After hearing this, Zhang Yuan was very satisfied, so he took Xu Tai to the palace to "recruit the wise" with Zhu Houzhao.

Originally, Zhu Houzhao was ready to go to the banquet and enjoy the last two days of wonderful time in Xuanfu. Suddenly, he heard that Zhang Yuan brought a deputy general to see him. He was a little upset and said to Concubine Li who came to invite him: "I don't know what tricks this slave is playing, so I guess he would advise me not to send troops rashly... I will go and meet him first."

Concubine Li smiled and nodded. She originally wanted to hear what Zhang Yuan said, but now Zhu Houzhao did not allow her to listen, so she could only stay in the inner hall with regret.

When Zhu Hou came out, Zhang Yuan and Xu Tai had been waiting for a while.

When Zhu Houzhao saw Xu Tai, his eyes lit up. Unlike those rough military generals, Xu Tai in front of him was young and handsome, and looked handsome.

Zhu Houzhao had a good first impression of Xu Tai. He walked to the chair in the main hall and sat down. Before he could speak, Zhang Yuan and Xu Tai had already knelt down and saluted.

Zhu Houzhao frowned and asked, "Eunuch Zhang, haven't I explained everything to you? What are you going to see me?"

Zhang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, after I returned, General Xu Tai, the deputy general of Xuanfu, came to march. I thought it might be possible to inspire Your Majesty, so I specially recommended talents to Your Majesty."

"Military strategy?"

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Xu Tai. He was disgusted with the ministers' use of military strategies as a guest. Since he was a child, he was very confident in his military talents and did not think that others were better than him.

"That's right, please visit your Majesty."

After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, he presented Xu Taijingxian's military strategy to Zhu Houzhao with both hands. Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to reach out, but he turned his head to look at Xu Tai who was kneeling on the ground and changed his mind.

Zhu Houzhao took over the military strategy, opened it, looked carefully, frowned slowly, stared at Zhang Yuan and asked, "Did I not say it clearly enough? Everything is done according to Mr. Chen's plan... Why does this memorial suggest that the Xuanfu be regarded as the main battlefield? In this way, where will Mr. Chen's troops be placed?"

Zhang Yuan didn't know how to answer for a moment, so he looked back at Xu Tai and shouted: "General Xu, Your Majesty asked you, why don't you answer quickly?"

Xu Tai looked nervous. After all, it was his first time to meet the saint, and he stuttered: "...The Tartars are attacking... The entire Xuanfu has entered a state of emergency... At this time, His Majesty led his troops out of the frontier, and it is likely to be taken advantage of by the Tatars..."

Halfway through speaking, even Xu Tai himself didn't know what he said. Zhang Yuan was anxious when he was listening, thinking: "At this level, he ran to me and recommended himself? It turned out that he was an embroidered pillow with a bag of grass, and there was no dry stuff in his stomach... Your Majesty, don't blame me on my head, right?"

What surprised Zhang Yuan was that although Zhu Houzhao had a stern face, she did not seem to be angry. After pondering for a while, Zhu Houzhao waved her hand and said, "General Xu has something to say slowly, don't be nervous."

With Zhu Houzhao's comfort, Xu Tai finally plucked up the courage and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that now I don't know where the Secretary of Chen's troops are. If you send troops rashly, it is likely that the central army led by Your Majesty will become the main target of the Tatars' attack, and Your Majesty will also be in danger."

Xu Tai, who calmed down, spoke in an orderly manner and told him in a casual manner. His voice was mellow and magnetic, which made people feel very comfortable to hear.

Zhang Yuan's gangster: "Your Majesty, Lao Nu believes that General Xu's words are reasonable. No one knows his movements after Chen Shangshu sent troops. It is estimated that the Tartars will be no exception. How can we achieve the goal of luring the enemy into depth set by Shangshu before the war? At this time, Your Majesty sent troops, and the Xuanfu team will become the target of the Tartars, and will replace Shangshu Chen as bait... It is obviously not a good opportunity to send troops at this time."

Zhu Houzhao frowned slightly and muttered, "It's not true at all."

Zhang Yuan knew there was a chance when he heard this and continued to instigate: "Shangshu Chen always had a wild and unconventional way of fighting. This time he formulated a combat plan in advance and claimed to act as bait to lure the Tatars into being deceived. As a result, he disappeared without a trace when the matter came to an end. What is this? The Tatars knew the situation of our Ming Dynasty... If something happened to Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty would immediately fall into chaos. How could they give up their main goal and focus on Shangshu Chen's partial army to fight?"

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, she sighed softly and nodded involuntarily.

Zhang Yuan wanted to continue talking, but for a moment he was a little exhausted, so he gave Xu Tai a wink and reminded him to continue talking.

Xu Tai did not disappoint Zhang Yuan's expectations and took the initiative to take the conversation: "What Eunuch Zhang said is very true. I believe that the Tatars had fought with Shangshu Chen several times before, but the result was terrible. In this battle, they would try their best to avoid confronting Shangshu Chen's troops. Even though Shangshu Chen led a small number of troops, Shangshu Chen never won by number in war. The Tatars had a deep pain and must understand Shangshu Chen's habit of leading troops. Therefore, they would only send a small number of troops to restrain them, and focus their main energy on Xuanfu."

"Now the whereabouts of Shangshu Chen are unknown, it is very likely that the Tatars blocked the way for Shangshu Chen to deliver messages... It is not easy to defeat Shangshu Chen's troops, but it should not be so difficult to block the scouts and eliminate them."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Xu Tai, as if he was very interested in his remarks, and asked: "Then do you think Mr. Shen has been targeted by the Tatars now? Although the two sides did not fight, because the scout sent by Mr. Shen was targeted by the Tatar Iron Cavalry, it was impossible to send the news?"

Xu Tai said: "I have a simple opinion. If there are any mistakes, please forgive me."

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Your analysis is reasonable. What do you blame you? But these are all speculations and there is no evidence to prove it. How do you know that the main force of the Tartars gathered around Xuanfu now, rather than the troops they sent to restrain?"

Xu Tai didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao had such a unique vision. He suddenly discovered the loophole in his advice and didn't know how to answer for a while.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuan quickly jumped out and added: "Your Majesty, hasn't the news been confirmed yet? If both possibilities exist, Your Majesty will rashly send troops, and finally prove that Xuanfu is indeed the main attack direction of the Tartars. At that time... Lao Nu heard that the Battle of Changping, Zhao Kuo was wiped out because of his rashly sending troops..."

Zhu Houzhao's face became extremely ugly.

Zhang Yuan had long known that the emperor did not like to hear the allusions of defeat in the war, so after he finished speaking, he lowered his head and pretended to be an ostrich.

Zhu Houzhao's face was dark and she didn't say a word. Obviously, Zhang Yuan and Xu Tai's singing together touched the most vulnerable part of his heart.

Xu Tai didn't know Zhu Houzhao's temper, so he couldn't help but say what he thought of to show his ability.

"According to the understanding of Shangshu Chen, he is very good at leading troops to fight. If he can do so, how could he suddenly interrupt the contact with the court without any major changes? Perhaps Shangshu Chen was really restrained by the Tatars..."

Zhang Yuan added: "It may also be that Shangshu Chen has other intentions and intends to let His Majesty be bait!"

"Shut up!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted angrily.

In this way, Zhang Yuan and Xu Tai were honestly silent.

Zhu Houzhao did not continue to sit down, stood up and paced back and forth, and fell into a state of thought. After wandering for a long time, he ordered Zhang Yuan: "Let the dispatch of troops be postponed for the time being, and still prepare according to the established May 30th. If the situation of the battle changes, I will make other arrangements!"

Zhang Yuan was secretly happy. It was obvious that his advice to Xu Tai had worked. Zhu Houzhao began to doubt Chen Xi's intentions, and felt timid and dared not use troops casually anymore.

Zhu Houzhao said again: "Send individual troops to investigate the situation outside the pass, and we must investigate the number of Tatars soldiers and horses clearly."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhang Yuan respectfully accepted the order.

Zhu Houzhao breathed a long sigh of relief, as if not sending troops was a relief for him. He looked at Xu Tai, who was kneeling on the ground and said, "This Deputy General Xu has extraordinary military insights. Why did I know nothing about him before?"

Zhang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, General Xu is the top scholar in martial arts, both civil and military. At this age, he has become the deputy general. I believe that he will have a bright future in the future. Because he lacks the opportunity to make achievements, General Xu will be in a place like Xuanfu and cannot get Mu Tianyan... Otherwise, Your Majesty will take him by his side this time and let him show his talents?"

Zhu Houzhao smiled and nodded: "This suggestion is good, I have adopted it."

Xu Tai kowtowed quickly: "Thank you for your cultivation."

Zhu Houzhao said: "I have always been appointing people based on merit. If you have the ability, I will naturally entrust it to be more important. If you can be mediocre, I will be upset when I see it. Get away as soon as possible."

"Xu Qing family, your position remains unchanged for the time being. You are still the deputy general of Xuanfu. I don't like those guys who only talk. This battle of Tatars is an assessment of you. If you can stand out in this battle and make me admire you, I will promote and use it. In this way, you can also do your best to serve me."

"I will never refuse!" Xu Tai was very excited.

Just after taking the military strategy to meet the saint, Zhu Houzhao had such a high evaluation, as if a bright future was within reach.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand: "Since the plan has been changed, Eunuch Zhang will make arrangements quickly. I will cheer up in the next few days and be ready to change the formation on the spot at any time!"

...

...

Zhu Houzhao originally decided to send troops in advance, but after Zhang Yuan and Xu Tai made some suggestions, they changed their plans again.

Judging from the current situation, the dispatch time is likely to continue to be postponed on May 30th.

Zhang Yuanzhi took Xu Tai back to his yard arrogantly.

When he entered the main hall, Zhang Yuan sat down, Xu Tai bowed a long time and said gratefully: "Eunuch Zhang, you will have the opportunity to meet Your Majesty this time. It depends entirely on your support. I am willing to serve Eunuch Zhang."

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "What else do you want to do if you don't work? Do you burn the bridge across the river?"

“Yes, yes!”

Xu Tai was very embarrassed. The people he usually catered to were civil officials. Although he was also greedy and shameless, he would pretend to hide it, but the Eunuch Zhang in front of him would not hide it at all.

Zhang Yuan said: "Since our family has helped you, you should have some advice?"

Xu Tai was stunned, and then realized that there was a need to transfer interests, so he hurriedly said, "After returning, I will prepare a generous gift to Eunuch Zhang's mansion."

"Yes." Zhang Yuan nodded with satisfaction.
To be continued...