Chapter 505 499. The Last Court Meeting
Chengdu, the familiar court.

Liu Chan sat on his dragon throne and habitually glanced at the ministers below. Although he might not be able to see anything, Liu Chan still liked to do so.

But he paused because he found that there seemed to be something wrong with Zhuge Liang today.

Zhuge Liang usually had the image of a hermit who never showed his emotions and seemed to have everything under control. It was rare to see him angry or have other emotional fluctuations in the court.

As far as Liu Chan could remember, the last time he heard about Zhuge Liang being so angry about something was during the Battle of Yiling during the Eastern Expedition a few years ago. At that time, Liu Bei stationed his troops in the mountains, and Ma Liang and Feng Xi could not dissuade Liu Bei, so they could only report the situation back to Chengdu, hoping that Zhuge Liang could write a letter to persuade Liu Bei.

At that time, Zhuge Liang thought that something unexpected had happened, or even that Feng Xi had lost his mind, so he slammed the table in anger. In the following time, even when the South China was in turmoil and Jingzhou was in battle, Zhuge Liang did not seem to be angry or anxious about it.

But today, Liu Chan saw that although Zhuge Liang lowered his head, the excitement and excitement in his eyes could not be concealed, as if he had encountered something extremely good.

But Liu Chan knew Zhuge Liang. Even if he gave Zhuge Liang land and made him a king, he probably would not have this expression.

However, the ministers were all waiting for him, so Liu Chan could only suppress his doubts and go through the process according to etiquette first.

"My dear ministers, if you have a letter, please report it as soon as possible. If you don't, please leave the court."

Liu Chan said this, but he had already looked at Zhuge Liang.

"I have this memorial."

Sure enough, Zhuge Liang stepped out almost as Liu Chan finished speaking.

"Oh? What's the matter, Prime Minister?"

Liu Chan remained calm, but his mind was full of thoughts, and suddenly he thought of a possibility.

As far as Liu Chan knew, Zhuge Liang was persuaded by his father to come out of seclusion and decide to help him to save the Han Dynasty. Now that Cao Wei has become stronger, Zhuge Liang can be so excited, which can only be related to the Northern Expedition that was temporarily put on hold before...

"Your Majesty, the Grand Commander has received a letter via carrier pigeon. The Han army won a small victory in the Huainan area a few days ago, killing more than 10,000 enemies. Now the troops are surrounding Hefei City, and Cao Xiu, the Grand Marshal of the Anti-Wei Army, can only defend the city..."

Zhuge Liang spoke eloquently below, but although Liu Chan was listening, he was thinking about other things in his mind.

"Is that time really here?"

Liu Chan still remembered that the last time the court officials had a debate about whether Cao Pi's death was a conspiracy of the Wei Kingdom, they finally decided to let Feng Xi test it out. Now that Zhuge Liang was so excited, it seemed that the result of the test was out.

"Well, in that case, does the Prime Minister think that the time has come for the Northern Expedition?"

Liu Chan knew he couldn't avoid it, so he just took the initiative to ask the question.

"That's right, Your Majesty. The Grand Commander did not encounter a large-scale counterattack from the Wei army after he probed the Jianghuai River. This is the first reason. The second reason is that the Grand Commander's spies discovered that Cao Rui had lost the battle for the throne to Cao Li in Luoyang City, and Cao Li even called Cao Pi's brother, Cao Zhi, to Luoyang to cheer for him.

Therefore, the Grand Commander and the old ministers all believed that Cao Pi's death was not unexpected. The previous chaos in Wei was the political turmoil caused by Cao Pi's death, which was a great opportunity for our army to march north. "Zhuge Liang's words were so powerful that all the civil and military officials in the court fell silent. There were those who were unwilling to march north and were content with the status quo, but they did not dare to jump out and be the first to do so. Now that Zhuge Liang and other pro-war factions in the court were in full swing, they would be courting death if they were to touch this bad luck now.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is right. Since Young Master Feng has confirmed that Cao Pi is dead, we should also take action and follow the will of our eldest brother to march north and recover the old capital."

An old general with white hair and beard jumped out from the group of generals here. He had the might of a tiger still on his body. Just standing there he gave off the aura of a ferocious beast. Who else could it be but the great General Zhang Fei?

Zhang Fei was in good health. Even though he was over sixty years old, his martial arts skills were still top-notch despite the decline of his blood and qi. Although Zhang Fei's martial arts skills had dropped from their peak to a first-class level, they were still top-notch.

There is no need to explain much about Zhang Fei's position. It is naturally the same as Zhuge Liang's, or even more so. After all, the oath made by the three brothers in Taoyuan was to support the Han Dynasty together.

Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang, one civil and one military, represented the pinnacle of power in the two factions. In this situation, no one dared to say no, and even if they wanted to say something else, they could only lower their heads and look at the ground.

"Hmm... Well, if that's the case, do you have a candidate for the Northern Expedition Commander? This matter is of great importance and must be considered carefully."

Liu Chan hesitated for a moment, still lacking confidence. It was not that he thought that the Northern Expedition should not be launched, but he was indeed worried about the issue of choosing the commander-in-chief.

"I am Zhang..."

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about this matter. I will personally lead the troops north to cooperate with the Grand Commander's Jingzhou Army and Yangzhou Army."

Zhang Fei originally wanted to take charge of this matter, but Zhuge Liang spoke first and took charge of all matters related to the Northern Expedition.

"This...Chengdu is busy with many affairs now, and I am afraid it cannot do without the Prime Minister..."

When Liu Chan heard that Zhuge Liang was going to go to the battlefield himself, he instinctively resisted. After all, when Zhuge Liang was around, everything was in order. Now that Zhuge Liang was gone, Liu Chan would definitely not be used to it.

"Your Majesty is now over 10 years old and has the ability to make decisions on your own. Also, the three generals are quite old, so they should stay in Chengdu this time..."

Zhuge Liang's original intention was to let Zhang Fei stay in Chengdu while he himself led the Northern Expedition. However, Zhang Fei, who had almost stopped his movements, suddenly glared at Zhuge Liang when he heard what Zhuge Liang said.

"Military Advisor, what you said is really insulting! Although I am over 60 years old, Huang Hansheng was still able to fight with my second brother in battle and kill Xiahou Yuan when he was 60 years old. General Yan was no less capable than him, but how come he is old and weak when it comes to me, Zhang!"

As expected, Zhang Fei asked to join the Northern Expedition. Zhuge Liang wanted to persuade Zhang Fei, but when he saw the determination and fire in his eyes, he swallowed his words. Isn't it for this moment that Zhang Fei spurred Liu Chan and is still active in the army?

Zhuge Liang was not qualified to persuade Zhang Fei not to launch the Northern Expedition, as this was the obsession of the three brothers.

"Well, in that case, I'll trouble the three generals to go with me. And after we leave, Your Majesty can ask for advice on the affairs of Chengdu..."

Zhuge Liang informed all the officials of his plans before the expedition. After all, Zhuge Liang had already contacted the important officials in advance according to Feng Xi's suggestion. Now, even if Zhuge Liang left, he just lacked someone to make the final decision.

And it is time to change the candidate from Zhuge Liang to Liu Chan. How could an emperor ignore the affairs of state?
(End of this chapter)