Cheng Yaojin looks rough and arrogant, but in fact he is rough but subtle.
In terms of intelligence, he is naturally inferior to the likes of Changsun Wuji and Li Ji, but he is good at understanding people's hearts and knows when to stop. He has been able to escape almost every disturbance in the court since Zhenguan. However, the wisdom in this is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Although the understanding of His Majesty Li Er is not as comprehensive as that of Changsun Wuji and others, there is a kind of blind worship.
In his mind, although His Majesty Li Er usually seems to be loyal and broad-minded, he is actually the best among ancient and modern emperors in his power of strategy. Such a man who can seize from the near-desperate situation at the beginning, and has a high level of power. The talented people of the land must comprehensively consider their own situation and formulate corresponding plans.
Accidents are inevitable, but these accidents should be taken precautions by His Majesty Li Er. Cheng Yaojin would never believe it if there were no follow-up arrangements.
Therefore, he warned Xue Wanche: "No matter how the situation develops, we must first remember that we are all ministers of His Majesty, and then the ministers of the Tang Dynasty. We can devote ourselves to the Tang Dynasty, but we must be loyal and never regret it for Your Majesty!" You must stand firm and don't be tempted by the confusion in front of you to do stupid things that are unacceptable to others."
Xue Wanche was surprised and said: "What does Lu Guogong mean by this? Is it possible that someone is plotting rebellion?"
Cheng Yaojin was very angry and cursed: "Why did I ever say that? You are such a hard-working person. I don't want to talk to you anymore. I just want you to remember these words. If you have a hard time making a decision, Please stabilize your mind and think about it!"
There is an undercurrent surging in Chang'an, all forces have their own plans, and the situation is extremely tense.
Who knows whether His Majesty Li Er deliberately spread the unfavorable news that he was unwell, so as to seduce the people in Chang'an who had ulterior motives and couldn't bear it anymore. They thought they were a God-given opportunity and jumped out in a hurry?
No one can figure out the emperor's mind.
Anyway, Cheng Yaojin felt that His Majesty Li Er was a great person with the qualifications of a great emperor. It would be too unbelievable to say that Long Yu died because of falling off his horse. There must be a deeper power struggle behind this.
In short, be careful and be careful, you are absolutely right...
Xue Wanche had a vulgar and irritable personality, but he admired Cheng Yaojin very much. He nodded repeatedly when he heard this: "Don't worry, Lord Lu, General Mo is not a ungrateful person. He will definitely keep it in mind and he will never do anything stupid."
Unlike Changsun Wuji and others who are only interested in profit, although Cheng Yaojin is very cunning, he still has a bit of recklessness. Such a person is worth getting to know deeply. And if you are dealing with people like Changsun Wuji, you have to wear eyeballs on the back of your head, otherwise if you are not careful, you will be cheated to the bone...
Cheng Yaojin patted his thigh and sighed: "Next, you and I will take the initiative to take on the important task of attacking the city, hoping to be able to make a difference. However, the walls of Pingrang City are all compacted with loess, and gunpowder only It can blow up the outer layer of masonry, but it is difficult to make it all collapse, so we can only rely on the strong attack of soldiers and horses, which is really a hard job."
Xue Wanche rubbed his face, also full of resentment: "Sacking a city is not the strong point of a general. How easy is it to get rid of the merits?"
From ancient times to the present, siege warfare has been one of the most difficult methods of warfare, and no general is willing to fight such a war. In particular, Pingrang City was fully prepared, with soldiers, ordnance, and food supplies. Although the "Wang Zhuang Army" was completely wiped out in Anhe Palace, it also showed that the previous peace talks or abandoning the city were just The smoke emitted by Yeon Gaesumun has already made up his mind to hold on to the end.
With such a person of unparalleled prestige and power sitting in charge, the morale of everyone in Pingrang City must be high, and they vow to fight the Tang army to the end.
What a hard fight...
Cheng Yaojin picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and said: "That's not the case. If you want to have a reason to escape when you are impeached by those imperial officials after the war, you and I must strive to win the first one. Otherwise, just wait to be sprayed to death by those guys' spitting stars."
Making two consecutive mistakes not only caused the army to lose troops, but also caused His Majesty Li Er to be surrounded by the enemy and fall off his horse in fright. It is difficult to escape from such mistakes no matter what. The censors and officials in Chang'an City had been constantly opposing the Eastern Expedition. If they found such a reason, how could they not impeach him to death?
Although those guys have no power, they can easily stir up public opinion. By then, everyone in Guanzhong will beat up Cheng Yaojin and Xue Wanche. If the court wants to calm public opinion, it can only attack them two.
This responsibility cannot be shied away in any case, and can only be done at the expense of crime...
A clerk came quickly outside the barracks, came to the two men, bowed and said: "The British government has issued an order to summon all the generals to go to the Chinese army's tent to discuss matters immediately."
The two of them glanced at each other, wondering whether His Majesty is no longer in trouble?
Not daring to neglect, he stood up quickly, walked out of the door, took the reins from the soldiers, got on their horses, and headed for the Chinese army's tent.
However, unexpectedly, the meeting place was not in the Chinese army's tent, but in Li Ji's camp not far away.
When they arrived at the camp gate, they dismounted and threw the reins to the soldiers who were following them. They strode into the tent and saw Changsun Wuji, Zhang Jian, Cheng Mingzhen, Ashina Simo, Yuchi Gong, Zhang Liang, and Qiu Xiaozhong. Everyone has arrived and sat down respectively.
Li Ji sat on the throne alone.
The two of them entered and greeted everyone. Li Ji waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and take your seats. Time is urgent."
"Here."
The two of them took their seats.
Li Ji looked around and said slowly: "I know that you are worried about Your Majesty, so I will explain to you. His Majesty fell from his horse earlier and was not only frightened, but also injured. After being diagnosed and treated by the imperial doctor, he is now resting in the tent, fearing that I will not be able to take charge of the overall situation within a few days. However, the military situation is so strong that no delay can be tolerated, so I am temporarily acting as the commander-in-chief. Do you have any objections?"
Changsun Wuji was the first to express his support: "No objection."
All the generals in the tent, no matter which camp they were on, respected these two people. Since Li Ji and Changsun Wuji have reached an agreement that Li Ji will take charge of the overall situation, the others naturally have no reason to object. Even if they object, it is useless.
So they all agreed.
However, before Li Ji could continue the meeting, Yu Chigong said loudly: "This time His Majesty was frightened and fell off his horse, which was all caused by Xue Wanche's dereliction of duty and carrying military intelligence. Such mistakes are simply unbearable. Why not punish him to calm the morale of the army?"
Everyone looked at Xue Wanche.
This guy has a bad temper and is vulgar. In the past, he would get angry on the spot when he was criticized in person like this. Now His Majesty's fall from his horse has shaken the morale of the army. If the generals get into trouble again, it will definitely lead to low morale, which will be extremely detrimental to the war situation.
However, what was unexpected was that when Xue Wanche faced Yu Chigong's questioning, instead of getting angry on the spot, he lowered his eyebrows and remained silent...
Xue Wanche is not stupid either. Yuchi Gong is aggressive when he comes up. How is this directed at him? It was clear that he wanted to suppress Cheng Yaojin by punishing him. After all, Cheng Yaojin was his superior. He made mistakes, and Cheng Yaojin was jointly and severally responsible.
These two people have always been at odds with each other...
Sure enough, before Xue Wanche could say anything, Cheng Yaojin had already asked with a gloomy face: "It is the duty of the Weiwei Temple to describe merits and crimes, or it is decided by His Majesty Jinkou, why should the Duke of E worry about it? The situation is critical now, or Let each mind his own business, and don’t let dogs and mice meddle in other people’s business.”
This was extremely rude, but unexpectedly Yuchi Gong was not annoyed at all. He laughed and actually exposed it...
Cheng Yaojin felt secretly resentful.
If you want to punish Xue Wanche, you must involve him, Cheng Yaojin. Now that His Majesty is away, who can punish him? Yuchi Gong knew this in his heart, but he still mentioned it, not hoping that Xue Wanche could be really convicted, but just raising this reason, and even His Majesty would not be able to eliminate the matter in the future.
No matter how much contribution Cheng Yaojin and Xue Wanche made in the future, the crime is now confirmed.
Staring at Yu Chigong's black face, Cheng Yaojin secretly resented: This animal looks rough and arrogant, but in fact it is full of evil and is really hateful...
Li Ji waved his hand to stop this crisis that might trigger civil strife, and said in a deep voice: "Now that we are facing a formidable enemy, we should unite together and plan how to break through Pingrang City and overthrow Goguryeo, so as to help His Majesty complete such a grand plan for hegemony!"
His prestige may not be enough to deter the generals in the tent, but these people are afraid of Li Ji's silent and accurate scheming, and naturally they dare not go against him.
Besides, what he said is reasonable. The most important thing at the moment is how to capture Pingrang City, rather than attacking political opponents and excluding dissidents...
