The prince's edict has been issued. Thousands of soldiers from the Sixth Army of the East Palace and Imperial Guards surrounded the prince and slowly moved westward, heading straight towards Baqiao. At the Chunming Gate, Cheng Chubi commanded the soldiers under his command to be very energetic. While he was ready to assist the prince at any time, he was also prepared to be prepared for his father to be stunned and come to attack the city...
At the same time, Gao Kan commanded the right guard to press forward slowly, staring at Zuowu guard with eager eyes. If the opponent showed any intention of seizing Chunming Gate, he would launch a surprise attack on his own.
…
Cheng Yaojin stood in front of the camp and ordered all ministries not to act rashly. He was anxiously waiting for orders from the Shandong family. Although he has expressed his intention to confront the East Palace with open swords and guns more than once, who knows whether those old men buried up to their necks in dirt will lose their minds and intend to suppress the Chunming Gate with a large army and force the prince to open it to them? Benefit?
What if the Shandong sects were so powerful that they lost their wits? How should I make a decision?
If he turns a deaf ear, it will definitely cause great dissatisfaction among the Shandong family. From then on, they will break up and go their separate ways. All the achievements he has done before will be in vain. The world will regard him as "both ends" and "poor character" and cast aside him. , when the time comes, the Shandong family will alienate him and the East Palace will not accept him. It can be said that everyone is betrayed and separated from their relatives.
But if he obeys orders, he will openly be an enemy of the empire Zhengshuo. When the prince compromises and ascends the throne, won't he regard Cheng Yaojin as a rebellious official and a traitor who needs to be killed urgently?
Even though he, Cheng Yaojin, had military power and was protected by the Shandong family, the prince could not do anything to him for a while, but what would the Cheng family do after his death?
The liquidation from the emperor is always late and never absent...
Seeing the prince's guard of honor marching farther and farther towards Baqiao surrounded by imperial guards, and feeling anxious in his heart, his own soldiers came to report, and Zhang Xingcheng asked to see him...
Cheng Yaojin returned to the big tent and asked someone to bring Zhang Xingcheng to him. The latter was in a hurry and was covered in dust. As soon as he saw him, he said: "Everyone has decided to discuss it. Please hold the troops aside for the time being. If Li Ji is ambitious and sends troops to attack Chang'an, then Seize the Chunming Gate before the prince returns to the city, decide the prince's retreat, force him to agree to the terms of each family, and then let him return to the city, help him defend Chang'an, and defeat the Eastern Expedition army; if Li Ji surrenders to the East Palace before the battle, we will immediately Withdraw your troops, swear allegiance to the prince, and support him as emperor!"
"What?!"
Cheng Yaojin's eyes widened with disbelief: "Are those old guys stupid or crazy? Li Ji has hundreds of thousands of elites under his command. If he attacks Chang'an, even if all the troops may not obey his orders, they will be enough to conquer Chang'an in one fell swoop. We If we then defend Chang'an and fight against them, wouldn't we be destroying ourselves?"
Do you really think that the hundreds of thousands of imperial elites under Li Ji's command are like the rabble in Guanlong? If Li Ji didn't care about imitating Yu Wenhua at this moment just to have the emperor's addiction for a while, he could have rushed to Chang'an to change the dynasty, and no one could stop him!
Not only is his left wing guard inoperable, but Fang Jun's right guard is also inoperable!
Zhang Xingcheng, however, disagreed and said calmly: "No matter how confused the heads of the families are, how can they not know the principle of using an egg to hit a stone and a mantis' arm to use a chariot? Duke Lu, please relax, you will not fight Li Ji to the death."
Cheng Yaojin nodded, understanding that this was some kind of deal that the Shandong family had secretly reached with Li Ji...
But he immediately shook his head again: "We can't capture Chunming Gate and cut off the prince's retreat! There are thousands of soldiers from the East Palace on the city guarding the city, and there are Youtun guards below the city to assist. Do you really think that I can't do it with only three heads and six arms? I can't fight, I can fight. Do not move!"
Zhang Xingcheng asked curiously: "The Sixth Army of the East Palace has been in battle for a long time and is already exhausted. Until now, it has not been rested and replenished. How much combat power is left? The right guard is strong, but the Chunming Gate only has more than 10,000 people stationed there. To the left A thunderous strike with the power of the entire military guard will surely defeat them in one fell swoop.”
"Mother..."
Cheng Yaojin laughed angrily, glanced sideways at Zhang Xingcheng, and asked: "After all, this Shandong family's plan for the next hundred years is all relying on me to fight for life and death by myself? No other support is needed. No?"
Zhang Xingcheng was a little embarrassed and knew that what the Shandong family was doing was unethical, so he handed over his hands and said apologetically: "Gong Lu, you should know how difficult it is for each family. Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, there have been scuffles all over Shandong. Each family has suffered heavy losses and their vitality has been severely damaged. After entering the Tang Dynasty, they were suppressed by Guanlong. To make matters worse, although I want to provide more support to Duke Lu now, my strength is limited, and I am more than willing but not strong enough. But please rest assured, Duke Lu, the losses you have suffered today will be compensated tenfold by all the families after the success is achieved. Don’t break your promise!”
Cheng Yaojin sneered: "Just draw a big pie and let me lead my men to fight for their lives and go through fire and water?"
Zhang Xingcheng smiled bitterly and said patiently: "The current situation is like this. As long as Lu Guogong works hard, every family in Shandong will give generous rewards."
Cheng Yaojin shook his head and sighed, and said: "It's not that I don't want to fight hard, but is it useful to fight hard? There is only half of the right army, but it was this half of the army that defeated 60,000 to 70,000 people from the left army and the royal coalition. Damn it, the commanders of the two armies were captured alive. You actually think that I can successfully defeat them and capture Chunmingmen? You think too highly of me, but I can't do it. Remember, it's not that I don't do it, but that I can't do it. Come on! Even if I have a narrow escape, I will still fight once, but a fool will not do it if there is no chance of death!"
After talking about it, his voice turned serious.
Zhang Xingcheng's face was gloomy and very ugly.
She didn't think that the Zuo Wuwei could not defeat half of the Youtun Guards and the East Palace Sixth Army to seize the Chunming Gate in a desperate battle, so she naturally took it as an excuse for Cheng Yaojin not to go all out. But now Cheng Yaojin is extremely important to the Shandong family, and it is definitely not possible to fall out. He does not even dare to yell at him. He can only suppress his anger and say in a deep voice: "What should Lu Guogong do?"
Cheng Yaojin walked a few steps in the tent with his hands behind his back, thought for a while, and said: "It is definitely not possible to attack the Youtun Guards. This army built by Fang Er is too powerful, and they are all arrogant soldiers from top to bottom. A mighty general, who dares to say he will win? This is despite the fact that he is short of firearms. If he has enough firearms, just dozens of artillery can make any army in the world fall into disarray when confronting him! Now! The situation is worse than still. We should wait for Li Ji to respond to the prince, and then we will act accordingly."
This is the safest approach. It can control the army to express its attitude of supporting the Shandong family without turning against the three armies of Dong Gong, Fang Jun and Li Ji. It can ensure that he will have enough room for maneuver in the future.
But for the Shandong family, they are definitely not satisfied...
Zhang Xingcheng reminded: "No matter what, the British Duke is still the flag of the Shandong family in the DPRK. Once the situation stabilizes, the British Duke's status and power will increase. It will be really difficult for you, Lu Guogong, to seek more."
Value is reflected in the degree of scarcity. The current purpose of the Shandong Aristocratic Family is to use Cheng Yaojin to exert pressure on Li Ji, so that he does not dare to completely violate the will of the Shandong Aristocratic Family and form his own faction, completely splitting the Shandong Aristocratic Family. But if the overall situation is decided, whether Li Ji makes peace with the East Palace or storms Chang'an City, how can Cheng Yaojin influence the outcome?
Since you can't decide the outcome, what value do you have to the Shandong family?
Without value, why should Shandong Family spend resources to support you and obtain huge returns?
Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin was unmoved, shaking his head and saying: "I like beautiful women with wealth and silk, and I even prefer high-ranking officials with generous salaries, but if I exchange everything I have now, what's the point?"
What he needs to consider now is not how to seize greater benefits, but how to be as stable as Mount Tai, so that when drastic changes are about to occur, he will not use the lives of his soldiers to earn chips for the Shandong family and gain an advantage in negotiations with Li Ji. .
The overwhelming power is tempting, but the prerequisite is to protect the combat power of his subordinate Zuo Wuwei. Without Zuo Wuwei, what would Cheng Yaojin be like? I'm afraid the Shandong family wouldn't even bother to look at him!
The situation is chaotic, and the only one who has soldiers is the grass-headed king...
Zhang Xingcheng had no choice but to let Cheng Yaojin make his own decisions.
In fact, he also criticized the decision of the heads of families in Shandong to "take millet from the fire". Most likely, he had been away from the central government for too long, dominating the local area and acting unscrupulously, which fostered a rebellious mentality. Never look down upon the heroes of the world. The Guanlong rebellion and the chaos in Guanzhong will be regarded as the huge changes in the empire's power structure during the "Xuanwumen Incident". The Shandong family can rely on decades of recuperation and health gatherings to enter the court in one fell swoop, seize maximum benefits, and recreate the past The story of Guan Long has since taken over the power of the government, and can even influence the will of the emperor, thereby washing away all the humiliation suffered when compiling the "Chronicles of the Clan", and returning the Shandong family to the first rank in the world...
But how is that possible?
Zhang Xingcheng also wanted to shout out to those old guys who are aging but still control the lifeblood of Shandong aristocratic families: Times have changed!
Now that His Majesty Li Er has passed away outside the capital, it will inevitably trigger a fight for the throne, which will lead to changes in central power. Shandong and Jiangnan clans will take advantage of the situation to enter the court and replace Guanlong's position, but that's all.
No matter whether the prince or other princes ascend to the throne, they will not allow the monopoly of power to occur again. The powerful families in Shandong and Jiangnan restrain each other, and Guan Long's participation serves as a restraint. This is a power structure that can be recognized by all parties. What is particularly important is that the imperial military now stands side by side. There are Zhenguan heroes and mainstays like Li Ji, young heroes and rising stars like Fang Jun, and famous royal generals like Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong. Even Li Ji cannot suppress them. It is absolutely impossible for all parties to unify the military power, and it is absolutely impossible to reproduce the situation in which the Guanlong army powerfully crushed all parties in the army.
The reason why Guanlong is in such a state of decline and ruin today is precisely because the army it controlled quickly degenerated after Zhenguan, and became decayed in just more than ten years, making it difficult to support its political power over the world...
It is difficult for both the military and the political parties to have a dominant power and power. If any party covets the power and monopolizes power, it will be besieged by the other parties. Not only will it not be possible, but it will even be overturned if it is not careful. In order to surround and eat the prey...
(End of chapter)
