Although he was embarrassed by Li Ji several times, Liu Ji became more courageous and undaunted as he fought. At this moment, facing Li Ji, instead of giving orders to Cheng Yaojin, he refused to give Cheng Yaojin words of comfort. He took two steps forward to join Li Ji. After the case, Li Chengqian said: "Your Majesty, you must not do it! Cheng Yaojin relied on his military exploits, had no king in mind, acted arbitrarily, sat back and watched the rebels rebel, how could it be done by a minister? What's more, how could he act arbitrarily? The vacillation and shaky stance between His Majesty and the rebels is enough to show that he is shameless and has no bottom line. This time, the march is delayed to intimidate Your Majesty. If Your Majesty, instead of giving orders and punishments, instead issue decrees to appease, then the national law Where are they? Where are those loyal people who sacrificed their lives and blood for the sake of the stability of the country and for your majesty? How dare you, your majesty, think twice!"
These words were righteous and solemn, and combined with Liu Ji's upright and majestic appearance, he did have the air of a critic. Suddenly, it was as if Wei Zheng was resurrected. The Wude Palace was silent, and many civil servants' eyes shone with adoration.
This is the character of civil servants!
Xu Jingzong rolled his eyes, stood up quickly, bowed his hands to the ground, and said with emotion: "What Liu Shizhong said is reasonable. Although Yinggong is a minister of the Prime Minister, he is not impartial and selfless. Just because he was born in the army, he has a lot of influence on the military." Yongrong, Cheng Yaojin has worked with him for many years and has a deep friendship, so he turned the tables on him and spoke out for him. Such a clique for personal gain but you don't know where to put the county prince?"
He was raised by the emperor to deal with civilian officials. He knew this clearly, but this did not mean that the emperor was willing to see him siding with the military.
The path of his rise has determined that it is difficult to please either civil or military side, so why should he flatter the military?
It’s better to be a truly lonely minister. We have neither literature nor martial arts in our eyes. We only have the emperor in our eyes...
Moreover, he had repeatedly angrily criticized Liu Ji, but now he echoed Liu Ji's words, giving people a fair image of "treating the situation but not the person", instead of a mad dog under the emperor biting people everywhere. Anyway, he made up his mind to flatter the emperor and obey orders from above, and to be a good friend of Fang Jun and obey his orders. This would ensure his stable status.
Liu Ji glanced at the indignant Xu Jingzong with some surprise. He didn't know why this mad dog agreed with him, but he didn't need to figure it out for a while. He just needed to stand on his side and target Li Ji.
Naturally, he was not targeting Li Ji, but wanted to completely separate the civil and military parties. The most important thing for imperial power was balance. If the civil and military parties were harmonious, the emperor would probably not be able to sleep at night.
Of course, what’s more important is that as long as I can become a banner for civilian officials to fight against the military, I can not only consolidate my own interests, but also ensure that my status remains unshakable. No matter who comes or goes in the court, I will remain unmoved...
Facing the criticism from the two representatives of the civil servant group, Li Ji took it indifferently, smiled slightly, and refused to argue.
He can now see clearly that the Emperor in front of him is indeed kind-hearted and lacks courage and opinion, but he is definitely not a dim-witted person. On the contrary, this man understands everything in his heart, but often adopts a method that is close to " He has an attitude of "rule by inaction" and is willing to delegate power and leave things to people he trusts.
What Cheng Yaojin thinks is actually not that important. What is important is that the current situation must not push Cheng Yaojin to the side of the King of Jin. If Cheng Yaojin can be completely won over, what does it mean to forget about the past and issue an edict to appease him?
As an emperor, you have to think about the overall situation. What is the overall situation?
The biggest overall situation is to continue to sit in the position of emperor. As long as it is conducive to securing the throne and annihilating the rebels, what does it matter who is loyal and who is traitorous?
Loyalty, treachery, good and evil have never been the standards that superiors need to measure...
Li Chengqian's eyes swept across the faces of the ministers in the palace one by one, and finally landed on the face of Li Xiaogong, who had been silent all this time: "I'll trouble you, Uncle Wang, to go through this matter. I must comfort him and make sure he knows how to come back." ,Rehabilitation."
Li Xiaogong nodded: "I obey the order."
Liu Jie was a little disappointed, but since His Majesty has made a decision, naturally he can't stalk him. But being able to get Zhang Liang's support today can be regarded as opening a gap in the military.
Although Zhang Liang is now the Minister of Punishment, he is after all one of the Zhenguan ministers and is considered an important figure in the military anyway...
*****
The Tianjie, which is dozens of feet wide, has long been turned into a huge millstone of flesh and blood. The navy's Mo Dao team marched in like a wall, and the Mo Dao team was like a forest. Although they were moving slowly, with every step they took and every knife they slashed, the mutilated limbs of the rebels in front of them were revealed. Flying horizontally, blood spurted out, and there was a dense layer of rebel corpses under his feet. The blood was diluted by the rain and mixed together to form a stream, flowing freely.
Mo Dao's mouth was wide open under his visor, and he was breathing heavily. The hands holding Mo Dao tightly were numb, and the muscles on his arms were sore and tired. Rainwater flowed in from the gaps in the armor and mixed with sweat. It had already been The inner clothes were soaked, and every time he raised or swung the knife, he had to grit his teeth and fight hard. The long period of killing not only made him mentally endure the huge magic power and resist the feeling of vomiting, but also endured physical fatigue. .
Killing is not a pleasant thing...
Liu Rengui was wearing a raincoat and was sitting at the rear commanding. Faced with such a stalemate, his face was solemn. No matter how elite and powerful the Mo Dao team was, they would inevitably be unable to catch the enemy in the face of the tide. The Shandong private army was already red-eyed and completely ignored. The crazy charge of life was trying to break through the Modao team blocking Tianjie. Whether they wanted to fight back to the south of the city to escape, or to break the formation and kill the generals to make meritorious deeds, this ragtag group exploded with unparalleled ferocious combat power.
From ancient times to the present, the land of Qingqi has produced strong armies, and the land of Yanzhao has many warriors. The children of Shandong have always been generous and march forward indomitably. Even the private armies of powerful clans that have never been organized or trained can still rely on strong personal force and individual soldiers. Quality makes up for the lack of strategy and tactics. At this moment, facing a desperate situation, everyone is ready to die and move forward one after another.
No matter how wide the Sky Street is, it is just a long street in the city. There are many streets and walls on both sides, which is not conducive to attacking troops. The heavy rain restricts the use of firearms. The two sides are facing each other tit for tat on this Sky Street. , there was a stalemate, and for a while no one could do anything.
This is beneficial to the Shandong private army, but Liu Rengui cannot delay it.
He asked the captain beside him sternly: "Why has the Duke of Wu'an delayed in entering the city for reinforcements?"
It stands to reason that Cheng Yaojin has already withdrawn and rushed to Xianyang Bridge. There is no threat in the south of the city. Xue Wanche can lead his army into the city to attack Chengtianmen. Even if he is worried about Zheng Rentai, he can also order Zheng Rentai to lead his army into the city. As a result, the battle started in the middle of the night. There was no reinforcement at dawn. How could Liu Rengui not be angry?
Now Yuchi Gong and Li Daozong are joining forces to attack Wude Hall, and the original guard troops of Wude Hall have been exhausted. They can only rely on the Youtun Guard to resist. The Youtun Guard first experienced an internal rebellion, although it was peaceful. To destroy the rebels, the losses would be heavy, and some troops would have to be left to guard the Xuanwu Gate. It is conceivable that the number of troops that could enter the palace to support the Wude Hall was limited, and it would not exceed 15,000 people.
With such a small force facing the joint siege of Yu Chigong and Li Daozong, it would be too difficult to defend the long defense line of Wude Hall, leaving them in a completely passive situation. If the rebels choose a weak place to launch a full-scale attack, Breaking through the defenses would be a big deal.
The school captain loudly said: "The Duke of Wu'an County has an order. Although Cheng Yaojin led his troops to withdraw, their march was slow. Now they have just passed the southwest corner of Chang'an City. We cannot rule out the possibility that he changed his mind and turned back. The Duke of Wu'an County has to wait until he Only after passing through the Golden Light Gate area to the north can we enter the city for reinforcements."
Liu Rengui wiped the rainwater from his face and cursed bitterly: "Mother! Cheng Yaojin, this old thief, is an honorary minister of Zhenguan in vain. He is so wavering and has no loyalty at all. He will never be forgiven by death!"
However, no matter how much he scolded him, it was just incompetent rage. As long as Cheng Yaojin could not stay away from the area that threatened Mingdemen, Xue Wanche would never dare to lead his army into the city, otherwise once Cheng Yaojin killed him, To recapture Mingdemen would be to cut off the retreat of the three armies of Xue, Liu, and Zheng, and besiege Chang'an City to catch turtles in a urn...
"Send the order and ask Modao Team to hold on. Reinforcements will arrive in half an hour. Let's attack Chengtianmen in one go. King Qin will protect us!"
"Here!"
After the order was issued, the Mo Dao team, who was almost exhausted, could only grit their teeth and continue to kill with their swords, using up their last bit of strength.
The battle on Tianjie Street also became fierce, and the two sides fought fiercely and fiercely.
…
Li Xiaogong, wearing a raincoat and riding a horse, galloped westward along the wall of Fengyifang. When he arrived at Yanping Gate, he looked up and saw that the tall and sturdy gate tower looked a little dilapidated and desolate in the wind and rain, but his heart was calm. He held the reins and led dozens of soldiers through the dim city gate, leaving the thunderous sound of horse hooves as he drove out of Yanping Gate and turned south along the official road.
After marching for more than twenty miles, I saw an army approaching from the front. The flags were soaked in the rain and were lifeless. The marching speed was as careless as a turtle. The long queue was dragging, without any vitality. .
If Li Xiaogong hadn't known that this was Zuo Wuwei, the most powerful among the Sixteen Guards, he might have been treated as a private army of aristocrats recruited and put together at short notice...
Several mounted scouts came forward and shouted, "Who is coming? The army is marching, retreat quickly!"
Li Xiaogong took off the bamboo hat on his head, wiped the rain from his face, and asked leisurely: "I am Li Xiaogong, where is Cheng Yaojin?"
Several scouts were stunned for a moment, then hurriedly clasped their fists on horseback and saluted: "It turns out that it is the county king who is in front of you. I am ignorant of the truth. Please atone for your sins. The commander-in-chief is in the middle of the army. I will go and report it now!"
Li Xiaogong waved his hand, raised his head and glanced at the white fish belly that had just emerged in the east, and pinched the horse's belly: "No need to report, lead the way."
"Here!"
The scout did not dare to say anything, so he quickly turned his horse's head and led Li Xiaogong and his entourage toward the slowly advancing army, heading straight for the center of the army.
