As the three kingdoms of Yan, Chu, and Liao successively raised their troops and captured Jingzhou and Yongzhou of Liang State in one fell swoop, for some unknown reason, they all stopped the invasion of Liang State at the same time. Several bigwigs from the three kingdoms knew this tacitly, for fear that If one's own troops send troops hastily, they will lose too much of their troops, which will lead to them being at a disadvantage in future battles for the world.
It is precisely because of this that Zhu Wang and Ye Baiye were able to take a breather and would not be overwhelmed by the overwhelming impeachment scandal.
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In Baixiang City in Yongzhou, Guo Yuan, Song Jinyang, Sikong Li, and Baili Jin sat around the table, drinking tea and chatting.
Among the four, Song Jinyang advocated a concerted effort, and the two countries joined forces to continue their march south. As long as Liangzhou was captured again, Liang's country would be open to the pointless country. By then, the army would approach the city, and Qingyang City would sooner or later be captured. Guo Yuan decided not to move, and Sikong Li and Baili Jin also held this view.
Song Jinyang looked at Guo Yuan, the old god beside him, and frowned: "What are your plans now? Is it possible to just wait like this and watch Liang Guo slowly regain his strength?"
Guo Yuan put down the tea cup in his hand and said with a smile: "Why is Old Song, who has always been the most calm and composed, so impatient? It is true that the Liang Kingdom is powerful, but to say that he has recovered his strength so quickly, you, Old Song, think too highly of him. Liang Guo claimed to have millions of troops, but in fact they only had more than 700,000 soldiers and horses. After Li Jian made Qingzhou king, no less than 100,000 old soldiers quit the army. In addition, in the two battlefields in the north and south, Liang Guo was defeated one after another, or died in battle. There may be as many as 150,000 soldiers who rebelled. These are real heads. He, Feng Jingquan, is not a fairy who spreads beans and makes soldiers. Now there are less than 500,000 soldiers in the Liang Kingdom. How can it be so easy to return to its heyday? Combat strength.”
After hearing this, Song Jinyang's expression softened slightly.
Then I heard Guo Yuan continue to say: "After the Liao Kingdom captured Jingzhou, why didn't they go further? From what I can see, it was simply due to the lack of troops. No matter how good the Ashan Nu was in conquering, he only had 70,000 to 80,000 troops, and Li Mi First of all, he has the temper of not letting go of the eagle before seeing the rabbit. Naturally, he will not fight an uncertain battle, so he is waiting for us to take action first and contain most of the Liang Kingdom's troops so that the Liao Kingdom can take advantage of it. But he is not allowed to do so. Compared with the Liao State, which lacks troops, our Yan and Chu countries have stronger troops and horses. After capturing Yongzhou, they will definitely not lose it again. Now it depends on who is more patient and whoever takes action later will have a better chance of winning. big."
Baili Jin also echoed: "Mr. Guo's words make sense."
Sikong Li turned his head, glanced to both sides, nodded, and said proudly: "Without Li Jian, this battle will be ineffective. I am now waiting for Li Jian to regain control of the army so that we can compete again. As for Zhu Wang and Ye Baiye are just wine bags and rice bags, not worth mentioning."
Seeing that the three of them were like this, Song Jinyang stopped insisting and waved his hand: "I'm afraid of you. In that case, just follow your plan."
After seeing off Guo Yuan and Baili Jin, Song Jinyang still had doubts and asked: "Dare I ask the military god, is Song really too radical?"
Sikong Li twitched the corners of his lips and said, "The Imperial Master is indeed radical, but what Guo Yuan said just now is only half true and half false."
Song Jinyang frowned and said, "How can I interpret this statement? Please ask the military god to speak frankly."
"The Imperial Master might as well ask himself, after the Qingyang City is captured, will the King of Yan or the King of Chu really be willing to share the world?" Sikong Li sneered, "Now that the Liang Kingdom is still there, Li Jian has not come out, it is just a facade, this For several months, the allied forces of our two countries have been standing still. If it is like attacking Yongzhou, Liangzhou will be defeated in less than a month. The reason why they did not attack Qingyang City in one go is because Guo Yuan, Baili Jin, and I am not sure of winning the battle with Da Chu, but for a while I can’t think of a way to weaken Da Chu’s troops, so I just wait and wait.”
Song Jinyang and Master Guo Yuan came from the same school, and they were brothers and sisters. They also knew this man's temperament well. After a little thought, he understood the reason, and then nodded and said: "Since Yan and Chu are similar in appearance but different in appearance, what do the gods of war think we should do?"
Sikong Li smiled and said sarcastically: "Then it depends on whether the national master chooses the righteousness of family and country or brotherhood in his heart."
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In Qingyang City, the capital of the Liang Kingdom, Feng Jingquan has not had a peaceful night's sleep since the Liao Kingdom launched its army. Now he has an angry look on his face, sitting high on the dragon chair. Zhu Wang and Ye Baiye are both on the frontline battlefield, full of emotions. The civil and military officials in the court were as silent as a cicada, not even daring to take a breath for fear of making the emperor angry and getting angry.
Feng Jingquan looked at the people at his feet, feeling annoyed, and asked in a cold voice: "Master Jiang, how is the war going forward now?"
Jiang Qing took a step forward, bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, since the fall of Jingzhou and Yongzhou, the three countries of Yan, Chu and Liao have made no follow-up actions. Now there are occasional frictions between our two sides, but there has been no large-scale war. It has been half a year. For a long time, the old ministers didn’t know what the enemy general’s plot was.”
Feng Jingquan continued: "The enemy is standing still, and the two generals Zhu Wang and Ye Baiye are just waiting. Don't they know how to help me regain the lost ground? So much military salary is used to support these losers every year!"
It's a good thing that the big bosses of the Ministry of War are not in the capital now. Otherwise, how would he answer Emperor Wu of Liang's heart-wrenching questions?
In the current situation, Jiang Qing was the only civil and military man in the Manchu Dynasty who was qualified to speak out. He said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, calm down. In my opinion, the two generals must not want to do this. It is just beyond their capabilities. Sikong Li, Bai Bai Both Li Jin and Li Jin are once-in-a-century masters of military skills, and they can be said to be gods in military use. Now that they have joined forces, Zhu Wang is far from being able to compete with them. The Ashan Nu of Liao State was influenced by the Hongjiang River in its early years, and its reputation is relatively unknown. However, they also showed great brilliance in the battle of Feiyunjian. But now in our Daliang Dynasty, the two generals are far different from these three people. Naturally, they cannot resist the enemy's invasion. The old minister is brave and implores the emperor to issue an edict. , order the King of Qingzhou to regain military power, drive out foreign enemies, and protect our beams!"
Feng Jingquan raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows, remaining silent. At that time, he was worried that Li Jian Gong was a master of high power and he was a fellow disciple of the late emperor, so he was always unwilling to reuse this person. Later, he listened to Jiang Qing's words and said that Li Jian was crowned king of Qingzhou, ascended and descended covertly, and took away his military power. But now he asked Li Jian to return to the court, which made Feng Jingquan open his mouth. But then I thought about it, besides Li Jian, who else could the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty count on?
In desperation, Feng Jingquan nodded reluctantly and said: "What Grand Master Jiang said is reasonable. Come here and pass on my will. I order the King of Qingzhou to hurry up and return to Beijing as soon as possible. He will be appointed as the commander-in-chief of the three armies. Zhu Wang and Ye Baiye And all the officers and soldiers under his command are at his disposal."
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Thanks to their geographical location, the three cities of Qingzhou were far away from the flames of war. However, Li Jian was a military commander after all, so he naturally cared about the war. Now half a year has passed, and the Liang army has been defeated in a row, but His Majesty has been reluctant to use him, even with an imperial edict. None of them came, and Li Jian, who was in a depressed mood, could only drag Wei Sheng to drink wine in the palace.
Wei Sheng knew what Li Jian was thinking, but he was only the governor of Qingzhou. He could not interfere in national affairs. He didn't know how to persuade him, so he could only drink with Li Jian one cup after another.
The two of them exchanged cups, and soon they had drank seven or eight jars of highland barley wine. Their faces were all red, and Li Jian gritted his teeth and said, "In the current national crisis, I, the king, am drunk and dreaming in my fiefdom, unable to do anything. It is really sad!"
Even though Wei Sheng had a good capacity for drinking, he couldn't bear to drink so much. Moreover, he was still drinking too much, so he was inevitably tongue-tied at this time. Hearing this, he explained: "Your Majesty, why don't you use the prince? As a minister, I don't dare to talk about the holy will. However, in my opinion, now that your majesty is leaving the prince, a victorious general, without using it, the war must not have happened." It has reached a point where we are out of control. Your Majesty is my mainstay, and when your Majesty comes out of the mountain, it will be the day when all the enemies will be driven out. But when that day comes, I am afraid that the situation will have reached an extremely unoptimistic point."
Li Jian sighed: "I recall that when Emperor Qing was in power, the country was peaceful and the people were safe, and the enemy countries would not dare to invade! But now war is raging and the people are in dire straits. It only lasted six or seven years. How could it be like this?"
Wei Sheng looked panicked and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, be careful what you say!"
Li Jian realized that he had made a mistake and quickly stopped talking, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.
After sending Wei Sheng away, Li Jian did not have the habit of instructing his servants, so he personally cleared the wine table. However, he saw Wei Sheng, who had always been mature and prudent, running back in a hurry, with a face full of joy.
Li Jian asked suspiciously: "What happened to Mr. Wei? Why did he go and come back?"
Wei Sheng ignored the etiquette and said with a smile: "Congratulations to the prince, congratulations to the prince, what a great thing!" He picked up the wine glass and drank the remaining wine in one gulp.
Li Jian asked again: "Master Wei, don't be anxious. What is going on? Tell me slowly."
Wei Sheng took a deep breath, laughed heartily, and finally calmed down, and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty has mercy on me, and has specially ordered your Majesty to regain military power and serve as the commander of the three armies to quell the war!"
Li Jian smiled bitterly and said, "Master Wei, please stop entertaining this king."
Wei Sheng said hurriedly: "This matter is absolutely true. People have come from the palace and have already arrived at the gate of the palace. The prince will know the truth later."
After a while, an old eunuch in luxurious clothes came from a distance with small steps and said sharply: "The imperial edict has arrived. King Qingzhou comes forward to listen to the announcement." Li Jian patted his cheek hard to dispel the alcohol. He took two steps forward and prostrated himself on the ground. Then I heard the old eunuch continue to say: "By God's blessing, the emperor has issued an edict. Today, the country is in crisis and war is raging. He specially appoints Qingzhou King Li Jian as the commander-in-chief of the three armies to drive out the enemy invaders. I admire this."
Li Jian kowtowed three times and said with excitement: "I accept the decree to express my gratitude. Long live my emperor!"
The old eunuch seemed to have received the emperor's instructions and was very satisfied with Li Jian's reaction. Then he stepped forward with a smile, helped the latter up, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please get up quickly. I am really embarrassing this old slave."
Li Jian cupped his fists and said, "My father-in-law, I have a hard time traveling and traveling all the way. I will order my servants to prepare wine and meat to take care of my father-in-law."
The old eunuch waved his hand and declined: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. It's a pity that after the old slave declares the imperial edict, he needs to return to the capital immediately to avoid delaying the important matters of the Lord. Your Majesty also needs to return to the capital as soon as possible, and this matter cannot be delayed."
Li Jian frowned and said, "Are you so anxious? What is the situation in Beijing now? Please tell me the truth, father-in-law."
Could it be that the old eunuch acted for a reason: "How can an old slave, an eunuch, dare to talk nonsense about national affairs? Since the Holy One has given an order, he has his own intention. We ministers should obey and do as they are told."
Li Jian nodded and said: "What my father-in-law said is that if you please wait a moment, I will pack up and return to the capital with you."
On this day, Li Jian returned to Beijing for the first time since he was crowned king of Qingzhou.
