【misfortune】
Zhu Wen had already learned about the palace coup before meeting Liu Xidu and Li Fengben.
Cui Yin immediately wrote to Zhu Wen, informing him of the situation in Chang'an and urging him to raise troops to serve the king and clear his side.
Zhu Wen, who had just conquered Hebei, heard the news in Dingzhou, so he led his army back to Bianzhou to observe the changes.
Zhu Wen hesitated, fearing that he would stand in the wrong team and lose all his previous efforts. So he used Cui Yin as a pathfinder, and forwarded Cui Yin's letter urging him to Qingjun side to the eunuch Liu Jishu, with a postscript saying: "Cui Yin is a capricious villain, you kill him first."
Zhu Wen's evaluation of Cui Yin is very pertinent. Cui Yin is indeed a profit-seeking and capricious villain. Although the two are tied together for their own interests and each gets what they need, Zhu Wen never trusts Cui Yin.
Giving Li Keyong's son to Luo Hongxin and Cui Yin to Liu Jishu were Zhu Wen's small calculations to see whether the other party would accept the certificate of submission and to test the other party's sincerity.
Liu Jishu was fooled. He did not kill Cui Yin directly, but confronted Cui Yin face to face with Cui Yin's secret letter written to Zhu Wen.
Cui Yin broke into a cold sweat and denied it, insisting that it was a villain who forged letters and maliciously framed him.
Cui Yin's official career was full of ups and downs. He paid homage to the prime minister four times and was nicknamed "Cui Siru". After so many years of struggling in the troubled times of the DPRK, he has accumulated many political enemies. It is reasonable to say that someone is using a dark knife behind his back. Moreover, Liu Jishu had been frequently forging letters and even edicts recently, so he believed Cui Yin's words and believed that Cui Yin's political enemies were really setting him up.
Cui Yin's acting skills are also impeccable. He said seriously: "If you really want my life, please just kill me and don't implicate my innocent family again! (The traitor has been telling falsehoods since ancient times. It must be considered a crime, please punish the Buji clan)"
The thief took one bite and penetrated three points into the bone. The words seem to imply that Liu Jishu forged the letter and maliciously framed Cui Yin.
Faced with Cui Yin's actor-level acting skills and eloquent words, Liu Jishu became uneasy and felt a little guilty. He quickly assured Cui Yin that he was definitely not such a person, and even pulled Cui Yin to swear that the two of them actually That's how they formed an alliance.
Cui Siru's calm demeanor when doing things and his calmness when lying with his eyes open, do have the potential to be a politician.
After coaxing Liu Jishu away, Cui Yin hurriedly wrote another letter to Zhu Wen: Brother, why did you betray me? You are killing me! On the surface, I have formed an alliance with Liu Jishu and we will not invade each other. But in my heart, I only have you. We are just grasshoppers on the same rope.
After Zhu Wen received this letter, he was so angry that he cursed Liu Jishu, "Ji Shu made me a two-faced person."
This is interesting. Zhu Wen betrayed Cui Yin to Liu Jishu, Liu Jishu betrayed Zhu Wen to Cui Yin, Cui Yin betrayed Liu Jishu to Zhu Wen, the "plastic triangle".
Faced with this sudden palace coup, Zhu Wen seemed a little hesitant on how to express his position. He had his own concerns and ulterior motives:
First, it is an account of the geopolitical landscape.
The masterminds of the palace coup were just a few insignificant eunuchs such as Liu Jishu. Although they held part of the military power of the Forbidden Army, they were nothing compared to their predecessors, such as Tian Lingzi and Yang Fugong. And their behind-the-scenes boss, the Kansai Group, is the real force that King Qin’s division needs to face.
Although the Kansai Group has suffered certain blows and weakening, they have been entrenched in the Kansai area for a long time and have a deep foundation. They are still a political and military entity that cannot be underestimated, and regard Chang'an as their core interest. Once the Kanto princes extend to Chang'an The sphere of influence will definitely cause a strong backlash from the Kansai Group and become the biggest resistance to King Qin's army.
In addition, Li Keyong in the north cannot be ignored. Li Keyong has also recently encountered a trough period since returning south to the Central Plains, but anyone who dares to despise him will pay a heavy price. Once Zhu Wen and the Kansai Group start competing in Chang'an, Li Keyong will have three options:
Go west to directly reinforce the Guanxi Group in Chang'an; go south to attack Zhu Wen's Bianzhou base camp; go east to attack Heshuo and seize the Heshuo area that Zhu Wen has not yet digested.
No matter what Li Keyong chooses, it will put considerable pressure on Zhu Wen.
In addition, Yang Xingmi and Zhu Jin from Huainan in the southeast have been ready to make a move. Once Zhu Wen devotes his main force to the battlefield of Chang'an in the northwest, Yang Xingmi is likely to take advantage of the opportunity and compete for Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yunzhou and other places.
As for the grassroots in the Lianghu area, there is no need to doubt their speed and perseverance in changing their ways. Profit has always been their only value orientation.
In addition, after the battle for Chang'an broke out, Wang Jian of Nishikawa might respond to Zhu Wen, but his real purpose was just to take the opportunity to embezzle the Kansai Group's land in Shannan. At that time, the Kansai Group's main focus must be on Chang'an, and it could only adopt a tacit attitude towards Wang Jian's encroachment.
Zhu Wen was like taking chestnuts from the fire for Wang Jian.
Secondly, there is the historical characterization and public opinion orientation of this battle for Chang'an.
On the Weishui River, Zhu Wen could justifiably say that he was "serving the imperial edict to fight against thieves," while the other side of the river could also claim that he was "serving the imperial edict to fight against the rebels." However, both the old and new emperors were under the actual control of Liu Jishu, who could change his vest and issue orders to the world at any time.
Liu Jishu's forged Zhaozong edict could instantly destroy Zhu Wen's legal foundation.
Therefore, in this case, the staff around Zhu Wen almost overwhelmingly tended to compromise and cooperate, and opposed King Zhu Wenqin.
Retired former prime minister Zhang Jun, together with Liu Jishu's brother Liu Chongchu, came to lobby Zhu Wen and persuade him to cooperate with Liu Jishu.
In addition, Liu Jishu sent his adopted son Liu Xidu and his close confidant Li Fengben to carry forged Zhaozong edicts, and cooperated to deceive Zhu Wen, saying that Zhaozong also intended to abdicate to Zhu Wen. As long as Zhu Wen openly supports the new emperor, and after the situation stabilizes, he will give up the country and the country to him.
It is really difficult for King Qin to do justice, the eunuchs' sugar-coated bullets are so fragrant, and the left and right think tanks are instigating it... It seems that collaborating with Liu Jishu's eunuchs is the only correct way out.
However, Zhu Wen was still hesitating. Even in the face of the temptation that made him salivate, he still did not make the final decision. Because he is waiting for someone whose attitude will determine his final decision.
[Zhu Wen’s right-hand man]
This person is one of Zhu Wen's most important think tanks, and his name is Li Zhen.
Li Zhen was the great-grandson of Li Baozhen, the former Luzhou Jiedu envoy. His grandfather and father both served as county guards. His ancestors lived in the Western Regions and his surname was An. He changed his surname to Li because he was ashamed to have the same surname as An Lushan.
Li Zhen also has the inspirational label of "failed to succeed after repeated attempts". His great ambitions were not rewarded. He later joined the army and was promoted from the Forbidden Army. He finally got the position of "Taizhou Governor". Just when he happily went to Taizhou (today's Linhai, Zhejiang), When Dong Chang proclaimed himself emperor in eastern Zhejiang, he was unable to take office.
Yu Yu returned to the west and took refuge with Zhu Wen when passing through Bianzhou. Zhu Wen appointed people based on their talents, regardless of academic qualifications or work experience. After a brief interview and conversation, he found that this person was a rare genius, so he promoted him greatly. Soon after the annexation of Yunzhou, he was appointed as the Tianping Military Festival in Yunzhou. Deputy envoy.
After that, Li Zhen's actual job was to be Zhu Wen's "diplomat". He lobbied everywhere and maneuvered horizontally and vertically. He accomplished many major things for Zhu Wen on this invisible battlefield and won Zhu Wen's trust. This time, he is visiting Chang'an again as the "Director of the Beijing Office".
Li Zhen was in Chang'an when the eunuch Liu Jishu launched a coup.
Before the coup, Liu Jishu sent his nephew Liu Xizheng to test Li Zhen's attitude, saying that the emperor was ignorant and innocent and killed innocent people indiscriminately, so we planned to abolish it.
Li Zhen was horrified and immediately expressed his position and firmly opposed the abolition of Li Li. "A hundred-year-old slave serves a three-year-old master!" Afterwards, Li Zhen left Chang'an and returned to Bianzhou. Almost on the same day, Liu Jishu and others launched a coup.
This "Director of the Beijing Office" has an in-depth and accurate understanding of the situation in Chang'an, so his opinions will directly affect Zhu Wen's final attitude.
Li Zhenli opposed all opinions and firmly advocated clearing the emperor's side. He knew that Zhu Wen had been deceived by Liu Jishu's lies and thought that by standing still and being obedient, he would be able to gain "concession" from the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. So Li Zhen put it in a tactful way, saying that since ancient times, chaos within the palace has been an opportunity for the hegemon to achieve great things. Now, a few eunuchs are humiliating the emperor. If you don't conquer them, how can you command the world in the future?
Zhu Wen was still hesitating.
"In the future, once the young master is recognized by the world, the power of the country will fall into the hands of the eunuchs, and you will be willing to lie on someone else's chopping board and become a fish."
Zhu Wen finally had an epiphany and cursed the former prime minister Zhang Jun, "You are leading me into a ditch! Don't you just want to cling to me and eunuch to become prime minister again?" Then he ordered the arrest of Liu Xidu and Li Fengben, and sent his henchmen Jiang Xuanhui and Li Zhen returned to Chang'an together and asked Cui Yin to discuss ways to bring order to the chaos.
Up until this point, Zhu Wen had not made his position public. Zhu Wen had made two preparations.
