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Zhao Junchen, who had always been a serious man, finally changed his expression at this time.
At this time, Zhao Junchen finally realized where the uneasiness deep in his heart came from!
The weak eat the strong, the strong are respected, and there are three thousand Liaodong cavalry reinforcements!
After the Jinzhou camp learned about He Yu's kidnapping, the troops who rushed to support him immediately were bound to be He Yu's loyal confidants. When they arrived in Hujiazhuang, they would also become Ximen Sheng and Shi Cheng. Man's natural ally.
Zhao Junchen had actually expected this situation.
However, Zhao Junchen always subconsciously believed that the appearance of these three thousand Liaodong cavalry reinforcements would not immediately change the situation.
After all, Ximen Sheng also summoned a group of reinforcements from the three defense areas of the Central Road, the South Road, and the North Road. The total number was as high as six to seven thousand people. The strength was more than twice that of the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements. These reinforcements were supposed to be loyal to the Li Zehe et al.
In addition, the territory of Hujiazhuang was originally the Fengyunjihui, and there were also the existence of Guanning Iron Cavalry, Liaodong regiment training, Liaodong branch training, and Forbidden Army soldiers. Under the mutual checks and balances of the various forces, Ximen Sheng, Shi Cheng and others even had it. With the support of three thousand Liaodong cavalry reinforcements, the troops are still stretched thin. At most, they can barely suppress the changes of the various forces, but they have no confidence to overturn the table.
Even if the table is turned over, there are endless variables and there is no guarantee of victory.
Therefore, as long as Ximen Sheng, Shi Cheng and others are not completely cornered, they will most likely not overturn the table, and Zhao Junchen can use his superior scheming and manipulation methods to gradually Of.
Zhao Junchen's conclusion cannot be wrong if it is placed elsewhere - there are smart people everywhere in this world. Smart people will look forward and backward, weigh the pros and cons, think too much, and will not easily take risks or be unsure. things.
But as Huang Ke said - "This is Liaodong."
Therefore, the premise of Zhao Junchen's conclusion is wrong!
The situation of mutual checks and balances and mutual restraint that Zhao Junchen expected would never happen from the beginning!
Having been under the direct jurisdiction of the military forces for a long time, being invaded by Jianzhou Jurchens all the year round, and often experiencing public security disorder, and not being bound by so many complex rules, the people of Liaodong were very concerned about "the law of the jungle" and "the strong." The understanding of these concepts is far more direct than Zhao Junchen's.
In short, either become the strong one or obey the strong one!
For the Liaodong frontier army, once faced with a life-or-death decision, they would not think about alliances and checks and balances at all, and not many people would seriously consider the gains and losses of interests and the odds of winning. They would only be motivated by Instinctively, make the simplest choice, which is to rely on the strong!
Being on the side of a strong person can at least ensure that short-term interests are not lost. Even if this strong person has various hidden dangers, he will not care at all.
As for the long-term pros and cons? As for taking everything into consideration? Are there any other variables? People in Liaodong are not used to thinking about these things at all. How many people are qualified to consider these things in a bitter cold, war-torn, and disordered place like Liaodong?
Only those Gonggun princes who are high in temples, good at boasting, and good at profit calculations-that is, people like Zhao Junchen-will think seriously about these things.
Therefore, once Ximen Sheng and Shi Cheng have the full support of the three thousand Liaodong cavalry reinforcements, they will naturally become recognized as the strongest forces and have the strongest appeal.
This is an internal struggle among the senior officials of Liaodong Town. It has nothing to do with the national struggle or the protection of the territory and the people. The various Liaodong border troops will not consider joining forces to check and balance the matter, let alone the matter of killing fish or fish, and will soon all choose Following and attachment.
As for Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, Xu Jia and others, since they are not strong enough, they deserve to be abandoned. They cannot drag everyone to be buried with them!
With the support of various border troops, Ximen Sheng, Shi Cheng and others have an overwhelming military advantage and are naturally invincible. Next, whether they take action to liquidate Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, Xu Jia and others , or completely control all parties, including Zhao Junchen, is a piece of cake!
Zhao Junchen, on the other hand, was not aware of this situation from beginning to end.
Zhao Junchen grew up in New China in his previous life, but in this life he spent most of his time in the prosperous place of the capital to enjoy himself. Although he also understood the principle of respecting the strong and the law of the jungle, it was obviously not profound enough.
In other words, Zhao Junchen has always considered himself strong, so he has never seriously considered the ideas of the so-called "weak".
Therefore, as a politician, a strong man, and an actuary, Zhao Junchen misjudged the thinking patterns of all forces in Liaodong and subconsciously believed that everyone should think about things as they do themselves, and the conclusions will naturally be wrong. A thousand miles wrong.
According to later generations, Zhao Junchen has been separated from the masses for too long, and many of his ideas will inevitably become unrealistic.
This unrealistic cognitive error is also the flaw in Zhao Junchen's plan, and it is also the source of the uneasiness deep in Zhao Junchen's heart.
*
After understanding his omissions, Zhao Junchen's expression changed continuously.
Then, Zhao Junchen still took chances and asked: "Are you saying that as long as the three thousand Liaodong cavalry reinforcements clearly express their support for Ximen Sheng, Shi Cheng and others, then no matter it is the east route reinforcements, the middle route reinforcements, or the south route reinforcements , or will the surrounding West Route garrison directly abandon their defense area generals, and then follow the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements to support Ximen Sheng, Shi Cheng and others?
This situation is too extreme, right? The three generals, Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Jia, have been operating in their respective defense areas for many years. They are not fools. They will often do things to win people's hearts. The frontier soldiers under their command really know nothing about it. Turn your back on them without hesitation? "
Huang Ke nodded slowly and said: "Zhao Gechen has no need to doubt that as long as the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements clearly express their position, the roadside troops in Liaodong will definitely take notice of the news and follow them, and Li Zehe, Gancheng, and Xu Jia will also be captured. Abandoned by the frontier troops under their command!
Although these three generals have been operating in their respective defense zones for many years, their operations are nothing more than recruiting more private soldiers and getting closer to the gentry and wealthy families in the territory. Even if they try to win people's hearts, they will only target people. My own private soldiers, important military officers, and those wealthy country squires!
However, the vast majority of the frontier troops under their command have very limited loyalty and have not received much favor from them. When these frontier soldiers are faced with the choice of sides, they naturally do not consider loyalty and kindness. They only know the Liaodong Iron Cavalry. It is the strongest army in the world. With one against ten, he is not an opponent at all. The best choice is to stand on the same side as the Liaodong cavalry. Since the vast majority of the Liaodong cavalry choose to support Ximen Sheng and others, then the vast majority of the Liaodong frontier troops They will definitely follow suit and support!
As for the three generals Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Jia, they can only guarantee the loyalty of a few private soldiers at most. However, these private soldiers are not only insufficient in number, but also not as elite as the Liaodong cavalry, so they will naturally become prey!
At that time, as the reinforcements from all walks of life and the garrison on the west route all choose to support Ximen Sheng and others, the forces controlled by Ximen Sheng will no longer be stretched thin, but will have an overwhelming advantage. Guan Ning stationed near Hujiazhuang The cavalry, Liaodong regiment training, Liaodong branch training, and even the imperial guards under Zhao Gechen are nothing to be afraid of! "
After Zhao Junchen thought for a moment, he asked again: "But I still can't understand. If Ximen Sheng and others' chances of winning are really so great, and Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Jia are not fools, they can't understand." They know the situation in Liaodong better than I do, so why do they dare to harbor dissent and compete with Ximen Sheng?"
Huang Ke sighed and explained: "Li Zehe and others naturally understand the huge advantages of Ximen Sheng's side, so they have been making frequent moves!
On the one hand, Li Zehe and others have been trying to win over Li Shijie and Shi Cheng, and even brought them into the decision-making circle. Although Shi Cheng did not appreciate it afterwards and still chose to be loyal to He Yu, Li Shijie did not Because of this, we have a much closer relationship with them;
On the other hand, Li Zehe and others also want to announce the merits, demerits, rewards and punishments of the relevant people regarding the recent events in the name of the collective decision-making of the top management of Liaodong Town before the reinforcements arrive, and then make a final conclusion. !
At the same time, there are frequent rumors that they are planning to reward the entire army in order to boost morale. What are the intentions of these things? You, Zhao Gechen, will naturally know it at a glance! "
Zhao Junchen nodded thoughtfully and whispered to himself: "Win alliances, squeeze out dissidents, buy military morale, and then accumulate strength for future effects!"
Huang Ke nodded and said: "That's right! During this period of time, due to Zhao Gechen's inspection, frequent changes occurred in Liaodong Town, and three major events happened one after another!
The first is the guilt of Huang Shenming, the commander-in-chief of the West Route. He acquiesced in the humiliation of his fellow soldiers and relatives, and was caught by Zhao Gechen, which caused the morale of the army to be unstable;
The second is Li Shijie's responsibility. Because of his command errors, the Liaodong Cavalry unexpectedly lost to the Guan Ning Cavalry in a public contest, which shocked the morale of the military;
The third one is Shi Cheng's responsibility. Both he and Li Shijie were the personal guards of He Yu, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong. After He Yu was kidnapped, he had to bear the responsibility no matter what. On the contrary, it was Li Shijie who was being kidnapped by Zhao Gechen at the time. Imprisoned, so you don’t have to take responsibility!
Once these three matters are seriously investigated, not only Huang Shenming, Li Shijie, and Shi Cheng will be held accountable, but also the middle and lower-level military attachés under their respective command will not be able to escape accountability. Completely ruining the military's future.
The wishful thinking of Li Zehe and others is to take the opportunity to weaken the enemy and strengthen themselves. On the one hand, they can reduce the relevant responsibilities of Li Shijie, Huang Shenming and others, and then they can remove the part of the Liaodong Cavalry under Li Shijie and most of the troops under Huang Shenming's command. The Liaodong frontier troops on the west route are all trying to win over to their side; on the other hand, they focus on holding Shi Cheng accountable and taking the opportunity to reduce Shi Cheng's military power and prestige...
Once the plan of Li Zehe and others succeeds, their strength will naturally increase greatly, and they will have the support of part of the Liaodong cavalry and most of the western border troops!
In this way, even if the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements loyal to He Yu arrive in Hujiazhuang and publicly express their support for Ximen Sheng and Shi Cheng, the other reinforcements will not immediately choose to attach themselves, and Li Zehe and others will still be able to Have some odds.
In the past two days, Ximen Sheng has been arguing with Li Zehe and others over this matter. Both sides refused to give in, because this matter directly affected the final outcome between the two factions! "
After a pause, Huang Ke concluded: "Li Zehe accused Shi Cheng of sending someone to assassinate him last night. We don't know the truth of this matter yet, but if Li Zehe's accusation is true, then Shi Cheng's risky approach is to Disrupt this plan of Li Zehe and others!
The lower official thinks that Zhao Gechen, since you came back from the predicament, has been too light, too slow, and too passive. This is the reason!
In fact, because you escaped early without any warning, you have unintentionally diverted the attention of all parties in Liaodong Town and affected the progress of Li Zehe's plan...
Then you began to assume an attitude of staying out of the matter, and your support for Li Zehe and others was too little. Not only did you not support Li Zehe and others' plan to win over allies, suppress dissidents, and win over the military, but after Li Zehe was assassinated, He didn’t take a too clear stance…
But in fact, Ximen Sheng's faction and Li Zehe's faction are not evenly matched at all. Li Zehe and others have been trying their best to reverse the disadvantage. Your attitude is not to watch the fire from the other side and reap the benefits, but to watch Li Zehe and others go to the end! And then, once the Ximen Sheng faction is completely in control of the situation, you will never be able to turn around again! "
*
Huang Ke is indeed a visionary and intelligent person who is outspoken and has a strong desire to express himself.
Since the conversation with Huang Ke, Zhao Junchen has been listening to Huang Ke's speech, but he has not been able to find many opportunities to interrupt.
This is probably another reason why Huang Ke is incompatible with forces such as the "Zhou Party" and the "Princeling Party".
Such people are often extremely stubborn and insist on their own opinions.
However, through Huang Ke's detailed and long-winded analysis, Zhao Junchen also felt a sense of enlightenment in his heart, and many of his previous doubts, uneasiness, and hesitations also dissipated.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen's mood was also very complicated.
How should I put it, Zhao Junchen found that he had been tricked by his own selfishness again!
The reason why Zhao Junchen is now ordered to patrol the north and appear in Liaodong is because when Emperor Deqing forced Zhou Shangjing to go out to visit the south, Zhao Junchen himself was selfishly planning and secretly happy to see the result. After forcing Zhao Junchen to go north of Beijing to patrol Liaodong, he lost the support of Zhou Shangjing, and in the end he could only obey the order and leave Beijing to go north.
Then, Zhao Junchen was still out of selfish calculations, unable to wait for any brewing, and used all means to accelerate the changes in the situation in Liaodong, because he did not want Emperor Deqing to pick peaches in the future, so the current situation in Liaodong loomed. The worry of losing control.
Now, Huang Ke accuses Zhao Junchen of being too light, too slow, and too passive since he came back from trouble, and not giving more support to Li Zehe and others... This is also due to Zhao Junchen's selfishness, because Zhao Junchen also doesn't want to Let Li Zehe pick the peaches, thinking that such things as winning over alliances, suppressing dissidents, and winning military morale should be left to him, so he reduced his support for Li Zehe and others.
Similar things have happened several times in a row, and they may continue to happen in the future - Zhao Junchen has taken the lesson to heart, but he cannot guarantee that he will not make similar mistakes again.
After all, the word "selfishness" is difficult to completely abandon. It always follows us, be it success or failure.
But the next moment, Zhao Junchen had calmed down his complicated mentality, and just stood up and thanked Huang Ke, saying sincerely: "Thank you, Mr. Huang, for your teaching. Listening to your words, it is like clearing away the fog, and the confusion and hesitation in my heart are clear." , is also swept away! If it weren’t for Mr. Huang’s outspokenness, I might have had to wait a long time to realize my mistakes, but by then I’m afraid everything would have been too late!”
Before this, Huang Ke had never met Zhao Junchen, but had only contacted each other twice in private using secret messages.
Therefore, Huang Ke thought that everything Zhao Junchen did was to reverse the situation of Liaodong Zhenwei, but he did not pay attention to Zhao Junchen's ambition to intervene in Liaodong's military power;
Regarding Zhao Junchen's various missteps, he also believed that Zhao Junchen's impromptu plan was ultimately not thorough enough and he did not understand the specific situation in the Liaodong region. Naturally, it was excusable, but he was not aware of the selfishness in it. cause trouble.
Huang Ke himself is out of public spirit and has been trying to reverse the stubborn diseases in Liaodong over the years, so he now only regards Zhao Junchen as his comrade.
Seeing Zhao Junchen's sincere thanks, Huang Ke's good impression of Zhao Junchen deepened again. He quickly stood up and returned the courtesy: "Zhao Gechen said seriously, you just came to Liaodong for the first time and don't know the details! And Xiaguan has served in Liaodong for three years. For more than a year, I have been thinking about it day and night in order to reverse the situation in Liaodong Town, so naturally I have learned something in my heart. If these insights can help Zhao Gechen, it will be the greatest honor for me!"
After Zhao Junchen sat back down, he smiled and said: "You are too modest. You just arrived here. You just learned the specific situation not long ago, and you can analyze so many situations. You have such wisdom among the civil and military officials of the dynasty." It’s considered top-notch!
From this point of view, I have made the most correct decision by trying to bring you into the game this time! If you want to reverse the various mistakes of this pavilion, the role you can play next is crucial!
You are now responsible for investigating the assassination of Li Zehe. In the eyes of all parties in Liaodong Town, you are also a neutral person. After I met you, I originally wanted to give you some important instructions and guide your investigation direction. But now it seems... you have already made up your mind on how to investigate next, right? "
Huang Ke nodded without hesitation and said: "Regarding Li Zehe's assassination, regardless of whether it has anything to do with Shi Cheng or not, for the sake of the overall situation of the imperial court and the stability of the country, the real culprit behind the scenes must be and can only be Shi Cheng!
Only in this way can the balance between Li Zehe's faction and Ximen Sheng's faction be rebalanced, and Zhao Gechen will have the opportunity to control the situation in Liaodong and bring order to the chaos! "
Zhao Junchen also nodded, and then asked: "I estimate that in two or three days at the latest, the reinforcements summoned by Ximen Sheng will arrive one after another. Can you finalize the decision before these reinforcements arrive?" Really? The evidence must be conclusive, so that Shi Cheng can’t argue and Ximen Sheng has nothing to say!”
Huang Ke still said without any hesitation: "Shi Cheng is already extremely suspicious. As long as the official makes a little move, this matter can be concluded!"
*
Next, Huang Ke and Zhao Junchen talked about many things, involving all aspects of the Liaodong region.
Through these conversations, many of Zhao Junchen’s ideas became clearer.
Then, seeing that it was getting late, if Huang Ke stayed with Zhao Junchen for a longer time, it might arouse more suspicion from Ximen Sheng, so Huang Ke resigned and left in time.
Zhao Junchen stood up in person and sent Huang Ke outside the tent. Looking at Huang Ke's back as he walked away quickly, he murmured to himself: "Priority, priority, advance and retreat... What Huang Ke said does make sense... Next, there are still two or three days of buffering time, just two days... many of my methods must be changed!"
As he spoke, Zhao Junchen turned around and returned to the tent, and then announced loudly: "Jiang Quan, send someone to inform the five generals in Liaodong Town and ask them to come to see me in an hour. I have something to discuss with them. !”
After hearing Zhao Junchen's instructions, Jiang Quan was stunned for a moment and then asked: "Only summon five generals? Do Li Shijie and the two thousand households in Shicheng want to summon them?"
Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "No, what I want to discuss has nothing to do with them... However, taking advantage of the opportunity of these generals to meet with me, you can secretly contact Li Shijie..."
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