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Soon, He Rensheng met Huang Ke under the recommendation of the Liaodong generals, and then found a place to meet and talk with Huang Ke alone.
The conversation lasted for nearly half an hour. No one knew what questions He Rensheng asked or what answers Huang Ke provided.
At the same time, the three hundred soldiers under He Rensheng were also running around the camp, collecting information everywhere.
Seeing this situation, the various forces reacted differently.
Ximen Sheng, who thought he had a clear conscience and was upright and not afraid of slanting shadows, was actually worried and secretly uneasy.
On the contrary, the other three generals who really wanted to betray He Yu remained optimistic and patient.
*
"This time, Ximen Sheng is definitely in big trouble!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity of He Rensheng and Huang Ke to meet and talk, Li Zehe confidently asserted when he met Gan Cheng and Xu Zha in private.
After hearing Li Zehe's evaluation, Gan Cheng also sneered and nodded in agreement.
Although Xu Zha is the oldest, his wisdom and vision are obviously inferior. After seeing the performance of Li Zehe and Gan Cheng, he couldn't help but asked in confusion: "Why do you say that?"
With a hint of awe in his expression, Gan Cheng replied: "Because Ximen Sheng has now completely fallen into the trap deliberately designed for him by Zhao Gechen, and his pants are covered in yellow mud!
A few days ago, Zhao Gechen gave Ximen Sheng the full responsibility for investigating the Jurchen suspicions in Jianzhou, and then gave us the full responsibility for assessing the merits, demerits, rewards and punishments of the entire army. Once these two things are done properly, both He can win over allies and suppress dissidents, while Zhao Gechen has one from each side, seemingly impartial!
At that time, I thought Zhao Gechen's attitude was too weak. Even at this time, he was still unwilling to fully support us, and still had to compromise with Ximen Sheng... But now it seems that this arrangement is a wonderful one, and it is like digging Ximen in one fell swoop. Sheng’s foundation!
Hey! After we received the mission, we were naturally impatient and acted quickly, taking the opportunity to win over our comrades and suppress dissidents. When Ximen Sheng saw our actions, he quickly took advantage of the opportunity to investigate the Jianzhou Jurchen and took the opportunity to retaliate against us. They are also trying to win over allies and suppress dissidents, and they won’t give in even an inch!
Looking at it now, it seems that no one has taken advantage and everyone has their own victory or defeat, but in fact, Ximen Sheng has suffered a big loss! "
Li Zehe said: "That's right. Compared to us, what is Ximen Sheng's biggest advantage? It is that his military prestige is higher, his appeal is stronger, and the soldiers are more willing to believe in his loyalty and stance!
But in the past few days, he has been unknowingly led by Zhao Gechen and us, and has been blinded by the victory or defeat. He only cares about fighting for power with us, or to win over allies, or to suppress dissidents, but In the eyes of all the soldiers in the army, this kind of behavior is equivalent to his desire to seize power and position. He is no longer selfish. Who is still willing to believe in his loyalty and justice?
Therefore, it seems that each has his own victory or defeat, but in fact Ximen Sheng has gradually lost his biggest advantage!
After all, Ximen Shenggang was just a warrior. He couldn't see through Zhao Gechen's ingenious calculations. He thought he had a strong counterattack and suffered no losses at all. In fact, he fell into the trap without knowing it!
Moreover, even if he was vaguely aware of it, under the pressure of the situation at that time, he had no choice but to take the same approach, and the result would not be any different! "
After a pause, Li Zehe continued: "What's more, our task is to assess the merits, demerits, rewards and punishments of all the soldiers in the army. The methods include both merits and rewards, as well as faults and punishments. Naturally, we can use both kindness and power, so that all the soldiers in the army can have hope. , various practices will not easily arouse resentment across the entire military.
However, Ximen Sheng’s task is to investigate the suspicion of Jianzhou Jurchen. He needs to investigate the relationship between the entire army and the Jianzhou Jurchen. The only means is responsibility and punishment. Therefore, the bigger and more actions he takes, the more he will cause trouble to the entire army. The heart is disgusted and everyone is in danger!
Coupled with the various rumors we secretly spread, it was said that Ximen Sheng colluded with Jianzhou Jurchens to kidnap General He, and that Ximen Sheng came forward to prevent the reward for the entire army... In this way, the entire army will be What do you think of Ximen Sheng?
Under normal circumstances, these rumors and criticisms would not be able to shake the foundation of Ximen Sheng's prestige, but too many things have happened recently. Not only are the morale of the soldiers low and their morale turbulent, they are also holding back a sense of resentment in their hearts, eager to find someone. The scapegoat takes full responsibility and lets them vent their frustrations! As for Ximen Sheng's situation, he just hit the point of the gun!
Now, the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements are running around in the camp, collecting information from the soldiers... General Xu, guess what the soldiers will think of Ximen Sheng at this time? Is the information they provided beneficial to Ximen Sheng? Or is it beneficial to us? "
Gan Cheng nodded repeatedly, the awe in his expression becoming more and more obvious, and said: "This is Zhao Gechen's exquisite calculation, whether it is our reaction, Ximen Sheng's reaction, or the reaction of the entire army, or the reaction of Liaodong The reactions of the cavalry reinforcements were all predicted by him in advance, and they were all used by him... It seemed that he was calm and did not do anything. He just used a little bit of tricks to make everyone become his scapegoat. String puppets!
In fact, it was only after I saw He Rensheng's reaction that I finally understood the subtlety of Zhao Gechen's methods... If Zhao Gechen used the same method to plot against me, I'm afraid I would also end up in the urn like Ximen Sheng. , not even a chance to resist!
This kind of calculation by the city government is really awe-inspiring! In terms of power and scheming, we generals in the border army can't keep up with those Gonggun princes at the center of the imperial court! "
After hearing the detailed explanations from Li Zehe and Gan Cheng, Xu Zha finally came to a realization.
Then, Xu Zha couldn't help but ask again: "But... we are fighting for power, winning alliances, and suppressing dissidents just like Ximen Sheng these days. I'm afraid that after He Rensheng's investigation, although he will no longer trust Ximen Sheng, he will not trust Ximen Sheng any more. Us!"
Li Zehe waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, as long as the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements do not favor Ximen Sheng, it is the least bad outcome for us! What's more, once Ximen Sheng loses his credibility and prestige, then we will have more power to speak. , because we have a large number of people, we can make money with one voice, but Ximen Sheng has lost all his people, so after this investigation, the Liaodong Cavalry reinforcements will only be more inclined to trust us!"
Gan Cheng added: "He Rensheng is currently interrogating Huang Ke, and will later interrogate Li Shijie. These two people seem to be neutral. In fact, Huang Ke has completely offended Ximen Sheng because of his conviction of Shi Cheng. The relationship between Li Shijie and us There is also a tacit understanding, so the final words of these two people will only be more beneficial to us... No matter what, we will not lose this game, the key is how to win!"
Xu Zhi said thoughtfully: "So, the most important thing for us next is to unify our caliber and win the trust of the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements to the greatest extent. It is best to let the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements help us eradicate Ximen Sheng in one fell swoop. Once Ximen Sheng is Sheng has completely lost power, and General He is still uncertain about his life or death. The entire Liaodong Town respects the three of us!
At that time, without the constraints of Ximen Sheng, even the Liaodong cavalry must listen to our dispatch, then the situation is set!
Then, I will successfully become the new Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong, and I will reciprocate the favor, allowing Li and Gan to have the same status as Ximen Sheng! "
Speaking of the latter part, Xu Zha's expression gradually became excited, as if he had seen the moment when he successfully took over the power of Liaodong with the support of Li Zehe and Gan Cheng!
Hearing what Xu Yan said, Li Zehe and Gan Cheng looked at each other, both smiling, and then once again expressed their loyalty and support to Xu Yan. Naturally, Xu Yan couldn't help but feel more and more happy. .
*
While Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Jie were making wishful thinking, Ximen Sheng, with a serious expression on his face, began to make arrangements for the next step.
Just like the judgments of Li Zehe and Gan Cheng, Ximen Sheng was never aware of Zhao Junchen's sinister intentions and fell into the trap unknowingly. He waited until the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements sent He Rensheng to investigate the truth. Only then did he finally understand his dire situation.
At that moment, Ximen Sheng felt like a moth caught in a spider's web. The harder he struggled, the more unable he was to escape.
But now, it's too late.
As a frontier general, Ximen Shengruo was naturally no match for Zhao Junchen when it came to intrigues and intrigues, but he had always been familiar with the art of war and understood the principle of "predicting victory before predicting defeat."
Therefore, after Ximen Sheng found out that he was being plotted, although he inevitably became angry and angry, he did not lose his calm. Instead, he began to seriously consider the worst outcome of the future development of the situation.
For Ximen Sheng, the worst outcome is undoubtedly that the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements were misled and deceived, and completely fell to the side of Li Zehe and others. Ximen Sheng himself completely lost power. Not only would he be imprisoned like Shi Cheng, but he would also become a A traitor in the eyes of Chengquan Army officers and soldiers.
At the same time, after losing the constraints of Ximen Sheng and Shi Cheng, Li Zehe and others will quickly seize power and usurp the throne. He Yu, who falls into the hands of the kidnappers, may also be in danger. Li Zehe and others will definitely try to force the kidnappers Seize the vote, and then they will completely eliminate their worries!
In response to this worst-case scenario, Ximen Sheng must find a countermeasure!
At this time, Ximen Sheng finally no longer held back any forbearance or hesitation, showing unprecedented courage and determination!
Just like what Li Zehe said, since Shi Cheng was imprisoned, all the military attachés under Shi Cheng have gathered around Ximen Sheng and obeyed Ximen Sheng's orders.
Shi Cheng was promoted to Liaodong Cavalry Qianhu by He Yu at a young age. He was also recognized as one of He Yu's successors. He fought with real swords and guns on the battlefield, and Shi Cheng's officers , most of them are life and death friends in Shicheng, and they have saved each other's lives on the battlefield.
Therefore, Shi Cheng's imprisonment not only did not break up these people, but instead made them unite with the same hatred.
It is precisely for this reason that although Li Zehe and others managed to imprison Shi Cheng, they did not dare to imprison Shi Cheng's military attachés and military colleagues, otherwise a mutiny would probably be triggered.
Before Shi Cheng was imprisoned, he asked them to obey Ximen Sheng's orders in the future, and they would follow Ximen Sheng unswervingly. No matter how risky Ximen Sheng's orders were, they would unswervingly execute them.
At this time, Ma Zhu, Zhang Zhuang, Zheng Bolun and others under Shi Cheng were all standing quietly in front of Ximen Sheng, with the same serious expressions.
Ximen Sheng looked around at a few people and asked, "Do you cherish your life?"
"At the risk of life!" several people replied in unison.
"Very good! You obey my order. If the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements are deceived and deceived by Li Zehe and others and think that I am a traitor with evil intentions, they will definitely send people to capture me and treat me like a historical figure. Imprisoned like a city...
When that time comes, you must take action quickly without hesitation, but the action you want to take is not to try to rescue this general, but to rush directly to the Forbidden Army station, defeat all the Forbidden Army guards in one fell swoop, and capture Zhao Junchen! "
Upon hearing Ximen Sheng's order, Ma Zhu, Zhang Zhuang, Zheng Bolun and others all changed their expressions, but soon they all showed firm expressions, and no one raised any objection!
"Because of my original proposal, whether it is Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, Xu Jia, or Li Shijie, these people are currently living in the Forbidden Army garrison. The reason why I proposed and guided this matter at the beginning is that I wanted to wait until the last resort. Next, there is a chance to catch all these people!
Of course, catching them all in one fell swoop is naturally the best situation, but if you can't catch them all in one fell swoop, you must control Zhao Junchen! After taking control of Zhao Junchen, you bypassed the other people in Liaodong Town and directly negotiated with the kidnappers in the dense forest. You threatened Zhao Junchen's life and asked the kidnappers to release the commander-in-chief immediately! If the kidnappers don't agree, just cut off one of Zhao Junchen's ears and give it to them!
snort! This general still believes that the kidnapping of Lord General Bing has absolutely nothing to do with the Jianzhou Jurchens. It must be a good show directed and performed by Zhao Junchen! Therefore, as long as Zhao Junchen is controlled, he can be exchanged for General Bing's escape. Once General Bing gets out of trouble successfully, all the difficulties in front of him will naturally be solved! "
As Ximen Sheng finished speaking, the expressions of Ma Zhu, Zhang Zhuang, Zheng Bolun and others became more and more serious, but still without any hesitation, they all accepted the order in unison with a firm attitude!
This is a big gamble, but they have no choice!
*
And just when Li Zehe and others expressed their admiration for Zhao Junchen's exquisite methods, and Ximen Sheng was planning to pull out the fire and lift the table, Zhao Junchen also received news of the appearance of Liaodong cavalry reinforcements.
After hearing the news, Zhao Junchen murmured: "Ximen Sheng...it's time to jump over the wall!"
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