Liu Shaojian wandered in the palace for a long time, and finally waited until Chen Juegang came out of Chengxin Hall, and quickly followed him. After the two exchanged a few polite words, Liu Shaojian saw that there was no one around him, so he whispered: "Prime Minister, have you and Prime Minister Feng discussed the candidate for the general for the Western Expedition?"
Chen Jue replied nonchalantly: "There is no result. What, who benefited from Liu Shaojian?"
Liu Shaojian coughed lightly, and then showed a humble smile: "Why are you making fun of us, Prime Minister? This Western Expedition is a big event. Not only Your Majesty, but also those in the palace take it very seriously. Minister, you are Privy Councilor, you are the only one in the Central Committee who can be regarded as knowledgeable about military matters. This time you are the commander. You have to carefully consider your selection, especially the lieutenants around you. In short, don't let others take away the credit. go!"
Chen Jue stared at Shaojian Liu's smiling face with confusion on his face, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer. Immediately afterwards, Liu Shaojian said that there was something important in the palace, and left in a hurry after saying goodbye.
Returning to the Privy Council, Chen Jue was still at a loss. He knew in his heart that Shaojian Liu had always been one of his own, so his words just now were probably without any malice.
But strictly speaking, the reason why Liu Shaojian kept in contact with him was to communicate with the queen. Therefore, it must be the queen's intention to come to me specifically today and talk about the Western Expedition. But why didn't he tell the Queen what she wanted him to do like before? Want to say something that is not painful or itchy?
Chen Jue frowned and kept thinking about the deep meaning of Liu Shaojian's words. "Those in the palace take it very seriously", "You have to carefully consider your selection", "Don't let others take away the credit"...
"Those people in the palace, those in the palace..." Chen Jue kept muttering in a low voice, thinking to himself, besides the emperor, aren't there the queens and concubines in the palace now? According to rank, Queen, next is Concubine Zhang...
Concubine Zhang Guifei is well known to be the cousin of the Feng brothers. Thinking of this, Chen Jue suddenly realized that this was so!
These two days were when Chen Jue had a headache. Now the emperor asked Feng Yansi to discuss the matter with him about the Western Expedition Point. Although Chen Jue and Feng Yansi seemed to be in harmony as one party, they had a competitive relationship after all, and there would always be some conflicts in private. Let's not talk about the selection of the two lieutenants, but let's talk about the positions of the subordinate generals. The two will definitely compete with each other, and Feng Yansi has power over the whole government. If they compete too much, both sides will lose.
But now according to Liu Shaojian's opinion, in the palace, the Queen and Zhang Guifei must also be paying attention to the Western Expedition, and even have a disagreement. Therefore, Liu Shaojian's deep intention was to keep the candidate in his hands, and the credit of the Western Expedition could not be taken away by Feng Yansi, which would indirectly hit Concubine Zhang in the palace.
In the past, the reason for contacting the palace was of course Chen Jue's own request. Now it was rare that the situation was reversed and the queen took the initiative to contact him. This is the first time she has directly intervened in important military and political matters. Could it be that the Queen is determined to interfere in this matter and use her own hands to beat Concubine Zhang? It is not difficult to understand why Liu Shaojian never mentioned the word queen in his words today.
Liu Shaojian is worthy of being an old man in the palace, and he is really clever in speaking appropriately. No wonder he is deeply trusted by the queen.
Thinking of this, Chen Jue suddenly felt more confident. Since the queen wanted to take advantage of her, why wouldn't he? Originally, the planning of the Western Expedition was his own initiative, but the emperor only asked Feng Yansi to intervene in order to check and balance.
However, now that he has the full support of the master of the harem, no matter how hard he fights with Feng Yansi, it may not be impossible. What's more, the Western Expedition is so important. If he wins and returns to the court, with this unparalleled meritorious service and the favor he has received from the Queen, Feng Yansi's position will sooner or later be his...
"God help me!" Chen Jue took a sip of tea smugly, and then turned his attention to the roster on the desk that recorded the military status of the generals and generals of each army.
After reading for a long time, among the commanders of the six armies of the Forbidden Army, Liu Yanzhen of the Shenwu Army was, needless to say, a complete loser, while among the other five armies, except for Zhou Ben of the Xiongwu Army, who had a good relationship with him, they were either neutral or in favor of Feng Yansi.
As for the bodyguards, except for Long Xiang, Wei Sheng and Dian Zhi who were stationed in Jinling and were relatively familiar with each other, most of them were stationed in various state capitals and had no contact with them.
Chen Jue held his pen and decisively drew a circle on the name "Zhou Ben", and then paused on the name "Liu Yanzhen" for a long time. Then he turned back two or three pages. After frowning for a long time, he made Decide......
A few days later, an unexpected guest suddenly came to Li Yuan's house. At this time, Li Yuan was practicing his sword in the front yard. The soldiers rushed over to report. After learning that the visitor was Peng Shigao, they quickly ordered everyone to open the door to welcome him.
Peng Shigao was introduced into the inner hall with a smile on his face. As soon as he sat down, he revealed a piece of news to Li Yuan. The imperial army for this Western Expedition has been reorganized in Beiyuan, and all the elites drawn from the Sixth Army have been integrated into Xiongwu. As for the soldiers and horses drawn from the guards' armies, they were fully integrated into the Long Xiang Army and the Wei Sheng Army, but the main force of the expedition was still the unbeatable ace Shenwu Army.
"According to the wishes of the Privy Council, Longxiang's army will escort the money, grain and baggage first, and the army will set off seven days later. In this western expedition, the envoy Chen Xiangqin will be the commander. Liu Yanzhen and Zhou Ben will each lead Shenwu and Xiongwu, and they will be divided into deputy generals. Feng Yanlu, the envoy of Hakka Province, will accompany the army. Going on expeditions, he also has the responsibility of supervising the army and conducting diplomacy.”
Li Yuan sighed slightly, not that he was disappointed because he didn't hear his name. After all, his qualifications were here. Not to mention the Sixth Army, there were more than a dozen guard armies alone, which was incomparable to Liu Yanzhen and the others. It's just that this lineup is too familiar and too "luxurious". There is really no suspense when it comes to facing Langzhou Bing.
Seeing Li Yuan's slightly depressed face, Peng Shigao raised his eyebrows meaningfully: "Brother Xian, have you forgotten that there is also a guard of the Holy Army this time? Today, the Privy Council has received news, ordering you to serve as the capital of the Holy Guard Army. Hou, he led a group of troops to defend the central army during the Western Expedition to prepare for the response. The appointment letter came out in the past two days. By the way, Liu Dushi and the brothers from the first battalion of our palace have also been incorporated into the guard. The Holy Army..."
After sending Peng Shigao away, Li Yuan returned to the study. He was stunned for a moment, and then became ecstatic. This transfer order is really a dream for me! Although they were not transferred to the Sixth Army, they were all Du Yuhou who guarded all the armies. However, the Wei Sheng Army and the Dianzhi Army were completely different. One was a solid field force, and the other was just an idle army guarding the imperial city. The number was still small. So pitiful.
And Li Yuan also understood that his mission in this western expedition, in addition to protecting Chen Jue's Chinese army camp, was nothing more than a reserve force. As for the vanguard and the main attacking force, they must be led by Liu Yanzhen and Zhou Ben. Although Li Yuan was a little vague about Zhou Ben, as long as Liu Yanzhen was around, he felt relieved and he would definitely have the opportunity to lead the army into battle.
Thinking of this, Li Yuan couldn't help but become nervous. In addition to constantly thinking about the memories of the Langzhou area in his mind, he even inexplicably flipped through a few military books brought back from the government office. I secretly thought to myself that I must be prepared in the next few days. This expedition is an excellent opportunity given to me by God, and I must not let it go! The last time in Tanzhou was just a fluke, but this time it was a real battle. Don't be careless...
