Just as the group of people returned to the capital city from Tiewan Mountain, Prince Yi Zhong also returned to his residence in Anfu Hutong.
He returned to the study alone to think about it for a while, and then he made a decision.
"Zinian, prepare to go south immediately, today."
"Ah?" Wang Zinian was shocked when he was summoned. He had previously advocated going south, but Prince Yi Zhong disagreed, but why did he suddenly change his mind now?
"I talked to Ye Xianggao and hoped to supervise the country, but he flatly refused." Prince Yi Zhong looked very calm, "And his sentence of being inconsistent with the regulations meant that he would only recognize the fourth son's lineage..."
Wang Zinian was speechless. How could these civil servants turn around so easily?
If Niu Jizong's army entered the city and took control of the situation, they might be able to force them or induce some unwilling people to turn around. However, for people like Ye Xianggao, who could go down and come back later, it would be difficult for him to directly attack his side. If they lose their sincerity, then they, the scholars, will no longer want the face and reputation.
"Don't take another look?" At this time, Wang Zinian felt a little unsure.
"We can't wait any longer." Prince Yi Zhong seemed particularly decisive at this time, "If you wait any longer, when Fang Congzhe and Qi Yongtai return to Beijing and make up their minds, I may not be able to leave. Now they just can't be sure about their father." The emperor is thinking, Gu is also a fox pretending to be a tiger,..."
"The Emperor's side is really..." Wang Zinian asked with some regret.
Prince Yi Zhong shook his head, "I have tried every means, but I can't see my father. The concubine also said useless things. The letter brought by Gu'an's people only said that my father reads and practices calligraphy all day long. , …, But Ye Xianggao and the others must have sent someone to test out their father’s intentions, and his father probably didn’t give them a good look, …”
"Where is Master Gu..." Wang Zinian couldn't help but ask again.
"Lu Song is increasingly wary of Gu Cheng. Gu Cheng has almost taken over the few manpower he has. At most, he is just a few officials and a few private people in the north and south. It is difficult to stir up the overall situation. Moreover, without his father, he He will not help Gu Ye anymore." Prince Yi Zhong sighed, "Gu Ye probably knows what my father is thinking, but he is confused. Such two people do not help each other, but they actually harm the common people of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Ah. I don't want to get to this point today. The confrontation between the north and the south will definitely lead to a big war. Even if I can get the position of Dabao in the future, it will be another 'battle of peace'. To bridge the rift between the north and the south, I'm afraid that I will go to war. You may not be able to do well even if you die.”
Wang Zinian could only sigh.
Indeed, if the Supreme Emperor could come forward and clearly express his support for Prince Yohitada's supervision of the country, then the civil servants in the DPRK would be absolutely unable to stop it, and everything would go smoothly. However, the Supreme Emperor is unwilling to come forward. This seems to be a conflict between the two, allowing the cabinet to make decisions, but it does not After thinking about the attitude of the entire Jiangnan gentry and the nobles in Beijing, it was delayed to the current situation.
Now that the prince has made up his mind, Wang Zinian felt relaxed at this time, "Everything has been prepared. The prince can leave through the secret passage right now. Prince Cheng has already made arrangements for his escape, but the prince, the other arrangements are Can’t we also activate them together?”
A look of ferociousness flashed across Prince Yi Zhong's face, "That's not necessary, the time is not yet ripe. The news has been passed on to the Chahars and Jurchens, and we can't interfere. We can't control what they want to do. , of course, the later we delay the action, the better. The White Lotus Sect, they will watch what happens on our side. This group of people is very ambitious, even if they are alone, it is difficult to control them. If they start making trouble this time, they will mess up the situation. It would be a good thing to let Ye Xianggao and the others have a headache, so that they can all be exposed, so that they can be eradicated in one fell swoop when Gu comes to power!"
"Where is Shanshan...?" Wang Zinian asked again.
"Well, our people over there can just stay dormant. They can just raise their arms at the critical moment, and let them do the rest." Prince Yi Zhong's face became even colder. "Since the Northland is so unwilling to accept being alone, then we can take advantage of this year's severe drought. In such a situation, squeeze out the pustules and let these mud-legged people go and make trouble."
Wang Zinian nodded. Shanshan and Shaanxi had already made plans. This year's severe drought was just the right time to light a fire at the critical moment and spread the beacon smoke everywhere.
"Over there with the Cowboy..."
"He has his own plans, and he still needs to coordinate and discuss with Sun Shaozu. Presumably Chu Qi has already made arrangements to go south along the route, so there is no need for us to worry." Prince Yi Zhong waved his hands and took one last look at the situation in the palace. His expression was complicated, but Finally, he turned to determination, "Let's go, I will come back, but then I won't come back to this place."
*******
After receiving the notice that Prince Yi Zhong was going south, Niu Jizong breathed a sigh of relief.
From the beginning, he was not very in favor of attacking the capital, because he was not sure whether the assassination of the emperor would succeed. Even if the emperor was assassinated and fell into coma this time, Niu Jizong still felt uneasy, although he had strong control over the Xuanfu army. , but this was based on the situation that the emperor could not come forward, so even when he launched the attack on Gonghua City, he was still a little worried that the emperor would suddenly wake up.
Once the army approaches the capital city and the emperor suddenly appears on top of the city wall, he is afraid that the morale of the army will be shaken immediately, or even a mutiny. Niu Jizong is also unsure whether he can control it.
From this point of view, Niu Jizong was unwilling to attack the capital city directly, but preferred to go south. Even if he fought with the imperial army in Jianghuai, Huguang, and Henan, he was not afraid at all, but he was unwilling to go to the capital. Whether the emperor can wake up is too variable, and it will have a great impact on the entire army.
Therefore, in addition to making preparations to move eastward, he was more concerned about planning to move south.
From the very beginning, Niu Jizong had considered two routes to go south, one via Shanxi and the other via the North Zhili route.
There is no doubt that the Beizhili side is better, and the focus is on this side.
From the direction of the capital, passing through Zhuozhou, Baoding, Shunde, Guangping, Daming, and then diagonally inserted into Yanzhou, Shandong, we can rely on the canal for supply.
This road is basically smooth sailing, and the layout has been in place since a year or two ago.
The road in Shanxi is much more difficult. It mainly goes south from the Inner Great Wall and enters Henan via Luzhou and Zezhou.
This line has also undergone some layout, but as a backup line.
Niu Jizong also knew that he could not take away all the Xuanfu Army's 70,000 to 80,000 troops, so all non-direct lineage and elite members stayed with Yanqing and Wandu Division. In addition to following him eastward, Niu Jizong also wanted to take away the part that he wanted to take away. Some of them stayed in Baoan Prefecture, and by this time they had already entered Baoding Prefecture to clear the way to Daqian Station.
Niu Jizong had already thought about it. If Prince Yi Zhong could achieve great things in the capital city, it would be a big deal whether he went to the capital or went south to Baoding.
If the big thing fails, it is very necessary to go south in advance. Although arrangements have been made in advance, the forward troops also need to make safe arrangements in advance.
Fortunately, the Great Zhou Dynasty always focused on the outside and ignored the inside. All the elites were on the nine sides. The guard posts in the inland areas were basically just decorations. Niu Jizong didn't think anyone could resist his army going south.
But now he can't go south easily. He has to put on a show that he will continue to march eastward with the Datong Army and must take the capital city. Only in this way can You Shigong not dare to act rashly.
The situation on Sun Shaozu's side was better than expected. Unfortunately, even with the combined forces, it would be difficult to break into the capital city. Neither time nor logistics, food, and supplies were fully prepared. When Sun Shaozu's Datong soldiers came over, Ji Ji would probably be Soldiers from the town and even Liaodong will arrive, and it is hard to say whether the northwest soldiers who have been training in Qingyang will take advantage of the situation and move eastward. Niu Jizong does not think this is a good opportunity.
A series of battles quickly turned from gentle to fierce again, catching You Shigong off guard.
I originally thought that this stalemate would continue forever. Unexpectedly, it had only calmed down for two days. The Xuanfu army's offensive became fierce again. The two armies even launched a fierce confrontation at Yuquan Mountain and Qinghedian again, forcing You Shigong to have to An urgent order was issued to transfer some guards from Tongzhou Dingbian Guards to supplement them.
"What? Zhuozhou fell?" When You Shigong received the news, he could hardly believe his ears, "When did it happen?"
"It should have happened seven days ago." The messenger was almost paralyzed on the ground from exhaustion, his face covered with dust. "I sent three groups of messengers, but I never received a reply, so I had to come in person..."
"The three guards of Zhuolu..." You Shigong stared at each other.
The Three Zhuolu Guards are the three guards on the left, middle and right of Zhulu. The Zhuolu Guards are divided into three guards, but they are all stationed in Zhuozhou. Their strength is not large. The three guards add up to only more than 3,000 people, but they are Shuntian Mansion. The most important and largest logistics supply base in the southwest, many equipment, grain, grass and materials in Datong and Shanxi towns are transferred from here.
"The three guards rebelled, and only Beizhi was outside. They found that the situation was not right, but the Xuanfu army came too suddenly, and Beizhi had no time to react. He only took more than a hundred people to escape to Liulihe Mobile, and then went to inquire about the news, and sent out one after another People came to report to the Lord, but there was no reply. I really couldn’t wait any longer so I came in person..."
You Shigong was shocked. Niu Jizong had already made arrangements and recognized the important value of the three Zhuolu Guards. He was afraid that he would send troops south to control the Zhuolu Guards when they marched eastward. Even the people of the Zhuolu Guards had already been theirs. The person who arranged it.
This kind of officer, who is nominally under the jurisdiction of Ji Town but actually belongs to the local guard station, has no regard at all, but it can be of great use at this time.
If we capture the Three Guards of Zhuolu, we can safely go straight to Baoding without having to worry about food and logistics. Regardless of whether we capture Baoding or not, with the limited population and military strength of Baoding Prefecture, how dare we go to Hexuan Prefecture? Military collision?
