After Xie Guang received the final reply from Crown Prince Li Bing, stating that he agreed with his plan to seek an opportunity to cause trouble, his hanging heart finally fell to the ground.
Just as the old general Xu Lie said to Murong Xue, although Xie Guang's power in the court and the army is becoming increasingly powerful, without the support of his direct royal family, no matter how much military power he controls, it will ultimately be of no avail.
During the 800th century of the Holy Tang Dynasty, the country had always attached great importance to military affairs. The loyalty of the soldiers of the Holy Tang Dynasty to the royal family was as strong as the black iron in the Northern Ming Dynasty. Coupled with the strict system and discipline of the army, if there were no justifiable reasons and royal authority, Representative, it is impossible for anyone to create any waves.
If you dare to rebel blatantly, except for the die-hard cronies, I am afraid that more than half of the troops will defect on the spot.
Therefore, Li Bing's thoughts are the key to all Xie Guang's plans.
Nian Jinsong and He Jingming were originally the crown prince's biggest "talismans." As long as the two of them are around, the Holy Covenant will always be the highest rule of law in the Holy Tang Dynasty. Li Bing is not willing to do anything desperate, and of course he will never give Xie Guang any respect in terms of legal principles and ethics. rely.
And once this key support is gone, if something happens, the only thing Xie Guang can use is a very small number of his own soldiers. Most of the rest of the army will either sit back and watch, or desert on the spot, falling apart in the blink of an eye. , was crushed to pieces by the imperial court.
Fortunately, the situation in Shengtang has become very different now under Xie Guang's plan.
The defenders of the sacred covenant passed away one after another, leaving Prince Li Bing's fragile nerves with nothing to rely on. If he still cares about the throne, if he is worried that his uncle Li Chengwu has changed his mind and decided to let his blood inherit the Holy Tang, then the only one he can and must reach out to grab is Xie Guang Hope.
This is undoubtedly the best result for Xie Guang.
Holding a powerful army, supporting the prince, faithfully fulfilling the sacred covenant for Taifu Nian Jinsong and the commander-in-chief He Jingming, and assisting the late emperor's bloodline to regain the imperial power. Isn't such a bright and righteous act without any disadvantages? As long as Xie Guang takes over the entire imperial capital with a thunderous force and forces Li Chengwu to abdicate, then the vast empire of Shengtang will fall into the hands of his Xie family.
As for Li Bing, he was just a puppet who used the emperor to control the princes.
According to the previous plan, after getting a clear answer from the East Palace, Xie Guang tried to show off his skills and get the military power in his hands in the name of conquering the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang. Then, he would kill all the soldiers and horses who did not share his heart. After being sent to Zijin Pass, he led the Black Armor Legion and the Long Sword Legion back to the imperial capital, and led the army to launch a "forcing the palace".
At that time, Emperor Li Chengwu had no choice but to obey the sacred covenant and abdicate early to save his life.
This plan is very feasible no matter from which angle you look at it.
More importantly, this plan is indeed being implemented step by step.
Although the emperor Li Chengwu had repeatedly hesitated to hand over his military power due to the obstruction of the prince's young master Liu Ce, no one could handle eight urgent military reports a day from the direction of Zijin Pass. The Turkic army and the Western Xinjiang rebel alliance gradually gained a foothold, and continued to increase the pressure on the western border of Shengtang. If they do not send troops, I am afraid it will not only be as simple as losing Western Xinjiang, Liangzhou, Yongzhou, Suzhou, and even It is the imperial capital and will be exposed to the iron hoof of the Turks.
Therefore, Li Chengwu had no choice but to finally agree, and Xie Guang of Shangzhu Kingdom would serve as the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition, commanding the hundreds of thousands of troops assembled outside the imperial capital to fight. Xie Guang can get the tiger talisman as long as the province under his command draws up a formal appointment edict and the emperor stamps it with the royal seal.
However, at this critical moment, an unexpected situation suddenly put Xie Guang into a dilemma. He even had to consider completely overturning the original plan and risking an early action.
That fatal emergency was Shen Lie.
According to the spies' report, just in the early morning this morning, as soon as the gates of the imperial capital were opened, the dusty Beiya Nilin Director Shi rushed directly into the city and ran to the imperial palace without stopping.
After receiving this extremely unexpected news, Xie Guang immediately summoned his close associates to discuss countermeasures.
Faced with the situation at hand, some people advocated taking immediate action, commanding their troops to seize the city gate and besiege the palace, launching military revolts and forcing Emperor Li Chengwu to pass the throne to Crown Prince Li Bing; others felt that the time was not yet ripe and they must not act rashly or voluntarily. The chaos led to a strong counterattack from the court.
For a while, the two opinions were at loggerheads, and neither could convince the other. Finally, Xie Guang slapped the desk, stood up and shouted: "Stop arguing! I have made up my mind and must take action first! Shen Lie returned from Western Xinjiang and suddenly entered the palace at this moment. There is definitely nothing good going on. If this commander is right, he will Most likely we have some evidence against us, enough to make the emperor change his mind. So if we continue to hesitate and procrastinate, all our previous hard work may be in vain. By then, I am afraid that none of you here will be able to Good ending. The most important thing in using troops is to seize the advantage! An army that loses power will definitely lose! For the current plan, we can only create the most favorable conditions for us in the situation, and then decide whether to attack or defend, advance or retreat .”
Di Xian was secretly upset and panicked because he failed to stop Shen Lie from returning to Beijing in time. When he heard what Xie Guang said, he quickly responded loudly: "Shangzhu Guo's words are reasonable, and I will obey your orders. Please give the order to Shangzhu Guo. What do we do?”
Xie Guang nodded, with a sharp light shining in his eyes: "Lu Yaofeng, you go back to the Ministry of War immediately, find a good reason, and urgently summon the Qilin Military Colonel or above who is responsible for the defense of the imperial capital, and ask them all to gather at the Yamen of the Ministry of War, and try your best to Ways to hold those people back. At the same time, an order was issued in the name of the Ministry of War, instructing the troops and horses from the states outside the city to attack the Mansion. They were not allowed to leave the camp without military orders, and everyone was on standby."
Lu Yaofeng, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, responded loudly, turned around and left in a hurry. Xie Guang then turned around and said to Feng Yiwei, the commander of the Long Sword Army: "Brother Yiwei, thank you for your hard work and return to your headquarters immediately." Go to the camp, start gathering troops, and be ready to cooperate with my actions at any time... Biao'er!"
"Here!" Xie Guang's nephew and deputy general of the Changdao Army, Xie Biao, stood up and responded.
"Assist Uncle Feng and lead the long sword army. At the critical moment, you must block the main force of the Qilin Army coming from the direction of Jiyang City at all costs!"
"Uncle, please rest assured. I guarantee that even half of the Qilin soldiers will not be able to reach the Imperial Capital City!"
Xie Guang nodded slightly and turned to ask Di Xian: "How are those two important places, Mingde Gate and Anhua Gate, doing now?"
"Reporting to Shangzhu Kingdom," Di Xian slightly cupped his hand: "The Qilin Army officers guarding these two city gates have surrendered to us. They can open the city gates at any time to allow our army to pass smoothly, guaranteed to be foolproof!"
Xie Guangdao: "Okay! Xuanjia Army's Yuzi Camp and Huozi Camp will immediately take over Mingde Gate and Anhua Gate and blockade Zhuque Street. The remaining sixteen battalions are assembled outside the city and are on standby. If anything happens, they will immediately enter the city for reinforcements!"
Several main generals of the Xuanjia Legion responded in unison upon hearing this, filled with murderous aura.
"Di Xian, you still have one more important task." Xie Guang said in a deep voice with a frosty face: "Take my personal bodyguards with you and immediately rush to the Fanglin Gate of the palace city to set up defenses and escort them at the same time. Your Highness, the Crown Prince, come to me as soon as possible. Once we are completely at odds with the imperial court, only the banner of the East Palace can compete with them. Without this bargaining chip, we are all doomed!"
Di Xian first responded with a "I understand my humble position", and then said: "Shangzhu Kingdom, the army is fully launched, and it may not be able to control the situation in the imperial capital immediately. In case the imperial army and the Qilin Army conflict with us, the Shangzhu Kingdom Mansion is here It is also no longer safe. Have you considered leaving the city temporarily to take command, so that the men can take action without any worries."
Xie Guang did not speak immediately after hearing the words. After pondering for a moment, he nodded and said: "You are right. Be invincible first and then wait for the enemy to be victorious. This is the right way to fight. However, even if you want to leave, you still have to leave." We have to take the prince with us, otherwise we won’t be safe even outside the city.”
Then, he told the housekeeper in the mansion beside him: "Xie Fu, you immediately go to the back to make arrangements, so that the family members can quickly pack up and prepare to leave the city. There is no need to take any valuables, the people, carriages and horses are the first priority!"
Xie Fu was stunned for a moment and looked a little anxious: "Master, the ladies and ladies are fine, they are all in the house, but a few young men went out to play and meet friends early in the morning, and now they can't be found, what should we do?"
"You can't control that much!" Xie Guang waved his hand: "You try to send people to inform them to leave the city. Whether they live or die depends on their own fate! Why are you still standing there? Go quickly!"
Xie Fu reacted, said oh quickly, turned around and ran outside. Seeing his panic, Xie Guang felt a sense of depression in his heart. He couldn't help but groaned angrily: "Damn, what was originally a well-planned plan has become so hasty and anxious now." , What a complete coward!"
Seeing that he was upset, Di Xian quickly comforted him: "Don't worry about Shangzhu Kingdom. The battlefield situation changes rapidly, which is a common thing. You have experienced hundreds of battles and made countless decisions on the spur of the moment. You have not led your brothers to a great victory." Victory? Although there is a change like Shen Lie, the initiative is still in our hands. All the emergency responses at the moment are just out of fear of missing good opportunities due to long nights and dreams. "
Xie Guang breathed a sigh of relief and did not comment on Di Xian's words: "Don't waste your time here. Hurry to the East Palace and get Li Bing to me safely. The most important thing is."
Di Xian nodded and asked: "Shangzhu Kingdom, what if His Highness is unwilling to leave with the humble position?"
"Then tie him up!" Xie Guang said angrily.
