Dong Tianxing smiled calmly: "If I were the old prince, I would be pissed off by this idiot like you! Think about it for yourself, what is the situation in the world now? How many people are secretly trying to provoke a discord between the Prince of Anping County and The relationship between the emperor and the emperor? Turks, Li Kuang, and the Xuanjia Army hiding in the south of the Yangtze River! If you don’t investigate carefully and get real evidence, then you rashly accuse His Majesty, aren’t you afraid of falling into the enemy’s scheme?”
These words were so reasonable that Huo Zhenyu was suddenly speechless. Before he could react, Dong Tianxing continued: "I came to Xiangcheng with an order to investigate the case with all the troops and find out the murderer of the Anping County Prince. Not only did you Lingnan soldiers not cooperate, but you even came here What’s the purpose of the obstruction? Don’t you want to seek justice for the old prince?”
Huo Zhenyu frowned: "Are you telling the truth?"
Dong Tianxing said proudly: "The imperial edict for investigating the case is in the car. You will understand when I enter the city to announce the edict!"
After hesitating for a moment, Huo Zhenyu took half a step back and made a gesture of giving way: "Your Majesty, please!"
Dong Tianxing returned to the car and ordered the team to move on. Lingnan soldiers and Ezhou soldiers followed them and entered Xiangcheng together.
The news that the imperial envoy was coming had been spread throughout Jingxiang by Yima messengers three days ago. Commanders of various armies, whether they were loyal to Li Bing or those who had their own thoughts and plans to wait and see, rushed here to wait for Dong Tianxing.
After all, we are still soldiers of Shengtang, the situation is not yet completely clear, and the rules and etiquette must not be abolished.
Except for the second-in-command like Huo Zhenyu, the other military leaders all maintained a minimum of courtesy and politeness towards Dong Tianxing, or they were both obedient and obedient.
Yes.
At least that's how Dong Tianxing feels.
There were a room full of generals, and the smallest official position was from the fourth rank to the captain, which was one level higher than him, the fifth rank admonishment doctor, not to mention those Qianniu Zhonglang General, Yunqi Zhonglang General, and Lower Governor , middle governor and superior governor. The most exaggerated thing is that among those people, there are actually two gray-haired old men. One is a second-grade general to assist the country, and the other is a second-grade general to suppress the army. Although he has no real power, his rank is higher than that of Wang Bor, Minister of War, which is simply exaggerated.
This group of bastards wielding swords and guns would not take Dong Tianxing seriously even in peaceful times, let alone the current situation in which the world is in chaos.
The positive and the negative, the positive is the identity of the imperial envoy, and the negative is him, Dong Tianxing.
However, Lao Dong was deep enough in the city and thick-skinned. He had a definite idea in mind, so he didn't care about the behavior of the generals.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Dong Tianxing asked his men to take the imperial edict and read it out in front of everyone.
This edict was written by Murong Xue and had two main contents. First, the prince Li Bing had inherited the throne and became the new king according to the late emperor's order; second, he promoted meritorious officers, and basically all the generals present were named and received awards.
After the edict was recited, all the military leaders looked at me and I looked at you, and then they all received the order to express their gratitude. Some people are happy from the bottom of their hearts and their voices are loud; some people are hesitant and seem to have no confidence; and some people simply show disdain and get over it with a perfunctory word.
Dong Tianxing had already guessed that this would be the case, so he didn't dwell too much on it and went on to come up with the second decree: the aftermath of Prince Anping.
The content of the aftermath mainly includes three aspects: posthumously conferring the title of Prince Li Chenglin and a grand burial with national honors; investigating the case and finding out the real culprit behind the scenes; and allowing everyone to negotiate and recommend the successor to the marshal.
The first two are easy to understand and reasonable, but the last one is very intriguing.
It stands to reason that the emperor should decide who takes over the position of commander-in-chief, and the three provinces are responsible for drafting, approving, and appointing officials. During the eight hundred years of the Holy Tang Dynasty, the generals who had never heard of leading troops discussed the matter with Zuo.
How to negotiate this? A fight? Who is more powerful?
Facing everyone's doubts, Dong Tianxing smiled: "Everyone, are you having any difficulties?"
Ma Hongjie, the commander-in-chief of Jingxiang's march and the general of Jiannan, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Envoy, since ancient times, marshals have been appointed by the imperial court. They are recommended through consultation... What is the method of selection? Please show me."
Dong Tianxing responded calmly: "Negotiation means that we all sit together and discuss it carefully. Recommendation means that we come up with a result and then report it to the emperor."
Ma Hongjie felt angry and funny: "Sir, I'm not asking you what these four words mean, but what to do."
As soon as he finished speaking, several generals started making noises, saying that this method was nonsense.
Dong Tianxing still looked calm and unhurried: "How to do it? I have made it clear to the official. We will discuss a result and then report it together. Isn't this difficult to understand?"
Tu Kaiyuan, the governor of Qianzhong Road, said: "How about we ask another question. Why should everyone discuss the recommendation this time instead of directly appointing him?"
"Because Your Majesty discovered that some people have double-minded intentions!" Dong Tianxing pointedly pointed out: "In order to see who is loyal to the Holy Tang and loyal to the emperor, and who is still on both sides of the fence when the enemy is facing us, that's why we have to You will discuss with public opinion and select talents."
As soon as this statement came out, it pointed directly at the current chaos in Jingxiang. The unabashed words, like thunder, immediately made everyone present look at each other.
Dong Tianxing was slightly satisfied with his outstanding move, and continued: "Actually, this truth is easy to understand. I want to ask you, if His Majesty really directly appoints the commander-in-chief, will all of you be able to accept it? Are you willing to obey? ?"
Faced with this question, a few generals responded loudly without hesitation, while many others remained silent.
Dong Tianxing smiled: "Where are the others? Silent?"
Ma Hongjie thought for a while and replied: "Sir, to tell you the truth, the current ideas in the army are not consistent. We need to look at some things before we can decide."
"Let's see again, right? Okay!" Dong Tianxing sneered and said loudly: "I am sixty-six years old this year. I am a weak scholar. I can't carry it on my shoulders or lift it with my hands. It's hard to kill a chicken. But, I look down on you. , look down upon! 800,000 Turkic troops invaded the Holy Tang Dynasty. The imperial capital fell and the late emperor died. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers guarded the capital, but no one surrendered. In the Xu family alone, two thousand children, together with old and weak women and children, stood firm at Yanxing Gate. Thirty-five days and nights, we will fight to the death! Even the Turks will call them loyal!"
"Looking again at the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang, Li Jiangyao, the seventh-grade captain, gathered thousands of remnant soldiers and fought alone under the siege of hundreds of thousands of rebels. With no foundation inside and no strong support from outside, he could only risk his life and forget about death. Killing a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood! Now, thousands of miles of Western Frontier has returned to the territory of the Holy Tang Dynasty, and the two towering passes have become a Turkic nightmare! Xu Youchang, the only descendant of the Xu family, led a hundred thousand soldiers to retake Liangzhou Prefecture. Shi Na is so nervous that he can’t sit still!”
"They are the real soldiers of Shengtang! They are worthy of the name of heroes!"
"And you? There are half a million armored troops, but you are sitting in the city of sleepiness, huddled in a corner of Jingxiang, looking forward and backward, standing aside and watching. You only know how to care about personal gains and losses, but you turn a blind eye to the poisonous soldiers and monsters harming the people. What kind of soldiers are you? ? Oops! A bunch of cowards!"
"Now, I still want to see it again. What are you looking at? It's not enough to see half of the country in pieces. Do you still want to see it completely destroyed? Okay! Keep watching! I'm waiting in Xiangcheng to see you cowards. What kind of tricks can Egg King and Eight Lambs do!"
Dong Tianxing pointed at the noses of the generals and cursed, and after he was done, he flicked his sleeves and strode out of the room.
Before the opponent is so angry that he draws his sword and kills him, run away quickly!
Of course, Dong Tianxing's impassioned speech was not impromptu, but a comprehensive plan.
He just wanted to use fierce words to calm the generals first, especially to make those with ulterior motives confused about his approach.
Sure enough, that night, the generals who had always been interested in Li Bing came to the post house where Dong Tianxing was staying, and even a few generals who originally belonged to the neutral faction also took the initiative to come to the door.
Everyone said that they were deeply touched by the words of the Imperial Envoy today, and at the same time they felt ashamed of their performance. The country is in trouble, but a soldier does nothing. He is worse than a beast.
Huo Zhenyu, who had intercepted him before, actually came. As soon as they met, he knelt down and apologized to Lao Dong, saying that he had let lard in his heart, and he had failed both Shengtang and Prince Anping. He begged the imperial envoy to forgive him and let him get back to him as soon as possible. Go into battle and kill the enemy.
Dong Tianxing was very relieved and once again explained the emperor's intentions to everyone, hoping that the Jingxiang army could unite as before as soon as possible and contribute to driving out the enemy invaders.
Not long after those generals left, Jiannan General Ma Hongjie also came to visit.
This man was very important in the Shengtang military. He once served as the head of the martial arts hall in the imperial capital. Although he was only in his early forties, he was very senior and prestigious in the military. Therefore, the imperial court previously appointed him as the chief marching officer in the Jingxiang area, the second-ranking figure after Li Chenglin.
Ma Hongjie and Dong Tianxing were not polite. When they first came up, they explained that what they said today was not directed at the emperor, let alone fearing the enemy, but just discussing the matter. He was worried that there were too many internal differences in Jingxiang. If he acted too hastily, it would easily lead to fierce conflicts. In the end, Shengtang would be harmed.
Dong Tianxing expressed complete understanding of this, and also stated that his words were not mocking Ma Hongjie, and asked him not to misunderstand.
The old director had already learned from Nilinsi that Ma Hongjie was actually the leader of the neutral faction. The real question in his heart was who owned the imperial power. If it is uncertain whether Li Bing or Li Kuang will be the emperor for a day, it will be difficult for people in Ma Hongjie's line to accept orders from either party.
They are not completely outsiders who act according to the changing circumstances, but they are loyal to the emperor in another form.
Loyal to the true emperor.
