Luoyi, the eastern capital, has Ziwei Palace.
Li Bing sat high on the throne and was presiding over a miniature version of the court meeting. The seven or eight people standing below the imperial steps were all his trusted civil and military officials.
"Your Majesty, the above is the specific strategy for welcoming the imperial court to move to Luoyi," Wei Zixuan, who has been promoted to the third rank of Taifu, said with his hands: "If there is anything wrong, please point it out to your Majesty."
Li Bing nodded slightly: "Wei Qing has thought carefully. I feel there is nothing wrong with it, so I will do it as planned."
He looked at the others and asked: "What other matters need to be discussed today? If not, let's disperse the court first. I will go to review the newly formed Forbidden Army later."
Dong Tianxing cleared his throat and took a step forward: "Your Majesty, I still have something to report."
"Oh? What does Dong Qing have to say?"
"Your Majesty, the war at Tongguan is still involved." Dong Tianxing handed over his hand: "Currently, the ministers still have differences regarding which army to mobilize to attack Tongguan."
Li Bing glanced at Murong Xue subconsciously, and then said: "Didn't I already have a clear intention? Let Ma Hongjie become a distinguished person."
Dong Tianxing hesitated for a moment: "Your Majesty, forgive me. The mobilization of the Southern Army to attack may be different from the original negotiation. I am worried about Ma Hongjie and the others..."
"What's the difference?" Li Bing frowned: "I didn't send them to fight against the King of Huaiyang, so why don't they fight against the Turks?"
Dong Tianxing heard that the emperor's tone was a little unhappy, but he could only bite the bullet and said: "Of course there is no problem in deploying troops to fight against the Turks, but... General Murong will be the leader, which may cause them to worry about personnel matters."
With a bang, Li Bing patted the table and said in a deep voice: "What? Isn't the Jingxiang Army an army of Shengtang? I have arranged for a commander to lead the troops in battle. Do they still dare to rebel?"
Seeing that he was angry, Murong Xue quickly came to Dong Tianxing's rescue: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Master Dong did not mean this. We had previously negotiated with the Jingxiang army, and one of them was clear, that is, not to interfere with their personnel appointments and dismissals. I and Master Dong are worried. , there is a misunderstanding that I am depriving the military power of being the frontline commander and commanding the Southern Army troops, which is not conducive to unity."
"You are thinking too much," Li Bing said lightly: "I neither replaced Ma Hongjie nor recruited their troops. I just temporarily dispatched a commander when attacking Tongguan. If this doesn't work, then the Jingxiang Army What’s the difference between them and the rebels?”
Hearing what he said, Dong Tianxing became more motivated: "Your Majesty, you are right to say so, but Ma Hongjie and others may not think so. Military power has always been a very sensitive topic, even if there is a slight change, All kinds of suspicions may arise. Now that we have just entered the critical period of counterattack against the Turks, there is really no need to cause worries to the Jingxiang army for no reason."
As soon as Old Dong finished speaking, Gong Chengze, who was standing aside, snorted: "Dong Tianxing, why are you turning your elbows outward? The emperor has a will, and we, the ministers, should do everything we can to turn it into a will." Reality, instead of first pointing out what is wrong with the imperial edict. Besides, you are not a roundworm in the belly of General Jingxiang. How can you know what they really think? They haven’t even done it, and it won’t work this way or that way. There is a lot of noise, what is the use of the emperor raising us?"
Murong Xue raised her eyebrows and said coldly: "General Gong, Mr. Dong and I have the same idea. You don't need to accuse him alone."
Of course Gong Chengze knew the status of the imperial general Murong Xue, so he quickly laughed and said: "Mr. Murong, I have no ill intentions in this humble position, but I just feel that there is no need to worry so much."
Wei Zixuan also smoothed things over for him: "Yes, send the decree first, and wait to see Jing Xiang's army's reaction before making adjustments. What if they really accept it?"
"Child's play!" Murong Xue said angrily: "How can you make random decisions on major military matters without careful consideration?"
That's what Wei Zixuan wanted him to say.
Murong Xue originally evaluated Wei Zixuan's words as "child's play", but from the perspective of others, the word "child's play" also included the emperor Li Bing.
As expected, Li Bing's face darkened immediately. Fortunately, it was him, Murong Xue, who made the mistake. If it had been anyone else, this young and energetic emperor would have reprimanded him on the spot.
However, even the most trusted minister, Li Bing was still unhappy: "Murong Aiqing, I have thought carefully about this matter. Sooner or later, the Jingxiang army will give me a clear attitude. It is better to come sooner than later. You What do you say?"
Murong Xue also understood at this time that what she said just now in a moment of anxiety was inappropriate. Now hearing what Li Bing said, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, everyone understands your intentions. However, the current situation may not be too hasty. The war with the Turks has not yet completely sealed the victory. Adding differences and misunderstandings is not Conducive to the task of fighting foreign enemies."
Hearing this, Li Bing did not speak.
Tian Mu, who was standing behind Gong Chengze, said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Murong, what you call being too hasty and adding to differences is just one aspect of the matter. There is another aspect to this, Maybe you didn’t take it into consideration.”
Murong Xue was slightly startled: "What do you mean?"
Tian Mu responded: "The various agreements reached with the Southern Army before were indeed expedient measures to fight against the Turks. This approach may be okay for a while, but in the long run, it will become a serious problem. If the military power cannot be controlled by His Majesty himself, , the generals must support their troops with self-respect, and the story of the traitor Xie Guang will inevitably happen again! When that time comes, how will you and Mr. Dong face the emperor? "
Murong Xue's heart trembled when she heard this.
No wonder Tian Mu was appointed by the emperor as the new director of Nilin, Shi. This guy really understands His Majesty's thoughts.
It is no exaggeration to say that Xie Guang is the most serious shadow in Li Bing's life.
With monopoly of power and self-respect of the army, the good Shengtang Dynasty was almost completely destroyed by Xie Guang's ambition.
A considerable part of the reason for this lies in the late emperor Li Chengwu's tolerance and compromise with Xie Guang's control of military power.
Resolutely preventing the second Xie Guang from appearing again is probably the tightest nerve in Li Bing's mind right now.
Because of this, the young emperor began to consider the game of military power before the Turks were driven away.
Thinking of this, Murong Xue glanced at Dong Tianxing subconsciously. The old Dong shook his head helplessly, meaning: This topic is too sensitive, there is nothing to argue about, and there must be no argument.
"Master Tian is right. I did not consider this." Murong Xue had to bow her head at this moment: "The military power of the Holy Tang must be controlled by the Holy Tang Emperor, and no one can overstep it."
Hearing what he said, a smile finally appeared on Li Bing's face: "Murong, you have been working hard to resist the enemy recently, and your mind has been focused on fighting. It is inevitable that you have made some omissions. I do not blame you. As long as we, the monarch and the ministers, work together, That's enough."
Murong Xue knew that the emperor was trying to give him a chance, but he was still unwilling to give up his opinion easily, so he tried to ask: "Your Majesty, if Ma Hongjie and the others are unwilling to obey the will, or violate it in disguise, what should we do? ?”
Li Bing smiled calmly: "I have considered that the troops sent to attack Tongguan this time are all those troops from the Southern Army who have taken the initiative to express their allegiance. They are our own people, so the situation you mentioned should not happen. Of course, if If you want to handle this matter more safely, you and Dong Aiqing need to plan more."
Gong Chengze continued to explain: "His Majesty asked me to discuss together before and decided to let Mr. Dong serve as the imperial envoy to go to Wuguan to deliver the decree. Mr. Murong, as the frontline commander, is responsible for receiving the ordered reinforcements."
Dong Tianxing cursed in his heart: You guys came up with bad ideas, but I was asked to do the unlucky errands. It's really unreasonable.
However, thinking about it this way, out of his loyalty to Shengtang, Old Dong still obliged and responded: "I am willing to rush to Wuguan to coordinate the deployment of troops."
When Murong Xue saw this, she had no choice but to cup her hands and say, "I will leave immediately to go to the Tongguan front line to make corresponding preparations."
-
On the way back to their residence from Ziwei Palace, Murong Xue and Dong Tianxing rode side by side.
Murong Xue saw that all the soldiers were far away, so she couldn't help but said in a deep voice: "Master Dong, what do you think of this matter?"
Dong Tianxing knew what he was referring to, and sighed softly: "It's not wrong to say that the emperor is considering the issue. After all, 'the loss of military power' is extremely dangerous for the country. It's just... alas, just... Like you said just now, it’s a bit too hasty.”
Murong Xue nodded: "The situation in the Southern Army is very complicated. There are many internal factions that do not belong to each other, and there are many people who have secret connections with Huaiyang and Jiangnan. Now we have finally achieved a temporary balance and made concerted efforts to attack the Turks, but the emperor Unless you put your hand in at this time, a fool can figure out what he wants to do, which will undoubtedly increase the variables."
"The late emperor was too tolerant, and your majesty was too impatient, both of which were biased." Dong Tianxing shook his head: "It's not too late to go back and train the army step by step after the Turks are completely driven away."
Murong Xue was worried about another question: "Are you sure you can convince Ma Hongjie? At the beginning, you personally promised them to maintain the independence of the Jingxiang army before defeating the Turks, especially to listen to the instructions but not the propaganda. Now some of the troops belong to me. No matter what, don’t they suspect that I will use my troops to attack Li Kuang?”
Dong Tianxing looked a little worried: "It's a lie to say that I don't doubt it. Once the military power is in your hands, you can quickly divide the generals in the army. Those who are disobedient will be pushed to the front line of Tongguan to die; those who are willing to be obedient will be Isn’t it a simple matter to transfer him to fight against the King of Huaiyang?”
Murong Xue nodded slightly: "That's true. Ma Hongjie and the generals of the Southern Army will definitely think so, and this violates the original promise of the emperor. Mr. Dong, you have taken on another hot job this time."
"This is my fate, old man." Dong Tianxing smiled bitterly.
