Due to the critical situation in the Eastern Capital, the adults in Luoyi were not happy when the good news came that Li Jiangyao repulsed the Temple Prince, the Zhenjiang Army launched a massive counterattack, and successively recaptured Yongzhou and Liangzhou.
Can you be happy that your old nest is almost no longer safe?
Ma Hongjie commanded his troops to retreat to the outskirts of Luoyi and once again built a defense line in preparation for resisting the Turks' attack. However, He Lianxiong suddenly decided to withdraw his troops at this time, leaving the Southern Army busy and lonely.
The reason is simple: Li Jiangyao and the others moved too fast.
The front line of the Zhenjiang Army has threatened the security of the imperial capital. The Turkic soldiers and horses could only turn around and march westward to defend their Great Khan Ashina Zhijin.
At the same time, the Xuanjia rebels who successfully attacked Ma Hongjie had returned from the mountainous area and concentrated on consolidating the cities in Jiangbei.
The war that had raged for nearly three months had temporarily entered a period of calm.
Each of the participating forces has its own victory or defeat. Among them, the ones who gained the most were Li Jiangyao and Bao Yuchun. One of them defended and counterattacked and successfully regained the two states of Yongliang; the other used a series of tricks to capture Jingzhou, Caizhou, Suizhou, Guangzhou and Nanyang.
The party that suffered the greatest loss was none other than Emperor Li Bing. Not only did they lose a large territory in vain, but they also lost soldiers and generals, and their vitality was severely damaged.
Li Bing, who had suppressed the evil fire, was furious at Murong Xue, Gong Chengze and Dong Tianxing, and scolded them all.
"Tell me, what should I do next?"
Li Bing's face was as dark as water, he stared at the civil and military ministers standing under the imperial steps, and asked angrily.
No one dared to say anything easily, for fear that if they said something wrong, they would be scolded by His Majesty again.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Dong Tianxing couldn't help but frown. Although he is a minister of the Ministry of War, his position is not low, and he is qualified to participate in the imperial prelude, but compared with those important court ministers of the second and third grades, his rank is not prominent enough. Logically speaking, the big shots didn't say anything, so he didn't have to be the one who stood out.
What's more, he had just been severely reprimanded by the emperor because of his disadvantage in the battle.
But the upright old Dong didn't care about personal gains and losses. He couldn't hold back his words, coughed slightly, and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the top priority is to get in touch with the Zhenjiang Army as soon as possible to discuss the battle strategy together."
It's okay that he didn't mention the Suppressing Army. When he mentioned the Suppressing Army, Li Bing suddenly remembered Xiahou Ninghan again. He couldn't help but feel sad and depressed, so he shouted impatiently: "The Suppressing Army is far away in the horizon. Luoyi is in danger." But it's right in front of you. If you don't plan things from close by, why are you talking about useless things?!"
Although he was directly rebuffed by the emperor, Dong Tianxing was not afraid and continued: "Your Majesty has learned this clearly. Although Ma Hongjie's southern army was severely damaged by the Turks before and the defense line was close to the Eastern Capital, but at present He Lianxiong has withdrawn to Tongguan, and it should be completed in a short time. They will not easily go east again. After the sneak attack on Ma Hongjie, Bao Yuchun's rebels also focused on consolidating the defense line. Hundreds of thousands of troops were dispersedly deployed in Nanyang, Caizhou, and Guangzhou, and they had no intention of going north for the time being. Yes. He said that the crisis in Luoyi has basically been resolved now."
He paused and continued: "The Zhenjiang Army successfully recovered the Yongliang Prefecture. Hundreds of thousands of northwest elites put tremendous pressure on Ashina Zhijin. The conditions for attacking the imperial capital are becoming mature. At this time, It is precisely the imperial court that needs to come forward to carry out unified coordination and deployment."
"Master Dong's words are wrong." Yin Chengyi, the chief of the Governor's Mansion and the Grand Governor, retorted: "The enemies to the west and south of Luoyi have only temporarily entered a period of rest and recuperation, and they have not completely withdrawn their troops. Therefore, not only has the crisis in the Eastern Capital disappeared, However, a bigger storm is brewing secretly. As His Majesty said, the priority now should be how to defend Luoyi, rather than coordinating an attack on the imperial capital."
Yin Chengyi has been very close to Wei Zixuan and others recently, and he can be regarded as an upstart minister who has emerged relatively quickly among the young men. As soon as he expressed his stance, many people immediately nodded in agreement.
Murong Xue said loudly: "Your Majesty, I believe that what Governor Yin just said is not entirely correct."
Although he had just suffered a defeat, Murong Xue's weight in front of Li Bing had not changed at all. Hearing what he said, Li Bing asked: "Oh? Then you can analyze it for me, what is the current situation?"
Murong Xue responded: "The reason why Bao Yuchun retreated to Caizhou, Nanyang, is because they had no intention of moving to the east capital. The rebels had just occupied the south of the river, and their strength was not enough to support them in launching a large-scale battle around Luoyi. Therefore, after luckily occupying several important towns in Jiangbei, Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun will never send their troops northward again. As for the Turks, because of the existence of the Xinjiang Army, they must gather heavy troops to defend the imperial capital, so they will not come here. Attack Luoyi. I agree with Master Dong that we should take advantage of the favorable opportunity to recover Yongliang and focus on the west to solve the Turkic problem as soon as possible."
Wang Bor, Minister of the Ministry of War, shook his head and frowned: "You just said that the court would come forward to coordinate, but how to coordinate? Ma Hongjie's Southern Army and Li Jiangyao's Western Army are all warlords of their own line, and they are completely There is no imperial court. Will they listen to what my Ministry of War says?"
Murong Xue was stunned when she heard this, and subconsciously looked at Dong Tianxing.
Wei Zixuan also snorted: "That's why the Yin Governor said this was unrealistic nonsense. Li Jiangyao conquered Yongzhou and Liangzhou, not to regain lost territory for the Holy Tang Dynasty, but to expand his territory. Don’t you understand that this is the territory of the army? If he is really loyal, I don’t think there is any need for special coordination and we can just let him continue to attack the imperial capital.”
"What are you talking about?" Murong Xue said angrily: "Hundreds of thousands of Xinjiang soldiers fought bloody battles for the country, how can you allow you to slander like this?!"
Wei Zixuan smiled: "General Murong, there is no need to be angry. Or as Wang Shangshu said, will Li Jiangyao listen to the court's order? If the Zhenjiang Army obeys the dispatch of the Ministry of War, I will personally kowtow to Li Jiangyao and apologize. But they are disobedient, General. And don’t accuse me of slander.”
Murong Xue immediately refuted it tit for tat: "Who said Li Jiangyao is unwilling to obey the imperial court's orders? As long as it is a correct order, the Zhenjiang Army will definitely obey it. I'm just afraid of making blind orders. How can you make people obey?"
Dong Tianxing also said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, I can also vouch for my subordinates. All the soldiers of the Zhenjiang Army are loyal to Shengtang and have the same ambition. They have been fighting alone to resist foreign enemies for so many years, and it is not for themselves!"
"Okay, stop arguing!" Li Bing waved his hand vigorously: "I asked you to discuss countermeasures here, not for you to discuss whether the Western Army is loyal or not! They are a bunch of rubbish, and none of them are on point! Forget it! Sorry, I’m tired today, so let’s call it a day. All of you, these amazing talents, should go home and think about it carefully, and give me a serious answer tomorrow!”
After that, Li Bing stood up, flicked his sleeves, abandoned the civil and military ministers on the spot, and went straight back to the harem.
Murong Xue had no choice but to leave the court with the officials. Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the palace, he was blocked by an officer.
"General, Master Zhou Xingzhou would like to see you."
Murong Xue asked curiously: "Where are the others? Why don't they come to me directly?"
"Master Zhou said that Tian Mu is also here, so it is inconvenient for him to show up." The officer whispered: "Master Zhou has something urgent to report, and the news comes from Master Chang Shi."
Murong Xue knew that the so-called Lord Changshi did not refer to Tian Mu, but Shen Lie. So, he nodded calmly, glanced around first, and when he saw that no minister was paying attention to him, he motioned to the officer to lead the way.
The two left the palace gate and turned into Taipingfang not far away. The officer led Murong Xue into a restaurant called "Wu Ming Ju" and met Zhou Xing who had been waiting here for a long time.
At the same time, Dong Tianxing was also brought here.
"What's going on? It's so mysterious." Old Dong couldn't help but ask, "Does Mr. Shen have important information?"
"Indeed." Zhou Xing said with a serious face, "This matter is of great importance. I have been ordered to inform you two as soon as possible."
As he spoke, he took out a small roll of brown paper from his arms and presented it to Murong Xue with both hands.
On the palm-wide piece of paper, there were more than a hundred weird symbols written densely on it, making Murong Xue and Dong Tianxing confused.
Zhou Xing explained: "This is the secret talisman of our Nilin Division. Only Master Shen and us flag bearers can understand it."
Murong Xue felt angry and funny, and threw the note back to him: "Then why did you take off your pants and fart? It's such an extra step? Just translate it directly."
Zhou Xing solemnly collected the secret letter: "This is also for the two adults to confirm that the information was indeed written by Chang Shi himself. The note said several things, the most important of which is about Di Xian."
"Di Xian?" Murong Xue was slightly startled: "He was once a Sima who joined the Xuanjia Legion and was a close confidant of Xie Guang. However, his true identity was Lao Jianhua's disciple, and he was placed by Lao Jianhua to serve as Xie Guang's side. Traitor. Zhou Xing, what happened to Di Xian?"
Zhou Xing looked serious: "Master Chang Shi said that Di Xian... is probably the person Lao Jianhua is loyal to."
Murong Xue was shocked when she heard this and asked in disbelief: "Is this true? How is this possible?"
"Lord Chang Shi can't make mistakes." Zhou Xing shook his head: "According to Chang Shi, Di Xian is currently in Hangzhou and is closely protected by the Xuanjia Army all day long. He is surrounded by top-notch experts. Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun is running around on the front lines, while Di Xian is living a privileged life in Hangzhou. This abnormal phenomenon can only mean one thing: he is truly an important person with a superior status."
Murong Xue thought for a moment, and then agreed: "It is indeed as you said, this situation is too abnormal. What is the background of that guy Di Xian, so that he can actually let Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchunan go one after another?"
An idea popped into Zhou Xing's mind: Li's direct blood royal family.
However, he did not dare to reveal even a single word of such top-secret information to Murong Xue and Dong Tianxing.
