Since coming out of Fengyi Palace, Ouyang Lin has been thinking about what Cheng Wen said.
In the more than 800 years of Shengtang's foundation, it has never been as complicated and dangerous as it is today.
The Imperial Sheji, which experienced Turkic invasions and vassal rebellions, is no longer as prosperous as it once was. All existing rules of the court, the army, the nobility, and the imperial power, including local state capitals and border states, have been completely shattered, and are in the process of rapid deconstruction and re-establishment.
The emperor Li Bing, who was at the center of the whirlpool of change, was the ruler with the weakest foundation and weakest power in eight hundred years.
In the past, crown princes often had their own mature and stable political team before they succeeded to the throne. There are many members, each with their own strengths in culture, Taoism and military strategy. They are also loyal to the future king and fully understand and trust each other.
In contrast, Li Bing ascended to the throne in an almost naked state amidst the chaos in the world.
From the beginning, he had no one to rely on.
A similar situation is also reflected in military power.
In peacetime, it is okay to say that the status of the army has been affected by the external environment and has declined relatively. The political pattern of using civilians to control military forces is prevalent. Military generals usually have difficulty in controlling key positions in the court, and they more or less rely on the court's face.
In this way, it will be easier for the new emperor to control them.
But what about Li Bing?
As soon as he ascended the throne, he had to face the Turkic cavalry who occupied the imperial capital and continued to invade eastward; he had to face the rebel king of Huaiyang who had turned into an enemy and challenged the imperial power. Due to the successive rebellions of the Xuanjia Army and the Kuohai Army, a large area of territory in the south of the Yangtze River completely broke away from the jurisdiction of the imperial court and established itself as king; the thirty-six kingdoms of the Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang returned after a long period of war, but only recognized the banner of the Holy King and the Suppressing Army. In the palace, the imperial court's needle cannot penetrate, and water cannot pour in.
In this case, rather than saying that the army is loyal to the emperor, it is better to say that the emperor must condescend and ask for help from the army in order to protect himself and survive.
Who said being an emperor is easy? It is not certain whether a large number of soldiers will suddenly rush into the palace tomorrow and force him to take off his robe and give up his position.
What's even more frightening is that it may be a good ending to give up the throne peacefully. It is not impossible for the entire royal family to be slaughtered overnight.
After all, the army is in someone else's hands. What to do and how to do it, Li Bing, who is the most respected person in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, can't decide anything.
Because of this, on the eve of the decisive battle with the Turkic army, Li Bing was willing to risk the disapproval of the world. He would rather let the generals scold him behind his back, but also forcefully advance the army and raise an army of 200,000. He established the Forbidden Army Corps under his direct jurisdiction.
The purpose of doing this is to prevent someone from pointing the tip of a knife at the emperor and the court the day after the Turks collapse.
Li Bing is not an excellent politician, but he is a qualified politician.
Qualified, although the standard is not high, at least he will do something that he thinks should and must be done in the context of the power game.
Today, the political wheels are back at the same intersection again.
The Jiangnan rebels were at the end of their rope. The emperor had to consider how to face the large and relatively independent Suppressing Army next, and so did the people around him.
Ouyang Lin was strolling along the palace corridor in the afternoon, with bright sunshine shining among the garden flowers and plants beside him, but his mood was particularly gloomy and depressing.
Just now, the Queen directly invited him. In order to protect the emperor, the two sides joined forces to deal with the biggest potential threat to Shengtang - Li Jiangyao, the general of the Zhenjiang Army.
To be honest, Ouyang Lin was a little shaken.
Originally, he had firmly believed that under the current situation, Emperor Li Bing would look at the overall situation and still maintain a situation of compromise and coexistence with Li Jiangyao until the rebel forces were completely eliminated.
However, Cheng Wen's insights broke this possibility. She looked at the political situation from an outsider's perspective and firmly believed that if she waited until Lao Jianhua and others were destroyed before taking action, she would not be able to control the Xinjiang Army.
A new rebellion and civil war will completely destroy the Shengtang Dynasty.
The emperor, the Li royal family, and even the entire court could not escape death under Li Jiangyao's sword.
Although this is only a possibility and not inevitable, it is better to seize the initiative earlier than to bet on luck and bet that Li Jiangyao will stay safe.
This statement is very attractive to Ouyang Lin.
In his heart, there is only Li Bing. As long as it is beneficial to the emperor, he is willing to do it. Even though this matter is extremely dangerous.
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Regarding Wei Zixuan and Yin Chengyi, Ouyang Lin naturally would not tell the queen, but unexpectedly, Cheng Wen herself took the initiative to mention them.
What surprised Ouyang Lin even more was that Cheng Wen's evaluation of Wei Zixuan and Yin Chengyi, two allies in the court, only had four words: harboring evil intentions.
To harbor evil intentions does not mean to control government affairs, monopolize power, covet wealth, or form cliques for personal gain.
Cheng Wen made it very clear that there was a big secret and conspiracy behind Wei Zixuan.
As for what the secret conspiracy was, Cheng Wen did not explain it clearly. She just wanted Ouyang Lin to understand: Wei Zixuan is not her comrade, and Yin Chengyi is not her ally. If there is a problem between these two people, Ouyang Lin can take action without taking the queen's position and attitude into consideration.
In other words, in Cheng Wen's eyes, Wei Zixuan Yin Chengyi and Li Jiangyao are both people who threaten the emperor and the royal family, but the degree is different and the priority of dealing with them is different.
These words made Ouyang Lin feel at ease a lot. At the same time, he also secretly admired Cheng Wen, a woman who was young but had some scheming skills.
Not only could the other party get to know him, but they also knew that he was secretly investigating Wei Zixuan and others. Take the initiative to summon Liang Mingzhi, and easily win him over to help deal with Li Jiangyao.
Very simple.
Ouyang Lin returned to the Forbidden Army Guards Station, called his close subordinates, and told them to start investigating Shangshu Zuopushe and the Governor. They must find out as soon as possible what role these two men played in cooperating with the Japanese invasion. .
There must be no rebel traitors around the emperor.
As for dealing with the Zhenjiang Army, the queen said that she had already made a plan, and Ouyang Lin only needed to keep an eye on it. At the critical moment, ask him to come forward and join forces to attack.
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"Your Highness, for this defeat in the battle of Xuanzhou, the old minister cannot escape his guilt, and I ask your highness to punish him severely. Let's use the old minister's head to comfort the fallen soldiers!"
Looking at Bao Yuchun, who was kneeling at the foot of the steps, crying and bursting with tears, Li Zhang couldn't help but frown slightly.
He looked at Lao Jianhua sitting next to him, looking a little embarrassed.
It was obvious that Bao Yuchun was playing a hard-to-get game. Take the initiative to accept all the mistakes, and then see how Li Yan handles it. In other words, do you dare to do anything to him?
You should know that his nephew Bao Xinyan did not come to Hangzhou with his uncle this time. Instead, he stayed alone in the Jingkou area of Jinling and stood still on the pretext of commanding the naval fleet to defend the river.
Take Bao Yuchun's head to comfort the fallen soldiers?
Li Zhang really dares to do this, and Bao Xinyan dares to surrender to the imperial court tomorrow, and then leads the Zhenjiang Army into Hangzhou City, directly destroying the Jin Palace.
Lao Jianhua remained calm and said loudly: "Your Highness clearly knows that Commander Bao not only has no fault, but actually has merit."
Hearing the master's tone, Li Zhang knew something secretly in his heart. He first asked Bao Yuchun in a sincere tone to get up and give him a seat, and then asked in cooperation: "Mr. Lao, please break it down for everyone. Why does Commander Bao deserve credit?"
"There are three reasons." Lao Jianhua stroked his beard and said calmly: "First, it severely damaged the Yiling Navy, sinking and damaging more than 300 imperial warships, which greatly suppressed the opponent's naval warfare power. Make the river defense line more stable."
Li Bing nodded: "This is indeed the case. If Li Bing's fleet cannot control the river, the northern army will not dare to come over. The battle of Yiling is crucial to us."
Lao Jianhua continued: "Secondly, Commander Bao quickly returned to the lower reaches to provide reinforcements and promptly prevented the Zhenjiang Army from further actions. Not only were the new reinforcements and grain unable to cross the river, but Li Jiangyao and Xu Youchang were also frightened and fled obediently. Xuancheng Back into the hands of our army.”
"It makes sense." Li Zhang smiled and said: "As soon as the navy came, Li Jiangyao ran away with his tail between his legs."
"Third, and the most important point." Lao Jianhua looked at Bao Yuchun and said with emotion: "Shuai Bao has helped us understand the enemy's true and false situation, and also pointed out the tips for future combat."
This unabashed compliment made even Bao Yuchun blush. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Your words are serious, your words are serious."
Lao Jianhua smiled and waved his hand: "Hey, Marshal Bao, what I said is not an exaggeration, but is well-targeted."
He stood up and explained to the room full of officials: "We have been guarding against the imperial army's cross-river attack. However, if they don't come, we still don't know what the future war will be like and how it will turn out. This situation. This time Commander Bao concentrated his naval forces and attacked the Yiling fleet fiercely. Li Jiangyao couldn't bear it anymore and finally showed his fox's tail."
Following this line of thought, Yuan Zhengkui, another major general of the rebels, also nodded and said: "Mr. Labor is right. This time the Zhenjiang Army raided Xuancheng and transported more than 100,000 troops and horses in two days and two nights. Whether it was the mobilization of ships or , landing site selection, or Kunpeng warships providing coordinated cover, are all displayed in front of us and become traceable. As long as their tactics can be carefully summarized, it will be more beneficial to the overall defense in the future."
Lao Jianhua nodded slightly and continued: "Not only that, the enemy's offensive focus and action strategy after landing also gave us a lot of inspiration. I am an amateur in fighting, but for Commander Bao, General Yuan, and those on the front line, As far as General Ye is concerned, these will all become weaknesses for the enemy. Isn’t it?”
Li Zhang laughed loudly and said: "What Mr. Lao said makes sense, and I agree very much! Commander Bao, you have really contributed to the Jin army. I, the king, should thank you on behalf of the soldiers."
Seeing that he had passed the test safely, Bao Yuchun was about to say a few polite words, but Lao Jianhua suddenly changed the subject and interrupted him: "But, there is a lesson that I'm afraid Commander Bao must learn."
