After listening to Xu Youchang's words, Li Jiangyao couldn't help but smile: "Brother, we are on the same page again. In addition to what you just said, I have another idea, and that is to use Murong Xue's Azure Dragon Army as soon as possible."
Xu Youchang nodded: "You are right. Murong's troops are right between us and the Suzaku Legion. There is no main force of the rebels in front of them for the time being. It is easy for them to form a sharp knife advantage and directly pierce the enemy's defense line. However, Murong Xue is still in the imperial capital and has not returned to his own army, which may affect the actions of the Azure Dragon Army."
Li Jiangyao shook his head helplessly: "I really don't understand this guy. The defense line of Dajiang has been turned upside down. He is still staying in the northwest and is not in a hurry."
Xu Youchang was also curious about this and couldn't help but ask: "I heard Yuduoluo mention it last time that Murong Xue was cooperating with Brother Shen to deal with the spies sent by Lao Jianhua to the imperial capital. How is the situation? "
Li Jiangyao replied: "I am not very clear about the specific progress. I only know that the situation in the imperial capital is a bit complicated. At present, in addition to Brother Shen and Murong Xue, there are three groups of people, namely the rebels, the Nilin Division and the newly emerged Ouyang Lin. The four parties are getting involved at the same time. I wonder what kind of trouble will be caused."
Xu Youchang frowned when he heard this: "This is really a troubled time. The imperial capital does not know what evil has been committed, and it will not stop for a moment. Jiang Yao, we don't care about that, the top priority is to eliminate the rebels quickly."
"I think so too." Li Jiangyao nodded: "I'm afraid you can't count on Murong Xue to take the lead in prompting the Azure Dragon Legion to take action. I suggest you go there in person, talk to several legion lieutenants, and ask them to deploy immediately."
Xu Youchang readily agreed: "Okay, then let me step in. Before Murong Xue returned to the imperial capital, he specifically told his subordinates to fully cooperate with the Suppressing Army in the battle. In addition, the Qinglong Army has many middle- and high-level generals. , they were all my grandfather’s subordinates or students, so they still have a close relationship, so they should be easy to talk to.”
He paused, and then asked: "Jiang Yao, I went to the west, are you ready to cross the river?"
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly: "The whole army has passed, why am I still staying in Jiangbei? Why not get to the front line as soon as possible and let Du Jian and the others take charge."
"Well, then take care of yourself," Xu Youchang warned: "Remember, you are the commander-in-chief of the entire army. Don't rush forward just because you have nothing to do, which will make the soldiers worried. Once I have discussed it with the Qinglong Legion, I will come back immediately to discuss it with you. You meet up. Let’s rush into Hangzhou City together and capture Lao Jianhua alive. Why does the teacher take revenge!”
-
Xu Youchang set off for Huangmei to negotiate with the Qinglong Army about sending troops. Li Jiangyao crossed the river by boat on the same day and went to Jinling to re-coordinate and deploy the next combat operations of the Zhenjiang Army.
Just as the two of them were going south and west, each working hard to conquer the rebels, the imperial capital thousands of miles away also ushered in a new round of the spy war.
Unlike what Li Jiangyao and Xu Youchang thought, Qinglong General Murong Xue had already left the imperial capital and set off for the front line. He was also concerned about the counter-insurgency war, especially when he heard that the Suzaku Army and the Zhenjiang Army were crossing the river one after another, he immediately decided to return to the front line immediately and command the troops to participate in the southern expedition.
As for the task of dealing with the spy Lao Jianhua, we can only leave it to Shen Lie and Yuan Bin to continue completing it.
At this time, the imperial capital city had begun to become undercurrents due to the murder of the palace supervisor Pei Yinglun and the theft of the silver fish talisman. Li Bing personally intervened and ordered Tian Mu to lead the Nilin Division to be on full alert. While strengthening the security of the palace, he secretly searched for Shen Lie's traces. Ouyang Lin used Ruiji as bait as before to see if he could catch any big fish.
Wu Ling, Wen Xiao and others who were secretly lurking in the imperial capital had to change their hiding places in the city twice in a row to avoid further exposure because their whereabouts had been broken by Yuan Bin. They began to look for new targets and prepared to report to the court. Create new chaos in order to fish in troubled waters and rescue Ruiji.
At the same time, Zhenguo Gong Chengdong was also very restless.
He has recently contacted many traditional noble forces in private, conspired and discussed, and planned to follow Queen Cheng Wen's idea and use Jiuxi as a guide to completely challenge the emperor's bottom line and push Li Jiangyao into a desperate situation.
Soon, with the help of their inextricable connections between the government and the public, the noble family gradually launched the matter of conferring the honor of Jiuxi on Li Jiangyao. They took the first step to create momentum among the people, and it didn't take long for them to successfully arouse the voices of many people in the imperial capital.
The people did not know much about the struggle in the court, let alone the various plots behind it. Everyone simply believed that the Zhenjiang Army had made great contributions to the Holy Tang Dynasty, and the Protector Li Jiangyao was a well-deserved pillar of the country. The court and the people have made great military exploits and deserve high commendations.
Jiuxi is the best way to reward.
This kind of folk thought gradually spread more and more widely, and the voice became louder and louder, until even the court began to hear about it.
The strong will from the bottom up soon affected every government office. Many ministers and officials who had a good impression of Li Jiangyao also participated in this discussion, discussing whether they should comply with public opinion and propose a memorial to confer Li Jiangyao Jiuxi.
When the situation reached this point, Cheng Dong immediately secretly instructed several courtiers close to him to unite with neutral officials and use the voice of the people as a reason to propose to the emperor the title of Jiuxi.
Suddenly, voices arose both inside and outside the court, and everyone in the imperial capital was praising Li Jiangyao's unparalleled achievements.
Of course, among the praises, some people smelled something unusual.
Dong Tianxing, Minister of the Ministry of War, is one of them.
Old Man Dong has been working hard in the officialdom for decades, and he is better than a fox in practice. He used to just disdain doing things against his will in order to get promoted and get rich, but that didn't mean that he didn't know about the sinister ways and conspiracies of the court.
This old Jianghu, who joined the officialdom at the same time as Nian Jinsong and Hu Yufei, immediately realized that there must be someone secretly fueling the sudden discussion of the Jiuxi seal, otherwise it would never have taken shape so quickly. A huge influence that permeates the entire government and opposition parties.
As Li Jiangyao's staunchest ally in the court, he had never even thought of asking for the Jiuxi reward for the Great Protector. Who could be so kind as to cry and ask the emperor to reward Li Jiangyao heavily?
Needless to say, if you are not one of your own, you must be your enemy.
With this worry in mind, he first ran to see Hu Yufei, who was retired at home and was familiar with the rules of the court game, and chatted with the former Dr. Jin Ziguanglu about his thoughts.
The two old gentlemen sat together and stroked their beards for a long time, and finally came to the unanimous conclusion: Someone wanted to flatter and kill the Protector!
The master's great power shocks the master, and the bird is completely hidden. What a sinister means to corner the emperor and unjustly kill the general!
Hu Yufei put forward two suggestions: First, he went to his disciples and asked them to speak up immediately to cool down the matter. Of course the meritorious officials should be rewarded, but Jiuxi is not the best choice. Emperor Li Bing's fear of this matter must be eliminated.
Secondly, he asked Dong Tianxing to contact the Prince of Hejian County and others, and asked them to strongly oppose the proposal of awarding Li Jiangyao Jiuxi in the name of the royal family and nobles. Doing this can make the emperor feel that not everyone in the government and the public is on Li Jiangyao's side, and thus will not be so nervous that he is murderous.
Although Li Bing has no ability to kill Li Jiangyao, the growing rift between the Emperor and the Protector will only be detrimental to Shengtang.
Dong Tianxing felt a little embarrassed about this. He was not familiar with Prince Hejian, Duke Jing, Duke Fu, and others, so rushing to persuade them now might make the matter more complicated, and might even arouse misunderstanding and alertness from the other party.
Hu Yufei pointed the way to him: go to the Prince Consort's Mansion next door.
Princess Li Xi of Fenyang is a protector of the capital, and she also secretly has a certain degree of cooperative relationship with the King of Hejian County, so she can come forward to contact him.
Dong Tianxing felt that this was reasonable, so he thanked Hu Yufei, stood up and left, then went to the Prince Consort's Mansion and asked to see the Seventh Princess.
What Lao Dong never expected was that in Li Xi's place, he would actually see the long-lost Nilin Chief Shi Shenlie.
"Oh my God, when did you come back?" Dong Tianxing stepped forward and covered Shen Lie's hand, surprised and happy.
Shen Lie knew that when he was in jail and his life was hanging by a thread, it was Master Dong who made suggestions to Xu Youchang and Murong Xue, mobilizing the Intelligence Department of the Zhenjiang Army to carry out the rescue secretly, and saved his life at the critical moment.
Facing this former great benefactor, Ni Lin Changshi, who had always been cold on the outside and hot on the inside, couldn't help but have slightly red eyes. He first solemnly thanked Dong Tianxing for his life-saving grace, and then explained to Lao Dong that he had actually returned a long time ago. In the imperial capital, in order to deal with the treacherous prime minister Wei Zixuan and the rapidly rising old aristocratic forces, they specially contacted the princes of Hejian County and Duke Jingguo to enter the court to balance the political power.
As soon as he heard that Hejian County Prince Li Maoxun and others were persuaded by Shen Lie to join the court, Dong Tianxing repeatedly shouted that he had found the right door, and then explained the results of his discussion with Mr. Hu to everyone present.
After hearing this, Princess Fenyang Li Xi could not help but frown: "Master Dong, I also feel that you two seniors are right. Jiuxi is a very sensitive and complex thing, and it has always been in the heart of the royal family. A thorn in my side. I remember when I was a kid, Taifu Nian was giving us a lecture and he specifically mentioned the unusual meaning behind Jiuxi. He told the princes and princesses that it would be better to be crowned a prince than to give Jiuxi. A king with a different surname is not to be feared. He steals the country. The heart is in danger. Nine tins symbolize respect for the imperial power. Those who get nine tins will completely lose their respect for the emperor, and the chaos will start from this."
"That's why I'm anxious." Dong Tianxing nodded repeatedly: "At this time, someone proposed to reward the Great Protector with the honor of Jiuxi. It was clearly because he was afraid that the world would not be in chaos, so he insisted on pushing the Protector into the fire, and at the same time further instigated the emperor and the emperor. His relationship.”
Yuan Bin was so angry that he waved his fist: "Who wants to harm Da Duhu? I'll kill him!"
Li Xi thought deeply: "If Wei Zixuan is still alive, he will definitely be the first person I suspect. But now that traitor is dead, if there is anyone else in the court who deliberately intends to be an enemy of his brother, it is probably only... Cheng Home."
