Listening to Tian Mu's vivid words, Cheng Wen couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and sneered: "What's so good? That Murong Xue is so bold that he has the audacity to defy orders and report his duties without being ordered to return to Beijing to report on his duties. Don't take me seriously; and there is that Ma Hongjie, who claims to be a famous general of the Holy Tang Dynasty. Even Xie Bao can't defeat him. Tens of thousands of troops have been blocked in Li County for a long time and have never made any progress. The most hateful thing is Li Jiang Yao! I asked him to show off his attitude as soon as possible and express his attitude towards Jiuxi's reward, but he pretended not to hear and didn't reply for a long time. He obviously has a disobedient heart."
Tian Mu smiled awkwardly and nodded quickly: "Your Majesty is absolutely right. I will immediately ask Zhongshu Province to prepare a move and give orders to these arrogant military leaders!"
Cheng Wen was silent for a long time, waited for a while, then waved his hand and said: "Well, even if you scold them, it will be of no use. It is better to find another way to completely deal with these arrogant and powerful generals."
"I wonder what your Majesty has to say?" Tian Mu said flatteringly.
Cheng Wen did not answer directly, but just asked: "Tian Mu, regarding the position of Minister of the Ministry of War, do you have any suitable candidates to recommend?"
Tian Mu couldn't help being stunned when he heard this.
Obviously, when the queen wants to deal with those military generals, the first thing she thinks of is to start with the imperial government. The post of Shangshu of the Ministry of War ranks among the top three ranks, and is the first of the six ministries together with the Ministry of Household Affairs. He has close ties with various legions. It can be said that mastering the position of Minister of the Ministry of War is equivalent to holding the hand of the military.
Tian Mu understood Cheng Wen's intention and quickly named several people. They were all party members who were closely related to him, and they all had experience in serving in the Ministry of War or the Governor's Mansion.
Cheng Wen nodded slightly and secretly made a note of these people. He planned to replace Dong Tianxing, a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, in a few days when the court would be more stable, so that he could continue to attack the military later.
Now that Li Jiangyao is almost reaching Hangzhou, he might be able to defeat Li Zhang in one fell swoop tomorrow and completely end the chaos in the south that has been causing trouble for many years. Therefore, various actions against the Shengtang army must be accelerated.
The subsequent series of actions can only be implemented by key positions such as the Minister of War.
While he was thinking about it, the servant suddenly came to report that the Duke of Zhen was outside the palace asking for an audience.
When she heard that her brother had arrived, Cheng Wen knew that there must be something important, so she hurried to tell him.
Not long after, Cheng Dong strode into the hall. He first saluted the queen, then looked at Tian Mu who was standing aside, and said directly and unceremoniously: "Master Tian, I have a secret report to the queen, please stay away for the time being."
Tian Mu was stunned when he heard this, and he quickly raised his hands knowingly and said: "Yes, I obey your orders. Queen, I will retire first."
Cheng Wen had never seen Cheng Dong treat others with such an attitude, and she couldn't help but feel a little surprised. She nodded subconsciously: "Okay, please step aside first. You must pay close attention to the things I tell you."
Tian Mu agreed, gave Cheng Dong a brief salute, and then exited Fengyi Palace.
After he left, Cheng Wen couldn't help but asked curiously: "Brother, what's wrong with you? What happened?"
Cheng Dong did not answer hastily, but said: "Please step aside, please."
As a result, Cheng Wen was even more confused, but she still followed her brother's wishes and asked all the surrounding maids to leave.
When only the brother and sister were left in the entire hall, Cheng Dong said in a deep voice: "I just received a letter, which I asked me to deliver to you."
As he spoke, he took out an envelope from his arms and presented it to Cheng Wen with both hands.
Cheng Wen did not reach out to pick it up, but just stared at the other person and asked: "Whose letter is it?"
Cheng Dong hesitated for a moment and replied: "Lao Jianhua."
"who?!"
"Lao Jianhua." Cheng Dong said word by word: "The leader of the rebel bandit, Lao Jianhua."
Cheng Wen's pupils suddenly shrank, and she said in a deep voice: "The other big enemy who killed dad? How could he send someone to deliver a letter to you and then pass it on to me?"
Cheng Dong smiled bitterly and said, "You'll know just by looking at it."
Cheng Wen took the envelope as instructed, pulled out the letter from inside, and read it carefully. The expression on her face couldn't help but become extremely solemn.
After a long time, Cheng Wen gently placed the letter on the table and asked, "Do you believe what he said?"
Cheng Dong shook his head: "The question is not whether I believe it or not, but whether the actual situation is reasonable and whether it is beneficial to us."
Cheng Wen thought for a moment and suddenly sneered: "The Jiangnan rebels are gone and their destruction is imminent. Is Lao Jianhua planning a retreat?"
"That's what I mean." Cheng Dong responded: "Li Zhang will definitely not be able to defeat Li Jiangyao, and defeat will happen sooner or later. However, after all, Lao Jianhua has a grudge against us for killing his father, and his proposal goes against our bottom line."
A cold light flashed in Cheng Wen's eyes: "I don't think so. In the letter, Lao Jianhua did not shy away from sending people to assassinate his father, and he also said that he never expected to get the forgiveness of the Cheng family, but there was a problem between the two parties at the moment. We have a common powerful enemy, so we hope to join forces to a certain extent. I think this is worth considering."
Cheng Dong had already guessed that his sister would say this, and he couldn't help but sigh: "He was forced into desperation by Li Jiangyao, so he thought of coming to us again in order to borrow a knife to kill someone. This thief is confusing the world, treacherous and vicious, so we must guard against him."
Cheng Wen smiled: "Of course I will be on guard against him. However, this guy does have some abilities. Wouldn't it be better to use him to deal with Li Jiangyao and let the two of them bite each other while we reap the benefits?"
"Are you really going to cooperate with him as he said in his letter?" Cheng Dong asked.
"It's not to cooperate with him, but to use him and let him serve me." Cheng Wen said proudly: "The day Li Jiangyao captured Hangzhou was when Lao Jianhua was desperate. Unless he fled to the vast sea, otherwise Regardless of whether it is Central China or Western Frontier, although this world is huge, there is no place for him to stand. I will give him a chance at this time and let him continue to fight Li Jiangyuan. No matter what the outcome is in the end, I can capture Lao Jianhua. Use his head to pay homage to my father’s spirit in heaven!”
Cheng Dong was a little worried: "I'm afraid that if I seek skin from a tiger, I'll see the harm before I see the benefits."
Cheng Wen shook his head: "What are you afraid of? Compared with Li Jiangyao, Lao Jianhua poses a much smaller threat to us. As long as the outside world doesn't know about our relationship with him, there will be no direct harm. Even if he spreads it everywhere, Or if someone accidentally discovers it, if we deny it and push it aside, who can do anything to us?"
Cheng Dong thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay then. I have always disapproved of premature confrontation with Li Jiangyao. The situation can be delayed as long as possible. The later the conflict will be, the better it will be for us. If we can really be like Lao Jian Huaxin, As mentioned in the article, if he deals with Li Jiangyao and we only provide support from behind, we can buy a lot of time and make more adequate preparations."
Seeing her brother's approval, Cheng Wen couldn't help laughing and said: "To be honest, I owe Jianhua a share of my position as queen. If he hadn't secretly instigated Wei Zixuan to put all his efforts into promoting the post-election, I'm afraid there wouldn't be any My status is now. So our use of him has actually begun."
Regarding her exaggerated statement, Cheng Dong could not deny it and smiled helplessly: "It is indeed as you said, in the battles in the political arena, there is me among you, and you among me. There are no permanent enemies or friends, only pros and cons. That's it. Since you think you can accept Lao Jianhua's proposal, then I will contact him according to the method mentioned in his letter."
Cheng Wen thought about it again, then nodded and said: "Okay, big brother, just go ahead and do it. Remember, only you and me, brother and sister, can know about it. Don't let anyone else know about it."
"It's natural, I must be careful." Cheng Dong responded: "I estimate that Lao Jianhua is probably already on the way to the imperial capital, or has simply arrived at the imperial capital. From now on, there will inevitably be another storm in the world."
Cheng Wen didn't seem to care about this and said casually: "Humph, in my opinion, the more chaotic the better, otherwise, how can we have a chance? Brother, as long as we can get rid of Li Jiangyao and dismember the Zhenjiang Army, this will The world will surely be able to secure its position. The children of the Cheng family will finally be able to take charge of the country and feel proud!"
Cheng Dong obviously cannot be as optimistic as his sister: taking charge of a country is easier said than done.
You can take advantage of Li Bing's carelessness and suddenly take action to restrain him; you can use the swords and guns of the Forbidden Army to suppress the civil and military officials and prevent them from resisting. However, there is no way you can surpass Li Jiangyao in terms of military, popular support, and financial resources. At least it's still not possible.
Also talking about dismembering the Xinjiang Army?
Hundreds of thousands of Xinjiang elites were formed by Li Jiangyao in the brutal battlefield of the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang, fighting with swords and guns. The Forbidden Army regards you as a queen, and they kowtow and worship you three times; but the Zhenjiang Army regards Li Jiangyao as a god, and they depend on you for life and death.
People who kowtow three times and bow nine times may one day plot to rebel and draw swords against each other; people who trust each other in life and death will always put their lives in the hands of the other party without any regrets.
This is Li Jiangyao's biggest asset in the world, and it is also Cheng Wen's biggest weakness.
However, it is a pity that the previous series of near-miss and smooth power-seizing actions had already made Cheng Wen forget the differences and gaps between herself and Li Jiangyao, and mistakenly thought that she had successfully grasped the overall situation and was in an invincible position.
Cheng Dong sighed silently and brought up another matter: "Sister, military reports were sent back from Yongzhou and Liangzhou yesterday, saying that the Zhenjiang Army's remaining troops in Western Xinjiang have recently shown signs of large-scale gathering, with unknown intentions. "
Cheng Wen couldn't help being stunned when he heard this: "Western Xinjiang? I remember Li Bing once said that the Zhenjiang Army still has three armies over there, right?"
"That's right, three armies, a total of 160,000 troops." Cheng Dong said solemnly: "When Li Jiangyao handed over the imperial capital and commanded the Central Plains, he specially arranged for the return of his third, fourth and seventh armies. The troops stationed in Western Xinjiang rested and reorganized, and appointed Huoliya, the commander-in-chief of the Jinglei Third Army and the princess of Shanshan Kingdom, as the commander-in-chief. Although this person is a female generation, he is also one of the veterans of the Xinjiang Army. It is said that he has a fierce personality and bravery in combat. Even the Turks are against him. It’s quite scary.”
Cheng Wen frowned slightly: "It turns out that she is still a female general. What does Holia want to do when she suddenly gathers her troops at this time?"
