"Your Majesty, I'm very sorry! Everything above and below Hedong is under the control of Your Majesty and the imperial court. The King of Taiyuan and the Envoy want to do something rebellious for their own selfish purposes. I apologize for not being able to follow you!" With Cungui's surprised and angry eyes, Mu Zuo took a step forward and cupped his hands.
"He who betrays his master!" Li Cungui spat fiercely.
Looking past the staff and looking at Yang Ye, Li Cungui's voice trembled: "You want to take my life?"
"In any case, you are under the seal of the imperial court for the defense of Xinzhou, and I have no authority to deal with it yet. My mission is just to control Xin and Daizhous!" Yang Ye looked at him and said calmly.
After listening to what he said, Li Cungui breathed a sigh of relief on his face, and then said with a little hope: "Marquis Nao, I have no intention of turning back. Everything is obeying the orders of King Taiyuan and Jiedu Mansion. Fortunately, he did not It caused trouble. If I have offended you in the past, I hope you will forgive me!"
"I also ask Marquis Nao to spare the old man's life because he is old, dim in intelligence and eyesight!" With more hope in his eyes, Li Cungui said to Yang Ye: "In order to repay his kindness, I am willing to divide 70% of the family property and donate it to Yang Ye. Naohou!"
Li Cungui looked confused and flustered. He called out respect and pointed at the two beauties wrapped fearfully in brocade quilts on the couch behind him and said, "I would also like to see these two beauties." Dedicated to Marquis Nao!"
"Hahaha! Li Shijun, you are so generous!" Yang Ye smiled, his tone full of ridicule: "As a defense envoy of a big man, he is so powerful, but he is so unbearable!"
After listening to Yang Ye's words, a trace of shame and anger appeared on Li Cungui's face, but he held it back.
"You are showing your kindness to the wrong person!" Yang Ye stared at Li Cungui and said calmly: "If you want to atone for your sins and reduce your culpability, then help calmly and suppress the army that controls Xinzhou. After the matter is over, the court will You may be punished as appropriate!”
Like a drowning man grabbing a straw, Li Cungui said quickly: "Definitely! Definitely!"
...
Jinyang, just as promised, the Kelan Army and the Liaozhou garrison arrived in Jinyang one after another, within an hour of each other. When Liu Chong heard this, he was overjoyed and immediately sent people to summon Kelan's army Zheng Qian and Liaozhou Li Wanchao to proceed.
However, the result made him furious. Both of them couldn't get away because of the arrangements of the soldiers, and they couldn't use any excuses.
"What do they want to do? How dare they disobey my orders and do whatever I want!" After receiving the news, Liu Chong wandered around the palace, waving his hands wildly, furious.
The "advice" given to him by Zheng Gong was to summon two armies in the name of selecting troops, control the generals, collect the troops, and use them for his own use. Then all the troops under Hedong's rule, except Daizhou, were for him. Control can also give him more confidence to wrestle with the court.
Now the first step went extremely smoothly, Kelan Army and Liaozhou Army came as ordered. But he was stuck at the Hongmen Banquet. How could Liu Chong not be annoyed.
Li Yuan came down and reported to Liu Chong: "Your Majesty, Zheng Qian leads an army of four thousand and is stationed in the north of the city. Li Wanchao leads an army of two thousand and is stationed in the south of the city. Judging from his movements, his intentions are unclear!"
Liu Chong frowned. The number of troops stationed inside and outside Jinyang City was almost twice that of the two armies. However, if they did not listen, it would become a constraint. Liu Chong suddenly felt like he was trapped in a cocoon. He looked at Zheng Gong with eyes. Anger.
Seeing this, Zheng Gong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, due to the system of the imperial court, the troops stationed in Jinyang are all worried, not to mention the rest of the troops. It is understandable that Zheng Qian and Li Wanchao have scruples."
"Hmph! Now that the army has arrived, we must bring it under control!" Liu Chongchao ordered Li Yuan: "You and Zhang Yuanhui will lead the people, divide them into two armies, surrender their weapons, and collect their troops!"
"Absolutely not!" Zheng Gong hurriedly advised: "Zheng and Li are usually disrespectful to the king. If they act like this, they will definitely not stand still and even raise an army to fight! With Jinyang's strength , we can naturally defeat it, but our cavalry and infantry will inevitably be damaged, which is not conducive to your Majesty’s great achievements!”
"If we can capture Zheng and Li, who have ulterior motives, it will be worth it if we can unite Hedong and others!" Liu Chong made a casual remark in anger, which was quite insightful.
"I thought that we should accept them with all our troops!" Zheng Gong said.
Looking at him, Liu Chong said directly: "How do you think about collecting all the troops?"
Zheng Gong smiled slightly and replied: "He has doubts and dare not enter the city. It would be better to send someone to hold a banquet outside the city and invite the two of them to gather together to cleanse themselves of the dust. In this way, they should not refuse again. At that time, a hundred and ten swords will be set The axe-hand is ambushing the troops outside and can be captured with a flip of his hand! I thought General Li could be put in charge of this matter!"
After Zheng Gong finished speaking, Liu Chong thought for a while and suddenly said: "No, if Li Yuan goes forward, I'm afraid it will still be difficult to dispel his doubts!"
"Then according to the king's wishes?" Zheng Gong's face changed slightly and he asked quickly.
A "wise" smile appeared on Liu Chong's face, and he waved his sleeves: "I left the city in person, at Yongli Post in the south of the city. I did not hesitate to go there in person, giving me enough face to show my sincerity. If I don't keep the appointment again, , but I’m just so ignorant!”
"Li Yuan, it's up to you to arrange the banquet for the soldiers!"
"yes!"
In fact, if Liu Chong had been smarter and more perceptive, he would have seen some problems long ago. It's a pity that Liu Chong was so powerful and powerful that he was not a wise master. After many years of being a vassal king, Liu Chong had long lost his basic judgment. His willfulness and self-righteousness showed up early.
Zheng Gong quickly and quietly informed Li Shaoyou of Liu Chong's plan.
When the matter reached its most critical stage, Li Shaoyou was scheming and personally taking charge of the city. After hearing the news, Li Shaoyou's mood was both unexpected and pleasant.
According to his original plan, he asked Li Yuan, the foolish and stubborn man, to go out of the city to hold a banquet to counter the "Hongmen Banquet". After capturing it, he sent troops to Hedong Yabing. Afterwards, Zheng Qian and Li Wanchao's troops were used to monitor the Jinyang garrison outside the city.
Zhao Kuangyin took the opportunity and led the imperial army into the city, raided the palace, captured and controlled Liu Chong. The key to the plan is whether Zhao Kuangyin's raid can be successful, whether he can control the palace, and whether he can capture Liu Chong. There are inevitably risks involved.
If you want to control the chaos to a minimum, you have to take risks. Li Shaoyou was thinking over the plan, assessing the situation, and looking for omissions, when news suddenly came from Zheng Gong that Liu Chong planned to leave the city in person...
Taking action in the city is very risky and prone to accidents, but if Liu Chong goes outside the high walls of the palace, he will be more maneuverable.
He immediately ordered someone to verify whether the news was true. After confirmation, Li Shaoyou suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He brushed the stack of drawings on his desk on the ground and laughed.
Although the previous plan was completely overthrown, various thoughts and ideas wildly entangled and collided in Li Shaoyou's mind, slowly forming a new plan, a simple and effective plan.
Without delay, Li Shaoyou immediately sent someone to notify Zhao Kuangyin, Zheng Qian, Li Wanchao and others.
In the evening, Kelan's military envoy Zheng Qian and Liaozhou governor Li Wanchao, each with more than ten people from his tribe, went to Yongliyi for a banquet. Liu Chong, the king of Taiyuan, was driving out of the city in front of him.
Zheng Qian, Kelan's envoy to the army, was a veteran of Hedong. He had been a subordinate of Liu Zhiyuan as early as when he was in Taiyuan. When it comes to talent, there is no success; when it comes to reputation, there is no hope; when it comes to governing the country and controlling the army, there is nothing good to say about it.
He participated in this matter for no other reason than that he was old and frail, had no ambitions, and was used to obeying the imperial edicts. Therefore, facing Li Shaoyou who was on the mission of the Emperor, he had no idea of rejection. In addition, Liu Chong had many conflicts with him when he was in power. Even if these factors are excluded, as long as you have a little sense, you should know where the court and Hedong, the emperor and Liu Chong should stand.
As for Li Wanchao, it was even simpler. Not to mention other things, just because of the friendship he had established with Liu Chengyou when he went east, there was no reason to follow Liu Chong against the imperial court.
Although the two of them don't know Li Shaoyou's specific plan, they can just obey and cooperate.
Yongli Post is an official post built in recent years and serves as a strategic point on the official road. Beside the post road, Liu Chong's spacious and luxurious chariot was parked, and it was surrounded by Jiedu Ya soldiers who were guarding it, which was quite tight.
In the hall inside the post, the aroma of wine is thick and the smell of meat is permeating. The wine has been warmed and the meat has been cooked. In the furnace, high-quality incense was burning, and the scene was impressive. Liu Chong personally welcomed Zheng Qian and Li Wanchao in.
"You two, this is the best Fenjiang. It is top-grade. It has been stored for ten years. It is my son's special purpose to enter it. Even in the Tokyo Palace, there are not many!" Liu Shangdao, who was above the throne and was in charge of the case, rushed with a smile. The two said: "I can't bear to eat on weekdays. Come on, I'll drink this cup full!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your warm hospitality!" Zheng and Li both showed respect.
"Both of you are our ministers in Hedong, with deep qualifications. You have been working alone before. If you are negligent, please forgive me!" The attitude of the two made Liu Chong very satisfied, and he raised his glass again.
But this time, Li Wanchao only held the cup but did not drink.
