A few days later, King Ling took Cheng Ping and some of the staff from the ceremony camp back to the capital.
At this time, the Battle of Ruizhou had just begun. As a monarch, he suddenly left the front line, which had a certain impact on the morale of the Ling Army. However, King Ling had no choice. Military has always been linked to politics. If the country is unstable, internal troubles will arise again. , the Ruizhou front will also be defeated without a fight.
The matter of returning to the capital was discussed among the equal ministers and was not decided by King Ling alone. Before leaving, he naturally handed over the frontline command to Huang Zu.
Ruizhou was the last line of defense for the Ling army, and its military strength was crucial. Therefore, when King Ling left, he did not take any soldiers with him, and the whole group rode fast horses.
On the way, he couldn't help but ask Murong Hongye: "How is the detailed work?"
"Wei Chen has been secretly watched day and night, but in the past few days, no one has appeared in the mass graves, and Han Feng is still exposing his corpse in the wilderness." Murong Hongye said.
"Yes." The Spirit King nodded and asked no more questions: "Hurry up and get on your way."
"yes."
After Ruizhou, there was a flat road, and it was very close to Lingdu. With a quick horse, King Ling rushed back to Lingzhou in less than two or three days.
At this time, Lingzhou was already in great chaos. This chaos was not only caused by the panic among the people caused by the suspicion of war, but also by countless wealthy households who were cleaning up their properties and preparing to evacuate their families. There were also many dignitaries who were running away. Visit each other and seek a way out.
Lingguo's nearly one million troops have been defeated and are now retreating to Ruizhou. They are in danger. Once this place is broken, it will be a disaster. Anyone who has power is worried, and their mentality can be imagined.
Above the market, commerce is even more chaotic. Due to the protracted war, the Ling Kingdom is short of food and grass. Those who should be forced to levy have long since been forced to levy. The few remaining grains are also priced at sky-high prices. Sometimes, Today a dou of rice costs one silver, and maybe it will cost ten silver. The prices of other commodities also fluctuate, causing panic throughout Lingzhou.
The Spirit King was in such a mess when he came back, and he immediately summoned the Spirit Minister in the palace study and gave him a severe scolding.
The spiritual image was already very old, nearly seventy years old, with a gray beard and thick wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. After being scolded, he said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, please calm down. If you don't care about me, I'm really beyond your capabilities."
"What do the government offices in Lingzhou do?" King Ling said angrily: "When I returned to the capital, I saw chaos in the streets! Prices fluctuated, businessmen took advantage of this to pursue profits, and the people gathered to make trouble. Don't the government officials and soldiers know how to suppress it? !”
Ling Xiang said in a sad tone: "Your Majesty, our regular troops have all been sent to the front line. In such a situation, local officers and soldiers are not enough. On the one hand, we must balance prices, on the other hand, we must prevent riots, and on the other hand, we must assist with food and grass recruitment and other matters. There are too many problems to deal with, and there simply aren’t enough..."
He was right. There was no military assistance in the country, and it was very difficult to do something. After hearing this, King Ling took a deep breath, and then said decisively: "Then send out the palace forbidden troops! As soon as possible, Speed and stabilize the situation in Lingzhou!"
"This, yes." Ling Xiang could only respond.
King Ling said again: "If I don't say anything about this in advance, I would like to ask you, old prime minister, why you haven't seen the food and new recruits that you were asked to supervise."
"This, this." Ling Xiang's old face was full of embarrassment and hesitantly said: "Your Majesty does not know something. Since the two years of the war, our country has already emptied the granaries of various places, and has even carried out several forced conscriptions. It is really impossible to raise the funds. When we arrived, the people in some places had even pulled grass for food, and a large number of refugees fled, causing chaos."
The Ling Kingdom was able to empty out the food and grass. This was something that the Ling King had never imagined before. Listening to the old prime minister's words, he closed his eyes deeply and said, "What about the newly recruited soldiers?"
Lingxiang said: "Your Majesty, you should know that even if we recruit new soldiers, our country does not have the food and grass to support the army. What's more, the newly recruited soldiers, without training, are no different from the common people. Furthermore, after the recruitment order, many young men fled, and even more There is a trend in some places of cutting off one's own hand bones to avoid military service..."
"That's unreasonable!" Before the Ling Xiang finished speaking, the Ling King couldn't bear it any longer and interrupted sharply: "Is it possible that my great spirit's century-old foundation has reached this point?"
The old Lingxiang was so frightened that he slumped down and swallowed secretly.
King Ling only felt that there was a suffocating fire in his chest, but he didn't know how to vent it. He had already stood up and paced back and forth in the study. After a while, he stopped and looked at Ling Xiang and said: "Besides these, Chao Zhong Minister, what’s going on?”
"This..." Ling Xiang secretly glanced at Ling King's face and did not dare to speak easily.
It is conceivable that with such a situation in Lingguo, some officials must be restless.
This does not require the Qin State to instigate rebellion at all. Some people will have more or less contact with the Qin State in order to survive, and some people will have more or less contact with the Qin State for the so-called retreat.
Ling Xiang knew something about matters involving the nobles. Seeing that he did not dare to answer, Ling Wang's tone became cold and said: "Old Xiangguo is a veteran of three dynasties. He speaks and acts in all aspects. It's just that he doesn't want to offend others. But in this country In times of danger, you should understand!"
As soon as he said these words, Ling Xiang did not dare to hesitate anymore, and quickly lowered his body and said: "Yes, yes, I don't know much about whether there is anything unusual about the ministers in the court. I only know that Huo Lian, the Taizhong doctor, is always talking to the right minister." Yi Lang, Du Nei Ling and others gathered together, not to engage in court affairs, but to hold secret discussions for a long time. As for the specific situation, the veteran does not know much about it."
The more the Spirit King listened, the darker his face became.
He remained silent until a while later, then he waved his hand and said, "Okay, Prime Minister, please go down first. Later, I will mobilize some of the royal palace's forbidden troops to follow orders from the Prime Minister's Mansion to quell the unrest in Lingzhou as soon as possible."
"Yes, I will take my leave." Ling Xiang bowed deeply.
After he left, King Ling looked at Cheng Ping who was standing aside and said directly: "Call Murong Hongye over."
Hearing this, Cheng Ping naturally understood what he was going to do. He moved the corners of his mouth and bravely said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, now is not the time to deal with official issues. Once this happens, the noble clans and clans will be involved, and the situation will be... It will be more complicated, so it is better to stabilize the situation in Lingzhou first and then make a conclusion."
"You just heard that Huo Lian and others, without thinking about the national calamity, dared to gather and conspire while I was not in the capital. What do they want to do! Do they want to gather the nobles and cooperate with the King of Qin internally and externally?" King Ling shouted coldly.
Cheng Ping said: "Then your Majesty is arresting and questioning them openly now, isn't it to force those people? As I said, it is better to stabilize Lingzhou and then secretly control them with the Secretary Li Camp."
The Spirit King took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and said bitterly: "In that case, let me follow your words, what a traitor and sycophant!"
