The massacre of the village of a distant relative of the royal family is a serious matter. Even if you want to suppress the news, you can't suppress it. In just two days, it has spread in various major cities and surrounding areas. Coupled with Xuanqing Wei's warning, there is a panic and tension. Emotions began to rise everywhere. It was not until the soldiers of the garrison and the soldiers of Xuanqing Guard began to move around in formation that things calmed down.
However, the word "evil spirit" still pops up in the memories of people everywhere, which always makes people uneasy.
Uneasiness comes from the bottom up, and no one is immune. Whether it is those noble officials who claim to be superior or the real big guys in the temple, they can feel this uneasiness coming from all directions, but it is just more For the people at the bottom, their uneasiness cannot be seen. They just talk about it in private so as not to panic.
Today is the monthly meeting of the imperial court. In addition to the normal affairs of various places being discussed, some officials also jumped out to talk about the uneasy atmosphere about "evil spirits" that appeared in various parts of the country. On the one hand, they criticized Xuanqing Wei. The corpse is a plain meal, and even the evil spirit cannot be guarded against. It will only show off its power within the dynasty system, and there are many loopholes in dealing with the evil spirit. Now, even the village where the distant relatives of the royal family live has been slaughtered. It is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world.
After finally getting hold of Xuan Qingwei's sore leg, how could he not squirt with all his strength? Anyway, the evil spirit caused trouble and massacred a village of distant relatives of the royal family. No matter what the reason, Xuan Qingwei's blame for this kind of thing cannot go away.
However, Pang Ban still looked like a lifeless pig in the temple, which made all the high-spirited officials unable to enjoy themselves. They hoped that Pang Ban would argue with them at the end, but Pang Ban refused to give him a chance. Very annoying.
Of course, if the Xuan Qingwei is not happy, they can also criticize others. For example, the Ministry of War, which is beaten every day, cannot escape this time and is beaten by the officials. However, the people in the Ministry of War were not people like Pang Ban who would not retaliate when they scolded them. It was quite lively to interact with the officials.
According to the officials, the Ministry of War asked all front armies to mobilize garrisons to assist the Xuanqing Guards. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, it definitely directly caused more panic in various places. Why can't I find a reason to beat you anyway?
But no matter how noisy below, Emperor Shu, who was sitting on the throne, remained expressionless and did not even pay attention below. It seemed that the following quarrels were not worth mentioning at all to him.
There are many people with good eyesight, such as the group of people standing at the front of the train in the temple. Everyone can clearly see the expression on the emperor's face and understand that the emperor's mind is not on this, so no one is too excited. Everyone is guessing.
Guess, what was the emperor thinking?
Bai Changqing was guessing, and so was Cao Guobang. Both of them were thinking about the emperor now. I thought that this time the village of distant relatives of the royal family was massacred, the emperor's emotions would explode. During the court meeting, as long as someone lights the fire, it will explode. No matter who is burned, they can take the opportunity to show off again. Fan.
Cao Guobang didn't want to give up his position. He had been in the official career for decades and only reached the top in his old age. He wished he could sit there for two more days.
And Bai Changqing wants to rise to the top. Although he has good cultivation, he is still young. If he can take a step further, it will be an excellent opportunity for him to further develop his ambitions.
Who doesn’t want to be a highly respected minister?
Pang Ban, who was standing in the corner of the front row, was also guessing the emperor's thoughts, but he guessed more accurately. He knew that the emperor was not in the mood for the court meeting now, and his mind was probably on the copper bars he handed over before the court meeting.
The content on the copper strip is the top secret of Xuanqing Guard, and it is also something that the emperor has been paying attention to recently.
In fact, the emperor was indeed concerned about the evil spirits that the officials used to talk about in the temple, but his focus was completely different from what the officials focused on.
At first, the emperor's reaction to the news that the village of a distant relative of the royal family had been massacred was truly outrageous. He is now the head of the royal family, and he is the head of the family regardless of whether he is a distant relative or a direct relative. Naturally, he would be furious if his family members were slaughtered. So that night, Pang Banxuan, the commander of the Xuanqing Guard who was responsible for handling evil affairs in the country, was brought into the palace to question him. The explanation he received was that this incident was not an accident, but a planned revenge by the evil monks on the Xuanqing Guard. At the same time, Provoking the royal family to put pressure on Xuanqingwei from the side.
Although Emperor Shu's character was "very anxious" as Pang Ban said to Shen Hao, he was definitely very clear-headed and definitely not stupid. So after listening to the explanation Pang Ban gave him at that time, he had a clear idea and understood that the current situation was actually the same as the previous war between the Jing Dynasty and the barbarians in the south. It's just that this time the opponent was replaced by an evil monk, and the battlefield was changed to a dark corner within the borders of the country.
In fact, Pang Ban was not always being scolded when he was called to the palace overnight, and the emperor was not unreasonable. After explaining clearly, he still had to worry about Pang Ban's face. Just reprimand him a few words to express his dissatisfaction. More time is spent on considering countermeasures.
"You can't retreat anyway!" the emperor said at that time. It also grasps the essence of the battle: whoever shows weakness during the stalemate will be defeated.
This concept also coincides with Pang Ban’s thoughts. Anyway, the missionary education and suppression plan against the evil monks cannot be compromised at all, and even needs to be strengthened if possible. This is fundamental. Even if it will be very difficult in a short period of time, we must grit our teeth and persevere.
But the problem also arises, that is, after "unretreating", what we need to face is the huge territory of the Jingjiu Dynasty. Even if we just keep an eye on relatively densely populated areas, it is definitely not possible to rely on Xuanqingwei alone. of. It is imperative to mobilize the power of the military.
But let ordinary soldiers go head-to-head with evil spirits and evil monks, and it is difficult to build a complete military formation in advance in the form of an encounter. In this case, the casualties will inevitably be huge.
So Emperor Shu brought out the Red Devil and ordered Xuanqing Guards to try it out on the evil monks this time, in an effort to speed up the research and reverse imitation of the Red Devil.
Regarding Hong Sha, Emperor Shu has always been concerned about the progress. Others cannot guess his thoughts. Even Pang Ban is curious about why the emperor cares so much about this aspect, and even seems eager.
In the end, Pang Ban's persuasion was fruitless, and it was a foregone conclusion that Hong Sha was born early.
On the night of the second day after the accident, Pang Ban presented the strategy drawn up below to the emperor overnight. It contained detailed methods for the army to mobilize garrison to assist defense. It seemed to be the best at present without using the main force of the Fourth Front Army. There's a solution. It also mentioned some of Pang Ban's previous statements against Hong Sha at the Xuanqing Guard's internal temporary briefing meeting, focusing on the objections of the Black Flag Battalion in charge of the original body plan.
Before the court meeting this morning, Pang Ban once again personally delivered a copper bar to the emperor. This time, the content of the copper bar was about the use of Hongsha, which the emperor was most concerned about.
