On the throne of the emperor, Li Waner looked at the ministers of His Highness, with a dull anger in her heart. The rebels just sent out a message, which gave them so many more thoughts. This summer, the rumors that appeared so quickly in the capital are inseparable from the aristocratic families behind these ministers.
But even if she knew it, there was still nothing she could do. After all, she couldn't produce evidence. Since she had to act according to the rules of the court system, even if she was the emperor, there was no exception. Moreover, she was not in charge.
Why are there so many foolish and tyrants in history? It is precisely because they do not act according to the rules, are lawless, and have no bottom line. Sometimes, even the emperor has to compromise.
Just as the anger rose in her heart, a light cough came from the screen, which immediately woke her up. She clenched her fists, knowing that now was not the time to act out of anger.
So, she regained her composure and asked in a deep voice, "The southern rebels spread this message as a provocation to the Great Zhou Dynasty. This move has sinister intentions. Every sentence in it is to smear the imperial court. It is an unforgivable crime. My dear friends, Any good ideas?" The childish voice echoed in the hall and reached the ears of every minister.
Sensing the anger in the empress's words, Zhang Daozhi, the chief minister of the cabinet, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, our army is currently at war with the Tatars. This battle is related to the safety of the border and the northwest. We can no longer use weapons. I hope Your Majesty will think twice about fighting on the front line."
He was not fighting for power against the emperor or Su Ming, but he was stating a fact. At this moment, hundreds of thousands of troops have gathered in the northwest, including 300,000 Tatars, and no less than 500,000 troops on the Zhou side, almost wiping out the entire military strength of the northwest frontier.
If the Great Zhou Dynasty went to war with the southern rebels at this time, a two-front battle would inevitably involve the court's energy and be a huge burden on logistics. If you are unlucky and the Great Zhou Dynasty loses the war and falls into the quagmire of war, once the two sides truly unite, the Great Zhou Dynasty will be in danger.
Therefore, Zhang Daozhi was afraid that the little emperor would act on his own initiative, so he quickly explained and stated the pros and cons. At first, he was promoted to the cabinet by Emperor Shenwu when he was less than thirty-five years old. He did not ascend to the position of chief minister until the past two years. It can be said that he is regarded as the first minister of Shenwu. The youngest chief minister in the court.
Of course, the reason why Emperor Shenwu placed so much emphasis on him was because he had a shallow foundation, paid attention to practical matters, never participated in party disputes, and was a pure and honest minister.
But it is precisely because of this that after Emperor Yong'an succeeded to the throne, instead of being purged, he was able to continue to take over the position of chief assistant. In just one year, his originally dark hair turned gray and he became old. Quite a few.
With the support of Empress Dowager Chen and Li Waner, all three cabinet members except him were replaced. At the same time, drastic reforms were also being carried out within the court. However, after all, time was still short and the old abuses could not be completely eliminated, so , now the forces in the court have been roughly divided into conservative faction and innovative faction.
Zhang Daozhi understood very well that this incident was a counterattack by the conservative faction. They wanted to use this to force the emperor to retreat and test her bottom line.
Li Waner nodded, and her voice returned to a cold tone, "It doesn't matter, the rebels in the south are not yet strong enough, and the imperial court cannot take action to deal with them. However, we cannot sit idly by and ignore them as they slander the imperial court. Otherwise, wouldn't there be consequences? Are more people bewitched by them?"
An old minister stood up tremblingly. He was wearing a crimson official robe, with clouds and geese embroidered on the hem. He cupped his hands towards the emperor and said unhurriedly, "Your Majesty, I think... As long as the national advisor comes out to clarify the facts, these stigmas can be washed away and His Majesty can be cleared."
As the old minister finished speaking, some more ministers stood up to support him.
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
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Zhang Daozhi glanced at the old minister indifferently, and stood back to his original position without saying a word. Although he was a pure minister, he did not need to take the initiative to charge into the battle for His Majesty. Besides, it would be too generous for him to be the chief assistant to speak. Are they losing face?
Above the court, soldiers versus soldiers and generals are the real principles of the game.
Sure enough, after taking action against the conservative faction, a minister of the Ministry of Rites from the reformist faction stood up and mocked mercilessly, "The Imperial Master has never asked about political affairs. The words in this statement are nonsense. What else can be clarified? Li Sir, I think you are Lao Hu Tu."
The veteran minister known as Mr. Li turned a blind eye to his ridicule and continued, "There is no smoke without fire. The court will always come up with facts to clarify this matter and stop the world from talking about it. Are you going to let this rumor spread everywhere and damage your majesty's reputation?" "?" In the end, he actually asked him in turn.
The Minister of Civil Affairs' expression became cold, and his words became more and more rude, "Huh, the rumors need to be clarified, but it is not necessary to invite the Imperial Master to the court to clarify. Right and wrong are just and at home. Those traitors are confusing right and wrong, so I will If you don’t believe it, the people all over the capital are blind, the people in Qingzhou who were saved by the Imperial Master are all blind, and the people all over the world who have received the Imperial Master’s favor are also blind!”
"Whether it is true or false, we should not ask in the court, but should ask the ordinary people in the streets and alleys whether their words are false?"
The short words were very resounding. Even if Mr. Li had a thousand things to say, he could not remain silent. Facts speak louder than words. Even if they made many small moves behind the scenes and aroused public opinion, the people at the bottom were not easily deceived.
This is the residence of the imperial city at the feet of the emperor. What have the people here not seen or heard of? How could they be so easily fooled by ordinary villagers in the countryside?
Once the situation really comes to that point, his role as an official will come to an end, so he can only remain silent.
Seeing this scene, Li Waner, who was sitting on the dragon throne, had a flash of joy in her eyes. She had long been impatient with these old guys in the court. These guys would always rely on their old age, but they couldn't move them for a while. She was able to give up, and now she was happy to see them defeated.
Later, the reformist Minister of War reported to Li Waner, "Your Majesty, although the rumors are false, we cannot sit idly by and ignore them. Sometimes, the more we hear them, the false ones become true. So, this We need to make a decision on this matter early, and we cannot block the rumors, otherwise they will get worse."
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
······
After the conservative faction was speechless, the reformist faction pursued the victory and concluded the matter. In fact, the key to this matter is not how to resolve public opinion, but whether to let the national adviser clarify it.
Once Su Ming really clarifies, it will make people wonder if he is guilty. When the old guard tries again, the situation will develop differently.
Subsequently, after the reformist ministers brainstormed, the imperial court prepared to issue a notice to calm the people and clarify the rumors. At the same time, it did not prohibit the spread of rumors like Emperor Shenwu did at the time, which was quite magnanimous.
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In the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, Su Ming lay down and took a nap under the peach tree. The wind blew gently, the branches swayed, and the peach blossoms were flying. After a while, a few peach blossoms were stained on his white monk clothes.
He slowly opened his eyes, his black and white eyes were as clear as a child, as innocent as a dream, and it was hard to believe that these were the eyes of a powerful soul.
But in the next moment, his eyes darkened, like a bottomless black abyss. He shook his head gently, "The disputes in the court are really boring."
Obviously, he already knew everything that happened in the court. He didn't care at all about how the court dealt with the rumors. No matter whether they were clarified or not, the rumors would not disappear unless they could eliminate the demon sect's rebels. , this rumor can never be stopped.
It's a pity that the court's hands and feet are now being held back and cannot use its hands to deal with the rebels, and the Demonic Cult in the south is also secretly supporting the rebels to consolidate their forces.
It can be said that both sides are competing for time. Whoever can end the war first will have the advantage.
Although the rebels in the south are supported by the Demonic Cult, the rebels in other places are not vegetarians. They have more or less the shadow of aristocratic families behind them. Even if the Demonic Cult supports them, it only supports them with money, food resources and intelligence information. , it is impossible to go directly to the front of the scene.
This is how the three sects have fought for the dragon for thousands of years. If they go directly to the ring to fight, what else will others do? The strength of the three sects is enough to suppress any dissatisfaction, but in order to avoid internal strife, they all abide by this rule tacitly.
Of course, even if the three religions fight for the dragon, sometimes they may not really win the world. After all, human destiny is not something that can be manipulated by anyone. There will always be exceptions.
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At the top of the city, war was raging, and the bloody plasma had entered the city and dyed the city bricks dark red. There were already piles of corpses under the city wall, layer after layer.
In the sky, the shaman disciples and the loose cultivators of the Great Zhou Dynasty came and went, fighting endlessly. If placed elsewhere, the remaining power of the battle between the two sides would be enough to destroy cities and destroy mountains!
However, this is a battlefield. Evil energy, blood energy, death energy, military energy, all kinds of atmosphere are mixed with human destiny. The strength of the monks is greatly suppressed. Even if the Nascent Soul monks participate in the battle, they will be killed alive if they fall on the battlefield. Even if they are exhausted, only those monks who practice horizontal exercises can be like a fish in water on the battlefield.
The Great Zhou Dynasty had been inherited for 500 years, so naturally there were ways to target monks in the army. What's more, Su Ming had already sent the secret guards of the Xuanjing Division into the northwest.
Of course, the role played by Henglian monks on the battlefield is not as good as that of Martial Saints who have practiced Qi and Blood Martial Arts, because the mixed auras on the battlefield greatly interfere with the power of spiritual energy, and even if they take action, the power will not be the same.
For the Great Zhou side, if a hundred-man level secret guard participated in the battle, it would be enough to suppress the foreign monks participating in the battle. However, the two sides were now fighting in a tense battle, and it was difficult for the Xuanjing Division to intervene to avoid accidental injury.
On the city wall, Jiang Yunfei was wearing armor and his body was covered with blood. Now the two sides were fighting more and more anxiously, and they were both red-eyed. Facing the Tatar attacks one after another, he had to use all the troops in the city to attack. Can't hold on to the city.
This battle to defend the city has lasted for half a month, and the Tatars left tens of thousands of corpses under Hanyang City.
Now, it's a matter of competition as to which side can endure better and fight better.
For half a month, the Zhou Dynasty continued to gather troops and horses to prepare for the encirclement of the Tatars, and the Tatars also continued to transport the spoils back to the grassland. As long as they captured Hanyang City, they would be able to tear them apart. Break the line of defense and move forward.
If Hanyang City cannot be captured, the situation they will face will become increasingly severe, so Tuogu Khan will risk his life to fill the city.
Now, they are investing more and more troops, and even the tribal leaders below are jealous. The moment they choose to attack the city, the war has gradually slipped into another abyss.
They gathered a large army to attack Zhou Dynasty. Even if they returned to the grassland, they would still have to face Zhou Dynasty's attack.
Therefore, everyone had a tacit understanding about sending troops from the beginning, which was one of the reasons why Tuogu Khan could mobilize soldiers from various tribes so easily.
Of course, after making a fortune at the border this time, they can return to the grassland and continue grazing, but the mobilization of an army of 300,000 this time has consumed a lot of food reserves. It can only be said that they did not earn anything from this war. The harvest captured some of the population as a supplement.
However, once the war starts, it is not up to them to decide when it will end. Even if they withdraw their troops, the Great Zhou Dynasty will still attack the grassland.
Of course, they can lead their herdsmen to hide in the depths of the grassland as they did decades ago, but in this case, the settlement where they finally rest and recuperate will be destroyed. At the same time, this will also affect Tuogu Khan's prestige. A huge blow.
No matter from any aspect, they had to fight this battle, so they were ready to tear apart their defense line while Zhou's army had not completed the mobilization and encirclement. By then, the initiative would be on their side.
But it is a pity that Dazhou has already made preparations. Not only are there 20,000 soldiers in Hanyang City, but the city's baggage, food and grass are also extremely abundant, enough to support them in the fight.
Limited by the terrain and the layout of the city, the Tatars were unable to mobilize all their forces to attack the city. This is why Hanyang City can persist until now in the face of several times the number of enemies.
Even so, the number of soldiers defending the city was reduced by more than half under the crazy attack of the Tatars.
In the large tent of the Chinese army, Tuogu Khan was walking around in the tent. In the past half month, his life had been like a year, so he got angry and his lips were blistered.
A guard walked into the camp and asked quickly, "How is it?"
The guard replied with a grimace, "Great Khan, the Zhou army is too tenacious. We all attacked the city wall, but we were still driven down."
Tuogu Khan lost consciousness for a while, collapsed on his seat, and murmured to himself, "Chatuli is the bravest warrior under my command, can't even he attack this city?"
After so many failures, he gradually understood that it was impossible for him to capture this city, not because they couldn't capture the city, but because they ran out of time.
