In the court, there were endless arguments.
The war faction and the peace faction each expressed their own opinions and began to quote from other sources, quoting the words of saints and historical allusions from previous dynasties. In short, they all felt that they made sense.
As for the emperor, he looked impatiently on the throne as the two groups of people in the audience quarreled with each other, his face quite impatient.
Obviously, the emperor who had just ascended the throne had not yet adapted well to his status.
At this time, he actually hated the behavior of these ministers. He felt that their empty talk was hurting the country, but no one could give him any good advice that convinced him, and there was no word that he could immediately make a decision and follow it all.
In the eyes of the emperor, this was obviously the incompetence of the ministers.
At this time, both Li Boxi and Tang Qin may seem to be working for the country and the monarch, but in the eyes of the emperor, they most likely have their own selfish motives.
Hard to trust.
Seeing that the two sides had yet to come up with a result, the emperor turned his attention to Chu Ge, who had been silent.
Chu Ge's position at this time was Yushi Zhongcheng. Although his rank was not the highest, he was the highest official of the Yushitai. He had authority and the right to speak.
Moreover, judging from the look the emperor cast on him, it seemed that... the emperor valued his opinions quite a bit?
Qi Yingzong paused for a moment and said in a majestic tone that he was not familiar with: "Li Qing, what do you think should be done about this matter?"
Chu Ge's name in this copy is Li Hao. Hearing the emperor's question, he thought about it for a while and replied: "Back to the official house, I believe that war and peace are both necessary means. You cannot just ask for war, but also No compromise is allowed for peace.
"The Jin people are coming now with a fierce force, which is different from the powerful enemies before our dynasty.
"The Jin people have swallowed up the entire north, and their morale is at a high level. At this time, they are probably thinking of overthrowing our dynasty. As Tang Xiang said, it is probably impossible to persuade the Jin people to retreat with some gold and silver.
"So, no matter how high the price we give, the Jin people will definitely continue to open their mouths, thinking that our government must be able to offer more... In this way, it will be a bottomless pit.
“So, the battle in the capital is inevitable.
"But it will be difficult to fight for a long time. Our soldiers have neglected training, and their combat power cannot compete with the Jin people.
"If we fight rashly in the field, we will only be defeated by the Jin people one by one.
"The only way is to defend the capital and wait for the Qinwang army from all over the world. When our military strength reaches an absolute advantage, especially when the old Xianggong Zhongpingyuanzhong of the Western Army arrives, it is possible to win in one battle.
“Only when the Jin people are unable to attack for a long time and are deeply trapped in the hinterland of our empire can there be hope for peace talks.
"The key is that this time the Jin soldiers went south, our army was on the verge of collapse and the capital was in danger. This has sounded the alarm for our country.
"This time, we must first defend the capital, wait for King Qin's army to assemble, repel the Jin army, and establish a collegial meeting, and then organize the army to prepare for war. It will take a few years to build a strong army that can compete with the Jin army, and then the world can No worries."
Chu Ge's words are basically the best solution in the eyes of future generations.
Everyone knows the combat effectiveness of Jin Bing at this time, but with the current level of Qi Chao, it is impossible to fight.
However, although there is no danger to defend near the capital at this time, relying on the city wall, holding on to the first wave is not a big problem.
To avoid the disgrace of Jingping, in Chu Ge's view, the key points are nothing more than the following: The first is to rely on Li Boxi's power to defend the capital as in the original history;
The second was to persuade the emperor to wait until the Western Army in Zhongpingyuan was completely ready before going out to fight, so as to gain an advantage in the field and force the Jin people to negotiate a peace;
The third is to secure the main force of the Western Army, make proper preparations, lift the siege of Taiyuan City, and continue to increase Taiyuan's defensive strength;
The fourth is to take this opportunity to strengthen the Yellow River defense line and guard against the second invasion of the Jin soldiers more than half a year later, which caused the Jingping Incident;
The fifth is to promote General Han Fuyue and others after seeking temporary peace, organize the army and prepare for war, and then give full support to the whole country. At that time, we can cross the Yellow River, regain Yanyun, and even attack Huanglong and destroy it. Fall into the Kingdom of Jin.
If these steps can be completed smoothly, then the Qi Dynasty's Guozuo can at least continue for many more years. With Yanyun and other important towns, properly managed, it can even withstand the rise of the Northern Barbarians and drag them to the point of internal division of the Northern Barbarians. one day.
If Chu Ge's identity at this time was Qi Yingzong, then no one else would need to propose these five steps. He could just arrange for Li Boxi and other reliable ministers to do it himself.
But at this time, he was not the emperor, but just a censor, so he could only give suggestions.
As for how much the emperor can listen, only God knows.
In fact, Chu Ge also had other options, such as completely switching to the war faction or the peace faction, but this was his first attempt after all. After some consideration, he decided to tell all these things.
In the court, it may not be possible to carry out all these things, but it is useful to arouse some consensus among knowledgeable people.
However, what surprised Chu Ge was that there was a hint of dissatisfaction on Qi Yingzong's face.
"Well, what Li Qing said makes sense."
Is it just "reasonable"... This is obviously the best solution under the current situation!
Chu Ge took a brief look at the reactions of other ministers to him, and found that Li Boxi, the leader of the war faction, seemed a little surprised when he looked at him, but there was also some appreciation in the surprise; as for Tang Qin, his expression when he looked at him was It is full of doubts, and there are also some emotions and sighs in the doubts.
…
This time the court meeting ended up being unhappy.
Seeing the Jin soldiers approaching, the court still did not discuss a very clear plan.
In the end, Qi Yingzong only reluctantly made the decision and ordered all the towns and elite soldiers in the world to rush to the capital Qinwang. As for the mess of the capital's defense, he was a man of understanding and left it all to Li Boxi.
Chu Ge didn't know whether Qi Yingzong made this decision because of his own analysis. After all, the reason why the capital could be defended in history was mainly due to Li Boxi.
I hope that my words will have some effect in the ears of the emperor and ministers!
When leaving the court meeting, Chu Ge was about to drive back home, but he didn't expect Li Boxi to call him.
At this time, Li Boxi was already quite old, but his features were domineering and he didn't look like a scholar at all. Moreover, his body is quite strong, and his fists as big as sandbags give people an inexplicable feeling of being very capable of hitting.
"I have always thought that you, Zhizheng, are the best at figuring out what is best for you, so you are the censor Zhongcheng, and you usually speak out for justice, but I have always had some opinions about you.
"It's just your performance in the court today that made me change my opinion. When this army is in danger, I hope Chizheng can put aside his previous prejudices and guard the country of Qi Dynasty together."
Chu Ge nodded quickly: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, we will do our best!"
…
After returning to the mansion, Chu Ge had dinner and paced back and forth in the study.
He was thinking about why the emperor and the officials in the court reacted like this to him after he said those words.
“The key issue here is Li Boxi’s impression of me.
"It can be seen that after what I said, Li Boxi's attitude towards me changed. He said that before, he thought that I was good at figuring out what was going on, so he criticized me quite a bit.
"So this is what my character looks like...
"No wonder the emperor was a little disappointed with what I said, and there was something wrong with the way Tang Qin looked at me."
"Good at figuring out what's best" is definitely not a good comment.
Of course, in terms of officialdom, being able to figure out what the emperor is thinking at this time is naturally the most important thing for promotion and wealth.
But this also means that such people often speak not out of their true intentions, but out of pandering to their superior intentions.
Why did the emperor ask Chu Ge to speak by name, and why did he look forward to what he had to say?
It was because Li Hao, played by Chu Ge, was good at figuring out what was going on. The emperor really wanted to hear something from him that would satisfy him.
For example...how can I leave this mess to others and run away from the capital myself?
There may not necessarily be a definite standard answer, but it is obvious that the answer given by Chu Ge is still far from the standard answer in the emperor's mind.
If he had known that Li Hao was like this, maybe Chu Ge would have considered the option of deceiving the emperor.
Chu Ge had already considered the hidden line between Qi Yingzong and Qi Huizong before.
Why was Qi Yingzong a little disappointed with the answers of these ministers?
In fact, whether it was Li Boxi from the war faction or Tang Qin from the peace faction, at least what they said in the main hall was watertight. Especially Li Boxi, he is a very talented and capable person. Strictly speaking, as long as Qi Yingzong starts hanging up without caring about anything and leaves all these matters to Li Boxi, he will be safe.
But Qi Yingzong is still not satisfied, why?
In the final analysis, it was because these important officials in the court were basically his father Qi Huizong's team.
Therefore, Qi Yingzong was naturally distrustful of these people.
Especially for Li Boxi.
In Qi Yingzong's view, his father ran away and went to the south to enjoy a happy life. Li Boxi couldn't stop Qi Huizong, but he forced himself to stay on the front line in the capital, which could be breached at any time. What's the point? ?
Obviously, in Li Boxi's mind, the Supreme Emperor was more important.
Maybe Li Boxi is indeed capable, but for Qi Yingzong, this kind of ability, prestige, and status will eventually make him feel very uncomfortable.
At this time, the war was fierce and dangerous, so he had to use Li Boxi. He also knew that the success rate of peace negotiations at this time might be very low, so he reluctantly handed over the entire defense of the capital to Li Boxi's hands.
But whenever there is an opportunity in the future, Qi Yingzong will definitely find ways to promote his own people from below, and then find some excuses to throw all the important officials from his original team to the other side.
As for Li Hao, played by Chu Ge, Qi Yingzong's question obviously contained some hints.
If Chu Ge could give an answer that satisfied Qi Yingzong at that time, maybe Qi Yingzong could promote him naturally, and a bridge of mutual trust could be established between the emperor and his ministers: everyone is his own.
But the problem is that the premise for the establishment of this mutual trust is that Chu Ge must obey Qi Yingzong's wishes, which is very detrimental to the defense of the capital.
In short, the matter has come to this, and it is temporarily unrealistic to consider another possibility.
Chu Ge decided to take a walk and try his best to help Li Gang defend the capital, and then he would be qualified to talk about other things.
If the defense of the city fails this time, think of other ways.
After some thought, Chu Ge decided to speed up the flow of time, go to the next court meeting as soon as possible, and look for an opportunity to follow Li Boxi and try to organize the defense of the entire capital.
However, what Chu Ge didn't expect was that as time passed by outside and it was getting dark, a servant hurriedly knocked on the door.
"Master, master!
"Sorry, I heard that Your Majesty... Your Majesty escaped from the city last night!
"The city is in chaos right now. Master, please get up and take a look!"
Chu Ge couldn't help but be startled, and then said in shock: "What did you say?"
But before he could go out, white mist filled his eyes.
This means that his challenge this time has failed.
Before withdrawing from this slice of history, he once again saw the situation after the Jin soldiers went south from a God's perspective.
As the emperor fled, a large number of important ministers followed him out of the city. The news spread quickly and could not be concealed.
As a result, the entire capital became panicked and everyone was in danger. Many wealthy businessmen also began to flee, and even the defenders were demoralized.
Although Li Boxi still worked hard to organize the defense, the Jin people quickly broke through the capital due to their disarray.
Afterwards, the Jin people massacred, looted and looted the capital, and almost the entire northern Qi Dynasty fell.
The Jingping Incident came early.
Perhaps the only good news in this timeline is that because the two monarchs Qi Huizong and Qi Yingzong ran away quickly, they and some clan nobles were not kidnapped by the Jin people.
However, the appetite of the Jin people, who captured the capital at an extremely fast speed, became even greater and began to invade southward. However, during the process of exile, the emperor's decrees were blocked and the garrison in various places did not have unified command. They even collapsed without fighting. The whole situation It turned out to be even more difficult to deal with than the Jingping Incident.
Chu Ge's light spot in the capital dimmed the fastest, followed closely by Cenqiao Station, and then the nearby countryside and Pingding County.
Obviously, the other three locations are basically dependent on the capital.
If the capital can block the main force of the Jin people, then there will be room for stubborn resistance in other places. Once the capital is lost, the Jin people can divide their armies to quickly sweep the surrounding areas, and then join up with the Jin soldiers attacking Taiyuan City. In the end, they will be out of control.
Returning to the initial scene, Chu Ge slapped his forehead in frustration.
“I hunt geese all the year round, but my eyes were pecked out by geese...
"I know that it is recorded in the history books that Qi Yingzong had the idea of escape, but I didn't expect it to come so quickly and suddenly... Moreover, according to historical records, wasn't he stopped by Li Boxi?
"It's a pity that the other three buddies in this dungeon, I don't know who they are, were implicated by me."
Chu Ge couldn't help but blame himself.
The scribe he chose this time should be very confident in himself and wanted to carry, but he didn't expect that it would become a breakthrough because of an oversight.
"Come again!"
Chu Ge was a little speechless, but this was a stupid mistake after all. It was only because he had not adapted to the brain circuit of this copy that he capsized.
Soon, Chu Ge came to the court again.
This time he used the same rhetoric as before. Whether the emperor is happy or not should be put aside first, or should he show his favor to Li Boxi first. After all, defending the capital is the top priority at this time.
After returning to his home, Chu Ge didn't dare to turn his back on what was going on outside the window.
He directly asked his servants to prepare the carriage and went straight to Li Boxi's house.
…
The capital city at night seemed a little depressing in its silence.
Although the Jin's troops were heading south at this time, there were still a few days left before they could actually besiege the capital.
But no one can tell exactly how many days it will take.
After the Jin people easily broke through the Yellow River defense line, they moved southward with unstoppable momentum. This is certainly due to the heroic fighting of the Jin soldiers and the collapse of the Qi army at the first touch, but more importantly, I am afraid there is also a gap in combat strategy.
Unlike the West Route Army, which was blocked by the fortified city of Taiyuan, after the East Route Army easily captured Yanjing by surrendering generals, the entire East Route to the capital city was virtually undefendable, and there was no fortified city like Taiyuan like a nail. It was also firmly nailed to the southward route of the Eastern Route Army.
From this perspective, perhaps Jin Bing's unstoppable momentum is understandable.
But in fact, people who know a little bit about the inside will know that although there is no strong city like Taiyuan, there are also various small towns on the road, and there are many prefectures and counties, and these scattered soldiers add up to a lot of usable soldiers. of.
If these military officials could act decisively and use less troops to attack the food roads behind the Jin people and cover up and kill the lone Jin soldiers, the situation at this time would still be completely different.
But this better possibility in imagination never appeared.
In this huge chaos, every officer in charge of the army thought that he might be powerless. Facing the sharp edge of the Jin people, going alone was tantamount to seeking death. But if all the Qi Dynasty troops on the entire east road are holding this idea, then the final result is only one possibility of being driven straight in by the Jin people.
Therefore, Qi Yingzong should also know that if he wants to run away, now is the best time.
If we delay for a little longer, a few days will fly by in the blink of an eye, and by then the Jin soldiers will be at the city gates, surrounding the entire capital, and even if they want to escape, they will be unable to fly.
——Swordsmen have no eyesight. If they run away in chaos, it would be difficult to tell whether they are ministers or emperors if they encounter them. If something goes wrong, it will be an unacceptable outcome for a great emperor like the emperor.
Therefore, after today's court meeting, some officials who were "good at figuring out what is best for them" privately asked to see the emperor and said what the emperor had been looking forward to at the court meeting, but no minister had dared to say it publicly. of that possibility.
Escape.
So, after a high-sounding statement of the pros and cons, the emperor decided to play such a farce at the instigation of some jester.
Under the cover of night, the emperor's car was very low-key. He did not use the pomp and show that he usually used when going out on the street. Instead, he just dressed up like an ordinary high-ranking official and quietly but somewhat hurriedly headed towards the city gate on the side.
The Qi Dynasty was a dynasty without curfew, and there were some historical reasons for this.
The original Daliang City originally had many markets, which were closed and locked every night, preventing people from taking to the streets for no reason. However, the commercial economy of the Qi Dynasty gradually developed, and the boundaries of the entire city were rapidly destroyed, so that it became very difficult to maintain the curfew at night, and it became lively at night.
After several unsuccessful attempts to restore the curfew, the capital had actually canceled the curfew at this time, and at its most prosperous time, it became a veritable city that never sleeps.
However, during this period, due to the Jin people's move south, the entire capital became panicked. So the emperor issued an edict to strengthen patrols at night. In such a tense atmosphere, fewer people were willing to take to the streets late at night, so the entire capital seemed a little quiet at this time.
The emperor's driver deliberately avoided the busier streets and hurried towards the side door.
In the spacious carriage, Qi Yingzong's figure swayed slightly with the bumps. But the joy of being about to escape from the cage could not be concealed.
And in this joy, there may be some anger: My father can run, why can't I run?
The relationship between the emperor and his son was actually far from as harmonious as most people imagined.
Although he was enthroned, in fact Qi Yingzong was not Qi Huizong's favorite among the many princes. On this point, both father and son are as clear as a mirror.
What's more, being born in an imperial family, there is no family affection at all.
Imperial power was only allowed to be enjoyed by one person, and neither Qi Huizong, who became the Supreme Emperor, nor Qi Yingzong, who had just ascended the throne, was willing to share power with others.
No matter whether this person is his father or his son.
For Qi Yingzong, when he first learned that he was going to become the emperor, he was surprised and a little excited. But after taking the throne, various troubled things caused him to have more complicated emotions.
The Jin people are going south and will surround the capital in a few days. Why can my father run away unharmed and leave this mess to me, but I can only live and die with the capital?
I am the Son of Heaven, so why should I put myself in danger? Why should I be subject to the control of hundreds of civil and military officials?
This idea will naturally arise the moment everyone becomes the emperor, and will continue to ferment amidst the constant tension of the situation, and gradually turn into a strong idea that dominates the heart.
If imperial power is a good medicine for monarchs with great talents and strategies, allowing them to display their ambitions with even greater power, then for emperors with lower levels of talent, learning, moral character, and ambition, it is more like a possibility. Addictive poisons will not only fail to stimulate any determination to achieve success, but will instead allow the selfish desires in the dark corners of the heart to expand without limit.
Therefore, Qi Yingzong thought that he could play a trick of "kill first and then report", and find a way to escape from the capital first, and let's talk about the rest later.
As those jesters said, he is now the emperor, the most powerful person in the world. Even if he makes some decisions, it is for the sake of the overall situation. If the capital falls, he, the emperor, cannot risk his life...
Even if he leaves, the capital still has Li Boxi and a group of important ministers. It is also the problem of these ministers that they cannot defend the city.
Who dares to challenge the emperor?
But not long after, Qi Yingzong in the carriage began to realize that something was wrong.
The carriage stopped, and there were some noises ahead.
He slightly opened some car curtains and asked in a low voice: "What's going on?"
The personal eunuch quickly reported: "The officials, it's Li Boxi, Li Hao and others, stopped the driver, said yes, said yes..."
Before he finished speaking, the emperor heard Li Boxi's voice coming from the front.
Li Boxi's carriage blocked in front of the emperor's motorcade. At this time, this sturdy veteran knelt down in front of the carriage and said loudly: "The enemy is facing us, and the soldiers are fierce and dangerous. How can your Majesty abandon the city and flee?" ?”
Behind Li Boxi, there were also Li Hao, played by Chu Ge, and many warring officials who had been summoned overnight. They all knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please stay in the capital and live and die with our army and people!"
These ministers did not address themselves by the more common "official" name in private, but instead called them "your majesty", which made the situation a little more serious.
Qi Yingzong's expression changed several times, and his eyes swept over the courtiers kneeling on the ground, as if he wanted to remember them one by one.
After struggling for a while, Qi Yingzong finally realized that it would be difficult to make the trip this time, so he could only reluctantly said: "My dear friends, why are you doing this? I am not fleeing south, but... I just want to inspect the capital. Looking at the defense of each sect, you, my dear friends, are too surprised.
"Yes, how can you think of me as a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death?"
The leader, Li Boxi, immediately said loudly: "I await the death penalty! But the situation is critical at this time. Please return to the palace to prevent the people in the city from being shaken!"
The corners of Qi Yingzong's mouth twitched, but he still managed to squeeze out a smile: "What Prime Minister Li said is true. If this is the case, then I will not continue to patrol and go back to the palace!"
After saying that, he angrily lowered the curtain of the carriage.
Watching the emperor's car finally turn back and head towards the palace again, the various ministers who followed behind and wanted to leave the city together quietly dispersed.
Li Boxi shook his head silently and sighed.
Then, he looked at Chu Ge: "Zhizheng, if you hadn't informed me in time this time, I'm afraid it would have caused a catastrophe... On behalf of the people of the world, thank you very much!"
Chu Ge hurriedly said: "Prime Minister Li is serious. This is the responsibility of the lower officials. Please take care of Prime Minister Li and take care of the defense of the capital. At this time, all the ministers of our Qi Dynasty should work together to tide over the difficulties together."
Li Boxi nodded, said goodbye to Chu Ge, and hurriedly continued planning the defense of the capital.
The Jin soldiers may move south at any time. During this period, Li Boxi was also very busy, racing against time to mobilize civilians and rebels to strengthen the city's defenses. The dredging and coordination of supplies from all walks of life were also in progress.
After a brief moment, the emperor almost ran away, and Li Boxi was also shocked.
Fortunately, after being stopped this time, the possibility of the emperor running away again would be much smaller.
What neither of them knew was that shortly after Qi Yingzong's car returned to the palace, he called his personal eunuch over.
"Who dares to spy on me? How can they unite hundreds of officials to put pressure on me in such a short period of time? It's simply lawless!
"Let me investigate thoroughly!"
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