Chapter 3557 Admonishment
Although the commander of the Eastern Expedition Army was Li Ji, who openly supported Dong Gong, after all, Li Ji came from a Shandong family, and the interests behind it determined that he might not be able to support Dong Gong wholeheartedly. In the final analysis, interests are still at work. Whoever pays a higher price will naturally be inclined to him.
Moreover, there were many factions and overlapping forces within the Eastern Expedition army. Even Li Ji could not control them all, and there were many constraints among them. This caused the hundreds of thousands of troops who had originally returned to Guanzhong to travel slowly and delay their arrival.
In the court, in the whirlpool of power, he never acted on his own will. Li Ji is like this, Li Jing is like this, so why not Changsun Wuji?
Otherwise, why would his eldest grandson Wuji be so concerned and put himself to death...
When people are in the court, they can't help themselves.
In the end, Li Jing still set his sights on the vast Western Region, thinking about the various dangerous passes and bumps along the way from Gongyue City to Chang'an, and the severe cold weather, thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, wind and snow, what exactly would it take? How much time.
After planning for a long time, the time is right.
Li Jing sighed softly and said slowly: "Your Highness, the reason why Guan Long attacked so fiercely is probably because the Duke of Yue has led his army back to Guanzhong."
Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said decisively: "This is definitely not the case. Gu has already sent people to send letters to the Western Regions, strictly prohibiting the troops from the Western Regions from rushing to Chang'an. Moreover, Duke Wei may not know that Erlang is loyal to his father and Gu. , but what is more loyal is the interests of the empire.”
After a pause, he tried to persuade Li Jing: "Perhaps Gu shouldn't say such words, but based on Gu's understanding of Erlang, he knows that he doesn't have much respect for the imperial power in his heart. In his opinion, it doesn't matter who becomes the emperor. The most important thing is that the central organization can operate normally to ensure that the empire continues to move in the right direction. Erlang will never abandon the vast territory of the Western Regions just to help Chang'an turn the tide. "
Li Jing was a little stunned.
From ancient times to the present, the world's ethics has been "king, minister, father and son". If a minister is disloyal to the king, it is equivalent to being unfilial to his father. Although such people are common, they will definitely be despised by the world and reviled by history books.
But then I thought, Confucianism has been respected since the Han Dynasty, but to this day, Confucianism has developed countless factions and derived countless theories, among which "If you die for the sake of the country, then you will die; if you die for the country, then you will die. If you die for the country, then you will die." The discussion of "dying for oneself, and dying for oneself is not personal, who dares to let it be" is also one of the origins of Confucianism, but it is not surprising.
I just didn't expect that Fang Jun would be "more loyal to the country than loyal to the king." What's even more surprising is that His Highness the Crown Prince knew Fang Jun's thoughts and ideas, but still trusted him and relied on him as a confidant.
This magnanimity alone is no less generous than His Majesty Li Er, who has always been known for his broad-mindedness...
However, after pondering for a long time, Li Jing still tended to believe that Fang Jun had already rushed to Chang'an, and at least made some noise in the Yumen Pass area, which made Changsun Wuji very afraid. Otherwise, such a fierce attack regardless of casualties would continue?
Even if the military remonstrance succeeds, and the East Palace is deposed and a certain prince becomes the crown prince, or even eventually ascends the throne as the emperor, if Guan Long's family fortune is wiped out now, what will he use to influence the world and seize the interests of the court in the future?
Something unavoidable must have happened, otherwise Changsun Wuji would never have risked his life like this. Even if he was willing, the rest of the Guanlong clan would never risk their family fortune for hundreds of years to accompany him crazy.
As for this matter that forced Changsun Wuji to "do it as a last resort", Li Jing thought about it and still felt that it should be the accident brought about by Fang Jun...
After pondering for a while, Li Jing said: "Your Highness clearly knows that even if the Duke of Yue did not send troops to come back for reinforcements, there must have been some changes in the outside world, which prompted Changsun Wuji to have to burn the boat and finish his work in one battle."
Li Chengqian nodded, he thought so too, otherwise in just over a month, the Sixth Army of the East Palace would suffer all casualties, and they would have no choice but to withdraw from the imperial city through the Xuanwu Gate, and the East Palace would be completely gone.
Except for the attack on Xuanwu Gate by the Zuo Tun Guards, the imperial army and the Guanlong Army, no battles took place outside Xuanwu Gate. The officials of the East Palace unanimously believed that this was not just Zhangsun Wuji's fear of the Right Tun Guards. war There should be a strategy of "surrounding three and missing one" deep inside, which is to leave such a way of survival for Donggong Liuli, so that once it is on the verge of despair, there is still a way to retreat, and it is not necessary to choose death rather than surrender, and fight to the death. .
It can be seen that although the Guanlong rebels are aggressive, they actually leave some room. This is true for the East Palace, and even more so for themselves.
The current frenzied attack, with no regard for the casualties of the Guanlong army, and the momentum to capture the imperial city even if they risked their fortunes, has obviously blocked all escape routes.
If you don't succeed, you will succeed.
This is not Changsun Wuji’s usual style of doing things...
Seeing that Li Chengqian agreed with his guess, Li Jing felt relieved, fearing that if His Highness the Crown Prince was stubborn, he would easily miss the opportunity.
He was in high spirits and continued: "Your Highness, with the background of the Guanlong Clan, although the soldiers and horses they gathered are just a mob, they are too many and are enough to annihilate the imperial city. The six leaders of the East Palace are brave and fearless, but Two fists are no match for four hands. Under Guanlong's fierce attack regardless of casualties, it won't take long for them to be completely destroyed. Once the soldiers at a certain place suffer heavy casualties and lead to a lack of defense, the rebels can break into the city and there will be no way to recover. ”
Li Chengqian looked solemn and nodded slowly.
This is a fact. The reason why Donggong Liuli was able to persist for so long under the siege of the rebels without losing the imperial city was because Changsun Wuji had never attacked as frantically as he did now. Because of such a crazy fighting style, it can be said that he killed eight hundred enemies and lost one thousand. Even if the imperial city was captured, Guan Long's family fortune was wiped out, so what's the use?
But now, Changsun Wuji obviously doesn’t care anymore...
Li Ji said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, the imperial city is too big, and the Sixth Army of the East Palace has suffered heavy losses. It is difficult to take full care of it. If you don't give up the city wall and shrink your troops, you can gather the best soldiers and generals in one place to deal with the enemy within the imperial city. There are still more." firm Hold on for a few days! And His Highness secretly withdrew from Xuanwu Gate. Once the imperial city could not be defended, he also gave up Xuanwu Gate and led his army straight to Hexi, relying on the geographical advantage to hold on to wait for the troops of King Qin in the world. "
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If you keep it, you will definitely not be able to keep it.
Instead of letting the rebels break through the city wall defenses from a certain point, causing chaos to the entire army and being defeated by the enemy, it is better to retreat proactively and rely on the countless palaces and towers in the imperial city to resist. With the elites led by Dong Gong Liu, they can kill the ragtag rebels in street battles to a greater extent.
I don’t believe that Changsun Wuji really doesn’t care about anything and will continue to fight to the death even if his family’s fortune is wiped out.
As for persuading the prince to withdraw from the imperial city, this was something Li Jing had planned for a long time, but Li Chengqian had always refused harshly, so he did not dare to mention it. The current situation is critical. Once the prince is trapped in the imperial city, the situation will be over. If the prince can escape calmly, his honor and justice will still be preserved, and the war situation will be alleviated.
Sure enough, Li Chengqian was still the same as before. Faced with the admonition to withdraw from the imperial city, he refused very firmly: "Absolutely not! At the moment, Chang'an is in chaos, and the whole world is watching. If Gu Shang stays in the imperial city for just one day, he will Imperial Crown Prince, Supervisor of the Country Prince, no one dares to move without permission. Once Gu Gu withdraws from the imperial city, it means that the rebels' remonstrance is successful. Hedong, Hexi, Hanoi and other forces will definitely take advantage of the opportunity and completely surrender to Guanlong, and great things will happen!"
There is still something unsaid in his heart: According to all the current signs, his father must be in serious danger. If he, the prince of the supervising country, abandons the imperial city and flees at this moment, then Guan Long will completely occupy the honor and righteousness from now on, even if he Fleeing to Hexi and gaining support from all forces in Longxi to fight against Chang'an was just the beginning of the civil war.
But even if all forces in Longxi fully support it, how can they compete with Guanlong who occupies Guanzhong and holds the world hostage? Failure is inevitable sooner or later.
Instead of fighting to the death and breaking the entire empire into pieces and weakening the country, it would be better to fight to the death in the imperial city and commit suicide.
But just when Li Jing looked disappointed, Li Chengqian said: "At most, Gu Dao agrees to retreat to Xuanwu Gate with his father, the emperor's concubines, and the officials of the East Palace, so that he can let go of the city wall defenses and fight the enemy in the imperial city. But this imperial city It is a symbol of the Tang Dynasty. Since it was destroyed by Gu's hands, Gu must either hold on to the imperial city and turn defeat into victory, or die in defeat and use Gu's blood to apologize to his father."
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No matter what, he would not leave the imperial city. Watching the majestic and magnificent imperial city that his father handed over to him was destroyed by the war was his limit. (End of chapter)