Chapter 3849 Life or death?
Since the withdrawal of troops from Liaodong, His Majesty has been protected by the "Black Armor Cavalry" and no one can see him. This situation is fine for a day or two, but nearly a year has passed, and His Majesty Li Er has never shown up. Who doesn't murmur in his heart?
It's just that His Majesty's prestige and Li Ji's severity made the entire army remain silent on this matter, not daring to say or ask. However, there were inevitably many speculations in private, and the military's morale was in confusion.
If Qiu Xiaozhong and others had not guessed that His Majesty was dead, they would not have dared to do such things as disobeying military orders...
But this time involves not only His Majesty's majesty, but also Li Ji's military management. Who dares to state it openly?
Li Ji's face was livid, he slapped his palm on the table, and shouted angrily: "How outrageous! The imperial physician of the army treated your Majesty with great care, but you uttered curses and tried to disturb the morale of the army. Do you know what the crime should be?"
Cheng Yaojin said from the side: "If you judge the crime, you should be executed!"
Yuchi Gong glared at Cheng Yaojin: "There are a lot of rumors in the army now. Don't you, Cheng Yaojin, have any doubts about it?"
Cheng Yaojin shook his head like a rattle: "It's not me, I don't have it, don't talk nonsense!"
Yuchi Gong angrily glared at the troublemaker Cheng Yaojin. Cheng Yaojin opened his eyes and stared back. His eyes were originally big, but now that he is old and his eyelids have become lax, they are especially big when he stares. Most people can't compare with him. Just now Li Ji was He stared so hard that he was defeated...
"You two are done!"
Li Ji waved his hand with a headache and said respectfully to Yuchi: "Don't mention this matter again in the future, otherwise I will spare you, but the military law will not. Don't force me."
He also knew that His Majesty's life and death matter affected the entire army. Countless people were secretly speculating about the rumors, but Yu Chigong had only raised them in person. This kind of thing cannot be avoided at all, unless His Majesty Li Er is allowed to come out and make a circle in front of the entire army.
This is obviously impossible...
Fortunately, the situation has developed so far and is so close to coming to an end that it can no longer be hidden for a few days.
But Yuchi Gong refused to give up. He said solemnly: "My loyalty to Your Majesty can be seen from the sun and the moon. No matter when and where, I am willing to go through fire and water, even to death! I just want to ask the commander, has your Majesty ever left anything?" If there is one, please show it to me. No matter what is stated in the edict, I will do my best to help you complete it. Even if a thousand arrows pierce your heart, I will not change it!”
It is almost everyone's guess that His Majesty passed away. If this is true, then His Majesty must have left a legacy and entrusted it to Li Ji to take care of his funeral affairs and fulfill his wishes.
Li Ji's various unreasonable behaviors since the withdrawal of troops from Liaodong have made the entire army more and more convinced of this guess. Everyone was saddened by His Majesty's death, and they were all willing to fulfill His Majesty's legacy, so they suppressed their respective armies without causing too much trouble.
Otherwise, simply based on Li Ji's prestige, I am afraid that these hundreds of thousands of troops would have already started to fight among themselves and fall apart. At least Cheng Yaojin and Yu Chigong would not blindly obey Li Ji's inexplicable orders...
Now the army is stationed in Tongguan, the battle in Chang'an City is in full swing, Donggong and Guanlong have suffered heavy casualties, and the final victory or defeat is obvious. By that time, everything must be revealed. There is no need to hide it anymore, and it is impossible to continue to hide it.
But if we wait until that time, Yuchi Gong and even all the forces in the army will be too passive. They cannot prepare in advance and can only think about countermeasures when the situation comes. How can they be willing to do so?
On the side, Cheng Yaojin, who had been causing trouble for Yuchi Gong, suddenly said quietly: "Yuchi Jingde, you have gone too far. The commander-in-chief has always been fair and honest, and he persuades people with reason. How can he hide something from us? Commander-in-chief, This Yuchi Jingde is stupid and not very clear-headed. Jin, it's useless for you to explain to him. You might as well take out His Majesty's decree, so that all of us in the army can focus on fulfilling His Majesty's will, so as to avoid guessing and guessing all day long, not only hurting our feelings, but also easily damaging His Majesty. Big deal...are you right?”
Li Ji's face sank like water.
There was wind and rain outside the window, and his heart was also filled with ups and downs...
He understood that the purpose of these two people coming here today was to force the palace, either to force His Majesty to come forward or to see His Majesty's last edict. Otherwise, they would never give up.
These two people are too senior, have too many military exploits, and have too high prestige. Even if Li Ji is the head of the prime minister and the commander of the army, he may not be able to suppress them. Once these two people have an idea about the interests of their respective families and forces, it will be a serious threat to the overall plan.
Not to mention anything else, just one of these two people joining Donggong or Guanlong at will is enough to have a destructive impact on the current situation that has been managed with great difficulty, and it is even very likely that all plans will fail.
But Li Ji didn't have the guts to really confess to the two of them...
After pondering for a long time, Li Ji finally shook his head under the eager gazes of the two men, and said slowly in a low voice: "It is true that you have overthought this matter. As the commander-in-chief of the army, I tell you that it is best to come to this matter. That’s it, otherwise if you continue to make trouble, the gods won’t be able to save you!”
Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong looked at each other, and both could see the shock in the other's eyes.
Although Li Ji didn't say anything, he actually said everything. His Majesty... was really dead.
Cheng Yaojin was more attentive and suddenly remembered that saltpeter and other items had been sent into the army from time to time. He knew about the ice-making business that Fang Jun cooperated with King Wei, and he also knew that the main raw material for making ice was saltpeter... From this, we can know that the saltpeter was used to make ice.
When does the military need so much ice?
Its use is obvious...
The door was open, and the soldiers saw the boss talking in a tense atmosphere in the room, so they did not dare to approach the door to replace and repair the room easily. The wind and rain were raging outside the door, and gusts of wind carried the cold and damp air in. The candlelight on the desk flickered, illuminating the three people's faces with uncertain expressions.
After a long time, Yuchi Gong finally exhaled slowly, stood up, and bowed his arms to the ground: "I will be rude today, but if you don't understand it, and you can't get over this hurdle in your heart, I will apologize to the commander-in-chief someday."
After saying this, without waiting for Li Ji to respond, he turned around and walked out.
He didn't wear the raincoat that was left at the door, so he just walked out. The strong wind carried raindrops and poured them down on him. His clothes were soaked instantly, but he seemed to be unaware and walked step by step into the darkness of the rain curtain.
Inside the house, Cheng Yaojin suddenly sighed, raised his head, and looked at the roof.
My heart was filled with shock and mixed feelings...
Then he stood up, without saying a word, bowed his hands in a slight salute, then walked out of the door with his hands behind his back, and disappeared in the dark night rain in an instant.
Only Li Ji sat at the desk and was lost in thought. After a long while, he reached out to pick up the jug and wanted to pour himself a glass of wine. As a result, the jug tipped over, but not a drop of wine flowed out. He shook the jug, put it on the table, and cursed in a low voice: "Two drunkards!"
Then he stood up and stood in front of the window, looking out the window at the majestic Tongguan City Tower in the rainy night, but in fact there was no focus...
The soldiers behind him quickly lifted up the broken door and smashed it with hammers and nails. They quickly repaired it and closed the door before everyone exited.
Only then did Li Ji come back to his senses, shook his head, and sighed: "Your Majesty, why bother..."
*****
In the East Palace, the prince also stayed awake all night.
Towards the end of the day, the wind and rain became more and more violent, and the rain fell from the sky like a pouring water, and gathered into streams to flow freely on the ground.
Li Junxian walked quickly from the direction of Xuanwu Gate. He took off his raincoat in front of the prince's residence and handed it to the chamberlain in front of the door. He straightened his clothes, ignored his soaked boots, and walked into the house.
Li Chengqian was sitting behind the desk, dealing with stacks of official documents. Several candlesticks were placed throughout the room, and the candlelight was burning high, as bright as day.
Li Junxian entered and greeted him with a greeting: "I will see you at last, Your Highness!"
Li Chengqian put down his brush, raised his hand to rub his eyebrows, and asked the waiter on the side to make a pot of tea. Then he stood up, walked to a chair by the window, sat down, and asked calmly: "Is there any news from the Xuanwu Gate?"< br>
Li Junxian said: "Until now, Duke Guo has made no move."
Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said: "It seems that perhaps it was the Duke of Yue who persuaded him to sit down, and the Duke of Guo may not have his own way."
Since Li Tang came to Guanzhong, lived in Taiji Palace and ruled the world, Xuanwu Gate has become a top priority.
It can be said that whether Xuanwu Gate is safe means whether the emperor is safe; no matter who wants to usurp it, the first thing to do is to attack Xuanwu Gate. When my father launched the Xuanwu Gate Rebellion, he had subdued the Xuanwu Gate garrison Chang He in advance. Otherwise, who would win the mutiny in the ninth year of Wude is still unknown...
To this day, Xuanwu Gate is still the Gate of Life and Death.
If Zhang Shigui had ulterior motives and suddenly blocked the Xuanwu Gate at the critical moment, then he, the prince, would be unable to fly and would have to be annihilated by the swarming rebels in the inner gate... (End of Chapter)