Chapter 3927: Trade-offs
Cheng Yaojin didn't want to go out and force Dong Gong to give up the pursuit of Guan Long, but he had to obey Li Ji's order. Even though he cursed countless times in his heart and sent greetings to all eighteen generations of Li Ji's ancestors, he still had to write the letter honestly. , sent people to Youtunwei Camp and Zhongnan Mountain respectively, asking both sides to send representatives to come to Chunming Gate to discuss the armistice.
He is now the vanguard of the Eastern Expedition. The Zuowu Guards under his command are strong and strong, and they can overwhelm the Sixth Army of the East Palace and the Youtun Guards, not to mention the Guanlong Army. As long as he expresses his attitude according to Li Ji's wishes, no matter how polite he is, he is actually Warning to all forces in Guanzhong - whoever disobeys will be beaten.
This is precisely the reason why he is unwilling to follow Li Ji's orders. Both the East Palace and the Youtun Guards will be dissatisfied with his tough attitude...
……
Li Chengqian received the letter sent by Cheng Yaojin. After a moment of silence, he handed over several important ministers to discuss countermeasures.
Xiao Yu read the letter, frowned and thought for a while, and said: "Now the British Duke is about to return to Chang'an with his Eastern Expedition army. He is so powerful and majestic that he cannot be ignored lightly. However, His Highness is a rich man and cannot sit down in the hall. , let the veteran go to meet with Cheng Yaojin on behalf of His Highness to see what they want.”
Ma Zhou on the side glanced at Xiao Yu and excused himself: "No matter who is going to participate in the meeting, I think the rules and strategies should be decided in advance and just follow the script. We can't let them lead us by the nose. The situation is clear now and we have won a great victory." , Guanlong was defeated like a mountain, but how to clean up the mess, what step we want to take, and what price the Guanlong clan will have to pay, we must first understand and unify the policy, so as not to mess up the situation. "
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He has never formed any cliques or cliques. He only focuses on his own duties and is considered a pure minister. Now that the East Palace has won a great victory, it is natural for all forces to claim credit and share the profits. He will not get involved, but this kind of thing must reach a consensus within the East Palace, and no one can go out to promote his own. Advocate and seize their own interests.
Xiao Yu remained silent.
Ma Zhou, who had never been involved in factional fights, suddenly spoke, which made him a little alarmed. The Guanlong clan was in decline, and the Jiangnan and Shandong clans were entering the court in large numbers. The trend was unstoppable, but it had obviously aroused the fear and fear of many people. Exclusion.
He took the initiative to negotiate with Li Ji and Guan Long on behalf of the crown prince. Naturally, he wanted to take the initiative and win more benefits for the Jiangnan nobles. However, if this caused fear and dissatisfaction among various factions within the East Palace, , he decided to let go immediately and should not aggravate this contradiction.
Anyway, it is unstoppable for the Jiangnan nobles to enter the center, so why should they show their sharpness and become the target of public criticism?
Cen Wenwen agreed very much with Ma Zhou's words: "It can be foreseen that the British public will probably defend Guan Long's fate. This is due to his interests. So we need to take a tough attitude and never retreat, and we must take Should Guanlong's rebellion be eradicated, or can we make appropriate concessions when certain interests are stabilized? ”
Everyone was silent, carefully considering the pros and cons.
They are all people who stand at the top of the empire's power. Naturally, no one will shout passionate words like "the traitors will be cut into pieces and their families will be destroyed." What everyone needs to consider is the interests of the entire East Palace and their own interests. How to coordinate between...
Li Chengqian saw Fang Jun sitting next to him and sipping tea slowly without expressing any opinions, so he smiled and asked, "What do you think Erlang has?"
Fang Jun put down his tea cup and said with a smile: "Your Highness, it's okay for you to defeat the weak ministers. It's okay for the weak ministers to fight and kill. How can you do this kind of strategizing? It's better for your highness to discuss it with all the wise men. No matter how you deal with it, the weak ministers No objections.”
In the court, one must forge ahead and show off one's talents, but the most important thing to learn is how to hide one's strength and bide one's time. This mutiny included Tuyuhun's previous invasion of the Hexi counties and the annihilation of the Dashi army that invaded the Western Region. The performance of himself and the Youtun Guards under his command was astonishing and brilliant, and it would not be wrong to say that "the pillar of the empire deserves the most credit." Too much. Now that we have grabbed the lion's share of the credit, we naturally have to give others room to perform. Otherwise, we will all get the good things. How can we not arouse public outrage?
Furthermore, whether we insist on destroying Guanlongmen Vale or give Guanlongmen Vale a limited way to survive, there are pros and cons, and there is not much difference.
When an empire is at peace, a dynasty is prosperous, and aristocratic families arise, they will always arise. This is an inevitable result of the solidification of classes. Recently, aristocratic families have been eradicated from the roots, but tomorrow there will still be aristocratic families rising from the grassroots, and the trend is unstoppable.
But as long as the clans no longer have private soldiers in their hands and are politically restricted so that they cannot monopolize politics and education in a place, there is no need to worry.
Li Chengqian nodded and said to everyone: "I mean, it is not a bad idea to leave a way for Guanlong to survive, but its foundation must be cut off to make it difficult for it to revive and make a comeback. But this favor must be given to him by us in the East Palace, and You have no choice but to give in under the coercion of others.”
Everyone nodded.
Now that Li Ji is returning to Chang'an with a thunderous force with his army, even the East Palace has to temporarily avoid its front and compromise. This is a fact. However, Donggong must use a tough stance to put huge pressure on the Guanlong clan, and then relent slightly, instead of letting the Guanlong clan think that the "grace of survival" was given by Li Ji.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Li Chengqian continued: "So, this time I will go to Chunmingmen in person to meet these rebellious officials and traitors."
The original intention of politics is to compromise, but everyone is flesh and blood, with their own loves and hates. It is inevitable to make concessions based on the pros and cons, but how can there be no resentment in the heart?
That’s why Li Chengqian gritted his teeth and was full of hatred when he said the sentence “rebellious ministers and traitors”...
Seeing his insistence, everyone obeyed his wishes. After all, the entire city of Chang'an was controlled by the Sixth Leader of the East Palace, and Cheng Yaojin's Zuo Wuwei was outside the Chunming Gate. There was no concern about the prince's safety, so just follow him.
……
Since the Sui Dynasty, Buddhism has developed rapidly in the Guanzhong area, with more believers and countless temples. Not only are Buddhist temples built in many places in Chang'an City, but there are also countless places outside the city with pleasant scenery and feng shui. However, Zhongnan Mountain is In this blessed land of Taoism, there are Taoist temples everywhere, but there are not many Buddhist temples.
The Dayun Temple at the foothills of Zhongnan Mountain and on the bank of the Chan River was originally built by Yang Xuangan, the former official minister of the Sui Dynasty, as a place to escape the summer heat. In the early years of Zhenguan, His Majesty Li Er gave this place to his eldest grandson Wuji. After several repairs, it gradually returned to its former glory and prosperity. , and built additional courtyards in the temple to station soldiers.
The clouds are cloudy and the breeze is gentle, and the mountains are as green as black.
Changsun Wuji, Yu Wenshiji, Linghu Defen and others were sitting in the study. Through the open window, they could see the flowing springs and waterfalls behind the trees in the distance. The sound of the water was clear and pleasant.
When Linghu Defen finally read the letter sent by Cheng Yaojin, Changsun Wuji put down the teacup and said, "Let's talk about it, how to deal with it?"
Yu Wenshiji picked up the tea cup and sighed: "It's just that Dong Gong and Li Ji chose one of them to rely on. How can there be any room for response?"
He took a sip of tea and shook his head silently.
At present, Guanlong is a fish, Donggong and Li Ji are both swordsmen, and Guanlong's life and death are in the hands of the other party, but presumably both parties are willing to keep Guanlong alive for their own use, so there will not be too much difference between life and death. There are always those who can survive big changes with a sigh of relief.
There is no possibility of playing both sides at all. Either rely on the East Palace and become the prince's pawn to consolidate the government, or submit to Li Ji and become his weapon against the powerful families in Shandong and Jiangnan. There is no other way...
Linghu Defen also sighed in his heart, who would have thought that the originally illustrious Guanlong clan would fall to this overnight?
He said in a muffled voice: "There is still a difference after all. It seems that the East Palace is not as powerful as Li Ji at the moment, and the government will be captured by Li Ji for a long time. But in the end, it is the just and legitimate country's Zhengshuo, who will one day be able to overpower Li Ji. , take all the power. Therefore, my opinion is that we should rely on the East Palace, first the bitterness and then the sweetness.”
Changsun Wuji and Yu Wenshi all nodded and agreed.
After all, the prince occupies a great position. He has mature ministers such as Xiao Yu and Cen Wenna around him, as well as rising stars such as Fang Jun and Ma Zhou. His future prospects are limitless. Although Li Ji dominates the current situation, but in the future It is very likely that he will be suppressed by the prince.
Since the three main characters have the same opinion, others will naturally not refute. Yuwenshi said: "I will go and talk about it this time. Wuji is not allowed to show up."
Li Ji's attitude was generally clear, and he was just taking advantage of the general trend to seize the government. However, because the Guanlong clan failed to win the victory of the mutiny and depose the prince, Li Ji's plan to establish another prince failed, and the benefits obtained were greatly reduced. But Cheng Yaojin's position is unclear. How much he will obey Li Ji's orders is open to question. If Changsun Wuji rashly comes forward and is detained by Cheng Yaojin, it will be a complete disaster for Guan Long, and there will be no chance of recovery. opportunity.
Changsun Wuji nodded and said: "Well, this negotiation will not be accomplished overnight. It will probably take a lot of running-in. Donggong and Li Ji will test each other, fight for each other, and then compromise with each other. It will take three or five talks to get a general idea. You just have to wait and see what happens.”
Yu Wenshi responded, but he was helpless. What else could he do except wait and see what happened? Now the Guanlong clan can only be used as pawns by the two parties who want to reuse them in the charge, and there is no room for bargaining...
There was silence in the study for a moment, the mountain breeze blew in from the window, making it cool.
After a long time, Changsun Wuji said quietly: "If Dong Gong insists on giving an explanation, you can agree on my behalf."
Yuwenshi and Moran.
The Guanlong clan raised an army to revolt, which is tantamount to conspiracy and cannot be disputed. Of course, if the East Palace intended to use Guanlong's remaining power to fight against Li Ji and consolidate the government, it would definitely find a reason to erase Guanlong's crime of rebellion. But once the prince ascends the throne, this matter It is related to the majesty of the emperor and cannot be seen as invisible, so Guan Long must give an explanation to the prince.
Throwing Changsun Wuji out to bear the charge of mutiny and rebellion can not only consolidate the majesty of the royal family, but also maintain the justice of the law. It can also allow the Guanlong clan to suffer minimal losses. It is the best solution acceptable to all parties. ……(End of this chapter)