Chapter 3946: Unclear Position
The prince's words seemed to show his attitude, telling his ministers that as long as they followed him, they would gain trust and power, but there was also a hidden meaning in his words: It's not time to fight for power and gain, so please calm down and focus on the overall situation. Heavy...
Xiao Yu quickly agreed: "Your Highness is right, and our ministers will do our best to assist Your Highness, make further progress, and continue the prosperous era of Zhenguan until it lasts for thousands of years and never fades."
Liu Jie also felt awe-inspiring in his heart and expressed his attitude: "Your Highness is a generous and benevolent person. He is the wise master of the prosperous age. It is our blessing to be able to follow His Highness. I have long been determined to dedicate myself to death and assist His Highness to achieve a glorious and prosperous age and great achievements for thousands of years." ”
He understood that he and his group had come to seize power today and had made the prince dissatisfied, so he spoke out. He found that there was a mistake in his assessment of the prince's character. In the past, the prince was indeed weaker. Unlike His Majesty Li Er, who did not rub dirt in his eyes, even if he was not bad at times, he could mostly tolerate some dissatisfaction. However, after this Fan mutiny, turned around from the critical moment of life and death, but his temper became a little fierce.
He is no longer like the good old guy who always said hello to me and everyone...
However, it is easy for a country to change its nature. Although the prince expressed his dissatisfaction and criticized him, he still gave the benefits that were due and was still tolerant towards his ministers. If it were His Majesty Li Er, he would certainly not treat Xiao Yu and Cen Wen like this. How about the old minister, but he is just a servant, I am afraid that he has been sternly warned, or even fucked to the end.
You must be careful with your words and deeds in the future and not be aggressive, otherwise once you arouse the prince's resentment, there will be endless troubles...
Cen Wenwen said "hum hum ah ah" and didn't care much.
He had already decided to serve as an official and return home. However, the East Palace had just experienced a huge crisis and had not yet stabilized its position, so he stayed for a while. However, he would never easily get involved in Xiao Yu and Liu Ji's fight against Ma Zhou. middle.
Moreover, nephew Cen Changqian firmly stood on the side of the East Palace during this mutiny and assisted Fang Jun in killing all parties outside the Xuanwu Gate. He made great contributions. Coupled with his qualifications and kindness as an old minister, I think he will definitely be awarded the title after the prince ascends the throne. Official position. With the prince's respect, Fang Jun's support, and his uncle's political legacy, Cen Changqian's future is bright.
So before I left, I had to leave a good impression on the prince...
*****
When Li Ji arrived at Xinxiang, north of Lishan Mountain and on the south bank of the Yellow River, he received an edict from the prince.
In the temporary camp, all the generals and commanders were present. Li Ji respectfully opened the edict and read it over. His face was calm and no one could tell his mood.
Then, Li Ji put down the edict and pondered without saying a word.
Zhang Liang asked: "I wonder what His Royal Highness's order is?"
The rest of the people also looked at Li Ji.
Li Ji tapped his fingers on the edict and said calmly: "The prince said that after the defeat of the private soldiers of the powerful families, it was a disaster for Guanzhong. To this day, there are still several defeated soldiers running around, robbing homes, looting and burning, which has caused serious disasters. Two days ago, there was Raided Cui's manor in Fengqiyuan and killed Cui Yu, the minister of the imperial court's criminal department. The celebration caused indignation among the government and the public, and the people in Guanzhong were worried... Therefore, the prince ordered us not to return to Chang'an, but to temporarily station ourselves east of Baqiao, send troops to search and suppress the rogue bandits in this area, and assist the "Royal Rescue Team" 'Rescue the people affected by the disaster."
There was silence in the tent, and none of the generals spoke.
The edict was very clear and reasonable, but it had only one core purpose - to prevent Li Ji from returning to Chang'an with his army.
This is also easy to understand. Since Guanlong raised his army, Li Ji led the Eastern Expedition army and turned a blind eye. Even though the rebels besieged Taiji Palace and the Eastern Palace was in danger of overthrowing at any time, Li Ji still marched leisurely and slowly as always, which is quite impressive. It means sitting on a mountain and watching tigers fight.
No one was sure what Li Ji's stance and tendencies were, and speculations and rumors abounded. Under such circumstances, how could the prince dare to let Li Ji return to Chang'an City?
What if Li Ji is disloyal and takes the opportunity to lead his army to capture Chang'an?
Li Ji glanced around and asked, "What do you think?"
There was a silence, and after a long time, Cheng Minzhen said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is ordered to supervise the country. At the moment, he is the master of the country. The Crown Prince's edict is equivalent to the imperial edict and must be obeyed. Moreover, the edict also makes it clear, There are rogue bandits in Guanzhong, and our soldiers have the responsibility to suppress the bandits. The general should be stationed east of Baqiao, command the army to suppress the bandits, and then go to Chang'an alone to report everything to His Royal Highness. "
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Everyone glanced at Cheng Mingzhen and remained silent, but they all had their own ideas in mind...
Let Li Ji enter Chang'an alone?
Judging from Li Ji's behavior after withdrawing his troops from Liaodong, the prince may have already hated him deeply. Naturally, he did not dare to make any move when he had an army in hand. But if Li Ji entered Chang'an alone, he was afraid that he would have to be tied up after entering the city gate. He was sent to prison, then interrogated by the three judges, and his head was shown to the public...
Everyone knows that your son, Cheng Mingzhen, is a close confidant of Fang Jun. He also contributed a lot to the Chang'an mutiny and is considered a die-hard confidant of the East Palace. But if you give Li Ji bad ideas like this, aren't you afraid that Li Ji will deal with you in anger?
Li Ji looked indifferent, with no trace of emotion. He turned a deaf ear to Cheng Minzhen's words and ordered calmly: "In compliance with the order, all armies arrived to the east of Baqiao one after another and stationed in selected locations. My military orders are not allowed to act without authorization. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed." .”
"Here!"
All generals will obey orders.
Li Ji asked again: "Where is Zhou Daowu now?"
Zhang Liang said: "I sent you a letter yesterday. I have already led my army through Luoyang and will probably arrive here this evening."
Li Ji nodded slightly: "How are the prisoners he escorted?"
During the Liaodong War, before the withdrawal of troops, Zhou Daowu was ordered to escort tens of thousands of Goguryeo captives back to the Tang Dynasty. Zhou Daowu returned along the way he came, but encountered the extreme wind and snow weather in Liaodong winter. He did not continue marching, but arrived and stationed in the Liaodong City area. Willing to hit the road.
The army of the Eastern Expedition returned to Chang'an from Liaodong for half a year, just like touring the mountains and rivers. However, Zhou Daowu fell behind...
Zhang Liang paused for a moment and said: "The prisoners he escorted lacked food and cold clothing. They had no shelter under the raging snowstorm and most of them froze to death. Now there are less than five thousand prisoners left, who are returning to Guanzhong with Zhou Daowu."
Li Ji was dissatisfied and frowned: "Those tens of thousands of prisoners were originally to be escorted back to the country to participate in the repair of rivers and city construction in various places, but now they were all lost on the way. Zhou Daowu neglected his duties, and his crime is unforgivable!"
The generals remained silent.
In fact, everyone knows exactly what happened. Tens of thousands of prisoners lacked food and clothing, and it was a severe winter. It was inevitable that some of them would freeze to death. After all, no one cared about the lives of the prisoners. But it is a bit unbelievable to say that most of them froze to death. It is probably more frostbitten. However, the injured will not only slow down the marching speed, but also consume a lot of food, fodder and medicinal materials. Therefore, the frostbitten ones are discarded and left to fend for themselves in the ice and snow of Liaodong. This is something that many generals will do.
This kind of thing itself is irrelevant. It just depends on whether someone pursues it. After all, it can be accused of being "inhumane", or it is disrespectful to the empire...
Li Ji didn't say much, but just expressed his position: "After Zhou Daowu returns, I will order him to go to Chang'an to plead guilty to His Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhang Liang paused, nodded and said: "Here."
He knew in his heart that Zhou Daowu was finished. When the prince ascended the throne, not only would there be no chance of promotion, he would even be thrown into disuse. The conflict between Zhou Daowu and Fang Jun is known to everyone with some status in the court. Now Fang Jun is the most popular person in front of the prince. As long as the prince asks how to deal with Zhou Daowu, how can Fang Jun not make trouble?
It's just that Li Ji abandoned Zhou Daowu so easily. He doesn't know whether it was because he was dissatisfied with Zhou Daowu in his heart or because he deliberately showed favor to the prince and Fang Jun in an attempt to save him from the bad influence caused by his delay in returning to the Eastern Expedition... This man in charge The position and tendencies of the leader of an army of hundreds of thousands are still confusing and unpredictable.
Putting away the prince's edict and putting it in the drawer under the desk, Li Ji asked: "The Duke of E disobeyed the military order and sent troops to Zhongnan Mountain without permission. How do you think it should be punished?"
Military orders are like mountains, and Yuchi Gong suddenly disobeys military orders and deviates from the marching route, and rushes to Zhongnan Mountain to confront Zuowu Wei. There will be a big battle at any time, which is absolutely intolerable under normal circumstances. The military is different from the local government. When superiors give orders to subordinates, they can discuss and review them. If the superior's orders are wrong, they can even go beyond the level and file a complaint, but this situation is absolutely not allowed in the military.
Wherever he goes, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire in front of him, he will move forward indomitably.
However, Yu Chigong was born in Guanlong, and the family clan rose up in Daibei. He and the Guanlong clan were connected and came from the same lineage. He watched the Guanlong clan being counterattacked and defeated by the East Palace army but did not start a riot with Qiu Xiaozhong and others. It is extremely rare, and it is reasonable to go south to rescue the remnants of Guanlong in violation of military orders.
Moreover, Cheng Yaojin himself disobeyed the prince's order and ignored the peace talks between the East Palace and Guan Long, intending to eradicate all Guan Long's involvement. Yu Chigong's behavior is not unforgivable...
But in the current situation, who dares to talk nonsense?
If you plead for Yuchi Gong, you will inevitably be considered to be sympathetic to Guan Long, which will lead to endless troubles. If you add insult to injury, you may have something to do with the Shandong family, and you will be considered to be bribed by the Shandong family. Implicated...
Can only remain silent.
Li Ji looked at Zhang Liang and said, "I'd like to trouble Duke Yun to go to Youhouwei in person and send an order to Duke E, ordering him to immediately lead his army back to the east of Baqiao to station. If he still disobeys the military order and insists on going his own way, don't blame him." This handsome man is merciless.”
Zhang Liang had a sad face and cursed in his heart: Guan Long is at a critical moment of life and death, how could Yu Chigong come back? I was asked to deliver the order at this time, obviously because he wanted Yu Chigong to put me under house arrest. Li Ji, you are too wicked... (End of Chapter)