Chapter 3988: Switch sides before the battle
The majestic city wall of Chang'an City stands in the clouds and drizzle, and the Ba River is rushing. In the wide field between the two, flags are fluttering, and their horses are fighting. The two armies are walking towards each other firmly, stopping only three arrows away from each other. , their respective formations were impressive and their morale was high. The sound of drums and horns swayed in the wilderness with the breeze and drizzle, and the whimpering sounds were like weeping and complaining.
This piece of land that has condensed the aura of emperors throughout the ages trembled slightly under the iron hooves, and the murderous aura rose into the sky, stirring the heaven and earth, and stirring up the wind and clouds.
Li Chengqian stood under the banner, with the prince's honor guard lined up behind him. The two armies were majestic in front of the formation. Li Chengqian raised one hand high, and the sound of drum horns suddenly stopped. Li Ji on the opposite side also raised his hand to stop the war drum behind him, and stood on horseback. He stopped at the waist and stared at the figure of the prince in front of him under a bright yellow flag, like stars holding the moon, and couldn't help but feel a little lost.
He has never been keen on power struggles, so he has never been involved in the "Yi Chu" trend that has gone through many twists and turns in the past few years. In his opinion, since it has reached such a status, why bother to get involved in the Yi Chu thing and fight for an illusory thing? "The power of following the dragon"? Even if you succeed, it is difficult to go further. On the contrary, once you fail, you will be swept away and fall into the dust. Only fools wade into this muddy water.
All you need to do is follow His Majesty Li Er's footsteps and be loyal. If you die first in the future, Your Majesty will remember the past friendship and always treat the descendants of the Li family favorably. If Your Majesty goes first, then you can devote yourself to assisting the crown prince selected by Your Majesty, so when The Shandong clan wanted to use his hand to promote the power struggle in the court, secretly or secretly, but he was always unwilling to cooperate and stayed away from the power struggle in Chang'an.
His Majesty Li Er, who has almost reached the pinnacle of imperial power, civility and martial arts, firmly controls this great empire. Everything can only operate according to his will, even if the powerful Guanlong clan is not among them. Gradually weakening under pressure?
Li Ji would not think that he could outsmart Li Er in terms of strategy...
Since everything must follow His Majesty Li Er's will, why should he secretly mix things up with Yi Chu? It's up to His Majesty Li Er to choose whoever he wants. Even he doesn't think that the prince with a weak personality can become a wise master in the future... So what does it matter? The rich wealth accumulated since Zhenguan will be enough for him to defeat him for decades as long as the ministers perform their duties in the future and prevent the prince from becoming a messy king like Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty.
However, Guan Long's sudden rise of troops disrupted all order and even endangered the foundation of the empire. Coupled with the Eastern Expedition, which involved the entire country's strength, the empire was suddenly in danger of overthrowing...
Fortunately, the prince's performance in the Guanlong Mutiny was extremely outstanding. In the process of refusing to compromise with Guanlong and fighting to the end, he finally reversed and won. He also has the appearance of a wise king. He may not be pioneering enough, but he is successful enough.
Therefore, by establishing the core of the empire's power and operating under such a stable power structure for at least the next thirty to fifty years, a foreseeable prosperous dynasty that is rare in history will soon be established, and everyone can be praised in the mottled history. Isn't it good to be praised and remembered forever?
I have to toss endlessly...
Li Ji felt guilty and sighed deeply. A knight stood out from the prince's camp in front and came straight towards him. When he reached a stone's throw in front of him, he was blocked by his own soldiers. The knight on the horse clasped his fists and shouted loudly: "According to the prince's instructions, lead the court." Chinese martial arts are here to welcome the Holy Master!”
Li Ji wiped the rain off his face and squinted to see that it was Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia County.
When Li Daozong shouted these words, the main ministers in the prince's camp behind him dismounted their horses and shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, I welcome you!"
Immediately, countless soldiers and horses from the East Palace raised their arms and shouted: "Welcome to the Holy Emperor!"
The dull and powerful shouts reverberated between the sky and the earth like rolling thunder, causing the clouds to surge and rain to fall. The sound was so loud that everyone on the Eastern Expedition Army changed their minds.
The slogan "Welcome Your Majesty" clearly shows the intention of the East Palace Army. No matter whether His Majesty is alive or dead, as a minister, we must welcome him back to Chang'an Palace. This is the "righteousness of honor". Anyone who can stop it , is harboring evil intentions, and is treacherous.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Li Ji, waiting anxiously for him to make a decision.
If His Majesty is still there, and the Crown Prince leads his troops out of the city to meet him but avoids seeing him, and even wants to send troops to overthrow the East Palace in order to depose the Crown Prince, it would be a loss of virtue as a king and a loss of kindness as a father, even if in the end the Crown Prince The whole world also criticized His Majesty Li Er.
If His Majesty has passed away and Li Ji hides His Majesty's body and uses it as a hostage to continue the war with the East Palace, he will inevitably have the intention to usurp the throne, be disloyal, unjust, and treasonous!
Li Ji smiled and had to sincerely praise the prince's decision to go out of the city to "respectfully welcome the Holy Emperor" against all opinions. This was really a clever move. This was a conspiracy. No matter what, it put Li Ji in a disadvantageous position. Look at it. The soldiers around him all looked hesitant and demoralized at this time. After all, who wants to bear the charge of a traitor and become an enemy of the Empire Zhengshuo?
Before Li Ji could make a decision, there was a commotion behind him. Li Ji frowned and turned around, and saw Wang Shoushi riding with a group of soldiers. The soldiers did not dare to stop them and allowed them to separate from the dense array and drive straight in front of them.
Wang Shoushi walked to Li Ji, reined in his horse and stood still, sitting on the horse and shouted loudly: "Please ask the British Duke to lead the army to attack!"
Li Ji's squinted eyes condensed slightly, and the light flashed, but it was fleeting and ignored.
The generals on the left and right suddenly changed their colors. No one wanted to attack the crown prince's honor guard head-on. No matter what the reason, it was a crime of treason. However, he was a soldier and Li Ji's direct confidant. Once Li Ji's military order was issued, he could only obey unconditionally. No one can influence Li Ji's decision. What if he is forced by this eunuch to order a war?
Seeing Wang Shoushi being so arrogant at this moment, he was just a eunuch and brazenly issued such a treasonous and unethical order to Li Ji. How could he bear this? Fortunately, these people still remembered the scene not long ago, and they followed the same example. Several people rushed out, intending to drag Wang Shoushi off the horse again.
Wang Shoushi was shocked and scolded in a sharp voice: "You are outrageous! Are you already lawless? Li Ji, you can't rebel if you want to!"
The surrounding generals became increasingly angry and shouted and scolded them one after another.
Seeing several school lieutenants rushing up to surround Wang Shoushi, ignoring Wang Shoushi's mad whip and whipping his head and face, vowing to drag him off his horse and humiliate him, Li Ji said in a deep voice: "Stop! Get back."
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Several captains did not dare to disobey and had to retreat, but they still raised their bloody faces with whip marks and stared at Wang Shoushi defiantly.
Wang Shoushi also felt guilty. A reckless man in the army would rather bend than bend. With Li Ji here, no one dares to disobey his orders. But if the two sides "accidentally meet" in a secluded place, he would dare to give him a white knife to go in and a red knife to come out... from now on. It's better to avoid coming here.
After taking a few breaths, Wang Shoushi turned to look at Li Ji and said sternly: "Does the British public want to disobey the emperor's order?"
Li Ji was silent.
The generals and soldiers who had calmed down next to him couldn't contain their anger when they saw his rude words. They shouted and cursed: "You, a eunuch, keep talking about the emperor's orders. Where is the imperial edict?"
"In my opinion, you are falsely preaching the imperial edict, and you are punishable by death!"
"Commander, please kill this beast and eliminate traitors for the country!"
This group of arrogant and powerful generals surrounded them again while shouting and cursing. Wang Shoushi was so frightened that he kept shouting and retreating.
Li Ji raised his hand, and the shouting stopped.
Then, Li Ji looked at the prince's guard of honor in front, and then at the "Xuanjia Iron Cavalry" located on the bank of Bashui in the rear formation. After a brief thought, he kicked off the saddle and turned over to dismount. Holding the rein in his hand, he stood alone beside the war horse. He knelt on his knees, ignoring the splash of mud and water, and said in a deep voice: "My lord, I welcome you!"
When the generals on the left and right took a look, they immediately understood that Li Ji was not going to start a war with the East Palace, and was planning to hand over His Majesty's body. Naturally, they all put their hearts back in their stomachs, and immediately dismounted, knelt down on one knee, and shouted in unison: "We welcome you. Holy Driver!”
Then with this place as the center, the surrounding soldiers knelt on the ground row by row like waves of wheat blown by the wind: "Welcome to the Holy Master!"
Tens of thousands of people shouted in unison, and the momentum surged in all directions like a flash flood, shaking the whole country. Everyone understood that Li Ji had given up the war, and if he surrendered to the East Palace, there would be no chance of this imminent war breaking out.
As long as His Majesty's body is transported back to Chang'an and the new monarch takes the throne after the state funeral, the turbulent situation will be completely settled.
Wang Shoushi, who was on horseback, stood alone among the kneeling soldiers around him. He looked more and more like a chicken among the crowd, but his face was bloodless, and his lips trembled in shock. After the soldiers and horses shouted "Welcome to the Holy Master" three times, He just woke up, leaned over and looked at Li Ji on horseback, and said in disbelief: "Are you crazy?"
Li Ji pursed his lips and said nothing, his eyelids drooped, and he didn't bother to pay attention to him at all.
Wang Shoushi straightened up, looked around at the densely packed soldiers and generals kneeling on the ground, and then looked up at the figure of the prince under the big flag in the distance. Then without saying a word, he pulled the reins and turned the horse's head, following the path he came from. He galloped away and headed straight for the "Black Armor Cavalry" array by the river.
Li Ji didn't speak, his face was expressionless, and he didn't get up. The soldiers around him just knelt on one knee in the muddy water quietly, letting the drizzle fall on Douchi one after another, and then gathered into a stream, flowing into his neck and shoulders, and a string of The string dripped into the muddy water on the ground.
Near the river in the distance, the "Xuanjia Iron Cavalry" gathered first, and then slowly walked towards this side. The dull sound of horse hoofs was the only sound between heaven and earth at this moment.
For some reason, all the soldiers felt that the sound of the horse's hoofs was trampling on their hearts, which was as frightening as if something terrible was about to happen...
The prince's camp on the opposite side was also silent. Under the falling rain, they looked at the Eastern Expedition Army's soldiers and horses kneeling on the ground all over the mountains and plains in amazement.
Only the "Black Armored Cavalry" in black helmets and black armor moved slowly.
Li Chengqian sat on the horseback, looking at the approaching "Xuanjia Iron Cavalry" and a huge carriage in its formation, and couldn't help but burst into tears.
Father, my son is here to take you home...(End of Chapter)