Chapter 3996 Step by step
However, in the end, the crown prince sat firmly, causing His Majesty Li Er's various plans to fail to complete.
Under such circumstances, how could the emperor and the prince coexist peacefully? Therefore, His Majesty Li Er will not change his mind about Yi Chu, and will even do whatever it takes to do so.
However, after the Guanlong Rebellion, the prince was reborn from the ashes. His outstanding performance not only won praise from both the government and the public, but also received unprecedented support. More importantly, he forged a powerful Donggong Liuliu team from the flames of war. The invincible Youtun Guards are rampant, the troops in the East Palace are strong and loyal, and the Prince is as stable as Mount Tai.
In this way, even with the prestige of His Majesty Li Er, it is no longer feasible to force the easy storage, otherwise it will be resisted and we can only find another way.
What path?
Naturally, he was framed and framed, ruining the prince's reputation and making him lose the hearts of the people.
What could be more perfect than the crime of "killing people to secure a reserve"?
Previously, His Majesty Li Er's purpose for wanting Yi Chu was that the Crown Prince was not good enough to be the emperor of the Tang Empire, let alone his two brothers; now, His Majesty Li Er's purpose for Yi Chu has become that he cannot coexist with the Crown Prince. After all, after so many ruthless plans, how could the prince not feel resentful?
In addition, the East Palace has a large military force and strong combat power, and it has the support of the powerful families in Shandong and Jiangnan. Who knows whether the prince will follow the example of the "Xuanwu Gate Incident" again under the instigation of those people...
It is completely reasonable to use the lives of his two brothers to completely remove the prince from the throne.
As for the future prince, he may not be the legitimate son. Which one is not the son of His Majesty Li Er?
What's more, there is now another Li Ke who has gone to Liaodong to serve as the "King of Silla". In terms of talent and prestige, he is not inferior to their brothers at all. If he succeeds to the throne, he will definitely be able to continue the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty for a long time, and even more. Go up a floor...
Therefore, how could the two brothers not feel chills in their hearts and trembling in their two limbs?
……
Fang Jun returned to the Central Military Tent. Cheng Wuting, Wang Fangyi, Cen Changqian, Ouyang Tong and others all arrived in a hurry. However, a few of them sat down with dull faces and were speechless for a long time. Apparently, they had not yet recovered from His Majesty Li Er's "resurrection from the dead" and this incident. Get rid of the shock caused by the meaning behind the incident.
After all, who would have thought that after everyone in the East Palace fought bloody battles and came back to win, they would realize that all this might be the conspiracy of His Majesty Li Er?
This was a fatal blow to the morale of the East Palace.
Fang Jun looked around, taking in everyone's expressions, and said in a deep voice: "You must have heard about His Majesty's return to the capital. You are all soldiers. You only need to perform your duties and don't need to pay attention to the fighting in the court."
Several people paused for a moment and said in unison: "Here!"
Fang Jun nodded and continued: "Immediately assemble the entire army and send an order to Gao Kan to withdraw. All ministries should be prepared for battle. The scouts will closely monitor the movements around Chang'an. There must not be any negligence. Once the situation changes, regardless of whether the commander or not If you are in the army, you must capture Xuanwu Gate within an hour, no matter the cost!”
Everyone was shocked, stood up together, and said loudly: "Here!"
Everyone knew in their hearts that if Li Ji's actions along the way were all based on orders, then His Majesty Yi Chu's heart would have been as solid as stone and unshakable. Now that he returns to the capital, he will still promote the Yi Chu matter, and as the strongest team in the East Palace, Youtun Guards are bound to conflict with the emperor.
Once His Majesty puts the Crown Prince under house arrest with strong force and is suspicious of directly deposing the Crown Prince, Youtunwei will have no choice but to follow His Majesty's example and repeat the "Xuanwu Gate Incident". However, back then, His Majesty entered the palace and usurped it, but now it is Offensive and defensive castling.
It is simply the reincarnation of heaven...
Cen Changqian asked worriedly: "Will the Marshal be entering the palace later?"
The Youtun Guards are the team of the East Palace, and Fang Jun is the soul of the Youtun Guards. If His Majesty Li Er wants to insist on deposing the Crown Prince, he must first cut off the wings of the East Palace. If he wants to cut off the wings of the East Palace, he must first capture Fang Jun... So Fang When Jun enters the palace, there will be bad luck and bad luck.
Fang Jun sighed and said: "Your Majesty returns to the capital, how can our ministers not go to the palace to see you? But you don't have to worry about my safety. You guys guarding Xuanwu Gate are my talisman. Even your Majesty doesn't dare to take it lightly." act rashly Move. I will enter the palace later. Before I return, no matter who comes to order the Youtun Guards to move to another place for whatever reason, we must stay firmly rooted in Xuanwu Gate!"
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"Here!"
Everyone agreed again.
Xuanwumen is the gateway to Taiji Palace. Whether it is occupying this place to support the prince or putting pressure on Taiji Palace, there must be no room for error.
Fang Jun added: "I will rush to Chunmingmen later. I will tell Po Zan on the way and order her to stay in the army due to illness and guard the Zhongwei Bridge for us. She must not enter the palace easily."
The Zhongwei Bridge means the final retreat, and the Tubo barbarians are foreign troops after all. They do not need to obey His Majesty Li Er. The situation in Guanzhong is complicated at the moment. Even if His Majesty Li Er is angry, he will not dare to fight with these barbarians. .
Cheng Wuting frowned and said, "Will Po Zan be won over by His Majesty?"
After all, the reason why Tubo Huqi traveled thousands of miles to Chang'an to support the East Palace was for the benefit of the Gar family. Once Zanpo realized that the crown prince's position was unstable and might even be deposed by His Majesty Li Er, she might not switch to His Majesty Li Er. camp, betray the East Palace.
Fang Jun shook his head and said firmly: "No! Your Majesty was willing to marry Tubo at the beginning, which shows that you are afraid of Tubo in your heart. Your Majesty originally planned to appease Tubo during the Eastern Expedition, and then take the power to conquer Tibet after the Eastern Expedition. Now, we are fighting in the Eastern Expedition. It starts at the beginning but ends at the end, and it exhausts the national power and cannot support another one at all. War. Under such circumstances, the only choice is to continue to liaise with Tubo. If the Gar family wants to stand on its own by the Qinghai Lake, is Your Majesty willing to support it at the risk of offending Tubo? Zanpo understands this and will stand firmly on the side of the East Palace. On the other hand, the East Palace is the hope of the Gar family.”
……
Faced with such a situation, Fang Jun had already planned how to deal with it, and all actions were taken step by step.
After explaining it carefully, I thought about going back to my residence to bathe and change clothes before going to the palace to see him. However, I thought that the female relatives had probably heard the news of His Majesty's "resurrection from the dead" at this moment, and they would definitely ask questions when they saw me. Some of them were even more happy. Some people were worried and were in serious trouble, so they simply washed their faces casually, went out, took their own soldiers, and left the camp with a thousand fine horses.
From Youtunwei, we galloped westward around the outer wall of the Daming Palace. When we arrived outside the Taiji Gate, we saw the Tubo Huqi who were ready to go and had high morale.
Riding together with Zan Po outside the Taiji Gate, Fang Jun looked south towards Chunming Gate. Fang Jun gave his orders. Zan Po immediately agreed and expressed her feelings: "I know that the situation in Chang'an is complicated and the interests are entangled. It is so complicated that no one even knows what the future situation will be like. What will happen, but please tell His Highness the Crown Prince, Duke of Yue, that the Gar family is not the generation of the Qin Dynasty, the Mu Chu Dynasty, and the Chu Dynasty. Since they have agreed to help the East Palace retain the position of the crown prince, no matter whether the enemy is the Guanlong rebels or others, they will carry out their promise to the end. Until death do us part”
Fang Jun was surprised and exclaimed: "You actually still use the idiom 'Chao Qin Mu Chu'? Well, it's very appropriate for the occasion."
Zanpo laughed loudly and waved her arms. Under her leather waistcoat, her body odor, which she had never taken a bath since arriving in Chang'an, could not be suppressed. She had a very proud look on her face: "My father is a scholar of nature, especially obsessed with Chinese classics. We The study room at home is full of those collections of classics and history. To use an idiom to describe it, we can be regarded as having a family history, ha! ”
Fang Jun smiled, tapped his riding crop on his boots, looked towards the Chunming Gate in the distance under the rain, and said softly: "The general must have known about the news that His Majesty returned to Beijing safe and sound, right?"
Po Zan suppressed her smile and nodded heavily, but did not speak.
Fang Jun withdrew his gaze, looked at Po Zan, and asked: "If I hand over my back, can I continue to trust the general?"
Zan Po was stunned for a moment, pondered for a moment, and said with emotion: "The Duke of Yue is a rare smart man in the Tang Dynasty, and I am not a fool. In both public and private matters, the Gar family must be the same as the Duke of Yue and His Highness the Crown Prince." Front, otherwise once the Emperor of Tang Dynasty marries Tubo, the Gar family will be attacked from both sides. Is there any way to survive? When I sent out troops, my father once told me that I and the more than ten thousand elite cavalry under my command are the few elites of the Gar family. Regardless of victory or defeat, let us exchange our blood and body for the Duke of Yue. And the friendship with His Royal Highness, besides that, life and death matter!”
"Okay!"
Fang Jun praised greatly, his face flushed, and he drew out his sword and pointed to the sky and swore: "In this case, I implore the general to guard the Zhongwei Bridge. As long as the general does not disappoint the prince, everyone in the East Palace will remember this kindness, and he will do his best to help the general and his son build the country." , If you violate this oath, both humans and gods will be abandoned!”
Po Zan was also bursting with passion and beat her chest loudly: "I guarantee it with my head. Even if I die, I will use the corpse to build a pontoon for His Royal Highness to cross the river!"
He was certainly not stupid, and understood that the Zhongwei Bridge should be regarded as the last retreat for the East Palace. Once the prince crossed the Wei River, he could only be defeated and flee, and from then on, he would go west and separatize the counties in Hexi. However, the prince's separatist control of the counties in Hexi is also a good thing for the Gar family. It can completely block the military offensive from the Tang Dynasty, allowing the Gar family to free up their hands to resist the attack of Luoxe City.
The Gar family and the Prince of the East Palace are interdependent and assist each other. They occupy the north and south of the Qilian Mountains. Both sides can advance and attack, retreat and defend. They have sufficient strategic depth. Even though the situation is not as good as that of the Prince who successfully ascended the throne and devoted all his efforts to support the Gar family in establishing the country. , not much different.
Immediately, Zan Po led his subordinate Hu Qi to evacuate north from the Forbidden Garden on the side of Taiji Palace. After arriving at the Wei River, they headed east along the river bank and returned to station near the Zhongwei Bridge.
Fang Jun led his soldiers and elite cavalry out of the Forbidden Garden, followed the city wall southward, and arrived outside Chunming Gate.
At this time, there was already a crowd of people outside Chunming Gate. Countless dignitaries, royal relatives and celebrities heard the news of His Majesty's return to Beijing. They broke through the obstruction of Jingzhao Mansion and rushed to the Chunming Gate to greet the Holy Emperor. (End of chapter)