Chapter 4065 Crisis emerges
Let's say that Zhang Xingcheng returned home drunk, and was helped by his servants back to his bedroom and fell asleep. When he got up the next morning, he felt a splitting headache. He beat his head a few times. Thinking of the banquet last night, he became a little upset. The Cheng family and his son made it clear. Taking turns in battle, how could I be so confused that my glass went dry?
Well, it’s not bad if you’re not drunk to death...
He got up, washed up with the support of his wife and concubines, changed his clothes, and sighed as his mind became clearer.
Compared with Cheng Yaojin, he is really like a junior brother in the officialdom who is at the mercy of others and has no authority. The Shandong family wanted to seize more real power, so they went into battle to confront a prestigious figure like Fang Jun. If the Shandong family supported a certain prince tomorrow and even wanted to remonstrate with him, would he have to go forward bravely and face death?
He is not afraid of offending others, and he is not afraid of giving, but if his efforts are out of proportion to his gains, he will naturally refuse.
When the time came to offend the prince and Fang Jun to death, the Shandong family reaped all the benefits in the end. As a pawn, he got a lot of irritation for nothing but was still treated as a pawn...
After breakfast, Zhang Xingcheng changed into the official uniform and drove to the palace to attend court. He made up his mind not to provoke Fang Jun's control in the Ministry of War, but to wait and see what would happen.
In any case, in official circles, it is the right way to be wise and protect yourself.
……
In the Wude Hall, the monarch and his ministers discussed matters.
His Majesty Li Er probably didn't sleep well last night. His cheeks were a little restless and his eye bags were dark. He looked a little decadent and in low spirits...
After taking a sip of tea, His Majesty Li Er asked: "What are you going to discuss today?"
Unexpectedly, Li Jing, the Duke of Wei, took the lead in announcing: "Your Majesty, Chang'an is currently undergoing renovations and is in quite a mess. The Sixth Army of the East Palace has a large number of troops. If they continue to be stationed in the city, there will be many inconveniences. I sincerely request to move to the north of Kunming Lake outside the city. , at the foot of Academy Mountain, there is a large open space for building barracks, which is also very convenient for daily training, killing two birds with one stone.”
After the words fell, there was some silence in the palace. No one spoke for a while, and they were not sure what the intentions of Li Jing and the Prince of the East Palace behind him were.
It is said that compared to the Donggong faction in the court, the six leaders of Donggong are the foundation of the prince, and this is what His Majesty Li Er is afraid of. After all, the "Xuanwu Gate Incident" was not far away, so how could we not take precautions? In front of the imperial power, no matter father or son.
Who knows if the prince will one day have a brain cramp and brazenly launch military remonstrances into the palace, forcing his father, the emperor, to abdicate the throne...
If the Sixth Army of the East Palace were transferred to the north of Kunming Lake, then if something happened in the city, the prince would have no means to protect himself and would have no choice but to kill him... which would simply mean he had no way out.
But how could Dong Palace seek death like this?
His Majesty Li Er pondered for a while and did not answer Li Jing. Instead, he turned to look at Fang Jun on one side and asked, "What does the Duke of Yue think?"
Today, regardless of strength and influence, Fang Jun is already the pillar of the East Palace, even Li Jing, who is known as the "God of War", is slightly inferior. Now the prince is praying at Daci'en Temple, so Fang Jun's words here are the prince's words.
Everyone listened attentively.
Fang Jun looked calm and said respectfully: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, and the candle shines thousands of miles away. You can make decisions independently. I will obey your orders."
Everyone looked strange.
What he said... was full of sarcasm.
As the pillar of the East Palace, we should naturally oppose His Majesty's change of position. If someone as strong as Wei Zheng dared to curse "a foolish emperor who harms the country" in front of His Majesty, even if he dare not curse, how can he not feel resentful in his heart?
The phrase "respectfully obey the order" actually has many meanings. It depends on how your Majesty interprets and responds to it...
His Majesty Li Er frowned, naturally hearing the dissatisfaction in Fang Jun's words, but he did not get angry. He pondered for a while, nodded and said: "In this case, I will grant the request of Duke Wei. East Palace Six led tens of thousands of troops to mobilize It is unavoidable to be cumbersome, and it is also difficult to dispatch and transport the required baggage. The Ministry of War must provide corresponding logistics support and avoid any trouble. ”
Zhang Xingcheng, who had always lowered his head, quickly agreed: "I obey the order!"
After a pause, he said: "Previously, His Majesty led the Eastern Expedition, and the Crown Prince was ordered to supervise the country, so the Sixth Army of the East Palace was stationed in the city to guard the palace. Now he is ordered to be transferred out, but the safety of the palace must not be ignored. Duke Lu's Zuo Wuwei can be ordered to enter the city to take charge. This responsibility.”
The drowsy Cheng Yaojin suddenly trembled, glanced at Zhang Xingcheng, and declined: "Your Majesty clearly knows that Zuo Wuwei has suffered serious reductions in personnel before, and is now replenishing troops for reorganization. It will be difficult to complete it in a while, and I dare not take the responsibility. The important task of guarding the capital."
I blame Zhang Xingcheng in my heart. Is this bastard wanting revenge now because he was drunk last night?
Su Wei Palace is banned?
Only a ghost would be willing to do such a thankless job!
Zhang Xingcheng raised the question, but when Cheng Yaojin refused outright, he quietly withdrew without speaking again.
As one of the banners of the Shandong family in the court, he has the responsibility to actively fight for the interests of the Shandong family, but whether he can win it in the end is another matter. Whether to fight for it or not is a matter of attitude, and whether or not to fight is a matter of ability; ability is an issue of the entire Shandong family, and attitude is the most basic issue of stance... As long as the stance is okay, other issues are not a problem.
For a while, the situation seemed a little better.
The sixth leader of the East Palace took the initiative to withdraw from Chang'an. Who will fill this position has become a top priority. It not only means who will bear the burden of the Suwei Palace, but also may become a bellwether for who will belong to the reserve...
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After a brief silence in the palace, Li Ji spoke: "Since Duke Lu needs to reorganize his army, we might as well dispatch the right guards of Duke E into the city. Duke E is brave and good at fighting, loyal to your majesty and the empire, and can shoulder important tasks."
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Xiao Yu, who had remained silent, glanced at Li Ji, feeling uneasy.
As the only remaining armed force of the Guanlong Clan, Chi Gong, the Duke of E State, was considered the last hope of the Guanlong Clan. How could he have anything to do with Li Ji, who had never been involved in imperial disputes?
What is particularly important is that the Guanlong clan is currently trying to hold on to the East Palace, even if the future of the East Palace is unpredictable and may overturn at any time, because as the culprit of this mutiny, no other force is willing to accept the Guanlong clan, who is deeply disgusted by His Majesty Li Er.
But if your majesty agrees to Li Jizhi's petition and allows the Guanlong clan to enter the city...
But then Xiao Yu dismissed this possibility himself. In any case, the Guanlong clan had shown contempt for the imperial power. For the sake of their own power and the selfish interests of the family, they would rather shake the country and raise troops to rebel. How dare His Majesty Li Er put them in Chang'an?
What was the purpose of Li Ji proposing such an obviously impossible petition at this time?
Even if the request is made, as the Shandong family with the highest title and official position in the court, he should follow Zhang Xingcheng's words and ask Lu Guogong Cheng Yaojin to lead his army into the city...
Could it be that the Shandong family was having internal strife?
His Majesty Li Er frowned, glanced at Li Ji suspiciously, and said: "You Houwei has suffered a lot of losses before. It is inevitable that he is not strong enough to take on the important task. I will put this matter aside for the time being and wait for my consideration before making a decision. ”
Li Jigong said respectfully: "Here."
He didn't say much anymore.
Xiao Yu stroked his beard and finally thought about it. How could Li Ji be colluding with the Guanlong clan to show Yuchi Gong that he should take on the important task? He clearly calculated that His Majesty must be suspicious of Guan Long and deliberately recommended Wei Chigong, which made His Majesty even more suspicious.
In this way, even if someone recommends Wei Chigong again, His Majesty will definitely be worried and reject it.
In this way, Cheng Yaojin is the only one who can fill the vacancy after the transfer of the six leaders of the East Palace to guard the capital and guard the palace. After all, Cheng Yaojin...
Even His Majesty has seen through Li Ji's operation and will still give this task to Cheng Yaojin, because compared to Yu Chigong, who is constantly separated from Guanlong, Cheng Yaojin, who is from the Shandong family, is better at Yi Chu. Be impartial in everything.
What a conspiracy...
Seeing Li Ji lowering his eyebrows and saying nothing, Xiao Yu became more and more worried.
Li Ji, who kept saying that he would not get involved in the imperial dispute and avoided the matter of easy storage, was really too difficult to deal with...
……
After the court was over, Cheng Yaojin waited outside the palace gate. When he saw Zhang Xingcheng coming out, he dragged him into the carriage. He first ordered the coachman to drive home and asked the servants to go ahead and prepare for the banquet. Then he lowered the curtain and complained: "You last night Are you drunk and stupid? I warned you to stay away from the fight for the throne, why did you recommend me to stay in the palace? ”
There was still lingering fear on Zhang Xingcheng's face: "I still have official duties, so I don't dare to get drunk and cause trouble, so I won't go to the house, right?"
He was really afraid of the Cheng family and his son. There were so many idiots in their ranks, and they had to take turns trying to persuade them to drink. Who could stand it?
Cheng Yaojin said depressedly: "I'll let you go as soon as you can explain clearly. If you don't understand, just lie down and go home today."
Zhang Xingcheng had no choice but to say: "This matter was not caused by the lower officials. Even if the lower officials don't recommend you, do you think you can escape? The British Lord has made it clear that he wants to push you to this position, and you will control the Gyeonggi and Suwei palaces." , with his ability and means, there is a way to achieve this goal.”
Cheng Yaojin remained silent and admitted that what Zhang Xingcheng said made sense.
But he and the Shandong family were already inseparable, and he didn't listen to orders only once or twice. Why did Li Ji push himself to such an important position?
Do they still think they can die for them?
Seeing that Cheng Yaojin was silent, Zhang Xingcheng thought for a while and whispered: "Although Xiaguan is regarded as one of the flags of the Shandong family in the court, it is too far away from the realm of the British Duke and cannot contact the core of the Shandong family. , they are just pawns who follow orders. But this time, the official felt something was fishy.”
Cheng Yaojin became more and more confused, and even Zhang Xingcheng saw that something was wrong...
He felt as if a big net was slowly being woven. He and others had become some nodes in this big net, being used by others without knowing it.
This is not a good thing. A strong sense of crisis enveloped him, and he had to find a way to get out, otherwise he would be in great danger...
But how to break the situation?
I was helpless for a while. (End of chapter)