Chapter 4234 The Defeated General
Regardless of whether Yu Chigong can lead his army to rush into the city of Chang'an, leading to unrest in the hearts of the people and a major change in the situation, the imperial court must send people to continuously contact the garrison in Guanzhong and the dignitaries of the government and the public to reiterate over and over again the legitimacy of the new emperor's accession to the throne and confirm that the empire will The authority of the new leadership with Li Chengqian as the core...
Liu Jie, who had always been suppressed by the military and repeatedly launched counterattacks, took the initiative to ask Ying: "Let this matter be left to the humble ministers. Although people's minds have changed and the situation is unstable at the moment, His Majesty's ascension to the throne is a matter of God's will, and his honor is righteous." Wherever you are, whoever dares to openly disobey is acting against heaven. The king is not the king, the minister is not the subject, and heaven and earth will not tolerate it.”
Everyone nodded at Liu Jie's words.
From the time Dong Zhongshu proposed the theory of "influence between heaven and man" to Ban Gu's compilation of "White Tiger Tongyi", the natural order was gradually combined with the needs of feudal society, completely perfecting the theological worldview.
In short, Confucianism compared the righteousness between monarch and minister, father and son, and husband and wife under the feudal system with various natural phenomena such as heaven, earth, stars, yin and yang, and five elements, and used it to deify the feudal order and hierarchy.
What is level?
That is the "Three Cardinal Guidelines", "The king is the guideline for the ministers, the father is the guideline for the son, and the husband is the guideline for the wife."
"The meaning of the three cardinal principles is that the sun is the king and the moon is the minister." "What's the law? The law is the moon and the sun." What does it mean? The moon itself does not emit light, its light comes from the sun's shining. Based on this, it is reasonable to infer that "the merits of the minister should be attributed to the king"...
The old dynasty perished and the new dynasty was established. Zhengshuo, Fuse, the capital, etc. can be changed, but the "three cardinal principles" and "five constant principles" cannot be changed. "The king has the text to change the way, but not the quality to change the way."
Thus, the foundation of "the power of kings is given by heaven" was completely established, and the enthronement of kings and ministers, father and son, and husband and wife was confirmed, and no one was allowed to change it.
Of course, in order to consolidate the status and power of the ruler, people only remember that "the king is the guide for the ministers, the father is the guide for the son, and the husband is the guide for the wife" which is eternally correct. They even attribute this to Confucius, but completely forget that this was the Dong Zhongshu's words, let alone the full text when Dong Zhongshu proposed these "Three Cardinal Guidelines".
The king is the guide for his ministers. If the king is not upright, the ministers will surrender to other countries. The country is based on the people. If the country is not upright, the people will attack it. The father is the guide for the son, but if the father is unkind, the son will run away to another country. The son desires for the father, but if the son is not upright, his righteousness will destroy his relatives. The husband is the guide for his wife. If the husband is not upright, the wife can remarry. If the wife helps her husband, if the wife is not virtuous, the husband will divorce her.
"Follow the Tao rather than the king, follow righteousness rather than the father" is Confucius's true political philosophy. He is neither foolish, loyal nor cynic...
Of course, this is not a doctrinal dispute at the moment, and regardless of whether Dong Zhongshu said it or Confucius said, His Majesty Li Er appointed Li Chengqian as the crown prince. Without telling the world to depose the crown prince, when His Majesty Li Er died, the successor should be Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian is the only legal heir to the Tang Empire. Anyone who opposes Li Chengqian is disloyal and unjust, and violates the law of heaven.
And this is the so-called righteousness.
*****
The four armies of Li Siwen, Cheng Chubi, Qu Tuquan, and Chai Zhewei suffered a disastrous defeat. Yuchi Gong led his army to rush forward to Chang'an, which caused Guanzhong to stir, Chang'an to be shaken, and the government and the public to be in an uproar.
Although the King of Jin escaped from the Taiji Palace before and gathered all kinds of troops to counterattack Chang'an, and even claimed to have the late emperor's "Edict of Succession of the Throne" in hand, but since the bloody battle outside Chengtian Gate, the right Houwei had to withdraw from the city and retreated all the way. When they arrived at Tongguan, few people were optimistic that the King of Jin could change his destiny against the will of heaven and repeat the story of the "Xuanwumen Incident".
But deep down in their hearts, there are countless people who dream that King Jin can repeat this feat...
The change of imperial power means the reshuffling and reshaping of the power structure. However, as Li Chengqian ascended the throne, his confidants were all former members of the East Palace. Almost all important yamen were under the control of the civil and military officials of the East Palace. It was difficult for the rest to intervene, and naturally they could not. Grab more benefits.
Compared with Li Chengqian, who has a team in the East Palace, King Jin can only rely on others if he wants to succeed. When he comes to power in the future, how can he not distribute his power layer by layer? Therefore, those wealthy families and generals who had never entered the central government to monopolize power during the Zhenguan Dynasty before could not help but look forward to it.
However, King Jin is in a weak position after all and is in danger of destruction at every turn. Who is willing to take such big risks with King Jin for the sake of unseen power and interests in the future?
So when the King of Jin retreated to Tongguan, no one would jump out to support him at this time.
But as long as the King of Jin counterattacks to Chang'an City and the situation is reversed, countless people will rush to stand up and lend support...
Yu Chigong's sudden advance seemed to present such a beautiful vision in front of those ambitious people, making them covet and look forward to it.
……
Zuo Tunwei went through the battle of Xinfeng and returned home defeated and defeated. They retreated all the way from Baqiao to the west of Ba River. Only then did Chai Zhewei assemble his troops and gather the remaining soldiers. After counting the number of people, he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
Not counting the ordnance and baggage, the loss of soldiers alone reached 50%. Nearly 20,000 people were killed, wounded, fled or missing. Zuotunwei, which had just barely replenished its troops and reorganized it not long ago, suffered heavy losses again.
Moreover, this disastrous defeat caused Yuchi Gong to march straight in and arrive at Baqiao at any time to attack the defenders' defense line. This can be said to be a serious crime.
Reluctantly gathering the defeated troops, he returned to the military camp outside Xuanwu Gate in fear all the way. He did not receive the angry rebuke and instructions from Li Chengqian as expected, and even the court was silent, as if he, the defeated army, was Will be forgotten...
Originally, he was thinking about how to get away with the crime, but no one cared about it. Such a gap made Chai Zhewei even more frightened.
Everything that is abnormal is a monster, and this is not a good thing...
After staying in the Zuotunwei barracks for a while, His Majesty the general arranged the soldiers properly, treated the wounded, counted the number of people, and ordered several deputy generals to temporarily reorganize the troops. Chai Zhewei was sitting on pins and needles. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that he should not sit here and wait for death, since the punishment has not yet come. , then we should return to the city as soon as possible to do some operations.
Because of the presence of Princess Pingyang Zhao, the Chai family's status is somewhat transcendent. Even if he will suffer a huge defeat and directly lead to a sudden change in the situation in Guanzhong, Li Chengqian's weak character may not dare to defeat him as long as he operates properly. .
After all, the most important thing at the moment is not only to resist Yuchi Gong's army, but also to stabilize the clan and nobles...
Chai Zhewei thought about it carefully and felt more and more that this defeat was not a big deal. At most, his prestige was damaged. However, he was beaten by the Youtun Guards before and lost his armor. He still had some prestige left. ?
As long as Zuo Tunwei is managed well in the future, the lost prestige will gradually be restored. The first priority now is to retain the title of General Zuo Tunwei...
Without further ado, Chai Zhewei handed over the affairs to the deputy general, and with dozens of his own soldiers, he rode out of the camp and galloped westward. Passing by the Youtunwei camp, I saw the camp was brightly lit, scouts were coming and going in the drizzle, and military discipline was strict. I felt better instantly.
So what if your Fang Jun leads the troops well?
He single-handedly raised the combat power of the ragtag Youtun Guards to the best in the world, but ended up handing over military power honestly?
Although I have been defeated repeatedly, I still have military power firmly in my hands...
When they came to Jinguang Gate and handed over the fuse, the city guard knew that Chai Zhewei had led his army to a great defeat. He would definitely go into the palace to report the war situation and commit a misdemeanor. Naturally, he did not dare to stop him. He opened the city gate and allowed him to enter the palace. Enter the city.
Chai Zhewei entered the city surrounded by his own soldiers, but when he came out of the city gate, he saw the city defenders standing on both sides looking at him and whispering, and he felt depressed and anxious again.
Obviously, when the news of his defeat came back to Chang'an, his prestige was completely lost. Even the small soldiers dared to whisper in front of him, and they didn't know how to make mocking comments...
He did not enter the palace directly, but returned to the Duke of Qiao's mansion along the long street.
Although the city of Chang'an is now under martial law, the situation is chaotic due to the defeat of the army at the front. There are often crimes, thefts and plunders, which makes Jing Zhaoyin exhausted. Therefore, the soldiers in front of the mansion are patrolling with weapons. Need strangers to approach.
Suddenly seeing their master return, the soldiers were shocked at first, and then hurriedly rushed forward to greet him. After greeting him and opening the door, Chai Zhewei rode his horse directly into the house, walked around the screen wall, then turned over and dismounted, threw the reins to the soldiers behind him, and strode towards the house. He left the main hall and asked the steward of the mansion who came to greet him: "Can Princess Baling and Erlang be in the mansion?"
The steward hurriedly replied: "I'm in the back house."
Chai Zhewei strode into the main hall, asked someone to prepare water for a simple wash, and said to the steward: "Let the two of them come over to discuss important matters."
"Here."
The steward ordered people to prepare water, and then he went to the back house in person to invite Chai Lingwu and Princess Baling.
The head of the family will definitely be severely punished by His Majesty after returning from a great defeat. Now that he returns to the mansion and invites Princess Baling, he must want Her Royal Highness to come to the palace to intercede. Otherwise, not only will the military power be at risk, but he may also be convicted and imprisoned. ……(End of this chapter)