Chang'an.
The ceremony of the court's official ceremonies last year and the previous year was held in Chengdu. A few days before and after the ceremony, the court was both busy and joyful.
The new Han Dynasty was different from the Han Dynasty in terms of the imperial system and many political orders, and paid special attention to rectifying the chaos and chasing the image of the prosperous Han Dynasty in the previous Han Dynasty. Therefore, in terms of etiquette, Confucian scholars who were proficient in rules and regulations, such as Lai Min, Meng Guang, and Xu Ci, were also summoned to restore the many requirements of the former Han Dynasty, and not to follow the contemporary times.
In this way, many processes are inevitably more complicated. Such as Nuo opera, congratulations of the great court meeting, Wenshi's five elements dance, ministers' banquet, hundreds of opera performances, and the Tianjiao Xisheng, etc., a set of things will take about five or six days to end.
This time, because the ritual etiquette was first placed in the true capital of the Han Dynasty, and a large number of foreign envoys participated, Lai Min and others began to work hard a long time in advance. For some trivial matters, Meng Guang and Xu Ci attacked each other several times, and they were in a big fight. After all, they wanted to win the status of Shusun Tong and even Dong Zhongshu for themselves.
It’s a pity that when it was the time for the dynasty, everyone’s mind was no longer on the ceremony. On that day, he heard that Cao’s army suddenly had tens of thousands of elite cavalry, and they cut the pass and fell into the locks and rushed to Chang’an City, and the city was instantly disturbed.
The war disasters in troubled times are terrible, and the people of Guanzhong know the most. When Dong Zhuo brought the emperor into Chang'an, Lu Bu assassinated Dong, Li Jue, Guo Si and others released troops to plunder the old and young Chang'an, and killed them all, and the dead were in a disgrace.
The bodies were scattered all over the place, causing wild dogs and vultures to circle in groups, pecking at the rotten internal organs. The stench lasted for dozens of days, hidden in the courtyard, and the white bones in the dry well were still discovered from time to time.
Many people in Chang'an always remember the soldiers who were covered in blood. They wore the military uniforms of the government army, but what they did was like the most terrifying beasts.
They rob, abuse, massacre, and set fire. Their greedy and vicious eyes and inhumane actions were still the most terrible nightmare for many people until many years later. It was the terrible source of many family wives and children who were separated and mourned and memorized every day.
After that military disaster, there were less than 11 million soldiers and civilians in Guanzhong. The sufferings that many people experienced in the following decades were better than those of Chang'an in the past.
This time, those who went to Chang'an were not Li Jue and Guo Si and others back then, but how could they reason with others in the military disaster? In recent years, the vitality in Chang'an City has been slightly improved, and the lives of the people have gradually become better. The family can save some money and have a few new clothes, but when the enemy like a wolf or a tiger arrives...
People who have experienced and endured suffering cherish the dawn of peace in the world, are most afraid of the continuation of troubled times, and are most afraid of the terrible beasts coming again.
Although the department immediately issued a tutor to urge the people not to panic, the people still tried their best to inquire with their neighbors. What they wanted to know most was how the court would deal with it, and Chang'an City could be in danger of falling.
Fortunately, another order was soon conveyed, saying that although the Cao army was large, it was not afraid of it. Prime Minister Zhuge Liang led the troops to fight, which was enough to defeat it. The court celebrated the first year of the year as usual, and also distributed grain rewards to the elderly and children in the city. So the people settled down again and only occasionally walked to the place where the officials gathered, and confirmed that the officials were still staying in the city.
On the contrary, officials knew more news and more worried people were.
For example, Guangluxun and later General Li Yan.
In terms of power, Li Yan should be the deputy of the Central Protector and General Zhao Yun of the Army. But after all, he is far from being as prestigious as Zhao Yun in the army. He started out as a government official and was not from the army. Therefore, he often feels neglected by generals and generals of the military in specific military affairs.
In many affairs of the rear army, because the two deputy generals of the rear army, Ding Feng and Lei Cheng were both long-time generals under the cavalry general Lei Yuan, Li Yan could not command the ground like an arm. When they were in Jingzhou in their early years, they also had a connection with Huang Zhong and Gan Ning, so many military affairs were decided smoothly, but the reports to the rear general were somewhat inconsistent.
Li Yan was certainly a little dissatisfied with this, but he was unwilling to show that he could not get along with his subordinates. So recently, he gradually shifted his daily work to Guangluxun's position in order to show his talents in front of the emperor.
After all, he is still young, and the important officials in the court with higher status than him... Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun are all old, while Zhuge Kongming is only familiar with literary affairs, and Lei Xuzhi is not at the center. In this way, only Li Zhengfang, who is a close minister who is a civil and military officer and serves as the emperor, will have a bright future. Maybe in a certain year and a certain month, he will be able to compete with Zhuge Liang and Lei Yuan for three.
Li Yan firmly believed that he could afford to wait, and as long as he had to move forward slowly, he would sooner or later climb to a position that matched his own talents.
But Li Yan never expected that when Cao's army raided Chang'an this time, the emperor did not consider Guangluxun at all. Later, the general directly asked Zhuge Liang to lead his troops to fight!
What is this? What is this absurd arrangement?
In the past two days, Li Yan tossed and turned, unable to eat well, unable to sleep, sometimes worried about the battle situation on the front line, sometimes he could not control his feelings of loss and even resentment.
As the prime minister, Zhuge Liang was in charge of government affairs in the world. With the emperor's trust, he could not pour water on the Prime Minister's Mansion and Shangshutai. That was natural. After all, the emperor personally said, "It's like a fish in water." As long as the emperor is in one day, no one in the world can touch Zhuge Liang's authority.
But I, Li Yan, is also a dignified and Guangluxun, the latter general! At this moment, who is more qualified to lead troops than me in Chang'an City? This is clearly the authority of me, Li Zhengfang. Even as the prime minister, Zhuge Liang should not touch him at will!
But the emperor is like this...
His trust in Zhuge Liang reached this level?
The emperor actually felt that Zhuge Liang had the authority to take charge of the government affairs of the world, and he had to intervene in military affairs and have the qualifications to lead troops. The emperor actually believed that a scholar who was rarely involved in military affairs could defeat the tens of thousands of elite cavalry of Cao's army with a small number of people. Even Li Yan, I, did not have this confidence!
How stupid this is!
The emperor is old and begins to be confused!
Until the banquet on the first day of the year, Li Yan's mind was full of these. He even thought carefully about how he had to join forces with the defenders in Chang'an City, either defended the enemy to the death or abandoned Chang'an and left in the process, how could he establish his authority in the center.
Perhaps because these things took up too much energy, he was a little dazed for two consecutive days.
However, Li Yan was not the only courtier with a dazed expression and full of worry.
It was already late at night, and the banquet was coming to an end. The actors in charge of the hundreds of operas worked very hard, presenting rare performances such as Gao Zang, swallowing knives, walking on fire, and searching for others, all of which were unpredictable and thrilling. Most of the ministers were silent. Although the emperor smiled, his strong attitude could not be hidden from others.
To estimate the enemy situation, today is the time for the Prime Minister to fight with the enemy. What is the situation? Can you win? Or, even if you cannot win, the Prime Minister may retreat unstoppable? Can Chang'an City be held? In the grand hall, probably everyone is thinking about this, so that the emotions of the ministers are completely different from the joyful Jiubin Cheyue Song.
At this moment, a repeated notification came from outside the palace, and then a cavalry quickly stepped inside. The eyes of the ministers suddenly gathered on this person.
An eunuch had already moved forward, and took the military newspaper from the rider of the nana and submitted it to the emperor. The emperor took the letter and opened it to watch. As soon as he looked at two lines, his face became depressed.
The emperor's face changed, and a cold wind seemed to blow in the open hall. The ministers whispered, and the foreign monarchs from the Western Regions asked each other, and their words were as if they were chirping ghosts.
If it weren't for the mistake of employing people, why would this be? The scholar Zhuge Liang was the one who ruined the situation! Li Yan felt that a sensation of evil fire was completely uncontrollable, and it rose like boiling magma. He made up his mind instantly, stood up suddenly, stepped forward to the stairs, and said sternly: "Your Majesty, Li Yan, I have something unknown, I dare to speak out before the stairs!"
The emperor didn't rush to pay attention to Li Yan.
He continued to look at the military newspaper and sighed deeply: "When Cao Ziwen saw the defeat, he actually challenged our army alone and was shot and killed by Jiang Boyue... Alas, why bother?"
"Uh..." Li Yan swallowed violently: "Your Majesty, what did you say?"
"Our army won a great victory, Cao's army fled, and the prime minister was leading troops to pursue. Meng De's son Huang Xuer Cao Zhang, saw that the situation was difficult to recover, so he rode alone and died." The emperor explained to Li Yan a few words, and couldn't help but sigh again: "I am worthy of being Meng De's son, who is so strong!"
Speaking of this, the emperor handed the military report to the eunuch and ordered it to be passed on to the ministers for circulating.
Wherever the military newspaper went, all the ministers smiled, and the atmosphere in the hall became more than ten times warmer in an instant.
Looking back, the emperor asked with concern: "Just now, the righteous side seems to have something important to report?...What is the point of risking death? Let me tell you."
Chapter completed!