Qi's actions, the scouts from various countries naturally repaid their respective monarchs.
The State of Shu once again asked for help from the State of Qin and the State of Chen. Before the Qin army was dispatched, it received an urgent letter from the border, saying that the Qi State army had come out of Wolong Mountain, passed through the land of Chen State, and had arrived at the Qin State border. Please
The King of Qin quickly sent troops to help. The King of Qin discussed the civil and military affairs with the Manchu Dynasty and decided to send Prince Li Bi to lead an army of 50,000 people to go south to Hanzhong and stationed in Guangyuan City to rescue the Shu Kingdom; he also sent General Li Dingkun to lead an army of 30,000 people to Pingcheng to resist the Qi Dynasty.
army's attack.
However, Yan State still stood still. In addition to continuing to expand its territory to the north, it had no intention of increasing its border forces with Chen State and Qi State.
Chen Zhong, the new king of Chen State, received Qi State's promise and began to govern Chen State. Chen Zhong first rejected Shu State's request for help, but instead gradually mobilized the troops from Jincheng to Luocheng. Then he gradually attacked the officials in the court.
He appointed and dismissed a large number of his cronies in Jincheng to break up the Longxi Party's control of the court; at the same time, he secretly united with the third prince Chen Yi and decided to use troops against the barbarian lands in the northwest, sending Chen Qi to lead his troops.
Go to war.
At this time, Chen Qi and the eldest prince also realized that they had been squeezed out by the new king and the third prince. If they refused to obey the decree, it would inevitably cause the brothers to turn against each other and cause civil strife in Chen Qi. Chen Mengzhu, the granddaughter of the old general Chen Qi, suggested a plan: Chen Qi would lend troops
To conquer the barbarians, he asked the new king for 20,000 troops. The eldest prince Chen Cheng offered to garrison at Pingguan to guard against the enemies of Qi and Yan. In this way, he could avoid direct conflict with the new king, preserve the strength of Chen, and send troops to
The imperial court demanded a large amount of military pay, food and grass.
In order to force the eldest prince out of Luo City, King Chen naturally agreed to the request of Chen Qi and Chen Cheng and transferred 10,000 soldiers from the east and west camps of the Forbidden Army to Chen Qi. He also allocated sufficient food and salary to Chen Qi and Chen Cheng.
Let the two of them rush to various places as soon as possible.
Chen Qi arrived in the northwest, and with 20,000 forbidden troops plus local defenders, he repeatedly sent out surprise troops to attack and kill the barbarian enemies, with great results and captured a large number of war horses; Chen Cheng arrived at Pingguan and actively expanded his troops, and soon
He took control of the northeastern part of Chen State in his own hands.
As soon as Chen Cheng left, the contradiction between the new king and the third prince became prominent. First of all, in the court, although the new king did not replace the Longxi Party members, with the entry of a large number of Jincheng officials, the power of the Longxi Party has been divided.
The king's voice in the court became more and more powerful, and his tone naturally gradually became tougher. Later, the new king used the excuse that the Forbidden Army's armaments were slack and wanted to conduct training, and sent his Jincheng Army generals to gradually infiltrate the Western Camp controlled by Li Hao.
Go in.
That night, in the third prince's house, Prime Minister Xu Boxiong and General Li Hao were called into the secret room. The third prince looked at the two people in front of him with a gloomy face. The candlelight in the secret room was beating, making the three people's expressions appear...
Somewhat weird.
The third prince Chen Yi explained Li Hao, and after a long time he said: "General, I think you, the chief instructor of the Forbidden Army, are about to be kicked out of the Forbidden Army. This general is about to become a mere name!"
Li Hao smiled bitterly and replied: "Your Highness, I, Li Hao, am a minister of the Chen State. Everything is based on the Chen State. My position was given by the late king. I am only doing my duty. If I were the new king
If they are dissatisfied with me and want to sack me, how can I complain?"
Xu Boxiong laughed on the side and said: "General Li, what are you talking about? You are the general of our Chen country. You have made great contributions to our Chen country. The one I, Xu Boxiong, admire the most is the general."
For such a person, even the late king praised the general highly."
The third prince also said slowly: "General Li, I think that if you are just so tolerant, then your position as general may really be unsafe. Now the new king is very aggressive and has many cronies in the court."
, and started sending people to your western camp again. General Li should come up with a countermeasure!"
Li Hao looked at the third prince, then at Xu Boxiong, thought for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, Prime Minister Xu, I have something to say, I don't know whether I should say it or not?"
Xu Boxiong was stunned for a moment, then looked at the third prince, and then said: "General Li, please tell me something!"
Li Hao pondered again, and then said: "When the new king ascends the throne, he will be the emperor and his courtiers. This is eternal. The prince and the new king are brothers. We foreign ministers should not say more. But His Highness the prince. The new king
Not long after he ascended the throne, he drove the eldest prince out of Luo City! He also sent the old marshal to conquer the barbarians. This was equivalent to driving the eldest prince out of the court. At the beginning, the king's orders were the eldest prince and his highness, Prime Minister Xu, and old marshal Chen.
General He Xiao assists the government. But now the eldest prince and the old marshal have been squeezed out of the court. Next, I guess it is time to take action against His Royal Highness the prince and Prime Minister Xu!"
The third prince snorted and said, "He dares!"
Xu Boxiong stopped the third prince's words and said: "What General Li said makes sense. Now that I am in the court, my words have almost no weight. General Li should also be able to see that. If this continues, I
This Prime Minister has almost become an empty frame!"
Li Hao smiled when he heard this, but didn't say anything else.
Xu Boxiong looked at Li Hao, leaned forward, and then said in his younger brother's voice: "General Li, we can't just sit back and wait for death. The new king will remove us bit by bit. By then, Chen Guo may be in danger! And I
I heard that the new king actually formed an alliance with the Qi State and ignored the Qi State's invasion of the Shu State. If this continues, the Qi State will become more and more prosperous, and our Chen State, adjacent to the tiger, will eventually be in danger!"
Li Hao nodded after hearing this and looked at the third prince.
The third prince gritted his teeth and said: "The worst case scenario is to fall out with him. Now that the eldest brother is not in Luo City, our strength is not weaker than his. Let's confront him directly. I'll see what he says!"
Xu Boxiong looked at the third prince helplessly, and then said: "Your Highness, if we fall out with the new king, how should we get along with each other? The people of Chen State know that the new king has ascended the throne. If we are disobedient, we will cause chaos, and the people's hearts will not be at ease.
will return to us. The eldest prince and Chen Qi still have their own place to stay, but we don’t even have a place to stay. If we fight in Luo City, both sides will lose and others will benefit, which will be very harmful to our Chen country.
disadvantage."
The third prince said bitterly: "If he doesn't care about brotherhood anymore, am I still going to sit there and wait for death?!"
Li Hao glanced at Xu Boxiong secretly, and then said carefully: "Your Highness, I thought that Your Highness was not as good as the great prince, so I took the initiative to ask for orders to lead the troops to guard Ningcheng. Although it is remote, it is adjacent to the grassland tribes in the west. We can
Take the opportunity to expand westward, or form an alliance with the tribe, and slowly expand your strength!"
Li Hao said, looking at the face of the third prince Chen Yi, seeing that Chen Yi listened carefully and seemed to be moved by what he said, so he continued: "At that time, we will look at the developments in Luo City. If the eldest prince
If there is a conflict with the new king, we can profit from it. If the new king does not cause trouble again, then it is not impossible for the three princes to divide the Chen Kingdom into three parts and form a three-legged alliance!"
Xu Boxiong listened, nodded, and said repeatedly: "Okay, General Li's plan is feasible. When the time comes, the prince and General Li will go to Ningcheng to develop slowly. I, the veteran, am entangled with the new king in the court. We should cooperate internally and externally, and we will not fall behind."
wind!"
Li Hao took over the conversation and said: "And the power of the Forbidden Army's Western Camp will not be left to the side in this way!"
After hearing what Li Hao and Xu Boxiong said, the third prince slapped the table and said, "Okay, then I will tell the second brother about it in the morning tomorrow morning!"
Xu Boxiong reminded: "You must address the new king as His Majesty, and you must never address the second brother directly again! Moreover, I will arrange for them to report this matter, and then the prince will come forward to ask for help!"
The third prince snorted and said: "My second brother is not a fool. He naturally knows what we are thinking, so why bother!"
Xu Boxiong shook his head and said: "It's one thing to know in the heart, but it's another thing to tell the truth. We still have to save enough face for the new king and ask for some food and salary."
Li Hao kept saying yes. The third prince stopped arguing, and the three of them discussed how to bring up the matter in court tomorrow morning. After the discussion, as night fell, Xu Boxiong and Li Hao came from the third prince's mansion and went to their own places.
He quietly returned home.
Naturally, Xiao Tianyou could clearly see the detailed work arranged outside the Third Prince's Mansion. When Xu Boxiong and Li Hao returned to the house, Xiu Zuo who followed them quickly went to report to Xiao Tianyou. Xiao Tianyou got the news and did not dare to delay, so he went immediately
Xiao Tianyou told the new king Chen Zhong what he had heard. Chen Zhong sighed while listening, then looked at Xiao Tianyou and said: "It seems that the third prince is going to do something. Mr. Xiao guessed
What are their plans this time?"
Xiao Tianyou shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I don't know, but I only know that I will obey His Majesty's orders!"
The new king nodded, and then said: "Chen Yi is still a young boy, so he has nothing to fear, but Xu Boxiong, Prime Minister Xu, and General Li Hao are very cunning. One controls the Longxi Party, and the other is in charge of the recent affairs."
If one hundred thousand forbidden troops were to attack the court or the army, it would be really difficult for us to deal with them!"
Xiao Tianyou stood with his head bowed in front of the new king's desk, just silent. Seeing that Xiao Tianyou was silent, Chen Zhong continued: "Master Xiao, go back to Dong Daying as soon as possible and be prepared. If Li Hao does that,
If there is any movement on the side, you should quickly lead your troops to encircle and suppress them. I will also send a message to the Jincheng Army to act with you, and then attack from both sides."
Xiao Tianyou nodded, and when the new king finished his instructions, he said: "Yes!" and then turned around and went out.
Chen Zhong thought for a while and then ordered the guards: "Go and tell Lord Xue to come see me!" The guards went down, and soon after, Lord Xue hurried to the palace, came in front of the new king, stood with his hands down, and the new king Chen Zhong said to him
Marquis Xue explained: "Xue Aiqing, you immediately lead your men and horses to strictly control the palace and its surroundings. If anyone commits a crime, he will be executed without mercy. Then arrange some people around the residences of the third prince, Prime Minister Xu, and General Li.
If they make any unusual movements, report them immediately, but if there are any signs of rebellion, you can capture them first and then report them to me. At the same time, strengthen the prevention of the West Camp. If there is any abnormality, immediately close the city gate and be on guard."
After hearing this, Mr. Xue immediately bowed and accepted the order. After Chen Zhong gave a few more instructions, he turned around and went out to prepare.
The next day, Los Angeles ushered in a new day, and everything seemed as quiet as usual.
The civil and military officials from all over the dynasty gathered in the main hall, waiting for the new king to come to court. Following the eunuch's call, the new king Chen Zhong walked into the main hall, sat behind the dragon writing desk, looked around at the civil and military ministers in the hall, and asked: "Everyone
Dear sir, what can you tell me today?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an important official of the Longxi Party stood up and started to report: "Han Meng, the minister of the Ministry of War, has something to report. Now that the late king has left, the Xiongnu tribe in the west is ready to move and intends to invade our border. I ask your Majesty to issue an edict.
Send out tiger and wolf troops to defeat the Xiongnu and defend our territory of Chen State!"
As soon as Han Meng finished speaking, there was a lot of discussion in the main hall. Everyone, led by the Longxi Party, said that troops should be sent to conquer. After hearing this, Chen Zhong probably knew what the third prince had discussed yesterday.