Finally, news came, which was supposed to be a happy thing. But more people looked worried. Not for any other reason, but because if it was a good news, the messengers would have entered the city shouting victory. , instead of looking anxious like now, and not saying another word about the war.
Daqian Palace.
Today is the day of the Great Dynasty, and the Tai Chi Hall is filled with civil and military officials.
Emperor Qianwen wore a dragon robe and sat on a golden dragon chair. He was extremely majestic and looked at the ministers at any time.
But if you look carefully, both the emperor and the ministers seem to be a little absent-minded. Normally, after six days, there should be a battle report coming from the front, but why is there no news at all?
But no matter what, there will always be news coming in these two days. Thinking of this, how can the ministers feel at ease, and how can they be in the mood to talk about government affairs?
Just when the emperor and the ministers were a little distracted, outside the main hall, a faint shout first sounded, and then the voice gradually became clearer, and the voice of emergency battle reports began to be clearly heard.
"Quickly pass." Emperor Qianwen's ears were very good. After hearing what was happening outside, he hurriedly gave orders to Yan Fu who was standing aside.
"Quickly, open the palace door." Yan Fu hurriedly made a bow, and then shouted in a slightly sharper voice than ordinary people.
The golden-armored guards guarding the outside of the hall quickly opened the door, and then a dusty soldier who looked a little embarrassed and had a large command flag behind him rushed into the hall.
With a plop, the order-delivery soldier knelt down on the ground, held a memorial in his hand and said: "Your Majesty, urgent report from the front."
"Bring it up." Emperor Qianwen on the golden dragon chair did not move, but the eagerness in his eyes clearly showed his eagerness.
Without borrowing the help of others, Yan Fu personally ran down the Jinluan Palace, took the battle report, turned around and ran back to Emperor Qianwen. Then everyone's eyes followed the urgent report and fell into Emperor Qianwen's hands.
He opened the memorial with slightly eager hands, and then saw Emperor Qianwen's face become serious, and then... bang! The memorial was thrown on the dragon case, and at the same time, Emperor Qianwen's belt rang. With a wailing voice, "Impossible, this is impossible."
"hiss!"
Although he didn't know what happened, he could tell just by looking at Emperor Qianwen's expression that something was wrong.
"Your Majesty, what happened?" Zuo Pushe and Fan Shitong, as the head of the officials, stood up and asked at the right time. This was originally one of his responsibilities.
Emperor Qianwen, who was stroking his forehead with his right hand, was still digesting the contents of the battle report. He didn't even want to say a word. He just waved his left hand. Yan Fu picked up the battle report that was thrown on the dragon case, walked down to the Jinluan Palace and handed it over. In the hands of Fan Shitong.
"How could this be possible?" Fan Shitong glanced at the battle report and showed an expression of disbelief. Then, the battle report was taken away by his right servant She Bailigui, and soon passed to Internal Affairs Minister Du Jin. In his hands, it was passed down like an Olympic torch.
The battle report was still being circulated among all the ministers. The same thing was that everyone who saw the battle report had their eyebrows furrowed. As for whether they were really anxious or just pretending, only they themselves knew. Already.
In a short time, the battle report was spread to all the courtiers, and the whole hall became lively. The courtiers were talking to each other, and they all said the same thing, what to do next.
No one thought that what was written in the battle report would be a huge defeat for Qian's army.
The battle report was given by General Shi Hongyun of the Silver Armored Guards. According to what he said, the Jin army had already conquered Zhenzhou before their 30,000 Silver Armored Guards arrived. It was the Jin army that first sent a small force. A group of troops entered Zhenzhou City, and then after the war started, they opened the city gate at night. Five thousand soldiers in Zhenzhou were caught off guard. The general who defended the city was killed, some soldiers died in battle, and most of the soldiers were captured.
Next, the Jin army set up an ambush outside Zhenzhou City in the north. Unaware that the city had changed hands, Shi Hongyun appeared under the city with 30,000 silver-armored guards, and was immediately surrounded from all sides. After that, the army launched a breakout move.
The war changed so fast that the organization of 30,000 silver-armored guards was disrupted. Under the protection of his own soldiers, Shi Hongyun reluctantly fought his way out, and finally broke out with less than 500 people. Now he has already Return to Dingzhou, a city less than two hundred miles away from Daliang City.
In this battle, not only was the South Gate Zhenzhou lost, but the thirty thousand silver-armored guards were also severely damaged. Even the whereabouts of the deputy commander Zhongchenghou Shen Yunyi were unknown. It is conceivable that the other soldiers were also in danger.
The first battle was defeated, and it was such a huge defeat. No wonder it was almost impossible to defeat Emperor Wen.
However, this is not the most important thing. More importantly, Shi Hongyun said at the end of the battle report that after investigation, the Jin army that came not only had 100,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, but the number of infantry reached 150,000.
This makes it even more difficult for everyone to understand. It is true that the Jin army has 200,000 troops, but it governs the four states. Don't they need to send troops to defend those territories? Are they really going to come out in full force?
If it is true that 150,000 troops are pressing down on the border, and there are only over 50,000 soldiers left in Daliang City, how can we fight a one-to-three battle? Is Daliang City even in danger?
At the thought of this, all the courtiers' expressions changed drastically.
Even if someone invades the border, the courtiers in Daliang City will not feel it at all. They believe that the enemies on the border cannot reach Daliang City, so as long as they have nothing to do, why should they care about other people's lives and deaths?
As for the border troops who will suffer losses, soldiers must be prepared to die in battle, right? This is originally their duty.
But it is different now. Seeing that Daliang City is about to fall into danger means that they are also about to fall into danger. It is related to their own interests and lives. Who would not be nervous?
"Your Majesty, please make another decree and let the cadres from the surrounding states serve the king." Fan Shitong's mind was spinning faster, and he was also the first to make suggestions.
When the other courtiers heard this, they all nodded and said in agreement, "Your Majesty, please issue an order to have the army of all the states serve the king."
"Okay, besides these, is there any other way?" Emperor Qianwen is one of the first and two big ones. Capital is in danger, and it is necessary to serve the king. But the problem now is that hundreds of thousands of Jin troops have arrived in Dingzhou. Under the city, if they were not blocked, would those King Qin's troops have time to rescue them?
If the Jin army invaded Daliang City first, would it be necessary for those state soldiers to come to serve the king?
"Um... Your Majesty, we still have 30,000 gold-armored guards and 20,000 silver-armored guards. At the same time, there are hundreds of thousands of people in the city. We can also quickly gather 20,000 troops. Together, there are seven With thousands of troops, it must be possible to defend Daliang City for a while." Fan Shitong still stood up and put forward his own opinions.
As expected, he should be the leader of a hundred officials. He should think more comprehensively and not be confused at the critical moment.
"Yes, yes, what Mr. Fan said is absolutely true." Other courtiers echoed again.
"Okay, let me think about this matter." Emperor Qianwen felt that his mind was confused at this moment. In his opinion, guarding Daliang was the next best thing. If Daliang City was threatened by this, it would inevitably fall into the flames of war. In the middle, the good economic situation that has just developed will be destroyed. If this is the case, the Daqian will be set back for more than ten years or even longer if it is not done well. And the Daqian whose vitality is seriously damaged will still be respected as the master of the world. ?
At that time, even if the Jin army was repulsed, would other vassal kings have any thoughts? If someone wanted to use weapons, how to stop them?
It can be said that dragging Daliang City into the flames of war was really the last resort. Emperor Qianwen did not want to make this decision unless it was absolutely necessary. This drove away the ministers and he wanted to think about it carefully.
The ministers originally wanted a result now. After all, Dingzhou is too close to Daliang City, only two hundred miles away. With a rapid march, the Jin army can arrive in two or three days. Compared with Zhenzhou, Dingzhou The city walls are not very tall. If a decision cannot be made immediately, who knows what will happen if too much time passes.
But at this moment, Emperor Qianwen obviously did not make the final decision. No matter how much everyone urged, he was afraid that there would be no good results. After the ministers looked at each other, they exited the Tai Chi Hall. Then, the ministers They all returned to their respective offices, waiting for the emperor's final decision.
...
Zhongguogongfu.
Shen Ao was lazy and didn't want to get up early, so he often avoided court meetings whenever possible.
For this matter, some courtiers once impeached him, but Emperor Qianwen decided to do so and exempted him from the requirement to attend the morning court on the grounds that Shen Ao was still young and had not yet held the title.
He didn't go to court, so he naturally didn't know what happened in the court. But at this moment, he got another important news at this moment, which was the reason why the King of Jin suddenly sent troops to Daqian.
Iron Dragon is back.
I went to Jin for a while and finally came back with a harvest.
In the study, Tie Long was reporting to Shen Ao what he had learned after going to Taiyuan County. "Young Master, the most suspicious thing is the current Princess Jin Liu Xiangxiang. We checked and found that she did once work as a Qing in Daliang City. Guanren, and was also the number one in Qunfang Pavilion. But then she disappeared and went to Jin. The time when she disappeared was when the former prince rebelled and was defeated. We also found out the earliest time of Liu Xiangxiang. It's from the north, and the former Princess Di happened to be from the north."
Listening to Tie Long's report, Shen Ao frowned.
He had heard of the name of the former Di Princess, or knew it from his uncle Shen Yunyi. Later, Xue Fei also said that she was a descendant of the former Di royal family. But just because she came from the north, Liu Xiang Xiang's relationship with the former Princess Di seemed a bit reluctant.