Ximen Sheng was not a fool. Of course he could see the evil intentions behind Zhao Junchen's "well-intentioned" reminder.
Ximen Sheng could even clearly feel the excitement that Li Zehe, Gan Cheng and others had at that moment after hearing Zhao Junchen's "kindness" reminder.
It was like a group of jackals who had been hungry for a long time and suddenly discovered the fatal weakness of the tiger in front of them!
Obviously, after this summons is over, the rumor that "Ximen Sheng and the Jianzhou Jurchens secretly conspired to kidnap the commander-in-chief He Yu" will inevitably spread throughout the army in a very short period of time and intensify!
And then, everyone's mouth will make gold, and all the bones will be destroyed. Three people will become a tiger, and a hundred people will not be able to argue!
And Ximen Sheng's military prestige will inevitably be hit and challenged like never before!
In recent days, Ximen Sheng has always used his own strength to fight against the three generals Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Ya at the same time. This is because he has the highest prestige in the army and the strongest appeal. Most Liaodong soldiers are willing to trust his position.
His loyalty is by no means comparable to that of other generals.
It was precisely because of his prestige and appeal that Ximen Sheng had the confidence to secure victory. He believed that when the Liaodong cavalry reinforcements from Jinzhou Camp arrived in Hujiazhuang, they would definitely support him with all their strength.
The rumors created by Zhao Junchen may seem simple, but they directly shaken Ximen Sheng's biggest advantage and destroyed Ximen Sheng's future plans. It was simply a drain on the bottom of the cauldron!
Under such circumstances, the worst result is that after the reinforcements from all walks of life arrived one after another, everyone including the Liaodong Cavalry reinforcements mistakenly believed the relevant rumors. Not only did they not fully support Ximen Sheng as expected, but they chose to fight with Li Zehe
and others work together to suppress Ximen Sheng
By that time, the situation must be over!
Thinking of this, Ximen Sheng's expression became more and more solemn, and his eyes kept fluctuating.
In an instant, Ximen Sheng conceived many counterattack strategies, including the option of directly flipping the table.
Directly setting off a mutiny and directly imprisoning variables such as Zhao Junchen, Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Zha, it can be regarded as a complete end!
But in the end, Ximen Sheng gritted his teeth and thought that he should endure it for the time being!
After all, the methods used by Zhao Junchen were very clever, and there was nothing wrong with them on the surface. If Ximen Sheng just flipped the table over like this, it would naturally be an unknown result, and there would definitely be very few responders, and it would even be considered a sign of guilty conscience.
More importantly, the timing Zhao Junchen chose to take action was also very clever. Because Li Zehe was assassinated last night, Shi Cheng was suspected by all parties and was restricted from freedom of movement. After losing Shi Cheng's full support, Ximen
Sheng also didn't have the strength to lift the table directly.
Therefore, Ximen Sheng can only choose to endure it for now, and then try to clarify the various rumors and slanders that will follow, try his best to reduce the loss of his reputation, and finally act in camera and wait for the situation to change.
Ximen Sheng believed that as long as he tried his best to clarify the rumors, reinforcements from all walks of life would still choose to support him.
*
Thinking of this, after Ximen Sheng took a deep breath, he bowed his head to Zhao Junchen and said: "It's all because of a humble dog biting Lu Dongbin. He doesn't know a good heart and misunderstood your good intentions. He is humble and has a despicable heart. He behaves like a villain."
The heart of a gentleman is so open-minded that I ask the cabinet ministers to punish me!"
Zhao Junchen shook his head slightly and said: "I am not the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, and you are not under my control, so how can I punish you? This matter is fine, as long as you can understand my goodwill.
However, your confession and apology cannot solve any problem! Let me ask you again, do you still insist that the kidnapping of Mr. He and me has absolutely nothing to do with the Jurchen Jurchens in Jianzhou?
Or do you want to prevent others from investigating along this clue?"
At this point, in order to eliminate the suspicion that he conspired with the Jianzhou Jurchens to kidnap He Yu, Ximen Sheng naturally had to change his attitude.
So, after Ximen Sheng was silent for a moment, he slowly replied: "Please rest assured, ministers, I don't dare to have any more obstruction due to my humble position. Naturally, I will do my best to investigate the relationship between the Jurchens in Jianzhou and those kidnappers!"
Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction and asked: "In your opinion, who is the most suitable person to be responsible for the relevant investigation?"
Considering that the Jianzhou Jurchens have always been self-respecting, there are naturally many people inside who have a close relationship with the Jianzhou Jurchens, and they are not clear about it secretly. Therefore, once they start investigating this matter, everyone will be in danger.
, the implication is extremely wide, and for those careerists, it is a good opportunity to suppress dissidents!
Therefore, after Li Zehe, Gan Cheng, and Xu Zha heard Zhao Junchen's inquiry, they immediately wanted to recommend themselves.
Valley
However, before they could express their stance, Zhao Junchen stopped them with his eyes!
On the other hand, Ximen Sheng was not willing to leave this matter to others, and immediately recommended himself: "I volunteered to take charge of this matter myself! After all, as the cabinet minister said, this matter is related to the reputation of my humble position, and
I have been stationed in the North Road Defense Area for nearly ten years, and I know the situation of the Jianzhou Jurchens best, so it is undoubtedly the most appropriate for me to hand over this matter to my subordinate!"
Zhao Junchen smiled half-smiling again and asked: "But you have to think about it carefully. Do you really want to take charge of this matter personally?
Considering the rumors and slander that will follow, once you are personally responsible for this matter, if nothing can be found out next, it will be true, making the entire army more suspicious of your relationship with the Jianzhou Jurchen! Therefore,
In order to eliminate the suspicion of collusion between yourself and the Jianzhou Jurchens, you must investigate and find out something!
In this way, once you take over this matter, you will definitely offend many people and become a villain in the eyes of the entire army!"
Of course Ximen Sheng understands these things, but as the saying goes, "the lesser of two powers harm each other," he would rather offend some people and become a villain in the eyes of the entire army than give this opportunity to suppress dissidents to Li Zehe and others.
.
What's more, once this matter is done properly, it is indeed an effective way for Ximen Sheng to clear up rumors and prove his innocence.
Therefore, Ximen Sheng did not hesitate and replied firmly: "I am dedicated to serving the public in my humble position. I am not worried that I will offend others, nor am I worried that I will become a villain in the eyes of others!"
Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction at first, but then he looked hesitant and said slowly: "However, the Jianzhou Jurchens have been coveting the Liaodong region for a hundred years, and they have penetrated into Liaodong all the time. Once we want to start investigating the relationship between the Jianzhou Jurchens and
The relationship between that group of kidnappers will inevitably be extremely involved, and the entire army may have to be investigated. If this affects the morale of the army, what will happen?"
Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen glanced at Li Zehe lightly.
Li Zehe is a smart man. He knows the elegant meaning of Xiange when he hears it. It can be said that he understands it at a glance, and his expression once again showed a look of surprise.
Therefore, Li Zehe quickly suggested: "I hope you will learn from it, cabinet minister, that too many things have happened in Liaodong Town in recent times!
First, the scandal of the West Route defenders bullying the families of their comrades in the defense zone was exposed. Then, the Liaodong Cavalry was unexpectedly defeated by the Guan Ning Cavalry in a competition. At the same time, some soldiers began to be dissatisfied with their military pay and treatment, let alone the general soldiers.
Your Excellency has been kidnapped!
Therefore, even without this investigation, the military morale of Liaodong soldiers was already extremely low! After seeing such a situation, the humble officers and others were also anxious, so they wanted to publicize the relevant people for various things that had happened recently.
We should wait for rewards and punishments for merits and demerits, and by the way, reward the whole army, so as to boost the morale of the army. However, this proposal was still blocked by General Ximen!"
Zhao Junchen looked at Ximen Sheng again and asked: "Liaodong Town has always been responsible for resisting Jianzhou Jurchen invasion. If the military morale of all Liaodong soldiers is turbulent, Jianzhou Jurchens may take advantage of it and have to guard against it.
!
Therefore, the idea of Li Shenjiang and others seems reasonable to me, but I don’t know why Ximen Shenjiang wants to stop this matter?
Alas, although I believe in the loyalty of General Ximen, I always feel that all the actions of General Ximen are intentionally or unintentionally beneficial to Jianzhou Jurchens!
General Ximen, I hope you will seriously consider it again. Are you sure you want to stop General Li and others’ proposal to boost the morale of the army?"
Upon hearing Zhao Junchen's question, Ximen Sheng's face became darker and darker.
He found that he had fallen into the trap set by Zhao Junchen again.
Zhao Junchen first induced him to take the initiative to investigate the relationship between Jianzhou Jurchens and the kidnappers. But just like Zhao Junchen said, considering the situation in Liaodong Town and the various subsequent rumors and slanders, Ximen Sheng had to play the villain.
, investigate and investigate strictly, and then the entire army will inevitably be in danger.
Under such circumstances, if Ximen Sheng once again blocks Li Zehe and others' proposal to reward the entire army and boost military morale, his image in the minds of the entire army will become even worse, and he will even be despised by everyone.
, out of disgust in their hearts, everyone will be more willing to believe those related rumors that slander Ximen Sheng, and Ximen Sheng's military prestige will also be destroyed.
Not to mention, Zhao Junchen took the opportunity to hint that the reason why Ximen Sheng obstructed this matter was all to benefit the Jianzhou Jurchens!
In short, when things developed to this point, Ximen Sheng found that he had once again lost his choice and could only express his support for the proposal of Li Zehe and others.
However, Ximen Sheng has already taken the initiative to take over the investigation related to the Jianzhou Jurchens. Therefore, if he agrees to the proposal of Li Zehe and others, the subsequent rewards and punishments, as well as the rewards for the entire army, can only be left to Li Zehe and others.
People are responsible.
At that time, Li Zehe and others can still win over allies, suppress dissidents, and win over the morale of the military!
As a result, Ximen Sheng was naturally in a dilemma. Li Zehe, Gan Cheng and others also saw Ximen Sheng's situation clearly and thought they had the advantage, so they were naturally overjoyed.
After Zhao Junchen saw Ximen Sheng's hesitation and silence, he spoke up again and put forward a seemingly reasonable "compromise" suggestion.