One hundred and twentieth chapters open and secret struggle
"War has always been like a game of chess. If you play chess as if you are determined, there will be no sorrow." [October Battle Scene]
When Xu Rong led troops to attack Jie County, the emperor happened to receive news from Bingzhou, Hongnong and other places on the road. The content was not too bad. Liu Ai, the prefect of Hongnong, organized the county soldiers in time, and under Yang's and other loyalists With the support of local powerful people in the imperial court, Shaanxi County was successfully recovered. The thief Zhang Yan fled eastward to Mianchi with thousands of remaining soldiers, while another man in the army, Zhang Sheng, who liked to ride white horses, was called "Zhang Baiqi". Wu Kuang, the captain of Hongnong Diannong, was killed on the spot.
At first glance, Hongnong's war seemed like a hot pot of boiling oil, but in the end it was just a group of rabble-rousers who were making false noises. Zhu Jun, who was stationed in Henan, was put down by Liu Ai's county soldiers before he had time to consider whether to enter the customs. Hongnong was sure, The rebels in Hedong were just waiting to be cut off. Zhang Yang in Hanoi became much more honest because of this, and began to order his subordinates Sui Gu and others to mobilize the army to the Chaoge area.
It’s just that the situation in Bingzhou is not optimistic. Today, when the Southern Xiongnu suffered heavy casualties due to internal fighting, the entire Southern Xiongnu did not need a leader to make them live a stable life. The first one to come was the Southern Xiongnu to supervise the country. Although he went Bei led a large number of Hun nobles who admired the Han Dynasty to move to Taiyuan and found a place to settle down. But after all, there were many restrictions and many places were less free than before. Therefore, when Yu Fuluo returned to Bingzhou, relying on his blood and status , and soon gathered a large number of Hun nobles who were unwilling to surrender to rebel against the imperial court.
Although Liu Yu had famous generals such as Xia Yu, the general who protected the Xiongnu, he was unable to support Hedong.
Of course, in Bingzhou, especially in Taiyuan and other counties, there were many forts and forts, and the troops were fierce, which could not be easily defeated by the Huns at present. Therefore, the emperor was only slightly worried in his heart, but did not take any action.
At this time, the emperor was sitting in a spacious military chariot. In front and behind the military chariot were sturdy grain carriages. These carriages had been modified and could be connected end to end at any time to form a simple defensive barrier. And the military chariot was surrounded by guards. Lu Ben, Yu Qian Yu Linlang, and on the outside were the middle base camp led by Gao Shun himself, and then Shesheng, infantry, and Changshui and other cavalry. The emperor was under multiple protections inside and outside. With such a strong Guard with soldiers, even if the enemy has a large army to charge, it can ensure safety.
In front of the chariot shaft, Yulin Lang Zhang Xiu and Meng Da were lined up on the left and right. They wore armor and belts, held long whips, waved them from time to time, and carefully controlled the horses to follow the emperor's chariot at all times.
Compared with the iron armor worn by other guards, the armor worn by Zhang Xiu and the two men is very distinctive. There are two round breast shields on the chest, which shine brightly under the glare of the eyes, almost dazzling them. Human eyes. In addition, there are matching shoulder and knee pads, as well as a hood to protect the head and neck. This is the Mingguang armor that gradually began to appear in the army at the end of the Han Dynasty and became popular, but this kind of Mingguang armor is not very good in many aspects. To improve it, the emperor integrated the opinions of many generals who were familiar with killing enemies on the battlefield, and asked Shang Fangjian and Kao Gongjian to improve its form and make its structure more mature.
As soon as the Mingguang Armor was cast last year, the emperor ordered people to test it in Shanglinyuan. As a result, it was invincible in both horse and foot battles, and was called an iron beast.
After the test, this armor quickly attracted the envy of the soldiers of the Northern and Southern Army. Everyone could see at a glance that this new type of armor was more superior in protection than the previous armor. If the soldiers could wear this armor, they would be better in the world. Not only victory, but also the chance of survival on the battlefield will be greatly increased. Therefore, whether it is the Zhonglang General of the Southern Army or the Colonel of the Northern Army, they are all eager to wear Mingguang Armor, but the craftsmanship of Mingguang Armor is too high. It was difficult to form a large-scale casting in time, so we had to give priority to the middle base camp and the cavalry camp, and then to reward the trusted generals.
The emperor sat in the carriage, looked away from Zhang Xiu and others, and turned his attention again to the black and white chessboard in front of him.
"It is said that Wang Yi accomplished nothing in Hedong. Look at how smooth the road is. The team walked for a long time and not a single chess piece fell out. It seems that he not only did something in Hedong, but also achieved the most important things.
very good."
Jia Xu looked at the slightly trembling chess pieces in front of him and said softly: "If Wang Wen could hear His Majesty's praise in person, I don't know how grateful he would be."
The emperor looked up at Jia Xu, smiled cheerfully, and said to Xun You on the other side of the spacious car: "Listen, it turns out that Mr. Jia can also say nice things to others."
Xun You smiled and said nothing, then reached out and placed a piece on the chessboard.
The emperor continued: "What exactly Wang Yi did in Hedong is not only clear to us, but also to others. Even if we don't say this, just because he failed to control the powerful and instigated chaos in Hedong, he cannot escape the responsibility.
It was natural for me to severely reprimand him on the spot in Pusaka. Even so, didn’t I still give him a chance to redeem himself and make meritorious deeds afterwards? He should also be grateful.” : :
"Only." Jia Xu said apologetically, "I am confused."
If you are confused, no one in the world will be sober.
The emperor took a deep look at Jia Xu and thought of this.
If Hedong wants to become a test field for the emperor's future reforms and good governance, the prerequisite is that there must be a clean Hedong in order to show off his talents. Therefore, it became the emperor's plan with Xun You and Jia Xu to clean up those domineering and lawless powerful people.
Common goal.
On this basis, Xun You's principle was that he did not want to go too far and only wanted to limit himself to using political struggle to deal with Fan Xian and others. Therefore, he strongly recommended Du Ji, Yang Pei and other outsiders to help, and even semi-forced them to give in.
Wang Yi took action against Fan Xian and nipped the rebellion in the bud.
However, Jia Xu wanted to play a big tactic of exterminating the whole family, destroying the great establishment, forcing Fan Xian to rebel, and even affected the Shangdang, Bingzhou, and even Hongnong within a controllable range.
This is also the reason why Ping Zhunjian was in the name of spying in Hedong, and in fact, he was forcing rebellion, but he and Du Ji, Yang Pei and others seemed to be doing their own things without a unified deployment. Because they each represented different parties,
Xun You and Jia Xu also used this opportunity to play games in Hedong several times. Now it seems that Jia Xu is slightly better.
Revolts broke out in Hedong and other places both accidentally and inevitably. It seemed like a fire broke out. In fact, the emperor, Xun You and others had already prepared for the fire and set up isolation zones and precautionary measures. This is why Jia Xu did not worry about losing control.
confidence.
In the end, they could not hide their private fighting from the emperor. Although the emperor was only aware of some clues, he did not make any reaction. After all, no matter the outcome, it was in the emperor's favor. The fight between ministers was between the ministers.
There was no need for him to take matters into his own hands, as long as things did not deviate from the planned track. Although the emperor's position was inclined to Jia Xu's side, he still had to take care of Xun You's feelings and not be too explicit, so this was also the case.
Just let it be.
Even so, the fact that Jia Xu deliberately instigated Wang Yi and Pingzhun to provoke a rebellion still made the emperor feel a little confused. Jia Xu also knew his mistake, so what he said at the beginning was not for Wang Yi, but for Wang Yi.
It is better to say that he is apologizing for himself.
Fortunately, the emperor's words also meant to forget the past, which relieved Jia Xu a lot.
Although the black and white chess pieces placed on the chessboard did not fall off, they still shook constantly while the car was driving. The emperor looked down at the chess pieces that were gradually shifting on the chessboard, and suddenly said with a smile: "It seems that this time
It was Xun Jun who missed a move."
"We haven't talked for a long time, so I'm a little rusty in my skills." Xun You threw the chess pieces in his hands into the chess box, folded his hands neatly on his knees, and said calmly: "It shouldn't be like this."
Jia Xu said nothing, but played with a moist and smooth sunspot in his hand.