Seeing Chai Ting arrive, Li Yin stood up to greet him, invited him to sit down with him, poured a bowl of hot tea with his own hands, and slowly pushed it in front of Chai Ting: "It's cold tonight and the place is simple. Yin only has a bowl of hot tea to treat you.
Please don’t be offended, General Chai."
"Although it is simple, it is better than being able to sit and talk with each other in peace." There was no emotion or anger in Chai Ting's old voice: "His Royal Highness, you have taken the trouble."
Li Yin sighed softly: "I haven't seen you for many years. General Chai has become much older."
"Chai and His Highness Prince Rong had no intersection before. They probably only met once or twice. His Highness King Lao Rong still remembers Chai." Chai Ting looked at the person in front of him and said, "His Royal Highness Rong's appearance and temperament are still the same."
Before coming, Chai Ting had never thought that His Highness Prince Rong, who was only one step away from the throne, still retained the free and easy spontaneity of his youth, without any sense of being influenced by power.
Chai Ting got straight to the point: "His Royal Highness, King Rong, came here personally not far away from the cold weather. Please explain clearly why."
"In this battle on the West Road of Shannan, I wonder if General Chai has any chance of winning?" Li Yin asked without answering.
Chai Ting touched the edge of the tea bowl with his fingers, lowered his eyes and did not speak immediately.
He was not sure about Li Yin's intentions at this time, so it was not a good thing to talk too much in a hurry.
Li Yin didn't mind and answered on his own: "In my opinion, when the weather gets warmer after the new year, if General Chai attacks it with all his strength, regardless of the cost, he will break through the Shannan West Road in less than three months."
Chai Ting raised his eyes slightly and looked at Li Yin.
Li Yin's eyes were honest: "The Shannan West Road is not easy to attack, but among the 150,000 troops held by General Chai, there are 60,000 Xuance troops. After a long battle, only the Shannan West Road can resist it."
Chaiting still didn't rush to speak.
"It's just that after that, the Ming Dynasty will let the army take advantage of the victory to attack Jiannan Road." Li Yin said: "The army led by General Chai will be exhausted by then, and the soldiers of Jiannan Road have also been stationed in the western border with me for many years.
In addition to the elite division, there will also be an army from the Central Guizhou Province to fight with me——"
"Even if we don't mention how long the imperial court's food supply can last, what chance will General Chai have of winning by then?"
Li Yin still answered to himself: "The best result is nothing more than to severely injure me."
At this point, Li Yin's voice became softer: "However, both in public and private matters, I don't want to get to this point with Ah Xiao's old tribe."
Chai Ting clenched the edge of the tea bowl with one hand, and finally there was a change in his eyes.
"If it really comes to that step, is it really what General Chai wants to see?" Li Yin said: "Is it really meaningful to sacrifice the lives of countless soldiers for the current imperial court?"
He said firmly: "If Axiao was still here, she would never use this method of fighting to the death on the soldiers of the Sheng Kingdom who also protect the country——"
Chai Ting raised his head and finally spoke: "However, the prince has rebellious intentions, and it is our duty to attack the traitors!"
"May I ask the general, what does it mean to be rebellious?" King Rong looked magnanimous: "Ah Xiao and I are both surnamed Li, and we have the same blood flowing through our bodies."
Chai Ting looked at Prince Rong steadily: "In terms of blood relationship, today's emperor is also the mother of His Royal Highness the former Crown Prince——"
"However, this mother stepped on Axiao's flesh and blood to ascend to the throne. Axiao no longer owes her anything." King Rong's mood seemed to have finally calmed down. His eyes seemed to be complaining about the deceased, but his mouth was full of injustice.
Question: "Although General Chai was not as close as General Chang Kuo and Axiao in the past, he was also a well-known and good general in the Xuance Mansion. In this case, I would like to ask General Chai... Do you know Axiao's real name?
?”
Chai Ting's expression changed slightly: "What does the prince mean by this?"
Looking at each other, Prince Rong said: "It seems that General Chai has indeed been suspicious."
Chai Ting pursed her lips, which were thin due to old age, and felt a long-lost storm in her heart.
The late Crown Prince suddenly died of illness, and three years later, the always weak Princess Chongyue suddenly killed the Beidi coach before the war... Later, he saw with his own eyes that Chang Kuo went crazy because of the death of Princess Chongyue, and so on.
, how could he not be suspicious?
It’s just that he has never sought verification, has no way of seeking verification, and does not dare to seek verification...
"Ah Xiao, who rose to the position of crown prince by virtue of his military exploits, has always been Ah Shang."
Li Yin's voice was not strong, but it was like a thunderbolt that struck Chai Ting's heart.
"I taught Ashang how to practice martial arts when he was young." Li Yin's voice became softer, like water flowing through the past years, covered with a layer of transparent sadness: "I know better than anyone else what she has experienced along the way.
What."
"The reason A Shang agreed to marry Beidi was precisely because the Queen of the Ming Dynasty personally asked for it -" King Rong said: "From then on, A Shang no longer owed her mother. Because her mother should have expected that A Shang would
What kind of situation will you face when you go to Beidi?"
Chai Ting did not dare to listen any longer and almost interrupted Li Yin: "That is also your Highness's own decision... Your Highness is for the sake of all people!"
He looked at Li Yin steadily: "Does His Highness Prince Rong want to use this matter to make Chai hate the Emperor?"
"No." Li Yin looked back at Chai Ting: "I just want to tell the general that Ah Shang owes nothing to the Ming Dynasty. If the general, in the name of fulfilling his filial piety, sticks to the Ming Dynasty's ambitions to the end, he will not hesitate to let the people live.
The turmoil caused Da Sheng's soldiers to kill each other, which is really a foolish move to deceive oneself and others."
"It also goes against Ashang's original intention of establishing Xuance Army -" Li Yin's voice became two points louder: "A Shang will never allow Xuance Army to be the enemy of the people."
The wind and snow poured into the pavilion, and the fire shook.
The arrogance that arose from grief and anger around Chai Ting slowly subsided.
"The hearts and minds of the people..." The veteran lowered his head and closed his eyes helplessly: "The hearts and minds of the people are only in the mouth of His Royal Highness Prince Rong... When His Royal Highness Prince Rong ordered Duan Shiang to attack Luoyang, did he ever worry about the livelihood of the people?"
Li Yin sighed: "General Chai, if you have ulterior motives, how can you believe it?"
"Your Majesty, is this a deliberate slander made by King Fan Yang before he died?"
"No, it's Chang Sui Ning of Huainan Road." Li Yin said slowly without any eagerness to defend himself: "This woman has great ambitions. At that time, King Fan Yang fell into her hands, and she took advantage of him to slander him.
My king, what is the intention behind this move? Do you need to elaborate further?"
Chai Ting looked at Li Yin: "According to this, His Royal Highness Prince Rong has nothing to do with Duan Shiang?"
"Yes, I can swear." Li Yin's expression remained calm and calm: "I have never had a child with the blood of the Duan family. They are just rumors created by others."
Chai Ting did not comment. For a moment, he turned to look at the wind and snow outside the pavilion, his eyes were heavy.
This time on the emperor's order to send troops to the Shannan West Road, he was not completely without hesitation...
When counting the casualties after every battle, he was often at a loss, wondering what the meaning of such fighting was.
There was silence in the pavilion for a moment before Li Yin's voice sounded again.
"The hearts of the people are not in my mouth, but in the hearts of my king and the general." Li Yin said: "I have no intention of persuading the general to surrender——"
Chai Ting laughed at himself: "Chai doesn't have such great ability at this time to persuade the army to surrender."
Although he was the commander-in-chief, the actual people in power in the army at this time were all the emperor's men, and he was only in name only.
"But the general may be able to let the army wait and see for a while to avoid unnecessary casualties." Li Yin's voice seemed to blend into the wind and snow, but his sincerity did not diminish: "Please give the people time to speak, general."
, and also leave a clear path for survival for the 60,000 Xuance troops."
Chai Yan stared at the wind and snow outside the pavilion and said nothing for a long time. His originally tense shoulders slowly lowered silently.
When he arrived, King Rong left in a carriage.
The man wearing a cloak sat cross-legged in the car, closing his eyes and concentrating, with a faint smile on his lips.
During this trip, he never thought of persuading Chai Yan to surrender.
It is always unstable to use words to make people surrender. Today, he only needs to let Chai Yan see that he is worried about Xuance's army and the people of the world... Of course, his selfishness is also obvious, and he wants to do everything possible.
Reduce the loss of troops on Shannan West Road as much as possible.
But this selfishness is human nature and is not a fault.
Selfless people make people wary, and selfish people make it easier to win trust.
Chai Yan and the imperial army, after seeing the people's hearts that were about to appear and how the imperial court was crushed by them, naturally knew what choice they should make.
The carriage was moving slowly in the snow, and King Rong quietly took stock of the situation in his mind. The overall situation was basically under control, except for one variable... and that variable was growing visibly to the naked eye.
After Chang Suining went all the way north to sweep up, he first went to Taiyuan, then to Shuofang...
There is no doubt that she is outstanding, and her methods are so clever that almost everyone wherever she goes is willing to use her.
But at the same time, she really looks too much like A Shang——
It seems that when the opportunity comes, he still goes to Yinshan Mountain.
The 40,000 cavalry who suddenly came out from Taiyuan were taken to Yinshan by her, and were about to join the Xuance army in Cui Jing's hands to resist Beidi.
This huge cavalry team, which was enough to frighten all parties, was used by Chang Sui Ning and Cui Jing in the remote and desolate northern border.
Some truths are clearly just rhetoric and methods used to establish the world, but some people take them seriously and are willing to become moths under this truth.
Li Yin sighed vaguely, as if pity, as if sighing.
There was a slight bump on the road, and the candlelight in the car flickered. He raised his hand, and his movements seemed slow, but in fact he extinguished the weak flickering candlelight steadily and accurately.
The car was plunged into darkness, and the boundless snowy light outside the car reflected the sky and the earth crystal clear.
From Shuofang to the north, it stopped snowing.
There is no moon on New Year's Eve, but there are stars all over the sky, hanging densely above the night curtain. When you look up, it is so bright that it catches your heart.
The sea of stars stretches and covers many mountains. On the other side of the mountains, there are golden sparks flying in the wind. There are bonfires piled around the temporary tents. It is a lively scene in the world.
Dried food was roasting on the fire, leaving only the original burnt aroma of the food.
The large iron pot on the stove was simmering with hot soup, steaming out. In the soup pot was the prey hunted in the mountains yesterday. Prey was not easy to come by in winter. There was less meat and more people. After cleaning it, I simply chopped it all up and threw it away.
The soup was boiled in the pot and each person was given a bowl so that everyone could taste the meat.
Two pieces of dry food and a bowl of hot broth sprinkled with salt were the New Year's food for the soldiers.
It is rare to have hot food to eat on the march, and the soldiers are very satisfied.
No one complained, and no one felt it, especially when they thought that the army ahead was desperately resisting Beidi.
Among these 50,000 cavalry, excluding Chang Suining's men, the remaining 40,000 are Bingzhou cavalry. They have known their mission from a long time ago, and the man who made them exist as cavalry has always led by example. At this moment
Still charging at the front, they couldn't help but admire and be convinced.
A battle to protect the country with clear meaning, although difficult, is more successful than it can bring a positive sense of self-consistency to the soldiers.
They are magnanimous, brave, and fulfilled. They do not need to convince themselves when killing the enemy, because they are extremely convinced that they are practicing their loyalty to their homeland every time they draw their swords. The blood spilled on their bodies is also glory, which is both the tempering and perfection of their will.
.
This kind of magnanimity gave them a sense of relaxation that soldiers who fought fiercely in civil strife did not have.
There were soldiers playing drums and singing songs around the campfire. When one man went off-key and led a group of people to follow him, it caused a burst of wanton laughter.
With a frown on his face, he held a pot on his knees and warmed it by the fire. He couldn't help but laugh, so much that his nose ran out of his nose.
Just now, I said that no one feels bitter. This is incomplete. There is an exception, and that is Yi Gu...Yi Gu feels that he is too bitter.
He had never traveled with an army like this in his life. Although he was usually wrapped in a quilt and lying on a cart stacked with marching supplies, he was still shaken to pieces and his buttocks were bruised.
Yihu summed up his journey in four words: joining the army for his master.
Cui Lang was thinking about going to the north to see his elder brother, but he was stopped by his clan members - as the head of the family, it is also his duty to live safely.
The head of the family has a valuable status and cannot take risks without authorization, so let one person go on behalf of the head of the family... this person is a pot.
Before Yi Hu left, Cui Lang repeatedly told him that after seeing his eldest brother, he must complete three things for him.
Yipot often thinks about those three things in his mind, and always feels a little embarrassed when he thinks about the last one.
Yipot, who was troubled by this, sighed at the bonfire in front of him.
Amid the commotion, Chang Suining picked up a bunch of objects at hand.
This is what Wei Shuyi gave her when she left Lingzhou, and asked her to keep it by her side for good luck on New Year's Eve - a silk ribbon twisted into a colorful rope, with a hundred copper coins densely woven on it, which is a folk custom.
Common festival objects have the meaning of bringing good luck to people.
When Chang Sui Ning first met, he thought Wei Shuyi's thoughts were strange. She was neither a human nor a ghost, so there was no need to suppress evil spirits... Could it be that this guy said he wasn't afraid of ghosts, but instead used them to suppress evil spirits?
Come to suppress her, right?
But then I thought about it, Wei Zigu has always thought carefully and is not a person with whimsical ideas. He should not be so naive and out of touch with reality, trying to use a mere hundred coins to suppress such a big evil like her. There is no such thing in the world.
Buy and sell.
Maybe he really wanted to bring her good luck. After all, it was the New Year's Day march, so good intentions were still needed.
Chang Sui Ning sat cross-legged in front of the fire, holding the very beautiful bunch of New Year's money high in front of his eyes, looked at it carefully, and said to himself: "Then I hope that the prosperity of my country will be safe again, and that the country's fortune will be better."
May the loyal and brave soldiers return safely, and the suffering of the common people can end as soon as possible. With the new year, the world will be replaced by new phenomena, all evil spirits and monsters will be eliminated, and the year of peace will be ushered in."