The sky was still dark and there were soldiers and generals standing outside Guan Yamen. At two o'clock in the morning, a dozen soldiers came to protect Li Chengzhi on horseback.
All the ministers shouted "Guo Gong", Li Chengzhi returned the greeting with his hands in hand, and then they all entered the meeting hall.
This discussion lasted a whole day, and even three meals were taken to the Yamen Hall, and the discussion was not completed until the sun went down.
That night, all soldiers and workers, including women, old and weak, who used to help in various factories, received an order to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs early the next morning to rush to produce a supply of military supplies.
The people were like this, and the army was mobilized even more frequently: from now on, Li Liang and Li Feng all withdrew their armies, leaving only Li Yongshou to lead a guard to garrison Juyan Lake.
Huangfu was ordered to shrink his troops from Wuwei and move to Zhangye. Li Chengzhi also ordered him to divide his troops and go south, giving him one month to occupy Linsong (a county under Zhangye, present-day Sunan, bordering Tuyuhun).
Even the newly integrated town army was mobilized and used as a private camp to transport grain and grass to Zhangye County.
Suddenly, the news spread, and even the ordinary people in Zhenyicheng knew that there was going to be another war!
…
"What is Li Chengzhi doing?"
Seeing Yuan Zhi being carried out of the other courtyard and put into a car, Cui Guang was shocked and suspicious, "Could it be that he is angry with Yuan Zhi and wants to hold him accountable?"
Wei Zijian shook his head: "Don't worry, Minister, it won't be like this!"
I dare not say that I know this good son-in-law well, but I at least know something about his character. Wei Zijian knows very well that Li Chengzhi is by no means such a foolish person.
If he annoyed Yuan Zhi and became resentful, and let him die in the army when he was defeated, wouldn't it be a once and for all solution? How could he be at odds with him now?
"Then why is that so?"
Cui Guang asked suspiciously, "Don't you see that Yuan Zhi's face is ashen and full of anger, as if he is going to die?"
"Since the minister has doubts, why not ask?"
With one word to wake up the dreamer, Cui Guang suddenly realized: "That's right?"
Li Chengzhi was very generous and did not prohibit the two of them from being free. Cui Guang actually forgot about it for a while.
He did what he said. He immediately lifted up the skirt of his robe, took two quick steps, and stopped the driver.
The general recognized Cui Guang, so he immediately raised his hand and asked, "What advice does Shangshu have?"
"Nothing to do with you!"
Cui Guang waved his hand and pointed at Yuan Zhi, who was looking out the window: "Where is Governor Yuan going?"
Seemingly still aggrieved, Yuan Zhi blushed and replied in a hissing voice: "Bing Shangshu, the thief chief wants to force Yuan to come forward and recruit the Dunhuang Army to surrender..."
At this time of year, should we surrender the Dunhuang army?
Wei Zijian frowned: "If the governor doesn't comply, just refuse. I think Chengzhi will not make things difficult for you. Why do you look like this?"
Yuan Zhi hated Wu Jiwu, and when he saw Li Chengzhi, he dared to call him "thief chief", so he naturally had a bad look towards Wei Zijian: "What do you mean? If someone doesn't obey, he will die at most, but the Dunhuang army and the people
If nearly a million of them all died in vain due to that cannon, wouldn’t Yuan be a sinner through the ages under the thunder from the sky?”
After saying that, he snorted coldly, retracted his head and lowered the car curtain.
Seeing his appearance, Cui Guang was thoughtful and moved out of the way. The general said "offended" and ordered the soldiers to rush up the carriage.
Seeing him walking away, Wei Zijian exclaimed: "It's so sanctimonious, so shameless!"
Having been immersed in officialdom for decades, Cui Guang has already become a master in cultivation. How could he not hear Wei Zijian's hidden meaning?
Yuan Zhi had already expressed his intention to surrender, so how could he dare to disobey Li Chengzhi?
But he was afraid that if he was exposed, he would be punished by the court in the future, so he used the name of nearly a million towns to cover up his own ugliness.
Cui Guang sighed and shook his head: "This Yuanzhi has a reputation of being loyal and honest, but he didn't expect that he is greedy for life and afraid of death?"
"There is great terror between life and death. Who is not afraid?"
Wei Zijian grinned as if he had a toothache, "It's really shameful to be both a prostitute and a memorial arch..."
"Where did you learn such weird words?"
After scolding, Cui Guang said suspiciously, "After fighting in Daqi, Bigan City, Juyan Lake and other places, the army has been withdrawn and there is no time to rest and recuperate. Li Chengzhi is going to march to Dunhuang again?"
"It is estimated that something happened somewhere, and this is the last resort!"
Wei Zijian changed the topic, "Shang Shu and Cheng Zhi have always been close to each other, and he treats you with every courtesy, like a teacher and a friend. Why don't you ask him face to face?"
"If he says he wants to go to war with the imperial court, how do you want me to deal with it? Should I commit suicide on the spot and sacrifice my life for the country, or should I surrender to him and become a rebellious minister?"
Cui Guang rolled his eyes, "Why didn't you ask?"
Wei Zijian laughed dryly: "Although I am your son-in-law, I have no choice but to be the head of the Wei clan. I cannot bear the name of 'rebellion'..."
Therefore, it is better to pretend to be deaf and dumb and live in vain.
"Traitor!"
Cui Guang cursed bitterly, rolled up his sleeves and entered the courtyard, "Are we going to drink today, do some poetry, or play chess?"
Wei Zijian was not annoyed and followed happily: "Of course I'll do whatever you want!"
As soon as the words were finished, they heard a few more whistles, and the two of them stopped in unison and turned around.
A horse came galloping and stopped in front of the courtyard gate. The knight dismounted, bowed his hands and said, "Cui Shangshu, Wei Shaoqing, the Duke has invited you. Can you please go to Guancheng to talk about it?"
Since the birth of Li Chengzhi's eldest son, he met Li Chengzhi when he held a banquet in Guancheng. This was the second time he took the initiative to invite him.
Could it be that as Wei Zijian expected, something changed and Li Chengzhi wanted to force the two of them to express their stance?
Do you think I'm a person like Yuan Zhi who lives an ignoble existence?
Cui Guang's face darkened: "Do you know what's going on?"
"The Empress Dowager and Your Majesty have sent Aunt Zanghou as their envoy, and they have arrived at the town government office. So the Duke wants to invite Shangshu and Shaoqing to accompany him..."
The envoys sent by the imperial court must be here for appeasement.
But he is really good at picking people, and it turns out to be Li Shao?
"It's time for a banquet. I should go to my appointment. I'll change clothes and take a shower. I'll be here later!"
After driving away the soldiers, Cui Guang stroked his beard again, quite gloating: "Last time, it was because of Yuan Zhi and Luo Jian that all our previous efforts were wasted and we became prisoners of the rank.
But this time everything is calm, I think the court must be sincere, I am afraid that it may not be possible to make Li Chengzhi the king, otherwise it will not make Li Shao the envoy... I don't think he has anything to say?"
Wei Zijian frowned: "I knew that the imperial court was approving me again, but Chengzhi marched into Dunhuang at such a juncture. It shows that his heart is as hard as stone and hard to shake. He will definitely not be as the Queen Mother and Your Majesty want..."
"Why do you think I am laughing?"
Cui Guang snorted coldly, "Li Chengzhi can imprison you and me, so he can also imprison Li Shao. You can't favor one over the other, pick the weak ones, right? After the banquet later, I will definitely ask him: If not
If you dare, I will return you and me to Luojing as soon as possible..."
Will Li Shao be imprisoned in the West Sea?
It may sound inappropriate at first, but if you think about it deeply, it is really possible.
Cui Guang said that Li Chengzhi did not dare, because the Li family in Jingzhou belonged to the same lineage as the Li family in Longxi, and they would definitely need more help in the future. Therefore, no matter who Li Chengzhi offended, he would not offend Li Shao.
But looking at it from the other side, given the current situation in the West Sea, the status of aristocratic families has plummeted, and they are even worse than common people and lowly households. This shows that Li Chengzhi has a deep prejudice against aristocratic families.
By analogy, Li Chengzhi most likely never thought that with the help of Longxi Li Shiran, he would be able to detach himself from others and treat everyone equally.
Taking a step back, the Li family in Longxi was mostly persecuted by the late emperor and had deep resentment towards the royal family. It was hard to guarantee that Li Shao would not go along with the situation and pretend to be forced to do nothing, but in fact he sincerely attached himself to Li Chengzhi.
Therefore, what Cui Guang hopes for is destined to be nothing but a mirror. Maybe Li Shao will refuse to leave without Li Chengzhi opening his mouth...
With this thought in his mind, Wei Zijian complimented: "What the Minister said is true!"
…
The two of them sat facing each other, Li Shao drank tea slowly and methodically, and would sigh in admiration from time to time.
However, Li Chengzhi frowned and his face was filled with sorrow.
"I thought it would be His Royal Highness King Rencheng who came, but unexpectedly it was replaced by Uncle Shi?"
"Cui Shangshu and Wei Shaoqing have learned from the past. How dare the King of Rencheng do it again? If he never comes back again, wouldn't it make everyone in the world laugh? So you should have expected it..."
Li Shao put down the tea cup and sighed leisurely, "It's a pity that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't persuade Yuan Cheng to bring Huaide and Chenghong..."
"It's just that he was afraid that I would refuse to be cared for, and in order to effectively prevent Gao Zhao, he threatened me with his father and elder brother! So how could Yuan Cheng let go so easily?"
Li Chengzhi sighed softly and changed the topic again, "I just don't know where Yuan Cheng went?"
"I claim that I want to sit in Guanzhong and transport grain and grass to the six towns in the north as soon as possible to help Yuan Yi settle down his troops and rebel against the people... But now the five states and six towns in the north are at a critical moment. If they are not careful, they will be
All the efforts made before the meeting were in vain. I think what Yuan Cheng said was true..."
At first glance, this seems to be the case.
Although due to Gao Zhao's fault, his rebel generals were caught off guard and had no choice but to surrender.
But this is not the case for rebels and refugees.
Since you dare to make food, you must be risking your life, so there is nothing to be afraid of. All you want is to have food to eat and a way to live. If you can't even satisfy this, then what's the fear of doing it again?
?
So be careful.
But looking at it the other way around, why is it necessary to use Yuan Cheng?
Although Yuan Yi had lived in the central government for a long time and had never been to the prefectures, he naturally had no experience in caring for the people. However, Xi Kangsheng, Xing Luan, and Cui Yanbo were all good ministers in the world, so they naturally knew the principle of paying equal attention to kindness and power and taking a two-pronged approach.
And just for trivial matters such as transporting grain and grass, any one of them is more than enough, so why does Yuan Cheng, the chief assistant, need to do everything personally?
Li Chengzhi always felt something strange, and even suspected that Yuan Cheng was already an envoy and had gone to Rouran, Tuguhun, or Nanliang.
Suspicious in his heart, he sighed sadly: "This Gao Zhao is too incompetent: he has an army of tens of thousands in five states and six towns, millions of people, sufficient food and grass, and countless soldiers. It is time to work hard and work hard."
, when you are brave and diligent, you just surrender?
But that's all. The explanation that puzzles me the most is: the imperial court's name is appeasement, but in fact it is a forced order, and it is harsh and harsh, leaving almost no way to retreat. Why are the rebel generals below the Gao family so willing to accept all the orders?
It’s really ridiculous to think about it: in the past, he was at least a real noble, and if he was not a border official, he was a general. But now he is reduced to a caged bird, just waiting to die. And if he makes a slight mistake, he will
The imperial court raised an army to investigate, and later settled the accounts. In this case, why did you follow Gao Zhao to raise an army in the first place?"
Li Shao's hand holding the tea cup paused, his eyes widened and he asked: "Are you asking knowingly, or do you really not know?"
"Uncle Shi's question is strange. My nephew lives in the West Sea and his eyes and ears are blocked. How can he learn about it?"
"Everything happened because of you. What does it have to do with you living in the West Sea?"
Li Shao made a "sip" sound, as if he was savoring the aroma of tea, and clicked his lips a few times. Then he put down the tea cup and looked at Li Chengzhi with burning eyes:
"You know, Ju Gaozhi and Changsun Dao's 150,000 troops fought hard for half a year, but Luo Jian couldn't tell the difference. In the end, Gao Zhao had a sudden idea and used provocation to force Luo Jian to march westward...
On the other hand, it would be better for you to use only more than 10,000 troops to defeat Luo Jian's nearly 100,000 troops within ten days. Moreover, Bigan City in Daqi is close to the fertile fields, so in just a few days, countless Luo Jian's troops fled to Six Towns.
In less than half a month, the reputation of the West Sea Artillery spread throughout the six towns and even the five states...
As soon as the artillery fired, wherever the gravel and iron filings passed, almost no people or horses were left, and not a single inch of grass was left. And with only a dozen cannons, a huge mountain can be flattened. And no matter how strong the city is, what's the point?
Comparable to mountains?
In this way, how can we not make Gao Zhao as terrified as a frightened bird? What will Gao Zhi, Changsun Dao and others think of Gao Zhi, Changsun Dao and others who have been confronting Luo Jian for half a year without making any achievements? He also knows that you have sworn to be incompatible with him and will never be in conflict with him.
There was no room for change, that's why it fell so fast... It wasn't that Gao Zhao and his rebellious generals were incompetent, but that you, Li Chengzhi, were too strong... It was precisely because Gao Zhao had self-awareness that he was able to make a decisive decision and cut off the tail.
Survive..."
After a pause, Li Shao sighed again: "Now that I think about it, the Queen Mother and Your Majesty should also have heard of it. If they were to change places, even Gao Zhao would have surrendered because of you. It was not that he was invincible to the imperial court, let alone intimidated.
The power of the imperial court can be seen as the strength of the Western Sea? Even so, Yuan Cheng knows that you hate him and grit your teeth, and there is no guarantee that your life will not be in danger in the future, so how can you fall into a trap? "
"It's hard to guarantee that it won't be a tactic by the imperial court to slow down the troops. It's more likely that it's to make a name for the division, so that you can be polite first and then attack."
A glint flashed in Li Chengzhi's eyes: "I just don't know where the imperial soldiers come from?"
"There are indeed soldiers: Xi Kangsheng now has one hundred thousand strong soldiers under his command, and the Gao family has surrendered. Among the surrendered troops of Beizhen and Wuzhou, there can be at least another hundred thousand strong soldiers. But Luo Jian and Yuan Zhi serve as lessons from the past.
, The Queen Mother and all the princes should also be clear now: If they try to pacify you just by relying on more troops, it is just a bit taken for granted..."
Li Shao frowned, "That's why I thought: the imperial court's grant this time was not necessarily a delaying tactic, but it was out of helplessness and had to be like this!"
"If this is true, wouldn't raising tigers be a danger? No matter how ignorant the Queen Mother is, and no matter how short-sighted Yuan Cheng and others are, they will never make such a move..."
Li Chengzhi pondered and said, "I still remember all the past events. The Queen Mother, Yuan Cheng and others are used to cheating, and they like to kill donkeys the most. Therefore, my nephew is self-aware: trusting no one is better than trusting himself. Yes.
No matter how generous this reward is, I will not accept it."
"Wouldn't it be a pity if this happens?"
Li Shao clicked on the imperial edict on the desk, "Being named the King of Liang and separatizing Liangzhou. All areas to the west of Jincheng are Liangtu... Who has had this honor since General Wei?"