On this spring night, on the long bridge, Liu Chengyou's chatterbox was completely open, as if he wanted to say all the words he had been holding in his heart since time travel. His cold face was filled with lively colors, and he was talking eloquently. Continuously. Seeing the two sons pointing out the situation, Liu Zhiyuan quietly listened.
"In the afternoon, after the meeting, I specially invited General Wang Xiufeng to the courtyard to consult on the Central Plains and Khitan affairs. I learned a lot!" When talking about it, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but add small movements with his hands, swinging in the air a few times. Next: "General Wang concluded that the Khitans are not as difficult to deal with as imagined. The Khitans will definitely not be able to defend the Central Plains and will retreat north sooner or later!"
"Tell me about it!" Liu Zhiyuan's face was still full of interest.
Liu Chengyou was obviously interested. He stood up directly, walked a few steps in front of his father and brother, and said: "What my father is most afraid of is the 300,000 troops of Yelu Deguang and the Khitan. Three hundred thousand people, how big is that?" A powerful force, but if you analyze it carefully, it is not that scary!"
"The Khitan people are said to be three hundred thousand, but how many soldiers are there and how many elites are there? Coming south, before the Battle of Hutuo River, the road was not smooth. They fought all the way. The number of soldiers was reduced and the number was no longer full. The land of Hebei and Zhao is vast, so all When passing through prefectures and counties, troops and horses were also left to control the place. Fortified cities and fortresses were like Zhenzhou, and heavy troops were stationed to protect the retreat route."
"After entering Bianliang, they sent troops and horses to plunder everywhere. They also sent troops to Guanzhong and Heyang. Hundreds of thousands of troops were scattered in various states, but they specialized in looting and enjoyed the colorful world of the Central Plains. Their morale must have declined. Depressed."
"However, these are not the most important. The tyranny of the Khitan people will be repeated by the people of the Central Plains. There is no doubt about it! At this time, Yelu Deguang was sitting on the blazing fire without knowing it. He was thirty years old Tens of thousands of soldiers are strong, but they don't know that the anger of the people of the Central Plains is powerful enough to break them into pieces."
"The Jin army was reduced to 100,000 soldiers. They were treated harshly, suspected, and their lives were often threatened. They were angry and had complaints for a long time. Although Du Chongwei, Li Shouzhen and others suppressed them, their virtues have long been despised. I heard General Wang said , I’m so tired of surrendering without a fight and acting as an aide to the tiger. Those 100,000 soldiers, not only did not help the Khitan people to control the Central Plains, but now, they have become a fatal threat to their bedside!”
"The wanton extortion of money caused the remaining ministers of the Jin Dynasty who were originally attached to them to gradually become alienated. Those who submitted to the festival were either killed or humiliated, and the rest were mostly banned from Bianliang and never returned to the town. In Bianjie, the commander-in-chief People like Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing who have outstanding qualifications, abilities, and prestige are deeply jealous of Yelu Deguang. They probably also regret surrendering to the Khitan. If they lose their sense of restraint, the place will no longer be stable. Already."
"And local Jiedu in various places still have a certain degree of strength. As long as someone takes the lead in resisting the Khitan, they will definitely respond."
"When my father launched an army in Hedong, he might only send tens of thousands of troops, but the supporting ones would be millions of soldiers and civilians in the Central Plains and Hebei."
"And now that the ice and snow have disappeared and the weather has warmed up, it is inevitable that the Khitan soldiers will not be able to adapt to the conditions of the Khitan army after many thousands of miles of expedition. Once the soldiers and people of the Central Plains rise up to fight against each other and attack together, how can Yelu Deguang stay for a long time?"
"..."
After a long discussion, Liu Chengyou talked so much that he felt a little emotional. He breathed a long sigh of relief, slowly calmed down his ups and downs, and sat down next to his father and brother again.
Liu Zhiyuan and Liu Chengxun both looked at Liu Chengyou, who was gradually returning to his autistic state, with complicated expressions. After digesting what Liu Chengyou said, Liu Zhiyuan sighed softly: "Aren't these all what Wang Xiufeng taught you... ....”
"Son, I'm just lying. If there are any omissions or inappropriate things, please forgive me!" Liu Chengyou lowered his head slightly and made a humble gesture.
After staring at Liu Chengyou for a long time, Liu Zhiyuan suddenly stroked his beard and said with emotion: "I never thought that my son would have such knowledge, I feel so relieved!" While sighing, he couldn't help but glance at the people around him from the corner of his eye. eldest son.
He raised his eyes and looked around, and saw that the Zhongcheng Bridge was even quieter. He put his hands on the ground and was about to get up. At this time, Liu Chengxun immediately came up and helped Liu Zhiyuan up.
"It's getting late, let's all go back home and rest!" he said without saying anything more. Under the protection of the guards, Liu Zhiyuan walked slowly ahead.
Liu Chengyou and Liu Chengxun also walked off the bridge together. Liu Chengyou continued to be autistic, but Liu Chengxun no longer took the initiative to talk to him as before. When they got into the car, Liu Chengxun couldn't help but look in the direction of his second brother, with a particularly strange expression. complex......
What Liu Chengxun didn't know was that in the car he was looking at, through the gap in the car curtain, Liu Chengyou was also looking at his figure. The difference was that there was no so-called complicated expression on Liu Chengyou's face, just indifference.
...
Since that day's meeting, the undercurrent in Jinyang City called "encouraging advancement" has become more and more turbulent. On this matter, it was rare for Hedong civil and military forces to unite and work together to elevate Liu Zhiyuan to the throne.
But Liu Zhiyuan's attitude is still unpredictable. He neither agrees nor refuses, but just keeps a cold face and does not respond. After that, he hands over all important military and political affairs to his subordinates and no longer pays attention to them. He lived in the Prince's Palace in Peiping, accompanied his wife Li, and personally trained Liu Chengxun, the third son of the Liu family.
Liu Zhiyuan was able to sit firmly on the Diaoyutai, but the civil and military officials below did not stop at all and actively gathered together to communicate. For a while, Jinyang City seemed to be in chaos.
There are many smart people among the civil and military forces in Hedong, such as Yang Bin, Wang Zhang, Guo Wei and other old people who have been following for a long time. As the situation developed, they probably guessed Liu Zhiyuan's thoughts of waiting and waiting, and were not as reckless as the people below. , but tried his best to comfort him.
Latecomers like Wang Jun, eager to make contributions, found some literati and went to the market to publicize what they saw and heard during their mission, made the Khitan atrocities known to the public, and even vigorously promoted the "Khitan threat theory". ", saying that the Khitan army may send troops to Hedong at any time.
Of course, the most important thing is that the world needs a hero who can exterminate the barbarians, clean up the country, and rebuild the world, and this hero is naturally none other than Liu Gong of Taiyuan!
What Wang Jun did was very smart. Just as Liu Chengyou said in the conversation that day, General Wang Xiufeng was a smart man. At least, before he became famous and his character flaws were not exposed, Wang Jun was indeed a very smart man. To build momentum, Played very smoothly.
Not two days after Wang Jun's envoy to Bian returned, Bai Wenke, the deputy left-behind man from Beijing who also went south to pay homage, also returned. Compared with Wang Jun, he came back and forth much faster, and also looked more embarrassed.
The old general, who was more than seventy years old, still looked very strong. He didn't care about the fatigue of the saddle and horse, and was covered in dust. He went directly to Liu Zhiyuan to report to him the situation of his return as an envoy.
Liu Zhiyuan, as for Liu Zhiyuan, was secretly listening to Liu Chong, Liu Xin, Shi Hongzhao, Guo Wei and others report on the situation in the army in the study. Brother Liu Chengyou was also there, and he also described the situation of the Longqi Army.
Liu Zhiyuan asked, "Mr. Dewen, how was your trip to Bianliang?"
Bai Wenke thanked him first, then shook his head, with some emotion on his old face filled with ravines: "The Khitan government is in turmoil, I'm afraid I can't stay in China for long! I watched the whole ceremony of the Khitan Lord's enthronement ceremony. His face was solemn and there was nothing new about it. The spirit of prosperity toward the establishment.”
"It's similar to what Wang Jun got!" Liu Zhiyuan sighed with emotion.
Bai Wenke continued: "When I leave Bian, the Khitan Lord asked me to bring you a message!"
"Then I want to hear it!" Liu Zhiyuan looked very relaxed.
"The Lord Khitan said that your Majesty is neither involved in the Southern Dynasties nor the Northern Dynasties. What are you waiting for and what are your plans?" Bai Wenke said.
"Haha..." Liu Zhiyuan smiled when he heard this and glanced at the officers present: "It seems that this Khitan master doesn't have much patience with Gu Yu Hedong anymore!"
"Your Majesty, these questions are enough to show his suspicion, and now there is no way to retreat!" It was Guo Wei again, who responded very quickly: "According to what Wang Xiufeng and Bai Gong said, the Khitan is corrupt and will not be able to maintain China for a long time. Please don’t hesitate any longer!”