Zhu Dongshan was afraid, and others present were far from relaxed.

There were more than a dozen important ministers present. Although there were old ministers promoted by the saint, there were also new ministers brought up by Tantai Xuanye. For example, Su Lun, Minister of the Ministry of War, was appreciated by Tantai Xuanye. During the period when the saint was under house arrest,

Tantai Xuanye directly appointed him with a fake edict.

After the saint regained his power, he did not make a big move against the people promoted by Tantai Xuanye.

In fact, all the ministers can also understand that the court has been in conflict several times over the years, setting off rounds of bloodshed. Many capable courtiers have died or been imprisoned, and some officials have even fled to the northeast. If the saint comes again for another bloodbath,

I am afraid that there are not many people in the imperial court who can take charge.

Now is the time to employ people, so the saint will definitely show mercy for the time being to ensure the stability of the court.

However, after this battle, the Prime Minister returned to power. No one can guarantee whether the Prime Minister will cause a storm by then.

Since Tantai Xuanye was able to use heavy blows to cleanse the Prime Minister's party, it is only natural that the Prime Minister would turn around and cleanse the people promoted by Tantai Xuanye.

Some people thought that during the war, the saint summoned the important officials of the court to accompany him in the imperial study room in the palace, without discussing any important matters. It seemed that he was worried that these important officials would act rashly at this sensitive time. The moment they entered the palace,

, I'm afraid they have been regarded as hostages.

With this thought, everyone became even more awe-inspiring and did not dare to say a word.

After a period of silence, I suddenly heard another eunuch running into the imperial study room. He knelt down and reported, "Report to the saint. A cavalry suddenly appeared outside the city. Taking advantage of the Mingchun Gate before the drawbridge was pulled up, they attacked Mingchun.

Door!"

The saint was originally calm and composed, but when he heard the report, his expression suddenly changed.

All the ministers present also thought that the saint had made careful arrangements and the overall situation must have been decided. Anyone who had imagined it was shocked when such a report suddenly came.

"Did Mo Xingde not have the cavalry to guard against the Rouxuan rebels?" The saint stood up suddenly and said angrily, "How could he be so stupid?"

"Reporting to the saint, General Mo has been keeping an eye on the rebel cavalry. At this moment, our cavalry is fighting with the rebel cavalry." The eunuch reported, "The cavalry who raided Mingchun Gate are not the Rouxuan rebels. They reported that,

The armor of that cavalry is very strong, and the swords are not our Tang Army sabers. Some people heard them claiming to be fire armored dragon cavalry!"

"Fire Armored Dragon Rider?" The saint was startled. He glanced at the ministers, and finally his eyes fell on Su Lun, the Minister of War, and asked, "Su Lun, have you heard of this name?"

The Minister of War immediately stood up, bowed and shook his head and said, "Reporting to the sage, there is no such cavalry establishment in the eighteen states of the Tang Dynasty. If it existed, it would be recorded in the Ministry of War. Moreover, no one would dare to use the word "Dragon Rider" in the name of the cavalry.

.”

"They are not using Tang swords, are they not our Tang cavalry?" someone asked suspiciously.

"Except for our Tang Dynasty cavalry, which foreign cavalry can travel through our country?" Su Lun said, "Jiayuguan has been sealed off for several years.

The eastward advance of the Wutuo people has been blocked, and the border troops in the northern grassland tribes are watching!" Thinking of something, he asked the eunuch, "How many people are there in this cavalry?"

"More than a hundred people," the eunuch said, "They killed the soldiers guarding the gate and took control of the Mingchun Gate."

Everyone was relieved when they heard that there were only more than a hundred people, but they immediately realized something was wrong.

Although most of the officials present did not understand military affairs, they were all extremely shrewd people. After thinking about this military report for a moment, they knew that this was an extremely dangerous signal.

The saint planned the final decisive battle, using several times the number of troops to attack a tired army. Even if the Rouxuan army could fight, there was no hope of winning in this kind of head-on bloody battle.

As long as the Rouxuan Army finds itself being flanked, its only thought can only be to break out in a bloody battle, and it is impossible for the Rouxuan Army to have extravagant hopes of taking Kyoto.

Therefore, in this case, it is impossible to arrange a cavalry to seize the door.

Because even if the city gate is captured, it will have no effect at all.

What's more, the report also made it very clear that the cavalry that captured the gate were not Rouxuan soldiers, but fire-armored dragon cavalry. Even their armor and swords were completely different from Rouxuan soldiers.

There is only one possibility, and that is that a troop of soldiers and horses that even the saint did not expect suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

Tonight's decisive battle was carefully planned by the saint, and someone suddenly joined the battlefield at an inexplicable time. Of course, it couldn't be as simple as coincidence.

The deployment of troops and horses before the battle, concealment, tactics and many other military affairs are not done just by thinking about it, but after strict planning.

Just like the Nishikawa Army that suddenly came tonight, it certainly didn't arrive suddenly. It must have arrived in Gyeonggi many days ago, but it was just well hidden and just waiting for the best time to appear.

If there is another troop of soldiers and horses near Kyoto City tonight, it can only mean that that troop of troops and horses also made careful plans in advance. Not only did they hide their whereabouts, but they also knew the battle situation in Kyoto very well, so they could proceed calmly and calmly.

Plans can also be put into the battlefield at the most critical moment.

Since hundreds of Fire Armored Dragon Riders dared to take the opportunity to rob the city gate, it only proves that the army behind the Fire Armored Dragon Riders is ready to enter the city tonight.

The ministers can think of this, and so can the saints.

But which group of troops suddenly attacked?

The first thing the saint thought of was of course the Xuzhou Army under She Yue.

After the defeat of Tantai Xuanye, Xuzhou's army was at its peak, and since Sheyue had joined forces with Taishi Cunxu, the next step would definitely be to send troops northward and take Kyoto directly.

But as the biggest threat and enemy of Kyoto, the Saint has always been extremely concerned about the situation in Xuzhou.

After a major purge of Ziyi Prison by Tantai Xuanye, Xiao Jianzhi, Luo Hu and other pillars were almost wiped out. Although this dark yamen did not disappear, its strength almost suffered a devastating blow.

It would be fine if only the officials of the Ziyi Prison were replaced. After all, one of the most important functions of the Ziyi Prison is to control the world's intelligence for the saint. Although the saint is in the imperial city, the huge intelligence network of the Ziyi Prison can bring the world's information to the source.

Keep passing it on.

After twenty years of development, Ziyi Prison has already established an extremely complete intelligence network.

However, Wei Wuya passed away, Xiao Jianzhi, Luo Hu and other important officials fled, and a large number of Wei Wuya's old subordinates were eliminated, which directly led to the paralysis of the intelligence network established with a lot of manpower and material resources.

This is not because the purple-clothed espionage agents stationed in various states disappeared, but because after the purple-clothed espionage was purged, Xiao Jianzhi and others quickly targeted the purple-clothed espionage agents in all states in order to prevent the purple-clothed espionage from becoming a tool for Tantai Xuanye to master the world's intelligence.

They issued the order to lurk.

The intelligence system of the Purple-clothed Prison was built under the personal supervision of Xiao Jianzhi. His lurking orders were issued to all states, so the Purple-clothed Prison in Kyoto was unable to collect intelligence from all over the world and became an empty shell.

The saint can no longer use the Purple Clothes Supervisor to master the world's intelligence, but naturally he still sends spies from Kyoto to keep an eye on the movements in Xuzhou and Jiangnan. Moreover, in these days, the situation in Xuzhou will be sent to Kyoto via flying pigeons to let the saint know.

Xuzhou soldiers and horses actually didn't make any big moves.

Precisely because it was certain that the Xuzhou Army would not be able to quickly rush to the Kyoto battlefield for reinforcements, the Saint was confident in his plan for the decisive battle.

But when this report was reported, the saint knew that this decisive battle might not develop as he thought.

She couldn't be sure which troop of soldiers and horses suddenly appeared on the battlefield, but she understood that since the enemy had robbed the Mingchun Gate, the gate was extremely critical and must be recaptured immediately, otherwise the control of a Kyoto city gate would be in the hands of the enemy.

In the hands of the army, a large number of enemy troops may successfully enter the capital at any time.

"Immediately send an order to lead Tantai Zhangyue to mobilize four hundred dragon scale guards to recapture Chunming Gate." The saint's voice was cold, "If he doesn't know how to clear Chunming Gate, he will die there."

There is no doubt about the combat effectiveness of the Kyoto Dragon Scale Guards. They are good at riding and shooting, and they are brave and fierce.

However, the three thousand Dragon Scale Forbidden Army now has many vacancies.

In order to destroy Tianzhai and obtain the library, Tantai Xuanye sent 800 dragon-scale guards there, but these 800 dragon-scale guards never returned, and most of them joined Qin Xiao.

The main force of the Fire Armored Dragon Riders.

Of course, training a dragon scale guard cannot be done in a short time. If you can't meet the standards, you won't be recruited at all.

Moreover, after Tantai Xuanye seized power, there were many things to do and there was no time to increase the Dragon Scale Forbidden Army. Therefore, the Dragon Scale Forbidden Army currently guarding the imperial city only has about two thousand people, all of whom are led by Tantai Zhangyue.

The eunuch heard the order and was about to step down and send someone to deliver it when Zhu Dongshan, the Minister of Punishment, suddenly said, "Wait a minute!"

When Zhu Dongshan said this, everyone else was surprised. The saint was also suspicious and looked at Zhu Dongshan.

Zhu Dongshan hurriedly said, "Sage, I have something to report!"

"What's the matter?"

"The Mingchun Gate was seized by the rebels. What happened? The truth is unclear for a while." Zhu Dongshan said hurriedly, "I believe that the duty of the Dragon Scale Forbidden Army is to guard the imperial city. They are the last support of Kyoto and cannot be thrown into the battlefield easily.

The Forbidden Army does not have many troops, and the two thousand soldiers and horses guarding the imperial city are not enough. If we deploy them at this time, if something goes wrong!" Realizing that what he said was unclear, he did not dare to continue.

The saint stared at Zhu Dongshan with a stern expression and did not speak for a while.

All the ministers held their breaths, knowing that the Mingchun Gate was lost, the saint must be angry, and Zhu Dongshan's words were ominous. If the saint was angry, Zhu Dongshan's head might not be saved.

Zhu Dongshan lowered his head and sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Are we going to let the rebels control the Mingchun Gate?" The saint finally said, "We will fight the rebels tonight. Except for the Dragon Scale Guards, almost all the soldiers and horses are involved. If we don't dispatch the Dragon Scale Guards to retake the city gate, how can we

Who do you expect?"

Zhu Dongshan immediately said, "Report to the sage and the Ministry of Justice. In order to ensure the order in the city, the sage did not transfer the officials from the Ministry of Justice and Kyoto Prefecture to participate in the decisive battle. I can quickly gather the officials from the Ministry of Justice and Kyoto Prefecture to join forces.

There is absolutely no problem with two or three hundred people. These officials have also learned sword skills and have some abilities. Now it is about the life and death of the Tang Dynasty, and they will definitely fight with all their strength. I am willing to take them to take back the Mingchun Gate." I looked up.

The saint glanced at him and saw that the saint was also looking at him. He immediately looked extremely determined and said, "I will do my best. If I can't recapture the city gate, I am willing to fight to death!"

The sage sighed, "All my dear friends have heard it. Only in times of crisis do you know who is loyal and what is traitorous. Zhu Aiqing stepped forward and was truly a first-class loyal minister of our Tang Dynasty. The rebels who captured the gate were only over a hundred people, and they were just dismounted."

It's normal. If Zhu Aiqing leads the troops to seize the gate, he will definitely succeed." After thinking for a while, he said, "I will assign thirty more forbidden troops to you, so that it will be more foolproof!"

Zhu Dongshan thanked him and said, "I will go and gather people now to recapture the Mingchun Gate and immediately send someone to report to the saint." Without any nonsense, he bowed and quickly retreated.
Chapter completed!