The autumn wind howled, causing the lanterns hanging on the eaves to sway.
In the Yingzhou Governor's Mansion, which was requisitioned to serve as the administrative headquarters of the capital, Danxinyuan, the back residence, covers an area of more than ten acres. The ten-yard courtyard is more secluded and unique than the front office and the left and right courtyards.
However, after autumn, the grass and trees in the courtyard withered, and at this time, there were brave guards in armor standing inside and outside, and there was a chilling atmosphere everywhere.
In the living room in the west courtyard, dozens of tall candles illuminated the room as bright as day, and dozens of people were sitting in the hall.
Even though Liu Shizhong, who was wearing a casual robe, deliberately straightened his back at all times, his beard and hair were frosty white, and his skinny old face could not hide his age under the candlelight.
Cai Yuanyou, who has just turned 40, is in his prime.
It's cold in the north, and it's late autumn. The weather is getting colder day by day. The thin Cai Yuanyou added a thick fur coat to the imperial purple official robe. He looked a little bloated. He sat with Liu Shizhong
In the living room, Zhu Xiaotong could not suppress his surprise and confusion:
"Lu Xiong and Xu Huai are together, or is Zhu Hang's son Zhu Zhi going to the mourning hall in the West Administrative Courtyard to express condolences to Liu Jun? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
The private soldiers that the Cai Mansion currently controls in private mainly come from the Victory Army, which was formed by recruiting the orphans of generals who died in the war when Cai Ting was the general manager of the Jingyuan and Yanyan roads.
For a long time, the position of commander of the Shengjie Army has been held by Yue Hailou.
Cai Qing was transferred to Bianjing as the privy envoy. Yue Hailou was demoted from his general position due to crimes and became a private official of the Cai Mansion again in order to revive.
Therefore, Yue Hailou has been directly responsible for the recruitment, training, placement and command of the private armed guards under the Cai Mansion for a long time.
Yue Hailou's plan to assassinate Ge Boyi and frame everyone in Tongbai Mountain failed. A large number of witnesses and physical evidence fell into Ge Boyi's hands. At that time, Ge Boyi hated the Cai clan deeply, far more than those who had seized his military power.
Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son.
Seeing that there was no room for compromise at that time, in order to avoid getting burned, Cai Yuanyou had to abandon the Yuehai Tower and cut it off. Later, the Cai Mansion had to make major adjustments to the armed guards.
Although these personnel may not have different intentions and are not loyal to the Cai family, they are too deeply involved with Yue Hailou. As long as three or five people are bewitched by Yue Hailou, they may cause irreparable harm to Cai. How can the Cai family still rest assured?
Entrust them with the most confidential matters?
The direct consequence of the major personnel adjustments and replacements is that the Cai family is also in chaos, and the power to monitor political opponents is naturally greatly weakened.
If before Yue Hailou betrayed the Cai Mansion, how could such an important figure around Wang Zhen have arrived in Yingzhou, and he had to walk side by side with Xu Huai and Zhu Zhi into Liu Jun's mourning hall to find out?
Although Lu Xiong has not yet held an official position, he is like a idle cloud and a crane around Wang Zhen, not doing much, but because he has sacrificed his life to accompany Wang Zhen through life and death over the years, no one can deny his status in the palace, except Zheng Shou and Wang Zhen.
Kong and others can reach it.
After Wang Zhen came back, he acted like his father-in-law and resolutely opposed the allied attack on Yan. When Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son left Lanzhou at the beginning of the year, they openly parted ways with everyone in Tongbai Mountain. However, after more than half a year, Lu Xiong
Sneaking to Yingzhou again and getting together with Xu Huai, what does this mean?
Zhu Zhi is a member of the royal family, but he is a careless family member. They don't need to care too much about who he is close to or far away from. It is very likely that Zhu Zhi will not pay attention to these details at all, but
Lu Xiong appeared in Yingzhou and was still with Xu Huai. If Cai Yuanyou was not sensitive, then his twenty years of official career would have been in vain.
Tian Zhizhen was wearing a casual robe and was sitting under Guo Zhongxiong. When he saw Liu Yan and other generals sitting opposite, they seemed to be unconcerned with the situation reported by Zhu Xiaotong. He knew that these warriors lacked vigilance. He pondered for a moment,
said:
"Xiaotong once served as the manager of the Lanzhou stone farm and had dealings with Wang Zhen, Lu Xiong, Xu Huai and others. It is absolutely impossible to be wrong - this can only prove that Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son left Lan at the beginning of the year.
When they were in the state, they openly parted ways with everyone in Tongbai Mountain, just to show off to others, but Liu Linggong recommended Xu Huai as the Marquis of the Tenth Wing of the Tianxiong Army for his achievements in suppressing bandits, so their play was in vain. As for the
They entered Liu Jun's mourning hall together at this time. I think they should put pressure on Liu Linggong and the young minister, forcing us to send troops to cross the Hui River to attack Datong..."
Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou, Guo Zhongxiong, Liu Yan and others all looked hesitant, thinking about Tian Zhizhen's words.
But it was the middle-aged man sitting next to Liu Yan who frowned and asked Tian Zhizhen:
"Wang Zhen was hoarse in the court against the attack on Yan. Liu Jun was shot and killed by the defenders of Datong. It is no longer possible for us to take Datong without a fight. The people around Wang Zhen should be gloating about our misfortune and further dissuade us from advancing north. How could Mr. Tian do this?
Do you think Lu Xiong and Xu Huai walked into Liu Jun's mourning hall to force us to send troops to attack Datong?"
"Mr. Guo's question shows that Mr. Guo has been deceived by Wang Zhen's appearance of being loyal and good."
Tian Zhizhen was full of disdain for Guo Li, who usually only gave Liu Shizhong some bad ideas and had to be trusted, but he smiled cheekily and said,
"Wang Zhen opposed the attack on Yan, but did he object when his son Wang Fan went out to attack the Yanxi Army and supervise the military envoy? Didn't the Wang family and his son take advantage of the Tianxiong army's defeat to seize the military power from Ge Boyi?
, stealing the merits of the soldiers' return as their own? And take this time as an example, if we fail to defeat Yan again, Wang Zhen will be ridiculed in every possible way, and his face will be extremely hateful. But if we can successfully win Datong, Wang Zhen will
How is he going to face the impeachment from the government and the opposition for his nonsense before attacking Yan? Mr. Guo, think about it, when we had to send troops to attack Datong, people around Wang Zhou stood up and asked us to send troops to attack Datong. Look
It seems to have no effect, but will he be invincible if the king reports it?"
"We captured Datong, and Wang Zhen argued that his opposition to the conquest of Yan before the war was just for the sake of the imperial government's plan, but he still supported the conquest of Yan with practical actions?" Guo Li asked, smacking his lips.
"What is treachery? This is treachery," Tian Zhizhen said, "Xiang Cai has not been able to defeat Wang Zhen all these years. We must not treat him as an equal! I suspect that this Xu Huai may ask Liu Linggong to mobilize Shuozhou soldiers and horses to join the battle.
…”
"No matter what Wang Zhen's plan is, it's impossible for us not to attack Datong, right?" Liu Yan asked in a loud voice, "Mr. Liu Junlang died in Datong City, and we still stood still. When this news was reported back to Bianjing, those who looked like blood-sucking
You're a mosquito-like speaker with a stern mouth, why don't you eat my father alive?"
"Of course we have to fight, but the key is how to fight?" Tian Zhizhen said, "At this time, the remnants of the Khitan clan have 20,000 defenders in Datong City, and there are more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Huairen and Jincheng. Sun Tzu said that the art of using troops is,
He once said, "If ten are to encircle an enemy, if five are to attack it, if twice as many are to divide it," once we have failed in defeating the Yan State for the first time, we cannot make any more mistakes. General Liu Yan, tell us, we will use massing.
How can Yu Yingzhou's soldiers and horses attack Datong without making any mistakes?"
"Using troops has a 60 to 70 percent chance of winning. When we meet on a narrow road, the brave will win. There is no such thing as a war. I have been fighting with my father and brother for almost 20 years, and I have never encountered such a thing. But have these wars been fought in vain?"
Liu Yan asked displeasedly.
"In an insignificant war, one or two defeats will not affect the overall situation. You can go ahead and fight. However, the attack on Datong failed and was forced to retreat to the south bank of the Hui River. Has General Liu Yan ever thought about what will happen to Liu Linggong and Cai Xiang?"
How disadvantageous is it?" Tian Zhizhen asked.
"Mr. Tian," Liu Shizhong stretched out his hand to stop Liu Yan from arguing with Tian Zhizhen, looked at Tian Zhizhen and asked, "It seems that we can't win this Datong, and the defenders are too stubborn and hateful, and there is little hope of persuading them to surrender. Mr. Yi Tian
How can we make a safe plan?"
"Borrowing troops." Tian Zhizhen said.
"Borrowing troops, how to borrow them, where to borrow them from?" Liu Shizhong looked at Cai Yuanyou and asked in surprise.
Tian Zhizhen was Cai Yuanyou's adviser. Liu Shizhong thought that since he proposed the borrowing strategy in the presence of everyone, he must have discussed it with Cai Yuanyou first and got Cai Yuanyou's approval; and the reason why Tian Zhizhen was chosen at this time was
Zhen said it first, even if he opposed this policy, it would not make the atmosphere tense.
Although Liu Shizhong was a military official, he was already aware of these tricks.
Now Xiao Sheng, the Xuanwu generals, and his own son were all indignant over Liu Jun's death. Liu Shizhong was a little unable to control the situation, and he didn't care about his original tactics. He directly asked Cai Yuanyou what he wanted to do with this soldier.
Borrowing.
When Cai Yuanyou saw that all the generals were looking towards him, he said slowly: "The king is obsessed with personal grudges and harming national affairs. He has repeatedly said that he should be wary of Chi Hu's ambitions. However, we once again joined forces to attack Yan, and Chi Hu also sent troops.
Have everyone seen the many situations at the eastern foot of Duoyin Mountain? Not only did the Chihu people not cross the border, they even plundered the livestock and livestock of the Tibetan people north of Wuzhou Mountain and Jingong Mountain and moved north.
All this proves that they have little interest in land and care more about property."
"The young prime minister wants to lure you with money and use the Red Guards to attack Datong City?" Guo Zhongxiong asked in disbelief, "Isn't this inappropriate?"
"Is there something wrong?" Cai Yuanyou was dissatisfied that Guo Zhongxiong stood up to question him at this time, and frowned and said, "The Red Husbands, the barbarians, can no longer take care of the northern Khitan territory. They have no ambitions for the land.
But the intention is wealth, we use wealth to lure them, so that they can help to seize Datong, so that our Vietnamese generals will have fewer casualties, isn't it a matter of having the best of both worlds? Otherwise, why should we not make any mistakes?
Take Datong City? If something goes wrong, will we people have the chance to sit in Wen Xiruchun's living room again to discuss state affairs?"
