"There is nothing I can do for the moment, and I can't blame you - if he was easy to deal with, he wouldn't have become famous over the years and deceived the emperor into trusting him so much! Maybe I was too hasty..."
Seeing Wang Boqian, Gu and Fan standing in the palace and accusing each other repeatedly, Emperor Shaolong sighed and said.
Seeing that Emperor Shaolong also realized that things were going to be difficult, and realized that he had acted too hastily, Gu Fan followed his words and said:
"When the late emperor was in power, Zheng Huaizhong was arrogant and domineering, and refused to comply with repeated edicts. The late emperor also refrained from haste and exercise patience. He chose his daughter to serve in the palace to calm his mind, and promoted him to a higher position. As a result, he became Wen Guogong, deputy envoy to the privy council, and envoy to Yuanzhou Jiedu.
, until his crimes were made clear and he was eliminated with a posthumous edict. Jingsheng Hou was so arrogant and arrogant because of his merits, but at this time, the court was troubled internally and externally, Huainan was not consolidated, and the public support of the officials and officials in the court was unpredictable, and the court needed to rely on the protection of Chu Mountain.
Jinghu, Your Majesty should plan for it slowly and not in a hurry..."
No matter how they spread the news about Zheng Huaizhong secretly or in front of the Huaidong generals, and that Zheng Cong and his son were captured by Xu Huai's design, they did not doubt that Emperor Jianji's edict was false, so they could not publicly erase Xu in the court.
The credit for killing Zheng Huaizhong was due to Zheng Cong and his son.
However, no matter how they speculated that Xu Huai had ulterior motives, the order to form the Nancai Recruitment Division to coordinate with Jingnan and Jingbei to attack the Dongjing bandit army was issued by Emperor Shaolong in his capacity as the successor emperor, authorized by the Privy Council.
Ge Boyi made no progress in recruiting the Dongjing bandit army in Jingnan, so the court had no way to publicly accuse Xu Huai of devouring Jingxiang in the name of building weirs to lock out the enemy.
The most important point is that Ge Boyi cannot recruit the Dongjing bandit army for his own use at this time. The Huaidong Army is unsettled, and the three imperial soldiers under the direct control of the Imperial Camp are unpredictable. Gao Junyang and Gu Jiqian remain silent at this time.
It may not be that he didn't have greater ambitions. The imperial court really didn't have any more means to control Chushan.
In Gu Fan's view, not only could the imperial court not be too eager to show off Chu Shan, it should even try to prevent Chu Shan from jumping over the wall in a hurry.
"Based on what you see, how should you plan for it?" Emperor Shaolong asked thoughtfully.
"Your Majesty should give priority to stabilizing the Jianghuai River and the two lakes as a supplement,"
Gu Fan had been serving in local affairs for a long time and had many experiences. He joined the central government only after he supported Emperor Jianji in Xiangyang and ascended the throne. His ability and knowledge were among the best in the world. Emperor Shaolong realized that the emperor's power could not do whatever he wanted.
After that, he dug out his heart a little and analyzed the situation for Emperor Shaolong...
Emperor Jianji moved the capital to Jianye mainly because he saw that Dai Viet wanted to keep half of the country. The basic base was in Huainan, Jiangnan and the Liangzhe and Sixth Routes. Facing the threat of the Chihu people, the defense line in the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River must not be lost.
In Gu Fan's view, if Emperor Shaolong wanted to consolidate his foundation, the first step was to firmly control the situation on the Jianghuai, Zhejiang and Sixth Roads.
The two roads in Jingnan and Jingbei are the vassals of Jianye.
Although there is no fundamental difference between Gu Fan and Wei Chujun in this understanding, because of the complexity of the situation, he does not think that the court can work on both sides to solve all problems at the same time. What the court needs to do now is to stabilize Jianghuai
and the situation in the two Zhejiang provinces.
Most of the Huaidong generals have chosen to draw a clear line with Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong and his son, but it is difficult to believe that the Huaidong generals' hearts have been stabilized, and from now on they will be loyal to the new emperor and serve the court without any distractions.
Any other ideas.
Now they cannot take it for granted that the lower Huaihe River defense line with Chuzhou as the core can sit back and relax.
What's more, the three imperial troops stationed at Jianye were right next to his bed. Emperor Shaolong couldn't trust them. They were always cautious in making any decision. How could they possibly have enough power to deal with the already powerful Chushan?
From a first-order perspective, Gu Fan advocated that Emperor Shaolong appoint Wen Hengyue as the Huaidong envoy and appoint Deng Gui as the deputy envoy to jointly guard the lower reaches of the Huaihe River; Han Shiliang should replace Yang Maoyan as the Huaixi envoy, and Liu Yan should be appointed as the envoy.
He appointed a deputy envoy and guarded Huaixi with Han Shiliang.
"Let Wen Hengyue take charge of Huaidong?" Emperor Shaolong asked hesitantly.
"Wen Gong had a deep friendship with Chushan. After returning to the capital to mourn for the late emperor, he stayed in the capital on the pretext of illness. He indeed had the intention of avoiding Xu Huai. However, Wen Gong's loyalty to the court was unquestionable, and he even wanted to avoid Chushan.
"I feel ashamed and I am even more devoted to His Majesty," Gu Fan said, "What does Wang Xiang think?"
"If there is no more suitable candidate, it would be inappropriate for Your Majesty to use Wen Hengyue to govern Huaidong. Wen Gong is also highly prestigious and can calm the restlessness of the generals in Huaidong," Wang Boqian said.
, what does Prime Minister Gu think?"
"It is true that Deng Gui and Marquis Jingsheng were old acquaintances, and they also followed the late emperor to guard Gong County together. However, Deng Gui left Ying in the army and had nothing to do with Marquis Jingsheng. It was purely to gain the appreciation of the late emperor and even Jingsheng.
Deng Gui may not feel comfortable if he comes from a later position. The late emperor was located after Xiangyang. Deng Gui has always been careful to avoid taboos and has not had much contact with Chushan. Recently, in addition to deliberately making friends with Jin Zhuangcheng, the Minister of Rites, and other officials from Nanyang, Deng Gui has also recruited more officials from Nanyang.
The gentry from Nanyang used it for their own use, which shows their intentions."
Gu Fan served as the strategic envoy of the southwestern route of Beijing for many years. During the Tang and Deng dynasties, Nanyang Prefecture was co-located. He strongly recommended Ning Ci, Zhou Yunze and others to serve in Nanyang. He knew the situation in Nanyang better than other ruling ministers and said,
"As for the Nanyang gentry, your Majesty must also know that the late emperor wanted to reset the South Beijing Road, and the Nanyang gentry were the most fiercely opposed, right?"
Speaking of old acquaintances, who inside and outside the court is not an old acquaintance of Chu Shan?
What they want to guard against are those who have collusion with Chushan or are "like-minded".
In Gu Fan's view, Deng Gui had cooperated with Xu Huai and others during the suppression of bandits in Tongbai Mountain. However, after Emperor Jian ascended the throne in Xiangyang, whether Deng Gui was out of avoidance or jealous of Chushan's arrogance,
Military exploits, or disapproval of Chushan's various actions, keeping a distance from Chushan, but it is an indisputable fact.
At this time, Deng Gui made friends with Jin Zhuangcheng, recruited Nanyang gentry, and made it clear that he wanted to draw a clear line with Chushan. If they were still suspicious of this, how many people in the court would dare to use it?
Of course, precautions are necessary.
Gu Fan believed that the most appropriate way for them was to transfer Deng Gui from Luzhou, the gateway to the northwest of Jianye, and let him go to Huaidong to assist Wen Hengyue in playing his due role.
The same reason applies to transferring Liu Yan from Yangzhou to Huaixi as deputy envoy.
Liu Yan and Deng Gui were properly settled, Yangzhou and Luzhou were vacant, and Emperor Shaolong entrusted his direct descendants to guard the two major gates of Jianye, so he did not have to worry about anyone from within who could threaten the imperial power.
In addition, Zhang Xin can be promoted to the imperial camp envoy Si Tiju or the military minister, and then transfer Zhang Xin's troops to Shouzhou to accept the control of Han Shiliang, and transfer Ge Yu's troops to Jianye to guard the capital, so that he can
The internal crises and instability in Jiangsu, Huaihe and Zhejiang have been kept to a minimum.
With this foundation in place, Gu Fan thought that the foundation of the imperial court could be completely stabilized by adjusting the middle and high-level military commanders step by step.
"..." Emperor Shaolong nodded, feeling that what Gu Fan said was reasonable, and asked, "How can you say that Jinghu is supplemented by Gu Fan screen?"
"When the late emperor was still alive, he had the intention to reset the southwestern route of Beijing, but he gave up because of fierce local opposition," Gu Fan said. "But Gao Junyang was in charge of the Western Qin Dynasty, and Gu Ji moved to Dongchuan, purely to resist the southern invasion of the Hu barbarians. It is true that
There is a need to reset the South Beijing Road—at least until Marquis Jingsheng’s misdeeds are revealed, His Majesty seems to have agreed to it.”
"You don't need to talk to me about these superficial things, just tell me how to do it." Emperor Shaolong said.
"Xiazhou (Yichang) is located to the west of Jingzhou. It has a high-rise building and is surrounded by Wushan Mountain. It blocks the key passes of Sichuan and Shu and cannot allow Chushan Mountain to interfere with it. The same is true for the four counties in Jingnan," Gu Fan said. "Your Majesty should send out his trusted ministers."
Zhixiao Prefecture also controls the four counties of Jingnan. At the same time, Ying and the four prefectures of Anhuang also need to choose people to guard against Chushan's ambitions to extend their tentacles to the east of the Han River - in this way, the Jinghu feudal screen will be established. But what really needs to be dealt with is
Marquis Jingsheng, your majesty still needs to implement Zheng Bo Duan's strategy in Yan, and there must be time for Marquis Jingsheng's wolfish ambition to be completely exposed. By then, the world will know his crimes, so what else does your majesty have to worry about?"
"Wang Qing, what do you think?" Emperor Shaolong looked at Wang Boqian and asked.
"There is some truth in what Prime Minister Gu said," Wang Boqian had no better idea. Seeing Emperor Shaolong frowning, he was obviously not willing to let Xu Huai succeed, so he decided hard and said, "When the late Emperor was alive, he wanted to focus on
When setting up Jingxi South Road, it was thought that Nanyang Prefecture, Suizhou, and Anzhou would all be merged into Chushan. At this time, Suizhou and Anzhou were not allowed to be merged into Chushan, but Xiangyang and Jingbei counties were merged into Chushan. The territory was actually
It is also very different. And if the old strategy is to reset the southwestern road of Beijing, what ambitions does Jingshenghou really have? Suizhou and Anzhou are in his hands, and he can drive straight south to Yinghuang and other places. In comparison, Gu Xiangzhi's strategy
With the Jingjiang River and the danger of the Han River blocking it off, it would be more secure..."
"..." Emperor Shaolong pondered for a while and said, "First call Wen Hengyue into the palace to see..."
Gu Fan and Wang Boqian looked at each other and knew that Emperor Shaolong still didn't want Xu Huai to succeed easily. They couldn't persuade them anymore and immediately resigned according to the order...
