Xu Huai knew that he had underestimated the crisis brewing due to the oppression and exploitation of the prefectures, counties and local clans, and the people's livelihood and poverty.
Now he could imagine why the big bandits blocked the road when the Guan family fled south.
After all, the officials were forced to abandon Bianjing and flee south, which did not happen suddenly.
Before this, the defenses on the west or north side must be destroyed by the barbarian enemy.
Prior to this, the defense organized near Bianjing was bound to suffer a heavy setback.
This also means that the imperial court's control over local areas must be weakened to the extreme before this happens.
And such a serious crisis has been brewing in the local area for a long time. Those thieves and chiefs who were unwilling to give in and had no righteousness for their family and country took advantage of the situation and gathered tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of troops in a short period of time. Now look at the situation in Tongbai Mountain.
Is there anything unimaginable about how quickly the situation has deteriorated?
He used to think that the world was in a time of peace, but he didn't expect Weilan to get up early...
"What are you thinking about?" Wang Zhen was a bit old after all. He climbed up the steep simple wooden ladder to the watchtower that was more than three feet high. He was panting slightly and saw Xu Huai frowning and looking into the distance. He had a look that he shouldn't have at his age.
With a heavy look on his face, he couldn't help but ask.
"The Chihu people have been rising in the north and south of the Yinshan Mountains for thirty years. At this time, they have even encroached on the northern border controlled by the Dangxiang people and the Khitan people on a large scale - I am thinking, if the official family is controlled by Cai Qing and others
Instigating, greedy for the profit of driving tigers and devouring wolves, and determined to join forces with the Red Husbands to attack Beiyan, Dai Viet will definitely bring about tragic disasters and even the hatred of national destruction!" Xu Huai said with emotion.
The matter of the joint expedition was the most confidential matter of the central government at that time. Generally speaking, Wang Zhen would not reveal these matters to the public even if he was demoted.
However, Xu Huai was already very human in his eyes.
During this period of time, in addition to resisting the rebel army's attack on Huaiyuan, Xu Huai spent most of his time either honing his martial arts with the generals in the rural camp, or seeking advice from Wang Zhen about the situation in the court and the world.
At this time, Wang Zhen no longer had any reservations about Xu Huai, and even told all the secrets that he was demoted from Bianjing mainly because he opposed the allied forces to attack Yan.
How could Xu Huai still have doubts about the cause of the upcoming tragic disaster in the first year of Jianhe?
Wang Zhen was slightly startled.
He was worried that the imperial court's greed would drive the tigers to devour the wolves and destroy the tigers, which would eventually backfire. However, he was not sure how serious the situation would be at this time.
That's why he thought that if he died in Tongbai Mountain unfortunately, he would ask Lu Xiong to go to the Mobei grassland to see the rise of the Red Husbands in the north, so that he could provide some warning to the DPRK.
He did not expect that Xu Huai's judgment of the situation was even more pessimistic and decisive than his.
Of course, even though Xu Huai continued to be rude and foolish in front of outsiders during this period, Wang Zhen, Lu Xiong and others knew that in addition to his amazing talent in martial arts, Xu Huai was also very capable of fighting against small groups of enemies on a chaotic battlefield.
His situation judgment is also extremely accurate, and he can also use powerful force very skillfully to guide small-scale battles in the direction he expected.
This is also the key to why the soldiers of the rural camp did not suffer more casualties than the soldiers of the patrol department, but they achieved more gains.
At the moment, it can be said at least that at the military camp command level, Xu Huai is the most outstanding military general in the world; as Lu Xiong said, in time it will not be difficult to grow into a world-famous general on the level of Wang Xiaocheng.
Therefore, Xu Huai was so pessimistic about the future situation. Of course Wang Zhen would not laugh it off, but would ask: "Why do you say that?"
Why do you say that?
Xu Huai smiled bitterly, could it be said that more than a month ago when he was watching the bandit army's bloodbath in Zhongjiazhuang in Mopanling, a written memory suddenly flashed in his mind that should never have appeared at this time?
Wang Zhen is already one of the few knowledgeable people in the world, but he only believes that after the Chihu people replace the Khitan people, they will pose a greater threat to the border, and they are in danger of losing their lips and teeth.
Xu Huai thought to himself that he was just an innocent boy who had grown up carefree for fifteen or sixteen years in Tongbai Mountain. How could he clearly see why joining forces with the Red Husbands to attack Beiyan would surely lead to a tragic catastrophe of national subjugation?
Maybe this is what he should seek.
It is also possible that he may not be able to find the answer until the Central Plains has been ravaged by aliens for many years.
"It's useless to talk about that. Mr. Wang, let's talk about how Cai Qing will deal with the situation at hand?" Xu Huai changed the topic and said.
"Let's talk about this." Wang Zhen was stunned for a moment, thinking that Xu Huai also felt that the assertion just now was too serious. He pondered for a moment and said worriedly, "I am not the only one in the court who opposes the alliance of troops. Even the officials
Everyone is hesitant and has not yet made up their mind. The banditry in Tongbai Mountain is getting worse and worse. If Lu Si cannot stop it, Cai Qing will mobilize the Western Army and other elites to the west of Beijing to demonstrate their military preparedness and persuade more ministers in the DPRK and China to support it.
An opportunity to join forces to attack Yan. Perhaps this is the fundamental purpose of Zheng Hui and others hiding behind the scenes to make trouble. We still underestimated him before!"
"Cai Qing worked really hard to unite the army to defeat Yan. Isn't the position of Privy Council enough to satisfy him?" At this time, even if Xu Huai died, he would not believe that someone like Cai Qing wanted to unite the army to defeat Yan.
For the sake of national justice.
In addition, Dai Viet used civility to control military affairs, and the ministers in the DPRK and China were very strong in checking and balancing each other. It was difficult for Xu Huai to imagine that Cai Ting had any rebellious intentions.
"In his later years, Gaozu attacked Yan twice in an attempt to regain Yanyun's homeland, but unfortunately he failed both times, which made Gaozu regretful for the rest of his life. He later left a legacy saying, 'Whoever recovers Yanyun can be crowned king.' However, this is only one aspect.
,"
Wang Xun sighed and said,
"On the other hand, even if no one except a limited number of people knew about Cai Qing's false edicts, when I returned to the court, I read through all the regulations of the year before I saw the clues. But most of the scholars in the court knew
The ministers still felt that Wang Xiaocheng's crime of resisting the imperial edict was not worthy of death, and Cai Qing should not be good at killing the commander even if he upheld the imperial edict. In recent years, in order to deal with the accusations from both inside and outside the court against him for killing Wang Xiaocheng, Cai Qing has always acted as a war fighter.
Standing in the court, even if there is no imperial edict from Emperor Gaozu, even if it is to maintain the image of his main war faction, he has enough reasons to promote these things! He is the privy envoy, and the main war faction in the court pushed him to sit on it!
"
Xu Huai hit his head with a headache.
Although he was not very clear about the situation of party struggle between North Korea and China, he could still understand what Wang Chen said.
To put it bluntly, the alliance to attack Yan was promoted by a large faction of figures in the court, of which Cai Ting was just a representative. Zheng Hui and the others were all members of this faction and had their own ideas and plans. They were not entirely Cai Ting's vassals.
Even some people may not be motivated by selfishness.
As for Cai Qing's initiative to unite troops to attack Yan, whether he really wanted to do so or was pretending to do so, he could not abandon it easily.
Otherwise, the courtiers and generals who supported him in the past would turn against him and attack him.
Is this what it means to be united against different parties?
As for the banditry in Tongbai Mountain before us, regardless of whether it was Cai Zheng's direct instruction or not, judging from the development of the situation, it is really possible that, as Wang Chen said, Zheng Hui stirred up trouble and stirred up trouble. In addition to eradicating the roots, he also had a purpose.
It will be turned into a military display before the coalition forces attack Yan, and it will strengthen the voice of the main war faction in North Korea and China.
Of course, Zheng Hui might not have been able to predict the rapid development of the situation, right?
Xu Huai saw that there was no sign that the rebel army was about to move out in the afternoon, so he and Wang Zhen climbed down the watchtower and walked to Zheng Butcher's butcher shop.
Zheng Tu found melons from nowhere and soaked them in the well. Then he cut them and brought them to Xu Huai, Wang Zhen and Lu Xiong to relieve the summer heat. Sitting in the yard, Wang Zhen told Xu Huai in detail about the king of the court.
Some people from the war faction were involved.
When it was getting late, Deng Gui sent people to find Wang Zhen, and Lu Xiong went to the military camp to discuss matters.
Although Xu Huai is a rural commander, he has established a foolish and reckless persona, and with people like Wang Zhen and Lu Xiong around, he doesn't need to waste too much energy to intervene in complicated defense arrangements.
.
Therefore, every time there was a military meeting, he always talked about Tang Pan. Yin and Peng went with Jin Longquan to represent the township camp. He could use most of the time before going to war to recharge his batteries, practice martial arts, and supervise
The generals and soldiers of the rural camp are training.
Otherwise, inspecting the simple fortifications in the market several times a day, and then checking every corner to check for leaks, strengthen them, and strengthen them would take up all his free time.
He can completely ignore these things now.
However, at this time, he had no way to concentrate on practicing swords and guns or supervising the training of the soldiers in the rural camp.
He could now basically judge that the upcoming catastrophe in the first year of Jianhe was related to the Red Hu people joining forces to attack Yan and eventually leading the wolf into the house.
Xu Huai believes that the historical trend revealed in this short paragraph is not irreversible. The key is how to reverse it?
Do you want to find a way to destroy the plan of Cai Qing and other main war factions to join forces to conquer Yan?
This is not impossible.
After all, Wang Zhen said just now that besides him, there were many ministers in the court who opposed the alliance of troops to attack Yan, but their attitude was not as firm as his, and the officials (the emperor) had not yet made up their minds and were still wavering.
Before the change, Xu Huai might have tried hard in this direction, but seeing the gangsterism in Tongbai Mountain getting more and more intense, he hesitated.
According to the existing historical trend, Chen Zixiao would have to wait until the first year of Jianhe to become a big bandit. However, at this time, Chen Zixiao had already become a big bandit, with seven to eight thousand soldiers and horses under his command, and he would continue to do so in a short period of time.
Expand.
What made all this happen? Is it just Zheng Hui and others pushing it behind the scenes?
Everything Xu Huai has seen in the past six months has given him a more thorough understanding of what "the times make heroes", or "when the wind blows, pigs can go to heaven"?
To put it bluntly, it was not that Chen Zixiao was lucky, nor was it Zheng Hui who had secretly planned and accomplished something. What was more fundamental was that the current situation dictated it.
The contradictions that have accumulated within Tongbai Mountain for a long time are the current situation. People like Zheng Hui and Chen Zixiao can only be regarded as sparks.
Even if there is no Zheng Hui stirring up trouble behind the scenes, he will inevitably explode when he encounters the next chance vent; even if Chen Zixiao cannot become a big bandit, when the time comes, there will definitely be a second Chen Zixiao who takes advantage of the situation.
And rise.
At this time, Xu Huai would not think that the impending catastrophe of national subjugation in the first year of Jianhe would be caused by the alliance of troops to attack Yan.
We must get to the root of it. First, the rise of the Chihu people in Mobei has been unstoppable. Second, there are too many hidden worries within Dai Viet. The princes in the court and even the clans in the countryside are living in a dream, thinking that the world is still peaceful and the national power is booming.
Even if it was just to delay the outbreak of the crisis, Xu Huai did not think that if he found a way to help Wang Zhen make a comeback and stand on the opposite side of the main war faction, or to remove Cai Zheng from power, he would definitely be able to prevent the coalition from attacking Yan.
These days, he listened to Wang Zhen chatting about the court and the general situation. He realized that the situation in the DPRK was much more complicated than imagined.
Even the main fighting faction is very different.
More than ten years ago, Wang Xiaocheng regained Wei, Yun and other places from the Khitan people. He would rather resist the decree than withdraw his troops, which would lead to death. Of course, he is the backbone of the main war faction. Is his choice wrong?
There were quite a few officials and officials in the court who wanted to regain Yanyun's homeland.
Some of them were Wang Zhen's old friends, and they became estranged because they had different opinions on the issue of joining forces to attack Yan, but Wang Zhen did not think there was anything wrong with their character.
Even if Cai Ting falls, these warring factions will introduce another leader to take charge of their affairs.
Is it useful to simply stand on the opposite side of the main militant faction?
Even Wang Zhen cannot be regarded as a peace advocate. In recent years, he has advocated strengthening the border army, actively using the tactics of building forts and shallow attacks to expand the territory and consolidate defense; this time, he is only deeply worried that the rise of the Chihu people is too strong, and the Viet Nam
The internal worries have not been resolved, so now we should adopt the strategy of driving away the tiger and devouring the wolf. If we join forces to defeat the Yan State too hastily, there will be trouble in the future...
