Although the leader of the Eastern Expedition Army is Li Ji, who openly supports Dong Gong, after all, Li Ji comes from a Shandong family, and the interests behind it determine that he may not be able to support Dong Gong wholeheartedly. In the end, it is still the interests that are at play, and who pays the price?
If you are tall, you will naturally gravitate toward whomever you are.
Moreover, the Eastern Expedition army had many internal factions and overlapping forces. Even Li Ji could not control them all, and there were many constraints among them. This led to the slow progress of the hundreds of thousands of troops who had originally returned to Guanzhong and delayed their arrival.
In the court, in the whirlpool of power, he never acted based on his own will. Li Ji was like this, he Li Jing was like this, so why not Changsun Wuji?
Otherwise, why would his eldest grandson Wuji be so concerned and put to death...
When people are in the court, they can't help themselves.
In the end, Li Jing still set his sights on the vast Western Region, thinking about the various dangerous passes and bumps along the way from Gongyue City to Chang'an. In addition, under the severe cold weather, the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers along the way were windy and snowy. What would he need?
How much time.
After planning for a long time, the time was right.
Li Jing sighed softly and said slowly: "Your Highness, the reason why Guan Long attacked so fiercely is probably because the Duke of Yue has led his army back to Guanzhong."
Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said decisively: "This is definitely not the case. Gu has already sent people to send letters to the Western Regions, strictly prohibiting the troops from the Western Regions from rushing to Chang'an. Moreover, Duke Wei may not know that Erlang is loyal to his father and Gu.
, but what is more loyal is the interests of the empire."
After a pause, he tried to persuade Li Jing: "Perhaps Gu shouldn't say such words, but based on Gu's understanding of Erlang, he knew that he didn't have much respect for the imperial power in his heart. In his opinion, it doesn't matter who becomes the emperor.
What is important, the most important thing is that the central organization can operate normally to ensure that the empire is always moving in the right direction. Erlang will never abandon the vast territory of the Western Regions just to help Chang'an turn the tide."
Li Jing was a little stunned.
From ancient times to the present, the world's ethics has been "king, minister, father and son". If a minister is disloyal to the king, it is equivalent to being unfilial to his father. Although such people are common, they will definitely be despised by the world and reviled by history books.
But then I thought, Confucianism has been respected since the Han Dynasty, but to this day, Confucianism has developed countless factions and derived countless theories, among which "If you die for the sake of the country, then you will die; if you die for the country, then you will die. If you die for the country, then you will die."
The discussion of "dying for oneself, and dying for oneself is not personal, and who dares to do so" is also one of the origins of Confucianism, but it is not surprising.
I just didn't expect that Fang Jun would be "more loyal to the country than loyal to the king." What's even more surprising is that His Highness the Crown Prince knew Fang Jun's thoughts and ideas, but still trusted him and relied on him as a confidant.
This magnanimity alone is comparable to His Majesty Li Er, who is known for his broad-mindedness...
However, after pondering for a long time, Li Jing still tended to believe that Fang Jun had already rushed to Chang'an, and at least made some noise in the Yumen Pass area, making Changsun Wuji very afraid, otherwise such fierce attacks regardless of casualties would continue?
Even if the military remonstrance succeeds, and the Eastern Palace is deposed and a certain prince becomes the crown prince, or even eventually ascends the throne as the emperor, if Guan Long's family fortune is wiped out now, what will he use to influence the world and seize the interests of the court in the future?
Something unavoidable must have happened, otherwise Changsun Wuji would never have risked his life like this. Even if he was willing, the rest of the Guanlong clan would never risk their family fortunes for hundreds of years to accompany him crazy.
As for this matter that forced Changsun Wuji to "do it as a last resort", Li Jing thought about it and still felt that it should be the accident brought about by Fang Jun...
After pondering for a while, Li Jing said: "Your Highness clearly knows that even if the Duke of Yue did not send troops to come back for reinforcements, there must have been some changes in the outside world that prompted Changsun Wuji to have to burn the boat and finish his work in one battle."
Li Chengqian nodded, he thought so too, otherwise in just over a month, the Sixth Army of the East Palace would suffer all casualties, and they would have no choice but to withdraw from the imperial city through the Xuanwu Gate, and the East Palace would be completely gone.
Except for the Zuo Tun Guard, where the soldiers were admonished, and the royal army and the Guanlong Army attacking Xuanwu Gate, no battles took place outside Xuanwu Gate. The officials in the East Palace unanimously believed that this was not just Zhangsun Wuji's fear of the Right Tun Guard.
Combat strength, there should also be a strategy of "encircling three and missing one" deep inside, which is to leave such a way of survival for Donggong Liuli, so that once it is on the verge of despair, there will be a way to retreat, so that it will not have to rather die than surrender and fight for one.
The fish dies and the net breaks.
It can be seen that although the Guanlong rebels are aggressive, they actually have room for action. This is true for the East Palace and even more so for themselves.
The current frenzied attack, with no regard for the casualties of Guanlong's army, and the ambition to capture the imperial city even if they risked their fortunes, has obviously blocked all escape routes.
If you don't succeed, you will become a benevolent person.
This is not Changsun Wuji’s usual behavior...
Seeing that Li Chengqian agreed with his guess, Li Jing felt relieved, fearing that His Highness the Crown Prince was stubborn and would easily miss the opportunity.
He was in high spirits and continued: "Your Highness, with the background of the Guanlong Clan, although the soldiers and horses they gathered are just a mob, they are too numerous and are enough to annihilate the imperial city. No matter how brave and fearless the Sixth Army of the East Palace is,
It is difficult for two fists to defeat four hands. Under Guanlong's fierce attack regardless of casualties, it will not take long for all losses to be lost. Once there are heavy casualties of soldiers at a certain place, resulting in a lack of defense, the rebels can break into the city.
There is no hope of recovery."
Li Chengqian looked solemn and nodded slowly.
This is a fact. The reason why Donggong Liuli was able to persist for so long under the siege of the rebels without losing the imperial city is because Changsun Wuji has never attacked as crazily as he is now. Because such a crazy style of play can be described as killing
If the enemy has eight hundred and loses one thousand, even if the imperial city is captured but Guan Long's family fortune is wiped out, what's the use?
But now, Changsun Wuji obviously doesn't care anymore...
Li Ji said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, the imperial city is too big, and the Sixth Army of the East Palace has suffered heavy losses. It is difficult to take full care of it. If you don't simply abandon the city wall, shrink your troops, and gather elite soldiers and generals in one place, you can deal with the enemy within the imperial city. There are still more."
Hold on for a few days! His Highness secretly withdrew from the Xuanwu Gate. Once the imperial city could not be defended, he also gave up the Xuanwu Gate and led his army straight to the west of Hexi. He relied on the geographical advantage to hold on, waiting for the troops of the King of Qin in the world."
If you keep it, you will definitely not be able to keep it.
Instead of letting the rebels break through the city wall defense from a certain point, causing chaos to the entire army and being defeated by the enemy, it is better to retreat proactively and rely on the countless palaces and buildings in the imperial city to resist. With the elites led by Donggong Liu, they fought in street battles against the rabble of rebels.
The army can inflict damage to a greater extent.
I don’t believe that Changsun Wuji really doesn’t care about anything and will fight to the death even if his family’s fortune is wiped out.
As for persuading the prince to withdraw from the imperial city, this was something Li Jing had planned for a long time, but Li Chengqian had always refused harshly, so he did not dare to mention it. The situation is critical now. Once the prince is trapped in the imperial city, the situation will be over. If the prince can calmly
If you escape, your honor and righteousness will still exist, and the war situation will be eased.
Sure enough, Li Chengqian was still the same as before. Faced with the admonition to withdraw from the imperial city, he refused very firmly: "Absolutely not! At present, the war in Chang'an is in turmoil, and the whole world is watching. If Gu Shang stays in the imperial city for just one day, it will be...
No one dares to touch the Imperial Crown Prince or the Supervisory Prince. Once Ke Gu withdraws from the imperial city, it means that the rebel army's remonstrance has been successful. Hedong, Hexi, Hanoi and other forces will inevitably take advantage of the opportunity and completely surrender to Guanlong.
Great things will happen!"
There is still something unsaid in his heart: According to all the current signs, his father must be in serious danger. If he, the prince of the supervising country, abandons the imperial city and flees at this moment, Guan Long will completely occupy the right position from now on, even if he
Fleeing to Hexi and gaining support from all forces in Longxi to fight against Chang'an was just the beginning of a civil war.
But even if all the forces in Longxi fully support it, how can they compete with Guanlong, which occupies Guanzhong and holds the world hostage? Failure is bound to happen sooner or later.
Fighting here to the death will destroy the entire empire to pieces, and the country will be in decline. It is better to fight to the death in the imperial city and commit suicide.
But just when Li Jing looked disappointed, Li Chengqian said: "At most, I can retreat to the Xuanwu Gate with my father, the imperial concubines, and the officials in the East Palace, so that I can let go of the city wall defenses and fight the enemy in the imperial city. But this
This imperial city is the symbol of the Tang Dynasty. Since it was destroyed by Gu's hands, Gu must give an explanation. Either hold on to the imperial city and turn defeat into victory, or die in defeat and use Gu's blood to apologize to the emperor."
No matter what, he would not leave the imperial city. Watching the majestic and magnificent imperial city that his father handed over to him was destroyed by the war was his limit.