To put it bluntly, if Donggong cannot announce a change of course and change its governing philosophy at this time, then the world's elites will still stand on Guanlong's side. Even if Guanlong is defeated, they will still oppose Donggong.
Whether Xiao Yu or Cen Wenwen, they are both members of the family...
So Cen Wenwen immediately understood what Xiao Yu meant. He wanted to go to see His Highness the Crown Prince together. If an edict could be issued at this time, promising not to continue His Majesty Li Er's national policy of weakening and suppressing the clans, he would immediately gain access to many clans.
response.
Although no sect will send troops to support the East Palace with great fanfare at this time, the help provided to the Guanlong sect will inevitably decrease.
As one goes and the other goes, the situation facing the East Palace will surely ease...
But now, Dong Palace is facing almost the entire power of the Tang Dynasty. Even the Shandong family and the Jiangnan gentry who have clearly stated their support for Dong Palace are just watching from the sidelines.
Even Xiao Yu must put the interests of the family first, and naturally he would not want to watch the complete collapse of the supporting Dong Palace, but it is a fact that he has not really given any substantial help to the Eastern Palace.
The trade-offs and calculations are thought-provoking...
The age spots on Cen Wenwen's face were already very heavy, and his complexion was a little gray. At this moment, he raised his slack eyelids and glanced at Xiao Yu, then lowered them again, took a sip of rice wine, put a few ginger shreds in his mouth, and chewed it for a long time.
, then slowly said: "The current situation is still far away from being determined. The key to the change of the current situation is not Chang'an, or even the clans, but the Eastern Expedition Army."
Xiao Yu was slightly stunned: "Brother Jing Ren, what do you think of the Eastern Expedition army?"
Cen Wenwen nodded and frowned: "Since His Majesty fell from his horse and was injured outside Pingrang City, then bad news came, and then there were various delays in the return of hundreds of thousands of troops. To this day, there are still more than a thousand miles before we can reach Guanzhong...
All of them are unreasonable and extremely unusual.”
Xiao Yu nodded slightly to express his approval.
In fact, he had not never had this suspicion, because the Eastern Expedition army was moving too slowly, the snow-covered mountains and rivers were difficult to travel, and there was insufficient food and fodder. Naturally, these obvious reasons were not enough to convince those who were extremely resourceful.
Although they are understanding people, almost everyone attributes the extremely slow progress of the army to the competition, struggle, and mutual constraints of the various forces in the army, which gave the Guanlong rebels enough time.
But at this moment, after being prompted by Cen Wenwen, he immediately realized that things might not be that simple.
Are all the strange things about the Eastern Expedition army really just caused by the struggles among various factions in the army? Not necessarily so. Even though His Majesty passed away, the British Duke Li Ji's position in the court has long been unshakable, especially for the army.
He controlled the Tang Dynasty and almost didn't think twice about it. Moreover, this person was deep-minded and resourceful. How could he be so easily swayed by factions in the army?
I am afraid that Li Ji may not have condoned or even deliberately participated in all the weird things that the world saw about the Eastern Expedition Army...
Then the situation will be really troublesome. Although the Eastern Expedition army involves many factions, Li Ji's will can represent the vast majority of the army to a large extent. His tendency will have a huge impact on the changes in the situation in Chang'an.
So, what is Li Ji's tendency?
*****
"What are the tendencies of the British public?"
In the guard room inside Xuanwu Gate, Zhang Shigui, the Duke of Guo State, also asked the same question in front of Li Chengqian.
The duty room here is located within the Inner Chongmen, sandwiched between the Inner Chongmen and Xuanwu Gate. In the past, it was the place where the Beiya Imperial Guards garrisoned their troops, and the Xuanwu Gate was safe. At this moment, all the Beiya Imperial Guards were marching to the city gate to prepare.
Many houses were vacated to accommodate the royal family members who had evacuated from Taiji Palace.
The light in the duty room was dim and several candles had to be lit. Li Chengqian and Zhang Shigui sat opposite each other, with Li Chengqian on one side accompanying them.
Hearing Zhang Shigui's question, Li Chengqian said in a deep voice: "People's hearts are separated from each other. Although the British Duke has always been loyal to Gu, but where will he go under the general trend, how can he predict accurately? Apart from the Duke of Yue, I don't know anyone who is so loyal and willing to do so.
Follow the East Palace in life and death."
In fact, he was not upset by it.
People who do not work for themselves will be punished by heaven and earth, not to mention that most of the ministers in the DPRK and China are involved in clan influence? With interests at stake, everyone's decisions are not arbitrary. The more involved, the more worries naturally arise.
Li Chengqian feels very satisfied to have a minister who can be 100% trusted like Fang Jun...
But it was difficult for him to figure out Li Ji's position. After all, Li Ji was far more loyal to his father than he was to himself. If his father really died in the Liaodong Army, no one knew where Li Ji would go from here.
Zhang Shigui nodded, sighed, and said: "The Duke of Yue is the pillar of the East Palace. He is loyal and loyal. He does not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to help His Highness. I admire him... However, the current situation has changed suddenly because the Duke of Yue has rushed thousands of miles to help.
But in the end, it is the Eastern Expedition army that can decide the overall situation."
Li Chengqian and Li Junxian all nodded and expressed their agreement.
This is indeed the case. Fang Jun is now attacking Chang'an. If Donggong can defeat the rebels and bring order to the chaos, he will also have to face the rebel army after the defeat of Guanlong. It is almost impossible to eliminate them in one fell swoop, and it will even cause Guanzhong to be corrupted.
If Fang Jun's return of reinforcements could not save the defeat and Guan Long's remonstrance was successful, by the same token, Guan Long would not be able to wipe out all the six soldiers of the East Palace in one fell swoop. As long as the prince escaped westward under the protection of the six soldiers of the East Palace, once he passed
After reaching Longxi, the Guanlong army was beyond reach, and the pattern of "one country, two masters" was about to be formed. What followed was a civil war that would last for several years, even ten years, or even decades.
The only one who has the power to determine the overall situation is the Eastern Expedition Army with hundreds of thousands of troops. Li Ji, who has absolute control over the Eastern Expedition Army, is the one who can influence the situation of the court.
Therefore, Li Ji's position is extremely important.
Is he loyal to the East Palace and sending his troops into the Pass to annihilate the Guanlong rebels and purge the world?
Are you just following the trend and acquiescing to Guan Long's recommendation of King Qi to the throne, just for the smooth transition of imperial power?
Or should we simply not help each other and lead the army directly into Chang'an to start a new business?
No one can guess accurately.
…
Prior to this, Li Chengqian believed that Li Ji might be more inclined to stabilize the empire. Considering the overall situation, he would adopt a default attitude once Guanlong's military remonstrance was successful. Perhaps Changsun Wuji also believed this, otherwise he would not dare to implement military remonstrance at this moment and destroy the empire.
Stirring up the storm?
But now, the Eastern Expedition army has been unable to return to Chang'an, and various delays on the way made him doubt Li Ji's thoughts again.
If you are truly selfless and just let nature take its course, why would you deliberately delay your trip and sit back and watch Chang'an decay while having troops outside to watch?
Its intentions are really incredible.
Zhang Shigui's heart suddenly jumped, and an idea came to his mind. After thinking about it, he found it incredible, but he couldn't suppress it no matter what, and it was soaring uncontrollably.
He raised his brows, thought again and again, and then said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, now all the clans in Hexi and Hedong have raised troops to help Guanlong, and there are tens of thousands of troops arriving in Chang'an. I heard that many more are gathering in various places, and they will be there one after another.
Heading to Chang'an. Although the Shandong aristocratic families and the Jiangnan gentry openly support His Highness, they have not actually taken any substantive action. Once the situation in Chang'an deteriorates and a situation of internal and external divisions really forms, they will not rule out the possibility of changing their ways and turning to Guanlong.
camp. In this way, it can be said that all the noble families in the world have raised their troops, and His Highness can be said to be the enemy of the world..."
After saying this, Li Chengqian was shocked and opened his mouth, but no words came out.
This is indeed a near-desperate situation, but it is not impossible. Once such a situation occurs, the East Palace will become the target of public criticism. Given the disparity in power, even with Fang Jun's support, there is only one way to fall.
However, as the saying goes, a sword has two edges, and everything has its pros and cons. Being the target of public criticism in the East Palace, and being opposed and attacked by all the clans in the world, it means that all the clans and clans in the world are standing against the East Palace.
No matter what, the East Palace occupies a great position, and it is the imperial Zhengshuo.
This also means that all the nobles in the world will become rebels who seek rebellion...
Those who succeed become princes, those who fail become bandits. This is an eternal truth. As long as the world's nobles can depose the prince and overthrow the Eastern Palace under the leadership of Guan Long, they will naturally become the righteous people of the world, seize their fame and righteousness, and then give it to him.
This prince was accused of countless heinous crimes and allowed to be denounced and smeared by historians. Naturally, he could be bound to the pillar of shame forever and be reviled...