The spring rain falls outside the window, and the air is cold.
There is a pot of hot tea in the house, and the white air is curling up.
Li Ji looked like a well-educated scholar in his regular clothes. He held the tea cup and sipped the tea lightly, savoring the sweetness, with an expression of indifference and indifference.
Cheng Yaojin was a little restless, moving his buttocks from time to time, and his eyes kept scanning Li Ji's face. After filling half the pot of tea, he finally couldn't help it, and leaned forward slightly, staring at Li Ji.
He asked in a low voice: "Why doesn't the commander-in-chief want the peace talks between Donggong and Guanlong to succeed?"
Li Ji lowered his head to drink tea, and after a long while he slowly said: "I will naturally tell you what you can tell me, and don't ask about what you can't tell me."
He raised his head and looked at the patter of spring rain outside the window, as well as the majestic and thick Tongguan City Tower not far away. He narrowed his eyes slightly and held the tea cup in his hand: "It won't take long."
In the past, Cheng Yaojin would definitely have been dissatisfied with such prevarications. Once or twice was okay, but more often, he would just think it was perfunctory, and would often make a fuss, and then be suppressed ruthlessly by Li Ji with a cold face.
.
But this time, Cheng Yaojin rarely made any noise, but drank tea silently.
Li Ji sat down safely, ordered his soldiers to pour out the tea leaves in the pot, put new tea in it, and said slowly: "This time the East Neiyuan was attacked by a sneak attack, Fang Jun immediately retaliated with tooth, and the Long army camped outside Tonghua Gate.
How can Changsun Wuji be able to swallow his breath after turning the world upside down? Chang'an will face a new battle, and the pressure on Duke Wei will double."
Cheng Yaojin wondered: "Guan Long started the war, maybe in Taiji Palace, or maybe outside the city. Why is it only Duke Wei who is under pressure?"
Li Ji personally held the pot, poured tea into the cups in front of them, and said: "At present, it seems that even if the armistice contract is invalidated and fighting resumes, the two sides do not intend to fight to the end. In the final analysis, they are still working hard to gain the initiative at the negotiation table. Right
He is stationed in the west and conquers in the north. He is unparalleled in field battles. He is the most powerful army in the world. Changsun Wuji is the most insidious and forbearing. How can he provoke Fang Jun without making up his mind to fight to the death? He can only
Can mobilize the powerful troops in Guanzhong to advance and besiege Taiji Palace."
Cheng Yaojin was stunned.
The man guarding the East Palace is Li Jing!
The once invincible military god of the generation was now treated as a "soft persimmon" by Guan Long. Instead, he did not dare to provoke Fang Jun of the Xuanwu Sect?
Things are really changing and the world is changing...
Li Ji took a sip of tea and asked, "Has anyone in the army caused any trouble recently?"
Cheng Yaojin shook his head and said: "No, some complaints in private are inevitable, but most of them know what they are thinking and dare not put it on the table openly."
Former fan Qiu Xiaozhong and others wanted to recruit the generals from Guanlong to revolt, but Li Ji suppressed them. A group of generals led by Qiu Xiaozhong tied up the school's five flowers and pushed them outside the camp gate and showed their heads to the public. The anxious atmosphere among the generals was suppressed, even if they were in their hearts.
Not angry, but no one dared to act rashly.
And Li Ji didn't care about convincing people with virtue, he only wanted to suppress them with force. In fact, with hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, simply convincing people with virtue was not enough. Each army had different origins and backgrounds, which meant that the interests were expressed.
It’s also different. No one can make a bowl of water even. They will always focus on one thing and lose another.
As long as you are afraid of military discipline and dare not disobey orders, that is enough.
In terms of running the army, only Li Jing was slightly better than Li Ji at that time, and even His Majesty fell short.
Cheng Yaojin held the teacup in his hand, his thoughts changing, but his eyes drifted to the wall on the north side of the duty room.
Behind that is a large warehouse under the city gate. After the army moved in, they vacated the place and placed His Majesty Li Er's coffin.
He lowered his head to drink tea, but something suddenly occurred to his mind.
Starting from Liaodong and returning to Chang'an, the weather was freezing and snowy all the way. His Majesty's Imperial Guards, who were responsible for protecting the coffins, would collect ice cubes and put them on the carriages transporting the coffins and in the tents where the coffins were parked. However, when we arrived at Tongguan, the weather gradually became warmer, and now it is even more so.
It rains in spring, but no one collects ice anymore...
****
Li Junxian led his elite "Hundred Cavalry" to defeat the bandits at Pujin Crossing, and then went all the way north to catch up with Xiao Yu and his party. Everyone did not know the depth of the thieves and were afraid of being chased, so they did not dare to attack the neighboring kings of Wu, Longmen, and Meng in the north.
We waited for the ferry to cross the river, and then drove all the way to Qikou in the Luliang Mountains before crossing the Yellow River. Then we turned south along the high and undulating loess slopes and sneaked into Chang'an.
Fortunately, this area is vast and sparsely populated, and the roads are difficult to travel. The mountains and rivers are crisscrossing the area, and there are forks everywhere. The bandits have no way to block it, so the journey is safe and smooth.
A group of people crossed the Yellow River, went south to Suizhou and Yanzhou, and entered Guanzhong from Jinsuo Pass. They did not dare to march openly, took off their flags and armor, hid their weapons, pretended to be a caravan, and detoured to Sanyuan, Jingyang, and Xianyang.
Cross the Wei River and arrive at the Xuanwu Gate outside Chang'an City.
Along the way, for more than a month, the soldiers who were originally strong and strong looked exhausted from the dust. Xiao Yu, who was already old and frail and pampered, was even more skinny and exhausted. If not for the imperial doctor who accompanied him along the way, he was constantly recuperating.
My body is afraid that I will lose my life if I can't make it back to Chang'an...
After crossing the Wei River from Xianyang, the group of people could clearly feel that the tense atmosphere was more intense than before. When they arrived at Chang'an, groups of scouts from the Youtun Guards shuttled through the mountains, rivers, and villages, and everyone who entered this place
No one in the area can hide.
This made Xiao Yu, who was already exhausted mentally and physically, even more uneasy...
Arriving outside the Xuanwu Gate, I saw the flags of the entire Youtunwei camp were fluttering, and the military was in full bloom. There were three steps, one post, five steps, and one sentry. The soldiers in the camp were all wearing helmets and armor and waiting in formation when they came in and out, creating a tense atmosphere before a war.
Coming at you.
After the soldiers passed the news, General Gao Kan of the Youtun Guard came in person to escort Xiao Yu and his party through the military camp to Xuanwu Gate.
Xiao Yu sat in the carriage, opened the curtain, looked at Gao Kan who was riding slowly with Li Junxian, and asked: "General Gao, has the situation in Chang'an changed?"
Just now, the soldiers went inside to report. When Gao Kan came out, he only saw Li Junxian. When he mentioned that Xiao Yu was unwell and could not get out of the carriage, Gao Kan didn't take it seriously. With Xiao Yu's status, he could indeed ignore it.
He is the first-guard lieutenant general.
But when I saw Xiao Yu at this moment, I realized that if I were to put on airs in front of me, this person was really sick and about to die...
The beard that had been well maintained in the past was curly and dirty, the face was covered with age spots, gray and sallow, and the cheeks were sunken. How could he still have half the charm of a prime minister?
Gao Kan was shocked in his heart, but did not show it on his face. He nodded and said: "Two days ago, the rebels brazenly tore up the armistice contract and attacked the East Inner Garden of the Daming Palace, causing heavy losses to our soldiers. Then the commander mobilized all his troops to retaliate and sent tools.
Mounted cavalry raided the rebel camp outside Tonghua Gate. Changsun Wuji sent an envoy to condemn, confusing right and wrong, shouting "Catch the thief", and then mobilized the troops from the surrounding clans of Chang'an to enter Chang'an City, Chen Bing Imperial City, with arrows pointing at Tai Chi Palace, and was about to launch an attack.
A big battle."
"Cough cough cough"
Xiao Yu was so angry that he coughed violently, his face turned red, and he almost couldn't breathe...
It took a long time to stabilize, and he took a quick breath. He put his hand on the car window and said urgently: "Even so, we must work hard to bring about a change in both sides, and we must not expand the war. Otherwise, the results of the previous peace talks will be ruined, and it will be difficult to start peace talks again."
Climb to heaven! Why doesn’t Zhongshu Ling mediate and mediate?”
Gao Kan said: "Liu Shizhong is currently responsible for the peace talks, and Zhongshu Ling has no more care..."
"What?!"
Xiao Yu was inexplicably shocked and stared angrily.
During his trip to Tongguan, not only did he fail to complete his mission of persuading Li Jizhi, but he leaked his whereabouts for unknown reasons and was chased by rebels along the way. He narrowly escaped death. He had to take a long way back to Chang'an. The journey was so bumpy and difficult that his old bones almost fell apart.
, but when I returned to Chang'an, I found that the situation had changed suddenly.
Not only have all previous efforts been in vain, but even the right to lead the peace talks has fallen into the hands of others...
I was shocked and angry in my heart. This old thief Cen Wenwen misled me!
Before leaving, he entrusted all matters to Cen Wenwen, hoping that he could stabilize the situation, continue the peace talks, and firmly hold the peace talks in his hands to completely suppress the military led by Fang Jun and Li Jing. Otherwise, once the East Palace wins, the civil service system will
will be completely suppressed by the military.
In the end, the old thief actually stabbed himself in the back...
Xiao Yu was so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe. He slapped the car window and said quickly: "Go quickly, go quickly, I want to see His Highness the Crown Prince!"
The carriage accelerated and drove to the Xuanwu Gate. Hundreds of horsemen accompanying them had already come forward to inform the defenders. The city gate opened and the carriage rushed in and headed straight for the inner gate.