On a dark night without stars or moon, a battle was raging in the wilderness on the west bank of Ba Shui. Yuchi Gong personally went into battle and commanded his right guard troops to rush forward in two directions, one from the south and one from the north. Cheng Yaojin was stationed at the rear, and Wuwei on the left.
Fight and retreat, retreat without chaos.
Tens of thousands of people from both sides attacked and chased in the vast wilderness. War drums and horns resounded throughout the fields. The fierce fighting situation immediately spread to all directions, causing a collective shock in the Hegemonic Water Defense Line.
North of Shaoling Plain, right-guard general Liang Jianfang urged his troops to slowly approach the battlefield southward, but he did not dare to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, and constantly listened to the battle reports from the battlefield ahead.
The scouts sneaked across the battlefield and reported back the real-time battle situation. Liang Jianfang sat on horseback and watched the battle report with his thick eyebrows furrowed. There was a look of helplessness on his face. He held back a sentence for a long time: "...these bastards are not human beings.
"
According to the battle report sent back by the scouts, although the battlefield to the west of Bushui seemed extremely fierce, with tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides fighting fiercely in an area of more than ten miles, one side attacked with all its strength, and the other side fought and retreated, and the formations were maintained.
Extremely rigorous, a veteran like Liang Jianfang could tell at a glance that the two sides were testing each other and had reservations.
The casualty figures shown in the battle report support this point. The total number of casualties is less than a hundred...
Obviously, Yu Chigong and Cheng Yaojin, two old foxes, are acting.
Liang Jianfang thought carefully and gave the order: "The whole army will stop advancing and form formations on the spot. If anyone dares to attack the defense line, they will fight back immediately. Otherwise, they will stand still and will not go out to fight without authorization. We only need to prevent the rebels from attacking our positions."
"In addition, quickly send these battle reports to the camp outside Chunming Gate and hand them over to Duke Wei, telling them that our army is ready and waiting for military orders."
"Here!"
The generals under his command followed the orders and commanded the troops to line up from east to west, forming an east-west defense line to prevent the two warring parties in the south from breaking through their positions and moving north. At the same time, they sent battle reports to the commanding guards outside Chunming Gate.
Duke Li Jingchu.
…
When he heard that Wei Chigong suddenly launched an offensive to attack the Zuowuwei position, Li Jing, who was sitting outside the Chunming Gate, did not panic at all. He had experienced countless battles in his life, whether it was a dangerous move to defeat a large number with a small number, or a group of people attacking the outnumbered calmly.
The layout and rich experience have made him reach the point where he is not surprised by honors and favors, and has no clue about victory or defeat.
He was very clear about Yuchi Gong's intentions, and he also understood the reason why His Highness the King of Jin dared to abandon Tongguan and attack Chang'an.
The focus of this battle is not whether Yu Chigong can break into Chang'an City, nor whether the King of Jin can lead his army to break through the water defense line, but whether this series of actions will cause changes in Chang'an City and even the entire Guanzhong.
If there is a change, the King of Jin still has a chance of survival, or his fate may be reversed.
If nothing changes, no matter how much the King of Jin and Yuchi Gong try, they will not be able to escape the final outcome of defeat and destruction.
So Li Jing didn't care what mischief Yuchi Gong made.
But when he saw Liang Jianfang's battle report and speculation about the battle situation, Li Jing got lucky and couldn't help but cursed: "Mother..."
He is not afraid of anything but the word "change", and Cheng Yaojin's current behavior can also be summed up in the word "change".
Just because Yu Chigong broke through Cheng Yaojin's defense line and opened a passage for the Jin army that followed to attack Chang'an City, it was nothing. Li Jing was confident enough to wipe out the rebels in the wide area from Chang'an City to Bashui.
Army, the battle was successful.
But if Cheng Yaojin pretended to withdraw his troops and retreated, but finally joined forces with Yuchi Gong and turned around to attack Chang'an City, that would be a bit bad.
Both the Zuo Wuwei and the Right Guards are the most courageous and skilled troops among the Sixteen Guards. The two armies together have more than 60,000 people. This is a force that can change the outcome of a war anywhere. If any
If they attack Chang'an violently, they may really destroy Chang'an's city defenses.
This is not the most terrifying thing. Once the defense of Chang'an city is broken, those people with ulterior motives and ready to take action will no longer have any scruples and will inevitably join forces to respond to the Jin King's army. By then, the entire Guanzhong will be in chaos and the situation will be completely out of control...
Li Jing turned blue with anger. He stood up and looked at the map for a while, observing the trends of the enemy and ourselves. After a long time, he issued an order: "Send an order to Liang Jianfang and order him to mobilize his 3,000 light cavalry and lightly-armed and simple followers, and bypass Cheng Yaojin to form an array behind him, forcing Cheng Yaojin to do so."
Fight to the death with Yuchi Gong. If Cheng Yaojin disobeys the order, Liang Jianfang is not allowed to retreat within eighty miles of Chang'an. Eighty miles is the final bottom line. Once Cheng Yaojin reaches this bottom line, Liang Jianfang can launch an attack, and at the same time his infantry
When moving towards Cheng Yaojin, be sure to block him from the eighty-mile line!"
Although Cheng Yaojin's behavior was extremely dangerous, he could not directly order an attack on Cheng Yaojin, which would completely push Cheng Yaojin towards the king of Jin. But eighty miles was his bottom line. Once Cheng Yaojin retreated to a distance of Chang'an
A surprise attack on Chang'an can be launched at any time within eighty miles, and it will be impossible to guard against it, and it is easy to cause a sudden change in the situation.
"Here!"
"Pack up these battle reports and send them to the palace for your majesty to review."
&n
Immediately, the captain's soldiers divided into two groups, one went to deliver orders to Liang Jianfang, and the other entered the palace from the city gate.
…
Although it was already late at night, the huge Tai Chi Palace was brightly lit. Entering from the Chengtian Gate, the central axis of the entire palace was lit with lights everywhere, as if it were daytime. In the Wude Palace, there were even more chamberlains and guards coming in and out, with a constant flow.
In the study on the side of Wude Hall, Li Chengqian listened to the news of the sudden outbreak of fighting outside the city, and discussed the current situation with Cen Wenwen, Li Ji, Li Daozong, Fang Jun, Liu Zi and others. Except for Cen Wenwen, the other three could be described as
It was easy for the world-famous commander to strategize and win a decisive victory thousands of miles away. After an in-depth and simple analysis, he came to the conclusion that Yuchi Gong's troops were not in danger, which made Li Chengqian breathe a sigh of relief.
Until the people sent by Li Jing presented the battle report sent by Liang Jianfang, along with Li Jing's military orders...
"boom!"
After Li Chengqian read the battle report, he became extremely angry. He slapped the table and said angrily: "This old man bullies me and he will never give up!"
He believed that he had already exhausted all his benevolence towards Cheng Yaojin. Which emperor in the past could tolerate his ministers sitting on the other side of the river with a large army to watch the fire when the rebels were raging, watching the success or failure, and then continued to use them in important ways afterwards?
He Li Chengqian did it.
But even so, Cheng Yaojin repeatedly regarded him as the emperor as nothing. In order to preserve his strength, he even retreated and allowed the rebel troops to point directly at Chang'an. No matter how good-tempered he was, he probably couldn't bear it.
.
It is tolerable, but what is intolerable!
Cen Wenwen advised: "Your Majesty, there is no need to be angry. Duke Wei's decision is extremely appropriate. The most important thing at the moment is to stabilize the situation in Guanzhong and prevent it from changing. Duke Lu should also be treated with tolerance. If Duke Lu insists on going his own way, does not repent, and even has a rebellious heart,
The more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in the hands of Duke Wei will definitely be able to annihilate them."
The most important thing at the moment is not to annihilate the rebels as soon as possible, but to work hard to maintain stability in Guanzhong, lure those with ulterior motives to jump out, and annihilate them one by one. Only in this way can hidden dangers be eliminated and the imperial power stabilized.
Paving the way for the subsequent New Deal.
Cheng Yaojin's behavior is certainly unacceptable, but if you think about it from another angle, this move is very likely to make those who are ready to move unable to control their ambitions and jump out of their own initiative. It can also be regarded as luring the snake out of its hole.
Li Ji, who has always been cautious and rarely expresses his opinions, shook his head when he heard this and said in a deep voice: "Some things are based on deeds rather than intentions. No dynasty in history has been able to make the civil and military ministers and the whole country loyal and have no other intentions." , some people even criticized the emperor in the palace, but what can they do? People's hearts are always selfish and profit-seeking. Some things are not a big deal if you think about them, but as long as you don't do them, they are nothing."
To put it simply, which man would not yearn for the stunning beauty and the beauty of the world? Who could remain indifferent to gold, jade, jewelry, money, and wealth? Even the Nine-Five Supreme Being, the emperor of the world, who would not aspire to such ultimate power? What about owning?
Whether it is longing or delusion, the human heart is the most difficult to control. Sometimes it is difficult to control your own heart.
You can't commit an unforgivable crime just because you think about it, right?
In his opinion, there is absolutely no need to set up such a trap, to lure out those with impure thoughts step by step, and push them bit by bit into the abyss of eternal destruction.
Liu Zi looked sideways at Li Ji and asked in a cold voice: "Young Master Ying, don't you want to say 'you are unkind'?"
Li Ji frowned and ignored it.
Even Li Ji cannot bear such a charge, but he usually pays little attention to political affairs, and he is even less willing to quarrel with those civil servants. Just such an "unfounded" accusation cannot shake Li Ji's status.
If you get angry and argue with him, you will fall into the trap of the other party...
Seeing that Li Ji did not take the bait, Liu Zi thought to himself: "The previous mutiny of Guanlong and the current rebellion of the King of Jin are enough to show that the Guanzhong clan has been dissatisfied with Your Majesty for a long time. If this disobedient heart is allowed to settle down, in a short time The world may be peaceful at home, but as long as there is the slightest disturbance in the court, these people will definitely jump out to stir up trouble. When the time comes, will the Yinggong lead an army to confiscate their homes one by one and exterminate their clans?"
Li Ji lowered his head to drink tea and ignored him.
In fact, Liu Zi's words make sense. Guanlong has been entrenched in Guanzhong for hundreds of years and has long been entrenched and intertwined. Since they opposed Li Chengqian twice in a row, it means that they have already regarded their own life and death as one with Li Chengqian's victory or defeat. Maybe he will go dormant because of the temporary failure, but it is basically impossible to change his mind and support Li Chengqian wholeheartedly again.
Even if they did that, Li Chengqian would not accept it.
Who would want to have a ferocious tiger lying next to them that could bite them back at any time?
Therefore, the current strategy seems to be against the troops stationed in various places in Guanzhong, but in fact, the real target is the wealthy families entrenched in Guanlong.