All the plans were going smoothly, and the imperial court believed that they could make a final decision at the last moment. Only Cheng Yaojin became a variable with hidden dangers.
Li Xiaogong's words were also the sentiments of everyone present. Could it be that Cheng Yaojin really had no restraint?
In fact, it's really...
Li Jing said: "Let Liang Jianfang pay close attention to the movements of Zuo Wuwei. If there is any change, report it immediately, and guard the Boling defense line. You must not let Cheng Yaojin do anything."
Li Chengqian could only nod in agreement.
He knew that in order to win over and recruit Cheng Yaojin, King Jin would definitely spend a lot of money at all costs. If he wanted to stabilize Cheng Yaojin, he could only provide generous benefits, but he couldn't afford King Jin's capital - again, the same sentence In other words, King Jin has nothing now, so he is willing to give anything; Li Chengqian really has everything now, so he can't give it.
After giving Cheng Yaojin, what should Li Jing do? What should Li Ji do? What should Fang Jun do? What should the remaining generals of the Sixteenth Guards and the Sixth Army of the East Palace do?
Failure to do so will cause alienation among the generals under his command, dissatisfaction, and even betrayal.
If it is given, the entire power structure of the imperial court will be completely thrown into chaos. When the time comes, there will be no need for pheasant slaves to fight, and they will be completely defeated by fighting in their own nest...
It is precisely because of this that many people are secretly greedy, waiting for King Jin to completely surrender to him once he shows his superiority. After all, King Jin can give too much, so much that they can fill their brains with fat and fatten their stomachs for generations. Worry-free.
Li Chengqian once listened to Fang Junzhi's advice that being an emperor does not necessarily mean doing everything personally, let alone being omnipotent in both civil and military affairs. The most important thing is "employing people". He understood it somewhat, but could not fully understand it.
Now I realize that what Fang Jun said is true. Why is "employing people" the most important and difficult? Because the most difficult thing in the world is not to lead troops to fight and defeat the enemy outside the country, nor to develop internal affairs and hide wealth among the people, but People's hearts are unpredictable...
I know what my subjects want, but I don’t know how much they want. Even if I know how much they want, it’s hard to guarantee that they only want this...
This is why people's hearts are greedy and their desires are hard to satisfy.
…
It was already very late, the entire Tai Chi Palace was brightly lit, and the battle reports from the front were still coming, but there was no change from all parties, which was not good news. There was no good way to deal with Cheng Yaojin. Many favors could not satisfy Cheng Yaojin, and arresting and punishing him would cause greater turmoil. He was indifferent to the stern warnings, which made the emperor and his ministers feel helpless and could only take one step at a time.
Fortunately, it is basically confirmed that even in the worst case scenario, Cheng Yaojin will not personally rely on the rebels to launch a counterattack and serve as the vanguard of the rebels. At most, he will retreat and give up the road to Chang'an as before, leaving the rebels alone. Go straight in...
The situation is still under control.
Li Chengqian had people prepare meals, and the monarch and his ministers enjoyed a late-night snack together. Several ministers got up and left one after another.
When several ministers walked out of the door, Li Chengqian's heart moved and he said to Wang De beside him: "Go and see off the Duke of Yue."
Wang De was stunned for a moment, then understood and said: "Here."
He quickly jogged a few steps to go out and catch up with the people walking side by side.
Several people were standing outside the Wude Hall, talking in low voices. Li Jing and Li Ji were walking together. The former was going to sit outside Chunming Gate, while the latter was returning home. Fang Jun was walking with Li Daozong, the former was going to Xuande Gate, and the latter was going There is a way to go to Xuanwu Gate.
Seeing Wang De coming up, Li Ji asked, "What are your orders?"
Wang De glanced at Fang Jun and said: "Your Majesty ordered this old slave to escort the Prince of Jiangxia and Duke Yue on a journey."
Several people were stunned for a moment, and then looked at Fang Jun together, quite amused.
Fang Jun blushed and realized that the emperor was afraid that he would go to the "obscene palace" of Princess Changle's palace again, so he sent someone to escort him out of the palace...
He coughed dryly and said, "I'm tired."
Without saying anything, Li Jing cupped his hands towards Li Ji and walked north through the aisle beside Wude Hall.
Li Daozong smiled and greeted Li Ji and Li Jing. He followed Fang Jun away, while Wang Deze chased Fang Jun, who was striding forward...
Li Jing and Li Ji looked at each other, shook their heads and said helplessly: "This boy is one of the best in the world in terms of literary talent and military skills. He has no love for power and no ambition. He is really a promising candidate. He may not be able to become a famous minister in the future. It's just that This greed for beauty and lawlessness may hinder his achievements."
There are so many juniors who have been under his disciples for so many years either in name or in a master-disciple relationship. Except for Su Dingfang and a few others, there are very few noble disciples who have caught his eye. But Fang Jun is completely different. .
Not to mention that the troops went out of their way to ride horses in the vast sea, sealed the wolf in Xu, and overthrew Xue Yantuo, and rushed thousands of miles to help the foreign countries that defeated the invaders in the Western Regions. Just the navy that roamed the seven seas and abused the foreign countries made him amazed and convinced.
From the navy's military structure, equipment, new strategies and tactics, and the expansion method of attacking one by one overseas, plus the fact that the caravans are escorted by force to plunder wealth under the guise of commerce, it is enough. Fang Jun's name went down in history and he became a master of military art.
Achievements at the strategic level are the most difficult and most recognized by the world.
It's a pity that Fang Jun's outstanding ability but poor personal ethics limited Fang Jun's future achievements and inevitably made the emperor jealous and unable to fully support him...
; Li Ji trembled his sleeves, he was heavy in the early autumn, his clothes were slightly wet. He looked at Li Jing and laughed: "Why did Wei Gong never think he was intentional?"
Li Jing was stunned.
Li Ji looked back at the brightly lit Wude Hall, lowered his voice, and said slowly: "No gold is pure, and no one is perfect. If a person is flawless, how is he different from a saint? In this world, only the emperor can To be a saint is to enjoy the respect of the world and the love of the people. If a minister is a saint... it is not a good thing."
The way to achieve death is to outdo one's master. This is true in ancient and modern times. If a minister's reputation exceeds that of the emperor, there will be no good end.
Throughout the ages, the minister closest to a saint is Wang Mang. He is good at cultivating his reputation, lives a simple life, is humble, has a well-behaved manner, and has a rigorous style. He can be regarded as a moral model in the world, praised by everyone, and famous all over the world.
He also made good friends with all parties in the DPRK and shared the benefits equally, so he forced Wang Zhengjun to hand over the imperial seal, accepted Liu Ying's abdication, went to the Gaozu Temple to worship the royal crown and the throne of emperor, and changed the country's name to "Xin" At that time, there were very few opponents in the DPRK and China, and a change of imperial power was implemented smoothly as never before...
Only then did Li Jing react and frowned: "Mao Gong means that that kid is actually hiding his own shame?"
"For the emperor, a perfect minister means that he cannot be controlled. Only by holding the handle of his ministers in his hands can he use them with confidence."
Li Ji: "This is not a place for free conversation. I will finish my words here and take my leave first."
But Li Jing shook his head and pulled Li Ji's arm: "Let's go together, let's go together."
He had high expectations for Fang Jun, so he felt regretful when he saw Fang Jun indulge in beauty. Now after hearing Li Ji's words, he suddenly realized that he still seemed to underestimate Fang Jun. This guy was far more profound and profound than he thought. Knowing the way of protecting one's own safety, I naturally wanted to ask clearly, how can I allow Li Ji to leave?
Li Ji had no choice but to be dragged away by him, regretting his momentary gaffe.
He didn't want to get involved with Fang Jun. When the military factions were getting closer and closer, would he let the emperor sleep peacefully?
*****
On the Bronze Man Plain, a fierce battle is going on.
The Youwu guardsmen launched fierce attacks from the east, north and west of the Tuyuan. A group of cavalry patrolled the south of the Tuyuan from Bashui to Lishan Mountain, ready to kill the fleeing enemies at any time and surround the Tongren. The water is blocked.
The war lasted for a day, but Youwuwei actually did not kill anyone. The various units cooperated with each other, weaved in and out, and fully utilized their strength advantage. Although they had a complete advantage, they did not fight the enemy head-on, but adopted a cannibalistic trend. First divide and encircle and then defeat them one by one, so the progress is slow, but the loss of troops is minimal.
On the other hand, Cui's private army suffered heavy losses.
In army tactics, individual soldiers are at a disadvantage in terms of combat effectiveness. Fighting a strong enemy with a single bloody courage can be bluffing at the beginning, but as the war progresses, they will soon fall into a disadvantage. By the time the Youwuwei completes the encirclement With such a situation, Cui's private army could only parry and had no power to fight back.
Under Xue Wanche's command, Youwuwei was able to advance steadily like a cat catching a mouse.
By daybreak, Cui's private army had been defeated on all fronts. The latter could only rely on the military camps where the army was stationed to resist stubbornly.
Cui Junshi's eyes were red and his face was pale. Every battle report that arrived in front of him meant the loss of a position, the death of countless soldiers, and the more than ten thousand private troops accumulated by the Cui family for more than ten generations to stabilize the foundation of the family. Almost half were killed or injured overnight.
This is still the case when Youwuwei is unwilling to fight hard so he has some leeway...
How can this battle be fought?
Cui Junshi, who has always had a high self-esteem and did not take the heroes of the world into his eyes, has long lost his original pride. The Cui family's history of running rampant in Shandong for more than a thousand years once made him think that the Li and Tang royal families were not able to dominate the world due to luck. If so, If the Cui family has better luck, they may not be able to become another Li Tang royal family.
But now he realizes that the thousands of books and poems in his family and the thousands of years of history are vulnerable to the true strength of Bingfeng Goli.
"Young Master, the enemy has launched another charge!"
A man with a broken stomach and blood all over his body would rush in from the outside, shouting hoarsely, his expression full of despair.
You cannot fight, you cannot escape, you cannot surrender, this is a dead end...
Cui Junshi put down the battle report in his hand, stood up, picked up a bag and put it on his head, tied it tightly under his chin with a silk ribbon, then grabbed a sword and held it in his hand. His eyes were blood red but his tone was calm, and he said to the general : "In this battle, you can die, but you cannot surrender. Later I will lead my army to fight the enemy to the death. You will lead the troops to supervise the battle. If anyone surrenders, he will be killed without mercy!"
The general bit his lip and trembled, tears streaming down his face, and said sadly: "We are all brothers, how can we start?"
"Snapped!"
Cui Junshi shook his hand and slapped her hard, her eyes widened, and she roared: "Don't you know the significance of this battle to the family? If everyone died here, the Cui family of Qinghe would be a model for all generations to be loyal and brave.
, when the King of Jin ascends the throne, he will be compensated ten times or a hundred times! But if he is unwilling to fight hard and is greedy for life and afraid of death, he will definitely be ridiculed by the world. At that time, do you still expect His Highness, the King of Jin, to feel guilty and compensate you?
We will die vigorously in battle today, and our bodies will fall as heavy as Mount Tai. We will use our flesh and blood to lay the foundation stone for the Qinghe Cui family for hundreds of generations!"
"Here!"
The general's face was filled with snot and tears, and he roared in agreement.