The Censor's Office is responsible for supervising all officials, so it is most appropriate for the Censor Zhongcheng to submit the impeachment letter. The next morning, Pang Dian launched an attack as planned and suggested to Li Hong that Hua Ning's general Zhao Huan was suspected of collaborating with the enemy.
Li Hong was very confused about this. Just two days ago, he had just received a battle report from the front, saying that Huaning's soldiers and civilians fought hard to resist the allied forces' siege. After a day of fierce fighting, they finally succeeded in repelling the enemy. Why are there suddenly collaborators now?
Is there any suspicion?
It would be too easy for the princelings headed by Li Dan to impeach Zhao Huan. Pang Dian said in public that he had witnesses, and it was the soldiers who escaped from Huaning who tipped him off.
Zhao Huan had frequent correspondence with the coalition forces. On the surface, he was devoted to the country and was at odds with the coalition forces, but secretly he had a secret affair with the coalition forces to find a way out for his future.
When Pang Dian said this, another minister immediately stood up and told Li Hong that this matter was by no means groundless. There had been rumors about Zhao Huan's affair with the coalition forces for a long time, but because the matter was of great importance and there was no conclusive truth, he did not dare to
Report to Li Hong.
Next, the princeling ministers spoke one by one, talking about everything. Some said that Zhao Huan had a close relationship with Gu Anmin, and now that Gu Anmin had defected to the coalition, Zhao Huan also wanted to defect. Some ministers even deliberately
Pretending to be worried about the emperor and the country, he said that the acropolis of Hua Ning as the capital must not be lost in any way. Even if there is no physical evidence that Zhao Huan is collaborating with the enemy, as long as he is suspected of collaborating with the enemy, it cannot be used again and must be removed.
Send him back to the capital immediately.
Some of these ministers were the main attackers, and some were just supporting others. They kept slandering Li Hongjin with every word from you and me.
Li Hong's face became darker and darker as he listened, and his brows furrowed more tightly as he listened. Finally, he was so upset by the noise from everyone that he slammed the table and shouted in a loud voice: "Don't say any more!"
If someone said that Zhao Huan had a problem, it might be a misunderstanding or prejudice, but so many ministers, including the prince, believed that Zhao Huan had ulterior motives and was suspected of collaborating with the enemy, so Li Hong couldn't help but think twice.
After thinking about it, even Li Hong was not sure whether Zhao Huan really had a problem at this time. He asked Zhang Mian, the imperial censor, and said: "Master Zhang, what do you think of Zhao Huan? Does he really have the intention of collaborating with the enemy?"
The imperial censor is the person in charge of supervising all the officials of the imperial court and is also the immediate superior of the censor Zhongcheng. Li Hong usually trusts Zhang Mian and attaches great importance to his opinions. Now he wants to hear his opinions.
Zhang Mianke is a veteran in the imperial court, and he has been in the position of imperial censor for ten or twenty years. He has already become a master in cultivation. What can be hidden from his eyes?
He had carefully observed just now that all the ministers who impeached Zhao Huan were basically from the prince. As for why the princelings suddenly attacked Zhao Huan, he had no idea.
One emperor and one courtier, this is also the case in the principality. After Li Dan succeeds to the throne, the princelings will become the mainstream in the court, and the third prince and the fourth prince all died in battle in Beijing. Now there is no power to threaten Li Dan.
status, it was almost certain that he would become the next King Zhen. In this case, Zhang Mian decided to comply with the wishes of the prince.
The first is to show his intention to please, so that when Li Dan becomes Queen Xinzhen, he will not lose his foothold in the court. Second, in his view, the princelings are the pillars of the future court, and it is impossible to do anything harmful to them.
Regarding the interests of Zhenguo, since they impeached Zhao Huan, they must have some unknown evidence in their hands. Due to these considerations, Zhang Mian also had a clear preference for Li Hong's answer.
He said: "Your Majesty, the survival of Hua Ning directly affects the capital, and even affects the success or failure of the anti-allied forces. It is related to the survival of Zhenguo, and it cannot be careless. When it is not sure whether General Zhao is loyal or traitorous, the minister also feels that it is better to be cautious.
.Don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens!”
He did not explicitly say that Zhao Huan should be transferred back to the capital, but his meaning was already obvious. After listening to Zhang Mian's words, Li Hong fell into deep thought again.
Pang Dian and many ministers impeached Zhao Huan. The prince agreed, Zhang Mian also agreed, and most of the ministers in the court agreed. This is really embarrassing!
From the bottom of his heart, Li Hong valued Zhao Huan's ability very much and believed that he was the best person to guard Hua Ning. However, now that many ministers are working together to impeach him, he has begun to waver in his heart.
He murmured: "If Zhao Huan is withdrawn, who can replace him and guard the important place of Huaning for me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Dan stepped out of the queue and said loudly: "Father, I have a good candidate for you!"
"Oh?" When Li Hong heard this, he suddenly became energetic and said hurriedly: "Who is it? Dan'er tell me quickly!"
Li Dan said seriously: "That's Lieutenant General Xu Bufan and General Xu!"
Xu Bufan? Li Hong was stunned and did not answer immediately. Xu Bufan did not expect that the prince would recommend him, and he was also surprised.
Li Dan continued: "First, General Xu is brave and good at fighting. He has the courage to defeat ten thousand people and has a high reputation in the army. With General Xu as the commander-in-chief of Huaning, it will undoubtedly boost the morale of our soldiers. Second,
General Xu is an experienced veteran who is good at commanding and using troops, and his abilities are no worse than those of Zhao Huan. Let General Xu serve as the commander-in-chief of Hua Ning, I think he is more than enough, and he will definitely live up to expectations."
His words made Xu Bufan feel light and airy, as if he were stepping on the clouds. Before Li Hong could express his stance, he lifted his robe and stepped out of the queue, stepped in and saluted, and said, "Thank you, the prince, for looking after the general!"
After speaking, he said to Li Hong: "Your Majesty, although the coalition army is large, Xiang'an Army, Huan Army, Yu Army and the like are just a mob. The general has not yet taken them seriously.
The last general will guard Huaning, and the last general is willing to guarantee that the city will not be lost with his head!"
Li Hong was happy when he heard this. He was very pleased that Xu Bufan could still maintain such a high fighting spirit and confidence under the current passive situation of Zheng Kingdom.
He said with a smile: "General Xu, the coalition forces are not all ordinary people. Let's just talk about the coalition forces attacking Huaning, including the main force of the Feng Army!"
Xu Bufan looked up and smiled, and said proudly: "Your Majesty, others may be afraid of the Feng Army, but the general is not afraid of it. If the general had been allowed to go to the Feng Kingdom, the situation in the north might not be what it is now."
Others didn't feel anything after hearing this, but when Nie Ze heard the words, his nose was almost twisted with anger, and he cursed secretly in his heart. What did Xu Bufan mean by saying this? Isn't his ability to lead troops to fight inferior to him?
However, Li Hong was very happy with Xu Bufan's arrogance and felt that this was the courage a general should have.
He pondered for a moment, finally nodded, and said sternly: "General Xu, take my king's edict to Hua Ning immediately. When you see Zhao Huan, give him my king's edict and order him to return to the capital immediately. Hua Ning
All affairs will be taken over by you!"
Xu Bufan was overjoyed and stepped in, saying: "I will obey your orders!"
Li Hong warned uneasily: "General Xu must not be careless when guarding Huaning. Although the coalition forces are not strong in combat, they are numerous and can fight all the way from the border to the capital. Their strength cannot be underestimated. You must act with caution!"
"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The general will be able to defend Hua Ning and prevent the coalition forces from being hundreds of miles away from the capital!" Xu Bufan has always been arrogant. Now that he thought about it, Zhao Huan could defend Hua Ning, let alone him.
Under the advice of Li Dan and others, Li Hong finally decided to replace Zhao Huan with Xu Bufan. His decision was extremely stupid and was also the most direct factor leading to the demise of Zhen Kingdom.
Xu Bufan moved quickly. After the morning session, he left for Huaning at noon that day and arrived in the evening.
No matter how popular Zhao Huan was in Huaning and how much he was loved by the army and the people, he had no choice but to carry out Li Hong's transfer order after it was promulgated.
Regarding the appointment of Xu Bufan to replace him as the commander-in-chief of Hua Ning, Zhao Huan's first reaction was that Hua Ning was going to die.
He knows very well what kind of person Xu Bufan is. He is too high-minded and arrogant. What is terrible is that he is also stubborn and cannot listen to the kind words of others. He is absolutely qualified to be the vanguard of the charge. How can he be the leader of an army?
Do you have that ability?
Zhao Huan couldn't understand why the king suddenly transferred him back to the capital, and why he replaced a reckless man like Xu Bufan as the general. However, Xu Bufan didn't explain to him at all. Ever since they met, he acted completely domineering, even when looking at people.
They were all looking out of the corners of their eyes.
Zhenguo was facing a change of generals, and the news also spread to the coalition forces. Tang Yin was overjoyed when he heard this. He originally gave Li Dan five days, but he didn't expect him to get the matter done so quickly. This gave his side plenty of time.
.
There was nothing to say that day. The next day, Tang Yin sent an order for the entire army to attack the city. However, it was not an actual attack, but a feint attack. It could also be regarded as a meeting gift for Xu Bufan.
The intensity of this full-scale siege by the coalition forces was completely different from the last time. They fought and retreated, retreated and fought, and did not fight the defenders at all.
As a result, after a whole day's consumption, Huaning City changed hands, and the number of times the coalition forces could even approach Huaning was limited.
Of course, Hua Ning also sent the news back to the Xitang court that it had once again resisted the allied attack. Li Hong was very happy after seeing it. Originally, he felt guilty about transferring Zhao Huan back. Now it seems that even if Xu Bufan is guarding
, Huaning is also impregnable, and the coalition forces can do nothing about it.
The failure of another attack also gave the coalition forces a reasonable excuse to bypass the city. Since they were unable to defeat the enemy, they could only avoid its edge, bypass Huaning and Tongcheng, and go straight to Xitang.
This move of the coalition forces shocked Zhenguo. They bypassed Huaning and Tongcheng and attacked Xitang directly. The coalition forces were fighting a desperate battle, completely eliminating the need for logistical supplies and leaving their rear areas to Hua Ning and Tongcheng.
Zhenjun in both parts of the city.
The capital of Zhenguo was obviously ill-prepared for the sudden arrival of the coalition forces. After learning the news, it urgently evacuated the people outside the city. For a while, chaos broke out inside and outside Xitang.
At the same time, Huaning and Tongcheng were also surprised by the unusual behavior of the coalition forces. Huaning's commander-in-chief Xu Bufan and Tongcheng's commander-in-chief Guanzhan both intended to take the initiative. When the coalition forces attacked Xitang, they suddenly launched an attack from behind and killed the coalition forces.