Crossing the river by boat, landing at the quarry, and riding eastward all night, in time to enter the city when the Xichang Gate opened in the early morning. Yao Xishui was already exhausted, but time was tight, and she had no time to rush to Changchun Palace to meet Lu Qingxia first.
, he directly took his personal maid Ye Feiying and sneaked into Yang En's mansion.
After Yang Yuanpu ascended the throne, Yang En restored the title of Marquis of Liyang, but the mansion was not changed. The people serving in the mansion were still the dozens of disabled old soldiers and their children who had been with him in the early years. The family was small.
Yang En "disobeyed" these servants and dragged him away from the Changchun Palace. He felt resentful and resentful. At this time, he was sick in the house and did not ask these servants to serve him.
Yao Xishui sneaked into the back house, and Yang En had just woken up from last night's hangover. He was sitting on the porch with a wine bottle and a fur, looking at the remaining snow in the garden, drinking wine one after another.
Seeing Yao Xishui and Ye Feiying climbing over the courtyard wall and coming in, Yang En just raised his eyes and continued to drink another sip of wine while turning a blind eye.
"Yang Houye said in front of the Changchun Palace that Liang Emperor Zhu Yushan was hiding an ambush and that the imperial troops on the north bank would fall into his trap when they stormed Chaozhou. What is the basis for this?" Yao Xishui approached and asked.
"The ancients said that soldiers are deadly weapons, and saints are not allowed to use them. Is it just because it is unlucky to use soldiers?"
Yang En raised his drunken eyes, stared at Yao Xishui, and asked,
"The navy's attack on Hongzepu was extremely rash. Isn't this heavy damage enough to arouse enough vigilance? The Imperial Army withdrew from Chaozhou, transferred the Xuzhou Water Camp eastward, assisted in the defense of the Jianghuai River, and waited until next year to revive the navy before attacking again.
Isn't Chaozhou safer and more likely to win than sending half of Da Chu's elite to fight for a chance? Why do you need to confirm whether Liang Guo has a conspiracy before choosing the best? From the perspective of Emperor Liang Zhu Yu, even if there was no one before
According to the plan, even if the Huaixi Forbidden Army successfully captured Chaozhou City, as long as Da Chu has no water divisions available, it is still possible to send a large army south, join forces with the rebels, and surround the Huaixi Forbidden Army in Chaozhou City, and then use Lou
The remnants of the naval force entered the Yangtze River waterway and cut off the communication between Jinling and Huaixi. Is it really necessary to reach this point before sending an order to mobilize the Xuzhou water camp to advance eastward?"
The Marquis of Liyang was known to be good at craftsmanship, but Yao Xishui didn't expect him to see the situation so clearly. He hesitated for a while and said:
"Your Majesty has made up his mind. Prime Minister Shen, Prince Li, Duke Li, Lord Er Zheng, Han Hubu, Deputy Envoy Zhou, and Du Bingbu all support the use of troops. Even if the Queen Mother agrees with Lord Yang's idea, I'm afraid she won't be able to persuade Your Majesty to change his mind.
?”
Naturally, Yao Xishui would not directly point out the matter of the Empress Dowager's secret edict. After all, Yang En's original intention to force his way into the Changchun Palace was to ask the Empress Dowager Wang Chan'er to come forward and persuade Yang Yuanpu and the court officials to change their minds. This was different from directly bypassing Yang Yuanpu and the court.
There is a big difference between the public and private secret edicts in the hall, which is nothing more than the direct implementation of the "military remonstrance palace coup".
"The Marquis of Qianyang is good at using dangerous tactics and taking the wrong direction. Your Majesty is deeply influenced by the Marquis of Qianyang but is deeply jealous of him. It is difficult for him to have a peaceful mind to manage state affairs. The Queen Mother said that the matter of formulating and discussing government has not been abolished, and she should summon other princes.
Let’s reconsider this matter,” Yang En said.
Seeing that Yang En had no objection to the Queen Mother's involvement in the government, Yao Xishui calmed down and said:
"To be honest, Li Zhigao, the Marquis of Xinjin, was also worried that the Liang army would take advantage of the unfavorable attack on Chaozhou, so he sent a secret envoy to the Changchun Palace to report the matter. However, the Huaihe River is now frozen, and the Liang Kingdom is hiding in Ying, Xu and other places.
There is an ambush. Even if the Queen Mother summons the princes to discuss the matter again, I am afraid it will be too late..."
Yao Xishui was not yet sure whether the Huaihe River was frozen enough for the cavalry to move, but she hoped that Yang En would agree to use a dangerous plan - to bypass Yang Yuanpu and the princes in the court, and let the Queen Mother directly issue a secret edict to Li Zhigao and Han Qian to take advantage of it.
Undoubtedly, it is another kind of adventure with serious consequences. In the future, it will directly lead to many conflicts and serious antagonism between Yang Yuanpu and Wang Chan'er, mother and son - the only way is to use the situation to force Yang En into the trap.
"..." Yang En stood there blankly.
He returned to the city from Changchun Palace. He had locked himself in his house for the past few days, as if he was deaf or dumb. He had no source of information. How could he know whether the Huaihe River was frozen at this time?
"Is it possible for the Queen Mother to directly pass the edict without convening the princes to discuss matters, so that the Marquis of Xinjin can take advantage of it?" Yao Xishui asked.
Yang En stood there, unable to answer this question for a long time. He had not thought of this possibility beforehand, and he knew what it meant.
After waiting for a while, seeing that Yang En was still unable to make a decision, Yao Xishui said: "Since Mr. Yang can't answer this question, Xishui can only go back to Changchun Palace and ask the Queen Mother to sit back and watch the changes. Maybe Chaozhou City will be recaptured, but the situation may not be certain."
Maybe it’s as bad as Mr. Hou thinks.”
"The Queen Mother and Your Majesty are biological mother and son. The Queen Mother is in charge of the affairs of the court and is responsible for the affairs of the country. When the Chu Dynasty is prosperous, she still has to take care of herself in the palace." Ye Feiying added a sentence.
Yao Xishui glared at Ye Feiying, as if blaming her for not understanding the rules and talking nonsense, and wanted to take Ye Feiying out of the Liyang Marquis Mansion.
"What this girl says makes sense. Your Majesty may be unhappy for a while, but you can't sit back and watch His Majesty continue to sink in." Yang En said through gritted teeth.
Little did he know that the Queen Mother Wang Chan'er had long fallen into the control of others. He thought that no matter how deep the conflict between the Queen Mother and Emperor Yanyou's mother and son was, there was still room for relaxation. It was better than risking half of Da Chu's elite combat power in this battle with a limited chance of victory.
good.
Yao Xishui then showed the secret edict that was supposed to be handed over to Li Zhigao yesterday and said: "This is the secret edict of the Queen Mother. I want the Marquis of Xinjin to use it conveniently, but the matter involves a lot. If you are not careful, everything will be lost. Unfortunately,
Shui asked the Queen Mother to come over and persuade Lord Yang to cross the river together to deliver this edict, so that there might be fewer omissions..."
Yao Xishui was a direct female official in front of the Empress Dowager of Changchun Palace. Yang En checked that the seal of the imperial edict was correct, so he naturally did not doubt that the secret edict was false. However, in such a short period of time, the attitude of the Empress Dowager Wang Chaner changed so much that he did not expect.
What shocked him even more was that Li Zhigao, who was trusted by His Majesty to take charge of the Huaixi Forbidden Army, realized that something was wrong and actually bypassed His Majesty and directly obtained a secret edict from the Queen Mother to act in an expedient manner.
This simply shows that Li Zhigao was the Queen Mother's man from the beginning to the end.
Yang En couldn't help but wonder, how much involvement and entanglement of the old Shenling Division members still has yet to be clarified?
Yang En pondered for a while, hesitating in his heart, but he thought that he had to solve the immediate urgent problem first, and asked Yao Xishui: "If we don't move the Xuzhou Shuiying eastward, it will be difficult to turn the crisis into safety. Does the Queen Mother have proper arrangements?"
"
Yao Xishui's eyes twitched slightly, and he finally suppressed the anger in his heart, and said in a gentle tone: "The Queen Mother has made arrangements, and there are always people in Xuzhou in Jinling."
Yang En also made up his mind. He was only in contact with the Queen Mother for the time being, so he did not inquire further. He immediately summoned several close followers to prepare the carriages and horses. Yang En did not think that he needed to hide anything when he crossed the river to Chaozhou.
Traces. Even if someone guessed that he was trying to persuade Li Zhigao, they would only think that he was struggling in vain and would not stop him.
Yao Xishui was about to leave the city and cross the river with Yang En again to the Chaozhou camp, so he arranged for Ye Feiying to rush back to Changchun Palace to report the new adjustments...
…………
…………
Outside the camp, the wilderness with residual snow was shrouded in a hazy sky, and a cold wind blew from the ground, making people's faces hurt.
Wen Ruilin stood in front of the gate of the camp. When he saw Deng Tai rushing back to the camp with only a dozen guards, he invited him to rush to Liyang City. He asked with confusion:
"General Deng, why don't Duke Chang Guo and Marquis Xinjin supervise the battle at Chaozhou City, but go to Liyang at this juncture, and why do you want me to rush over at this time?"
Liyang City is located more than 90 miles southeast of Chaozhou Daying, at the southeast corner of Chao Lake, across the river from Caishiji, a strategic location to the west of Gyeonggi Province.
Supplies, men and horses transferred from the Gyeongsang Province and the counties of Jiangnan East Road were mainly transferred through Yangcheng. The Forbidden Army on the north bank stationed two thousand elite soldiers and horses there to ensure smooth communication between the Chaozhou camp and the Gyeongsang Province on the south bank.
"It is said that Xuzhou has newly built a kind of siege weapon, which is even more powerful than the cyclone cannon. A dozen of them have been shipped to Liyang. The governor and Chang Guogong couldn't wait to rush over, trying to confirm whether Xuzhou was boasting. Maybe tomorrow
It will be transported directly to Chaozhou City in the hope that it can play a big role..."
Deng Tai grabbed the reins and stared at Wen Ruilin with sharp eyes as he spoke.
At noon, Li Zhigao found an excuse and pulled Li Pu, who was at the foot of Chaozhou City to supervise the final preparations for the siege, together with them they rushed to Liyang to wait for Yang En to cross the river.
Li Zhigao thought that if he could not persuade Li Pu to follow the Queen Mother's secret edict, he would first detain Li Pu in Liyang City, which was far away from the Chaozhou camp.
Naturally, Deng Tai would not tell Wen Ruilin the truth at this time. Instead, he would use the excuse he had made up in advance to trick him into rushing to Liyang City so that he could find an opportunity along the way to get rid of him quietly.
He changed his tone and said,
"... Duke Chang Guo said that Mr. Wen can understand the advantages of war weapons. He asked me to come and find Mr. Wen. I met you at the gate of the camp, Mr. Wen. That would be the best..."
"General Deng, please wait for Wen here for a moment. Wen has something that he needs to show to the Duke and the Marquis of Xinjin today." Wen Ruilin bowed his hand and walked to the camp.
Deng Tai was afraid of exposing his flaws, so he did not send anyone to keep an eye on Wen Ruilin directly, so he waited at the gate of the camp.
After half an hour, Wen Ruilin was not seen. Deng Tai felt that something was wrong and sent people into the camp to search. Only then did he find out that Wen Ruilin had gone back in front of the camp gate, took a horse and walked directly through the camp.
Camp, fled out of the west gate, and now has disappeared.
Deng Tai didn't think he had any flaws just now, but he didn't expect Wen Ruilin to be so cunning.
Half an hour had passed since Wen Ruilin escaped from the west gate of the camp. If he hadn't been intercepted by the scouts along the way, it would have been too late for him to send people to chase him. Deng Tai was so anxious that he could only lead him first
They rushed to Liyang to meet with Li Zhigao to discuss remedial measures.
The only thing that felt lucky at this time was that Wen Ruilin had always been working as a counselor beside Li Pu and had little influence in the army; and Li Pu came across the river with the order this time, mainly to urge Li Zhigao and the generals to attack the city.
, does not directly intervene in commanding operations.
Therefore, Wen Ruilin left the camp and fled at this time. At least the Chaozhou camp and the front camp fortress under Chaozhou City would not be directly disturbed for the time being.
Even if Wen Ruilin had the guts to go to other camps and talk nonsense, the guards of each camp would detain him first and send people to Li Zhigao for verification.
…………
…………
When Deng Tai rushed to Liyang City, the sun was already setting in the west.
Yang En, who came across the river, accompanied by Yao Xishui and his official servants, had just entered Liyang City and met Li Zhigao and Li Pu.
They had not even exchanged a few words at the county government house. Li Pu was secretly speculating about Yang En's intention when Deng Tai, with a panic-stricken look on his face, rode into the city and told Wen Ruilin that he had escaped from the camp.
Li Pu couldn't figure out what he had discovered for a while, but Yang En asked solemnly:
"What's the problem with Wen Ruilin? Why did he escape?"
Li Zhigao glanced at Li Pu. He didn't want to reveal the real story yet. At this time, he could only tell Yang En in another way. Li Pu pointed out that Wen Ruilin was a spy of the Liang Kingdom:
"My father always seeks stability and does not like to take risks. His Majesty's advice led to the defeat of the main force of the Navy in Hongzepo. The child suspected that his father was secretly instigated by others, but he did not expect that Wen Ruilin was about to be called in for questioning face to face. He had already been alerted.
escaped."
As an adopted son, Li Zhigao still maintained a submissive posture in front of Li Pu, but before Yang En could speak, Li Pu jumped up as if his tail was stepped on, pointed at Li Zhigao and asked loudly: "How is it possible, how can it be?"
possible?"
Li Zhigao stood there without saying a word.
Deng Tai failed to catch Wen Ruilin and eliminate the root cause, and the situation suddenly became more urgent. However, Wen Ruilin had a guilty conscience and fled in fear of crime. It was obvious here that there was no need for him to explain anything more.