Above the Chongwen Hall, the ministers who participated in the political affairs debated for a long time whether it was peace or war with the Liang Kingdom.
"The ministers have been arguing for a long time, and the Ai family is confused."
Qingyang became impatient when she saw Bin'er sitting next to her. She grabbed his little hand and told him to calm down. She sat behind the imperial desk and looked at the expressions of the ministers and Huang E on the other side of the imperial desk. At this time She had already figured out the attitudes of Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang, Yang En, Zheng Yu and others. It was indeed the same as what Lei Cheng said. The Zheng family turned against each other at the critical moment, but she also calmed down and pretended Said impatiently,
"Since King Shou insists on opposing the peace negotiation with Liang Jun, he cannot sit back and watch Liang Jun continue to show off his violence and watch his troops sweep across Jingxiang. The imperial court should immediately mobilize the infantry and armor of Youlong Wujun from Yangzhou marched westward to attack Chuzhou. However, the army in Jingxiang was running out of food and fodder, and could not even sustain it until August. It was also time to order the Yuetan River to flood the Yuanheng prefectures and transport food and grass by land to Ezhou for assembly, and then send Youlongwu to The army and navy rushed to Ezhou and concentrated on transporting grain and grass across the river. As long as the supply of grain and fodder was sufficient, not only would Liang Jun not be afraid of attacking Jingxiang, but they would also be able to recruit troops to follow Suiyang and Fancheng to regain Dengjun, Guanghuo and other places. I would like to write to him. There is no excuse to withdraw the Youwu Xiang Army..."
The Empress Dowager Changxin was more familiar with military and political matters than Ming Chenggong. Everyone had long been surprised. Listening to her tone, she was also impatient with Yang Zhitang's leadership but was reluctant to escort Youlong Wujun. Zheng Yu even took the opportunity to send Yang Zhitang to battle. The first army took over the conversation and said: "Youlong Wujun can decisively send troops from Yangzhou at this moment and mobilize water camps to gather in Ezhou to transport grain and grass. The children of the Zheng family will live and die with Jingxiang, and Liang Jun will not be allowed to win Jingzhou again. An inch of soil - Lord Shou, what do you say?"
The Empress Dowager Mingcheng was not familiar with military affairs and could not say anything. Sitting behind the imperial court, she looked even more exhausted. The Chongwen Hall had been arguing for a long time, and the focus of the issue was very clear. It was basically confirmed and discussed that there was no agreement. Han Qian will most likely send troops to Jingxiang in mid-to-late August.
Even though it is unlikely that the Shu army will directly send troops to join the war, apart from Li Zhigao who surrendered to Liang State, Chai Jian had 20,000 troops in Liangzhou who could go down the Han River and attack the west flank of Xiangfan. At this time, it can be confirmed that Han Qian followed Shangluo and Heluo and had already mobilized about 20,000 soldiers and horses into Dengzhou, Junzhou and Guangzhou, which increased Liang Jun's garrison in these three places to 40,000.
Especially before the end of February, the troops gathered at Chishan, Xichuan, could leave the Danjiang River at any time and cut off the connection between the lower and lower reaches of the Han River.
At this time, they were not too worried that Han Qian would have the strength to attack Huaidong or Gyeonggi.
In addition to the fact that Liang Jun did not have a large-scale cavalry and infantry assembly on the southeastern front, the more important thing is that there are currently more than 100,000 elite defenders near Gyeonggi and Huaidong.
Backed by the vast and abundant Jiangdong region, if a fierce war breaks out, they can recruit more soldiers and horses.
However, even regardless of the attitude of the Zheng family, no one in the hall wanted to see Jing Xiang make a mistake.
At the beginning of the year, supplies such as grain and fodder were originally transferred from Zhuzhou to Jingxiang to supply the rebel army, but the Chishan Society intercepted 400,000 shi at once. After that, the situation suddenly became tense.
First, the prefectures and counties whose grain was intercepted (robbed) made various excuses and were unwilling to bear the burden of requisitioning grain again. Second, before such a critical situation, no fleet dared to use the Yangtze River waterway to transport grain, which resulted in the loss of more than 90,000 people. The army was recruited and stationed in Xiangcheng, Fan, Canglang, Suiyang, Yingzhou and other places. Subsequent grain and fodder could only be collected from the vicinity of the garrison.
The Jingzhou, Xiangzhou, Yingzhou, and Suizhou have been almost crippled in the past two years, and the two states of Dengjun and Dengjun have fallen into the hands of Liang Jun. Jingzhou, Huangzhou, and the newly established Fuzhou, which have relatively sufficient grain reserves, are
It is a land of plenty, but last year it raised grain on a large scale from the local government to support the military. This year, it has doubled its collection. By the end of May, more than 600,000 additional stones of grain, grain, and various materials had been confiscated from the local government, causing local complaints.
Of course, there may still be certain grain reserves among the people in the three states of Jing, Fu, and Huang that can be exploited, and the recruiting army can even dispatch troops and horses to cooperate with the local government to forcibly collect grain. However, the problem is that when public resentment accumulates to a certain extent, when Han Qian officially sends troops, the local people will
Wouldn't they turn against each other without hesitation, or would there be a civil uprising in the local area before Han Qian could send troops south?
To solve this problem, it is very simple, that is, Youlong Wujun sends troops from Yangzhou, restrains Liang Jun's troops from the east, and then transports the grain and grass gathered in Ezhou to Fuzhou on the other side of the Yangtze River at all costs.
The weather has been good in the entire south these years, and local governments can still mobilize a large amount of grain, but the key is to be able to transport it to the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Although Liang Jun's combat effectiveness is strong, he is not a god.
Everyone is also confused. The current overall situation is extremely unfavorable to the Liang Army. As long as they can maintain the war situation until the end of October, the Yuying and other rivers are frozen. In the face of the powerful offensive of the Mongol cavalry and the Dongliang Army, the Liang Army will not surrender.
If we go out to Deng Jun and Huaixi and other places to seek peace, we will inevitably face total collapse.
Yang En, Shen Yang, Du Chongtao and others all looked at Yang Zhitang, wondering if he was willing to take out the infantry and navy of Youlong Wujun at this time.
The water fortress on Aoshan Island was destroyed. Yang Zhitang's chest was still aching at this time. Naturally, he supported sending 10,000 troops to take back Huaixi. However, he mentioned that Youlong Wujun should attack Huaixi first, and the remaining navy of Youlongwu Army should be dispatched.
He broke through the blockade and went to Ezhou to transport grain. He immediately hesitated and said, "Youlong Wujun is guarding the east flank of the capital. Don't move lightly. Maybe you can first mobilize 20,000 Chuzhou troops to attack Chuzhou."
"Chuzhou only has 30,000 troops stationed by King Xin, and it is necessary to defend the lower reaches of the Huaihe River. At this time, King Xin's troops and horses are transferred, and Chuzhou's defense is empty, and the Dongliang Army takes advantage of it. What should we do?" Zheng Yu asked.
"The Dongliang Army can't capture Cai by force. They must be willing to sit back and watch King Xin use troops against Chuzhou. They may send secret envoys to Bianjing to discuss matters. As long as the Dongliang Army's troops on the north bank of the Huaihe River are withdrawn to Xuzhou, there will be no worries about Chuzhou.
Lost." Yang Zhitang said.
"Wow!"
Qingyang couldn't lift the sandalwood coiled dragon imperial case, and pushed the gold-plated vases, paperweights and other objects that were used as decorations on the imperial case to the ground. He suddenly stood up, pointed at Yang Zhitang's nose and cursed,
"The late emperor's body is still cold, but you, an old man, want to make peace with the Hulu. Do you want to pull the late emperor's body out of the imperial mausoleum and give it directly to the Hulu, so that you, the old man, will be happy? This thief, Han Qian, is treacherous and dishonest.
, but the Ai family doesn’t know how much faith Hu Lu has in the eyes of an old man like you, or maybe when Hu Lu colluded with Lu Qingxia and sent an assassin to kill the late emperor, you, an old man, also secretly had a hand in it? "
Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother Chang Xin suddenly turned against anyone and pointed at Yang Zhitang's nose and scolded her. Shen Yang, Du Chongtao, Yang En, Zheng Yu, Zhang Chao, Zheng Chang and others were all caught off guard and looked at each other in confusion.
Yang Zhitang turned pale after being scolded, but he didn't know how to persuade him.
"Sister Huang, the late emperor's body is still cold. Have you forgotten the kindness that the late emperor showed to us two sisters? Yang Zhitang is forcing us two sisters to die in the ditch with Hulu. Otherwise, how can we face death under the Nine Springs without resting in peace?
The late emperor?" Qingyang didn't look at Yang Zhitang's old and skinny face, which she scolded like pig liver. He turned to look at Huang E and said sadly, his beautiful eyes filled with tears, which seemed to be pouring out like the Yu River bursting its banks in any minute.
Down.
Huang E was also frightened and panicked when faced with this scene. She didn't know how to deal with it, but in any case, Lu Qingxia had surrendered to the Mongolians at this time, and it was even more confirmed that the late emperor was a Mongolian.
As for the fact of the assassination, whoever dares to mention the peace with the Mongol people or their lackeys, the Dongliang Army, is pointed at the nose and yelled at, it is considered a minor matter.
"The late emperor's body is still cold, so it is absolutely impossible to make peace with the barbarians. Otherwise, the Aijia will be ashamed of the late emperor, and it will be difficult to explain to the people of the world. Lord Shou, you have made a mistake." Huang E could only bite the bullet and said,
He scolded Yang Zhitang coldly.
"The country of Chu is in turmoil. The old minister has gone too far. Please take the blame, Queen Mother!" Yang Zhitang lowered his head and said.
"You are not going too far. As long as you still have some status as the late emperor in your heart, you would not say such bastard words!" How could Qingyang let Yang Zhitang off so easily? He scolded sternly, "
And Emperor Gaozu killed the Xu family, and Han Qian sent the Xu family, Zhang Xinchun and other traitors to Jinling for trial years ago. Why are you delaying in every possible way? Have you ever thought about the way Emperor Gaozu treated you back then?
Favor?"
"..." The main hall is quite shady, but beads of sweat have appeared on Yang Zhitang's forehead. As the Privy Envoy of Da Chu and King Shou, he can be said to have a slightly higher status than Shen Yang, Yang En, and Du Chongtao.
The first minister, after being yelled at by Qingyang, pointed at his nose and scolded him like this, he really wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
"Queen Mother, things are serious and slow, and so is Shou Wang..." Zhang Xian stood up and said.
"When did avenging Emperor Gaozu and the late emperor become insignificant matters? Since Xu Mingzhen's reign, how many traitors and traitors have there been in the Dongliang Army with their hands stained with the blood of Emperor Gaozu? Have you forgotten every one of them?
Whether you have a serious or chronic illness, Zhang Xian, you really care about Emperor Gaozu and the late Emperor in your heart!" Qingyang asked coldly.
Zhang Xian was sweating profusely and fell to his knees on the ground, not daring to argue.
"Today the Ai family has understood all of you ministers who are full of benevolence, virtue and loyalty. You are planning to abolish the Ai family and Bin'er. You want to support King Fu, King Xin, or Yang Zhitang yourself.
It's up to you to sit on this throne..." After saying that, Qingyang took the hand of Yang Bin who was at a loss and made a gesture to walk out of the hall.
"The old minister made a mistake, please calm down the Queen Mother!" Yang Zhitang could no longer bear the pressure, and knelt on the main hall, putting on a true apology gesture, and said.
"King Shou made a mistake because he was worried about state affairs. Please calm down the Queen Mother!" Shen Yang and other important ministers were all given seats in the main hall. At this time, the Queen Mother Changxin showed her sharpness and could no longer sit still. They all stood up and bowed to tell each other.
.
Zhou Qinian and other officials from the Shangshu Province were not among the ministers. It was an honor to observe the proceedings in the main hall, but they were not qualified to be seated. I did not expect that Empress Dowager Changxin had such a tough attitude this time. They were all at a loss and did not know how to deal with it.
"The late emperor died so tragically that not even a year has passed. You all claim to be loyal ministers and filial sons, but you are only thinking about making peace with your great enemy - and then think about Emperor Gaozu, who founded this land and bestowed wealth and power on all your ministers. You
They all talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality, but they ignore the traitors who plotted against Emperor Gaozu, as if the death of Emperor Gaozu is so insignificant. Now you all say that Yang Zhitang is anxious about national affairs.
Do you, the Great Chu Court, have any more important state affairs than avenging the past emperor, Emperor Gaozu?" Qingyang asked sadly, his voice echoing throughout the hall.
Yang Zhitang knelt in the main hall and said bravely: "The Xu family, Zhang Xinchun and others killed Emperor Gaozu, Dang Yuan (Che Split) and the Yi tribe, Chen De and others helped the emperor to persecute the emperor, and deceived the Wang family with evil words to murder the late emperor and rebel. Dang Yuan and others
The three Yi tribes..."
"You used to delay in every possible way, but now you are murderous and are ready to attack the Yi tribe. Do you want to kill the Ai family and His Majesty?" Qingyang stared at Yang Zhitang and scolded.
"I don't dare, I will ask the Queen Mother to make a decision." Yang Zhitang said.
"In your eyes, the Ai family is just a good-for-nothing family. Which of you will listen to what the Ai family says? You all should stop saying these words hypocritically. If you dethrone the Ai family and His Majesty, you will take the throne.
Go and sit by yourself." Qingyang held Bin'er's hand and insisted on leaving.
"The Queen Mother please make a decision." Shen Yang, Yang En, Du Chongtao and others said bravely.
Qingyang said: "The Ai family has little knowledge and knows that everything should follow the laws of the ancestors. The assassination of Emperor Gaozu and the late emperor also requires a clear and correct trial at the Yushitai, so that it is convenient to issue an imperial edict to the world and comfort the souls of Emperor Gaozu and the late emperor in heaven.
——If you still remember Emperor Gaozu and the kindness of the late emperor, you should immediately review the case at the Yushitai instead of delaying it with all kinds of ulterior motives."
Logically speaking, these two crimes should be tried by the imperial clan ministers together with the Dali Temple and the Yushitai. However, at this time, Empress Dowager Changxin wanted to hand it over completely to the Yushitai, so it cannot be said that it was completely inconsistent with the system.
Shen Yang, Yang En, Du Chongtao and others knew in their hearts that the trial of these two counter-cases at this time would inevitably arouse voices in the government and the public against the use of troops by the Dongliang Army and Mengwu, and the voices against the use of troops by the Liang Army would be further affected.
suppress.
After all, in addition to Xu, Zhang Xinchun, the Queen Mother Wang Chan'er, Chen De and others, if these two crimes are really liquidated, it will be found that there are quite a number of culprits, who are all staying in the Dongliang Army and the Mengwu Army at this time.
Among them, only Wen Muqiao, Wen Bo and his son were officially pardoned when they surrendered to Tangyi. At that time, it was ruled that they were coerced by the Xu family.
Zheng Yu reached out and pulled the sleeve of Zheng Chang's robe beside him.
As Zheng Chang, the censor Zhongcheng, his brother Zheng Yu signaled him, stepped forward and loudly said: "Zheng Chang, the censor Zhongcheng, a minor minister, has been ordered by the Empress Dowager to immediately handle the case!"
"What do you say?" Qingyang asked, staring at Shen Yang, Yang En, Du Chongtao and others with cold eyes.
Since the outbreak of this crisis, because Huaixi is so critical to the Chu Dynasty, the voice of the peace negotiation in the court is the weakest. Even if Qingyang hopes to negotiate peace between Chu and Liang, courtiers have repeatedly written letters to advise, but the main war faction is divided into
The quick-war faction and the slow-war faction.
Of course, even if Qingyang initially exposed Qin Wen's identity and clarified her relationship with Tang Yi, there was no need to hide her preference for peace talks.
Advocating for peace talks and colluding with enemy countries are completely different concepts.
The Shu Kingdom was on the side of the Liang Kingdom at this time, and even did not hesitate to gather troops and horses in Yuzhou to create military pressure on the western flanks of Hunan and Jingxiang. She supported the peace talks, and the government and the public could only say that she still preferred her motherland in her heart. Her character is too weak, and she is worried that there will be too many changes after the war begins, which will be detrimental to her mother and son.
Putting aside the vague feelings in his heart, Qingyang also knew very well in his heart that only by leaving Liang Guo, who was relatively threatening and putting great pressure on the princes and ministers of Chu, could he effectively suppress the ambitions of Huang Hua and Yang Yuanyan. , called Shen Yang, Yang En and others could only help Bin'er grow up more cautiously.
Ten thousand steps back, as long as Bin'er can grow up safely and Chu Liang can divide the river and rule, there is nothing wrong with it. At this time, Liang is really going to be strangled to death. There may be a dispute between the Huang family and Yang Yuanyan. But she is destined to have even more trouble sleeping and eating.
Based on her own position, she should also support the peace talks, so why should she be afraid of making her attitude clear?
However, whether she can gain support in the DPRK still depends on the strength of the peace faction and the main war faction in the DPRK.
Because the location of Huaixi is so critical.
For the Zheng family, after Huaixi was included in the Liang Kingdom, the geographical location of Huangzhou, the foundation of the Zheng family, was too prominent. Therefore, the Zheng family quickly abandoned its previous close relationship with Tangyi and stood on the main battle stance, even advocating Quickly and forcefully taking back the two states of Huaixi and Dengjun was the quick-war faction among the main war factions.
However, Yang Zhitang was still unwilling to take out the Youlong Military Army. When the first wave of main forces attacked Huaixi, he hoped to see the Mongol people. After the Dongliang Army severely damaged the Liang Army, it was the main force to capture Huaixi without a fight. The detente faction among the war factions.
In fact, apart from the fact that Prince Xin is a staunch warrior, even Zheng's determination or confidence in seeking war is not particularly strong.
If you really want to regard Han Qian as an enemy, he is destined to be a hated and feared enemy.
Yang En and Shen Yang could still more or less see that after the situation in Heluo completely collapsed, the power of the Mongol people was growing and no one could control it. It must be the biggest threat that Da Chu will face in the future, and their thoughts were quite contradictory. hesitate.
Under such circumstances, Han Qian showed weakness in every possible way, and the matter was delayed, which was in line with the intentions of the detente faction in North Korea and China.
Yang Zhitang and other easing factions were even more eager to wait until autumn and winter to see the Mongol cavalry. The Dongliang Army once again launched a large-scale attack on the Liang State. They then completely cut off the Liang Army's trade from the south and contained a considerable part of the Liang Army's troops on the southern front. Just look at Let’s see how long Han Qian can hold on without collapsing under the waves of strong attacks.
Who would have thought that when the second phase of the war in Heluo ended, Han Qian would never give them, the slow-war faction, any chance to make a choice?
Now before Chu Ting, there were only two options left: a quick decision or peace negotiation.
Because of his own interests, the Zheng family realized that the peace talks would not work out and that Han Qian would launch a massive attack on Jingxiang in the autumn, so he immediately turned to support the peace talks.
However, if Yang Zhitang is now willing to threaten Youlong's military force to advance westward immediately, contain Liang Jun's soldiers and horses in Chuzhou and Donghu, break through the blockade of Tangyi Navy at all costs, and transport Ezhou's grain and grain across the river, They can also turn around and support a quick war, but delaying is definitely not an option.
Regardless of the fact that the Aoshan Island Shuiying Dazhai was burned down by the Tangyi navy, Yang Zhitang was still reluctant to bring out the main force of Youlong's military force to fight. In his heart, he wanted to declare no war.
Shen Yang, Yang En and others also recognized the strategy of declaring no war and hoped to send reinforcements to Huaixi from all directions to continuously strengthen the containment and suppression of Liang Jun.
This is not a bad strategy.
However, the key issue is that after the Yangtze River waterway was cut off, the 90,000-strong rebel army could only maintain local supplies, which would be difficult to sustain until September. At the same time, considering that Yang Yuanyan would like to sit back and watch the tiger fight, it is indeed possible that Taking advantage of the problem of food and grass, Zhao Zhen's troops were withdrawn from Suiyang, Fancheng and other places, so that Zhao Zhen would not be left to fight bloody battles with the elite Liang army.
To avoid this situation from happening, it is necessary to restore the water transportation between Ezhou and Fuzhou, or to fight the Tangyi navy first on the Yangtze River waterway at all costs.
Of course, the Yangtze River waterway between Ezhou and Fuzhou is far away from the main station of Tangyi Navy. As long as Youlongwu Army can make up its mind to send troops from Yangzhou to contain Liang Army and restore Efu water transportation thousands of miles away, there is still hope A certain advantage.
This is also what Wang Wenqian has judged. If a peace agreement cannot be reached, Han Qian will definitely mobilize the Tangyi navy in the next stage to destroy water camps, docks and other facilities along the Yangtze River and Han River. The official attack on the follow-up troops will not be until mid-to-late August. Yang, Fancheng, Yingzhou, Jingling, Huangzhou, Shuzhou and other places sent troops.
Either peace or war, the Chongwen Palace debated for a long time, and everyone had figured it out. However, in order to allow Yang Yuanyan, who was the main battler, to escape from the defense line in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River, Yang Zhitang actually took on the important task of containing Liang Jun from the eastern front. He did not hesitate to advocate secret peace with the Dongliang Army.
Of course, no one in the main hall has considered this possibility. After all, in addition to Zhao Zhen's troops, the 30,000 troops and horses that Yang Yuanyan personally led in Chuzhou were definitely the most capable elites in Chuzhou.
However, when Yang Zhitang raised this matter, Empress Dowager Changxin pointed at her nose and yelled at her. Except for Yang Zhitang's direct descendant Zhang Xian, no one else dared to defend him.
When the new emperor ascended the throne, there was an imperial edict stating that Lu Qingxia and the Mongols had joined forces to murder the late emperor and initiate a palace coup. Now Lu Qingxia, Zhou Yuan and others openly defected to the Mengwu. Before overturning this conclusion, the late emperor's body was still cold. If anyone proposes the strategy of uniting with the Mengwu to attack Liang at this time, he is not afraid that the saliva from both the government and the public will spray him to death?
Yang Zhitang's biggest mistake was that he probably thought that everyone was in the Chongwen Hall at this time and that it was just a small-scale court meeting and there was nothing that could not be said. However, he did not expect that the Empress Dowager Changxin would take this point without hesitation and treat him mercilessly. Give it a crackdown?