While Guo Xu received the memorial from Yuan Zhenqian, Lu Zhongtian also received a private letter from Yuan Zhenqian. In the letter, Yuan Zhenqian expressed his respect and gratitude to Prime Minister Lu. He thanked him for finding his ancestral Xue Ji sword for him so that he could make amends. The regret of the ancestors. Of course, in the end, it is inevitable to express one's attitude and loyalty.
"Lv Xiangde has high hopes and is the mainstay of stabilizing the situation at this moment. Lv Xiangde's appointment as Privy Council is expected by everyone and the people's wishes. I will try my best to assist Lv Xiangde in fulfilling his duties. If necessary, I will do my duty without any hesitation. I know that many people will scold me for doing so. I am ungrateful, but I don't care about it. I said this out of a public heart and for the sake of my country and the country. Even if there is slander, I will sneer and ignore it indifferently. But if you have a clear conscience, why should you be afraid of rumors."
In the face of power and status, Yuan Zhenqian made what he considered a realistic choice without much hesitation. Compared with interests, how much is friendship worth? Yang Jun was certainly good to himself, but he is dead now. The living Yang Jun may be worthy of his respect, but Yang Jun is useless if he is dead.
The imperial court promoted me, and he was promoted and given generous rewards. This was to give him courtesy and respect, so why should he not appreciate the promotion? Did he really want to do something for Yang Jun? Did he really want to do something for a dead Yang Jun? Go ask for an explanation and offend the emperor and Lu Zhongtian? Can you really do something big with these 250,000 soldiers and horses? The answer is of course no. In this case, why bother to offend Tianwei and Lu Zhongtian? Prime Minister, why not just go with the flow and turn a blind eye. If Lu Zhongtian wants to win over him, he will just go with the flow. From then on, Lu Zhongtian will only take better care of him in terms of money, food and military pay. If he sits in this northwest land, as long as he If you have enough soldiers and food, you can just be a local emperor. Why bother thinking too much about other things?
A big stone fell in the hearts of Guo Xu and Lu Zhongtian. What they were worried about was Yuan Zhengqian's attitude. Now that Yuan Zhengqian has chosen to stand on the side of the imperial court, he has chosen to be loyal to the imperial court. He will definitely not behave differently. .
As for the reaction of other armies, there is no need to worry about the Imperial Guards in the capital. Because of their special status, the Imperial Guards have always been very subtle in appointing generals. As the generals of the Imperial Guards who guard the capital and defend the emperor, Yang Jun is still alive. He was very cautious at that time, and he did not dare to put his cronies in charge. Because if he did so, there would be a suspicion of evil intentions. In fact, the appointment of all Forbidden Army generals requires an additional procedure, so The appointment of generals above the intermediate level must be reported to the emperor for approval. When the late emperor Guo Chong was still alive, he personally appointed more than ten generals.
Yang Jun actually has the lowest level of control over the imperial army in the capital. On the contrary, Lu Zhongtian has deliberately stuffed many of his own people into the imperial army. This is called the ebb and flow of one thing. The competition for power in the court is intertwined and they are competing with each other. In your case Where my capabilities are insufficient, I naturally have to go further. In the areas you tightly control, I can only give in three points. Taking advantage of Yang Jun's sensitive and cautious attitude towards the Forbidden Army, Lu Zhongtian arranged Many important positions were given to his cronies.
Today, among the Imperial Guards in the capital, the commander of the Palace Front Division is Bai Qi, who was appointed by Guo Xu himself. The commander of the Guard Ma Jun Division is Feng Zitang, who was originally the Privy Deputy Envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and can be regarded as half of Yang Jun.
The commander of the Imperial Guard Infantry Division was originally the young prince Guo Kun, but after he and Lin Jue left the capital, this position was concurrently held by another deputy privy envoy Li Sanshan. However, not long ago, while Yang Jun was leading the army,
During the expedition, Lu Zhongtian had already suggested to Guo Xu to promote Wu Kuisheng, the Marquis of Yu of the Guard Ma Army Division, to serve as the commander of the Guard Infantry Division, removing Li Sanshan from his part-time job. Although Feng Zitang was a member of Yang Jun, he was also the deputy privy envoy.
, but this person is not a cause for concern. Because this person is already old and has been in a semi-retired state a year ago. The positions of Ma Jun Commander and Privy Deputy Envoy are only reserved in name. The person in charge of the Ma Jun Division is
The deputy commander of the capital, Li Rong, was already a member of Lu Zhongtian. He was a member of Lu Zhongtian’s plan a long time ago to let a large number of guards from the palace enter the Forbidden Army and infiltrate the Forbidden Army. Including Wu Kuisheng, they were all part of this plan.
With Lu Zhongtian's secret help and their own efforts, the outstanding leaders have climbed to high positions in the Forbidden Army. At this moment, it is the time for them to fully control the Forbidden Army.
Therefore, the entire imperial army in the capital will not cause any big commotion due to Yang Jun's death.
As for some local soldiers, including hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in the northeastern border towns, there are still worries. But this is what Lu Zhongtian will do next. If these local Yang Jun's party members are to understand the current situation, they will fail.
Forget it, if anyone dares to make any move, Lu Zhongtian will purge them mercilessly. Even if they remain silent, Lu Zhongtian will purge some of them.
Now, Yuan Zhenqian's biggest worry no longer exists, and Lu Zhongtian has nothing to be afraid of. He decided to start taking action against Yang Jun's party members. If he wants to completely control the army, some people are destined to be stepping stones. These stepping stones
Shi must be kicked away. After getting Guo Xu's consent, Lu Zhongtian began his purge operation.
In early August, the imperial court issued an imperial edict summoning military commanders and deputy commanders from various places to come to the capital to see him. In name, the emperor wanted to discuss military matters with military officials, summarize the reasons for the defeat in the Liao war, and listen to opinions in person.
The matter of improving the combat effectiveness of the army. It sounds like a summons to accept suggestions and humbly listen to the opinions of the military generals, but in fact, this is a banquet. Because all the recipients of the notice were listed by Lu Zhongtian who spent several days.
Lu Zhongtian, a general on the list of Yang Jun's remaining party members, wanted to use this opportunity to carry out a major purge and instigate a rebellion. Obviously, some of the generals who came to the capital would not have the chance to return alive.
Those who left could only be those who declared their allegiance to the emperor, or those who were loyal to Lu Zhongtian.
…
In mid-August, although it is still hot summer in most places in Dazhou, there is no feeling of autumn. However, in Yanyun Bianzhen, there are already signs of autumn coming.
The sky is high and blue, and the trees on the slopes of the wilderness have also begun to change colors. The originally green mountains and fields now have signs of colorfulness. This change will become rapid.
, only after half a month, the autumn mood will be strong and the autumn wind will be cold. In September, the weather will become obviously cooler, which means that the cold winter is not far away.
Bazhou, a majestic city in a large peripheral town, stands among the mountains at this moment. This city in a large peripheral town has experienced the baptism of countless battles, and the tall city walls are mottled and pitted.
His whole body was covered in scars, like a weather-beaten old man. But over the past hundred years, despite countless attacks and dangers, he had never been captured by the enemy. Therefore, the border city of Bazhou was, to some extent, a psychological city on the northeastern border of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The totem above. As long as the hegemony is lost, the border town will remain stable. This is already an unwritten consensus in the minds of the soldiers in the border town.
At this moment, on the gate tower of Bazhou North City, two figures were standing at the crenellations of the gate tower, looking at the undulating mountains in the north and the red and yellow autumn colors of the mountains, talking. One of them was tall, with a dark complexion, and a dark expression on his square face.
He had a look of deep worry and his brows were furrowed. Although the man standing next to him was wearing armor, he had a slender figure, elegant manners, and a rather scholarly air. But just like the tall, black-faced man,
His face was also clouded, and his brows were furrowed into a knot.
"Brother Qingshan, what do you think of the imperial edict sent by the imperial court asking us to go to the capital to meet the commander?" The person who spoke was Han Gang, the commander of the Ansu Army, and the person next to him was Ma Qingshan.
After the army was defeated, Han Gang was detained in Zhuozhou City. When Ma Qingshan and others led the remaining soldiers back to Zhuozhou, they ordered Han Gang to be released. Yang Jun was in a coma at that time, and Bai Qi had no ill feelings towards Han Gang.
Ma Qingshan did not object to his decision. After withdrawing to Bazhou, Ma Qingshan suggested that Han Gang not to follow Yang Jun back to the capital, because Han Gang had been accused by Yang Jun before, and returning to the capital would be disadvantageous. Han Gang was not a fool, of course he
He knew that he would not get any good results if he returned to the capital at this moment. The reason why Ma Qingshan stayed in Bazhou was because Bai Qi wanted to return to the capital. The 70,000 soldiers and horses who had been defeated in Bazhou needed someone to lead them for rest, so Bai Qi asked Ma Qingshan to stay.
Clean up the aftermath in Bazhou and lead the remaining soldiers to prepare for the enemy.
Han Gang and Ma Qingshan stayed in Bazhou City to reorganize their troops. They received news that the Liao army had gathered in Zhuozhou. When the soldiers and horses in border towns such as Baozhou Rongcheng were extremely nervous, the two of them were stationed in Bazhou.
It played the role of a needle to calm the sea. The two summoned the general from the nearby border to tell them not to worry, arranged beacon communication arrangements, and formulated a plan for mutual aid and rescue, which gave these people reassurance.
However, in the end, the Liao people seemed to have stopped at Zhuozhou City and did not go south. However, Liu Zhenbang, the peace envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, passed through Bazhou and headed north. Everyone also understood that the court was negotiating with the Liao people. For Han Gang and Ma Qingshan
, although they knew that this peace negotiation must be an unequal peace negotiation, and as soldiers, the peace negotiation was also the greatest humiliation for them. However, as defeated generals, they were not even qualified to inquire. Liu Zhenbang passed by Bazhou after returning from the Zhuozhou peace negotiation.
At that time, he didn't even give them a good look, let alone tell them the content of the peace negotiation. As soldiers, they couldn't defeat their opponents, which eventually led to the necessity of peace negotiation. This was what Han Gang and Ma Qingshan felt most guilty and tormented.
