At this time, in the historical slice where Fan Cun was, five years passed by in the blink of an eye.
Several key events during this period flashed in front of him like a revolving lantern, allowing him to understand in a short period of time the life trajectory of the third prince, His Highness Prince Yun, after the destruction of Xixia.
After returning to the capital, the people lined the streets to welcome him, and even the entire Daquan realm was filled with a festive atmosphere, competing to sing about His Highness King Yun's achievements in pacifying the northwest.
Fan Cun certainly feels the enthusiasm from the people, but this enthusiasm is currently useless to him.
What he was more concerned about was obviously the changes in the court.
Even before he returned to the capital, there were rumors that some civil servants had already impeached him for engaging in minor provocations.
After all, when the Western Army conquered Xixia, they did not set the ultimate goal of completely destroying Xixia. However, His Highness King Yun’s pursuit and fierce attack accomplished the rare feat of expanding the territory of the Qi Dynasty since the founding of the country.
, but in the view of some civil servants, it is useless to occupy Xixia alone. Instead, a large amount of resources will be wasted every year to maintain it, which will increase the burden on the country.
It is not surprising to have this view. After all, there was a Wen Junshi before who could forcefully send back all the achievements of Hehuang Kaibian.
It is not surprising that these civil servants held the same views as Wenjun.
However, these impeachments did not reach Fan Cun's ears, because at this time, the left prime minister in the government was still Li Boxi.
Li Boxi suppressed all these impeachments very forcefully, and was so angry that he wanted to attack these officials directly. With Qi Huizong's comfort, the two sides finally stopped fighting.
Qi Huizong's attitude was also very clear: destroying Xixia is obviously a good thing, not to mention the great contribution made by my favorite son. Even if you civil servants want to impeach me, you should consider my feelings!
As a result, these discordant voices in the court were finally suppressed gradually.
But the political turmoil that Fan Cun felt was obviously not just the crow-like noise of a few civil servants.
The biggest source of hostility towards him is obviously the Crown Prince.
The prince, the future Qi Yingzong, was naturally very uneasy about this.
He could feel that his father disliked him and preferred this third brother, and he could also feel that since the third brother's meritorious service, both the ministers and the common people looked upon the third prince with admiration.
And his position as the crown prince is becoming more and more shaken.
As a result, many ministers who supported the prince began to become active. Perhaps some of them were hidden among the many civil servants who had previously impeached King Yun Qingqi.
Immediately afterwards, more important issues surrounding King Yun unfolded.
The most important one is: how should Xixia be ruled after the destruction of the country?
In addition, how should the third prince, who has made great achievements in the world, be placed?
How should Tong Daofu be rewarded?
In the court, several political forces began to undercurrent, jointly pushing these issues in directions that are difficult for people to guess.
Of course, it was Qi Huizong's own thoughts that played the biggest role in this.
Although Xixia was destroyed, the power to restore the country was still there.
In order to show mercy, the Qi Dynasty did not annihilate the Xixia royal family, but only "invited" the Xixia emperor to the capital. They said it was a good reception, but in fact he was under house arrest.
This move certainly makes sense.
Although it is not impossible to kill the Xixia royal family, for example, in real history, the Northern Barbarians drove out all the royal families after the destruction of Xixia, but after all, that was something that only the Northern Barbarians would do. Doing so would add a lot of stability to themselves.
cost.
At that time, uprisings may break out frequently throughout Xixia, and the Qi Dynasty will have to expend a lot of power to maintain local rule, but will not be able to obtain enough benefits from it. If things go on like this, it will be unsustainable.
Therefore, the final decision was that part of the Western Army was still needed to garrison, and at the same time, various states and counties in Xixia were included in the Qi Dynasty, and officials were appointed to take over and gradually digest them.
The turbulence of the situation here also means that no one strong enough and capable enough can suppress it.
The court once again had a long dispute over the selection of this person.
Many rival civil servants were recommending each other. It was called recommendation, but in reality they wanted to send each other to the northwest, away from the competition in the court, and to get rid of a competitor for themselves.
At this time in the Qi Dynasty, the capital was the absolute center of power. Once officials left this center of power, it meant that information was blocked and their influence declined rapidly.
Therefore, almost no one in a high position is willing to take over this job.
The question of how to place the third prince was also one of the key points of debate.
Although the military reports at the time had roughly restored the details of the battlefield, a large number of civil servants still did not believe that the third prince actually went into battle with a gun and defeated the iron kite, and were more inclined to believe that it was the fault of Tong Daofu and the generals.
Words of flattery.
As for how this great victory in Tong'an City was achieved, there are even more divergent opinions.
Some people say that this is Tong Daofu deliberately giving the credit to the third prince and supporting the third prince to rise to power. Some people say that this is the third prince stealing the credit of the generals...
Of course, some people believe that this third prince is truly a genius. After all, the fact that he was admitted to the top of the imperial examination means that he is an extremely talented person. It does not seem surprising that he happens to know some art of war.
But no matter what, the third prince is the royal family after all, and regular rewards are meaningless to him, but if the rewards are too excessive... then it may actually harm him.
As for Tong Daofu, he was already in power at this time. In the original historical trajectory, he was also crowned king for redeeming Yan Yun's "contribution". This time, he just moved the time point of crowning king a little earlier.
In short, after some discussion, Qi Huizong made the final decision.
King Yun was granted the title of Grand Marshal of Northwest Soldiers and Horses, controlling the soldiers and horses in the entire northwest, guarding Xingqing Mansion, and temporarily taking charge of the hometown of Xixia.
This is the most acceptable result for all parties.
Especially for Qi Yingzong, who was still the crown prince at this time, the third prince's departure to the northwest meant that he was far away from the political center of the court, and it was no longer possible to secretly make friends with various civil servants to encourage Qi Huizong to change the throne to the crown prince. This was naturally considered a matter of course.
Good thing.
As for whether the third prince will cause any trouble if he holds military power in the northwest...
This is the Qi Dynasty, so the possibility is extremely low.
After all, even if the third prince really wants to rebel, the Western Army may not listen to him. Even if it listens to him, it is quite nonsense to use the Western Army to attack all the Imperial Guards in the country.
The most important thing is that it is unpopular to find a suitable reason for rebellion and rashly involve the world in war.
For His Royal Highness, as long as he waits patiently for a few years and waits until he succeeds to the throne, there are many ways to slowly deal with this third brother.
In fact, it is okay for the prince to think so, but he has not calculated the series of changes that may happen in the future.
…
In this way, not long after King Yun returned to the capital, people from all walks of life came to visit and congratulate him, and then he was kicked out of the capital and went to Xingqing Mansion.
In fact, Fan Cun also tried. He wanted to persuade Huizong of Qi and suggested that he continue to fight against Tubo and other countries, but these proposals were undoubtedly rejected.
For the Qi Dynasty at this time, attacking Xixia was already the limit of openness.
If we want to fight further, it's not that the army doesn't support it or that we don't have enough money and food. The key is that North Korea and China are too vocal in opposing it.
After all, the Qi Dynasty was still a dynasty where scholars ruled the country. Even the main war faction among the scholars were marginalized, let alone the military people. Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible to continue to attack other places.
And Qi Huizong himself was not a talented and strategic monarch. Naturally, it was impossible for him to push forward such a risky behavior despite the pressure of his ministers.
Therefore, Fan Cun did not go to Shu again.
He didn't have high hopes for this at first, he just wanted to try his luck at Shangshu. If it didn't work, then forget it.
According to Sheng Taizu's suggestion, just because he could not continue to fight did not mean that he had nothing to do.
After the destruction of Xixia, the Western Army, which had been fighting against Xixia, naturally stopped fighting in a short period of time.
Part of these Western troops were transferred to Taiyuan to defend this important town on the West Road. Most of them were stationed in various Xixia mansions with King Yun to maintain the Qi Dynasty's rule here.
During this period, Fan Cun followed Sheng Taizu's suggestion and tried to integrate Xixia's military strength, and then reused Liu Fa, Zhong Pingyuan and other famous generals to intensify training.
Because Fan Cun knew very well that within a few years, there would be changes in Jingping.
…
As the white mist before my eyes dispersed again, information about the Jingping Incident also flew in like snowflakes.
Along with it, there was also an order from King Qin to mobilize the Western Army to the capital.
In the military reports, the entire Jingping Incident was clearly shown in front of us.
In November, the Jin troops were divided into two groups. The West Route Army stormed Taiyuan, while the East Route Army crossed the Yellow River with ease and then stormed the capital.
Qi Huizong had already slipped away and passed the throne to Qi Yingzong. Li Boxi organized the defense of the capital, and the battle gradually entered a fierce stage.
For the first time, Fan Cun, the King of Qin of the Western Army, still asked Zhong Pingyuan to bring back only part of the troops in the name of being in charge of the northwest. And then, just like the historical trajectory, under the urging of Qi Yingzong, the Western Army
The attack on the camp failed and more than 10,000 people were lost.
Then, the Jin people retreated, and the two armies joined forces to besiege Taiyuan.
Before the second Jin invasion actually caused the Jingping Revolution, for several months, the DPRK and China began a long quarrel. After successive mutual impeachments, Qi Huizong began to think about returning to Beijing, and Qi Yingzong also
He began to focus his main experience on the struggle with his father.
During this process, His Royal Highness Prince Yun played by Fan Cun remained motionless, waiting patiently in his Xingqing Mansion.
Because he knew that the time had not yet come.
There is really not much that he, King Yun, can do at this time. Not to mention whether a rebellion will break out in Xixia after he leaves, and even if everything goes as usual, he cannot go back to serve as King Qin.
Because once he goes back, it will be difficult for him to have absolute command power. Therefore, even if he has Sheng Taizu's off-field support, even if he is very good at fighting, the end result will not be too big if he goes back with a famous general like Zhong Pingyuan.
the difference.
It was just that the Jin people retreated, and the Western Army was forced to attack the camp in a hurry, and then suffered heavy losses.
You have to wait for an opportunity that can really change the situation.
Finally, the opportunity came.
After the Jin's East Route Army withdrew and left the capital, it joined the West Route Army and stormed Taiyuan.
In the original timeline, the Qi Dynasty organized an army to rescue Taiyuan, but due to various speechless reasons, these actions all failed.
As a result, the fortified city of Taiyuan fell after struggling to support it.
The second invasion of the Jin people, without the obstruction of Taiyuan, became even more overwhelming. This also created the Jingping Incident.
Therefore, Fan Cun, who already had a lot of autonomy at this time, finally decided to lead a part of the Western Army to rescue Taiyuan, and join forces with Zhong Pingyuan, who originally led the troops to help the king, and then died in rescuing Taiyuan, to defend this stronghold.
