Touching the lid of the cup, Emperor Yonglong had a smile on his lips, leaned on the throne, and asked leisurely: "Is it moving?"
"Reply to the Emperor, Zhang Chengyin's letter should be today." Lu Song said solemnly: "Niu Jizong has ordered Sun Shaozu to return to Datong to start gathering troops. Xinping Road and East Road in Datong Town have already started moving in advance. Master Yang's
There hasn't been any movement yet, but Sun Shaozu is still a bit powerful and has done a good job in the blockade, and Luke Ji,..."
"Where is Ding Liangdong?" The North East Road of Datong is very important. It has the strongest military force. Emperor Yonglong is also most concerned about this department. As long as the North East Road is stable, Sun Shaozu can even defeat Datong Xinping Road, the East Road and even the East Road.
If you move in the middle, as long as the Beidong Road is behind you, you can wait for an opportunity to give it a fatal blow.
"Ding Liangdong is still with Niu Jizongxu and Weishe, so you can rest assured." Lu Song assured.
"Okay, as long as Ding Liangdong controls the army, then Sun Shaozu won't have anything to worry about." Emperor Yonglong nodded with satisfaction, "Beyond the North West Road and the West Road..."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. Both North West Road and West Road are members of the Feng Duan family. It is impossible for them to follow Niu Jizong. Niu Jizong also knew that he could not win over them and would expose himself, so he did not contact them at all..."
Lu Song said decisively: "As long as Sun Shaozu makes a move, Yang Yuan will take action immediately..."
"Very good, that's the arrangement in Datong, and the Xuanfu Army depends on Zhang Chengyin." Emperor Yonglong smiled leisurely, "Niu Jizong had a good plan. He really thought that Xuanfu Town was his private army.
You can do whatever you want. Zhang Chengyin behaved well this time. If this matter is over, I will make him the Governor of Xuanda!"
Lu Song also complimented: "The emperor had foresight and buried this line before he ascended the throne. Even the ministers were deceived. At the beginning, Wang Ziteng let Zhang Chengyin be reused. I thought Zhang Chengyin was Wang Ziteng's person, and even more so after Niu Jizong took over.
I want to make a big promotion, but I am wondering about the Ministry of War. Even if I really break up with Niu Jizong, I shouldn’t let Zhang Chengyin serve as the chief soldier of the Xuanfu. I didn’t expect..."
"Haha, what kind of foresight is this? It's just a casual chess move. Who would have thought it would come in handy." Emperor Yonglong said proudly: "But I'm afraid it was not the case when my father appointed Zhang Chengyin as a general.
Do you know that Zhang Chengyin will be mine?"
Lu Song nodded slightly, but then frowned and raised his concerns: "However, Niu Jizong was deeply involved in Xuanfu Town. As Zhang Chengyin's true confidant, there are only three or four generals and generals who can influence and control it.
A deputy commander,..."
"That's enough. As long as he suddenly raises his flag, I don't believe that Niu Jizong can still persuade tens of thousands of people who are panic-stricken and at a loss to commit treason that will kill the nine tribes. Do they really think that I am dead?
"The corner of Emperor Yonglong's mouth raised a cold smile, "I really hope to see Niu Jizong's panic scene, it would be really interesting..."
"The emperor has a clever plan, and I admire it." Lu Song actually didn't like this kind of risky move, but he could understand Emperor Yonglong's worries.
Unless Prince Uizhong's gangsters in the Gyeonggi area are eradicated, the emperor will not be able to safely hand over the throne to the crown prince.
To be honest, the emperor's sons are all untouched, and it is difficult for them to stand up to Prince Yohitada, who has been ups and downs for decades without losing his power. The emperor is now in increasingly poor health, so time is particularly urgent and this move is a last resort.
.
"Haha, I don't know that this is not an upright act. I am ashamed to say it. As the emperor, I still need to fight so painstakingly with a group of people. It is also a shame for the Zhang family!"
Emperor Yonglong was also extremely aggrieved in his heart, but his father was still there. When he succeeded to the throne, he had to make an oath to protect his lineage if the boss had no disobedience. But there was no disobedience.
How to determine?
In the end, it is natural that he still needs his father's approval. Wouldn't it make it difficult for him to let go and do anything?
Emperor Yonglong didn't want to abide by this agreement, but considering that his father would turn against him and side with the boss, Emperor Yonglong felt a little guilty.
Carrying the reputation of being unfilial and burning beans, I am afraid that even if I close my eyes, I will not be able to rest in peace, and I really can't tell who will win in the end, so I have endured it until now.
Now, as long as Niu Jizong dares to allow the Xuanfu soldiers to enter the capital and commit treasonous acts, the disobedience of the boss and Niu Jizong will be confirmed no matter what, and even his father will find it difficult to defend him, and he has carefully arranged it.
Only by designing such a game can the collapse of the entire situation be controlled to a minimum.
"Your Majesty, where are Prince Shou and Concubine Lu?..." Lu Song hesitated again and asked again.
Emperor Yonglong's face sank slightly, and there was a touch of gloom between his brows. After a long time, he slowly said: "Ignore them for now. You arrange the people inside and outside. After the boss is dealt with, I will come back and argue with them slowly."
!”
"But where are Li Kezhuo and Cui Wensheng..." Lu Song asked in confusion.
"Lu Song, you don't have to worry. Li Kezhuo is quite accomplished in alchemy. The Taiyuan Hospital also admits this. You should know Cui Wensheng's loyalty to me. He has told everything truthfully. If I say it, I will use it."
It's too boring, so let them go and just watch..." Emperor Yonglong said with full of pride: "You, the Dragon Guards, can just keep an eye on the prison and watch their performance."
Lu Song still felt that something was wrong and wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Emperor Yonglong: "Okay, let's handle the matter like this. In addition, the Ministry of War and you both said that Feng Tang was reorganizing his army in Qingyang and assembled tens of thousands from three sides and four towns.
Elite, what are you doing? The Ministry of War sent a letter to ask. Feng Tang replied that he was worried that the severe drought in northern Shaanxi would trigger civil unrest. He also said that the White Lotus Sect outside the border wall also had unusual movements. Do you, Long Jinwei, have any news about this?
"
Lu Song's heart sank. He originally thought that Emperor Yonglong was quite friendly to Feng Ziying, but he did not expect that the emperor would be so suspicious of Feng Tang.
"Reporting to the emperor, Feng Tang began to purge the armies of the four towns since he took office, mainly the armies of the three towns of Ningxia, Gansu and Guyuan. Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu, Xu Chao and Liu Baichuan's troops were all targets of his purge. In addition, the Guyuan army
It is said that Feng Tang was very dissatisfied and asked Guyuan Army to carry out extensive training. Therefore, judging from the news obtained in the past two months, Feng Tang went all out to train the four northwest towns, but mainly except Yulin Town.
There are about 80,000 troops from the three towns currently assembled and training in Qingyang. In addition, there are still about 40,000 troops in the second batch that are converging from the two towns in Gansu and Ningxia to Qingyang. It is estimated that this batch of troops will arrive in Qingyang.
After that, the first batch of three-month training will end and will return to Ganning Second Town station..."
Lu Song's answer failed to satisfy Emperor Yonglong. He asked suspiciously: "It's that simple. More than 100,000 troops were stationed in Qingyang for training. Although they had reported it to the Ministry of War, Zhang Huaichang of the Ministry of War said he knew about it, but he didn't expect the training.
With such a large scale and intensity, I thought that Feng Tang took hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to appease and reduce the army. But it seems that Feng Tang is unwilling to abolish Guyuan Town. The Ministry of War said that it has received an official document from Feng Tang.
, hoping to suspend or even cancel the opinion on abolishing Guyuan Town, what is his intention?..."
Lu Song couldn't answer this topic. He could only summarize and analyze the intelligence information reported below, but he couldn't come to a conclusion about what Feng Tang wanted. It was up to the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the emperor to judge, but the emperor's inner suspicions were not.
It goes without saying that Lu Song also knew that the emperor's distrust of military generals was deep-rooted. This was not the emperor alone, but from the Ming Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty, the emperor had always been this way towards the generals who led troops, so under normal circumstances, civil servants led the army.
Military generals lead troops, and even have to serve as supervisors at home, in order to create checks and balances to prevent loss of control.
After a while, Lu Song whispered: "Your Majesty, Feng Tang himself doesn't seem to want to stay on the three sides. He would rather go to Liaodong. I also heard Feng Tang mention this. He would rather fight with the Jurchens in Jianzhou. In addition,
His son Feng Keng is now a civil servant, and he only has this son. Feng Keng is now highly valued by the Emperor, and Feng Tang can only be grateful..."
Emperor Yonglong exhaled a breath and nodded slightly: "Of course I understand this, but these warriors have always been arrogant. Look at these warriors. If it were not a national policy to control military force with culture, these warriors would probably become like a vassal town in the later Tang Dynasty.
, I don’t want to become like those puppet emperors in the late Tang Dynasty..."
Lu Song shook his head repeatedly: "Your Majesty is overly concerned. The current situation is completely different from that of the late Tang Dynasty. The pattern of civil servants in charge cannot be shaken, and the Nine-Border Army relies entirely on the court's logistical supplies to be maintained. Even so, the border army often has troubles with pay.
, If there is no food and salary from the court, how can the generals like Feng Tang make the hungry soldiers follow them?"
"I hope so." Emperor Yonglong also shook his head, "I am afraid that these warriors will deceive the soldiers, take credit for their mistakes, attribute all faults and crimes to the court, arouse the anger of the soldiers, and then use this as a banner...
"
Emperor Yonglong said something serious, which shocked Lu Song, "Your Majesty, your statement is a bit unfounded. Which general can have such ability to make the soldiers hungry and listen to his drawings? Even if he is temporarily deceived, after a few days,
, I’m afraid your true colors will be exposed, right?”
Emperor Yonglong also felt that his words were a bit alarmist, but there were some things that we had to guard against.
The Feng family's influence in the border army was still too great. If Feng Ziying was a warrior, he would really have to deal with it decisively.
This was the case for martial families such as the Li family and the Ma family. The imperial court would not allow this situation to occur. Fortunately, Feng Ziying followed the path of a scholar and civil servant.
But even so, Emperor Yonglong did not intend to let Feng Tang return to Liaodong again. The post of governor of Jiliao had to be removed because of the problem here. It was only right to let a civil servant serve as governor.