Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 3985 Times have changed
The prince's edict had been issued, and thousands of East Palace Six Commanders and imperial guards surrounded the prince and walked westward slowly, heading straight for the direction of Baqiao.At the Chunming gate, Cheng Chubi commanded the soldiers under his command to put up all their spirits, while being ready to meet the prince at any time, while guarding against his own father who came to attack the city in a daze...

At the same time, Gao Kan commanded the right guard to slowly press forward, staring at the left guard, and whenever the opponent showed any intention of seizing the Chunming Gate, he launched a surprise attack.

……

Cheng Yaojin stood in front of the camp and ordered all the ministries not to move rashly, anxiously waiting for the Shandong family's order.Although he has expressed more than once that he would not confront the East Palace with swords and guns, but who knows if those old people with loess buried up to their necks will lose their heads and intend to suppress Chunming Gate with an army and force the prince to open to it Benefit?
In case all the families in Shandong are blinded by the real benefits, how should I choose?
If you ignore it, it will definitely cause great dissatisfaction in the Shandong family. From now on, they will part ways and go their separate ways. All the things I have done before will be useless. At that time, the Shandong family will alienate him, and the East Palace will not accept him. It can be said that everyone has betrayed their relatives.

But if he obeys orders, he is openly making an enemy of Zhengshuo of the empire. After the crown prince compromises and ascends the throne, wouldn't he regard Cheng Yaojin as a rebellious minister and traitor who needs to be killed soon?
Even if Cheng Yaojin had the military power and was protected by a Shandong family, the crown prince would have nothing to do with him for a while, but what would the Cheng family do after his death?
The liquidation from the emperor is always late and never absent...

Seeing the prince's guard of honor walking farther and farther in the direction of Baqiao surrounded by imperial guards, when he was burning with anxiety, his own soldiers came to report, and Zhang Xingcheng begged to see him...

Cheng Yaojin went back to the big tent, and asked Zhang Xingcheng to be brought to him. The latter walked in a hurry and was travel-stained. As soon as they met, he said, "It's a decision made by each family. Please, Duke Lu, stay still for the time being. Capture Chunming Gate before the prince returns to the city, decide the prince's retreat, force him to agree to the conditions of each family, and then let him return to the city, help him defend Chang'an, and defeat the army of the Eastern Expedition; if Li Ji joins the East Palace before the battle, we will immediately Withdraw the army, swear allegiance to the prince, and support him as the emperor!"

"What?!"

Cheng Yaojin's eyes widened, with a look of incredulity on his face: "Are those old guys stupid or crazy? Li Ji has hundreds of thousands of elites. If he attacks Chang'an, even if the troops may not all obey his orders, it will be enough to conquer Chang'an in one fell swoop. At that time, defending Chang'an to fight against him, wouldn't it be self-defeating?"

Do you really think that Li Ji's hundreds of thousands of imperial elites are like those mobs in Guanlong?If at this moment Li Ji doesn't care about imitating the Yu Wenhua of the past and only wants to live the emperor's addiction once, it is not because of the subsequent backlash from the world, he can completely enter Chang'an and change the dynasty, no one can stop it!

Not only is he not good at Zuo Wuwei, but Fang Jun's right Tunwei is also not good at all!

Zhang Xingcheng didn't think so, and said calmly: "No matter how ignorant the patriarchs are, how can they not know the truth of using an egg to hit a rock and a mantis' arm to act as a chariot? Lord Lu, please relax, he will not fight Li Ji to the death."

Only then did Cheng Yaojin nod his head, realizing that this was a deal secretly reached between the Shandong family and Li Ji...

But he immediately shook his head again: "It is impossible to capture Chunming Gate and cut off the prince's escape route! Thousands of East Palaces and Six Commanders guard the city to the death, and there are still guards from the right below the city to assist. Do you really think I can't do it? Do not move!"

Zhang Xingcheng wondered: "The Sixth Commander of the East Palace has been exhausted for a long time and has not been rested until now. How much combat strength can they still have left? The right guards are indeed strong, but the Chunming Gate is only guarded by more than ten thousand people. A thunderous strike with the strength of Wuwei's entire army will definitely defeat them in one fell swoop."

"Mother..."

Cheng Yaojin smiled angrily, looked sideways at Zhang Xingcheng, and asked, "Speaking of which, this Shandong family's plan for the next hundred years is all relying on Lao Tzu to fight to the death alone? No?"

Zhang Xingcheng was a little embarrassed, and knew that the Shandong family's actions were unethical, so he bowed his hands and apologized: "Mr. Lu should know that it's not easy for each family. Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, there have been scuffles in various places in Shandong, and each family has suffered heavy losses. After entering the Tang Dynasty, they were suppressed by Guanlong. It is getting worse and worse. Although I want to support Lu Guogong more now, but my strength is limited, and I have more than enough energy. But please rest assured, Lu Guogong, the losses you have suffered today will be compensated tenfold after you succeed in the future. Don't break your promise!"

Cheng Yaojin sneered and said: "Just draw a big cake, let Lao Tzu lead his subordinates to fight with their lives, and go through fire and water?"

Zhang Xingcheng smiled wryly, and said patiently: "The current situation is like this, as long as Lu Guogong does his best, every family in Shandong will reward him generously."

Cheng Yaojin shook his head and sighed, and said: "If it's because I don't want to go all out, can it be useful? You Tunwei is only half of the army, but it is this half of the troops that beat the Zuo Tunwei and the royal coalition forces to 7 to [-] people." Fuck off, the commanders of the two armies were captured alive, and you actually think that I can successfully defeat him and capture Chunmingmen? You think highly of me, but I can’t do it. Remember, it’s not that I won’t do it, but I can’t do it To! Even if there is a narrow chance of death, I will fight once, but ten deaths and no life, a fool will not do it!"

After speaking, his voice turned sharp.

Zhang Xingcheng's face was gloomy, very ugly.

She didn't think Zuo Wuwei would be able to defeat half of the Youtunwei and Donggongliu to seize the Chunming Gate in a desperate battle, so she naturally used it as an excuse for Cheng Yaojin's refusal to go all out.But now Cheng Yaojin is extremely important to the Shandong family, it is absolutely impossible to turn his face, he didn't even dare to scold him, so he could only hold back his anger and said in a deep voice: "What does Lu Guogong think should be done?"

Cheng Yaojin took a few steps in the tent with his hands behind his back, thought for a while, and said: "It is absolutely impossible to attack the Youtunwei. The troops built by Fang Er are too powerful, and they are arrogant soldiers from top to bottom. Titans, who dares to say that they will win? This is still in the case of lack of firearms. If they have enough firearms, just dozens of artillery pieces can make any army in the world smash their halberds into the sand when confronting them! In the situation, it is better to be quiet than to move, and we should wait for Li Ji to respond to the prince, and we will act accordingly."

This is the safest way. It can not only control the army to express its support for the Shandong family, but also prevent it from turning against the three armies of Donggong, Fang Jun, and Li Ji. It can ensure that he can have enough room for maneuver in the future.

But for the Shandong family, it must be dissatisfied...

Zhang Xingcheng reminded: "In any case, the Duke of England is still the banner of the Shandong family in the court. Once the situation stabilizes, the status and power of the Duke of England will increase. It will be really difficult for you, Duke Lu, to seek more."

The value is reflected in the degree of scarcity. The current purpose of the Shandong family is to use Cheng Yaojin to put pressure on Li Ji, so that he will not dare to completely violate the will of the Shandong family and form a faction of his own, completely splitting the Shandong family.But if the overall situation is settled, no matter whether Li Ji makes peace with Donggong or violently attacks Chang'an City, how can Cheng Yaojin decide the outcome?

Since you can't decide the outcome, what value is there to the Shandong family?

Without value, why does the Shandong family spend resources to support you, so that you can get rich returns?

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin would not be moved, shook his head and said: "I like rich and beautiful women, and I prefer high officials and generous salary, but if I exchange everything I have now, what's the point?"

What he needs to consider now is not how to get more benefits, but how to be as stable as Mount Tai, so that he will not use the lives of his soldiers to earn bargaining chips for the Shandong family when the drastic changes are about to occur, so that they can get a chance to negotiate with Li Ji .

It is tempting to be powerful, but the premise is to protect the combat power of Zuo Wuwei under his command. Without Zuo Wuwei, Cheng Yaojin is a fart?I'm afraid the Shandong family didn't even bother to look at him!
The situation is chaotic, and soldiers are the king of grass...

Zhang Xingcheng had no choice but to let Cheng Yaojin make his own decisions.

In fact, he also criticized the decision of the Patriarchs in Shandong to "take the millet out of the fire", probably because he had been away from the center for too long, and he had cultivated a rebellious mentality by dominating the local area and acting recklessly. Never put the heroes of the world in your eyes.The rebellion in Guanlong and the chaos in Guanzhong this time can be regarded as the huge changes in the power structure of the empire during the "Xuanwu Gate Change". The story of Guan Long, since then he has taken charge of the political power, and can even influence the emperor's will, thus washing away all the humiliation suffered when compiling the "Clan Chronicles", and making the Shandong family return to the ranks of the world's first-class families...

But how is it possible?

Zhang Xingcheng also wants to shout to those old guys who are dying but still hold the lifeline of the Shandong family: times have changed!
Although His Majesty Li Er passed away outside of the capital, it would inevitably lead to a struggle for the throne, which would lead to changes in the central power. The clans of Shandong and Jiangnan took advantage of the situation to enter the dynasty and replace Guanlong's position, but that's all.

Regardless of whether the prince or other princes are in power, they will not allow the monopoly of power to occur again. The powerful families in Shandong and Jiangnan are restraining each other, and Guan Long's participation is used as a restraint. This is the power structure that all parties can recognize.What's more important is that now the imperial military is standing side by side. There are not only Zhenguan officials and mainstays like Li Ji, but also young nobles and rising stars like Fang Jun, and famous royal generals like Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong. Even Li Ji is not capable of overwhelming The forces of all parties unified the military power, and it was absolutely impossible to reproduce the situation in which the Guanlong army crushed all parties in the army.

And the reason why Guan Long is so decadent and dilapidated today is precisely because the army under its control has degraded rapidly after Zhenguan, and it has been decayed in just over ten years, making it difficult to support its power at the political level...

It is difficult for both the military and the government to have a situation where one family dominates and holds great power. If any party covets power and monopoly, it will be besieged by the rest of the parties. For the prey of beating and nibbling...

(End of this chapter)