The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 419: Senior Counselor with the Army
Before the news of the chaos in Changsha had returned, another envoy from the Zhou Dynasty arrived in Jiangning first.

The person who came was Fang Guangxia, the defense envoy of Yingzhou.

Fang Guangxia received Guo Wei's order in Yingzhou and ordered him to serve as deputy envoy to Jiangning. He formally conferred Xue Juzheng as the envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty and was fully responsible for the good affairs of the alliance between the two countries.

Yingzhou was only separated by the Huaihe River from the Tang State. Fang Guangxia set off immediately after receiving Guo Wei's order. Li Jing of the Tang State also issued an order to open the gates along the way to ensure that the Zhou envoys could reach Jiangning unimpeded.

So Fang Guangxia came to Jiangning from Yingzhou in less than ten days.

Zhu Xiu accompanied Xue Juzheng out of the city to meet Fang Guangxia. This Fang Shijun was an out-and-out local official. He had been an official for more than [-] years and had never been to the capital.

In the last years of Tianfu's life, it was his turn to go to Beijing to report on his duties. Before he reached Kaifeng, he heard the news that Hebei was being invaded by the Khitans, so he could only return in a hurry.

In the middle of last year, Fang Guangxia took the initiative to request an audience in Beijing, and received permission from Emperor Yin Liu Chengyou.

Halfway through, the Guangzhengdian Incident broke out and Kaifeng was under martial law. The imperial court issued a decree to cancel the work report activities that year, and Fang Guangxia had to go back home.

Going around and around, Fang Guangxia has been working in the Huaibei area, and has experienced Shi Jin, Liu Han, and Dazhou, but he has never even been to Kaifeng.

After learning about his experience, Zhu Xiu couldn't help but laugh and cry, and expressed deep sympathy for this thin old man who was over fifty years old.

His experience reminded Zhu Xiu of old man Wen Taiwen who lived in Anding County, Jingzhou.

Old Man Wen was the last Jingzhou Township Tribute before the fall of the Tang Dynasty. He was originally going to Luoyang to participate in the scientific examination. Just as he entered the border of Guanzhong, news came from Luoyang that Emperor Ai abdicated and Liang Wang Zhu Quanzhong established Daliang on behalf of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty fell, and Old Man Wen's promising status as a rural tribute was gone in the blink of an eye.

The world is turbulent like turbulent waves, and everyone is like a boat on the water, drifting with the current and ups and downs. It is extremely lucky to not encounter the disaster of capsizing.

As the youngest founding lord after the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, Zhu Xiu's name was widely known among the bureaucratic and aristocratic groups, and Fang Guangxia had naturally heard of his name for a long time.

When I learned that he was from Haozhou, I immediately warmly changed into a Huaibei hometown accent.

But Zhu Xiu awkwardly expressed that she didn’t understand.

He took Fang Guangxia to live temporarily in Honglu Temple. In front of the two of them, Fang Guangxia read out a document written by the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, appointing Xue Juzheng as the envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Fang Guangxia as the deputy envoy, fully responsible for establishing an alliance with the Tang Dynasty.

Throughout this book of several hundred words, Zhu Xiu is not mentioned.

It seemed that he had been forgotten by the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty.

Zhu Xiu lay on the ground and grinned. Through this book, which did not mention him even a single word, he seemed to be able to feel Uncle Guo's dissatisfaction and anger towards him.

The reason was simply that Uncle Guo knew that he had revealed his surrender to the Lord Tang in person.

Xue Juzheng and Wang Lingwen had said before that they would not conceal this matter, nor would they dare to conceal it, and would report it truthfully.

Zhu Xiu believed that Uncle Guo's wisdom would not fail to guess that this was just an expedient measure on his part. However, the fact that this article did not mention his bookmaking still showed that Uncle Guo was quite angry about this matter.

Zhu Xiu smelled a sour smell of jealousy.

Mo has no choice but to wait until he returns to Kaifeng and apologize to Uncle Guo in person.

The instructions given by Uncle Guo to Xue Juzheng can be summarized as follows: no alliance, no confrontation, expanding trade, and maintaining the status quo.

On this basis, Xue Juzheng was allowed to play his role and negotiate with Tang State.

Zhu Xiu admired him in his heart. Uncle Guo had seen through Li Jing's little thoughts.

A peace treaty can be concluded, but an alliance is not necessary, lest the Tang State use various moral excuses to restrict Zhou's military actions in the future.

The last three instructions are also perfectly in line with the current status quo of the two countries. Zhu Xiu guessed that the negotiation process would be slightly bumpy, but Li Jing would definitely accept it.

Sure enough, Xue Ju was at Yanjia Palace having a heated exchange of words with the Tang monarchs and ministers, and negotiated for three days before finally signing a peace treaty that satisfied both parties.

This negotiation was only held between the two Zhou envoys, Xue Juzheng and Fang Guangxia, and the Tang emperor and a group of important ministers. Zhu Xiu was not qualified to participate and could only wait for Zhou Zong to come back and rush to inquire.

Li Jing made the ceremony of signing the peace treaty very grand. Officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing attended in court uniforms. Song Qiqiu represented the Tang Dynasty, and Xue Juzheng represented the Zhou Dynasty to sign the peace treaty.

The Tang court also publicized the process and content of this covenant to the people, which cheered up both the government and the public, officials were happy, and the people were encouraged.

The tense atmosphere of the confrontation between Chen Bing on both sides of the Huaihe River was greatly eased with a piece of alliance letter.

After finishing their business, Xue Juzheng and Fang Guangxia set off back to Kaifeng to resume their duties.

This time Fang Guangxia was finally able to calmly return to Kaifeng to report on his duties and see with his own eyes the emperor and the court he was loyal to.

As for Zhu Xiu, Uncle Guo did not mention it in his decree, and Xue Juzheng simply pretended that he was not there.

Li Jing sent the deputy privy envoy Zha Wenhui and the commander of the Xiongwu Army Yao Lin out of the city to see him off, pretending to summon Zhu Xiu into the palace, but did not let him step out of the city gate at all.

In the following days, Zhu Xiu asked Hu Guangyue to secretly go to Guangyun Shipping Company every day to find out whether Wang Lingwen had returned from Changsha.

It's a pity that Wude Si Chazi's answer was no.

June 29, a late night with lightning and thunder.

The lightning cut through the dark sky, and the thunder snake danced, piercing the night as bright as day.

Under the turbulent wind and rain, a fast horse galloped along the official road outside Baoju Gate in the south of Jiangning City. The sound of the horse's hooves was completely drowned in the howling wind and rain.

A gong is hung under the gate of Baoju. If there is an emergency at night, you can ring the gong to report to the defenders in the city.

The gong sounded, and it took a long time before the pitch-black city was lit up with sparks, and a sergeant appeared on the city in a coir raincoat, cursing.

"Who's here? What's the matter?" The sergeant wiped the rainwater off his face and roared with all his strength, the wind and rain pouring into his mouth.

The messenger under the city held up a bronze command talisman with an inscription and shouted anxiously: "According to the order of Hunan's pacification envoy and general Bian Hao, there is an urgent military situation and I have come to the palace to present to the saint!"

"What's the matter?" The guard sergeant didn't dare to be careless and asked the reason loudly.

"Sun Lang, the surrendered general from Changsha, rebelled, killed his deputy Wang Shaoyan, occupied Changsha, cut off our army's food routes, and sent troops to join forces with Xu Wei from Hengzhou to attack our army!

Our army was defeated, General Bian Hao led his army to retreat to Liling!

General Bian Hao wrote a letter in blood, requesting the imperial court to send troops to rescue quickly! "The messengers below the city shouted.

The gatekeeper sergeant was taken aback, and he was stunned for a moment before he realized: "Quickly put the hanging basket! Check the order symbol first, and then open the city after it is correct!"

Several soldiers hurriedly put down the hanging basket and retrieved the messenger's talisman. After verifying it with the archives issued by the Privy Council and the Ministry of War, the sergeant waved and shouted: "Open the door, please let the messenger enter the city!"

The city gate was narrowly opened, and the messenger rushed in on horseback. Under the protection of several cavalry, he rushed all the way to Xingtang Palace.

Within an hour, fires lit up one after another in the Xingtang Palace from south to north, on the Chengtianmen, Jiademen, Liangyimen, and Yanjiamen gate towers, until they reached Zhaoqing Hall, the harem where Li Jing stayed that night.

Under the black wind and rain, dozens of palace guards rushed out of the city and rushed to the mansions of the major courtiers to convey the emperor's urgent summons.
Zhu Xiu was awakened by a violent shaking in her sleep.

"Master Hou! Wake up quickly! There is indeed chaos in Changsha. The Lord of Tang Dynasty summoned you urgently. The old master asked me to wake you up quickly and follow him to the palace to discuss matters."

Zhu Xiu's confused mind suddenly woke up, and her sleepiness disappeared.

"Crack" a thunderbolt flashed across, illuminating Zhou Zong's figure at the door of the bedroom.

"Uncle." Zhu Xiu swallowed, feeling that Zhou Zong's eyes were frighteningly bright in the darkness.

Zhou Zong's deep voice came into the bedroom: "The opportunity you wanted has finally come. Change your clothes quickly and follow me into the palace."

Zhu Xiu took a deep breath, "Uncle, please wait a moment."

After a while, Zhu Xiu was fully dressed, took a car with Zhou Zong, and drove to the palace gate in the wind and rain.

On the second floor of Guzhuzhai, Zhou Xian opened the window and looked at the corridor outside the courtyard filled with people and the lights shining. His father and Zhu Xiu left the house surrounded by people.

Looking at the rainwater flowing like threads on the eaves, Zhou Xian held his heart in his hands, his beautiful eyes full of worry. She knew that the day to leave Jiangning was not far away.
~~~
Dawn breaks, the wind subsides and the rain stops.

The Yanjia Hall was brightly lit.

Li Jing sat on the imperial throne, dressed in white uniform, with a gloomy and terrifying face.He didn't even bother to put on his black gauze bun, and only fixed his hair with a hairpin.

Prince Li Hongji, King Jin Li Jingsui, prime ministers Song Qiqiu, Zha Wenhui, Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu, Taifu Zhou Zong, Xu Xuan and other important officials were all present.

Even Qi King Li Jingda, who had been recovering from illness for several months, also came, and Li Jing gave him a seat next to the emperor.

Li Jingda was not yet 30 years old, but his complexion was sallow and his eye sockets were sunken. He kept covering his mouth with a handkerchief and coughing.

Zhu Xiu glanced at it and was greatly surprised.

Historically, Li Jingda was not considered to have lived a long life, but he did not die of illness before he was thirty.

There must be something wrong here. Could it be the butterfly wings again?

Suddenly, Zhu Xiu noticed a sneer on the corner of Li Hongji's mouth when Li Hongji glanced over Li Jingda.
Is this guy causing trouble?
Zhu Xiu secretly kept an eye on him, but he had to find an opportunity for Li Congjia to remind Li Jingda.

After all, that guy is a vicious person who likes to frame his uncle to death.

"Bian Hao is incompetent and deeply disappoints me!"

Li Jing slapped the armrest of the throne angrily, and roars filled the hall.

Everyone was silent. When they entered the palace, they all knew about the Changsha incident. The Tang army's retreat was blocked, and Bian Hao was attacked from both sides. He could only flee to Liling like a bereaved dog.

If the rescue is not timely, the more than [-] elite Tang troops under Bian Hao's command and other small forces scattered everywhere will face a crazy counterattack by the Chu army.

"Your Majesty, if the war in Hunan is going to take an astonishing turn as Zhu Xiu predicted before, our army's situation in Hunan will take a turn for the worse. Now the right way is to send troops to rescue quickly!"

Xu Xuan was the first to stand up and report loudly.

Li Hongji immediately darkened his face and glared at Xu Xuan fiercely.

Zhu Xiu cupped his hands towards Xu Xuan, smiling bitterly and gratefully in his heart.

Mr. Xu deliberately refused to open and lift certain pots, which offended Li Hongji terribly.

Li Jing's face was ugly, but he forced out a smile and praised with difficulty: "I was not wrong about the person. Zhu Xiuyun is a talented person in the country."

Zhu Xiu hurriedly took a step forward, stood in the center of the hall and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty praised me so much that I am so frightened! My small achievements are not worth mentioning. The top priority is to send an army to Hunan to rescue General Bian Hao in danger." "

Li Jing looked at Zhu Xiu and was silent for a long time.

This time he was really frightened, not only by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Hunan, but also by Zhu Xiu's miraculous calculation.

With this ability to predict enemies thousands of miles away, who dares to take the lead in the current era?
Even if Zifang and Kongming were alive, they would be like this!
In this world, there really are amazing talents who can strategize and win thousands of miles away!

Li Jing narrowed her eyes slightly. In addition to deep appreciation, there was also some vigilance hidden in the depths of her eyes.

This Zhu Xiu is young, has strategies in his mind that cover all corners of the world, and has a high level of intelligence rarely seen in this world.

If used well, this person will be a pillar of the country.

If used poorly, this person will inevitably endanger the Li family's imperial power.
Li Jing will never forget how Emperor Yizu Xu Wen started his career.

For the Yang family of King Wu, Xu Wen was Yang Xingmi's most valued minister at that time.

However, after Yang Xingmi's death, Xu Wen killed Yang Wo, the successor king of Wu, and supported Yang Long, Yang Wo's brother, as king. From then on, he took control of the military and political power of Wu.

His ancestors started out as powerful ministers, and Li Jing never dared to be careless about how to guard against powerful ministers.

Li Jing's eyes swept across Li Hongji, Song Qiqiu, Zhou Zong, Xu Xuan, and finally landed on Zhu Xiu.

He already had a rough idea in mind on how to use Zhu Xiu.

Next month Zhu Xiu will marry the Taifu's daughter. Not long ago, Zhu Xiu's name was not even mentioned in the book made by the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty.

The court of the Great Zhou Dynasty seemed to have forgotten and abandoned Zhu Xiu.

Li Jing couldn't figure out why Zhu Xiu had any reason to return to Kaifeng. He was basically sure that Zhu Xiu sincerely wanted to stay and play in Jiangning.

"I wonder if Wencai has any suggestions for candidates to lead the reinforcements?" Li Jing asked kindly.

Li Hongji clenched his fists in displeasure, the more Zhu Xiu was valued by his father, the more annoyed he was.

But he did lose the bet at the court meeting that day. Now that the war situation in Hunan was changing suddenly, he did not dare to speak out randomly, lest the war would be disrupted and his father would vent his anger on him.

Zhu Xiu pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Wei Chen suggested that the King of Jin should lead the expedition!"

There were some private discussions among the important ministers, but they quickly disappeared.

Jin Wang Li Jingsui opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he just smiled silently and bitterly.

"Reason." Li Jing remained calm.

Zhu Xiudao: "The Changsha Incident has completely destroyed our army's advantage in Hunan, the military front has been frustrated, morale is low, and we are in urgent need of a highly respected person to clean up the mess.

The King of Jin has inspected the border defense on behalf of His Majesty many times. He is a general of Tiance and a Taiwei, and is very familiar with the military affairs of our country.

With the King of Jin in command, it can appease Bian Hao's army, show the court's determination to rescue, and also deter the Chu army in Hunan. It can accomplish many things in one fell swoop! "

After a pause, Zhu Xiu raised his voice and said: "Wei Chen has been taken in by Your Majesty, but so far he has made no achievements. This time we are rushing to aid Hunan. Wei Chen is willing to accompany the army to assist the King of Jin in defeating the Chu army!"

"Oh? Are you willing to go to Hunan with the army?" Li Jing was a little surprised.

Zhu Xiu said impassionedly: "The Hunan rebel army dared to resist our Tang Dynasty and refused to obey the power of heaven. I am deeply angry! I am willing to die for your majesty and destroy Chu in one battle!"

Li Jing twisted his butt, leaned forward slightly, and said in a deep voice: "There is no joke in the army. Are you really sure that you can assist the King of Jin to destroy Chu?"

Zhu Xiu bowed down and bowed, with a solemn face, and said loudly: "Your Majesty has shown great kindness, and I cannot repay it with my humble ministers, so I must die for it! In this battle to annihilate Nanchu, I will not hesitate to die!"

Li Jing took a deep breath, nodded and said: "Although the literary talent is not a general, he is heroic and has the demeanor of a general!"

Li Hongji couldn't help but sneered: "Even Bian Hao suffered a secret loss from the Chu barbarians. How dare you say such crazy words about destroying Chu, you are such a yellow-tongued person with empty mouth and white teeth?"

Zhu Xiu replied unceremoniously: "Bian Hao underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, leaving the captured soldiers and civilians alone. He acted recklessly and pursued the Chu army relentlessly, which is why the disaster in Changsha happened!"

If His Highness had listened to me and sent people to Changsha to order Bian Hao to return to the army, the Tang army would not have been trapped in a quagmire and unable to extricate itself!

After all, it’s just because Bian Hao was recommended by His Highness!
But today, Bian Hao's shameful defeat is a foregone conclusion. Does His Highness still want to protect him? "

"You!" Li Hongji was speechless and could only glare at each other.

Song Qiqiu stood up calmly and said: "The old minister proposed that Zha Wenhui, the deputy privy envoy, be the deputy commander-in-chief to assist the King of Jin in rushing to Hunan!"

Zha Wenhui expressed his position loudly: "I am willing to lead the troops there to assist the King of Jin in defeating the enemy. I vow not to look back until Southern Chu is destroyed!"

"How magnificent!" Li Jing praised with paws.

After thinking for a moment, he waved his big hand and shouted: "Order the King of Jin to recruit envoys for Hunan. Zha Wenhui will be the deputy envoy and also the Xuanfu envoy. He will lead [-] troops to aid Hunan! Zha Wenhui will lead the front army first, and the King of Jin will raise food and supplies. , postponed, within one month, all our troops will enter the borders of Hunan!"

Jin Wang Li Jingsui and Zha Wenhui accepted the order in unison.

Li Jing twisted his beard to look at Zhu Xiu and said with a smile: "Zhu Xiu can be appointed deputy envoy of Xuanfu and accompanying the army as counselor of military aircraft."

"Wei minister leads the order!"

Zhu Xiu's heart was shocked, she hurriedly lowered her head, bowed to accept the order, suppressed her excitement, and tried to keep her voice steady so as not to make others notice anything strange.

"All ministers should perform their respective duties and make no mistakes! Before the end of the year, I hope to receive good news about the pacification of Hunan."

Li Jing stood up and looked around at the ministers.

(End of this chapter)