The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 404 Wedding ()

The pressure and fear of a person come gradually, just like a person sentenced to death may feel scared, but it is certainly not as strong as the feeling of being dragged to the execution ground; and when the executioner starts to sprinkle wine on the knife, it will be even more desperate; if after sprinkling the wine, he says that he feels that the knife is not sharp, he still needs to sharpen it nearby...

This was how Li Keyong felt at the moment, an indescribable sense of panic was gradually increasing.

More than a month ago, he heard that Wang Jian was captured, and he knew that Shu was most likely on the verge of destruction, so he hurriedly sent people to Chengdu to contact the Shu court. At the same time, he was impatient every day, and the days passed like years in waiting, and he even ignored the war in Yinshan for a while.

However, even at that time, the feeling was not yet intuitive. Shu still had more than 100,000 troops available, and Wang Jian had only been in Sichuan for more than ten years. The soldiers and horses under his command were not yet so dilapidated that they could not fight. In any case, Shu would have no problem holding on for at least a year or two.

But now, he learned that the messenger's horse had died before he could reach Chengdu, and the Shu Kingdom had already perished and surrendered to Xiao Yan. At the same time, the Qi Kingdom also annexed the Central Plains. The Shu Kingdom's population of millions and the wealth accumulated over ten or twenty years all went into Xiao Yan's pocket. Only then did he gradually realize how big the world was and that the Jin Kingdom had become isolated and helpless.

However, in just one year, the situation of confrontation between Jin and Liang had inexplicably evolved into this state.

The State of Jin, which had clearly enjoyed a slightly favorable situation before, wasted a whole year without making any progress and watched countless good opportunities slip away!
"Father..."

Li Cunren walked over carefully and waited for a while. He saw Li Keyong's back looking at the distance dejectedly, and then he whispered: "Report from the north, the prince has occupied Baishui Luo, Yelu Lage and Shuliduo were both defeated and lost their troops. The former retreated to the north of Yudujin Mountain (now CHEYYZQ area), and Shuliduo led the remaining troops in Mobei to completely withdraw from the Yinshan area..."

"This evil!"

Li Keyong was silent for a moment, then suddenly yelled, "How dare he send troops to the grassland without my order?!"

Li Cunren lowered her head and said nothing. She knew that Li Keyong was scolding the prince. The current situation in the world was particularly unfavorable to Jin. If the grassland was dragged into it, it would be a situation where there were enemies on all sides. A few days ago, the envoys of the Wu Kingdom in the south disguised themselves and secretly rushed to Taiyuan. Li Keyong was not even in the mood to meet them. He knew that these southern princes were really unreliable.

Li Keyong's hands were shaking with anger. In fact, he had known for a long time that Li Cunxu had led his troops out of Yunzhong (Datong) for no reason. However, he did not blame him. He only issued an imperial edict ordering Li Cunxu to stay in Yunzhong and not to move without permission.

He has already reached a cooperation with Li Maozhen, determined to help him obtain the grassland. While forming an alliance to fight against the Central Plains, he also wants the two of them to join forces to compete with Yuan Tiangang, making the grassland and the Jin State's management airtight, leaving Yuan Tiangang no possibility of intervention.

Although Li Keyong was hostile and wary of Yuan Tiangang, the bad general, he was well aware that he had great potential. If he could help the State of Jin, he would be an irreplaceable force. Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, Li Keyong was unwilling to fall out with him and instead treated him with courtesy.

Once the situation stabilizes a little, it won’t be too late to take action against this bad leader!
But Yuan Tiangang clearly wanted to control the State of Jin in his own hands!

Li Keyong tightly grasped the armrest of the wheelchair, his face changing from gloomy to bright. He absolutely did not believe that Li Cunxu would beat Yelu Lage and Shuliduo for no reason. There must be someone instigating this behind the scenes.

This evil creature is so reckless!
In this way, Li Maozhen was unable to control the grasslands. What was the point of acquiring large tracts of land north of Yinshan Mountain and west of Yanshan Mountain? The main population of the grasslands was still in Liaodong and Mobei. Although Li Maozhen also had ambitions, he and Li Keyong had the same goals and shared common enemies. The alliance could at least be stable for a long time.

On the other hand, Shuliduo had no chance of winning over Li Keyong. Not to mention that she had already joined forces with Xiao Yan, even if she turned to Jin, she would just sit back and watch without enough benefits. Moreover, Shuliduo had no real dispute with the Buliang Commander, and she could not stand on Li Keyong's side like Li Maozhen did.

This time Li Cunxu took the initiative to attack Yelu Lage, and Li Maozhen's position was likely to be shaken. If he was won over by Yuan Tiangang, Li Keyong would have a hard time without this external support.

In a trance, Li Keyong seemed to see a huge net pressing towards him, trying to smother him, the Prince of Jin, to death silently in the Taiyuan Prefecture.

How to choose between internal and external troubles?
Li Keyong closed his eyes and thought, his expression changing again and again.

Li Cunren stood behind her adoptive father, also holding her breath. She was in control of the national intelligence on behalf of Li Keyong, and she also smelled a sense of impending storm.

Although judging from the situation, the State of Jin still has enough strength to stand firm in Hedong, and the Liang Dynasty also needs time to digest the Qinchuan area and will not launch an invasion in the short term, she still has the illusion that the mountains and rivers are solid but leaky on all sides.

"We will hold a banquet tomorrow..."

Li Keyong opened his eyes, as if he had made up his mind, and his expression calmed down again. He said in a deep voice: "Call Li Siyuan and Li Sizhao to the palace for a banquet."

Li Cunren sensed something was wrong in the tone, but she accepted the order without hesitation, and asked calmly, "Sir, do you want to recall all the 'Shang' tonight? Or let Ya'er take control of the important roads around Taiyuan? Tongwenguan..."

"No need to alert the enemy." Li Keyong said without turning his head: "Order Li Cunxiao and Li Cunyong to come to see me immediately."

"Yes."

Li Cunren was about to leave, but after thinking for a moment, he whispered, "Tenth brother is mentally handicapped, but he will definitely obey his adoptive father. However, twelfth brother has always respected eldest brother, and because he was born blind, he was valued by eldest brother, so he has always been grateful to eldest brother. It is estimated that his loyalty is hard to tell..."

Li Keyong snorted and laughed, but said nothing.

"My child, please leave."

Li Cunren stopped making suggestions and left the corridor. After walking to the square outside the palace, she couldn't help but look up at the scorching sun in the sky. The weather was hot, but she felt that there was only coolness around her.

"Master?" The sword-carrying maid who was also wearing a mask and following beside her said hoarsely.

Li Cunren sighed, climbed onto his horse, and gave orders to his men: "The nails buried in Tongwenguan over the years can be used. Today and tomorrow, any disturbance in Tongwenguan must be reported to me."

"As ordered."

------

The hot summer night wind is not cool at all, and there is a hint of heat in it. The darkness brings peace back to the world.

Among the mountains of Yunzhou, Li Siyuan fanned himself with a folding fan, which seemed to cool him down a little, but the heat still surrounded him and it was still extremely hot.

Suddenly, he angrily threw the folding fan to the ground, raised his head and screamed "Ah...", which scared several disciples of Tongwenguan not far away and they all gathered around. Shi Jingtang hurriedly picked up the folding fan, walked to the side and fanned Li Siyuan vigorously.

"Tai Shan, this is..."

"All my efforts have gone to waste, all my efforts have gone to waste!" Li Siyuan said in annoyance, "I shouldn't have left. Li Maozhen and Shuliduo were both defeated by Yazi. Even if I couldn't convince Shuliduo, I could still go to see Li Maozhen. Now Yazi has control over the situation. Both sides of the grassland will only send people to negotiate with him. I have worked for several months in vain, and I am no different from a nobody!"

As he said that, he cursed again for no reason: "Xiao Yan also destroyed the Kingdom of Shu! Damn it!"

Shi Jingtang looked embarrassed. He winked at several disciples of the Tongwenguan, and they understood and walked away until they could clearly no longer hear any sound from this side.

So Shi Jingtang said kindly: "Why worry about Mount Tai? As the saying goes, if you keep the green mountain, you won't be afraid of running out of firewood. If you stay in the camp of Shuliduo, you may still be in danger of life or death. Who knows what will happen next? As for the prince's pursuit of the grassland this time, I think it must be a futile effort, and even against the original intention of the King of Jin."

He said, "In the south, Xiao Yan has obtained Qinchuan, and the situation in the world has changed drastically. Only Jin State is fighting against it in the north and south of the Yellow River. At this time, it is definitely not what King Jin wants to see. The Yinshan Mountain we promised to Shuliduo may be able to be discussed with King Jin later. Before the survival of the country, winning over the grassland should be the national policy. After returning to Taiyuan this time, why don't Taishan take the initiative to ask King Jin for a trip to Mobei? Either meeting Shuliduo or lobbying Li Maozhen will do a lot."

Li Siyuan had no way of speaking his grievances. He had already long ago surrendered to Yuan Tiangang. This time he failed to persuade Shulido and instead fled for his life. Although he was not criticized, Yuan Tiangang completely ignored it and it was very likely that he had completely given up on him.

Without Yuan Tiangang's support, how could he sit on the throne of King of Jin in the future?

And going back to Taiyuan to ask for help is even more nonsense!

Now the situation is clear, Xiao Yan is in the limelight in the Central Plains, Shuliduo probably won't abandon Xiao Yan, and Yuan Tiangang is likely to turn around and support Yelu Lage or Li Maozhen... Li Cunxu has already caught Yuan Tiangang's eye. If he wants to resist Xiao Yan's army, Li Cunxu is definitely the next King of Jin. Without Yuan Tiangang's interference, why would Li Keyong give the task of winning over the grassland to Li Siyuan? Wouldn't it be better to give it to his own son to accumulate prestige?

Damn it, I clearly had a good hand, but now I played it so badly!

Li Siyuan was annoyed and resentful. He thought it would be better for him to stay in Taiyuan and bide his time so as not to end up pleasing both sides.

Perhaps the only thing that made him feel better was that he had not yet angered Xiao Yan, so he should not be able to take revenge on him... What a fuck!
Otherwise, go and join Xiao Yan?

Li Siyuan was tempted when he thought of this. However, he was unwilling to accept the fact that his ten years of forbearance and planning in Jin State and the good reputation he had accumulated among the people were all in vain. The key point was that he might not be treated well in Liang Dynasty...

Seeing his father-in-law standing there with his face turning pale and blue for a long time without saying anything, Shi Jingtang also started to murmur and waved his folding fan in silence for a while.

"The grassland will inevitably split..." After a long while, Li Siyuan said quietly, "Xiao Yan needs to digest the newly conquered population and territory, and will not fight to the death with Jin within one or two years. The Liang Dynasty is now a big country with a big business, and it can consume Jin with its national strength alone. It is an irrational choice to use human lives to fight to the death with the strong city of Hedong..."

Shi Jingtang thought for a moment and asked carefully, "What Taishan means is that the grassland will not be peaceful in the next two years?"

"Xiao Yan can't just sit there and watch Shuliduo do nothing." Li Siyuan pondered, "Even if he doesn't send a large army to attack Hedong, he still has the energy to intervene in the grassland. So even if Jin wants to win over the grassland, it can only support Yelu Lage, but I guess this process will be difficult."

Shi Jingtang lowered his head and said nothing. He was actually a little frightened. With Shuliduo as the legitimate representative of the grassland, it would be too easy for Xiao Yan to intervene in the affairs of the grassland. But Shuliduo had joined Xiao Yan two years ago. At that time, no one could understand why Xiao Yan would go to such great lengths to lead the army out of the border.

Could it be that he had already thought of today's situation?
Li Siyuan thought about it carefully and couldn't help but put himself in Xiao Yan's shoes. He added: "In the short term, Jin will not be threatened too much. The grassland will be the main battlefield in the next few years. If Liang Dynasty wins, it will have the absolute initiative. Otherwise, we will have no way out."

If Li Keyong were here, he would feel that this guy is consistent with his worries. It's a pity that this guy is too ambitious and difficult to deal with.

Shi Jingtang thought more about it. He said, "I think Xiao Yan is more likely to attack Jiangnan first... Once the separatist forces such as Wu and Chu are destroyed, he should become emperor... It will also be easier to use military force against Jin."

Li Siyuan was stunned by this. He couldn't help but think about it. Faced with the temptation of becoming an emperor, would he sharpen his sword and head south of the Yangtze River, or go to great lengths to use troops in the grasslands? Especially since the results in the grasslands were slow to come.

Damn, what does this have to do with me! ?

Li Siyuan suddenly came to his senses, his face was very ugly, and at the same time, he was filled with jealousy. He was in such a miserable state, and the young man who he did not take seriously a few years ago had become an existence that he dared not even think about. Even people like the Bad Commander and the King of Jin would probably be a little worried about him.

"This is how my father's life will be." Li Siyuan patted Shi Jingtang on the shoulder half-seriously and half-jokingly: "My dear son-in-law, you have always been talented. What I said just now was for you. You have been guarding Yanmen in the past few years, and you are particularly clear about the situation on the grassland. If a major war breaks out on the grassland, it will be a good time for you to shine."

Shi Jingtang immediately bowed down in fear and trepidation: "I am loyal to Master Taishan..."

Loyalty is of no use. Li Siyuan was a little discouraged. He couldn't help but think that even if a lot of his brothers were loyal to him, what good was that?
At this time, a disciple of Tongwenguan who was guarding at the foot of the hill suddenly came up in a hurry with a few people.

Li Siyuan took a closer look and saw a thin figure in the middle who was hunched over like a monkey. Wasn't it Li Cunzhong, the ninth brother who was captured in Hebei?
"Oh my!" Li Siyuan's excitement at this time was not just a pretense as usual. He went over to him in surprise and joy: "Ninth, Ninth Brother? What are you doing..."

Shi Jingtang was also surprised, and came over and bowed, saying, "Master Nine."

Li Cunzhong was covered in dust and dirt. When he saw Li Siyuan again, he was so sad that he almost cried.

After resting for only a short while, he hurriedly recounted his experiences of the past few months in full, including how he listened to the conversation between Xiao Yan and Zhang Zifan in Luoyang, and then was released by Xiao Yan, walked all the way to Luzhou and heard that the garrison commander had become his sixth brother Li Cunli, went to pay a secret visit to him, and then was sent by Li Cunli to find Li Siyuan. He told them everything in detail.

Shi Jingtang immediately admired the short Li Cunzhong. If he were captured and taken to the Central Plains, he would probably not be as loyal to his big brother as Li Cunzhong.

Li Siyuan was extremely excited. He didn't care about Li Cunzhong's miserable experience, let alone his adopted son's life or death. He just said excitedly: "Xiao... Is His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin really willing to help me succeed?"

Li Cunzhong was at a loss for a moment, and said, "At that time, the battle to destroy Shu had not yet taken place, and Xiao Yan only said that he would use the prince's troops to delay my brother, but did not promise anything else. Now the situation has become like this, and there has been no major war between Jin and Liang, how can he still help my brother?"

Li Siyuan was just rubbing his hands in anticipation. With Xiao Yan's attitude, everything would be easy to talk about. If it were in the past, he might have been dismissive of Xiao Yan's words. Now that he was about to be abandoned by Yuan Tiangang, he didn't have a good face in front of Li Keyong. There was no reason for him to reject this person who might really help him become the King of Jin.

The fall of the country is a matter for the future, and Li Siyuan doesn't want to live in fear all day long.

So he immediately spoke out from the bottom of his heart: "You don't understand, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is so far-sighted, how can he be viewed by ordinary people?"

As he spoke, he walked over, gently stroked Li Cunzhong's back, and said, "A lot of things happened in Jin during the six months you were away. Big brother, I was also helpless..."

------

Yudujin Mountain.

Tens of thousands of people gathered here. Fortunately, the grassland was lush and there was grazing land. However, many small tribes that were forcibly abducted were still heading north with their cattle and sheep.

"Yelü Lage and Li Maozhen are both unreliable... The Marshal still values ​​you, Your Highness. Now that the grassland is divided into two, it is time for the situation to become clear. The Marshal needs Your Highness."

The fake Li was still thinking about what a messenger from the south had just said to him. He rode his horse out of the camp and followed the instructions of several Qi Wangwei to climb a high slope to look for Li Maozhen.

Li Maozhen was indeed here, sitting on a rock, facing south and looking down at something.

Fake Li was about to go over, but stopped because he found that Li Maozhen seemed a little different from before, as if he was a little lonely.

Li Maozhen looked again at the information in his hand that he had read countless times. It took him a long time to raise his head, looking expressionlessly at the south, like a sculpture.

He held the information in his hand and did nothing for a long time.

Youqi Wangwei whispered something in the fake Li's ear.

"Not long ago, news came from the Central Plains... The Empress is getting married."

The fake Li who was watching coldly was startled and felt something was wrong, so he frowned and asked, "Is there such a thing?"

As he said this, he seemed to remember something and asked, "Is it Xiao Yan who is getting married?"

"That's it."

The fake Li was speechless for a moment, and after a long time, he cursed in jealousy.

"Hold."

(End of this chapter)