The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 84 Quan Zhong
On the ninth day of the seventh month in the first year of Jingfu, Kaifeng County.

After fighting hard for half a year, the people of Bian retreated in disgrace again.

At the beginning of the year, Zhu Xuan took advantage of the snowstorm to launch a surprise attack and captured Doumen Pass, and the Bian army fled without a fight. The people of Yun opened up Puzhou, and then connected with Cao and Wei states. They could advance to Bianzhou, or retreat to win over the Wei people who were reluctant to submit to Quanzhong's tyranny, and the situation of passively being beaten was greatly improved.

Quanzhong was shocked upon hearing the news and had to rescue the enemy himself. So he sent Li Fan, the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi, to lead 5,000 people from the hall and other places to Chenqiao Post, and he himself led 20,000 elite soldiers to follow. However, the Bian army in Doumen Pass did not report the enemy situation after evacuating. So when Quanzhong arrived at Doumen with a face full of ice, he met the Yun soldiers in bright armor who were laughing loudly. The result is obvious - Quanzhong was chased and killed for ten miles, and retreated to Huhe River in a panic.

The soldiers of Yun pursued the enemy in victory.

The people of Bianzhou were badly defeated, and Li Fan, the deputy governor of the Jiedushi, and others died in the chaos. Quanzhong escaped with his life, and fled back to Bianzhou overnight under the desperate protection of several generals, leaving only some troops in Puzhou to confront and plug the gap.

By July, the army stationed at the front line in Puzhou could not stand the heat and complained a lot, showing a tendency to make trouble, which made Quanzhong very panic. He had no choice but to squeeze out some money to reward them and asked them to stop fighting and come back for "summer vacation", which was how he managed to settle the situation.

The sun was shining brightly and the noise was deafening.

Quanzhong stood on the tower, watching the soldiers gradually entering the city, his teeth chattering - these bastards dared to leave him in the Hu River! It would have been fine if they had just left him in the air, but they ordered him to defend the city and then complained that it was too hot...

Kou Yanqing wanted to say something to comfort him, but seeing the Marshal's gloomy face, he shut up. He was born in a family of generals in the Xuanwu Army, and his grandfathers and generations had been guards. He had seen a lot of such things. As a warrior, he just went along with the fur. But the Marshal was born a bandit, so he probably wouldn't bow his head. He had to kill the Yanei like Li Keyong did.

Kou Yanqing already knew the Marshal's character well. He would never let go of any grudge. In the battle of Huhe River, his adopted son Zhu Youyu failed to lead the troops and caused a military riot. He was immediately arrested and executed. If the mistress had not come forward to apologize, the man would have been killed. If the generals in the town are not serious about the king's career, it will be difficult for them in the future.

After all the troops entered the city, Li Tang, Yan Jiao, Zhang Tao, Han Renyi, Huang Huazi, Li Chongyin and others came over to pay their respects.

Quanzhong hated these warriors, but he couldn't really do anything to them for the time being. He had to reward them and give them official titles, smiling at them. You can imagine how he felt. Two years ago, Zhu Zhen beheaded his darling Li Tangbin. Afterwards, the generals kowtowed and begged for mercy, and Quanzhong was so angry that he smashed his bed. In the end, he was in a dilemma and hanged Zhu Zhen, which made people a little unhappy.

Therefore, he doesn't want to kill anyone unless he has no other choice.

After inspecting the withdrawn troops and showing his face in front of the warriors, Quanzhong walked back to the Ba Mansion in a sullen mood. Jing Xiang, Li Zhen, Xie Tong, Duan Ning, Wei Zhen, Zhao Jing, Pei Di and other confidants immediately came forward and said, "Your Majesty!"

"Don't call me the Great King." Quanzhong sighed, "In the third year of Zhonghe, Chengde Wang Rong, Weiren Le Yanzhen, Yun thief Zhu Xuan, and the One-Eyed Dragon were all under my command. Now, ten years have passed, and I still can't defeat the powerful enemy, and the warriors are hard to control. I have also lost the emperor's favor. It's not fun to be a king who has to look at people's faces."

Losing the favor of the Holy Spirit! This matter is not a big deal, but it is definitely not a small matter either.

In the past, when a state and an army were conquered, the imperial envoys would arrive quickly. But now... Suzhou, which was conquered with great difficulty, had not received the imperial edict for a long time. As soon as the army left, the appointed governor was jointly expelled by the local tyrants on the charge of "taking charge of military and political affairs without authorization".

A single spot can reveal a leopard.

After a long while, Quanzhong said in a languid tone, "The army has besieged Xuzhou, and the loss is huge. The people of Xuzhou are trapped, and Shi Pu is also a dead bone in the tomb, unable to turn over. I want to make peace with Shi Pu and concentrate on destroying the Zhu brothers first."

How can we endure the shame of Hu River?
Li Zhen immediately frowned and refuted: "The Xu people are fierce and are doomed to die. How can we make peace?"

The battle in Xuzhou had already entered the stage of the "Battle of Stalingrad". After several battles, the people of Xuzhou realized that they could not defeat the Bian army in a field battle, so they just defended the city tenaciously.

Now both sides are fighting for their lives.

The Xu people were already a little overwhelmed. The Ya army had been making a big noise before, demanding to seize Chuzhou in the south and open up the Jianghuai line as a retreat. Shi Pu had no choice but to order the Ya general Liu Zan to lead his troops to invade, but unfortunately they were defeated by the Wu people. The south was cut off, the Zibo and Qing troops were stationed on the border in the east, and the Henghai army was in the north. The Xu people had no choice but to continue defending the city.

surrender?

Normally, they should surrender, but who can blame the Xu people for being so "courageous"? They would rather die in battle and lose their entire family than give up the city! From Li Guangbi, who held the army but did not rule the court, to Wang Zhixing, who built the Silver Knife Army, the Xu soldiers have never been quiet, and they enjoy eating human flesh in peacetime. The court tried every means to reform the unruly people here, but when they had no choice, they could only do as later generations did - "Tomorrow, there will be rewards at the parade ground, and you don't have to bring weapons and armor", and slaughter them all.

But just like Wei Bo, after killing the old thieves, the young thieves came. After the old generation was killed, the new generation grew up again. The nest entered Chang'an. The then Jiedushi Zhixiang sent troops to defend the king. The army went to Zhengzhou and rebelled, slaughtering Heyin with blood. No one survived the whole city. Then they returned to Pengcheng and killed the Jiedushi. The Wei Bo soldiers were good people in front of this group of killers. At least they didn't attack their fellow villagers, right?

Now, this group of people are the new force to fight against Quanzhong.

In their values, there is no surrender. The worst that can happen is death. If I cry out, I am not a hero. This is why the Xu people were identified by Li Zhen as bandits who were doomed to die. In fact, the change in the military horn can reveal the mystery. At the beginning, the military horn was Wuning Army. Wuning? Wuning. Later, when they saw that Wu De Ning could not be achieved, they changed it to Ganhua Army. Ganhuazhi...

"That's right." Thinking of the monster-like appearance of the Xuzhou soldiers in battle, Quanzhong sighed, and his wavering will became firm again - not only should he continue to besiege the city, but after breaking the city, he should also uproot these warriors and wipe out the violent and warlike genes of the Xu people.

"Don't be discouraged, Your Majesty." Jing Xiang felt that the King had been quite discouraged recently, perhaps because he was annoyed by the warriors again, so he suggested: "Let Pang Shigu surround Xuzhou, and focus on Yan and Yun. Wait until the autumn harvest is over, there is enough food, and the weather is cool, then launch a large-scale expedition."

Quanzhong stood up and walked to the map without saying anything, feeling the cool sheepskin blanket, carefully scanning every prefecture and county from east to west, revealing some expressions from time to time, frowning and grinning.

"What is One-Eyed Dragon doing?" Quanzhong suddenly turned around and asked.

"The Youzhou army invaded Yunzhou and Daizhou and plundered them. Li Keyong marched north." The Jiedushi judge Wei Zhen replied, "Also, news came from the Jinzouyuan that the Taiyuan was in urgent need of food in Chang'an."

"Is it still there?" Quanzhong was very concerned about this.

Seeing Quanzhong's serious expression, Wei Zhen whispered: "The Saint... collected 300,000 stones!"

"Oh." Quanzhong exhaled lightly, shook his head and sighed, "During the Qianfu years, we fought against Shatuo. Tens of thousands of warriors from the two rivers fought bravely, bathed in blood, died in battle and froze to death. Only three or four out of ten were able to recover Weizhou and drive out Guochang and his son, the Tatars. The emperor has returned to the capital, but the country has not been safe for long. The saint does not regret his past deeds, and even deceives and marries Shatuo, entrusting him with trust. Isn't it like Emperor Xian marrying Cao's daughter? He actually invited a wolf into the house and created chaos for himself. If he acts like this, it will be difficult for him to rule the world. The one who will destroy the country in the future will be this emperor."

No one said anything.

Only Jing Xiang raised his hands and reminded: "The imperial court has successively pacified Hua, Qi, Bin, and Tong, and killed tens of thousands of rebel soldiers. Its power has been revived. The rise and fall of the country and who will win is unknown. Please do not take it lightly."

"Zizhen is right." Zhu Quanzhong realized that he was a little too proud after hearing this. He warned himself and then asked, "By the way, the eunuchs have lost their authority, and the spies they cultivated and bribed have either died or been demoted. The emperor has appointed a female imperial concubine to lead the Privy Council and govern the inner court. In this case, there must be someone. My suggestion is to select a few reliable beauties to present to the emperor and spy on his mind."

Quanzhong now has four daughters: Lingya, Lingrou, Lingqu, and Lingrong. All of them were later married to Weizhou, Chengde, Zhongwu Army and other vassal states. In those days, the daughters of big men were not married casually. When Zhu Lingrong married Wang Zhaozuo, the son of Wang Rong, she was already a beautiful young lady, but Wang Zhaozuo was still young. Later, when she was a little stronger, she died in the chaos of the army, and Zhu Lingrong became a monk.

Political marriage is so cruel.

Jing Xiang knew the king's intention, but the court might not accept the king's daughter if he wanted to give her away: "Then the Shatuo girl has entered the palace and is pregnant. If the Bian girl enters the palace again, I'm afraid the enemies will not tolerate her and will harm her."

That Shatuo woman killed the king's beloved daughter with one knife. What else could the sage do except stare blankly?
"Let's discuss this later." Quanzhong said. A girl can marry or not, but there must be spies. It's a pity that those eunuchs were so useless that they were killed by the saint in less than half a year.

"By the way, after the saint takes Tongzhou, where will he focus his attention?" The waiter brought the food, and Quanzhong kept everyone to eat and chat while continuing to work.

"With the three prefectures in hand, he will probably attack Jinshang and Hanzhong to spy on Shuzhong." Li Zhen said without hesitation: "Although Wang Jian was powerful for a while, he had no imperial order and the states did not obey him. Now, more than 100,000 troops from Longjian, Wuding, Xingyuan, Ganyi, Weirong, Jiazhou, and Xiakui have risen up to attack him, and many of his fake sons have other intentions. Wang Jian will not live for many days. The saint will take action decisively when he sees the opportunity."

The current emperor is actually very easy to grasp. His emotions and intentions are clearly exposed, and every move has a clue. He is just like his father-in-law. You can probably predict what he will do.

The difference between the father-in-law and the son-in-law is that Li Keyong only acts according to his mood. The son-in-law is limited by his status as an emperor, and most of them are not swayed by personal emotions, are relatively rational, and are more difficult to deal with. Moreover, the saint's way is not like that of a monarch, and he is shameless. He fought with Li Keyong the year before last, and then he married someone else's girl and held her high. There are a lot of miscellaneous Hu people around him who are appointed as officials and generals, and he has no defense against Chinese and foreigners. No wonder he can be Li Keyong's son-in-law.

"The vixen smell under the armpits of Shatuo women alone is unbearable for most people." Quanzhong also laughed twice and said, "Yang Fugong, Ximen Chongsui, and Li Keyong, saints endure what ordinary people cannot endure. Their will is really strong and should be a warning to others."

"I've sent a letter to Zhang Quanyi asking him to take over the military governorship of Heyang. Have you received any response?"

"No." Pei Di, the secretary in the room, replied: "The Jinzouyuan brought money and goods to visit the Taiwei and asked him to persuade the emperor. The Taiwei only accepted the gifts and made excuses for other matters. I also wrote to him many times, but there was no response."

"Old dog!" Quanzhong cursed.

"The current emperor is eager to make progress and has a strong determination to restore the country. He is far less easy to talk to than the previous emperor. He needs to be put on the fire and roasted." Li Zhen said.

"Once Xuzhou is pacified, I will go to the court to meet the emperor." Quanzhong put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped the oil stains from the corners of his mouth, and said.

It's time to go to the DPRK and take a look.

The imperial court’s power has been revived. If it is not curbed, there will be more and more people having to look at each other’s faces, which is not conducive to development.

In the past, the imperial court tried to move Wang Zhongrong to Yiwu Army, and the four towns of Pu, Jin, Bin, and Qi led troops directly into the pass. After the imperial court was defeated, the emperor fled in panic. After that, there were also the four towns of Qi, Bin, Tong, and Hua that failed to enter Chang'an, and the Qi Bin rebel army that failed to enter Chang'an for the second time. It's not a big deal, so you can try it.

It's just that the scale must be struck well, like Wang Zhongrong and his colleagues - achieving political aspirations without causing public outrage. After letting the imperial court know how powerful you are, you can just be a stamping machine.

"There is one more thing." Wei Zhen continued, "The court sent an envoy to Hezhong to discuss marriage, wanting to marry the princess to Chongrong's son Ke. Hedong's official Guo Chongtao and others are also trying their best to promote this. In this way, the two towns of Pu and Shan will advance and retreat with Qin and Jin."

Quanzhong stroked his beard and recalled, "Didn't they say that the One-Eyed Dragon wanted to marry his second daughter Miaowei to Wang Ke?"

This news has been circulating for a long time.

The current Hezhong Jiedushi, Wang Chongying, came to power after Wang Chongrong was killed by the Ya army and he returned to quell the rebellion. However, this is only a temporary position, and he has been seriously ill in the past two years and will not live long.

Yanei's preferred heir is Wang Ke, the son of Wang Chongrong.

Li Keyong saw the opportunity and planned to bet on Wang Ke, but for some reason, the emperor and Hezhong were married. After thinking for a while, Quanzhong understood. If Wang Ke married the princess, Hezhong would naturally lean towards the saint. If he married the Shatuo woman, then they would lean towards Li Keyong.

By doing this, the sage was restricting his father-in-law. After all, he already controlled the Zhenwu Army, Hedong, Zhaoyi three towns and five miscellaneous Hu tribes in the north. If he controlled Hezhong, his power would reach the sage's bedside.

But no matter how they are connected, Chang'an, Taiyuan, Shaanxi Guo, and Hezhong are very threatening as long as they are wearing the same crotch.

Quanzhong secretly made up his mind that the three towns of Yan, Yun and Xu must be pacified as soon as possible.

"Why not secretly contact Wang Ke, Wang Gong, and Wang Yao, choose a good one, support him to be the governor of Hezhong, and instigate civil strife in the Wang family?" Li Zhen was silent for a long time and offered a plan.

What a familiar scene. After Wang Chongying passed away, the sons of the Wang family fought with the support of various towns, and finally Hezhong fell into the hands of Quanzhong without bloodshed...

"Okay." Quanzhong nodded and said, "The shogunate can contact them secretly. As long as the Wang family is not in chaos, the tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the river are a powerful enemy. Also, let Wei Bo, Chengde, Dongdu, and Zhongwu armies stop paying tribute, close the water transportation in the territory, and wait for the saint. I heard that he has 50,000 soldiers, and there are 12,000 cavalrymen alone, each with two horses. Let's see how long he can keep them going. Without money and goods, the warriors will make a fuss, and the saint will no longer be a saint."

"Yes, sir." Jing Xiang began to draft the official document.

"How is the summer harvest in the town?" Quanzhong suddenly asked, thinking about supplying food to the frontline soldiers besieging Xuzhou.

"A good harvest." Wei Zhen replied.

"Now only Xuzhou is deploying troops, so we should spend according to our income. This time, the summer taxes in Chen and Song states should be exempted." Quanzhong sighed.

"Yes."

When she returned to the backyard, she saw that her husband was worried and unhappy, so she asked with a smile, "Why are you unhappy, Sanlang?"

Quanzhong remained silent.

Zhang Hui was born in a prominent family in Songzhou. She was beautiful, intelligent, and skilled in military affairs. Quanzhong respected Bai Yueguang very much. When marching to war, even if the troops were halfway, as long as Zhang Hui said no, Quanzhong would turn around immediately.

But this makes me feel bad and I don't want to talk.

"Did the warrior make Sanlang unhappy?" Zhang Hui waved his hand, and Quanzhong sat down on the stone bench obediently.

Zhang Hui held Zhu Youzhen in his arms and hummed to lull her to sleep, while softly asking, "Is it because of the noise from the Puzhou soldiers?"

Snapped!
The suppressed emotions in Quanzhong's heart surged again when he recalled the scene of Doumen Pass being left behind by the warriors and being chased by the people of Yun. He slammed his palm on the stone table and said in a hot-blooded tone: "Don't mention the soldiers!"

Zhang Hui laughed and said, "I also heard that some soldiers took the officers hostage. We can't..."

"What a bunch of thieves!" Quanzhong cursed, "Once Shi Pu is killed, we will rectify the military discipline. Those who plotted to murder our superiors will be executed!"

"Take your time." Zhang Hui held Quanzhong's hand and said with a smile, "Just give them a little punishment. The boys just resent the hot weather and want to take a rest. When autumn comes and the treasury is full and the rewards are generous, they will stop making trouble."

Gululu, Quanzhong drank a cup of yellow soup.

"If there is anything else that makes you unhappy, tell me everything." Zhang Hui patted Zhu Youzhen and said with interest.

"The saint has failed me." Quanzhong sighed slightly, "I have taken back Chang'an, pacified Cai and rescued Chen, attacked Shatuo, and protected the grain transport. Over the years, I have offered countless wealth and goods, but I am still my enemy. I asked for salt and iron, but I didn't allow it. I asked for Yanzhou, but I didn't allow it. I asked for Heyang, but I didn't allow it. Now I am in cahoots with the one-eyed dragon... When his army and people are strong, I am afraid he will call in an army to attack me."

"Perhaps the Shatuo girl has seduced the emperor." Zhang Hui finally couldn't help it, covered his face with his sleeves, turned aside, and said with a crisp smile: "I heard from the clerk that the emperor succumbed to the Shatuo girl's power and allowed her to abuse him, to the point that he had to walk with his hands on the wall and his face was pale. The court officials were worried about it."

Quanzhong was choked.

Madam, you really know how to say dirty words.

(End of this chapter)