That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 929

Compared with Jiangnan, Northeast, and Northwest, which are already full of wolves, and even bloody everywhere, the imperial capital, the center of the world, still maintains a superficial peace on the occasion of the arrival of the new year, except for the rise in rice prices again, and more refugees. , except that people are more panicked, and taxes are increased, the rest seems to be the same as in previous years.

In this spring, the Daqi court finally breathed a sigh of relief. The situation in the south of the Yangtze River, which seemed very critical after the defeat at Dongting Lake, finally stabilized after Xiaoge's old relatives went to the south of the Yangtze River. , but no matter what, there is no need to worry that the great Jiangnan will become someone else's property in one dynasty. After all, the situation will not deteriorate to the point where it cannot be handled.

On this occasion, after a major defeat by the Northeast Frontier Army, its offensive finally weakened. Zhao Wuji, the left governor of the Chinese Army stationed in Shanhai City, was ordered to return to the imperial capital during the truce to meet with the Princess Xiao Zhinan to report on his duties.

Now that the governor Wei Jin has passed away, the position of the governor is vacant. Although Zhao Wou-ki was not among the four elites back then, in terms of seniority, Zhao Wou-ki is undoubtedly the best candidate to succeed the governor, so Zhao Wou-ki returned this time. Beijing, in the eyes of many people, is just a test of the imperial court. After all, Zhao Wuji is now heavily supported by the army, and the Mu clan in the northeast of the outside world can be said to be a well-deserved pillar of the country. , the imperial court even had the saying that "the south of the Yangtze River cannot live without Xu Nangui, the northwest cannot live without Zhang, the sick tiger, and Zhili cannot live without Zhao Fuji", just as Lan Yu listed Qiuye and Wanyan Beiyue on the list of secrets. Xu Beiyou, Xu Beiyou are also called the "Three Sages", and Xu Beiyou, Zhang Wubing, and Zao Wou-ki are also regarded as the pillars of the three kingdoms of the Great Qi Dynasty among the ruling and opposition parties. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this statement highly respects the three people, and almost regards the three people as the pillars of the Great Qi Dynasty. Pushed to the height of assisting the country to turn the tide and help the building to fall.

In fact, the dukes of Miaotan are well aware that Xu Beiyou is the adopted son of Elder Han Ge and the emperor-in-law of His Royal Highness the Princess, and Zhang Wubing is also a member of the Han party. Zao Wou-ki in the party struggle has a stronger meaning of wooing, and from this we can also see the attitudes of Mr. Han Ge and His Royal Highness the Princess.

For such an important person to come to Beijing, the whole court should have attached great importance to it.After all, in troubled times, civil servants are not as good as military generals, especially this kind of army commander who holds military power, and can even influence the situation of the whole world. However, no matter how high and powerful a civil servant is, he is always a bird in a cage in the center. Comfortable, often bound by various rules of monarchs and ministers, looking forward and backward for the reputation of a person behind him, even his wealth and life are not in his own hands.But the generals who lead the army outside will not be so easy to wait for death, holding the capital of the army to cause chaos. There are precedents such as adding yellow robes to the body, and there are no many concerns of literati.

Of course, the imperial court is not completely powerless to resist. The imperial court checks and balances these frontier armies. The two sides are afraid of each other, and no military general will rebel easily unless it is really a last resort.

When Zhao Wuji returned to Beijing this time, he did not mobilize the crowd. He only brought about a dozen or so personal guards. The imperial court did not greet them with great fanfare. It was even surprisingly quiet, so that Zhao Wuji and his party walked through most of the city. In Zhili Prefecture, none of the officials along the way was lucky enough to see one of the three pillars.

When Zhao Wuji arrived in the imperial capital, he did not go to see Han Xuan and Xiao Zhinan immediately, but first went to see Wei Wuji, who is now in an embarrassing position in the court.

The two met in the back house of Wei Wuji's mansion. The two sat opposite each other in the pavilion near the lake, and then each remained silent.Few people now know that the two have actually known each other for a long time. Zhao Wuji had known Wei Wuji as early as when Wei Xianji was still called Wei Xianji. Of course, at that time he had another name, Prajna.

As early as in the last years of the Great Zheng, the White Lotus Sect swept the world again. Zhang Dingguo and Wei Xianji were the backbone of the sect. At that time, Xiao Yu dominated the Northwest Pass and watched the world. The hidden guards of the two are the shadow, the evil tiger, the ghost and the banruo. Among them, the shadow is responsible for the intelligence investigation, and the evil tiger and the ghost are responsible for the guarding of Xiao Yu and Zhongdu respectively. Only the identity of Banruo is the most mysterious, and his whereabouts are erratic. Later, he was sent by Xiao Yu to the south of the Yangtze River, and joined the White Lotus Sect under the pseudonym of Zao Wou-ki, and had a close relationship with Zhang Dingguo and Wei Xianji. He also imitated Zhao Wuji's name and named Zhang Wubing and Wei Wuji respectively.

From this point of view, Zao Wou-ki and Wei Wuji should have a very close relationship, but because of Zao Wou-ki's instigation back then, Wei and Zhang always had a grudge against him, and it was even difficult to let go of it, so that Over the years, the relationship between the three has been repeated, sometimes far and sometimes close, far from being able to talk about advancing and retreating together.

Zhao Wuji squeezed the teacup in his hand, and said firstly: "I won't stay for too long when I return to Beijing this time. The reason why I came to see you first is to hear your opinion on the current situation."

Wei Wuji's expression turned serious, "Is it a war situation? Or the court?"

Zhao Wou-ki took a sip of tea, put down the teacup in his hand, and said: "The dust has settled on the imperial capital, I have nothing to worry about, and on the northeast side, I know it myself, I want to know what you think of the northwest and the south of the Yangtze River. "

Wei Wuji thought about it for a while, and said softly: "In fact, there is nothing to worry about in the northwest. Zhang Wubing alone can maintain it. The reason is also very simple. The grassland army is not good at attacking fortifications, and they cannot be defeated. They rely on cavalry to defeat the enemy. If you can't defend, you will lose again. As long as the court is not chaotic and the grain and grass in the northwest are guaranteed, the seemingly menacing grassland army will not be able to cause any storms, so the key lies in the south of the Yangtze River. Dongting blocked the great river and cut off the water transportation. It didn’t work out in a short period of time, but over time, it was enough to make the court struggle with money and food. Even if the river is not lost now, the entire south of the Yangtze River has been divided, and the capital of Jiangnan has become an isolated city. Yu Kuang We can only retreat to the two Xiangxiangs, even though the old man of Xiaoge went to Jiangnan and tried his best to turn the tide many times, but looking at the situation in Jiangnan, it still has not fundamentally changed, in my opinion, the next battle will still be fought around Jiangnan."

Zhao Wou-ki smiled, and said with emotion: "Helping the building from its collapse and turning the tide from its collapse, this is what Xu Nangui has been doing. In fact, he has done half of it. If it weren't for him, Jiangdu would have fallen, and then it would be The fall of Liangxiang, the fall of Jiangzhou and Huzhou, the situation in the entire south of the Yangtze River is corrupt, and at the same time, Shuzhou has become an isolated place, and several states in the northwest have become a dangerous place. Next, as long as Xiao Jin can get through Shaanxi, Lin Han can conquer Julu , then the armies of these three vassal kings will be able to form a line and form a siege to the remaining ten states of our Great Qi Dynasty. It's just sticking to the land of Jiangbei, just lingering."

Wei Wuji was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "This is a difficult situation, but it is not a dead situation. Now it is up to Xu Nangui how to break it."

(End of this chapter)