The rise of the prince

Chapter 805 Fear Spreads

The night was getting dark, but the magnificent hall was brightly lit, and there were braziers at the four corners. The cold in the north came earlier than in the south, and it seemed to be worse only tonight, so the little eunuch added a few more pots of fire.

All the powerful ministers and nobles in the court were present, their figures were chaotic, their words were noisy, and there was an unconcealable uneasiness in their whispers. The shadows of candles were chaotic, just like shaking people's hearts.

Liu Xu watched all this quietly, he understood that many people started to have their own plans, but most of them just quietly arranged for their children to go east at night.

He couldn't stop this matter, so he could only watch silently.

He was also very uneasy, the bottomless night outside the hall, just like this mood at this moment, he is someone who has dealt with Li Xingzhou, he understands his difference, understands his scheming.

Even so, the destruction of Shanhaiguan was beyond his expectation. He is from Bohai, and he has been familiar with the number one pass in the world since he was a child.

Shanhaiguan has been repaired by successive dynasties, and it is definitely worthy of the title of the first pass in the world. The city wall is more than ten miles long, four feet high, and more than two feet wide. The city head can run four horses side by side. There are several feet deep outside the city. moat.

Nearly a hundred battalions of troops were stationed there, how did Li Xingzhou break through, the letter from the front is unclear
As for the person who wrote the letter, the young commander-in-chief Wu Linhuang who was dubbed "promising", "young and promising" and "boundless future" by the people in the court, is currently huddled in Ningyuan, with a lot of evasive words. In any case, the responsibility should be shifted to Yelu Tuohu, the guard of Shanhaiguan.

Liu Xu's eyes are vicious, how could he not understand his little trick? Although Yelu Tuohu is a Khitan, he was the first general to follow Taizu's group of soldiers who climbed out of the pile of flesh and blood. He has no foundation and background in the court, and he is not an empress of Jurchens, so it is not his turn to guard Shanhaiguan.

From the tone of Wu Linhuang's letter, he speculated that this matter may be related to the dereliction of duty of the coach, but in any case
The chill got worse, and everyone was waiting for the emperor's arrival.

After a while, with the lights in the distance and the sound of chaotic footsteps, even without looking at Liu Xu, he knew that the emperor was coming, and hurriedly saluted.

The night wind was blowing outside the door, and everyone's voices were a little fuzzy. In the dimness, they vaguely heard "Wanli", and the subsequent words were drowned in the sound of the wind. He was old and his ears were not good, so he couldn't hear clearly.

Even if he didn't listen, he had already figured it out in his heart. What the emperor asked was what to do next. The surroundings were as quiet as he thought, and no one made a sound.

The quiet atmosphere is frightening, but no one is willing to take the lead in breaking the tranquility. Most of the military generals have gone to the south, and the rest of the court are basically relatives and civil servants. These people enjoyed peace in Liaodong when Emperor Taizu went west. After conquering the country, he came to Beijing to enjoy peace.

"Useless mediocre dogs! The court provides for you on weekdays, and you can't even fart at a critical moment!" The emperor was so angry that he yelled, and the words were very serious. Many people looked ugly. If they would dare to talk back, after all, Not just the Wanyan family.

But now, when a major event is imminent, no one dares to answer the question and keep silent, letting the emperor get angry.

Seeing this, Liu Xu had no choice but to go forward and salute and speak. He is the prime minister, others can keep their mouths shut, but he can't. In fact, he is also very anxious in his heart. He may not be much less worried about the country than the emperor.

"emperor."

"Liu Xu! Do you have something to say to me!" The emperor leaned forward slightly in excitement, almost stepping off the throne, like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw.

Liu Xu sighed from the bottom of his heart. He didn't have any good strategies. Now that things have happened, there are not many choices. He really didn't expect that the Dajin Kingdom, which shocked the world a few years ago, would be forced by Li Xingzhou to what it is today. the point.

From this point of view, that person is even more difficult than he thought, and it is useless to think too much, so let's appease the emperor first.

"Your Majesty, the situation is actually not that bad." Liu Xu's tone was calm, trying to make it contagious and calming, "The defeat at Shanhaiguan was indeed unexpected. Once Shanhaiguan was broken, Jingguo's army could go north, but Liaoxi was still in danger." There are many important towns that can stop Jing Jun.

If Li Xingzhou was so stupid that he bypassed those important towns and only went north, he would be in danger of being caught in a pincer attack.Further north, in the area of ​​Bailang Mountain, King Puchayi of Qi's army defended the capital, and it was always safe to go to the capital. "

After what he said, the emperor seemed to relax a little bit, but he still asked anxiously: "Then, what is the strategy to retreat from the enemy? The Jing army has already passed Shanhaiguan, and there are [-] people. Will they give up easily!"

Liu Xu arched his hands and said, "Your Majesty, although the defeat in the first battle has caused serious injuries, my Dajin Kingdom is strong and strong. The land left by the Taizu is thousands of miles from east to west, long and narrow from north to south, and has a vast territory. Minor injuries are nothing.

As long as your majesty boosts morale, gathers people's hearts, don't panic, calm down and deal with the current crisis, it will not be difficult to contain Jing Jun's northward march. "

"Really?" Seeing the emperor looking at him, Liu Xu definitely nodded, but in fact he didn't know what to do.

"Then what shall I do?"

Liu Xu thought for a while: "The first thing is to stabilize people's hearts. The old minister has some plans, please make a decision."

"Okay, okay, tell me quickly, tell me quickly and I'll make a decision!"

"Yes! First of all, at this moment, peace of mind is the most important thing.

Your Majesty must make a decree to announce to the world as soon as possible that the defeat in this battle is due to the dereliction of duty by the guard of Shanhaiguan, Yelu, who had two intentions and did not obey the commander's order, which led to the defeat. "

Liu Xu knew in his heart that based on numerous signs and scattered news from the coach and guards everywhere, the coach Wu Linhuang was most likely to be more responsible for this matter.

But right now, Yelu was close to death, and there was no evidence of his death. It is important to put the responsibility on him to stabilize the army's morale. The battle will continue. If the army's morale is disturbed and the people are panicked, then it is really impossible to compete with Jing Guo's army.

"Okay, I also think it should be like this. I am a big gold warrior who is not afraid of death. I am victorious in every battle. It is the incompetence of the leader who caused this defeat!" The emperor nodded repeatedly.

"Secondly, Your Majesty should shrink the troops from Liaodong to Liaoxi as soon as possible, and be ready to reinforce the army to the south at any time, and defend the capital to the north, in case of emergency."

"Okay, I can order the remaining troops from Liaodong to be transferred here, but where should they be stationed?"

Liu Xu thought for a while, and then said: "According to the old ministers, Jinzhou can be hoarded. Jinzhou's important areas are accessible from north to south, east to west, and the army is most responsive in Jinzhou."

The emperor nodded again and again, and Liu Xu went on to say, "Thirdly, the emperor must be prepared for danger in times of peace, so that a reliable general will be confiscated to go to Beijing, and all males over [-] years old in Liaodong will be hoarded in Jinzhou. Army spending.

At this time of national crisis, the whole country, men, women and children should share their worries for the country. "

The emperor nodded again and again, thinking that this way is feasible.

Liu Xu hesitated for a moment, and then his voice lowered: "Your Majesty, Wu Linhuang is too useless and exaggerated. When the country is facing such a crisis, he can no longer be the commander of the army."

"Well, I think so too. I lost Shanhaiguan in just one month. In any case, it is inevitable that his coach will fail his duty. So who should be the coach?"

Liu Xu hesitated and faltered for a long time, unable to utter a single clear sentence.

"Liu Guoxiang, tell me quickly!" The emperor was very anxious.

Liu Xu still didn't say it directly. Facing the eyes of many ministers and the emperor, he said in a low voice: "It's a big taboo to change the commander in the middle of the battle, and it will easily lead to instability in the army. It will definitely stabilize the overall situation!"

As soon as he said this, some people also noticed something. Several officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War quickly stood up and said: "The ministers also feel that the Prime Minister's words are reasonable, and a prestigious person is needed to preside over the situation."

The emperor also slowly heard the taste in the words, and his face looked bad: "What do you want to say?"

Several people hurriedly bowed their heads, not daring to answer, only Liu Xu continued to speak: "Your Majesty, the old minister is talking about Yelu Zongbi, the King of Liao. There have been few failures in more than twenty years. Asking him to come out to take command will surely stabilize people's hearts and save me from the fire and water!
There are many things that can be settled later. Besides, King Liao is His Majesty's uncle. Is there anyone who is closer and more trustworthy than a family. "

The young emperor did not speak, and the candlelight reflected her face, which was unpredictable and complicated.

The ministers who were afraid to speak just now also began to whisper, hoping that the emperor would let the Liao king take charge of the overall situation, but the young emperor still did not speak, and his face became more and more ugly.

Liu Xu was in a hurry, and something bad would happen if it went on like this, so he hurried forward, waved his hand lightly and signaled everyone to be quiet and stop irritating the emperor.

When the atmosphere calmed down, Liu Xu stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I understand that your Majesty's actions are for the stability of the country and the future of the country. It is an expedient measure and reasonable.

But the situation is different now, what needs to be considered at this time is not whether the country can be stabilized or not, but the relationship between life and death, whether the foundation of the Daijin imperial family will survive or not, Your Majesty."

Liu Xu's words seemed to wake up the young emperor.

Indeed, at this moment when Jingguo's [-] troops passed through Shanhaiguan, it was no longer the time to consider whether his country would be stable, but the time to consider whether the Dajin royal family and the Wanyan clan Guozuo would survive or not.

The fire in the hall was dimly lit, and the night outside the hall was filled with chills. Under the expectant eyes of everyone, the young emperor finally nodded his head.

This made many pale-faced and anxious people clenching their teeth heaved a sigh of relief. Most people in the court wanted to resist the Jingguo army, and the Jurchen nobles inherited the wealth and power left by the Daliao Kingdom. Who would be willing to let go.

"My emperor is wise!"

"Long live the emperor!"

"."

(End of this chapter)