Chang'an is good

The silver lining for the imperial court right now is that Li Fu has no plans to directly attack the capital for the time being.

This was due to two reasons. First, the capital was heavily guarded and there were still 60,000 Xuance troops stationed there. Fan Yang's army has been marching south to Luoyang since the uprising. Now they are exhausted. If they attack the capital at this time and fight Xuance's army, they don't have much confidence in winning.

The second reason is to put aside the political considerations of military affairs...

Li Fu's advisers told him that now that Luoyang was occupied, it was time to enter the stage of political game.

In the opinion of all the counselors, if Li Fu wanted to pave the way for his successful ascension to the throne, risking an attack on the capital at this moment would be the next best thing. It would not be advisable to choose this path unless it was absolutely necessary.

Today, the best way is to take advantage of the occupation of Luoyang to put pressure on the empress in the capital, forcing her to give up her throne and depose the crown prince Li Zhi who is difficult to take on the important role.

But this matter is not that easy to accomplish, especially the deposing of the prince, which involves many interests and human calculations.

Li Fu had not been well-known before. This time his rebellion was sudden. As of now, he does not have many supporters.

If he wanted to legitimately take over the capital, he would need the support of all forces. These forces included not only those with military power, but also officials and scholar-bureaucrats who could control people's hearts and public opinion.

Li Fu naturally thought of the Cui family, the leader of the noble clan: "...Has there been any reply from the Cui family in the capital?"

Previously, they asked Cui Liulang to send a letter from the Feng family to the capital to remind the Cui family to express their stance in time.

One of the staff shook his head with a complicated expression: "My lord, there is no reply yet."

Li Fu frowned and muttered: "Then Cui Ju really doesn't care about his grandson's life or death?"

What about the older grandson? Is it okay if I don’t want it?

Li Fu was muttering like this, and suddenly he thought of General Cui Jing of the Xuance Army... Such an outstanding eldest grandson, Cui Ju, that old guy can wipe out the clan just as he said, let alone a dandy second grandson?

If you make such a comparison, it would not be surprising to think that even if you throw the latter and feed it to the dogs...?
As for the remaining twenty-nine Cui clan members... Li Fu felt a headache when he thought about this.

More than half of these Cui clan members are young people, and the remaining half are in their prime years when they can make a difference. Li Fu introduced them to the military counselors and tried to get them to participate in the plan——

But after more than ten days, the conclusions given by the counselors were unexpected. In the words of the counselors, these Cui clan members are indeed good at each other - some are good at talking on paper, some are good at being arrogant, and some are good at acting with emotion.

In addition to their different strengths, they also have one thing in common, that is, they all have extremely strong self-esteem. The only difference is that some people are overtly strong, while others are secretly strong.

And because of their excessive self-esteem, whenever disagreements arise during discussions, many of them will leave the room angrily and walk away. Many times, this disagreement only occurs among their own family members...

It is a vivid explanation of what it means. Although he has no skills, he has a good temper.

All the counselors in Fan Yang's army were stunned by this and felt sincerely confused - Cui family of Qinghe...that's it?
In addition, these Cui clan members also brought many "surprises" to people in places where the counselors could not see them.

In order to show his importance and respect for Cui, King Fan Yang treated Cui Lang and others with extra courtesy on the first day he met Cui Lang and others, and said: "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to tell me"——

Therefore, in the following time, first of all, the cooks in Fan Yang's army experienced the fear of being dominated.

After settling in the army, one of the Cui's disciples drafted two volumes of menus, specifying the required ingredients, cooking methods, and each of them's food tastes, likes and dislikes.

When the cooks got the menu, they felt their eyes were opened. There were many things on it that they had never even heard of.

And food is just the tip of the iceberg, and the preferences of the Cui disciples are not at all polite. Today some people want a majestic and good-fighting cricket, and tomorrow someone wants a good-looking kingfisher...

The crickets came, and a few kingfishers came, but the man who asked for the kingfisher shook his head repeatedly and said with tears, "It doesn't look like it." After further questioning, I found out that he had raised a kingfisher when he was in Qinghe. It won his heart so much that he became ill with longing...

However, I have called the military doctor to look at this illness. It is true that I am not pretending, but I am really ill, for the sake of a bird.

Li Fu listened to these nonsense every day, and his head got really big.

After repeated trials and observations, he had to accept the fact that these thirty Cui family disciples were all the best of the best.

These people are useless, so there is only one saving grace left, and that is their own value, that is, their surname Cui.

But now Li Fu heard that the Cui family had no intention of replying to the letter, so even this value became in danger.

Li Fu was really unsure. He couldn't help thinking, if the Cui family really didn't want them anymore, what would he do with these thirty people?
killed? This move will undoubtedly offend the Cui family... He is about to enter the capital, so he needs to be careful about making enemies.

Let go? Doesn’t this make it appear that he is easy to talk to and easy to control? How to convince the public after that?
Keep? However, raising these people is not only expensive, but also very troublesome...

Li Fu was very worried about this. Could it be that the hostages he had brought back with so much effort were about to be smashed into his hands?
Li Fu's distress was expected by Cui Lang.

Cui Lang realized a truth a long time ago. If you don't want to be used by others, it's actually very simple: just be a useless person, and no one can take advantage of you.

It was obvious that the tribesmen he brought were very good at avoiding being taken advantage of.

At this time, a young disciple held an osmanthus cake in his hand and was very worried: "Brother Six, does the clan really not care about us?"

Because he was too uneasy, he often turned his anxiety into food intake, and he had gained a lot of weight.

The middle-aged man, who was leaning slumped beside the shorter ones, drinking to drown his sorrows, said: "Liu Lang, we have arrived in Luoyang now, it's time to take action."

The kid who was eating the sweet-scented osmanthus cake was speechless when he heard this and almost cried - life as a hostage is already difficult, and there is an executioner around him every day. Who knows what this feels like!
"Uncle, you can't..." Cui Chen, who was lying on the couch beside him, barely raised his upper body. His face was pale but still determined: "When my nephew recovers, he will definitely find a way to escape..."

Cui Chen has been ill for seven or eight days.

The reason for his illness is very touching. The military doctor diagnosed him as excessive worry and overthinking.

When they heard the diagnosis, everyone in the Cui family had mixed emotions.

Worrying so much that you fall ill on your bed is so exhausting...but yet so accomplished.

Cui Chen coughed for a while, and when he was about to speak again, he was interrupted by Cui Lang: "Cousin, please relax and recuperate, I am here for this matter!"

Seeing Cui Lang patting his chest in assurance, Cui Chen hesitated to speak, but he couldn't say hurtful words - well, no matter what, Liu Lang's starting point was always good... I just hated that my body was so unsatisfactory. .

Cui Chen felt a bit self-hateful, closed his eyes in sadness, and murmured: "When Mr. Kong Ming was lying ill on the bed before his great cause was accomplished... he must have been in this state of mind."

Cui Lang and others were silent. The middle-aged man who was sitting and drinking sighed and said: "Good nephew, please go to sleep."

After Cui Chen was served and drank the decoction, he lay down again and closed his eyes to rest, but his eyebrows were still furrowed and refused to relax.

Cui Lang was sitting cross-legged, playing against his uncle who was a chess fanatic, but he didn't feel any uneasiness at all.

When he got tired of being questioned by several of his disciples, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, grandpa must have a plan..."

Cui Lang dropped his son and said: "It must be a big plan... The more quietly and without action, the more obvious it is that my grandfather has a big plan and will not give up on us."

He estimated that his grandfather would have to make a major decision this time.

"Brother Six... are you lying to us?" the young tribesman said, "Why didn't I notice it at all?"

Cui Lang rolled his eyes: "You can see it, so why are you still planning it?"

"Then how did Sixth Brother figure it out?"

Cui Lang smiled mysteriously, pinched the chess pieces and said, "I can pinch and calculate!"

He looked dishonest and was not very convincing, but the young disciples felt inexplicably at ease.

As Cui Lang started talking nonsense, the tense atmosphere in the tent was relieved silently.

Later, a young man asked in a low voice: "...Sixth brother, you said that if King Fan Yang really achieves great things, then who are we? Where will the Cui family go from here?"

Cui Lang: "Instead of believing that King Fan Yang can ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, you might as well believe that I can become the head of the Cui family."

"The saint of the capital, the prince's faction, King Rong of Yizhou... King Fan Yang has to go through a lot of difficulties, how can he be like this..." Cui Lang said while making a move: "What's more, there is a more powerful one. ”

"Which one is Brother Six talking about?"

Cui Lang gave a thumbs up, pointed toward the southeast, and said proudly: "Of course he is my master!"

One of the tribesmen was stunned: "When did Liulang become a disciple?"

"The master in the Juju Club is also a master!" Cui Lang laughed "Hey" and said: "The Changjie Envoy of Huainan Road is my Cui Lang's master!"

Several middle-aged tribesmen shook their heads helplessly, or laughed and said nothing. They felt that the young man's words were too naive. Back then, they just played a few polo games in the Imperial College. Now that the ever-year-old Ning Xiong is on the side, what kind of teacher can he have? The friendship is there.

"Uncles, don't believe me." Cui Lang said calmly and calmly: "If there is a chance, Master will definitely save me."

One of the tribesmen sitting cross-legged laughed, looked to the left and right, and said in a childish tone: "In this case, we will wait for Rokuro's master to come to save us."

Cui Lang continued to play chess and said in a nonchalant tone: "Then all uncles must stay alive with me..."

The Cui family members followed Cui Lang and made jokes. On the other side, Fanyang King Li Fu, after much deliberation, sent a letter to the Cui family in the capital. The letter tried to use both soft and hard methods to invite the Cui family to achieve great things together.

Cui Lang's family letter was sent to the capital before Luoyang was conquered. In Li Fu's view, he is in a good situation now. Even if the Cui family really doesn't care about the life and death of the thirty children, he still has two points at this time. Capital that can impress Cui.

On this day, King Fan Yang sent out no less than dozens of invitation letters like these, sending them to various places to gather available forces.

He must take advantage of the situation to strengthen his reputation and gain enough support from the hearts and minds of his people, so as to minimize the resistance to his ascension to the throne.

But Duan Shiang told him that this alone was not enough. He should continue to grow his power and let the people of the world see the heroic appearance of Fan Yang Wang Li Fu, and more people would naturally choose to follow him.

Li Fu hesitated: "But all the gentlemen are trying to persuade me that this is not a good time to attack the capital..."

"Your Majesty has arrived in Luoyang, so there is no need to rush to the capital for the moment." Duan Shiang said: "I am referring to Henan Road, which is very close at hand..."

Luoyang, as the companion capital, belongs to Ji Dao, the capital of Henan Province. The current Henan Road refers to the land east of Luoyang, starting from Zhengzhou and Bianzhou, south to Yingzhou and connected to Huainan Road, to Dengzhou in the east facing Dongluo, covering the land of Qilu, with a total of 27 states. , is where Dasheng is the well-deserved granary of the country.

Li Fu's eyes lit up. In the golden autumn of October, the granary in Henan Province was full. Even if he did not expect to capture the twenty-seven states in one fell swoop, he would only capture the lower half. Even if he faced off with the capital later, he would not have to worry about food and wages for the rear. !

Furthermore, as Duan Shiang said, the stronger his power becomes, the easier it will be to intimidate and conquer the hearts of all parties...

Judging from his experience in attacking Luoyang, among the three states that came to the aid of Henan Province, more than half of the troops in two states chose to defect to him, which shows the degree of turmoil in the hearts of the people... Henan Province is still worried about not being able to defeat it. ?

But Li Fu believed that he was not that kind of rude person, and his troops still needed to rest and recuperate, so he decided to first send a message to the states in Henan Province to ask them to submit voluntarily. If they insisted on resisting, he would not mind leading his troops there.

Bianzhou, adjacent to Luoyang, was the first to receive the message from King Fan Yang.

Hu Lin, the governor of Bianzhou, was unwilling to submit to King Fan Yang, but he knew clearly that if Fan Yang's army attacked, Bianzhou would have no power to resist...

Previously, he was ordered to assist Luoyang and dispatched half of the city's defenders. Those defenders were either killed in battle or captured. Even his confidant who joined the army died under Fan Yang's army Duan Shiang's knife...

Hu Min had hatred in her heart and was even more unwilling to do so. She also despised Duan Shiang's actions, but the remaining 10,000 troops were not enough for him to resist.

At night, when Hu Lin was anxious and unable to sleep, his wife suddenly sat up and said: "If Master Lang doesn't want to surrender, then he won't surrender... Let's try to ask for help!"

Hu Lin sighed: "Madam, now everyone has too much time to take care of themselves, and people in the capital are also in turmoil... Luoyang has fallen into the hands of the rebels, how can the imperial court take care of the small Bianzhou?"

"Of course not to the imperial court..." In the dim light, the governor's wife asked: "Has Master Lang never thought of asking for help from the Changjie envoy of Huainan Road?"

Huainan Road is adjacent to their Henan Road, and Ambassador Changjie had visited their Bianzhou when he was still General Ningyuan.

Changjie envoys stopped Xu Zhengye on the Bian River, helped Bianzhou rescue disasters, prayed for the rain to stop, and lived in their Bianzhou governor's house for many days, and they got along very harmoniously... With this rare friendship, Is Master Lang stupid for not asking for help?

When Hu Lin heard this, there was no surprise on her face, but a look of hesitation.

Obviously, he is not stupid, he has thought about it, but...

Seeing this, his wife hurriedly asked: "I wonder if Master Lang has any concerns?" (End of Chapter)