First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 498 Joint Military Exercise
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After hearing what the ranger said, Wang Junkuo confirmed that Gao Chong had really come to Youzhou, and only Gao Chong could say this in his tone.

It’s just that Gao Chong came here, what exactly does it mean, 1000 guards, he is so grand, thinking of this, Wang Junkuo’s mind is confused, he immediately turned his horse’s head and returned to the governor’s mansion.

Although the Youzhou Governor's Mansion is under the jurisdiction of the Youzhou Governor's Mansion, it is an independent administrative system.

As soon as he returned to the Governor's Mansion, a confidant came to report that Li Yuan and Wang Lishe had a secret discussion for a long time, and then someone from the Governor's Mansion went out of the city to the direction of Yanzhou.

Yanzhou... Wang Junkuo had a delicate mind, and he immediately figured out the joints.

Wang Shen, governor of Yanzhou, had an irreversible relationship with Li Yuan. It seemed that Li Yuan didn't trust him. Thinking of this, Wang Junkuo's eyes flashed a stern look.

That being the case, then put some pressure on Li Yuan, and Wang Junkuo immediately went to the governor's mansion.

"Your Majesty, it's not good," Wang Junkuo came in a hurry, with a look of horror on his face, "Gao Chong has come to Youzhou."

"What?" Li Yuan was so frightened that the wine glass in his hand fell to the ground, his face turned pale, "He, why did he come to Youzhou?"

"It goes without saying that Gao Chong is the prince's confidant, he must have seen the king refuse to accept the order, so he came to arrest you."

Wang Junkuo shouted anxiously: "The ranger came to report, but Gao Chong brought a guard of 1000 people to inspect the states. Where does he need a guard of [-] people? This is obviously Xiangzhuang's sword dance, which is aimed at Peigong."

Li Yuan panicked, and hurriedly pulled Wang Junkuo's arm and said, "Then what should I do? Junkuo must save me."

"It's not too late, don't worry about Cui Dunli."

Wang Junkuo gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, and said bluntly: "I went back to the military mansion to rectify the soldiers and horses. The king immediately announced an uprising in the city, quickly removed the banner on the top of the city, and played it in the name of Prince Jiancheng. Raise troops outside the city to respond."

When you announce the uprising, I will lead the troops into the city and kill you.

"The king of Lujiang raised the flag to rebel, and his ministers took arrows and stones, and the city was broken in two days of bloody battle...".

Wang Junkuo had already drawn up the contents of the memorandum in his mind, and he just waited for this bastard Li Yuan to act.

Hearing this, Li Yuan was terrified, and paced back and forth, "That's the only way, that's the only way, then Jun Kuo will leave the city quickly, and must control the soldiers...I'll call my subordinates and announce an incident."

Wang Junkuo was overjoyed and took orders to leave.

After Wang Junkuo left, Li Yuan immediately summoned Wang Lishe to tell the truth.

"Your Majesty, don't do it. Raising troops in a hurry now is tantamount to asking for death," Wang Lishe advised with a look of horror.

Then he quickly realized that something was wrong, "Wang Junkuo is a general who knows the soldiers, how could he not know the danger... Since Gao Chong has changed his way to Youzhou, he may have already noticed something. The current situation is unclear, so he must not rush to raise troops..." .

Wang Lishe was also scratching his head anxiously. He only sensed something was wrong with his cleverness, but he couldn't figure out the twists and turns no matter how hard he tried.

At this time, the personal guard of the Dudu Mansion came to report: "Lu Yuanzhi, the commander of Wuyang Military Mansion in Yizhou, asks to see him."

Li Yuan and Li Yuan were stunned when they heard the words, what was the commander of Yizhou doing in Youzhou?

Wang Lishe reacted quickly, "Could it be sent by Gao Chong?"

"Let him come in", Li Yuan could only say with agitation in his heart.

Soon a middle-aged man in a brown round-neck robe strode in, and saw that although the visitor was not wearing armor, he was imposing, "Lu Yuanzhi, the commander of the Wuyang Military Mansion in Yizhou, has seen the king."

"You, what are you doing here?" Li Yuanchi questioned.

"Someone was ordered by Ambassador Gao, the envoy of Daxingtai, Eastern Shaanxi Province, to deliver a letter." Lu Yuanzhi took out a letter from his pocket and presented it.

Li Yuan made a fuss, Wang Lishe stepped forward to take it and handed it to Li Yuan, he smiled casually and said, "Tong Lu is a commanding army of the fifth rank, how dare I bother you to make this trip."

Lu Yuan was neither humble nor overbearing, and said solemnly: "Ambassador Gao is under the emperor's order. With one order, the entire Yizhou government has been mobilized, and a certain army is nothing."

As soon as these words came out, the two of them were startled, and Li Yuan paused when he opened the letter, "What is the move of the Yizhou government soldiers?"

"I don't know," Lu Yuanzhi replied with a straight body.

Li Yuan opened the letter and looked at it, his face changed suddenly, "This, joint military exercise? What do you mean, he wants to mobilize the 16 states of Youyan to conduct a joint exercise?"

"Exactly," Lu Yuanzhi said solemnly: "It is now autumn and winter, and the Turkic people are most afraid of winter. In previous years, at this time, the Turkic people would go south to plunder the border areas. The government will conduct joint drills, patrol the areas under its jurisdiction, and guard against the entry of Turkic horses."

Li Yuan's face turned pale immediately, and he asked tremblingly, "Are the other states and counties ready?"

Lu Yuanzhi nodded, "The command station for this military exercise is located in Ji County. Your Majesty is the governor of Youzhou, and you need your full cooperation."

"Cooperate, naturally cooperate", Li Yuan nodded in despair.

"The letter has been delivered, so I will leave first." Lu Yuanzhi crossed his hands and saluted, "Ambassador Gao will arrive in Ji County tomorrow."

After Lu Yuanzhi left, Wang Lishe couldn't be calm for a long time after reading the letter.

"This, what should I do?" Li Yuan swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked with difficulty.

"The troops in the sixteen prefectures of Youyan have been mobilized, and it is impossible to raise troops." Wang Lishe was also at a loss.

"Rising troops now is courting death," Li Yuan nodded in agreement.

Wang Lishe read the letter carefully again, breathed a sigh of relief, and said directly: "In the letter, Gao Chong is still respectful to the king, and it is more about the friendship in Jinzhou in the past. Maybe Gao Chong's trip is not aimed at the king. It is true that the south will invade and plunder in autumn and winter.

In addition, now that the prince has become the crown prince, the sage has retired, and the prince has not long been in power, he is afraid that something will happen in the frontier that will affect his prestige, so he deliberately strengthens patrols, which is also reasonable."

Li Yuan nodded subconsciously, "You are right. Back then in Jinzhou, this king treated Gao Chong well. The credit for subduing the barbarian Deng Shiluo can all be credited to him."

The corners of Wang Lishe's mouth twitched when he heard it. You were really kind to him, so you just abandoned the city and fled. Back then, Wang Lishe was a county magistrate under the jurisdiction of Jinzhou. , Jinzhou cannot do without a catastrophe.

"Then Wang Junkuo and I made an appointment to fight, how should we deal with this?" Li Yuan quickly thought of his other confidant, Wang Junkuo.

"I think Wang Junkuo has bad intentions," Wang Lishe said hesitantly: "He has only been in Youzhou for more than a month, and the king has not favored him. Why is he so loyal to the king? What kind of confidence does he have? Rebellion in one state?"

Li Yuan only felt very confused, and immediately waved his hands irritably, "Then leave him alone, Youyan's soldiers are all on the move, and now the rebellion is a dead end, I quickly send a message to Wang Shen, telling him not to act rashly."

"Your Majesty, don't do it. How can you write letters again and again to tell us about such confidential matters? What if the secret letter falls into the hands of others?" Wang Lishe immediately advised: "The previous letter I was worried and sent people to follow and protect me all the way, remember not to write any more letters."

"You are too timid", Li Yuan said indifferently, "This Youzhou is still the king's Youzhou, who dares to intercept the king's messenger".

Wang Lishe didn't dare to persuade him any more.

Yanzhou, during the Taihe period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the counties in the east of Hengzhou were divided into Yanzhou, and the government was located in Guangning.

In the third year of Wude, King Gao of Yan opened the way and offered land to belong to Li Yuan. Li Yuan abolished Liaoxi County and established Yanzhou, and moved the government to Youzhou City.

In the Governor's Mansion of Yanzhou, Wang Shen had a complex expression, and three letters were arranged on the desk in front of him.

The first letter was Li Yuan's letter, asking him to sneak back to Taiyuan, win the support of the Wang family, and look for opportunities to raise troops.

The second letter was Gao Chong's letter, asking him to prepare the army, prepare for joint military exercises, and patrol the territory under his jurisdiction.

The third letter is Wang Gui's letter, telling him to stay away from Li Yuan, not to have too close contacts, and to restrain himself.

These three letters caused Wang Shen to be suspicious. He and Li Yuan had known each other for decades and shared concubine Ji. Still support, who doesn't want the power of the dragon.

But then he received a letter from Gao Chong, a joint military exercise to defend against the Turks, which made him unable to refuse, and made him dare not act rashly.

All the troops in the sixteen prefectures of Youyan were mobilized. If there was any change in him, he would be wiped out immediately. Wang Shen was not confident in his military ability.

It was Wang Gui's letter that gave Wang Shen the fatal blow.

Although Wang Gui is not the head of the Wang family now, he has a respected status in the Wang family, representing Wang's family in Qixian County, and the person in charge of the Wang family in Chang'an City. As a child of the Wang family, Wang Shen dare not disagree with Wang Gui's words. listen.

Wang Gui's grandfather was the famous Nanliang general Wang Sengbian. After Chen Ba first killed Wang Sengbian, he established Nanchen.

Wang Sengbian had three sons. The eldest son, Wang Wei, was the father of Wang Gui. After Wang Sengbian died, Wang Ying and his friend Wang Lin fled to the Northern Qi Dynasty. Later, the Northern Qi ordered Wang Lin to guard Shouchun, an important town in Huainan. Lin, Wang Wei was distraught when he heard the news, and came to Wang Lin's tomb to cry, and died after a burst of grief.

Wang Sengbian's three sons are all extraordinary.

The eldest son, Wang Yi, died of grief because of the death of his friend. People at that time compared him to Boya Ziqi.

The second son, Wang Xuan, served as the vanguard general who led the Sui Dynasty to destroy Nanchen. He took the lead in attacking Jiankang City, opened the mausoleum of Chen Baxian, incinerated his bones into ashes, and drank water into his stomach.

The experience of the third son, Wang Kai, is even more exciting. Before the age of 20, he was a knight-errant and didn't know much about books.

After learning something, he became an official and became a doctor of Guozijian, and assisted the prince Yang Yong. As a result, Yang Yong was abolished and exiled to Lingnan. When he came back from Lingnan, he assisted Han Wang Yang Liang. Defeated and committed suicide.

It is worth mentioning that Wang Wei’s wife is Princess Yuhua, the daughter of Chen Baxian, the great enemy of the Wang family. According to unofficial records: Princess Yuhua fell in love with Han Zigao after seeing the beautiful man, and finally died of coughing up blood. For details, see Feng Menglong’s "A Brief History of Love" ".

As the eldest grandson of Wang Sengbian, Wang Gui was the leader of the Qi County House of the Wang family in the Taiyuan Wang family, such as Wang Yao, the governor of Jiangzhou, and others. Perhaps the emperor's orders were not as effective as Wang Gui's orders.

After careful consideration, Wang Shen finally decided to obey the orders of his uncle Wang Gui, stay away from Li Yuan, and protect himself wisely.

Wang Shen is not stupid, after thinking about it, he realized that, as the principal of the Wang family in Taiyuan in the capital, since Wang Gui came to entrust him with a letter, it must be Li Yuan who attracted the attention of the capital. Raising troops is courting death.

Thinking of this, Wang Shen was a little worried about his friend, and was thinking about whether to inform Li Yuan secretly, but soon Wang Shen dismissed the idea.

The reason is very simple, Gao Chong has already informed Youyan that the sixteen prefectures have a joint military exercise, wouldn't it be that Li Yuan is looking for his own death by raising troops at this time.

Outside the city of Ji County, Wang Junkuo was dressed in military uniform, his eyes couldn't hold back his excitement, as long as Li Yuan announced his rise, he would have achieved great achievements in suppressing the rebellion.

It's just that Wang Junkuo waited and waited until late at night, but there was still no news from Ji County, Wang Junkuo cursed in his heart: Li Yuan must have been timid and cowardly, and retreated temporarily.

"Come here," Wang Junkuo thought and ordered, "Quickly find out the whereabouts of Gao Chong, the deposed envoy, and report at any time."

General Zuo led the order to go.

He must rush Li Yuan to raise troops before Gao Chong arrives.

But early the next morning, Wang Junkuo was awakened by an eager knock on the door.

"Bold", Wang Junkuo sat up awkwardly, and said angrily, "How dare you be so rude?"

"Forgive me." The guard opened the door and went in. He first confessed his crime, and then bowed to report: "The deposed envoy Gao Chong has arrived in Ji County, and the governor has come out of the city to meet him.

In addition, Rangers came to report that soldiers from 16 prefectures, including Yizhou, Yanzhou, Wozhou, Weizhou, Xuanzhou, and Daizhou, had all left their camps and were cruising on the borders of the states.”

"What?" Wang Junkuo was rubbing his face to drive away drowsiness, when he heard the words, he was shocked, "How did Gao Chong come so fast? Li Yuan went out of the city to greet him? Wait, what are the soldiers from the sixteen prefectures going out of the camp for?"

Several questions in succession are enough to explain the bewilderment and panic in Wang Junkuo's heart.

"What's going on here?" Wang Junkuo murmured in horror, "Could it happen? It's impossible...".

"Wang Shijun", Cui Dunli's voice sounded outside, "I heard that the dethroned envoy has arrived, how about you and me going to meet him?"

Wang Junkuo's face changed rapidly, he took a deep breath to calm down, his thoughts changed sharply, after all, he didn't have the courage to rebel.

"Cui Sheren", Wang Junkuo came outside and saw that Cui Dunli was already ready, so he couldn't help asking, "Did you know that Ambassador Gao would come to Ji County?"

"I don't know," Cui Dunli shook his head and laughed, "I just heard that when Ambassador Gao arrived, the King of Lujiang came out of the city to greet him. I have been here for a few days, but the King of Lujiang has not been seen for a long time. After all, he is so soft-spoken."

Seeing this, Wang Junkuo was very suspicious, but he couldn't figure it out for a while.

At this time, Sima of Youzhou came in a hurry and reported in his ear: "Emissary, Ambassador Gao ordered Youyan states to hold joint military exercises to guard against Turks."

"Joint military exercise?" Wang Junkuo frowned.

"It's just practice," Sima replied, "every autumn and winter, the Turks will come to plunder. This time, the court should prepare in advance to reduce the loss of the frontier. After all, the crown prince has recently become a reserve. If the loss is too large, it will inevitably damage his reputation." ".

Wang Junkuo immediately understood that it should be just a coincidence. After all, when he came to Youzhou, the crown prince had told him in every possible way that he must guard against the Turks and not cause chaos in Youzhou. Now Li Shimin seeks stability in order to win the hearts of the people. Wang Junkuo is very clear about this.

However, all this is too much of a coincidence, Li Yuan was planning to raise troops, Gao Chong came to Youyan for this joint military exercise, did Gao Chong really just want to guard against the Turks? Wang Junkuo came to Ji County full of doubts.

"Jun Kuo, you're here." Li Yuan eagerly pulled Wang Jun Kuo over, "Gao Chong came here suddenly, and to hold this joint military exercise, I'm afraid Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Pei Gong."

How dare you compare yourself to Pei Gong, a cowardly and stupid person like you?
Wang Junkuo shook off Li Yuan's arm calmly, and said very casually: "The governor is too worried. Every autumn and winter, when the Turks are raging, you and I should do our best to guard one side. The ambassador was ordered to inspect the states in eastern Shaanxi, and we will fully cooperate."

Li Yuan was dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)