Jiuxi

Chapter 718 Chapter 716 [General Trend]

In Chongzheng Hall, the atmosphere was extremely depressing.

The sudden news of the tragic military defeat caught everyone off guard.

Not long ago, the good news that the Northern Expedition Army had captured several cities in a row and the Jing Army was retreating step by step made the entire court cheer. However, only half a month later, the good news turned into bad news, and it was such a tragic defeat.

Perhaps not every one of these big men standing on the clouds would feel sad for the heroic souls who died in battle, but they at least knew the symbolic significance of more than 40,000 elite soldiers.

Even for a big country like Qi Jing, such a loss would hurt its vitality.

In the Battle of Yongqiu, Jing's army also lost tens of thousands of main soldiers and horses. For more than a year, they no longer had the arrogance they had in the past and could only defend their line honestly.

Now it is Da Qi's turn to taste the bitter fruit.

While waiting for the ministers to enter the palace, Li Zongben's anger gradually subsided, and was replaced by endless fear.

It is difficult to describe his mood at the moment, as if a person who cannot swim is suddenly found in the endless ocean.

There is only despair that covers the sky.

At the moment, he no longer had the mind to consider the impact this defeat would have on his prestige. This Northern Expedition was almost decided by him alone. Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Chen had both asked him to consider it carefully, but he still insisted on his own way, which ultimately led to such a disastrous defeat.

Of course he could put the blame on Han Zhongjie. After all, the specific command was done by Han Zhongjie. The problem was that this matter was not important now.

As Li Shizhi said, now that the Northern Expedition Army has suffered a disastrous defeat, how should we deal with the next counterattack by the Jing Army?

Li Zongben looked at the important officials in the hall and said sadly: "My dear ministers, the Northern Expedition Army suffered such a disastrous defeat. What should we do next?"

To be fair, he didn't want to make such a gesture, as it would really undermine the emperor's dignity. However, if he didn't say it, the silence in the hall would probably continue.

The two prime ministers looked at each other with serious expressions.

This defeat came too suddenly, and no one in the government or the public was prepared at all.

They had thought that the war might not go smoothly. After all, the Jing army's foundation was still there, and the Qi army's early advantages could not determine the final outcome. But who could have imagined that everything would change so drastically in a day and night, and Han Zhongjie actually lost all the advantages that Da Qi had accumulated over the past few years in just one battle?
The stagnant atmosphere in the hall made it difficult to breathe.

Zhang Xu, the Marquis of Yongding, the Minister of Military Affairs, and the Commander of the Wuwei Camp of the Beijing Army, said, "Your Majesty, the defeat at Kaocheng has caused heavy casualties, and the situation is already very unfavorable to our dynasty. Now we should order the Western Route Army to withdraw across the board and hold the key points to prevent the Jing Army from moving south. At the same time, the Dingzhou Governor's Office should recuperate this time. As long as Lu Chen, the Duke of Shanyang, stabilizes the eastern line, I think the Jing Army will not dare to move south in a hurry."

Li Zongben was not surprised to hear the young man's name, and could not help but look at Zhang Xu with a complicated expression.

This person is different from Han Zhongjie. Although he stood on the side of the emperor for the past six months and helped Han Zhongjie suppress Xiao Wangzhi, his real intention was to consider the overall situation, at least that's what he thought.

That's why he could talk about Lu Chen without any scruples at this moment.

Li Zongben suddenly felt a pang of pain in his heart and found it extremely ironic.

Why did he decide to launch the Northern Expedition? Why did he let Han Zhongjie take charge?

It is true that the country fell into civil strife due to the sudden death of the crown prince, but the root cause was the desire to establish Han Zhongjie's prestige in the army in order to lay a solid foundation for weakening Lu Chen's power in the future.

However, with Han Zhongjie's defeat, Lu Chen and his Dingzhou army suddenly became a life-saving straw.

After going around in circles, the matter came back to that young man.

At this moment, Li Zongben felt like a clown on the stage, and the important officials in the hall were like spectators in the audience.

His eyes fell on Xiao Wangzhi, and he asked with great difficulty: "Does Duke Rong have any good ideas?"

The ministers had different thoughts.

Over the past six months, they have almost witnessed with their own eyes how Xiao Wangzhi was sidelined step by step. Although he held the title of Duke and the position of Chief Military Minister, his words in the Military Academy carried less weight than Han Zhongjie, who was deeply favored by the emperor.

So much so that many people have almost forgotten that Duke Rong guarded the border for more than ten years and made countless contributions.

Until this moment, when the Northern Expedition army was defeated and the ministers were helpless, Li Zongben finally remembered one thing. Compared with Zhang Xu and others, Xiao Wangzhi was the real backbone and the bastion of the country who kept the Jing army out.

Xiao Wangzhi, who became the focus of all the ministers' attention, did not answer the emperor's question immediately, but fell into deep thought.

If it were in the past, the emperor would definitely be unhappy, but at this moment he didn't even urge him, but just waited quietly.

Faced with such a rare scene, Li Jingda, who was standing at the bottom, had a cold expression.

He had no feeling of gloating.

Perhaps Li Jingda would have been sarcastic back then, but having experienced the iron and blood of the border war, he saw with his own eyes how Xiao Wangzhi was entangled by the human hearts and minds of the people in this prosperous capital city, and now suddenly became a savior in the eyes of the emperor. He did not think it was worth gloating, on the contrary, his heart was filled with a deep and insoluble sadness.

Indeed, such a big change in the emperor's attitude made him look very ridiculous, but Li Jingda would rather not see such a satisfying scene.

During the two years at the frontier, he witnessed countless times the men of Da Qi perishing together with vicious enemies for the sake of their homeland.

What about this time? Han Zhongjie was indeed detestable, but those soldiers who died tragically on the battlefield were so innocent!

The emperor's hasty and careless decision led to the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers in the far north. Who will avenge those heroic souls?
What made him even more depressed was that Xiao Wangzhi would definitely not stand idly by, and he couldn't even think that Xiao Wangzhi was wrong.

After all, once the Jing army's cavalry marches south, it will not be the wealthy and powerful in the capital who will suffer, but the common people who are struggling to survive.

Xiao Wangzhi seemed to have aged several years suddenly. After a long period of thinking, he said carefully: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang's suggestion is very sound, but I think it is far from enough."

This time Zhang Xu did not argue with him directly, and Li Zongben nodded, contrary to his usual behavior, and said, "Please speak clearly, Duke."

Xiao Wangzhi said slowly: "According to the battle report, the most direct consequence of the battle of Kaocheng is that our army lost more than 40,000 people, including more than 10,000 wounded soldiers. Perhaps many of them can recover, but they will definitely not be able to fight again in a short period of time. In other words, our dynasty currently has less than 100,000 defenders in Jingzhou. Considering the blow to the morale of the army caused by this defeat, the strength of the Jingzhou defenders will be greatly reduced. These are obvious facts, and the commander-in-chief of the Jing army and the emperor of Jingguo will not ignore them."

Li Zongben nodded repeatedly and said, "What the Duke said makes sense."

Xiao Wangzhi continued, "What I am worried about is not the safety of the Jingzhou defense line in the short term, but the hidden meaning behind this battle. Your Majesty, the Jing army commander Wu Yanshu is not as famous as Qing Yugong, but it does not mean that his ability to use troops is weak. On the contrary, he is experienced and steady. According to the intelligence provided by the Textile Bureau, Jing State fell into civil strife due to the death of the crown prince. In order to suppress the power of the Qing Yu family, the Emperor Jing assembled a large army in the country. In this case, how dare Wu Yanshu make a desperate bet?"

These words made the atmosphere in the hall more tense, and also made Li Zongben's face turn pale.

The ambitious young emperor finally realized a fatal problem.

If the internal chaos of Jing State was rampant, how could Wu Yanshu dare to take such a risk? Wasn't he afraid that if he failed to win, the entire western defense zone would be invaded by the Qi army?
There is only one explanation, Wu Yanshu must have someone to rely on.

Xiao Wangzhi raised his eyes to look at the emperor and sighed, "Your Majesty, if I am not mistaken, the Emperor of Jing has already mobilized the army to the south, otherwise Wu Yanshu would not dare to take such a risk. It is precisely because the civil strife in Jing is a trap, or it is far from being serious enough to make him unable to take care of himself, that Wu Yanshu is sure that he has support behind him, so he will do this."

Another thunder exploded in Li Zongben's mind.

At this moment, he no longer cared about the dignity of the emperor, and asked in a state of near panic, "What should I do?"

Since the Jing army is already on its way south, after the Battle of Kaocheng, they will definitely take advantage of the situation and join the battlefield on the western front. Taking advantage of the low morale of the Qi army, they will directly attack the defense lines of Jingzhou.

If Li Tianrun was still in Jingzhou, there wouldn't be too much trouble.

However, Li Zongben seemed to have forgotten that not long after he ascended the throne, he excluded Li Tianrun from the court as a gesture of favor.

Xiao Wangzhi was silent for a moment, and then he said, "We cannot show weakness at this time, as that will only boost the enemy's prestige. The Jing army has a very obvious characteristic, when they are in the upper hand, they will fight more fiercely. The Western Army can retreat, but they cannot retreat directly to Jingzhou. Instead, they must use the city passes they occupied earlier to slow down the Jing army's advance and constantly consume their morale. Especially the two key points of Xinping and Taikang, which are the barriers to the north of Yongqiu and cannot be easily abandoned."

Li Zongben said without hesitation: "I will immediately send an order to Liu Shouguang, asking him to implement the Duke's strategy."

Xiao Wangzhi did not feel grateful for this. He looked a little tired and continued, "Secondly, the three states in Jiangbei help each other and support each other. At this time, someone is needed to coordinate the overall situation and coordinate the various armies, and be able to judge the situation and respond in time. I know there are some ridiculous rumors in the streets, saying that Lu Chen is arrogant and self-reliant. I believe that Your Majesty will not be deceived by those rumors, but rumors are inevitably annoying. I dare to guarantee Lu Chen here that he is definitely not that kind of person."

He paused for a moment and said sincerely, "Therefore, I request Your Majesty to order Lu Chen to take charge of Jiangbei military affairs."

Li Zongben remained silent. How could he not understand the implication of Xiao Wangzhi's words?
After a brief silence.

"I second the proposal!"

The left prime minister Xue Nanting spoke in a sonorous and powerful tone.

"I second the proposal!"

Right Prime Minister Zhong Cheng followed closely behind with a solemn expression.

"I second the proposal!"

Li Jingda almost squeezed out these three words from his chest.

Zhang Xu, Chen Lanyu, Shen Yulai, Li Shizhi and others could only bow their heads and remain silent at this time.

Looking at the three important ministers who stepped forward, Li Zongben felt that the three words "I second the motion" were like slaps in the face.

But the situation is like this. As long as he wants to sit on the throne safely, he must ensure that Jiangbei will not be lost. So he whispered: "Follow the Duke's words, pass the order to Lu Chen and order him--"

After a moment of hesitation, Li Zongben's slightly vague voice finally reached everyone's ears.

"Order him to temporarily take charge of all military affairs in Jiangbei. Make sure to drive back the Jing army and protect the three states of Ding, Jing, and Huai."

Xiao Wangzhi nodded slightly and bowed.

No matter what the ministers thought in their hearts, they knew that this was an unchangeable fact.

Amidst the silence in the hall, Li Jingda's rough voice sounded again.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

There is no intention of flattery, only endless desolation and resentment, and a hint of sarcasm.

(End of this chapter)