Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

Chapter 71 Dilemma!
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The sandalwood in Wu Zetian's hand broke with the sound, her phoenix eyes stared at the servant and said tremblingly.

"What did you say, the Khitans rebelled?"

The chamberlain was kneeling on the ground with a wet look on his face.

"Going back to the Queen Mother, half an hour ago the cabinet received an emergency report from the front line eight hundred miles away. All the soldiers stationed at the Songmo Camp were wiped out, and the Commander-in-Chief Zhao Wenhui openly surrendered!"

"Zhang Xiang and others are currently waiting in front of the palace gate to be summoned..."

Wu Zetian didn't listen to a word of what the chamberlain said later. At this time, the words "annihilation of the entire army" kept coming back to her mind.

The Dongyi Protectorate is a fortress guarding Beiguan, which is related to the stability of the Tang Dynasty. Once it is occupied by the Khitans, the court will be extremely passive.

When the time comes, Youzhou and Chongzhou will directly face the threat from the Khitans.

I have to say that this situation of war on the northwest front is very unfavorable to Datang.

"Damn Zhao Wenhui, he turned to the Khitan people. He really disgraced the Tang Dynasty!"

Forcibly suppressing the anger in her heart, Wu Zetian flicked her sleeves and said coldly.

"Pass this palace's decree and summon the civil and military ministers to hold an evening dynasty!"

"My slave obeys the order!" The servant kowtowed to the ground, turned around and ran into the heavy rain.

When the hall became quiet, Shangguan Wan'er said while putting Wu Zetian into the black golden dragon suit.

"Your Majesty, the Khitan people's foundation is unstable. They may gain the upper hand in a short period of time, but if they enter a protracted war, their food, grass and troops will be exhausted." You don't have to worry too much. "

"I am not afraid that Li Jinzhong will attack Luoyang, but I am worried about distracting the Tang Dynasty's energy. At present, the Tibetans are fighting in succession, and it is not easy for the frontline army to deal with it calmly."

"If Beiguan is unstable at this time, it will inevitably restrict the court's investment in the war on the Western Front."

After changing into the black dragon suit, Wu Zetian glanced at the vast night rain and strode towards Shangyang Palace.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the evening court had never been held in the middle of the night. This was her first time.

When we arrived at the main hall of Shangyang Palace, it was filled with the six ministers and nine ministers who had come to attend the evening dynasty. Everyone was stamping their feet and rubbing their hands.

After glancing at the trembling looks of the ministers, Wu Zetian sat on the dragon chair and said.

"Wan'er, ask the chamberlain to place a few braziers in the hall for the guests' families to keep warm."

"I would like to thank the Queen Mother, long live, long..."

"Okay, I summoned all my dear friends here late at night not to watch the ceremony. Let's talk about the situation in Yingzhou." Wu Zetian said with a cold face.

"Yes, Queen Mother!"

After the ministers straightened up, they looked at Prime Minister Zhang Guangfu, who walked out of the queue and bowed.

"For the Queen Mother, an hour ago Zhongshu Menxia Province received an urgent report from the front line eight hundred miles away. It said that the Khitan leader Li Jinzhong led more than 1 Khitan cavalry and attacked the garrison camp while Zhao Wenhui was attacking the governor's mansion."

"So much so that all the troops stationed in the Yingzhou area of ​​the Tang Dynasty were wiped out."

"After the defeat, Zhao Wenhui defected to the Khitans and cooperated with Li Jinzhong to march towards Yingzhou. According to the person who delivered the Tang report, the city gate had been breached when he left."

With a bang, everyone present was in an uproar. No one expected that Zhao Wenhui would dare to dispatch the garrison to attack the governor's mansion.

Nor did they expect that the Khitan leader Li Jinzhong would take the opportunity to encircle and annihilate Songmo Camp and occupy the entire Yingzhou.

If the matter is true, not only will the Tang Dynasty lose its face, it may also affect the war between the Western Front Army and the Tubo people.

The consequences are too serious.

"Your Majesty, Yingzhou has fallen, and the Khitans will definitely target Youzhou next. I believe that the top priority is that the court should withdraw its troops from the western front as soon as possible to attack Li Jinzhong." Wu Chengsi said.

"The minister waits for the second opinion!"

Seeing that the ministers unanimously decided to withdraw troops from the Western Front, Shangguan Wan'er spoke.

"Tibet is the only old enemy of the Tang Dynasty. If the army withdraws, the imperial government's many years of management in Qinghai Lake and Dafeichuan will be in vain. It will not be easy to get them back."

"To deal with the Khitans at such a high cost, is Wu Shangshu abandoning the original and chasing the weak?" "Besides, the Tang newspaper only said that Zhao Wenhui surrendered the enemy, and did not mention Fan Xin, the governor of Yingzhou."

"With him in Yingzhou, the Khitans may not be able to capture the city. Have you forgotten how Fan Xin defeated King Langya in Wushui County?"

As soon as these words came out, many ministers in the court were startled.

Indeed, if Fan Xin could really stop the Khitans in Yingzhou, the imperial court would naturally not need to dispatch the Western Front Army to Yingzhou to suppress them.

But the key point is that Fan Xin is a civil servant and does not even have a sergeant under his command. What can he do to resist the Khitan cavalry?

Although Wu Zetian couldn't think of the army on the western front, she knew that the Khitans were not Li Chong's miscellaneous army, and Fan Xin's hundreds of guards alone were not enough to hold on until reinforcements arrived.

Hearing this, Wu Chengsi sneered, looked directly at Shangguan Wan'er and said.

"Zhongshushe people think too highly of Fan Xin. Even Zhao Wenhui, who commanded tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, surrendered. How can a small governor refuse to surrender?"

Speaking of this, Wu Chengsi faced Wu Zetian and cupped his hands.

"Your Majesty, the war in Yingzhou is tense. Please decide whether to deploy troops from the western front or wait for news from Fan Xin."

Looking at the ministers waiting for her to make a decision, Wu Zetian thought a little and said calmly.

"What you said makes sense. Let's go ahead and appoint Wang Xiaojie as General Youwei. He will be ready to send troops to attack Khitan at any time."

"At the same time, send people to Yingzhou to inquire about the specific battle situation, and use this as the next national policy decision!"

In the final analysis, she is unwilling to give up the strategic location of Qinghai Lake.

I want to see if the imperial envoy can bring back good news about Fan Xin.

When Wu Chengsi and others saw that the Queen Mother had no doubts about Fan Xin, they all shook their heads secretly.

A mere young boy is counting on him to turn the tide, unless the Yangtze and Yellow rivers flow back.

After the court ended, Wu Zetian came to the entrance of the hall wearing a cotton cloak and looked at the quiet road of Yingzhou.

"Fan Xin, you haven't waited until the new dynasty was established. I will never believe that you have fallen like this!"

……

Yingzhou, governor's office.

Compared to the tranquility of the past, the atmosphere here at this time is extremely solemn.

Hundreds of heavily armed armored guards stood under the porch, watching with vigilance as they entered and exited the doctor.

"How about Xi Langzhong? My young master's life is not in danger, right?" Seeing the white-haired old man coming out, the six sons and a group of generals surrounded him.

The white-haired old man stroked his beard and smiled and said: "Don't worry, Governor Fan only suffered a minor injury due to the protective measures he took. He will be fine in a few days."

Hearing that his young master was fine, Liu Zi took out ten taels of silver from his sleeve and handed it to the old man with a smile on his face.

"Thank you Xi Langzhong for your wonderful rejuvenation. Keep this as a reward for you."

Then, Liu Zi raised his hands to the generals and said.

"The ability to save Yingzhou this time depends entirely on your timely arrival. I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. I have specially prepared a banquet in the front hall and invited a few of you to enjoy it."

"It's easy to talk about." The generals left with smiles.

After watching everyone leave, Liuzi returned to the room. As soon as he opened the curtain, he saw Fan Xin rummaging through the box and said anxiously.

"It's over, it's over. The silver the Queen Mother gave us is 20 taels short. It's been stolen!"

Liu Zi breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Young master, don't be nervous, I have given the money to a banquet to reward the generals."

"Ah, what's wrong with you?"

"Someone, come quickly, the young master can't do it!"

(End of this chapter)