Hello Chang’an

Seeing Changsun Ji nodding, Zheng Chao lowered his voice and asked, "Prince Rong...does he intend to proclaim himself emperor?"

The Changsun clan members on the side looked at Changsun Ji calmly.

Changsun Ji understood and said: "Whether King Rong is serious about it or not is still unknown. But now that King Rong is the only younger brother of the late emperor, he may be the most suitable candidate in terms of orthodoxy."

"Before his death, my grandfather solemnly told me that I must choose a master from the Li clan to restore orthodoxy and save the world." When he mentioned his grandfather, the young man's eyes looked sad.

Zheng Chao sighed lightly, nodded and said: "If you can choose among the Li family, it is naturally the best choice."

It is just and logical...these etiquettes and laws are orthodox, and they are a very powerful sword.

"Mr. Zheng has great righteousness in his heart. If I am lucky enough to travel with him, this path may become clearer -" The young man's eyes were sincere, and he said that we were invited to achieve great things together.

In this way, Zheng Chao had to ask bluntly: "May I ask your family if they have chosen Prince Rong's Mansion?"

Changsun Ji: "To be honest, Mr. Zheng, I'm still thinking about it. Just looking at the overall situation, I think Rong Wang is the most suitable one. Rong Wang is now quite popular in the southwest."

Seeing Zheng Chao's expression of hesitation and thought, Changsun Ji added, "But as the junior said just now, I still want to hear your opinion, so I have the courage to invite you here today."

"This matter... we may not be hasty in making a decision." Zheng Chao sincerely suggested: "It is not easy for the Changsun family to survive and cannot withstand another shock... In Zheng's opinion, it is better to accumulate strength secretly to observe the situation and wait until the time is right. , and then make a decision.”

The implication is that you should not be easily carried away by the situation and situation, and take sides too early to avoid betting on the wrong person.

Zheng Chao suspected that King Rong might have been secretly trying to gain the support of the Changsun family, but the Changsun family members did not want to speak openly to him for the time being.

Changsun Ji nodded: "What you said is reasonable, and you really shouldn't make a hasty decision."

He could tell that Zheng Chao had no intention of making a decision in a hurry, but he also sincerely reminded the eldest son's family to choose carefully—

And accumulating strength is inevitable. Now that chaos has arisen and the empress' orders are difficult to pass, it is a good time for them to recharge their batteries.

But the power of a clan is limited after all, so he wants to do his best to win over all the people and forces he can.

Zheng Chao is very valuable, firstly because of his reputation, and secondly because of the remaining power and talents of the Zheng family behind him. Even if he is regarded as a traitor by the Zheng family, there are always sensible people in such a large Zheng family. There are always people who are willing to put aside barriers for benefit.

Therefore, even if Zheng Chao did not relent in supporting King Rong at this moment, Changsun Ji and other tribesmen still treated Zheng Chao with courtesy, and then talked about other forces.

During the conversation, Changsun Ji suddenly asked: "Mr. Zheng must have had contact with Jiangdu Chang's governor when he was in Xingyang, right?"

Zheng Chao was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "Yes, the governor Chang and I prayed for the rain to stop."

This incident has already spread a lot, and it has even become "evidence" to prove the reincarnation of Ning Nai.

"When I was in the capital, I admired Madam Chang very much." Thinking of the murder of his sister-in-law, Changsun Ji's eyes dimmed for a moment, and then he said: "But at that time, I never thought that Madam Chang would be what she is today. achievement.”

At the beginning, Madam Chang's act of fighting for her brother's innocence was really shocking. He also knew from this that there was something extraordinary about this girl, but he never expected that she would be so extraordinary.

As soon as he was born, he put down Xu Zhengye's rebellion, occupied Jiangdu, fought against Japanese pirates, and became famous all over the world for his unstoppable attitude.

Therefore, he and his tribe are also thinking about whether they can bring the Chang family into the camp.

It is inevitable that the Chang family will be jealous of the empress. It is difficult to survive alone, so it is worth considering finding someone to form an alliance with.

Although it has not yet been determined who the Li family will ultimately support, if possible, he really wants to conspire with someone like Mrs. Chang, whether it is for profit considerations or personal selfishness.

Changsun Ji revealed this idea to Zheng Chao tactfully.

Zheng Chao's mood is a bit complicated. Want to ask her to help Ming Zhu?

Thinking of the sense of ambition that girl gave him, Zheng Chao felt that the Changsun family's plan was destined to fail.

Before she went to Jiangdu, she invited him as a host to visit Jiangdu one day... and then, as expected, she put Jiangdu into her sack in a grand manner.

And now, she has turned Jiangdu into her sack, stuffing talents from all walks of life into it...

Would such a person really be willing to support others easily?

In other words, what kind of person can make her willing to support her?

Does the Changsun family's favorite King Rong have this ability?

Zheng Chao felt suspicious, but he still said politely: "Since we are old acquaintances, it is okay to explore Chang Jishi's thoughts first..."

Next, people from Changsun's family asked Zheng Chao about Cui Jing's current situation.

Zheng Chao clicked his tongue in his heart, "The eldest son's family only wants to take in street rats that are despised by the nobles, right?"

However, his eldest nephew is indeed a worthy candidate.

But when it comes to the Xuance Army, the weight of it is too heavy, and there is no certainty. The people of the Changsun family did not dare to speak out clearly, but only made insinuations.

Zheng Chao had no intention of making any choice for Cui Jing. He was just a poor uncle whose nephew was raising him outside, and he had no way to be his nephew's home or his master.

Zheng Chao didn't reveal much about his nephew's thoughts. Of course, he couldn't reveal it - he didn't really know much about what his eldest nephew thought.

The eldest grandson stayed with Zheng Chao for a few days. After getting along with him for these few days, Zheng Chao had a good impression of the young head of the eldest grandson's family.

Before Zheng Chao left, he made an agreement with Changsun Ji to maintain correspondence if conditions permitted.

In fact, Zheng Chao had made such agreements with many people he could talk to along the way.

Changsun Ji wanted to give him money, but Zheng Chao refused - he had no choice, the eldest nephew gave him too much, which was enough for him to maintain a life without worries about food and clothing, and to maintain his noble image of treating money as dirt.

Speaking of which... tomorrow seems to be the Mid-Autumn Festival?

So Zheng Chao decided to write a letter home to his eldest nephew. In the letter, he talked about his recent experiences, including the beautiful scenery and the sufferings of the war. Finally, he mentioned the incident of being threatened with a kitchen knife when he was in Xiazhou, and summarized it as: [Fortunately, I was able to resolve it with my wit.

Zheng Chao had just sent this letter home, and when he was about to cross the Fuling River by boat, he suddenly heard the commotion of people at the ferry. It turned out that someone had brought back the battle report from the east -

"...Korean Duke Li Xian was defeated! Now he has been forced to retreat to Jingzhou by Bian Chunliang's army!"

"Dongting has fallen into the hands of Bian Chunliang, and he has taken Yuezhou, burning, killing and looting!"

"Bian Chunliang's army is so fierce and brave, what should we do..."

"I have a message here... It was written by Bian Chunliang's military advisers. They also threatened to 'go straight to Huanglong' and invade the capital of Gyeonggi Province to seek justice for the people of Daozhou who died in vain in the past!"

Zheng Chao hurriedly stepped forward and exchanged words with the young man in a shirt.

At the beginning of last year, there was a severe drought in Daozhou. Due to the delay in providing disaster relief, countless victims starved to death. In recent years, there have been many disasters. At first, the court did not pay much attention to this man-made disaster caused by the drought. By last autumn, Daozhou disaster victims began to pour into the capital, begging the emperor for mercy and justice. By then, the Xu Zhengye Rebellion had emerged, and the capital was under martial law and investigating Xu's associates and spies. Many victims were wrongly killed or violently expelled.

Their voices are not heard, and their lives and deaths are not cared about.

This public grievance, taking advantage of Xu Zhengye's uprising, quickly gathered into a rebel army under the leadership of salt dealer Bian Chunliang.

After all, they were civil forces. At the beginning of the chaos, the court did not pay much attention to it. Until it was almost invincible, it became more and more powerful. Bian Chunliang, starting from Daozhou, successively captured Hengzhou, Shaozhou, and this spring again. Go down to Tanzhou and raise your troops to attack Dongting -

Xu Zhengye's power has been extinguished, but Bian Chunliang's power, which was not taken seriously at first, has become stronger.

Bian Chunliang's ambition was written on the surface. He held high the flag of revenge and vowed to invade the capital and overthrow the current government.

He threatened to plead for the people, seek justice for the people of Daozhou who died in vain, and pay with blood. Therefore, wherever he went, he robbed and killed all the officials, dignitaries and powerful people. Many local nobles, young and old, were massacred at home, and then their houses were burned to ashes in a fire.

If Xu Zhengye was trying to win over officials and aristocrats in the name of supporting the Li family, Bian Chunliang was openly on the opposite side of the officials and aristocrats. He said in his statement, "Kill all the corrupt officials with the sword, crush the pride of the ministers with one step, If you don’t destroy the capital and get justice, you won’t turn back]—

Zheng Chao frowned as he watched.

The paper is full of words of blood and revenge, and is determined to overthrow the oppressive government... This slogan is undoubtedly very powerful when used to incite civilians in troubled times.

Coupled with Li Xian's defeat, the morale of Bian Chunliang's army will increase again, which will surely attract countless people to follow and follow suit.

Zheng Chao looked past the panicked crowd at the crossing to the east in the direction of Dongting Lake, feeling extremely worried.

Li Xian's defeat was beyond the expectations of many people.

Two months ago, Li Xian forced Bian Chunliang's army out of the Dongting area and sent news of victory to Beijing, which was regarded as a battle to reverse the situation.

After that, Li Xian took advantage of the victory and pursued Tanzhou, hoping to take it back. However, after more than a month of fierce fighting, he still could not capture it for a long time.

Failure to attack for a long time is a major taboo for soldiers. If the morale of the soldiers is weakened, there will be a defeat.

On the first day of August, Bian Chunliang's army suddenly came out of the city to fight, breaking through the defense of Li Xian's army. After only more than ten days, they captured Dongting and occupied Yuezhou in one go.

Li Xian's army suffered tens of thousands of casualties and was retreating steadily. They managed to stabilize their formation in Jingzhou by relying on its advantage of being easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Jingzhou has always been difficult to attack, and Bian Chunliang's army was exhausted. At this moment, they camped in Yuezhou to recuperate and recuperate. However, the city of Yuezhou had become like a purgatory due to the massacre by Bian's army.

After losing Dongting and Yuezhou, the first thing Li Xian did when he settled in Jingzhou was to take charge of the central general of the army.

He believed that he had clearly formulated a thorough battle plan, but it was only because of the incompetence of his officers and soldiers who failed to perform well, that they easily retreated and disturbed the morale of the army, which led to the defeat.

These soldiers are like a pile of scattered sand. If they do not take responsibility, how can they talk about military regulations and military power?

After the defeat, morale declined, and Li Xian tried to use this to uplift the general's morale.

Under such severe punishment, the army, which had just suffered a defeat, became more and more panicked, like a tight bow, which was forcibly raised.

Li Xian, who was also injured, had a cold expression on his face at the moment, and was writing a confession report in the camp.

Jingzhou was of vital importance. He repeatedly promised in his apology letter that he would defend Jingzhou with his own life and would definitely regain Yuezhou that was lost in his hands.

When he was putting away the pen, Li Xian exerted force in his hand, and the pen barrel was broken in his hand.

Although he was defeated this time, he will never be defeated again!

He will definitely take off Bian Chunliang's head with his own hands to avenge the current shame!

The news of Dongting's defeat spread back to the capital, and the entire court was filled with anger and panic.

After listening to officials reporting the tragic situation of the people in Yuezhou after the war, Emperor Shengsi Longyan was furious and severely reprimanded Li Xianzhi for his mistakes.

"Your Majesty, Jingzhou is in a critical location and is the most powerful barrier in front of the Shannan East Road... If Jingzhou is lost again, the eastern capital of Luoyang and even the capital will probably become the prey of the rebel army! By then, the prosperity will be in danger. !”

The Holy Emperor was furious when he heard this: "Bold!"

The official knew that he had used the wrong words, so he knelt down in a panic and apologized.

But although his words sounded ominous, they were also facts before us.

Emperor Shengce was also aware of this, so he did not deceive himself and others to whitewash the situation and blame the official. After calming down, he urgently discussed countermeasures with his ministers.

Feeling the uneasy atmosphere permeating the Jinluan Palace, Prince Li Zhi, who was listening to the political affairs, trembled slightly with his hands half hidden in his sleeves.

In addition to the threat from Bian Chunliang's army, reports of battles from various places have been reported back to the capital almost every few days, and General Xiao Min has once again led his troops to quell the chaos...

What should I do? Is Dasheng going to die?

The prince was so frightened that he almost cried.

Officials from the Ministry of Revenue are also crying.

Other officials were angry, frightened or frightened, but their household department also had another headache.

Facing the continuous huge war expenditures, they are really going to have a headache!

Shilang Zhan looked at the pile of money reminders in front of him and suddenly understood the teacher - the teacher's mental state that was prone to going crazy, he was decades ahead of him!

Facing these every day, how can anyone not be crazy?

Especially when the Korean father demanded military pay, he just wanted to tear it up, chew it up and swallow it in his stomach. After fighting for so long and asking for so much money, he suffered such a huge defeat and didn't even get back a single city. , and lost Yuezhou!

Isn’t this a money-losing product?

But the more costly losses are yet to come. Defeat is not the end, but means more supplies of medicinal materials, larger casualty benefits, and even longer wartime consumption...

Listening to what the ministers discussed earlier, Bian Chunliang's military strength has grown again, and it is inevitable that he will have to send more troops to Jingzhou next.

How can this be done without increasing the number of troops? Jingzhou must not be lost!

Shilang Zhan sighed, even though he had a thousand headaches, he could only deal with it more urgently.

Shilang Zhan looked through the official room and frowned more and more. He couldn't help but think of the fact that the governor of Jiangdu wanted to build an official workshop not long ago.

Building the workshop was undoubtedly a huge expense. Just when he was about to get a headache, he heard that Chang Jishi had already stated in the petition that she could find a way to advance all the expenses herself -

Advance...what a beautiful word!

(The location of Daozhou in the article is in today’s Yongzhou, Hunan)

Asking for a monthly ticket at the end of the month, good night!

(End of this chapter)