Chapter 303
Liu Jie worked hard to tell a story, hoping that the emperor could make a decisive decision and get rid of the unreliable female bodyguard, but he never thought that the emperor made the most inappropriate choice.
For a whole day, Liu Jie followed the emperor and tried every means to persuade him to change his mind, "Emperor Wu never personally took risks. 'The emperor is rich in the world, so he should naturally do his best to do everything himself, not the emperor.' This is I personally heard what Emperor Wu said."
Han Ruzi was watching Zhang Youcai and Loach packing up, and replied, "Emperor Wu's words are correct, but Da Chu is now in a precarious situation, not like when Emperor Wu, but more like the beginning of Taizu. If the 'power of the world' cannot be squeezed, if the emperor does not do it himself, I am afraid that even the country will not be able to keep it."
Liu Jie was dumbfounded. The emperor who had been modest and asked for advice before dawn suddenly became so assertive. He could only blame himself for telling the story of Emperor Wu too well.
"Your Majesty doesn't need to go to the northern border in person, just send the generals or other generals to go there. It's better to sit in Pengcheng and make plans after the rebels of Qi are destroyed."
Han Ruzi was checking the treasured saber. He didn't bring anything else with him on this expedition, but he had five treasured sabers. They were all treasured in the palace's arsenal. They were made by Emperor Wu in his early years and had never been on the battlefield. Han Ruzi carried one with him. , and the rest are kept by Zhang Youcai and Loach.
"Good sword." Every time Han Ruzi admired these treasured swords, he would express his sincere admiration, gently retracted the sheath, and said to the supervisor of the central division: "None of the ministers care about the Xiongnu, but I believe that the Xiongnu colluded with the rebels. Naturally, it is up to me to supervise the battle. On the contrary, the general has made a detailed plan for the extermination of the rebel army. The victory is in hand, and it cannot be taken lightly. Moreover, I personally conquer the Saibei, which may deter the Huns for a period of time and wait for the Chu army to go north. "
Liu Jie was devastated, followed the emperor to check the horses, and thought of a remark, "Your Majesty must not underestimate the enemy. I think that at the beginning, Da Chu was defeated by the Huns several times, and it was not until Emperor Lie ascended the throne that the situation was reversed, and it was only in the middle of Emperor Wu to achieve overwhelming momentum."
"When the Great Chu inherited the rebellion of the previous dynasty, there was a shortage of major generals, weapons, armor, equipment, and horses, food and grass. The Great Wall in the north had been in disrepair for a long time, and many were damaged. , of course it is difficult to win. Although Da Chu is not a prosperous age, it has all the advantages, why worry about winning?"
Han Ruzi gently stroked the neck of a dark horse, and could clearly feel its kindness towards him, so he nodded with a smile, "Don't worry, Duke Liu, I will not go to the northern border, I will defend the city, and I will not stop here. We will slow down and join the 50,000 Northern Army in the pass."
Liu Jie was speechless again, but he still did not give up and continued to follow behind the emperor.
Han Ruzi went to inspect the army that accompanied him on the expedition. First, there were a thousand soldiers led by the fierce general Fan Cangshan. Most of them were from the southern and northern armies, as well as a small number of the old guards. Here's an order, and they'll be ready in half a day.
Although there are not many people, the formation is quite imposing. There are many spears, and bows and crossbows are everywhere. All of them seem to be able to fight against ten.
After the review, Fan Zangshan led his troops out of the city to camp, and he could leave at any time tomorrow morning.
Liu Jie took the opportunity to say again, "How much does Your Majesty know about the Meng brothers and sisters?"
"I understand what I should know." Han Ruzi did not leave the barracks immediately, but rode at the gate, watching the soldiers lined up to leave the camp. A large number of handymen who had been hidden before ran out, and hurriedly packed the tents and various vehicle.
"Does Your Majesty know that Meng E has long been betrothed to the Prince of Fuyu as the princess of Qi? This is a marriage they have reached a long time ago. The Meng brothers and sisters entered the palace to serve as guards for the Queen Mother, which took a few years."
Han Ruzi hadn't heard of this, but his expression didn't show it. He turned his head and asked, "The Meng brothers and sisters are actually surnamed Chen. Does Duke Liu know their real names?"
Liu Jie shook his head, "Gong Jing originally wanted to send a scout to the island, but the Queen Mother ordered that further investigations into the Meng brothers and sisters and the Righteous Island are prohibited, so the matter had to be left unresolved."
"Yishi Island has existed for many years, why didn't Da Chu send troops to destroy it?"
"I heard that they had been dispatched a long time ago. At that time, I didn't know that the descendants of Chen Qi lived on the island. They just regarded them as ordinary pirates, but every time they couldn't find anyone. As soon as the officers and soldiers went to sea, all the islanders were transferred, and the island was full of wooden houses. Thatched huts are easy to rebuild after burning down.”
"So it is." Han Ruzi ordered, and then went to the Yiwei Camp to review.
Liu Jie let out a long sigh, not understanding how the female bodyguard gained the emperor's trust, and it was impossible to divide her.
There were not only 200 ceremonial guards in the Yiwei Camp, but also a large number of clansmen, nobles, and relatives of ministers who accompanied the emperor personally, plus their entourage, the total number was far more than 1,000.
The characteristic of the Yiwei Camp is that there are more flags than people. Many people carry two flags behind their backs, and there may be one in their hands. The same is true for many children of the powerful. On the surface, they all have various generals, captains, and regulars The illusory title of the class, the most important task is actually to give the emperor a boost.
They have done it all, everyone has distinctive clothes and armor, and even the teenagers are wearing well-fitting armor.
The emperor personally conquest, of course the sons and daughters of the powerful must not be left behind, all of them "voluntarily" follow the expedition.
The Yiwei Camp was too bloated, and Han Ruzi sent an order on the spot that each person could only bring one follower, and the other followers were to stay in Pengcheng, and were not allowed to follow the army far behind.
When the emperor was there, no one dared to make a sound. As soon as the emperor left, the Yiwei camp soon burst into mourning. Even many pure Yiwei soldiers brought more than two entourages, not to mention the wealthy and powerful children? Those nobles who had followed the Hou Juan were not surprised by this at all, and even proudly showed off: "I have persuaded you a long time ago that this expedition, I will only bring one entourage, and keep everything simple, but I have to get it no matter what. One or two good horses, who knows when the emperor will march again overnight?"
Liu Jie had no choice but to use the last trick. At this time, he had returned to his residence. Taking advantage of no one around, Liu Jie said, "How much does your majesty believe in the general?"
"The general is the queen's father—I trust him as I trust my father-in-law."
Liu Jie stepped forward and whispered mysteriously, "The queen is not pregnant."
Han Ruzi once wrote a half-letter, implying that the queen was pregnant, in order to stabilize Cui Hong's heart, Liu Jie already knew it, and knew very well that it was a scam, "Your Majesty forgive me, I dared to write a letter to the imperial doctor, and I got The answer is that the queen is not pregnant."
"You told the General?"
"Of course not, it's a secret."
"Very well, then let it remain a secret."
"The generals have a very wide network, and sooner or later they will know the truth, maybe they already know it now."
Han Ruzi smiled slightly, "I'll bet that the general will also keep this a secret."
Liu Jie was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the emperor and the general were maintaining a delicate balance and trust, and no one wanted to break it. Even if Cui Hong knew that his daughter was not pregnant, he would not show it. The emperor trusted him.
Liu Jie really had nothing to do. Except for Cui Hong, the officials accompanying him were all too low-ranking, and they were not trusted by the emperor. The effect of persuasion would not be better than himself.
"Alas, Yang Feng has wronged his country." Liu Jie sighed.
"What does it have to do with Yang Feng?" Han Ruzi asked in surprise.
"I have worked with Yang Feng for several years, and I can hear that Your Majesty is deeply influenced by it. If anything happens to Your Majesty, Yang Feng will be the biggest sinner."
When it was Han Ruzi's turn to be stunned, he never felt how similar he was to Yang Feng.
Seeing the change in the emperor's expression, Liu Jie thought that the opportunity had come again, "Thinking back then, Sidi even called Yang Feng his teacher, and in the end, even the Queen Mother couldn't stand it anymore, and for a time banned the two of them from meeting, but Sidi has been deeply hurt by it. …”
Liu Jie shut his mouth, he said too much, he had exceeded the limit, and violated his basic principles as an internal eunuch.
"What happened to Si Di?"
Liu Jie thought and thought, the current emperor is more important, so he said: "Si Di also secretly went out of the palace to track down the whereabouts of some mysterious organization, and soon died of poisoning. Some people speculate that it was the queen mother who started, but that is impossible. , The Empress Dowager's face is cold, but she is actually very fond of Sidi. The Empress Dowager thinks that Concubine Cui is the envoy. This is possible, but it is only a guess. I didn't have time to do too much research with Jinggong, but we both thought that Sidi might be in the palace. The external poisoning only occurred relatively late. Yang Feng probably had nothing to do with the poisoner, but he instigated Si Di to take risks, and he was ultimately to blame."
Yang Feng was the eunuch brought into the palace by the Queen Mother from the East China Sea. He was once noble and became a regular attendant in the middle school. Liu Jie, Jing Yao and others entered the palace since childhood and gradually rose to high positions. Naturally dissatisfied.
Han Ruzi said sternly: "Elder Liu is eager to protect the Lord, I know very well, but Duke Liu only cares about the safety of me alone, and I care about the world, the release of food, the pacification of the chaos, and the war against the Huns are all top priorities in the world, and nothing can be accomplished. , the world is damaged, if Liu Gong really wants to contribute, it is better to recommend a few capable talents for me."
Liu Jie blushed, knelt on the ground and said, "Liu is incompetent, he has been serving His Majesty for many days, but he has not been able to recommend anyone."
Han Ruzi said with a smile: "It will be long in Japan."
Liu Jie had no choice but to retire. The emperor had to take a lot of things with him when he traveled, so he had to start taking care of it.
"The two piano masters..." Han Ruzi stopped Liu Jie.
"How is the pianist?"
Han Ruzi hesitated for a moment and decided to bring the two with him, "I'll stay next to me in the future, just play empty music and try not to disturb other people."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Jie stepped back.
Han Ruzi sat alone for a while, imagining the relationship between Yang Feng and Sidi's master and apprentice, there was a little jealousy.
But he quickly got rid of this useless emotion and went out again. This time, he summoned the accompanying officials and asked them to draw up a marching route. When heading north, he tried to travel as many counties as possible. One was to wait for 50,000 troops from the North, and the other was to supervise various places. In the case of the release of grain, especially the latter, he personally formulated three imperial edicts, ordering that the emperor must be simplified when receiving the emperor, and the money and grain should be saved to help the refugees.
Everything is done, the time is approaching the second watch, Han Ruzi plans to rest early, and leave early tomorrow. When he returns to the bedroom door, he hears the sound of the piano next door. It is the empty music that makes him feel good, standing in place. After listening to it for a while, I felt a lot more relaxed, and I had a hunch that I would get a good night's sleep tonight.
Zhang Youcai and Loach, who had entered the room ahead of time to clean up the bed, made a sound of "Huh" at the same time. Han Ruzi quickly entered the room and walked to the inner room, only to see a person sitting on his bed under the candlelight.
Zhang Qinyan placed the Yaoqin on the bed and glanced up at the emperor.