Chapter 340 The choice of the powerful minister
When the Xiongnu entered the customs and the emperor was trapped, the world was shaken. Everyone in the Great Chu Dynasty faced a common choice: to save or not to save.
In the palace, Wang Meiren's choice is very simple, she can only save, she must save, even if she takes her own life, she must save the emperor and save her own son.
After getting the news, Wang Meiren's first move was to ask the Queen Mother for help. The situation is changing and she needs an experienced guide.
The queen mother is not what she used to be. She has lost her son, relatives and enemies one after another. She has no pursuit in her heart. Sitting on the couch for an hour or two, it seems that her soul is wandering away, and she has long forgotten this world, including this world. the emperor.
"The Huns? The Emperor?" Looking at Wang Meiren, who was kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down her face, the Queen Mother tried to concentrate to understand what Wang Meiren said, and then she smiled, "The Huns actually entered the customs."
"The queen mother guessed all this?" Wang Meiren was both surprised and happy. At this moment, the queen mother was a great prophet who could see through the future in her eyes.
The queen mother shook her head, "I just thought, Da Chu is so weak... I have already surrendered everything, what more do you want?"
Wang Meiren kowtowed, "Ask the Queen Mother for advice."
The Queen Mother was silent for a long time, "For thousands of years, the strength of the Central Plains and the Huns has changed from time to time. The strong are respected and the weak are humble. There is no way to do it. If you want to save the emperor, you can only start from the Huns."
"Begging for peace?"
"Other than that, I can't think of any other ideas." The Queen Mother sighed and said nothing.
Wang Meiren resigned and stood at the door of the palace, and suddenly found herself powerless. She thought that it would be a long time to come to Japan, and she was not in a hurry to win the title of Empress Dowager.
After all, there is a fundamental difference between the emperor's biological mother and the Empress Dowager. Many ministers secretly curry favor with the Emperor's biological mother, but only the Empress Dowager can formally issue orders to ministers.
Wang Meiren thought about it and felt that she still had to find someone to help her, and someone had to help her control the ministers outside.
The middle palm seal Yang Feng came quite quickly, but as the person who the emperor trusted and depended on most, he didn't seem to be in such a hurry. He walked calmly and looked calm, as if he didn't know the emperor's situation.
"Having troubled Duke Yang and the danger of Jincheng, can the ministers in the DPRK have any countermeasures?"
"Master Shen is discussing with the ministers for several days to send troops to rescue the driver from all directions."
"I'm a girl, and I don't understand the military situation, but the Chu army went to rescue the car, won't the Huns step up their siege because of this?"
"The matter has come to this point, His Majesty must first protect himself and cooperate with the reinforcements in order to be able to escape."
"Yang Gong said it lightly!" Wang Meiren felt a burst of anger, and immediately eased her tone and apologized to Yang Feng, "You are eager to save your son, Yang Gong is not to blame. I think that the most important thing at present is not to defeat the Huns, not to take back the lost ground. , but to keep His Majesty, His Majesty is here, there will be a day of revival in Great Chu, if His Majesty dies, Great Chu will be in danger."
"All the ministers also think so."
"So, it's better to ask the Huns for peace. They all say that the Huns are greedy for money and profit. Give them what they want, as long as it can be exchanged for Your Majesty."
Yang Feng pondered for a moment, "If in the past, the Huns would have been easy to pass away, gold, silver, copper, iron, silk, cloth, and even relatives could impress the Huns, but this time is different, what Dadan wants is land and city walls... "
"Give it to them too." Wang Meiren said sharply, she didn't understand why Yang Feng was not in a hurry, "Whatever you want, I just want the emperor to return to Beijing safely."
Yang Feng bowed and saluted, not wanting to argue with Wang Meiren, "Okay, I'll tell the ministers to see what they think."
Wang Meiren returned the salute, "Your Majesty's life hangs in the hands of Duke Yang."
Yang Feng said: "I will try my best, and I also ask Wang Meiren to communicate with the queen more."
Wang Meiren was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that the Queen's father was in the process of pacifying the chaos in Qi and holding military power. Cui Hong might not be able to save the emperor, but he could kill the emperor.
"Your Majesty is my beloved son to me, and the Queen is my husband. We both have the same illness and will be of one heart and one mind."
Yang Feng resigned. For him, seeking peace was not the only way to save the emperor, nor was it the best way.
The emperor of Great Chu had to think for the sake of Great Chu first. Yang Feng thought so, and he believed that the emperor also had the same idea.
After discussing with Shouxiang Shen Mingzhi and several other important ministers, Yang Feng put forward three suggestions:
First of all, the messenger was sent to talk with the Huns, not for success, but to ease the pressure on Jincheng a little, and at the same time to appease Wang Meiren in the palace.
Then they mobilized the troops of the prefectures and counties, recruited men, and all marched in the direction of Jincheng, guarding the important towns to the north and east of Luoyang.
Finally, Yang Feng suggested choosing a new emperor.
The new emperor does not ascend to the throne immediately, but first chooses the right person from the clan, and let the wind go out. Once Jincheng is broken, no matter whether the emperor is dead or captured, the capital will immediately support the new emperor, so as to prevent the world from being without a master, and it can also cut off the Xiongnu people. Greater ambition.
In fact, the ministers have long thought of this trick, but no one dared to propose it. Yang Feng is the emperor's confidant, and it is more appropriate for him to pierce this layer of window paper. As for his eunuch status, the ministers automatically ignore it and declare Sheng solemnly demanded that Zhongzhangxi Yang Feng's suggestion be recorded on the record, and not a single word was allowed to be changed.
Although this was the last suggestion, the first two suggestions were taken seriously after that. The Minister of Personnel personally sent the Xiongnu, the Minister of War sat in Luoyang to supervise the Kwantung armies, and Yang Fengze personally wrote a letter, entrusting the Marquis Pingen gave it to General Cui Hong.
In this letter, Yang Feng explained the court's countermeasures and intentions in detail, saying that the capital had already selected a clan son, but it was not enough. In the battle for the throne, the four people at that time died and two were trapped. If the King of England could be rescued, he would also be eligible to be called the emperor.
This trick is to divide the Huns and the Linzi rebels. If the British king who was kidnapped can become emperor, the most important purpose of the rebels will be achieved. There is no need to collude with the Huns-even if they want to collude, the Huns will also Will be suspicious.
Yang Feng explained everything clearly, and Cui Hong had no doubts. He joined with Chai Yue and Fang Daye, and moved the main force to Pengcheng to intercept the Xiongnu cavalry heading south. Jing, there is still a chance to become emperor.
The rebels did not give an answer, but after most of the Chu troops outside the city left, they did not try their best to break through the siege, and still stuck to Linzi, apparently there was an internal dispute.
For the Chu army, this was enough. Chai Yue made a plan and asked the imperial court to send the mobilized troops to Pengcheng as much as possible. Move slowly, seize the time to replenish the troops, not to go to Jincheng to rescue the driver, but to go straight to the country of Yan.
Da Shanyu was in the state of Yan, and was angry at the indecision of the Linzi rebels. After several urgings to no avail, he decided to get a truce from the besieged emperor, hoping to suspend the oppression of the southern Chu army, and at the same time he wanted to. See how much prestige and power is left of the emperor.
Da Chanyu is not afraid of the tens of thousands of Chu troops in the south, but he is more concerned about the troops outside the Great Wall. The troops gathered in Mayi City have already exceeded 100,000. If this army can be defeated, then the Xiongnu's rear will have no worries, and they can calmly face the entire army. Great Chu.
The debate in Mayi City is even more intense than that in Linzi City. No one dares to say that the emperor will not be saved, but there are different opinions on how to save the emperor: directly entering the customs is the easiest, but it will face the main force of the Huns, and the outcome is unpredictable. ; It is relatively safe to stay in Mayi City and wait for the Huns to attack, but the situation does not wait for anyone. If Jincheng is attacked during this period, no one can take responsibility.
The most important thing is that there is no general who can call the shots in Mayi City. The imperial envoy Zhuo Ruhe has the opportunity to lead the entire army, but before the imperial decree arrives, he leads an army to enter the customs to rescue him, and he is defeated and captured.
Zhang Yin, the Marquis of Piyuan, led the most troops, and it was specified in the emperor's imperial decree that he would command the troops outside the Great Wall, but Zhang Yin could not command. His stuttering and his position were all flawed. Ordered, he wanted to enter the customs and fight the Xiongnu decisively.
Zhang Yin could only ask the court for help, hoping to send a general.
There were no generals of high enough rank in the DPRK, so they could only send the Minister of Rites and a general to go with them and take a detour to Mayi City, but the two of them had no idea what to do.
Yang Feng and Shen Mingzhi in the capital did not know how to mobilize the Chu army outside the Great Wall.
At this time, Deng Cui was riding a horse on the road, and when he was resting at night, he had to listen to the beauty in his arms - he couldn't understand a word, but he could always guess the other party's mood immediately and give him corresponding comfort, so that the beauty Very pleased.
There is also a Chu army a hundred miles away from Jincheng.
The 15,000 northern troops led by Feng Shili were stationed in a stockade. He once told the envoy that he would never retreat half a step, but after holding on for a few days, he still led his troops to retreat several times while the Xiongnu surrounded and wiped out a supporting army. Ten miles, stay in a stronger pass.
The reinforcements from the rear kept coming, but the number never exceeded 30,000, and Feng Shili still did not dare to attack.
Cai Xinghai and Chao Hua's Suwei Army were the first support troops to arrive. When they set off from the capital, the news of the Huns entering the customs had not yet come. It was the queen who suggested to Yang Feng that the situation in the capital had gradually stabilized. Send some credible people to the emperor.
Cai Xinghai and Chao Hua had been eager to launch an attack for a long time, but they had only 2,000 soldiers under their command, which was too small. Feng Shili did not listen to their requests at all, and answered the same every time: "If you can't defeat the Huns in one fell swoop, you will have to rush. Attacking will only kill Your Majesty."
This is true, but Cai Xinghai and Chao Hua can't wait. They agree with Zhuo Ruhe's idea: Although there is a trap ahead, someone has to jump in to prove to the world that the emperor still has support. In this way, the Huns would feel that the emperor was valuable and insisted on the strategy of siege instead of attack.
These two people did not understand the contradictions within the Huns at all, let alone that the Xiongnu King Youxian urgently needed an excuse to attack Jincheng.
In this way, Cai Xinghai and Chao Hua persuaded more than 3,000 soldiers to follow them to fight, and they were ready to die, but they never expected that they would be able to kill all the way to Jincheng.
The Huns expected that King Youxian would finally be able to attack the small city of Jin in the name of encircling and destroying it. As for the overall strategy of Da Chanyu, he did not understand and did not care.
(One update today, hope to know.)