Chapter 1162 Retreat outside the pass
In the room, Emperor Gaoyang was lying on his back on the couch, his face was pale and haggard, his eyes were lifeless, and his whole body was filled with an aura of decay that lacked vitality.
Beside the couch was a waiter who was holding a wine set and carefully feeding the wine into the corner of the emperor's mouth. As the wine entered his mouth, the emperor's Adam's apple trembled up and down as he swallowed the wine into his stomach.
After a few glasses of wine, the emperor's eyes gradually became focused. He tilted his lips, stopped drinking, leaned on the couch for a while to gather strength, and then said, "Is King Changshan here?"
"Your Majesty, King Changshan is waiting for summons outside the hall."
After hearing the waiter's whispered answer, Gao Yang's spirits were slightly lifted, he raised his hand and said: "Change clothes, meet the king outside the hall."
After the waiters were busy cleaning up, the emperor was finished dressing up. In order to make himself look more energetic, Gao Yang even asked someone to apply some powder on his thin and sunken cheeks, and then he got on the chariot and came to the outer hall.
Gao Yan outside the hall also looked very uneasy at the moment and kept walking up and down the corridor. From his heart, he really didn't want to come to see the emperor, but the emperor made a condition that he couldn't refuse, that is, he would be given the edict passed on to him in person, and he would also be allowed to lead ten personal soldiers. Enter.
Safety can be guaranteed, and the imperial edict from the emperor is what Gao Yan dreams of. Even though he now has complete control over the emperor, he is still somewhat reluctant from here on out.
If the emperor's authorization to pass the throne can be obtained, it will be of great help to him to take over the control of the entire political power and his inner self-feeling. Especially at the moment when a powerful enemy is invading and everyone needs to work together to fight against the enemy, a legitimate edict of passing the throne means even more to him.
So after weighing it up, Gao Yan decided to go and see the emperor. In order to increase the authority of the edict of passing the throne that he was about to receive, he also immediately summoned the generals and accompanying officials in the camp, and envoys notified Duan Shao who was stationed in Wuxiang, Gao Sihao in Pingdu City, and others. People, order them to come in quickly to bear witness.
The waiters in the inner hall rushed out and told Gao Yan that His Majesty the Emperor was already in the hall and invited the king to come in and meet him.
After Gao Yan heard this, he immediately cheered up and waved to the ten muscular soldiers behind him to follow him. However, he stopped after taking two steps and only allowed the four people around him to follow. The remaining six were waiting outside the door.
"I pay homage to the Supreme Being! The Supreme Being is suffering from illness. Although the ministers and others dare not presume to seek an audience and cause trouble, they are all anxious and worried outside."
After entering the hall, Gao Yan did not dare to raise his eyes to look at the emperor immediately. He bowed his head and bowed, and at the same time said in a deep voice.
When Gao Yang heard this, he curled his lips slightly, and then saw that Gao Yan only brought four guards behind him instead of the ten he had allowed, so he frowned slightly and sighed: "Among the brothers, you are the most honorable. , looks dignified, but it is not because you are good-natured, but because you are willing to show off.
But after all, it is not from your true intention, so whether you do good or evil, it is difficult to always do it, and it is always inevitable to go astray halfway. It's okay to be like this as a person. If you continue to be like this under your rule in the future, chaos will not be far away. "
Gao Yan was still in awe of Gao Yang, his brother, but when he heard Gao Yang accusing him of being duplicitous and lacking perseverance as soon as they met, he still felt a little angry. Dang Jiye frowned and said in a deep voice: "Although I am not talented, I "Fortunately, I can learn from the mistakes my father and brother have made. I will try my best to carry forward the good things, and I will not go beyond the bad things. I hope to be able to cure myself."
When Gao Yang heard this implicitly sarcastic answer, his eyes trembled slightly. He somewhat forgot the reason for summoning Gao Yan this time, and instead sneered: "The old mistakes of father and brother are clearly visible, but if you want to learn from them, do you have the matching talents?" How dare you do this if I am dying to fight for you?
"The matter has come to this, and there is no need to dwell on what it was like before. It is true that I am ashamed of my brother for what I have done now, but my brother was originally a hero for a while, but now he has fallen into this situation. Isn't it because he has done many unjust things and disappointed the public?"
People who do bad things usually go through two mental processes. First, they feel ashamed and regretful, and are unwilling to face themselves for doing bad things. Then, they look for reasons to excuse themselves to offset the guilt and guilt in their hearts, thus becoming righteous and confident. . Of course, there are also people with extraordinary talents who will directly skip the first stage and directly enter a state of self-confidence.
After all, Gao Yan still had some shame and didn't directly show his strength. Putting aside the facts, after all, in fact, Gao Yang's end today was indeed his own fault.
When Gao Yang heard this, his face suddenly showed anger, and his chest heaved. When Gao Yan saw this scene, he subconsciously stood up to plead guilty, and put his hands on the case in front of him. Only then did he realize that this time was different from the past, and immediately He took his hand back and sat down at the table.
The waiter next to him hurriedly came forward, soothing the emperor's back and feeding him another glass of wine, which finally calmed the emperor's mood down again.
Gao Yan felt sad for a moment when he saw that the majestic emperor in the past was now powerless and at the mercy of others. He leaned forward slightly and said: "I am impatient and utter evil words when things happen. Brother, please don't mind. The current situation of our country is such that we are in trouble both internally and externally. Brother, you are also very ill and unable to take care of things. Many matters are piled up in front of you, which makes me feel powerless. I also want to ask my brother for more advice."
"I can't teach you, and no one can teach you. Only things can teach people the best. I've called you here just to ask if there are any close followers who can resist the Qiang thieves? The Qiang thieves are very eager to destroy me. If I knew that there would be such turmoil in our country , will definitely not sit idly by and will definitely launch another attack. If the Shangdang fails to defend, the capital will be in turmoil and Hebei will be uneasy!"
After regaining some energy, Gao Yang stopped fighting and looked at Gao Yan again and said in a deep voice.
After Gao Yan heard this, he smiled bitterly, and then sighed: "Brother, it's true. The Qiang people will not just sit idly by and ignore our civil strife. They have launched another attack, but the attack is not on the Shangdang, but on the Shangdang." It is to divert the troops to attack Heluo. Because Jianzhou was occupied by them before, Huaizhou is also under attack by thieves."
"How could this happen? King Pingyuan...that territory is in danger!"
At the moment, Gao Yang was barely staying awake, and it was difficult to conduct a detailed and comprehensive analysis of his mental state. He could only make basic judgments based on experience, and then quickly asked: "How many troops and horses are left in Jinei now? Who is in charge? ? Do you have any strategy to deal with the enemy?"
Although he had been held under house arrest in Ganlu Temple and lost his power, Gao Yang was still very concerned about the regime he had established.
"Ajiu stayed in Jinei, and the young men of the clans and the imperial guard generals assisted him, and Cui Ang and other court officials also took care of the government. However, due to the unfavorable war of the former, the guards in Jinei were relatively weak. At present, there are only 20,000 divisions and brigade left. I King Xianyang has returned to the capital with a force of 5,000 troops to appease people, but I still have no idea how to rescue the south and fight the enemy. I wonder if my brother can teach me?"
Regarding these situations, Gao Yan did not hide anything. He told Gao Yang in detail, really wanting to see what Gao Yang thought about this.
After hearing these words, Gao Yang closed his eyes and began to ponder. He was silent for a long time. It was not until Gao Yan suspected that he had fallen asleep again that Gao Yang opened his eyes again, looked at him tiredly and said, "The current situation is As far as you are concerned, you will win if you don’t fight, and you will lose if you fight!”
"Brother, why do you say this? Do you think that I am too weak to lead a large army? The situation in our country is indeed unstable now, but the power gap with the Qiang people is not so huge that we cannot withstand a battle. Our late father defeated you in the battle of Hanling last year Zhu, thus creating today's foundation. Although my talents are not as good as those of my late father, my soldiers may not be as strong as before, but I am determined to defend the country and fight against the odds. The Qiang people are arrogant and their troops are advancing deeply. I don't know the outcome!"
When Gao Yan heard Gao Yang's words, he immediately said unconvinced.
"At that time, I was also ordered to face danger. Although I gathered a large number of troops in Jinyang, Black Otter came to challenge me, but I did not fight. How much do you know about my intentions? You rebelled against me and took your life, but you turned around and gambled your destiny with the Qiang thieves. , Is this a wise plan? If we fail to win the battle, our family and country will be destroyed..."
At this point, Gao Yang paused for a moment, took a deep look at Gao Yan and then said: "The reason why you are able to succeed this time is because the Jinyang warriors have done a great job. This group of disciples are greedy for merit and seek advancement, but the monarch can still Selling yourself for glory, what fear do you have in your heart?
If you win this time and the achievements of the disciples are even greater, how many desires can you fill, even if you fight with the whole country? If rewards based on merit are slightly unfair, it will offend the sentiments of the masses and make people noisy. However, if you work hard, you are just a slave for this group of people. It is difficult to control the affairs of the state and your power will inevitably fall by the wayside! "
After Gao Yan heard this, his face suddenly turned cold. He was quite convinced by Gao Yang's analysis. It should be noted that as the founding emperor of the country, his elder brother had been powerful in the country for many years. After the failure of foreign wars and serious illness, it was inevitable that he would be abandoned without mercy. Are those who are willing to follow his lead really just because of his charismatic personality and ability to inherit the mantle of his father and brother?
"But now that a powerful enemy has invaded, I can no longer decide whether to fight or make peace. Now that the Qiang people have gained power, I'm afraid they won't give up easily. Even if they try to make peace, they will demand a sky-high price, and I'm afraid they won't have any sincerity in making peace... "
After pondering for a while, Gao Yan said again with an embarrassed look on his face.
"Whether you can make peace or not, you have to try it before you know. You are now weaker than others, so you don't have to worry about your dignity. Just beg at all costs, and you will be lucky to stop fighting. If the thief refuses to agree to peace, there is no need to use it as a long-term plan. , destroy the family and seize goods, and raise Hebei to meet the enemy. If you can defeat the enemy, it will be the best, and you can still be the master of China. If you still can't defeat the enemy after destroying Hebei, you can only retreat to Jinyang, pack up the people, and go out. , Based on Monan, traveling between Huaishuo and Wuchuan, he can still be regarded as a hero outside the pass. "
When Gao Yang said this, he sighed again: "In the old days, I frequently left the fortress to sweep away Monan, and accumulated considerable prestige. Now I also leave you as a way out. Li Boshan is not only a great talent of his time, but also many people from the Han Dynasty to the present, and he is also among the best." "