Chapter 1330: Tang Division Crosses the River

Chapter 1330: Tang Division Crosses the River

Pogangdu is not far from Jiankang. After the war ended, the relevant war reports were quickly transmitted back to Jiankang City, including Hua Jiao's explanation that the Wujun Rebellion was planned by Linchuan King Chen Qian.

"Wu Hou is indeed a famous general who is feared by the Jiangbiao. He has defeated a part of the rebel army shortly after leaving the capital. The Wujun Rebellion will be quelled as soon as possible!"

After learning that Wu Mingche won the first battle, Chen Chang couldn't help but clapped his hands and praised. Although this victory only opened up the passage of Pogangdu, it was still far from the real quelling of the rebellion. Wujun was still in the hands of the rebels, but this was rare good news for Chen Chang in the near future.

However, the situations explained by Hua Jiao were not so happy. Although the wise have long seen that the Wujun incident was caused by Chen Qian, as long as the inside story is not disclosed, there is still room for covering up the matter.

But if the actual situation is made public, the court will have no room for evasion and will have to directly raise troops to attack Chen Qian, otherwise it will not be enough to deter the powerful forces in other places.

Chen Chang certainly wants to solve the problem of Chen Qian, but the Southern Chen court obviously does not have such ability at the moment. If the relationship with Chen Qian is completely torn apart, it must be resolved by fighting, then it is inevitable to go back to the old way and borrow troops from the Tang Dynasty.

However, the Three Wus are the heartland of Jiangdong. If the Tang army is allowed to come south, it is tantamount to opening the door to thieves. No matter how much Chen Chang is eager to solve Chen Qian, he can't expose the Three Wus to the Tang Dynasty!

What's more, the people of the Three Wus are dissatisfied with the close relationship between the court and the Tang Dynasty. Once the Tang army is invited to the south to attack, it will inevitably make the people more boiling and make the people of the Three Wus more alienated from the court.

Therefore, the most prudent way at the moment is to endure it temporarily, and just solve the rebellion in Wujun, and it is not appropriate to pursue this matter to the end. After the situation stabilizes, other means can be used to slowly deal with Chen Qian.

Therefore, Chen Chang ordered Wu Mingche to lead his troops to Wujun quickly, and not to go to Wuxing to avoid further intensification of the situation. At the same time, he asked Wu Mingche to keep the inside story secret, execute Hua Jiao directly in the army, and not let him spread any remarks that would undermine the overall situation to the current trend.

Of course, Chen Chang did not endure it blindly. After explaining it to Wu Mingche, he ordered his cousin Chen Xu and his family members who were left in the capital as hostages to be taken to Taicheng for control. Some officials who had a close relationship with Chen Qian were also marginalized one after another, trying to prevent the possibility of chaos in the capital from being instigated.

At the same time, he sent someone to convey the order to Xu Du in Jingkou, asking him to quickly go south to join forces with Wu Mingche and quickly quell the rebellion in Wujun while taking advantage of the momentum of the first victory.

At the same time, this move was also to prevent Chen Qian from taking risks when he saw the situation was not good. After all, he had always acted without regard for the overall situation, making the country weaker and weaker. If he really made a risky move at a critical moment, with Wu Mingche and Xu Du as two generals to confront him, the harm could be minimized.

This series of very directional personnel adjustments in the court naturally made people in the capital panic, with a sense of undercurrents. However, the remnant of the quick resolution of the Nanchuan Rebellion was still there, and coupled with the victory of the first battle of the rebellion-suppressing brigade, even if those officials who had been stripped of their power had some dissatisfaction in their hearts, they did not dare to act rashly for a while.

Although the court officials remained calm and restrained, Chen Chang did not feel comfortable because of this, because soon after, various rumors began to spread in the city, such as the Tang army's boat divisions gathering on the river bank upstream, and the signs of the mobilization of troops and horses. What's more, some people said that the Tang army division appeared in Jingkou, making the situation even more confusing.

"This must be the treacherous people who have lost their power and are resentful, so they fabricated rumors to confuse people's hearts and intend to destroy the diplomatic relations between our country and the Tang country! Their hearts are worthy of death, and they must be investigated thoroughly!"

When Chen Chang heard his subordinates report such rumors, he was immediately furious. In his opinion, this was purely some thieves who were afraid of chaos in the world, making rumors and causing trouble, destroying the diplomatic relations between the two countries and hitting his prestige. He immediately ordered a strict investigation of the source of the rumors and prohibited the people in the capital from spreading related rumors.

But the matter was true. As time went on, the relevant information not only did not disappear, but became more and more, and the rumors were more and more certain and specific, so that Chen Chang began to gradually doubt whether it was true.

This situation has only been going on for a few days. If Chen Chang still half-believed and half-doubted the various rumors in the market, when the imperial envoy returned from Jingkou and told him that more than 10,000 divisions and brigades from Guangling would cross the river and enter Jingkou in batches in the near future, even though Chen Chang had been prepared in his heart, he felt like a bolt from the blue after hearing the news, and his shocked mind went blank.

"How, how could it be like this? Tang army, Xu Du... Jingkou actually changed its owner? How dare Xu Du, this bastard!"

After a long time, Chen Chang gradually reacted, and immediately began to curse Xu Du: "This bastard, didn't I treat him well? He actually ignored the emperor's grace, was willing to be a criminal in Jiangdong, and led the invaders across the river! What is the situation in Jingkou now? Jinling people, will they let the Tang army cross the river? Have the Tang army divisions and brigades come to Jiankang?"

In his opinion, the Tang army's sudden and treacherous crossing of the river to occupy Jingkou must have been attracted by the traitor Xu Du and intended to conquer Jiankang in one fell swoop. Therefore, the anger in his heart was soon replaced by panic, and he trembled repeatedly. Ask the Tang army stationed in Jingkou about their further actions.

What made him feel a little relieved was that the Tang army made no further moves after settling in Jingkou, especially no attempt to attack Jiankang. This made him feel relieved, but he quickly said in a loud voice: "With the fall of Jingkou, Jiangdong is in danger. If we do nothing and just sit back and wait for death, we must use all our strength to regain Jingkou! The current situation is extremely critical. Let the soldiers and people in the city be informed immediately, and all the young men in the country will go back to Jingkou!"

"My lord, please be careful! We still need to send envoys to ask why the Tang Army is stationed at Jingkou. Moreover, there are also Tang Army boat divisions gathering upstream. The situation is dangerous both above and below. You should not act rashly at this time, let alone stir up chaos in the territory!"

As soon as he said this, Yin Buhai, who was among the ministers, hurriedly came out to advise him, and several other ministers were also unable to speak.

After hearing these remonstrances, Chen Chang's face became gloomy and terrifying, and he snorted coldly: "The Tang people have betrayed their trust and brazenly invaded Jiangbiao. The matter is already confirmed. You still want to prevent me from using troops. Are you afraid of the powerful enemy? I don’t dare to be an enemy, but I am still greedy for profit and can’t bear to give up!”

"The shame of subjugating a country is a great humiliation for people and ministers! But if they can protect the country, they will also bravely strive to be the first to repay this favor! But now that great changes are coming suddenly and the situation is unclear, rash actions may not be beneficial. The former is a traitor to the army. Entering Zhongshan, the late lord is still unable to defeat them. If the Tang army really attacks Jiankang, there will be no shortage of people who will die among them! I just implore my lord not to mess up the situation. "

Chen Chang's accusation was so serious that Wang Tong, the minister in the front class, had to leave the class to pay his respects.

Coupled with the advice and comfort of other courtiers, Chen Chang gradually calmed down. He also knew that it would be impossible to cope with this change just by relying on various stress-related random operations. The only way was to restore communication as soon as possible and figure out the situation in Datang. Only with the intention can we hope to gain some opportunities.

So he asked someone to write a humble letter of credence, and the authors sent it to the Tang troops upstream and downstream. Not long after the letter of credence was sent, the envoy from the Tang Dynasty also crossed the river to Jiankang and stopped outside Stone City to deliver the letter to see him.

The already panicked Nanchen monarchs and ministers naturally welcomed the Tang envoy into the court with a respectful attitude, and hurriedly asked the Tang army what they intended for a series of extraordinary actions. When they learned that these actions of the Tang Army were aimed at Hou Andu in Kuaiji, the Nanchen monarchs and ministers couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded.

"The Tang State is still bullying me! How can it be that such a big war is just to get rid of Hou Andu! Even if Hou Andu is arrogant and lawless, he is always an evil minister of our Chen State, why bother other countries to investigate and punish him!"

Chen Chang naturally did not believe this reason, but after some angry remarks, he still had to face the reality, so he asked the Tang envoy if the Nanchen court could take Hou Andu and his confidants into custody and send them to the Tang Dynasty. , will the Tang army in the lower reaches be willing to retreat to Jiangbei?

Such negotiations were meaningless, and the envoys of the Tang Dynasty only repeatedly assured that this action was absolutely not intended to target the Jiankang court. No Tang army would enter Jiankang City without the permission of Lord Chen. Of course, the premise is that Chen Chang must issue a crusade against Hou Andu in the name of the Nanchen court and announce his crimes to the people of Jiangdong.

Naturally, Chen Chang refused to agree to such a request. Although other Nanchen ministers were also timid of the power of the Tang Dynasty, this approach of entering the country directly with an army without any prior communication was too much. They were all very angry and used silence to express their dissatisfaction.

However, as the Tang Army's boat division in the upper reaches continued to move south, and the front division even crossed the Hengjiang River and was about to arrive in Jiankang, the Nanchen court gradually stopped being silent. Some people continued to say that there was no need for the court to protect Hou Andu. Such a sinner turned against the Tang State, which had always been a close ally.

With the first person speaking out, subsequent speeches became more frequent. As more and more people expressed their opinions, Chen Chang, who was originally full of resentment and dissatisfaction, became more relaxed, and finally he was forced by external pressure. With the instigation from inside and outside, the request of the Tang State was met and a proclamation against thieves was issued in the name of the imperial court.

As this message reached Sanwu County, it immediately caused an uproar in Wuzhong. For a time, even the unresolved rebellion in Wu County was forgotten by Shiliu, and everyone who paid attention to the development of the situation paid attention. They were all attracted by this thing.