Hello Chang’an

Chapter 587 Gift of Sword in the Past

 The Prince Rong's Mansion, who had been invited by "people all over the world" to take charge of the overall situation, naturally began to prepare for the deployment of troops.

Before that, Prince Rong's Mansion needed to get through the obstacle on Shannan West Road, that is, those imperial troops who failed to return to the capital to rescue them.

Li Yin set out for Shannan West Road in person.

Unlike the last time he met with Chai Ting alone on a snowy night, this time Li Yin appeared publicly in front of the imperial army and sincerely invited nearly a hundred generals in the army to discuss important matters.

Among these nearly a hundred people, including Chai Ting, the eunuchs who supervise the army, and the generals who obeyed the empress's orders, they tried to rush back to the capital to rescue him, but they were blocked by the Shannan West Road troops who had previously only defended but not attacked. Even Qianzhong Road sent troops to cut off their return.

They knew very well who was behind this... The capital was destroyed by Bian Jun, and the King Rong in front of them was not without responsibility!

But in fact, no one from all parties attributed this responsibility to Li Yin. It was their court who took the initiative to launch troops to attack the Shannan West Road. All the consequences were the court's wrong decision... And to this day, Li Yin has never He has acknowledged the master-slave relationship with Shannan West Road and Qianzhong Road, including the fact that he is sitting here now and appears as a "peacemaker".

Many times, the truth may not be hidden very well. The reason why no one tries to expose it is just out of weighing the gains and losses.

Just like the Duan Shiang Rebellion and the death of Shuofang and Lingnan Jiedushi, is it true that no one questions Li Yin? But even so, it did not prevent everyone from shouting benevolence wherever Li Yin went.

For some vague right or wrong, the people above only need to explain and deny it. After the people in the middle agree, the people below can only believe it.

Their nearly 100 generals can barely be regarded as middle-class, so they still have room to think. However, the countless lower-class people do not have the ability and power to distinguish between true and false. They can only be confused about what kind of voice comes from above. Then listen to that voice.

The truth is always in the hands of those who have the right to speak.

As middlemen, they may try to find out, but what does this mean to them? Debating with Li Yin about right and wrong, black and white? What results can they get from this?

In this world, success or failure can never be determined by just one word of right or wrong.

The capital was lost, and the emperor and the prince fled in panic to Luoyang, which was controlled by Chang Suining...

And their original army of 150,000 people, after half a year of fighting and a whole winter of attrition, only 110,000 people are left.

And with the collapse of the imperial court in Gyeonggi, signs began to appear among the 110,000 people that they were working together. The emperor and the prince must have tried to convey instructions to them from Luoyang, but... they never received half of the edict.

All contacts and relations between them and the imperial court have been cut off, and they have not much food and grass left.

Looking around in recent days, everyone in the army is in danger, and morale is at a loss.

Ordinary soldiers are frightened and confused, but as a general, they must also start to face their own situation.

They lost their connection with the imperial court, and the imperial court also lost control over them. The military orders and royal orders that had been pressing down on them like a mountain for a long time suddenly disappeared, and the boundaries of their positions became blurred, and some problems appeared in their hearts. A voice that has never been heard before—

The King of Rong may be suspected of compromising his moral integrity, but are the court and the emperor really righteous and impeccable? If so, why would Bian's army be instantly defeated wherever he went?

The answer is so simple that the question itself seems childish and ridiculous.

So the real answer may be that there is no point in talking about morality.

In this troubled world where moral bottom lines are blurred, many people have come to this conclusion.

They then gave up exploring how much of King Rong’s virtue was true and how much was false.

Li Yin appeared at this time, and there was no lack of grasp of timing and control of people's hearts.

Li Yin did not make any threats. He did not even classify the conversation as "persuading surrender", but called it a "cooperation" - as a descendant of the Li family, he proposed to the generals that in the current situation, they should all be united. Crush the Bian bandits, eliminate the rebellion, and welcome back the emperor and the crown prince.

This decent enough proposal gave everyone, including the eunuchs and eunuchs who were essentially greedy for life and afraid of death, but hesitant to turn against King Rong due to many considerations, the steps they needed.

This step preserves their face and more effectively buffers and blurs their political stance.

Even though they knew in their hearts that this was probably just Li Yin's expedient measure, they really had no better choice at the moment.

During the few days Li Yin stayed in the army, some people began to express their willingness to "cooperate" with Prince Rong's palace.

But not everyone only cares about the pros and cons of life and death. There are still people in the army who are unwilling to compromise, especially the generals in Xuance's army—

The three words Xuance Army determine in a certain sense that they have a more complete military ethics than ordinary soldiers. King Rong's suspicion of killing a military commander was a mistake they could not ignore.

At this moment, dozens of Xuance military generals gathered in Chai Ting's tent. One of them suggested: "General Chai, why don't we go to the north and retreat to Beidi with the general? It's better to go through this muddy water. Suffer from such hypocrites!”

Chai Ting, who was sitting behind the case, raised his eyes and looked over, and asked firmly: "Going to the north? Where can we get food and grass to support us? Where can we find a way to escape? Are we going to fight to the death with the three troops in King Rong's hands?"

The soldier was questioned, but his expression remained indignant.

"When we left the capital, there were 60,000 Xuance comrades in the 150,000-strong army, but now there are only more than 40,000 left..." Chai Ting said with a hint of sadness and anger in his old voice: "Do you want all 60,000 comrades to be killed?" Are you satisfied with being lost in civil strife? Do you want me to become an eternal sinner in Xuance Mansion?"

"The meaning behind General Chai's words is that he wants to follow the King of Rong Li Yin?!" The deputy general was equally sad and angry: "The general is afraid that he is old and confused and his bones are weak. He only knows about life and death, and does not know what is right and wrong. "

"What is justice? Now that the Bian thief is in power, it is the most just matter for the country to eliminate the civil strife!" Chai Ting said in a loud and resonant tone: "The imperial court has lost the support of the people, and Prince Rong Li Yin was of orthodox origin. It is the general trend of the times to serve the country and the people. And consideration is the duty of Xuance Mansion!"

The deputy general was still about to refute, but Chai Ting had already ordered people to remove his belt, remove him from the post of deputy general, and punish him with ten army sticks as a warning to others.

Anyone who stood up to plead for mercy, or also expressed his opposition to being associated with Li Yin, was also dismissed and punished.

The voices of opposition all turned into the squelching sound of punishment. After the generals retreated, Chai Ting sat quietly behind the case, the color in his eyes changing.

Even though the Xuance Army has qualities that far exceed those of ordinary armies, no matter how excellent the army is, it is still composed of countless ordinary people, and any human heart may be shaken—

Chai Ting knew that many of the dozens of generals had secretly turned to King Rong...

Those people have become the eyes of King Rong, so his attitude as the coach is particularly important, otherwise his position may have to be replaced tomorrow.

On that snowy night, Chaiting also wavered. After seeing the public sentiment expressed by King Rong, he was further shaken.

Therefore, he could understand the wavering of his subordinates. King Rong was not perfect, but the imperial court was no longer worthy of allegiance. Compliance with the people's wishes seemed to be the best destination.

It was already dark, and the soldiers in the tent lit an oil lamp.

Chai Ting used his withered old hands to slowly pull out a secret letter from under a pile of official documents.

This was a secret letter he received this morning. The army was besieged here, and he was slightly surprised that someone could deliver the letter to his account. However, what really shocked him was the content of the letter.

He had read every word of the letter over and over again, and at this point he had to destroy the letter.

Chai Ting lit the letter and envelope above the oil lamp. The firelight reflected the old man's eyes, showing a bit of tears and a bit of regained determination.

Chai Ting's attitude quickly reached Li Yin's ears through the mouths of several Xuance military officers.

Li Yin was not surprised. As early as that snowy night, he had planted a seed in Chai Ting's heart. Chai Ting's choice now was based on reason and human nature.

Soon, nine out of ten of the nearly one hundred generals expressed their willingness to "cooperate".

The remaining one or two did not require Li Yin to do anything. Eighty-nine out of ten of them had already taken the initiative to clean up and pacify them.

Li Yin only needed to give a clean and innocent salute: "It is a blessing for the common people that all generals care about the people of Dasheng. No matter whether you go to the capital or not, I will thank you for your great righteousness on behalf of the people of the world."

The generals headed by Chai Ting raised their hands and bowed in return.

In addition to the 110,000 troops here, Prince Rong's Mansion has ordered another 90,000 troops, integrating a total of 200,000 troops, and will soon mobilize the capital to attack Bian Chunliang.

This battle will be led by Rong Wang Li Yin himself. He has declared to the outside world that after the rebellion in the capital is quelled, he will go to Luoyang in person to welcome back the emperor and the crown prince.

"Welcome back the emperor and the prince..."

It was getting late, and Li Yin sat behind his desk, slowly wiping a long sword that had not been used for a long time, and repeating to himself the words he had been saying to everyone in recent days.

After finishing speaking, he let out a very light laugh.

It's really funny to say that he wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the capital to induce Chang Suining to take action. As long as she takes action, she can kill three birds with one stone... But instead of taking the opportunity to directly seize the capital, she opened the gates of Luoyang to welcome the Ming Dynasty and Li Zhi went to "avoid disaster".

What's even more ridiculous is that if you calculate the time it takes to make the decision, it's probably not Chang Suining's instruction, but the plan of her advisers.

She had such a calm and good strategist under her command. She chose not to join the game under such a huge temptation. Instead, she led his army and took the empress and the prince to Luoyang, forcing him to "welcome back the emperor and the prince" afterwards. Another obstacle was placed on his way to the throne.

He could ignore the defeated Empress with a foreign surname, but Li Zhi's child who should have died under Bian Jun's sword was actually the legitimate Crown Prince named Li.

This was really troublesome, but now he could only take advantage of the situation to get back the capital.

Li Yin quietly wiped the sword blade and looked into the eyes reflected on the blade.

In a daze, those eyes seemed to slowly change into a pair of cold girl's eyes.

Li Yin stopped wiping and narrowed his eyes slightly.

This sword was given to him by Yu Zeng on the eve of Ashang's appointment as the crown prince.

It was a fine sword made by a skilled craftsman, and he fell in love with it at first sight.

Ashang gave him his favorite thing and wanted to share the good news with him. He should have been happy, and he was indeed happy, but that joy was not just for Ashang.

He originally thought that he and Ah Shang were both poor people, and that Ah Shang, who he watched and taught and grew up, was similar to him. Of course, he still thought so until that moment, but he couldn't help but think...since they were similar , since he taught it, then if Ashang can get it, he may not be able to get it, right?

At that time, he suddenly laughed.

At this moment, Li Yin also smiled. He put the sword into its scabbard, put it in his hand, and said, "Come in."

Outside the study, the person who knocked on the door pushed open the door and entered, raising his hand and saluting: "Your Majesty."

Li Yin raised his head and looked up, with admiration in his eyes: "Bian Jun successfully entered the capital, and Cong'er is indispensable."

Whether it was the occurrence of Ying Xiao, the discovery of the armory, or Bian Jun's unstoppable momentum after that, Li Cong was behind every detail.

Li Cong said: "I failed to persuade Xiao Min to surrender, and my son did not dare to claim credit."

Faced with his solicitation, Xiao Min has always had an unclear attitude and has remained stationary in the Lingnan area so far. He tried to get rid of it, but Xiao Min hardly showed up in front of people, and the soldiers and horses of Qianzhong Road were used to delay the imperial army. He tried to mobilize some scattered forces from Lingnan Road, but failed to cause serious damage to the opponent for the time being.

"You have helped me a lot as a father." Li Yin said: "As for Xiao Min, we really can't keep him anymore. This person has a strange attitude. I suspect that he has secretly surrendered to Chang Sui Ning... If he is not removed, there may be trouble in the future."

"You are already very familiar with the situation in Lingnan and central Guizhou, so I will leave this matter to you." Li Yin looked at the young man in front of him with trust and admiration in his eyes: "I am going to the capital for my father's sake, and all matters in the rear will be left to you. Give it to me."

Li Cong lowered his head: "Yes, my son will definitely live up to his father's trust... I hope that my father's trip will end the Bian Army's rebellion in one fell swoop, revive the Li family, and ascend to the position of great treasure!"

Li Yin laughed loudly and nodded: "Okay, by then, you and I, father and son, will be reunited in the capital."

Late at night, after Li Cong left Prince Rong's Mansion, he returned to his residence in Yizhou City.

He left Yizhou for many days and failed to come back during the New Year. The woman, who had not seen her son for a long time, waited and waited. Finally, someone came back. She hurriedly stepped forward to check and ask whether her son was injured as usual.

"My son was not injured." In front of his mother, Li Cong's voice was slightly muffled: "But I may not be so lucky next time."

The woman was stunned for a moment, and then she quickly lowered her voice and asked: "...The troops are about to be mobilized. Why don't you follow the prince to the capital?"

Li Cong turned his face to one side and tightened his jaw: "Your Majesty asked me to go to Lingnan again to eliminate the military troubles in the rear."

The woman frowned. Li Lu was accompanying her, but she wanted her son to risk doing hard work at the rear?

Normally, she wouldn't have any objections, but it has come to this critical moment...

Li Cong suppressed the depression in his heart and asked, "Has there been any result about what I asked my mother to investigate before I left?"

He wanted to know if his father had a third son.

Goodnight everybody.