OBS Chapter 268: Your Majesty’s fear is at work again.
Chapter 268: Your Majesty’s fear is at work again.
During wartime, express horse can travel 800 miles per hour.
Especially in this critical situation where the war was launched without a single word and the city of Xi'an almost fell into the hands of Qi Jianshu, the 800-mile rush was urgent.
On the night that the memorial was received, His Majesty did not take it seriously.
He thought he would deal with the matter at court the next day, but the whole capital was in an uproar the next day.
His Majesty, who usually doesn't take care of affairs, flew into a rage in the court. With a dark complexion under his eyes, he still had the energy to scold all the ministers.
Originally, he didn't want to get involved in this matter.
Anyway, Xi'an is very far away from the capital, and even several cities near Xi'an and Xianyang have fallen.
It is not easy for Western Chu to attack the capital.
Even though Xi'an is littered with corpses and natural and man-made disasters continue, it will not affect your majesty's path to immortality and your life of drunkenness and dreams.
But the bad thing is that this year there have been natural disasters one after another, and now war has broken out.
Some rumors have begun to spread in the capital, saying that the current emperor is doing evil and incompetent, and that God can no longer tolerate it and is taking action to punish him.
The Great Zhou might have run out of energy.
No one knew where this rumor came from, but in less than one night, it became a huge hit.
Because the soldiers who rushed back to report the call for help for 800 miles were seriously injured, he shouted all the way that Xianyang had fallen, Xi'an was in danger, and the 80,000-strong army of Western Chu had crossed the river and was approaching the city...
These words were shouted all the way to the palace, and many people heard them. The news spread as if it had wings and spread extremely fast.
In less than one night, everyone in the capital knew that Xi'an was in danger and that soldiers at the border had sought help and were seriously injured.
On the way, the man who was sent back to Beijing to deliver the letter was ambushed several times.
He was the person carefully selected by Han Yaojun, but unexpectedly, even so, he still couldn't escape the fate of being hunted down.
Han Yaojun chose him because he was worried that there would be an ambush on the road.
The Eighth Prince had his plan in mind for this matter. Since he had the plan, he would naturally send people to keep a close eye on the city of Xi'an.
His people will keep a close eye on any disturbance in Xi'an City.
He was not the only one sent out this time. There were five people, all of whom were good at martial arts.
However, even though Han Yaojun had made such careful arrangements, he still could not escape the assassination attempt by the Eighth Prince's camp.
Regarding the matter of Xi'an City, the Eighth Prince always sent people to keep an eye on it.
Although he was far away in Beijing, he kept receiving letters from spies in cities near Xi'an.
The troops responsible for the siege on the east and west sides were also the Eighth Prince's men.
Their interests are the same, so naturally they do not want the soldiers in Xi'an to successfully reach the capital and report the matter to His Majesty so that everyone in the world will know.
By then, when the inside and the outside work together, I'm afraid it won't be able to be concealed.
In order to prevent the matter from being leaked, the Eighth Prince could not calm down at all. He sent several messages by carrier pigeons, constantly urging his people in various cities to kill the witnesses.
Zhou Yichen, Han Yaojun, and several forces from the Loyal and Brave Marquis' Mansion were dispatched to stop the Eighth Prince's men from hunting them down.
Even with the deployment of several forces, four people were killed on the road, leaving only one seriously injured soldier to arrive in the capital.
This incident caused a great uproar in the capital. Some upright officials of the court jointly submitted a memorial requesting His Majesty to immediately send reinforcements to Xi'an City for support.
Both the act of the wounded soldiers sending memorials to the capital and the contents of the memorials greatly shocked all the court officials.
They were far away in the capital and never thought that a war had broken out thousands of miles away, in a place they could not see.
The people in the city were in a state of panic. The 50,000 soldiers fought bloody battles and managed to hold off nearly 200,000 soldiers with only 50,000 troops, and held out for six whole days.
The most terrifying thing is not this, but the fact that no information has been leaked out in these six days!
Isn't this terrible?
When the city of Xi'an was besieged, Wang Youren, the commander of Xianyang City, surrendered without even a fight. No one from the cities near Xianyang reported the incident to the capital.
Such behavior is truly chilling.
If the local county officials and soldiers are all like this, I am afraid they will not wake up until the enemy army reaches the capital.
Although the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery Mansion is no longer in the court, it still retains some influence.
As long as the old marquis is willing, there will always be people who will stand up and speak for the affairs of Xi'an City.
A courtier with a white beard stood up and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, Xi'an City is in danger. Please make a decision as soon as possible. There is no time to delay."
Emperor Tianwu had a headache.
Because of his persistence in seeking immortality for so many years, the national treasury was empty. This year, natural disasters and man-made disasters all hit, and there was no time to buffer them, and accidents happened again and again.
Once a war really breaks out and drags on for a long time, problems with supplies in the rear will easily arise.
He began to ask the court officials if perhaps they could negotiate peace with Western Chu, as continuing to fight for a long time was not a solution.
As soon as these words were spoken, they were immediately opposed by the generals.
A number of generals expressed their willingness to fight in order to defend the Great Zhou and drive the Western Chu soldiers back to the other side of the river.
In addition, it is also a way to prove themselves.
It is only the defeated party that would choose to negotiate peace right away.
Most of the ways to negotiate peace included giving away gold, silver, and jewelry, as well as marrying off princesses.
The soldiers haven't even entered the battlefield yet, the war hasn't officially begun, but Your Majesty has chosen to negotiate peace. Isn't this a slap in their faces?
It’s not like the Great Zhou is without military generals. The Western Chu has already invaded the territory of the Great Zhou.
They are so deceiving, yet they still go up to ask for peace...
The general felt that he could not swallow this humiliation.
Some upright civil officials opposed Your Majesty's idea.
Among them, Prime Minister Rong was the leader.
The court officials did not think too much about it. They thought that the prime minister spoke out because his legitimate son, Rong Qingzhu, was still in Xi'an.
There was a heated argument in the court, and the selection of the main general to lead the expedition became a big problem.
Duke of Weiguo, Jiang Zhenyao's father had been a soldier all his life and had been stationed in Xi'an city for many years, making him the most suitable candidate.
Of course, there are other candidates.
For example, the eldest prince who is still resting in the capital.
He Rong Qingzhu's cousin.
These generals with battlefield experience have become candidates.
But compared to these, many court officials' first reaction was to ask the loyal and brave old marquis to come out of retirement.
Although the old marquis was over fifty years old, he still had the same charm and was good at using strategies. He once used 4,000 cavalrymen to launch a surprise attack on 50,000 elite troops from Japan and won a great victory.
Twenty thousand elite soldiers fought against a hundred thousand soldiers from the northern grassland tribe and captured the tribal leader.
There are countless places of interest like this.
All I can say is that no matter how good the first few candidates were, they were not good enough in front of this old marquis.
Besides, the eldest son of the Marquis's Mansion is still in Xi'an. Whether out of concern for his grandson or the dignity of a military commander, the old Marquis will never allow himself to lose the battle.
This candidate has won the approval and support of many people.
However, His Majesty's face turned completely dark. Not only did he not agree, he also made the final decision and decided that the eldest prince would be the chief general.
Court officials: ...Your Majesty's fear is playing tricks on you again.
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