Chapter 44: Choosing a General (continued)
This is Wang Ce's first time facing the Holy Palace, even if he is young and old, he can't help but feel a little apprehensive in his heart. Thinking back to this time last year, he was just a beggar who was curled up in the Yuzhang City Relief Workshop and ate the last meal, but now he has stood on the pinnacle stage of the world, and he will face the most powerful group of people in the world.
Wang Ce will not forget who brought him this qiē, and how fascinating the qiē in front of him is, but Wang Ce knows in his heart that if there is no big brother, what is the meaning of the qiē in front of him?
Yes, Wang Ce knew the teacher's intention to bring him into the palace!
In Xu Fan's view, all Wang Ce has to do and can do is to tell what is happening in Yangzhou and the reason for it in public, simply and without the slightest difficulty. But this kind of honesty cannot achieve the goal that Wang Ce wants to achieve.
What does Wang Ce want?
Quite simply, what Big Brother wants is his purpose! Big Brother needs a turmoil to stop the impending risk. At present, although the turmoil has started, it is still not violent enough to meet the requirements of the eldest brother. If this turmoil is quelled, then what they have done will be meaningless!
Therefore, Wang Ce did not want this turmoil to be quelled. And to achieve this goal, the difficulty is not ordinary!
Lying and giving false information is undoubtedly the best way. But the people sitting in the hall are the top smart people in the world, and it is not easy to deceive them! Not to mention that the internal guard does not know less than him, and even if he doesn't know it now, he can quickly find out in the future. A lie that is destined to be debunked, there is no meaning in telling it.
Not lying, but also making the people present make wrong decisions, and not realizing that they have done something, sounds like it is not ordinarily difficult. Fortunately, Wang Ce, who has never given up paying attention to the situation in Chang'an, is not at a loss.
When a young man first ascended the Golden Palace, he was a little dazed and a little cowardly, which was really human nature, even if he knew his students very well, Xu Fan would not have thought that in this short moment of distraction, Wang Ce's mind would turn over so many thoughts.
"Cao Min Wang Ce, I have seen the Holy Lord and all the lords!" Wang Ce saluted respectfully, but even half of the cowardice on his face was gone, full of calm and confidence.
Although pretending to be stupid and pretending to be a country boy who has never seen the world, the effect can be better. But if this is the case, even if you can fool others, it is absolutely impossible to fool Xu Fan, a teacher who has long been immune to this trick commonly used by their brothers. In this way, the purpose of withdrawing from the outside world cannot be achieved.
"Well, that's good!" Li Longji saw that it only took a moment for this young man to recover from his crampedness, and he replied calmly, not at all like an ordinary teenager. So he nodded slightly, and then smiled at Xu Fan: "The prime minister has accepted a good student!"
Seeing that his students had been rewarded by the saints, even Xu Fan was inevitably a little complacent, so he smiled and bowed.
"Let's tell the situation of Yangzhou City with the Holy Lord and all the adults!" Xu Fan said to Wang Ce.
Wang Ce turned sideways slightly, and after bowing his body, he bowed to everyone in the audience and said: "The kid has been in Yangzhou City a few months ago, and he has also experienced the turmoil caused by the city from beginning to end. After the turmoil at the beginning of the year, Yangzhou City has long been empty, and most of the rich families have moved out, that is, ordinary people, in addition to having nowhere to go, almost all of them have left, and Yangzhou is actually an empty city. ”
Wang Ce didn't say much about the land turmoil caused by the city, the turmoil involved too much at the beginning, and even few people here dared to say that their buttocks were clean. It's useless to say more, just brush it up.
"In recent days, the food crisis has broken out, and there has been a shortage of food in Yangzhou for many days, and the people have almost no food to eat, and they are starving everywhere. The officers and soldiers in the city, the government officials, and the government troops in the barracks outside the city can only barely survive on a little food every day, let alone fight to kill the enemy, but I am afraid that I will not even have the strength to take up arms......"
Wang Ce continued to tell the facts, and at the same time, his words were full of compassion, which was very much in line with the style of a good young man who was worried about the people. But when it comes to this paragraph, perhaps it is only because of the low mood of the emotion, so Wang Ce's speech speed is very slow, slow enough for the generals to absorb the information they need from it: that is, the reason why Yangzhou City is so easy to lose is because of the lack of food and the inability of the defenders to defend, not because the enemy army is too strong......
In addition, when the rebels were in turmoil, they also contacted a big businessman named Li Yi in the city, who had great energy in Yangzhou City, and had a lot of money, so he knew a lot about the situation in Yangzhou City. At the time of the rebellion, the rebels used the power of this Li Yi to enter the city of Yangzhou silently, and almost bloodlessly took all the important places in the city......"
Li Yi's information was also sent to Shengzhou from Yangzhou City before he came.
In the eyes of officials in Chang'an, Yangzhou in March is full of copper smell, a big businessman with a lot of money may not be able to exert much energy in Chang'an City, but in Yangzhou, a city with developed commerce, it can play a great role!
This kind of common cognition in the hearts of the people of Chang'an has also penetrated into the hearts of upper-level officials imperceptibly. Merchants may have little status in the hierarchical Chang'an, but in Yangzhou it is completely different! Wang Ce quietly took advantage of this subconscious cognition in the hearts of the officials on the field, thus once again reducing the strength of the rebels in the hearts of everyone.
In fact, along with Li Yi's intelligence, there was also news that the main force of the rebels had disappeared and that the leader of the rebels, Yang Tinghe, was missing. But this qiē, Wang Ce chose to forget. Because if these things are said, even people who don't understand military affairs will be careful and choose to wait and see until they find out the other party's movements, and this result is naturally not what Wang Ce wants.
At the same time, no matter which party sees such information, it is confidential, and it is normal for an "ordinary teenager" like Wang Ce not to know. Afterwards, no one can pick on him for not being on it.
Just when the boy left Shengzhou and came to Chang'an, he heard that the rebels were already marching towards the surrounding counties with Yangzhou City as the center. As for how many counties have fallen, it is unknown......"
Wang Ce's words were finished, so he quietly stepped aside, bowing his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Saint, now Xu Xiang's students have made the situation very clear, and there is no difference from the information sent by Lord Hua, so what are you waiting for!
"That's right! Holy Lord, send troops! The people in the south are now short of food and are in rebellion, and they are in dire straits! They must all be looking forward to the king's army to save the people from fire and water! We can't wait any longer!" There are also military generals who are more talented, and their faces are compassionate and compassionate.
"These are the families of military generals, right......" Wang Ce stood aside, although his head was lowered, but the corner of his eye was observing the generals opposite, seeing that these people were so anxious, it must be the unintended family of military generals who came in and mixed up.
Xu Chen asked Peng Ze to lay out an intelligence network in Chang'an, but it cost a lot of money! The last time Wang Ce entered Beijing, he was not idle in the few days he stayed in Chang'an, and then the title of prime minister came into contact with a group of people, and also developed a group of people. Now in Chang'an's intelligence network, the level is not low, and it is not difficult to get information that is not up or down like a military general's family, which is only considered a middle-level intelligence.
On the way to the palace, Wang Ce was already thinking about what method should be used to intensify the rebellion. Choosing a commander with mediocre talent for the counterinsurgency of the imperial court is undoubtedly the most direct and least risky way.
A family of military generals with low eyes and meritorious service is undoubtedly the best choice!
For this reason, on the way here, Sun Desheng wanted to ask Wang Ce for advice, but in fact, Wang Ce didn't ask Sun Desheng for some information.
The people who were in a hurry for the emperor this time were all sent by Sun Desheng to spread the word, and it was natural to know who the generals were coming. Comparing the names of the people you got with the information you got before, it is easy to know who these generals on the other side are and who are from the military generals' families.
The people who are the happiest now are naturally the families of military generals who are eager to make some military achievements through this rebellion.
The appointment of the commander of the counterinsurgency only belongs to the power of the emperor, and even the three prime ministers are only one of them, and Wang Ce is just a young man with no official position and no position, no matter how you look at it, it is impossible to have this influence.
But Wang Ce knew in his heart that this time, the commander of the counterinsurgency was only afraid that he would soon fall into the hands of this family of military generals.
To have this assertion, in addition to Wang Cefang's conscious depreciation of the strength of the rebels, so that everyone present did not have a clear understanding. What's more, Wang Ce knew or guessed the attitude of the three prime ministers!
Li Longji once asked the prime ministers for their opinions, but that was only a preliminary opinion, and did not involve any substantive rights and interests, so it could not be done seriously. Next, regarding the appointment of the commander-in-chief of counterinsurgency, Li Longji will once again consult the opinions of the prime ministers, this time is the key to the competition among the generals, and it is also a good opportunity for the three prime ministers to expand their own forces in the military. Whether it is to install their own people, or to take this opportunity to sell favors to military generals, such a good thing can bring predictable benefits.
But, coincidentally. Not long ago, because of An Lushan's incident, Lin Xilie and Li Linfu had a trouble. Lin Xilie's strength was already insufficient, although he also had the idea of expanding his strength, but this time, Wang Ce expected that he would not make another move. Similarly, Li Linfu only determined the strategy of Taoguang and raising obscurity not long ago, but because of an accident, he once again showed his fangs in the matter of An Lushan, which must have caused the emperor's displeasure, and it will definitely not be long after the incident, and he will definitely not make the same mistake again. And his teacher Xu Fan, since the visit to the prime minister, has not shown his appeal to the military forces, no matter what the teacher's considerations, he will definitely not change this strategy in a short period of time, so he must not have his own ideas in the selection of counterinsurgency candidates this time.
The prime ministers' minds are confirmed, and the rest is the generals. Not all of the generals in the court are from military families, and some are from civilian backgrounds and have won the work of killing the enemy with a sword. But it is almost impossible for such people to compete with the entrenched military generals in Chang'an for counterinsurgency candidates.
In this way, when everyone does not clearly understand the strength of the rebels, it is undoubtedly the best choice to send someone first, whether it can really quell the rebellion or just test it.
Emperor Li Longji must think the same way!