The support of the two generals made Yang Fei decide to stay in Huguang and Sichuan for the time being, and wait until Zhang Bingzhong was completely defeated before returning to the division. He immediately drafted a memo to Emperor Chongde, explaining that it was difficult for him to return for the time being, and proposed that the military department immediately organize the local army to strengthen the defense and hold the important cities, and at the same time mobilize reinforcements from the troops in the direction of Shandong and Anhui.

At Fu Yuanxian's house, who had just received a court cane, Fu Yuanxian, who was recuperating from his injuries, met with a guest. This guest is Liu Qidong, who has just been reinstated and served as the left attendant of the ministry.

"Does Mr. Zongzheng know that Governor Yang sent a letter to the emperor to oppose the mobilization of Huguang's army?" As soon as he sat down, Liu Qidong asked directly.

Fu Yuanxian smiled bitterly: "How can you not know." ”

When Liu Qidong heard this, he scolded and said: "Yang Fei misleads the country!" Mr. Zongzheng should be stopped by the book! ”

People in this era generally call other people's words when they talk about others, and now Liu Qidong does not call Yang Fei's words, but calls him by his name, which shows his attitude towards Yang Fei.

Fu Yuanxian listened, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I naturally went to the book, but it is difficult to say whether the emperor will listen to me." ”

Liu Qidong said: "Yang Fei's plan is completely to gamble with the fate and future of the country!" And it's a gamble with no chance of winning! ”

Fu Yuanxian nodded and said, "What Mr. said is true." Governor Yang's plan is quite selfish. However, over the years, the imperial court has invested too much in his plan and it is difficult to turn back. ”

When Liu Qidong heard this, he sneered: "This is holding the imperial court hostage!" ”

"What else else?" Fu Yuanxian shook his head and said, "Over the years, how much manpower and material resources has the imperial court invested in that four-sided net?" How much did it cost? Can the imperial court watch all the manpower and material resources invested in the previous years go to waste? The emperor will also feel that if the officials and troops of Huguang are transferred back now, it will be equivalent to all the costs paid in front of them to encircle and suppress those rogues, the boiling of public resentment caused by the drying up of the rivers and the increase in taxes on the fishing land, and the weakening of the border defense to bring the Dongzhi into the Koukou, all these efforts will become useless. The entire Jokhang Dynasty consumed itself to the point where it almost ran out of oil, but it didn't get anything. The emperor is afraid that it will be difficult for him to ride a tiger. ”

Liu Qidong listened and said: "The pit viper stings, and the strong man breaks his wrist!" The current situation, first of all, is that the financial resources of the imperial court are exhausted, and the troops of the nine sides are difficult to move lightly, and if the troops of Shandong and Anhui are to be mobilized, more military spending must be invested. Where does military spending come from? Do you want to continue to send more? Isn't this just to drive fish for the abyss? Moreover, now, relying on Henan's army alone, it can only hold some larger cities, such as Kaifeng and Luoyang. Other counties and other cities, after Huang Zide captured Ruzhou and obtained those weapons in Ruzhou's arsenal, it was impossible to stop his attack. Therefore, local erosion is almost certain. Huang Zide relied on the food and materials obtained by occupying these county towns, and in addition to the situation of displaced people everywhere, he was afraid that in less than a month, he would be able to gather more than 100,000 people and horses in his hands. Although these 100,000 horses are basically a rabble, in order to suppress the 100,000 rabble, the imperial court must also mobilize tens of thousands of troops, and if the imperial court cannot suppress it in a short time, these 100,000 rabble will even become 200,000 300,000. If such a situation is really created, then the Jokhang Dynasty will really be "dead". ”

Liu Qidong is bold and dares to say anything. But Fu Yuanxian didn't dare to say this, so he had to say: "Governor Yang means that if he can quickly defeat Zhang Bingzhong here, and Henan can slow down the development of Huang Zide a little, and the imperial court can transfer the troops of Shandong and Anhui to Henan as soon as possible to suppress Huang Zide's development, and then after eliminating Zhang Bingzhong, he will take Huguang's army and turn around and go back, and he will have a chance to eliminate Huang Zide." Calm the world in one fell swoop. ”

"What if you can't do it?" Liu Qidong said, "Yang Fei's current plan is actually a big gamble, and the bet is the national fortune of the Jokhang Dynasty!" If everything is as he thinks, it will be good, but if there is even the slightest problem with any of his conditions, the court will exhaust the last of its strength in vain. After that, for a long time, it will no longer be possible for the imperial court to take the initiative to attack and suppress the Liukou, and at most it can only barely support under the attack of the Liukou. Assisting the king, not considering the root cause of the problem, but only encouraging the king to take risks and take chances, this is not what a traitor is! Besides, what chance does the imperial court have of winning this gamble? Mr. Zongzheng knows the soldiers, the world knows, do you think the imperial court gambles according to this plan, how many chances can it win? ”

Hearing this question, Fu Yuanxian said: "It depends on the will of heaven, if you want me to say, at most thirty percent." ”

Liu Qidong looked at Fu Yuanxian for a while, and then said, "Mr. Zongzheng is talking about the upper limit, right?" Although I don't know how to fight, I know that there are so many conditions, and each of them is very difficult to achieve, for example, can the local officials and soldiers in Henan keep not losing heavy land again, and still limit the possibility of Huang Zide? ”

Fu Yuanxian shook his head and said: "Henan doesn't have any troops, Gao Jie is a little bold to fight with Huang Zide with others, if he is allowed to face Huang Zide alone, it is not bad to describe him as 'afraid of the enemy like a tiger'." How is there a 70% chance here? There may not be a 50% chance. ”

"Then Shandong, Anhui's officials and troops arrived in time, and what is the chance to control Huang Zide?" Liu Qidong asked again.

"It's not more than fifty percent." Fu Yuanxian replied.

"What is the chance that Yang Fei will eliminate Zhang Bingzhong in a short time, and then come back with Huguang's army to defeat Huang Zide?"

"There is about a six-seven-percent chance of defeating Zhang Bingzhong."

"In this way, the chances of winning this game in the imperial court are not even twenty percent! It's Yang Fei himself, but he has a good chance. No wonder he came up with such a plan. Liu Qidong finally said.

Liu Qidong's words are very heart-wrenching, what he means is that Yang Fei fooled Emperor Chongde into making such a gamble, if this gamble is won by luck, then Yang Fei is naturally the world's No. 1 hero, glorious and rich, and famous in history. Even if he fails, most of the time it is not because Yang Fei is responsible for this part, he can also say: "I have done well enough, you have dragged me back!" "The responsibility is not his. If a person who is a minister really intends to do so, then he is not a traitor, and who else can be a traitor?

"It's up to the saint to wake up." Fu Yuanxian sighed.

"The Holy Lord's treatment is too urgent to be done. This is the root of Yang Fei's ability to figure out these things! Liu Qidong said again, "Yang Fei, this person, has first-class talents, but he is very much like an ancient." ”

"Which ancient?" Fu Yuanxian asked

"Pei Ju!" Liu Qidong replied.

Pei Ju was a famous minister in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and during the period of Emperor Wen of Sui, he made great contributions in the pacification of Lingnan and the crusade against the Turks. Talent is valued by the imperial court. When he arrived at Emperor Yang of Sui, he turned into a traitor who was best at deceiving his superiors and subordinates. In the Tang Dynasty, he became a minister of the Tang Dynasty and was widely praised for his foresight and courage to speak out. Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty commented on this humanity in the "Zizhi Tongjian": "The ancients had a saying: the king is wise and the minister is straight. Pei Ju was loyal to the Sui and Tang, but his nature has changed; When the gentleman hears his faults, he will be loyal, and if he hears the outspokenness, he will become loyal. It is the appearance of the ruler, the view of the minister, and the scene of the movement. ”

"A few years ago, when a certain person entered the court, the saint asked a certain way to govern the country. A certain told him: 'Cultivate virtue and righteousness. It is to see that the emperor is eager to seek treatment, and the heart of luck is heavy, and it is easy to take shortcuts. That's why I answered this question. The Master said, 'For the sake of government and virtue, such as the North Star, dwelling in its place and the stars arching over it.' If the emperor is willing to do honest things in a down-to-earth manner, beyond his ability, he will take a step back and cultivate with the people, instead of blindly taking risks by chance, why is the world like this? You must know that in this world, what seems to be light and easy, in fact, most of them are wrong. If the ruler lacks virtue and cannot restrain his desires, he will easily embark on such an evil path, seek luck for a while, and eventually harm the country. Qu Zi said: 'Bi Yao and Shun Zhi Geng Jiexi, both follow the way and get the way. He is full of prosperity, and the husband is only a shortcut to embarrassment. Wei Zheng said: "Virtue is not thick, love is not over its desire, Si Yi cut the roots to seek Mu Mao, plug the source and want to flow long." That's all there is to it. Therefore, today's chaos lies in the fact that the saint failed to cure the root cause of the pure heart, so that the loyalty turned into a villain! As soon as Liu Qidong was excited, he directly pointed the finger at Emperor Chongde.

Liu Qidong's statement, Fu Yuanxian is actually very much in favor of it. In his opinion, in the early years, when Emperor Chongde had just ascended the throne, the world had not yet been corrupted to the point where it is now. At that time, if the emperor could see the trend of declining national strength, and make the practice of shrinking his strength and recuperating as soon as possible, instead of adopting the practice of drying up and fishing, the world may not be the current situation. But at this point, how easy is it to re-engage in strategic contraction? Many times, it is much more difficult to go backwards than to move forward, especially in today's situation. It's like an army retreating in front of a strong enemy, and if you're not careful, the retreat will turn into a defeat or even lead to a total collapse. Since ancient times, how many dynasties have been able to revive after turning to a full-scale contraction?

Therefore, the more unfavorable the situation, the more serious the luck psychology of Emperor Chongde became; The more serious the luck psychology of Emperor Chongde, the more inclined he was to gamble riskily; The more risky gambling things are done, the greater the losses encountered, and the more unfavorable the situation becomes, and then Emperor Chongde ...... In the end, the entire court fell into such a strange circle, and it became more and more difficult to extricate itself.