Wen Qiao traveled thousands of miles and had not yet arrived in Pingzhou, and Xiangguo first got the news of Pei Gaijianzuo.

Let's say that after Shi Le retreated to Xiangping, he checked the defeated army, and sixty percent of the ten percent were missing, especially the elite of Zhao Zhao, who suffered heavy losses and couldn't help but be depressed. But he quickly stabilized his emotions, and urgently ordered others to draft an edict against himself, and took all the responsibility for the defeat of the Southern Expedition on himself, so as to appease the hearts of the generals.

Cheng Yao also wanted to take the opportunity to enter Zhang Bin's slander, saying that Zhang Bin had written to the guards of various cities in Hebei without authorization, asking them to prepare for the imperial Jin, which was an act of overstepping his authority - "Taifu only wishes that His Majesty will be defeated, which can show that he is prescient." ”

Who would have thought that Shi Le laughed at this, and said: "Taifu has his own foresight, and he has already made it clear before I leave the teacher. The preface is still in my ears, and I was able to return to Xiangguo, and I have the power of Taifu Shilling to hold on to the cities, how can I blame him? ”

Cheng Ziyuan said a few more words, but was repelled by Shi Le - the key is that he has no help, Zhang Jing knows that his plan has failed, and it is a fluke to be able to remain in the position, how dare he speak again in a short time!

Immediately, Shi Le ordered an envoy to summon Zhang Bin and return to Xiangguo to plan a plan.

Under the edict, Cheng Ziyuan pinched the piece of paper, as if he felt a thousand weights...... It was not easy to blow Zhang Bin away, I thought that I could slowly separate the relationship between him and the king of heaven, as long as the work is deep, there will always be a day when Zhang's favor is exhausted, then the affairs of the Chinese and the DPRK, I am the only one in charge, who would have thought that the king of heaven was so anxious to call him back. Once Zhang Bin returns to Xiangguo, will he still have his own good fruits to eat?

Zhang Jing is finished, although the king of heaven has not been punished for the time being, but everyone knows that he was the one who advocated the big gamble that day, and he assisted the king of heaven, and he was actually the one who planned in the army, so since he was so defeated, how could he be without fault? The king of heaven is just worried about affecting the morale of the people, so he is just keeping him for the time being, even if he still doesn't settle the account after the autumn, what this person says, the king of heaven will no longer care, and he will definitely be marginalized.

Cheng Yao loses Zhang Jing, if he breaks an arm, and then the army is defeated, the hearts of the dependents will inevitably be separated. If those guys go to seek refuge in Xun Xuan, Pei Xian, etc., it will be fine—they are all incompetent bureaucrats, who can only quote scriptures, or chant the wind and the moon, and they can't set off any storms—but if Zhang Bin returns, the king of heaven hopes to restore Yin, and they will flock to it again...... Can I still land?

Don't look at Zhang Mengsun's fake model in the past, he was not friends or parties, and he also retreated step by step under his own pressure, that is because when the king of heaven is growing up, there is no him or him, it doesn't matter much, if you want to seize power, it is easy to be jealous of the king. But now it's different, the King of Heaven wants him to help clean up the mess, and he will be willing to tolerate what he does, then Zhang Bin may take revenge on me for the past!

People who hold grudges, look at others and hold grudges, dark people, think that there can be no selfless people in the world, so Cheng Ziyuan believes that once Zhang Bin returns to Xiangguo, he will inevitably sacrifice a butcher's knife to himself. The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became, so he temporarily pressed the edict and did not send it, but first went to ask Yan Zhen, the regular attendant, for advice.

Shi Lecao is reckless, although there are many wives and concubines, but there are no eunuchs, or Cheng Yao searched everywhere for good gelding cattle and horses, and cut hundreds of teenagers to fill the palace of Xiangguo. During this period, he also visited a Gaoyang person, surnamed Yan Mingzhen, who was a heavenly eunuch, and he had read for a few days, so he directly dedicated it to his sister and queen Cheng. Yan Zhen is over thirty years old, older than those new eunuchs, old looking, but scheming, serving Queen Cheng and Prince Shi Hong with all his heart, so he was appreciated by Shi Le, and was ordered to be a regular servant in the palace.

The reason why Cheng Yao entered Yan Zhen was to install an ear and eye for himself in the palace - his sister Cheng Hou is a woman after all, and she has no knowledge, even if she wants to secretly communicate with her brother, she doesn't know what news is important. In the original history, after Shi Hong's teeth grew older, Shi Le ordered his province to be a scholar, practice government affairs, and ordered Yan Zhen to assist him, whether it was possible to participate in the comprehensive, Yan Zhen was in power for a while, and even surpassed Cheng Yao and Xu Guang, who were in charge of foreign affairs, and Shi Hu, who controlled heavy troops.

But at this stage, the prince has not yet grown up, and Yan Zhen can't pretend to be a tiger and steal his authority, so he relies on Cheng Yao as a backer, and his attitude is still quite respectful. Cheng Yaomi met Yan Zhen and asked him directly: "The King of Heaven wants to summon Zhang Mengsun to return, and Qing may find an opportunity to make a statement, so that he can sleep like this?" ”

Yan Zhen smiled bitterly and said: "Cheng Gong takes me too seriously, although the Heavenly King occasionally inquires, but how can he listen to me for such a big matter?" Even if the queen speaks, I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop it. ”

Cheng Yao couldn't help but sigh: "How can this be good? Then he said to Yan Zhen: "I have always been in disagreement with Zhang Mengsun, and even before this time the king of heaven is out of the country, if he returns to the court, he will definitely retaliate, corresponding to the current situation, I am afraid it will be difficult for me to fight the enemy...... If I lose the favor of the king, what will I do? ”

Don't think that other ministers haven't stuffed people into the palace, and don't think that there are no eunuchs who come up to meet me, trying to take your place. I'm a grasshopper tied to you in a line, and I can't run away from me, and I can't jump on you, and I'll lose everything—so don't look at it from the dry shore, and help me use my brains and come up with ideas.

Yan Zhen pondered for a long time before he said: "I have three strategies, I don't know if Cheng Gong can use them." ”

"It's okay to be blunt."

"The best policy, Cheng Gong can temporarily obey Taifu Zhang, first ask for guilt in person, and re-entrust the compromise, so that it is inconvenient for Taifu to slander the Heavenly King Cheng Gong. As for the future, according to the situation, we can plan slowly......"

Cheng Yao immediately refused: "How can I bow down to that old thief?" And even if you bow your head, will he not harm me? What about the middle strategy? ”

Yan Zhen said: "Cheng Gong can conspire to join forces with Xu Gong (Xu Guang), Xun Gong (Xun Xuan) and others to resist Zhang Taifu together, then Taifu will return to the dynasty and dare not harm Cheng Gong's heart." ”

Originally, in the "Gentleman's Camp", the top three Shi Le ministers and Central Plains scholars were Zhang Bin, Cheng Yao and Xu Guang. Later, Shi Le Dingji Xiangguo, Cheng Yao relied on offering his sister to invite favors, and with the secret assistance of Wang Gong, he took charge of the intelligence work, but gradually approached Zhang Bin and left Xu Guang far behind. When Zhang Jing was removed, Cheng Yao's authority was unmatched for a while, everyone was dependent, and although the position was still under Zhang Bin, the power was faintly excessive. Later, Zhang Jing stepped in and became Cheng Yaozhi's Yapi.

In addition, after Shi Le killed Wang Jun, he forced the landing of Xun Sui, Pei Xian and many other Wenchen from a family, originally just wanted to use their fame to decorate the façade and win over the landlord class in the Central Plains, but gradually with the two as the core, a small group was also formed, although the energy can not be compared with Cheng Yao and Zhang Jing Group, the number far exceeds Zhang Bin - because Zhang Bin is alone, he will not become a group.

Now that Zhang Jing is standing aside, Xu Guang gradually has the intention of replacing him and re-ranking as the third place. Therefore, Yan Zhen suggested, Cheng Gong, if you can release your suspicions with Xu Jiwubing, and then win over the family group, spearhead the outside world, and resist Zhang Bin together, it is possible to continue to suppress Zhang Bin and prevent him from becoming a momentum - at least, Zhang Bin will not dare to take revenge on you as soon as he returns to the court.

When Cheng Yao heard this, he was silent for a while, and then said, "Let's try to make a decision." Obviously, this idea has a certain degree of feasibility, but it can't really make Cheng Ziyuan feel good - if the front door rejects the wolf, the back door enters the tiger, and then indulges Xu Jiwu as his own strong enemy, it may be worth the loss.

Yan Zhen asked Cheng Yao: "The edict of the Heavenly King, has it arrived in Shangshu?" Cheng Gong may hide it and not be careful? ”

Cheng Yao shook his head again and again, saying how could this be - "Who is Mrs. Zhang?" The king of heaven is looking forward to the return, how can he do something from it? "Do you want to press the edict and not send it, let Shi Le wait and wait, and forget about it? Isn't that a joke?

Yan Zhen sighed and said, "In this way, it is only feasible to make a decision. Then he leaned closer, lowered his voice and said: "But the edict can be issued in a hurry, the King of Yuntian is looking forward to it, and the Taifu is ordered to return in a hurry, then the Taifu will definitely abandon the army and quickly move south." I heard that the king of heaven was defeated, the news spread, the counties were unstable, and the people were in trouble. Especially between Gaoyang and Zhongshan, thieves are numerous, and the road is restless......"

——————————

Shi Le really looked forward to Zhang Bin's return from Youzhou as soon as possible, so he asked Cheng Yao early the next morning: "I summoned the Taifu to return to the court, has the book been written?" ”

Cheng Yabi replied respectfully: "The minister knows that His Majesty is eager for the Taifu, how dare he be negligent and slack? Yesterday evening, he ordered the horse to gallop and send the edict to Youzhou. ”

Shi Le nodded and said, "That's very good—then in the Qing calculation, when will the Taifu return?" ”

Cheng Yao raised his hand and counted: "Between Xiangguo and Zhuoxian, although there is a flat river, there are 800 miles of land, and the edict is passed on by fast horses, and the less is six days, and the most is ten days." If the Taifu is also worried about His Majesty, if he does not come immediately, he will be old after all, and he will not be able to pass the illness, and it will take more than ten days. Within this month, Taifu will not be able to arrive, even if he returns after a month, it will not be too late. ”

Shi Le couldn't help but sigh and said: "I deeply regret that day, I shouldn't have sent Taifu to Youzhou...... even if I didn't take Zhang Bin with him to conquer, let him sit in Xiangguo, then as soon as I came back, I could discuss with him the strategy of consolidating the territory and preventing the Jin people from taking advantage of the victory."

Now the situation in Hebei is very bad, Shi Le has not returned to Xiangguo, the news of the defeat has spread, and many local forces that have been subdued by the force of Qian Zhao are ready to move. Although so far there has been no large-scale rebellion to seize the city and county, small bandits have emerged one after another, cutting off official roads, plundering people, and even attacking and killing officials.

The Jin people are still blocked by Shi Hu in Chaoge, but it is foreseeable that once they break the Chaoge and advance north—either Shi Hu is defeated, or the January period has arrived, and Shi Hu takes the initiative to retreat—thieves from all over the country and the main envoys behind them will inevitably respond in droves, and the power of Qian Zhao is likely to collapse......

Shi Le really regretted it, why did he agree with Shi Hu for a month in the first place? I knew that this was the situation in the country, so I ordered him to be crucified in Chaoge, and he was resolutely not allowed to retreat!

However, Shi Hu only has thousands of soldiers and horses, and according to Shi Le's judgment, it is a fluke to be able to hold on for half a month...... Fortunately, Zhang Bin secretly wrote to the city guards between Wei County and Guangping in advance, asking them to prepare for defeat. After Cheng Yao heard the news of the defeat, he hurriedly dispatched garrison troops and horses from Jizhou to enrich the southern front.

However, this also caused the lack of garrison troops in the counties and counties of Jizhou, and bandits were everywhere, but it was difficult to eradicate them in a short period of time......

Cheng Yao and Xu Guang are civil servants after all, Zhang Jingzhi's words Shile refused to listen to them anymore, and his subordinate generals were mostly old and coarse, lacking a sense of the overall situation, only Jiao'an and Kong Chang had some strategic minds, but one was in Shangdang, and the other was defeated and fled in Wenshijin, and has not yet been returned...... Therefore, the mobilization of soldiers and horses, the arrangement of the garrisons of various cities on the southern front, and even the attack on the bandits were almost all caused by Shile alone, and no one could share the worries.

Of course, Shi Le will miss Zhang Bin, if Taifu is here, he will not make me so hesitant and toiling.

Moreover, after the new defeat, the troops were greatly damaged, and the morale was even worse, once the Jin people drove straight in, they could not take out any mobile corps to resist, and they could only hope for the garrison of a few key cities, which was purely a situation of being trapped. In fact, the Jin people don't have to go all the way to Xiangguo to kill, they can start from the border counties and counties, slowly invade, take a village a day, seize a city in ten years, and continue to bleed the Zhao regime.

Therefore, the only countermeasure is to shrink the defensive line, from Shangdang and Leping, to summon the new forces of Jiao'an and Zhiqu Liu to return to help, so that there is hope for one or two small victories on the local battlefield to stop the Jin invasion. It would be a pity to give up the entire merger of the state, and now only the ancestral army is being faced, and if Pei Jun forces Taihang through the party again, the pressure on his own side may be greater.

Therefore, Shi Lena couldn't make up his mind, whether to do this strong man's plan to break his wrist, this matter could not be discussed with Cheng Yao, and he did not want to discuss it with Zhang Jing again, so he could only hope that Zhang Bin would return to the court quickly, or Kong Chang would escape back smoothly......

After waiting for more than a month, I ushered in the end of the second year of Jianping. Seeing that the New Year's Day was approaching, Cheng Yao suddenly played, saying that he had just gotten the news, and the Jin lord had issued an edict for the Zen position, and Pei should build a Zen platform in the suburbs of Luoyang, hoping to ascend the throne at the end of the year......

When Shi Le heard the report, he couldn't help but be stunned, and blurted out: "The one who was in Xingyang the month before was Pei Ye, Zu Ye?" ”

Obviously, it was Zu Ti who beat me, so Zu Ti took advantage of the momentum of victory, returned to the teacher to force the palace, and was promoted by the Chan Dynasty, there is still something to say - of course, in fact, because Pei is there, so Zu does not dare to do that - why did Zu Ti win, Pei should take the opportunity to take the position? Could it be that the two of them had an agreement in private?

Cheng Yaoyu reported: "The ancestors are ...... Fang left Xingyang to the east, Pei Gai was killed from his brother Yu Luozhong, and he led the army to Luo, and he was a teacher who asked for guilt. Sima Ye urgently summoned Zu Qi back, Chen Jun was outside the east gate of Luoyang, Pei should go to see him in person, and the two of them discussed secretly for a long time. The ancestral army did not enter the city, and Sima Ye issued an edict on the Zen position. ”

The transmission of information is inevitably distorted, and the order before and after of Pei Cai's return to Luo Shou Zen is somewhat misleading, but it is generally good. Shi Le couldn't help but sigh and said: "I knew that Pei Wen had a heart of disobedience, and Taifu Yiyun would definitely be promoted on his behalf, but I thought that there might be a fight between Pei and Zu...... I don't want Zu Shizhi to surrender! ”

Xu Guang said: "Zu Shizhi has been trapped in Xingyang for several months, and he is already exhausted, how can he be Pei Wenyue's army?" He was even more old, and he naturally had great ambitions to work hard, and for the sake of his children and grandchildren, he had to temporarily succumb to Pei Wenyue. However, between the ministers and the ancestors, there must be no gaps, if they can understand it and guide it, they may be able to slightly reduce the momentum of the people. ”

Shi Le smiled: "What is the so-called Jin? Where is the Jin? But I don't know what country Pei Wenyue built...... and then asked Cheng Yao: "I was discussing this matter with Taifu, why didn't I come back?" ”