readx;?readx; Chapter 453 One stone stirs up a thousand waves

October 13 of the 33rd year of Jingtai. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info noon.

In the Golden Dragon Hall of the Great Chu Palace, the morning's work came to an end, and Emperor Jingtai was eating slowly.

I saw that the large dining table covered with bright yellow silk cloth was full of exquisite and luxurious tableware, and there were some ...... in the dishes and bowls Vegetables and fruits. It is said that the imperial diet on this table is strictly in accordance with the recipe specified by Qin Shenyi, mainly coarse grains, such as cabbage gangs, radish tassels, pumpkin seedlings, sorghum dumplings, and so on...... Basically, the emperor eats whatever the chicken eats.

It is said that he used to be tired of eating, but Qin Yutian said that these things are rich in nutrients, regulate the five internal organs, and there is a thing called 'fiber', which can solve the problem of stool that has plagued him for many years, so he 'gritted his teeth' and ate it! It's a big deal to think of yourself as a big rooster.

He had just swallowed a piece of chewy old celery with a frown, and picked up a cabbage leaf dipped in soy sauce...... Emperor Jingtai smiled bitterly in his heart: "What is the strength of living like this? But he was immediately seduced by the bright prospects described by Qin Lei, and continued to chew on the cabbage sticks.

Just as he was eating, an inner eunuch hurriedly rushed into the hall, and the unicorn brocade saw the fire dragon flag held high in the hand of the inner eunuch, and dodged out one after another, letting him go unhindered and straight into the inner palace. The Fire Dragon Banner represents 100,000 urgency, no matter what the emperor is doing, he must go directly to heaven to listen. Correspondingly, the chance of this kind of flag appearing is pitifully small, and even many Qilin guards on duty in front of the palace have never seen this thing.

Under the guidance of the palace people, the inner eunuch immediately went to the side hall where Emperor Jingtai was eating, and while untying the documents from his back, he bowed and said: "Report, the emergency military situation in Chaohe County, the governor of Chaohe County, at about the hour today, on the canal in its territory, found the envoy of Qi State on the ship...... " He said and said with a big breath: "Since the envoy of Qi State and below, more than 1,000 people have been killed......

'Let's chirp', Emperor Jingtai chewed half of the cabbage and fell into the soy sauce, and the front of the dragon robe was suddenly covered with dots of black spots, but the old emperor didn't care, took the Chinese book in the inner supervisor's hand, and watched it without panting.

The document is very simple, and every word retold by the internal supervisor is good. But Emperor Jingtai still watched for a quarter of an hour.

After a long time, the document slipped out of the emperor's hand, and the Supreme of the Chu State also leaned softly on the back of the chair. In the main hall, the emperor's faint voice echoed: "Send a decree to the left and right prime ministers, the middle and lower pillar countries, and the four of them will meet immediately." ”

Since it was an immediate visit, it could not be delayed at all, and in less than two quarters of an hour, the four civil and military tycoons in Beijing rushed to the Golden Dragon Hall out of breath, kowtowed to the emperor, and everyone got up to discuss the matter.

Emperor Jingtai had already changed into a clean dragon robe, but he still leaned on the soft couch weakly, closed his eyes and said, "You all know everything, right?" "He is really old, and although he is in good health when he is in a good mood, as soon as he gets angry, he immediately has weak limbs and is weak, and he is really not fit to run the country anymore.

The four bigwigs claimed that they actually knew about it earlier than the emperor, and they had already started to investigate.

But for the sake of Da Chu, he still had to hold on, cheer up, and Emperor Jingtai hissed: "Who did it?" ”

The four of them shook their heads together and said, "It's not clear ...... yet"

"A bunch of rice buckets!" Emperor Jingtai scolded in a low voice: "With more than a thousand elite Qi soldiers, how many people do you need to be annihilated?" ”

The number two person in the army, the general of the Zhongzhu State who is in charge of the central army, said in a low voice: "Five thousand people are needed, even the 'Pingbo Army' of the Shangzhu State needs three thousand people." ”

With a 'bang', Emperor Jingtai knocked down the incense burner next to the bed with one foot, and said angrily: "An army of thousands of people? Is it the other way around? As he spoke, he hammered the head of the bed hard, gritted his teeth and said, "Check it out for me, and see who dares to do this rebellious thing!" ”

The number three person in the army, General Xiazhu Guoda, who is in charge of local defense, said stubbornly: "Weichen has already checked it for the first time, and there is no sign of any army entering and leaving Chaohe County. ”

"And where did they come from? Falling from the sky? Or did it grow out of the ground? Emperor Jingtai's tone became more and more scathing: "What's the use of raising your group of rice buckets!" ”

Seeing the blood sprayed by the two generals who were scolded, Zuo Xiang had to speak and advise: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger, the top priority is how to deal with this matter." ”

"Say ......," Emperor Jingtai gasped.

"Weichen thinks that we should first send an envoy to explain this matter to Qi State, find out the culprit, and hand it over to Qi State for disposal." Zuo Xiang said unhurriedly: "At the same time, the news will be blocked, and the above things must be done before Qi Guo reacts." ”

Emperor Jingtai eased his emotions a little, nodded and said, "According to Aiqing, why did this happen?" ”

"Wechen thinks that the reason why this happened is because some people want us to completely break with the Qi State, so Wechen suspects that it was done by the people of the Qin State......" Zuo Xiang hurriedly replied.

"How did they do it?" Emperor Jingtai shook his head and said: "Great Chu is not the back garden of Western Qin, and their army can't cross the Great River and Heavenly Trench. ”

"But one person can do it." The right prime minister, who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke: "King Zengshou is the prince of Qin, and he has been insulted by the envoy of Qi, so he has a good reason to do so. "It's worthy of a seasoned old fox, and you can guess who the culprit is at once.

Although he was reluctant to accept this speculation, Emperor Jingtai also understood that Qin Lei was indeed the biggest suspect. However, there is still something that cannot be explained: "He is only 300 personal soldiers, how can he exterminate more than 1,000 elites of the Qi Kingdom?" ”

Qin Lei's two thousand guards, as well as a cadre of attachés, all followed the prince back to the Qin State, which is a true thing, so although he has the greatest suspicion, he has no conditions to commit the crime...... At least in the eyes of the Southern Chu Junchen.

"What is this......" The two prime ministers couldn't explain this, so they had to shake their heads helplessly and said, "You might as well invite King Zengshou to ask first, and then make a decision." ”

"He and Yunluo went to Chu Mountain to hunt...... I won't be back until tomorrow. Emperor Jingtai frowned and said: "Someone, bring a team of unicorn brocade, and quickly go to Chushan to pick up the princess and the king of longevity back to the city, if there is resistance...... Lawfully kill on sight! "Although the doctor-patient relationship between the two is good, when it comes to the critical moment, what should be done.

The eunuch in charge of the punishment division who was with him hurriedly received the order.

"The borders of the country and the state capitals are blocked, and the whole country is under martial law." Emperor Jingtai ordered in a deep voice: "First, temporarily confiscate all the arrows for troop transfer, and strictly prohibit generals at all levels from acting without authorization!" Second, the martial law forces are authorized to exercise arbitrary power to kill all suspicious people, etc., and not to let a person or a piece of paper cross the border! ”

The state of Chu is different from the Qin system, the army is under the unified control of the emperor, and the generals of the court and the central government only have command power and no jurisdiction. Before each battle, the emperor must grant the generals the 'Tiger Talisman for Leading Troops', so that the generals can mobilize their troops and go out to fight. It is because the Chu army is more nationalized and has a very light personal color, which can well prevent the generals from supporting their own troops and threatening the central government.

At the same time, in order to avoid slow response, the imperial court would issue a small tiger talisman to the main generals, called the 'Troop Mobilization Arrow Talisman', which could mobilize up to 2,000 local troops to deal with emergencies.

The tiger talisman is in the hands of the emperor, the arrow talisman is in the hands of the generals, the emperor has the final say on major matters, and the generals look at the small things, this is the military rights system of the Chu State, which better handles the relationship between centralization and decentralization.

So the two seemingly contradictory orders are actually the same thing - Lao Tzu no longer divides power, Lao Tzu wants to centralize power! Give me martial law honestly!

The four of them solemnly received the order and went separately.

Under the service of the old eunuch, Emperor Jingtai lay down slowly, he closed his eyes, and tried his best to calm the blood surging in his chest. He didn't know why the anger was so great these days, but he knew that impulse was the enemy's great enemy, and he must overcome it.

Emperor Jingtai had realized that he and Da Chu were caught in some kind of conspiracy. But he firmly believed that he would be victorious, because the thirty-three years of imperial life gave him too much strength and self-confidence.

At about the hour, another rush of footsteps sounded outside the palace, and the unicorn brocade looked up and saw another fire dragon flag appear. While hurriedly getting out of the way, the guards looked at each other uneasily, and they all read four words from each other's eyes: 'Eventful'!

"Report, Qilin Sanwei came to report, Princess Langyu was pushed down from the top of the cloud by her attendant eunuch Fuquan, and His Royal Highness King Zengshou also fell down in order to rescue the princess." The little eunuch groaned in his heart as he shouted a report: 'I'm really unlucky today......

But fortunately, His Majesty the Emperor fainted directly......

The imperial physician who accompanied him hurriedly stepped forward, pinched people and poured decoction, which saved the poor old emperor.

After a while, four adults who had not returned home at all appeared in front of the emperor's couch again: the angry emperor, the depressed ministers, the dim light, everything was exactly the same as at noon, just like the continuation of the conversation......

"Can anyone tell me what's going on today?" The emperor, who was extremely angry, presented a terrible calm: "Could it be that God will not succeed? ”

It was clear to the adults that this information had overturned the conclusions they had reached at noon...... If Qin Lei was really a spy of the Qin State, then how could he give up his life for the princess of the Chu State?

Since the inference is not valid, the culprit is someone else. The general of the Xia Zhu State came out of the column and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, after the execution of the holy decree in the afternoon, His Royal Highness the King of Qi refused to hand over the arrow talisman for the transfer of troops. After a pause, he said with difficulty: "Moreover, the five thousand pro-army to which His Royal Highness the King of Qi belongs has been ...... since last night I've already left the station! ”

Silence, deathly silence! Everyone in the hall held their breath and looked at Emperor Jingtai's gloomy and terrifying face.

Because he was responsible for defending the imperial capital, the King of Qi's troop transfer arrow could mobilize 5,000 troops.

And five thousand...... It's enough to wipe out the one thousand Qi countries.

"Arrest that rebel for me!" Emperor Jingtai patted the edge of the bed vigorously and roared, "What evil have I done? To be punished by God? ”

"What kind of sin did Lao Tzu create! To be punished by God? Lying on the back of the horse helplessly, Qin Lei lamented: "My ass is ......"

Shi Dang, who was following on the side, couldn't help laughing, and comforted softly: "Lord Wang, we can be regarded as a lucky star, if we point a finger again, we will really go in." ”

Gongsun Jian on the other side also nodded and said, "Yes, Lord Wang, the skin on the cheek is rough and thick, although it hurts, but it gets better quickly." ”

"Then when will I be able to go to the ground?" Qin Lei tilted his head and asked.

"Just wait until you get down the mountain, as long as you don't run, don't jump, don't sit, don't squat, it's fine." Gongsun Jianshi Chengle Buyi, not only kung fu handsome, but also good at medicine.

Qin Lei rolled his eyes and said depressedly: "Why is this all right?" ”

"It's okay to stand and walk, that's enough." Le Buyi, who had been silent in front of her, suddenly turned around and said: "Don't act rashly, otherwise you will be disabled in the future." ”

Qin Lei's eyes suddenly widened, and he lost his voice: "So serious? What disability? ”

After saying "Outer Bazi ......", Le Buyi laughed and startled the birds that stayed in the forest at night.

Shi Dang suddenly said: "Lord, what should Her Royal Highness the princess do?" ”

Qin Lei looked at Princess Yunluo, who was still unconscious beside him, and pouted, "Just throw it there." Naturally, no one believed this...... Everyone has seen the scene of the prince's heroic rescue of beauty.

Seeing that no one believed what he said, Qin Lei had no choice but to scratch his head and say: "It's very tricky, she basically can't take care of herself in life, so let's wait until she wakes up and then hand it over to the government." ”

The group walked down the mountain with a smile, and before they got out of the vast Chushan Mountain Range, they saw the scouts on guard on the periphery rushing over: "Report!" A large number of troops were found at the foot of the mountain, and they were rapidly moving towards us. ”

"So fast?" Although he knew that the Chu State would send someone to collect the corpse, he had to walk at least more than 20 miles from the front of the mountain to the back of the mountain, how could he react so quickly? Unless they can pinch and calculate, and leave early. But that's impossible!

"Hidden!" With Qin Lei's order, it only took about thirty breaths for everyone to hide in the bushes on the side of the road, without revealing any clues. Even Qin Lei was supported and lay down in the grass, letting Yelu wet his chest, but he didn't move.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, footsteps could be heard faintly in the distance. Qin Lei followed the prestige and saw a lightly armed army appear at the mouth of the valley. As the voice became clearer, the appearance of that army was gradually revealed...... It's King Qi's tiger and leopard army! Qin Lei couldn't help but gasp: "Is this guy crazy?" lest others not know that he murdered his own sister? ’

The fox looked at Le Buyi suspiciously, but saw his eyes fixed on someone at the end of the team...... 'Gong Liangyu! Qin Lei smiled bitterly in his heart: "This guy is already unreasonable. ’

After the team passed, another scout came over and reported softly: "The three necessary roads out of the mountain have been blocked by the Chu army. ”

Qin Lei asked softly, "What is the approximate number?" ”

"It's about a thousand on each road." The scout whispered back.

Qin Lei closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, and said firmly: "We must hurry up and break through, otherwise as soon as the army arrives tomorrow, we will become turtles in the urn." ”

With an order, three teams of scouts were sent out to collect the most accurate enemy situation for Qin Lei. Shi Dang then marked the information fed back on the map for the prince's decision-making.

Qin Lei was lying on a military blanket, and in the faint light, he thought about it for a long time.

In fact, if it is on flat ground, these armies are not a problem at all, and a charge to break through is enough. However, the mountain roads are narrow and the terrain is complex, and once the favorable terrain is occupied, the so-called "one man should be closed to ten thousand people" will be formed, and if we do not act prudently, it is not alarmist to say that "the whole army will be annihilated."

But there is also the need to worry about the army behind it going and returning, time is extremely precious, and it is necessary to act as soon as possible.

Fortunately, special operations are Qin Lei's strength, and after the latest batch of intelligence arrives, he has already drawn up a plan of action.

The battle order was soon given, and everyone began to divide up and get busy.