Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao may be worried that Zhao Shizhu, Guo Xuan, and Murong Zhengze will rebel and set up a bureau to arrest them, but they will never doubt the character of Huangtai Gong Cui Hongsheng, and the Boling Cui family is a wealthy family, and they don't care about doing villain things to surrender their identities at all, so as soon as Li and Yang heard that it was Cui Hongsheng who invited them to Gubeikou to negotiate, they didn't say a word, and followed Guo Xuan into the customs. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

General Zuo Wuwei, Inspector Captain Shanggu Taishou, and Huangtai Gong Cui Hongsheng personally greeted him at the city gate.

The two sides met, intimate greetings, although in the past in Kyoto when everyone belonged to different camps, always maintained a "distance", but look up and don't look down to see, familiar can no longer be familiar, but at this moment it is a matter of people, see each other sighs, sighing.

In order to be in a hurry, Cui Hongsheng came by car all the way, galloping day and night, exhausted, looking very haggard, and in a very bad mental state, but the matter was urgent, and the Holy Lord and the palace were still waiting for his reply, so they chatted for a while, and after they had a general understanding of the situation in Liangjing and Anzhou, Cui Hongsheng made a proposal and immediately began to negotiate.

This negotiation was at a very high level and related to the core secrets of the center, so Zhao Shizhu, Guo Xuan and Murong Zhengze were not eligible to participate, only Cui Hongsheng's cronies, and Bo Cui Xiaoren, the head of the two prefectures, attended the meeting as a clerk.

After the two sides sat down, Cui Hongsheng did not hide it, and bluntly informed the relevant decisions made by the central center on the situation in Anzhou and Northeast China, as well as the causes and consequences.

In fact, the central government's core decision on the situation in Anzhou and the northeast is actually one: to stabilize Anzhou, sweep through the northeast, threaten the desert, improve the situation in northern Xinjiang, strive to establish a certain advantage in the confrontation between the north and the south, and actively do a good job in the preparatory work for the civil war. Focusing on this core decision, Xinggong made two related decisions, one is that in order to ensure the stability of Anzhou, the Flying Fox rebels must go out of the customs before the end of the year, so as to quickly increase the strength of Anzhou and ensure that the results are not lost; Second, in order to ensure that Anzhou's northern expedition to weak Luoshui can achieve the expected goal of sweeping the northeast, the Liaodong Zhenshu army will openly intervene in the northeast battlefield and give Anzhou strong cooperation.

Then, on behalf of the Holy Lord and the center, Cui Hongsheng made a request to Anju that the political and military goals must be achieved in order to fully support Anju within the Great Wall, and if the goal cannot be achieved, or even backfired, there will be no support within the Great Wall, which is obvious and does not need to be repeated. In other words, as long as Anzhou does its best to achieve the goal of the center, there will be no support in the Great Wall, so there is no need for Anzhou to threaten the center with the Flying Fox rebels and intensify the contradictions and conflicts between the two sides, unless Anzhou has ill intentions and has the intention of causing trouble in Middle-earth.

Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao looked at each other and smiled bitterly, and made a decision in unison, delay, this matter can only be delayed, there is no other way.

"The reason why we're sitting here is proof enough of one thing." Li Zixiong said calmly, "The matter of Anzhou, Li Li, the commander of the Grand Alliance, is Li Fengyun. ”

The implication is that although we can negotiate on behalf of Li Fengyun and Anzhou, the core affairs have to be decided by Li Fengyun and the big alliance, and what the two of them say doesn't count.

In order to prevent trouble, Yang Gongdao pointed to the key point, "Ming Gong personally went to Gubeikou and personally invited us to negotiate, which seems to attach importance to Anzhou and the emerging force of the Grand Alliance, but in fact it is also suspected of being divisive, trying to use our strength to openly compete for the power of the Grand Alliance, so as to contain and weaken Li Fengyun's control over Anzhou." ”

Seeing Cui Hongsheng's unkind face, Yang Gongdao smiled slightly and continued, "Of course, a certain may be self-righteous and self-inflicted, but it is better to be ugly in the front." Although our current situation is extremely unbearable, life and death hang by a thread, but because of this, the big alliance must be united, we and Li Fengyun can only work together to tide over the difficulties, if we are suspicious of each other, fight for power and profit, and kill each other, we will eventually lose both sides and burn each other. ”

Yang Gongdao looked at Cui Hongsheng and bowed his hand, "Anzhou has gained and lost, and the good situation has been lost, which is probably what the Holy Lord and the Central Center do not want to see, and it is also difficult for Ming Gong to bear." ”

Yang Gongdao's public threat made Cui Hongsheng embarrassed and secretly angry. The little trick was exposed, and it was exposed in person, even if Cui Hongsheng was "old and thick-skinned", he was very embarrassed at the moment.

For him, this is also a helpless thing, when he arrived at Gubeikou, he learned about the attitude of Anzhou from Zhao Shizhu and others, and the two sides fell into a dead end, what should I do? Cui Hongsheng's first thought was the discord plan. He speculated that there must be contradictions between the two major factions within the Grand Alliance, although they use each other and rely on each other, but their interests are still different, at least in the matter of the Flying Fox rebels coming out, the magnates with Li Zixiong will never go against the center, after all, the magnates urgently need meritorious service in exchange for pardon, and it is natural to hope that Anzhou will be stronger and achieve greater results, so it is more necessary for the Flying Fox rebels to come out of the customs to help. If there are two different voices within the big alliance, and the powerful faction with Li Zixiong as the leader resolutely demands that the Flying Fox rebels get out of the customs, Li Fengyun will inevitably compromise, and the lesser of two evils will be the lesser of two evils, and the unity within the big alliance is still the top priority, otherwise once it is divided, everyone will finish playing together.

However, whether it is Li Zixiong or Yang Gongdao, they are both big names in the top circle of power in the Eastern Capital, and they are both masters of playing power and scheming, and they disdain Cui Hongsheng's small methods, and they can see through it at a glance. Li Zixiong's response was quite subtle, Yang Gongdao didn't give face, and went back cleanly.

"I'm worried, I'm worried." Cui Hongsheng shook his hand quietly, and said indifferently, "A certain person rushed to Gubeikou and invited you to negotiate, on the one hand, it represents the importance that the Holy Lord and the Central Center attach to the situation in the Northeast, and on the other hand, it also represents the sincerity of cooperation. Since a certain person came with sincerity, of course he hoped to find a good result, delaying and prevarication, and-for-tat would not help solve the problem, so ......" Cui Hongsheng looked at Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao, spread his hands, and made a "frank" gesture, "You take a suggestion, and then we discuss it specifically, how about it?" ”

Cui Hongsheng's "rare" initiative to lower his posture was beyond the expectations of Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao. The official retreats as advances, and this trick is also clever, which is both sincere and face-giving, which forces Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao to compromise and have to plan together with Cui Hongsheng.

"Now Li Fengyun is fighting fiercely with the Turks on the battlefield of the Ghost Fang, and it is difficult to decide the winner in the short term, and before the victory or defeat is decided, the Northern Expedition to weak Luoshui is just a piece of paper, and there is no basis for actual implementation." Li Zixiong said frankly, "In this situation, even if Li Fengyun replied, he would refuse to do so, so we didn't deliberately delay and prevaricate, but we really couldn't come up with effective suggestions." ”

Cui Hongsheng stroked his long hair with his hand, nodded again and again, and expressed his understanding, "Since so-and-so is here, you can't go home empty-handed, otherwise you won't be able to explain to the Holy Lord and the center." ”

Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao looked at each other and nodded in understanding. If Cui Hongsheng returns empty-handed, don't say that Cui Hongsheng can't explain, it will be extremely unfavorable to Anzhou. This matter was originally provoked by Anzhou, Anzhou said that he wanted to go north to conquer weak Luoshui, and begged for support from within the Great Wall, but now the Holy Lord and the center have paid attention to it, made a decision, and came up with conditions, but Anzhou retreated, reversed itself, and said that I am not ready to go north to attack weak Luoshui, I can't agree to your conditions, this is not to take the Holy Lord and the center to make a difference, the consequences can be imagined.

"Let's take a step back." Cui Hongsheng suggested, "We don't have to make specific negotiations on the current situation, and we don't wait in vain because the ghost side has not won or lost, but based on Anzhou's northern expedition to weak Luoshui, on this basis, we will make an outlook on the situation and conduct specific negotiations, how about it?" ”

Li Zixiong was silent.

Yang Gongdao thought for a moment and asked, "Can Ming Gong reveal what countermeasures the Holy Lord and the Central Authority have under the current situation at home and abroad?" ”

Cui Hongsheng comprehended, hesitated, and carefully considered.

The current situation at home and abroad is an internal and external trouble, and it is necessary to first settle the internal situation before fighting the outside world, and stabilizing the domestic situation is an important task. How to stabilize? Of course, it is to alleviate the core contradiction in politics, that is, to alleviate the contradiction between reform and conservatism. The Yang Xuangan mutiny was the general explosion of this contradiction, and the Holy Lord and the reformers must learn a lesson, make adjustments in national policy, and make a certain degree of compromise with the conservatives, so as to stabilize the political situation in Liangjing and stabilize the domestic chaos as soon as possible.

What Yang Gongdao wants to ask is what kind of adjustment has been made by the Holy Lord and the reformers in terms of national policy. If the Holy Lord and the Central Center focus on resolving domestic contradictions, then in order to stabilize the relations between the North and the South, the Central Center's support for Anju must be controlled within the allowable range, and even at the critical moment, in order to delay the outbreak of the Civil War, Anzhou will simply be sacrificed. On the contrary, the support will be stronger, and Anju will be able to use the Great War to "blackmail" the Holy Lord and the center to obtain more political benefits and achieve the desired goals.

Yang Gongdao's question is very important, Cui Hongsheng must give an answer, and Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao are not worried about Cui Hongsheng lying at all, because although the three people here belong to different camps, they are all conservatives in terms of political positions. Li Zixiong belongs to the Guan Long camp, a staunch conservative; Yang Gongdao was a son of the clan, and although he supported the Holy Lord politically without hesitation, in terms of centralized reform, he preferred the "moderate and gradual" reform that the previous emperor insisted on. Cui Hongsheng is a wealthy family in Shandong, and he also supports the Holy Lord politically, and uses the power of the Holy Lord to resist the exclusion and attack of the Guanlong people, but the wealthy family is the target of the centralized reform, and it is natural to oppose the centralization, but he does not dare to oppose it openly, so he secretly hinders and "pulls his legs" at any cost. Therefore, these three people have common interests in politics and have a basis for cooperation, of course, the premise is that there must be conditions for cooperation.

"Before leaving the Eastern Capital, Pei Yun, the imperial historian, Guyi, the servant of the Criminal Department, and Zheng Shanguo, the secretary of Dali Temple, had returned to the Eastern Capital and were ordered to liquidate the rebellious Yang Xuangan and his comrades." Cui Hongsheng's expression was solemn and his tone was low, "But this time to suppress the rebellion, Xijing has made great contributions, and Tongguan has become an insurmountable mountain, firmly blocking the expansion and spread of the liquidation storm. ”

Cui Hongsheng's answer "The bull's head is not the horse's mouth", but it is exactly the answer that Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao need. The political crisis in Liangjing has not only not been alleviated with the failure of Yang Xuangan's mutiny, but has become increasingly aggravated with the political liquidation. It shows that the Holy Lord and the reformers refused to compromise on the core contradictions of politics, the political crisis in the two capitals fell into a dead end, the two capitals were on the verge of splitting, and the domestic situation deteriorated rapidly.

"After arriving at Gaoyang Palace, I participated in several central meetings." Cui Hongsheng paused for a moment and continued, "The Holy Lord is determined to carry out the Third Eastern Crusade, but the central resistance is too great to form a decision so far. The focus of contention between the pros and cons is when and in what form the Great War broke out. According to the analysis and deduction of the Wei Fu, if Middle-earth could not unite with the Western Turks to attack the desert and take the initiative to start the Civil War in the shortest possible time, then the desert would be forced by an existential crisis, and the Western Turks would be forced to join forces to attack Middle-earth, and Middle-earth would passively respond to the battle, and the chances of victory would be slim, so the center formed two opinions. ”

"One opinion is that the Great War of the North and the South is imminent, and that the Third Crusade is meaningless, and that the top priority at the moment is to stabilize the domestic situation and restore the national strength, and even if it is not possible to take the initiative to start the Civil War in the shortest possible time, it is necessary to make every effort to consolidate and increase the strength of the western and northern Xinjiang garrisons to ward off the enemy beyond the Great Wall; On the other hand, the general trend of the world is relatively optimistic, and there is no possibility of an explosion in the short term of the Great War between the North and the South, and that the Third Eastern Crusade must be carried out, and Goguryeo must be completely destroyed in order to strengthen the national and military prestige, and then concentrate on the preliminary preparations for the Civil War, and strive to unite the Western Turks to take the initiative in the Great War of the North and the South. ”

"At a time when the central government is deadlocked, there is good news from Anzhou." Cui Hongsheng looked at Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao, with a smile on his face, "And Anzhou's plan to conquer the north and weaken Luoshui happened to break the confrontation within the center and win room for maneuver for both sides of the debate." ”

Li Zixiong was keenly aware of something, and immediately asked, "What is the compromise within the center?" ”

"The Third Crusade is on hold for the time being." Cui Hongsheng did not hide it, and said openly, "The Holy Lord and the Central Crusade agree that if the territory of Anzhou is expanded to weak Luoshui, you control the Northeast, and Middle-earth occupies a greater advantage in the overall situation of the North and the South, then even if the Third Eastern Crusade is still moving, there will be no worries, victory is within reach, and the scale of the Third Eastern Crusade can be greatly reduced, and most of the energy of the Holy Lord and the Central can also be used to stabilize the domestic situation and make preliminary preparations for the Civil War, so that the contradictions between the two sides of the Central Crusade can be greatly alleviated. It will help the Holy Lord to solve the crisis of internal and external troubles. ”

Yang Gongdao's thinking was quick, and he immediately asked, "In this way, with the support of the Great Wall, Anzhou will quickly sit down, and even cut off the hegemony and fight against each other, which is also within the acceptance range of the Holy Lord and the center?" Aren't they afraid that raising tigers will endanger themselves? ”

Cui Hongsheng stroked his hair and smiled, "This is the reason why the Holy Lord ordered a certain person to rush to Gubeikou. ”

Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao looked at each other and smiled, secretly excited, and finally saw a glimmer of hope, Li Fengyun went out of the battle plan and finally ushered in a ray of light, but the two of them were only excited for a moment, and then they frowned.

Cui Hongsheng said so much and revealed so many central secrets, in fact, he was painting cakes to satisfy hunger and quench his thirst. Although the Holy Lord may make a promise to give Anju a certain amount of return, it is difficult for Anju to achieve the Lord's goal. Of course, it is as difficult as the heavens to face the difficulties, and the premise is to expand the strength, the best and fastest way is to get the Flying Fox rebels out of the customs, so that Anzhou can immediately get the supplement of sixty or seventy thousand troops, plus the equipment support given in the Great Wall, Anzhou's overall strength will usher in a huge leap, but the key problem is that the Flying Fox rebels are out of the customs, the two of them say that it doesn't count, Li calculates, in addition, the Flying Fox rebels are out of the customs, and the strength of Li Fengyun and the grassroots system of the Grand Alliance will swell to a new height, in this situation, Can the aristocratic line of the Grand Alliance with Li Zixiong maintain the existing right to speak? Can we continue to maintain cooperation with Li Fengyun and ensure that Li Fengyun leads the Grand Alliance, obeys the orders of the Holy Lord and the Central, and runs on the road of safeguarding the interests of Middle-earth?

"Now, can we talk more about the future of Anju and Northeast China?" Choi Hongsheng asked.

Li Zixiong took the lead in compromising, "Good! ”

Yang Gongdao glanced at Li Zixiong, and then looked at Cui Hongsheng with a smug look, and sighed secretly. Painting cakes to satisfy hunger, hoping for Mei to quench thirst, the temptation of Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao is very fatal, compared to the fate of Li Fengyun and the big alliance, they care more about their own interests.

"Good!" Yang Gongdao also compromised, "We can put pressure on Li Fengyun, but it is far from enough for us to put pressure on him within the Grand Alliance, after all, the Holy Lord's commitment is conditional, and to achieve this condition, the Grand Alliance must maintain unity, we must work together with Li Fengyun, and we must give him resolute support at critical moments, so Ming Gong has to think of other ways." ”

Choi Hongsheng was overjoyed. The fortress still has to be broken from the inside, and the fortress of Anzhou has been taken, and then as long as he breaks the fortress of the flying fox, the big thing can be decided.

＝