June 28, Liaodong Battlefield.

Yang Yichen, the commander of the expeditionary selection front army, led the army to withdraw to the base camp in Liaodong and joined Li Jing, the general of Zuo Wuwei, who remained in the base camp.

Li Jing ordered that the Eastern Crusade was over, and all the expeditionary forces withdrew across Liaoshui and returned to China.

On the same day, Qu Tutong, the general of the Right Guard, arrived in Jicheng, the capital of Zhuo County, by a passing car, and visited Duan Da, who was left behind in Zhuo County, to inquire about the latest news in the Eastern Capital.

Duan Da still has the news around June 20, most of which comes from Cui Hongsheng and Chen Ling, and a small part of the news comes from Dongdu. Judging from various news, the situation in the eastern capital is very bad, and the first thing is that the Grand Canal was interrupted, which directly led to the second eastern crusade being abandoned halfway; The second is that the King of Qi rushed into the Liyang battlefield in front of the reinforcements from all walks of life, and whether the King of Qi enters Beijing or not, as long as Liyang controls zhì in his hands, the Grand Canal may be difficult to open in the short term; Again, Yang Xuangan surrounded the eastern capital, and the province that withdrew to Heyang in advance temporarily acted as the agent of state affairs and maintained the daily operation of the central government, but because of the special political environment of the coexistence of the two capitals, the province could not command Xijing, and even if Xijing made a decision to support the eastern capital, it was uncertain when to support, how many troops to support, and whether it would be supported at any cost.

After listening to Duan Da's story, Qu Tutong felt extremely heavy and was silent for a long time.

Qu Tutong's ancestors are from the Xi people of Liaodong, who are attached to the Xianbei Murong clan and enter Middle Earth, and take Qu Tu as his surname after sinicization. Although the Qu Tu clan cannot be compared with the eight surnamed Xungui, it is also a family with the surname of the family. Qu Tutong joined the army when he was young, and won the trust of the first emperor all the year round, and his "career" was from the beginning of the Holy Lord's accession to the throne, because he supported the Holy Lord without hesitation in the fierce imperial war, and won the trust of the Holy Lord. During the First Eastern Crusade, he served as the general of the Left Guard, and during the Second Eastern Crusade, he served as the General of the Right Guard. At the critical moment, Qu Tutong really came in handy, and after learning of the mutiny in the Eastern Capital, the Holy Lord sent Qu Tutong back to Beijing to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, and it is not difficult to see the absolute trust in him.

However, the greater the mission, the greater the responsibility, and in the face of this storm that will get out of control at any time, Qu Tutong has a deep sense of powerlessness.

This storm is a military coup, but in fact it is a political storm, which must be solved by political means, and military means can only play an auxiliary role, no matter how many troops there are, they cannot determine the direction of this storm. Qu Tutong knows his "shortcomings", his identity as a captive, the status of a second-class nobleman, and his superiority all rely on the emperor's appreciation, which leads to his lack of meritorious achievements, lack of prestige, and limited power. Therefore, if you go to the eastern capital to quell the rebellion, with Qu Tutong's ability, at most you will play an "emergency" role, and it is absolutely impossible to expect him to solve the problem. Fortunately, the Holy Lord also asked him to go to the emergency and "explore the way" first, and it was General Zuo Yiwei Yu Wenshu who was really sent to solve the problem. It's just that this storm is so big that Qu Tutong doesn't even have the confidence to "save the emergency".

Duan Da saw Qu Tutong's sad face and expressed deep sympathy. He and Qu Tutong have a very good personal relationship and are like siblings. The two have been familiar since childhood, although one is from a Northwest family, and the other is from a family with the surname of Captivity, but other things such as age, family background, status and even life experience are basically the same. Both of them grew up in Chang'an, and after entering the official career, the www.biquge.info of Biqu Pavilion was very high, both were forbidden to stay in the guard, and they were both liked by the first emperor, and they both began to enter the glory of life after the Holy Lord ascended the throne. When Qu Tutong guarded the emperor with a ready-made general, Duan Da led the Praetorian Guard with General Zuo Yiwei, and the two were always by the emperor's side, inseparable, during the Western Expedition, and during the First Eastern Crusade, until Duan Da served as Zhuo County during the Second Eastern Expedition, responsible for transferring grain and grass for the expeditionary army, and the two were briefly separated.

"From the analysis of the current known situation, if the king of Yue wants to hold the eastern capital, the key lies in whether Xijing supports in time, if the Xijing army fails to support in time, so that the eastern capital falls and the situation is out of control, then the problem will be serious." Duan Da took the lead in breaking the silence, and had the intention to help Qu Tutong analyze and deduce the current situation, so as to increase his confidence in entering Beijing, "But there has always been a question, why didn't Yang Xuangan make a choice on the imperial throne after raising his troops?" Did he reach some kind of tacit understanding with the King of Qi, or did he reach an agreement with Ximian? Does he want to 'sell two goods?' If he wants to 'sell two goods, then will he sell them to King Qi, or will he sell them to Xijing? Or was his intention to bring the three parties together during the mutiny and seek their own benefit?"

Qu Tutong bowed slightly, agreeing with Duan Da's analysis, both of them were extremely unoptimistic about the future shape.

He and Duan Da are both children of eunuchs, and they have been in the guard ban since they entered the official career, and they have tried every means to win the appreciation and trust of the first emperor, so although the two have always served in the Praetorian Guard, and both served as commanders in the Wei Mansion, but because they often live in the ban and are well versed in the way of the game, they have already become senior politicians, and they can have today's status and power, it is precisely because of their superb political skills. At the same time as them, there were thousands of eunuchs and eunuchs who guarded the emperor and guarded the emperor, and the sons of the big and powerful families were also gathered together, Duan Da and Qu Tutong could only be regarded as ordinary members among them, but in the end, they could stand out without relying on their military exploits, and came to such a high position today, but there were only two of them ordinary nobles, this is the "ability", and it is not good to be unconvinced. Their "ability" is not in military strategy, but in political games, so their analysis of the current situation in the Eastern Capital is based on the political level, and it is indeed very pessimistic to deduce the development trend of this storm from the political level.

"If Yang Xuangan captures the Eastern Capital, the Eastern Capital and Xijing join forces to welcome the King of Qi into Beijing...... Qu Tutong didn't dare to imagine, if the shape is so bad, large-scale internal . [,！ War is bound to break out, and the great cause of reunification is very likely to collapse, and then the future will be terrible.

"Yichuan Gong, don't hope for Xijing, and don't expect that Shandong people will send charcoal in the snow, the only thing you can count on at present is the Jiangzuo people, that is, Donglai Shui Shi, that is, Rong Gong (Lai Hu'er) and Qiao Gong (Zhou Fashang)." Duan Da shook his hand at Qu Tutong, signaling him not to be too pessimistic, although it is possible for the Guanlong people to join forces in this storm, but the Shandong people will never be complicit with them, on the contrary, the Shandong people will definitely take this opportunity to launch a counterattack against the Guanlong people, whether it is the Guanlong people killing each other, or the Guanlong people and the Jiangzuo people fighting, it is a happy thing for the Shandong people, so if nothing else, the Shandong people will choose the opportunity to join forces with the Jiangzuo people, and the two noble groups have strong support for the Holy Lord, It will change the course of this storm.

Qu Tutong immediately heard the voice of Duan Da from Duan Da's words, "Xiangyuan Gong, do you have the latest news from the water master?" Could it be that Duke Rong and Duke Qiao have given up the expedition to cross the sea and rush to the aid of the Eastern Capital?"

Duan Da shook his hand, "Although Duke Rong and Duke Qiao are loyal to the Holy Lord, they are not all the way to us, let alone communicate with someone."

Duan Da's tone was shy. No way, Laihu'er and Zhou Fashang are both Jiangzuo people, both are famous generals in Middle-earth, they are both meritorious and respected military bosses, even among the Weifu officers of Guanlong's nationality, they also have considerable prestige, and Qu Tutong and Duan Da are in the eyes of the Weifu officers who rely on the "art of drilling the camp" to ascend to the position, and they have neither record nor prestige, so it can be seen that they are something in the eyes of Laihu'er and Zhou Fashang, although the two bigwigs give some face in public, but in private, the two bigwigs look down on them and are ashamed to be together, It happens that they belong to different political groups and have conflicts of interest with each other, let alone cooperation.

Qu Tutong's eyes showed disappointment, but Duan Da's next words gave him more hope.

"According to Huang Taigong (Cui Hongsheng), the sailor should send an army to follow the king of Qi and rush to the eastern capital to quell the rebellion." Duan Da briefly explained the content of Cui Hongsheng's several letters, "I think that Huang Taigong should have a good grasp of the matter of the sailor's aid to the Eastern Capital, otherwise he would definitely not write it in the letter."

The sailor's rush to the east is a big deal, no joke. Since Cui Hongsheng told Duan Da the news, he knew that Duan Da would definitely tell the Holy Lord truthfully, so it was impossible for Cui Hongsheng to make a fuss about nothing and lie about the military situation.

"Huang Taigong is still trustworthy." Qu Tutong frowned, and said worriedly, "But at the same time, this also shows that the King of Qi is very likely to enter Beijing, unless the sailor rushes to the battlefield of the Eastern Capital before the King of Qi and cuts off the road for the King of Qi to enter Beijing."

"Since Huang Taigong is worried that the King of Qi will enter Beijing, he will definitely try to stop it, and after Chen Ling enters the Liyang battlefield, he can cooperate closely with him in this matter." Duan Da said, "According to Chen Ling's urgent report, during this period of time, Taihang thieves were very rampant, and there were frequent looting on the front lines of Anyang, Fuyang and Handan, and the land transportation to the north was in danger of being cut off, so he had to slow down the speed of the south, and suppress the thieves while marching. It doesn't matter whether the Taihang thieves are rampant or not, what matters is that Chen Ling slowed down the speed of his southward journey, and we can infer from this that Chen Ling and Cui Hongsheng are joining forces to clamp down on the King of Qi and delay the King of Qi's entry into Beijing."

Qu Tutong understood and nodded again and again. He is now a light pole, he wants to have no soldiers, he has no prestige, he hurriedly ran to Liyang, and directly "confronted" with the King of Qi, if Cui Hongsheng and Chen Ling secretly used some "means", Qu Tutong not only could not save the emergency, but would further deteriorate the situation, so Duan Da kindly reminded him that after arriving in Liyang, he must calm down, see the situation clearly, and think twice before acting, it is really not good to be a turtle with a shrunken head rather than a bird. Qu Tutong is a counterinsurgency envoy sent by the Holy Lord, and if he has the conditions, he will pretend to be a tiger, and if he has no conditions, he will hold his tail between his legs. Of course, if the sailor arrives, no matter whether the leader is Lai Hu'er or Zhou Fashang, this rising bird will not be Qu Tutong's turn to do it, there are people charging in front, and Qu Tutong can pick up enough cheap as long as he follows behind.

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