On the third day of the seventh month, Qu Tutong, the general of the Right Guard, arrived in Liyang with the edict of the Holy Lord.

Qu Tutong is a special envoy appointed by the Holy Lord to quell the rebellion, with a holy decree and privileges, although there is still a general Yu Wenshu of Zuo Yiwei who represents the Holy Lord with full authority behind him, but as a forerunner, he still has the privilege of overriding the Wei Mansion and even the province in many things, especially military decisions.

Wu Benlang greeted Li Shanheng out of the city. After Qu Tutong greeted him, he stood under the willow tree of the Yongji Canal embankment and couldn't wait to inquire about the situation in the eastern capital. In Qu Tutong's eyes, Li Shanheng's words are still credible and have great reference value.

After the King of Qi lost power, Li Shanheng was appointed by the Holy Lord as the commander of the Praetorian Guard of the Qi Palace, which not only used the Longxi Chengji Li clan to protect the personal safety of the King of Qi, but also the meaning of curbing the Longxi Chengji Li clan by attacking the King of Qi, and in addition, through guò Li Shanheng to actually monitor the King of Qi, it can also test the loyalty of the Li clan of Longxi Chengji, if the Li clan of Longxi Chengji is absolutely loyal to the Holy Lord, he will resolutely implement the intention of the Holy Lord, and turn the King of Qi into a "living dead" on the political zhì, but at present, it seems that The loyalty of the Li clan to the Holy Lord in Longxi Chengji was very limited, and the Li clan in Chengji in Longxi not only did not turn the king of Qi into a "living dead" on the political zhì, but let the king of Qi be "resurrected" step by step on the political zhì.

Qu Tutong knew very well that the key to solving this storm was the king of Qi, as long as the king of Qi "stopped in moderation", this storm would not become more and more intense, it would not get out of control, and it would be able to control it within an appropriate range, and it would be able to reduce the huge political losses caused by the defeat of the two Eastern Crusades, and even use this storm to deal a heavy blow to the conservative forces, thus helping the Holy Lord and the central center to win a decisive victory in the political field.

Of course, Qu Tutong did not have the right to "bargain" with King Qi on behalf of the Holy Lord, but he could touch the bottom of King Qi first, so that Yuwenshu, who came to negotiate later, would be fully prepared.

Of course, Li Shanheng will not say the "bottom line" of King Qi, but Li Shanhengtong's analysis, interpretation and deduction of the current situation will give Qu Tutong a clear hint.

In Li Shanheng's description, the current situation is still extremely complicated. To the west of Hangu Pass, Xijing's remaining guard Wen Sheng was fighting fiercely with the rebels on the front line of Michi, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to advance an inch in a short period of time; On the battlefield of the Eastern Capital, the rebels occupied an absolute advantage, took Pishan, captured the Eastern Capital Nanguo, and the imperial city was already in danger under the fierce attack of the rebels; On the Xingyang battlefield, the rebels also had the upper hand, controlling the Tiger Prison, Xingyang City and Jindi Pass, and cutting off the Tongji Canal.

Then Li Shanheng got to the point. At the end of June, Zhou Fashang led the water division to reinforce him, blocked the waterway of the big river, and reached an agreement with the commanders of the reinforcements such as the king of Qi, Dong Chun left behind in Pengcheng, Cui Hongsheng, the ambassador of Hebei to arrest, and Chen Ling, the deputy of Zhuo County, to restore the smooth flow of the north-south Grand Canal first, so the king of Qi captured Liyang and quickly restored the smooth flow of the Yongji Canal, while Zhou Fashang and Dong Chun attacked Xingyang from east to west but suffered a setback.

Qu Tutong was relieved when he heard this. Last year, the Holy Lord tried his best to reward the sailors and soldiers, and he was really rewarded handsomely. Zhou Fashang's rapid reinforcements not only "tied" the "hands and feet" of the King of Qi, but also controlled the storm within the "appropriate" range, but the shape was still not optimistic, once Yang Xuangan entered the pass, the storm still had the possibility of getting out of control, so the top priority was to concentrate on blocking Yang Xuangan to the east of Tongguan. It's just that in this way, the rebels on the Xingyang battlefield must be solved first, otherwise they will fight on two fronts, taking care of one and losing the other, and more importantly, all the reinforcements have gone to besiege Yang Xuangan, who will "tie" the "hands and feet" of King Qi? The king of Qi can show his strength, and at the critical moment, the storm will inevitably get out of control, so the premise of solving the Xingyang battlefield is to solve the "threat" of the king of Qi first, and the only way to solve the "threat" of the king of Qi is to meet the political interests.

Qu Tutong is self-aware, he has no qualifications to bargain with the King of Qi, Zuo Yiwei's general Yu Wenshu has this qualification, and he does not have the strength to confront the King of Qi. So it's better for him to stay away, as he should be.

Qu Tutong immediately asked about the location of Cui Hongsheng, the ambassador of Hebei's arrest, and Chen Ling, the deputy of Zhuo County. He has the edict of the Holy Lord in his hand, with this edict he can command these two reinforcements, he can cross the river and enter the battlefield of the eastern capital to rescue Yang Tong, the king of Yue, or he can go up the river to meet Wei Wensheng to block Yang Xuangan's westward advance, in short, as long as there is an army, he can more or less promote the development of the war situation in the direction conducive to counterinsurgency.

Li Shanheng sneered secretly, and immediately told Qu Tutong, Cui Hongsheng stationed troops in Jicheng, and Chen Ling Chen soldiers in Chaoge.

As soon as Qu Tutong heard it, he knew that he was wishful thinking. Jicheng and Chaoge City are located between Ji County and Hanoi County, Cui Hongsheng and Chen Lingtun troops here, ignoring the severance of the Tongji Canal and the crisis of the eastern capital, just to block the road to Beijing by land for the King of Qi. Zhou Fashang, Cui Hongsheng, and Chen Ling nominally wanted to open the North-South Grand Canal first, but in fact they used this as an excuse to "surround" the Qi kings in Liyang and make them unable to move. From this, it is not difficult to see that if the "threat" of the king of Qi is not lifted, the political interests of the king of Qi are not satisfied, and the rebellion in the eastern capital has to be "shelved".

Qu Tutong entered the city to meet Yang Lan, the king of Qi. The attitude of the king of Qi is quite friendly, neither domineering nor rejecting people thousands of miles away, the expression is very mature and rational, and the words reveal the concern for the holy lord and the worry about the situation at home and abroad, but Qu Tutong sees it thoroughly, and disdains the face of the king of Qi who is "worried about the king and the country".

The two sides spoke freely, exchanged a lot of information, and basically achieved their goals.

The king of Qi knew that the Holy Lord and the central center decided to stop the Eastern Crusade as soon as they learned of Yang Xuangan's Liyang mutiny, which not only showed that the return speed of the Holy Lord and the central center was very fast, but also showed that the Holy Lord and the central center were determined to solve the storm in the eastern capital by thunderous means, reduce the obstacles and damage caused by this storm to the reform as much as possible, and never let this storm affect the security of the country or even shake the great cause of reunification The "scale" of the Holy Lord and the center, don't be self-defeating, don't move stones to hit yourself in the foot, lest the bamboo basket be empty, not only will you get nothing but also harm yourself.

Qu Tu solemnly "warned" the King of Qi with the general facts, don't let greed and ** blind, don't make your mind dizzy, you must correctly understand the current situation, you can still make profits from it now "in moderation", on the contrary, if you are arrogant and take it for granted that you are stuck in the "throat" of the Holy Lord and the center, and you can do whatever you want, then it is a big mistake, and the final result is probably "vanishing".

"Your Majesty, the top priority is to connect the North-South Grand Canal." Qu Tutong said with a pun, "Although the Grand Canal has been cut off for a month, the expeditionary force has retreated extremely quickly, and Huaiyuan Town, Wanghaidun, Beiping Linyu Palace, and Zhuojun Linshuo Palace have all hoarded a large amount of grain and grass baggage, which is enough to ensure that the expeditionary force can safely withdraw to the eastern capital." Of course, there is no doubt that the continued severance of the Grand Canal, especially the severance of the Tongji Canal, will have a heavy impact on the western and northern frontiers of the 10,000-mile frontier, so we must not only fully support Xingyang, kill the traitors, and open up the Tongji Canal, but also fully support the Eastern Capital and encircle and suppress Yang Xuangan, so as to send grain and grass to the deteriorating western Xinjiang. ”

King Qi was not happy when he heard this. Qu Tutong's meaning is very straightforward, there are priorities, you can "blackmail", but you can't deliberately worsen the situation, now that Liyang has been recovered, and the Yongji Canal has also been opened, should you move to Xingyang? You can't go to the eastern capital, but you can go to Xingyang, one day earlier to open the Tongji Canal, isn't it a day earlier to open the North-South Grand Canal? The more loyal you are, the more you will be able to gain the favor of the Holy Lord?

You should be a lonely child, you can be bullied? King Qi secretly slandered himself, held back his anger, and asked in a cold voice, "Gu Zeng heard that long before Yang Xuangan's mutiny, in order to alleviate the crisis in Western Xinjiang, the Holy Lord issued an order to replace Honghua with Wei Shaoqing and Tang Guogong Li Yuan, and Yuyang Gongyuan Honghei, I don't know if the rumors are true?" ”

"It is true." Qu Tutong replied without hesitation, "Extrapolating from the time, Tang Guogong has arrived in Honghua, and has replaced Yuyang Gong as Honghua's remaining guard, taking charge of the military of the thirteen counties of Longyou. "The implication is that Yang Xuangan has lost the most powerful backup, and he has also lost the most powerful backup of the West Entry Pass, you Qi King Yang Lan don't have any illusions about Yang Xuangan anymore, this storm is over here, and it will end soon.

King Qi's face was expressionless, but he sneered in his heart. Are you a little white sheep when Yuan Hongji is a little white sheep? In comparison, Li Yuan, the prince of Tang Guo, who was pampered and grew up in a honeypot, was the little white sheep, and the cold Yuan Hongsi was a wolf who ate people and did not spit out bones. The more Qu Tutong expressed his "self-confidence" in this matter, the more it showed that the situation in the northwest was confusing and there were all kinds of variables.

"Tang Guogong?" King Qi's disdain was beyond words, and he almost didn't yell "phew" at Qu Tutong.

Qu Tutong smiled and said slowly, "Tang Guogong may not be strong enough in the eyes of the king, and it may be the same in the eyes of Yuyang Gong (Yuan Honghei), everyone despises Tang Guogong and disdains him, and this is exactly what the Holy Lord needs, when everyone looks at Tang Guogong and thinks he is vulnerable......"

King Qi Huo Ran thought of a person, his face changed slightly, and he immediately blurted out, "Hide from the sky and cross the sea." ”

Qu Tutong smiled and bowed, "The king is wise." Tang Guogong is just a bait, and the one who really started to deal with Yuyang Gong was Feng Xiaoci, the deputy left-behind guard of Honghua and the general of the right Xiaowei. ”

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