After Xie Guang received the final reply from the crown prince Li Bing, saying that he agreed with his plan to find an opportunity, a hanging heart finally fell to the ground.

As the old general Xu Lie said to Murong Xue, although Xie Guang's power in the court and the army is getting stronger and stronger, without the support of the royal family, no matter how much military power he wields, it will not help after all.

The loyalty of the soldiers of the Holy Tang Dynasty to the royal family is comparable to the strength of the Northern Underworld, coupled with the strict system and discipline of the army, if there is no justifiable reason and the representative of the royal authority, it will be difficult for anyone to set off any waves.

If you dare to rebel blatantly, in addition to hardcore cronies, I am afraid that more than half of the soldiers and horses will be able to defect on the spot.

Therefore, Li Bing's mind is the key to all Xie Guang's plans.

Nian Jinsong and He Jingming were originally the crown prince's biggest "talisman". As long as the two of them are here, the Sacred Covenant will always be the highest code of the Holy Tang Dynasty, and Li Bing will not want to do anything risky no matter what, and of course, it will never be possible to give Xie Guang a little bit of support in terms of law and Taoism.

And once there is no such key support, if something really happens, the only thing Xie Guang can use is only a very small number of personal soldiers in his hands, and the vast majority of the rest of the army will either stand by and watch, or turn their backs on the spot, fall apart in a blink of an eye, and be crushed by the imperial court.

Fortunately, now the situation of Saint Tang has become very different under his Xie Guang's calculations.

The defenders of the Holy Covenant have died one after another, leaving the fragile nerves of the crown prince Li Bing with no one to rely on. If he still cares about the throne, if he is worried that his uncle Li Chengwu has changed his mind and decided to let his bloodline inherit the Holy Tang, then what he can reach out to grasp and must reach out to grasp is only Xie Guang.

This is undoubtedly the best result for Xie Guang.

Holding the male army, supporting the crown prince, faithfully fulfilling the sacred covenant for Taifu Nian Jinsong and the great commander He Jingming, and assisting the bloodline of the first emperor to regain imperial power, isn't it invincible? As long as Xie Guang takes the entire imperial capital with a thunderous force and forces Li Chengwu to abdicate, then the thousands of miles of the Shengtang Dynasty will fall into the pocket of his Xie family.

As for Li Bing, he is just a puppet of his coercion of the Son of Heaven to order the princes.

According to the previous plan, after getting a clear reply from the East Palace, Xie Guang tried to show his skills, and in the name of conquering the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang, he got the military power in his hands, and then he would send all the soldiers and horses who did not have the same heart as him to Zijin Pass, and he led the Xuanjia Legion and the Long Knife Legion back to the imperial capital and led the army to launch the "Forcing Palace".

At that time, Emperor Li Chengwu told the heavens and the earth to be ineffective, and there was no other choice than to obediently fulfill the sacred covenant and abdicate early to save his life.

This plan, no matter how you look at it, is very feasible.

More importantly, this plan is indeed being realized step by step.

Although Emperor Li Chengwu repeatedly hesitated to hand over the military power because of the obstruction of the crown prince and young master Liu Ce, the direction of Zijin Pass sent eight urgent military reports a day, and no one could bear it. The Turkic army and the Western Xinjiang rebel alliance gradually gained a foothold, and continued to increase the pressure on the western border of Shengtang, if no more troops were sent, I am afraid that it would not only be as simple as losing the western Xinjiang, Liangzhou, Yongzhou, Suzhou, and even the imperial capital would be exposed to the iron hooves of the Turks.

So, Li Chengwu was forced to be helpless, and finally nodded and agreed, and Xie Guang of Shangzhu State served as the commander of the Western Expedition, commanding the hundreds of thousands of troops gathered outside the imperial capital to meet the battle. As long as the province of Menxia draws up a formal edict of appointment, and then the emperor stamps the imperial seal of the country, Xie Guang will be able to get the tiger talisman in his hands.

However, at this critical moment, an unexpected situation suddenly put Xie Guang in a dilemma, and he even had to consider completely overturning the original plan and risking an early action.

That fatal emergency situation is Shen Lie.

According to the spies' report, just this morning, the gate of the imperial capital had just opened, and Shi, the dusty director of the Northern Ya, rushed directly into the city and rushed to the palace without stopping.

After Xie Guang received this extremely unexpected news, he immediately gathered his cronies and henchmen to discuss how to deal with it.

Faced with the current situation, some people advocated an immediate operation, commanding his troops to seize the city gate and besiege the palace, and launched a military admonition to force the emperor Li Chengwu to pass on the throne to the crown prince Li Bing; Some people feel that the time is not yet ripe, and they must not act rashly and mess with themselves, so as to attract a strong counterattack from the imperial court.

For a while, the two opinions were at loggerheads, and neither could convince the other. In the end, Xie Guang patted the bookcase, got up and shouted: "Don't make any more noise!" Ben Shuai has made up his mind, he must move first! Shen Lie returned from the Western Xinjiang and suddenly entered the palace at this moment, which must not be a good thing. If Ben Shuai expected it to be true, it is likely that he has some evidence against us, which is enough to make the emperor change his mind. Therefore, if we hesitate to drag it out, all our previous efforts may be in vain. When that time comes, I am afraid that none of you here will end well. The way to use soldiers is to seize the power! The army that loses its strength will definitely be defeated! For the sake of today's plan, we can only first create the most favorable conditions for us in the situation, and then decide whether to attack or defend, advance or retreat. ”

Di Xian was secretly annoyed and frightened because he failed to intercept Shen Lie back to Beijing in time, and when he heard Xie Guang say this, he hurriedly replied loudly: "Shangzhu Guo's words are reasonable, and I will listen to you." Please give an order from the Pillar Kingdom, what shall we do? ”

Xie Guang nodded, and a sharp light shot out of his eyes: "Lu Yaofeng, you should immediately go back to the military department now, find a strong reason, and urgently summon the Qilin military academy and above officers who are in charge of the imperial capital's city defense, let them all gather at the yamen of the military department, and try their best to drag those people down." At the same time, an order was issued in the name of the Ministry of War, instructing the soldiers and horses of the prefectures outside the city to leave the camp without military orders, and everyone was on standby. ”

Lu Yaofeng, the secretary of the military department, responded loudly, turned around and left in a hurry, Xie Guang then turned around and said to Feng Yiwei, the commander of the Long Knife Legion: "Brother Yiwei, I have worked hard for you, go back to your camp immediately, start to gather troops, and be ready to cooperate with my actions at any time...... Biao'er! ”

"In!" Xie Guang's nephew, Xie Biao, the deputy general of the Long Knife Army, stood up and answered.

"You assist Uncle Feng and bring the long sword army. At the critical moment, you have to give me whatever it takes to block the main force of the Qilin Army coming from the direction of Jiyang City! ”

"Please rest assured, uncle, I guarantee that half of the Qilin soldiers will not be able to reach the imperial capital!"

Xie Guang bowed slightly, turned his head and asked Di Xian: "Mingdemen and Anhuamen, how are the two important places?" ”

"Back to Shangzhu Kingdom," Di Xian slightly arched his hand: "The officers of the Qilin Army guarding these two city gates have already taken refuge in us, and they can let go of the city gates at any time, so that our army can pass smoothly and ensure that nothing goes wrong!" ”

Xie Guangdao: "Okay! The Xuanjia Army's Yuzi Battalion and Huozi Battalion immediately took over Mingdemen and Anhuamen, blocked Suzaku Street, and the remaining 16 battalions assembled outside the city to stand by, if anything happens, immediately enter the city for reinforcements! ”

Several of the main generals of the Xuanjia Legion heard the words in unison, and they were full of murderous energy.

"Di Xian, you have one more important task." Xie Guang's face was frosty, and he said in a deep voice: "Take the personal guards of the commander, and immediately rush to the Fanglin Gate of the palace to carry out the defense, and at the same time escort His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come to me as soon as possible." Once the face is completely torn with the imperial court, only the banner of the East Palace can compete with them. Without this chip, we're all done! ”

Di Xian first responded, "Humble and understood", and then said: "Shangzhu Country, the army is in full operation, and it may not be able to immediately grasp the situation in the imperial capital, in case those forbidden armies and Qilin troops clash with us, Shangzhu Guofu will also become no longer safe here." Do you consider going out of the city for the time being to take command, so that the sons and daughters don't have to worry about it? ”

Xie Guang didn't speak immediately when he heard this, and only nodded after a moment of silence and said, "You're right. First of all, it is invincible, and then the enemy can be victorious, this is the right principle of war. However, even if you want to go, you have to take the prince with you, otherwise it will be difficult to stay safe when you get outside the city. ”

Then, he instructed the housekeeper on the side: "Xie Fu, you go to the back immediately to make arrangements, so that the family members can quickly pack up and prepare to leave the city." You don't need to take any valuables, people and horses are the first thing! ”

Xie Fu was stunned for a moment, and was a little anxious: "Master, the ladies and ladies are fine, all of them are in the house, but a few sons went out early in the morning to play and meet friends, and they can't find them at this time, what should I do?" ”

"I can't care so much!" Xie Guang waved his hand: "You try to send people to inform them to leave the city, whether they are dead or alive, you can only depend on their own lives!" What are you still doing? Go ahead! ”

Xie Fu reacted, hurriedly sighed, turned his head and ran outside. Looking at his panicked appearance, Xie Guang's heart immediately felt depressed, and he couldn't help but snort angrily: "Damn, what was supposed to be a proper plan, but now it has become so hasty and panicked, it's really a wretch!" ”

Seeing that he was annoyed, Di Xian hurriedly comforted: "Shangzhuguo doesn't have to care. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, which is a common thing. You have been through countless battles and made decisions on the spot, but what time did you not lead your brothers to victory? Now although Shen Lie has this variable, the initiative is still in our hands, and all kinds of emergency responses at the moment are nothing more than fear of long nights and dreams, and it is just a good opportunity to miss the opportunity. ”

Xie Guang exhaled softly, and was noncommittal to Di Xian's words: "Don't delay your efforts here." Hurry up to the East Palace and pick up Li Bing for Ben Shuai. ”

Di Xian nodded and asked, "Shangzhu Kingdom, what if His Highness is unwilling to go with the humble position?" ”

"Then tie him up!" Xie Guang said angrily.