Due to the critical situation in the eastern capital, when Li Jiangyao repelled the Prince of the Temple, the Zhenjiang army launched a large-scale counterattack, and the good news came that Yongzhou Liangzhou had been continuously recovered, the adults of Luoyi were not happy.

The old nest is almost gone, can you be happy?

Ma Hongjie commanded his troops to retreat to the outskirts of Luoyi and once again built a defensive line, preparing to resist the onslaught of the Turks. However, Helian Xiong suddenly decided to withdraw his troops at this time, which made the southern army busy and lonely.

The reason is very simple, Li Jiangyao and they are moving too fast.

The front of the Zhenjiang Army has threatened the security of the imperial capital. The Turkic soldiers and horses could only turn around and march west to defend their Great Khan Ashina Jin.

At the same time, the Xuanjia rebels who successfully attacked Ma Hongjie have also returned from the original road in the mountains, concentrating on consolidating the Jiangbei cities in their pockets.

The turmoil of the war for nearly three months has temporarily entered a period of calm.

Several sides of the war have their own victories and defeats. Among them, the most harvested are Li Jiangyao and Bao Yuchun. They counterattacked with a defense and successfully recovered Yongliang Erzhou; The other conspired to capture Jingzhou, Caizhou, Suizhou, Gwangju and Nanyang.

And the party with the greatest loss is the emperor Li Bing. Not to mention the loss of a large area of territory in vain, it also lost troops and lost its vitality.

Li Bing, who was holding back the evil fire in his belly, was furious at Murong Xue, Gong Chengze and Dong Tianxing, and he was so disappointed.

"Tell me, what's next?"

Li Bing's face sank like water, staring at the civil and military ministers who were standing under the imperial stairs, and asked angrily.

None of the people dared to speak up easily, for fear that if they said something wrong, they would be scolded by His Majesty.

Dong Tianxing couldn't help frowning when he saw that everyone didn't speak. Although he is an official and a squire of the military department, his position is not low, and he is still qualified to participate in the imperial prelude, but compared with those second- and third-grade court officials, his rank is not prominent enough. It stands to reason that the big guys didn't speak, and he didn't have to be this budding bird.

What's more, he was just reprimanded by the emperor because of his unfavorable battle.

But the upright old Dong didn't care about personal gains and losses, he couldn't hold back his words in his heart, coughed lightly, and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that the top priority is to get in touch with the Zhenjiang Army as soon as possible and discuss the battle strategy together. ”

He didn't mention the Zhenjiang Army, but as soon as he mentioned the Zhenjiang Army, Li Bing suddenly remembered Xiahou Ninghan in his heart, and couldn't help but be sour and depressed, so he shouted impatiently: "The Zhenjiang Army is far away in the sky, but the danger of Luoyi is close at hand." Why don't you plan from a close quarter, and bother with all that useless?! ”

Although he was directly scolded by the emperor, Dong Tianxing was not afraid and continued: "Your Majesty Mingjian. Although Ma Hongjie's southern army had been heavily damaged by the Turks before, and the defense line had approached the eastern capital, at present, Helianxiong had withdrawn to Tongguan, and it should not be easy to go east in a short time. After Bao Yuchun's rebels attacked Ma Hongjie, they also focused on consolidating the defensive line, and more than 100,000 troops were scattered and deployed on the front line of Nanyang, Caizhou, and Gwangju, with no intention of going north for the time being. It can be said that the current crisis in Luoyi has basically been resolved. ”

He paused and continued: "The Zhenjiang Army has successfully recovered Yongliang Erzhou, and hundreds of thousands of elite elites in the northwest have put tremendous pressure on Ashina Jin, and the conditions for attacking the imperial capital are becoming mature. At this time, it is precisely the imperial court that needs to come forward and carry out unified coordination and deployment. ”

"Lord Dong's words are wrong." Yin Chengyi, the prefect of the Governor's Mansion and the Grand Governor, opened his mouth to retort: "The enemies to the west and south of Luoyi have only temporarily entered a period of recuperation, and they are not completely retreating from the battle. Therefore, the crisis in the eastern capital has not only not been resolved, but is still secretly brewing a bigger storm. As His Majesty has said, the priority now should be how to defend Luoyi, rather than coordinating the nonsense of attacking the imperial capital. ”

Yin Chengyi has been very close to Wei Zixuan and others recently, and he can be regarded as a relatively upstart minister in the Shaozhuang faction. As soon as he expressed his position, many people immediately nodded in agreement.

Murong Xue said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Governor Yin said just now is not entirely right. ”

Although he had just suffered a defeat, Murong Xue's weight in front of Li Bing had not changed at all, and hearing him say this, Li Bing asked, "Oh? Then you can give me a good analysis, what is the current situation? ”

Murong Xue responded: "The reason why Bao Yuchun retreated to Caizhou in Nanyang is because they were originally not in the Eastern Capital. The rebels had just occupied the south of the river, and their strength was not enough to support them in a large-scale battle around Luoyi. Therefore, after occupying several important towns in Jiangbei by luck, Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun will never wave their troops north again. On the Turkic side, because of the existence of the Zhenjiang Army, it is necessary to gather heavy troops to defend the imperial capital, so it will not come to attack Luoyi. The minister agreed with Lord Dong's opinion that at this time, he should take advantage of the favorable opportunity to recover Yongliang, focus on the west, and solve the problem of the Turks as soon as possible. ”

Wang Bo, the secretary of the military department, shook his head and frowned: "You just said that the imperial court should come forward to unify and coordinate, but how should it be coordinated?" Ma Hongjie's Southern Army and Li Jiangyao's Western Army are all self-contained warlords, and there is no court in their eyes. Will they listen to what my military department says? ”

Murong Xue was stunned when she heard this, and subconsciously glanced at Dong Tianxing.

I only heard Wei Zixuan also snort coldly: "That's why Governor Yin will say that this is unrealistic nonsense." Li Jiangyao defeated Yongzhou and Liangzhou, not to regain lost territory for Shengtang, but to expand the territory of his Zhenjiang army, don't you understand this? If he is really loyal, I don't think there is a need for special coordination, just let him continue to attack the imperial capital. ”

"What's that your name?" Murong Xue said angrily: "Hundreds of thousands of Zhenjiang soldiers fought bloodily for the country, how can you be so slandered?!" ”

Wei Zixuan smiled: "General Murong doesn't have to be angry. Or Wang Shangshu's words, the court ordered it, is Li Jiangyao willing to listen? If the Zhenjiang Army obeys the dispatch of the Ministry of War, I will personally go to Li Jiangyao and kowtow to confess his guilt and make compensation. But if they are disobedient, the general should not accuse his own officer of slander. ”

Murong Xue immediately refuted it-for-tat: "Who said that Li Jiangyao refused to obey the dispatch of the imperial court?" As long as it is the right order, the Zhenjiang army will definitely obey it. I'm afraid of blind command, how do you make people obey? ”

Dong Tianxing also said: "Your Majesty, your lords, the lower officials can also guarantee that all the officers and soldiers of the Zhenjiang Army are loyal to the Holy Tang and have no ambitions. They have been fighting alone for so many years to defend against foreign enemies, not for themselves! ”

"Alright, don't make any noise!" Li Bing waved his hand vigorously: "I let you discuss countermeasures here, not to let you discuss whether the Western Army is loyal or not!" A bunch of rubbish, none of which got to the point! Forget it, I'm tired today, so let's stop here. You amazing pillars, all go home and think about it, and give me a serious answer tomorrow! ”

After saying that, Li Bing stood up, flicked the sleeves of his robe, left the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs on the spot, and went straight back to the harem.

Murong Xue had no choice but to disperse with the officials. Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the palace, he was stopped by an officer.

"General, Lord Zhou Xingzhou asks to see you."

Murong Xue was curious: "What about others?" Why don't you come to me directly? ”

"Lord Zhou said that Tian Mu is also here, so it is inconvenient for him to show up." The officer whispered: "Lord Zhou has an urgent matter to report, and the news comes from Lord Changshi." ”

Murong Xue knew that the so-called Lord Changshi did not refer to Tian Mu, but to Shen Lie. So, he nodded quietly, first glanced around, and when he saw that no minister was paying attention to him, he motioned for the officer to lead the way.

The two left the palace gate and turned into Chengpingfang, which was not far away. The officer led Murong Xue all the way into a restaurant called "Nameless Residence" and met Zhou Xing, who had been waiting here for a long time.

The work of the front and rear feet, Dong Tianxing was also brought here.

"What's the matter? It's mysterious. Lao Dong couldn't help but ask, "Is there any important information on Lord Shen's side?" ”

"That's true." Zhou Xing's face was serious: "The matter is very important, I was ordered to notify the two of you as soon as possible." ”

As he spoke, he took out a small roll of kraft paper from his arms and presented it to Murong Xue with both hands.

On the palm-wide note, there were more than a hundred or so strange symbols densely written, and Murong Xue and Dong Tianxing were confused.

Zhou Xing explained: "This is the secret talisman of our Reverse Scale Division, which only Lord Shen and a few of us can understand. ”

Murong Xue felt angry and funny, and threw the note back to him: "Then why do you take off your pants and fart, there is such an extra process?" Direct translation is not enough. ”

Zhou Xing solemnly put away the secret letter: "This is also to let the two adults confirm that the information is indeed written by Changshi himself." The note said several things, the most important of which was about Di Xian. ”

"Di Xian?" Murong Xue was slightly stunned: "He used to be a member of the Xuanjia Legion, and he belonged to Xie Guang's cronies. However, his real identity is Lao Jianhua's disciple, and he was placed by Lao Jianhua next to Xie Guang as a mole. Zhou Xing, what happened to Di Xian? ”

Zhou Xing's face was serious: "Lord Changshi said, Di Xian...... It is likely to be the person to whom Lao Jianhua is loyal. ”

Murong Xue was shocked when she heard this, and asked in disbelief, "You are not mistaken, right?" How is this possible? ”

"You can't go wrong with Lord Changshi." Zhou Xing shook his head: "According to the long history, Di Xian is currently in Hangzhou, and he is closely protected by the Xuanjia Army all day long, and he is surrounded by first-class masters. Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun are running around on the front line, but Di Xian is pampered in Hangzhou, this abnormal phenomenon can only show one problem, he is the real important person with a superb status. ”

Murong Xue thought for a moment, and then agreed: "Indeed, as you said, this situation is too abnormal. What is the origin of that guy Di Xian, who can make Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun saddle before and after? ”

A thought popped up in Zhou Xing's heart: the Li family's blood royal family.

However, with such top-secret information, he didn't dare to reveal half a word to Murong Xue and Dong Tianxing.