My players are all acting

In the court, there were endless disputes.

The main battle faction and the main peace faction each expressed their views, and began to quote widely, quoting the words of the saints, and the historical allusions of the previous dynasty. In short, they all felt that they were very reasonable.

As for the emperor, he watched impatiently from the throne that the two groups of people in the audience were arguing with each other, and his face was quite impatient.

Obviously, the emperor who has just ascended the throne has not been able to adapt to his identity very well.

At this time, he actually hated the behavior of these ministers, and felt that their empty talk was harmful to the country, but no one could give him a good plan to convince him, and there was no one word that he could immediately make a decision and follow through on it.

In the eyes of the emperor, this is obviously the incompetence of the ministers.

At this time, Li Boxi and Tang Qin may seem to be planning for the country and the monarch, but in the eyes of the emperor, most of them have their own selfish motives.

It's hard to trust.

Seeing that the two parties have not yet reached a conclusion, the emperor turned his attention to Chu Ge who had not spoken.

Chu Ge's position at this time is Yushi Zhongcheng. Although the rank is not the highest, he is the highest official of Yushitai. He has the authority and the right to speak.

Moreover, judging from the gaze the emperor cast on him, it seems that...the emperor still attaches great importance to his opinion?

I only heard Qi Yingzong paused for a while, and said in a dignified tone that he was not familiar with: "Li Qing, what do you think about this matter?"

Chu Ge’s name in this dungeon is Li Hao. When he heard the emperor’s question about his head, he thought for a while and replied: “When you return to the official’s house, I think war and peace are necessary means. There can be no compromise.

"The Jin people are coming aggressively at this time, which is different from the powerful enemies before our dynasty.

"The golden man swallowed up the entire north, and his morale was high. At this time, he probably had the intention of destroying our dynasty. As Tang Xiang said, it would be impossible to persuade the golden man to leave with some gold and silver treasures.

"So, no matter how high the price we give, the Jinren will continue to open their mouths, thinking that I will definitely be able to give more... In this way, it will be a bottomless pit.

"So, this battle in the capital is inevitable.

"But it's hard to keep fighting for a long time. Our soldiers are neglected in training, and it's hard to compete with Jinren in combat power.

"If you fight in the field rashly, you will only be defeated by the Jin people one by one.

"The only way is to defend the capital and wait for the king's army to serve the world. When our dynasty's military strength reaches an absolute advantage, especially when the old man Zhong Ping and Yuan Zhong of the Western Army arrives, it is possible to win in a single battle.

"When the Jin people were unable to attack for a long time and were deeply trapped in the hinterland of our dynasty, there was hope for peace talks.

"And the key point is that this time when the Jin soldiers went south, our dynasty's army was about to collapse, and the capital was in jeopardy. This has already sounded the alarm for our dynasty.

"This time, we should defend the capital first, wait for the king's army to gather to repel the Jin army, set up a collegiate agreement, and then prepare the army for war. It will take a few years to raise a strong army that can compete with the Jin army, and then the world will be able to fight back." No worries."

Chu Ge's words are basically the best solution in the eyes of later generations.

At this time, Jin Bing's combat effectiveness is well understood, and at the current level of the Qi Dynasty, there is no way to fight.

But at this time, although there is no danger to defend the vicinity of the capital, relying on the city wall, it is not a big problem to defend the first wave.

To avoid the shame of Jingping, in Chu Ge's view, the key points are nothing more than the following: the first is to use Li Boxi's power to defend the capital as in the original history;

The second is to persuade the emperor to wait for the Pingyuan Western Army to be fully prepared before going to war, strive to gain an advantage in the field battle, and force the Jin people to negotiate a peace;

The third is to keep the main force of the Western Army, make proper preparations, break the siege of Taiyuan City, and continue to increase the defensive strength of Taiyuan;

The fourth is to take this opportunity to strengthen the defense line of the Yellow River, and guard against the second invasion of the Jin soldiers more than half a year later, which caused the Jingping change;

The fifth is to promote General Han Fuyue and others after seeking peace for a while, organize the army and prepare for war, and then give full support from the whole country. Lost gold country.

If these steps can be successfully completed, then the Qi Dynasty’s Guozuo can last at least for many years. After Yanyun and other important towns are established, if they are properly managed, they can even withstand the rise of the Northern Man and drag it to the place where the Northern Man is divided. one day.

If Chu Ge's identity at this time is Qi Yingzong, then there is no need for others to propose these five steps. He can arrange Li Boxi and other reliable ministers to do it himself.

But at this time he is not the emperor, but just a censor Zhongcheng, so he can only give advice.

As for how much the emperor can listen to, only God knows.

In fact, Chu Ge also has other options, such as completely falling to the main war faction or the main peace faction, but this is his first attempt after all. After thinking about it, he decided to tell the whole story.

In the court, it may not be possible to carry out all these things, but it is still useful to arouse some consensus among people of insight.

However, what surprised Chu Ge was that Qi Yingzong showed a dissatisfied expression on his face.

"Well, what Li Qing said also makes sense."

Is it just "it makes sense"... This is obviously the best solution under the current situation!

Chu Ge looked at the reactions of the other ministers to him, and found that Li Boxi, the head of the war faction, seemed a little surprised by his expression, but there was also some appreciation in his surprise; as for Tang Qin, he looked at him. It is with doubts, and there are some emotions and sighs in the doubts.

...

This court meeting ended up being unhappy.

Seeing the golden soldiers pressing down on the situation, the court still did not discuss a very clear plan.

In the end, Qi Yingzong just made a decision with some reluctance, and ordered all towns and elite soldiers from all walks of life to rush to the capital to serve the king. As for the mess of the capital's defense, he was considered a sensible person and threw it all to Li Boxi.

Chu Ge didn't know whether Qi Yingzong made this decision and whether there was a reason for his own analysis. After all, the capital's ability to hold on in history was mainly due to Li Boxi's credit.

I hope that my words can play some role in the ears of the emperor and ministers!

When leaving the court meeting, Chu Ge was just about to drive back to his residence, but he didn't expect Li Boxi to stop him.

Li Boxi was not young at this time, but his brows and eyes were domineering, and he didn't look like a scholar at all. Moreover, his body is quite strong, and his fists as big as sandbags give people a feeling of being able to punch inexplicably.

"I've always thought that you are the best at figuring out the best intentions, so even if you are the censor Zhongcheng, you usually speak up and speak out, but I have always had some opinions on you.

"It's just that your performance in the court today made me change my opinion. When this soldier is in danger of fighting, I still hope that Chizheng can let go of his previous prejudices and guard the country of the Qi Dynasty together."

Chu Ge nodded quickly: "Don't worry Li Xiang, he will definitely do his best!"

...

After returning to the mansion, Chu Ge had dinner and paced back and forth in the study by himself.

He was thinking about why the emperor and the officials in the court reacted to him in this way after he said those words.

"The key issue here is Li Boxi's impression of me.

"It can be seen that Li Boxi's attitude towards me has changed after I said these words. He said that he thought I was good at figuring out what he wanted, so he was quite critical of me.

"It turns out that my character is designed like this...

"It's no wonder the emperor was a little disappointed with what I said, and Tang Qin looked at me with something wrong."

"Good at figuring out what you want" is definitely not a good evaluation.

Of course, in terms of being an official, being able to figure out what the emperor is thinking at this time is naturally the most important thing for promotion and wealth.

But this also means that such people's words are often not from the heart, but from catering to their wishes.

Why did the emperor ask Chu Ge to speak by name, and still look forward to what he had to say?

It is because Li Hao played by Chu Ge is good at figuring out what he wants, and the emperor really hopes to hear something from him that can satisfy him.

For example... How can I leave this mess to others, run away from the capital by myself, etc.

There may not necessarily be a definite standard answer, but it is obvious that the answer given by Chu Ge is obviously far from the standard answer in the emperor's mind.

If he had known that Li Hao was such a character, perhaps Chu Ge would have considered the option of fooling the emperor.

Chu Ge had already considered this dark line between Qi Yingzong and Qi Huizong before.

Why is Qi Yingzong a little disappointed with the answers of these ministers?

In fact, no matter whether it is Li Boxi of the main combat faction or Tang Qin of the main peace faction, at least what they say in the hall is still watertight. Especially Li Boxi, he is a very talented and capable person. Strictly speaking, as long as Qi Yingzong starts to hang up the phone without caring about anything and leave all these things to Li Boxi, he can sit back and relax.

But Qi Yingzong is still not satisfied, why?

In the final analysis, it was because these important ministers in the court were basically his father Qi Huizong's team.

Therefore, Qi Yingzong naturally distrusted these people.

Especially for Li Boxi.

From Qi Yingzong's point of view, his father patted his ass and ran away to enjoy the blessings in the south. Li Boxi couldn't stop Qi Huizong, but forced himself to stay on the front line of the capital, which may be breached at any time. What is the reason for this? ?

Obviously, in Li Boxi's mind, the Supreme Emperor is more important.

Maybe Li Boxi is indeed capable, but for Qi Yingzong, this kind of ability, prestige, and status will make him feel very uncomfortable after all.

At this time, the army was in danger, so he had no choice but to use Li Boxi. He also knew that the success rate of peace negotiations might be very low, so he reluctantly handed over the defense of the entire capital to Li Boxi.

But whenever there is an opportunity in the future, Qi Yingzong will definitely find ways to promote his own people from below, and then find some excuses to throw all these important officials from the original team to the local government.

As for Li Hao, played by Chu Ge, Qi Yingzong's questioning obviously contained some hints.

If Chu Ge could give an answer that satisfied Qi Yingzong at that time, perhaps Qi Yingzong could promote him logically, and a bridge of mutual trust could be established between the monarch and his ministers: everyone is their own.

But the problem is that the premise of this kind of mutual trust is that Chu Ge must obey Qi Yingzong's intention, which is very detrimental to the defense of the capital.

In short, the matter has come to this point, and it is temporarily unrealistic to think about another possibility.

Chu Ge decided to take a look around like this first, try to help Li Gang keep the capital, and then he is qualified to talk about other things.

If you fail to defend the city this time, think of another way.

After some thinking, Chu Ge decided to speed up the flow of time, go to the next court meeting as soon as possible, and look for opportunities to try to organize the defense of the entire capital with Li Boxi.

However, what Chu Ge didn't expect was that as the time outside passed by in a hurry and the sky was about to dawn, there was a servant knocking on the door in a hurry.

"My lord, my lord!

"It's bad, I heard that Your Majesty...Your Majesty, he escaped from the city last night!

"At this time, the city is in chaos, master, please get up and take a look!"

Chu Ge couldn't help being startled, and then said in astonishment, "What did you say?"

It's just that before he had time to go out, there was already a white mist in front of him.

This means that his challenge has failed this time.

Before withdrawing from this slice of history, he once again saw the situation after the Jin soldiers went south from the perspective of God.

As the emperor fled, a large number of important ministers also ran out of the city with the emperor. The news spread quickly, and it was impossible to hide it.

As a result, the entire capital became panic-stricken, and everyone was in danger. Many wealthy businessmen also began to flee, and even the defenders were demoralized.

Although Li Boxi was still working hard to organize the defense, the Jin people quickly broke through the capital under the distraction of the people.

After that, the Jin people slaughtered, looted and looted wantonly in the capital, and almost all the north of the Qi Dynasty fell.

The Jingping change has arrived ahead of schedule.

Perhaps in this timeline, the only good news is that the two monarchs, Qi Huizong and Qi Yingzong, were not taken away by the Jin people because they ran fast, along with some clan nobles.

However, the appetite of the Jin people who took down the capital at a very fast speed became greater and began to continue to invade south. In the process of exile, the emperor's decree was not clear, and the defenders in various places did not have a unified command, and they collapsed without fighting. The whole situation It turned out to be even more difficult to deal with than the Jingping change.

Chu Ge's light spot in the capital dimmed the fastest, followed by Cenqiao Station, and then the countryside and Dingping County not far away.

Obviously, the other three locations are basically attached to the capital.

If the capital can block the main force of the Jin people, then there is still room for resistance in other places. And once the capital falls, the Jin people can send out a large army to sweep the surroundings quickly, and then go to join the Jin soldiers who attacked Taiyuan City, and in the end it was out of control.

Returning to the original scene, Chu Ge slapped his forehead in frustration.

"Hunting wild geese all the year round, yet being pecked out by wild goose...

"I know that it is recorded in the history books that Qi Yingzong had the idea of ​​running away, but I didn't expect him to come so soon, so suddenly... Besides, according to the historical records, wasn't he stopped by Li Boxi?

"It's a pity that the other three buddies in this dungeon, I don't know who they are, have been implicated by me."

Chu Ge couldn't help but blame himself.

The scribe he chose this time was supposed to be very confident in himself and wanted to carry, but he didn't expect that it would become a breakthrough because of an oversight.

"Come again!"

Chu Ge was a little speechless, but this was a low-level mistake after all, and it was only because he hadn't quite adapted to the brain circuit of this dungeon that the gutter capsized.

Soon, Chu Ge came to the court again.

This time he said the same thing as before. Whether the emperor is happy to put it aside first, or show his favor to Li Boxi first. After all, keeping the capital right now is the top priority.

After returning to his mansion, Chu Ge didn't dare to keep his ears shut.

He directly asked his servants to prepare the carriage and went straight to Li Boxi's residence.

...

Under the night, the capital looked a little depressed in the silence.

At this time, although the front of the Jin people's soldiers had already moved south, there were still a few days before the real siege of the capital.

But how many days it will be, no one can tell.

After the Jinren easily broke through the defense line of the Yellow River, they went all the way south like a bamboo. This is certainly due to the bravery of the Jin soldiers and the collapse of the Qi army, but more, I am afraid that there is also a gap in the combat strategy.

Unlike the West Route Army, which was blocked by the strong city of Taiyuan, after the East Route Army easily obtained Yanjing by surrendering generals, the entire East Road until the capital city was actually invulnerable, and there was no strong city like Taiyuan like a nail. It is also firmly nailed to the southward route of the Eastern Route Army.

From this point of view, perhaps it is understandable that Jin Bing is in a hurry.

But in fact, people who know a little bit about the inside story will know that although there is no strong city like Taiyuan, there are also various small towns on the road, and there are many states and counties. of.

If the officials in charge of the army could act decisively and use less troops to harass the grain roads behind the Jin people and cover up and kill the single Jin soldiers, the situation at this time would still be completely different.

But the better possibility in this imagination failed to appear after all.

In this huge chaos, every official in charge of the army thought that he might be powerless. In the face of the sharp edge of the Jinren, going alone was tantamount to seeking death. But if all the troops of the Qi Dynasty on the entire East Road are holding this idea, then the final result is only possible to be driven straight into it by the Jin people.

Therefore, Qi Yingzong should also know that if he wants to run away, this is the best time.

If there is a further delay, a few days will pass by in the blink of an eye, when the golden soldiers will approach the city and surround the entire capital, then even if they want to escape, it will be difficult to fly.

——The swordsman has no eyes, and he fled in the chaos. If Jin Bing meets him, it may be difficult to tell whether he is a minister or an emperor. In case of any good or bad, it would be an unacceptable ending for the Emperor, a ninety-five-year-old.

Therefore, after today's court meeting, some officials who are "good at figuring out what is going on" privately asked the emperor to speak to the emperor, and said what the emperor had been looking forward to at the court meeting, but no ministers dared to say it openly that possibility.

flee.

So, after a high-sounding statement of interests, the emperor decided to play such a scandal at the instigation of some jester.

Under the night, the emperor's car was very low-key, he didn't use the usual ostentation of going out on the street, but just dressed up like an ordinary high-ranking official, quietly but hurriedly, and headed towards the side gate of the city.

The Qi Dynasty was a dynasty without a curfew, and there are some historical reasons for this.

The original Daliang City originally had many squares and markets, and the doors were closed and locked every night, and the people could not take to the streets for no reason. However, the commercial economy of the Qi Dynasty gradually developed, and the boundaries of the entire Fangshi were quickly destroyed, so that it became very difficult to maintain the curfew at night, and the night was also lively.

After several unsuccessful attempts to restore the curfew, the capital at this time had actually lifted the curfew, and at its most prosperous, it became a veritable city that never sleeps.

It's just that during this period of time, due to the fact that the Jin people went south, the entire capital also became panicked. So the emperor issued an edict to strengthen the patrol at night. Under such a tense atmosphere, fewer people were willing to go to the streets late at night, so the entire capital seemed a little lonely at this time.

The emperor's car deliberately bypassed the more prosperous streets and hurried towards the side gate.

In the spacious carriage, Qi Yingzong's figure shook slightly with the bumps. But a kind of joy that is about to escape from the cage, still can't be concealed.

And in this kind of joy, there may be some anger: my father can run, why can't I?

The relationship between the emperor and his son was actually far less harmonious than most people imagined.

Although he was said to be enthroned, Qi Yingzong was actually not Qi Huizong's favorite among the many princes. This point, both father and son are as clear as a mirror.

What's more, born in the emperor's family, there is no family relationship at all.

The imperial power is only allowed to be enjoyed by one person, and neither Qi Huizong, who has become the Supreme Emperor, nor Qi Yingzong, who has just ascended the throne, is willing to share power with others.

It doesn't matter whether this person is his father or his son.

For Qi Yingzong, when he first learned that he was going to become emperor, he was surprised and excited. But after assuming the throne, all kinds of troubled things caused him to have more complicated emotions.

The Jinren are about to go south, and they will surround the capital in a few days. Why can my father run away safely and leave this mess to me, but I can only live and die with the capital?

I am the Son of Heaven, why should I put myself in danger, why should I be under the control of civil and military officials?

This kind of thought will naturally arise at the moment when everyone becomes the emperor, and it will continue to ferment in the constant tension of the situation, and gradually become a strong thought that dominates the heart.

If imperial power is a good medicine for talented and general monarchs, allowing them to display their ambitions like a tiger with wings added, then for emperors who are at a low level of talent, morality, and ambition, it is more like some kind of possibility. Addictive poisons will not stimulate any determination to make achievements, but will make the selfish desires in the dark corners of the heart expand without limit.

Therefore, Qi Yingzong thought that he could play "kill first and play later", first find a way to escape from the capital, and talk about the future later.

As those jesters said, he is now the emperor, the Ninth Five-Year Lord, even if he makes some decisions, it is for the sake of the overall situation. If the capital falls, he, the emperor, cannot risk himself...

Even if he left, the capital still had Li Boxi and a group of important ministers, and it was the problem of these ministers that they couldn't defend the city.

Who dares to question the emperor Xingshi?

Not long after, Qi Yingzong in the carriage began to notice that something was wrong.

The carriage stopped, and there were some noises ahead.

He opened some car curtains slightly, and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

The eunuch who served him hurriedly reported: "The officials, it was Li Boxi and Li Hao who stopped the car, saying yes, saying yes..."

Before he finished speaking, the emperor heard Li Boxi's voice coming from the front.

Li Boxi's carriage blocked in front of the emperor's convoy, and at this time, this burly old minister knelt in front of the carriage without any explanation, and said loudly: "The enemy is at hand, the soldiers are fierce and the battle is in danger, how can your majesty abandon the city and flee?" ?”

Behind Li Boxi, there were Li Hao played by Chu Ge and many officials of the main combat faction who had been summoned overnight. They all knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Please stay in the capital and live and die with our army and people!"

These courtiers did not use the more common "official" in private, but changed to "Your Majesty", which made the situation a little more serious this time.

Qi Yingzong's face changed several times, his eyes swept over these courtiers kneeling on the ground, as if he wanted to remember them one by one.

After struggling for a while, Qi Yingzong finally realized that it might be difficult to make the trip this time, so he could only reluctantly say: "My dear friends, why are you doing this? I am not fleeing south, just, just... just want to inspect the capital, Looking at the defense of each sect, you love ministers are too surprised.

"That's right, how can you think of me as a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death?"

Li Boxi, who was the leader, immediately said loudly: "I am waiting for death! But the situation is critical at this time, please return to the palace, lest the hearts of the people in the city be shaken!"

The corners of Qi Yingzong's mouth twitched, but he managed to force a smile: "What Li Xiang said is true, if this is the case, then I will not continue to patrol, and drive back to the palace!"

After that, he angrily lowered the curtain of the carriage.

Seeing that the emperor's car finally turned back and headed towards the palace again, the various ministers who followed behind and wanted to go out of the city together also dispersed silently.

Li Boxi shook his head silently and sighed.

Then, he looked at Chu Ge: "Be upright, if you hadn't notified me in time this time, I'm afraid it would have caused a catastrophe... I will live on behalf of the world, thank you very much!"

Chu Ge hurriedly said: "Li Xiangyan is serious. This is the job of the lower officials. I also ask Li Xiang to take care of the defense of the capital. At this time, all the officials of the Qi Dynasty should help each other and tide over the difficulties together."

Li Boxi nodded, saluted and said goodbye to Chu Ge, and hurriedly continued to plan the defense of the capital.

The Jin soldiers could go south at any time. During this time, Li Boxi was also very busy, racing against time to mobilize civilians and rebels to strengthen the city defenses, and the dredging and coordination of various materials were also in progress.

The hundred secrets were sparse, and the emperor almost ran away, and Li Boxi was also taken aback.

Fortunately, being stopped this time, the possibility of the emperor running away is much smaller.

It's just that neither of them knew that shortly after Qi Yingzong drove back to the palace, he called the eunuch close to him.

"Who on earth dares to spy on me? How can he link up with hundreds of officials to put pressure on me in such a short period of time? It's simply lawless!

"Check it out for me!"