Astral Apostle Chapter 248: Deliberation and sending troops
Chapter 249 Negotiation and Sending Troops
While Zhou Jing was on his way, the news of the defeat of the bandits and the defeat of the front line was rushed by the postmen and finally reached the capital.
Knowing that Tianwangzhai was defeated, almost the whole army was annihilated, there was an uproar in the capital, and both civil and military officials in the dynasty were shocked and turned pale with shock.
Going to the court on this day, the courtiers discussed fiercely, criticizing Lu Longchuan's disadvantage in commanding troops.
"Lu Longchuan is mediocre and extremely incompetent, but he was defeated so simply. A bandit is a bandit, and he really can't be used!"
"If I knew this earlier, if I took over this person's military power and sent the imperial general to lead the army, I wouldn't be wiped out in a single battle!"
The courtiers were excited, criticized wantonly, and spoke angrily, all of them were as excited as if they wanted to go on stage in person.
Although they have never led soldiers or seen a battlefield, it does not prevent them from feeling that they are experts.
In their predictions on paper, the ideal outcome would be that both sides would lose.
Once the two sides did not continue the stalemate according to their ideas, and the situation got out of control, they became frustrated.
Lu Longchuan's defeat was too complete, which ruined the layout of the imperial court. The imperial court originally wanted to reap the benefits of the fisherman, but now not only did their calculations fail, but they also lost a handful of rice to make their trusted enemies stronger.
Thinking of this, the courtiers were dissatisfied with Lu Longchuan, and at the same time felt uneasy about the situation.
Private Envoy Pang Hong did not speak, and looked at the ugly officials with cold eyes, and couldn't help gloating.
He has always supported the early dispatch of troops, but these courtiers didn't take it seriously, feeling that the situation was still under control, and wanted to please the emperor's preference for saving military expenses, so they always refuted him, thinking that they could continue to watch the fire from the other side to take advantage of it.
The war is changing rapidly, and the current trend has taken a sharp turn. Just as he predicted at the beginning, the end of greed is a complete mess.
Pang Hong looked down on this group of civil servants in the same hall who were good at food and liked to point out the country, but the emperor supported them at the beginning, so he didn't dare to show his ridicule, but just bowed his head in silence.
On the dragon chair, the emperor listened to the second-guessing remarks of the officials, how could he not know that these **** were throwing the blame, and his face was extremely ugly.
Qin Song coughed and came out:
"Lu Longchuan is naturally to blame for the defeat in the war. It's just that he doesn't know his life or death at the moment. It's useless to say that there are only bandits around Tianwangzhai. Even if he loses, it won't hurt the court. Prioritize, what should be discussed right now is how to deal with this Chen Feng."
The emperor's face softened a little, and he nodded and said: "Qin Aiqing's words are correct, but Chen Feng will harm the country and the people, do you have a plan to break it?"
The officials immediately shut up, necked their necks and bowed their heads, looking at the second child, as if they had become silent wooden sculptures.
"Manchurian civil and military, no one has a good plan?"
The emperor's tone was dissatisfied.
He immediately looked at Pang Hong, and said in a deep voice: "Pang Aiqing, you are a man who knows how to fight, do you have a good opinion?"
Hearing the emperor himself ordering his name, Pang Hong opened his mouth and said the manuscript that had already been typed:
"Reporting to the Holy Majesty, the thieves used war to support the war, and captured the remnants of Tianwangzhai, and their power became stronger and stronger. If they were allowed to digest their gains, it would be even more difficult to deal with in the future. According to my opinion, the elite frontier troops should be mobilized immediately. The government draws out capable soldiers, advances from several routes, and joins forces to suppress the bandits... Now that the bandits have just experienced a war and have not yet fully recovered, they should take advantage of this opportunity to attack them with a thunderous attack, so as not to give the bandits a chance to breathe."
The emperor frowned when he heard the words, and fell silent.
Seeing this, Pang Hong paused, then continued, speaking loudly:
"The commander-in-chief of the three armies, the minister recommends one person, who is the descendant of Yiguo Stallion, called Ma Zhen, who is currently the defense envoy of Puzhou, and the envoy of Yi and Luzhou towns. Extraordinary, commanding troops well, but a handsome talent."
Emperor's eyes lit up: "Since he is a descendant of the famous founding general, he must have extraordinary abilities!"
All the ministers whispered to each other and began to discuss in a low voice.
This Ma Cheng is the founding general of the Great Xia. He is also famous for his bravery and courage.
Pang Hong bowed, struck while the iron was hot, and continued: "The minister recommends two people to assist the commander in chief. One of them is Huang Ping, a descendant of the marquis of Jiyang. He is in charge of the soldiers and horses of Qizhou. The name is Yu Wenyan, he is a descendant of Shande Hou, and he is the envoy of the Hongwu Army. He is good at ingenious strategies and understands yin and yang. Both of them are famous generals in the dynasty, and they cannot be compared with Lu Longchuan and his like."
The emperor stroked his beard and nodded, he was very pleased to hear that there were generals in the dynasty.
But he immediately realized that he hadn't agreed to send troops yet, so why did he talk about the commander-in-chief?
"I haven't made up my mind about sending troops yet, let's discuss it again..."
Sending Tianwangzhai to suppress the bandits, the expenses were still within acceptable limits, so the emperor did not object, but the imperial court personally sent troops to attack the bandits, and the military expenditure was an astronomical figure, which made him hesitate.
However, as soon as the words fell, Pang Hong knelt down and said excitedly:
"Chen Feng, this man is ambitious and does not respect the law of the king. One day he will endanger the country, and he must not let it go. Now that Lu Longchuan has been defeated, only the imperial court can send troops to conquer it. This harm will be eliminated once and for all! Otherwise, the banditry will spread all over the world. Coercing the hearts of the people will shake the foundation of the country and the world will be in chaos!"
Hearing the words, a minister immediately jumped out and reprimanded:
"Bold, you are actually alarmist in front of the Holy One?! The Holy One is good at governing the country, how can the old-fashioned ringworm and scabies endanger the country? Are you implying that the Holy One is unpopular, what is your intention?"
The emperor frowned, reprimanded the minister to shut up, and comforted Pang Hong:
"Come on, Pang Aiqing, I know that you are devoted to the country and loyal."
Pang Hong thanked En and stood up, but still bowed deeply.
The emperor pondered for a while, but still enduring the pain in his heart, he nodded and said: "Pang Aiqing is right, this Chen Feng is a serious problem for the imperial court, it cannot be let go, and it is time to send troops to suppress it, and I will allow it."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Pang Hong hurriedly saluted, heaving a sigh of relief.
If you don't fight, you won't have military merits and military expenses. After so long, the emperor finally let go of his willingness to send troops, and finally it was his turn to make money.
He couldn't help slandering secretly... He only knew about sending troops now, why did he go so early? It's better to fight with Tianwangzhai, the chance of winning is better.
You only know how to make a move when your teammates are destroyed. This is the result of greed and short-sightedness!
Manchu civil and military, in his eyes are all incompetent!
Of course, Pang Hong knew that he was not a loyal minister who cared about the country and the people, but at least he knew in his heart that if you make money, you should make money, and you still have to win the war.
Therefore, Pang Hong spoke again, and said seriously:
"The bravery of Chen Feng is astonishing. If the imperial court sends troops to defeat him, it needs a person to assist him."
"Who?"
"Naturally, it is the real person of Shenxiao Fengling."
Pang Hong answered honestly.
He had seen so many battle reports from Chen Feng, but he still couldn't figure out how to break them. He wasn't confident enough to use famous generals to lead his troops to deal with this unreasonable No. 1 master in the world.
So logically, Pang Hong took aim at the astonishing performance of Yufeng Zhenren in this battle, thinking that only by bringing this "weapon" can he contain Chen Feng's point and prevent the opponent from using the powerful beheading tactics.
After the voice fell, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty looked at each other in blank dismay.
Emperor's complexion also sank.
Seeing the situation, Qin Song observed the emperor's heart, and quickly put on a worried look, as if he was sympathetic to the emperor, and said helplessly:
"Lu Longchuan was defeated, the whole army fled, and the whereabouts of Daoist Shenxiao Fengling are also unknown. It is too early to say these things. However, Daoist people are very capable, and auspicious people have their own aura, so they should be able to save the day."
The emperor couldn't help sighing when he heard the words, and also showed worry.
Before the expedition, Yufeng Zhenren promised him that no matter what the battle is, he has the ability to retreat completely.
But the front line was really defeated, the emperor still couldn't help but worry, fearing that the master of alchemy would not come back, he subconsciously rejected letting Yufeng take risks again, wishing to keep him in Beijing forever, as a bird in a cage.
It would be great if the real person was a woman, and he would directly enter the harem, and everything would be settled.
At this time, Ning Zhongjun suddenly came out, frowned and said:
"Qizou Your Majesty, I feel that this matter is strange."
Emperor startled: "What do you mean by love?"
Ning Zhongjun was puzzled, and asked a question: "Then Chen Feng is evil and transforms people, and Shenxiao Fengling has been fighting against him with the methods of immortals, which makes the two armies stand at a stalemate, but why suddenly? Lost?"
The officials frowned and whispered to each other.
The scene of Yufeng Zhenren fighting against Chen Feng, they had already heard from the battle report, and they were naturally shocked.
In fact, they believed that one of the reasons for the long-term stalemate between the two sides was the immortal method of Yufeng Zhenren, which could prevent Tianwangzhai from being quickly captured by the enemy.
But unexpectedly, Lu Longchuan was suddenly defeated, and Master Yufeng fell silent for some reason.
Because the battle report has not been sent back, everyone in the court does not know the details, and they all have doubts in their hearts.
At this time, a Qingliu said in a cold voice: "This matter must be investigated strictly. If Master Shenxiao Fengling neglected the war and caused the defeat on the front line, then he will be responsible for the defeat of the war."
Emperor frowned and scolded:
"Nonsense, the real person has repeatedly defeated Chen Feng, I feel that there is nothing wrong with it, how can it be a crime?"
Seeing that the emperor had a clear stand to support others, the Qingliu people immediately stopped their banners and stopped speaking ill of people behind their backs and maliciously targeting them.
Ning Zhongjun heard the words, and immediately echoed:
"Although Daoist Shenxiao Fengling failed to suppress this evil dragon during his trip, and did not break the catastrophe, he also made great contributions, and he should indeed be rewarded."
The emperor's face looked better now.
Leaving this topic aside for the time being, the ministers discussed for a while about sending troops to the court~IndoMTL.com~then they retreated from the court.
Ning Zhongjun followed the courtiers out of the hall, secretly planning in his heart.
Although he didn't see the battle report, he was basically sure that there must be something wrong with Lingfengzi, which led to Lu Longchuan's sudden defeat.
If Lingfengzi was directly poisoned to death, it would be the best. Even if he failed, Lingfengzi might be defeated in the hands of Longwangzhai and killed by himself with a knife.
No matter how bad it is, I even dispatched a group of dead soldiers as a backup, and I don't know if I did it.
In Ning Zhongjun's view, the chances of Lingfengzi returning to Beijing alive are already very low, so he doesn't mind taking credit for Lingfengzi's achievements in the court and doing a bit of cover-up.
"Heh, Lingfengzi has absolutely no luck, the enemy has been eliminated."
The corners of Ning Zhongjun's mouth hooked slightly, and his heart was happy.
However, he wasn't happy for long at all.
After just over half a month, the real Yufeng returned to the capital unscathed and immediately alarmed the government and the public.
And Lu Longchuan, with his only remaining brother, trekked all the way back to Beijing in embarrassment.
(end of this chapter)