Chapter 403: Heading to Hanoi
Chapter 403: Heading to Hanoi
The sky was dark, with lightning and thunder.
Brother Cong squatted by the river, watching the guards catching fish with their nets.
This is Fenshui, with beautiful mountains and clear waters and pleasant scenery.
It's okay to come and relax occasionally, but the problem is that Congge has been staying by the river for seven or eight days. He doesn't leave at night and lives by the river. He watches people fishing all day long and never gets tired of it. People who don't know him would think this is some kind of stress relief program.
The sound of horse hooves could be heard along the river bank.
After a while, an old general dismounted from his horse and came angrily to where Liu Cong was.
When the guards saw that it was General Wang Zhang of the Central Army, they did not dare to stop him. They just took off his sword and let him go.
"It's Wang Qing. We're going to have fish tonight." Liu Cong took a look and turned back to continue watching the fisherman.
"Your Majesty shoulders the heavy responsibility of the country. How can you act so rashly?" Wang Zhang frowned and advised.
"How was I so careless?" Liu Cong asked unhappily.
Wang Zhang was also a man of bad temper. He said bluntly, "Your Majesty, you beheaded the Left Water Envoy Xiangling Wang Fu for not providing fish and crabs. Now he is watching fishermen in the Fen River and does not return at night. Compared with what Your Majesty has done, I am really heartbroken. Today, the foolish people are not determined to return to Han, and their desire for Jin is still strong; Liu Kun is close at hand, and assassins are everywhere. If the emperor goes out easily, he will be defeated by one man——"
"That's enough!" Liu Cong stood up suddenly and said, "Since I started to use the army, I have captured Shangdang, conquered Henei, recovered Hongnong, and recaptured Chang'an. With such achievements, what's wrong with watching fishermen?"
"Your Majesty!" Seeing Liu Cong's anger, Wang Zhang did not show weakness, and advised with the intention of dying: "Since the beginning of this year, Your Majesty has not paid attention to government affairs, and has carried out many killings, which has caused resentment among people both at home and abroad. If this continues, the foundation created by the previous emperor will be destroyed."
Liu Cong's eyes widened and he became furious.
He has indeed killed quite a few people in the past few months of this year.
The troops besieging Jinyang had been defeated. Tuoba Xianbei intervened and attacked from both inside and outside with Liu Kun. Bu Yu was the first to be defeated, and Jin Chong killed him, gathered the defeated troops and slowly retreated. Liu Cong was furious when he heard about it, and sent an envoy with a seal to execute Jin Chong for killing a general without authorization.
Later, because fish and crabs were not provided, the left water envoy, Xiangling King Liu Fu, was executed.
Furthermore, because the Wenming and Huiguang palaces were not completed, he executed the chief architect, Wangdu Gong Jin Ling.
All these things are frightening.
Today Wang Zhang contradicted him again, and Liu Cong happened to have drunk some wine, so he couldn't suppress his anger all of a sudden.
But Wang Zhang was still chattering: "I advise Your Majesty to change the past and improve the future, and it will be a blessing for all the people!"
"Someone come here!" Liu Cong shouted.
The guards stepped forward immediately.
"Kill this old fellow!" Liu Cong pointed at Wang Zhang and said.
"Yes, sir." The guard stepped forward and grabbed Wang Zhang's arm, trying to drag him away.
Wang Zhang did not resist, but just shed tears silently.
"Your Majesty!" A woman suddenly rushed out of the tent. When she reached Liu Cong, she knelt down, hugged his legs, and cried, "Your Majesty, please spare my father!"
After saying that, he banged his head on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
Liu Cong took a look and found that it was Lady Wang from the palace.
Wang was still kowtowing and begging.
Liu Cong looked at the father and daughter steadily.
After a long while, he snorted coldly and said, "Put Wang Zhang in jail first."
"Yes, sir." The guards took Wang Zhang away, but their movements were much gentler.
"Spoof! Go back to the palace!" Liu Cong didn't even bother to look at the fish, got on the carriage directly and ordered to go back to the palace.
A heavy downpour soon began to fall.
The caravan and horse team struggled forward in the heavy rain and only returned to Pingyang early the next morning.
As soon as he entered the city, the Zhonghuangmen came to report: The Queen Mother has not eaten for three days.
Liu Cong wanted to see the Queen Mother, but he heard the eunuchs report: "The Queen Mother does not want to see you because your Majesty has killed too many people."
Liu Cong was furious when he heard this. He flicked his sleeves and returned to the main hall.
Not long after I sat down, the poor Zhong Huangmen came again.
"Do you want to die?" Liu Cong looked at Zhong Huangmen angrily.
If this guy had not always served me diligently, I would have killed him with a sword just now.
"Your Majesty." The Zhonghuangmen's body trembled slightly, but he still reported: "The Crown Prince and the King of Henei carried the coffin outside the palace and said they would die to make a remonstrance."
Liu Cong sneered and said, "Are you so impatient to die?"
The Zhonghuangmen stammered twice, seeming to want to say something but stopped himself.
"If you have anything else to say, say it all in one breath so that I can send you away earlier." Liu Cong slammed the table and said angrily.
"Your Majesty." The eunuch gritted his teeth and said, "The Prime Minister, the Grand Protector, and more than a hundred other ministers and nobles are all outside the palace..."
Liu Cong stopped laughing, or rather, he seemed to be unable to laugh.
There are more than a hundred dukes and marquises, including almost most of the high-ranking officials in the court, tribal leaders, and generals in the army. Liu Cong has a rough idea of what these people represent.
Liu Cong was silent for a long time, and the expression on his face was very interesting, almost like a face-changing skill. Zhong Huangmen lowered his head and waited quietly.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew His Majesty too well. If he had hatred, he would take it out immediately. If he was angry, he would vent it immediately. The fact that he was still silent until now only showed one thing: he was afraid.
At the same time, he felt somewhat relieved: the foundation established by the late emperor was still maintained by loyal ministers.
"Go and get the silk quickly." Liu Cong said in a low voice, then walked out of the palace.
The first ones I saw were the Crown Prince Liu Yi and the King of Henei Liu Can.
The two men knelt on the ground, followed by a large group of people.
Liu Cong's heart skipped a beat, and he shouted, "You are all the backbone of the country, how can you do this? Get up quickly."
After saying this, he personally helped up the Crown Prince Liu Yi, King of Henei Liu Can, Grand Chancellor Liu Yannian, Grand Guardian Liu Yin and others.
Liu Yin and his companions did not let it go, but took off their hats and sashes and cried, "Your Majesty has great merits and virtues, and is unparalleled in the world. But recently, you have executed princes and dukes for minor failures; you have imprisoned generals for speaking out against your will. We are all deeply confused, so we are worried about it and have forgotten to sleep and eat."
Liu Cong was silent for a moment, then put on a face of shame and said, "I was very drunk yesterday, and what I said and did was not my original intention. Fortunately, you have pointed out my mistakes to my face. I have heard of my mistakes, and I hope you will not mind it and continue to work hard for state affairs. I will definitely share wealth and honor with you in the future."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yin showed a relieved smile on his face.
The old man who had given Liu Cong six daughters and granddaughters wiped his tears and said, "Your Majesty corrects his mistakes when he hears them. This is a sage king in ancient times."
"In the past, Tang and Yu, and now, Your Majesty, are all sage monarchs of ancient times." The ministers also praised.
Liu Cong's face regained its rosy color.
At this time, Zhong Huangmen came over with some silk, so he said, "You are all concerned about state affairs, and I cannot fail to reward you. Today, I will give you 100 pieces of silk to comfort your sincere desire to serve the country."
"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace." All the ministers said in unison.
Liu Cong smiled and said, "Everyone, stand up."
After that, he continued, "I feel deeply ashamed about Wang Qing's (Wang Zhang) affairs. The court can send the imperial attendant to pardon the general of the central army. You can tell him, 'The late emperor relied on you as his right hand, and you have made great contributions to the world. How dare I forget it? I was wrong in this matter, and I hope you will forgive me. In the future, you should point out my mistakes directly, don't worry.' Well, I will promote Wang Qing to General of the Cavalry and Duke of Dingxiang County."
"Your Majesty is wise." The ministers congratulated him.
After finally dealing with the ministers, Liu Cong sat back behind the dragon table with a displeased look on his face.
After a long time, a sigh was heard from the empty palace room.
Even the emperor cannot be so willful.
He was a cavalry emperor with many military achievements, but he could not do whatever he wanted, let alone the next generation.
After opening the memorials from various places that had been covered in dust for many days, he patiently read them for a long time.
Liu Yao actually asked for reinforcements again!
Shan Zheng brought more than 10,000 reinforcements, but he still couldn't win. More than 30,000 infantry and cavalry couldn't defeat the Jin army with less than 60,000 infantry and cavalry. What kind of battle was this?
Liu Cong was annoyed and wanted to write some words of reprimand, but when he thought of the scene of the ministers giving advice just now, he held back his words.
After throwing this memorial aside, he picked up another one.
Shi Chao fought with Wang Jun and was shot and killed, and Anping was occupied by Jun.
Damn it, another defeat!
Liu Cong picked up his pen and quickly wrote a bunch of comments, the gist of which was to send General Zhenyuan Liang Fuci to lead his troops eastward to attack Wang Jun together with Shi Le.
The Duan tribe of the Xianbei had just been taught a lesson by the Murong Xianbei, so they probably had no spare capacity to support Wang Jun. As for the Wuhuan people, it was possible, but their fighting power was just that.
It shouldn't be a big deal for these two troops to attack Wang Jun. If that doesn't work, we can squeeze out a few more troops and destroy Wang Jun to prevent him from jumping around in the rear and annoying people.
After reviewing this one, he opened the third one and was stunned after taking a quick look at it.
Three Zhu!
What are the Jin people trying to do? Are they building a floating bridge to facilitate our Han army's march south to Luoyang?
Of course this is impossible.
Liu Cong thought about it and felt that there was only one possibility: the people of Jin wanted to block Mengjin and prevent the heavenly troops from moving south.
Moreover, now we are only building a floating bridge between the south bank and the river bank. Will we build a bridge and a city in the area of Zhamati on the north bank in the future?
This is an active attack on the Han people!
Liu Cong could hardly remember the last time the Jin army took the initiative to attack. It seemed like it was before Sima Yue died.
One was the Battle of Changping, where he personally led his troops to charge and annihilated more than 30,000 Jin soldiers.
One was the Battle of Dayang, in which Jin generals Cao Wu and Peng Mo were killed, and more than 20,000 people were captured and killed.
After defeating the Jin army's two offensives, Luoyang was left with only defense.
It's only been a few years? Are you planning to attack the Han again?
Could it be that the forced retreat of the royal army in Gaoping last year had given them unrealistic fantasies?
"Pass the order, I want to go to Hanoi for inspection." Liu Cong slammed the table and gave the order.
He had a vague feeling that he might meet that person this time.
The one who dealt him a heavy blow when he was conquering cities and at the peak of his career.
(Use the guaranteed monthly ticket to slap me in the face. Be more powerful. If you are excited, I will write another chapter in the afternoon.)
(End of this chapter)