Chapter 677 Women's Misfortune to the Country
Chapter 677 Women's Misfortune to the Country
In Luoyang, Wang Shichong knelt on the ground and persuaded the emperor's eldest grandson Yang Dan with his eloquent speech, "Your Highness, Zhai Rang's death has caused internal divisions in the Wagang Army. This is a good opportunity to annihilate the Wagang Army. If we don't seize this opportunity, once the Wagang Army rises again, it will first threaten Xingyang and Luokou Warehouse. I am willing to share your worries and lead the army to destroy Wagang and remove the poison in Luoyang's belly."
This was the third time that Wang Shichong asked for orders from Prince of Yan, Yang Dan. Although Wang Shichong was the garrison commander of Luoyang, he only had 10,000 troops under his command, which was a relatively weak local army, while the 50,000 elite troops were all in the hands of Prince of Yan, Yang Dan.
He tried every possible means to get this army, so suppressing bandits or defending was the best excuse.
Originally, Prince of Yan Yang Shen had agreed to let Wang Shichong lead troops to destroy Wagang, but after receiving a pigeon letter from his uncle Xiao Xia, Yang Shen hesitated again. In the letter, Xiao Xia asked him to be vigilant and guard against Wang Shichong's evil ambitions.
Yang Dan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Envoy Wang. Let me think about it and I'll get back to you the day after tomorrow!"
Wang Shichong had no choice but to take his leave and walk out of the gate. He was secretly resentful in his heart. He never expected that the emperor would play such a trick, giving him a position but not an army.
As soon as he returned to his house, the housekeeper ran out and said, "Sir, the eunuch Wang from the palace sent someone to reply that he can see you!"
Wang Shichong was overjoyed and asked anxiously, "When and where will we meet?"
"At Chonghua Restaurant, around this time."
Wang Shichong quickly recovered an iron box and got on the carriage and left in a hurry.
Eunuch Wang is the Eastern Palace's chief eunuch, Wang Enzhong. Among the many eunuchs in the palace, he is relatively weak and unpopular. His master is a fool, so who would value him?
However, at this time Wang Enzhong was suddenly valued by Wang Shichong. Wang Shichong sent someone to give him the news at noon, and he immediately replied.
In the elegant room on the third floor of Chonghua Restaurant, Wang Shichong handed a ticket and an iron box to Wang Enzhong, and said with a smile: "The three thousand strings of cash are for the tea money for the eunuch, and the iron box is a gift for the Crown Princess."
Wang Enzhong put away the banknotes with a smile on his face. Three thousand strings of cash! He was so happy.
"Prince!"
Wang Shichong reminded him with a sharp look, "This money is not for nothing!"
Wang Enzhong nodded repeatedly, "Understood! Understood! Please rest assured, General. Prince Yan is well-known for his filial piety. He dare not disobey his mother's words."
Wang Shichong said expressionlessly: "Take me and look forward to good news from the father-in-law!"
Prince of Yan Yang Shen would pay his respects to his parents every morning and evening. Although his father was still as stupid as ever, Yang Shen would still kneel down and kowtow before his father respectfully.
The same went for his mother. Yang Dan also knelt down respectfully and kowtowed to Princess Cui.
In the past, Princess Cui would always ask him to leave without any formalities, but today, Princess Cui had something to ask him.
"Neng'er, I heard that you don't want the king to stay and lead the troops to go to war. Why?"
Yang Tan was startled and said quickly: "I think the Wagang Army cannot capture Hulao Pass and will not threaten Luokou Granary."
"Do you really think so?"
Yang Tan finally did not dare to lie to his mother, and lowered his head and said, "I received a letter from my uncle, saying that Wang Shichong is unreliable and asked me not to trust him."
Princess Cui's face suddenly darkened. Prince Jin actually dared to interfere with his own son. Who did he think of himself?
Princess Cui said coldly: "Do you want to listen to his advice? Let me tell you what King Jin is? He is your biggest competitor for the throne, and he would like us to die immediately. "Mother."
Princess Cui interrupted Yang Dan and said, "Since your royal grandfather appointed Wang Shichong as the governor of Luoyang, it means that your grandfather trusts him. Your grandfather trusts him, but you don't. This is not the demeanor of a king."
His mother's words made Yang Tan a little hesitant. Indeed, his royal grandfather trusted Wang Shichong so much, but he himself did not trust him just because of a letter from his royal uncle. Besides, his royal uncle was far away in Jiangnan, so how could he know the situation in Luoyang?
Seeing her son wavering, Princess Cui continued to put pressure on him, saying, "Deng'er, if you don't trust Wang Shichong, then dismiss him. If you don't want to dismiss him, then you have to trust him. Trust a man you employ, and don't employ a man you don't trust. I'm leaving my words here today. You can either listen to me or the King of Jin. It's your choice!"
Yang Dan was helpless and could only kowtow and said, "Mother, please don't be angry. I will listen to you!"
"That's good. Believe in the general and dare to use people. Mother hopes you will keep your word!"
Yang Dan nodded silently. "My son will keep his word!"
That night, Yang Dan summoned Wang Shichong, handed him the official general seal and command arrow, and sincerely said to him, "I hope General Wang will conquer the Wagang Army and return triumphantly soon!"
Wang Shichong took the military token box and the command arrow pot with trembling hands, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying: "Your Highness, I am willing to repay your kindness with my life!"
"Go! Set out early tomorrow morning."
"Wei Chen resigns!"
Wang Shichong obtained five military tokens and ten golden arrows for mobilizing troops, which meant that he officially became the commander-in-chief of the 50,000 troops outside the city. He would not wait until tomorrow morning and would rush to the military camp outside the city overnight.
Wang Shichong strode into the commander's tent and sat down. He placed the military token and command arrow on the commander's desk and shouted, "Send the drums to gather the troops!"
The next morning, Wang Shichong appointed his brother Wang Shiwei as the city defense commander and commanded his 10,000 local troops to guard Luoyang. He then led 50,000 elite troops to Xingyang.
Of course, he did not go to attack Wagang, but pulled the army out to reorganize it, and let his son, nephew and confidant be the generals, holding the military power and completely controlling the 50,000 elite troops.
Wang Shichong then massacred five or six villages in succession and obtained more than a thousand heads. Half a month later, he claimed to have defeated the Wagang Army, relieved the siege of Hulao Pass, killed the enemy and returned triumphantly, and presented his head to the King of Yan.
However, the military token and command arrow were not returned to Prince Yan. Yang Dan sent people to ask for them. Wang Shichong said that Dou Jiande's army had occupied Wei County and was about to attack Henei County. He must deploy all his strength to defend Heyang, and he would return the military power after defeating Dou Jiande's army.
Not only did Wang Shichong refuse to return the military power, he also used the excuse that the army was too small to defend against the enemy army and demanded immediate recruitment to defend Luoyang.
Wang Shichong also used a trick and sent someone to pretend to be a messenger from Yang Yichen, the commander of Weijun, and rushed back to the court with a fake military report.
He lied that the enemy army numbered hundreds of thousands and was too powerful for the officers and soldiers to resist, and begged the court to send troops to support immediately.
Yang Dan believed it to be true, and immediately ordered Wang Shichong to be appointed as the marshal of the six armies in Luoyang and the recruiting envoy, and urgently recruited 100,000 troops. He also ordered Wang Shichong to arrange troops to support Yang Yichen.
Wang Shichong seized the financial power of the warehouse and began to recruit soldiers on a large scale, rapidly expanding the army. At the same time, he ordered the army to block the Heyang Bridge to prevent Yang Yichen from actually sending people to the capital.
That morning, Lu Chu, the Minister of Rites who was staying in Luoyang, hurried to meet the Prince of Yan.
"Your Highness, Wang Shichong is very ambitious and may rebel!"
(End of this chapter)