From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 243

As Zhou Yuan said before, no one should have an easy time this year.

He was still lucky. It was a bit hard at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, but at least he had food and drink.

This group of royal nobles and civil and military officials were miserable. They ran for two consecutive days and almost died. Fortunately, they did not encounter a blizzard, otherwise their bodies would have been cold.

Usually, they would pick and choose the delicacies from the mountains and the sea, and dislike this and that. Now, they eat plain water and steamed buns with relish, fearing that they would not have enough to eat.

All the way to Miyun Lake, the army's pace was not fast, because the current situation had been determined.

The court's army had no way to go, and Xuanfu and the Five Military Camps could slowly surround them and catch the turtle in the jar.

…

On the carriage, King Jing Chen De could hardly believe his ears, staring and shouting: "What did you say! Say it again!"

The vanguard general was covered in blood, kneeling on the ground, choking and saying: "Your Highness, the Wucheng Bingma Division has a full 10,000 people, full of energy, and came suddenly. We didn't have time to change the formation, so... so we lost."

King Jing hurriedly got off the carriage and said word by word: "You said, Wucheng Bingma Division! More than 10,000 people?"

After saying this, he remembered that the Wucheng Bingma Division went to Yanshan to put out the fire and never came back.

This matter was too insignificant, and he was so focused on the sacrificial ceremony that he didn't think about it at all. Now it seems that this move may have been arranged by the Queen.

In this case, is there a follow-up move?

Just as he thought of this, another spy came on horseback, shouting: "Your Highness! General Yao led an army of 50,000 and joined us!"

King Jing hurriedly said: "Quick! Please ask General Yao to come over!"

"Wait! I'll go and pick him up in person!"

Of course he knew the importance of Yao Guangyi, so he rode forward and shouted: "General Yao! I've been waiting for you to come!"

Yao Guangyi strode over and clasped his fists and said: "Greetings, Your Highness!"

King Jing hurriedly helped him up and said with a smile: "There's no need for formalities between you and me. Have you received the news?"

Yao Guangyi nodded and said: "The soldiers of the five cities We did neglect the matter of Ma Si, but I think we should be more worried about the Queen's back-up plan. "

"This person is very scheming and has unparalleled political skills. Perhaps he has already arranged everything."

King Jing smiled slowly and said, "General Yao is right, but I think Guan Miaoshan has no chance to succeed."

"Although she made arrangements in advance and fought back at the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven, she never thought that Xuanfu would also rebel."

Yao Guangyi said, "But she went directly to the northeast and did not come to Juyongguan at all."

King Jing said, "Yes, she Perhaps they received the news from the inner guards and knew that Xuanfu had defected. "

"Heading northeast, on the one hand, he joined the soldiers of the Wucheng Bingma Division, and on the other hand, he attempted to recruit the garrison troops of Jizhou to defend the king."

"What a pity, she never thought that the garrison troops of Jizhou had been restricted by the Eastern Tartars and could not get away at all."

Yao Guangyi sighed and said, "Your Highness, it is better to be safe than sorry. Let's send troops quickly and solve the problem as soon as possible!"

King Jing also felt that this sentence made sense, so he took out a map, pointed to the Yanshan Mountains and said, "The main vein of Yanshan Mountain is across the north. There are mountains in the south, Miyun Lake can provide water and food, but it is a dead end. "

"Where is Guan Miaoshan going? She is looking for a place to bury herself."

"My army of 110,000 will go over, and the group of trash from the Wucheng Bingma Division can't even stop them for an hour."

"General Yao, just rest assured, there won't be any more accidents this time. I don't believe that Guan Miaoshan can still turn into heavenly soldiers and generals!"

...

It was the same carriage of Yang Guozhong, the same five cabinet members and the Minister of War Wu Qingrong, squeezed together, everyone looked sad.

Deputy Minister Deng Bochi said in a deep voice: "There are two core issues. The first is that if you continue to go to Miyun Lake at this moment, it is clearly a place where you will die with no way to retreat or advance. Why does Your Majesty insist on going there?"

"Second, is all this a trap set by Your Majesty long ago, or is it really as embarrassing as it seems on the scene, and it just happened to meet the soldiers of the Wucheng Bingma Division."

Wu Qingrong said: "Let me answer! Zhou Yuan is my capable subordinate, and I know more about this matter."

Everyone nodded and looked at Wu Qingrong.

Wu Qingrong said: "Zhou Yuan was a scholar from a small town in Yunzhou, Jiangnan, and a son-in-law of low status, but he performed well in the Yunzhou riot and killed hundreds of people, so he was promoted to Lin'an Prefecture Jinyiwei Baihu."

"After arriving in Lin'an Prefecture, this man used Huang Heng's canal assassination case to unravel the conspiracy of Han Tuo, the Marquis of Annan, to destroy the gambling house in advance, kidnap the King of Chu, and destroy Han Tuo's foundation. It can be said that he has made great contributions."

"At the same time, he worked with the Inner Court and JinyiweiWei, trapped in Kuixingfang, Lin'an Prefecture, turned the tide with the appearance of Xue Changyue, and recovered Lin'an Prefecture. At the same time, he also designed Han Tuo to gather Confucian scholars and kill Confucian scholars, making Han Tuo completely the target of public criticism. "

"It can be said that Zhou Yuan is the first contributor to the Liangjiang Rebellion."

Everyone was shocked.

Yang Guozhong was extremely perceptive and sneered first: "I didn't expect that Lord Wu and the commander of the Jinyiwei had a relationship, and I revealed such a big secret to you."

Xu Shigong immediately retorted: "Sir, at this time, you are also thinking about party disputes!"

Deng Bochi waved his hand and said: "Let him continue!"

Wu Qingrong smiled and said: "It was indeed Commander Qiu who revealed it to me, and what I want to say is that such a great achievement is enough to be conferred a title, why does Your Majesty suppress his merits?"

"At the same time, Zhou Yuan's first promotion may have been appreciated by Xiong Kuohai, so why did he come to Shenjing to join the Wucheng Bingma Division? I didn't transfer him here, but Your Majesty arranged him here." Zeng Cheng said in a deep voice: "Then there is no doubt that Zhou Yuan is Your Majesty's man. Your Majesty was afraid that he had a shallow foundation, so he didn't confer a title on him for protection. He just let him come to Shenjing to be the commander of the North City Army and Horse Division, and slowly accumulate strength." "This man did a good job. He killed Cao Ye in less than ten days as a Beijing official, and then he reorganized Shenjing, winning a lot of reputation." "Now the Five City Army and Horse Division has almost become his people, and the nine major gangs in Shenjing also listen to him." "After this battle, the Imperial Guards have to give him face, ha! What a young hero!" Deng Bochi said: "Don't forget, he also saved the life of Princess Qinshui, and the relationship with the royal family is also slowly spreading." Wu Qingrong slapped the table and said loudly: "This dog thing, I thought he was my man, who knew he was playing tricks with me!" Yang Guozhong sighed: "Plotting? Don't underestimate his scheming, otherwise, would I be unable to protect Cao Ye?"

Xu Shigong said: "It is obvious that he cares about your majesty more closely than we thought, and even... wants to be the knife in your majesty's hand."

Zeng Cheng thought for a while, and then said: "So from this point of view, his fake death and appearance in Yanshan to welcome the emperor was planned in advance."

"So the answer to Yang Shoufu's second question should be that all this is your majesty's game."

"Through Zhou Yuan's move to Cao Ye, angering the Five Military Camps, and giving King Jing a chance, it has been a game until now!"

"This game has been unfolding since the moment Zhou Yuan came to Shenjing."

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but take a breath.