It was said that there was no wall in the world that didn't have a crack. Although the city walls of Great An were high, the wind was also strong, and there were countless whispers. Therefore, gossip could always spread to every corner at an astonishing speed. Not long after the new Prince Liang stayed at the Mawei Post House, the conflict between Beiliang's cavalry and the Jingji Western Army spread like wildfire. As a result, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites personally welcoming the Prince into the city gave people an unusual feeling. Most people, while praising the Emperor's magnanimity, spared no effort in cursing the young Prince's rudeness and unreasonableness. They thought that the court should have left this northwest barbarian outside the city until he suddenly came to his senses and learned to submit a memorial to the Emperor to ask for forgiveness. Only then would he be allowed to enter the city.
Compared to the common people who didn't know the depth of the water, the civil and military officials of Great An City, especially those who were qualified to participate in the morning court and had entered the Liyang officialdom, should have been the most confident group of people who could order Beiliang around. This time, for the first time, they were all silent. It was rare to see a "grand occasion" where one dog barked and hundreds of dogs barked. For example, the Censorate Censor and the Six Branches Censors, who were not high officials but had noble statuses, after privately communicating with each other, they all gave up the idea of impeaching the young Prince. The reason was simple. As the carriage entered Great An City, in addition to the confrontation between Beiliang's light cavalry and the two generals, Zhao Guiwei and Chi Changgong, the shocking news of Beiliang defeating Beimang was also brought to the capital. At this sensitive time, it was useless to impeach the number one warrior of the new dynasty, no matter how many reasons you came up with.
On the other hand, how many enemies had the Liyang Border Army, which was built with half the country's taxes, killed in 20 years? Was it 100,000? According to the military law of Liyang, seizing eighty heads of Northern Mang was enough for a low-level soldier to be promoted to a military officer of the border army. It was said that this time, not only did Northern Liang kill countless enemies, they even took the head of Northern Mang's Great General Yang Yuanzan. If they were to be rewarded based on merit, how great of a military merit would this be? Since Xu Xiaoman was already a Prince, then the title of marquis that the scholars of Liyang dreamed of was meaningless. Could it be that the previous Emperor had just taken away the old Prince Liang's title, and in the blink of an eye, he was going to take it back from the hands of the current Emperor?
At the same time, the low-ranking officials of the capital naturally began to silently criticize the Beimang barbarians. Previously, the army on the eastern front had aggressively advanced all the way to Gourd, Xiaguang City...................... .................. Beiliang's 300,000 border army could drive Beimang's million-strong army back to their homeland, and the Liyang Border Army was not small either. Don't talk about loud thunder but small raindrops. Your Liyang Border Army hadn't even had a decent thunder in 20 years!
Hsu Fengnian only took Xu Yanbing to the Mawei Post House. The eight hundred White Horse Guards were all arranged by the Ministry of War's Ministry of Rites to appropriate accommodations near the post house. After Hsu Fengnian got off the carriage, he found that the many officials of the post house were different from the last time he came to the capital. They were all younger and unfamiliar faces. When they saw the King of Beiliang in his black and gold embroidered robe, their eyes were filled with deep fear.
Hsu Fengnian raised his head to look at the dragon claw locust tree outside the post house. It was still there, but the people had changed.
The Mawei Post House had always been a post house that belonged exclusively to the Beiliang Road. It was also one of the few post houses that could be built in the capital. Because the old Prince of Liang, Xu Xiao, rarely came to the capital to meet the Emperor after he was made king, it had always been a gloomy scene. The officials of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue had suggested countless times that the post house should be dismantled. As a result, when the officials of the two ministries joined the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue a few years ago, repeating the same old tune became a custom. It was like a pledge of allegiance. If anyone dared to not submit a memorial to the emperor regarding this matter, it was inevitable that they would be ostracized and pinched by their senior colleagues. However, the late Emperor and the current Son of Heaven both had a subtle attitude toward this matter, so much so that there were old foxes in the officialdom who joked that if one day the Demawei Yi Hostel was really demolished, it would be very boring.
Hsu Fengnian was very familiar with the post house. He asked for a room in the back courtyard from the Post House Officer Hong. After the trembling Post House Officer slowly left with his body bowed, Hsu Fengnian moved two rattan chairs under the eaves. He and Xu Yanbing each sat down. In the eyes of Mount Qing Liang, this was Hsu Fengnian's last minute decision to rush into the capital. It was not that there were no objections. However, Hsu Fengnian's control over the Beiliang cavalry and the entire Beiliang Road officialdom could be said to have reached its peak. Other than Xu Beizhi, who had flown into a rage when they met in Lingzhou, only Song Dongming had sent a spy from the Fu Shui Fang to deliver a secret letter. The wording of the letter was implicit. It was probably not in favor of Hsu Fengnian taking the risk. It probably also expressed the thoughts of a group of old generals like Yan Wenluan. Only Bai Yu, who had arrived late from Wutongin, sent a letter. His words were supportive.
Xu Yanbing said softly, "Second Commandery Princess said to let Huyan Daguan follow into the capital. Prince should have agreed to it. A centipede dies but does not fall down. Moreover, the Zhao clan in Liyang is far from the point of decline. Even without Han Shengxuan, Liu Haoshi, and Qi Jiajie, there are not many Qi cultivators left after two twists and turns. However, it is still the most virtuous city in the world. It should not be underestimated. "
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "I did not ask Huyan Daguan to come out of the mountain. The Zhao clan's Emperor also did not ask Gu Jiantang to rush into the capital. Let's call it even."
Xu Yanbing sighed and said, "If the imperial edict had come a little later, Beiliang would have parted ways with the Zhao clan."
Hsu Fengnian shook his head and said, "There won't be a fight. Zhao Zhuan's original intention was to let the Jingji Western Army test my bottom line. If we were easy to negotiate with, then he would have the confidence to demand an exorbitant price. If I did not guess wrongly, the eunuch from the Ceremony Directorate who was in charge of writing the imperial edict must have been instructed by the Emperor to show up at the right time. Therefore, no matter what, they would not start a fight in the capital region. If they really fought, a total of seven thousand elites would be scared witless by eight hundred cavalry. Where would the Emperor and the imperial court put their faces? Moreover, even if the Western Army was lucky enough to win, it would still be a terrible mess to clean up. "
Hearing Hsu Fengnian deliberately emphasize the word "elites," Xu Yanbing smiled knowingly. "Beiliang's local garrison. Not to mention Liangzhou and Youzhou, perhaps even Lingzhou is tougher than them."
Hsu Fengnian did not mock him at all. "Actually, the foundation of the Liyang Army is still there. Unfortunately, after 20 years of peace, the annual military exercises cannot compare to the real fighting of the border army. Therefore, they have lost their edge. After all, there is a world of difference between a sharpened blade and a sharpened blade. However, if they are given a few years to hone themselves in the flames of war, they may not be too bad. For example, if Beiliang wanted to establish a country, it would only be a small Beimang at most and would not be able to outlast Liyang, whose national strength was growing day by day. However, if Beiliang staked everything on one throw and under the precondition that Beimang did not take advantage of the situation to intervene in the Central Plains, they could charge thousands of li to attack Great 'an City. I believe they could take down the Two Huai River … "
At this point, Hsu Fengnian smiled. "One month, at most one month, the Beiliang cavalry would be able to wipe out the entire northern front of Liyang, including Ji Zhou. Also, their losses would not exceed twenty thousand. They would directly reach Great 'an City."
Hsu Fengnian put his hands under his head and gazed at the sky above Jingdou. "However, it would be too difficult to break into Jingdou. In the area around Jingdou, other than the south, which is good for cavalry, the other places are not. When the time comes, not to mention Gu Jiantang's two Liao Border Armies, the King of Jiaodong Zhao Sui, and the King of Jing An Zhao Xun, perhaps even the Nanjiang Army would take advantage of the situation to head north. However, the former all want to contribute to the rescue of the king, while the latter have more thoughts and want to benefit from the battle. Don't forget that there is also the ambitious Chen Zhibao. As for Lu Shengxiang and Tang Tieshuang, they are not mediocre people. One battle of Guangling could allow Kou Jianghuai of the Western Frontier to quickly rise to the ranks of famous generals. After a long battle, it would be easy for Liyang to have a few Kings of the Western Frontier or Ma Jianghuai. If Beiliang and West Chu are allies, their chances of winning are higher. On the other hand, can't a desperate Liyang go and borrow troops from Beimang? "
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