When Wei Shenghe went to Sikong Mansion, although Song Yuwang had no choice but to receive him because he was a peer and a cousin who came from Fengzhou, he didn't want to see anyone anymore, but his consolation had no effect.
Wei Shengxian and Wei Zhengyin sent people to inquire after he left Sikong Mansion. The answer they received was that Song Yuwang was just perfunctory, and it was obvious that the knot in his heart was still difficult to resolve. But when Wei Shenghe tried to mention Wei Chanying, Song Yuwang's strange behavior confirmed their hatred for the Duanmu family and was indeed related to Wei Chanying.
The problem is that it’s hard to ask in detail what the relationship is—Song Yuwang is already in poor health, but just mentioning Wei Chanying makes him excited. If we dig deeper, why shouldn’t Wei Sheng dare to bear the consequences? .
Moreover, not long after Duanmu Wuse returned to her parents' home, she was forced to "die of a sudden illness" by her clan members. It was said that the death of a person would be settled. Even if this unvirtuous woman had been disrespectful to the deceased in the past, she herself was dead. Song Yuwang, as an elder, would not care about it anymore. It's really out of character to go down there.
So after going round and round, Song Yu still couldn't solve the problem here.
But Wei Shenghe's main purpose in coming to the imperial capital was to seek a cure for Wei Huan. Once this matter was resolved, he would try his best to forget about other matters.
It was already the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and both the Su and Shen families had left Wei Shenghe to celebrate the New Year in the imperial capital. However, Wei Shenghe still declined these invitations on the grounds that he was the only son of his parents and he was afraid that he would not go back and Wei Jiong and his wife would be lonely. He quietly took Zhu Shi with him and headed south in the wind and snow.
Her husband is away leading the army, and her grandfather is lying on the bed due to injury. Although there is news that his brother is about to get married, Wei Changying still feels that this year has been particularly deserted and lonely.
In fact, she was not the only one who felt this way. Although Shen Zangli from the main room came back, he was injured, and his only son Shen Shuming was sent to Xiliang. For Mrs. Su, her favorite son Shen Zangji is also in Xiliang... so this year the entire Shen family feels that their spirits are waning.
If it weren't for the fact that the fourth young lady Shen Zangning, who was picked up from her grandmother at the end of the twelfth lunar month, would still be as playful and playful as ever, leading the eighth son Shen Lianheng and the second grandson Shen Shuguang to play and play all over the house, which would at least add to the fun. Despite the New Year atmosphere and celebration, the huge Taifu Mansion is really deserted.
On the other hand, in the palace, although in the second half of the year, because of the selection incident, the Holy Emperor cut off the official positions of Situ Weiyu and other senior ministers in one fell swoop, the Grand Master Duanmu Xing was still unable to recover and was unable to handle affairs. As a result, the officials in the Wei Dynasty were leaderless and the government affairs were increasingly piled up. There is no one to comment on it, and the government affairs are getting more and more chaotic. However, the Holy Father does not care about these now and only focuses on his enjoyment.
Therefore, the New Year's Eve dinner was even more colorful than in previous years.
It's just that in this beautiful sky, the old emperor sitting on the throne, the madness and desperation in his dim old eyes, the anxious, angry and helpless expressions of the accompanying clan members... No matter how you look at it, there is a kind of prosperity that reflects back on the light.
Even Empress Gu and Concubine Deng, who had maintained their youthful elegance with meticulous care for decades, seemed to have aged.
Out of fear of an emperor who only wanted pleasure without caring about the consequences, everyone at this year's dinner was particularly obedient to the Holy Emperor's wishes. Therefore, throughout the entire New Year's Eve, although the palace was full of laughter and laughter, it was still cautious as if walking on thin ice.
In such a depressing atmosphere, thanks to the newly arrived beauties singing and dancing all night long, the long banquet was not without anything to say.
In the first month after New Year's Eve, every family made a strong effort to visit and visit. Words circulating in private became increasingly unfavorable about Wei's future. On the ninth day of the first lunar month, a piece of bad news came - the third son of the Rongren Great Khan took the initiative to ask for orders and led an army of 300,000 men. He was rushing towards Xichun Fort, Huangsha Town, Zhoucheng and other places in the important towns of Donghu.
The ruling and opposition parties were shocked!
Under this situation, although the good news of the destruction of Yanzhou City came on the tenth day of the lunar month, the atmosphere in the imperial capital was still tense.
Regardless of his illness, Grand Master Duanmu Xing stood up and forced his family to carry him to Liubu in a soft sedan chair, where he gathered officials to discuss countermeasures. When the Taiwei made it clear that the Liu family might not be able to defend this offensive, the officials passed the resolution as quickly as possible, which was to transfer Yu Lin's army to Yanzhou to take over the mission of annihilating the remnants of Lu Hao's army, and the main force to break the city The Donghu Army and the 20,000 Xiliang Army led by Shen Zangfeng immediately went to Donghu for reinforcements. They must hold on to every inch of territory!
To mobilize the Royal Forest Army, it is difficult to bypass the Holy One.
But the Holy Emperor, who no longer even cares about his descendants and only cares about his own enjoyment, became confused again at this time and refused to let the imperial guards leave the imperial capital. No matter how many officials cried and complained that once Donghu fell, the army would march forward, and the imperial capital would be in danger of being besieged. The Holy Emperor just refused to allow it, and finally got impatient and simply ordered the imperial guards to drive all the officials out of the palace!
The officials continued to cry outside the palace, but instead of hearing His Majesty's response, they heard the sound of silk and bamboo in the palace getting louder and louder...so loud that it drowned out all the wailing. I think the Holy Lord was deaf.
"Gu Xiaode, this idiot, is a thief who is harming the country!" Donghu was in a hurry. They didn't have the time to kneel for a few days this time, not to mention that the last time they knelt in the palace had no results - so all the officials heard that the palace was in chaos, so they had to return to Liubu. The Yamen will discuss how to resolve this matter on its own.
As soon as he entered the door, Lieutenant Liu Sihuai dropped the tea cup with a livid face and cursed loudly through gritted teeth!
No wonder he was so angry. Originally, everyone had speculated that the Holy Emperor had been running around in ignorance and ignorance in the past few years. Now he was letting his hands and feet enjoy, greedy for every breath of being the emperor of the Wei Dynasty. He will never let go of the only imperial guard in his hand, this last barrier. So I secretly discussed with Gu Xiaode, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Forest Army, to let him send troops without telling the emperor... Because Yanzhou has been conquered by Shen Zangfeng and Mo Binweili Yingwai, and Lu Haozhi was shot dead by Shen Zangfeng in the rebellion. Now the rebels The Yanzhou army was leaderless and scattered in panic.
In fact, when the Imperial Guards went to Yanzhou, they were simply picking up a piece of credit without risk. Otherwise, in the important place of Yanzhou, based on the performance of the Royal Forest Army last time, the Grand Master and others would not be able to trust the Royal Forest Army to go!
If the Rong people had not launched a large-scale attack to protect the country, the elite troops who had broken the city would have to immediately go to Donghu to help defend the country. Such a good thing, Shen Su and Liu Sanjia would never agree to give it to the Yulin Army!
However, Gu Xiaode also followed the Holy Spirit and became confused, insisting that he would not send any soldiers without seeing the imperial decree Tiger Talisman!
Now that there is no army to take over Yanzhou, should the Donghu Army and Xiliang Army just go to Donghu
Just relying on the baggage in Yanzhou City, as soon as these two armies left, the bandits would rush in like crazy! The three families of Shen, Liu and Su worked hard and even made a deal with Wei Xinyong to recapture Yanzhou City. We haven't even discussed how to divide the profits yet. How can we rest assured that we just let go!
Even if the Royal Forest Army was secretly greedy, their roots were in the imperial capital and they were not afraid of not spitting it out when the time came. Not so with bandits!
"There is no other way to do it now." Duanmu Xing, who had always been kind and gentle, had a sullen face. He lost the mood to talk in circles and said directly to Shen Xuan, "We can't count on the Royal Forest Army for the time being. Now that the Rong soldiers are pressing on the border, I'm afraid Wei Dynasty is full of civil unrest. At this moment, it is better to appease the people than to change. Even if the Holy Spirit's move is foolish, we can only obey..."
The emperor's stupidity has long been known to everyone in the government and the public, but the grand master is a steady man and never shows it in his speech. This time he clearly said the word "foolish" and "can only obey orders", which was obviously very angry.
"Fortunately, there are still 40,000 Xiliang troops in the capital." Duanmu Xing stared at Brother Shen Xuan and sighed, "The elite of the Xiliang army is known to everyone in the world and cannot be compared to the Royal Forest Army. I also ask Taifu to think of all the people in the world, Pass on the tiger talisman!”
Shen Xuan knew that the remaining 40,000 Xiliang troops were going to be targeted when hundreds of officials entered the palace to request permission from the emperor to go to Yanzhou to take over the defense and hunt down the remnants of Lu Hao's army to no avail.
To be honest, he was reluctant - the Xiliang army was sent to guard Yanzhou. Although it had the advantage of being on a first-come-first-served basis, and in this emergency situation, even if the Shen family let go and reaped the benefits, other families would have tolerated it... But He took the risk of a direct grandson suffering a loss on the road and mobilized the 60,000 Xiliang troops to the vicinity of the imperial capital. The struggle for hegemony in troubled times was secondary, and the most important thing was the safety of the Shen family.
The grandchildren are all young, and some of the sons and nephews are half a year old and have not yet discussed marriage... Shen Xuan pondered for a moment and then said cautiously: "How dare Xuan disobey the old master's order? But Lu Haozhi has already Fu Zhu, his remaining troops were scattered, and he thought that to guard Yanzhou and pursue the remnant army, he did not need an army of 40,000, right? "
Shen Zhou and his brother thought about it - victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists, and the safety of their own family is the most important - so they immediately helped and said: "Yes, although our Xiliang army does not dare to be praised as a grand master, in the end we are fighting against the Di people. After a few battles, only the rebels who had lost their morale to defend the city were eliminated, but 40,000 people were too many. "
Duanmu Xing frowned and said: "The Rong people are coming fiercely this time. Donghu's morale was low due to the fall of Yanzhou. According to my wishes, Zangfeng will lead the 20,000 Xiliang troops to sit in Yanzhou to ensure that Donghu's supplies are intact. And the four capitals of Gyeongsang Province Wanxi Liangjun set off for Donghu immediately for safety!"
"How can this be done?" Shen Xuan was immediately unhappy - if Shen Zangfeng led the 20,000 Xiliang troops who attacked Yanzhou to Donghu, and he was in charge, I think the Xiliang troops would not be harshly treated, but these 40,000 Xiliang troops The Liang army went to Donghu, and there was no general who could withstand the protection of Marquis Weiyuan. God knows how they would be arranged! By then, the Liu family might be used as cannon fodder or dead soldiers!
After all, his eldest son Shen Zangli returned injured and has not recovered yet. As for the other sons, except for one Shen Lianshi, none of them are capable of shouldering the responsibility of leading tens of thousands of troops. Should Shen Zhou go? Shen Zhou had been in battle, but he was old and suffered injuries during his military service. How could Shen Xuan let his brother suffer in battle again? What's more, he still needs Shen Zhou's assistance.
As for Shen Lianshi, he had been trained in Xiliang when he was a boy, and he had some foundation in the Xiliang army. He was probably capable of leading troops to Donghu.
But this is considered from the overall situation of the Wei Dynasty, and it is inappropriate to consider it from the perspective of Shen Xuan: First, the second son Shen Lianshi led the troops to Donghu to fight with the Rong people. As the third son of the family heir, Shen Lianshi Shen Zangfeng led his troops to hide in the relatively safe rear. Although the grand master's suggestion was based on the fact that Shen Zangfeng's status in the Shen family was higher than that of Shen Lianshi, it was undeniable that this approach was obviously unfair to Shen Lianshi and also damaged Shen Zangfeng's reputation.
After all, Shen Zangli took the initiative to return to the capital after being injured and gave his younger brother the opportunity to capture Yanzhou City to make a name for himself. Shen Lianshi and Shen Zangfeng have different mothers, and their temperament is not like Shen Zangli's. He may not be willing to sacrifice himself to achieve success. Younger brother - Shen Shuyi, Shen Lianshi's long-awaited son, is still young now!
And even though she was forced to do so by her father's order, Shen Lian did it. Not to mention the rift between the brothers. The older brother risked his life on the front line, while the younger brother sat back and enjoyed the benefits... How could Shen Zangfeng not be discussed
Secondly, Shen Xuan was also worried that if the first son made great achievements and gained a team in the Xiliang army... would it lead to a feud between the brothers in the future? After all, Shen Lianshui is older than Shen Zangfeng and now has a son. Although this second son has never shown coveting the position of the clan leader, at Shen Xuan's age, he is already well versed in the unpredictable nature of people's hearts.
Even if Shen Lengzhen has no ambitions now, when he has the foundation, the support, and the capital to covet the position of the leader, who knows whether he will continue to be willing to assist his younger brother
Shen Xuan worked hard to cultivate heirs when he was still in his prime, in order to prevent his children and grandchildren from suffering the pain of having no support due to the early death of their parents. However, things went against his wishes. His eldest son, Shen Zangli, was dragged down by a Di girl, which made him extremely sad. He did not want the second heir to make any mistakes again... even if such mistakes came from his other biological son.
Therefore, he firmly rejected the Taishi's proposal without even thinking about it. (To be continued)