The pressure and fear of people come gradually. It's like a person sentenced to death feels scared, but it's definitely not as strong as when he is dragged to the execution ground; and when the gun is pointed at him, he feels even more desperate; if he fires and unfortunately the gun jams and he has to shoot again, "Brother, strangle me to death!" It's too damn scary.
This was how Li Yu felt at the moment, and his sense of panic was gradually increasing.
A few months ago, when he heard that the Zhou army was going to attack the Southern Tang Kingdom, he knew that they would most likely lose, and he lived in fear every day, living a life of terror at the prospect of losing his country; but his feelings at that time were not intuitive after all. Now, he learned that Tongling, Wuhu, and Dangtu had been defeated in succession, and that the Zhou army had arrived at the Caishi Ferry. He gradually felt that the enemy was approaching and would soon attack him.
A scene emerged before Li Yu's eyes: an army of 800,000 was pouring across the Yangtze River from Caishi Ferry like a tide, rushing towards Jiangning Prefecture, and his land was full of enemy troops.
Caishi Ferry is only 120 miles away from Jiangning Prefecture where Li Yu stayed.
Not long ago, the Zhou army that crossed the river was still far away in Chizhou, four or five hundred miles away. In just over half a month, they reached within more than a hundred miles, and there was no strategic location to defend in between. At that time, Jingkou, Chizhou and Wuchang were all attacked. No one knew where the Zhou army would break through. Jingkou was the most likely point as it was the closest. But now, Li Yu had realized the seriousness of the quarrying situation anyway.
There was a sharp arrow pointed at Li Yu's chest. Li Yu felt that his buttocks were not stable at all, and he felt as if there were pins and needles on the seat.
It is cloudy today, and the light and atmosphere in the palace are very gloomy, which makes people feel depressed for some reason. There is more rain in the south of the Yangtze River, and it happens that there is the least rain in winter. The temperature is a bit low now, but it is suitable for infantry and cavalry activities in the north, and the rivers are shallow and there is little rain.
At this time, the ministers came to the palace one after another. It was rare that the king arrived first and the ministers arrived later. Li Yu was in a very anxious mood today.
After some formalities, Li Yu could not wait to ask: "The Zhou army has reached Caishi, who has a plan to retreat?"
Others have already attacked, and they can't send someone to persuade the Zhou army to retreat with their eloquence. In the end, they have no choice but to fight Li Yu. He knows that he can only send troops to fight at Cai Shi. He turns his attention to Huangfu Jixun, hoping that this general can take the initiative to volunteer and share the worries of the lord.
Among the generals in Jinling who were qualified in status and position, Li Yu was most optimistic about Huangfu Jixun. He was a descendant of a loyal and reliable person, and he also had a high military power and position, being the commander-in-chief of the Divine Guard Army. He was usually respectful in front of Li Yu, and was not an arrogant person.
But at this moment, Huangfu Jixun pretended to be deaf and dumb, and did not step forward to share his worries. Li Yu thought: Although he is not proactive enough, it may be because he is worried that he cannot win the battle, after all, the Zhou army is too strong; people who are prudent will be more humble, which is also the advantage of being cautious and reliable. Loyal ministers are often not the kind of people who brag about themselves and recommend themselves.
At this time, Chen Qiao, the assistant to the Guangzheng Yuan, stepped out and said: "The only solution now is to dispatch troops to reinforce Cai Shi. I have two words of advice: first, use good generals and capable people; second, be quick and do not delay."
Previously, I offered a strategy and advised Your Majesty to send troops to strengthen the defense of Caishi as soon as possible. At that time, Li Chuyun's men were still hundreds of miles away. There is no point in talking about the negligence in the past. Now the Zhou army of Li Chuyun is weak and Dangtu City is also in our hands. It is not too late to counterattack with heavy troops as soon as possible. I recommend Lin Renzhao to lead the army to Caishi and lead this battle.
After hearing this, Li Yu felt unhappy that Chen Qiao's words seemed to be blaming the king in public. It was human nature that no one would be happy to be blamed. Moreover, was it my negligence that Li Chuyun marched to Caishi? If I remembered correctly, the strategy Chen Qiao submitted at the beginning was to divide the troops from Jingkou, and the focus of strengthening Caishi would be on the water surface. If we did as he said early, and Jingkou was lost by then, they would say that the main attack direction of the Zhou army was in Jingkou, and they would blame me for my misjudgment again.
These ministers who had been in high positions for a long time, such as Chen Qiao and Han Xizai, were very bold and looked down on the new emperor intentionally or unintentionally. However, Li Yu did not intend to argue with them. After all, with a powerful enemy at hand, it was not a good thing to fight with ministers; Li Yu also wanted to show an attitude of humbly accepting advice.
He said: "Mr. Chen's words make sense. However, although Li Chuyun's army of Zhou is small, they control the water near Caishi and may send reinforcements from the river. Our country should march heavily to Caishi. Lin Renzhao can be the general Huangfu in the vanguard of the army."
Huangfu Jixun hurriedly bowed and said: I am here.
Li Yu said: "Lin Renzhao, the commander-in-chief of the Divine Guards, is the vanguard. You are the commander-in-chief of the Divine Guards. How about you go to the battle as the commander-in-chief?"
Chen Qiao did not wait for Huangfu Jixun to answer, and suddenly said bluntly that although General Huangfu was a descendant of a loyal and righteous man, he had never had any outstanding military achievements, nor had he made any insightful remarks; it was not the best move to grant him military and national responsibilities based on his birth and position. On the battlefield, no matter whether one's birth was noble or humble, they all played the same role. However, Lin Renzhao was different. At least I knew him better. He was a better choice to lead the battle of Caishi.
When Li Yu heard Chen Qiao speaking ill of Huangfu Jixun to his face, although his words were rather euphemistic, the meaning was very clear: saying that he was of poor origin and had no ability, Li Yu remained calm, thinking that this might instead provoke Huangfu Jixun.
Unexpectedly, Huangfu Jixun was not angry. He clasped his fists and said: "Mr. Chen's words are not without reason. I have never taken on a big responsibility, but Lin Renzhao is not necessarily a good person. Neither he nor I are suitable for this big responsibility."
Chen Qiao said: "Why don't you recommend someone, General Huangfu?"
Li Yu then said: "There is no harmony between civil and military affairs. It is useless for you to quarrel like this. Why don't you listen to my will?"
Chen Qiao hurriedly said: "We are all here to make suggestions, but it is Your Majesty who issues the decree. I am willing to respect Your Majesty's will." Huangfu Jixun also expressed his obedience to the authority of the king.
Li Yu said: "We should compromise with each other if we disagree. So, according to my opinion, Huangfu Jixun will be the commander-in-chief and Lin Renzhao will be the vanguard. In my opinion, Huangfu Jixun is calm and Lin Renzhao is brave. The two of them can discuss and cooperate with each other, and each of them can play to their strengths."
Chen Qiao said nothing after hearing this, but he did not object. Huangfu Jixun had just said that he was willing to obey the imperial edict, so he clasped his fists and said, "I will obey your order."
Li Yu thought about it and realized that he had said something wrong. Huangfu Jixun had said bad things about Lin Renzhao many times before, and just now he said that Lin Renzhao was not a good general either, and it was obvious that they were not in harmony. What he said about mutual consultation and coordination was just a lie. So Li Yu changed his words and said: Lin Renzhao is a vanguard, he can directly obey the court and is not restricted by the commander-in-chief. As long as he is brave enough, no one will limit his ability.
Your Majesty is wise. Chen Qiao bowed with satisfaction at this time. Giving Lin Renzhao a certain degree of autonomy is obviously a good result for Chen Qiao. Chen Qiao has always recommended Lin Renzhao, and such an order should make him slightly satisfied.
Li Yu also thought it was better to do so. Although Chen Qiao claimed to be a loyal and virtuous minister, Li Yu still believed him; but Chen Qiao was considering it as a minister. Li Yu was the king, and he had to be wary of a middle-level general who was not originally part of the ruling center. Moreover, he was unfamiliar with Lin Renzhao and did not know much about him. Let Huangfu Jixun be the chief general, mainly because Huangfu Jixun was a person in the circle, more reliable, at least he would not sell out his master for glory; if Lin Renzhao, the surrendered general of the Min Kingdom, wanted to use the Southern Tang army as a surrender capital, Huangfu Jixun could also restrain him.
Then he discussed the matter of sending troops with the ministers, and Li Yu urged Huangfu Jixun to prepare for the expedition as soon as possible. Huangfu Jixun led the imperial army with more than 40,000 troops, and Lin Renzhao's vanguard would also receive more than 10,000 troops. The reinforcements to Caishi were nearly 60,000, far more than Li Chuyun's troops. Because Li Yu felt strongly about the threat more than a hundred miles away, he really invested heavily this time.
Then Li Yu selected another official and went to Hukou again with the imperial edict, urging Zhu Lingyun to rush to the capital as soon as possible.
After dealing with a bunch of urgent matters, Li Yu was exhausted and finally left the front hall and went to the harem to take a break.
He favored Zhou Xian alone in the harem because he could not favor any other woman. Zhou Xian knew about his private affairs during Li Hongji's mutiny, and he did not need to hide it, so he felt more comfortable with Zhou Xian.
But when Li Yu saw Zhou Xian, he felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on his heart and was very unhappy.
Zhou Xian was seen drawing in the bedroom, with no makeup on her hair and face, and even her clothes were very casual, as if she didn't care about her appearance at all. Li Yu sighed: "It is said that women dress up to please themselves." Ehuang looks like this, does she not have me in her heart
Zhou Xian stood up and bowed, and said lazily: "Your Majesty and I have been married for many years, and you spend all day with me, so you will naturally not care so much over time. Besides, I don't want to go out today. It's boring to spend so much energy to dress up and then take it off when it gets dark."
"I have to worry about military and national affairs. When I'm not here, Ehuang can go out to see other concubines or find someone to accompany her," said Li Yu.
Zhou Xian looked lazy and said boringly: What's there to talk about with them? It's nothing but trivial gossips about others, which is meaningless.
Li Yu said: Zhou Ermei has entered the palace and is with the queen mother. You can visit the queen mother more often and see your sister.
Zhou Xian said: The queen mother loves her, in her heart, the queen mother is closer to her than me, so let her be.
Li Yu talked with Zhou Xian for a few words and could tell from her expression that she was bored and she looked listless. She had been staying in the palace to entertain herself, drawing and reviewing music scores for some time.
Li Yu had a feeling that this woman had not only lost interest in her husband, but also seemed to not care much about the survival of the country. It is said that only women and villains are difficult to raise. Women are like cats, and their loyalty is indeed not that reliable.
Zhou Xian was so bored that he was tidying up his slightly sloppy appearance, just like a withered flower, with no vitality left.