Chapter 881 Political turmoil!

Shangguan Changgong said nothing on the surface about Murong Lun’s remarks, but in his heart he couldn’t help but secretly curse him as an old fox...

This Murong Lun is really a loach. He is so slippery and ruthless. It is not easy to get words out of him!
After a brief pause, Shangguan Changgong looked at Murong Lun and said seriously:

"I think that although Jinyang has been lost, it is not the fault of Marshal Yang alone. Marshal Yang commanded the battles of Shizhou and Pingyang, and annihilated more than 30,000 Fengwu rebels in the two battles. These are the few great victories of the court!"

"So although there are some rumors and different opinions in the court at present, we should continue to trust Marshal Yang and firmly believe that Marshal Yang can repel the Fengwu rebels!"

After hearing Shangguan Changgong's words, Murong Lun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Shangguan Changgong was really testing him and did not really want Ma Chongyang to replace Yang Chongqing. He immediately nodded and said:

"What Shangguan Shangshu said is true. The two battles of Shizhou and Pingyang really demonstrated the power of the imperial court and dealt a heavy blow to the Fengwu rebels. From this point of view, it is appropriate to let Marshal Yang continue to lead the imperial guards. As for Commander Ma, let him stay in the court to protect the center in case of emergency!"

Although he is a civil servant, the reason Murong Lun has managed to get to this point is not because he is completely ignorant of military affairs. He still has some knowledge of the military situation...
The generals commanding the troops in the Luoan court have always been these few people. Ma Chongyang is a veteran in the army. Although he has made many contributions, he mainly relies on his seniority to get to where he is. In terms of command and strategy alone, he can be called a good general, but he is still some distance away from being a famous general.

Although Murong Lun was also very surprised and confused about Yang Chongqing's decision to abandon Jinyang!
However, the annihilation of 15,000 Fengwu troops in the two battles of Shizhou and Pingyang was still eye-opening. This was the greatest victory of the imperial court against the Fengwu army. It more or less saved the fig leaf of the imperial court, allowing the court to announce to the outside world that 30,000 Fengwu troops had been annihilated, which to a certain extent reduced the political impact of the fall of Jinyang!

Although Ma Chongyang is also an option, he also fought against the Fengwu Army during the first Yunbing War and led 50,000 Xuanwu Imperial Army to attack Lingyuan County and Pingyun County.

After more than a month of hard fighting, although the two county towns were finally captured, they also suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, and were broken through by the remnants of the Fengwu Army. Their performance was not very good.

From this point of view, although the imperial guards led by Yang Chongqing did not achieve the expected effect of defending Jinyang, their performance was much better than that of Wang Muzhi, Tang Peng, Ma Chongyang and others!

Therefore, Murong Lun believed that it would be more likely to repel the invasion of the Fengwu Army if Yang Chongqing continued to command. If Ma Chongyang, a mediocre person, was allowed to fight, then judging from his past performance, the court might not be able to hold on this year...

Moreover, Ma Chongyang has always been excluded from the core of power in Luoan, and he has a lot of complaints. If he were to take over the command, if the battle failed, there is no guarantee that he would not simply surrender to the Fengwu Army!

So when facing Shangguan Changgong's temptation just now, although Murong Lun said that Yang Chongqing and Ma Chongyang would do, he was also worried that Shangguan Changgong would be blinded by suspicion and do something that would make his relatives sad and his enemies happy!
Now it seems that although Shangguan Changgong was somewhat suspicious of the relationship between himself and Yang Chongqing, he still kept a rational mind and did not do anything foolish to destroy himself!

After discussing Yang Chongqing's affairs, Shangguan Changgong pondered for a while and said to Murong Lun in a deep voice:
"Recently, some ministers in the court believed that in order to defeat the Fengwu Army, they needed external forces. I wonder if Lord Murong has heard of this?"

After hearing this, Murong Lun was stunned at first, then he realized what Shangguan Changgong said, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

In this Yunbing Campaign, although Yang Chongqing won the battles of Shizhou and Pingyang, allowing the court to publicize the great victory of annihilating 30,000 Fengwu troops, this was not enough to completely offset the shock in the court caused by the fall of Jinyang.

Therefore, amid the panic among the people, the Minister of Works Zheng Rong privately proposed that if the court wanted to defeat the Fengwu Army, it must seek help from external forces...

Although Zheng Rong did not directly say what external force this was, everyone knew exactly what he was referring to!
Looking at the entire Great Zhou now, except for the imperial court, the north has been unified by Ye Mingsheng. In the south, whether it is Lu Jianchao in Jiangnan, Xu Zhaojie of the Zhennan Army, or Sun Chenggong of Jingchu, they can only live in a corner under the tyranny of Ye Mingsheng.

They would be thankful that Ye Mingsheng didn't cause trouble for them, so they naturally didn't dare to take the initiative to cause trouble for Ye Mingsheng!

Therefore, the external force that can help the Luoan court defeat the Fengwu Army can only come from outside the Great Zhou, so the answer is already obvious!

This is also the reason why the Minister of Works Zheng Rong did not directly state who the other party was and expressed his opinions in private!

After all, the other party and the Great Zhou are sworn enemies. There has been a blood feud between the two sides for decades, and tens of millions of people have died!
Although the imperial court is currently in a weak position against the Fengwu Army in the war situation, it still has the upper hand in the battlefield of public opinion with the support of the emperor and justice!

Once external forces are introduced to deal with the Fengwu Army, it means that the court has completely lost its righteousness, and this will also lead to greater divisions within the court!
Moreover, the other party might not necessarily agree to help the court deal with the Fengwu Army. Even if the other party agreed to help deal with the Fengwu Army, then given their usual style, the conditions would be very harsh, and there might even be a series of humiliating demands such as paying tribute, ceding territory, and paying annual tribute...
Therefore, there was a lot of debate within the court regarding Zheng Rong's proposal. If other people came to him for advice, Murong Lun would not be surprised or shocked, but Shangguan Changgong was different!
The reason why Shangguan Hongyuan was able to rise in the first place was because he won the foreign war, restored the prestige of the Great Zhou and ensured the territorial integrity of the Great Zhou.

In the days that followed, the reason why Shangguan Hongyuan was able to accumulate power throughout the world, making military leaders and local governors bow down to him and become the actual ruler of the Great Zhou as the prime minister was mainly because he won a convincing victory in foreign wars and maintained the prestige and dignity of the Great Zhou!

As the son of Shangguan Hongyuan, Shangguan Changgong not only inherited Shangguan Hongyuan's political legacy, but also shouldered a huge political burden!
As the actual controller of the Luoan court today, Shangguan Changgong does not rely on his own prestige and ability to control the court, but on the prestige left by his father!

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with others doing some things, but once Shangguan Changgong does them, the consequences will be very serious, and he may even be alienated by his friends and relatives!
After thinking for a whole cup of tea, Murong Lun raised his head and looked at Shangguan Changgong, meeting his gaze and speaking seriously:
"Minister Shangguan, I think this matter should be considered in the long run..."

Shangguan Changgong nodded slightly after hearing the answer and didn't say anything more.

Shangguan Changgong was also very clear about what this meant, so although he asked Murong Lun for his opinion, he had not made a decision in his heart.

It’s just that the pressure from the Fengwu Army was too great, forcing him to consider any possible options!

After talking for a while, Murong Lun and Shangguan Changgong ended the meeting and went back to their homes. Shangguan Changgong returned home after an incense stick, but before he had time to rest, he received the news that Chen Jingyu was visiting.

Although he was a little tired, Shangguan Changgong still met with Chen Jingyu immediately. He felt that Chen Jingyu should come at this time to report that he had asked her to investigate the private contact between Murong Lun and Yang Chongqing.

If the current offensive of the Fengwu Army in Yunbing is what Shangguan Changgong is most concerned about, then the private contact between Murong Lun and Yang Chongqing is the second thing Shangguan Changgong is concerned about.

After arriving at the study, Chen Jingyu greeted Shangguan Changgong and understood what Shangguan Changgong was concerned about, so she said directly:
“Sir, according to our Inspectorate’s investigation, although there have been some secret contacts between Lord Murong and Marshal Yang, the content of the contacts was mainly about the Prime Minister’s health condition. Apart from that, the two sides did not discuss any other topics…”

Shangguan Changgong had mixed feelings about this answer. This answer could almost be described as a blessing in disguise. He didn't know whether he should feel fortunate about it.

After pondering for a moment, Shangguan Changgong said to Chen Jingyu:
"Are you sure you have done your research?"

Seeing that Shangguan Changgong had some doubts about his investigation, Chen Jingyu immediately spoke with certainty:
"Please rest assured, sir. I understand that this is a serious matter. I will conduct all the investigations myself to ensure that the information is accurate!"

Shangguan Changgong nodded after hearing this, and at this moment Chen Jingyu showed some hesitation. Seeing this, Shangguan Changgong's heart was hanging again and he couldn't help but said:

"Chen Jingyu, tell me what you have discovered about these two people. Don't hide anything!"

Seeing this, Chen Jingyu shook his head and said:
"Sir, you misunderstood! There is nothing going on between Lord Murong and Marshal Yang!"

"But during my investigation, I found that before Jinyang City fell, Yunbing Governor Wang Muzhi wrote a blood letter before he died in battle, asking his subordinates to break out of the city in the chaos and send the blood letter to Luoan and hand it over to the Prime Minister!"

“But this blood letter was not delivered to Luoan, and there are clues that another group of people are also looking for this blood letter…”

After hearing what Chen Jingyu said, Shangguan Changgong couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Although Wang Muzhi's ability was not particularly strong, he was brought up by his father and was loyal to his father Shangguan Hongyuan and the Shangguan family.

When Jinyang City was broken, Wang Muzhi would rather burn himself to death than surrender to the Fengwu Army and live in the world. His performance can be said to be very loyal. Therefore, although Shangguan Changgong was very dissatisfied with Wang Muzhi's performance in Yunbing against the Fengwu Army, he still treated Wang Muzhi's family in Luoan well.

Seeing the blood letter from such a loyal minister, Shangguan Changgong was naturally curious about what Wang Muzhi wrote to his father in the last moments of his life!
After a brief thought, Shangguan Changgong asked:
"Do you know what is in the blood letter?"

Chen Jingyu hesitated for a moment, but still spoke very carefully:

"We still don't know what Governor Wang wrote in the blood letter, but there are clues that the other group looking for this blood letter may be from the Imperial Guards."

After saying this, Shangguan Changgong couldn't help but look deeply at Chen Jingyu, but Chen Jingyu lowered her head under his gaze, not daring to look at Shangguan Changgong at all.

After a long time, Shangguan Changgong waved his hand. Seeing this, Chen Jingyu immediately bowed to Shangguan Changgong, then turned and walked out of the study.

However, just as Chen Jingyu was about to walk out of the study, Shangguan Changgong's gloomy voice came from behind him.

“The Inspectorate must find the blood letter left by Governor Wang…”

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Just as a new political storm was brewing in Luoan, Yuan Song, who was far away in Jinyang, received an unexpected news.

Yuan Song frowned in front of the sand table, looked at Zheng Chuang with some surprise and asked back:

"You mean the enemy has abandoned Seokju?"

Facing Yuan Song's gaze, Zheng Chuang nodded and said:

"Yes, according to the intelligence from the Flying Tiger Battalion, the enemy's two battalions of 7,000 troops stationed in Shizhou have withdrawn from Shizhou to Yanzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Song shifted his gaze to the sand table beside him. Looking at the coordinates on the sand table, he personally pulled out the flag representing the enemy army at the Shizhou coordinates on the sand table.

Nearly half a month had passed since the last major battle, and the Fengwu Army had had sufficient rest during this half month. Therefore, Yuan Song was preparing to launch an operation against Shizhou in the near future according to his pre-arranged combat plan, intending to capture Shizhou first and then Pingyang, and completely expel the Luoan court's troops from Yunbing.

However, the enemy army took the initiative to give up Shizhou. Although it was a bit surprising to hear that, but when I thought about the fact that Yang Chongqing was a ruthless man who dared to give up Jinyang, it didn’t seem so shocking that he gave up Shizhou again...
(Originally, according to my plan, I was going to unify the Great Zhou and conquer the surrounding areas in one go with more than three million words and then finish the book. However, some book friends said that they wanted to see in detail how to conquer the surrounding areas and create a prosperous era where all nations come to pay tribute. So I want to ask if everyone is interested in reading it? If I write it in detail, it may take another two to three months!)

(End of this chapter)