Chapter 103
The Great Ceremony Controversy
Liu Buqi happily took the battle report sent back by Yue Lingxi. The three armies advanced in parallel. In just half a month, they unexpectedly raided Jinjing, where the capital of Yehe was located!
But the real challenge has just begun here. Yehe has gathered almost the strength of the entire clan here. The most important thing is that Jinjing has never been Yehe’s last line of defense!
Even if it is lost, Yehe will retreat to the Heishui line, which is the birthplace of Yehe and the place where 300,000 troops of the empire were buried twenty years ago!
The brutal siege has begun. The infantry of Youzhou is good at defense but not good at attacking, and the cavalry, which is a powerful field attack weapon, is of little use in the siege. Yue Lingxi predicts that this will be a protracted and fierce battle.
Although Youzhou had made sufficient preparations for this, the siege equipment was still in short supply. Lu Xin had mobilized a large number of craftsmen and equipment from Taiping County and personally escorted them to Jinjing!
Lu Xin's son Lu Qinghou took over as the commander of Zhenbei Prefecture and presided over the subsequent transportation of grain and grass to Youzhou.
With the departure of the last official in charge of the six ministries in Youzhou, an inexplicable undercurrent began to surge among the officials in Youzhou!
And the spearhead of this undercurrent is actually directed at the current de facto supreme leader of Youzhou - Liu Buqi!
…
It has been several months since the imperial princess married into Youzhou. Even though the envoy Xuan En read out the imperial edict in public, clearly stating that Princess Yixiang is the consort of Prince Yan, the Prince Yan himself has never given her the due status!
This behavior, which was obviously against etiquette, did not seem to be a big problem when Yue Lingxi was around.
But once Yue Lingxi led his army to war, the question of who among the officials left behind in Youzhou could exercise the powers of King Yan came to the fore!
If they were originally officials from Youzhou, this question naturally did not need special explanation. In their minds, Liu Buqi was the undisputed wife of the King of Yan, and also the think tank of Youzhou.
But now most of Youzhou's original officials have gone on expeditions outside the region, and Yue Lingxi had not made it clear who would be in charge of Youzhou's overall situation before he left!
So, an obvious question arises. According to etiquette, even when the lord is away, the wife can govern the country. But who is Yue Lingxi's legitimate wife?
Although Liu Buqi was personally conferred the title of First-Rank Lady Anguo by the emperor, according to etiquette and law, she was not the Princess of Yan! Princess Yixiang was!
Moreover, she holds the position of Sikong among the Four Dukes of Youzhou. Legally speaking, she should be under the command of Prince Yan. After Prince Yan goes to war, she should follow the orders of the Princess of Yan!
But no matter the actual situation or the rumors coming from the palace, Xu Ningmei, the Situ who should have been on the same level as Sikong, was bowing down to Liu Buqi and treating the Princess of Yan as nothing!
Princess Yixiang even paid her respects to Liu Buqi every day in the palace as a concubine!
These situations that were against etiquette and legal principles gradually formed an undercurrent among the middle and lower-level officials in Youzhou, especially those from outside Youzhou, and even became a "big issue" that these officials competed to discuss during their daily gatherings!
Of course, among the middle and lower-level officials, there are also a considerable number of local Youzhou officials, as well as many officials of merchant origin!
They either had a deep understanding of Liu Buqi's actual status in Youzhou, or they had benefited from her policies of valuing, protecting and promoting commerce. They strongly recognized Liu Buqi's actual status as the main wife, and gradually formed another "local" faction to argue against the so-called "Mingli" officials.
These arguments and discussions hidden under the surface have not really affected the operation of Youzhou in the current wartime state of unity against the outside world, but the smell of gunpowder is getting stronger and stronger!
Although the officials under the Prince of Yan's direct command of the rumor envoys also heard these arguments, their reports were ignored after several attempts. They did not receive feedback from the palace immediately, and did not have a deep understanding of the impact of this matter, so they continued to wait and see!
Thus, while Liu Buqi, who was increasingly reducing her duties at the palace and calmly awaiting her birth, had no idea that the entire civil service group in Youzhou had quietly split, forming two opposing factions!
This "ritual debate" dispute was originally limited to internal discussions among civil officials. If there was no external force, it would probably take a long time to truly have a major impact on Youzhou's political arena!
But when a large number of merchants traveling outside the Great Wall brought back the news that the Steppe Khanate had begun to gather troops in the direction near Youzhou!
The dispute over "ritual" broke out suddenly without any warning!
"Before Lingxi set out on the expedition, we had already learned that the grassland Khan King Yesen was personally leading the majority of the grasslands to fight against the Yuezhi in the far west. There was no way that the army could be withdrawn in such a short time!"
"Immediately order the Song officials to send out scouts to learn in detail the number of troops assembled this time and who is leading the army."
Liu Buqi stroked the naughty little guy in her belly while calmly making arrangements!
After Xu Ningmei reported the feedback from the merchants, Liu Buqi was not as shocked as the civilian merchants. The previous intelligence had been verified by many parties, and it was absolutely impossible for Yesen to abandon his army and come back alone to plan the attack on Taiyue!
This is just like it is impossible for Yue Lingxi to leave the 300,000 troops of Youzhou in Jinjing and return to Yanjing alone to plan a direct attack on Guannei Hou!
Such a huge risk, and it is obviously not worth the loss. It is like throwing away the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds. How could a powerful leader do such irrational behavior?
Therefore, there are only three possibilities for the grassland army that has assembled this time. One is that they are planning to take advantage of Youzhou's expedition to find an opportunity to cross the border and attack the grassland valley!
This possibility is extremely small. The grassland has gained a lot from trade in recent years. There is no need to raid the grassland like before. Moreover, if Yesen is not in the heart of the grassland, it will be very easy for him to be misunderstood if a large army is summoned!
The second possibility is that there is a split within the grassland, and someone wants to take advantage of Yesen's absence to seize the throne of the grassland Khan. This possibility is also unlikely!
Yesen, the heroic leader of the grassland, drove a large number of former opposition forces to attack Youzhou right after he succeeded in his fight for the throne. However, he was defeated at the Great Wall by Yue Lingxi, who had also just come to power. Now the remaining opposition forces on the grassland are so weak that they can be ignored!
Even if they wanted to stir up trouble, they had to consider that once the expeditionary force that Yesen held tightly in his hands returned, it would be a catastrophe!
The third possibility is that the Yehe tribe asked for help from the grassland! This pair of natural allies would almost certainly work together when facing the behemoth Taiyue!
The grassland Khanate must have assembled its troops to try to force Yue Lingxi to return to the army! Liu Buqi judged that this possibility was very close to reality!
If this is the case, then Youzhou does not have much to worry about, because the troops that the grassland can now must not be too many, and it is difficult to truly achieve victory under the solid defense line of the Great Wall!
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