Chapter 234 Change
"Master Su!"
"Morning, Master Su!"
"Master Su, would you like some steamed buns? They are so delicious with pork in them."
"Master Su, are you still going to tell me stories about military strategy tonight? Can I come over and listen?"
…
As Su Fengzhang walked along, many people greeted him, including famous generals in the army and soldiers at the lower levels. They did not dare to act rudely in front of Prince Xi, but they played happily with Su Fengzhang in private.
Su Fengzhang responded one by one, but did not slow down his pace. He walked quickly into Prince Xi's tent.
Inside the tent, Prince Xi's expression was extremely grim, and the surrounding high-ranking generals also had solemn expressions. However, when they saw Su Fengzhang enter, they all nodded in agreement, which showed that this man was quite popular.
Su Fengzhang also nodded slightly, then asked, "Prince, is the news from Yunzhou bad?"
Prince Xi slammed his hammer on the table in front of him and cursed, "There were Xianbei spies in Yunzhou who were rebellious, nearly forcing the city gates. Fortunately, General Meng saved the day. Otherwise, the Xianbei cavalry would have already invaded the territory of our Great Zhou."
Su Fengzhang also frowned. General Meng Kun had been guarding Yunzhou for many years. It was impossible for him to make Yunzhou impregnable, but it was also impossible for him to allow the spies to cause chaos to the point where the city was almost broken.
Su Fengzhang immediately thought of all sorts of speculations, but before he could ask, Prince Xi delivered another piece of bad news: "Although Yunzhou has been defended, General Meng was attacked by spies and severely injured. He is now bedridden."
As soon as these words fell, the faces of everyone present changed. This time when the Xianbei attacked, the emperor was only angry but not frightened, and that was because there was a Meng Kun in Yunzhou.
Meng Kun is less than fifty years old this year, and is not the oldest among the military generals. He has always been in good health. He is like a mountain pressing on the heads of the Xianbei people, making them afraid to approach him.
But now, some people say that this mountain is about to fall!
"How could this be?" Meng Kun was the General Zhenbei, and not only was he surrounded by many experts, he was also a top expert himself.
Prince Xi also looked exhausted: "The letter didn't go into detail, so I guess something must have happened."
Su Fengzhang couldn't help but ask, "Who is leading the Zhenbei Army now?"
Prince Xi sighed and continued, "General Meng's eldest son, Meng He, and his most important general, Chen Kui."
The last time he came here, Su Fengzhang only remembered Liu Wei. The rest of the people were unknown and unremarkable under the reputation of General Meng. Now when he heard these two names, he only vaguely remembered them.
Whether it is Meng He or Chen Kui, they are definitely not as talented as General Meng, otherwise they would not be unknown.
Now that the old general has handed the Zhenbei Army over to them, he probably has no choice but to do so.
Su Fengzhang said quickly: "It seems we have to travel day and night."
Prince Xi nodded and said, "Generals, please give the order to set off immediately and rush all the way to Yunzhou."
"Yes." Everyone took the order and left.
Prince Xi stopped Su Fengzhang and said, "Master Su, please stay."
After everyone left, Prince Xi said, "General Meng is not seriously injured and recuperating, but has passed away."
"What?" Su Fengzhang was also shocked.
Prince Xi rubbed his brows and said, "That day, the Xianbei spies were causing unrest, and General Meng sent people to suppress them. By chance, they were shot by a hidden arrow. It wasn't originally a vital spot, but who knew that the arrow was poisonous?"
"The old general had already passed away that night."
"General Meng and General Chen were afraid of affecting the morale of the troops, so they had no choice but to keep this news secret for the time being."
Su Fengzhang could understand the actions of these two generals. General Meng was the backbone of the Zhenbei Army. If the news of his assassination by the Xianbei people were to spread, it would probably shake the morale of the two sides who were still in a stalemate. The military of the Great Zhou would be demoralized, while the morale of the Xianbei would be boosted.
Su Fengzhang also felt a headache and said angrily: "How could this happen?"
Prince Xi said, "I'm afraid the Xianbei were well prepared. Opening the city gates was a pretense, and the real purpose was to assassinate General Meng."
Su Fengzhang frowned and said, "If that's the case, the news of the old general's death won't be kept secret for long."
General Meng hasn't appeared in public for a long time, so this news will definitely be revealed.
Prince Xi sighed and said, "That's true. I'm afraid this will be a tough battle."
"The most urgent thing we can do is rush to Yunzhou and discuss countermeasures with the two generals." Su Fengzhang added, "I'm afraid that before we even reach Yunzhou, the news of the old general's death will be revealed."
Su Fengzhang's guess was correct. Even if they traveled day and night, they were still human beings after all. It was impossible for them to travel without food or water. If that were the case, the army they brought would be useless by the time they reached Yunzhou.
As the letters went back and forth, the news that the old general had been assassinated had spread everywhere in Yunzhou City.
General Meng used drastic measures, capturing a group of people and making a group of people stupid, but he could not stop the gossip. Instead, it made the soldiers defending the city dissatisfied and their morale was even lower.
Even the mighty Zhenbei Army began to have deserters fleeing from the battlefield.
Although General Meng is Meng Kun's eldest son, he is only twenty years old this year. He is young and energetic and cannot win the support of the people. Instead, he is surrounded by enemies for a while.
Fortunately, General Chen was also the right-hand man of the late General Meng, and was able to keep the situation under control. The two worked together and finally managed to temporarily stabilize the Yunzhou Zhenbei Army, but the situation on the battlefield inevitably tilted.
When Prince Xi and Su Fengzhang arrived in Yunzhou with their men, they received a lot of bad news.
These bad news seemed to have wings and flew quickly to the emperor.
The moment the emperor received the news of General Meng Kun's death, he spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the white silk paper in front of him red, and the red spots covered the original handwriting.
Eunuch Li screamed and called for the imperial physician.
But the emperor grabbed his hand and shouted, "Don't call the doctor."
Eunuch Li asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, your health..."
The emperor shook his head, and after a moment's rest, he said, "This news cannot be spread, and I cannot afford to fall ill at this juncture. Eunuch Li, remember this: I am in excellent health!"
Eunuch Li's body was trembling, but he could only agree: "Your Majesty, I understand."
After saying this, Eunuch Li personally wiped the blood from the corner of the emperor's mouth, and then carefully swept away all traces of blood. Then he said, "Your Majesty, how about I help you to rest for a while?"
The emperor sighed and said after a while, "Let Lao Wu come to see me."
Eunuch Li hurried out to pass on the message that Prince Cheng was now in charge of the imperial guards and arrived very quickly.
Seeing the heroic Prince Cheng, the emperor waved his hand and said, "Meng Kun is dead."
Prince Cheng was also shocked. He couldn't help but worry about the two people who went to Yunzhou. He frowned and asked, "What is the current situation in Yunzhou?"
The emperor sighed and said, "It remains to be seen. If Ah Jun had arrived in time, he might have been able to repel the Xianbei."
When sending He Jun, the emperor still had the ambition to defeat the Huns and restore the era of Taizu. Now he only wants to defend the city. It can be seen that Meng Kun's death has dealt him a heavy blow.
Prince Cheng keenly noticed that Eunuch Li's face looked wrong, so he calmed down and asked about the smell of blood. His heart couldn't help but jump again. Meng Kun had just died, and it would be very bad if something happened to the emperor as well.
It was precisely because of this that the emperor tried so hard to cover up the truth. Now he asked again, "Do you think I shouldn't have just sent Ah Jun and Su Fengzhang to lead the army?"
"At the beginning, I thought that Meng Kun had some ties with the He family, and Ajun also respected Meng Kun very much. If he led the army, with Meng Kun as the leader and Ajun as the auxiliary, they would complement each other perfectly and would not make the same mistake as last time."
It was about that time when the Fourth Prince and Lord Song led the army. Both of them were dissatisfied with Meng Kun and made decisions on their own, which led to many accidents later.
Who could have thought that the emperor had planned everything well, but before He Jun's troops arrived in Yunzhou, Meng Kun had already died. The remaining General Meng and General Chen did not have the authority and ability of this one.
Prince Cheng's eyelids were twitching. He said, "Father, although Ah Jun is young, he is a member of the He family after all. He has been in charge of the army for some time. He is the most suitable candidate. Moreover, he has many battle-hardened generals under his command."
The emperor remained silent, his mind full of the military generals in the court. However, after thinking about it, he suddenly realized that the court was facing a situation where no one was available.
There are many civil officials, but there is a severe shortage of military generals. Why is this so?
The emperor vaguely recalled that in the past, the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous. The royal family was afraid of military generals who held heavy troops. Later, he killed the Li and He families, so that other military generals also abandoned the army to save their lives. Later generations even preferred to study rather than practice martial arts. The emperor was happy to see this happen and even did not care about the martial arts examination. This is why such a gap appeared.
Now, it's too late to regret.
A good military general is hard to come by in a thousand years, and he can't promote him just by thinking about it.
Suddenly, the emperor suddenly asked, "Do you think those Duke Rong's men can still go to the battlefield?"
Prince Cheng quickly advised, "Your Majesty, those old men are not only very old, but they haven't been on the battlefield for many years. Some of them have never been on the battlefield at all."
"Besides, changing generals during a battle is a big taboo. Instead of sending another coach, it's better to trust Ajun."
The emperor sighed deeply and said, "I have lost my mind."
The method he had just used was absolutely not feasible. Among the old princes, only one, Duke Rong, had ever been on the battlefield and had achieved some success. However, he was already eighty years old. Not to mention leading soldiers into battle, it was even unknown whether he could ride a horse.
This is not okay, and that is not right. The emperor finally realized that his purge in the past had put the Great Zhou in such a dangerous situation. However, he was still complacent at the time, thinking that he had done what the previous emperor had not done.
The emperor felt mixed emotions. Now he could only rely on He Jun's ability. He only hoped that the generals of the Zhenbei Army were still there to assist He Jun and stop these ambitious Xianbei people.
After coming out of the palace, Prince Cheng was still in a state of relaxation. Although this was a great opportunity for Prince Xi and Su Fengzhang to establish their careers, it was really dangerous to act in Yunzhou. Even Meng Kun died in an assassination by the Xianbei. Who knew whether He Jun and Su Fengzhang would follow suit?
He believed in He Jun's ability and Su Fengzhang's talent, but on the battlefield, swords and knives are blind, and no one knows what will happen in the end until the winner is decided.
Prince Cheng mentally counted the troops that the court could still mobilize, and sighed deeply in his heart. If the situation on the front line was not good, even if his father did not agree, he would have to find a way to mobilize the remaining troops!
It’s a pity that he is now in the capital, but can’t help at all!
Countless years flashed through Prince Cheng's mind. He looked back at the palace door that was closed again, turned around and left quickly.
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The author has something to say: War is about to start again. This is actually the most selfish and disgusting emperor I have ever written about.
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