kvmb Chapter 360 Everyone has their own agenda!
Chapter 360 Everyone has their own agenda!
When Xiao Tiangui heard that Li Changsheng had not made any substantial progress in his research on firearms, he felt a little relieved.
"Your Majesty currently has limited troops at his disposal. The Dragon Guards are tasked with protecting the Imperial Palace and Luodu, and they cannot be mobilized without authorization."
"And the new army that Li Changsheng has trained, the Tiance Guards, is a motley crew of bandits, defeated soldiers, and disaster victims. They're completely useless in the short term!"
"If they're just used to boost morale, that's fine, but if you expect them to go to the battlefield and wipe out the remnants of King Zhao, that's simply wishful thinking!"
Hearing Xiao Tiangui's words, Ge Lin nodded in agreement.
"My lord, you are absolutely right. In my opinion, His Majesty intends to use Li Changsheng to put pressure on you, my lord, to wipe out the remnants of King Zhao!"
Xiao Tiangui smiled and said, "Mr. Ge, this time we two heroes have the same opinion!"
"If Your Majesty thinks that this little pressure will make me, Xiao, lose my patience, then he underestimates me!"
"Now, no matter what His Majesty and Li Changsheng want to do, we should wait and see what tricks they can come up with."
"Mr. Ge, pass the word down. Have our men keep a close watch on Funiu Mountain. If there's any sign of trouble, report it immediately!"
Green immediately clasped his fists and saluted: "Yes!"
……
At the beginning, Xiao Tiangui and Ge Lin were still a little worried.
But half a month later, news came from Funiu Mountain that Li Changsheng had mobilized 50,000 new troops of the Tiance Guard, announced an army of 100,000, and was preparing to march north to capture Zhaojun!
But Li Changsheng's advance was very slow, only traveling more than ten miles a day. If they encountered bad weather, they would set up camp on the spot to rest.
When passing the Yellow River ferry, they saw that the pontoon bridge was damaged, so they stopped the army and began to repair the bridge.
Moreover, the progress of building the floating bridge is very slow.
Something that could have been done in one day was dragged out for five days, and this person was making progress slowly and leisurely.
At this marching speed, it will probably take at least a year or two before we can enter the territory of Zhao County.
After receiving this information, Xiao Tiangui became even more convinced of his previous judgment.
He thought that Li Changsheng, this was also because he felt that with only a group of rabble in his hands, he could not be dragged into the battlefield, let alone wipe out the brothers Ying Qi and Ying Jie who had tens of thousands of troops.
But His Majesty had given him a death order, and he could not openly disobey it, so he came up with this method of delaying and waiting for the situation to change.
……
At the same time, the capital of Zhao County was Handan.
Ying Qi, Ying Jie and others, like lost dogs, finally escaped after going through untold hardships.
They were originally worried that General Xiao Tiangui would take advantage of the victory, cross the Zhang River, and wipe out Zhao County.
Because of this, everyone's heart was in their throat and they dared not close their eyes when sleeping at night.
They were afraid that Xiao Tiangui would lead a large army and suddenly cross the Zhang River to attack them.
To this end, they were even mentally prepared to flee again if Handan fell.
But it turned out that General Xiao Tiangui, who led an army of 100,000 elite soldiers, did not pursue the victory, but only set up camp on the south bank of the Zhang River, which is Yecheng.
His Majesty issued twelve golden orders in a row, forcing Xiao Tiangui to send troops to attack Zhaojun.
Xiao Tiangui refused to send troops on the grounds that he was ill.
The conflict between the king and his minister, who had already had a rift in their hearts, became even more acute.
As a result, the atmosphere in the entire court became tense again and entered a delicate balance.
This result made everyone in Handan City breathe a sigh of relief.
The leaders, led by Ying Qi and Ying Jie, gathered together again to discuss.
Is Xiao Tiangui acting with His Majesty again?
After all, they had already suffered a great loss at Hulao Pass.
But after repeated discussions, they finally reached the same conclusion.
Xiao Tiangui was worried that the young emperor would abandon him, so he deliberately kept the enemy alive to protect himself!
Otherwise, this guy wouldn't have surrounded Hulao Pass on three sides and left one of them alone, deliberately letting them escape.
Not long after, they received news from the spy again.
The young emperor was unable to command the general Xiao Tiangui, so he ordered the Tiance Guard, which had been formed only half a year ago, to come and wipe out them.
This further confirms that the conflict between the little emperor and Xiao Tiangui has become increasingly acute.
As for the so-called new army Tiance Guard, they regarded it as a mob and did not take it seriously at all.
There was even a time when people believed that such a mob would not dare to be brought to Zhaojun to die.
Sure enough, the spies they sent out later brought back relevant news.
It is said that the Tiance Guards' marching progress was extremely slow, comparable to a snail, and they often set up camp to rest on the spot.
After hearing the news, both Prince Ying Qi and Ying Jie gradually relaxed their vigilance.
Some people even use this incident as a topic of conversation after dinner.
However, with the external threat gone for the time being, undercurrents began to surge among them.
King Zhao Ying Guang is already dead.
It can be said that a family cannot be without a master for a day, and a country cannot be without a ruler for a day.
Since Ying Guang is dead, someone must naturally inherit his vacant throne.
Logically speaking, Prince Yingqi is the first heir.
He should inherit the throne.
But having lost his father's protection, he, the crown prince, has far less control over the entire Zhao County than his younger brother Ying Jie, who has the Zhao family as his backing.
What's more, Ying Jie was already somewhat resentful towards his brother.
He has long been eyeing the throne.
But letting him inherit the throne is not in accordance with the legal system, and it is not legitimate and will leave people with the criticism that he has obtained the throne illegitimately.
Especially in this sensitive period, any carelessness will cause instability in the military morale.
Thus, the throne remained vacant.
But the open and covert struggles between the two forces have not stopped.
In fact, there is a trend of intensifying.
On Yingqi's side, he held high the banner of King Zhao, hoping that the crown prince could legitimately inherit the throne.
Although Ying Jie lacks righteousness, he is very strong-willed and naturally refuses to be inferior to others.
They also began to make intensive preparations and were even prepared to resort to force to seize power.
In order to make your plan go smoothly.
Ying Jie planned to establish a relationship between Zhao Kun and Princess Baili.
At their wedding, he took advantage of Yingqi and others' unpreparedness and launched a coup.
At first, Zhao Kun was somewhat resistant when he heard the news.
After all, once a conflict breaks out.
Prince Ying Qi is definitely doomed to die.
And Baili is Yingqi's biological sister.
He doesn't want the person next to him to hate him for the rest of his life because of this.
Ying Jie knew what he was worried about, so he explained the pros and cons to him.
"Ying Jie, it's true that Ying Qi is Bai Li's brother. But don't forget, my mother is also your aunt!"
"Once Ying Qi succeeds in taking over, do you think he will let you go, or the entire Zhao family go?"
After hearing Ying Jie's persuasion, Zhao Kun felt a little relieved.
Seeing this, Ying Jie took advantage of the situation and tried to persuade him again.
"Cousin, aren't you afraid that Baili will hold a grudge against you because of this? But as long as you pretend that you know nothing and stay out of it."
"By then, it's already a done deal. As your woman, Bai Li, will she still hold a grudge against you for the rest of her life?"
Zhao Kun was persuaded by Ying Jie, and after thinking it over again and again, he agreed immediately.
After making a comprehensive plan, Zhao Kun asked his father Zhao Wuji to go and propose marriage in person.
The Zhao family is the number one family in Zhao County.
Zhao Wuji is also the head of the Zhao family.
Ying Qi naturally didn't dare to offend him.
What's more, King Zhao did say during his lifetime that he would marry Bai Li to Zhao Kun.
Ying Qi naturally did not dare to deny this.
In addition, he still had some hope and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of marrying his sister to win over Zhao Kun.
He did not ask the Zhao family to completely side with him.
As long as their Zhao family can remain neutral in the battle for the throne between him and Ying Jie.
He should thank God.
So, the two sides immediately agreed on the marriage between Zhao Kun and Bai Li.
Because everyone has their own wishful thinking in their hearts.
Therefore, whether it is Zhao Kun, Ying Jie, or Ying Qi, they are all very satisfied with the result.
The only thing he forgot to ask was the person involved, Princess Baili, whether she was willing to marry him?