In Penghou Mansion in Chang'an, Liu Quyou and Li Guangli were sitting opposite each other in the study. Since Prince Liu Zhi committed suicide, these two people have been moving around more frequently.
"Now that the war in Youzhou has started again, the prime minister must be busy with everything, so why do you have time to recruit subordinates today?" Li Guangli asked with a smile. Today, he did not take the initiative to visit, but Liu Quyou invited him.
"Li Duwei is joking. With the imperial censor here, I, the Prime Minister Zuo, can be very relaxed" Liu Quyou said mockingly to himself, the word "left" was a little too strong. Nowadays, Sang Hongyang is exercising power as the imperial censor, and the emperor also relies heavily on Sang Hongyang. Liu Quya, the left prime minister, is indeed a little embarrassed in the court now.
"Sigh what the imperial censor did was indeed a bit too much" Li Guangli looked at Liu Quya and said with a sigh, as if he was very sympathetic to Liu Quya.
"It is only because of his ability that the imperial censor is able to win your majesty's trust. I feel relaxed and at ease." Liu Quyou smiled, his tone was a bit unpleasant, and he felt like a broken jar.
Li Guangli glanced at Liu Quya, leaned forward slightly, and said in a low voice: "I heard recently that Your Majesty is now obsessed with searching for immortals and refining elixirs, and there are many alchemists around him. I also heard that He said that after taking some elixirs, His Majesty¡¯s health seems to be much better than before.¡±
"I have heard about this matter, but the precedent of Qin Huangzheng has been taken before. His Majesty's movesigh" Liu Quyou said with a somewhat unnatural look on his face. He wanted to say that what Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did was tantamount to drinking poison to quench his thirst, but he did not dare to say this.
Since ancient times, emperors have been keen on seeking immortality and immortality, especially when they were dying, and some alchemists who made a living from this came into being. The so-called elixirs of immortality are mostly just some that stimulate the body's potential and extend life span to produce an exciting and ethereal feeling. However, it was this short-lived feeling of spring coming out of dead trees that gave those late emperors the illusion of the possibility of immortality.
"The side effect of these elixirs that stimulate potential and extend longevity is the accumulation of toxins, causing people to die without warning. This outcome has been verified by those emperors who like to take elixirs.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has now started taking pills, and he does feel more energetic than half a year ago. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not sure whether he could live forever, but he needed this state right now. Because there are still many things that he needs to do in this world. Wei Youqu's invasion of Youzhou is in full swing, and An Xi and Huo Guang in the northwest are also anxious. He needs to deal with these internal and external troubles. The most important thing is that he needs to find a solution for this empire. A worthy successor.
"That's right I'm also very worried! The vacant position of the crown prince will be detrimental to the country after all!" Li Guangli said with a worried look, and finally brought the topic to the issue of the crown prince's position. .
In fact, not only Li Guangli and Liu Quyou were enthusiastic about this issue, but the Han Dynasty, from the emperor and the three princes to the common people, were also very concerned about this issue. As Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty grew older, an empire without a prince became more and more unsettling.
"Among your Majesty's descendants, King Qi died young, King Guangling was brave and unintelligent, and was not favored by Your Majesty before he came to the country. However, King Yan is knowledgeable and well-known, so he may be the first choice among the kings of the country. The other is King Changyi, who is still in Chang'an, and his prince Fuling." Liu Quya told the monks one by one about the sons of the deceased Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????? away away from Qi Wang Liu Hong, who was the most promising to succeed as the crown prince after Liu Ju's death, died not long after Queen Qi came to the country. In addition, Guangling King Liu Xu basically has little chance. The most promising one now is Yan King Liu Dan. This Liu Dan has been smart and studious since he was a child. After becoming the Queen of Yan, he was also polite and virtuous. Now he has a pretty good reputation. Among the kings surnamed Liu, he is slightly inferior to the King of Liang.
"How come the prime minister likes to do things that put the cart before the horse and sacrifice the near for the distant? King Yan is now more than 20 years old. The so-called emperor and courtiers in one dynasty, I am afraid that even if your majesty has the intention, the courtiers will try their best to oppose it. The best result is Changyi. The king and the prince Fuling. If Fuling succeeds to the throne, the emperor will definitely order the imperial censor. On that day, the censor will really have power over the government. If the prime minister fully supports the king of Changyi, he will become the prime minister when he enters the court. When you rule the country, you will be the king!" Li Guangli looked at Liu Quyou with a puzzled expression, and finally made a more generous promise.
Originally, Li Guangli had hinted to Liu Quya that as long as Liu Kun, the king of Changyi, succeeded to the throne, Liu Quya would be the Duke of Zhou. Now a promise of becoming a king has been added. Liu Quyou was from the royal family, so it was okay to make him a king. He was the prime minister in the court, and if he stopped being the prime minister, he would be made king. This was unprecedented, and Liu Quyou could not resist such a temptation.
"Of course, the king of Changyi has a reputation as a virtuous man, and for the sake of the world, I should help the king of Changyi." Having said this, Liu Qumo no longer needed to be reserved. He also made it clear reply.
The matter is finalized,As for how to do it, Liu Quyou naturally had his own methods. The two looked at each other and smiled with satisfied expressions.
"Prime Minister, Your Majesty has sent an order to urgently summon the Prime Minister to Weiyang Palace." The voice of Liu Quya's steward suddenly sounded outside the house, but he didn't want Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to summon Liu Quya again at this time.
Liu Quya hurried to Weiyang Palace. When he arrived, he discovered that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had not only summoned him alone this time. Sang Hongyang, the imperial censor, Jiu Qing and several other important ministers were all there.
This time, before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could announce anything, two arrival reports from the Shuofang Governor's Department and the Bingzhou Governor's Department had already begun to be circulated among these important ministers.
Liu Qusao ??held the return report in his hand, and his hands couldn't help but tremble. The content of the two arrival reports was basically the same, that is to say, the Huns' 200,000 troops went south and had already reached Wuyuan and Yunzhong counties. Because the Shuofang Governor's Department had not merged with the Bingzhou Governor's Department at this time, although the two counties of Wuyuan Yunzhong were close to each other, they belonged to two separate governor's departments.
"According to His Majesty's decree, Wei Wei Lu Bode was appointed as the former general to control the two armies of Shuofang and Bingzhou to resist the invading enemies of the Huns. Li Guangli, the captain of Shuiheng, was also appointed as the general of the Second Division and led the 90,000 troops in Fufeng on the right to station in Anxi. County, to support the former general's troops and prevent the Xiongnu army from detouring to Yongzhou." This time Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not discuss with the courtiers. When everyone arrived, Zhang Anshi began to read out the decree of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
After years of war after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, the population of the entire Han Empire has dropped from nearly 50 million in the early days of Emperor Wu to about 35 million. The standing troops are mainly concentrated in the states where border counties are located. Among them, Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Shuofang had the most standing troops. Shuofang and Bingzhou combined had almost 150,000 troops. This was the capital Lubode used to resist the Huns' 200,000 cavalry. And Youzhou's original tens of thousands of troops, plus Jizhou's 30,000 troops, now total 80,000 fighting against Wei Youqu. The rest were the 90,000 troops from Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Jingzhou. This army was placed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Anding County, a place where the Huns could be attacked in the north and the river could be guarded in the west.
The total number of troops in these three places is about 320,000. Including the buildings and ships, as well as the emperor's guards in Chang'an, this is the largest number of troops that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty can mobilize at present, totaling about 350,000. As for Qingxu Prefecture, most of them were feudal states. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could not easily mobilize the troops of the kings surnamed Liu, and he did not dare to.
There are still a few places left, namely Jiaozhi, Yongzhou and Yizhou. However, the population of the nine southeastern counties of Jiaozhi was already sparse. Coupled with Huo Guang's once-and-for-all raid, the population here was even more depleted. Even if they were forcibly mobilized, they would only be able to draw 20,000 to 30,000 troops. In addition, the road was far away, so it was difficult to fight the fire that was near. The situation in Yongzhou is similar to that in Jiaozhi. A few years ago, when the Qiang people entered the customs and Dusongruozan was flooded, Yongzhou's ten houses and nine empty houses were now even worse than those in Jiaozhi. Yizhou is a prosperous place, and there are large counties like Shu County. However, it is close to the southwestern Yizhou and there are dozens of countries, large and small. It is impossible to rashly mobilize the army here.
If we add Huo Guang's hundreds of thousands of troops in Hexi, the Han Dynasty during this period actually had more than 500,000 standing troops. During this period when the population in the Western Han Dynasty was the smallest, the number of troops reached its peak. The pressure on logistics can be imagined. .
When the Xiongnu reignited the war in the north of the Han Dynasty, Wei Youqu, who was fighting the Han army in Guangcheng, Youbeiping, also received news that Yang Pu was attacking Wangxian City in his rear by water.
When the news that his rear was being totaled appeared in the hands of Wei Youqu, he did not appear to be as panicked as he expected. There was even an inexplicable smile on his face.
"Father is really good at predicting things. He actually guessed that the Han army would have this trick. Wangxian City has already been made impregnable by my father. Even if Yang Pu doubled his strength, he would not be able to defeat it in a year or two. ." The guard chief looked at his father with admiration and said. Long before they crossed the Zhu River, Wang Xiancheng had been rearranged by Wei Youqu. Even before doing so, Wei Youqu had foreseen that once he entered the Han Dynasty's Youzhou, the Han army's navy would use the water route. Attack your own Wangxian City.
"This Xun Zhi is also mature and prudent. Although his military strength is slightly better than ours, he still holds on to the city and refuses to fight. For a while, we were unable to make a move. But now he has given us a great opportunity. Are you ready?" Wei Youqu said with some anticipation and excitement, and finally asked his son, Captain Wei.
"Everything is ready according to father's instructions." The guard chief also replied with an expectant look on his face.
"Okay Then order the entire army to discard their baggage and return to the capital to aid!" Wei Youqu pulled his fist and actually gave the order to abandon the baggage and retreat.
When Wei Youqu¡¯s order was issued, Xun Zhen, the supreme commander of Youzhou in Guangcheng County, also received news that Yang Pu had arrived at Wangxian City and had begun to attack the city.
"Report togeneral, the Korean army has abandoned its baggage and a large amount of food and grass, and has begun to retreat towards the Xu River."The news of the retreat of Wei Youqu's army was promptly reported to Xun Shen.
Xun She had a relaxed look on his face, but in his heart he was thinking about whether to take this opportunity to go out of the city to pursue him. In his opinion, Wei Youqu was rushing back to help, while his side's morale was at its peak, and an attack at this time was almost certain. Xun Shen has not yet been granted the title of marquis, and this battle is his opportunity to become a marquis, and he does not want to miss this opportunity. Even the position of general in the DPRK had been vacant for a long time. Xun She couldn't help but imagine that if he pursued the victory all the way, regained the two counties in western Liaoning and Liaodong, and then invaded North Korea all the way, wouldn't he be able to sit in the position of general in this war?
The temptation of fame and wealth was too great, and these news were all confirmed, so Xun Shen finally decided to go out of the city to pursue him.
General Zuo¡¯s order was well implemented. Sixty thousand of the 80,000 troops gathered in Guangcheng City swarmed out, rushing to attack the defeated North Korean army.
Xun Shen led an army of 60,000 men and pursued them further and further away. On the right side of Guangcheng City, the North Ping Tai Guard Mountain frowned and stared at the mountains stretching in the distance. Although he could no longer see the fleeing Korean army and the pursuing Han army, His eyes were still staring in that direction.
"No need to wait, close the city gate" A gentle voice suddenly sounded behind Weishan. At some point, a middle-aged man wearing a brocade robe, who did not look like a soldier at all, walked up to Weishan. behind. This man did not belong to the military, nor was he an official from Youbeiping or Guangcheng. However, there was not a single soldier on the tower who stopped him from interrogating him.
"I've met Marquis Wan Guan." Wei Shan turned around after hearing this and bowed to the visitor. This man was none other than Lu Shu, who had disappeared for two years.
"But if we close the city now, what if General Zuo is really ambushed and comes back?" Wei Shan looked worried. He was worried that if it happened as Lu Shu said, this time it would be Wei Youqu's false defeat. What should I do if Xun Shen is defeated and cannot enter the city?
"This is the order of the Marquis. What if the people who come back are not General Zuo, but the people guarding Youqu? Once Guangcheng is lost, Youbeiping will fall completely in less than two days, and there is no danger of going to Youzhou and Jizhou Keshou. Is one Xun Shen more important or the millions of people behind him?" Lu Shu said with a serious expression. Over the years, he had developed a dignified attitude. When he solemnly said this, Wei Shan also Nothing more was said.
"Send the order, close the city gates, pull up the drawbridge, no one is allowed to open the city without my order." Wei Shan shouted loudly. Not only was this an order from Huo Guang, but he also had to pay attention to what Lu Shu said later, in case anything happened. Xun She was defeated, and Wei Youqu pretended to be a Han army and pretended to open the city gate. This situation is really possible.
When the city gates of Guangcheng slowly closed and the suspension bridge was pulled up, the remaining 20,000 troops re-arranged their defenses in Guangcheng. However, this time, although there were only 20,000 defenders, the new atmosphere was even more impressive than the previous 80,000-strong army. In some houses, racks of crossbow carts were rolled out, and barrels of anointing oil were moved out of the cellars.
The war in Youbeiping was in full swing, and before all the twists and turns had occurred, Huo Guang, who was far away in Dunhuang, solemnly handed over three letters sealed by himself to Huo Tang's hands.
"Send these three letters immediately. These three letters are related to the fate of the Han Dynasty. Let the best disciples of the Mo family go. This one is sent to Shu County and handed over to Zhuo Junchen, and this one is to the prince of Zichuan, Liu Kang. Yes, the last letter is for Liang Wang Liu Xiang, remember to hand it over to these three people in person." Huo Guang said in a solemn tone that he had never heard before, and even asked to send the best disciples of the Mo family to carry out this task.