Chapter 1713: Renzijuan lobbying, fight again
Chu Qi went to Niu Jizong, but now he should be heading south.
As the two right-hand men of Prince Yi Zhong who stayed in the north, Chu Qi focused more on strategic planning, while Wang Zinian assisted more in handling specific affairs. Of course, the two only had a division of labor. In fact, the operation was still based on the actual situation. Come and decide.
Matters such as coordinating the Xuanfu Army were left to Chu Qi, which was related to whether Prince Yi Zhong could gain a foothold in the capital city. Prince Yi Zhong also granted Chu Qi full authority to coordinate and handle the actions of the Xuanfu Army.
They had made the worst plan before, that is, if the Xuanfu Army's attack was unfavorable, for example, the Jizhen Army came too fast and blocked the Xuanfu Army, or even if the war was unfavorable, the Xuanfu Army retreated to the Xuanfu Town territory, the next step What to do.
The original idea was to consider two paths.
One way is that if the situation in the capital city reaches a stalemate, then the Xuanfu Army, the Datong Army, and even the various units in Shanxi Town that can be commanded by Niu Jizong will temporarily stand still to observe the changes in the situation, but at the same time make preparations for various responses.
Another way is to determine that the situation is unfavorable and Prince Yi Zhong cannot gain support in the capital city, so he can only go south. The main force of the Xuanfu army and those who can be mobilized from Datong and Shanxi towns must also go south. However, going south is not a trivial matter. It is necessary to go south all the way through Baoding, Zhending, and Damingfu. It is difficult to get support from these troops in the north. Once the logistical supplies are cut off, it is likely to fall into chaos. Then we need to make a decisive decision and go south immediately, but this is a thousand miles away. Going south, if the local government does not guarantee food and grass supplies, it is impossible to do it.
Either grab them all the way, or simply attack the city, occupy and control these key passes and places in the north, obtain food and grass supplies by yourself, and wait for the opportunity.
These are very complex considerations, and they all depend on the changes in the situation in the capital city, especially how much support Prince Yohitada can get from civil servants, and the attitude of the local government.
No one can tell now what the civil servants in the DPRK and China will think after the showdown, and what will happen to the local officials.
There is even a very huge variable, that is, what will happen once the emperor wakes up? This is also a factor that civil servants need to consider.
What if the emperor suddenly wakes up after we have just reached an agreement with Prince Yohitada?
Overthrow them all, capture Prince Yoshitaka, and even kill them all to avoid future troubles? Or should we just continue to carry out the "gate-taking change" to the end without doing anything else?
Similarly, Prince Yoshitaka also needs to consider this situation.
Although civil servants don’t care too much about who becomes the emperor, they still need face.
Emperor Yonglong really passed away, so it would make sense for them to accept Prince Yi Zhong. However, when Emperor Yonglong wakes up, it may be difficult for them to do something like the "Change of Seizing the Gate". After all, most of these civil servants were promoted by Emperor Yonglong. Those who came up did not have much affinity with Prince Yoshitaka, and it was difficult for them to abandon orthodoxy as a scholar's basic etiquette.
The inability of the Xuanfu army to enter the city and control the situation in one fell swoop meant that the direction of the wind was unlikely to go as planned. However, Prince Yi Zhong, Chu Qi, Wang Zinian and others did not expect it to be smooth sailing and Yonglong itself. The result of the emperor being comatose after being assassinated is a bit surprising, but it is just a desperate attempt. If it fails, then the second option must be considered.
Facing Prince Yi Zhong's inquiry, Wang Zinian couldn't help but swallowed his saliva and said with difficulty: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid we have to prepare for the worst."
"You mean to let Gu go south without even trying?" Prince Yi Zhong shook his head, "No, you can't do that. Even if Gu is eventually forced to go south, it's definitely not now. If Gu wants to go south, he can only It is a situation, that is, the fourth child wakes up and the situation worsens. As long as the fourth child does not wake up, I believe that the officials in the court will not dare to take any extraordinary action against me."
"But the Xuanfu army failed to attack the capital city, and we have lost the possibility of controlling the capital city..." Wang Zinian said in a deep voice.
"It is still unclear who will win." Prince Yi Zhong looked very calm, "The ministers in the court are not very optimistic about the sons of the fourth son. This is very clear to me, especially Zhang Chi who seems to be the prince in theory. Even the fourth child himself doesn't like him. He is tough, timid, frivolous and immoral. He wants Zhang So to be promoted to the throne, but Zhang So is only fourteen years old. How can he convince the public? He wants to help him get on the horse. Give me a ride, but now what?”
"Then what are your plans, my lord? What are you doing in the capital city? What if..." Wang Zinian became a little anxious.
"Then you mean to contact the officials in the court?" Wang Zinian also asked tentatively: "If it is difficult to contact Ye Xiang for the time being, what about the princes of the six tribes? For example, Gao Panlong, Huang Ruliang, and Liu Yishen and Gu Bingqian, they are all from Jiangnan scholars, so you might as well make a wish and test it out..."
Prince Yi Zhong also felt a little embarrassed. Without the support of the Xuanfu Army, most of these people would not make a clear statement if they tried to test them. It could be done by trying to win over them, but how meaningful is it? They are all people who can adapt to the wind. , if you don’t want to express your attitude, you don’t think very highly of yourself, which is indeed a bit difficult to handle.
The current situation is really too chaotic, with an emperor who is not sure when he will wake up or whether he will wake up, several princes who are not in a good mood but are still fighting endlessly, plus a righteous man who is eyeing him eagerly but fails to take the initiative and lacks righteousness. Prince Zhong, as well as a group of civil servants who preside over the affairs of the court but are still erratic in their minds, and their own internal opinions may not be completely unified, and there are also the noisy Jiangnan gentry, how can this situation be solved?
"Zinian, it's better to get in touch with the scholars in Huguang first." Prince Yi Zhong pondered for a moment, "I guess the scholars from Jiangnan will not trust us too much. After all, Tang Binyin, Miao Changqi and Zhu Guozhen are in Nanjing. Gao Panlong and Huang Ruliang were too active. Gao Panlong and Huang Ruliang were very disgusted. We couldn't talk to the scholars in Beidi. After all, this was the basic plan of Lao Si in the past. Only the scholars in Huguang, did you notice, there was no one in the cabinet? For a scholar from Huguang, among the seven ministers, there is only Guan Yingzhen and the minister of commerce, and among the seven left ministers, there is only one Chai Ke. It is said that the scholars in Huguang are very complaining about this situation..."
"Chai Ke is not in the capital and has gone to Tiewang Mountain. Only Guan Yingzhen, Xiong Tingbi and Guo Zhengyu are there." Wang Zinian hesitated and said: "Guan Yingzhen has always had close relations with the scholars in the north, and Xiong Tingbi and Guo Zhengyu are not very important. enough,…"
"Not necessarily. Although Zheng Jizhi has become an official, he is still very influential among Huguang scholars. You might as well get in touch with him. Guan Yingzhen has a different status now. He is the leader of Huguang scholars and he must represent the interests of Huguang scholars. It’s not necessarily that we can’t talk about it, we can give it a try.” Prince Yohitada carefully weighed his words.
“Then, Your Majesty, you mean that we won’t contact Ye Xianggao for the time being?” Wang Zinian rubbed his chin.
"You can find someone to find out what you are talking about. You can't contact them head-on. Once the other party denies it, there will be no room for maneuver. It is estimated that if Fang Congzhe and Qi Yongtai are not in the capital, he will not give any reply." Prince Yi Zhong rubbed his cheek. "Niu Jizong has posed a big problem for Gu. If his Xuanfu army is now under the capital city, or even entered the capital city, why should Gu be so embarrassed? In addition, we need to pay attention to the social situation and public opinion in the capital at all times to see the attitudes of the people. , Gu estimates that the news that the fourth child is unconscious will spread throughout the capital soon."
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Just when Prince Yi Zhong was sighing with sorrow, the war was raging outside Gonghua City.
After determining that Gonghua City must be captured to eliminate any worries, Niu Jizong no longer hesitated, and Case immediately organized a large army to attack Gonghua City.
Although Gonghua City has four gates, as it has gradually become the most important supply center for grain, grass, weapons and other materials in Jizhen and Xuanfu in the west of Beijing, the north and south gates are basically closed and no longer in use. The east and west gates are usually open.
The east and west gates have become the focus of the attack.
More than 30,000 troops gathered around Gonghua City. Logically speaking, it should be easy for Xuanfu elite to capture a small Gonghua City, but for this Xuanfu army, it was a bit embarrassing.
Because they had never considered attacking the city before.
According to the initial preset, that is to rush directly to the capital city in one go. With strong military pressure and Prince Yoshitaka's activities in the city, we should be able to achieve our goal. Who would have thought that we would encounter resistance here.
This is why when the Yu River was blocked at that time, it took half a day to organize a crossing. If it was a normal battle, they would definitely bring some materials and supplies related to setting up a pontoon bridge. Wherever there was a need to temporarily find civilian boats to cross the river.
Although Gonghua City is not big, and the city wall cannot be said to be very tall and majestic, it is still more than three feet high. In addition, the Xuanfu army emphasizes attack speed and does not carry the very heavy Western cannons used to attack the city. , so that if you want to attack a city, you will at least need relatively simple siege equipment such as siege engines and ladders.
Fortunately, Niu Jizong was considered a veteran, so he also brought some materials with him just in case, and quickly built some ladders and siege vehicles. They may be a little crude and sparse, but they are more than enough for a walled city like Gonghua City.
The ferocious attack has been in full swing since it was announced. The Xuanfu army is an elite veteran who is accustomed to fighting. Although siege warfare has not been the frontier army's strength over the years, city defense and field battles are, but attacking There is still no shortage of basic skills like this.
Similarly, the morale of He Huchen, who had just won a great victory in the Stone Bridge Blockade, was high and they were not afraid of a battle.
So from the beginning, the two sides started a fierce fight.
(End of this chapter)