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After the banquet, Li Hu invited Tong Guan to the study. One old and one young people surrounded the fire, and slowly came to the point.

"I heard that the reason why the Grand Tutor was in Liangxiang was unable to move forward and missed the opportunity for war was because Bianjing intended to let the king go to the front line to serve as the commander of the army..." Li Hu said this, staring at Tong Guan and observing his reaction. Tong Guan's expression was as usual, and a hint of uneasy mockery appeared in his eyes.

The charcoal fire in the brazier suddenly made two crisp "crackling" sounds, quietly shattering the tranquility in the study and stirring a ripples on Li Hu's heartstrings. Is there something mysterious here? How big is the whirlpool of Bianjing and how muddy is the water?

"Did the Zhe family marry you drag you into the battle for the imperial throne?" Tong Guan asked in a low voice.

Li Hu nodded.

"So after I arrived in Yanjing, you refused my request?" Tong Guan asked again.

Li Hu nodded again. "Do you know this plan?"

Li Hu shook his head. He didn't know this plan, and the Zhe family had not sent any letters until now. Zhe Yan did not contact him alone until Yan Jing. If many Yan Qings sent secret letters from Bian Jing, he would definitely be caught off guard by this matter and could not make a countermeasure immediately. From this, it can be inferred that the Bian Jing and the others were also taking one step deep in the whirlpool, for fear of making a mistake and being swallowed by the fierce whirlpool.

Tong Guan closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you know now?"

"I can make a speculation," said Li Hu, "but I don't know if it's right, I want to ask you."

"You were wrong, you were completely wrong.

"Tong Guan smiled slightly and asked. "Do you know why the Zhe family didn't give you any news? The reason is very simple. It's just that you want to make a wrong judgment."

Misjudgment? Li Hu was secretly shocked. A hint of chill flashed through his head.

"Do you think that if this strategy is successful, I will definitely be driven out of the court?" Tong Guan asked. "So, who will replace me? Who will command the Western Expedition? Look at the current court. Who can replace me to win the absolute trust of the emperor and go to the northwest to serve as the commander of the army and preside over the Western Expedition?"

Li Hu suddenly thought of something and exclaimed in horror. "There is no Western Expedition?"

Tong Guan smiled and nodded. "There is no Western Expedition."

What does it mean if there is no Western Expedition? "They are going to destroy me?" Li Hu asked with a thick eyebrows standing up and his eyes were filled with anger.

Tong Guan nodded, "You only understand now?"

"That battle for the imperial rule..."

"In fact, there is no dispute over the imperial rule at all." Tong Guan looked at Li Hu with a sympathetic look. Although this little Han captain was very smart, he had never been in Bianjing. He had no idea how deep the water in Bianjing was.

"There is no dispute over the imperial rule?" Li Hu couldn't understand. There was no need for the Zhe family to deceive himself in this matter, and Li Gang and Yuwen Xuzhong would not deliberately deceive him. There must be some secrets here.

"The reason is very simple." Tong Guan asked, "Why can I have the status and power today? Why did Cai Jing step down three times and come back three times? Gao Qiu is just a servant who plays Cuju, why can he become the Grand Marshal of this dynasty? In a word, if you want to be a high-ranking minister, you must win the absolute trust of the emperor. Without the trust of the emperor, no one can get status and power."

Li Hu understood a little, but he felt it was too complicated and could not figure out the clear context for a while.

"The government does not like the prince. The government and the prince's governance concepts are too different, so the government wants to abolish the legitimate and establish a gangster." Tong Guan did not want to make things difficult for Li Hu, so he explained in detail, "Who will do the emperor does not matter to the ministers. The key is whether the emperor can meet the interests of all parties in the court. The so-called abolishing legitimate and establishing a gangster violates the ancestral system is just a gorgeous excuse. Under this gorgeous excuse, it is a dispute between the interests of the monarch and the ministers, and the dispute between the interests of all parties in the court. As long as the emperor balances the interests of the monarch and the ministers, and meets everyone's needs, it will be very simple to abolish the legitimate and establish a gangster and the political parties."

"In history, there are many such things. Just think about it for a moment and you will know that behind the dispute over the imperial rule is actually a dispute over interests."

"If Prince Yun wants to enter the Eastern Palace, even if he has made great achievements in the Northern Expedition, it will have no effect. On the contrary, the resistance of Bian Jing will be greater and the contradictions will be more intense. The emperor does not want to arouse conflicts, so he spoke out and asked Prince Yun to participate in the Northern Expedition to make achievements. His real purpose is to prepare to use the Northern Expedition to adjust and balance the distribution of power and interests in the court."

"Today's bad situation in Youyan is the result of the struggle for power and profits by all parties in Bianjing. This result led to the reallocation of power and interests of Bianjing immediately starting." Tong Guan pointed to the chessboard next to him, "The situation in Youyan is like the endgame on the chessboard, and the chess players have a fierce game in this endgame."

"Who is the winner?" Li Hu asked.

"There is no winner." Tong Guan smiled, "This endgame will always be dead chess, and no one can win."

"The emperor wants to establish the imperial throne as soon as possible. For him, whoever wants to get benefits in this round of redistribution of power and interests is to support Prince Yun to enter the Eastern Palace. Therefore, in order to compete for power and profit, all parties in Bianjing will rush to support the emperor in abolishing the legitimate and establishing the illegitimate family, and then everything will be natural, and you and I will become the biggest victims of this game."

Li Hu understood. The Zhe family told that the dispute over the imperial rule did exist, but it was not to support the prince, but to force the emperor on the pretext of supporting the prince.

The power and interests were allocated. When the emperor met their needs, they attacked them. The prince was deposed and the prince ascended the throne. The pro-war faction and the pro-peace faction were evenly matched, and they began to prepare for the next round of power struggles.

However, every round of power struggles must have victims. The victims in this round are the crown prince Zhao Heng, the grand teacher Tong Guan and the vassal king Li Hu.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Prince Yun will come to Yanjing soon, and you will return Yanjing to the Song Dynasty." Tong Guan continued, "The king received the merits of regaining Youyan, and then Bianjing will blame me for all the crimes, drive me out of the court or be imprisoned. When you return to Datong, you will suddenly find that you have been trapped in the siege of the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin Kingdom, and will be defeated in a blink of an eye."

Li Hu's face turned pale and sat there without saying a word. It was not until this moment that he realized that he was very young, very young, because he was young and ignorant, fearless because he died in front of him, and he was foolishly thinking that he had a fight. If it weren't for Bianjing to sacrifice Tong Guan, if Tong Guan hadn't saved himself, he would have finished it and was killed by the birdmen of Bianjing. The water in Bianjing was too deep and too deep, and the whirlpool was too big, and he was swallowed before he swam in.

"What are the countermeasures for the Grand Tutor?" Li Hu had to lower his posture and bow to ask for advice.

"If you promised me last time, I still have the power to stop it, but now I can't stop it." Tong Guan stood up, moved the chessboard to the edge of the brazier, handed Li Hu the jade box filled with black chess, then sat down, covered the mattress slowly, and sighed, "The chess player has entered the endgame, but has not yet brought it up, so the only way for us is to restore the chess game back and let the chess player move again."

Li Hu thought for a while, laughed, picked up a black chess and gently twisted it between his fingers, "The Grand Master's clever plan."

Tong Guan looked at Li Hu with a happy smile on his face. The little Han captain finally figured it out, and the child could teach him.

"Can the Grand Master still fight in the West?" Li Hu put the chess piece on the chessboard.

Tong Guan concentrating on his mind, after a long time, shook his head, "I'm old, I can't do it anymore. The northwest is your world."

"I really want to follow the Taishi and listen to the Taishi's teachings."

Tong Guan smiled and shook his head, "After this incident, you will not make the same mistake again, and you will be the King of Northwest in the future."

Li Hu laughed happily, "How can I thank the Grand Master?"

"Loyalty to the Song Dynasty." Tong Guan said solemnly, "Only you are loyal to the Song Dynasty can you become the true king.

”

On November 26, Li Hu sent Tong Guan away.

On the same day, after careful discussion with Huang She, Chai Yun and others, he immediately sent someone to contact Xiao Gan, willing to exchange the city of Yanjing for Empress Xiao.

Li Hu hurriedly wrote Zhang Jue on Pingzhou Road. With the help of the surrendered generals of the Liao army, the Jin army rushed from a small road to the rear of Gubeikou. Gubeikou was trapped and the rebels had to withdraw from Yanjing. For this reason, he asked Zhang Jue to choose by himself. He supported him whether he was to surrender to the Song Dynasty or surrender to the Jin Kingdom, but he warned Zhang Jue that no matter how he defended Pingzhou Road, it was the capital to survive.

Li Hu hurriedly told Gao Yuan and Wu Xiong, led the Hu Lie Army to retreat quickly, and rushed to Yanjing day and night to meet.

Li Hu sued Tieying, Dong Zhongsun, Hou Gui and Zhang Gao'er again. The army was preparing to withdraw from Yanjing and return to Datong. He asked them to prepare and retreat to Juyongguan at any time.

Li Hu ordered Gao Baolong to lead the Bohai Army to guard the front line of Juyongguan and Yanjing to ensure that the rebel army looted Yanjing in the last time.

Li Hu invited Hong Yun and ordered him to empty Yanjing City within ten days and plunder all the wealth of Yanjing City.

On the 27th, Li Hu wrote to the Xuanfu Department of Xiongzhou. The Jin army conquered Gubeikou. The rebel army was forced to withdraw from Yanjing due to the attack of the Liao and Jin armies. Li Hu told Tong Guan that I would give you another ten days and ask you to lead the army to Yanjing, otherwise Yanjing would be someone else's.

On the same day, Li Hu reported to Bian Jing that Yan Jing was lost. I have done my best. Although the emperor and Bian Jing misunderstood me, I was loyal to the Song Dynasty and would never do anything to betrayal. When the Northern Expedition Army attacked Yan Jing again, I will leave Juyongguan again and meet with the Northern Expedition Army at the city.

Wang Anzhong and Zhe Yanzhi were shocked when they heard the news. While supervising Tong Guan to send troops, they urgently reported to Bianjing.

In the fourth year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty (1122 AD), December.

On the first day of December, Xiao Gan took over Tanzhou and Shunzhou. On the third day of the lunar month, Tieying handed over the Gubeikou defense line to the Liao army, led his army to withdraw from Gubeikou and headed straight for Juyongguan.

On the fourth day of the lunar month, Li Hu withdrew from Yanjing, and on the same day, Xiao Gan entered Yanjing.

On the fifth day of the lunar month, Chai Yun went to Yanjing to pick up Empress Dowager Xiao, then met with Li Hu, and hurriedly retreated to Yongguan.

When Bianjing heard the news, there was a chaos, and the emperor and the ministers were stunned. No one expected that Li Hu would give up Yanjing and all his strategies were ruined.

At this moment, if the Song Dynasty wanted to regain Youyan, it would have to face the Liao and Jin army alone, but the Song Dynasty could not defeat them at all.

The emperor immediately issued an order, asking Tong Guan to reorganize his army and prepare for the third Northern Expedition. At the same time, he ordered Wang Anzhong and Zhe Yanzhi to rush to Datong immediately to appease Li Hu. If Li Hu was unwilling to send troops to attack Youyan, he could only rely on the Jurchens. No matter how much the price they paid, the Song Dynasty would recover Youyan.
Chapter completed!