Chapter 117: Make plans early
Of course, Li Yuan would not be so boring as to show off deliberately. Instead, he was telling everyone present that the Li family has more than just the present and the past, the future is also worth their bet.

What a family with a long history fears is the lack of successors.

Now the second and fourth sons are both successful in Huainan and Longyou. A 15-year-old general with a high title and a royal relative is the face of the new generation of the Li family.

Of course this facade has to be put on display.

However, when Li Yuan returned to the Governor's Mansion and sat down on the chair in the main hall, he began to sigh.

"Erlang is too popular in Longyou. If Silang returns to Huainan, Erlang will definitely be invited to the court. I am thousands of miles away from Shuzhong and Huainan, so I cannot shine here. However, Longyou and Yizhou are closely related."

Li Yuan was naturally aware of the significance of Erlang in Longyou to Shuzhong. He could see this, and Murong Ying could naturally see it as well. In order to prevent Li Erlang from becoming too powerful to be controlled in Longyou, and at the same time to reduce the power of the Li family in the local area, Li Erlang would definitely be transferred back to the central army after he became famous.

A captain would naturally not attract attention, but a general of the rank of Lang Jiang could not be ignored.

Li Sanlang took the teacup from the maid and placed it on the table next to Li Yuan with both hands, then sat down beside him. "Silang has made achievements in Jinyang, Qingzhou, and Huainan. Even if my second brother doesn't say it, he is eager to make achievements and become famous. After all, in the past, whether it was military strategy, archery, or writing, Silang was the last among us brothers."

Li Yuan laughed when he heard this and said, "This kid's trip to Jinyang requires both courage and luck. But what surprised me the most was not Si Lang."

When he said this, Li Yuan's expression gradually became serious.

"The saint made a surprise attack in three days and four hundred miles, captured Murong Jian's army, and then did not go to rescue Guangling, but went straight to Huainan, and captured Shouchun within a few days. Xiao Wangzhi must be the saint's hidden man. This wisdom, decisiveness and foresight do not seem like the saint of today, but more like the saint of seven or eight years ago. The saint is wise. We must be more careful in the future and not give others a chance to criticize us."

As soon as he finished speaking, a trusted steward came up to the hall and handed over a secret letter. "Master, a secret letter from Luoyang."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan took the letter and waved his hand, motioning him to go down, then read it carefully.

The content of the letter is very diverse, but after distilling it down to two things.

The first thing is that Murong Ying contracted the plague when he was in Huainan, but he was lucky and survived.

The second thing was that Murong Ying was attacked and fell into the water in Dushan Lake. All the dragon boats were burned. He had a high fever and was unconscious for several days. After waking up, his health was not very good. He immediately summoned King Qi of Qingzhou to return.

At this time, it was just after the winter solstice, and the news of the abolition of the crown prince in Luoyang and the replacement of the crown prince had not yet spread to Shuzhong, but these two pieces of news had already made Li Yuan feel that Murong Ying might not live long after all this trouble.
There were many people who held similar ideas to Li Yuan, and General Zhao Yi of the Left was one of them.

Chenliu, sour jujube.

Zhao Yi, who was ordered to attack the Wagang rebels, led more than 10,000 elite troops of the Left Army to set up camp near the city and confronted the 30,000 Wagang troops outside the city for more than ten days.

It seems that no one wants to fight this battle.

On the watchtower, Zhao Yi and his brother Zhao Jiong stood side by side, looking at the Wagang camp in the distance and sighed: "The Wagang Army is developing too fast. At present, the Wagang Army is no match for ordinary state and county soldiers. Erlang, look carefully, the Wagang Army's camp is arranged in a staggered manner, they can attack or defend, and they echo each other. It is said that this is only their detachment, led by Zhai Rang's brother Zhai Hong, and the two deputy generals are Xu Maogong and Yang Kan. Zhai Hong's ability is ordinary, but Xu Maogong is a fellow villager of Zhai Rang. It is said that he is only eighteen years old, but he has a good command of the army and is experienced in using troops. He is a tough opponent. As for Yang Kan, he is the youngest son of Yang Su. He is brave and his martial arts are not inferior to Yang Xun."

Zhao Jiong sneered and said, "Zhai Rang is really brave. He actually dared to collude with Liang Wu of Juye Lake to do such a big thing. He is really courageous."

Zhao Yi glared at him when he heard that.

The news of Zhai Rang and Liang Wu attacking Murong Ying's dragon boat had spread all over the world. Such an act was naturally considered treasonous in the eyes of the court, but in the eyes of those who had suffered in Yan for a long time, it was undoubtedly a stunning feat. Because in their eyes, Murong Ying was already equal to Jie and Zhou.

Hundreds of thousands of people died in Yingdong, hundreds of thousands of people died in building the canal, hundreds of thousands of people died in the two expeditions to Goguryeo, and a large number of surrendered soldiers were enslaved in Goguryeo.

Although Murong Ying had successively eliminated four members of the royal family who were involved in treason in the past six months, the only ones he was able to intimidate were the royal family members and aristocratic families who had ulterior motives.

But these cannot scare those "rebels", "bandits" and "roving bandits" who rise up in rebellion because they can't survive.

The people are not afraid of death, how can they be afraid of death?
The common people don’t care what you have done. Anyway, it is because of you, Murong Yingcai, that they can’t survive. So what if you are wise and powerful?

Rebellion is something that cannot be reversed once the arrow is shot. Zhao Da sighed, "The Wagang righteous army has nearly 100,000 people. The rebels in Yanzhou, Jizhou, Yuzhou and other places all use it as their red banner and obey its orders. The most important thing is that the remnants of Yang Xun have also joined Wagang. Yang Xun's cousin Yang Sui is now Wagang's military advisor. The Wagang army now has a good method for deploying troops and setting up camps. If this continues, it will be difficult to control."

Zhao Er smiled and said, "Brother, you only have the Left General and the soldiers from Chenliu and Liangjun, more than 30,000 men. It is difficult to wipe out Wagang with insufficient manpower. You should report the details of the traitors to the court and ask for more reinforcements and authorization to cross the border to pursue them."

Zhao Dadao: "Erlang's words make sense."

The two brothers were discussing how to ask the imperial court for power and troops.

The military officer Wang Junya came to the downstairs and said anxiously, "General, Erlang, there is a report from the court."

The Dibao, equivalent to an official newspaper, would transmit the court's decrees and imperial edicts to all directions through the post station system.

When the two brothers heard this, they knew that something big must have happened, otherwise Wang Junya would never let them go in such a situation.

As soon as they entered the big tent, the Zhao brothers read the court report and their faces were full of disbelief.

The news was indeed somewhat surprising.

Crown Prince Murong Chang was deposed and made King of Shu.

Prince of Zheng Murong Chao was made crown prince.

This is a matter of great importance to the country.

After reading it, Zhao Da fell into deep thought. He had a good relationship with the King of Shu. After all, he stayed in Luoyang when Yang Xun rebelled last year, and had many opportunities to interact with the King of Shu, Murong Chang. He believed that he must have left an impression of loyalty and bravery on the other party.

But now that Murong Chao has been replaced, the impact on the Zhao family is not that great. The main reason is that this news is really too shocking. After all, the saints used to think highly of the prince, and the prince is extremely intelligent and well behaved. There seems to be no reason to depose the prince.
However, Zhao Er, after carefully reading the court report, figured out some things.

"The King of Shu is young, and the country relies on an elder ruler, who must be a saint."

Zhao Da and Wang Junya also quickly realized that the King of Shu was indeed good in every way: a legitimate son, intelligent, benevolent and filial, but with one exception: he was young.

Only twelve years old.

Given the current situation in the world, a twelve-year-old child would have to face not only rebels, bandits, and robbers from all over the world.

There are also ministers in the court and royal family members from all over the place.

By making the eldest son Murong Chao the crown prince, he abolished the previously favored heir Murong Chang. The only explanation was that Murong Ying had a serious health problem.

Time is running out.

There is only this explanation.

In the past few months, Murong Ying was first infected with an epidemic, and then was attacked and fell into the water in Dushan Lake on his way back. It is said that he was in a coma for several days. After all these ordeals, he is probably like a grasshopper in autumn, and will not be able to jump for a few more days.

At this time, Zhou Pu, the secretary of the Left General recruited by Zhao Dagang, who had been silent all this time, made a shocking statement.

"Erlang Jun is right. The sage must have realized that he was not going to live long enough and was afraid that the King of Shu would not be able to control the situation, so he made the King of Zheng the crown prince. However, he also sent the King of Liang, the King of Wu, and the King of Shu to various places as governors. This is the way to cause chaos. If the sage is not here, there will be wars and disputes."

"The general needs to make plans early."

(End of this chapter)