Chapter 150 Now that things have come to this, let’s change the name first

Within a few days after Zhao Wenhui's death, the various ethnic groups near Yingzhou gathered in Liucheng. Li Jinzhong called himself "Supreme Khan", gathered tens of thousands of troops, and led Sun Wanrong to advance westward to Danzhou.

All parts of western Liaoning sent out emergency messages, and letters seeking help flew into the capital city of Luoyang like snowflakes.

Inside the Qianyuan Hall, the air was so heavy that it almost froze. Wu Zetian sat on the dragon throne, silent as iron, with a gloomy face that made people shudder.

Di Renjie, Zhang Jianzhi, Wu Sansi and other important officials, as well as the crown prince Li Xian, were all there. Zhao Ji was in the palace to serve today, and he didn't dare to breathe.

Wu Zetian's silence was even more oppressive than her cursing. All the ministers kept their heads down and remained silent, like clay sculptures or wooden carvings. No one dared to offend her.

A normal rebellion would not have gone this far, but Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong rebelled under the banner of Li Xian, saying that they wanted to overthrow the Zhou Dynasty and restore the Tang Dynasty and let Li Xian ascend the throne again.

With this slogan, the nature of the matter completely changed and touched Wu Zetian's sore spot.

The ministers all knew that the Queen took internal power struggles more seriously than external wars, and if they said the wrong thing accidentally at this moment, they could easily lose their lives.

After a long while, Wu Zetian said coldly: "My dear ministers, why are you so silent? The military situation is urgent, how can we delay for even a moment?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall changed slightly, and several people seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Crown Prince Li Xian was brave for once, gritting his teeth and stepping out first: "Your Majesty, Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong are so crazy that they openly rebelled and killed our officials and civilians. We should send a large army to wipe them out as quickly as possible, eradicate their roots, and exterminate their descendants. Only in this way can we deter the other barbarians and enhance the prestige of our Celestial Empire."

Li Xian was also helpless. He was sitting in Luoyang and the pot was coming from the north. He could only express his irreconcilable attitude with the Khitan, "as soon as possible, as quickly as possible, to eradicate the roots and wipe out their clan."

In fact, there was also a sentence “I am willing to lead the troops to the battle”, but Li Xian had some concerns in his heart, fearing that it would irritate Wu Zetian, so he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.

Many old ministers of the Li Tang Dynasty also understood Li Xian's current situation, and they all echoed Li Xian, saying that they wanted to defeat the Khitan and vowed to never reconcile with the Khitan.

Wu Zetian glanced at the ministers with a sharp gaze. She did not comment on the statements made by Li Xian and the other ministers, but had her own thoughts in mind.

Wu Sansi had previously made a small move and suffered a setback. He was eager to show off and jumped out: "I am willing to lead the army in person, to defeat the Khitan, to behead Li Jinzhong and present his head to the palace, to enhance the prestige of our country!"

Subsequently, another group of Wu Sansi's followers jumped out to agree.

Up to this point, most of the ministers in the court had expressed their opinions, and none of them had gotten into trouble, which made Wu Zetian very satisfied.

Only Di Renjie did not speak. Instead, he frowned and pondered, no one knew what he was thinking about.

"Huaiying, what do you think?" Wu Zetian asked softly, "Huaiying, Huaiying..."

Di Renjie finally stopped thinking and answered, "I and the other ministers agree that the Khitan should be pacified, but..."

When Wu Zetian heard this, a trace of displeasure flashed across her brows: "But? But what? If you have any ideas, just say it."

Di Renjie replied in a deep voice: "I don't have any ideas, but when I read the military report from Tanzhou, I had a few questions."

"What question?" Wu Zetian asked.

Di Renjie blinked his eyes and analyzed: "The first point is that Zhao Wenhui's defeat came too quickly. There was only a gap of three days between the letter Zhao Wenhui sent for help and the report of his defeat." "Considering the time it took for the report of the defeat to reach Danzhou, the Khitans may have only spent one or two days to completely wipe out Zhao Wenhui's troops and capture Yingzhou City."

"If it was said that Zhao Wenhui went out of the city to fight but was ambushed and his entire army was wiped out, that would be fine, but those who escaped from Liucheng said that the government troops did not go out of the city to fight."

"That's strange. Even if Liucheng has been in disrepair for a long time and Zhao Wenhui is incompetent, it shouldn't be breached in just one or two days."

Zhang Jianzhi also came out and said, "What Lord Di said makes sense. Li Jinzhong's troops invaded Danzhou. In less than ten days, he gathered tens of thousands of troops and captured various fortresses along the way. It can be said that he was unstoppable and unbelievable. This also shows that the thieves have been planning for a long time. The court must be cautious in responding!"

Zhao Ji listened at the side and nodded secretly. There is another point. The Khitan army has two routes to go south, one goes straight to Danzhou and the other goes straight to Pingzhou.

Pingzhou is obviously closer to Yingzhou in a straight line, but the Khitans chose Danzhou to attack, and the governor of Pingzhou happened to be named Qiu Jing. Isn't this a coincidence?
After Di and Zhang finished their performances, all the ministers nodded secretly, but Wu Sansi insisted on jumping out to show his presence.

Wu Sansi said passionately: "Your Majesty, what Di Renjie and Zhang Jianzhi said is clearly to boost others' prestige and destroy their own ambitions. Their talk of unstoppable momentum and the court's cautious response are all excuses."

"It is clear to me that they are cowards and afraid of the enemy, which is why they exaggerate the strength of the Khitan. In my humble opinion, the defeat in Yingzhou was caused by Zhao Wenhui's incompetence. Once the imperial army arrives, the Khitan can be defeated easily."

"I am willing to lead an army of 100,000 to defeat the Khitan and relieve Your Majesty's worries!" Wu Sansi asked for battle again.

Zhang Jianzhi did not dare to show weakness after hearing this, and said with a stern voice: "Your Majesty, I and Lord Di have no intention of fearing the enemy. However, I also think that what King Liang said makes some sense. Your Majesty should carefully select good generals when sending troops to suppress the rebellion, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Zhao Wenhui. You must not send incompetent people who will harm the country, the army, and yourself!"

When he spoke the last few sentences, Zhang Jianzhi's tone became sarcastic and he glanced at Wu Sansi, his sarcasm was too obvious.

"Zhang Jianzhi! What do you mean?" Wu Sansi was so angry when he heard this that he called him by his name.

Zhang Jianzhi seemed calm and composed, and responded calmly: "Is it wrong for you to ask Your Majesty to carefully select good generals?"

"Your meaning is very clear..." Wu Sansi glared at Zhang Jianzhi fiercely, his face flushed red.

For a moment, since Zhao was present, the court officials were all a little nervous.

"Enough!" Wu Zetian shouted angrily and had to come out to interrupt the argument between the two.

Wu Sansi was so frightened that he quickly bowed and apologized, but Zhang Jianzhi was calm and composed.

Wu Zetian was sitting in the upper seat, listening to the words of the three people, thoughts flashing in her eyes. She had her own considerations.

Because the banner raised by Li Jinzhong was special, Wu Zetian had no other choice in this matter. She had to suppress the rebellion and could only win, not lose.

Moreover, the rebellion must be quelled as soon as possible. If it is delayed for too long, it may lead to some restless people making a fuss about it.

The only thing that needs to be paid attention to is the selection of the generals to suppress the rebellion, who will be the most confident, who can suppress the rebellion the fastest, and who is the most trustworthy.

Thinking of this, Wu Zetian no longer had any doubts, and said in a firm tone: "What you said makes sense. I have made up my mind. Li Jinzhong will be replaced by Li Jinmie, and Sun Wanrong will be replaced by Sun Wanzhan. The Xiaguan (Ministry of War) must immediately start mobilizing troops from all over the country and be ready to march north to the Khitan at any time."

"As for who will be the general, I will go back and think about it carefully. You ministers should also go back and think about it and make recommendations. We will discuss it again tomorrow. I am dismissing the court!"

(End of this chapter)