You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 85 How should the matter of the four northern continents be resolved?

In the Jinluan Palace.

The intense killing intent emanating from Emperor Zhou Chen sent chills down the spines of all the civil and military officials.

In the eyes of the officials, Emperor Zhou Chen had never shown such intense murderous intent in the court since his ascension to the throne.

Clearly, the annihilation of the entire 30,000 Divine Martial Guards and the death of Grand Tutor Wen Zhong had touched a nerve with this emperor.

This truly enraged the emperor.

Many officials were feeling uneasy. Ever since Emperor Zhou Chen fully recovered and purged the faction of relatives of the empress, represented by Empress Wu Ying and General Wu Jin, the emperor's majesty had grown stronger.

Previously, they hadn't felt much pressure from Zhou Chen.

But now, they felt not only pressure from Zhou Chen, but also a slight sense of fear.

After receiving the order, Cao Zhengchun glanced at the civil and military officials below with a sinister look.

Cao Zhengchun knew that ever since the Eastern Depot had carried out a large-scale purge in the palace and was responsible for confiscating and exterminating the homes of more than 20 officials, including the Grand General's Mansion, these civil and military officials had a lot of grievances against the Eastern Depot.

But so what?
As long as the person on the dragon throne has no objections to their Eastern Depot, that's fine.

As for the others, Cao Zhengchun didn't care at all.

After giving Cao Zhengchun this order, Zhou Chen looked coldly at the civil and military officials: "All of you ministers have read these urgent letters from the four northern continents, which are delivered over 800 li."

"Now, my esteemed ministers, tell me, how should we resolve the affairs of the four northern continents?"

"And what about the Yellow Heaven Sect rebels? How should we deal with that?"

Zhou Chen looked at the civil and military officials and asked.

Zhou Chen knew that he had summoned all the officials to court not to question them about the Huangtian Sect.

Instead, we need to discuss solutions to these issues in the four northern states.

No sooner had Zhou Chen finished speaking than the Marquis of Mighty Warriors from the military side stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, this humble general requests permission to fight."

"Now that the situation in the four northwestern prefectures has been clarified..."

"Grand Tutor died at the hands of the Yellow Heaven Sect sorcerers, and my 30,000 brave warriors of the Northern Camp were also wiped out by the Yellow Heaven Army."

"Then this humble general requests permission to lead the army to the four northern continents to wipe out the Yellow Heaven Sect rebels for the imperial court in one fell swoop."

"And also to avenge this blood debt for the Grand Tutor and my 30,000 brave warriors of the Northern Camp."

Marquis Weiwu cupped his hands and requested permission to fight.

Previously, because the situation regarding the four prefectures in the northwest was unclear, Marquis Weiwu refrained from saying anything for the time being.

However, the situation in the four northwestern prefectures has now been investigated, and it has been found that Grand Tutor Wen Zhong and the 30,000 Divine Martial Guards were all killed by the sorcerers of the Yellow Heaven Sect.

Therefore, the Marquis of Weiwu, who now commands the Northern Camp of Shenwu Guard, must step forward and volunteer for battle to avenge the 30,000 Shenwu Guards and Grand Tutor Wen Zhong.

"Your Majesty, this humble general requests permission to fight."

“These mere demons of the Yellow Heaven Sect dared to raise their flags in rebellion, kill the pillar of my Great Zhou, the Grand Tutor, and annihilate my 30,000 elite Divine Martial troops.”

"This is an unforgivable crime."

"If our Great Zhou does not immediately send troops to quell these rebels, what will become of our Great Zhou's prestige?"

……

Following Marquis Weiwu's request to fight, other military commanders also stepped forward and volunteered for the mission.

Grand Tutor Wen Zhong, a veteran of three reigns, wielded considerable influence among military generals.

Now that Grand Tutor Wen Zhong has died at the hands of the Yellow Heaven Sect's sorcerers, and 30,000 Divine Warriors have also perished at the hands of the Yellow Heaven Army, these generals naturally want to stand up and avenge Grand Tutor Wen Zhong and the 30,000 Divine Warriors.

Furthermore, for military generals, being able to fight on the battlefield is something they desperately desire.

Seeing the military generals step forward to volunteer for battle, Zhou Chen made no comment, but instead looked at the civil officials led by Prime Minister Yuan Bo. Warfare is based on deception.

Historically, waging war has never been a trivial matter.

As the saying goes, martial arts are the foundation, and literature is the seed.

Zhou Chen understood the military general's meaning, and now he wanted to see what good suggestions the civil officials had.

"Your Majesty, this old minister has always believed that resorting to war is a matter of great importance to the country."

"But now, rebels are rising up in the four northern states. They are infiltrating the people, attacking cities and seizing territories. Several prefectures have already been captured by them."

"If these rebels are not eliminated in time, they may cause great trouble."

"Especially the sorcerers of the Yellow Heaven Sect, who are most skilled at bewitching people, have already occupied most of the Yong and You states, becoming the number one rebel in the four northern states. They have also killed Grand Tutor Wen Zhong and wiped out 30,000 Divine Martial Guards of our court."

“If the Great Zhou Dynasty does not immediately dispatch a large army to annihilate it, then the prestige of the Great Zhou Dynasty will be completely destroyed.”

"Therefore, this old minister believes that we should immediately mobilize a large army to the four northern provinces to quell the rebels."

Prime Minister Yuan Bo stepped forward and spoke with a firm and powerful voice.

"Your Majesty, I agree with the Prime Minister's opinion."

"The imperial court should immediately mobilize a large army to annihilate these rebels."

"Otherwise, the lands to the north and all around will be in danger, and the Great Zhou will be in danger."

The Minister of Revenue stepped forward and agreed with Prime Minister Yuan Bo's opinion.

Following this, civil officials such as the Minister of War, the Eighth Prince, and the Minister of Justice also stepped forward to offer their advice.

Their intention was the same as the military commander's: to immediately send troops to the surrounding northern regions to quell the rebels.

This is an inevitable trend.

Seeing that the civil officials and military generals shared the same opinion, Zhou Chen nodded and said, "Since all of you ministers agree that we should immediately mobilize the army to quell the rebels, then who do you think is the most suitable person to lead the troops to conquer the four northern prefectures?"

"How many troops should the Twelve Divine Martial Guards mobilize for the expedition?"

Zhou Chen asked the officials.

This is the key point of the discussion.

Upon hearing Zhou Chen's words, all the officials frowned.

Currently, there are many rebels in the four northern states, with the Yellow Heaven Army of the Yellow Heaven Sect being the most powerful. Next is Zhou Qian, the Carefree King, who has also rebelled in Daizhou with hundreds of thousands of mercenaries.

Besides these two largest rebel groups, there were more than a dozen other large and small rebel groups.

If the number of troops mobilized is too small, it will be insufficient to quell these rebel forces.

But if too many troops are mobilized, Luoyang's defenses will be weakened.

After all, 30,000 of the Twelve Divine Martial Guards have already died in battle, leaving only 11 Guards with more than 300,000 soldiers.

The selection of generals is also of paramount importance.

As the saying goes, "An incompetent general can lead to the downfall of an entire army."

If the generals chosen to lead the expedition to quell the rebellion are not well selected, then not only will the rebellion not be quelled, but the entire army will be exhausted.

If General Wu Jin and Grand Tutor Wen Zhong were alive, they would undoubtedly be the best choices to lead troops to quell the rebellion.

But now, both General Wu Jin and Grand Tutor Wen Zhong are dead.

That leaves only Marquis Weiwu as a suitable candidate.

After all, Marquis Weiwu was also a renowned veteran general who had followed Grand Tutor Wen Zhong and fought countless battles throughout his life. He held a high prestige in the army, second only to Grand Tutor Wen Zhong.

Otherwise, when Grand Tutor Wen Zhong went to the four prefectures in the northwest, he would not have let Marquis Weiwu take charge of the Six Divine Guards of the Northern Camp.

(End of this chapter)