Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 252 King Qi's Decision (Wait a while)
Xia Guo, Daying in Jiangyang County.

Because most of the soldiers and horses under his command have been sent to various important places in the southwest to barely maintain the rule of the Great Xia court in the southwestern counties, so there are not many soldiers and horses in the camp of Jiangyang County today.

The sound of drills in the past has not come from the barracks for a long time now.But because of the tense and critical situation now, the whole camp was filled with a silent and murderous atmosphere.

The officers and soldiers who came and went were all solemn and fierce.The entire camp in Jiangyang County is like a dormant giant beast, hiding and hiding, sharpening its claws and teeth, waiting for the opportunity to show its edge again.

In the handsome tent, King Qi frowned, his face was deep, and he said:

"News from Yazhou!"

Hearing what King Qi said, Feng Chu was visibly stunned for a moment, and immediately asked:

"Yazhou? Didn't His Highness never send troops to Yazhou?"

As I said before, although King Qi's subordinates control the entire southwestern frontier army of Xia Kingdom.

But now the situation among the six southwest counties is extremely tense.The timing of the outbreak of the plague was too ingenious. It was the time when the Xia Kingdom's rule in the southwest was at its most precarious.

Among the six counties, plagues raged, rebellious soldiers revolted, and the people expelled the officials of the Xia Kingdom for self-government.

King Qi's army can only be stationed in the important cities and passes of the counties, barely maintaining the rule of the Xia Kingdom court.

Yazhou is not far from Jiangyang County, and it is an insignificant city, so naturally no troops were sent to garrison it, and the local people were left to fend for themselves.

At this time, Feng Chu heard the news from Yazhou, and he showed a puzzled look this time.

King Qi's complexion was extremely heavy, and he said in a deep voice:

"Ji Huan of the Yunguo Tai Hospital was dispatched by the Emperor Yun, and the doctors came here. Now they are stationed in Yazhou. With the rice grains, medicinal materials and other supplies they brought, they continue to help and treat the people. Now Yazhou is less than two months old. Most of the order has been restored..."

King Qi's words immediately turned Feng Chu's face cold.

Now that Feng Chu is in Jiangyang County, with the secret decree from Emperor Xia, he has already been able to mobilize the embroidered clothes envoys of the six southwest counties.But because apart from the plague raging in the six counties now, there is also a rebellion in Anshun County, and the people in Xiangzhou County expelled Xia Guo officials.In the past few days, there have been more tasks to assist the court in transporting materials, and the manpower is extremely short, so they have not paid attention to the affairs of Yazhou at all.

After hearing what King Qi said, Feng Chu was only silent for a while, then his eyes flashed fiercely, and he said with murderous intent:

"Sure enough, as I expected, after the plague in the middle of the country is relieved, Emperor Yun will definitely show kindness to the people of the six counties in the southwest, thinking that he will send troops to the south of the country in the future... Please hurry up and gather your cronies. Hurry up and cut the mess, we must not let the doctors of Yunguo go on like this!"

The two of them had expected before that when Emperor Yun was able to free up his hand, he would definitely show kindness to the people of the six counties in the southwest, so as to win the hearts of the people in order to send troops to the south of the sky in the future and attack the country of Xia.

But now King Qi, forced by the limited resources in his hands, has no choice but to give up those common people and let them fend for themselves.On the contrary, Yunguo sent people to treat them, comparing the two sides, it goes without saying that the people of Xiaguo in Southwest China have their hearts attached to them!

People's hearts and minds, this is a relatively unsolvable problem, except for physical means...

At this time, Feng Chu asked King Qi with all his murderous intentions for his trusted staff. Naturally, he wanted to physically remove these people while the influence of the doctors in Yunguo was not large enough.

But King Qi who heard what Feng Chu said, although his face was still gloomy, still shook his head, picked up a waist card in his hand, and said in a deep voice:
"Ji Xu, the imperial physician of the Yun Kingdom, this king owes him a favor!"

Hearing this, Feng Chu said without blinking his eyes:

"Then just keep him! Staying by His Highness's side is about to be of use to His Highness! Ji Huan's medical skills are rare in the world. If he stays in Yunguo, he will be completely wiped out for the noble ministers of Yunguo." Poisonous insidious means!"

When King Qi heard the words, hesitation suddenly appeared in his eyes.

If it was for Xia's rule, King Qi naturally did not hesitate to accept Feng Chu's opinion and send someone to intercept and kill him.

But now Yunguo took the initiative to send someone to contact, and then sent this token that King Qi personally bestowed on Ji Huan, naturally asking him not to have any other bad thoughts.

King Qi's temperament was honed in the army since he was an adult, and he was used to straightforward methods, and never liked this kind of secret approach.It was obviously difficult for him to make such a decision that went against his nature.

Seeing this, Feng Chu looked anxious, gritted his teeth and said:
"Your Highness, this is not a battle on the battlefield! There is no right or wrong in the means between the two countries!"

In one sentence, King Qi's eyes sharpened immediately.

He clenched his fist, gritted his teeth, and said sharply:

"Take all the king's personal guards and pretend to be the invading bandits from Anshun County!"

In fact, Yazhou does not border Anshun County, but even if this matter is done, both parties will know it well.It's nothing more than an excuse to fool the people below.

"Remember, Ji Huan must not be harmed in any way... Except for the favor this king owes him, I also urgently need the prescriptions for treating the plague in his hands!" King Qi couldn't help but ordered.

Looking at King Qi who nodded, Feng Chu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s okay, okay, after all, I’ve grown up a bit, so it’s not so difficult to take care of…

"Yes!"

Feng Chu clasped his hands in response, and immediately went down to prepare manpower to intercept and kill Yunguo's team.

And at this moment, outside the handsome tent, a voice suddenly sounded.

"Commander, Mr. Zhong, deputy envoy of the Southwest Operation, has an urgent document to send!"

"Come in!" King Qi shouted immediately.

Feng Chu, who was just about to go down, paused when he heard the words, and said in a deep voice:
"It should be an official document reporting that the princess' plan in Youyun Kingdom has been revealed, and that no supplies have been brought back."

King Qi nodded silently when he heard the words, and said with relief:

"The hundreds of thousands of stones that the imperial sister raised for this king have relieved the urgent need!"

Feng Chu also nodded when he heard the words, and said in admiration:
"It's just a simple move, the princess can use it to such an extent, it can be said that I am shocked!"

King Qi couldn't help laughing when he heard that, like a parent whose child was praised by others, he said flauntingly:

"As mentioned in the imperial sister's letter, she didn't expect that this move of idle chess would cause quite a stir in Yunguo. If it weren't for the many affairs in the Southwest and Jinling City that involved her energy, she might not be able to use some tricks. The state of Yun's government is in chaos, and its vitality has been greatly damaged!"

This, if you think about it carefully, is really not bragging.

In order to hinder Hai Rui, Liu Yu also set up a plan, which made Hai Rui confront the officials from the frontier army in Jianchang Mansion, and there was a lot of trouble.

Involving the Ma, Qu, and Tao families, as well as officials from the frontier army, and the three forces of Yun State's imperial examination Jinshi, if it is not really impossible to draw a hand, a little trick will not necessarily hurt Yun State's vitality, but the government is chaotic Yes for sure!

When Feng Chu heard the words, he flattered him very cooperatively, saying:
"The princess' methods are really amazing. With the help of the princess, Your Highness will definitely be able to win the big position!"

Upon hearing this, King Qi waved his hands with a smile.

At this time, the cronies who came to report had already knelt on the ground and waited for a long time, but they didn't interrupt for a long time.Seeing Qi Wang and Feng Chu singing together, there was a complicated look on their faces.

Only at this time did King Qi react, and immediately said:
"What's the report?"

The confidant quickly lowered his head and said in a deep voice:

"Report to Your Highness, Master Zhong, the Southwest Transshipment Envoy, has arrived at the pier and is unloading the supplies on board. There is another secret letter sent, please His Highness unpack it yourself!"

"Materials?" King Qi was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously looked at Feng Chu.

When Feng Chu heard the words, he also showed doubts.

The two of them had already received the report from the Embroidery Envoy, knowing that Yunguo Liu Yu and Jin Tangfeng had been captured.Logically speaking, there is no need to think about the supplies sent by Yunguo in the future.

The two had already made preparations, but when they heard the news that Zhong Zizhuo continued to send back the supplies, they couldn't help showing confusion.

"Bring the secret letter quickly!" King Qi reacted and said abruptly.

Seeing this, the confidant quickly sent a secret letter.

King Qi opened it, scanned the letter, his eyes widened suddenly, and a shocked, heavy, and extremely complicated expression appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Feng Chu's eyelids twitched, and he couldn't help asking:

"Your Highness, this is..."

King Qi shook his head, handed over the secret letter in his hand, and said in a deep voice:

"There's no need to send someone to intercept it, it's useless!"

Hearing this, Feng Chu immediately took a few steps forward, took the letter and glanced at it, frowning immediately.

Among the secret letters, it was Zhong Zizhuo who reported that Yun Guo offered to provide supplies.

A large amount of supplies were transported from Yunguo, which obviously cannot be concealed.

Although it was said that King Qi bought it with real money at a price that was [-]% higher.But obviously, ordinary people will not know the inside story of these things.

The folk propaganda methods used by the novelists under Emperor Yun were able to easily tell the Southwest people about this matter.

Judging from the simple morality of the common people, it naturally became Yunguo, helping them when they were most critical, giving them food and grass, and treating the common people.

But at this time, it seems that it is not so useful to intercept and kill Yunguo's team of doctors!
Feng Chu obviously also wanted to understand the key point, his face became extremely ugly, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"No, you absolutely cannot obtain supplies from Yun Nation!"

Upon hearing this, King Qi looked at Feng Chu and shook his head, saying:
"Although the price of materials sold in Yunguo is [-]% higher, compared to the materials raised by the imperial court and then sent to the southwest, there is less loss along the way, and the delay is not a loss!"

"Your Highness, the price given by the Emperor Yun is obviously calculated by someone with a heart, just to make His Highness think like this, and then step into his plan. In this way, the people in the southwest don't know the truth, I'm afraid it will be..." Feng In a hurry.

But before he finished speaking, King Qi sighed softly and interrupted:
"This is a conspiracy, there is no way!"

King Qi paused, and continued:
"The reason why the court is so slow in raising supplies is not only because some people are holding back, but also because the court's treasury is empty. Because of the peace talks and indemnities delivered to Yunguo before, the balance in the court's treasury has already been empty. .Now that the court has searched all over the place, I am afraid it will not compare to one-tenth of the gold and silver in the Jiangyang County treasury."

"Now that the situation in the southwest is chaotic, there is obviously no need to think about sending the gold and silver back to Jinling City! Rather than that, it is better to send them directly to Yunguo to buy them."

Feng Chu frowned, but still insisted:

"Your Highness, even if this is the case, it must not be done. This is to hand over the six counties in the southwest to the country of Yun! I have said before that there is no right or wrong between countries. What's more, I, Daxia and Yun The country has already taken over the enmity, and although a peace treaty has been made, sooner or later there will be a time to fight again. At that time, if the Yun country has more strength, Da Xia will have less chance of winning. This situation of life and death cannot be tolerated!"

Although Feng Chu's words were harsh, they were obviously very correct.

Once the fighting resumes, the six counties in the southwest will inevitably change hands.At that time, the national strength of the Yun Kingdom will double, and the power of the Xia Kingdom will weaken by one-fifth.

Upon hearing this, King Qi closed his eyes and leaned back slightly.

At this time, what sounded in his ears was the sound of people wailing and weeping from time to time in his dream during this period of time.

Fever is prevalent, every family is in the pain of death, and every room is crying.Either close the door and die, or lose the family and die.The tragic image of the plague raging suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

The next moment, King Qi suddenly opened his eyes, but the previous hesitation was gone, his face was firm, and he said in a deep voice:
"Even so, it's better than pulling tens of millions of people from the six counties to die together!"

The reason why they agreed to attack the team of Yunguo doctors before was because these doctors were useless in the overall situation except to help Xiao Cheng win the hearts of the people under the situation of lack of supplies, and they could not treat many people at all.

But now that Yunguo has agreed to sell the supplies, the situation is quite different.With the supplies from Yunguo, the people in the southwest are really saved!

Even if, for Xia Guo, drinking poison to quench thirst...

Feng Chu was born as an embroiderer, so what despicable methods have not been used?In his opinion, there has always been whether to do it or not, and there is no should or should not be done.

He should have sneered at King Qi's words.

But at this time, seeing King Qi's powerful words, solemn expression, and majestic appearance, Feng Chu couldn't even utter his words of persuasion.

Feng Chu was silent for a moment, and finally bent down to salute, thinking complicatedly in his heart:
Sure enough, the previous ones were all illusions, and I was still a fool!
But at this time, just outside the camp in Jiangyang County, several figures wearing moon-white Taoist robes, who could be seen as Taoists at first glance, watched Shuai Zhongzhong from a distance.

The person in the lead had a cold aura all over his body, and between his brows, a white light shone brightly.The white light swept across, giving people the illusion that their entire body was seen through.

Taoism's supernatural ability to observe Qi is called Tianmu, or Tianyan.It is not very different from the way of Taoist heirs in Yunguo Jixia Academy, who understand the world with the Taoist heart, but it is also a Taoist secret technique that can see through the fate of people.

At this time, in the sight of the leading Taoist, on top of the barracks full of bloody murderous aura, there was a phantom dragon with ferocious head horns and four claws gradually growing out of its belly.

As King Qi's mind in the handsome tent became more and more determined, when the vision of the flood dragon hovered and took off, the blood-colored flood dragon, which was originally full of murderous aura, suddenly congealed a majestic aura of kingship.The golden light then appeared, lining the body of the visionary dragon into a dazzling red gold color, and at a glance, it showed more and more the image of a real dragon.

The white light between the brows of the leading Taoist gradually dissipated, and he said loudly:

"Sure enough, there is a real dragon image!"

The Taoists on the side heard the words and couldn't help echoing:
"It seems that the rumors circulating in Jinling City that Emperor Xia prefers King Yiqi to inherit the Datong are not groundless!"

"Unexpectedly, the position that the princes fought over and over finally fell on the head of His Royal Highness King Qi!"

The head Taoist stroked his sleeve and said in a deep voice:
"Let's go, the inheritance of my Taoism in Xia Kingdom will be bet on King Qi from now on!"

"Yes!"

All the Taoists set off together and walked towards the barracks.

But before they reached the gate of the barracks, they bumped into a group of scholars in Confucian robes.

The two groups of people looked at each other, their eyes froze, and they walked towards the barracks together in silence...
-
Cloud Country, Zhongqing City.

Liu Bowen looked at the majestic and prosperous capital city of Yunguo in front of him, the corner of his mouth curled up, and said:
"Big cloud!"

Standing beside Liu Bowen is Zhang Yue, a member of the Zongheng family.

Zhang Yue looked at Zhongqing City solemnly, his eyes narrowed.

Is there really nothing wrong with this choice?
Liu Bowen turned his head to look at Zhang Yue, and said with a smile:

"We're all here, so don't put on such an appearance. If you still hesitate, then go to Jixia Academy to join us. It's good to wait and see!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yue laughed, nodded and said:
"That's the truth! It's just that I have a place to go, what about you? How can you enter the court and become an official with no connections? Or, do you want to wait a few more months to take the imperial examination? If it's not possible, I can take you into Jixia Academy! It’s just that you don’t have any name or distinction, so you might as well join me…”

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Liu Bowen waved his hand casually and interrupted:

"If so, how can I show my ability?"

Seeing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help shaking his head and said:
"Are you trying to pretend to be a ghost again, so as to gain fame and attract attention?"

"What is pretending to be a ghost? It's so ugly! I, Liu Ji, have studied what I have learned from a hundred schools of thought. I just want to show what I have learned and make my name known to His Majesty today. How can it be said that I am pretending to be a ghost... Even if I use some means, it is my What a skill!" Liu Bowen said with some dissatisfaction.

Hearing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help rolling his eyes.

And at this moment, before the city gate, a person suddenly rushed up, shouting:

"Liu Ji? You are Liu Ji, Liu Bowen!"

The visitor was thin and dusty, as if he had just returned from a long journey.But at this moment, there was an abnormal look of excitement on his face.

Zhang Yue frowned, subconsciously stepped forward, and stopped this person.

Seeing that he was stopped, the man paused and asked again:

"You are Liu Ji and Liu Bowen?"

Liu Bowen was also a little confused. Looking at the person coming, he subconsciously nodded and said:

"yes……"

Hearing that, the man was so excited that his eyes were flushed, and he couldn't help but said:
"Finally, finally found..."

Halfway through the man's speech, he suddenly remembered something, then took out the token from his pocket, stuffed it into Liu Bowen's hand, and said excitedly:

"I leave this to you, go to Dongchang, and I can recommend you to be an official in the court!"

Liu Bowen blinked slightly as he looked at the token stuffed into his hand.

Before he could react, Zhang Yue's eyes widened, his face showed shock and admiration, and he said loudly:
"Is this what you expected?"

Feeling the admiration in Zhang Yue's eyes, Liu Bowen hesitated for a moment, after all, his skin became hot, he coughed lightly to cover up the bewildered look on his face, and said calmly:
"Yes, yes... right?"

　Sending an extra thousand words makes up for it.

　　This sincerity is still there, don't blame me...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)