Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1331: Wu Di Shock

The atmosphere in the Linchuan Palace in Wuxing Changcheng County has been tense and solemn in recent days, even a little gloomy.

Originally, Chen Qian planned to lead his troops to Wujun in person to take control of the situation, but he heard of an unusual change halfway through the journey. Fearing that the local sentiment would be disturbed again, he returned to his hometown to take charge.

  As expected, when the news that the Nanchuan Rebellion had been quelled reached Wuzhong, many powerful people in Wu rushed to the Linchuan Palace in panic, asking whether the Tang army would take the opportunity to continue their advance and sweep through the Three Wus?

Chen Qian could only appease them patiently, saying that the conditions for the Tang army to attack the Three Wus were not yet ripe, and that the court would not allow the Tang army to act recklessly. He certainly needed these people to maintain fear and hostility towards the court and the Tang army, so that they would gather around him, but if they were too fearful to even resist, that would be too much.

However, the subsequent development of the situation surprised even Chen Qian. It was completely beyond his previous assumptions, so much so that he was confused for a moment and didn't know how to respond.

  The situation was relatively optimistic at the beginning. Although the Wuxing gentry were skeptical about Chen Qian's words, when they saw the cartloads of money, food and supplies being transported back from Wujun, their fear of the Tang army was immediately replaced by greed, and they began to regret why they did not join forces with Prince Linchuan before!

They may not know that the rioters' attack on Wujun was planned and directed by Chen Qian, but they knew that Chen Qian was going to lead his army to Wujun to quell the riots, and Chen Qian had called on them to go together, but the people's reaction was rather cold. After all, everyone was struggling to take care of their own business, so how could they have the mood to help quell the riots in Wujun?

  But now when they saw that the King of Linchuan was actually going to Wujun to make a fortune under the guise of suppressing the rebellion, everyone couldn't help but get restless again. They no longer cared about whether the Tang army would attack the Three Wus, and they all rushed to ask the King of Linchuan whether he needed to mobilize the troops from various families to reinforce the rebellion?

Chen Qian was naturally very happy to receive such requests. He needed to bring more people to his ship, so he accepted all who came. Soon, several thousand troops gathered in Wuxing Township.

In order to continue to stimulate the enthusiasm of the local gentry, Chen Qian also said that he would advance all the money and food needed to quell the rebellion, and if the local gentry who participated in the quelling of the rebellion made contributions, they would also receive an additional reward. In this way, naturally more people responded, not only the powerful gentry, but also the refugees who had no food or clothing came to join him.

For a time, almost all the people in Wuxing County followed the orders of King Linchuan. Although the court did not order Wuxing to send troops to quell the rebellion, the Three Wus were an integrated whole and out of a sense of crisis, the people of Wuxing felt that it was their duty to put down the rebellion in Wu County and that they could not stay out of it!

Although the change in the situation in Nanchuan caught people off guard, Chen Qian finally used the Wujun rebellion to mobilize the people of Wuxing. After the people were mobilized, they were naturally different from the previous scattered villages, and all kinds of military orders and systems had to be standardized.

However, the good times did not last long. Just when Chen Qian was planning to carry out a serious reorganization of the local gentry in one go, news came from the north that Hua Jiao had been defeated and captured by Wu Mingche.

Chen Qian was horrified when he learned about this. He stamped his feet and sighed, "How could Hua Jiao be so careless! I had strictly ordered him to hold the Pogangdu line, but he was defeated so hastily!"

"Hua Jiao is just a minor official in the capital, he has no long-term plans. Wu Mingche is famous in Jiangbei, how can he be his rival!"

Chief Clerk Shen Ke had always disliked Han Zigao, Hua Jiao and others who were close to Chen Qian. He was not too surprised to learn that Hua Jiao had been defeated. He belittled him a little and then said, "Hua Jiao was at a disadvantage in the battle and was controlled by the enemy. Now the king's plan may be difficult to conceal. The court may send more troops to attack. We should be prepared early. Hua Jiao also had a lot of involvement in Wuxing's money and grain affairs. Now that he has been captured, he may reveal everything in order to survive. Do we need to make some adjustments?"

"Hua Jiao's troops are neither officials nor civilians. The court would not dare to sentence me to a serious crime just because of him alone. Although the emperor is impatient and narrow-minded, he is just a cowardly person. He would never dare to rashly raise troops to attack."

After hearing this, Chen Qian spoke again in a deep voice. When he talked about the second question, he paused for a moment before saying, "Hua Jiao and I have known each other in times of danger, and he has followed me for a long time. I believe he has loyalty in his heart. Besides, there are many people in the town now, and they are all tempted here by benefits. If we rashly make a large amount of money and grain transfer, we cannot guarantee that it will not be discovered. Once it is discovered, they will certainly ask for more. Now, in order to resist, we need to make a long-term plan, and the accumulated money and grain cannot be dispersed in a hurry. We can secretly send more soldiers to guard it, and there is no need to rashly transport it."

Hua Jiao was originally a minor official in Jiankang. He followed Hou Jing in the rebellion. When Hou Jing was in rebellion, he detained Chen Qian in the capital. Hua Jiao, who was in charge of guarding Chen Qian at that time, treated Chen Qian very well. Therefore, after the rebellion of Hou Jing was quelled, Chen Qian accepted Hua Jiao as his disciple and confidant and entrusted him with important tasks. The relationship between them was naturally good, so Chen Qian believed that Hua Jiao would not easily betray him.

As for the money, grain and supplies accumulated through trade and other means in recent years, a considerable portion of them were hidden nearby around Taihu Lake. Chen Qian originally planned to wait until the counterattack on Jiankang to take them halfway, thus avoiding the trouble of transporting them by boat or vehicle.

Now a large number of rural troops have gathered around the palace, and Wujun has been disturbed. Under such circumstances, it is not convenient to transport the money and grain. I can only hope that Hua Jiao is loyal and will not betray me. Of course, even if the money and grain are lost, although it is distressing, it is not too serious with the harvest from Wujun as a supplement.

Hua Jiao's defeat and capture certainly made Chen Qian feel disappointed and worried, but he was not in a state of panic. He was still a little thankful that he had returned to Wujun on the way and was able to gather the local soldiers in time. Even if Wu Mingche marched straight into Wujun, he could lead the Wuxing troops and the Wujun troops to fight back.

Of course, to achieve such a situation, the cooperation of Xu Du from Jingkou is indispensable. Chen Qian knew very well that Xu Du hoped to preserve his own strength, to stand aside from the disputes in the country, and to keep the best of both worlds. Therefore, he did not make more demands on Xu Du this time. He bribed him with a large sum of money just to keep him out of the matter. He believed that Xu Du would make a wise choice and would not go south to wade into the muddy water of Wuzhong. However, things are unpredictable. No matter how thoughtful and wise a person is, he still cannot predict all changes. What's more, Chen Qian has been retreating in Wuzhong in recent years. He may not look down on the short-term of the Wuzhong tyrants, but in fact, he has also been more or less affected. He cannot make a fair and accurate judgment on the changes in the situation and the impact on people's hearts.

So when the news of the subsequent change in the situation reached Wuxing, Chen Qian was completely shocked.

Compared with Jiankang, Chen Qian learned the news of Xu Du's surrender to Tang earlier. Because just before Yu Ruofeng officially led his army to Jingkou, based on past friendship, Xu Du released the envoy sent by Chen Qian to Zhongju and asked him to return to Wuxing to deliver the message.

"I have failed to obey the king's orders. Despite all my persuasion, Xu Du was a cowardly thief who was afraid of the strong and chose to surrender to the Tang. Now that the Tang army has crossed the river and entered the town, I believe something big will happen soon..."

After returning to Wuxing, Dao Zhongju reported to Chen Qian with a shameful look and hoarse voice.

"Tang, the Tang army has actually crossed the river? This beast Xu Du can be said to be the eternal sinner of Jiangdong!"

After hearing this, Chen Qian's face suddenly turned pale and his expression became stiff. After a long while, he suddenly drew out his sword and slashed it on the table in front of him. His eyes had turned red, showing how angry he was.

Although the rest of the people were also shocked, the most important thing at the moment was naturally how to deal with this huge change.

It should be noted that since the division between the North and the South, no army from the Northern Dynasty has ever been able to enter Jingkou. Even during the Hou Jing Rebellion, only the rebels from the Southern Dynasty disturbed Jingkou. Now Xu Du has taken the initiative to lure the Northern Dynasty army to the South. If the Southern Dynasty is not properly dealt with, it will be a disaster for the Southern Dynasty regime.

"Immediately inform the court and ask the Lord to recall Wu Mingche to Jiankang to lead the divisions to deal with the upstream bandits. Grant me military and political power and allow me to lead the three Wu divisions to attack northward and recapture Jingkou. If I delay, the country will be destroyed and my family will be ruined!"

When he regained some rationality in his mind, Chen Qian hurriedly spoke again. Although there were many disputes between him and the court, his original intention was to protect his country and his people. In this critical period, he naturally wanted to unite with the court to tide over the difficulties.

However, as soon as the man finished speaking, Shen Ke beside him hurriedly said, "No, Your Majesty, you must not go north easily! The northern barbarians had previously conspired with the court to put down the rebellion, and their army had not shown any signs of advancing into the Three Wus. This time, their troops entered Jingkou, which must have been caused by the dog thief Xu Du's betrayal of the country. Their army has just crossed the river, and I think they have no follow-up plans. If Your Majesty rashly denounces them now, it will bring the war into the Three Wus! When the bandits cross the river, they will definitely target the vital points first. It is difficult to issue an imperial edict in the capital, so Your Majesty can raise the banner of loyalty and order all the parties in Jiangdong to fight the bandits together!"

"The Chief Secretary forced me to become a member of the Xiao clan?"

After hearing this, Chen Qian glared and said angrily. Shen Ke's proposal was no different from the previous Hou Jing Rebellion when the Xiao clan members waited for the disaster in Jiankang and then fought for power.

"Although the Xiao family has lost their moral integrity, they still have hundreds of descendants. If the emperor can take precautions, the northern barbarians will have a hard time entering Jiankang. Otherwise, the king is eager to go there. Do you want to die with the whole family?"

Shen Ke looked directly into Chen Qian's angry eyes and spoke quickly again.

Chen Qian's face froze when he heard this. After a while, he sat back at the table dejectedly. He no longer mentioned the matter of going north to meet the enemy. He just said in a hoarse voice: "You should quickly draft a plan to defend the king!"