People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1640 Green Goose, Killing Wu

The night is hazy, on the long street.

Cheng Wuting left Pei Yan's residence and rode towards his own residence.

Along the way, I was quite distracted.

A black-clad guard walked out from the darkness, looked at Cheng Wuting, frowned, and after a slight hesitation, followed Cheng Wuting.

After the black-clad guards walked away, a Taoist priest wearing a bamboo hat quietly walked out from the corner of the street.

Looking at this scene, a sneer of contempt appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Turning around, the Taoist priest was already following behind the black-clad guard.

……

Cheng Wuting was distracted the whole time, and was wobbling on his horse, and he didn't notice the figure following him at all.

Pei Yan's words were still echoing in his mind.

King Peng is forcing the Queen Mother to kill the Emperor.

Although those three letters and that memorial talked about different things, they were all intended to instigate Li Dan's dissatisfaction with Empress Wu.

But unfortunately, all these things were seen by Empress Wu.

What kind of person was Empress Wu? Even when her own son Li Xian died in front of her, her expression did not change at all. She still quickly and decisively helped Li Dan to the throne.

But afterwards, although Li Dan became emperor, he was a complete puppet.

This is especially true as you get further along in the story.

Li Dan is now under complete house arrest.

It’s just that the ministers have become accustomed to Empress Wu being in power, and as long as the emperor is still alive, they don’t care.

But would the emperor think so?

If Prince Peng had not come to fight this time, Li Dan would have had the possibility of officially taking power only two years later.

But is that possible?

Others may not know, but Li Dan himself knows best.

Cheng Wuting also knew that if the Queen Mother was unwilling to hand over power, the Emperor would not have any chance at all.

Emperor Zhongzong is a precedent.

The reason why the court officials in Luoyang did not rebel against Empress Wu was because Li Dan was in her hands.

Hold the emperor hostage to order the princes.

What the court officials and the emperor could expect was that Empress Wu's health would suddenly deteriorate after two years and that they would have to hand over power.

But looking at the queen's body, this possibility is almost slim.

It is precisely because he sees that after three years, there is still no hope of taking power, so now is Li Dan’s greatest opportunity.

Especially once Li Xuan reached the city of Luoyang, Li Dan would have the opportunity to escape from Empress Wu's control.

Another crucial point is Li Chongzhao.

If Li Chongzhao died, the next heir to the throne would be either Li Chongfu or Li Dan.

Compared to Prince Ping'en Li Chongfu, Li Dan, as the surviving son of Emperor Gaozong and having been emperor for some time, had definitely had many opportunities.

He could even occupy Luoyang and negotiate with Li Xuan...

The opportunities here are just too great.

In any case, it is better than being a puppet in Luoyang, or even having his life and death in the hands of others. Li Dan really doesn't know when Empress Wu will kill him.

Even if it came to the last resort, Li Dan could replace Li Xuan and sit in Fanzhou as the King of the Northwest.

At the moment when Luoyang is about to fall, this may be an opportunity.

Therefore, ever since Li Xuan's letter, no matter whether the emperor saw it or not, he felt uneasy.

Once the opportunity arises, he will take action without hesitation.

Don't forget that in the court, there are Dou Lu Qinwang, Dou Xuande, Fan Lubing and others who are loyal to Li Dan.

These people have now become an extremely important faction in the court.

……

Thinking of this, Cheng Wuting's face became serious.

After the death of Emperor Zhongzong, many people who were unwilling to submit to Empress Wu mostly joined the side of people like Dou Lu Qinwang and Fan Lubing.

Although they were serving Empress Wu at the same time, deep down in their hearts they insisted that they were serving the legitimate Tang Dynasty.

In this way, once the opportunity comes, they will definitely take action against Empress Wu.

Empress Wu saw all of this very clearly, so she did not dare to give Li Xuan's memorial and Li Xuan's letter to Li Dan to Li Dan.

But, can this ensure that these things will not be known by the emperor?

The letter written by Crown Prince Li Chengqi to the emperor was handed over to the emperor at the very beginning. Is there nothing hidden in it?
Not to mention, Li Xuan has now scattered these things all over Luoyang.

People under house arrest like Pei Yan have a copy, so what about others?

Cheng Wuting was certain that Pei Yan had not told Empress Wu.

Once Empress Wu knew these things, Pei Yan would be doomed.

What about other people in the court, and other people who possessed this thing? Cheng Wuting was a little suspicious. They also did not tell Empress Wu about these things.

Of course, Li Xuan couldn't prepare one for every official in the court, so everything had to be selected.

So, while these selected people were hiding these things, did they also feel a little dissatisfied with the Queen?

Riding on the horse, Cheng Wuting could not help but sigh. Although the Queen Mother was in charge of government, she was ultimately not in a legitimate position.

It’s still okay at other times, but what will these people do if King Peng really brings his troops to the city?
Cheng Wuting suddenly felt an extremely terrifying feeling behind him, and he turned around abruptly.

On the long street under curfew, there was only a team of Jinwu Guards patrolling in the distance.

Cheng Wuting then breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and continued riding forward.

His expression had become serious again.

Prime Minister Pei just said that King Peng had used that thing to plot against the Queen Mother to kill the Emperor. So now, is he plotting to use this thing to make the Queen Mother kill them?

Does it mean that the entire Luoyang, countless court officials, were all controlled by King Peng with just that one thing?

This person is so scary.

No, he would not let the Queen kill these people. Compared to killing people, these people still have value in other places.

That question appeared in Cheng Wuting's mind again.

King Peng is forcing the Queen Mother to kill the Emperor.

If the Queen Mother killed the Emperor, these court officials would probably know the reason immediately.

Once King Peng arrives at the city of Luoyang, these selected people who are dissatisfied with the Queen Mother will become King Peng's helpers.

However, the prerequisite is that King Peng must be able to reach the city of Luoyang.

If Cheng Wuting intercepted King Peng at the Qiaohan Ancient Road, would he still have a chance to fight his way to the city of Luoyang?
Suddenly, Cheng Wuting looked up abruptly.

Now that he knows about this, is he also included in King Peng’s plan?

Cheng Wuting shuddered again. If one day in the future, the Queen Mother really killed the Emperor, what would he do?
Perhaps this is King Peng’s real purpose. He was interrogating everyone, asking them what they would do if the Queen Mother really killed the Emperor, the only surviving son of Emperor Gaozong?
Cheng Wuting's expression became serious. He was the commander-in-chief who was fighting on the front line against King Peng.

If he didn't want to face this problem, then the only choice was to defeat Li Xuan as quickly as possible, or to keep Li Xuan out of the Qiaohan Ancient Road forever.

……

Taking a deep breath, Cheng Wuting pulled the horse, and before he knew it, he had returned to his doorstep.

The street behind me was quiet, even though this was already inside the neighborhood.

Cheng Wuting dismounted from his horse and handed the reins to the guard at the door.

Then he walked towards the mansion.

He thought a lot along the way.

The most important thing is how to defeat Li Xuan.

No matter what Prime Minister Pei had said before about forcing King Peng back to Fanzhou and the Western Regions step by step, or what King Peng was planning in Luoyang City, the problem he needed to solve now was how to defeat Li Xuan on the Qiaohan Ancient Road.

After returning to the study, Cheng Wuting immediately took out the map of the Qiaohan Ancient Road.

Hangu Pass, Shanzhou, Bingzhou, Nanyang, Hanzhong, Chang'an.

Cheng Wuting shook his head. He didn't need to worry about the affairs of Bingzhou and Nanyang. Even Hulao Pass was not within his scope of concern. The only thing he needed to worry about now was how to defeat Li Xuan on the Qiaohan Ancient Road.

Li Xuan must fight his way into the Qiaohan Ancient Road, no matter what.

The key is when and how he will take action?
Tun water.

Water attack.

Although the Taishi Bureau said that there would not be continuous and long-lasting heavy rains this year, Wang Xiaojie's lesson told them that King Peng must be able to get a large amount of water from somewhere else.

Perhaps there is a Tianchi Lake hidden in Huashan or somewhere else, and King Peng can get enough water to flood Shanzhou.

After all, water attack techniques are different from real floods.

A flood means that not only will a city be submerged, but the water will not recede for a long time.

Water attack is different. What is required is that the water on the surface of a city reaches a certain height at a certain quarter of an hour.

If a flood is a wide river, then a water attack is the biggest wave in the river.

The amount of water they do require is completely different.

In other words, the calculations made by the court and the Imperial Astronomy Bureau were wrong.

That is to say, at some point in the future, King Peng will definitely use water attacks to break into Shanzhou and the ancient road of Qiaohan, and what Cheng Wuting needs to do is to set traps in the mountains.

"No, it's still not enough. We must find that place." Cheng Wuting's finger circled Huashan and the Yellow River and looked back at the entire Guanzhong Plain. There are still several lakes in the entire Guanzhong Plain. So, which place's water is easiest to be diverted?

……

The east is turning white and the sky is about to brighten.

The night passed by unknowingly.

At this moment, a black-clad guard suddenly came out from the back door of Cheng Wuting and handed a secret letter to another black-clad guard waiting behind the door.

The black-clad guard took the secret letter without any hesitation, walked out quickly, and soon disappeared completely at the end of the street.

The Taoist priest wearing a bamboo hat walked out calmly. He looked up at Cheng Wuting's residence with a flickering gaze. He turned around and chased after the black-clad guard.

Before they knew it, the Taoist priest had chased to the outside of a mansion, and the black-clad guards entered the mansion from the back door.

The Taoist in the bamboo hat shook his head and walked to the front of the mansion. There, hanging in the front of the mansion, was a plaque with the words "Duke of Liang".

Duke of Liang, Wu Sansi.

The Taoist in the bamboo hat sneered lightly. It had only been so long since we last met, and Wu Sansi had already become the Duke of Liang.

So the next step is that he should prepare to become the King of Liang.

The king of Liang is a common man.

The reason why he came to Chang'an this time was because he knew that Wu Sansi would never let Cheng Wuting go.

Once Cheng Wuting goes to Shanzhou, in addition to the 30,000 troops in front of Shanzhou, the 70,000 troops that subsequently conquered Yangzhou will gradually return to Luoyang.

It is naturally impossible to hand over all these 100,000 troops to Cheng Wuting, but at least some of them are indispensable.

There are 30,000 people on the ancient road of Qiaohan and 20,000 people on the Luo River Plain.

The remaining troops were 30,000 in Luoyang City, and 10,000 each in Hulao Pass and Nanyang.

However, Cheng Wuting still controls the most troops in the entire court after Li Xuan, but his relationship with Pei Yan is unclear.

Unfortunately, Cheng Wuting could not be easily moved. After all, apart from Cheng Wuting, no one in the court could stop Li Xuan.

The Taoist priest in the bamboo hat lowered his head and sneered, muttering to himself: "Green goose."

……

On the bank of the Wei River, looking at the Wei River, which had less than half of its water left, Li Xuan nodded slightly and said sideways: "From now on, cut off the Wei River."

"Yes!" Nan Ju bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan raised his head and held a piece of paper in his hand. On it were two words: "Green Goose."

In December, Wu was killed.

Li Xuan raised his hand and the paper flew into the Wei River.

He couldn't wait until December, but that didn't mean the paper was useless.

It depends on how and when to use it.

(End of this chapter)