The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 334 Your Highness’s Opinion
The fourth year of Kaiping in Liang, the seventh year of Tianyou in Qi and Jin, and the third year of Wucheng in Shu.

Xinmao month, Bingshen day.

Li Keyong, the Prince of Jin, led all the officials to welcome Li Xingyun, the tenth son of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty, to Taiyuan and paid homage to him as a minister. Afterwards, Li Keyong led the officials and the people of Taiyuan to mourn and offer sacrifices to the Tang Dynasty and the previous Emperor Zhaozong.

On this day, witnessed by the Taiyuan Zongzheng Mansion, Li Keyong and all the officials respected Prince Li Xingyun as the Son of Heaven, but Li Xingyun refused. Dozens of clan elders knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. Li Xingyun later reluctantly accepted the title of "King of Wei" and was granted the land of Bianzhou, Henan Prefecture. He was called the Regent and supervised the Tang Dynasty on behalf of the previous emperor.

Because Bianzhou, Henan Prefecture, fell to Zhu Wen of the Pseudo-Liang Dynasty, Prince of Wei Li Xingyun temporarily lived in Jinyang Palace in Taiyuan to remotely control the war against Liang. Prince of Jin Li Keyong moved out of the palace and lived in the Prince of Jin's Mansion, observing the etiquette of a subject.

The world was shocked.

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"Li Keyong has already found a way to die!"

In the Jiaolan Palace of the Bianjing Imperial City, the ministers who were waiting for the court meeting to begin were already in a state of excitement. They gathered in twos and threes. Many of them looked worried, but some seemed very excited, and they were arguing with others with their necks stiff.

At this moment, the shout suddenly rang out. The ministers looked back and saw the Ghost King Zhu Youwen walking into the hall with great imposing manner. He was accompanied by many officials, who rushed in like a large group and quickly filled the Jiaolan Hall in an instant.

Most of the officials bowed in a flattering manner: "Greetings, King Bo..."

Zhu Youwen was too lazy to pay attention to those officials who were not qualified to enter the core circle. He just said to the ministers in a loud voice: "Li Keyong is still a thief. He just pulled a wild boy out of nowhere and dared to say that he was an orphan of the Li Tang Dynasty. He even dared to claim to be the emperor. How ridiculous!?"

All the ministers agreed with this.

Everyone was very confused when they learned overnight that a court meeting would be held today. After all, Zhu Wen had not held a court meeting for a month or two. He either pushed the government affairs to Jing Xiang or summoned some ministers to the palace for an audience. Suddenly learning that a court meeting was to be held, the ministers naturally thought that something big had happened.

Sure enough, at dawn, most of the officials in the hall knew about the Jin State. Even those who didn't know had heard some rumors. Although Zhu Wen had not yet entered the hall, everyone was already thinking about how angry the emperor would be.

Ghost King Zhu Youwen was highly favored in the previous half year because of his presentation of magical arts. His words this time could be seen as Zhu Wen's attitude, which was very similar to what the ministers had guessed privately just now. The country was indeed about to go to war.

Minister of Revenue Zhang Wenwei and several officials with whom he had a good relationship all looked unhappy. Of course, it was not because they were previously Tang officials, but because once the war broke out, the national treasury, which had finally recovered after a year of recuperation, would evaporate in an instant. The financial pressure was huge, and Zhu Wen would not care why you couldn't come up with the money. Zhang Wenwei was very worried about whether he could keep his head.

Zhu Youwen looked serious, with a hint of anger in his eyes. He raised his fist to the sky and said, "Father was enthroned by the previous emperor, which is in accordance with the law. Li Keyong just picked up a bastard and wanted to cause chaos in the world. This is rebellion! Everyone, we are paid by the emperor, so we should share his worries..."

Zhang Wenwei sighed inwardly. This guy almost said bluntly that everyone would persuade the emperor to lead the army in person later. He had a lot of grievances and wanted to find someone to share the pressure with. After looking around, he realized that Jing Xiang had not arrived yet.

The officials of the Ghost King's party in the hall all nodded in agreement: "Prince Bo is right. The thief Li is doing evil things and he deserves to be attacked."

Zhu Youwen snorted calmly, and in his heart he looked down upon these officials.

Naturally, he and the Underworld Emperor knew about the matter of Li Tang's orphan earlier than anyone else present, so the Underworld Emperor had already made arrangements for him.

Zhu Wen's body has been hollowed out, and he is also old, so although he looks rosy-cheeked, he is actually unable to withstand much effort. The Hades wants to take this opportunity to let Zhu Wen lead the army in person. At that time, all the armies will gather in one place, and the Hades can just create the impression that Zhu Wen is seriously ill and take advantage of the situation to let the Ghost King take control of the military power.

The advantage of doing this is that if it goes smoothly, it can solve the problem once and for all and directly resolve all potential hidden dangers. At that time, the national treasury can be opened directly to reward the troops, and the Emperor of the Underworld can control the army through the Ghost King. There is no need to worry about anyone causing trouble again, and even if there is, he can immediately send troops to suppress it.

As for risks, there are of course. For example, if there is any change, it may lead to mutiny and fighting among the armies. However, as long as Zhu Wen is controlled, this possibility is very small. What's more, the Xuanming Sect is in the hands of the Underworld Emperor, so we can give it a try.

At that time, people like Xiao Yan, Zhu Youzhen, and Wang Yanzhang could all be executed at will.

As for the expedition against the State of Jin, the Underworld Emperor would not care about that. The right thing to do is to hold power in his hands first. The Daliang Imperial Army is the best in the world. If the State of Jin really dares to invade, the Underworld Emperor can take advantage of the situation to win a great victory and consolidate his reputation.

The humiliation and oppression that the Hades Emperor had suffered from Zhu Wen over the years had made him not want to tolerate this old man for even a moment. As long as an opportunity appeared before him, the Hades Emperor would seize it at all costs!

The Ghost King is just a puppet, a substitute for Zhu Youwen trained by the Hades. He doesn't even have any martial arts skills, and has no other abilities except his eloquence. The Hades is certainly not afraid that he would dare to do something to devour his master.

And in fact, at the moment "Zhu Youwen" can only listen to the words of the Hades obediently. If he has any bold ideas, he dare not reveal them until the last moment.

However, what made Zhu Youwen particularly surprised was that the Hades had been in seclusion since he returned from seeking to settle accounts with the surrendered ministers of the Corpse Ancestor last year. Such important matters were entrusted to him, and the Hades would never meet anyone unless it was an important matter.

It was hard for Zhu Youwen not to wonder whether the Emperor of the Underworld had suffered from some hidden illness?
He held back this thought and didn't dare tell anyone. At that moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind in the Jiaolan Palace. He had already thought of the words he would use in the court meeting.

"Respectfully..."

Hearing the laughter of some officials from behind, Zhu Youwen narrowed his eyes and looked back.

Jing Xiang arrived late and kept nodding and greeting the officials. There were two people next to him, one of whom was Prince Jun Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen was not strange. This guy had a strange personality and usually had no suggestions when attending court meetings. If possible, he would not even be willing to come, so arriving late was nothing.

Although Prince Jun Zhu Youzhen was Zhu Wen's legitimate son and had considerable power, his status in front of Zhu Wen was slightly lower than that of Zhu Youwen, so he seldom made any achievements in front of others. Also, because of his bad temper, he did not get along well with the ministers.

What surprised Zhu Youwen was another person, Zhu Hanbin, the commander-in-chief of the Dragon and Tiger Army.

How could this fellow enter the palace with Jing Xiang? Judging from the way they were talking and laughing, it seemed that they had a harmonious conversation along the way?

As Zhu Wen's adopted sons, Zhu Youwen and Zhu Hanbin had completely different statuses. The former was able to be crowned a king while the latter could only work as a governor of a state in recent years and could not even reach the central government.

So even if Zhu Youwen had some doubts, it only lasted for a moment. He remembered the matter for the time being and, under the careful reminder of several eunuchs in the hall, he entered the queue and waited.

In a moment, Zhu Wen sat on the dragon bed with the help of eunuch Ding Zhaopu and another eunuch.

To the surprise of the officials, Zhu Wen's face was not too bad, and even looked a little rosy. After going through a set of procedures, he got straight to the point and said, "Li Yaer has created a prince of the previous dynasty in Taiyuan. What do you think?"

Zhu Youwen thought about it and was not sure what Zhu Wen was up to, so he did not speak out immediately. Instead, he glanced at one of his followers imperceptibly.

The officials of the Ghost King's party had naturally been observing Zhu Youwen carefully. When they received the assignment, they pondered for a moment, stepped out and repeated what the Ghost King had just said in the hall in another way.

After that, several ministers started discussing the matter one after another. Most of them said that they should launch a large-scale military expedition to attack the State of Jin. Whether this would yield any results was not the point. In short, the prestige of Daliang must not be brought down.

Zhang Wenwei was a little nervous. He carefully observed Zhu Wen, but couldn't see anything. He then glanced at Jing Xiang, but couldn't see any attitude either. He was anxious to step forward and say that the country was exhausted and it was not appropriate to go to war.

"inappropriate!"

Unexpectedly, Zhu Wen, who had listened for most of the day, was not only not happy, but rather a little angry, with his tiger eyes wide open: "If what you said is true, I will send hundreds of thousands of troops to hunt with Li Yaer, and we can only fight to the death for Luzhou, which we have been fighting for so many years and still can't take!"

The Ghost King pondered for a moment, and took the initiative to resist the pressure for his followers, saying: "Your Majesty, it is not just that. The entire town of Hebei has been captured by our dynasty. We can order Zhao Wang Rong and Beiping Wang Chuzhi to join forces with Hebei troops to threaten Hedong at Changshan and Yanmen. In this way, the defense of Luzhou will be greatly reduced."

As he said this, he hesitated for a moment. The Dark Emperor wanted to encourage Zhu Wen to lead the army in person, but did not want to go too far. Attacking Luzhou was the best option, so he added another sentence.

"Luzhou is a strategic location. It is the key for the thief Li to shield Hedong and contain Zhao and Hebei. If we can recover it, it will surely boost the national prestige! Although Luzhou is strong, our dynasty has many brave generals and the best soldiers in the world. If they can follow Your Majesty to hunt in Hedong this time, they will surely go straight for Li Keyong's head! How can a mere Luzhou stop us!" All the ministers responded.

The flesh on Zhu Wen's face trembled, and he was actually a little moved.

He had not led an army in person for several years. As a military man who came to power in troubled times, Zhu Wen did not dislike life on horseback. The thought of leading hundreds of thousands of troops in person was enough to make people's hearts surge.

Zhang Wenwei became anxious again and was finally about to speak, but he saw a figure moving in his peripheral vision. He looked up and saw that it was Jing Xiang, who had been silent all this time.

Jing Xiang said: "Your Majesty, Luzhou is a strong city. We have attacked it for years but have not taken an inch. Moreover, the Jin people have built a defense line for Luzhou for many years. They can retreat to Luzhou and attack our Jin and Ming states. They can easily make our army exhausted."

He completely ignored Zhu Youwen's gradually livid face not far away, and continued: "The army is outside, and in a place like Hedong with mountains and rivers, just transporting military supplies will require hundreds of thousands of people day and night. The consumption is so great that we can't afford to compete with the Jin people in time. Prince Bo is right. Your Majesty will lead the army in person, and the soldiers will definitely fight bravely and sacrifice their lives. However, Luzhou cannot be taken by force. In the military, we dare not be arrogant before fighting!"

Zhang Wenwei breathed a sigh of relief. At the critical moment, it was still Jing Xiang who had to take the lead.

Jing Xiang was worried that Zhu Wen would really lose his temper and decide to lead the army himself, so after a brief pause, he immediately spoke up.

“Regardless of whether Luzhou is ready to be captured, Li Keyong is making a big fuss about the orphan of the previous dynasty. In recent years, the rebels in Qi, Shu, Wu and other places have all behaved in a disloyal manner. If our dynasty uses military force against the Jin people, there is no guarantee that these vassal states will not take advantage of the situation and invade.

I think that Your Majesty should stay at the center and deter Qi, Shu and other small-time people from doing anything wrong. If the Jin people raise troops to fight, our dynasty will have Your Majesty personally stabilize the center, and the Jin people will only be moths to the flame! In this way, our dynasty can not only calmly prepare, but also send a general to slowly attack them if we want to achieve victory..."

After hearing this, Zhu Youwen felt a little annoyed. He didn't understand why Jing Xiang had to get involved, and his views were so clear that he couldn't find any flaws for a while. He had no choice but to prepare for a war of words between the left and right factions.

However, Zhu Wen had come to his senses.

Yes, he just needs to stay in the capital. Since there are people willing to share the worries for the king, why should he increase the risk? Can hundreds of thousands of people go to war to win?

Zhu Wen knew that he was old. He would be sixty years old this year, which made him a long-lived emperor among all the emperors in history. He would only sit on the throne for a few years comfortably. There was no need for him to suffer again.

And what Jing Xiang said was right. He only needed to stabilize the center and dispatch the various towns without any mistakes. In the future, defeating the Jin army's offensive and defending the country would all be the credit of him as a king. And the achievements made by sending generals to foreign wars were not the result of his proper use of the generals by the emperor, right?
Besides, what's the point of Luzhou? Why is there no one as bold as Xiao Qing in the whole court? He dares to set his sights on Yanmen Pass, so why don't you dare?
Xiao Yan is a young man after all.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wen felt inexplicably unhappy. Xiao Yan was too young and so outstanding that it was difficult for an old man like him to really like him. Moreover, Xiao Yan was fighting outside for power. Was it really for his Zhu family?
Zhu Wen was not stupid, but as long as he could control the military leaders below him, he would not be afraid of these ambitious people. So he would use Xiao Yan. No matter whether he could capture Yanmen or not, the ones who would die were the Hebei people of the Guide Army, and Zhu Wen had no good feelings towards Hebei.

"That's all."

After thinking about this idea for a long time, Zhu Wen was not so excited anymore. He raised his chin to Ding Zhaopu beside him and said, "Call the Marquis of Guanjun in and read out the decree."

His voice was loud and most people in the hall could hear it. Jing Xiang was the first one to breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhu Youwen was stunned for a moment and even wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.

Champion?
Is that Xiao Yan?
Hasn't this guy returned to Beijing yet?
Ding Zhaopu didn't have time to care about all these things. He hurriedly asked a trusted eunuch to go outside and invite Xiao Yan into the palace, while he went to get the edict that Zhu Wen had prepared at night.

The matter had actually been decided, but Zhu Wen obviously wanted to see if his ministers had any other good suggestions. He certainly couldn't just listen to Xiao Yan's opinion, but it was a pity that he wasn't impressed by it.

Xiao Yan strode into the palace. He did not leave the palace last night because it was too late, and he did not change his clothes. His blue shirt was a little eye-catching among the purple and red robes.

"Ha, my champion is here."

Although he was jealous of Xiao Yan's youth, Zhu Wen was still willing to sound more enthusiastic at this time. He asked two eunuchs beside him to help him stand up, and said to the ministers: "You are pretentious and do not have the courage of the Marquis of Guanjun!"

Zhu Youwen frowned greatly, sensing something was not right, and soon after, he saw Xiao Yan kneeling down to receive the order.

After hearing the decree, Zhu Youwen was so angry that he felt dizzy.

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"This old man is really stupid!!"

In the underground palace of Xuanming Sect, the Dark Emperor who was hastily summoned grabbed the copied imperial edict and screamed angrily: "Why can a man named Xiao be in charge of all the military affairs in Hebei! Why doesn't that old man Zhu Wen die? Is he really not afraid of raising a tiger to cause trouble? "

His voice was sharp, and he gritted his teeth: "Damn it, damn it! The old man must be scared to death!"

Zhu Youwen was kneeling in the distance, his face also looking a little unhappy.

Even more than that, Xiao Yan will not only lead his old subordinates of the Guide Army on this expedition, but he can also select 3,000 elite soldiers from various armies to train them into an elite force. This mission is no small task, which means that during this period of time, Xiao Yan is qualified to intervene in the various departments of the Imperial Guard.

Who are the elite? Isn’t it up to Xiao Yan to decide?
"Your Highness, I'm afraid that Xiao Yan has come with ill intentions..." Zhu Youwen listened to the Emperor of Hell yelling for a long time, and finally found a chance to interrupt, his voice full of jealousy.

"I want you to remind me!" The Dark Emperor was furious. His figure suddenly flashed and suddenly appeared in front of Zhu Youwen. He slapped him without saying anything. "You are a piece of trash! I have spent so much time and effort on you. You are a piece of trash and you are no match for a brat in front of this old man!"

Zhu Youwen felt half of his face stiffen. He was furious, but he didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction and crawled over, begging, "Your Highness, calm down. That guy got the old man's support only after he issued a military order to capture Yanmen Pass. Yanmen Pass is so steep, how could he possibly take it down..."

"What a waste!" The Dark Emperor said angrily, "Isn't the point the Yanmen Pass? I don't care whether he can take it or not. Xiao Yan has regained the military power now. My efforts to drive him out of the capital have all been in vain! This guy is too powerful to be killed. I want to kill the old guy someday, so how can I ignore this bastard?"

The Hades Emperor's face, which looked like a child's, was filled with hatred. He kept pacing back and forth: "Do you want me to have a bloody fight with this brat? Who dares to fight him? You, a loser, go."

Zhu Youwen was speechless.

Even if they usually disdain Xiao Yan and underestimate his achievements, they have to admit that in most people's opinion, Xiao Yan's military talent is not exaggerated after all, and Zhu Wen is willing to use Xiao Yan not just because of his cooking skills.

But this guy is really good at fighting, and he can really use the army like his own arm! How many people in the court dare to say that they can beat Li Cunxu in a battle, and how many people dare to say that they can beat Xiao Yan who came out of Hebei with an army of 10,000 or 20,000?
Zhu Youwen is not stupid, so there is no need for him to seek death.

"Do you want to start early?"

After a long silence, Zhu Youwen suddenly spoke up: "Your Highness has the Emperor under his control. As long as Xiao Yan is trapped in the city, killing him can be done with a decree. After the task is completed, I can summon Shenwu, Guangsheng, and Yulin to the city in the name of staying in Dongdu to take charge of the overall situation..."

"As long as the emperor is in our hands, Your Highness will be the crown prince, and there will be no chaos..."

The Hades turned around suddenly.

Looking at his eyes, Zhu Youwen felt a chill down his spine.

The Dark Emperor smiled suddenly, his voice was suppressed and sharp, "There is also Zhu Youzhen's Tianxing Army. I don't want to see him cause any trouble. Find an opportunity to trap Zhu Youzhen. Even if Xiao Yan wants to fight like a trapped beast, without Zhu Youzhen, he can only wait to die!"

Zhu Youwen was overjoyed. Although he seemed to have not remembered something, he just bowed his head.

"Your Highness, I have a good opinion!"

(End of this chapter)