Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 614 Do you want to rebel?

The King of Daliang has decided to retreat to Hanzhong Prefecture, but the Governor Du Hesheng sent by the court has come to Yijun Prefecture.

In the city of Yijun Prefecture, Governor Du Hesheng’s ceremonial procession arrived in front of the government office in a grand procession.

Zhou Lan and his generals stood in front of the government gate to welcome them.

The guard of honor stopped and Du Hesheng walked down from the sedan chair carried by eight people.

Zhou Lan frowned as she watched.

Damn it, it’s already this time and Du Hesheng is still doing this.

With such a grand trip, Du Hesheng was not afraid of encountering bandits along the way.

The most hateful thing is that such a trip requires a large number of laborers and runners. The eight-man sedan chair and the slaves and runners following behind all cost a lot of money and food.

Just at the first meeting, Zhou Lan had a very bad impression of this governor whom she had never met before.

"Greetings to the Governor!"

But he is the governor after all, so Zhou Lan and others naturally have to show respect when they meet him.

Du Hesheng is tall and looks quite majestic. He is probably in his early fifties, with some gray hair combed meticulously.

He wore a black gauze hat and a crimson official robe, and exuded an extraordinary aura.

Behind him, there were two followers holding the trump card flag, carrying the emperor's orders, which further demonstrated his power.

"General Zhou, the cabinet has asked me to ask you why you are afraid of the enemy and don't move forward?"

Du Hesheng came in front of Zhou Lan and started questioning her.

Zhou Lan stood up and looked at Du Hesheng, "When did this general ever fear the enemy and not move forward?"

"It's been more than four months, and General Zhou has only wiped out the bandits in the two prefectures, and they were just small bandits. Isn't he afraid of the enemy and not moving forward?"

"Haha, General Zhou, don't think I'm a fool. If the troops of Beiyuan Town had attacked with all their might, they should have reached Longnan Province long ago. General Zhou has been staying here all this time. Isn't that because he is afraid of the enemy and refuses to move forward?"

Du Hesheng had a sneer on his face and kept repeating that he was afraid of the enemy and did not move forward.

He wanted to pin the crime of fearing the enemy on Zhou Lan, so that he could suppress Zhou Lan and gain control of the military power of Beiyuan Town.

Before coming here again, he had already thought of the next plan, which was to first take control of the military power of Beiyuan Town, and then lead the army of Beiyuan Town southward as soon as possible to wipe out the bandits in Longyuan, and go to Longnan to encircle and suppress King Daliang!

To be honest, he didn't want to take this job because it was already at the center of controversy. If he didn't handle it properly, he, the governor, would be immediately ruined.

In order to protect himself and to give an explanation to the emperor and the court, he must wipe out the bandits led by King Daliang as soon as possible.

Therefore, he planned everything before coming here. He first gave orders to Suzhou Town and Longbei Town, asking them to go to Longnan as soon as possible, and then he personally came to Yijun Prefecture to take charge of the military power of Beiyuan Town.

As for whether doing so would offend Zhou Lan and the Ningguo Mansion, he didn't care at all.

The Ningguo Mansion today is no longer the Ningguo Mansion of the past. Ningguo Duke Zhou Mao has not been involved in state affairs for more than ten years, and Crown Prince Zhou Xu is not involved in miscellaneous affairs. Only Zhou Lan is supporting the entire Ningguo Mansion.

He was not afraid of offending the Ningguo Mansion at all, and he couldn't care about these things now.

"How can we advance without money and food?" Zhou Lan asked, frowning.

"Longbei Town and Suzhou Town can do it, why can't you, General Zhou?" Du Hesheng said coldly.

Zhou Lan stared at Du Hesheng with her eyes, her eyes were full of sharpness.

Zhou Lan is now over sixty years old and looks much older than before. She is now an old lady.

But who is Zhou Lan?
A female general who has led troops for more than 30 years!
Her body is still straight, her eyes are still sharp, and her aura is still chilling.

Du Hesheng felt a little frightened when she stared at him.

"Xu Yuan and Zhao Fu are not very smart, is your brain not working well too?" Zhou Lan said coldly.

Du Hesheng wondered if he had heard it wrongly, and he looked at Zhou Lan in astonishment.

Are you scolding me?
Are you really scolding me?

He was a little overwhelmed and didn't understand why Zhou Lan dared to speak so harshly!

Xu Yuan, Marquis of Yongkang, was the general-in-chief of Suzhou Town, and Zhao Fu, Marquis of Wujing, was the general-in-chief of Longbei Town.

Zhou Lan even scolded these two marquises!
"You, General Zhou, do you know what you are doing? You are committing insubordination!" Du Hesheng shouted angrily.

Zhou Lan was so angry.

She really couldn't suppress her anger.

What is the court doing?

He doesn't do his job and just keeps yelling nonsense all day.

Without money or food, she was just asked to suppress bandits.

Isn't this nonsense?

As for why Longbei Town and Suzhou Town could continue to encircle and suppress the bandits, haha, it was naturally because they were robbing money and food.

Thieves pass by like a comb, and soldiers pass by like a rake.

At this time, the officers and soldiers of Longbei Town and Suzhou Town were probably more hateful than the bandits.

Zhou Lan couldn't hold back her temper any longer.

It would have been fine if the court couldn't help, but they actually sent such an idiot to cause trouble.

Do you really think I’m a vegetarian?

"Shut up. If you dare to make noise again, do you really think I dare not do anything?" Zhou Lan said coldly.

Du Hesheng was even more furious. "The royal flag is here. Do you still dare to disobey the royal order?"

The royal command flag is divided into flag and flag. The emperor gave the governors and generals great power. Acting under this flag is like following the king's order.

It is a bit similar to the Shangfang Sword, but not as domineering. Basically, every governor and general of each town will have a set of royal flags to mobilize the army. This is why the governor and general of the border town have the right to temporarily mobilize troops.

In the past, the imperial court rarely appointed governors, and there were only governors and generals in the border towns. Under normal circumstances, only the governor would hold the king's flag, and the general could also hold the king's flag in special periods.

When Yang Zhengshan led the Tenglong Guard to attack Prince Qing and Ji Feiyu, he was the one who held the king's banner, while Governor Pang Tang did not have the king's banner, so Yang Zhengshan was the main general at that time, and Pang Tang could only be responsible for logistics.

Now Zhou Lan also has the royal flag in his hand, but Du Hesheng is the governor of three provinces and three towns appointed by the court, and the royal flag in his hand has much more power than the one in Zhou Lan's hand.

But who is Zhou Lan? He was born in the Ningguo Mansion and has led troops for more than 30 years. How could he be scared by a set of royal orders?
"Get out!" Zhou Lan shouted angrily, showing no mercy to Du Hesheng.

Du Hesheng pointed at Zhou Lan, shaking with anger.

He looked at the generals behind Zhou Lan and said angrily, "Are you guys planning to rebel?"

Song Hao raised his head and looked at the white cloud floating in the blue sky. Hey, when will it rain?

The other generals either lowered their heads to look for ants, or raised their heads to look at the sky, as if their ears were stuffed with hair and they could not hear any sound.

Even a fool can see that Du Hesheng has no good intentions.

The generals of Beiyuan Town are not stupid, so how could they not see this clearly?

If they were asked to choose between Du Hesheng and Zhou Lan, they would know what to choose without having to think.

It’s not that they really want to rebel, but they all want to receive Zhou Lan’s food and military pay.

The court does not provide money and food, and now the entire Beiyuan Town is relying on Zhou Lan for support. With Zhou Lan around, the soldiers of Beiyuan Town can be suppressed. Once Zhou Lan is gone, the soldiers of Beiyuan Town will cause riots within three months.

Because the food and fodder they had was only enough to last for more than two months.

Zhou Lan really didn't want to waste time talking to this idiot, "Someone, drive these idiots out of the city!" Wang Yunqiao received the order and without saying a word, he raised the spear in his hand and slammed it into the ground.

"roll!"

Hundreds of female soldiers from the Royal Guard Battalion also held spears in their hands and looked at Du Hesheng with cold eyes.

The followers and officers behind Du Hesheng trembled with fear, and even Du Hesheng was frightened.

"You, you~~"

Du Hesheng was furious and pointed at Zhou Lan, but finally left in shame after saying something harsh.

"Very good, very good, let's wait and see!"

A moment later, the huge honor guard ran out of the city in shame.

Wang Yunqiao looked at their backs and said in a low voice beside Zhou Lan: "General, will this cause trouble?"

Zhou Lan rubbed his brows and said, "What else can we do? We have finally managed to stabilize the two prefectures. Are we going to give up these two prefectures again?"

"Don't worry, I will report this to His Majesty!"

She had no other choice but to comfort her soldiers in this way.

The problem now is not Du Hesheng. Zhou Lan doesn't really care about Du Hesheng. If she is willing to give him face, Du Hesheng is the governor. If she is not willing to give him face, then who is Du Hesheng?

Do you really think that the king's command will work?

Twenty years ago, no one dared to disobey the king's orders represented by the king's flag, but now everything has changed.

The imperial court no longer has any prestige, and the royal flags have almost become decorations.

So what really gave Zhou Lan a headache was not Du Hesheng, but the court.

After driving Du Hesheng away, Zhou Lan immediately wrote a memorial and sent it to Kyoto.

At this time, Lu Wenyuan of Liaoyuan Provincial Administration Office also received a transfer order from the court.

In the study, Lu Wenyuan, who was over fifty years old, sat behind the desk, frowning as he looked at the transfer order sent from Kyoto.

His eldest son Lu Miaoshu stood behind him with an excited look on his face.

"Dad, when are we going to Beijing?"

Being promoted from provincial governor to minister of war was not just a simple promotion, it also meant that Lu Wenyuan entered the imperial court from the local area, and the next step was to become a cabinet minister.

Lu Miaoshu thought this was a good thing and couldn't wait to accompany Lu Wenyuan to Kyoto.

Lu Wenyuan has two sons and one daughter. His eldest son, Lu Miaoshu, has always been by his side. His second son, Lu Miaowen, is studying in Anning County, preparing for the provincial examination. His youngest daughter, Lu Miaotong, married Yang Chengzhen and now lives on Xingyue Island.

Calculating his age, Lu Miaoshu is already 33 years old now.

"You can't go to Kyoto!" Lu Wenyuan put down the transfer order in his hand and said while stroking his beard.

"Can't go? Why?" Lu Miaoshu asked puzzledly.

Lu Wenyuan explained: "You are also aware of the situation in the court. If we go there now, we will only be stuck in the quagmire and unable to extricate ourselves!"

If Yang Zhengshan was in Kyoto, then Lu Wenyuan would definitely be willing to return to Kyoto.

Even if Yang Zhengshan is not in Kyoto, it would be fine if the Yang family is in Kyoto, but now the Yang family only has an empty mansion in Kyoto, and he cannot borrow the power of the Yang family in Kyoto at all.

Although he had some connections in Kyoto, these connections were of no help at all.

He knew very well that once he went to Kyoto, he would be caught up in endless struggles and it would be extremely difficult to accomplish anything practical.

There may even be many disasters caused by the struggles in the court.

Emperor Yanping regarded Lu Wenyuan as his trump card. Emperor Jianxing thought that Lu Wenyuan could change the situation in the court. However, Lu Wenyuan knew very well that he could do nothing.

If it were ten years ago, Lu Wenyuan would still have some confidence in changing the situation in the court, but now it's too late.

"Dad can't possibly disobey the court's orders!" Lu Miaoshu still hoped that Lu Wenyuan would go to Kyoto to take up his post, as he was the Minister of War, the absolute core of power.

"Please resign due to illness!" Lu Wenyuan said in a deep voice.

"Please draft a letter of resignation and send it to Kyoto!"

What a joke, wouldn't it be asking for trouble if we wade into muddy water at this time?
Lu Wenyuan saw the situation more clearly than Zhou Lan. Zhou Lan only thought that the court was in chaos, but Lu Wenyuan understood that the situation in the court was on the verge of collapse.

It's not that he can't turn the tide, but that he can't do it.

There is only one person in this world who can turn the tide, and that is His Majesty the Emperor!

If Emperor Jianxing is determined to burn his boats, completely break the chaos in the court, and then rebuild the court, then Lu Wenyuan is still willing to go to Kyoto to give it a try.

But Emperor Jianxing obviously did not have this determination. He was still thinking about patching up the situation and trying to keep the court going.

There is only one result of doing this, and that is that the situation in the court will only get worse.

Lu Wenyuan had seen through all of this a long time ago, and he had long lost confidence in the court, so he was willing to wander around Liaodong all these years.

Lu Miaoshu wanted to persuade her further, but he didn't say it in the end.

……

Inside Jiujiang City.

Chen Hengchang and Lin Fuan played chess against each other.

On the chessboard, the black and white pieces are fighting fiercely.

A cool breeze blew into the tea room from the window, ruffling the white gauze.

"When do we start?" Chen Hengchang asked, holding a chess piece and looking at the chess piece on the board.

Lin Fuan stroked his three-inch long goat-horn beard and said calmly, "Are you anxious?"

"Well, I've been waiting for more than 20 years. How can I not be anxious?" Chen Hengchang said.

Lin Fuan laughed and said, "I have been waiting for a hundred years!"

Chen Hengchang dropped the chess piece in his hand, "But I can't wait a hundred years!"

Lin Fuan nodded. He could wait for a hundred years because he was a congenital warrior. Chen Hengchang was not a congenital warrior, so he certainly could not wait for a hundred years.

It is extremely difficult to be able to wait patiently for more than 20 years.

"You have to be patient when doing things, otherwise you will lose everything if you are not careful!"

He placed a black piece, and then took away a dozen white pieces belonging to Chen Hengchang.

Chen Hengchang frowned slightly, looking at the four games with no chance of survival, he couldn't help but give in and admit defeat.

"Is the time not ripe yet?"

"Mature!"

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for someone!"

"Who is so important?" Chen Hengchang asked.

Lin Fuan slowly picked up the chess pieces on the chessboard and put them into the chess pot.

"People are coming!"

(End of this chapter)