Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1645: Is Your Majesty Stupid?

Although Chen Zhongshu didn't know much about Xun Ke, he had only heard of such a person in the Fengwu Army, but he knew very well that he couldn't tell the truth to Khabib!
Although they had not spent much time together, Chen Zhongshu was very clear that the Khan of the Golden Horde in front of him was a very realistic person!
The reason why he is being polite to me now is mainly because Habib regards the Daqian regime led by Ye Mingsheng as his biggest enemy, and he now knows enough about Daqian, so he wants to get some knowledge about Daqian from this former Daqian official!
If I can give Khabib what he wants, he will continue to be respectful to him like this, but if I can't give him what he wants, and I don't know the answers to his questions, I'm afraid it won't be long before Khabib abandons me!

Thinking of this, Chen Zhongshu was a little anxious, but then he thought, Habib had never seen Xun Ke, and Habib didn't know Xun Ke either, so he could just make up a story and make it sound plausible to fool him!
Chen Zhongshu coughed lightly and then made up a story:

"Great Khan, this Xun Ke is a fierce general under Ye Mingsheng. He made great contributions to the traitor Ye Mingsheng's usurpation of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, he was appointed as a general by the traitor and led his troops to the grassland!"

Habib didn't know what Chen Zhongshu was really thinking. He didn't know that Chen Zhongshu had conquered the world from Ye Mingsheng and sent Xun Ke to lead tens of thousands of soldiers to fight, and thus inferred that Xun Ke was very good at fighting. So Habib nodded without any doubt and said:

"Mr. Chen, you are right! This Xun Ke is indeed a fierce general under Ye Mingsheng. Jamuka of the Luobi tribe died at his hands. This man is resourceful and a difficult character indeed..."

Chen Zhongshu was also shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect that Habib actually knew this Xun Ke. How should he continue to make up a story?

Just as Chen Zhongshu was racking his brains, thinking about how to continue, a guard came over quickly and said:

"Your Majesty! General Makhachev sent someone over!"

As soon as these words came out, Habib's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and he immediately turned to Chen Zhongshu and instructed:

"Mr. Chen, go back and have a good rest first! I'll come back to ask you for advice another day!"

Hearing what Habib said, Chen Zhongshu felt as if he had been pardoned. However, in order not to arouse Habib's suspicion, he also pretended to be very natural, bowed to Habib and said:

"I will go back right away! Congratulations to you, Khan, for your victory!"

"Thanks for your good words, sir!"

After Chen Zhongshu left, he couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and a sense of luck also emerged in his heart. Even so, he also knew that although he had gotten away with it this time, he would have to stay in the Golden Horde for a long time, and such situations were bound to happen from time to time.
Therefore, if I don't want to be exposed, I must quickly understand the situation in Daqian!
Just as Habib was about to make his move, in the Daqian military camp, Xun Ke, who looked exhausted, called Zhang Shuai to him and said:

"Have the scouts returned?"

"Your Excellency the General, some scouts have returned, but they have not found any trace of the logistics convoy..."

Hearing this, Xun Ke frowned even deeper. After listening to Zhang Shuai's thoughts last night, he couldn't sleep for half the night. He finally got some sleep in the second half of the night. Now after getting up, he called Zhang Shuai over again.

Although the scouts have not found any evidence that the logistics convoy has been intercepted, Xun Ke is becoming more and more uneasy when he thinks that the logistics convoy has not arrived yet. He always feels that something must have happened to the logistics convoy!
Thinking of this, Xun Ke pondered for a moment and then instructed Zhang Shuai:
"Let our soldiers be on high alert! We are going to withdraw today!
"Yes!"

After Zhang Shuai took the order and left, Xun Ke also observed the sand table in the tent, wondering where the logistics convoy of thousands of people would be at this time!

Just as Xun Ke was thinking carefully, his personal guard came to report:
"General, Prince Robbe sent someone to ask you to come over. He said he wants to discuss something with you!"

If he had heard before that Dariachi was looking for him, Xun Ke would have gone there now, but at this time Xun Ke was completely disappointed with Dariachi. In addition, there might be a Cuman cavalry of thousands of people in the rear, so Xun Ke didn't want to waste time on Dariachi at all!

So Xun Ke, who was concentrating on the sand table, spoke without even raising his head:
"Tell the eldest prince that I have something to do now, let him do as he pleases!"

The guards were stunned when he heard this, but seeing that Xun Ke had no intention of speaking again, he bowed and left.

Xun Ke continued to study the sand table, but after an incense stick of time, footsteps were heard outside the door, accompanied by noisy voices. Xun Ke, who was studying the retreat route, couldn't help but frowned when he heard it.

Just as Xun Ke was about to ask a question, the guard came in again and said:
"General, Dariyachi is here..."

Xun Ke was also a little surprised when he heard this. Although Dariaochi, the Luobei Khan, was not recognized by Xun Ke because he had not been canonized by Ye Mingsheng, Dariaochi was very self-respecting about this. Since the expedition, every time there was a battle discussion, he asked Xun Ke to go over, and he himself had never been to the Daqian military camp!
And Dariyachi, who was so proud of his status, actually came. It could be said that it was a great condescension for Dariyachi himself, so there was no doubt that Dariyachi came here to ask for something!

As for what Dariachi wanted, even though Xun Ke had not met Dariachi yet, he could guess roughly what it was!
Although he was disappointed with Dari Achi and didn't want to talk about the same old things with him anymore, since he was here, Xun Ke had to see him!
Xun Ke felt helpless when he thought of this, but he could only order his personal soldiers:

"Please bring in the eldest prince!"

'Yes! '

Soon Dariyachi walked into the tent. As soon as Prince Luobi entered the tent, he didn't waste any words and went straight to the point:

"One last try! We will retreat like you said before and lure the enemy out!"

Xun Ke shook his head and said:

"Grand Prince, we have no chance of winning this war. I've told you that after these days of hard fighting, our army is running low on medicine and food, and our morale has taken a hit!"

“Even if the enemy comes out at this time, it will be difficult for our army to win. The most important thing for us now is to preserve our manpower…”

Seeing that Xun Ke was determined not to fight anymore, he was a little annoyed that he had condescended to come here, and immediately said:
"General Xun, we agreed that if you help me defeat the Cumans, I will go with you to Yijing to accept the title from your emperor. If you question the withdrawal now, you are breaking your promise!"

"If you don't keep your word, I can do the same!"

Seeing Dariyachi using this to threaten him, Xun Ke shook his head and said:
"First of all, our agreement was that I would go with you to attack the Golden Horde, but I didn't say I would help you defeat the Golden Horde!"

Hearing what Xun Ke said, Dariyachi wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Xun Ke signaled him not to be anxious, and then continued:

"Prince, if you don't want to go to Yijing to accept His Majesty's canonization, then you don't have to go. But you must think clearly about the consequences of doing so, and don't do anything that you will regret!"

As soon as these words came out, Dariyachi's face turned cold and he said:

"General Xun, are you threatening me?"

"No! I am just reminding you kindly to help you, the eldest prince, face reality!"

"Humph!"

With a cold snort, Dariyachi was about to leave, but at this moment, Xun Ke seemed to try to stop him, saying:
"My great prince, please stay!" Dariyachi narrowed his eyes and said calmly:
"What? You want to keep me?"

"You are worrying too much, my prince. I am just reminding you that there is a very likely thousands of Cuman cavalrymen to our east!"

When Dariyachi heard this, he was shocked and said:

"Why are there enemy troops behind us?"

"Whether there are enemy troops or not, I am still not completely sure, but my logistics convoy has not delivered supplies yet. I think there is a high possibility that something has gone wrong. And the enemy must have a lot of troops to be able to wipe out my entire logistics convoy!"

After Xun Ke finished speaking, Dari Achi pondered for a while and then quickly walked out of the room.

Looking at Dari Achi's leaving back, Xun Ke shook his head and prepared to go inspect the military camp. He planned to retreat under the cover of night tonight, so he had to take a look at the preparations of each camp. He would not feel at ease if he didn't take a look in person...
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Yijing, Ministry of Revenue

In the classroom, Xuan Yifeng spoke to Cui Shao;
"Master Cui, do you think His Majesty is stupid? Zhao Wanxian killed two county magistrates in Ji and Yu, and also abused his power to remove Tan Guangqing from his post and imprison him, but His Majesty only demoted him from the second rank to the third rank, and fined him half a year's salary!"

"Your Majesty, is he punishing Zhao Wanxian?"

"This is clearly protecting Zhao Wanxian!"

Looking at Xuan Yifeng who was filled with righteous indignation, Cui Shao took a sip of tea and said calmly:
"Yifeng! If you have anything to say, sit down and we'll talk slowly!"

Although Xuan Yifeng was indignant, he immediately sat down obediently when he heard what Cui Shao said.

Seeing this, Cui Shao continued:

"Zhao Wanxian is a talented person. He has made great contributions in fighting the disaster in Hebei and Henan this time. Those two county magistrates dared to act like this at this time. Even if they were reported to the authorities, they would still be killed. So Zhao Wanxian should just kill them!"

"As for Guang Qing, although he was wronged this time, it's no big deal as long as he's fine!"

Hearing what Cui Shao said, Xuan Yifeng continued:
"My Lord, I admit that Zhao Wanxian is indeed quite capable, and it is normal for His Majesty to value him!"

'But there are many capable people in this world, and many people who have made contributions to the court. So, does that mean that as long as you have the ability and have made contributions to the court, you can break the rules? "

"Zhao Wanxian is so arrogant and lawless that he thinks he is favored by the emperor..."

"The rules of the court must not be broken because of him! Zhao Wanxian has gone too far this time, and he must pay the price for it!"

"If he gets away with it this time, others will surely follow suit, and by then all the laws and rules of Daqian will be in chaos, so we must not let Zhao Wanxian open this loophole!"

"Master Cui! More than ten of our colleagues in the Procuratorate have decided to impeach Zhao Wanxian. Please lend us a helping hand!"

After saying that, Xuan Yifeng also stood up and bowed to Cui Shaochang.

Cui Shao saw this and shook his head and said:

"Yifeng, I will not report this matter to His Majesty, and I advise you not to report this to His Majesty either!"

"Master Cui, why are you like this? As the leader of the civil service of Daqian, how can you just sit back and do nothing?"

"Yifeng, listen to me. Right now, our Daqian is in a turbulent time. There are wars outside and disasters inside. To be honest, His Majesty is also a little overwhelmed right now. As ministers, we should share His Majesty's worries, not embarrass Him!"

"Since His Majesty has made a decision about Zhao Wanxian, then we should listen to His Majesty's arrangements and stop making trouble. A lot of things have happened in your Censorate during this period, so you should just keep quiet..."

"Master Cui, I was just about to tell you about this matter. This Coordination Office is a major cancer in our Daqian. How can we, as loyal and righteous people, sit idly by and watch these evildoers harm our Daqian officials!"

"This time we must take down the Coordination Office and severely punish these murderers!"

Cui Shao looked at Xuan Yifeng in front of him and said in a deep voice:
"Let's put Zeng Yang's matter aside. Do you think Liu Rui was really killed by the Coordination Office?"

Facing this question, Xuan Yifeng was a little speechless for a moment, but after hesitating, he still spoke:
"Those damn lackeys are capable of anything!"

Cui Shao looked at Xuan Yifeng deeply and said very calmly:

"The current situation is very unfavorable to Ji Xian, so Ji Xian wants to make a big deal out of a small matter. He will never take the initiative to provoke trouble, so he didn't distribute gunpowder and bullets that day!"

"So Liu Rui didn't die at the hands of the Coordination Office, but someone else! Someone wanted to deliberately intensify the conflict between the Coordination Office and the Metropolitan Procuratorate!"

"Yifeng! Who do you think did this?"

Xuan Yifeng's eyes flickered and he said:
"My Lord! I know nothing about this!"

Cui Shao smiled and said:

"Yifeng, don't be nervous. I know it wasn't you who did it. You don't have such cruel means!"

Hearing Cui Shao say this, Xuan Yifeng breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"The only one who understands me is Minister Cui!"

Cui Shao heard this and said quietly:
"Yifeng, since you don't know who did it, then who do you think His Majesty did it?"

"Who?"

"I!"