Thief Emperor

Chapter 1135 The Cry of Cangshan

Upon hearing these four words, all three, including Chen Da, immediately stood up. Led by the Prince of Qin, the three walked out. Not long after, He Man, the Director of the Guanzhong Division of the Nine Departments, happened to arrive at the entrance of the restaurant. He glanced at the three and immediately clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "Greetings, Second Prince, Fourth Prince, and General."

The Fourth Prince, Prince Su, Li Tong, accompanied Chen Da to the Northwest. This matter was a secret to ordinary people, but it was no secret to the Nine Departments.

Moreover, the Nine Offices were artificially structured by the Duke of England and His Majesty the Emperor at their inception, which meant that a group of mid- to high-ranking officials were promoted in a very short period of time. As a result, after the founding of the country, the top officials of the Nine Offices had no way to advance further unless they left the Nine Offices to seek other opportunities.

He Man is a typical example of this type.

A decade or two ago, before the Jiangdong Army had even entered Guanzhong, the Guanzhong Commandery had already been established. At that time, he had already taken up the post of Director of the Guanzhong Commandery, and he still holds that post to this day.

Because of this, He Sizheng was fully aware of the movements throughout Guanzhong and even the Northwest.

Upon hearing his address, Prince Qin, Li Zheng, turned to look at his brother, waved to Li Tong, and then smiled at He Man, saying, "What is it that Minister He has come in person?"

He Man looked at Chen Da, then said to the Prince of Qin, "Your Highness, in the Lingzhou area of ​​the Northwest, some tribes that had already submitted have rebelled again, killing many of our Han Chinese civilians. General Chen should already know about this."

The Northwest is still too far from Li Yun. Although the news from the Nine Divisions spreads quickly, Chen Da, as the commander-in-chief of the Northwest this time, has naturally received the news.

He nodded and said, "I already know, but the Northwest has just withdrawn its troops, so I can only report to the imperial court."

He Sizheng then looked at the Prince of Qin, took out an imperial edict from his sleeve, held it in both hands and handed it to the Prince of Qin, and said in a low voice: "His Majesty sent back an edict from Qingyang, ordering His Highness the Prince of Qin to lead 10,000 Chang'an troops to Lingzhou and Shuofang to quell the rebellion."

"General He Junhe will be appointed as the deputy general."

At this point, He Man took out another letter from his bosom, presented it to the Prince of Qin with both hands, and said, "The matter was urgent, so the imperial edict was sent to Your Highness through our Nine Departments. This letter is a family letter from His Majesty to Your Highness. Please accept it."

Without saying a word, King Li Zheng of Qin knelt on the ground and raised his hands high: "Your subject kneels to receive the imperial edict."

He Sizheng reached out and helped him up, saying with a smile, "Your Highness, we, the Nine Departments, are not imperial envoys; we are merely delivering a message to His Majesty."

Having received the emperor's edict, one is theoretically considered the emperor's messenger, and the recipient should rightfully kneel down.

However, delivering an imperial edict to a prince is a different matter. Since they are father and son, He Man would not be foolish enough to put on airs in front of the prince.

His Highness the Prince of Qin then stood up, took the two documents, and first opened the letters his father loved to write home. After reading them carefully, he opened the imperial edict drafted by Prime Minister Du. Only when he saw the imperial seal on the edict did he turn to He Man and say, "Thank you for making this trip, Chief He. Please inform the Emperor through the Nine Departments. Your son will certainly do his job well."

He paused for a moment before saying, "Tomorrow, I will write a letter to my father and trouble the Nine Departments to deliver it to our hometown of Qingyang."

He Man immediately nodded and said, "This is all done by the Nine Departments."

After exchanging a few polite words, He Man clasped his hands in farewell and took his leave. The King of Qin saw him off for a couple of steps, then took a deep breath, turned back to look at Chen Da, his eyes full of excitement: "Uncle Chen."

"You'd better teach me properly."

Chen Da looked at the King of Qin and said with a smile, "He Jun is an old general. Commanding 40,000 or 50,000 troops is not a problem for him. With him as your deputy, Your Highness doesn't need to worry about anything else. You just need to make decisions. If you can't make up your mind, just listen to He Jun's opinion."

Chen Da paused for a moment before continuing, "The Shuofang area is a hidden danger left behind by Wei Quanzhong. At that time, the court tried to appease the remaining forces of Wei Quanzhong's remnants, but they have been dead for more than ten years and are still not dead."

"To betray again this time."

Chen Da looked at the King of Qin and said in a low voice, "I estimate that thousands of our people have died at the hands of these people, so this time, we cannot be lenient."

Upon hearing this, the King of Qin's eyes burned with fervor: "I've been suffocating in Chang'an for the past two or three years. How dare these beasts kill my people of the Great Tang like this!"

He looked at Chen Da, clenching his fist: "Uncle Chen, when will we be able to muster 10,000 troops?"

"Three days."

Chen Da said, "Three days later, I will give Your Highness ten thousand troops to lead to Lingzhou."

"it is good."

King Qin grinned and said, "If I don't teach them a lesson this time, I'm not a Li!"

Prince Su stroked his chin and then said, "Second Brother, I'll go with you."

Even just taking a look would be helpful.

The King of Qin looked at Chen Da, and General Chen Da said with a wry smile, "I must ensure the safety of the Fourth Prince. I have promised His Majesty this."

"rest assured."

The King of Qin grinned: "Even if I die, the fourth prince won't die!"

He pulled the Fourth Prince along, heading towards the Prince of Qin's residence, and said loudly as they walked, "Uncle Chen, go and prepare the troops. I'll come to find you in three days!"

Having said that, the Prince of Qin, along with the Fourth Prince, walked further and further away.

General Chen stood with his hands behind his back, watching the two leave. After a long while, he shook his head and sighed.

"He rejoices at the mention of war and has a strong bloodlust."

He was somewhat lost in thought, and only after a while did he come to his senses, sighing, "It's just like how I rose to power when I was young. Those opportunists in Shuofang."

General Chen shook his head and walked away.

"I'm going to be in big trouble."

…………

Qingyang Prefecture, atop Cangshan Mountain.

His Majesty the Emperor, accompanied by Prince Li Zheng of Jin, Duke Liu Bo of Yingguo, and Prime Minister Du, was walking up the mountain.

The four of them rode horses. Empress Xue and the others had not yet arrived, so this time, only the four of them went up the mountain.

Prince Jin and Duke Ying followed behind Li Yun, looking at the familiar mountain path, they couldn't help but feel excited, but they dared not walk in front of Li Yun, so they could only follow closely behind.

Li Yun glanced at Du Qian, then at the two brothers, one fat and one thin, and said speechlessly, "Go ahead if you want. Brother Shouyi and I will walk slowly behind."

After saying that, he looked at Liu Bo and said with a smile, "You rascal, you've probably gained more than half your weight in the last twenty years. Be careful when you go up the mountain, don't fall."

Liu Bo was quite thin back then, but that was because of poor living conditions. After he started doing business for Li Yun, he gradually gained weight, and now he has become quite plump, with the typical physique of an official.

The Duke of England waved his hand and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I can climb this road with my eyes closed."

After saying that, he and Prince Jin strode up the mountain.

Li Yun and Master Du continued to walk at a leisurely pace behind, because Master Du was not good at climbing and often needed Li Yun to help him.

After walking for a while, Minister Du followed behind Li Yun and asked, "Did His Majesty grow up here?"

"Ah."

Li Yun said with a smile, "My father was forced to go up the mountain by the government back then. He became an unregistered person and a bandit. Although he was called a bandit, most of the time he just stole some food to survive."

“When the old man passed away, I was eighteen years old. I searched his place for a long time and found only about twenty strings of cash, a knife, and a suit of armor.”

"That armor, I guess it wasn't stolen by him, it was probably his armor from when he was young."

Du Qian nodded and followed for a while. He saw that the mountain path became steeper and more difficult to walk on. He barely kept up and sighed, "Such terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. No wonder it can be used to build a stronghold."

Li Yun pulled him up, shook his head and laughed, "What determines whether there is a village or not is not the terrain, but the government."

"If the government does its job well, who would want to become an outlaw?"

Du Qian nodded and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is right."

"Ouch!"

Just as Li Yun was about to continue speaking, he suddenly heard a cry of surprise from ahead. He recognized Liu Bo's voice, frowned, and then said, "Brother Shouyi, wait for me here. I'll go take a look."

After saying that, he strode forward and soon found Duke Liu Bo of England at the bottom of a small slope. The Duke was lying at the bottom of the slope with a cut on his forehead from a tree branch, bleeding profusely.

His clothes were torn in several places, and there were bloody scratches on his arms.

Prince Jin was carefully walking down the slope, asking as he went, "Ninth Prince, are you alright?"

Are you alright?

In comparison, Li Yun was the most agile. He didn't stop and quickly reached the bottom of the slope, where he helped Liu Bo sit up.

"Are you alright?"

Li Yun frowned.

The Duke of England looked at Li Yun, then at the Cangshan Mountain, and suddenly overwhelmed with grief, tears streaming down his face as he burst into tears.

Seeing him crying so hard, Li Yun knew he was alright and found it somewhat amusing: "Why are you crying?"

"At such an old age."

The Duke of England cried a few more times before wiping away his tears. He looked at Li Yun and felt a deep sorrow welling up inside him.

"Second brother."

His eyes were filled with tears.

"Why can't I get up Cangshan Mountain?"

"Why can't I get up Cangshan Mountain anymore..."

(End of this chapter)