Thief Emperor

Chapter 153: Changes in Yuezhou
After Qiu Dian rebelled, he only managed to capture two counties on his own, and then Zhao Cheng came to join him.

It was under the leadership of Zhao Cheng that Qiu Dian was able to successfully capture Yuezhou City and sit in Yuezhou City, calling himself the King of Yue.

It was also because of this that Zhao Cheng held a very high status within the Yuezhou Group. Later, Zhao Cheng was in charge of the operations of the entire Yuezhou Group, while King Qiu stayed in the rear most of the time.

Although Zhao Cheng had outstanding abilities and made great contributions, he was not the "Lord" after all. Therefore, the more outstanding he was, the more Qiu Dian behind him would feel uneasy.

This is what is meant by "being too successful to be a threat to the ruler".

Now, Zhao Cheng has captured Qiantang again. He is definitely the number one hero in the entire Yuezhou Group, and the suspicion that follows will probably be even greater.

Now, if Su Jing honestly attacks Qiantang and Zhao Cheng honestly defends the city, allowing Qiu Dian and others to develop in the rear, then the suspicion will be at most suspicion, and may eventually disappear as the team grows.

But if Su Jing ignores Qiantang and goes straight to Yuezhou, then Zhao Cheng will have few choices.

From a rational point of view, he should keep his troops in place, even if it is only to hold back Su Jing's seven or eight thousand troops, it is worth it. When the time is right, he can even consider cutting off contact with the Yuezhou base camp, and then develop his power independently. After it becomes stronger, he can join forces with the main force of Yuezhou.

By that time, the troops had probably reached a point where the imperial court was helpless.

But theory is just theory after all.

It is still unknown whether Yuezhou can withstand Su Jing's attack. Even if Yuezhou can withstand the attack of the government army, why do you, Zhao Cheng, not move when Yuezhou is in danger? What is your intention?
Not clearly explained.

This is Yang Conspiracy.

General Su Jingsu did not choose to take these new recruits with him to engage in a head-on confrontation with Zhao Cheng's rebels and force an attack on the city, because even if he won, the two or three thousand men under his command would most likely be destroyed.

Only in this way can Zhao Cheng be forced to come out of Qiantang.

If he doesn't come out, the Yuezhou Group will naturally collapse, and the difficulty of cleaning it up will be greatly reduced at that time.

Zhao Cheng stood on the city wall and didn't speak for a long time.

After a long while, he said with difficulty: "Go to Yuezhou on horseback to report to the king. Tell the king that Su Jing has divided his troops to attack Yuezhou. Report the situation in Qiantang to the king one by one and let the king make the decision."

His subordinates were respectful.

"Yes!"

In the end, General Zhao gave up his rationality and chose to hand over the decision-making power to Qiu Dian, the king of Yuezhou.

Zhao Cheng's heart was already confused.

The young general was hit in the vital spot by the experienced and steady General Su.

...............

Yuezhou City.

King Qiu Dian has moved into the temporarily rebuilt palace.

This palace was rebuilt from a noble mansion in the former Yuezhou city. Although it still looks a bit rough and lacks the royal aura, it looks quite grand both in terms of its size and luxury.

At this time, in front of this Qiu Tianwang, there was a messenger kneeling. The messenger lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, your subordinates have heard the news that General He... General He should have been captured by the government troops and taken to the capital."

When these words came out, Qiu Dian just raised his eyebrows. A woman with dark complexion but gorgeous clothes stood up and screamed, "What did you say?"

"My brother, my brother..."

She was about to ask a question, but Qiu Dian frowned and waved his hand, saying, "No one asked him to leave the city. He wanted to go to Tianmu Mountain on his own. Who can he blame?"

Qiu Tianwang, who had a handsome appearance and a beautiful beard, snorted and said, "He Gang is too shameless. I heard that the ten girls given to me by the people of Tianmu Mountain were intercepted by him and taken back to his home. Now he is captured in Tianmu Mountain, and it is no one's fault."

Although Qiu Dian came from a poor family, he was literate since childhood and read a lot of books, so he was able to say "I am sick of the inequality between the rich and the poor".

It was precisely because of this sentence that a large number of talents quickly gathered around him, including Zhao Cheng who came to join him.

Because he had received education and Qiu Dian was naturally intelligent, his speech and manner were no longer like that of the peasant who had been doing forced labor.

Even if you are alone, it is not embarrassing.

Seeing his weeping wife, King Qiu frowned and said, "Take two thousand...three thousand strings of cash and give them to He Gang's family, so that they can mourn for him."

Qiu Dian was originally going to say two thousand, but after seeing his ex-wife's fierce look, he quickly changed his words.

Although he became a little arrogant after the flattery of his subordinates after the rebellion, he still had one good point, which was that he never forgot his wife.

He had slept with all the beauties he was supposed to sleep with, but until now, more than half a year had passed, and he had always respected his original wife, including reusing He Gang because of this original wife. After dealing with He Gang's affairs, Qiu Dian was about to get up and go back to his room to rest, when a panicked figure stumbled in, then knelt down in front of Qiu Dian with a plop.

"Great... King!"

"I am here on the orders of General Zhao to report urgent military information!"

Qiu Dian had already stood up at this time, and frowned when he heard this: "What happened?"

The messenger then bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial general Su Jing has reorganized his troops and has begun to move!"

"But Su Jing did not attack Qiantang as the king and General Zhao had expected. Instead, he assigned some of his men to guard Qiantang, and the other part went straight to Yuezhou!"

"Now, Su Jing's army of more than 10,000 to nearly 20,000 people is almost reaching Yongxing. After passing Yongxing, they can directly take Yuezhou!"

Qiu Dian looked calm, just raised his eyebrows and asked, "What did General Zhao say?"

The messenger hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, General Zhao doesn't know how to make the decision, so he sent me here to ask for your instructions!"

Qiu Dian pondered for a while, then smiled and said, "It seems that General Zhao still has concerns. You should go back and tell General Zhao to stay in Qiantang. I will personally lead the troops to stop the imperial army. These soldiers are all new recruits, so it will definitely be disadvantageous for them to attack the city."

"Once they lose their fighting spirit, we will surround them from both sides and destroy old man Su Jing's army!"

The messenger stood up and bowed his head respectfully: "I obey your command!"

After saying that, he retreated in a hurry.

Military Advisor Zhu Min frowned and said, "Your Majesty, Su Jing is a famous general who has been famous for many years. I'm afraid he will be difficult to resist."

"We have to resist even if it's difficult. This General Su clearly wants to force General Zhao out of Qiantang City. We spent a lot of effort to conquer Qiantang, and so many brothers died. We can't give it up so easily."

King Qiu looked at Zhu Min and frowned, "Mr. Zhu, are you asking me to transfer General Zhao back from Qiantang?"

"The king has misunderstood."

Zhu Min bowed his head and said, "Since we have started a rebellion, we will have to face the government troops sooner or later. In my opinion, the military order that the king just gave to Qiantang is perfect."

"With this order, given General Zhao's temperament, if Yuezhou is in trouble, he will definitely come to rescue."

Qiu Dian was furious. He stood up, slammed the table and shouted, "Mr. Zhu, you underestimate me! I am an upright person. How could I have such a dirty mind!"

Zhu Min shrank his head and dared not speak.

Qiu Dian stood up and left without waiting for Zhu Min to speak.

However, there was a hint of guilt in the eyes of this King Qiu, as if his thoughts had been exposed.

Zhu Min knelt on the ground, saw Qiu Dian off, and then looked at Qiu Dian's departing back, seeming to be thinking about something.

…………

About ten days after Su Jing's action of bypassing Qiantang and heading straight for Yuezhou began, Li Yun, who was in Dongyang, also received an order from General Su.

When Li Yun received the order from the general, he was counting the bandits escorted back by Li Zheng and the property of the mountain stronghold. After receiving the military order, he first read the content.

The content was very simple. It ordered Li Yun's troops to leave the vicinity of Dongyang County and station at the border between Dongyang and Yuezhou, ready to guard against the Yuezhou rebels escaping from Dongyang at any time.

After reading the military order, Li put it in his arms, looked at Zhou Liang, and said with a smile: "Uncle San, we are moving."

Zhou Liang knew it was a military order, so he nodded and asked, "Shou Hou has just finished suppressing bandits for half a month, are you going to suppress bandits here as well?"

"Suppress, you guys suppress yours."

Li glanced at the bandits and muttered, "Old Su is quite ruthless. The situation in Yuezhou may change soon. I will lead my men to station at the border between Dongyang and Yuezhou."

"Uncle San, after you have eliminated the bandits, you can find us there."

Zhou Liang took a step back and saluted.

"I obey my orders!"

　I'd like to recommend a new history book by a friend, about the Three Kingdoms. If you're interested, you can take a look!
　　

(End of this chapter)