Thief Emperor

Chapter 302 Game against each other
The strength of the Shuofang Army is obvious to all.

It is almost certain that if the Shuofang Army is the only border army in the world, then General Wei is not simply testing the imperial court in the Central Plains all the time. It is very likely that he has already begun to march into Guanzhong to test the strength of the imperial court.

And now, while the Shuofang Army was testing the imperial court, it also became a tool for other military governors to test the depth of the imperial court.

In this stalemate, the Crown Prince wanted to summon Wei Quanzhong to the capital, which was essentially a game of chess between the two sides. After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also wanted to see whether the Shuofang Army had any intention of rebelling.

However, this kind of temptation is quite dangerous.

Du Qian lowered his head to drink tea and said slowly: "Wei Quanzhong will definitely enter Guanzhong, but he will definitely not go alone. If things go wrong, there will be a commotion and the court will be completely paralyzed."

Li Yun nodded, then sighed: "In fact, the prince has no other choice at this time. If the Shuofang Army continues to drag on like this, the situation in the Central Plains will not collapse, but the court will be dragged down by him."

"In the final analysis, there is still something wrong with the Imperial Guards."

Li Yun whispered: "If the Imperial Guards could have even half the combat power of the Shuofang Army, the Shuofang Army would be obedient by now."

Du Qian said silently: "No matter how chaotic the situation in the capital is, it will not affect Jiangnan for the time being. This is a good opportunity for Erlang."

Li Yun nodded: "I feel the same way. We need to complete the development as soon as possible, but this development..."

Mr. Li paused and said in a deep voice: "It doesn't necessarily mean expanding the army."

Now, Li Yun’s base has basically taken shape, but to be honest, it is still relatively rough.

An army of several thousand people is still quite powerful in the "elegant and easy-going" area of ​​Jiangnan, but it may not be enough once it reaches some places with "simple folk customs".

Moreover, although there are people and territory, some detailed rules have not yet been established.

Simply put, a systematic system has not yet been established. The reason why the current system in Wuzhou can function is because of Li. If Li suddenly disappears one day, the entire Wuzhou system will collapse and cease to exist.

All of these are the result of hard work.

There are no shortcuts anymore, and we need to build up our strength bit by bit.

The good news is that Li Yun now has his own team. As the team grows, the speed of establishing a sound system will be much faster than before.

After all, Li Yun had created something out of nothing before, but now he has a foundation of his own. He just needs to slowly expand his business.

Because there were many things to discuss, Li Yun and Du Qian talked from morning to afternoon. In the afternoon, because Li Yun still had many things to deal with, the two separated at the Governor's Mansion.

Du Qian found Meng Qing in the governor's mansion, and after asking around, he soon learned where Gu Wenchuan lived.

Because Li Yun was too busy during this period, he did not entertain Gu Wenchuan. Mr. Gu did not leave, but found an inn near the governor's mansion to stay in. He walked around from time to time every day, and then wrote documents and reported to the court.

When Du Qian found him, Mr. Gu was walking around Wuzhou City. Du Qian approached him, bowed, and said with a smile, "Mr. Wenchuan."

Gu Wenchuan stopped and looked Du Qian up and down. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Du Shiyi?"

Du Qian smiled and nodded: "It is the junior."

He looked at Gu Wenchuan and said with a smile, "Are you busy, sir?"

Gu Wenchuan didn't answer, but frowned and said, "Aren't you the governor of Yuezhou? Why did you come to Wuzhou?"

"Yuezhou and Wuzhou are neighboring states."

Du Qian smiled and said, "It's nothing strange to have some exchanges. But Mr. Gu is an imperial censor of the imperial court, so why is he in Wuzhou?"

"It's a long story."

Gu Wenchuan took Du Qian with him, and the two of them found a teahouse on the roadside and sat down. After drinking tea, Gu Wenchuan told him the purpose of his visit, and then hummed, "That Li Zhao has great ambitions. I am here, watching him all the time."

"If there is any change in Wuzhou, the court will be informed in time."

Du Qian smiled dumbly and shook his head, saying, "Sir, you are in Wuzhou. If he really has bad intentions and wants to kill you, it would only take a word for him to do it."

"I have already reported this to the court."

Gu Wenchuan lowered his head to drink tea and said, "If I die in Wuzhou, or there is no news for ten consecutive days, it means that Li Zhao in Wuzhou has already shown signs of rebellion!"

Du Qian shook his head and sighed, "What can we do if we know the current state of the court?"

"I'm afraid not. We have no ability to hold Li Zhao accountable. Mr. Wenchuan would have died in vain."

"How can it be considered a waste of life if I could have alerted the imperial court?"

Gu Wenchuan looked at Du Qian and continued, "I have always been very good at judging people. Yuezhou should also pay more attention to Wuzhou's movements to prevent any changes."

Du Qian nodded first, then suddenly smiled and said, "Mr. Wenchuan, in fact, the people in Yuezhou and Wuzhou are living pretty well, aren't they?"

Gu Wenchuan was drinking tea. Upon hearing this, he suddenly looked up at Du Qian, his eyes full of shock: "Du Shiyi, you!"

Du Qian still looked calm and had a kind smile.

"Since you are going to stay in Jiangnan for a long time, you should take a look around Jiangnan."

"The more you see, the more your thoughts...may change."

He stood up, took out copper coins from his sleeve, put them on the table to pay the bill, and before leaving, he looked at Gu Wenchuan again and said, "Sir, I have known you since we were in the capital, and I can guarantee that you will not die in Jiangnan." After that, Du Qian stood up and left silently.

Although Gu Wenchuan cannot represent the entire officialdom, or the circle of scholars, he is definitely one of the leaders among the clear stream.

If I could change his mind, then my future career might be easier.

Gu Wenchuan looked down at the big money on the table, then looked up at Du Qian who was walking away, his eyes full of shock.

"The Du family... is the Jingzhao Du family..."

He murmured, then frowned secretly.

"Could it be that Li Zhao's rapid rise was due to the Du family's influence..."

Thinking of this, Gu Wenchuan's expression became complicated again.

He just couldn't understand how a noble family based in Jingzhao could do such a thing.

"I..."

Gu Wenchuan stood up and walked out.

“It’s time to take a closer look.”

…………

Under the Tongguan City Wall, the tall Shuofang Jiedushi Wei Quanzhong, fully armored, looked up at Tongguan and winked at the messenger beside him.

The messenger immediately understood what was going on, and ran to the gate with a dozen people, shouting loudly: "General Wei, the governor of Shuofang, has been summoned to the capital to see the emperor. Open the gate and let them pass!"

At this time, the commander of Tongguan was named Wu Heng, who was also from a royal family. However, he was very far away from the main lineage and did not receive any favors. He entered the army on his own ability.

However, because of his background, he was trusted by the court and was assigned to Tongguan to serve as the garrison commander of Tongguan.

At this time, General Wu was standing on the wall, looking at the scene outside the city. He couldn't help but take a deep breath and swallow his saliva.

Because this Shuofang Jiedushi did not enter Guanzhong alone, or with dozens of followers. Behind him, there was an orderly army lined up in formation.

It looks like there are about 10,000 people!
Wu Heng took several deep breaths to calm himself down, then waved to call a captain and ordered him to go out of the city to report.

The lieutenant went down the pass and came to the outside of the city. He half-knelt in front of General Wei's mount and clasped his fists and said, "General, Tongguan cannot allow you to bring so many troops into the pass. If you want to enter Guanzhong, you can only bring 500 people at most."

General Wei looked at the captain expressionlessly, then flew into a rage: "The Crown Prince's edict did not forbid me to lead my troops into the pass. What right do you have to block my way?"

The captain was so frightened that he lowered his head and said, "The rules of Tongguan have always been like this..."

Wei Quanzhong had a blank expression on his face, and hummed softly, "I suspect that it is because of the evil officials that the court has become so chaotic!"

"Since you Tongguan won't let me enter, I won't enter and will stay outside Tongguan!"

"Go and tell your garrison commander to tell the court that it's not that Wei Quanzhong doesn't want to go to the capital, but someone stopped me at Tongguan and wouldn't let me enter!"

General Wei said sternly, "Also, the Shuofang Army was ordered by His Majesty to go south to quell the rebellion. How come after arriving in the south, all the imperial edicts were from the Crown Prince?"

"Tongguan, please tell the court on my behalf that from now on, I will only obey His Majesty's orders!"

"Ignore the rest!"

At this point, General Wei had a blank expression on his face. He waved his hand and shouted, "Set up camp!"

The 10,000 Shuofang troops camped outside Tongguan Pass.

The captain went back trembling with fear and reported to General Wu Heng, who was so frightened that his face turned pale.

If this is reported, and the prince wants to hold him accountable, I'm afraid he will be held responsible.

But at this point, there is nothing we can do.

General Wu sighed and waved his hand, saying, "Go to the capital again and report the original...original words."

"I will write another memorial and present it to you."

The captain could only bow his head.

"Yes."

Just as the Shuofang Army was stationed at Tongguan, a fat young man finally arrived in the capital with his caravan.

He stretched his head and looked at the capital city, tears streaming down his face.

"finally…"

"Back alive!"

(End of this chapter)