Thief Emperor

Chapter 373: The Situation Changes

"Hahaha."

In the Shuofang Army camp in Weinan County, Jingzhao, General Wei was in his own tent, laughing so hard that he fell backwards and banged his head on the table. Tears were coming out of his eyes due to his laughter.

So much so that Luo Zhen, the deputy general of the Shuofang Army who came in to discuss the matter, stood still. After a while, when General Wei's laughter subsided, he asked cautiously, "What makes the general so happy?"

Wei Quanzhong wiped the tears from his eyes, looked up at Luo Zhen, waved at her, and said with a smile: "You've come at the right time, come on."

"Sit down, sit down and talk."

Luo Zhen is in his forties and has followed Wei Quanzhong for twenty years, so he was not too reserved. After sitting down, he smiled and said, "The general hasn't been this happy for a long time."

"Isn't it?"

General Wei laughed and said, "It's been a long time since anyone has been able to make me happy like this. This time I'm not the only one who's happy. I'm afraid the other military governors will also be happy for a while."

Luo Zhen was somewhat curious and asked, "What on earth could have made the general so happy?"

"Wang Junping has proclaimed himself emperor."

Wei Quanzhong grinned and said, "I have been controlling my strength for fear of beating him to death!"

General Wei smiled and said, "I even held back my strength, fearing that I would cut off his food supply and make it difficult for him to continue."

"I never expected this guy, who had lived a peaceful life in the capital for several months, would..."

General Wei slapped the table and laughed, "He actually proclaimed himself emperor and founded a country!"

"It's really funny!"

General Wei did not lie. During this period, the Shuofang Army's attacks were indeed slowed down.

In fact, ever since the Shuofang Army came south to support the Central Plains, they have been holding back in their fighting, fearing that they would kill this rebel army. They have no reason to stay in the Central Plains.

And now, even more so,

The rebels occupied the capital, and the Shuofang Army followed them into Guanzhong, and even turned around and closed Tongguan, just to strengthen themselves as much as possible while maintaining the status quo!

Although Wang Junping occupied the capital, his territory had always been extremely limited by the Shuofang Army. If they could not defeat the Shuofang Army in Guanzhong head-on, they would never be able to grow stronger.

The Shuofang Army needs to maintain the status quo so that they can not only occupy Guanzhong, but even most of the Central Plains.

You know, Luoyang, which was abandoned by the rebels, is now controlled by the Shuofang Army!

Following the rebels all the way, General Wei certainly couldn't let this "darling" die suddenly. Not only did he hold back on his strength, he even deliberately left a food route for the rebels so that they would always have food to eat.

Otherwise, this rebel army would never have been able to hold out until now.

The reason why General Wei wanted to "support" this rebel army was that once this rebel army was gone, he would have no reason to stay in Guanzhong, let alone in the Central Plains.

He was a minister of the Great Zhou and was promoted by the late emperor.

If he held on to Guanzhong and refused to leave the Central Plains, he would not only be in the wrong, but would also be attacked by other military governors.

In Wei Quanzhong's view, this rebel army has always been a tool for him to strengthen himself. When the day comes that the Shuofang Army is strong enough to dominate the world, there will be no need for this rebel army to exist anymore.

And now, the tool that General Wei has been keeping has actually proclaimed himself emperor!

When the news came, the Shuofang Jiedushi almost rolled on the ground with laughter.

So stupid.

He, who occupied most of the Central Plains and almost the entire Guanzhong and Shuofang Jiedushi, did not dare to have any idea of ​​proclaiming himself emperor. Wang Junping only occupied the capital and did not even occupy the entire Jingzhao, but he declared himself emperor!

Luo Zhen was also shocked for a moment after hearing the news, but then he also smiled and said, "I heard that Wang Junping was a salt merchant. Now it seems that he has a narrow vision and will never achieve anything great."

He looked at General Wei, bowed his head slightly and said: "Only a contemporary hero like the general who is good at planning and strategizing will be qualified in the future..."

"Forget it."

General Wei waved his hand to stop him from continuing, and said with a smile: "Don't praise me, I know everything in my heart, whoever shows his head will die."

"It is said that."

General Wei said, "The Fanyang army has already started to move. They said they were ordered by the court to enter Guanzhong to eliminate the rebels and bring back the king."

The Fanyang Jiedushi was stationed in a vassal state in the northeast of the Great Zhou, just north of the Pinglu Army. It was also a regular frontier army and its combat effectiveness was by no means inferior to that of the Shuofang Army.

General Wei looked up at Luo Zhen and asked, "What do you want from me?"

Luo Zhen then remembered the serious matter and lowered his head slightly and said, "General, an envoy from the imperial court has arrived and wants to see you."

Wei Quanzhong was stunned, then thought for a moment: "Please come in, please come in."

Soon, the imperial envoy was brought to General Wei's tent. The envoy was in his twenties or thirties, and had a handsome appearance. After seeing Wei Quanzhong, he bowed his head slightly and said, "Your humble servant Cui Shao greets the general."

"Cui Shao..."

General Wei looked at him and said with a smile, "But is he from Prime Minister Cui's family?"

Cui Shao bowed his head and said, "Prime Minister Cui is your uncle."

"She is indeed from a famous family."

General Wei looked him over and asked sternly, "Master Cui, are you from Xichuan?"

"Yes."

General Wei asked again: "But what is the imperial decree?"

Cui Shao nodded and was about to speak when General Wei was about to kneel down before him. Cui Shao quickly helped him up and shook his head, saying, "General, you are too polite. This is an emergency. There is no need to be polite. There is no need to be polite."

General Wei then stood up and asked, "Master Cui, what is the imperial decree?" "The Shuofang Army has fought bravely in the past two years and has won many victories. Now they are in Guanzhong, fighting the rebels. Your Majesty has praised the Shuofang Army many times. This time, you sent me here to grant a marriage to the son of the general. You are going to marry a princess to the Wei family."

"I wonder what you think, General?"

Wei Quanzhong thought about it, and soon nodded with a smile, saying, "Since it is His Majesty who has granted the marriage, how can we, as subjects, object? I gladly accept it."

"I wonder which princess is getting married?"

"Princess Shouyang."

Princess Shouyang is the daughter of the late emperor and the sister of the current emperor.

Cui Shao looked at Wei Quanzhong and asked, "The young master of the general's family seems to be unmarried?"

"Unmarried, unmarried."

Wei Quanzhong smiled and said, "Even if you are married, you can still get divorced."

He looked at Cui Shao and asked, "Besides this, is there anything else?"

"And one more thing."

Cui Shao looked at Wei Quanzhong, bowed his head slightly and said: "After the fall of Guanzhong, the whole world was shaken. Many righteous men in many places could not bear to see the rebellion wreaking havoc, so they formed an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people and are heading towards Guanzhong."

"The leader is Guo Yu, the governor of Shannan East Road."

"In addition, Pei Xiu, the governor of Hedong, also wrote to the court, preparing to enter Guanzhong to defend the king."

"It won't take long for us to reach Guanzhong. By then, we will be able to fight alongside the general's Shuofang Army and recapture the capital and Guanzhong as soon as possible."

General Wei still had a smile on his face when he heard this.

But in my heart, I am not that happy anymore.

But he couldn't refuse any of these things, so he smiled and said, "The Shuofang Army is fighting hard in Guanzhong, and it would be great if they could have reinforcements."

"With two reinforcements here, the recovery of the capital is just around the corner."

Seeing that he did not get angry, Cui Shao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, no one was sure what the Shuofang Jiedushi was thinking.

If Wei Quanzhong turned against them and killed him, the Cui family would be completely helpless against this great general.

Cui Shao spoke a few more words to Wei Quanzhong cautiously, then stood up and said goodbye.

General Wei called his son to send Cui Shao out, while he himself stayed in the big tent, touching his chin with his hand, lost in thought.

"This is where the world turns upside down..."

"Let's get rid of Wang Junping and let me welcome him back to the court. I will be the master of the court from now on..."

The general pondered for a long time, then looked up at the sky outside the tent, as if he was muttering something, or asking the heavens.

"Does the Great Zhou still have a future?"

…………

The news that Wang Junping proclaimed himself emperor and founded the country in the capital quickly spread throughout the world.

At this time, anyone with a discerning eye would laugh at this so-called Emperor of Qi.

Some smart people have already figured out that this so-called Qi State will not be able to achieve anything and will be driven out of the capital sooner or later.

After Wang Junping was driven out, few people could tell whether the court could return to the capital.

The news spread quickly from Guanzhong through the Central Plains all the way to Yangzhou City in Jiangbei. At this time in Yangzhou City, Li Yun was drinking with Zhou Liang, who had just led his troops to Yangzhou, and discussing the subsequent expansion of the army in Yangzhou.

Du Qian hurried over, took Li Yun aside, and told him about the situation in Guanzhong.

"Wang Junping went insane and proclaimed himself emperor."

"He will probably not stay in the capital for long. He will be driven out soon."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and said slowly: "I'm afraid that all local forces will have to take action, especially those big ones, most of them will not want to see the Shuofang Army dominate."

Li Yun digested this information and thought: "If all parties fight and finally reach a compromise, it is really possible..."

"Welcome the imperial court back to Guanzhong."

None of the military governors, especially those with great power, would submit to anyone else. If a large group of people made a fuss in Guanzhong, and there was no particularly strong force that could suppress all the forces, then in the end, all the forces would have to compromise.

The so-called compromise is a result that all parties can accept.

Then it is very likely that the court will have a chance to return to the capital.

Du Qian stroked his chin and thought for a while, then said thoughtfully: "It is indeed possible, but even if the court can return to Guanzhong."

"It can't be the same court as before."

"More than that."

Li Yun recalled the old things in another world and said softly.

"Those people can't become emperors themselves, maybe..."

"It's time to start fighting for the emperor!"

(End of this chapter)