Thief Emperor

Chapter 400: Grave Digging and Carrying Coffins

Speaking of the Wang Junping Rebellion alone, although the Shuofang Army was suspected of deliberately letting the rebels go at many points, and it could even be said that they were letting the rebels go, the Shuofang Army was indeed the vassal that contributed the most from the time the rebels rose up in the Central Plains to the present time when they were at the end of their strength and had reached the end of their rope.

People die in war.

The Shuofang Army had been fighting the rebels for more than a year and had suffered more than 10,000 casualties, all of whom were relatively elite members of the Shuofang Army.

At this time, when the fruits were ripe and about to fall to the ground, General Wei naturally did not want other vassal states to interfere.

If other vassal states did not come, he could just welcome the emperor back and stay in Guanzhong, or even replace the imperial guards with the Shuofang Army, ride on the head of the new emperor, and become the "emperor emeritus" of the Great Zhou.

But now, the Hedong Jiedushi's troops have entered Guanzhong, bringing with them an army of tens of thousands of volunteers.

The Fanyang army was also on the way.

Others include the Hexi Jiedushi and the Longyou Jiedushi. Although there has been no large-scale action for the time being, they all have reasons to enter Guanzhong at any time.

At this time, although the Shuofang Army contributed the most, it was impossible for everyone to watch the Shuofang Army eat up the Guanzhong pie and even the entire imperial court in one bite.

The Shuofang Jiedushi must be given enough benefits, otherwise these Jiedushi will come to Guanzhong to support the king under the pretext of righteousness, welcome the emperor back to Guanzhong, and then force Wei Quanzhong to return to Shuofang, and everyone will go back to their own homes.

From this perspective, the strength of the Wu Zhou Dynasty was not weak.

The only one that is weak is the imperial court.

Some of the more powerful military governors could compete with the rebels.

Of course, the smartest way to fight is to do what the Shuofang Army did, using elite troops to engage in a tug-of-war with the rebels. This can reduce the rebel army, which once had a size of nearly 200,000 people, to its current point of collapse at the lowest cost.

The military governors of Longyou, Fanyang, Hexi and other places could basically achieve the same capability as the Shuofang Army.

The strength of each vassal state is quite powerful.

If nothing unexpected happens, even if the Wu Zhou court collapses, the situation of separatist regimes in various places will continue for a very long time, and it may take several generations before a unified situation will reappear.

By then, it will be unknown how many people will be emperors and how many will be kings.

Now, General Wei, who has worked hard for more than a year, naturally wants to control the imperial court. Only in this way can he become the strongest among the many separatist forces, and then may annex all the vassal states and become the biggest winner of this era.

However, if one can hold the position of Jiedushi and keep it for a long time, basically no one would be a fool. No one would be willing to watch the Shuofang Army enter Guanzhong and Wei Quanzhong become the person in charge of the court.

When that time really comes, General Wei will issue orders in the name of the imperial court. Will the local military governors obey them?
If you don't comply, you may face punishment from the "imperial court".

Therefore, even though the rebels are still in the capital and have not collapsed, the two military governors have already sent their sons to negotiate terms with Wei Quanzhong.

The attitude is quite clear.

Your Shuofang Army has put in the effort and wants to gain benefits, and no one can say anything about it, but the benefits cannot be taken by yourselves alone.

Some of the profits must be shared with other military governors, otherwise no one will be able to enjoy the benefits.

General Wei was very angry now, but there was nothing he could do.

If he wanted to refuse to talk with these vassal states, there was only one way: he closed Guanzhong, occupied Guanzhong and the capital himself.

However, if this were to happen, it would very likely be attacked by other warlords. In addition, the rebels had not yet been pacified, and Shuofang alone could never be a match for the combined forces of the other warlords.

Even if there was no city pass to defend, the Shuofang Army and the Fanyang Army combined might not be a match for the Fanyang Army.

"Nephew Xiao."

Even though he was angry, General Wei still managed a smile and said, "Since the Fanyang Army is not afraid of danger, then they can come. However, by the time the Fanyang Army enters Guanzhong, the rebellion in Guanzhong will probably have been quelled. By then, your Majesty will probably be unhappy to see that the Fanyang Army has mobilized so many troops and wasted money and manpower."

Xiao Heng said sternly, "Even if Your Majesty doesn't like it, we have to come. At this critical moment for the country, if we keep our troops in place for some personal gain, how can we be worthy of the court and the emperor?"

General Wei said calmly, "Didn't the Qingzhou guy not make any moves? I heard that he led his troops out of Qingzhou, deceived Brother Xiao, and then led his troops directly south. He has made a fortune now."

Hearing this, Xiao Heng smiled and said, "The governor of Pinglu received the imperial edict but did not send troops to defend the king, which was disloyalty. Now he has led his troops directly to the south and occupied Huainan Road, which is no different from raising the flag of rebellion. How can such a disloyal and unfilial person be compared with my father?"

"When my father meets His Majesty, he will naturally tell you about Zhou Xu's evil deeds. Once His Majesty gives the order, our Fanyang Army will march south to eliminate this villain for His Majesty."

General Wei said with a smile: "General Zhou has occupied a road without spending any money. If General Xiao comes to Guanzhong, by the time he leads his troops back, the Pinglu Army, which has gained an extra road, will have an unknown number of soldiers and horses."

"By then, I'm afraid we may not be able to conquer them."

He looked at Xiao Heng and said with a smile: "Your army should return to the same route now. I, Wei, and General Xiao will write a letter together to impeach Zhou Xu. By then, the places that the Pinglu army has occupied with great effort will be used to serve General Xiao."

"What do you think, nephew?"

Xiao Heng shook his head slightly: "My nephew can't do it." "General Xiao is loyal."

Wei Quanzhong smiled and said, "The title of Duke will be inherited by the whole family."

Xiao Heng smiled dumbly: "Does the general have the final say on this matter?"

Wei Quanzhong said calmly: "If you don't come to Guanzhong, I will be the boss."

At this point, he seemed to feel that he was being a little too arrogant. After a pause, he added, "The Shuofang Army has made great contributions to the suppression of the rebellion. Your Majesty will certainly approve Wei's memorial in consideration of the Shuofang Army's great contribution."

Xiao Heng shook his head slightly: "I will go back and report this to my father."

"It should, it should."

Wei Quanzhong looked at Master Li Hao who was standing beside him and said with a smile, "Nephew Li, Nephew Xiao, when you return from my visit, tell General Xiao and General Li that if they are free, I would like to meet with them."

The two major generals looked at each other and nodded.

"Yes."

General Wei smiled, picked up the wine glass, and said with a smile: "Come on, drink, drink."

The three men clinked their glasses together, and it seemed that in the midst of the clinking of glasses, the huge Zhou had been divided up among them.

…………

Xuanzhou City.

Li Yun and Su Sheng looked at the coffin slowly approaching in front of them. Su Sheng could not help but rush forward and cried while supporting the coffin.

Li Yun turned around and looked at Du Qian beside him. Du Qian waved his hand, and the musicians who were ready played a sad and heavy music.

Zhou Liang brought a total of one thousand people and lined up on both sides to welcome General Su's coffin.

In addition, all the important figures of Li Yun Group, except Li Zheng who was too far away, arrived.

This was the most pompous display he could give.

Such a grand ceremony was bound to cause a sensation, so it had to be discussed with Su Sheng in advance. Su Sheng was looking forward to finding his old father and giving him a decent funeral, so naturally he would have no objection.

Thus, the largest funeral since Li Yun started his business was carried out in an orderly manner under Du Qian's arrangement.

Li Yun walked to the side of the coffin. He looked at Su Sheng, then at the children behind him, and sighed slightly: "My condolences, brother."

Su Sheng was in mourning clothes, tears streaming down his face. He looked up at Li Yun, who was also in mourning clothes, and couldn't help but burst into tears: "How can I mourn, how can I mourn!"

Seeing him crying so sadly, Li Yun also sighed, turned around to look at the ragged former subordinates of General Su standing near the coffin, stepped forward, bowed deeply, and said, "I bow to you all for protecting the remains of the general."

Several soldiers didn't know who Li Yun was, but they could tell that he must be an important figure, and they were all a little panicked.

At this time, Su Sheng also came forward with the Su family, knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed to the soldiers who were guarding the general's coffin.

Several people were a little panicked and hurriedly helped Su Sheng up, calling him "Major General".

Most of them didn't recognize Li Yun, but almost all of them recognized Su Sheng.

After a long period of evasion, Su Sheng stood on the left side of the coffin again, holding the coffin with his hand, then looked at Li Yun beside him, and said with tears in his eyes: "Erlang, come and hold the coffin with me."

"I?"

Li Yun smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid this... isn't appropriate?"

“I have no identity.”

"How come there isn't?"

Su Sheng wiped her tears with her sleeve, looked at Li Yun, and choked up, "My father sent someone to give you the letter, which means he recognized Erlang as his student. Otherwise, how could he be willing to give you his life's work?"

Li Yun felt a little sad when he heard this. He sighed deeply, stood silently on the right side of the coffin, and supported the coffin with his hand.

Su Sheng shed tears again and screamed in a sobbing voice.

"Raise the coffin!"

(End of this chapter)