Thief Emperor

Chapter 446: Endless Argument (Happy National Day!)

Wang Du’s death had almost become a taboo in the capital during this period. No one dared to mention it publicly, and no one dared to mention it in front of Wei Quanzhong.

General Wei slowly turned around, looked at Minister Du, and said expressionlessly: "This king is also curious about this matter. Wang Du first broke into this king's house and made a big fuss. He didn't take this king seriously at all. This king, according to Zhou law, put him in the prison of the Ministry of Justice. What's the problem?"

"But that night, he died in the prison of the Ministry of Justice."

General Wei said with a cold face: "During this period, I have been sending people to investigate this matter. I want to see if there is someone behind this matter who wants to discredit my reputation."

He looked straight at Du Ting and said slowly: "Now it seems that the treacherous minister has jumped out on his own."

"Minister Du, at the court meeting today, no one mentioned Wang Du's matter. But you brought out this memorial from somewhere, whose authenticity is unknown. Regardless of whether this so-called memorial is true or false, after you brought out this memorial, you did not talk about the memorial, but instead brought up Wang Du."

"I suspect that this matter has something to do with you, Minister Du!"

General Wei sneered and said, "Maybe it was you, Minister Du, who ordered the assassination!"

After saying this, he turned around and clasped his fists towards the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, Du Ting has evil intentions and intends to disrupt the government. He is even suspected of murdering the former prime minister. I ask Your Majesty to put Du Ting in prison and have the government investigate him strictly."

As soon as General Wei said this, there was an uproar in the court.

Before the Emperor spoke, someone spoke for Du Ting.

"Prince Wang was imprisoned in Lingwu Palace and died in prison that night. Minister Du asked, what's the problem? Is he going to be imprisoned for just asking a few questions?"

Some people with bad tempers even shouted, "Wei Quanzhong, Zhang also suspects the death of Mr. Wang, you should arrest Zhang as well!"

General Wei sneered, turned around, looked at the officials, and shouted, "My official position and title were conferred by Your Majesty because of my merits. Wang Du offended the Duke of Da Zhou, so he should be imprisoned!"

"As for his death in prison, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. What does it have to do with me?"

Wei Quanzhong was furious, looking at Du Ting and the other civil servants, sneering: "You are all rats and scholars. You don't have any skills on weekdays, but you are good at fighting for power and scheming."

"That Wang Du, in front of so many people, pointed fingers at me and then cursed me. When Wang Junping came to the city, why didn't he dare to go to the capital and curse at Wang Junping?"

General Wei was also furious, and shouted angrily: "How dare you, useless people, attack me in groups!"

He turned around to look at the trembling emperor on the throne and said coldly: "Your Majesty, these people are clearly conspiring together and have evil intentions!"

"If the Great Zhou relied on these people, it would have perished long ago! Your Majesty, please issue an order to have all these people imprisoned and charged!"

The emperor's face turned pale and he opened his mouth but no words came out.

General Wei's expression changed, and he was about to continue speaking. Li Tong beside him smiled silently, looked at Wei Quanzhong, and said slowly: "General Wei, please pay attention to etiquette and rules in the court."

Xiao Xian was also thinking about something. He stepped out of the class and looked at Wei Quanzhong, saying, "General, the court meeting is a place for discussion. It is precisely because there is a dispute that it needs to be discussed. If everyone is like you, the court meeting cannot be held."

General Xiao looked at the emperor, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the situation today is too chaotic. I request that you temporarily adjourn the court and discuss it another day."

"Today's court meeting, those who speak are not guilty."

His Majesty the Emperor seemed to have found his backbone, he let out a long sigh, and nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, in the court, those who speak are not guilty."

He stood up and waved his hand, saying, "Today's court meeting ends here. Court is adjourned."

His Majesty the Emperor, accompanied by several eunuchs, left the hall directly.

All the civil and military officials froze in their places and did not move immediately. After a long while, Prime Minister Cui Yuan silently stepped forward, looked at Wei Quanzhong, and said with a folded hand: "Prince Wei, right and wrong are in the hearts of the people. If Your Majesty still wants to arrest, punish, kill or dismiss people in the future, remember to include me in the list. At my age..."

"I've lived enough."

Mr. Cui is very tough.

"I am willing to die to gain a good reputation."

After saying this, Prime Minister Cui turned around and left.

After he left, a group of civil servants followed Prime Minister Cui and left the hall together.

Soon, less than 30% of the officials were left in the court. Except for the three military governors, the rest were officials who had already defected to them.

General Wei stood there with a gloomy look on his face.

He waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Disperse."

These officials gradually dispersed, and soon, only three generals were left in the court. The three men walked out of the hall one after another and walked in the imperial city. General Wei clenched his fists and said in a muffled voice: "This bunch of damn scholars have set up all kinds of schemes to smear mud on our faces!"

Li Tong looked at Wei Quanzhong and asked, "How did Wang Du die?"

General Wei was furious: "Even Brother Li, you doubt me!" Xiao Xian, who was standing by, stroked his chin and said slowly: "It's possible that he committed suicide. The great thing about these scholars is that a few of them are really not afraid of death."

General Li put his hands behind his back, thought for a while, and said slowly: "We must give some benefits to Cui Yuan and his men, otherwise they will continue to make trouble endlessly. In the end, there is no other way but to kill them all."

These three generals did not have their own administrative system, so even if they occupied the capital, they had no way to administer the city. They could not even be considered a military government and still had to rely on the court's existing administrative system.

Xiao Xian nodded in agreement and said, "We need to talk to those noble families."

Wei Quanzhong sneered: "It's ridiculous that Wang Du thought he died for the righteousness in his heart, but in the end he was just a tool for Cui Yuan and other nobles to gain benefits."

"Stupid, so stupid."

Li Tong did not respond, but just put his hands behind his back and said, "Jiangnan, the fighting has started again. You two should have known about it, right?"

Xiao Xian nodded: "I heard that Zhou Da and that little kid from Jiangnan are quarreling again. Zhou Da has been lying on women all his life. The older he gets, the less capable he becomes. Jiangnan's Li Yun has only been in business for three years."

"Zhou Da actually fought with him and they were inseparable."

General Li walked with his hands behind his back, shaking his head and sighing, "I heard that this kid named Li is a student of General Su."

Hearing Su Jing's name, the other two Jiedushi were slightly startled.

Then, there was silence.

General Xiao put his hands behind his back and said slowly, "No matter whose disciple he is, let them do whatever they want. When they decide the winner, the imperial army will go and take back Jiangnan and Huainan Road, and by the way, pacify the Pinglu vassal town."

"In this way, the southeast of the Great Zhou will be peaceful."

General Li Tong did not respond, but said silently: "The joint petition is probably true. The Jiedushi outside the pass all want us to leave Guanzhong."

General Wei sneered, "They did nothing and turned a blind eye to the court's crisis, but now they have become loyal ministers of the Great Zhou!"

"There is nothing to discuss about this matter. If it really doesn't work, we'll just have to fight."

"The three of us only have half the force in Guanzhong."

Li Tong walked in front with his hands behind his back and let out a long sigh.

"If things go wrong, the war will really start again."

The three military governors walked silently in the imperial city. At this time, the autumn wind was getting colder. A gust of cold wind blew over, making General Li Tong couldn't help but tighten his clothes.

He's...too old.

I really may not be able to persist for too long.

…………

In Luzhou City, Li Yun hung up a map and pointed to the location on the map, saying in a deep voice: "This is Liuhe County in Yangzhou. Our vanguard army's goal is to occupy Liuhe County."

Although Liuhe County belongs to Yangzhou, it is actually located in the north of Jinling. If Li Yun can occupy Liuhe, then he will not only have a stronghold in Jiangbei again, but communication with Jinling will immediately become much smoother.

"Of course, being able to take down Liuhe is the best scenario. If we can't take it down, it's also okay to just take advantage of it a little bit."

"Even if it only scares the Pinglu Army, there will be no problem."

At this point, he looked at Su Sheng and asked, "Brother Su, when can you, the Qiantang Army, set off to Luzhou?"

"As soon as the envoy sets out, the Qiantang Army will move immediately. I have already informed Qiantang."

Li Yun nodded, then looked at Chen Da and asked, "It only takes two days for a fast horse to get from here to Qiantang. In other words, we can send out troops in two days at the earliest. Chen Da, what do you think?"

"When do we leave?"

Chen Da lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up at the map with a burning gaze: "Envoy, I want to set it in the early morning of three days later."

Li Yun nodded happily and said, "Okay, you go and arrange this. Three days later..."

"I'll wait for you outside the city."

Chen Da bowed respectfully.

"I obey my orders!"

　Happy birthday to our great motherland!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)