Thief Emperor

Chapter 496 Suicide
For a whole year, the capital and Guanzhong have maintained a strange balance, and this balance originated from the power triangle formed by three Jiedushi in the capital.

Under this triangular relationship, although His Majesty the Emperor felt a little aggrieved, the imperial court had basically resumed operation. Throughout the country, except for the territories occupied by the three military governors which did not have to pay taxes, some separatist forces in other places were not willing to pay taxes, and Li Yun in Jiangnan did not pay taxes, the rest of the territories were either accustomed to the rule of the imperial court or afraid of the military force of the three military governors. In the third year of Zhaoding, they basically paid taxes honestly.

Especially in the Central Plains.

In this era, the Central Plains region was the absolute core and one of the important sources of food. The Central Plains region had honestly paid taxes to the Guanzhong court. In other words, although the current court was a crippled court, it had not ceased to function.

At least 60% of the income before Wang Junping's rebellion was restored.

However, the premise of all this is that the three Jiedushi are stationed in Guanzhong. Now that General Li has made it clear that he will leave, this power triangle has suddenly become a straight line.

General Xiao and General Wei each stood on one side.

This situation is actually quite unstable. At any time, a quarrel may break out and one side may overwhelm the other.

However, at this time, no one could influence the will of a general, and General Li Tong's return to Taiyuan was a foregone conclusion.

The day before he was to leave, Fanyang Jiedushi Xiao Xian rushed to visit General Li's residence. He soon saw General Li looking through documents in the backyard. Xiao Xian stepped forward, bowed his head and clasped his fists and said, "Brother, how are you?"

Li Tong put down the scroll in his hand, supported himself on the table with his hands, and stood up. Then he bowed to Xiao Xian and sighed, "For now, I won't die."

His speech was already somewhat incoherent. After taking a long breath, he asked General Xiao to sit down, and then continued: "But if you continue to stay, you may die in this capital city at any time."

Hearing this, Xiao Xian looked at General Li thoughtfully, then suddenly looked around and whispered, "Brother, you were feeling unwell last time. Was it really a disease?"

"It's a disease, of course."

General Li stroked his graying beard and forced a smile, saying, "At my age, if I had poisoned someone, I would have been lying in a coffin by now. How could I possibly be alive?"

General Xiao was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "From the general's tone, it seems... it seems that someone has poisoned him."

Li Tong narrowed his eyes and whispered, "During this year in the capital, especially in the second half of the year after His Majesty came back, more than a dozen times."

"More than a dozen assassinations."

"Some assassins sneaked in close, and some secretly poisoned people, using whatever means necessary."

As he spoke, he looked at Xiao Xian and said with a wry smile: "Brother Xiao, I'm afraid it's the same?"

"I have less."

General Xiao smiled bitterly and said, "About eight or nine times."

The two generals looked at each other. General Li poured a cup of tea for Xiao Xian and said with a smile, "Living here, too many people want our lives. I'm afraid Wei Quanzhong has been assassinated more times."

Xiao Xian also laughed: "He should have done it more than twenty times."

The Fanyang Jiedushi took the tea and sighed, "The court is barely maintaining itself on the surface, but there are so many undercurrents behind the scenes. No wonder my elder brother wants to leave Guanzhong. I am also a little tired."

In the past six months, the three generals have all suffered multiple assassination attempts, and they were quite crazy.

As for who arranged these assassinations...it's hard to say.

However, it can be guessed that the person who assassinated Li Tong and Xiao Xian was probably not sent by Wei Quanzhong, who seemed to be the most suspicious.

Because he is the most suspicious.

Once anything happened to the two generals, their subordinates would immediately think of the Shuofang Army, and at that time, a war would break out immediately.

It is unlikely that Wei Quanzhong would do so.

In addition to Wei Quanzhong, there were countless people who had motives for assassination. They could be ministers in the court, members of the Wu family, other military governors who wanted to mess up Guanzhong, or even foreigners who wanted to enter the Guanzhong area.

And the most likely one... is even His Majesty the Emperor sitting on the throne!

The people who came to assassinate them had various identities. Some were assassins, some were bribed, and some were simply ordinary cooks in the capital.

Today, the situation in the capital is too complicated for anyone to understand.

The two generals exchanged glances, and General Xiao asked, "How are you going to leave, old brother?"

"After I leave, Li Hao will stay in the capital."

General Li said silently: "I don't want anything from the capital or Guanzhong, but I want Tongguan. I will lead the Hedong Army and leave from Tongguan, and then take over Tongguan."

Tongguan is one of the four passes in Guanzhong and one of the most important gateways into Guanzhong.

General Li’s attitude was very simple. He could give up Guanzhong and the capital, but he could not accept the capital or Guanzhong becoming someone’s exclusive territory.

We must not allow the last person left in Guanzhong to close the four passes of Guanzhong and occupy Guanzhong.

So, he has to master one of the portals.

Xiao Xian was startled when he heard this, then his eyes lit up and he whispered, "Then my Fanyang Army must also control a pass." Li Tong looked at him and said softly, "This year, General Xiao had better leave the capital and stop tossing around in the capital. If Wei Quanzhong wants to stay here, let him stay here and do whatever he wants."

"For us, protecting ourselves is the most important thing."

General Li said slowly: "If you stay here any longer, Taiyuan may not even have the same surname as me, Li."

As Jiedushi, they each had their own base. Xiao Xian's base was in Youzhou, and Li Tong's base was in Taiyuan Prefecture.

However, military power must be firmly held in their hands and cannot be left for a long time. Although they took half of the troops away, after occupying Guanzhong, their respective bases were recruiting soldiers.

Over time, problems may arise.

Xiao Xian looked at General Li and said with a smile: "Li Hao is not the general's eldest son. Isn't there the general's eldest son watching over Taiyuan? Nothing will happen."

Among the three Jiedushi, the ones Li and Xiao brought to Guanzhong were not their eldest sons, but their respective favorite sons.

For example, General Li Tong is over sixty years old this year, and the eldest son in the family who is the real heir is already over forty years old.

They will leave with peace of mind only if their eldest son is looking after the family business.

Li Tong smiled dumbly: "It is precisely because the eldest son is looking after the family that there may be problems. Maybe after I return to Taiyuan, I will not even be able to serve as the governor of Hedong."

Only one's own son is more likely to usurp the throne.

General Xiao was startled when he heard this, and then he felt the same way: "To be honest, brother, sometimes I am also often worried about the current situation in Youzhou."

Li Tong lowered his head to drink tea and continued, "I left because of health problems. Secondly, there is no point in staying here for a long time. The taxes from the court cannot be divided between you and me, and the territory of the court cannot be divided between us."

"Have you seen that Li Yun from Jiangnan Province has been in Jiangnan for some time, selecting talents and officials on his own."

Speaking of Li Yun, General Li exclaimed: "This young man is really amazing. In just a few years, he can fight Zhou Xu on equal terms. The spies I sent to Jiangnan reported that he is now in Jiangnan and his power is getting stronger day by day."

"We wasted our time arguing in the capital, but Li Yun got a huge benefit for nothing."

Before the Battle of Jiangbei, Li Yun was only famous in the Jiangnan area. Even if several military governors had heard of him occasionally, they did not take him seriously.

After the Battle of Jiangbei, everyone's eyes had to turn to Li Yun. Even the three military governors occupying the capital were now quite familiar with Li Yun.

"Selecting officials based on their talents."

Xiao Xian pondered for a moment, then sighed softly: "Brother is right. While we are arguing in the capital, this young man has already begun to establish his own country in Jiangnan."

"After my elder brother leaves, I will not stay in Guanzhong for long. Even if Wei Quanzhong wants to do whatever he wants in the capital, let him do it. How big is Guanzhong?"

"Strengthening yourself is the right thing to do."

Li Tong said with a smile: "After the general returns, you may want to focus on Zhou Xu of the Pinglu Army. This guy took advantage of our efforts in Guanzhong and made a fortune by eating behind us."

"The general can use this as an excuse to launch a campaign."

General Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Brother, do you want to march into the Central Plains?"

"The Central Plains is too big for me to take in."

Li Tong thought for a moment and continued, "The imperial court, the imperial court..."

After he said these two words, he sighed and said, "I am also very confused right now."

To the south of Taiyuan Prefecture is the Central Plains. If the Central Plains could be taken over, for example, Luoyang could be occupied, it would naturally be of great benefit to the Hedong vassal state.

However, when General Li was young, the Great Zhou was still quite prosperous. He grew up during that period. Although he was also a separatist governor at that time, he was not mentally prepared to become a rebel.

"I understand that the general cannot bear to occupy the court's territory."

Xiao Xian thought for a moment and said softly, "General, you can think of it this way. Nowadays, all parts of the world are divided. We are not actually occupying the court's territory, but..."

"Suppress the rebellion for the court."

Li Tong sighed: "If I were ten years younger, I would really fight for it."

He looked at Xiao Xian and asked, "When will my dear brother leave the capital?"

"After my elder brother leaves, it will be at most two months."

Xiao Xian said in a deep voice: "I will go back too."

"If Wei Quanzhong doesn't want to leave, let him stay."

"Look at him, how he destroys himself!"

(End of this chapter)