Thief Emperor

Chapter 517 The Imperial Court Loses Face
At the turn of spring and summer in the third year of Zhaoding, the Fengyang Army under the command of Jiangdong marched westward and entered Shouzhou, where they engaged in battle with the Pinglu Army. The two sides fought a fierce battle in the state capital, Shouchun.

At this time, there were only two or three thousand troops stationed in Shouzhou. After struggling for four or five days, the city of Shouchun was captured and the remnants retreated to Huoqiu.

At this time, reinforcements from the Pinglu Army arrived in Gushi, and the two sides began a standoff between Huoqiu and Gushi.

At the same time, Su Sheng's troops in Jiangnan crossed the Yangtze River from Wuchang to the north, and fought from west to east, attacking Qizhou and Shuzhou in the north of the Yangtze River.

Jiangbei, which had finally settled down not long ago, was once again plunged into war.

However, this time the war was only in the western part of Jiangbei. The six states of Jiangbei originally led by Li Yun remained stable as before.

In a sense, this can be considered as a war fought outside the country, which also fulfilled the promise Li Yun made to Xu Ang when he was in Yangzhou. There will be peace in the Yangzhou area for at least 50 years.

If it can last long, it will be two hundred years of peace.

However, the areas outside Yangzhou, especially the territory of Huainan Road, still need Li Yun to conquer bit by bit, and it is inevitable to experience war.

Peace can only be achieved through blood and fire. Otherwise, even if temporary peace is achieved through other means, there will inevitably be hidden dangers in the future.

The war that broke out again in Huainan Road was spread to Guanzhong and the capital through various channels.

In particular, the memorial from Zhou Xu, the governor of Pinglu, was urgently delivered to the capital by the angry General Zhou.

There was only one military governor left in the capital, Wei Quanzhong. Therefore, before the Emperor received Zhou Xu's memorial, the Prince of Lingwu had already obtained a copy of the memorial in advance.

Of course, there is no clear answer as to which copy is the copy, the one he received or the one the emperor received.

It's hard to tell.

Major General Wei Yao, holding the document in his hand, went all the way to the backyard and met his father. After handing the document over, he chuckled and said, "Father is really smart. Jiangnan is in chaos with just a document. Li Yun not only did not restrain himself, but he had no restrictions and started to attack Huainan Road directly."

General Wei took the document and read it, then looked at the map of the Great Zhou hanging in his room.

This map is a bit rough, but the locations of various places are not a big problem. General Wei looked at the map and pondered for a long time.

Major General Wei Yao was also looking at the map. His eyes fell on the southeast, and he suddenly asked, "But there is one thing I can't figure out. Whether it is from Guanzhong or from our Shuofang, the southeast is thousands of miles away."

"Why would father bother to stir up trouble in the southeast?"

General Wei came back to his senses from his deep thoughts. He looked back at his son and said calmly, "If Li Yun wants to secure his position in the southeast, he must take over Huainan Province. Originally, he had an official position in the court and could take his time. Now, the young emperor has dismissed him from his position."

"He will naturally make a concerted effort to take over Jiangbei."

At this point, General Wei smiled and said, "In this way, the contradiction between Li Yun and the Pinglu Army will be irreconcilable. The two sides will definitely decide who is superior."

He looked at his son and continued, "If the Pinglu Army wins, they can move south and grow stronger, and then they can help us keep an eye on the Fanyang Army to the north."

"If Zhou Xu fails to live up to his expectations and loses to Li Yun, then Li Yun will probably win a miserable victory and won't be able to recover for a year or two."

"As for the Pinglu Army...when that time comes, they can just die."

General Wei put his hands behind his back, looked at the map, and said slowly: "In short, no matter what, once the war starts, this area in the southeast will not be stable for at least two to three years."

"Their instability is a good thing for us."

Now, all the princes in the world are thinking about separatism and becoming local emperors. Just as General Li Tong said, no one will be able to do anything to anyone in the next few decades.

But Wei Quanzhong is different. He doesn’t have this idea. He is very ambitious and plans to lay the foundation for a business that will last for generations in his own generation!

Therefore, before leaving, he would try every possible excuse to stir up trouble in the southeast. After all, at this time, the more years of chaos others were in, the more years Shuofang would have to rise.

"more importantly."

General Wei put his hands behind his back and said slowly, "If Li Yun can win, it means that the court has dismissed Li Yun, and Li Yun will not only be fine, but also take the opportunity to expand his territory."

"The majesty of the Wu Zhou court was immediately destroyed, and all the prefectures and counties in the world would no longer pay attention to the imperial edicts."

Wei Yao lowered his head quickly and exclaimed: "Father is really a man of great foresight."

"Stop flattering."

General Wei turned his head to look at his son and said calmly, "Before the end of the year, we have to leave the capital and Guanzhong. If we don't leave now, those who don't like us will probably attack us in droves. By then, it won't be easy for us to leave."

"During this period of time, don't focus your energy on women every day. Help your father do more things and transport everything you can take away, including gold, silver, valuables, grain, copper, iron, etc., back to Shuofang."

Wei Yao bowed his head and said yes, then he thought for a moment and said, "Father, during this period, the officials who have surrendered to us have come to ask me when we will leave the capital. They also want to leave with us..."

During this period, most of the civil officials in the court joined the three Jiedushi, because the other two Jiedushi were not very active. To be precise, they joined Wei Quanzhong and his son. It was also because of these civil officials that Wei Quanzhong and his son could do whatever they wanted in the capital so smoothly.

It is foreseeable that His Majesty the Emperor must be very annoyed with these "traitors". The reason why everything is peaceful now is because Wei Quanzhong and his son, as well as the soldiers from Shuofang are still there.

As soon as the father and son leave, these officials will probably be held accountable and put on a list of the worst offenders.

General Wei thought for a moment, then glanced at his son and said calmly, "Those who are capable can take a few back to Shuofang, and those who are incapable and can only be fence-sitters are sour scholars."

He snorted, "Let them die."

Wei Yao bowed his head deeply and whispered, "I understand, kid."

…………

On the other side, in Chongde Hall,

His Majesty the Emperor also received the document sent by General Zhou Xuzhou. He read it over and over again, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Send Pei Huang here."

Half an hour later, Pei Huang trotted into the Chongde Hall, knelt before the emperor, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

The emperor waved to him, and Pei Huang stood up.

"Take it and have a look,"

Only then did Pei Huang see the document in the emperor's hand. He quickly reached out to take it, unfolded it and read it, and his expression turned a little unsightly.

"This Li Yun is so bold."

Li Yun's behavior was indeed beyond the expectations of the emperor and his ministers. They certainly did not think that a decree from the court could remove Li Yun from his position, but they thought that after the decree arrived in Jiangnan, Li Yun's troops would at least change from an expansion state to a contraction state.

Unexpectedly, Li Yun not only did not give up the attack on Wuchang, but even took advantage of the situation to attack the western part of Huainan Road, with the momentum to take over the entire Huainan Road in one go!

Pei Huang thought seriously for a long time before whispering, "Your Majesty, this matter has been made public. If Li Yun really takes advantage of the situation to seize Huainan Road and rule the southeast, the face of the court will be in jeopardy..."

"The court has long lost its dignity."

There was no expression on the emperor's face. He just exhaled slowly and said, "What we should think about now is the next step and how the court should react."

Pei Huang lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, it seems that the only thing the court can do now is to wait and see."

"If you issue another imperial edict to order the local armies to encircle and suppress Li Yun, it would be fine if they win. But if they lose, or fail to shake the defense line set up by Li Yun, then it would be a disgrace to you, sir."

"Speaking of which, I received a letter from my family member some time ago. He said that after he met Li Yun, Li Yun said that he was ready to resign from his post in Jiangnan and return to his hometown in Xuanzhou to farm. He asked the court to send someone to take over as soon as possible."

"Li Yun also said that after being dismissed from office by the court, he was...very happy."

When the Emperor heard this, a hint of anger appeared on his face. He couldn't help but slap the table and shouted angrily: "How arrogant!"

Pei Huang nodded, then whispered, "He is arrogant, but he has reason to be arrogant. According to the intelligence sent back by the people sent by the Imperial City Department to Jiangnan, the official system in Jiangdong today, from top to bottom, is already quite mature, not inferior to the Fanyang Pinglu and other vassal states that have existed for decades or even longer."

"In fact, Jiangnan has already begun to show signs of a peaceful and prosperous life."

"This was all created bit by bit by Li Yun over a period of several years."

His Majesty the Emperor snorted, "The Eleventh Young Master of the Du Family played a big role in this!"

Pei Huang was somewhat surprised: "How did your Majesty know?"

"The second one is in Jinling."

The emperor narrowed his eyes and continued, "For this reason alone, Du Ting's death was not unjust."

"Let them fight, let them fight."

His Majesty the Emperor stood up, put his hands behind his back and said, "Send a secret decree to Zhou Xu and tell him that if he can defeat Li Yun, I will give him the entire Jiangnan region!"

Pei Huang was stunned.

If they could win, it would have belonged to them!
But he reacted quickly and lowered his head deeply.

"I obey!"

(End of this chapter)