Thief Emperor

Chapter 534: The Imperial Court’s Respect

"Mr. Cui."

In Cui's mansion, Wei Quanzhong, who had just finished a court meeting, sat opposite Prime Minister Cui. He looked at the highly respected prime minister in the court and said with a smile, "Wei will leave the capital in a few days. Prime Minister Cui should be happy, right?"

Cui Xianggong looked at Wei Quanzhong in front of him silently, sighed and said: "If the prince had been willing to work hard for the court and wipe out the rebels, now the court, including His Majesty, would be grateful for the prince's kindness."

"Now that people's hearts have been completely destroyed and everyone is unhappy with me, why bother?"

Wei Quanzhong disagreed.

"When Wang Junping started the rebellion, I immediately sent troops to rescue him. At that time, Wang Junping had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and had obtained 30,000 sets of equipment from the imperial guards. My vanguard army had less than 20,000 people. Could we fight them head-on?"

"If we had fought head-on, at least half of the 50,000 Shuofang troops I brought would have been killed or wounded."

"Now there are no outsiders. Lord Cui, tell me honestly, if I, Wei, had used up half of my troops and tried my best to quell the turmoil for the court, would the court... have made me the Prince of Lingwu County like it does now?"

Cui Xianggong looked up at Wei Quanzhong, was silent for a long time, then shook his head and said, "No."

"At most, he is a duke."

Wei Quanzhong laughed and continued, "If half of my Shuofang army is defeated, or even crippled, can I still be the governor of Shuofang?"

Cui Yuan was silent for a moment, still shaking his head: "In his later years, the late emperor was considering reducing the number of vassal states. Once it is possible to reduce them, the court will not refuse."

He paused, looked at General Wei, and said, "But at that time, Your Majesty can be a highly respected Duke in the capital."

Wei Quanzhong sneered: "He may die at any time!"

"How did Zhao Tong die? How did General Su die?"

Wei Quanzhong stared at Cui Yuan intently: "Mr. Cui knows better than I do."

Zhao Tong is Zhao Cheng's father, but Wei Quanzhong is of the same generation as General Zhao, so he calls him by his name.

General Su Jingsu was a generation older than Wei Quanzhong, or at least half a generation older. Even though Wei Quanzhong had been crowned king, he still subconsciously called him general.

The most important reason for the death of these two generals was naturally the emperor's distrust of military generals. However, civil officials such as Cui Yuan might have contributed to the cause. For example, the death of General Zhao was quite bizarre.

Cui Xianggong looked calm. He looked at Wei Quanzhong and said word by word: "From what happened to the prince, we can see that the deaths of those two were not unjust."

Upon hearing this, Wei Quanzhong was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "If those two were like me, their deaths would be justified. But unfortunately, if they were like me, the imperial court would not be able to kill them."

The smile on his face slowly cooled.

"Besides, the reason why I, Wei, have become like this may not be because the imperial court has given me a chill!"

This is the horror of the chain of suspicion, especially this chain of suspicion that concerns one's life and property.

Once formed, it cannot be solved and will eventually go to extremes.

Cui Xianggong looked up at Wei Quanzhong and sighed silently: "Your Majesty, did you come to my house today to settle old accounts before leaving?"

"If that's the case, Your Highness can take action now. Su Jing's affairs have nothing to do with me, but Zhao Tong's death was indeed related to me."

"Zhao Tong and I have only met a few times."

Wei Quanzhong smiled and said, "He has been a dead ghost for so many years, who would come to settle accounts with him?"

"I came here today because I have something to discuss with Mr. Cui."

"I heard that Mr. Cui has a nephew named Cui Shao, who is quite talented. I want Mr. Cui to send a transfer order to the Ministry of Personnel to transfer him to be the governor of Lingzhou."

Cui Yuan suddenly raised his head and looked at Wei Quanzhong, frowning: "Cui Shao is ill and will soon return to his hometown in Qinghe to recuperate. He can't go to Lingzhou."

Wei Quanzhong smiled and said, "Mr. Cui, I am still in the capital. He can't go back home."

Mr. Cui closed his eyes, his hands shaking with anger: "Even if you take him there, the Cui family will just treat him as dead!"

"Just take him there, naturally."

General Wei stood up and said, "But I have been to the Cui family today and met Mr. Cui. People outside may not think so."

He smiled and said, "Mr. Cui, there is no need to be angry. This is just one more way for both of us. There is nothing to be angry about."

General Wei paused and continued, "Mr. Cui is the most respected prime minister in the court. Even if I don't say it, Mr. Cui can see that the current court will never rise again."

"Mr. Cui stayed in the capital only for the sake of his reputation during his lifetime and after his death. Instead of doing that, why not have another option? Isn't that better?"

Cui Xianggong clenched his fists and said in a deep voice: "If Da Zhou fails, can you succeed in Shuo Fang?"

"That's impossible to say."

General Wei stood up and said with a smile: "Even if I can't do it, I can still occupy a piece of land and become the king. What do you think, Lord Cui?"

After saying this, without waiting for Cui Xiang to answer, he patted the non-existent dust on his clothes and said with a smile: "I have a few other families to go to, so I won't disturb Cui Gong's rest."

General Wei walked to the door, looked back at Cui Yuan, and smiled. "See you again if we are lucky."

…………

In two days, Wei Quanzhong "visited" several aristocratic families in the capital, or rather, the "branches" of aristocratic families in the capital, and took away one or two young people from each of these families.

One of the families, under unknown circumstances, married off their daughter to General Wei's underage second son.

Another family also arranged a marriage with the Wei family, but it was not to marry a daughter, but a daughter-in-law. General Wei wanted to marry his daughter to this family.

In two days, the water in the capital was turned muddy again by the departing Prince Lingwu.

On the third day, the general led the Shuofang Army to officially evacuate the capital and withdraw from Guanzhong.

Of course, like the other two Jiedushi, he did not completely withdraw from Guanzhong. He also left some troops and stationed them at Beixiaoguan in Guanzhong, under the pretext of guarding the imperial court. In fact, each of the three Jiedushi left a back door in Guanzhong, or forcibly opened the gate to Guanzhong.

They can come back anytime they want.

Under such circumstances, even if they left Guanzhong, they still had a certain influence in the court, and the court did not dare to cross the river and burn their bridges, or turn against them directly.

In fact, the reason why the other two Jiedushi left troops to guard the pass was mainly because they were worried that Wei Quanzhong would close the gate to Guanzhong and do whatever he wanted in Guanzhong.

General Wei himself simply wanted to leave behind his influence. After all, there were a large number of civil servants in the court who had "surrendered" to him. Once his influence was gone, all of these people would be killed without a burial place.

Although the three Jiedushi did not leave completely, they still left after all.

His Majesty the Emperor was still relieved.

Because the Great Zhou did not perish after all.

During the time that Wei Quanzhong stayed in the capital, he was actually capable of turning the Wu Zhou Dynasty into history at any time. However, if he did so, he would also pay the price of being attacked by everyone.

In other words, for nearly half a year, the Wu Zhou Dynasty was on the brink of extinction at any time.

Now, Wei Quanzhong is finally gone, and the national destiny and ancestral temple of the Great Zhou have been temporarily preserved.

In order to avoid any mistakes, His Majesty the Emperor did not hesitate to humble himself, leave the palace, and personally escort General Wei out of the capital, giving the Prince of Lingwu enough face.

After sending away the "plague god", the emperor sat on the dragon chariot and went straight back to the palace without stopping. Pei Huang followed the dragon chariot and also returned to the palace.

The emperor walked all the way to his study with a gloomy face. When he and Pei Huang were the only ones left in the study, he slammed the table in anger, gritting his teeth.

"First, he forced me to do something and messed up the southeast. Now, before leaving, he is causing trouble everywhere. He deserves death, he deserves death!"

Pei Huang said quickly: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. I will ask each family in the next few days. It should be impossible for any family to have any connection with Shuofang."

He paused and continued, "We, the Pei family, were also coerced by him to send a cousin to work in the prefectures and counties under Shuofang, but the Pei family is absolutely loyal to Your Majesty."

"I believe that the same is true for other families..."

His Majesty the Emperor clenched his fists, and after a long while, he relaxed. He looked up at Pei Huang and said expressionlessly, "This kind of thing cannot be answered by asking, and it is impossible to understand it. Don't ask, it will make me look like I have no confidence at all."

Pei Huang lowered his head and replied "yes", and said nothing more.

The emperor closed his eyes and was silent for a long time before he slowly said, "Now, how do we solve the problem in the southeast?"

Pei Huang thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "At present...at present, Li Yun's power is growing stronger and stronger. I'm afraid the imperial court will be unable to do anything to him in the next three to five years. It seems...it seems that they can only give him an official title."

"Fortunately, the court only dismissed him from office last time and did not charge him with any crime. Later, when he attacked Huainan Road, he was just acting on his own and did not raise the flag of rebellion..."

"As long as he is willing to serve as an official of the Great Zhou, the dignity of the Great Zhou will remain."

The emperor's face turned grim again. He looked gloomy for a long time before he slowly exhaled and said, "What if he is unwilling to accept the imperial title? Wouldn't the imperial court's reputation be trampled upon again?"

Pei Huang also felt helpless.

But this is the situation, the initiative is no longer in the hands of the court.

"How about we ask someone to ask Li Yun about his attitude first?"

The emperor looked at him and said silently: "Who should I send?"

"No need to send anyone, Your Majesty. Isn't His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu in Jiangdong? Let His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu ask for the court..."

The emperor closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists under his sleeves.

"Write a letter to... to the second brother."

Pei Huang lowered his head.

"I obey your command."

(End of this chapter)