Thief Emperor

Chapter 649: The Shrinking Emperor
The results of the Battle of Jiangbei and the Battle of Jingxiang quickly spread throughout the world.

A few days after Li Yun returned to Nanjing, this news was delivered by people from the Imperial City Bureau all the way to Guanzhong and to the hands of His Majesty the Emperor in the capital.

After reading the report from the Imperial City Bureau, the emperor fell into a long silence.

After an unknown amount of time, he lowered his head to look at the current Imperial City Division Chief who was kneeling in front of him, and slowly asked, "What is Jiangdong's next move?"

Si Zheng knelt on the ground and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty, Li Yun had met with the King of Chu several times before he went on the expedition. Although we don't know what they talked about, our spies in Jinling speculated that he was very likely planning treason."

"During this period, the spies in Jinling heard some rumors that Li Yun would become the king of Jiangdong at the end of the year. If he wanted to become the king, it is very likely that he would... use the name of the King of Chu to crown himself king."

His Majesty the Emperor had no expression on his face when he heard this.

At this time, he already felt a little regretful.

If I had known how powerful Jiangdong had become, I should not have dismissed Li Yun in the first place. I should have been nice to Li Yun and given him generous rewards.

The imperial court could confer the title of duke on the two military governors of Hedong and Fanyang, and could confer the title of Prince of Lingwu on Wei Quanzhong, but it seemed nothing special that they gave Li Yun a duke and a prince.

Now, the situation has come to this, and the little prestige that the court had left has been almost completely wiped out.

His Majesty the Emperor closed his eyes, and after a long while, he slowly exhaled: "For the sake of our ancestors' foundation."

The chief of the Imperial City Department knelt on the ground and bowed his head, saying, "I... understand your majesty's meaning."

The emperor's meaning was very simple. For the sake of his ancestors' foundation, he had to find a way to kill the King of Chu.

This method is simple and crude, and the effect will be very good if it is done.

The Si Zheng lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Li Yun is very careful in protecting the King of Chu. Now the food supply is all sent in by Jiangdong's own people. It may not be easy to accomplish this."

“Just do your best.”

The emperor said expressionlessly: "Everything depends on God's will."

At this point, he paused and asked, "Where did Pei Huang go?"

Pei Huang was the former Chief of the Imperial City Department and the superior of the Chief in front of him. He knelt on the ground and bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, Master Pei had a big quarrel with Li Hao, the son of the governor of Hedong, in Xuzhou, and then he fell seriously ill."

The emperor frowned: "I know about this. I am asking you, where is he now?"

"Return to Your Majesty."

The new Imperial City Division Chief, Liu Heng, lowered his head cautiously and said, "After Master Pei's condition improved slightly, he returned to his hometown of Wenxi in Hedong. He told the messenger from the Division that he was going back to his hometown to recuperate."

The emperor was a little annoyed and shouted angrily: "You didn't ask for instructions beforehand, and you didn't report it afterwards!"

Liu Heng was startled and lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial City Department has reported this to Your Majesty. Maybe... maybe Your Majesty was busy and didn't see it before."

The Emperor lost his temper for a while, but finally calmed down. He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Send someone to Wenxi to look for him. If he recovers, have him come to Beijing to see me."

Liu Heng bowed his head deeply: "I obey your command."

"Just step back."

The emperor closed his eyes and waved his hand, saying, "Send a message to me, and have the palace servants invite Prime Minister Cui to the palace to discuss matters."

"Yes."

Liu Heng bowed respectfully and walked out.

After he left, the Emperor sat alone on the throne in silence for a long time. After a long time, he slowly spoke in a hoarse voice: "Summon the imperial guards Wu Yanzong and He Xian to the imperial city and meet them tomorrow morning."

Several palace servants immediately bowed their heads, answered yes, and went down to summon him.

At this time, His Majesty the Emperor had to say hello to the Imperial Guards first, because even with his qualifications, he had already seen through it.

The imperial court...is unstable once again.

He needed to prepare a way out for himself and the Wu family clan in advance. If the world changed again, he could just go to Xichuan again. Many of his princes were in Xichuan anyway. He could just lower his status as the emperor and become a separatist leader in Xichuan.

It’s better than living under someone else’s roof!
He didn't want to go through the days when he was suppressed by the three military governors in the capital again!

As the palace servants went down to deliver the message, Cui Yuan, who lived in the capital, was quickly invited into the palace. After Cui Yuan arrived at the Chongde Hall, he saw the emperor and bowed deeply, saying, "Old minister Cui Yuan, kowtows to your majesty."

After saying that, he actually knelt down and kowtowed devoutly.

The emperor walked down the steps, helped Prime Minister Cui up, and sighed, "Prime Minister Cui, are you blaming me for such a great honor?"

"The old minister dare not."

After Cui Yuan stood up, he bowed his head and said, "I am just fulfilling my duties as a minister." The emperor asked Cui Yuan to sit down, and then said silently, "Remember the last time I went to Prime Minister Cui's residence to take up a post, Prime Minister Cui told me... The current situation is turbulent, the court is weak, what should we do?"

Cui Yuan was silent, then bowed his head and said, "I said at the time that we should keep a low profile and preserve ourselves."

"You have to develop your strength slowly, and you must not toss and turn."

The emperor sighed and said, "I believed Sanlang's words and didn't believe Prime Minister Cui, which has made the current situation even worse."

Cui Yuan hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty, what happened?"

The emperor briefly explained the situation, then looked at Cui Yuan and spoke.

"The campaign to encircle and suppress Li Yun has failed. Not only has there been no progress, but Li Yun's branches have not even been harmed."

"Jingxiang has basically fallen into the hands of Li Yun now."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor said silently: "In just a few years, the Southeast, where the people are not very tough, has produced a figure like Li Yun. His threat to the Great Zhou is now even greater than that of Wang Junping. Could it be that it is really destiny..."

After hearing the emperor's words, even Cui Yuan couldn't help but frown. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then replied: "Your Majesty, the country was in chaos before, and ambitious people from all over the country would inevitably take advantage of the situation. This is not surprising. If Li Yun wants to rebel, other military governors will not sit idly by. But this time, you should never contact those military governors in the name of the court."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"This is a fatal blow to the prestige of the imperial court."

Cui Yuan whispered, "After this incident, let alone the resentment in the hearts of the Pinglu Army, there will be almost no Jiedushi who will respond to the call of the court in the future."

"His Majesty…"

Cui Xianggong said in a low voice: "The Great Zhou has reached a critical moment of life and death!"

If the previous Wu Zhou Dynasty had followed Cui Yuan's idea and kept a low profile, stayed quietly in Guanzhong and did not cause trouble, it might have been able to survive for a dozen or twenty years. When another rogue like Wang Junping appeared in the world, the situation in which the imperial court was in name only and the separatist forces in various places actually controlled the local areas might have changed.

But now, it can be said that the majesty of the old court is gone.

In other words, if a certain force were to invade Guanzhong now, no military governor would come to Guanzhong to respond.

Even if he comes again, he will not be as "gentle" as last time. He might even come to usurp power!
His Majesty the Emperor smiled bitterly and said, "I...I have also thought about these things in my heart. Prime Minister Cui, how should we save the situation now?"

"His Majesty…"

Cui Xianggong raised his head worriedly, looked at the emperor, and then whispered, "Your Majesty, will you mobilize Liang Wen's troops in Tongguan?"

The emperor thought for a moment and said, "It's probably OK now."

"Then there is no need to hesitate. Immediately let Liang Wen lead his troops north to occupy Xiaoguan in the north and drive the Shuofang Army out of Guanzhong completely!"

"If this thing can be accomplished, the imperial court can still firmly occupy Guanzhong and not care about the right and wrong outside Guanzhong. Perhaps there is still some hope."

"The last time Wei Quanzhong left, he was reluctant. After returning to Shuoshuofang, he has been eyeing Guanzhong. If he knew the situation in the southeast, he would most likely have no scruples and would directly lead his troops south and enter Guanzhong!"

The emperor frowned and asked, "What if this fails?"

Cui Yuan said without hesitation: "That means Liang Wen acted without permission, and then there would be a conflict between Wei Quanzhong and Liang Wen!"

"No matter what the outcome between them is, Your Majesty still has the Imperial Guards. When both of them are defeated, the court will still be able to protect itself!"

His Majesty the Emperor thought about it, then nodded silently, clenched his fist and said, "Okay, I'll follow Prime Minister Cui."

After saying this, His Majesty the Emperor looked at Prime Minister Cui and sighed, "Prime Minister Cui, I am a little confused now."

"I really have no interest in government affairs. Can Prime Minister Cui return to the court and take charge of government affairs?"

"With Prime Minister Cui here, I feel much more at ease."

Cui Yuan waved his hands repeatedly to refuse, but the emperor requested again and again, and the prime minister from the Cui family finally did not refuse. After a long sigh, he bowed his head and said: "Then this old minister... will do his best."

The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this. After talking to Cui Yuan for a while, he suddenly changed the subject and said, "I have made a big mistake this time."

"Starting tomorrow, I will go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and kowtow to my ancestors to apologize for my crime."

He looked at Cui Yuan and said sincerely, "I will entrust the political affairs to Prime Minister Cui."

Cui Yuan's expression froze, then he lowered his head helplessly and replied "yes".

At the same time, Mr. Cui also sighed in his heart.

The two generations of emperors in the Wu family both had the same moral character.

Hide your head when encountering trouble!
(End of this chapter)