Thief Emperor

Chapter 703 Xijing and Dongdu

Today, the situation in Guanzhong is in a rather strange state.

The four passes in Guanzhong, Xiaoguan in the north and Tongguan in the east, are currently garrisoned by Liang Wen's troops. He has 30,000 to 40,000 men under his command, and basically half of them are stationed at each pass. In the capital, he is only accompanied by a guard of about 200 people.

At the beginning, after being threatened by Cui Yuan, Liang Wen behaved well for a while. At one point, he was worried that the emperor would really go all out and kill him.

During that period, Liang Wen was honest and obedient, and he really looked like a loyal minister of the Great Zhou.

However, Liang Wen was born a ruffian with a ruffian temperament. Over time, he gradually came to his senses and became convinced that the emperor could not and dared not kill him.

If he was killed, even if his subordinates did not rebel immediately, as long as the pass was opened, the Wu Zhou Dynasty would be destroyed.

Especially after the Shuofang Army moved south, the main force of the Shuofang Army was in the Central Plains. Liang Wen became more and more confident. He knew very well that once the Shuofang Army entered Guanzhong again, they would no longer be as "peaceful" as last time.

By then, the fall of Wu Zhou would be imminent.

However, even with this awareness, Liang Wen's life was in the hands of the court after all. After the last lesson, he would naturally not be so reckless again, but wanted to test the emperor's attitude towards him.

That's why Princess Xunyang was beaten.

Princess sounds noble and inviolable, but in the context of this level of political struggle, it seems too cheap and means nothing.

Even an immature politician like Emperor Wu Yuancheng would not truly take his sister Princess Xunyang seriously, and would only treat them as bargaining chips or tools.

However, the fact that Princess Xunyang was beaten still made the emperor lose face. He had no other way to deal with it, so he had to issue an imperial decree to reprimand her and let the matter be. However, he still held this grudge in his heart.

Pei Huang lowered his head and looked at the documents from Yuzhou. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Your Majesty, didn't the court send Prime Minister Wang to meet with Li Yun in private before? And there was no result?"

At the prime minister level, all documents were sent directly to the palace and onto the emperor's desk. Even Pei Huang, who had regained control of the Imperial City Administration, had no way of reviewing them.

The emperor frowned, sighed, and shook his head, saying, "Nothing happened. Wang Yan reported that he went to meet Li Yun and Du Qian. Neither of these two traitors had any intention of cooperating with the court."

"but…"

The emperor whispered: "Wang Yan also met the second brother..."

Pei Huang was startled and whispered: "Your Highness the King of Chu..."

The emperor nodded and said slowly: "Old man Wang said that the second son is living quite well in Jinling, and Li Yun treats him very well."

Having said this, the emperor groaned.

"He also brought part of the Imperial City Division to Jiangdong and handed it over to Li Yun. Otherwise, how could the so-and-so division under Li Yun be established so quickly?"

Pei Huang reminded in a low voice: "Jiu Si."

The emperor groaned, looked at Pei Huang, and asked, "Sanlang, how is the Imperial City Department doing recently?"

Pei Huang also sighed and said, "It may be that there is a spy among us, or it may be that the Nine Departments of Jiangdong are becoming more and more powerful. Recently, most of the Imperial City Departments of Jiangdong have been pulled out."

"Especially after the assassination of Li Yun's brother Li Zheng, the Imperial City Division was cleaned up by the Jiangdong thieves. The most important thing is..."

Pei Huang looked at the emperor, hesitated for a while, and finally said: "The Imperial City Department has no money left..."

Hearing this, the emperor also looked at Pei Huang. The monarch and his subject looked at each other and were both silent.

The scene was quite sad.

This is the most realistic thing.

The Imperial City Bureau is a government office that has to pay salaries, and intelligence work has always been a very expensive job. Without money, many things cannot be carried out.

The economy of the imperial court has collapsed in recent years. Some time ago, before the Shuofang Army took over, the imperial court could still control Bashu, Guanzhong, Central Plains and the areas near these three places. But now, the only place the imperial court can control is Guanzhong.

Even if taxes and levies could be collected, they would actually be very little.

It is already quite difficult to support officials in Beijing.

In fact, starting from the second and third years of the Zhaoding reign, many local imperial city offices no longer received any money or grain from the court, and they had to "find ways" to solve the problem on their own.

Many of these people really work for the Great Zhou for free because of their loyalty. Not only do they put in their own money, but they also sacrifice their lives.

It is impossible that the imperial court, which has existed for more than 200 years, has no loyal ministers at all. After all, even in a collapsed dynasty, there is still a group of people who are determined to restore the old dynasty.

"Shrink it."

The emperor lowered his head, sighed, and said with a wry smile: "I don't have any more money to spend now. I will withdraw the manpower of the Imperial City Bureau to Guanzhong and Bashu."

"When necessary."

The emperor whispered, "Everyone retreat to Bashu."

Pei Huang looked up at the emperor.

The two grew up together, and he immediately understood the emperor's idea. At this time, the emperor had already prepared a way out for himself, which was to retreat to Bashu and become the emperor of Shuzhong.

Shu is naturally a country of its own. As long as a few of the passes are closed, relying on the natural barrier, even the strongest army will find it difficult to break in.

By that time, Wu Zhou would still exist, but it would be in a precarious situation.

Pei Huang was silent for a long time, then he said: "I understand."

The emperor patted Pei Huang on the shoulder and gritted his teeth: "Sanlang, if one day you and I really have to retreat to Shuzhong, we must give that Liang guy a hard time before we leave!"

Pei Huang took a deep breath and nodded, "I understand."

He looked at the emperor and asked again: "Your Majesty, when will the prime minister come back? I have something to ask him."

The emperor calculated the time and said, "According to the time, it should be about time."

"When he comes back, you can go find him yourself."

At this point, the emperor waved his hand and said, "But this bunch of corrupt scholars are of no use. Sanlang, don't hold too high hopes on them."

Pei Huang bowed his head and said, "I understand."

…………

Capital Region, Luoyang City.

As the eastern capital of the Great Zhou, Luoyang was once quite prosperous. The previous emperor had visited the eastern capital several times and stayed here for several months, or even more than a year.

The previous emperor reigned for more than thirty years, and spent at least four or five years in the Eastern Capital.

However, at this time, even the capital city had lost its former prosperity and bustle, and Dongdu was no exception. What's more, Dongdu was even more desolate.

Because of Wang Junping's rebellion, Dongdu was the first to fall. At that time, Wang Junping's troops were just a bunch of bandits. After finally entering the city, they of course started burning, killing and looting crazily.

In just a few months, the prosperous city of Luoyang almost became a living hell.

Later, Wang Junping led his troops to leave Luoyang and enter Guanzhong. Later, Wang Junping was destroyed by the three Jiedushi. Luoyang finally got some time to recuperate, but it did not rest for long. Liang Wen, who was successively appointed as the Recruiting Envoy and Observer of Henan Province, led his troops to garrison in Luoyang.

Ironically, Liang Wen was once a general under Wang Junping, and he had done many evil things in Luoyang. However, after a change of appearance, he entered Luoyang openly and became the Duke of Liang.

Later, Liang Wen entered Guanzhong and Luoyang was left vacant. Until this time, the Shuofang Army had entered Duji Road almost unhindered and took control of Luoyang.

At this time in Luoyang, the city's population was less than 30% of its peak period.

At this time, the city had already been occupied by the Shuofang Army.

Moreover, after General Wei captured the city, he was no longer planning to leave.

Lingzhou, what kind of barren place is this?

With an ancient capital city like Luoyang, the Shuofang Army could use it as a base to conquer the world!
Today, General Wei is moving his assets and team from Lingzhou to Luoyang bit by bit. He wants to expand outward with Luoyang as the center and take over the world.

At this time, in the emperor's palace in Luoyang City, General Wei was sitting on the emperor's seat with a majestic horse and a golden sword. Wei Yao knelt in front of him, trembling with fear: "Father, Yuzhou..."

Wei Yao swallowed his saliva, no longer as carefree as he was in Yuzhou, but lowered his head and said: "The war in Yuzhou is not going well..."

General Wei glanced at his son and snorted, "Just not going well?"

"I gave you 10,000 vanguards. How many did you bring back? Two thousand?"

Wei Yao lowered his head and dared not speak.

General Wei looked at him with a frown on his face. After a long while, he said unhappily, "Get up and talk!"

Wei Yao quickly stood up and bowed his head and said, "Yes."

"Tell me about the Jiangdong Army."

Wei Yao took a deep breath and told what he had seen and heard in Yuzhou. Then he looked at General Wei and said through gritted teeth, "Dad, this revenge must be avenged! You personally lead the army eastward and will surely crush the Jiangdong Army and avenge the brothers in the vanguard army!"

"No rush, no rush."

Wei Quanzhong waved his hand and said calmly: "The longer we occupy the fertile land of Central Plains, the stronger we will be. The Jiangdong Army is not weak."

"We will first occupy most of the Central Plains, and then..."

General Wei had a blank expression on his face.

"I'll slowly settle accounts with Li Yun."

(End of this chapter)