Thief Emperor

Chapter 724 Jiangdong and Hedong

After Zhao Cheng said this, he was still not satisfied and groaned, "The one who deserves to die the most is not Wu Yuancheng, but Wu Cong!"

Wu Cong was the previous emperor.

In the early days of his succession to the throne, he did accomplish a lot. At that time, he was young and strong, and quite smart, and he really created a new atmosphere. However, no matter who it is, if they stay in this position for a long time, they will inevitably become slack.

Especially after making some achievements, one will inevitably become complacent.

What’s even worse is that there is no one to supervise this position. Everyone will flatter me, and after a long time, I won’t be able to see anything.

If it was a mediocre emperor, like the current emperor, then at most he would maintain the status quo and there would not be any major chaos in the court. However, the previous emperor held the power of the court firmly in his hands until he handed over the affairs of state to the then crown prince Wu Yuancheng.

If such an emperor holds great power and does whatever he wants, the country will be in big trouble.

It was in this context that the Wu Zhou Dynasty, which had been able to survive for quite a long time, took a sharp turn for the worse in the last twenty years of the previous emperor's reign.

The roots of all the current chaos and the hatred between the Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng families were actually planted during those twenty years.

As for the two most powerful forces today, Wei Quanzhong was the governor promoted by the late emperor.

As for Li Yun...

Li Yun's father was also forced to become a bandit in Cangshan Mountain due to the previous emperor's political situation.

Hearing this, Su Sheng also fell silent. He let out a long breath, his voice a little hoarse: "He is lucky."

The late emperor was indeed lucky, as he enjoyed the last period of glory of this empire.

Moreover, as a shrewd emperor, after Wang Junping's troops broke through Tongguan, he had already clearly seen the future of the Wu Zhou Dynasty. He had no courage to clean up the mess he had left behind, so he just left.

He left all the karma and all the problems to his ordinary eldest son.

Then, the country naturally collapsed.

It is difficult for Zhongyuan to recover from a defeat!

The two "rebels" scolded the late emperor for a long time. Zhao Cheng looked up at Su Sheng and said in a deep voice, "Brother, the meaning of taking the throne is very clear. We must take over Luoyang and even the entire capital before the Shuofang Army returns and before other Jiedushis take action!"

"Luoyang is the Eastern Capital, and the city walls are high. The Shuofang Army must have left garrisons. How should we fight this battle? Brother, you must come up with a plan."

Su Sheng nodded, he stood up, took out the map and spread it on the table.

Zhao Cheng was stunned when he saw it: "Why is it a map of Hedong Road?"

"It is the map of Hedong Road."

Su Sheng smiled and said, "This map was just delivered by Jiusi this morning. If you are still in the headquarters, you should have received it by now."

"Your idea is similar to mine. The battle of Luoyang this time is ostensibly a battle between us and the Shuofang Army, but in reality it is a battle between three parties."

He pointed his finger at the map and said, "Look here."

"This is Jinzhou in Hedong Province."

Su Sheng said slowly: "It is only one state away from Duji Province. There are at least 30,000 to 40,000 Hedong troops stationed in Jinzhou now."

"Besides, there are Hedong troops waiting behind them. This position of Jinzhou is quite interesting."

"If they want to intervene in the struggle in the Central Plains, they are still one state away from the Central Plains. If they don't want to, it will only take a few days for our troops to enter the Central Plains."

Su Sheng looked up at Zhao Cheng and said with a smile: "Brother, if you were the governor of Hedong, would you fight for this situation?"

"Fight, of course we have to fight!"

Zhao Cheng's eyes fell on the map, and he was very eager: "If it succeeds, it will be a great achievement for all ages. At this juncture, who with soldiers in hand can hold back?"

Su Sheng nodded and said, "I think so too. I think the Hedong Army has been quite patient in waiting and watching the situation. They are not weaker than the Shuofang Army. Once they unite, we in Jiangdong will definitely not be their opponents."

"If it weren't for the death of General Li and the internal turmoil in the Hedong Army, they would have already moved by now!"

"So, brother."

Su Sheng's hand fell on the map and he said, "Luoyang, we should attack from the north and south. I will be in the south of Luoyang, and you will be in the north of Luoyang. Be on guard against the Hedong Army entering Luoyang from the north."

Zhao Cheng's eyes were still on the map, and he didn't move away for a long time. After a while, he nodded and agreed: "That's no problem. No matter how strong the Hedong Army is, it won't be a big problem for me to stop them for a month."

At this point, he said somewhat helplessly: "The difficulty is that if we can take Luoyang, it is the Eastern Capital, one of the cities with the highest walls in the world."

"I have no idea at the moment."

Su Sheng shook his head slightly and said, "However, there must be a reason for the superior to do this. After we gain a firm foothold near Luoyang, the superior will rush to Luoyang and then he will come to get the charter."

He said, "You and I will write a joint letter to inform our superiors of our plan to launch a military expedition." Zhao Cheng nodded in agreement.

As they talked, the two chatted for a while, and Su Sheng suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, I heard that your sister is in Chenzhou, have you found her?"

Zhao Cheng was somewhat stunned when he mentioned this. He whispered, "I heard that they found them, but at that time, the war changed. I led the troops to the battle before I had the chance to see them. The superior sent someone to take them to a safe place to stay. I will go to Chenzhou to see them after the war here is over."

"Good thing, good thing."

Su Sheng looked at him and said softly, "The Zhao family is too sparsely populated now. Brother, you don't have anyone around you who can help you. If you can find your sister's house and have a few nephews around you, that would be a great thing."

Zhao Cheng shook his head slightly and said, "Brother, you still have a lot of things on your mind. I don't have these thoughts. I followed the superior to serve, first for survival, and later for revenge. Now that Wu Zhou is about to die, I just want to avenge this blood feud for my family as soon as possible!"

Su Sheng looked at him and said with a smile: "At first, who in Jiangdong didn't fight for survival and revenge? But now, many people in Jiangdong have changed their minds."

"You and I should change too."

Zhao Cheng was silent and asked, "How did it change?"

Su Sheng poured him a glass of wine and said, "Mr. Du Shouyi, are you familiar with him, brother?"

Zhao Cheng shook his head: "Not very familiar."

"I have known him before. I talked to him a lot when I was in Jinling. I was very curious at that time. He was born into an aristocratic family. Not only did he receive the grace of the country for generations, but he was also appointed as a local governor at a young age. Even if he doesn't become a prime minister in the future, he will most likely be an official in one of the six ministries."

"Logically speaking, with his status, he should not be hanging out with people like us and doing things that can get him killed."

"But it just so happened that he had just taken office, seemingly earlier than anyone else. I asked him about this matter that day."

Su Sheng raised his head and took a sip of wine, then said softly, "Mr. Du said that he believed that ascending to the throne would save the people from the dire straits."

"It can make people's lives a little better."

Su Sheng's eyes were burning: "At least, it's much better than the old Zhou Dynasty."

He looked at Zhao Cheng and whispered, "Brother, I think this is the most worthy cause for us to fight for, besides revenge."

Zhao Cheng was stunned for a moment, then said in silence: "Brother, what does this have to do with my training... training of manpower?"

"Of course it does."

Su Sheng smiled and said, "You and I can both be considered as the direct descendants of the superior. At this time, the superior is getting higher and higher, so of course we have to make ourselves stronger. When the new dynasty is established in the future, we will be able to hold on to the power in our hands and not let outsiders take it away."

"Power is in the hands of people like us, and the position at the top is as secure as a rock."

"Just imagine, if the Jiangdong Army was completely replaced by a new group of people, what would they think? Who can tell clearly?"

"You and I must put down our roots."

At this point, Su Sheng paused and said, "But we must be careful about the degree."

Zhao Cheng toasted Su Sheng with a glass of wine, shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Brother's family has a Su Zhan, who has a bright future, but there is no one left in my family."

"The one in Chenzhou, I'm not sure if she's my sister."

Su Sheng clinked his glass with his and said nothing.

Zhao Cheng looked up at him, as if he understood something. The two of them clinked their glasses, Zhao Cheng exhaled, and said, "No matter what, the battle of Luoyang must be fought well."

"Otherwise, everything is just wishful thinking and empty talk."

Su Sheng patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "After this drink, you and I will go to Luoyang together tomorrow to take a look at the Eastern Capital!"

Zhao Cheng nodded in agreement.

"it is good!"

…………

Just as the Jiangdong Army was rapidly advancing towards Luoyang and stationing troops near Luoyang, an urgent letter was quickly delivered to Taiyuan City and to the hands of Li Zhen, the new Hedong Jiedushi.

Li Zhen looked at the letter and didn't speak for a long time. After a long while, he spoke in a deep voice.

"Go, call Li Hao."

The servant bowed his head respectfully.

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)