Thief Emperor

Chapter 813 Li Yun's Threat Theory

Sitting on the imperial throne, Emperor Zhaoding Wu Yuancheng looked at Wei Yao who was kneeling in front of him, without saying a word but sneering continuously.

Pei Huang frowned and was about to speak when he heard Wei Yao kneeling down and continuing, "Although Your Majesty is on a tour to the west, you should also know the situation in the Central Plains. Now Li Yun in Jiangdong can deal with our Shuofang Army, Hedong Army, and even the Fanyang Army at the same time."

"Even now, we are still in a stalemate, but as time goes on, Li Yun's power will definitely become greater. By then, the Taiyuan Li family will not be able to stop them, and the Fanyang Army in Hebei Province will not be able to stop them either."

At this point, Wei Yao lowered his head and said, "I don't think our Shuofang Army can hold out for too long."

He did not continue.

This is a common tactic in the diplomatic field. In short, it is the Li Yun threat theory.

This was what happened when the Emperor's uncle allied with Wu to fight against Cao.

The same was true when the six states resisted Qin.

If everyone is evenly matched, then of course they will act on their own. But now an extremely powerful force has suddenly appeared in the world, so of course the rest of the people will attack it in groups in order to protect themselves.

Pei Huang frowned after hearing this. He looked up at the emperor, who had no expression on his face. He sneered, "You mean, if Shuofang is defeated by Jiangdong, Shuzhong won't be able to hold out for much longer?"

"Yes."

Wei Yao still knelt before the emperor and bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty should not have seen the Jiangdong Army on the battlefield. That thief Li seemed to have some evil magic. These Jiangdong soldiers were really fearless when they went to the battlefield."

“It’s extremely difficult to deal with.”

Wei Yao took a deep breath and continued, "Moreover, the Jiangdong Army was only established in recent years. In the past few years, they were short of weapons and armor, and they were actually at a disadvantage on the battlefield. Now the thief Li has occupied a large amount of land and a large amount of iron ore, and has begun to smelt iron on a large scale and forge weapons and equipment."

"They also have weird gunpowder that's incredibly powerful."

Wei Yao whispered, "This weapon made of gunpowder is very powerful when used to defend a city. Once the Jiangdong Army occupies a place, it will be very difficult to take it down unless the food and grass are exhausted. They have to take it down."

“There were also heavy casualties.”

"That's why they have been burning like wildfire in the past few years. I have to say frankly that once the Shuofang Army is gone, your Majesty's imperial army and the troops under the Jiannan Jiedushi, even with the natural defenses of Bashu, can only hold out for two to three years at most under the Jiangdong Army."

"The Great Zhou Dynasty."

Wei Yao looked up at the emperor and gritted his teeth and said, "That's it!"

The emperor clenched his fists and said nothing.

Wei Yao lowered his head and continued, "Your Majesty, our Wei family has never rebelled from beginning to end, nor has it ever taken an inch of land from the imperial court."

"The Wei family has no grudges against the imperial court."

He touched his forehead to the ground and said in a deep voice: "At present, only if Shuzhong and Guanzhong are connected together can we resist the thief Li."

His Majesty the Emperor did not say anything else, but looked at Pei Huang. Pei Huang said calmly: "What you mean by unity is to use the money and food in Shuzhong to supply the Shuofang Army in Guanzhong, right?"

"Yes."

Wei Yao did not shy away from the question and said directly: "But as long as the Shuofang Army is there, Shuzhong will be safe and the Great Zhou will survive."

He looked up at the emperor and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, you also know that Jiangdong Li is a bandit. Although he is pretending to be benevolent, bandits are still bandits. As long as we can hold them back for a while, they will not expand."

"As time goes on, the thief Li will be exposed."

"By then, he will have lost the support of the people, and the Jiangdong Army's combat effectiveness will also decline. We can all learn his strange gunpowder and firearms."

“There is still room for improvement.”

He gritted his teeth and said, "Only if we preserve our country's destiny will we have a chance!"

"We, the Shuofang Army, will always be the most loyal subjects of the Great Zhou, and we are willing to defend Shuzhong with the blood of our soldiers!"

His Majesty the Emperor slapped the table fiercely and shouted angrily: "Smooth-tongued, smooth-tongued!"

"You are such a brave bitch!"

After cursing for a while, he calmed down a bit, took a few deep breaths, and then said in a deep voice: "Take him away, take him away!"

Soon, several eunuchs came forward and led Wei Yao away.

After Wei Yao left, the emperor seemed to have lost all his strength. He sat in his seat, staring blankly ahead, without speaking for a long time. After an unknown amount of time, he murmured.

"Our ancestors established the capital in Guanzhong just for the retreat route to Shuzhong. When we retreated to Shuzhong, we all thought that at least for one or two generations, at least one or two generations, nothing would go wrong."

"Sanlang, Wei Yao said..."

Pei Huang also fell silent. After sighing, he whispered, "Your Majesty, I have been following Your Majesty and have not been out for a long time. Although I recognize Li Yun, I have never seen what the Jiangdong Army looks like now. However, I..."

"But I have an idea."

The emperor was somewhat discouraged and said, "Just as you say."

Pei Huang looked at the emperor and whispered, "Maybe we can have some dealings with the Shuofang Army, but we have some conditions." He whispered a few words to the emperor, who seemed to be thinking about something, then looked at Pei Huang and said, "Can it be done?"

“Always give it a try.”

"That's good."

His Majesty the Emperor waved his hands helplessly and said, "Then... go and talk to him."

"Yes."

Pei Huang bowed and saluted, then with his hands behind his back, he walked all the way to the side hall where Wei Yao was being held. After waving his hand to dismiss the palace servants, he sat opposite Wei Yao with a calm expression: "Young General, we can talk about this, but if you make an offer, the court must also make an offer."

Wei Yao looked around and saw that the third person was gone. He then looked at Pei Huang and said slowly, "Prime Minister Pei keeps mentioning the imperial court, but he doesn't know that Li Yun has already established a new imperial court in Jiangdong."

Pei Huang did not respond, but said to himself: "I have a few conditions, just listen to them, Major General."

"The first one."

He said softly: "We can provide you with money and food, but we will also send a general from Shuzhong to serve in the Shuofang army."

Wei Yao grinned and said, "Okay, okay, the court has sent someone, we will definitely give him an important position."

Pei Huang frowned and continued, "If the Shuofang Army's movements are different from the intentions of the court, the court will immediately cut off the food supply."

The smile on Wei Yao's face faded, and after taking a deep breath, he nodded slowly: "No problem."

"The second condition."

Pei Huang continued, "The original Shuofang Army should have no problem feeding itself with Guanzhong. The reason your Shuofang Army is short of food is because you want to expand the army. The food I send out from Shuzhong is only for the new soldiers recruited from Guanzhong."

"Our people will take them to the army to distribute them."

Wei Yao had a blank expression on his face: "That won't work."

The emperor of Guanzhong paid salaries to the new recruits in Guanzhong. So, were these new recruits soldiers of the Shuofang Army or soldiers of the imperial court in the end?

I’m afraid it’s hard to say.

At the very least, it's risky.

Pei Huang continued slowly, "The third condition is that the court appoints Wei Quanzhong as the General of the Eastern Expedition, and the Shuofang Army must immediately march eastward through Tongguan and join forces with the Hedong Army and the Fanyang Army to attack the Jiangdong Army that has invaded the Central Plains."

He paused, then continued, "I will be traveling with the Shuofang Army on this matter."

Wei Yao had a blank expression on his face.

Pei Huang's face showed no expression. He just said calmly, "Whether it succeeds or not, that's it. The young general should send someone to report to General Wei."

Wei Yao did not raise his head, but whispered: "At this time, we need to use the name of the Great Zhou to gather those local princes to fight against Li the thief. It is far from enough to rely on a general who conquers the east."

"Prince Pei, we need someone of status to go north with me and lead the three armies in the capital. Only then can we call on the princes of the world to kill the traitor Li together."

Pei Huang didn't waste any words and asked directly: "Who do you want to go with you?"

"Prince."

Wei Yao looked at Pei Huang with a calm voice.

"I want His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to go north to the capital and take charge of the situation."

Emperor Zhaoding Wu Yuancheng is already in his thirties this year. In another two or three years, he will be forty years old.

Among his sons, some are naturally adults. Among them, the legitimate son, Crown Prince Wu Yanzhao, is almost eighteen years old this year.

Legally speaking, he could indeed go north on behalf of the Emperor to "take charge of the situation."

To put it bluntly, it means to be a living banner for the Shuofang Army to wave and cheer for.

Pei Huang frowned upon hearing this. He looked at Wei Yao and said in a deep voice, "You and your son want the crown prince to go north. Do you have any conspiracy?"

"What conspiracy could there be?"

Wei Yao smiled bitterly and said, "Prince Pei, even if my father and I honor the Crown Prince as the emperor in the capital, what good will it do? We can neither occupy the Central Plains nor swallow up Shuzhong."

"Now that Li Yun is here, it is useless for all the princes in the world to have a crown prince."

He paused, looked at Pei Huang, and sighed softly: "Li Yun is the only one who can be of use to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Pei Huang looked at Wei Yao, squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then turned around and left with his hands behind his back.

"I will ask His Majesty for instructions."

(End of this chapter)