Thief Emperor

Chapter 852 Instigation
Li Yun reached out, casually poured two cups of tea, pushed them forward, and said with a smile, "Serve it yourself, serve it yourself."

Du Qian stood up almost immediately and reached for the tea with both hands. Du Tong also reacted quickly, stood up, lowered his head, and took the tea that Li Yun poured himself with both hands.

Li Yun waved his hand, motioning for the two to sit down, and then asked, "Tell me in detail."

Du Tong responded and said, "I was detained in Xichuan for more than half a month and then detained for a few days. Because of my status, I met many old people in Guanzhong during this period and got to know the Xichuan court to some extent."

He lowered his head, pondered his words, and continued, "Your Majesty knows that the current Xichuan small court was established by the old Zhou emperor who brought his imperial guards and some court officials to Xichuan."

"And this time the Old Zhou Emperor went to Xichuan, it was very different from the last time."

Du Tong took a deep breath and said, "When the old Zhou emperor went to Xichuan for the first time..."

Li Yun waved his hand, interrupting him, and said with a smile: "No need to go through so much trouble, just say the emperor is it. He is indeed the emperor now, and I admit this. There is no need to be so awkward."

"Yes."

Du Tong also smiled and said, "Then I will make it short."

"When the emperor first went to Xichuan, it was only a little over a year, and at that time, whether it was the emperor himself, the courtiers he brought to Xichuan, or the imperial guards, they all knew very well that they were staying in Xichuan as guests."

"Sooner or later, they will return to Guanzhong."

Du Tong was stuttering at first, but at this point, he finally spoke fluently. He looked up at Li Yun and continued, "Therefore, at that time, there was no conflict between the imperial guards of the old Zhou Dynasty and the local army of the Jiannan Jiedushi."

"There was no conflict between the officials of the old Zhou Dynasty and the local officials of Xichuan."

“But this time it’s very different.”

Du Tong said in a deep voice: "This time, the emperor fled to Xichuan for the second time. The people he brought with him, from top to bottom, all knew that it would be difficult for them to return to Guanzhong. Most of them would have to settle down in Xichuan."

"The army is fine. With the Jiannan Jiedushi here, there won't be too much trouble. But the officials the emperor brought with him are different. They were officials from the original court. Once they go there, they will naturally be under pressure from those Xichuan officials."

"It even put pressure on the governor of Jiannan."

"That's not good."

"Anyone can see that the emperor is unlikely to return to Guanzhong, and Xichuan is only this big."

"The most interesting thing is that Wei Yao from the Shuofang Army came to Xichuan once before and met the emperor. I don't know what he said to the emperor, but the emperor sent someone to the Shuofang Army to serve as a deputy general. Since then, Xichuan has begun to supply Guanzhong with some money and food to support the Shuofang Army in Guanzhong."

"These money and grain are indeed the surplus of Xichuan, but the old Zhou Dynasty is in name only. These surpluses were originally the benefits of the local officials of Xichuan. Now they are all given to Guanzhong and Wei Quanzhong for free."

"Hey."

"If it weren't for the Jiannan Jiedushi who was loyal to the old Zhou court, Xichuan would have been in chaos long ago."

Hearing this, Li Yun looked up at Du Qian. Du Qian seemed to have a telepathic connection and also looked up at Li Yun. The two looked at each other, and then Du Qian spoke: "Sir, after the old Zhou emperor arrived in Xichuan, he indulged in women and rarely asked about government affairs."

"Now, the political affairs of Xichuan are all in the hands of Pei Huang, but Pei Sanlang is not a good hand."

"There are indeed many problems within Xichuan."

Li Yun nodded slightly, looked at Du Tong, and said with a smile: "Go on."

Du Tong bowed his head and said yes, then said, "Before I left Xichuan, I heard a piece of news that Zhang Qiong, the governor of Jiannan, has been bedridden and seriously ill for many days."

Du Tong looked up at Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang Qiong is already over sixty years old this year. He has been deeply indebted to the country throughout his life. He is loyal to the Wu Zhou court and is willing to sacrifice the entire Xichuan. However, his subordinates and his sons may not think so."

"As soon as he dies, the contradictions that Xichuan has been suppressing by him alone will immediately erupt."

Li Yun touched his chin, thoughtfully.

There is absolutely no logical problem with what Du Tong said.

Throughout history, most forces that entered Shu had to go through a war to decide the ownership of the land. Everyone spoke with their fists, so the loser would be convinced.

However, Emperor Wu Yuancheng entered Xichuan relying on the title of emperor, the empty title of Son of Heaven.

Relying on the loyalty of the Jiannan Jiedushi.

This is very fragile.

If this goes on, if Xichuan becomes turbulent, there will inevitably be a chaotic battle. At that time, it will depend on whether the tens of thousands of imperial guards brought by the emperor are more skilled, or whether the Jiannan Army stationed in Xichuan is stronger.

Li Yun lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, thinking carefully, then looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "What do you think, Brother Shouyi?"

Du Qian had already thought of how to answer. He immediately lowered his head and said, "My Lord, I think this is a good opportunity. What I mean is that you can send more people from the Nine Departments to Xichuan to keep an eye on the movements of Xichuan. If Xichuan becomes chaotic, you can take this opportunity to enter Xichuan in one fell swoop."

"The old Zhou emperor is afraid of death. Even if he has nowhere to escape, he is unlikely to die. Once the royal army conquers Xichuan, the emperor can invite him to Luoyang and legitimately take over the orthodoxy from him."

"By then, no one in the world will be able to make irresponsible remarks." Li Yun narrowed his eyes, pondered carefully, and then asked: "Brother Shouyi, what do you think is the probability of unrest in Xichuan within this year?"

Du Qian thought for a moment and said, "As long as Zhang Qiong dies, I think there is at least a 60% chance that Xichuan will fall into chaos."

Li Yun took a deep breath and knocked on the table: "Then let him die."

Du Qian was startled and looked up at Li Yun.

Li Yun looked calm: "The Ninth Division has a lot of people, and some people have been buried in Xichuan."

“In the past few years.”

Du Qian nodded silently, then he suddenly understood what Li Yun meant, and murmured: "Get promoted..."

Li Yun nodded and said slowly: "Whether this assassination succeeds or not, the result is good for us."

At this time, the Jiannan Jiedushi was in a state where he could not die.

And if someone assassinated him.

The old Zhou court led by Wu Yuancheng would most likely think that it was the local forces in Xichuan who assassinated him.

The son of the Jiannan Jiedushi and his old subordinates might think that it was the imperial court who sent people to kill their leader and then take action against the entire Xichuan local faction.

In this way, even without the assassination being successful, the suspicion between the two sides will immediately be magnified infinitely.

And if the assassination was successful, the whole of Xichuan would be in chaos.

Du Qian was stunned for a while, then he looked at Li Yun, clapped his hands and exclaimed: "This method of ascending to the throne is really wonderful."

He paused, and then said, "It is brilliant to be able to advance the promotion by a few years and to lay out a plan in Xichuan."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "It's not my credit. Liu Bo has worked so hard over the years. Many things were accomplished by him."

Du Qian didn't ask any more questions, but looked at Li Yun and said, "Then the rest is the reason for entering Xichuan."

"Isn't the reason simple?"

Li Yun looked at Du Tong and said in a deep voice, "Brother Da Zong, as an envoy of me, Li, was sent to Chengdu, but he was captured by those barbaric bandits without any explanation."

"Brother Da Zong is on a diplomatic mission for me, which is equivalent to me going to Chengdu Prefecture in person."

"If he is locked up, it means I, Li Er, am locked up too. Isn't this a great shame?"

At this point, Li Yun called Du Tong by his courtesy name for the first time, partly out of courtesy and partly to acknowledge his contribution.

"Just for this reason alone, we can send troops. Besides, if Xichuan is in chaos, we can enter Xichuan even under the pretext of defending the king."

"The question is whether we can get in."

Having said this, Li Yun stood up and said seriously, "I will start to handle this matter now."

He looked at the Du brothers and said, "Brother Shouyi, please arrange for Brother Dazong to have a good rest for a while."

"I'll make other arrangements for him when I come back."

The two brothers stood up and bowed to Li Yun.

…………

On that day, Li Yun called Meng Hai to his study, and the two discussed secretly for a long time. It was not until the late night that Meng Hai left Li Yun's residence mysteriously to communicate with Jiusi.

At the same time, Li Yun also handed a summons to Zhao Cheng through the Nine Departments. After receiving the summons, Zhao Cheng did not dare to delay and immediately rode back to Luoyang.

On the afternoon of the third day, he returned to Luoyang from near Tongguan, entered the city of Luoyang, and came to Li Yun's palace, where he was soon invited into the study.

As soon as he entered the study, he saw a large map of Xichuan hanging in the study, and Li Yun was looking at the map in detail.

Zhao Cheng seemed to be thinking about something, and bowed: "My Lord, I am here to receive your orders!"

Li Yun looked back at him with a smile on his face.

"General Zhao has arrived just in time, look."

He pointed at the map and said seriously.

"We may have to change our original plan."

(End of this chapter)