Thief Emperor

Chapter 863 Southwest Tremor
Zhang Han is not from Jiannan Dao, but he has been following his father in Jiannan Dao for more than ten years. During these ten years, he spent at least half in Jianzhou. Especially after the emperor came to Jiannan Dao, Zhang Han was ordered to guard Jianzhou most of the time.

It is also because of this that he is quite confident about the two passes of Jianmen Pass and Jiameng Pass.

Even if only a thousand men were left to guard each pass, it would be difficult to break through unless the enemy launched a fierce attack for several months, losing countless lives.

At this time, he would never allow the imperial guards of the court to bypass his army to support Jianzhou. If the imperial guards really got behind him, encirclement would naturally be impossible, but the Jiannan Army would most likely be attacked from both sides.

Pei Huang was annoyed, but as a son of an aristocratic family, he suppressed his emotions. He looked up at Zhang Han and said, "My Lord, you heard what your brother said. I, Pei, am indeed responsible for your father's death. After all, it was my negligence. However, this matter has nothing to do with your Majesty or the court."

"Right now, everything has to be based on the overall situation."

Pei Huang's face was serious: "Li the thief is about to usurp the throne. He must be eyeing Jiannan Road covetously. At this time, we must ensure the safety of Jianzhou. Otherwise, once Li the thief enters Jiannan Road, not only the court will be in danger."

"The Jiannan Army...I'm afraid they are no match for the Jiangdong Army."

Zhang Han looked up at Pei Huang and said angrily, "My father has devoted his whole life to the court and never complained. Now he has ended up like this. Prime Minister Pei asked me to put the overall situation first!"

He shouted angrily: "Prince Pei, you might as well think about why the Great Zhou has come to this point today. Count carefully and see if there is a good ending for the loyal ministers of the Great Zhou who put the overall situation first in the past twenty years!"

"Counting back, there were General Zhao Tong and General Su Jing!"

“Including Du Tingdu Shangshu!”

Zhang Han sneered: "Which one of them will have a good ending? It just so happens that the one who is now outside of Jianzhou and attacking Jianzhou fiercely is the son of General Zhao Tong!"

"Mr. Pei, you still want our Zhang family to put the overall situation first!"

Pei Huang frowned and was speechless.

In the past decade, especially in the last five years, the rise of the Jiangdong Army has been witnessed by the whole world. With the rise of Jiangdong, some important figures within Jiangdong have also gradually become famous throughout the world.

Among them, there is no need to say much about Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng.

Coincidentally, both of them were sons of generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and their fathers both died because of the four words "put the overall situation first".

Others may not know all this, but Zhang Han, the prince of Jiannan Road, certainly could not be unaware of it. Not only did he know these things, he also had more or less understanding of the deputy generals in Jiangdong.

Pei Huang naturally had no way to refute such words, because during the ten years of great turmoil in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the people who really made the Great Zhou Dynasty precarious, or who really buried the Great Zhou Dynasty in the ground, were the enemies who had been harmed by the Wu Zhou Dynasty in the past twenty years, or even in the more distant timeline.

There are not only Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng involved, but Meng Qing's family also has a life-and-death feud with the imperial court.

Even Li Yun's father was forced to flee to the mountains and become a bandit due to the harsh government.

These people have now united closely around Li Yun and are about to deliver the final fatal blow.

Seeing Pei Huang remained silent, Zhang Han narrowed his eyes and sneered, "I guessed what Pei Xianggong was thinking. Pei Xianggong was probably thinking that the court was too merciful in the beginning and actually left a few people alive for these families, so that these people became powerful today."

"If Mr. Pei succeeds in controlling the entire Jiannan Road in the future, he will most likely not make this mistake when dealing with our Zhang family. He will definitely cut the grass and root it out."

"is not it?"

Pei Huang raised his head suddenly and glanced at Zhang Han.

After being exposed by the man in front of him, Pei Xianggong couldn't help but lose his composure. He wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed and said, "My dear, His Majesty has already said that you will take over the post of Jiannan Jiedushi. The document of canonization will be issued soon. In addition, the court will immediately confer you the title of Duke and posthumously confer the title of Prince on the old Lord."

Zhang Han sneered and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Pei Huang. Pei Huang looked at Zhang Huan and said, "Fourth Master, you were present when the old master was dying. You heard everything he said. Now, can you repeat it in front of the eldest master?"

Zhang Huan's face turned pale. He looked up at Pei Huang, then at his brother, and heard Zhang Han say in a deep voice, "This is our Jiannan Army. No matter what happens, I can help you. If you have anything to say, just say it!"

Zhang Huan took a deep breath, his voice a little hoarse: "Brother, father said, father said..."

"Everything should be based on the court and His Majesty. No conflict should arise with the imperial guards. You should defend Jiannan Road for the court."

"If, if the imperial court wants to take over the Jiannan Army..."

Zhang Huan's face turned pale: "Father said that my eldest brother should hand over the military power and take our family back to our hometown..."

After hearing this, Zhang Han remained silent.

These are indeed words that his father would say.

Zhang Qiong, like Wei Quanzhong, was born in the lower class and was promoted by the previous emperor to become a local governor. However, he and Wei Quanzhong were two extremes. Wei Quanzhong was only interested in profit and had no respect for the Wu Zhou court, while Zhang Qiong was still full of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness.

To the extent that at this point, he could clearly become a powerful official in the small Xichuan court, but he is still sincerely willing to hand over the most precious military power of this era.

And, no conditions are required.

Just this point, there are few people in the entire court who can do it, let alone the small Xichuan court today. Even when the previous emperor was alive, few people could be as loyal as he is.

Zhang Han opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

He looked up at Pei Huang. Just as Pei Huang was about to speak, a middle-aged man came crawling into the general's tent. He was covered in blood. He looked up at Zhang Han, then fell to his knees and cried bitterly.

"General, general!"

Zhang Han was also shocked when he saw him like this.

This was a captain under his command, who was ordered to guard Jiameng Pass.

"What happened!"

Zhang Han strode up to him and said in a very awkward tone: "I asked you to guard Jiameng Pass, why did you come to Chengdu Prefecture?"

The captain wiped the blood from his forehead and actually shed a few tears. He wept and said, "General, those Jiangdong troops, those Jiangdong troops..."

“They are all crazy!”

His tone was filled with fear.

Because the battle of Jiameng Pass, which lasted less than half a month, left him with such terrible memories.

The Jiangdong army, one battalion after another, launched a fierce attack on Jiameng Pass. When one battalion retreated, another one would immediately come up to replace it.

For more than ten days, the fierce attack continued day and night without stopping.

What’s even more terrible is that these Jiangdong soldiers are all fearless and unafraid of death. Even if they watch their comrades fall in front of them, the Jiangdong soldiers behind them will rush forward without blinking an eye.

He saw with his own eyes that a Jiangdong soldier fell to the ground, almost cut in half, but was still waving his weapons with his hands, injuring one of his own soldiers before he fell to the ground and died.

This is a manifestation of high fighting spirit.

More than ten days of saturation attack completely exceeded the endurance limit of the one thousand defenders, and they forcibly took down the Jiameng Pass, which was known as a natural barrier.

The captain knelt on the ground, as if he was recalling the battle at Jiameng Pass. His body was trembling a little: "General, Jiameng Pass..."

"It has been captured by the Jiangdong Army."

He lowered his head and gritted his teeth, saying: "Now, the Jiangdong Army is occupying the entire Jianzhou. It won't be long before Jianmen Pass is also..."

Hearing this, Zhang Han finally became furious.

Pei Huang, who did not avoid the situation, also turned pale suddenly.

Zhang Han looked up at Pei Huang and said in a hoarse voice: "Mr. Pei..."

Pei Huang was not in the mood to talk to him at this time. The prime minister of the small Xichuan court stumbled out of the military camp without even taking Zhang Huan with him. Instead, he rode a fast horse and rushed back to Chengdu city without looking back.

After entering the city, he did not go anywhere, but went straight to the emperor's palace and met the emperor without any obstruction.

The emperor was somewhat delighted to see him return: "Sanlang, have the Jiannan troops outside the city retreated?"

Pei Huang shook his head and looked up at the emperor with a complicated look. After a long while, he bowed his head and his voice was obviously trembling.

"Your Majesty, the people of Jiannan Army said that Jiameng Pass..."

“It’s broken.”

(End of this chapter)