Traveling the Heavens in Thunderbolt

Chapter 1102: Liyang Court
Beiliang only sent out 30,000 cavalrymen, and it took less than a month to crush the defense line that Wen Tiren and his men said was impregnable.

The so-called elite soldiers were captured or fled in the battle of Xionghai Pass.

The Northern Liang army arrived at the city of Tai'an and regarded the entire Liyang court as nothing.

Xu Fengnian's act of shooting down the large flag on the top of Tai'an City was more of an insult to the Zhao family of Liyang than the Princess of Western Chu's declaration of herself as emperor.

And what Xu Fengnian said under the city of Tai'an made it clear to the world that Beiliang had officially separated from Yang.

From now on, Beiliang will be the future enemy of Liyang, just like Xichu and Beimang.

In comparison, Xu Fengnian's ordering of the royal family prince Jing'an Zhao Xun to be thrown into Chunshen Lake was not a big deal.

Everything Beiliang did during its trip southwards was clearly an attempt to avenge Li Yang for humiliating the former king of Beiliang.

And Xu Fengnian's move of going south to Jing'an Road and seizing the grain transport told the officials in the Liyang court that they had not forgotten what they had done to Beiliang, and this was just interest.

Not only Wen Tiren, but also Yan Jiexi, who had looked down on the Crown Prince for many years, had a gloomy face for many days.

Jin Lanting's face was livid.

All three of them were afraid that the emperor would use them as scapegoats for the defeat in Liyang.

At the morning court session in Wuying Palace, Zhao Zhuan did not look frustrated because of the Northern Liang army's siege of the city and his separation from Liyang. Instead, he appeared calm and composed.

The three of them secretly breathed a sigh of relief, at least the Emperor did not intend to use their heads to vent his anger.

At this time, the emperor of the Zhao family was holding a book announced to the world by Beiliang. In the book, there were listed ten major crimes committed by the Zhao family of Liyang since they came to the throne, including cruelty to the people, incompetence in governing the country, stubbornness, ignorance and refusal to accept advice, deceitful and untrustworthy, corruption in governing the country, etc.

The young Liyang Emperor smiled and said, "This kind of writing must have been written by the Second Princess of Beiliang, who is famous for her talent and learning."

Xu Weixiong is the top deputy commentator on the Rouge List. Her Nineteen Moves are unparalleled in the world. There is a saying that "Xu Ten and Xu Thirteen". Xu Ten means that this woman's strength far exceeds that of ninth-level masters, and she is a well-deserved tenth-level master. Xu Thirteen means that she can often perform outstanding and wonderful moves that are as mysterious and wonderful as those of the thirteenth level.

In poetry, he made a stunning debut, with great ambitions. At the age of sixteen, he entered Shangyin Academy to study, and learned the art of warp and woof from Han Guzi.

Heng Wen, who was the chief official of the Ministry of Personnel, smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It's a pity that this second princess can't be used by my court. Otherwise, with her talent, she could have worked in my Liyang Hanlin Academy or one of the six new pavilions and she would have become a poetess whose name will be passed down through the ages."

The young emperor nodded and said, "It's a pity. You are a beautiful woman, but you are a thief."

Then, the emperor asked Cai Nan and Han Lin, "Cai Nan, Han Lin, the territory you two are in is closest to Beiliang Road. What do you think of the situation in Beiliang after the Liang-Mang War?"

When the Northern Liang army was approaching Tai'an, Cai Nan was reporting to the city. He had already prepared a plan for this. "Your Majesty, in my opinion, this battle will be a long and bitter one for both Northern Liang and Northern Mang. Even if Northern Liang wins, it will be a miserable victory. Northern Liang was originally at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, and it forced the Northern Mang to invade. Even if it was lucky enough to take the three states, its own losses would not be low. At least more than 200,000 troops died in the battle with Northern Mang. Even if it is true that Northern Liang has 300,000 cavalry as it has claimed for many years, it is definitely a serious injury. In addition, it has to subdue the three newly acquired Northern Mang states, and it will definitely not be able to share more combat power. This time, the Northern Liang rebel king brought less than 40,000 cavalry south, which is a clear proof."

After listening to Cai Nan's response, Zhao Zhuan said with emotion: "They are indeed worthy of being the best Northern Liang cavalry in the world."

This sentence, which was not unfamiliar to the people in the Central Plains but had always been disapproved of, was spoken for the first time by the emperor of the Zhao family.

As if realizing that his words were inappropriate, the young emperor added, "Only our border troops of the two Liaos can match them."

According to Cai Nan's report, Beiliang only had less than 100,000 troops left, while the border troops of the two Liaos in Liyang had as many as 300,000. The meaning behind Zhao Zhuan's words was self-evident.

Zhao Zhuan looked at Han Lin, the governor of Lianghuai, and said, "Han Lin, you have worked hard over the past year."

Han Lin has been in charge of Lianghuai for more than a year. He has trained troops, cut off the infiltration of Western Chu into this area, ensured the smooth flow of water transport, and preserved Liyang, the most important tax collection area.

Compared to when he was in office in the capital, this Lianghuai governor had a darker complexion and was much thinner. His temperament had also changed from being elegant to being a bit rough.

Han Lin bowed and said in fear: "I have failed the grace of the Lord!"

Zhao Zhuan smiled and said, "Ensuring smooth transport of grain and providing millions of dan of grain to our dynasty every year is already a great achievement."

With this achievement, Han Lin will be able to return to the central government and join the cabinet in the future.

Zhao Zhuan told the story of Beiliang going south to Jing'an Road as if he was telling a joke. "Speaking of grain transport, I heard that Xu Fengnian went to the south. I guess he is now worried about how to transport the million dan of grain on the canal back to Beiliang."

The implication is that the Emperor of Liyang does not take these one million dan of grain seriously at all.

As soon as these words were spoken, many ministers laughed in agreement.

After the laughter, the young emperor said calmly: "Just for these grains, the new King of Beiliang is willing to risk his life and do such a rebellious act against the court. These grains originally belonged to Beiliang, but he went to such great lengths. With such a vision, Beiliang should not be feared if he is led by such a person."

After evaluating the King of Beiliang, Emperor Liyang, who always had a confident smile on his face, spoke lightly, as if the one million dan of grain was not worth mentioning at all to Liyang.

The young emperor's words dispelled the gloomy atmosphere in the court.

The young emperor stroked the cloud pattern on the armrest of the throne with his fingers and said, "After you go down, let the Ministry of Revenue draw up a regulation and send it to the Yangshen Palace. In the past few years, the grain stored in Lianghuai was transported to the capital and Liaodong in two batches. If there is any resistance in the local area, we should take it and arrest those who should be arrested. We must give priority to ensuring the supply of the capital and Liaodong this year."

Having said that, Zhao Zhuan glanced at the three people in the court who had the same surname as the Liyang Zhao family.

The three of them were startled.

In recent years, the Changshan Prince's Mansion and the Yan Duke's Mansion have gradually withdrawn from the water transport.

The profits from the distribution have long been diluted to the point of being negligible.

The ones who can truly be called the country's warehouse rats are these three members of the Zhao clan who have the same surname as Guo.

The guaranteed dividend for the past six months alone is 2.5 million taels of silver for each family.

The emperor's meaning was obvious. He usually turned a blind eye to their actions and let it go.

If you dare to ask for help at this time, don't blame him as the emperor for being ruthless.

(End of this chapter)