Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 253 Stroke
Suddenly, the golden bell in front of the hall was struck, and then a ceremonial officer came out and loudly called out the names of the officials entering and leaving the hall, and announced their titles and names as they entered the hall.

The first person to be called out must be the one with the highest title, Grand Tutor and Zuo Fu Zhou Qiong, followed by the cabinet members and civil and military officials, who filed in one after another.

During the court meeting, the ministers discussed the affairs of the country as usual, and then announced the adjournment of the court.

However, when the court was adjourned, a young eunuch struck the jade plate and then called a dozen core ministers to the East Warm Pavilion to discuss matters. All the officials looked at each other and realized that the main part of the play had begun.

After all, the country is in a difficult situation right now, and some things are very uncertain, so it is not easy to make them public.

After all the officials in the East Warm Pavilion gathered, King Wei Qu walked in.

He still looked calm, but he was far away from the court and there was a beaded curtain blocking the view, so several officials could only see his face clearly at this moment. They were immediately shocked and said,
"The king is so haggard!!"

At this time, Wei Qu looked white-haired and his body was more hunched, as if he had aged ten years in just a few days.

As soon as Wei Qu came in, a young eunuch presented the latest military report and distributed it to the important officials.

The more these officials watched, the more frightened they became:

"What! After the three-party coalition forces raided and severely damaged Sansheng City, they found that the city's defenses were strong, so they split up and began to look for other targets."

"Suli County sent a letter of emergency, which was written in blood, saying that Gu Lie of Khotan led his army to launch a surprise attack, resulting in heavy casualties and the capture of three cities in succession."

"Massacre the city! Gu Lie actually massacred the city! The reason is that Cangshan City was conquered after resistance, and the attack was extremely brutal."

"Mingzhou was also captured. The attackers were Bashi Khan, led by the Naiman tribe. They used a forged military order to trick the gate open, and then rushed in."

"No way. The garrison commander of Mingzhou is a great general like Lu Yiwu, who is strong enough to lift a tripod and is proficient in military tactics. Chen Yunsheng, the Marquis of Zhenbei, was also taken advantage of by him and suffered a great loss. The king was placed in Mingzhou to suppress Chen Yunsheng. How could he die in battle here?"

"It's written in the battle report that Bashi Khan also spent a lot of money, dispatched the Blood Wolf War Guards, and personally went to the battlefield. Even half of the Heavenly Wolves around him died."

"."

Wei Qu waited until all the ministers had finished reading a series of the latest military reports, then slowly said:

"Tell me, what countermeasures do you have?"

After a moment of silence, the ministers began to speak. Some said they should first negotiate peace with the Tatars, while others advocated war. Both sides held their own opinions and even started arguing.

Wei Qu was clear in his mind that the reason for the quarrel between the two factions was not about state affairs, but party struggles.

Those who advocated peace were from his eldest son's faction, while those who advocated war were from his fourth son's faction.

In such a critical situation, these idiots in the court are still fighting and wasting time among themselves.

As soon as he thought of this, Wei Qu suddenly felt a black screen in front of his eyes, his whole body suddenly turned dizzy, he staggered, and then fell to the ground softly.

***
Some are happy while others are sad.
Houfu Study Room,

Chen Yunsheng sat at the head of the table.
Next to them were Sima Yun and several other aides, all with smiles on their faces.

Sima Yun smiled and said:
"Seventh Young Master has an expert by his side. Once this strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf is used, our situation will be turned from danger to safety immediately."

Another strategist named Wei also clapped his hands and laughed:

"After this round of offensive and defensive battles, we have become a tree that stands out in the forest and will be destroyed by the wind. Unfortunately, the real strength of the Marquis' Mansion is still very weak, and the monarch will be suspicious and take advantage of us at will."

"However, with the fall of Mingzhou and the corruption in Suli County, coupled with the heavy casualties we presented, His Majesty has no choice but to appease and support us."

Sima Yun said:

"Now we should rush to Mingzhou and Suli County to provide disaster relief. The people there are in dire straits and are crying out for food!"

Of course Chen Yunsheng knew what Sima Yun meant. Population has always been a major problem for Sansheng City. Therefore, in addition to gathering the victims from the two places, the local wealthy families would also be forcibly relocated.

He said very simply:

"Yes! Just go ahead and do it. Then make a copy of the plan and send it to Old Seven. He knows the general situation and should be able to cooperate with you."

Wei Yongdao:
"Yes! I will do it right away."

Then he bowed to the ground:
"Congratulations, my Lord. A dragon has appeared in your family."

Chen Yunsheng also showed a bitter smile on his face. It's a good thing that his son is better than him.

But now he could clearly feel that his son had become independent without him noticing and had implicitly formed a huge independent interest group.

The key point is that a lot of talented people have quietly emerged under this kid's command.

Yang Yun, the peerless general, had only met two or three people in his half-life of military service, but he voluntarily joined his army and was loyal to him.

That grassland man, Khasar, has extremely brilliant strategic vision and is worthy of being a great general.

Not to mention Cai Yuanchang, who was originally a poor scholar in the city, but was valued by this guy and entrusted with an important task. After talking with him for a few words, I was secretly shocked that this person at least had the ability to govern a state or county.

Chen Yunsheng considered himself to be a man of modest character and eager to recruit talented people, but after half a lifetime of hard work, he had discovered many talented people, but none of them could match this kid.

Hearing Wei Yong's words, Chen Yunsheng couldn't help but think of a proverb:
The tiger comes from the wind, the dragon comes from the clouds.

It is said that those who have great luck do not need to do anything, and famous ministers and powerful generals will naturally gather around them.

Just as Chen Yunsheng was pondering these things, the sound of flapping wings suddenly came from the roof outside.

After a while, the butler came hurriedly, bowed and handed a bamboo tube to Chen Yunsheng, and whispered:
"My Lord, the urgent news from the capital is still sent by the ghost bird, and the tube is still sealed with blood wax."

The homing bird is a very rare bird. If it is used to deliver messages, it must be fed poison bait to stimulate its life potential. In this way, its delivery speed is four times that of a carrier pigeon!
However, after arriving at the destination, the sparrow will die within three days, making it a typical disposable item.

At the same time, blood wax seal is also a very effective means of confidentiality, because it must be unsealed with corresponding blood. For example, if you use duck blood to unseal chicken blood wax seal, the things inside will be destroyed in minutes and you will get nothing.

These two points are enough to show that the information coming from this bamboo tube is extraordinary! !
Chen Yunsheng frowned, thinking subconsciously that Wei Qu was going to attack him, so he asked someone to get a sample of cat blood, and then opened the bamboo tube.
As a result, the content made Chen Yunsheng's eyes widen, and he looked at it several times in disbelief.

After a few seconds, Chen Yunsheng looked at the eight words "Wang is angry, he must have had a stroke" on the note and couldn't help laughing "hahahaha". The laughter even penetrated the study and was heard by the maids sweeping the garden next door.

To be honest, the pressure that the shrewd Wei Qu put on Chen Yunsheng was not ordinary.
Upon hearing that this person had suffered a stroke, Chen Yunsheng suddenly felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his heart. This feeling of relief was something Chen Yunsheng hadn't felt for a long time.

***
Smoke billows in the distance.

It is the location of Mingzhou city.
Although they won a great victory, Bashi Khan's face was gloomy and he looked extremely unhappy.

In front of him was a long convoy that was unloading goods, and next to it was a large number of packaged goods waiting to be shipped away.

The person in charge of this fleet was none other than Gong Tianwu's third uncle Cui Ziyang.

Their caravan was transporting food and supplies. After all, when Bashi Khan's troops were halfway through their escape, they were blocked by Chen Shengzhi and his men!
Bashi Khan and his gang were already defeated generals and frightened birds. When they met a military god like Chen Shengzhi, whose army had just grown up in the tempering of blood and fire, they were bound to be completely defeated!
Chen Shengzhi had already established contact with Gong Tianwu, so after some intimidation and inducement, Bashi Khan had no choice but to go and attack Mingzhou.

Although they looted a lot of things, most of them could only be used to buy food and supplies - you have to know that these things originally belonged to Bashi Khan and his men, but were seized by Chen Shengzhi's army.

What? If you don’t buy it, the army might come to kill you!

However, Bashi Khan was able to keep at least 30% of the spoils, so he had a thought. Although they felt aggrieved, they had no choice but to swallow their anger.

At this time, Cui Ziyang came in front of Bashi Khan with a smile on his face, and performed the half-kneeling gesture of touching his chest according to the etiquette, giving him enough face.

Then Cui Ziyang waved his hand again and presented Bashi Khan with eight jars of fine wine and eight boxes of tea bricks. Such gifts were very much to his liking. At this time, Cui Ziyang said to Bashi Khan:
"Your Majesty, I have brought you good news."

Bashi Khan snorted and said:

"That had better be good news. My warriors have suffered too many casualties, which makes me very unhappy."

Cui Ziyang lowered his voice and said:
"I found a connection privately and got twenty boxes of Wild Wolf Crossbows, and I came to you first."

Bashi Khan's eyes widened immediately and he grabbed Cui Ziyang's shoulders:
"What did you say? Did you really get the goods?"

Cui Ziyang smiled and said:

"Words are not enough, Khan, see for yourself."

Then someone came forward and casually opened a box.

Suddenly, a greasy smell came to my face, and inside was a brand new "Wild Wolf" crossbow. It was dark and looked very intimidating, and the key positions were maintained to be shiny and smooth.

Bashi Khan immediately picked up one impatiently, then inserted the crossbow arrow, aimed at the distance and pulled the trigger. With a slight sound, he hit the target accurately.

Then he waved his hand again, and someone immediately presented another one - this thing was captured from the battlefield.

In a battle like this involving tens of thousands of people, even if Gong Tianwu's side had the advantage, it was impossible for them to survive without a single death, so it was normal for the Wild Wolf Crossbow to be seized.

Bashi Khan compared the two, then looked at the twenty large boxes in front of him, nodded with satisfaction and said:
"I didn't expect you could get so many goodies!!! I want them all."

Bashi Khan's biggest worry was that he would suffer heavy casualties and face challenges from other ambitious tribes due to the severe loss of his strength. However, after getting this batch of goods, he suddenly felt more confident!

After all, Bashi Khan and his subordinates were very clear about the power of the Wild Wolf Crossbow. In terms of range, firing rate, and power, it completely crushed the cavalry bows on the grassland, and even the sturdy armor could be easily penetrated.

With this batch of crossbows, plus the supplies looted this time, his position will still be as stable as a rock when he returns.

Seeing the greed in Bashi Khan's eyes, Cui Ziyang smiled and said:

"Khan, I secretly got these crossbows from the armory. If they are discovered, everyone on this line will lose their heads. So no one is willing to do this without sufficient benefits."

Bashi Khan frowned, but also agreed with Cui Ziyang's statement:

"You make an offer."

Cui Ziyang whispered a number, then took two steps back very deliberately, obviously to avoid being beaten by the other party who went berserk.

Sure enough, Bashi Khan felt as if a knife had stabbed his aorta. The muscles on his face twisted and twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"Don't go too far."

Cui Ziyang said in embarrassment:

"Khan, calm down. Wild Wolf crossbows are extremely difficult to produce, let alone to produce such a large number. The number I quoted to you can be reduced a little bit, and..."

He lowered his voice again:

"This first batch of goods will definitely be the most expensive, but once the links are opened up and the flow of goods continues, the price of the subsequent goods will definitely drop a lot."

Bashi Khan said in a deep voice:
"Will there be more later?"

Cui Ziyang deliberately showed a greedy smile and said:
"Khan, you can go and ask about my identity, Cui. I am the uncle of the Seventh Young Master!!"

Bashi Khan finally nodded.

Of course, this scene did not only happen in Mingzhou. Someone in Gulie also came forward to secretly "smuggle" the Wild Wolf Crossbow.

If you think about it carefully, both Bashi Khan and Gulie are really pitiful. They have to use most of the wealth and goods they have robbed at the front with their blood and lives to buy the baggage and food supplies that were originally their own.

What? Not buying?

Now Chen Shengzhi has selected and trained more than a thousand white robe soldiers, and he is just in need of people to gain some experience points.

Not only that, the two parties were willing to pay to buy the Wild Wolf Crossbow, while in their hearts they were madly laughing at Gong Tianwu for being such an idiot for selling such a heavy military weapon.

What these people didn't know was that the Wild Wolf Crossbow already had a superior alternative to the Sirius Crossbow in the early stages of its development.

Now Gong Tianwu has realized that the Sirius crossbow has almost reached the limit of mass-produced crossbows, so the workshop has begun to work on the crossbow arrows.

If these fools wanted to use the purchased Wild Wolf Crossbow to attack Sansheng City, they would soon find out in despair that the gap between the two sides’ weapons was even greater than the previous ox horn bow vs. Wild Wolf Crossbow!!

(End of this chapter)