Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 638 Everything is under control!
The Li Tang dynasty's change of course was actually intended to be concealed, not only because the events were too sudden, but also because the current situation did not allow them to expose their own chaos.

But how could such a thing be kept secret? Li Yuan was at the age of striving for success when he suddenly fell ill and abdicated overnight. The one who passed the throne to him was not the crown prince or even his son, but his daughter, who surprised everyone.

To put it simply, the explosive nature of this event is likely that the US presidential election was a fierce battle between Trump and Trump, with Taylor Swift ultimately winning the race.

Although Chang'an was under complete martial law and curfew at this time, it still could not stop the news from leaking out.

The first to know the news were Yang Ying and his group. Yang Ying, in particular, was almost dumbfounded when he saw the news. This happened too suddenly. It was clear that Tian Wei's army had already pressed on Xuzhou, and that old scoundrel Wang Shichong surrendered without saying a word. Now the two armies were only eighty li apart at their closest point.

But Li Tang's sudden move was like poking Yang Ying's skin with red-hot tongs at the last minute.

When you need allies the most, the people most likely to become your allies choose to isolate themselves. That's really a dirty trick.

Yang Ying probably didn't expect that this grand drama had already been written into the script six years ago, and now she was just following the script and performing the expected scenes.

After learning the news, he sent more than a dozen messengers and persuaders to the Li Tang dynasty, but all of them disappeared without a trace. The messenger who returned brought back his personal letter, telling him that at present, apart from goods that were essential for the basic livelihood of the people, no one else was allowed to enter Chang'an. It was a case of closing the gates to beat the dog and eliminating the Crown Prince's supporters.

What could Yang Ying do? He could only curse a few times but had nothing else to blame. At this point, Li Yuan was outmaneuvered by his own children. All that could be said was that Li Yuan was a master manipulator and a formidable figure.

Li Tang became withdrawn, leaving only the conflict between Yang Ying and Tian Wei. At this time, he suddenly did something he thought was very impressive: he actually wrote a proclamation denouncing the rebellion, claiming that the Tuoba family had seized the Yang family's empire and that the Yang family was the legitimate successor to the Chinese throne.

This manifesto reached the island in the middle of the lake in Nanjing in just three days. Comrade Xia Lin, who was fishing at the time, burst out laughing after just one glance.

"This guy claims to be a Han Chinese."

He pointed to the proclamation, turned to the Jingtai Emperor who was fishing beside him, and said, “He says you are a barbarian and he is a Han Chinese. He’s a guy named Pulu Ru who says he is a Han Chinese.”

"He really is." Emperor Jingtai turned his head and glanced at Xia Lin: "You didn't know?"

"Really?"

"Indeed." Emperor Jingtai emphasized, "The Yang family of Hongnong in the Han Dynasty was descended from Yang Zhen, and the Confucius of Guanzhong. Later, due to various circumstances, they submitted to foreign tribes, and it was only under my grandfather's care that they regained the Yang surname."

Xia Lin stroked his chin and said, "So that's how it is... I really haven't looked into him in detail, but I guess someone who serves as a dog for a foreign tribe is just so-so."

"After the War of the Eight Princes, most of them were not in control of their own destiny."

"Are you out of your mind?" Xia Lin said, slapping his thigh. "I'm picking a fight for him, and you're trying to cover it up. What? You don't want to be emperor anymore?"

"But I am indeed a Hu person."

"No, you are not a barbarian. The Tuoba family were descendants of the Yellow Emperor who were enfeoffed in the northern lands. In the north, the land is commonly called Tuo, and their descendants are called Ba. Aren't you just a pure-blooded Han dog?"

"Huh? You call yourself a Han dog?"

“That’s right, your royal family is nothing but the dogs of the Han people.” Xia Lin crossed his legs: “I’m different. I come from a proper poor peasant family and am one of the rulers of the world.”

Emperor Jingtai rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay attention to his self-indulgent talk, and said coldly, "You're just bullying me. If you're so capable, go to my father's grave and call him a Han dog."

"No way! A real man doesn't go if he says he won't." Xia Lin twisted his neck: "That's what backbone looks like!"

"Alright, I'm not going to waste my breath on you anymore. I've already arrived in Xuzhou, why did you call me back?"

"Of course, something big has happened." Xia Lin stared intently at the buoy on the lake, lost in thought: "Li Tang has a new emperor, and Yang Ying has issued a proclamation. At this time, we need to change our tactics. I'm worried that you'll rush in recklessly."

"You yourself said you wanted a quick victory."

"I told you you don't understand warfare, but you insisted on claiming to be shrewd and capable." Xia Lin laughed, "The best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting, you know? The situation changes in an instant. To say you can remain unchanged in the face of change is just self-deception. Strategies must change with the situation. What were they called before? Bandits, thieves, rebels and roving bandits. Now that Yang Ying is about to establish his own regime, and the world is returning to the Three Kingdoms era, what will they call them? A separatist regime. Before, the Li Tang could even support them against us, but now they will have to add the desire to oppose the Li Tang to their minds."

"To oppose the Li Tang dynasty? Why? I really don't understand."

“That’s normal. Your head is full of poetry and songs. It’s a good thing your father is so capable, otherwise you’d probably be in Weiyang Palace in Chang’an right now, drinking and playing archery while drunkenly reciting ‘I’m so happy here I don’t want to go back to my homeland,’ and then lying in bed at night crying and reciting ‘The east wind blew again last night in my little tower, my homeland is unbearable to recall in the bright moonlight.’” Emperor Jingtai paused, his face flushed slightly, but after a long while he finally spoke: “No, I can’t write such good lyrics.”

Xia Lin laughed so hard he was almost unrecognizable. After a long pause, he said, "Li Tang and Yang Ying have no buffer zone between them; they border each other directly. For Yang Ying, they fear Li Tang more than Tian Wei. Firstly, the Li family, especially Li Shimin, is aggressive and ruthless, believing that if they're in the business, they'll kill your whole family if they say so. Secondly, their territory is too far from the Tang Dynasty and too close to it. Li Tang wouldn't allow someone claiming to be the legitimate successor of the Central Plains to lie beside them, much less a true legitimate successor of China. The most likely reason Yang Ying has only issued a proclamation but hasn't established a state is that they haven't reached an agreement with Li Tang."

"Then what should we do?"

"The war still needs to be fought, but it needs to be done gently. We need to wear them down and exhaust them until they have nothing left. First, we need to continue to push them northward, then order Yanmen Pass to hold the pass and force them towards Longcheng, to the vicinity of the birthplace of the Li Tang dynasty, so that they can confront the Li Tang dynasty head-on."

"One fish, three ways..."

"That's right!" Xia Lin slapped her thigh: "Brother Jing has indeed grown up a bit."

"We need to find a way to force them to the western foothills of the Taihang Mountains, between Dingxiang and Zhengding, across the mountains from Longcheng, about two hundred li away. Do you think the Li Tang dynasty will panic?"

"One hundred and eighty li, less than two hundred li. They must be very panicked."

"Now that the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty has ascended the throne, he is eager to repair the internal affairs and purge his cronies. His control over the north and the Central Plains will inevitably weaken. The best way is for the Polu Army to set off from Jingzhou and march north to cooperate with the new army to attack Yang Ying from both sides. I called you back because I was worried that you might suddenly become ruthless and start vying with Yang Ying for control of the Central Plains. But you also need to know that even if there are heavenly soldiers, you should think twice before fighting 40,000 against 400,000.

So our immediate response is to drive them away?

"Yes, besides driving them away, we also need to make them suffer. We shouldn't confront them head-on. If they attack, we'll defend the city; if they rest, we'll harass them. We'll deplete their supplies, provisions, and manpower. We'll slowly wear them down. Wearing them down is like wearing down a bunch of grasshoppers. War is all about gains, isn't it? When they realize they can't make ends meet and cut off their support, how about we hang Yang Ying's family in the Wei River and freeze them into popsicles?"

"His daughters and granddaughters are all so beautiful, could he have a whole family?"

“Okay, you can get one then.” Xia Lin nodded and said, “I think I’ve seen one before, it was quite nice.”

"I'm asking you."

"Why would I want that stuff? I don't want it." Xia Lin waved his hand: "His daughters are all from the Dugu family. I don't need to get scolded like that."

Emperor Jingtai nodded: "So, we still have to fight, right?"

"Correct."

"Not only do we have to fight, we have to win. And not just win, we have to win spectacularly, right?"

"Correct."

"Alright." Emperor Jingtai stood up: "You didn't even bother to call me back for such a small matter? Just write a letter."

"I'm just afraid you'll act impulsively."

The tripartite division of the world is looming, and the main patrons of powerful families in various regions are still the Yang Ying family. However, their choice to invest in Yang Ying is not because they think highly of him, but because the person they favored has been given a big threat from the start. Therefore, for their own future interests, they will inevitably try every means to eliminate these threats.

Even on the black market, Xia Lin's assassination bounty had reached one million taels. However, since the failure of the last dog-slaughtering competition, no one dared to take up the bounty anymore. They could only look up at that lonely one million taels hanging there.

Emperor Jingtai arrived and left quietly. Upon arriving in Xuzhou, he immediately began preparing military affairs. He then appointed the Green Forest General Shan Xiongxin to take full command of the troops, preparing to launch an attack on Yang Ying's territory, seemingly enraged by the proclamation.

Seeing that they had fallen into the trap, Yang Ying immediately began to prepare to fight Tian Wei's army on the vast North China Plain, using the advantage of his large army to suppress the arrogant southern soldiers.

But who knew that just as the battle lines were being set up, news came that the Po Lu army was marching north from Jingzhou, heading straight for the heart of the enemy territory.

They weren't so afraid of the Green Forest Army because they hadn't accomplished anything except fighting the Western Turks. Even though they were strong, they had encountered forces ten times their size.

But the Po Lu Army is different. Xia Lin said he wouldn't easily move against the Po Lu Army because it is the soul of the Great Wei, an invincible army, and its deterrent significance far outweighs its practical combat significance. And now, the hatch of Xia Lin's nuclear silo has been opened, blatantly telling Yang Ying one thing—time is running out.

After Yang Ying simulated the entire battlefield situation on the sand table, his eyes were dark from lack of sleep. He stood there with his hands on his hips, pointing at the map in his hand, and said, "We need to divide our forces by 200,000 to turn around and resist the Po Lu army. Who among you can quickly wipe out the troops in Xuzhou? If we wait for them to advance from both sides, I'm afraid we will be overwhelmed..."

(End of this chapter)