Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 126: A sudden meeting with the imperial envoy
"Forgive my stupidity," Guo Yin looked at him cautiously, "Even if Feng Twelve has some friendship with the generals, they only listen to orders from the court. Even if Feng Twelve is willing to join the general, as long as the emperor gives the order, the court army will not let us go."

"Who said I was counting on Feng Twelve to block the army for me?" Sui Yongdao glanced at him, "I just wanted to let the world see how unpopular he is as an emperor. Even his son would rebel against him."

Guo Yin hissed softly, "General, do you want to raise an army in the name of Feng Twelve?"

Sui Yongdao smiled, his eyes revealing a fierceness: "Since I can't escape the crime of treason, I might as well fight back. The emperor has arrested my nephew, and my Sui family will have no chance of survival. I might as well give it a try."

Guo Yin poured a cup of hot tea and brought it to him: "I am willing to fight to the death for you, General."

"It's not time for you to fight to the death yet," Sui Yongdao smiled faintly, "The court wants to send a large army north, but it will take half a month just to dispatch food and military supplies. Now there are pirates invading the south, and bandits are often plaguing the western border. The troops in those two places cannot be easily moved. If the emperor wants to deal with Luozhou, he can only dispatch troops from the capital and the east. If we can hold out until autumn, this confrontation will become a stalemate."

Guo Yin thought for a moment: "What happens after the deadlock?"

Sui Yongdao snorted: "It's cold in the north, and the foreign troops can't survive the winter here. The court can only withdraw its troops. Who knows what the situation will be like in the court when the spring comes next year."

Guo Yin listened carefully and echoed, "General, you are right. The capital is not monolithic. Otherwise, no one would have sent the news of Feng Twelve to you, General."

Sui Yongdao picked up the teacup and looked at it: "I can't rely on my nephew anymore. I don't have the merit of following the emperor anymore. It shouldn't be too much to set up a vassal state. Even if I can't set up a vassal state, as long as Feng Twelve is willing to obey, it's not a bad idea to use his name to turn Luozhou into a fiefdom."

Guo Yinshen agreed and said with a smile: "When our dynasty was first established, there were military governors and vassal states, but they were gradually taken back by the court. There is nothing wrong with restoring the old rules now. It depends on whether the emperor can think it through."

"If he can't figure it out, naturally someone will help him figure it out." Sui Yongdao sneered, "Besides, I can't care about so much. Now I just have to wait for Feng Twelve to come, and then we can discuss other things."

"But no matter how much Feng Twelve and the Emperor don't get along, he is still a prince." Guo Yin was worried, "Will he listen to the general?"

Sui Yongdao glanced at him and suddenly laughed out loud. His laughter was full of contempt and ridicule, and it gradually stopped after a long while.

"The emperor sent him to Luozhou just to die. Do you think he has no resentment in his heart?" Sui Yongdao said coldly, "Why has he been clinging to the prince's thigh all these years? It's because the prince can keep him safe. But now, except for me, no one can keep him alive. As long as he is not stupid, he should know how to choose."

"General!"

Suddenly, there was an urgent call from outside, and a general with a square face hurried into the tent: "General, there is a group of people outside the gate, saying that they are imperial envoys from the capital."

Sui Yongdao's face darkened: "When? How many people are there?"

"Just a quarter of an hour ago, there were ten of them," the square-faced general reported. "I personally checked their documents and they are indeed imperial envoys."

Sui Yongdao looked at Guo Yin coldly: "What's going on?"

Ever since he received the news that Feng Twelve was leaving the capital, he ordered the prefect of Luozhou to strictly check the passing passengers. When he found out that the prefect of Luozhou was doing something behind his back, he made a prompt decision and ordered Guo Yin to lead his troops to take over the defense of the city gate.

According to the itinerary, it will take at least three days for Feng Twelve and his party to arrive in Luozhou. So what about this group of people who appeared outside the gate?

Seeing his questioning look, Guo Yin panicked and quickly replied, "General, please be careful. I have checked the list of people who have entered Luozhou recently, and Feng Twelve and his party are not on it."

Sui Yongdao snorted and turned to the general who came to report: "Where is the imperial envoy?"

"I have ordered people to take them to nearby tents for settlement." replied the square-faced general.

Sui Yongdao raised his thick eyebrows and said, "Let's go and take a look."

He stood up and strode out of the tent, followed closely by Guo Yin and the square-faced general. Guo Yin looked at Sui Yongdao's back, stepped back a few steps, grabbed the square-faced general's arm, and whispered, "Captain Zhou, why didn't you inform him first before bringing him in?"

Captain Zhou looked at him in confusion: "They are imperial envoys, how can I stop them?"

Guo Yin choked.

In order to avoid causing unrest in the army, only a few close confidants knew about Sui Yongdao's intention to oppose the court.

Ordinary generals like Captain Zhou only knew that there was martial law in the army recently, and they didn't know that they had already been pulled onto the same boat by Sui Yongdao.

According to Sui Yongdao's original plan, as long as he captured Feng Twelve and his entourage, and then took advantage of the situation to raise the banner of "punishing the treacherous and corrupt officials, and clearing the court of corrupt officials", the Beihe Army would have to follow him in rebellion even if they didn't want to.

But now the development of the situation is somewhat unexpected. Feng Twelve and others actually bypassed the city gate inspection and came directly to the military camp. Guo Yin was puzzled and couldn't help but become more vigilant.

Fortunately, this is the Beihe Army Camp. No matter how powerful Feng Twelve is, entering the military camp is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. It depends on whether the other party knows how to appreciate it and is willing to cooperate with them.

Captain Zhou saw that Guo Yin seemed to be lost in thought, so he gently nudged his knee and said, "Lieutenant General Guo, what are you thinking about? The general has already gone far away."

Guo Yin couldn't explain to Zhou, so he could only punch him: "Next time something like this happens, you don't have to report it to the general, but you have to let me know first, do you hear me?"

After this incident, Sui Yongdao would definitely blame him for not guarding the city gates strictly. Thinking of the military stick he would be beaten with, Guo Yin touched his buttocks, cursed in his heart, and quickly caught up with Sui Yongdao and followed him to the tent where the imperial envoy was.

There was a team of soldiers guarding outside the tent. Guo Yin rushed forward, opened the curtain for Sui Yongdao, and took a look inside the tent.

He felt something was wrong at first glance.

"Wait a moment, General." He stopped Sui Yong and said, "Feng Twelve is not in there."

Sui Yongdao paused and looked inside through the lifted curtain.

Several civil servants stood facing the door of the tent, and several guards were standing on both sides.

Sui Yongdao's gaze swept across the faces of these people one by one, and his eyes gradually became cold as he looked at these unfamiliar faces.

"Come here," he said loudly, "please invite the imperial envoy out to talk."

The face of the leading civil servant in the tent changed slightly: "General Sui, we are here to announce the imperial edict under the order of His Majesty. Please accept the order, General Sui."

Sui Yongdao didn't even look at him, turned around and walked to the open space outside.

"If there is any decree, come out and announce it. I am a rough man, and there is no incense table in the army. Guo Yin," he called, "bring the imperial envoy here."

Guo Yin understood, waved to the soldiers outside the tent, and led them in.

"What are you doing!"

There were a few shouts and clashes of weapons in the tent, and in just a moment, all the people in the tent were captured.

Guo Yin dragged the leading civil servant and pushed him out of the tent.