The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 801 This Revenge
A group of cavalry, totaling more than 700 people, hurried to the post station near the Yanqi Kingdom.

And Liu Shi had already been waiting here.

When the knights' commander got off the carriage, Liu Shi hurriedly led everyone to greet him.

This posthouse was once a garrison of the Han army. Later, it served as an important outpost on the Loulan Road. The local garrison consisted of only dozens of people, who were responsible for guarding against thieves in the surrounding area and ensuring road safety.

Liu Shi came here secretly four days ago.

He brought not many people with him, only more than 30 cavalry attendants.

Deng Zhong dismounted and immediately saw Liu Shi standing in the crowd in the distance. He smiled and walked forward to greet him.

"Mr. Liu!"

Liu Shi returned the gift and arranged for officials to take care of the cavalry brought by Deng Zhong, while he walked into the courtyard with Deng Zhong.

The place is too small to accommodate such a large number of cavalry, so they can only set up a temporary camp.

The two of them walked into the inner room one after the other, and asked everyone around them to leave. Deng Zhong then hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

Liu Shi had a stern face and looked quite serious. He asked Deng Zhong to sit down, poured him some tea, and then sat next to Deng Zhong.

"Kucha and Yanqi have gone to war."

The relationship between Kucha and Yanqi was not good. Even Deng Zhong, far away in Gaochang, had heard about it. He heard that the kings of the two countries hated each other, had humiliated each other, and had even engaged in extreme behavior. But what Deng Zhong couldn't understand was how they dared to go to war with Liu Shi watching over them.
Deng Zhong was a little suspicious. Could it be that Liu Shi intended for them to fight?

Since the King of Shanshan chose to go to Luoyang, the countries in Shazhou were affected one after another. Several small countries also followed the King of Shanshan and went to Luoyang. They all received the attention of Cao Mao and were rewarded.

These small countries also ushered in a new era of direct governance by the imperial court, which dispatched corresponding prime ministers or county magistrates to govern these countries.

To be honest, it is too difficult for some small countries to set up counties. It is more appropriate to set up counties or prefectures.

Liu Shi was very passionate about this matter. He felt that the current governance of Shazhou was really chaotic.

Cao Mao asked them to ensure the safety of the trade routes, build more post houses, repair damaged sentry towers, strengthen exchanges and contacts with each other, etc.

However, when this order was passed on to the local kings, its implementation became extremely chaotic.

These kings only cared about their own personal enjoyment and studied with the nobles at home how to exploit the lower classes. They learned advanced exploitation experience from the Central Plains. The King of Kucha even promoted public land in the country, but the public land he knew about was obviously not the same as what was promoted by the temple.

The government mobilized the people to reclaim the land and used it as public land, either as a reward or for rent.

The King of Kucha took all the arable land in the hands of the people and made it his own, and then sold it to the nobles at high prices. He even sold it to the nobles of other small countries.

Liu Shi had strong opinions about them, believing that it would be difficult to carry out the emperor's orders unless they were directly managed by the temple.

Therefore, when he suddenly received the news that two small countries had started fighting, the first person Deng Zhong suspected was the chief secretary in front of him.

After all, with the Great Wei watching covetously from the side, he couldn't imagine how these two small countries dared to go to war.

Liu Shi met Deng Zhong's gaze with a calm expression.

"Although I intend to promote the abolition of states and the establishment of counties, Your Majesty has issued an order prohibiting civil war among states. I will not go against Your Majesty's decree and provoke civil unrest."

Liu Shi said this very seriously.

He wouldn't lie about something like this.

He could ignore the governor, but he could not openly do things that were expressly prohibited by the emperor.

Deng Zhong nodded. "Mr. Liu is right. I know the King of Yanqi and the King of Kucha are at odds, but I don't know why they suddenly started a war."

"Yanqi King Long An is seriously ill and has stopped attending to state affairs. His son is now in charge of important matters."

"This son is arrogant, unruly, conceited, self-important, and ambitious."

It can be seen that Liu Shi had a very low opinion of this prince, and he almost threw all the words he could use at him.

Deng Zhong asked curiously, "What's this person's name?"

"meeting."

Deng Zhong suddenly fell silent.

This is all Old Wang Longan's fault. Why did he have to name his son Hui when there were so many other names to choose from? Isn't that rebellious?

I never thought that such a talent could emerge from my Shazhou! I thought it was only for the imperial court.

Deng Zhong asked, "Do we need to take action to stop him?"

Liu Shi is also thinking about this issue now.

Your Majesty will not allow civil unrest in local or small countries. Long Hui’s behavior clearly violates the emperor’s edict, and troops should be sent to suppress him.

However, King Baishan of Kucha was not a good guy either. When he heard that Long An was seriously ill, he sent people to mock him, which made Long An furious. He ordered his son: You must avenge me!

As a result, Long Hui may have misunderstood his father's meaning. When his father was seriously ill and lying in bed, he led his troops to capture Bai Shan alive to cheer his father up.

Liu Shi couldn't say that he liked either of these two people.

"Baishan ignored my previous warnings and made provocative remarks, while Longhui openly violated Your Majesty's edict and sent troops to attack." Deng Zhong's eyes lit up and he hesitated to speak.

Liu Shi glanced at him and asked, "Master Deng, is there anything you want to teach me?"

Deng Zhong looked around and whispered, "Since the King of Shanshan surrendered, many other nations have followed suit. However, these two nations, one a long-standing power and the other a newly rising power, have been dissatisfied, causing chaos in many places."

"The war between the two countries this time is actually not a bad thing for us."

"In the past, we wanted to establish counties and prefectures, but we never had a good reason to do so. This time, they openly disobeyed the imperial edict, which gives us an opportunity to act. I think we can pretend we don't know for now."

"Whether Kucha or Yanqi wins, we have reason to attack their kings and establish new prefectures."

Deng Zhong took advantage of the fact that no one was around and expressed his thoughts.

He hoped to reap the benefits by watching them fight and then killing the winner.

In this way, both countries can directly set up counties and govern them by the imperial court. Isn't this what the Chief Secretary and the Colonel have always been looking forward to?
After listening to Deng Zhong's words, Liu Shi was still a little shaken.

In fact, the war between the two countries was not a bad thing for Liu Shi and others. It even gave them an opportunity, a good opportunity to achieve success.

This was also the reason why Deng Zhong had previously suspected Liu Shi.

But Liu Shi thought about it, then shook his head and said, "No."

This matter is beneficial to Liu Shi and others, but from a broader perspective, it may not be a good thing for the government.

His Majesty has issued several orders, demanding that the trade routes be kept open, and that the Office of the Chief Secretary must properly handle the situation here and prohibit internal strife.

If you let them fight among themselves, and then take the opportunity to gain credit for yourself. Liu Shi thought about it, and suddenly felt a chill on his neck.

This will be cut!!

Liu Shi looked at Deng Zhong, who looked completely ignorant, and couldn't help but explain.

"If His Majesty knew that we were sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight, doing nothing, and letting them fight in order to gain merit, I'm afraid he would mistakenly think that we were the ones who provoked the fight. Then..."

Deng Zhong also reacted and said quickly: "Dissuade him, we must dissuade him as soon as possible!"

Liu Shi added, "The governor must have informed His Majesty of this matter. We'd better go and persuade him."

Deng Zhong felt helpless when he heard this.

It was clearly a good opportunity, but they couldn't profit from it and even had to dissuade it. It's annoying to think about it.

Looking at the sad-looking Deng Zhong, Liu Shi suddenly showed a different smile.

"Don't worry. We didn't start this war, and it's our duty to stop them. But if they don't listen, what can we do? Do we have to fight them just to stop them?"

Deng Zhong was stunned. "What does Mr. Liu mean?"

"I plan to go there myself and persuade them to stop fighting. As for whether they will listen, I can't guarantee it. I will do my best, but if they refuse to listen and insist on fighting, then I will be powerless to stop them."

Deng Zhong immediately understood. He smiled and said, "Is this why you invited me here?"

"Yes, I hope Lord Deng can come with me and do his best to dissuade them from starting a war."

Deng Zhong nodded. He was not worried that something might happen to him.

These people must be crazy to dare to attack the officials of Wei.

Whether it is Long An and his son, or Bai Shan, they were all kings supported by the Later Han Dynasty. Now they rely on the Great Wei to dominate the local area. They dislike each other, but tribute and trade have never been interrupted.

This is also the reason why Liu Shi and others did not take action easily. After all, Long An had a good relationship with the emperor, and he had sent people to deliver tribute to the emperor many times.

If Liu Shi took action against them in order to directly manage them, and a letter from them was delivered to the emperor, it would be a big disaster.

The two immediately decided to go and persuade him.

Deng Zhong did not bring all his knights with him, as he was afraid of scaring people. He only brought more than 30 people and followed Liu Shi to the Kingdom of Yanqi to persuade them to put aside their dispute.

Because the place where they were stationed was not far from the Kingdom of Yanqi, they were able to appear in front of the palace very quickly.

However, the current Prince of Yanqi, Long Hui, did not come to greet them. Instead, they were received by the domestic minister, Long Xuan.

Long Xuan is Long Hui's cousin and Long An's most trusted minister.

"The king has been in a coma for three days and hasn't woken up yet. I'm afraid it's a pity."

Long Xuan's eyes were full of sadness.

Liu Shi followed him to see Long An, and it was indeed as Long Xuan said, he was already terminally ill, and it was feared that he would not have much time left.

Liu Shi couldn't help but ask about the situation of Wang Zilong's meeting.

"Alas, the Crown Prince has vowed to avenge the King and has already assembled his army outside the city. He simply won't listen to our advice."

(End of this chapter)