knife

Chapter 194 Fighting with All Our Might to Undermine Others

It is late at night and the moon is bright with few stars.

The censor's office, which had been bustling all day, finally quieted down.

After drinking the wine, which was of indescribable bitterness, astringency, or sweetness, Li Guohua immediately led his men away in haste.

The information brought by Li Dachui really shocked him.

Any one of these three things would be enough to cause a major earthquake in the region beyond the Great Wall, let alone all three happening at once.

The Andong Protectorate must take immediate action to prepare for the impact of this event.

Regardless of Li Dachui's motives for telling him such important information, it made Li Guohua think deeply.

Although Antong and Anxi appear to be getting along well on the surface now, they will definitely be rivals and enemies in the future.

He was aware of this, and Li Dachui was certainly aware of it as well.

What does he want to do?

Li Guohua, who prided himself on being the most shrewd and intelligent strategist outside the Great Wall, was truly baffled. This caused him a strange sense of unease; he couldn't see through the enemy's arrangements or guess what they were planning—a situation a strategist should avoid at all costs, especially when the enemy had deliberately set him up this way.

Exhaling a breath of stale air, Li Guohua summoned one of his men.

Chang Jian from Heifenggang should be called back.

Since the plan to target Xiao Changche has failed, there is no need to stay there any longer. If he is blocked by experts like Xiao Changche, Li Dachui, and Li Kaixin, although Chang Jian can escape without any problem, he will definitely be in a very embarrassing situation.

There must be spies from the Andong Protectorate at Black Wind Ridge, otherwise how could they have known about Chang Jian's highly confidential information so quickly?

Linghu Zhishu really needs to be given a good talking-to.

Such a major event occurred in the Yuan Kingdom, yet he didn't even hear a whisper of it; this was clearly a dereliction of duty.

External setbacks compounded by weak internal defenses.
Judging from his flustered performance in his fights with Li Dachui over the past two years,

They are really not up to the task.

Li Guohua returned under the moonlight, while Zhang Ruo, in the Inspector's Office, prepared a separate table of food and wine, and drank with Li Dachui.

After leaving the banquet, Xiao Changche returned to his camp and never showed up again.

“I’m afraid Protector Xiao hates me!” Zhang Ruo said, taking a sip of his drink.

"It's just personal feelings, as long as it doesn't affect official business!" Li Dachui laughed. "Scholar Zhang's idea is good. It's good to be able to gather Cai Ming and the others around him."

"Vice Protector-General Li is very generous!"

“It’s not that I’m being generous!” Li Dachui said, “The reason is that even without Scholar Zhang, these people wouldn’t completely side with us. These forces all have the resources to waver. Now that Scholar Zhang is acting as a third-party force, bringing them together is actually helpful for the overall situation outside the Great Wall. At least in the struggle against the Northern Yuan, or if Linghu Ye makes any moves in the future, these people would have just stood by and watched before. Now that we have Scholar Zhang, they can at least lend a hand!”

"Is everything the Protector-General said true?" Zhang Ruo was skeptical about the information Li Dachui had revealed at the banquet.

"Of course it's true!" Li Dachui took a sip of wine, looked at Zhang Ruo and smiled, "While I was away, Scholar, where did you think I went?"

"Northern Yuan?" Zhang Ruo was quite clever; with just a little prompting, he immediately guessed the answer.

“That’s right, I personally experienced all of these things!” Li Dachui said, “I even killed Astu with my own hands, how could it be fake?”

With a "plop," the wine he had just drunk from his mouth sprayed out, but Li Dachui was prepared. With a casual wave of his hand, he scattered all the wine that was coming at him, and not a single drop landed on him.

After a long bout of violent coughing, Zhang Ruo finally stammered, "You killed him?"

"I killed him!" Li Dachui said with a grin, "I was used as a tool for someone else, but this time I did it willingly." "Was it that prince from the Northern Yuan? The Tiele or Akdun?"

“Tiele!” Li Dachui said. “The price is that the Tiele must help me release the tens of thousands of Qin people who have been stranded in the Northern Yuan.”

Zhang Ruo's eyes widened: "Tens of thousands of Qin people?"

"Yes, Scholar, these people fled to Beiyuan more than twenty years ago. In Beiyuan, they have been in a state of semi-imprisonment because they refused to work for Beiyuan. If it weren't for Princess Chang Le, they would probably have been killed long ago, but they have lived a miserable life."

"Twenty-five years ago?" Zhang Ru frowned.

Li Dachui nodded: "Exactly. Scholar, you should also know about what happened twenty-five years ago, right?"

Zhang Ru nodded.

“These people are Linghu Ye’s mortal enemies!” Li Dachui said. “Each of them has a relative who was killed by Linghu Ye! Scholar, would you be willing to take in these comrades who have been stranded? If not, then I will find other places to settle them.”

“Linghu Ye’s mortal enemy! But I’m afraid they are also not tolerated by the imperial court!” Zhang Ru hesitated.

“Linghu Ye is also not tolerated by the imperial court!” Li Dachui interjected, “Moreover, several decades have passed. Regardless of what happened back then, these people have suffered enough hardship and suffering over the years!”

Zhang Ruo nodded: "Alright, let's settle them here. If one day Linghu Ye really tries to harm you, these people will fight him to the death."

Li Dachui smiled and said, "Scholar, don't treat these people as suicide soldiers. I placed them here to truly revitalize Duxian County. You can tell their level of skill at a glance. I intend to make Duxian County a benchmark, a place that will attract countless people from the Andong Protectorate to aspire to."

"When will it arrive?"

“There’s no rush!” Li Dachui said, “They can’t all arrive at the same time. They can only come back in batches. Of course, the first batch to return will be the most capable ones. They will build up the management structure of Duxian County here, instead of the makeshift team we have now. Xu Ziqi’s ability is only enough to be a township head.”

"This person is quite loyal and righteous."

"Then the scholar can transfer him to your Inspectorate. The magistrate of Du County and his subordinates, as well as the Protectorate, will definitely need to be replaced!" Li Dachui said without any room for doubt.

Zhang Ru nodded: "Here, under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate, the appointment of officials is naturally decided by the Protectorate. So, Protector Li, besides these people, is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Scholar, with Linghu Ye's 100,000 troops, if he truly goes all in, we will still be at a disadvantage. Therefore, I think your next task is to desperately try to undermine his forces. Not all of his 100,000 troops want to follow Linghu Ye to the bitter end. Wan Feng is already dead, and General Wei Wang De is probably trembling with fear. As for Chen Liang of Yuntai Wilderness, I think you can also try to get closer to him. You are the Inspector General; as long as Linghu Ye acknowledges this, he won't have any objections to your inspection tour outside the pass!"

"Understood, divide and conquer!"

Li Dachui laughed and said, "Whether it succeeds or not, wherever you frequently go, Linghu Ye will inevitably become suspicious. I don't believe that Linghu Ye is magnanimous enough to ignore these things. He doesn't have the confidence that the 100,000 troops outside the pass will follow his lead and be indispensable to him. Obedience built on harshness and cruelty will inevitably lead to resistance given the opportunity."

"I heard from Qingyun that Wu De is the fourth-ranking figure in the Black Ice Guard?" Zhang Ruo asked.

“That’s right, and this person is now in contact with us, exchanging some intelligence!” Li Dachui laughed. “This person escorted the scholar to the border with the intention of confirming the situation there, and also to activate another system of the Black Ice Platform outside the border. However, we found a flaw in his plan, so the two sides eventually reached some deals.”

"So it's true that the situation inside the pass is deteriorating! You got this intelligence from Wu De, which is why Qingyun was in such a hurry to return to the pass?"

Li Dachui nodded and said, "Minister Wei and Kou Zhong wanted to maintain the situation for a few more years through terror and slaughter, but this time, those who want to divide up the Qin Dynasty are not the common people, but the powerful families. So, such slaughter will not only fail to frighten people, but will also provoke a more intense reaction from the powerful families. Hehe, Minister Wei and Kou Zhong are going to miscalculate this time. They've overreached and shot themselves in the foot. The more they kill, the stronger the backlash will be. Scholar, chaos is imminent within the pass. Under such circumstances, we must devote certain resources to paying attention to this matter, not for the sake of conquering the world, but simply for self-preservation. We cannot be ignorant of the situation within the pass; we must make our own judgment on the intelligence within the pass as soon as possible, and this will determine how we act outside the pass."

"Within the pass in chaos, Qingyun, a young girl, insists on returning. Protector Li, have you considered a father's feelings?" Zhang Ruo said angrily. "She could have stayed in Tai'an City, carefree."

“While there is great chaos within the pass, Chang’an will be the safest place for a considerable period of time. It is the emperor’s residence. If it is a rebellion by ordinary people, they will not hesitate to act, but a rebellion led by powerful families will not affect Chang’an very soon.” Li Dachui laughed. “As for Miss Qingyun’s safety, you can rest assured. Even if Chang’an is in chaos, our people will ensure that Miss Qingyun is safe and sound.”

"Can you guarantee that?" Zhang Ruo asked.

"I can!" Li Dachui said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll trust you one more time!"

"Scholar Zhang, I have never let you down!" Li Dachui laughed loudly. "But you will have to put all your effort into poaching Linghu Ye's men, otherwise, if things get chaotic inside the pass and Linghu Ye insists on leaving, I really won't be able to stop him. Because I don't want to lose to him! And he will definitely take advantage of that."

(End of this chapter)