knife

Chapter 216 The world has finally descended into chaos.

The weather in July is scorching hot.
People's hearts are just as passionate.

It is difficult to comment on this major operation, which was planned over several years by Wei Zhengdao, the chief minister of Qin, and Kou Chong, the chief minister of the Black Ice Terrace.

"Tactically speaking, the imperial court has won a great victory!" Li Dachui stood in front of the huge map, holding a wooden stick, pacing back and forth like a gentleman.

Below them were Protector-General Xiao Changche, Chief Clerk Mao Daxian, Cui Hu who had just been appointed as the Chief Clerk of the Capital Household Department, and Inspector Zhang Ruo, among others. The eyes of the group followed Li Dachui's figure back and forth.

In the corner, an old man held a small purple clay teapot and watched with a smile as Li Dachui talked eloquently in front of him.

After decades of meticulous care, we can finally see Li Dachui starting to wield his power and command the world.

The great battle in Hedong shook the world, and its effects were quite remarkable.

Some people were amazed.

Some people were horrified.

Some people were pleasantly surprised.

Of course, some people also felt regretful.

"The leading families of Hedong are completely wiped out, and the outlaws who once dominated Hedong have been swept away. Now, Hedong is truly a vast, desolate wasteland. The imperial court has achieved its goal of a clean Hedong!" Li Dachui laughed. "The design was perfect, and the execution was quite effective. If He Zudao hadn't escaped so quickly, this would have been a great scheme that would have gone down in history. It's a pity that He Zudao got away."

The area outside the Great Qin Pass has now been stabilized.

Although this period of stability was somewhat unexpected by the imperial court, the outcome was positive.

The combined forces of Xiao Changche and Li Dachui have held back Linghu Ye, and the threat from beyond the Great Wall is rapidly decreasing.

With the threat from the north gone, and with the prosperous Hedong region and the Guanzhong region that has always firmly supported the court, the court can then focus on preparing for war.

For powerful families across the land to want to divide up the Qin Dynasty, the central government must be weak and vulnerable, so that they can launch a coordinated attack and then each take what they need in the process.

However, if the Qin Dynasty is still a ferocious beast that can inflict fatal damage on them, and the risks far outweigh the benefits, they will naturally have little motivation.

Negotiation and transactions will then become the main topics.

Kou Zhong and Wei Zhengdao were actually part of the powerful and aristocratic families, but they were beneficiaries of the Qin Empire and reaped the greatest benefits from its prosperity.

As long as the Qin Dynasty still exists, they can continue to draw nourishment from it to grow stronger.

Their goal is not to wipe out all the powerful families in the world; that would bring them no benefit whatsoever.

Whoever created the figurines has no descendants?

However, it is necessary to replace some of them appropriately.

They took over Hedong simply because they needed it now.

Now that the goal has been achieved, it's time to stop. Those who want to rebel should sit down and have a proper discussion with them about the future direction of the Qin Dynasty.

The only problem with the plan was that the people who carried out the first step of the sweep were too aggressive.

Not only did he complete their plan, but when he was needed to sacrifice himself for it, he ran away.

It doesn't matter if one person runs away, but he also ran away with an entire army.

Then the problem is coming.

"He Zudao's military talent was on full display over the next three months!" Li Dachui didn't hold back his praise for He Zudao: "Look, after the Battle of Hedong, he crossed the river to Hexi, first capturing Yanzhou. Just when everyone thought his next step was to take Lingzhou and seize territory, he turned around, crossed the river again, and captured Fenzhou. Then, he swiftly captured Jinzhou, his advance pointing directly at Luoyang. Notice that throughout this process, He Zudao's army always remained at a size of only five to ten thousand men." "A small boat is easy to turn around; this man is very clear-headed and knows what he wants to do!" The newly appointed Chief Clerk Cui Hu exclaimed in admiration. "Protector, although his main force is only five to ten thousand men, he has left countless sparks wherever he goes!"

"Chief Clerk Cui sees things clearly!" Li Dachui clapped his hands and said, "Wherever this person goes, his main goal is to destroy the existing local ruling system. If the tiger is gone from a mountain, the monkeys will naturally want to jump out and become king. But if there are too many monkeys and everyone wants to be the king, then the place will become chaotic!"

“Li Duhu, what exactly is He Zudao trying to do?” Mao Daxian almost pulled out a few of his beards as he racked his brains but couldn’t figure it out: “What exactly is this guy trying to do? He doesn’t seem to want to accomplish anything great at all. He’s just wandering around like this without a fixed base. He’ll eventually fail.”

“This guy is a madman!” Li Dachui said, “He only wants the world to be in chaos, he only wants the world to be engulfed in war. He doesn’t care what will happen after the world is in chaos, and he doesn’t care whether he can accomplish anything or whether there will be a good outcome.”

A murmur of sighs rippled through the room.

"Wherever He Zudao goes, there is death and chaos!" Li Dachui continued, "The result is that the court not only lacks the energy to deal with the Hedong region and strengthen the Guanzhong region, but also has to follow behind him and try to block him. Unfortunately, the court's generals are clearly not on the same level as He Zudao, and the local tyrants will certainly not help the court. For them, this is a golden opportunity."

Zhang Ruo's eyes seemed to be spitting fire: "Of course it's a good opportunity. They can use the excuse of resisting He Zudao to openly recruit an army. Things that could only be done secretly in the past can now be done openly. As for whether the organized army is really going to wipe out He Zudao, only heaven knows!"

"That makes perfect sense!" Mao Daxian said. "Scholar Zhang, chaos is imminent."

"That's right, that's our conclusion!" Li Dachui said, "The imperial court won tactically, but lost miserably strategically. Of course, I think this is not a fault of the battle, nor is it a problem of Kou Zhong and Wei Zhengdao. The key is this He Zudao, who is too unexpected. He actually managed to break out of such a dead end. Now, he is going to provoke a war in the world."

Zhang Ruo stood up, pressed her hand on the table, and said in a trembling voice, "Governor Li, what can we do for the imperial court?"

Li Dachui spread his hands: "I'm sorry, Scholar, there's nothing we can do about the affairs inside the pass. Stabilizing the area outside the pass and stopping the Northern Yuan's southward advance is already making things very difficult for us. Don't forget, now that there's chaos inside the pass, our Commander Linghu's heart is pounding wildly! With him here, no matter what our relationship is, he can still be considered an ally. The Northern Yuan's main focus is still on him. If he really leaves, it will be even more difficult for our 30,000 to 50,000 troops to defend our territory."

Zhang Ru nodded: "I understand what you mean. I will try my best to find a way. Now I feel more and more that Chen Liang and Linghu Ye are not on the same page, and Wang De is also someone who can be won over."

"Scholar, be careful!" Li Dachui warned, "Linghu Ye is determined to return to the interior and contend for the world. Anyone who stands in his way is his mortal enemy. This time, he won't care about reputation. He might really kill you."

“If I were afraid of death, I wouldn’t have submitted this memorial in the first place, let alone traveled thousands of miles to the border region!” Zhang Ruo said loudly.

Li Dachui nodded: "Gentlemen, the situation within the pass is becoming increasingly clear. The world is in chaos, and a situation of warlords vying for power is about to take shape. We are about to face a truly significant battle. We are about to fight an inevitable and tough fight. Now, let Protector Xiao speak on the military matters!"

Xiao Chang stood up, coldly scanning everyone in the room, and said, "The Northern Yuan's eldest prince, Jebe, has replaced the Tiele and become the commander of the Northern Yuan's southern border. His headquarters is still located in Qingtongxia, which means that Jebe's main target is our Anxi Protectorate."

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it!" A voice came from the corner. It was Zhou Zhi, the city lord of Tai'an, who had come to freeload. The old man's face was already flushed from drinking.

He was overjoyed that the world was in chaos.

If the world were in chaos, how would Li Dachui have a chance?

Xiao Changche glanced at Zhou Zhi, and the old man immediately lowered his head, closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep.

"Accompanying Jebe to his post were a total of 30,000 Northern Yuan troops. Among them, 10,000 were the elite imperial guards of the Northern Yuan, and the other 20,000 were Northern Hu and Western Hu barbarians who had submitted to the Yuan. Their fighting strength was clearly stronger than that of the Southern Frontier troops previously led by the Tiele."

Everyone looked solemn; this was a formidable opponent, not to be underestimated.

"What's in our favor is that Tongquanbao is now in our hands, and Longgoubao is in Chen Liang's hands. If Jebe wants to launch a large-scale offensive, he must eliminate these two places. But we don't know how Andong will make the specific arrangements. So, Longgoubao is a hidden danger."

"I'm going to Longgou Fort! I'll stay there and see if Chen Liang dares to give up this place!" Zhang Ru shouted.

"Thank you for your trouble!" Xiao Changche said without any politeness: "Zhebie has just arrived. In the next two months, he will definitely be busy tidying up the southern border and procuring war supplies. The Tiele and Akdun of the Northern Yuan will probably cause him some trouble, but they can only delay for a while. After the autumn harvest, war will inevitably break out! Deputy Protector-General Li, can you provide all the military equipment I need in two months?"

“No problem!” Li Dachui said.

"Alright, now I'll explain the specific arrangements. When fighting the Yuan people, simply defending is not an option. The right way is to attack while defending and defend while attacking!" Xiao Changdao said. "And Jebe is also an expert in mobile warfare. The battle with him is very likely not about fighting for a particular city or place, but rather about a series of guerrilla battles where the tides rise and fall! Finally, the two sides will engage in a large-scale decisive battle in a certain place, where the outcome will be decided in one battle."

"He wants a decisive battle? Let's ignore him!" Mao Daxian shouted.

Xiao Changche smiled and said, "Chief Secretary Mao, this battle is taking place in our own home. Zhebie may not care about these bottles and jars, but can we not care? So when it finally turned into this decisive battle, we had no choice but to fight back, otherwise our home would be a complete mess!"

(End of this chapter)