knife

Chapter 306 Pretending to be a pig too convincingly isn't a good thing either.

When Wei Yi reached the door of the study, he ran into Zhou Xuan, his father's secretary, who was coming out.

Zhou Xuan quietly closed the door and put his finger to his lips to shush.

Wei Yi nodded in understanding, then turned and walked with Zhou Xuan to the outer corridor.

"Asleep?" Wei Yi asked.

"I haven't slept a wink for a day and a night!" Zhou Xuan shook his head and said, "News came from Luoyang in half an hour. Zhang Quanyi has already recovered the west city and captured most of the east city. He Zudao only has the south gate left. His fierce general Feng Congwen's troops have been completely defeated, and Zhang Lixin's troops have suffered heavy losses. Zhang Quanyi said in the letter that he is confident that he can drive He Zudao out of Luoyang in another half month."

"This is great news!" Wei Yi exclaimed with delight. "No wonder Father has relaxed and can finally get some rest."

Zhou Xuan sighed: "However, young master, in just half an hour, the Black Ice Platform sent several more urgent official letters."

"What happened again?" Wei Yi's face darkened. Ever since Kou Zhong's death, the Black Ice Guard seemed to have turned into a black crow, never bringing any good news.

"The Chen family of Qi Commandery, the Zhu family of Hanchuan, and the Qin family of Donghai have already sent troops!" Zhou Xuan whispered.

Where is Linghu Ye?

Zhou Xuan gave a wry smile and said, "Needless to say, they are also eager to get their hands on Luoyang, this big piece of fat meat."

"Is the Qin family of Donghai aiming for Luoyang?" Wei Yi asked, frowning.

"They must have heard that Prime Minister Kou was gone, so they wanted to scheme against the Kou family of Pengcheng. The two families were sworn enemies. Over the years, the Kou family had severely suppressed the Qin family, so naturally they wanted to take revenge. The message sent from Pengcheng by the Black Ice Guard was to ask Prime Minister Wei for support."

"How can we support them now? We're all in a bind ourselves, barely able to save ourselves!" Wei Yi shook his head and sighed, "We can only sweep the snow from our own doorstep."

"The Grand Secretary said the same thing. It's not that he doesn't want to save them, but that he simply can't!" Zhou Xuan said, "Over the years, the Kou family of Pengcheng has gone too far, which has angered the public. No one dared to touch them before, but now that Magistrate Kou is dead, the Qin family has suddenly become very popular."

"Let them fend for themselves!" Wei Yi said. "Secretary Zhou, besides these matters, is there anything else Father wanted to discuss with me today?"

"Yes!" Zhou Xuan looked at Wei Yi and said, "The Grand Secretary said that we should think about the future."

Wei Yi was slightly surprised: "Father, do you intend to abandon Chang'an? I object. If we leave Chang'an, I'm afraid there will be no place for our Wei family to stand in the world."

“Once Luoyang falls, grain from the south can no longer be transported in. If Guanzhong and Longxi are ravaged by war again, how will we feed the million people in Chang’an?” Zhou Xuan sighed. “My lord, without grain, these people will no longer be our base, but our death warrant.”

“There are dozens of granaries around Chang’an.” Wei Yi said ruthlessly, “As long as we control these grains, we can control Chang’an. We will have grains if we have them, and we won’t have grains if we don’t. People are going to die anyway. I don’t think there’s much difference between being killed and starving to death. Even if not a single grain comes in, we can at least hold out for a year or two.”

Zhou Xuan looked at Wei Yi and said, "Young Master, if this is the strategy, then we will have to start a massacre. The Grand Secretary will not be willing to bear the infamy."

"Isn't His Majesty still here?" Wei Yi said coldly. "When the time comes, these decrees will naturally be issued by His Majesty himself. What does it have to do with my Wei family?"

“That’s what they say,” Zhou Xuan said. “But what about a year or two later? Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows; he’ll still have to build more.”

"Has Father already made up his mind?"

"It should be!" Zhou Xuan said with a smile, "but he hasn't told me yet, so I have no way of knowing."

As the two were talking, a long yawn came from inside the room, followed by Wei Zhengdao's voice: "Is that Yi'er? Come in!"

The two stepped into the study one after the other.

"You finally fell asleep, why don't you sleep a little longer, Father?" Wei Yi personally went to the basin in the corner, took a towel, wrung it out, and handed it to Wei Zhengdao.

Wei Zhengdao smiled and took the money to wipe his face, saying, "I'm getting old, a little nap is enough. Besides, with so much to do, how can I possibly sleep?"

Pointing to the mountain of memorials piled on his desk, Wei Zhengdao shook his head.

Wei Yi stepped forward, swept most of the memorials on the table to the ground, and said, "Father, what's the point of seeing these places? You only need to look at Chang'an now."

Wei Zhengdao laughed heartily, pointed to the two opposite him, and said to them, "Sit down and talk! Zhou Xuan has probably already given you a general overview of the situation, right?"

Wei Yi nodded: "It seems that the Kou family of Pengcheng is beyond saving. The Chen family of Qi County and the Zhu family of Hanchuan should be aiming for Luoyang. They shouldn't have the guts to attack Chang'an!"

"Even Linghu Ye doesn't have the guts?" Wei Zhengdao asked. Wei Yi shut his mouth.

He might not care about the forces in other places, but he had personally witnessed the powerful army outside the Great Wall.

That kind of imposing presence, that kind of murderous aura, was cultivated over decades of fighting against the Northern Yuan, and was incomparable to the troops inside the pass.

The troops that he and Zhang Quanyi had painstakingly trained were indeed considered a strong army within the pass, but compared to Linghu Ye's army, they were certainly inferior.

Fortunately, Li Dachui and Xiao Changche from outside the pass cleverly devised a plan, managing to sow discord and turn half of Linghu Ye's army against him. This forced Linghu Ye to stop and lick his wounds and recover his strength in Hedong and Hexi after entering the pass. Otherwise, Linghu Ye would probably have already launched an attack.

The extra six months that the court had gained were extremely valuable.

It was during this period that the imperial army, capable of fighting, grew from 20,000 to 100,000.

“Father, can’t we really not let Li Dachui and his men enter the pass and attack Linghu Ye? As long as they cross Yangguan Pass, Linghu Ye will definitely not dare to move!” Wei Yi said.

Wei Zhengdao sneered: "Why did you allow Xiao Changche and Li Dachui to enter the pass? Is it for high-ranking positions and generous salaries or for the greater good of the court? If it were useful, I would have done it long ago. The memorial they sent clearly states that their main task now is to take advantage of the chaos in the Northern Yuan to plot against them. Otherwise, once the Northern Yuan civil war ends and a consensus is reached to reunify, the area outside the pass will suffer again."

“There’s always a priority in doing things. When the Northern Yuan is destroyed, the Great Qin will also perish!” Wei Yi said.

Wei Zhengdao looked at his son but remained silent.

As soon as Wei Yi spoke, he realized his mistake and shook his head with a wry smile.

"Through the Black Ice Platform, Li Dachui has also given us another reason, a plausible one!" Wei Zhengdao looked at his son: "Chang Jian, one of his subordinates, has an extraordinary relationship with Linghu Ye. The Chang family and the Linghu family are intertwined. Another general, Chen Liang, has also received great favors from Linghu Ye. Outside the pass, he can use the Northern Yuan to persuade these two people. But once we enter the pass, who can guarantee that these two won't turn against us?"

“That’s certainly a good reason!” Wei Yi said. “So they’re definitely going to sit back and watch the tigers fight, and then reap the benefits.”

“They have the resources to do this now!” Zhou Xuan said from the side, “So, young master, it’s better to rely on ourselves than on others. We can only find a way ourselves. We can’t rely on others. Those who have the power to intervene all have their own plans.”

"Where is the way out that Father spoke of? The Wei family has lived in Chang'an for generations. If we leave Chang'an, we will be like water without a source or a tree without roots."

"So we must build up our strength first. With a strong army in hand, where can't we establish a foundation?" Wei Zhengdao sneered. "After court today, I had a long talk with someone for an hour. I really underestimated him before. I didn't expect him to be such a man of great wisdom."

"Who?" Wei Yi asked.

"Zhang Songlin, Minister of War!"

Wei Yi suddenly realized: "Father, do you want to take over Sichuan? Although Zhang Songlin is from Sichuan, he comes from a poor family and has no power or influence there. He can't be relied on at all! Cooperating with him to conquer Sichuan will only lead to failure and offend Prince Ji, Li Shen, and the Tang family. It will even cause them, who originally only wanted to watch from the sidelines, to join the ranks of those opposing us. Father, Sichuan still paid all the taxes due this year."

“You underestimate Zhang Songlin!” Wei Zhengdao shook his head and said, “Zhang Songlin has served as Minister of War for a full ten years. Do you really think he did it for nothing?”

“If he wasn’t in charge for nothing, would they have let him hold that position for ten years?” Wei Yi said.

“That’s precisely his brilliance!” Wei Zhengdao shook his head. “He has truly underestimated the heroes of the world! I should reflect on this. It’s all thanks to his convincing act that no one has ever been willing to join forces with him or pull him onto the ship. It’s also his own fault for pretending to be a pig for so long that others have actually come to see him as one.”

"What did he say?"

"He only asked me one question: if he can take over Jian Ge Dao, would I be willing to join him in conquering Shu County?" Wei Zhengdao said with a smile.

Wei Yi suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "Jian Ge Dao? He can take over Jian Ge Dao? Jianmen Pass is such a strategic location, it has always been the exclusive domain of Li Shen and the Tang Clan, how could he have managed to plant people there?"

The Jianmen Pass is a natural barrier guarding Shu County. As long as Jianmen Pass is not lost, Shu County will be safe. The saying "If you burn down seven hundred miles of Jianmen Pass, Shu will be a completely different world" illustrates this point.

“He can take it!” Wei Zhengdao nodded and said, “It’s just that he doesn’t have the strength to take over Shu County by himself, so he wants to join forces with us.”

Wei Yi's face flushed with excitement: "Father, if we can completely take over Shu County, it will not only be a backup plan. With the support of Shu, the land of abundance, as long as we firmly guard the Qinling Pass, even Chang'an will not be impossible to defend."

"That's what I thought too, so I agreed to it on the spot!"

"What's next?" Wei Yi asked excitedly.

(End of this chapter)