knife

Chapter 675 Intentional
Linghu Ye closed the file on the table and looked at the serious face in front of him.

"So, Xiang Zhuang has actually gained momentum in Yuezhou?"

“Yes, Xiang Zhuang started his rebellion in Yuezhou and swept through Dongyang County and Yongjia County in a short period of time. Now his momentum is developing towards Wu County, which is not far from Danyang. It can be said that his influence is enormous.” Yan Su nodded and said, “The key is that the local forces in Chu have an ambiguous attitude. On the surface, they follow Danyang’s instructions, but in private, they are secretly communicating with Xiang Zhuang.”

"Can we get in touch with Xiang Zhuang?" Linghuye asked.

“We’ve already sent people!” he said seriously. “However, my subordinates believe that unless Xiang Zhuang can defeat Na Wei, it’s not worth betting too much on him. This man was deliberately sent back by Li Dachui to disrupt the Chu state’s politics. In fact, chaos in Chu would also benefit us.”

Linghu Ye pondered for a moment and said, "If the Chu Kingdom is too weak, Jiang Qian is very likely to take advantage of the navy to go down the river, expand its territory and influence, and make it powerful, which is the same as making Li Dachui powerful!"

"If you want to contain Jiang Qian, you should reinforce Nanyang and threaten Xiangfan!" he said solemnly. "At least until next year, Jiang Qian won't have the extra energy to go south, and after this year, the Chu court's navy should have been partially rebuilt!"

"The Chu navy? That Chen Yan?" Linghu Ye's eyes lit up. "What do you think of him?"

"This man is truly talented!" he said solemnly. "The Battle of Red Cliffs wasn't due to any misjudgment in his command, but rather because Jiang Qian's presence on the front lines was unexpected. This woman enjoys extremely high prestige within the Chu army, and the navy participated in the entire Battle of Xiangfan back then. Therefore, it's not surprising that the navy collapsed when Jiang Qian appeared. The rebuilt navy should no longer have this problem!"

“Xiang Zhuang is involved in too many things, and the Xiang and Xiong clans are one and the same with the Chu state. It would be better to bet on Chen Yan!” Linghu Ye said. “Once we succeed, we will make up for our biggest weakness and have a navy.”

"What does the commander mean?"

“You go there yourself. As long as Chen Yan is willing, we’ll give him money, goods, and people. In short, we need a navy that can rival Jiang Qian and be under our control!” Linghu Ye said.

"The Chu court is in chaos right now, and Na Wei is unpopular. It's possible that we can persuade Chen Yan!" Yan said seriously. "Moreover, this man first betrayed Jiang Qian, and then betrayed the Xiang and Xiong families to join Na Wei, which fully demonstrates that he is extremely pragmatic and not blindly loyal. This gives us an opportunity." Yan smiled.

"The imperial court is generous with titles and money when it comes to talented people!" Linghu Ye laughed. "You should hurry up and get things done! Li Dachui is manipulating things in Chu and frantically building up his own power. We can't fall behind. In addition to those powerful families who are willing to join us, we should also try our best to win over powerful figures like Chen Yan."

"Yes, Your Excellency will take care of it immediately!" Yan Su bowed respectfully.

Seeing that the serious-looking man who had straightened up showed no sign of leaving, but rather seemed reluctant to leave, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, Linghu Ye couldn't help but smile and ask, "Is there anything else?"

He nodded solemnly: "Yes, Commander. I do have some opinions about the situation in the north, but I'm not sure whether I should speak up or not, since that area is not under my jurisdiction. So I feel it might be presumptuous!"

"You mean the battle the imperial court is preparing for regarding Yangguan?" Linghuye asked.

"Exactly!" he said solemnly. "General, we shouldn't be the ones in a hurry right now. It's the Northern Protectorate, Li Dachui and Xiao Changche, who are anxious. Destroying the Northern Yuan brought them immense prestige, but it was also a huge burden. The north is getting colder, and there's been almost no harvest this year. Livestock have died in large numbers. They could have transported large quantities of grain from Chu, but that's become extremely unreliable due to the internal strife in Chu. That's why Xiao Changche came to Yangguan." "Hmm, continue!" Linghu Ye said.

“Xiao Changche and his men want to attack Guannei, seize grain and territory, and use war to sustain war. This is what Beiting has always been most accustomed to. All we need to do is dig deep tunnels, build high fortifications, and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out!” Yan Su was somewhat puzzled: “But why are we now actively reinforcing our troops in the direction of Boling and actively seeking war with them? This is exactly what Xiao Changche wants.”

Linghuye laughed.

He bowed his head solemnly and said, "This is just my private thought."

"General Yan, back when I was outside the Great Wall, I had 100,000 elite troops under my command, yet I was able to hold off the Northern Yuan for decades, preventing them from advancing south. Do you know what I relied on?"

"Naturally, it's thanks to the commander-in-chief's strategic planning and decisive victory, and the soldiers' bravery and skill in battle!"

"No, no, no!" Linghu Ye shook his head repeatedly: "Actually, the reason we were able to stop the Northern Yuan was just two words: unity. For a long time, the Northern Yuan was extremely powerful, so whether it was me, the Chang family, the Yan family of Baoping Prefecture, or Zhou Zhi and Li Dachui from Tai'an City, although we were all scheming against each other internally, we were all of one mind in resisting the Northern Yuan. Moreover, we could all obey the orders of the Northern Protectorate, which is to say, just me. So every time the Northern Yuan marched south, they would be defeated!"

Yan Su seemed to realize what he meant: "You mean, we're not united internally right now!"

"Exactly!" Linghu Ye said coldly, "The various families nominally support me, but in reality, they each have their own agendas. They each occupy their own territories, not to mention money and provisions, they are unwilling to hand over their private armies to the court for unified command. Do you think I don't know what they are hiding? These people are not even as good as those bandits outside the pass. Those bandits know that if the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?"

As he spoke, Linghu Ye's anger gradually flared up. He finally understood the helplessness that Kou Zhong and Wei Zhengdao had felt back then.

"So you're using Xiao Changche and the others as a whetstone!" Yan Su somewhat understood Linghu Ye's thoughts.

Linghu Ye sneered: "It's not about the quantity of soldiers, but their quality, and their unity of purpose, working together as if they were extensions of their own arms. Li Dachui is the son of Li Jimin and He Qingqiu, and he's even mastered the Qiankun Qi. Ha, I may not care, but it's terrified Cui Ming and his men. They went to great lengths to kill Li Jimin and He Qingqiu back then, and now that their son is back, Cui Ming and his men wish they could kill him immediately."

"Does the commander-in-chief think they can win?"

"Does it matter whether we win or not?" Linghu Ye said calmly, "It would be good if we won, then we can take this opportunity to launch a large-scale invasion beyond the pass. If they lose, we will have the opportunity to reorganize these forces. The Qin army can only have one voice, and only in this way can we remain invincible in future battles!"

"Your Excellency's vision is truly admirable!"

“Sometimes cleaning the house is much harder than clearing out the enemy!” Linghuye said.

(End of this chapter)