Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 144: Concealing the Truth

The Hunan incident has come to an end.

A special tacit understanding has been formed here.

The Huaiyin bandits did not attack the city.

Officials of Daxi did not go to the countryside.

Towns and the countryside were clearly separated and managed separately.

In the memorial submitted to the emperor, Qian Yi was vague and only wrote: A group of bandits sneaked into the city and caused unrest, but it was quickly quelled by the garrison...

Emperor Longqing glanced at it briefly and didn't pay any attention to the report at all.

He just casually replied with two sentences and left it at that.

Compared with such trivial matters, Emperor Longqing was more concerned about what was happening on the grassland.

According to information from multiple sources, the heavy snow last year caused great damage to the grassland.

The Kahe tribe took this opportunity to launch a war and successfully unified the grassland this year, becoming the new ruler of the grassland.

Throughout the dynasties, once the grasslands were unified, the next step would inevitably be to move south and take advantage of the Central Plains dynasty!

This time is obviously no exception.

Both Datong and Liaodong received news of unusual military movements on the grassland more than once, requesting the court to send more troops and aid as soon as possible.

However, the problem facing Emperor Longqing now is that due to the weak financial situation of the court and the continuous wars, he is unable to take into account the defense on both fronts.

If troops are sent to reinforce the defenses of important cities in the Datong area, the defense in the Liaodong direction cannot be taken into account, and vice versa.

So the key question now is which side the grassland will choose to attack from.

If we knew the movements of the grassland in advance, things would be much easier.

While I was thinking sadly, it was already dark.

Dai Quan walked in and reminded, "Your Majesty, you said you wanted to go to Fengzao Palace today."

Emperor Longqing thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.

It was because before that, Jia's mother went to the palace to ask the old empress dowager to change the person to be married off to Tanchun, so Yuanchun stayed in the palace again.

Emperor Longqing felt somewhat guilty about the marriage between the Jia family and the imperial court, and he also felt that Jia Yuanchun was virtuous and had a dignified appearance, so he promoted Yuanchun to the position of Shangshu of Fengzao Palace as compensation to the Jia family.

It was only because he was busy with state affairs and was too exhausted that he was never favored.

But Emperor Longqing knew that if he did not favor her, it would cause misunderstandings in the Jia family, and the other concubines in the harem would also take this as a signal...

So Emperor Longqing specifically instructed Dai Quan this morning to remind him not to forget this matter again.

Emperor Longqing put down the memorial and prepared to stand up.

Just as I stood up, I felt a sharp pain in my waist and almost fell to the ground.

Dai Quan stepped forward in fear and supported Emperor Longqing.

"Send it to the doctor quickly!"

On the other side, the grassland.

Hadru brought back news of the successful alliance with the Huaiyin bandits.

Kah Khan was extremely happy.

To march across the Central Plains and control Zhongxia is the ultimate dream of every grassland leader, and Kah Khan is no exception.

As for the blood oath and respecting Fang Yong as brother?

That's just an excuse to promote unity!

Once Fang Yong really helps him take over the fertile land of Liaodong, Kah Khan's next plan is to tear up the alliance and advance to the capital. As for whether they are brothers or not, haven't there been many examples of brothers killing brothers in the Central Plains since ancient times?

Moreover, the Liaodong area was the homeland where their ancestors had lived for generations. It was the Han people who took away their white mountains and black waters. Now that he has used some strategies to take it back, it cannot be considered a breach of contract.

At that moment, Kah Khan ordered his men to select the best war horses and send them to Huaizhou. He also selected ten beautiful girls from the grassland and sent them as well.

Just because he heard that Fang Yong was lustful, Kah Khan decided to cater to his tastes in order to consolidate the alliance. In Kah Khan's eyes, compared with the country, beautiful women are worthless!
At this time, an old man came quickly.

"Great Khan, wait a minute!"

The old man had a square face, white hair and beard, and looked very old. His skin was very rosy and his complexion was good.

And judging from his appearance, he is of superior quality, much better than Wu Yuan.

It was Wu Yuan’s best friend, Li Hao.

When Kah Khan saw Li Hao, an expression of respect immediately appeared on his face and he stood up to help him.

"Why are you here, father?"

Li Hao said:
"The Han people have always been cunning. Fang Yong has seized control of Huainan, making him even more cunning. With Wu Yuanhao as his assistant, he is the most cunning of all. I am afraid that the Khan will fall into their trap, so I have come to ask you."

Hearing this, Kah Khan said, "In that case, please ask the Prime Minister."

Li Hao nodded, looked at Hadru, and asked:

"How is the matter I told you going?"

Hadru said: "I have found out everything."

Li Hao said:
"Tell me one by one."

Hadru agreed and said:
"After I arrived in Huaizhou, I ordered my men to secretly visit and investigate carefully. I also bribed a servant in Wu Yuan's mansion. I learned that during the time when he received the letter, Wu Yuan acted as usual and did not have any conflicts with Fang Yong."

Li Hao frowned upon hearing this and looked at Kah Khan and said:
"Khan, I'm afraid it's a trick!"

Kah Khan asked in confusion, "Why?"

Li Hao explained:
"Wu Yuan and I are old friends. At that time, Daxi was having difficulty achieving its great cause, so I rushed to the grasslands. During that time, I urged Wu Yuan to go with me, but Wu Yuan refused to come, citing the defense against the barbarians."

"Afterwards, when I was in a high position, I heard that Wu Yuan was in a difficult situation, displaced, and in a life-threatening situation. I repeatedly invited him to come and promised him a high position, but he never replied."

"I wrote to Wu Yuan last time to discuss the alliance. There were many exaggerations in the letter. My original intention was just to test him, not to expect him to say good things. I didn't expect this to happen. With Wu Yuan's personality, how could it be so smooth?"

"I felt that there must be something fishy going on, so I asked Hadru to investigate the details. Now I know that Wu Yuan and Fang Yongbi are at odds over this matter, so I think there must be something fishy going on!"

Upon hearing this, Kah Khan said, "So the Huaiyin thieves want to make a fake alliance and cheat me of my horses?"

Li Hao said: "The horses are a minor issue. I am afraid that the Huaiyin bandits will reveal our marching destination to Daxi, and he will reap the benefits!"

Upon hearing this, Kah Khan broke out in a cold sweat and exclaimed:
"In this case, I will stop the alliance immediately!"

Li Hao shook his head, a smile appearing on his face.

"No, the Khan can continue to ally with him!"

Kah Khan was very confused.

"If it's a plan, why do we need to unite?"

Li Hao said:
"The Khan can use the same trick against them. Openly repair the plank road, but secretly attack Chencang!"

Kah Khan: "Openly repairing the plank road, secretly crossing Chencang?"

Kah Khan was influenced by Li Hao when he was young. He read many ancient books from the Central Plains and had some understanding of many military strategies of China. Of course, although he had some understanding, it was not easy to apply these strategies in practice.

The cultural atmosphere of the grassland and Central China is very different, and it is difficult to have an accurate understanding just by relying on stories in books.

For example, at this moment, Kah Khan couldn't understand what Li Hao meant for a moment.

Li Hao explained in a calm tone, but his words were like thunder out of the blue, making people's hair stand on end!

"The Khan can pretend to form an alliance with them. I predict that given the treacherous nature of the bandits, they will reveal the purpose of our army's expedition to the court, so that they can reap the benefits."

"However, the Khan can openly build a plank road and secretly attack Chencang. While the Daxi court is defending Liaodong, he can lead his troops to attack Datong and then the capital. He can destroy the Daxi Dynasty in one fell swoop, enter the Central Plains, and dominate the world!"

When Kah Khan heard this, his eyes widened.

I was speechless for a moment.

This, this, this!
(End of this chapter)