Longevity, starting from traveling and telling stories

Chapter 170 Thirty-Six Stratagems, Creating Something Out of Nothing

Zhang Bei was furious just thinking about it. How could this be a question of giving or not giving? This was clearly a lack of consideration. He had helped him so much, but not only did he not gain any benefit, he even suffered a heavy loss.

But he immediately calmed down and said, "Does anyone have anything to say?"

"Ye Liuxiang, do you have anything to say?" Zhang Bei turned his gaze to Ye Beixuan and said, "This general is incompetent and failed to get Qin Beixi for you, but I still hope that Captain Ye can find a good plan."

What he meant was, I suffered humiliation for asking for someone for you, and you have to earn my face back.

Ye Beixuan slowly stood up, smiled slightly, and said slowly: "Today, my lord, today we will come up with a plan to create something out of nothing."

"Oh?" Zhang Bei asked doubtfully, "How can you create something out of nothing?"

Ye Beixuan said, "Please listen to me, General. I will tell you the story in detail. There was a treacherous minister named Qin Hui who, fearing the powerful general Yue Fei, framed him for treason on a trumped-up basis."

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden silence, and everyone's heavy breathing could be clearly heard.

Ye Beixuan's eyes were as sharp as torches as he began to tell the story. His voice was sometimes low and sometimes passionate, as if bringing everyone back to that turbulent era.

He talked about how Yue Fei led the Yue Family Army to the Northern Expedition with unstoppable force, which made Zhang Bei and several captains excited, as if they themselves were the brave and battle-hardened Yue Family Army soldiers.

Hu Mei'er sighed knowingly, "If only General Lin Jiuyuan of our Great Zhou had a military prowess like Yue Fei, the disaster in Northern Liang would be resolved without a doubt!"

Zhang Bei heard Hu Mei'er muttering, and he also muttered in his heart, "Without him, Lin Jiuyuan still has me, right?" He said bluntly that Hu Mei'er had been a little naughty recently, and continued to pick on her bones at night.

However, when Ye Beixuan talked about Qin Hui issuing twelve golden medals in a row to urgently summon Yue Fei back to Beijing, the atmosphere on the scene suddenly changed.

Zhang Bei frowned even more. What if one day he became Yue Fei?
A lieutenant cursed in a low voice: "This Qin Hui is just like Li Chunfeng, a treacherous minister who brings disaster to the country and the people!"

Ye Beixuan partially agreed with what he said! It should be said that Li Chunfeng was even worse than Qin Hui.

Qin Hui was just abusing his power and had no intention of rebelling.

Based on Zhao Dahai's description, Ye Beixuan guessed that Li Chunfeng wanted to steal the country without bloodshed. He wanted to use his son to marry the empress and let their child succeed to the throne and steal the country. This was a good plan.

Hu Mei'er sighed, "General Yue was so loyal, but ended up like this?"

Seeing everyone's excitement, Ye Beixuan slowed down his speech, his voice carrying a hint of sadness: "After Yue Fei returned to Beijing, Qin Hui imprisoned him on 'false charges'."

False accusation? Li Bei immediately grasped the key point. As expected of a high-ranking official, he knew where to focus.

A younger lieutenant couldn't help but shout angrily, "You bastard, you traitor, you shall not die a good death!"

Seeing that the situation was almost resolved, Ye Beixuan sighed and continued, "In the end, Qin Hui and his wife Wang conspired to end Yue Fei's life with a cup of poisoned wine in Fengbo Pavilion."

As soon as he finished speaking, the whole place was filled with sadness, and only Zhang Bei grasped the key point.

So he said, "Alright, Captain Ye has finished his story, so go down!"

Hu Meir hid obediently behind the tent.

Then Zhang Bei hurriedly called Ye Beixuan, who was pretending to leave, and said, "Captain Ye, you stay."

Hehe! You couldn't help yourself! I'll see if you guys don't fight each other this time.

"General." Ye Beixuan bowed.

"Captain Ye, I don't understand what you just said." After a pause, he continued, "There is no one around now, so you can speak freely."

"General, have you ever considered that there can't be two tigers in one mountain?" Ye Beixuan continued, "Besides, it's a ferocious tiger that can kill at any time."

Zhang Bei's face changed. It was not that he had not thought that the empress forced him to come here so that he could check and balance Lin Jiuyuan. There was no remaining power in the imperial capital to restrain him, and the empress forced him to come because she had no one else to use.

"I understand what you said, but what should I do now?"

"Sir, I have made it very clear. Lin Jiuyuan wants to rebel."

"Lin Jiuyuan is unlikely to rebel. He might be the Prime Minister." Suddenly his expression changed, and he said with a smile, "That's right. Lin Jiuyuan wants to rebel, and this general has been ordered to suppress him."

"Then how should we implement it?" Zhang Bei's face was full of excitement and pride. If he could force Lin Jiuyuan to rebel, he would take over his army and become a local emperor, and no one would be able to control anyone else.

"Of course it's a false accusation. First, we forge some things to make him and the prime minister fall out." Ye Beixuan said with a smile.

"But how can we forge it?" Zhang Bei asked doubtfully, "Even if we forge the letter, the Prime Minister may not believe it."

"Did your Excellency forget someone?"

"Who?"

"Zhao Dahai."

Three days later, on the other side.

Zhao Dahai had just dispatched a batch of supplies to the front line. Of course, most of the things were happily received by Zhang Bei, while Lin Jiuyuan only got a few.

At this moment, in the military tent, Lin Jiuyuan's face darkened as he angrily asked, "What does Zhao Dahai mean? Has he forgotten that we are all the Prime Minister's direct descendants?"

The captain next to him suddenly bowed and said, "Sir, I don't think Zhao Dahai would dare to do this. I have heard some rumors in the army recently."

Lin Jiuyuan slammed the list on the table and said, "Rumors, what rumors?"

The candlelight in the tent flickered, casting his shadow on the tent, magnifying it several times.

The lieutenant general of the personal guards said cautiously, "Rumor has it that the Prime Minister intends to subjugate Zhang Bei."

"Impossible." Lin Jiuyuan immediately denied it, but then he became puzzled: "How could Zhao Dahai, that old vixen, make such a mistake? Is this really the case?"

The deputy general was about to say something but stopped himself when suddenly a burst of hurried footsteps was heard outside the tent.

Suddenly, a soldier came to report: "Report! I've heard from Zhang Bei's camp that the general has been defeated, and both the Prime Minister and the Empress intend to appoint General Zhang as the commander-in-chief."

"What?!" Lin Jiuyuan exclaimed in surprise: "Where did this news come from?"

The scout's face turned purple from being strangled, but he still insisted, "The news was discovered in Zhangbei Camp, but the source is still unclear."

Lin Jiuyuan released his hand and pushed the soldier hard, causing him to stagger back two steps and knock over the weapon rack behind him.

The long sword made a sharp sound when it fell to the ground, but he seemed not to hear it. He just stared at the big flag with the word "Lin" embroidered on the top of the tent.

"What a good old bastard." He gritted his teeth and said, "I, Lin Jiuyuan, risked my life for him, and he abandoned me to curry favor with others. You are unkind, so don't blame me for being unjust."

The deputy general hurried forward to support him: "General, please be careful with your words! I don't think this matter is true."

Lin Jiuyuan snorted coldly and said, "Do you know why I'm stationed in this bitter cold place? It's to win the battle so I can return to the court and put pressure on the Empress. At worst, we'll both die."

"General, think again!" the deputy general quickly advised, "Why not send a pigeon and ask for clarification first?"

Lin Jiuyuan's expression suddenly softened. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, get the carrier pigeon."

In the middle of the night, a carrier pigeon fluttered into flight.

But when it flew not far from the military camp, it was caught by a man. He played with the pigeon, a playful smile on his face, and said, "General Lin, let me write this letter for you."

Under the moonlight, he unfolded a piece of letter paper that had been prepared long ago, on which was a blank paper with a seal already stamped on it.

The letter mentioned that the Prime Minister did not believe that he had sent Zhang Bei to control him. The words were full of questions and seemed to be threatening betrayal.

Ye Beixuan looked at it with satisfaction, stuffed the letter into the mailbox, and released the carrier pigeon.

Now, I am using this trick of killing someone with a borrowed knife, and this drama is going to be interesting.

On the other side, Kyoto.

In a mansion as majestic and imposing as a palace, a dignified old man was reading a letter. The anger in his eyes could even burn the letter paper.

"You are so bad, Lin Jiuyuan. I trusted you so much, but you treat me like this?" Li Chunfeng was furious and slammed the letter on the table.

But he quickly calmed down. Now that Zhang Bei was suspected of defecting to the empress, he could not turn against Lin Jiuyuan. But this chess piece was now disobedient, so he wanted to take the opportunity to suppress him.

at the same time.

Inside the Great Zhou palace, a fat, pig-like man trembled as he knelt and bowed his head. Before him stood a woman in a dragon robe, a woman of stunning beauty. She was none other than the Empress of Great Zhou. Her hands, slightly trembling, held a letter.

I saw her reading every word carefully, afraid of missing a byte, and there was no dignity in her eyes as before.

"Get up!" The empress said softly, "What else did he say?"

Zhao Dahai was slightly surprised when he heard this. It was said that the empress killed people without blinking an eye, so why was she so polite today?

"Oh! Reporting to Your Majesty." Zhao Dahai quickly knelt down and said, "Lord Ye also said that the Prime Minister will definitely come to court to use this opportunity to teach Lin Jiuyuan a lesson and make him obey. He told Your Majesty to go along with it and then take advantage of Zhang Bei's desire to rise to power and kill Lin Jiuyuan."

"This way, Lord Ye can defeat them one by one."

The Empress nodded slightly upon hearing this. She carefully put the letter away and said, "I have secretly granted you a golden medal to command you personally. Without my personal order, you will not obey anyone else's orders except him."

"And here is a letter. You must give it to him in person. Make no mistake."

Zhao Dahai was delighted when he heard this. This was the Empress's confidant! Although his official position remained unchanged, he didn't have to listen to anyone's orders. In name, he didn't even have to take orders from the Prime Minister.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live your Majesty."

"Get up!" The empress gestured for him to stand up. After a pause, she said, "Go back to Station 18 and obey his orders."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave." After saying that, Zhao Dahai bowed and stepped back, then turned around and left.

After Zhao Dahai left, the empress touched the wooden sign and murmured to herself, "Are you finally back?"

At the same time, a peerless figure in white appeared on the city wall. Her beautiful eyes looked towards the familiar imperial palace, and there was a strong purple aura in her eyes, all of which were the destiny of the Human Emperor.

"It seems that you are really destined to be the emperor of the world!" After saying that, she disappeared in a flash.

The Empress was now stroking the letter, sipping tea, and giggling foolishly. It seemed as if time had flown back to the hard days when the two of them ate and drank porridge together. Just then, a slightly trembling voice said, "Are you okay?"

Hearing this familiar voice, the empress suddenly looked up and saw the figure she had been thinking about day and night. She quickly stood up, her eyes shining with joy, and said, "Xianglian...you...are not dead?"

Li Xianglian looked at the empress's thin figure and haggard face, touched her cheek distressedly and said, "Look at you, you've become so thin."

The empress grabbed her hand, pulled her onto the throne, and said, "Come, tell me what's going on."

Li Xianglian roughly talked about how she was rescued by people from Tianji Pavilion and then learned some Taoist magic.

Afterwards, her face turned red and she said that she met him by chance. She also said that Hou Fangting was the mastermind behind the Northern Liang's attack on Zhou, and that she and others were there to help her.

"Oh?" The Empress covered her mouth and chuckled. "How could you and him meet in this way? What a coincidence!"

"There's no coincidence in the world. Isn't the way Your Majesty met him bizarre enough?" Li Xianglian asked with a chuckle.

The two were just talking and laughing, but as soon as they talked about men, they began to express jealousy between the lines, like a fake sisterhood.

Just as the empress was about to retort, her maid suddenly came over and announced, "Your Majesty, it's time to bathe."

"I understand. You may leave now! I don't need anyone to serve me today." Then she turned to Li Xianglian and said, "Xianglian, it's been a long time since we last bathed together. Come on, let's go to the Yude Pool."

Along the way, the two chatted as they walked, talking about the current situation. Li Xianglian was indeed a talented woman, and she immediately analyzed all the key points. The empress was overjoyed to hear this, as she had gained a capable assistant.

The next day, morning.

Early in the morning, in the Golden Throne Hall of the Imperial Palace, the empress sat on the dragon throne, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe.

Her face was stern, and there was an aura of majesty between her brows. Her eyes were like torches as she scanned the ministers of His Highness.

His Highness's civil and military officials were lined up on both sides. The civil officials were dressed in crimson official robes. They all had solemn expressions, lowered their brows and looked submissive, and the whole place was silent.

"If you have a petition, submit it. If you don't, leave the court." As the palace maid shouted loudly, everyone began to whisper.

At this moment, Zhang Jiushan, the Minister of War, stepped out slowly, holding a tablet in his hand, bowed, and said, "I have a report."

The empress raised her eyes slightly, her gaze fell on Zhang Jiushan, and she said calmly, "Lord Zhang, what is it that you wish to report?"

Zhang Jiushan raised his head, a hint of hidden pride in his eyes, but his tone was extremely respectful. "Your Majesty, I recently received a report from the front lines. General Lin Jiuyuan made mistakes in command during the battle with the Northern Liang army, resulting in heavy losses for our army, including the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers."

"This kind of devastating defeat cannot be forgiven lightly and should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a sudden whisper in the hall, everyone was discussing what had happened to the Prime Minister's party.

However, Zhang Jiushan didn't care at all. He glanced at Prime Minister Li Chunfeng who was standing beside him. Seeing the other party nod slightly, he felt more confident.

When the empress heard this, her expression did not change at all, as if she understood everything.

She stood up slowly, and the entire hall suddenly became quiet, with all the ministers' eyes focused on the empress.

"I understand what Minister Zhang Ai said." The Empress' voice was cold and majestic. "However, victory and defeat are common in war. I will give him another chance."

Zhang Jiushan's heart tightened upon hearing this. How could this be allowed? How could he continue to teach him a lesson? He bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, this crushing defeat has infuriated the Northern Liang people and demoralized our army. If we don't punish them severely, I'm afraid we'll struggle to win their hearts!"

The empress smiled coldly, her eyes swept across Zhang Jiushan like a knife, and she said lightly: "Then I will do as you say, my dear."

She paused, then turned to the palace maid beside her and said, "Pass on my decree. Lin Jiuyuan is ordered to return to the capital immediately to report on his duties. The command of the front line will be handed over to Zhang Bei. There must be no mistakes."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall was once again in an uproar. Was the Prime Minister stupid today? He cut off his own arm?
Zhang Jiushan's face changed slightly. He obviously didn't expect the Empress to give such a decisive order. Changing the commander suddenly was a big taboo. So, she didn't want the border anymore?

He originally just wanted to use the empress to threaten Lin Jiuyuan, but he didn't expect the empress to directly let him return to Beijing. He didn't know what to do for a moment, so he looked at Li Chunfeng.

Prime Minister Li Chunfeng stood aside, frowning slightly. He had originally thought the Empress would be hesitant, but now it seemed that Zhang Bei was indeed in cahoots with the Empress. No way! Lin Jiuyuan must not return to the capital, or if he was to replace him, it had to be someone from his own group.

"Your Majesty, it is inappropriate to temporarily change the general. Moreover, the general is away and cannot obey the king's orders. If General Lin Jiuyuan is withdrawn temporarily, it is likely to miss the opportunity to fight." Li Chunfeng saw that the situation was out of control and hurried to smooth things over.

"I, your words are spoken with all my heart. How can I change them?" the empress said in a cold tone. "Come, issue your decree immediately."

It doesn't matter whether he comes back or not. What matters is that the imperial edict must be issued. As long as the imperial edict is issued, it will completely confirm that Li Chunfeng wants to get rid of Lin Jiuyuan, and the two of them will definitely turn against each other.

After retreating from the court.

Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind, Li Chunfeng knew that something big was going to happen and that he needed to send a pigeon to inform Lin Jiuyuan immediately.

Golden Tooth Mountain.

Near Lin Jiuyuan's military camp, a figure played with a carrier pigeon and said, "Oh! Prime Minister Li, it looks like I'll have to write your letter for you again!"

the other side.

At this moment, there was a depressing atmosphere in Lin Jiuyuan's military camp.

Lin Jiuyuan stood in the tent, tightly holding the imperial edict summoning him back to the capital and a letter sent by carrier pigeon. His face was ashen and his eyes were burning with anger.

Bang! He slammed the imperial edict and the pigeon letter to the ground, cursing, "That old bastard Li Chunfeng actually impeached me. Seeing that I lost this battle, he couldn't wait to replace me."

The deputy general stood aside, his expression solemn, and whispered, "General, the Prime Minister is taking this opportunity to impeach you, clearly hoping to get rid of you through Your Majesty. If you really return to the capital to report on your work, I'm afraid you will be in great danger."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jiuyuan frowned, took a deep breath, and forced himself to think calmly.

He walked to the sand table, staring at the terrain of Jinya Mountain, his brows furrowed, and said in a deep voice: "You're right, I can't just go back like this. The worst that can happen is that I become a local emperor. Anyway, they still have to rely on me to resist Beiliang."

The deputy general stepped forward and said in a low voice, "When the war situation improves, we will establish our own territory. That way, they won't be able to do anything to us."

Lin Jiuyuan was silent for a moment, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes. He knew that the deputy general's suggestion was the best choice at the moment.

On the other side, Zhang Bei held the secret decree in his hand, his heart trembling with excitement.

The secret order clearly stated: "Lin Jiuyuan intends to rebel. Order him to be secretly apprehended and he will take over the command."

Zhang Bei laughed heartily and said to Hu Mei'er beside him, "God is really helping me! If I can take away Lin Jiuyuan's military power, I can truly become a local emperor!"

Hu Mei'er quickly echoed in a sweet voice, "General, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Then, we can live happily and carefree on this border, and who will be able to stop us?!"

Zhang Bei nodded, and his rough fingers teased Hu Mei'er's chin. Then a fierce look flashed in his eyes, and he said coldly: "Pass the order, follow me to cooperate with the empress's secret line and secretly capture Lin Jiuyuan!"

At the same time, Lin Jiuyuan's deputy general Tian Huazhi was studying countermeasures in the tent.

Suddenly, a group of figures burst in, catching him off guard.

Lin Jiuyuan's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he stood up suddenly: "Zhang Bei? What is he doing here?"

"Come on, come on"

"Stop shouting." Zhang Bei said proudly, "Your men have long been surrounded by my men."

Lin Jiuyuan clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with anger as he asked, "Who did this?"

Deputy General Tian Huazhi jokingly said, "Of course it was me. I moved the army into General Zhang's encirclement early this morning."

Lin Jiuyuan sneered, his tone tinged with sadness: "Tian Huazhi, why? I've treated you well, why did you betray me? What benefits did Zhang Bei give you?!"

Tian Huazhi shook his head, thinking to himself: Zhang Bei gave me benefits? Zhang Bei is nothing? He will soon follow in your footsteps. I am the Empress's man.

"Take him away." Zhang Bei ordered in a cold voice, then said smugly, "Secretly escort Lin Jiuyuan to Kyoto and let the emperor decide his fate."

night.

Zhang Bei was enjoying the pleasure of love with Hu Meir. Recently, Ye Beixuan gave Hu Meir a pill and asked her to feed it to Zhang Bei, which would make him more virile for a period of time.

He was particularly brave tonight, and now he no longer needed to hide the fact that there was a woman in his barracks.

(Omitted 100,000 words) Afterwards.

"General, you have really broken my bones recently!" Fox Meir praised in a sweet voice.

The sir's medicine is indeed effective and has had some effect on him.

"Mei'er! Your medicine is really effective! This general feels that he is now in great shape and has been very happy recently. Why don't we do it again?" Zhang Bei was overjoyed when he was praised by Hu Mei'er. Which man doesn't want to be praised by a woman for such a thing?
"Oh," Hu Meir sighed, acting as if she had no desire at all. In fact, she really had no desire at all. She felt sick looking at Zhang Bei, who was really useless. For a lustful woman like Hu Meir, how could she like a useless man?

"Why is Mei'er sighing?" Zhang Bei asked curiously when he saw Hu Mei'er sighing.

Hu Meier shook her head and said, "I am lamenting for the general! Even though the general took over Lin Jiuyuan's army."

"But with so many people, how are we going to arrange them? How are the official positions assigned?"

"With so many more people, how much supplies will be needed to feed and clothe them?"

Zhang Bei laughed heartily after hearing this and said, "Isn't this simple? As for the official positions, I can just disrupt the people they command. I can arrange a duel between several captains in Lin Jiuyuan's army and my own captain. Whoever wins will be the captain."

He had thought about this a long time ago. Tian Huazhi would definitely be the deputy general, which was what he had promised him. Ye Liuxiang and Qin Beixi had also been reserved.

"No, this is not good! Captain Ye has made great contributions this time, he should be made a deputy general or a general of the house." Hu Meir twisted her soft body in Zhang Bei's arms, making his heart flutter.

"Report" Suddenly a report sounded outside the door.

"Go ahead," Zhang Bei said as he stood up, dressed, and walked toward the outer tent.

"General, the Beiliang army is gathering and appears to be preparing to attack us."

Zhang Bei frowned, but soon felt relieved. They must have noticed that Lin Jiuyuan had been replaced and thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So he turned to Hu Mei'er and said, "Wait for me. I will prepare a dinner tonight and discuss strategies to deal with the enemy. I will also confer official titles on them."

Hu Meier nodded repeatedly and said, "The general is indeed very righteous."

Looking at his departing back, Hu Meir sneered and thought to herself: You can only be proud tonight, and soon you won't be able to laugh anymore.

Oh, who is my poor husband?
(End of this chapter)