Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 566 Luo Tianxuan Leaves (12,000 words)

Six parts of China!

What a loud tone.

Even though Song Yan was only hearing Usana's account, a surge of anger welled up inside him. Did these bastards think the Central Plains was something they could just divide up as they pleased?

Even Luo Yuheng's expression darkened, and a hint of menace appeared between his brows.

Usana knew what Song Yan and the others were thinking, and didn't care about the anger on their faces. She just shrugged and said, "Of course, they say they want to divide China into six parts, but in reality, Sochoro wants to dominate the world."

"Otherwise, Suochuoluo wouldn't have attached so much importance to the Thunderclap Thunder, and even kept it quite secret. Although the delegations from the Western Rong and Southern Barbarians have come twice, they know nothing about the Thunderclap Thunder. If Suochuoluo really has the Thunderclap Thunder, then if the Central Plains were to fall into chaos one day, the Thunderclap Thunder in Suochuoluo's hands would very likely be turned to his former allies."

Song Yan calmed his anger slightly and began to think seriously. Most of what Usana said was just speculation based on what she had heard and seen, without any substantial evidence, but the possibility was extremely high. Moreover, the damage to the Central Plains caused by the Six Barbarian Invasions was far too severe, and Song Yan had to treat even the slightest possibility with caution.

After a while, Song Yan asked again, "Do you know exactly when they plan to make their move?"

"This young lady doesn't know. It's a top secret, and I'm afraid there aren't many people in the entire Xiongnu steppe who know about it," Usana said with a hint of helplessness.

Song Yan had anticipated this, so he wasn't too disappointed.

"The news you brought is very important to me. I will not go back on my promise. You may stay at the palace for now. If you need anything, just ask Tianxuan." Song Yan stood up and said.

At this moment, Usana finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She also stood up, bowed to Song Yan again, and then followed Luo Tianxuan downstairs.

Luo Yuheng was feeling quite tired because he had been up for too long the night before, and he could barely keep his eyelids open. Song Yan knew that he was probably about to switch personalities again, so he told Luo Yuheng number two to go and rest first.

As for Song Yan, he went straight to the government office accompanied by Hua Lianyue. He also invited Yang Siyao and Cui San Niangzi along. Although they were just two women, Song Yan thought they were quite intelligent and might be able to offer some different opinions.

Upon arriving at the government office, they immediately sent someone to summon all the important figures from their fiefdoms, including Fang Hai, Liang Guangzong, Gao Xingcai, Liu Yisheng, and Mei Wu. Fortunately, due to the grand wedding of Song Yan the previous day, which had lasted until late at night, the Anzhou officials, including Fang Hai, were unable to return in time. Otherwise, it would not have been easy to gather so many people together.

Most of the people were somewhat suspicious, wondering why the prince had suddenly summoned so many people. They were even more surprised to see that there were two women, Cui San Niangzi and Yang Siyao, among them... After all, the rule of this era was that men should handle important matters, while women should stay in the inner quarters.

However, since these two were brought by Song Yan, no one said much.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Song Yan stopped hiding his story and recounted everything he had heard from Usana. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's expression changed. Lei Yi and Zhang Han, the two leaders in charge of the atmosphere, even clamored to send troops directly into the northern desert. "Damn it," they said, "you want six parts of the Central Plains? I'll slaughter your Xiongnu royal court first!"

Fang Hai, Mei Wu, Liu Yisheng, and the others all had their brows furrowed, their expressions unusually serious. They clearly understood the danger involved; if things went wrong, the disaster of the Six Barbarian Invasions could very well repeat itself.

"Tell me, is it true that the Xiongnu have joined forces with the Western Rong, the Southern Man, Goguryeo, and the Japanese pirates? If they are really preparing to attack the Central Plains, when will they launch their offensive?" After speaking, Song Yan was also parched: "And how should we respond?"

After the words were spoken, an eerie silence fell over the room, and no one dared to offer any opinions.

Mei Wu even produced a map from somewhere, staring intently at it. His appearance unconsciously attracted the attention of the others, after all, he was a veteran general of Ning Kingdom, whose experience in commanding battles was unmatched even by Song Yan.

After a long while, Mei Wu pointed at the map and said, "If the Six Barbarians have really agreed on this, then their attack time should be unified. After all, if they attack ahead of time, they are likely to become the target of everyone's attacks. Nobody is that stupid. At that time, it is very likely that the Jurchens, Japanese pirates and part of the Xiongnu will attack Ningguo, while the majority of the Xiongnu and the Western Rong will jointly deal with the strongest Chu state. As for Liang state... Liang state now seems to be a balance of power between the southern barbarians and Han officials, but the actual situation is extremely dangerous."

"The barbarians are ruthless. Their specialty is solving problems through killing. If I'm not mistaken, before the six barbarian tribes launch a joint attack, the southern barbarians should first take action within the Liang Kingdom, eliminating the Han officials who refuse to submit with swift and decisive measures, thereby completely seizing control of the Liang Kingdom."

"Perhaps they won't touch Emperor Liang, since it would be easier for them to control the Liang Kingdom if they had him in their hands."

"After controlling the Liang Kingdom, the Southern Barbarians can divide their forces into two routes: one to assist the Western Rong and the Xiongnu in taking down the Chu Kingdom, and the other to go east and attack the Zhao Kingdom."

"The military strength of the Zhao state..."

Mei Wu bared his teeth but didn't say anything.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment; there was nothing they could do, as the military strength of the Zhao state was truly difficult to assess.

Although they claimed to have a million-strong army, more than the Chu state, their soldiers often collapsed at the first contact. They were good at bullying ordinary people, but when they encountered foreign tribes, they were doomed.

“The Zhao Kingdom won’t last long.” Mei Wu sighed and continued, “At that time, we will have to face attacks from the Southern Barbarians, Jurchens, Japanese pirates, and Xiongnus at the same time. In addition, there are rebels everywhere in Ning Kingdom, so the situation will be more dangerous than ever before.”

"As for when they will send troops, it won't be too fast. This involves the mobilization of hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops, which cannot be completed in a short time. Even in a country like Chu where government orders are efficient, it will take at least several months to prepare." Mei Wu continued to analyze. Perhaps Mei Wu was not very smart in handling family affairs, but he was confident in military strategy: "But after a few months, it will be the coldest time of the year. In the midst of heavy snow, even the barbarians of the Xiongnu and Jurchens will not be suitable for fighting, and there will be a lot of unnecessary non-combat casualties."

In fact, winter warfare is not impossible.

Both the Wu Dynasty and the Han Dynasty have records of launching surprise attacks on the Xiongnu during the dead of winter, and the Xiongnu also have a history of raiding southwards in winter.

However, in recent years, it has gotten colder year by year. If you don't have enough protection against the cold, fighting in this kind of weather is simply suicide.

"Furthermore, the Jurchens were not yet unified. Even with the help of Suochuoluo, it would take Wanyan Guangzhi quite some time to conquer the various Jurchen tribes. The Southern Barbarians had not yet taken over the Liang Kingdom..."

Mei Wu raised his head, his face grim: "Moreover, a large-scale war cannot be decided in one or two meetings. It often requires several months, or even several years, of preparation. Especially for the six Hu tribes, how many troops each side will send and how much benefit they will ultimately receive are all matters that need to be seriously discussed. They will need at least several more meetings between the representatives of the six Hu tribes before a final decision can be made. Therefore, I estimate that the war will not break out this year, and at the earliest, it may not start until the late spring or early summer of next year."

"Therefore, there are three main things we need to do now."

"First, stockpile grain."

Mei Wude's voice was low and suppressed: "Buy as much grain as possible, the more the better. Fill all the granaries, and build new granaries to store grain. Grain is the most basic guarantee. Without enough grain, the soldiers have no strength to fight."

"Second, recruit new soldiers."

"Whether we recruit from the local people, refugees, or rebels, we should try our best to increase the number of soldiers in our fiefdom. We still have too few soldiers."

"Third, take advantage of this time to forge as much equipment as possible, such as armor, even winter coats and thunderclap bombs. The more the better. The city walls should also be repaired, and it would be best to reinforce and raise them."

"We have food, soldiers, and equipment; that's about all we can do right now."

Cui Yingying then interjected, "Grain, people, pig iron—the Cui family can get all of that."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes fell on Cui Yingying. Good heavens, she really had a big mouth. They knew that the Cui family had a big business and could get grain and pig iron, which was normal, but how would she get people?
Do you think they would dare to traffic people?

Cui Yingying was a very capable person, but she didn't often appear in front of large groups. So when everyone's eyes were on her, she felt a little nervous, but she quickly calmed down, pursed her lips, and said generously, "Right now, the Ning Kingdom has no shortage of refugees. There's no need for human trafficking. As long as we provide food, a large number of people will naturally be willing to follow the caravan to Pingyang." "Moreover, once the people have a chance to survive in Pingyang, it will become a reputation. Even if we don't actively recruit them, a large number of refugees will try their best to come to Pingyang."

"People will do anything to survive."

Although it was a somewhat tragic matter, everyone quickly realized that what Cui Yingying said was true.

"Moreover, I believe that even if the Six Barbarians might attack next year, the year after, or even later, we can do other things besides training our troops, such as launching small-scale offensives against the Jurchens."

"On the one hand, soldiers cannot be formed simply through training. Ultimately, they must experience real combat to truly possess fighting power. Compared to the Xiongnu, the Jurchens were weaker and were the most suitable for training soldiers. This way, the new recruits under the prince's command can quickly form combat power."

"As for the cold, I think as long as the cotton-padded clothes are thick enough, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"On the other hand, it can also slow down Wanyan Guangzhi's unification of the Jurchens, or rather, weaken the Jurchens' power as much as possible before Wanyan Guangzhi unifies the Jurchens, so that they can not only be passively attacked."

"Moreover, there are many tribes among the Jurchens, and not every tribe is willing to submit to Wanyan Guangzhi. Perhaps we can recruit some of them, preferably those who have a grudge against Wanyan Guangzhi. Although these barbarians are not well-versed in etiquette and education, they are indeed excellent warriors."

"In that case, Your Highness might be able to assemble a large barbarian army."

"Of course, as the saying goes, those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. After all, they are barbarians, and we must do a good job of controlling them."

Cui Yingying spoke her mind freely, and the others listened attentively, no longer treating her as an ordinary woman, but analyzing the feasibility of her suggestion.

“Actually, if it’s about grain…” Yang Siyao blinked and cautiously began, “I know a place with extremely abundant grain reserves. In Langya, over a hundred years, the Yang family has stored up an unimaginable amount of grain. I estimate that it’s enough to feed the people in the fiefdom for at least two or three years.”

“Once the Six Barbarians attack, the Yang family will definitely be the first to surrender. Since these grains will inevitably benefit the barbarians, we might as well go and plunder them.”

The way everyone looked at Yang Siyao was rather strange. "The most poisonous heart is a woman's," they said. Yang Siyao herself came from the Yang family, yet she was now instigating Song Yan to attack the Yang family without any mercy.

“My suggestion is that the Six Barbarian Invasions are a calamity for the entire Central Plains, and we cannot place the blame solely on Your Highness. Perhaps we can inform the Chu and Zhao kingdoms of this news.” Fang Hai also pondered and said, “Forget about Zhao; even if we remind them, they may not believe us. But General Lin Xue of Chu is Your Highness’s sister, and she should take Your Highness’s reminder seriously.”

"As long as the State of Chu is well prepared, it will not be easy for the Western Rong, the Xiongnu, and even the Liang and Southern Man to take over the State of Chu, and the pressure on our side will be greatly reduced."

Liang Guangzong nodded slightly: "Prefect Fang is absolutely right. In addition, I suggest mobilizing all the people in the entire fiefdom to become our eyes and ears. As soon as any strangers enter, we will immediately monitor them... The Thunderclap Bomb is really too important. The formula must not fall into the hands of the barbarians."

Song Yan's side has never had many rules, and the people around him have gradually gotten used to it over time, so everyone in the government office speaks freely.

It wasn't until evening that the whole matter was finally settled.

That very night, a scout rode a fast horse and headed west. Once across the border of Anzhou, it would be Chu territory. It wouldn't be difficult to deliver the message to Lin Xue, but how much importance the Chu court attached to this matter was beyond Song Yan's control.

The moon and stars are rare.

Song Yan found Granny Liang and obtained the confessions of the assassins captured the day before. Unfortunately, these assassins were all江湖人 (jianghu people, people of the martial arts world), and they were just doing things for money. It was unclear who paid them. As for Cheng Xu and his seven companions, they were all captured as well. Even those who made contact with them did not escape and were all handed over to Song Yan.

That's right. Cheng Xu and the six Xiongnu chieftains were captured during their rendezvous. Although they seemed to have planned a lot, they didn't have the opportunity to steal secrets from Song Yan's many workshops. All their plans were completely useless.

This was the first time Song Yan had seen the extremely shrewd strategist that Usana had described. He didn't have much of an impression of her in other aspects, except for the long scar on her face, which looked extremely ugly. Especially when she spoke, the scar would wriggle, like a centipede crawling on her face.

Cheng Xu must have known how valuable the secret he possessed was to Song Yan, so even though he was captured alive, Cheng Xu still seemed quite proud. Unfortunately, he didn't understand Song Yan's personality. Song Yan had no intention of bargaining with Cheng Xu at all and simply handed everyone over to Granny Liang. He believed that with Granny Liang's methods, she could definitely pry them open.

Granny Liang's wrinkled face resembled a blooming chrysanthemum.

Wow, so many people! That's great.

The methods I've been working on lately have now been put to the test again.

Granny Liang was a pragmatist. Although she had many ingenious ideas in her mind, she always had to experiment to know how effective they were. Unusable methods had to be discarded, and good methods had to be improved. For example, she had come up with a plan before: to place a bronze mirror in front of the person to be interrogated, peel off their face, and then smear honey on it to attract flies to gnaw on it.

In just a few days, white maggots could be seen wriggling in the rotting flesh on his face.

Densely packed.

Few people can withstand this dual torment of physical and mental suffering.

Unfortunately, now that it's snowing, the flies are gone, so she has to find some other methods.

Looking at Granny Liang's shabby appearance, messy hair, wrinkled face, and the rotten smell, coupled with her bright smile, even Song Yan felt a chill run down his spine.

But Song Yan had to admit that Granny Liang was one of the most important assets of the Prince of Yan's mansion.

Its importance is unimaginable. For this reason, Song Yan specially arranged for two experts from the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Sect to protect him closely. The only trouble is that these bodyguard jobs don't last long. Often, after only a few days, these experts would run to Song Yan with tears streaming down their faces and beg him to change jobs, as if they were the ones being tortured. This gave Song Yan quite a headache.

The very next day, Song Yan summoned Zhang Ci, Shen Qi, Aunt Lin, Cui Yingying, and even Kong Xingye to give instructions on purchasing grain.

On the third day, a decree was suddenly issued in the fiefdom.

Under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Yan's residence, commercial taxes were levied.

This decree caused some ripples on a small scale, since no one wanted to pay extra money for no reason.

However, on the one hand, Song Yan had great prestige in his fiefdom, so the merchants couldn't cause much trouble.

On the other hand, Song Yan's tax rate for small businesses is not high, almost negligible, and small businesses don't mind spending a few copper coins to ensure their safety.

Furthermore, the top merchant families such as the Zhang, Shen, Cui, and Kong families took the lead in expressing their support for the implementation of commercial taxes, and the attempt by some merchants to band together to resist taxes ultimately failed.

These days, things have been relatively peaceful in the fiefdom.

Occasionally, there are some unusual things. For example, Luo Tianxuan disappeared from the palace the afternoon after Song Yan and Luo Yuheng got married.

(End of this chapter)