You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 329 Sowing Discord~
The distance between Yuezhou and Changsha is 300 li.

Scouts from both sides frequently appeared, and small-scale skirmishes broke out, making the atmosphere increasingly tense.

Changsha City.

Soldiers stood in rows at the city gate.

Wu Sangui mounted his horse.

"Fan'er, after I leave, Changsha will be in your hands."

"Don't worry, Godfather! As long as I am here, Changsha will remain. As long as the supply of food, provisions and gunpowder is sufficient, Changsha can be defended for ten thousand years."

"Ten thousand years is too long, three years is enough."

suddenly!

The strategist Liu Xuanchu knelt in the middle of the road, blocking Wu Sangui's path.

"Xuan Chu, what are you doing?"

"Your Highness, we must seize the opportunity to conquer the world. Yunnan is a good place, but it is barren and remote, and it is of no use to us in the struggle for the world. It would be better to abandon Yunnan and withdraw its troops and supplies."

"The struggle for the world should be planned gradually."

"Your Highness, others won't give us time to proceed slowly. Jiang Qingyun has already arrived in Yuezhou, he's only 300 li away. He's also brought the Eight Banners from the capital and the Green Standard Army from Shaanxi and Gansu. He wants to actively seek a decisive battle!"

"Hmph, Changsha's defenses are strong, and my son is both a skilled warrior and a capable bulwark. If you want to take my Changsha, you'll have to kill 50,000 men first."

"Your Highness, if this standoff continues, we will surely lose."

"Be bold!"

"Your Highness, honest advice is hard to swallow. In terms of money, provisions, and military pay, we are far inferior to the Qing court. Please order the recall of troops from all over the country and march them to Yuezhou to fight Jiang Qingyun. If we can annihilate the Eight Banners of the capital in this battle, Your Highness will be the leader of the anti-Qing forces in the world and a great hero admired by all the people."

……

The onlookers looked at each other in shock.

Wu Yinglin said in a low voice.

"Brother-in-law, what do you think?"

Xia Guoxiang sighed.

“What Lord Liu said makes some sense, but it concerns the strategic route. How can Your Highness change it so easily? Besides, such a gamble could result in total loss if we lose.”

"Yes."

Wu Yinglin seemed to understand, but his talent was far inferior to Wu Yingxiong's.

Liu Xuanchu stubbornly blocked the way, leaving Wu Sangui in a dilemma and quite embarrassed.

He was forced to dismount and walk up to him.

"Xuan Chu, what do you want?"

"The anti-Qing movement is the general trend of the world. If Your Highness wants to seize the opportunity, you must first establish the righteous cause. As long as you win the decisive battle at Yuezhou, you can use the emperor to command the princes. After you destroy the Qing court and return to the capital, you can replace Yongli in a few years."

Looking at his chief strategist, who was so sincere, Wu Sangui's anger subsided slightly.

“Xuan Chu, I know you are a master strategist, but suddenly changing the established strategic direction is a major taboo. You have a gambler's mentality. Let me ask you, what if, what if we can't win the decisive battle at Yuezhou?”

"Your Highness, how can one not gamble when vying for the throne? Jiang Qingyun seized power and ruled through political maneuvering; such a person cannot withstand failure!"

"Xuan Chu, do you think my subordinates can withstand defeat?"

Wu Sangui lowered his voice sharply, his next words about to be uttered: "Xuan Chu, the loyalty of our soldiers cannot withstand the test either!"
……

After a while~
"Xuan Chu, get up."

Wu Sangui personally helped him up, speaking in a serious tone.

“Xuan Chu, the best course of action now is either to use the main force to quickly advance through Jiangnan, or to send a detachment out of Sichuan and into Shaanxi. You go to Jiangxi to advise General Ma Bao and urge him to take Jiujiang as soon as possible. As for me, the first thing I will do upon returning to Kunming is to persuade Wang Jinbao, the commander of the Sichuan Green Standard Army, to join the League of Justice by appealing to his emotions and reason.”

"As ordered."

This is the end of a farce.

On the way back to Kunming, Wu Sangui was preoccupied with his thoughts and had no interest in playing with his beloved concubine Chen Yuanyuan.

Currently, there are three routes for the Northern Expedition: the eastern, central, and western routes. Each route seems to have a chance of victory, but none of them are absolutely certain.

On the eastern front, seize the key financial and tax base in Jiangnan.

The central route, from Xiangyang down to Nanyang, was the optimal marching route for armies launching northern expeditions throughout history.

On the western front, the chaos in Shaanxi and Gansu caused fires to break out on the Qing court's flank, leaving it no time to look south.

……

Jiang Qingyun's strategic thinking was exactly the opposite of Wu Sangui's. He was single-mindedly focused on accumulating troops and supplies to make a breakthrough in the central line, that is, to capture Changsha and block the only official road between Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.

To this end, he did not hesitate to launch another strategic deception.

The first step was to send people to Changsha to discuss peace talks.

The terms offered were that Wu Sangui be granted the title of ruler of the Southwest Kingdom, which would encompass the four provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hunan. From then on, the two sides would be considered uncle and nephew in a state-to-state relationship. Although Wang Pingfan scoffed at this, he still quickly sent someone to inform Wu Sangui.

Politics takes precedence over military affairs.

Wang Pingfan was merely a general at the front lines; he couldn't make such decisions, otherwise it would be an act of usurpation.

Therefore, under Jiang Qingyun's political offensive, Wang Pingfan was naturally at a disadvantage. He could only respond to each move as it came and had no chance to take the initiative.

This is politics.

The second step was to secretly send people to Sichuan.

The third step was to send someone to Changde Prefecture to recruit Wang Fuchen, offering him the position of Governor of Hunan and 20 taels of silver.

We're going to build a united empire.

……

News from all sides quickly began to arrive.

First, Wu Sangui, who was passing through Hengzhou Prefecture, resolutely rejected his request for peace talks, saying that the Han and the traitors could not coexist.

Jiang Qingyun smiled slightly and immediately added another province to the original conditions—Guangdong—before continuing to sell the peace plan to Wu Sangui.

If Shang Kexi refuses to be served, then turn him into food and serve him on the table.

Then, news also came from Changde.

"So, Wang Fuchen only ordered the expulsion of our envoys, but did not kill them?"

"Yes."

"Did they assault or insult our envoy?"

"No."

Jiang Qingyun was secretly delighted; Ma Yaozi could be pried open, and Xiao Lü Bu could be won over.

On the day.

A group of soldiers escorted more than a dozen Wu soldiers who were prisoners of war. Along the way, they beat and cursed them at every turn, their leather whips flying everywhere. When they entered the city, they happened to encounter a magnificent procession.

As they passed each other, Jiang Qingyun suddenly raised his riding whip and asked:
"Who are they?"

"Reporting to the Grand Secretary, they are all Wu Sangui's rebel army."

"Are there any of General Wang Fuchen's subordinates?"

……

Jiang Qingyun smiled at one of the prisoners who claimed to be a scout under Wang Fuchen and instructed the soldiers escorting him.

"Treat his wounds and change him into clean clothes."

"Yes."

In the next few days.

Many prisoners witnessed firsthand the meteoric rise in the personal treatment of "Wang Fuchen's subordinates" in prison, and overheard several prison guards loudly discussing how the Grand Secretary greatly admired Ma Yaozi's bravery and had tried to recruit him multiple times without success.

He told the story vividly.

The seed of doubt was thus sown.

Several days later, hundreds of prisoners were escorted to the shore of Dongting Lake to build a road. Due to lax security, many clever prisoners managed to escape.

Changsha City.

Governor's Yamen.

A prisoner vividly recounted what he had seen and heard in prison. In an attempt to clear his name of the crime he had committed as a prisoner, he desperately exaggerated the possibility that Wang Fuchen might be having an affair with someone in the north.

"Understood, you go down first."

"Whoo."

After pondering for a long time, Wang Pingfan decided to suppress the matter for the time being and not report it.

Although he did not believe that the lenient treatment of prisoners of war indicated that Wang Fuchen had rebellious intentions, and although he would not slander his colleagues to the prince during a major battle, he still couldn't help but send out many scouts to conduct more reconnaissance in the Changde direction.

……

Outside Yuezhou City.

The Eight Banners practiced horsemanship and archery, the New Army practiced chariot formations, and the Green Standard Army practiced swordsmanship and shield fighting; each group was training with great enthusiasm.

Jiang Qingyun stood on the city wall and looked out through his telescope.

"Fan Huairen?"

"exist."

What type of women do the archbishops usually prefer?

(End of this chapter)