Transmigrating Through the Heavens: Starting with the Silly Pillar of the Courtyard

Chapter 340 The Truth Behind Xu Baihu's Death

Wu Tao's body rose and fell with the swaying of the horse, but his heart remained calm.

He had anticipated these events and was therefore not surprised.

It's already quite remarkable that the imperial court hasn't collapsed yet.

If the emperor can't even collect taxes, it's normal for the army to mutini.

For example, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has not received its pay for the past two months, which is the first time this has happened in any dynasty.

In the past, no matter how tight the court was, the Jinyiwei's pay never stopped, which shows how tight the court's finances are now.

Through these details, Wu Tao had already sensed the precarious situation of the Great Yan Dynasty.

Although the emperor had tried his best to save the court, its fate was sealed.

The reason is that the Great Yan Dynasty has too many tax-exempt nobles and powerful families, and a large amount of land is concentrated in their hands.

With the national treasury empty and the army's pay cut off, no one can predict what will happen next.

Wu Tao had no opinion on this; he was simply quietly building up his strength.

Now the farm has expanded again, and Qian Hu and his men frequently raid the Tartar tribes outside.

Today, the farm has more than 10,000 young and middle-aged people, and the land area has increased to 30,000 mu.

The guard force also exceeded two thousand people, and after the Sheng Camp was formed into a regiment, it has now become a division.

The organization of six battalions, two regiments, and one division was Wu Tao's biggest trump card for his future uprising.

Here, Wu Tao also brought out some special forces training courses to train the guard team.

In particular, there was a special forces company with only about 150 people.

Even Qian Hu had no authority to command this group; they would only obey Wu Tao's orders.

Their daily training was not with other guards, but took place directly in the wild, on Tartar territory.

Wu Tao was also often away from the Hundred Household Office; usually, it was General Guo Wei and General Ling Tian who took turns on duty there.

Wu Tao himself often led his personal guard squad and would appear and disappear unpredictably outside.

Some people in Cangzhou Prefecture are planning to use the same old trick again, since they don't want to be constantly watched by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

If we could kill the centurion again, Cangzhou Prefecture would probably become a den of dragons and tigers welcoming centurions of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

They wanted to intimidate everyone and make the Embroidered Uniform Guards deaf and blind in Cangzhou Prefecture.

They went to great lengths to find out Wu Tao's exact movements.

Meanwhile, five hundred axemen had already been laid in ambush at a farm on the outskirts of Cangzhou Prefecture.

They simply didn't believe that Wu Tao could escape with those dozens of men.

When dealing with Commander Xu, they only sent two hundred men. This time, they added three hundred more, enough to wipe out Wu Tao and his men without exception.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. Since Wu Tao knew that Xu Baihu's death was suspicious, how could he not be on guard against these people?

One of the special forces' skills is reconnaissance.

Not only is reconnaissance outside the city important, but Cangzhou Prefecture is of paramount importance.

So while they thought they were doing it without anyone noticing, Wu Tao had already obtained the intelligence.

They even knew exactly who the mole was within the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

However, Wu Tao did not make a move to alert the enemy; instead, he prepared to see who was plotting against him behind the scenes.

The person who dared to attack and kill a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is quite audacious.

At the same time, Xu Baihu's death was most likely related to these people.

If Wu Tao obtains evidence of their crimes, confiscating their property and exterminating their entire family would be the lightest punishment.

Wu Tao also wanted to test the training performance of the special forces company. One hundred and fifty men against five hundred men could be considered a rough match.

Both sides felt confident of victory and were just waiting for the day Wu Tao led his men out of the city.

Xiaoqi Chen Chao wanted to persuade the adult to let him impersonate the adult and go out, but Wu Tao directly refused. With Wu Tao's strength, he would never stoop to such a sneaky trick.

In other words, Wu Tao wanted to use these people to hone the special forces company he had personally trained; otherwise, if he had given the order directly, Qian Hu could have wiped them out in one fell swoop.

Although everything seems normal on the surface in Cangzhou Prefecture today, many shrewd people in the city are actually hiding at home, waiting for something.

A few soldiers stood listlessly guarding the city gate when they heard the sound of horses' hooves accelerating towards the gate from inside the city.

Then a group of warriors in flying fish robes appeared before everyone's eyes. The flag officer at the city gate hurriedly directed his soldiers to separate the civilians, while he himself bowed and saluted the group of warriors.

The warriors completely ignored the junior officer and walked straight through the city gate.

After Fei Yu left, the junior officer immediately bowed and said a few words to a soldier beside him, who then turned and ran wildly into the city.

The soldier was so focused on running that he didn't see someone following him.

Wu Tao brought thirty personal guards with him this time, leaving his junior officer Chen Chao in the city instead.

Junior officer Chen Chao led ten strongmen, while Commander Ling Tian was in charge of overall command. The city, both inside and outside, was now under the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Imperial Guards appeared relaxed on the outside but were actually on high alert; hundreds of them were inside the room, fully prepared for departure.

They're just waiting to get the evidence and launch a swift and decisive attack. At that time, not only will everyone be rewarded, but they'll also make a fortune.

Those families involved in the murder of the centurion were not poor; just like the Songjiang Prefecture rebellion, which made the Jinyiwei commanders rich in one go.

The two only reacted when the messenger reported intelligence.

From 3 p.m. until 8 p.m., Xiaoqi Chen Chao finally ran in from outside, looking excited.

"Commander, the commander has sent word; this is intelligence."

As he spoke, Junior Flag Officer Chen Chao handed the intelligence relayed by the carrier pigeon to Commander Ling Tian.

Commander Ling Tian's hands trembled with excitement. Lord Wu was indeed amazing; he had obtained the intelligence in just a few hours.

They were waiting for news in the city, and of course they knew what kind of danger Wu Tao was facing.

Surrounded by 500 men, the adult not only fought back and killed his opponents, but also successfully obtained evidence.

Commander Ling Tian and Commander Guo Wei walked directly out of the main hall. With a single order, hundreds of Imperial Guard captains and strongmen from the Hundred Household Office, led by junior officers, poured out their resources.

Commander Ling Tian and Commander Guo Wei each led their teams toward the target mansion.

According to the intelligence sent back by Wu Tao, there were five masterminds behind this assassination attempt: three wealthy merchants, one prefectural magistrate, and one guerrilla general.

As for whether there are other people behind them, that depends on what they find out after the arrest.

Even disregarding the two officials, the assets of just the three wealthy merchants alone would be no less than several hundred thousand.

As Guo Wei and Ling Tian walked down the street, they felt that even the night breeze blowing across their faces smelled of money.

Cangzhou Prefecture will be sleepless tonight. The sounds of horses' hooves, fighting, desperate cries, and the loud reading of evidence by the Imperial Guards echo throughout the city.

Some people are rushing to destroy evidence at home, while others are frantically running around like ants on a hot pan.

Many people realized that the situation in Cangzhou Prefecture had changed dramatically. The Jinyiwei, which had been quiet all the time, suddenly started killing people everywhere, which must mean that a shocking case had occurred.

Some people already knew, or rather guessed, something, and were therefore quite calm.

Whether they have something to hide or not depends on how clean their hands and feet are.