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Volume 3: Blue Tile and Red Wall (Part 2) Volume 4: Stormy Jiangnan Chapter 78: Variables

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    Volume 4 Stormy Jiangnan Chapter 78 Variables

    Emperor Qiyuan seemed to be talking to Du Ning, or muttered to himself. Du Ning listened but did not answer.  As the biggest espionage leader in the entire founding dynasty, Du Ning knew a lot more than anyone else.  Long before the war in the southeast started, many secret reports had been put on Du Ning's desk. The signs of these secret reports were immediately noticed by Du Ning, who was very thoughtful. With Emperor Qi Yuan's tacit approval, only a few people knew about it.  Under the circumstances, Du Ning had already made corresponding preparations secretly.

    From the beginning of the war in the southeast to the present, although Du Ning is in the capital, his informants are all over the place. Not only are a large number of people deployed in the southeast, but there are also people in other provinces under close surveillance.  Among them, those listed as key monitoring targets include, in addition to the feudal kings from various places, some provincial officials adjacent to the southeast, and even many high-ranking dignitaries and nobles in the capital.  But when things have reached this stage, like water filtering through quicksand, many people and things that were originally submerged in the water are gradually revealed.  Now, after listening to the emperor's whisper in the imperial garden, Du Ning knew: After preparing for so long, the emperor finally couldn't hold back and was about to take action

    "These days of rebellion in the southeast, the government and the public are in turmoil. Some things naturally need to be investigated, but we must also be careful not to lose control at this time and expand some non-serious things without any limit. We must prevent some people from  Take the opportunity to cause chaos and make profits. You must also be careful not to make irreparable mistakes at this critical moment!"

    "Yes, I will definitely abide by the emperor's teachings."

    Emperor Qiyuan slowly turned around and looked up at the tall osmanthus tree that was several feet high and had lush branches. After being silent for a while, he suddenly asked slowly: "You and I have been busy all this time, so we didn't have time to ask.  Do you have any clues about the few things I asked you to investigate in the past?" Du Ning's heart trembled when he heard this, and he was about to answer when Emperor Qiyuan said again: "You don't need to say anything. If there is any progress, just write it down.  Just hand it over yourself." Du Ning responded quickly, and in a moment, there was a layer of sweat on his back.

    "The matter of cutting down the vassal will be over soon. Humph! In the past, many people wanted to see my jokes. Even the Queen Mother thought that I was probably weak-minded. What was the result? Didn't I just destroy the whole southeast and chop off the heads of countless people?  "What?" Emperor Qiyuan's voice became colder, and he continued: "If you break the house, you can rebuild it; if you ruin the place in the southeast, I can make it prosperous again! But if you are timid and let it grow big, my country will be thousands of miles away.  , I'm afraid it will rot piece by piece. If I had looked forward and backward, and refused to abandon half of the southeast wall, how could I have been in today's situation After the vassal reduction was completed, all the kings' soldiers and wealth were returned to the court. That's all.  It¡¯s enough to be worth the losses in the southeast. Calculate, how much food has this little uncle of mine taken from the imperial court over the years? He actually secretly raised so many soldiers salt way, tea way, mulberry and hemp.  , rice I am beaten very hard by the autumn wind this time, I want to see who among those who have opposed me in unison before dares to open their mouths and cause trouble!"

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­

    Public opinion between the government and the opposition, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly became more vocal as the war situation in the southeast changed.  Many people who previously did not agree with the imperial court's reduction of vassals, or even vehemently opposed the reduction of vassal states, suddenly changed their temper and began to praise the emperor's foresight and criticize the three kings of Wu, Huaiyue and Yue for their rebellious actions. At the same time, they did not forget to mention the  He looked like he already knew the outcome.  In particular, the officials at the Yushitai took turns reading the excerpts as if they were going to a market, quoting classics and ancient and modern arguments to demonstrate the wisdom of the court's actions and the inevitability of the kings' current fate, as if they had fiercely opposed the reduction of vassals before.  It has nothing to do with them at all.

    However, while the government and the public were in an uproar, spitting at King Wu, the war was still raging in the southeast.  The King of Shu changed his mind and became a ruthless businessman; the King of Dian became a cunning bandit and dispersed when he saw that the situation was not good; the King of Yue, King Huai, pleaded guilty early on; no matter from the front or the back, on the entire battlefield, there were only  King Wu was a lonely man. Faced with this situation, no one knew what King Wu felt personally.  But what everyone can see is that King Wu is still fighting hard!  Although the imperial court had a total of 60,000 to 70,000 troops pressing down on the border, the King of Wu did not abandon his son and admit defeat as everyone expected, but still did not retreat at all.  The horses were still firmly guarding the Dongjiang defense line, and part of the area in Huaixi was now in the hands of the King of Wu!

    He still hasn¡¯t given in!

    "Compared with the feeble-minded King of Yue and the fierce-looking King of Huai, King Zhang Xiu of Wu finally showed his tough character at this time!  Even if the situation is at such a disadvantage, with a mere three Dongjiang guards and temporarily recruited stragglers, a total of less than 40,000 soldiers and horses against the imperial army of nearly 70,000, the result is already overwhelming.It was inevitable, but Zhang Xiu showed no signs of surrender and still accumulated his last strength to compete with the imperial army.

    This kind of situation is a big surprise for the government and the public.  Many people began to speculate and analyze the reasons why King Wu did this. Some people thought that King Wu was pretending to be calm and wanted to fight to the death in exchange for the court's compromise and make a final effort for his own results.  Some people also think that this was a helpless move by the King of Wu who was riding a tiger. Since he had raised the flag of rebellion, he had to go all the way to the dark side.  The King of Huai and the King of Yue can surrender, but the first to take the lead is also the biggest cause of trouble. If the King of Wu, who has turned the southeastern area into a mess, surrenders, it is difficult to predict whether there will be any good results.  What's more, King Wu also offended many people overtly and covertly before and after the rebellion. If he really lost his temper and became a plucked phoenix, no one could say whether someone would take his life.  Others believe that the reason why King Wu still had the courage to persist in the face of tens of thousands of troops from the imperial court may not be just the result of the previous speculations. The most likely reason is that King Wu still has unknown strength, which is enough to defeat the enemy.  This war may even turn upside down if it continues!  Otherwise, why would he be so persistent?

    There are many supporters who agree with the first two guesses, but the last guess has attracted ridicule and ridicule from most people.  Isn't this nonsense?  Now the battle situation in the southeast is so clear that you can see it all at a glance. Are you saying that King Wu has undisclosed strength?  Isn¡¯t this a foolish dream?  Strengthwhere is the strength?  How long has this happened? The army is about to break in. The situation is precarious. What kind of strength will it have!

    The facts that followed on the southeastern battlefield seemed to confirm everyone¡¯s guesses.

    To the southwest, there is a line of sky at the intersection of Sancha. The Ninth Prince Ming Yong is the leader. Huang Xin, Sun Chang, and Lin Beihe are the generals who lead the Xiangzhou Guard, Anling Left Guard, Anling Right Guard, Huchuan Guard, and Nanling Guard, totaling 25,000.  More than a thousand people launched a fierce attack on the Dongyang Guards who were defending here.  Seven days later, Sanchakou was once again occupied by the imperial army, and the remaining Dongyang Guard troops would have to retreat to the Liang River line.

    In Huaixi, the sixth prince Mingzhong commanded a total of more than 40,000 men from the Jeju Guards, the Luocheng Guards, and the Yangtze River North and South Navy. It took only two days to completely occupy Huaibei and Huaixi. Most of the former Huaiwang  The area has been completely controlled by the imperial army.  The Leishan Guard and Jiangyang Guard who had previously been stationed in this area had to retreat dozens of miles to build a new line of defense based on the towering mountains and passes, once again forming a confrontation with the imperial army.  After these two battles, King Wu's military strength was suddenly reduced sharply, from nearly 40,000 to less than 20,000 now!  The reduction of the map area and the huge loss of troops made more and more people believe that the King of Wu was in decline and could no longer afford to fight against the imperial court.  The victory on the battlefield once again triggered a wave of public opinion.  But this time, not only some middle and low-level officials and the censors who always relied on their mouths made excuses to impeach the king of Wu for his crimes, but some senior officials in the ministry also couldn't sit still.

    However, the next battle suddenly dragged the situation in another direction.

    After capturing Sanchakou, the southwestern armies divided into two groups and rushed to seize Jinzhou and Fangtai in the Wu region.  Jinzhou is located due south of Jiangdu, and Fangtai is located in the southwest of Jiangdu. If these two places are taken down in one fell swoop, Jiangdu, the base camp of King Wu, will be attacked from two sides and will be in danger.  At that time, the imperial army led by the ninth prince Ming Yong and the army led by the sixth prince Ming Zhong were completely connected, and the land of Wuyue was mostly surrounded. Then the imperial army moved down the river, almost to the bottom of Jiangdu City.  , the army surrounded him, even if the king of Wu could resist, there was no hope at all.  If he fights, he will definitely be defeated; even if he doesn't fight, the imperial court only needs to surround him, which is enough to trap him in the city.  At that time, unless the King of Wu fled to sea, he would be unable to fly.

    The sixth prince Ming Zhong, who obviously knew Ming Yong's intention, also led his troops to attack Haozhou and Dingyang one after another like a wild song. However, just when he led his troops to attack Jiangyang, the last northern line of defense before Jiangdu, behind him  But suddenly another enemy force of unknown origin appeared!

    With the help of the cover of night, this army appeared so mysteriously and suddenly that the generals who were so excited by the successive victories were unable to react for a while!  Ji Xian, the commander of the Jeju Guards, who was caught off guard first, almost thought it was reinforcements sent by the imperial court!

    In front of them is Jiangyang Guard, who defends extremely tenaciously. Despite repeated defeats, Jiang Yang Guard's current military strength is still around 6,000!  The rebels led by Zheng Sanshan resisted in their hometown in Jiangyang with unusual determination!  The imperial army's previously unstoppable momentum was severely challenged here!

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