To be honest, the people of Kyoto didn't care much about the uprising in Henan County.

This year has been full of disasters. Even though they live in the wealthy Kyoto, their lives are not as good as before.

I was busy all year long, but I didn't save much money. I used to go to a teahouse, but this year I only ordered a cup of tea and didn't even dare to ask for more snacks.

As for the bathhouse, I used to go once a week, but now I go once a month.

There is a good saying in Yunzhou Weekly: "People are in a hurry just for a few pieces of silver. But it is these few pieces of silver that can relieve all kinds of worries in the world."

When they learned that there was trouble in Henan County, they just treated it as gossip.

After all, the chaos wasn't that serious, and the people in Kyoto could barely make ends meet, so it was naturally impossible for them to join in the rebellion.

Compared with the group of rebel soldiers in Henan County, the unusual behavior of the Minister of War attracted more interest and curiosity of the people.

"I heard that in order to get the emperor to withdraw his troops and return to quell the civil unrest, the Minister of War spoke passionately at the court meeting, even claiming that if the emperor did not listen to his advice, he would resign and return home."

"Did the officials listen to the advice?"

"How is that possible?! The emperor was furious and wanted to remove the Minister of War from his post. If it weren't for Grand Tutor Tong's intercession, the Minister of War would have been removed from his post on the spot."

"Unfortunately, the Minister of War was ignorant and knelt at the palace gate again the next day. He knelt in the snow for three days and three nights. This time no one could save him! The emperor didn't even meet him and directly dismissed him from office."

"Not only that, the emperor also ordered the Imperial City Department to thoroughly investigate whether the Minister of War and his family had borrowed grain and grass from the Changping Warehouse. Within a day, they found out that they had borrowed 10,000 shi. The emperor ordered the Minister of War to make up the shortfall and imposed a fine, forbidding his family from serving as officials in the court for two generations."

"Oh my, has the Minister of War been frightened silly by Duke Yun? Why is he so stubborn this time?"

"Who knows? They sold everything they had to make up the difference. Even their house in Kyoto was sold. Now, the whole family is preparing to leave Kyoto and return home."

Although officials are dismissed every year, there is only one minister of the six ministries who has suffered the consequences of his own actions. So far, the only one is the Minister of War.

Not only did the common people not understand this, but even many of the Minister of War's colleagues did not understand it.

At the gate of the Minister of War's residence, there were several horse-drawn carriages parked, loaded with gifts.

"Ziyuan, why are you so impulsive? If the emperor wants to beat you, he can do it. Why do you have to disobey him?!"

Zi Yuan, the former Minister of War, had dark circles under his eyes and looked tired. He heaved a sigh of relief when he heard his good friend's consolation.

"I have been the Minister of War for a long time, and I often couldn't sleep at night because I felt that my virtue was not worthy of the position. Now that I have finally taken off this official robe, I feel refreshed both physically and mentally. Bo Luan, I love the first sentence of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms published in Yunzhou Weekly. Things in the world, after a long period of separation, will eventually come together, and after a long period of coming together, they will eventually separate. You should read this novel more."

Bo Luan was reluctant and blamed his friend for his rash behavior. He said unhappily, "It's already this time, and you're still reading a storybook? You should think about yourself. How are you going to explain to your clan members when you return to your ancestral land after causing such a big disaster?"

Seeing that his friend did not understand what he meant, Ziyuan sighed secretly and comforted him, "Don't worry about me. My home is in Xiangzhou, not far from Kyoto. If you have time, come to Xiangzhou and travel with me."

The two of them expressed their deepest feelings to each other for a while before Ziyuan took his family into the carriage and slowly left this familiar city.

Bo Luan stayed where he was, watching their backs gradually disappear into the distance, feeling extremely reluctant to let them go.

His son whispered, "Dad, you should be happy for your uncle. He finally got out of this mess."

"What are you talking about?"

Bo Luan looked at his son in disbelief, and his son's face was full of helplessness.

"Dad, uncle is the right-hand man of Master Tong. If Master Tong didn't give his approval, how could he leave the officialdom? I heard that Master Tong's family has already retreated to Jiangnan."

A chill surged through Bo Luan's heart. The meaning of the words made his whole body tremble, as if he was in a world of ice and snow.

What does this mean, son?

Master Tong is not optimistic about this one? However, His Majesty has only two sons, and one of them is Master Tong's grandson!

Bo Luan's mind was a mess and he had no idea what was going on.

"Dad, find an opportunity and resign as well."

Bo Luan said nothing, sitting in the carriage. When they were almost home, he let out a slight "hmm" from his nose.

Not to mention the turbulent situation in Kyoto, Li Sui, the governor of Guangde Prefecture, who was still on the ship, had to prepare to launch an attack on Hezhong Prefecture after receiving the order from the young official.

"When the Meng ship arrives, we will transfer to the warship and attack the city directly!"

"Yes, sir!"

As for Zhao Jun and others who were not far from Suining County, they were also preparing for the final attack.

All their movements were seen by Gu Nanxi, Li Deming and others who were holding telescopes.

Li Deming rubbed his hands, impatient: "They are finally going to take action!"

A smile also appeared on Gu Nanxi's face.

As he had expected, the young emperor believed that the best defense was offense.

He wanted to use these tens of thousands of navy to slow down his pace and make him have no time to take care of Henan County.

As long as Hezhong County is conquered, the danger to Henan County will naturally be resolved.

Unfortunately, once people sit at the gambling table, who wins and who loses is no longer determined by personal will.

Gu Nanxi stood on the city wall, and wherever he looked, all he saw was white.

This heavy snow did not spare Hezhong County.

However, Hezhong County had already made sufficient preparations, and the porridge stalls at the city gate were open day and night.

In addition, the officials had rich experience in disaster relief, and after two or three days of running-in, all disaster relief activities were carried out in an orderly manner.

An invisible boundary between states and counties separates two worlds.

After Gu Nanxi learned about the tragic situation in Henan County, his thoughts became more determined.

Since they can't be the masters of this land, let me be the master instead!

Henan County, she wants it!

Guangde Prefecture, she wants it too!

There was a firm determination shining in Gu Nanxi's eyes, as hard as a rock, and full of determination to win.

The sun sets little by little in the west, and rises little by little the next day.

Whether in Hezhong Prefecture or Suining County, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

Li Changtian simply did not go back home. He asked his servants to pack his quilt and prepared to guard the city wall day and night.

He held up a telescope and watched Zhao Jun's every move closely.

"Come here, go and persuade them to surrender. If you can avoid taking action, then do so."

After all, Li Changtian was a staff officer, and especially after he took over several counties in Hezhong County without bloodshed just by talking, he loved this kind of persuasion to surrender.

This is what Duke Yun often said, to achieve the greatest results at the lowest cost.

Therefore, with the mentality of casually picking up a handful of grass, Li Changtian wrote a letter of persuasion and asked someone to hand it to Zhao Jun. (End of this chapter)