Chapter 739 Caught

Cao Dejiang chuckled at this, "I'm just speaking the truth, how can I win people's hearts? Does Lord Liang think Your Majesty is not diligent enough, or is the situation in the northwest fake?"

Liang Guangyi choked.

Cao Dejiang looked at him and said, "Your Majesty has been patient with Beiling for a long time. Beiling has repeatedly provoked Your Majesty, but Your Majesty has always held back and never issued an order to send troops. Can't Lord Liang see why?"

Liang Guangyi's face turned grim. "Of course I know, but the war in the south has strained the treasury. The court was stretched to its limits and used all its strength to suppress the Pingshan King. The rebellion of the vassal kings has not yet been completely quelled. Now, without even a moment to breathe, Your Majesty is planning to send troops towards Beiling."

"Cao Dejiang, I know that Your Majesty is ambitious and wants the Great Wei to be strong, but you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Your Majesty is so radical and you don't know how to dissuade him, but instead you encourage him from the sidelines. If something happens..."

"Nothing will happen."

Cao Dejiang interrupted Liang Guangyi before he could finish his sarcastic words.

The smile faded from his face, and between his eyebrows and eyes was the same sarcasm as Liang Guangyi's: "Is the shortage of national treasury due to the war in the south? Or was it that the court was not stretched before the rebellion of the princes?"

"The Great Wei has long been devoured, the treasury is empty, and the court is corrupt. If Your Majesty had not taken over with drastic measures, this country would have collapsed like a rootless rock. You must be aware of the situation in the court. Don't you understand why the national strength has declined to this extent?"

"Your Majesty wants to take it step by step, but who will give him the chance?"

Cao Dejiang looked straight into Liang Guangyi's eyes:

"Liang Guangyi, you are not stupid. Can't you see that Beiling is bound to march south? Today they massacred the people of Great Wei in the border town of Zhaozhou. Tomorrow they will send troops to Luoyan Pass and lead those wolf-like and ferocious Rong cavalry to trample all over the territory of Great Wei."

"Your Majesty can certainly avoid fighting, but will Beiling give the Great Wei a chance to breathe?"

Liang Guangyi's face turned ugly and he wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Qian Baokun beside him said:

"Lord Liang, do you know how many people died in the massacre in Zhaozhou? Two small border towns and more than ten surrounding villages, a total of over nine thousand people, men, women, young and old, women and children, and less than thirty people survived."

"When the Dragon Court Guards arrived, the ground was littered with corpses. Those who survived the burned-down villages and cities were either mortally wounded or mad with agony. We're far away in the capital, so we can avoid the fighting and catch our breath. Even if Beiling led his troops south, they wouldn't be able to reach us for a while. But what about those people? Lord Liang is just going to watch them die in vain?"

Liang Guangyi clenched his fists tightly. He was indignant at Beiling's actions and grief-stricken at the deaths of those people, but...

He said in a deep voice, "I don't want Your Majesty to avoid fighting, I just want to slow down a bit. Beiling has strong soldiers and horses, and Your Majesty just fought a battle with Prince Pingshan. The rebellion of the vassal kings has not yet been completely quelled. If you want to fight Beiling, you must be fully prepared."

Cao Dejiang said, "Prepare? Will Beiling give us a chance to prepare? Can't you see why they massacred the city?"

Beiling and Wei have fought more than once or twice. The two countries have been fighting for many years, but there has never been a massacre.

In previous years, Beiling’s disturbances were at most looting property and seizing people. If there was a war between the two countries, they would rarely kill ordinary people. But why did Beiling do such a ruthless thing this time?

Cao Dejiang's previous anger subsided, his eyes darkening. "They've been attacking Luoyan Pass frequently since half a year ago. By October, friction between the two countries had become constant. Old cases in the court were reopened, Prince Pingshan was in rebellion, and the war in the south was intense. These news could not be concealed from the spies buried in the court."

"Ever since Prince Pingshan rebelled, Beiling's offensives have become increasingly fierce, but each time they were countered by Di Shuangcheng's men, yet the border town of Zhaozhou was massacred without anyone noticing."

"Although Zhaozhou is in the north, it's extremely far from Luoyan Pass. For the Beiling people, not only is the journey difficult, but there are also checkpoints everywhere along the way. Given Di Shuangcheng and his men's preparedness, how do you think the Beiling people were able to avoid their sudden attack on Zhaozhou?"

Liang Guangyi's expression changed: "Nanqi?"

"Not just Nanqi."

Cao Dejiang's eyes were cold and gloomy. "Beiling had previously been causing trouble, but the court had never retaliated. Coupled with the war in the south, they had long suspected that the Great Wei was superficially strong but weak. They kept testing Your Majesty's limits, wanting to know how much strength the Great Wei still had."

"If Your Majesty still doesn't dare to fight back after this massacre, and Great Wei keeps retreating, not only will Beiling, convinced of Great Wei's weakness, march south in force, but even Southern Qi and Western Xinjiang will probably take advantage of the chaos and pounce on us."

The Great Wei was originally located in a plain and was rich, so it had long been coveted by other countries. Once it lost its strength and showed any sign of weakness, they would see its strengths and weaknesses and attack it in droves, and the country would be destroyed soon.

Doesn’t Xiao Yan want to recuperate?

He thought.

If they were given two or three years to reorganize the court and the army and make the Wei Dynasty strong, they would not be afraid of anyone by then. However, no one was willing to give him this time and revealed their intention to go to war with Beiling. The purpose of preparing to send troops was not only to seek justice for the people of Zhaozhou who died unjustly and to appease the people of the world, but also to deter others.

Liang Guangyi had long known that Beiling was eyeing him covetously, but he had never known that the situation of Wei had become so difficult. The expression on his face kept changing.

"But if Southern Qi and Western Xinjiang take advantage of the chaos..."

"But you have to hurt Beiling first."

The sudden sound made Liang Guangyi and the others turn around. Tang Ning, who had originally left the palace, had arrived at the side corridor at some point.

She didn't know how long she stood there listening. When she saw them turn around, she walked towards them with a calm face. When she got close, she said to Liang Guangyi:

"Fighting will cause chaos, and not fighting will also cause chaos. So let's fight first. Rather than retreating timidly and letting others invade and eat away at us bit by bit, it's better to use all our strength to hurt Beiling first. Even if Nanqi and Xijiang take advantage of the chaos and attack after the war breaks out, it's better than them joining forces with Beiling."

"Besides, His Majesty is not one to act rashly. Since he intends to engage Beiling, how could he not be on guard against other forces? Does Lord Liang truly believe that Marquis Wenxin and his men are marching south solely to pacify King Shan? Have you ever considered why General Yin, seriously injured and absent from the rebellion-suppressing army for so many days, hasn't returned to the capital yet?"

Liang Guangyi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and suddenly opened his mouth: "You said that Yin Bao went to Munan Pass..."

"Shhh."

Tang Ning raised his hand.

Liang Guangyi quickly fell silent.

The expression on his face kept changing, and he was shocked in his heart. How could he have forgotten such a big thing? Yin Bao was ambushed and seriously injured that day. His Majesty sent General Qi Jingyuan to replace Yin Bao and work with Marquis Wenxin to quell the rebellion. Yin Bao returned to the capital with injuries.

But such a long time has passed, and there is still no news about Yin Bao. Even the person who escorted Yin Bao back to Beijing that day is nowhere to be found.

Tang Ning said to Liang Guangyi, "Your Majesty has never considered playing with the country and the people. Every decision he makes is for the benefit of the Great Wei. I know that Lord Liang and Your Majesty have a past grudge, but from the day Your Majesty kept you in the court, the past is gone like smoke."

"The Great Wei is now in crisis, and Your Majesty is in a difficult situation. I implore Lord Liang to put aside past grudges and join Lord Cao in helping Your Majesty and the Great Wei."

…

Liang Guangyi came out of the imperial study full of resentment, and then left the palace with a complicated expression and some shock.

After they left, Cao Dejiang, Qian Baokun and Tang Ning returned to the imperial study together.

About an hour later, Jinyun hurried in with a look of joy on his face.

"Your Majesty, I caught him."