Chapter 190
Everyone suddenly realized at this moment that the previous response of the Yichun City Lord's Mansion, "The court is incompetent, and the responsibility of rescuing the people of Jiaozhou lies with the Yichun City Lord's Mansion", meant that they would not use silver to redeem the people, but would directly send troops to expel the Nanman and recover the lost land.
The tough military style displayed by the Yichun City Lord's Mansion left everyone speechless.
After the silence, there was a heated discussion. All the people of Daliang highly praised the dispatch of troops to Yichun.
"How many soldiers and horses does Youzhou have? How dare they fight against the Nanman?"
Someone said unconvincedly, "Youzhou certainly has 400,000 to 500,000 soldiers and horses. Isn't the Nanman population only about 2 million? Why can't we fight them?"
"Have you noticed? Youzhou's 400,000 to 500,000 troops have fought against the Northern Di, Western Rong, and Southern Barbarians in the past year or two."
"Yes, they have resisted the invasions of these three foreign tribes. First, they defeated the Diluo tribe, then forced the Western Rong to withdraw from the northern battlefield, and now, braving the dangers, they are marching to Jiaozhou to fight the Southern Barbarians." Yichun is not a country, but it is more than a country. The country's benevolence and kindness are fully demonstrated in Yichun. So, there seems to be nothing wrong with Yichun replacing Daliang? Because Yichun's current actions are the kind of country they want to see.
These are facts that cannot be distorted.
Faced with Yichun's actions, even the most pedantic scholars and old stubborn people in Daliang were speechless after learning that Youzhou had sent troops to attack the Nanman and rescue Jiaozhou. They silently said in their hearts that they would never again call the people of Youzhou traitors.
Xuzhou
The King of Ruyin was filled with disbelief when he heard that the Yichun Army had marched into Jiaozhou and captured Nanhai County. "Xing Changfeng actually sent troops to attack the Nanman?"
Sima Xian, sitting at the bottom, was also speechless for a moment. Although he had previously speculated, he still refused to believe it would come true. After learning about the situation in Jiaozhou, he had pondered it. But his ultimate conclusion was to wait until they had captured Yanzhou and Yuzhou before moving south to attack Yangzhou. Only after that would they begin to address the Jiaozhou issue.
Sima Xian sighed, "The move by the Yichun City Lord's Mansion is really an extreme move." Youzhou really dares to think of things they dare not think of, and does things they dare not do.
No wonder his lord couldn't believe it. Who would have thought Yichun would actually send troops to Jiaozhou? Youzhou is in the north, Jiaozhou is in the south, and the two places are about 3,000 kilometers apart. Not to mention the difficulty of conquering it, even after conquering it, it would be very troublesome to govern it.
Or were they in Yichun so confident that the final victory would be theirs? After conquering the entire Central Plains, the land would be connected again, and the difficulty of governance would no longer exist despite being three thousand miles apart.
The Prince of Ruyin was speechless. "Youzhou has completely stolen all the limelight!" Originally, he had intended to use the Prince of Annan's allegiance and the fusion of their forces as an opportunity to publicize and enhance his own prestige. The imperial court likely shared the same idea, hence the imperial decree announcing the victory to the entire nation immediately after defeating the Prince of Annan.
After Sima Xian came to his senses, he shook his fan helplessly and said, "Not only that, Yichun's actions, under the premise of the court's inaction, have greatly improved the people's goodwill."
Thinking of the great prestige Yichun had gained this time, the King of Ruyin said unwillingly, "How about we send troops as well? We can't let Youzhou take all the credit, right?"
Sima Xian disagreed with this proposal. "No, we won't gain much if we send troops now. If we join in, we can actually help Yichun share the pressure from the Nanman."
Prince Ruyin thought about it and agreed. Yichun had already consumed the first batch of soup, so even if they joined in, they wouldn't be able to surpass them in prestige. Why bother? Then, another question occurred to him, "Wait, are Yichun's ships and navy so powerful? They could actually cross such a long stretch of sea? And they had 300,000 soldiers, not 3,000, let alone 30,000. They were transporting so many troops through the waters of Qing and Xu provinces, and they had no idea?"
"When they sent troops earlier, they should have gone to the open sea."
"They are smart!"
"However, according to my estimation, the Yichun ships will probably switch to inland waters next."
King Ruyin glared, "Now they dare to go to the inner sea area?"
Sima Xian explained, "Secrecy is the key to success. Previously, when they dispatched troops, they needed to keep it secret so they could catch the Nanman off guard. Now, secrecy is no longer necessary, and the outer seas are unsafe, so they will definitely change their route."
"We in Qing and Xu states also have naval forces. Aren't they afraid that we will intercept them?"
Sima Xian hurriedly said, "My lord, at this juncture, we absolutely cannot intercept them. The Youzhou army is now in a dominant position. Not only should we not attack them, but if possible, we should provide some assistance within our capacity."
King Ruyin widened his eyes again, "We can't intercept them, let them swagger through our waters, and we still have to provide them with help?" They are so happy!
Sima Xian nodded helplessly. When he saw his lord sighing, he began to analyze the current situation. "Actually, what's happening in Yichun isn't entirely without benefit to us. Now that Yichun is pinned down in Jiaozhou, it's also an opportunity for us."
"What opportunity?"
"If Yichun wants to capture Jiaozhou, it will probably need to continuously send more troops. Otherwise, they won't be able to defend the cities they've captured in Jiaozhou. My lord, how many troops do you think Yichun will need to send to Jiaozhou?"
When it comes to military affairs, Prince Ruyin is well versed. He quickly estimated the number of troops that Yichun would need to deploy. "A conservative estimate is at least 300,000. After all, the Nanman have quite a few troops stationed in Jiaozhou."
Sima Xian smiled and asked him, "How many soldiers and horses does Yichun have?"
An idea suddenly struck King Ruyin, "You mean, Youzhou is empty?"
"Well, if we can think of this, the imperial court must have thought of it as well. With the Third Prince's madness, he will definitely take the opportunity to attack Youzhou." Especially when he had just defeated the King of Annan.
King Ruyin vaguely knew what they could do.
Sima Xian didn't hold back and said, "Now that Yichun has taken the right position, it would be unjust for the court to send troops to attack Youzhou at this time. Once the court sends troops, we can take the opportunity to issue a manifesto and then attack Yanzhou and Yuzhou. This will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort."
"Yes, that's it!" King Ruyin clapped his hands and smiled.
Sima Xian thought to himself that after occupying Yanzhou and Yuzhou, he would see how the situation would develop and decide whether to go north to Jizhou, south to Yangzhou, or west to Sili. All of these would be good options.
In the battle between the imperial court and Yichun, if the imperial court is weak, they will march directly into Sili; if Yichun is suppressed by the imperial court, they can go north; if the two are evenly matched, they can also go south to Yangzhou.
Imperial Palace
Just as Sima Xian guessed, after the Third Prince learned that Xing Changfeng had sent troops to Jiaozhou, his first thought was to take advantage of the emptiness of Youzhou and march directly to the border to kill him while he was sick!
Upon hearing the news, the crown prince dragged his sick body to stop it, saying, "Yichun is now in a great position. If the court sends troops at this time, it will be condemned by the world."
The Third Prince said disapprovingly, "What else do you think we should do? Let Yichun become too powerful? As for the infamy? Because of those people in the Yichun City Lord's Mansion, hasn't our Daliang court carried enough infamy? Take Jiaozhou for example, who said our court doesn't care? Things have their priorities. After we deal with the King of Annan, we will naturally deal with the problems in Jiaozhou. Who asked them to meddle? Your Highness, now is the time when Youzhou is at its weakest. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eliminate the Yichun forces. I ask you, which is more important, face or substance?"
"Ahem—" The prince coughed while thinking. This choice was really difficult.
After the Crown Prince finished coughing, he remained silent. The Third Prince patted his shoulder in understanding and said, "Your Highness, history is written for the victors. As long as we can eliminate Yichun, all the infamy our Daliang court has endured will no longer exist in the future."
The imperial court sent troops to attack Youzhou at this time, shocking the whole country.
Countless people were stunned. Countless letters of advice and insults flew to the court. What was the court doing? The Yichun City Lord's Mansion attacked the Southern Barbarians, and the court didn't help. Why did it turn around and attack Youzhou, helping the Southern Barbarians?
Do they know that by doing this they are aiding and abetting evil?
By doing this, they completely disregard the safety of the four or five hundred thousand people of Daliang in Jiaozhou!
It’s so disheartening!
In the face of the public's angry words, the Third Prince remained unchanged in his determination to send troops to pacify Youzhou at this moment!
At this moment, Lu Qian, the principal of the Imperial College in the capital, resigned. Before leaving, he had clearly opposed the court's decision to send troops to attack Youzhou at this time in the academy.
He was facing all the students of the Imperial College at the time and said, "To be honest, I have always known that the imperial court has its minor flaws, such as high taxes, corrupt officials, and a lack of love for the people. But no matter how bad it is, it has always protected us from foreign invasions."
"I don't know what I demand of the people, the country, and the imperial court, but my request is this simple. It may not be perfect, and there may even be some corrupt officials, but when facing foreigners, we must not give in at all, because national justice cannot be compromised!"
Lu Qian's words shocked some of the students present, while others expressed their deep agreement.
"But in recent years, I've become disappointed with the imperial court. The royal family has been desperately trying to maintain their ruling position, seemingly disregarding the lives of the people."
Lu Qian continued to speak to himself, "And what about Yichun? Let's not even talk about what they've done for the people in their territory over the past two or three years. Let's just talk about Youzhou's 400,000 to 500,000 soldiers. They've fought against the Northern Di, Western Rong, and Southern Barbarians over the past two years. It can be said that Youzhou's 500,000 soldiers have defended Daliang on behalf of the imperial court. Therefore, I don't want the imperial court to attack Youzhou at this time, and I strongly oppose the imperial court sending troops!"
With that, he resigned. Lu Qian knew that expressing such opinions in front of so many students would make it impossible for him to continue as dean. Moreover, he himself would most likely face imprisonment or even death. But he didn't care. A true man has his ways and his ways. As a scholar, his inherent integrity could not be tainted by reality.
Sure enough, after hearing his bold words, the Third Prince was extremely furious and immediately ordered his men to arrest him and put him in the Sky Prison, and to investigate whether he had any collusion with Yichun!
Within two days, Lu Qian died. The official explanation given to the outside world was that Lu Qian was bribed by Yi Chun, so that day he spoke nonsense in front of the students, discrediting the Daliang court and slandering the royal family.
Although Lu Qianren died, he gained a reputation for not fearing imperial power, and thus his name was recorded in history!
It can be said that he dealt a fatal blow to the reputation of this precarious court.
Moreover, his words leaked out of the palace, and countless common people were deeply moved. Some even spontaneously organized themselves and went to the government office to ask the court to rescind its decision.
Lu Qian's words reached Yichun and Yao Chunnuan's ears at the fastest speed.
Lu Qian was not one of theirs, and she didn't expect Lu Qian to speak for them.
Although the Daliang court was extremely corrupt, there were many scholars among the common people who were upright and indomitable.
Since ancient times, loyalty, filial piety, propriety, righteousness and shame have been advocated. The so-called loyalty is loyalty to the nation and the country. If you are willing to sacrifice and give in for the people, the people will not want to see you fall.
There are things you do that ordinary people see. They all have a scale in their hearts, and their fair judgment, though delayed, arrives. Their contributions will never be erased.
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