Mu Wanqing was also quite shocked. "You're right? It's the Prince of Wei's Mansion? Not the Prince of Jin's Mansion?"
In her judgment, Prince Jin was the most likely to start a rebellion, and she had been keeping an eye on him.
But, it turned out to be the Prince of Wei’s Palace.
The subordinate hurriedly took out a manifesto and said, "This is a manifesto issued by the Prince of Wei's Mansion, under the banner of revenge for the Queen Mother."
Mu Wanqing took the manifesto, which contained sharp words and was full of righteousness.
He denounced the emperor for being ruthless and ungrateful, and for not even sparing the empress dowager who had been so kind to him. He also said that the empress dowager had died tragically, and as a son, he would not be a human being if he did not avenge her.
Son of man? Mu Wanqing was a little confused, and heard Du Shuai's voice in her ears, "The Queen Mother raised the King of Wei for several years."
Mu Wanqing suddenly realized that the empress dowager could still be used as a tool even after her death.
"Haha, you clearly have evil intentions, but you're still pretending to be a filial son. You're disgusting."
There was a buzz of discussion on and off the stage.
The foreign war has not yet ended, why is there infighting again? Is this a sign of national destruction?
A student spoke weakly, "Master Du, the King of Wei won't succeed, right?"
The scene was silent, and all eyes turned to look over.
Du Shuai said with absolute certainty, "Yes, such a disloyal and unrighteous thief will never succeed."
When everyone heard what the highly respected Coach Du said, they believed him, their emotions were calmed down, and they were no longer so panicked.
But Mu Wanqing was not so optimistic and frowned.
Du Shuai sighed silently, "County Lady, please sit down and have a cup of tea."
"Okay." Mu Wanqing made a gesture of invitation and invited Du Shuai to her office.
Lidong served tea and waited for a while before quietly leaving, closing the door and standing guard outside.
Du Shuai took a sip of tea, his mouth felt bitter, "What you said has come true."
She said there would be a civil war, and here she is, completely correct.
Mu Wanqing was silent for a moment. What do you mean by my words? He obviously thought so too.
"It's later than I thought. Why did they choose this moment to attack? Was it a hasty move or was it something they had been planning for a long time?"
Logically speaking, if you want to rebel, you can't just talk about it. You have to recruit soldiers and raise weapons, which will take several years.
Coach Du can't reach that far, so he can only guess, "Maybe the war is about to end, and they didn't get the result they wanted, so they got anxious."
The war in the south has ended, and Xiliang has concentrated its firepower, fighting one against two, and the situation is stalemate.
Mu Wanqing snorted coldly, "Colluding with foreign countries, leading enemy troops into the pass, and marching all the way to the capital, taking the opportunity to get rid of the emperor, they can stand out to gain reputation, win the hearts of the people, establish a glorious persona of turning the tide and saving the people from dire straits, and naturally seize the throne. This is their idea. Unfortunately, the court is not as weak as they imagined."
She hates traitors the most. If you want to fight among yourselves, just do it. It's just like that even if you beat each other's brains out.
The struggle for imperial power is nothing more than this, but collusion with foreign countries is a red line of principle that cannot be crossed.
General Du's face was ashen. He used all means to seize the world and sold out the interests of Da Qi. How could such a person be worthy of sitting on the high throne?
He was the first one to disagree.
"How can the enemy stop?"
Mu Wanqing said coldly, "Cede land and pay compensation. Anyway, no matter how poor they are, they will not be poor. They can still live in peace and prosperity. If they cede a few cities, they can have a great country. It's not a loss."
If you think about the past dynasties, there are many such things.
"A bunch of scum, traitors." Commander Du couldn't help but scold, "Aren't they afraid of letting the wolf into the house and becoming the sinners of the Great Qi Dynasty?"
Mu Wanqing sneered. If they had a bottom line, Da Qi would not be in turmoil.
The soldiers fought bravely to defend their country, while the descendants of the royal family only thought about how to gain benefits.
"Wealth and honor are sought through risk. This overwhelming power is worth a gamble. If you succeed, you will be an emperor. If you fail, you will be a bandit."
Du Shuai covered his chest and gasped for breath.
Mu Wanqing was startled, fearing that he would fall here, and she wouldn't be able to explain herself even if she had a mouth.
She quickly poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him. "Don't be angry. It's not worth it. Right now, let's think about how to protect ourselves and the people of Xiliang."
As the highest officials in Xiliang, she and Du Shuai have the responsibility to protect the people of Xiliang.
When you are in a position, you must fulfill your responsibilities.
Du Shuai did not take the tea, but took out a pill and swallowed it. After a while, his complexion gradually improved.
"What do you think?"
Mu Wanqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Mu Shuai's physical condition was worse than she had imagined. "This is just the beginning. I bet an egg that Prince Jin's Mansion will soon follow suit."
Du Shuai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face pale, "You don't like Prince Jin's Mansion?"
Mu Wanqing thought of Mu Jinyao’s choice. The reborn person chose the Prince of Jin. What does this mean?
By the way, Mu Jinyao is missing, what happened?
"I have met the Prince of Jin once. He seems gentle and refined, but he is actually a heartless and ambitious person."
Du Shuai had no interactions with the Prince of Jin, so he had no impression of him. "The Emperor is wise and powerful, he will not let those people succeed."
Mu Wanqing sighed softly, "The emperor is a wise ruler, but he has bad luck and is miserable." Being an emperor is not an easy job.
There were famines, earthquakes, locust plagues, and droughts everywhere. The court was busy with disaster relief every day. The treasury was empty, and the people were in unrest, being taken advantage of by others to cause trouble.
They said that the king had lost his virtue, which had angered God, and that was why the disaster was brought down.
There's no way to live like this.
Du Shuai's face changed, and he subconsciously looked towards the door, "Don't talk nonsense."
Mu Wanqing pursed her lips and said, "I want to submit a letter of loyalty to the emperor and deploy 20,000 troops in Yuyu Pass and Yicheng respectively. If necessary, I will close the city gates and cut off all external access."
Yuyuguan and Yicheng are two barriers connecting Xiliang to the outside world.
Commander Du is the commander of an army, and he is a hundred times better than her in this respect. "Are you going to draw troops for war reserve?"
"right."
Du Shuai hesitated for a while and said, "Okay, who do you think should be transferred over?"
This was just to show respect for Mu Wanqing, not really asking for her advice.
Mu Wanqing was not stupid, and said casually, "You are an expert in this area, so you can make the decision."
They had already agreed that she would be in charge of administration but would not interfere in military affairs.
Commander Du has already thought of the candidates, "Then let Jiang Tongzhi be stationed at Yuyu Pass, and Zhou Siyuan be stationed at Yicheng."
Mu Wanqing was indifferent, "Can't Du Shaoxuan's situation be ended yet? This war has been dragging on for too long."
The daily supply of food and fodder is a huge expense, and she cannot afford it no matter how rich she is.
The imperial court was unable to take care of itself and had no time to take care of the border, so the local governments had to rely on themselves to solve the problem.
Although Coach Du was recuperating in the rear, he was well aware of the battle situation on the front line.
"After the defeat in Xiwu, they retreated directly to Ganzhou City. The two countries joined forces to fight against my Mu family army. We fought back and forth for several times and reached a stalemate."
Mu Wanqing frowned slightly, "Will this fight last for several years? We will become paupers if we keep spending money every day. Why don't we sit down and have a good talk to see if we can coexist peacefully and make money together?"
The people who suffer the most in war are the civilians and the lower-level soldiers.
Commander Du didn't want to fight either. "The two countries have long wanted to annex our Great Qi. How could they miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?"
Mu Wanqing rubbed her brows. Fortunately, she had arranged everything early and vigorously promoted industry and commerce. The listing of cotton attracted investment from businessmen across the country and there was sufficient capital.
We have just harvested another wave of wheat, but the yield is not high. We have to think of ways to increase the yield.
No, we still need to stockpile a large amount of food and supplies, the more the better, let’s contact the merchants.
Suddenly, Du Shuai's voice came to my ears, "Thank you, County Lord."
Mu Wanqing was stunned. She must have heard it right. "Huh?"
Commander Du looked sincere and serious, "If you hadn't prepared for a rainy day and understood the greater good by sending the stored food and fodder to the army, I'm afraid we would have been unable to defend it."
No matter how strong your army is, if you don't have food, you will starve to death.
Once Xiliang is lost, the enemy will march straight into the capital, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Those people had planned everything, but they missed one person, and that was Mu Wanqing.
Mu Wanqing has a long-term vision and strong abilities, and she managed to turn the situation around on her own.
She was originally exiled to the border, but by accident she became the protector of Xiliang.
No one expected this.
Mu Wanqing smiled brightly, "I also think I'm great, the court should give me a big reward."
Du Shuai couldn't help but laugh. She was extremely smart but not conceited, and was very likable.
"Don't you have any ideas?"
Mu Wanqing was stunned for a moment. What did he mean? But seeing his meaningful expression, she thought to herself, "You mean the supreme position, right?"
She said it very directly, "It's lonely at the top. The higher you stand, the greater the responsibility. I hold up the entire empire by myself. I don't want to put such a heavy yoke on myself."
To be honest, disasters are happening frequently right now, and the emperor is in trouble both internally and externally. He is worried and can't sleep or eat well. His life is not easy, and he is not as free and easy as she is.
"Besides, the current emperor and the crown prince have been very kind to me. They have given me all the rewards I deserve. I quite approve of them."
The implication is that if she is not treated well, she will try to rebel.
Du Shuai: …
I knew she was a very rebellious person. Although she was a girl, she dared to compete with officials in the court and do things that ordinary people dared not do.
But being so... unorthodox still caused a great shock.
Sure enough, not long after, the Prince of Jin's Palace announced its support for the Prince of Wei's Palace and joined forces in the uprising.
The Prince of Jin also stood up to testify, saying that he had discovered the secret of the Emperor poisoning the Queen Mother, so he was hunted down. If he had not been lucky enough, he would not have been able to return to his fiefdom.
They also produced the so-called evidence, the Queen Mother's handwritten letter.
The Queen Mother said in the letter that Prince Jin was her biological son, and that the current Emperor had played a trick on her by replacing the prince with a cat, thus separating the mother and son.
Why did the current emperor do this? He wanted the queen mother to help him ascend the throne.
It sounds well-founded and the reasons are self-consistent.
The whole world was shocked by this incident.
The court denied everything and said it was all fabricated just to justify the rebellion.
At the same time, the court sent troops to suppress the rebellion and engaged in a fierce battle with the rebels.
During this period, several groups of refugees rushed into the city, killed officials, occupied the city and declared an uprising.
For a moment, the situation was in chaos and everyone was in danger.
Only the Xiliang region was unaffected and formed its own world.
An insurgent army attempted to capture Yuyu Pass, the barrier of Xiliang, but was directly defeated by the local garrison and the entire army was wiped out.
The others were so frightened that they no longer dared to think of attacking Yuyu Pass.
Mu Wanqing did not dare to slack off at all. She was busy stockpiling food, taking care of city affairs, and picking up bargains.
There was no war in Xiliang, which attracted many refugees who were eager for stability.
Waves of refugees came from all directions, and the government was busy identifying and resettling them.
On this day, the subordinate reported, "County Lady, the Prince of Jin sent someone to ask for an audience."
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