Chapter 181 News from the Capital
Upon receiving the message from the secret guards in the capital, the veins on the Prince of Chu's forehead throbbed.
"This is outrageous! Outrageous!!! Has Li Mingzheng gone mad? He thinks he can just transfer three thousand of my soldiers from Taiyuan with a single imperial decree! Does he think I'm made of clay?! I'll just do what Third Brother did and expose him completely."
The servants standing by looked at their prince with nervous expressions. Calling the emperor by his name was a serious taboo, especially since their prince had uttered such treasonous words.
Ye Banban, who had followed the prince since childhood, gasped and hurriedly dismissed everyone around her. After closing the door, she turned around to comfort her prince.
"Oh my god, you can't just say things like that, it's extremely disrespectful!"
The King of Chu, who had just been too angry, took a deep breath and realized that his words were inappropriate. He waved his hand and handed the message from the secret guard to Ye Banban: "Take a look."
Ye Banban didn't know much about military affairs, but when she saw the information sent back by the secret guards on the note, she was shocked and gasped.
Has His Majesty gone mad? Why is he ordering troops to be transferred from the personal guards of the regional princes? Has something struck his head?
Ye Banban placed the note back on the table: "It is indeed a bit puzzling. This servant is ignorant of military matters. Your Highness, do you think there might be another meaning behind it?"
The King of Chu shook his head: "I don't know, but I heard that the court has been in an uproar these past two days. The one above has ordered the regional princes to send troops to suppress the rebels."
Ye Banban, ever the perceptive one, poured a cup of tea for the Prince of Chu: "Your Highness is asking this servant a question that this servant does not know the answer to. Have a sip of water to calm yourself down first. Why don't we call the young master and Brother Qi over to discuss this?"
The King of Chu accepted the tea and nodded: "Very well, go and have someone call them over."
Just as Ye Banban was about to leave, the King of Chu called her back: "Summon all the officers of the Royal Guard above the rank of 1,000 and above, and discuss how to handle this matter."
After saying this, the King of Chu closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair and pondered. The higher-ups had issued an order to mobilize troops, and a direct confrontation was definitely not an option. However, this move was tantamount to plucking hairs from the faces of the vassal kings, and the other six vassal kings must be furious.
The number was three thousand, and the person stuck in the middle was unwilling to be accepted by his other brothers.
If the imperial court goes too far, there's no telling if two more rebels will emerge.
But now he just can't understand why the person above would suddenly transfer troops from the vassal states.
Aren't you afraid that a group of people will start fighting amongst themselves?
The imperial court is not short of troops. Even after suffering repeated defeats at the hands of his third brother, it still has over 100,000 troops.
This move is truly baffling.
Li Mingxiu, who strode in, also had a dark expression: "Father, I've also received the news. Has the Emperor lost his mind? Mobilizing troops from your uncles' personal guards—aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
The King of Chu rubbed his temples: "Don't tell me you don't understand, I didn't understand what move the Emperor made either?"
After Li Mingxiu entered, he found a seat and sat down. A short while later, Qi Rong arrived with Lao Ma and the others. After paying his respects to the King of Chu, Qi Rong found a seat and sat down.
Old Ma and Lin Changning stood upright behind Qi Rong.
After a while, five or six rather robust officers arrived, presumably the other guards or commanders of the garrison and chiliarchs.
This was Lin Changning's first time attending a meeting of this level, and he couldn't help but look at the people who had just entered with some curiosity.
Qi Rong turned his head slightly to introduce Lao Ma and the others behind him: "The one leading is Qian Ming, the commander of the Central Guard. The two behind him are the commanders of the Central Guard. The one on the left is Qin Zhong, the commander of the Left Guard, and the one on the right is Zhao Xiong, the commander of the garrison."
Lin Changning thought to himself, regardless of their abilities, these men under the King of Chu were all incredibly strong.
After a group of people bowed to the King of Chu, the King sighed and handed over a slip of paper. The group passed it around and looked at it among themselves.
They were all somewhat baffled, not understanding why troops were being transferred from the vassal king's territory for no apparent reason.
Lin Changning clicked her tongue twice in her heart. Luckily, she had a good memory and remembered this part. It seemed that Fu Bao and the male lead's relationship started to heat up during this part.
It is said that the male protagonist went to the front line, and the Tartar army occupied three cities in succession, but the imperial army was held back by Prince Sheng, unable to retreat or fight.
The person in charge had no choice but to consult with a group of court officials and decide to transfer troops from the personal guards of the princes who frequently dealt with the Tartars in various places.
After all, they are old rivals, so fighting them would definitely be easier for them than for the imperial court. Moreover, it would kill two birds with one stone. Now that one of their uncles has rebelled, as long as the imperial decree is issued, these vassal kings can send troops to weaken the power of the vassal kings.
As for whether the princes will rebel?
The emperor and his ministers had naturally discussed the matter carefully. Now that the vassal king had privately expanded the number of his personal guards, it was already against etiquette. They could use this as an opportunity to transfer the soldiers out, and as for the matter of privately expanding the number of personal guards, they could relax their grip on it.
It wouldn't be difficult to let this matter pass with some rewards later.
After figuring things out, Lin Changning felt relieved. The information the secret guards had received indicated that the imperial court was going to transfer troops from the personal guards of the princes' territories.
However, the King of Chu and his men were unaware that the border cities had been occupied by the Tartars.
That's why I'm a little anxious.
Qi Rong turned to look at Xiao Liu, who seemed confident, and raised an eyebrow: "Xiao Liu, do you have any leads?"
Lin Changning coughed lightly: "It's just some speculation."
As the two were talking, Qin Zhong cursed and said, "Since when has the imperial court ever needed to draw troops from the personal guards of vassal kings when it is short of soldiers? Are you crazy?"
Qian Ming chimed in, "Exactly, what kind of logic is that?"
The King of Chu looked somewhat impatient: "I suppose the imperial edict will be issued in a few days. Let's all share our opinions."
Qian Ming said in a muffled voice, "Your Highness, that person up there is really going too far. Even if we don't send troops, so what? If pushed too far, we might as well..."
Zhao Xiong interrupted, "Old Qian, watch your words!"
Qin Zhong sighed: "If it's because of troop deployment, it's a bit unreasonable. Your Highness might as well submit a memorial to reduce the troop strength to 1,500. That way, the troops can still be deployed, and the court can be silenced."
The King of Chu looked thoughtfully at the Crown Prince: "Mingxiu, what do you think?"
Li Mingxiu thought for a while and said, "It is true that not sending troops would easily leave the court with a handle to use against us, but if we send troops, 3,000 is too many. I agree with Uncle Zhong's point of view. Sending a little will be enough to shut the court up."
The King of Chu turned to look at the Qi Rong: "Where is Rong'er?"
Qi Rong pondered for a moment: "I feel that this matter is somewhat unusual. Is there some information we have missed? This move is inappropriate, and the imperial court must know this. I can't quite understand what their purpose is in doing this."
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