Chapter 825 A Dream of Youth 357
Inside, Xie Ning and Xie Wangzhi were chatting about what had happened in the capital recently, exchanging information with each other.
When Yan Xi was mentioned, Xie Wangzhi frowned. He thought Yan Xi was somewhat ruthless. He himself was black-hearted, but he hoped that the monarch he served would be clear-headed.
Xie Ning sighed, "Father, can a person of noble character really hold onto that position?"
Yan Xi did not take any action regarding all of this, especially the murder of Prince Shu and other young princes and the son of Prince Duan. She merely watched coldly from the sidelines. These princes were a threat to Prince Zhao and Prince Pingyao, but weren't they also a threat to Yan Xi?
Throughout history, who hasn't had blood on their hands to sit in that position?
Xie Wangzhi was taken aback, then shook his head. "I was being too concerned. I was worried she wouldn't be able to sit still, but it seems I was overthinking it."
Don't be fooled by the fact that no one has come out to oppose it yet. That's because Yan Xi has not yet officially ascended the throne, and the capital is heavily besieged. Everyone wants to drive away the Northern Jin army before thinking about anything else.
Beset by internal and external troubles, the external troubles must be dealt with first.
Xie Ning poked at a piece of braised meat and ate it, her heart filled with doubt. "Father, I thought you would choose Prince Zhao, or at least the little prince hidden by the Empress Dowager. I didn't expect you to choose the current Emperor in the end."
Xie Wangzhi glared at Xie Ning with annoyance, "Did I have a choice?"
Yan Xi was ruthless enough; she didn't give anyone a choice. However, to Xie Wangzhi's surprise, Emperor Jing was actually willing to pass the throne to Yan Xi, so the fake imperial edict he had prepared was no longer needed.
Yan Xi could indeed imitate the emperor's calligraphy, but in terms of resemblance, Xie Wangzhi was the best.
What intrigued Xie Wangzhi, however, was how Yan Xi managed to hide so many secret agents and even trace back to Pingyao's plans.
"Sometimes, it is the most inconspicuous people who play the most crucial role."
When she was treating the girls in the brothel, Yan Xi found out about it and somehow came up with the idea of using the brothel as an intelligence agency.
Xie Ning did not stop it because Yan Xi needed such an organization, and the women who were forced into prostitution also needed Yan Xi. They worked for Yan Xi so that when Yan Xi rose to a high position in the future, he would have the power to abolish this system.
Of course, Yan Xi's intelligence network is not limited to brothels, but also includes those who are struggling to survive at the bottom of society, perhaps just a stable boy or an insignificant gardener.
The intelligence network extends like a spider web, bit by bit.
"Bao'er!" Xie Qi's voice interrupted their conversation.
"Is everything arranged over there?" Xie Ning handed over a braised pork knuckle. Seeing Xie Qi like this, he figured he hadn't eaten yet, as he was in charge of logistics and was very busy.
"It's all arranged, but that Minister of Revenue is too stingy; he won't even give us a little extra grain." They were on a forced march, so they didn't bring that much grain.
Then he looked at Xie Wangzhi and smiled ingratiatingly, "Father, our army is so poor, you must provide more weapons. We've suffered a lot of losses after such a battle, and it's still cold today, so please provide more cotton-padded clothes, otherwise the soldiers won't be able to stand it."
"Go eat your food and don't talk about official business at home." Even if Xie Qi is his son, we can't show favoritism. Their army is short of food and clothing, but aren't the other armies in the same boat?
The Northern Jin army had besieged the capital for so long, and the surrounding counties and towns had been ransacked time and time again. The people were already suffering terribly. If they were to ask for more grain, it would truly be forcing them to their deaths.
They could only wait for the grain transported from the south and for some surrounding towns that had not been looted to hand over their grain.
Xie Ning suddenly remembered someone, and the next day he asked Yan Xi, "I heard that Yu Tong ran south with 30,000 soldiers?"
This was a major hidden danger. Yu Tong first abandoned the city and fled, leaving only 5,000 soldiers to guard it. According to the messenger who returned from Zhengding, 2,000 of them were newly recruited greenhorns.
In other words, Yu Tong only left three thousand soldiers for the prefect of Zhen Ding.
This was tantamount to handing over the heart of Hebei to others. If it weren't for the desperate resistance of Prefect Zhang and the garrison commander of Zhending, Zhending would have been gone long ago.
Commander Zou, who was attacking Zhengding, was also decisive. Seeing that he could not conquer Zhengding after a long siege, he went south and marched his troops to the capital.
Their attack was so swift mainly because the remnants of the Western Army had captured a general of the Great Zhou and presented him to the Northern Jin emperor. This general of the Great Zhou was in the Eastern Route Army for this attack on the Great Zhou.
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