Chapter 537 A Bag of Cold Water
Southwest, King Cheng's residence
King Cheng's eyes turned red as he looked at the extra territory in Pingzhou.
Lu Songli is in charge of three states!
He only has one state! The other party's territory is three times the size of his!
Dong Jichuan ignored King Cheng. He had already advised King Cheng that Pingzhou and he had no connection at all. There was no need to be upset about Pingzhou adding another territory. Moreover, Pingzhou did not occupy the Central Plains.
But whenever Prince Cheng saw the map in the conference room, he would sigh deeply.
Dong Jichuan looked at Xie Bai and asked, "General Xie, why are you here?"
"Our head of the family is deeply grateful for the prince's help to the South during this period, and has specially sent me here to present the prince with a gift." Xie Bai said as he presented a wooden box.
Previously, when King Cheng received the news that the Xianbei were attacking Yanmen and Daijun, he ordered the troops sent to support the south to be recalled.
Prince Cheng's reason was quite plausible: they had already helped contain Dong Guowei's imperial army for long enough. Now that the Xianbei were attacking Yanmen and Daijun, the pressure on Lingnan would surely be alleviated, and they would have to return to their own affairs.
But anyone with a discerning eye knew that King Cheng was gathering his forces and preparing to seize territory.
Prince Cheng was curious, "What gift?"
"Your Highness, just take a look and you'll know." Xie Bai handed the wooden box to the waiter beside him.
After the waiter opened the wooden box, there was only a note inside, so he presented the note to King Cheng.
When King Cheng saw the note, he saw a plan and suggested that he spread rumors, saying that the Sun family army and Pingzhou were in the same group and had secretly reached a cooperation agreement, in order to alienate Song Mo and the Sun family army.
"Why doesn't Xie Zhan spread this news himself?" King Cheng asked casually.
He thought to himself, would Song Mo believe it?
Never mind. Who cares if he believes it or not? It's not a big deal, is it? What if he does believe it?
Xie Bai replied sternly, "Your Highness, we in Lingnan are currently fighting the imperial army. As the main force, our Lord is very busy and cannot spare any time."
As soon as he saw it, he knew that Prince Cheng must be moved.
Just as the head of the family expected, if this plan of sowing discord is to succeed, the imperial court will have to cut off one of its own arms and weaken its strength, which will be difficult for Prince Cheng to refuse.
After finishing the business, Xie Bai said goodbye.
After Prince Cheng had given the task of slandering the emperor, he made another decision, "Mr. Dong, I have decided to attack Zhudi County!"
Dong Jichuan:......
Chang'an, Imperial Palace
After two days of escape, some things finally need to be faced.
Song Mo went to court again.
Grand Marshal Xiao Qun hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, shouldn't we be on guard against General Sun?"
"Why do you say that, my dear?" Song Mo asked with a stern face.
Xiao Qun stated his reasons, "Logically speaking, I shouldn't say such things at this time."
"However, judging from the war situation in the north, the Xianbei and the Sun family army have started fighting. For Pingzhou, this is a very good time to send troops south to the Central Plains."
"Because in normal times, as long as the imperial court stationed troops in Dai and Zhuo counties along the Taihang Mountains, the Pingzhou troops would be unable to move south."
"It's hard for ordinary rulers to resist the temptation of ruling the Central Plains."
"Pingzhou has gone the other way. Instead of occupying the fertile lands of the Central Plains, they are attacking the subordinate tribes of the Xianbei. It's truly unbelievable."
"Therefore, it's hard not to suspect that Pingzhou is colluding with General Sun and is trying to use the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao."
Song Mo was already very suspicious, and the more Xiao Qun reminded him, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be the case.
Wu Chunyu also stammered, "Your Majesty, do you remember that we only sent 70% of the winter supplies to the Sun family army because of the difficulty in collecting them? The remaining 30% was replenished with silver?"
"Yes, I remember this."
Wu Chunyu added, "As far as I know, the Sun family army's subsequent purchase of winter supplies was made through a trade with the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce."
Song Mo's face flushed with anger when he heard this. "How dare they commit crimes against my will? Are they turning a deaf ear to my words? Do they still have me in their eyes?!"
After Song Mo had lost his temper, Xiao Qun said, "Your Majesty, what is certain now is that the Sun family army and Pingzhou have a head and tail. As for whether they are colluding with each other, it is hard to say for the time being. We have to be on guard against one or two things."
Some people thought the emperor was going to change his generals on the battlefield and quickly stopped him, saying, "Your Majesty, no! Changing generals on the battlefield is a major military taboo!"
"That's right, we can't punish him before he's guilty, or we'll chill General Sun's heart."
…
Finally, Xiao Qun suggested, "Your Majesty, it is indeed not the time to change generals, but we are worried about something that we must guard against. Therefore, I suggest sending an imperial envoy to supervise the battle."
Chen Wan also agreed, "This is a good idea. The Sun family army has been stationed in the south before and is not familiar with the climate and terrain of the north. Sending an imperial envoy to provide guidance and assistance is reasonable."
Song Mo: "Approved."
…
On that day, Zuo Anmin secretly asked to see the emperor. This was the first time he asked to see the emperor since he returned from Pinggang.
He was self-aware enough to know that the emperor disliked Xie Zhan after his rebellion. He simply kept him for other purposes, just as he had kept Zhang Xian.
Song Mo was in a bad mood and refused to see him. Moreover, he had already made up his mind and it was impossible for him to meet Zuo Anmin, who was suspected to be in Xie Zhan's camp.
After hearing the emperor's words, Liang An personally came out to reject Zuo Anmin.
"Eunuch Liang, please tell the emperor a message," Zuo Anmin pleaded. "If the emperor still refuses to see me after hearing this, I will not bother him."
Liang An pondered, listening to these words, it seemed to be very crucial.
"Thank you for your help, father-in-law." Zuo Anmin said as he slipped a piece of warm jade into his hand through his wide sleeves.
Liang An touched it and found it warm and moist, and quite large. He knew it was a good thing, "Okay, what message do you want us to convey to the Emperor?"
"Eunuch Liang only needs to ask the emperor, 'Your Majesty, are you sure your plan is feasible? Don't let this cost you both the wife and the army.'"
When Liang An came back, Song Mo was planning his crazy plan, but the words Liang An brought back were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.
His face was gloomy and uncertain. Thinking that Xie Zhan had always been very smart, he decided to summon Zuo Anmin.
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