Chapter 615 Everything is poised to happen!
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"Your Highness, you mustn't!"
Upon hearing the news, the staff and generals who rushed to the scene all tried to dissuade Liu Tan, saying, "Although the capital is currently isolated and without support, there are many eyes and ears from various forces. If Your Highness goes there now, it will be like a lamb entering a tiger's den!"
If the imperial court... or other princes take this opportunity to cause trouble...
"To remain in Andong is tantamount to waiting for death for me!"
Liu Tan roared, interrupting them. His headache prevented him from thinking calmly. "Look at the state I'm in now!"
Can we wait any longer?
Can you?
Liu Tan raised his head and scanned the crowd with a fierce look in his eyes: "The world is already in chaos. The emperor who has just ascended the throne can hardly protect himself. How can that eunuch emperor control me?"
As for the other princes?
He sneered, with a kind of reckless arrogance, "The Prince of Pingxi is too busy taking care of himself in the southwest, the Prince of Qi and the Prince of Jing are fighting like dogs, the Prince of Beiliang is just shouting slogans, and as for the rest, they are just a few good-for-nothings who only know how to live in their own corner!"
Who dares to stop me?
Who can do anything to me?
"I'm only going to see a doctor, not to fight a war!"
Liu Tan tried to persuade them, but it seemed more like he was trying to persuade himself. "Take some elite troops, cure the poison, and I will return to Andong immediately!"
The will to survive ultimately triumphed over all caution and concern.
Despite the earnest advice of his subordinates, Liu Tan defied their objections and decided to risk going to the capital.
He quickly arranged for rear affairs, with several trusted veteran generals and advisors assisting Crown Prince Liu Hong in temporarily managing the military and political affairs of Andong, and strictly sealed off the news of his departure from Andong.
Subsequently, he mustered the elite troops from the three thousand Xuanjia Army, and publicly claimed that he was leading troops on a routine patrol of the border city.
A soldier selected from the army who resembled him in build impersonated him, mounted his horse, and led three thousand soldiers to the north of Andong, pretending to be the "King of Zhenbei" patrolling the border.
Meanwhile, the real Prince of Zhenbei, under the protection of Zhao Da and Ma San, rode in a specially reinforced carriage designed to minimize bumps, escorted by no more than a hundred cavalrymen, and left Jinzhou Prefecture, heading towards Sanshan Port.
Inside the carriage, Liu Tan, wrapped in a thick brocade quilt, looked ashen-faced and groaned in pain with each sway of the carriage.
Liu Tan and his group were to board a ship at Sanshan Port, pretending to be wealthy but ailing men who had chartered the ship to seek medical treatment in Jiangnan.
In fact, once they reached Jiangnan, they would disembark, switch to waterways, and travel westward to Kyoto.
Although the news of Liu Tan's departure from Jinzhou was being covered up, Li Shiyue, who had been secretly keeping an eye on the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, learned of it immediately!
Faced with Liu Tan's "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass" scheme, she decided to give the Prince of Zhenbei a big surprise.
Li Shiyue had Sun Xiaoliu summon all the people they had been supporting over the years and spread the ambiguous news that the Prince of Zhenbei had left Andong without an imperial edict.
In this process, Li Shiyue also deliberately had Sun Xiaoliu exaggerate the incident in the backyard of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, where Princess Jiang Huijun was arguing because Liu Tan favored his concubines, and spread the news to the outside world.
After all, why would commoners care about a prince who is above them secretly leaving his fiefdom?
Even if this is true, it's beyond the reach of most people, so what does it have to do with them?
But human nature is such that, no matter what, people will always gossip about the petty squabbles of the ruling class.
These stories of women fighting over men in their backyards are the easiest to spread quickly and intensely through word of mouth.
Just as Li Shiyue had predicted, within half a month of the Prince of Zhenbei arriving in Jiangnan, news about him had spread like wildfire.
Commoners naturally only care about gossip, but other powerful forces, whether high-ranking officials, wealthy merchants, or other princes, will surely be able to discern the message Li Shiyue wanted others to know from the information she had spread—the Prince of Zhenbei has left his fiefdom of Andong without imperial decree!
Why?
Why?
The reactions of the various powerful princes varied—some were surprised and uncertain, speculating about Liu Tan's true purpose in doing so.
Some sneered inwardly, ready to watch the show; if things got out of hand, they could hide behind the scenes and take advantage of the chaos.
Some immediately increased their vigilance to prevent Liu Tan from doing anything bad.
The already chaotic situation in the world became even more turbulent and unpredictable due to Liu Tan's sudden departure from his fiefdom.
All of this was quickly grasped by Li Shiyue, who was far away in Jian'an and closely monitoring the movements of all parties.
When she confirmed through the golden eagle's messenger and her intelligence network that Liu Tan had indeed embarked on a journey by water, heading straight for the capital;
She stood before the enormous nautical chart in the study, silent for a long time, before finally revealing a smile that said, "Everything is under control."
"Liu Tan, Liu Tan, who knew... that things between us would come to this point where it's a matter of life and death."
With Liu Tan heading south, the Andong forces were leaderless. The queen was imprisoned, and the young heir Liu Hong had no troops or military achievements. Liu Hong would certainly not dare to make any rash moves.
what does that mean?
This means that the perfect window of opportunity for Li Shiyue to launch an expedition against Japan, which she had been waiting for, has finally arrived!
With the greatest threat to Jian'an's rear in chaos and stagnation, Li Shiyue could now focus all her efforts on conquering Japan without any worries!
The past three years have been enough for Jian'an Prefecture to undergo tremendous changes.
Li Shiyue took in refugees, causing Jian'an's population to surge. Wasteland was transformed into fertile fields, water conservancy facilities were built in all directions, and workshops produced weapons and farm tools day and night.
Zhenhai Army has become a well-equipped, well-trained, and powerful force with over 10,000 personnel, including 3,000 female soldiers, making it a force that no one dares to underestimate.
Jian'an's economic and military strength was greatly enhanced.
Many of the first group of refugee children adopted were already over fourteen years old.
Following Li Shiyue's instructions, they left the school and most of them entered the youth military camp.
These young soldiers were Li Shiyue's true "sons and daughters," and many of them had changed their surname to "Li."
They were influenced by Li Shiyue's ideas from childhood, regarded her as the supreme leader, and had a strong sense of belonging to Jian'an.
Li Shiyue devoted himself even more to their training, personally teaching them literature, military strategy, and more advanced tactical thinking.
Their loyalty and adaptability far exceed those of the refugees recruited along the way.
And the female soldiers' battalion has more than one female soldier as capable as Ding Haisheng;
Among the people who came to Jian'an by boat from Dongmou was a woman named Wang Xiaoying. After she joined the women's army and learned the "Mysterious Yin Body Forging Technique", she actually defeated Ding Haisheng in a competition!
Of course, most people are still no match for the exceptionally talented Ding Haisheng.
However, others are also contributing their own strengths in their respective positions;
Dana came to Li Shiyue's side when she was eighteen years old and became her personal bodyguard;
Zhu Dani, who killed her husband, joined the women's army camp and became a cook;
Dong Wuniang, who ran away from her arranged marriage, joined the Zhenhai Army and, together with Li Yanqiu, managed the vast Zhenhai Army's accounts for Li Shiyue.
The rise of these female soldiers is itself powerful proof of the success of Li Shiyue's policies, and it has also profoundly changed the social structure and atmosphere of Jian'an.
Everything is poised to go!
"Pass down the order!"
Inside the study, Li Shiyue turned around, his voice resolute and filled with unwavering determination and soaring fighting spirit, "All troops assemble!"
Three days later, we will raise the flag and set off for battle!
"Target—Japan!"
The power suppressed for three years, the edge honed for three years, has finally come to be revealed!
The waves of the East China Sea are about to be cleaved by the warships of the Jian'an Town Navy!
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