Despite his reflections, Sima Yi quickly got back to work.
In Sima Yi's eyes, this hidden power held by the Han Dynasty, if used properly, would be enough to help the Han army completely destroy Parthia.
But Sima Yi had no intention of doing so. He did not want to be like Jia Xu, who was willing to play a supporting role with the people of the Investigation Department and give all the credit to those warriors. Now that he had this power, he was determined to make the most of it.
What Sima Yi needed to do was assassinate the King of Parthia and then install a puppet ruler.
Liu Cheng was quite supportive of Sima Yi's plan. In his view, Yizhou was in a period of rapid development and it would be impossible to organize a large army to attack Parthia within three years. Therefore, it was necessary to plunge Parthia into turmoil.
However, Liu Cheng changed Sima Yi's assassination plan to a direct attack.
According to Liu Cheng, the plan was to send someone to serve as a Han envoy, who would then, in the Parthian palace, carry the edict of the Han emperor and execute the Parthian king!
Because this was something that had never happened during his father's reign, Liu Cheng wanted to give it a try.
From a young age, Liu Cheng had heard his empress mother tell him more than once that the reason his father named him "Cheng" was so that he would inherit the glory of the Han Dynasty and carry it forward.
Sending Han envoys to execute the rulers of other countries would undoubtedly be the most impressive act to demonstrate the power of the Han Dynasty.
However, having followed his father in his work since childhood, Liu Cheng also learned that no matter what he did, he should first consider the possibility of failure, and only after solving all the factors that could lead to failure should he formulate a plan to win.
Inside the brightly lit palace, Liu Cheng summoned everyone together.
Sima Yi has already sent people to contact the spies lurking in Parthia. Before receiving a reply, what they need to do is to formulate a plan, a plan assuming the assassination fails.
At a round table, Zhou Yu, Guo Jia, Lu Su, Sima Yi, Sun Ce, Ma Chao, Cao Zhang, and others were all deep in thought.
"If the assassination fails, we will not only lose a large number of spies, but also damage the prestige of the Han Dynasty..."
Lu Su slowly began to speak. Deep down, he did not agree with this plan. In his view, intelligence should serve military operations, so how could it be overshadowed by military operations?
"Nothing in this world is ever 100% foolproof. What we need to consider now is how to do it better, not whether we should do it or not!"
Liu Cheng glanced at Lu Su indifferently, setting the tone for the discussion.
Liu Cheng believed that if his father, the emperor, were in such a situation, he would certainly have chosen to carry it out without hesitation.
After all, a qualified ruler should strive to gain the greatest benefit at the lowest cost. Moreover, Sima Yi's plan has a greater than 70% chance of success, making it worth the gamble. If one lacks even this much courage, one is not qualified to shoulder such a great responsibility.
Upon hearing Liu Cheng's words, everyone fell silent and began to consider various possibilities that could lead to failure.
After a moment of contemplation, Guo Jia stood up and said, "Your Highness, I believe the key to this plan lies in the person who carries it out."
We need two exceptionally brave men, capable of approaching and killing the Parthian king within three breaths.
Liu Cheng hummed in agreement, then nodded: "That's right, this is the most crucial point, but it's also extremely dangerous. There's a high chance of never returning. Finding the right person won't be easy!"
"Your Highness, I am willing to go!"
As soon as Liu Cheng finished speaking, Sun Ce and Ma Chao stood up first.
"No, you two are too young to serve as Han envoys!"
Liu Cheng rejected their request without hesitation. Sun Ce and Ma Chao were his future generals who could rival Lu Bu and Zhao Yun, and he would not let them take such a risk.
"Your Highness..."
"Alright, that's enough. If I say no, that's final. You're all forbidden to speak again!"
Seeing that the two were still insisting, Liu Cheng very decisively made them sit down.
Seeing this, Sun Ce and Ma Chao, though unwilling, dared not disobey the crown prince's order and had no choice but to sit down.
Zhou Yu said solemnly, "Your Highness, in my opinion, it would be better to set up several arenas and select participants from the Imperial Guards and the adventurers who have come to Yizhou!"
"That's a great idea! The Imperial Guards are the elite, and their soldiers are all top-notch. The adventurers who have come to Yizhou are also highly skilled individuals, so we can use them too!" Guo Jia, who had been silent until now, chimed in.
"Alright, now that the selection has been made, let's continue discussing other matters, such as how to bring weapons into the Parthian palace, how to protect the lives of our Han envoys as much as possible, and the possible situations that may arise after the Parthian king is killed!"
"Here you go!!"
After hearing Liu Cheng's instructions, the group discussed various other details.
Under the bright candlelight, these teenagers, who are still just children in the eyes of ordinary people, have already begun to shoulder the responsibilities they should bear.
After some discussion, a seemingly perfect action plan was finally devised.
Early the next morning, Liu Cheng sent someone to issue a notice recruiting personal guards and ordered that a martial arts competition be held in the army and in the city.
Soon, the news spread, and countless adventurers who heard the news flocked to the scene.
The fact that these adventurers were able to travel thousands of miles across the ocean to reach Illinois is enough to show that they were a group of people who were not afraid of death for fame and fortune.
Now that they have the opportunity to become the Crown Prince's personal guards, they naturally won't let go of this chance to soar to great heights.
At the coastal port, a medium-sized frigate escorted a merchant ship as it slowly approached the dock.
On the deck at the bow of the ship stood a man who was eight feet tall and had a long sword hanging from his waist.
As soon as the man stepped onto the dock, several adventurers ran over excitedly.
"Brother Zhou Cang, you're finally back! Our chance has come!"
"What opportunity?"
Zhou Cang's expression shifted, and he looked at his brothers with curiosity.
An adventurer said with a smile, "Brother Zhou Cang, this morning, the Linhai government issued a notice saying that His Highness the Crown Prince is recruiting a group of personal guards and has set up a fighting arena in the city, which everyone can participate in."
You're the most skilled fighter among us brothers, I'm sure you'll win!
"Oh? Such a good thing?"
Zhou Cang raised an eyebrow and a hint of joy appeared on his face.
The adventurer nodded hurriedly: "Absolutely true, many people have already started heading into the city!"
Zhou Cang immediately replied, "Let's not delay, let's set off as soon as possible!"
With that, Zhou Cang turned around and strode quickly toward Linhai City.
"Brother Zhou Cang, what about our boat?"
"If you just sell anyone you find to become the Crown Prince's personal guard, what use is that broken ship to you?"
Zhou Cang said without turning his head, clearly showing that he had enough confidence in his martial arts skills.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
