Chapter 609: The Prince Slays the Dragon (5k)
Provisional Governor's Office.
In the spacious study, the charcoal fire in the basin flickered with a faint flame. Zhao Duan stood beside the solid wooden table, leaning over to carefully examine the map spread out on the table. From time to time, he picked up a pen, marked on the paper, and calculated something.
"Knock knock." There was a knock on the door.
Without even raising his head, he said "Come in", and the heavy door was pushed open. Mo Chou, wearing a female official's robe and a wingless black gauze on her head, walked in.
Seeing that he was working, I subconsciously slowed down my steps and turned around to close the door.
Zhao Duan finished writing the last string of formulas, put down his pen, stood up straight, rubbed his sore wrist, and said with a smile:
"Didn't you bring me anything to eat or drink?"
Mo Chou rolled her eyes and thought, "Do you really treat me as a 'secretary'? You're not His Majesty."
She walked over slowly and said calmly:
"The news that you rescued Feng Ju and others has received a very good response from the army, and all three armies have praised you unanimously."
"That's good, but it's still not enough." Zhao Duan sighed and smiled bitterly.
"Don't think that I have such great fame now, it seems glorious, but it also means that countless eyes are staring at me.
My fame also gave the soldiers too high expectations, which meant that if I failed, lost a battle, or even just acted mediocrely and did nothing, it would trigger a backlash from public opinion.
As an administrative secretary in his previous life, Zhao Duan was well aware of "public opinion".
The more famous you are, the more fragile you are.
When he led the troops on the Western Front, no one had high expectations of him, so a little mediocrity was fine. But now on the Eastern Front, his reputation was too high, and he was being manipulated.
As the Empress's "secretary", Mo Chou naturally understood the terrible backlash from public opinion and the threat of a shaken military morale. She nodded and said,
"So? What are you going to do next? Take the initiative to attack, capture Huting, and then take advantage of Prince Jing entering Binhai to attack south?"
Zhao Duan shook his head and said:
"I didn't come to the Eastern Front to command operations. This is not what I'm good at."
It is hard to say whether one can defeat Prince Jing by gradually eroding the enemy's military strength.
The time alone does not allow this.
"Winter is almost over. The wind was much warmer yesterday. In a few days, I'm afraid the rivers will melt. If this war drags on too long, it will be really troublesome if the people from the Western Regions invade."
Zhao Duan said seriously:
"So, we must win quickly. End the battle as quickly as possible."
Mo Chou's heart moved, and she suddenly asked:
"You want to replicate the method used against Xu Jingtang and carry out a decapitation operation?"
If it is difficult to determine the winner on the battlefield in a short period of time, then the only way is to deal with Prince Jing.
Mo Chou said:
"But at this time, Prince Jing went to Binhaidao. You can't just go to Binhaidao and kill him, right? Not to mention that it's Prince Chen's territory, how long would it take to get there?"
Who said no? Zhao Duan smiled but said nothing.
He was indeed thinking about whether he could take advantage of the opportunity when Prince Jing was separated from the main force of Jiancheng's rebels in Binhaidao to kill him.
But not now.
On the one hand, he had just taken over from Xue Shence and had to stabilize the morale of the troops first, so he could not leave at will before that.
In addition, and more importantly, he must find out who that "Military Advisor Xu" is.
At this time, Mo Chou came over, looked down at the Binhai Road map on the table, and her face became strange:
"Are you serious? Don't tell me you're planning to use military force against Binhaidao... What are these symbols?"
She pointed to the blank paper, where were written strange Arabic numerals, formulas and curves in brush.
Mathematics... Zhao Duan muttered in his heart. Seeing Mochou's curious face, he became playful and was about to make up a lie to tease her.
Suddenly, there was another knock on the study door.
"Enter."
Zhao Duan turned his head and said.
The burly imperial priest Tang Jinzhong pushed the door open and walked in. He was wearing a priest's robe, had a pale face and no beard, and a calm expression.
As soon as he stepped in, he bowed and said:
"Commander-in-Chief, I have an important report. The enemy general, Ye Xin, has just sent an envoy with a message, saying he wants to exchange prisoners with us."
Prisoner exchange?
Zhao Duan and Mo Chou looked at each other and saw each other's surprise.
"Explain it carefully!" Mo Chou said solemnly.
Tang Jinzhong said:
"Ye Xin proposed to exchange some of our captured generals, civil servants, and shadow guards for the enemy generals we had captured. The location was set at Yansuo Lake outside the city, and he said that if we agreed, we could discuss the details."
Smoke shrouds the lake...
The area outside the city that neither side had occupied was indeed a suitable safe zone...
But, he had just rescued Feng Ju, and the other party proposed a prisoner exchange. What was their intention? Zhao Duan frowned.
conspiracy.
A big conspiracy.
"Have many of our people been captured by the enemy?" Zhao Duan asked.
Mo Chou nodded and said a string of names:
"These people are all in Huting, and some are imprisoned in Jianning Prefecture."
Zhao Duan was not familiar with most of the names until he heard the word "scholar". He was stunned:
"Is it the golden shadow guard?"
Of course he remembered this person. He was Lin Feng's gold medal shadow guard. Later, as the war progressed, the shadow guards also gathered on the east and west fronts.
The last time Zhao Shixiong's daughter was transported thousands of miles away, it was a scholar who did it.
Afterwards, a group of people followed Song Jinxi to the eastern front.
"Besides him? Was Hongye caught?"
Zhao Duan suddenly asked:
"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"
Mo Chou didn't understand why he cared about Hong Ye, but she still said truthfully:
"Hongye wasn't captured, but she was seriously injured and sent back to the rear for treatment. Song Jinxi was responsible for this matter. He didn't tell you because he probably thought it was unnecessary."
Indeed, the captured shadow guards were not worthy of being handed over to Zhao Duan's desk in terms of their rank.
Tang Jinzhong hesitated and said:
"Sir, the prisoner exchange list proposed by the other party is very tempting. Commander Shi is undecided and is preparing to hold a meeting. Please come over."
Well... Zhao Duan let out a breath and was about to follow the other party out to the meeting.
Just at this moment, another stealthy figure floated over from outside the door. It was Song Jinxi.
"Sir, Jiang Wangsun sent a secret report." Song Jinxi glanced at the people in the room and saw that they were all trustworthy, so he spoke frankly.
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and said, "Show it to me!"
Song Jinxi hurriedly handed over a secret report from his sleeve, and Mochou also stretched his neck and moved closer to Zhao Duan to read it together.
Soon, the expressions of both of them changed.
Zhao Duan folded the secret letter and looked at the two of them:
"Go to the meeting!"
…
…
Temporary command center.
The dim sunlight came through the crack in the door, casting a bright thin line on the cold ground.
The top brass of the three armies on the eastern front of the imperial court gathered together, a dozen or so people in total, each with a cup of steaming hot tea in hand.
At the main seat of the long table, directly below the map hanging on the wall, Zhao Duan sat upright in a royal chair. He slapped the secret letter in his hand on the table and said in a deep voice:
"Let's take a look."
The secret letter began to circulate among the hands in the room.
Everyone's expression changed noticeably after watching it.
Only a very few people knew Jiang Wangsun's identity as a spy, and there was no signature from the other party in this secret letter, but everyone who saw the text understood that it was enemy intelligence obtained by means of gathering.
Zhao Duan folded his hands and said calmly:
"This is the intelligence our spy in the enemy army sent back. What do you think? Please share your thoughts. Speak freely."
Mo Chou seemed to have been holding it in for a long time, and now she was the first to speak:
"If this information is true, then the other party's intentions are obvious.
Apparently, our successful rescue of Feng Ju provoked the enemy, so they resorted to this tactic, using the prisoner exchange to lure us in.
They also spread the false news that they were going to attack us at Yansuo Lake during the prisoner exchange. Their goal was to launch a surprise attack on the city's defenses, thereby suppressing our morale and boosting the rebels' morale."
Shi Meng, who looked rough on the outside but was actually very careful, nodded slowly and said:
"Mo Zhaorong is right. Now that we have the intelligence advantage, we should focus on defending our defenses and not let them succeed."
Ning Zechen, the former governor of the Grand Canal and now a senior military officer, said solemnly:
"But the city's defenses are winding. From what this secret letter says, the enemy isn't planning an all-out war. Instead, they're planning to send experts on a surprise attack, aiming to kill our military officers and destroy our defenses. If we just defend blindly, how can we predict where the enemy will attack?"
The commander of the Three Thousand Battalion present was a general in his forties with a rather hawkish temperament. He frowned and said:
"Also, how can we be sure that this intelligence is true? Is it not false information deliberately released by the enemy? Or is this insider reliable?
What if this intelligence is false, and we defend the city with all our might, but the enemy tries to disguise their true position and capture the prisoners from Yansuo Lake? What should we do then?
As soon as these words were spoken, the senior executives immediately fell into thought.
Even Zhao Duan had to admit that there was a possibility of false information.
But if this is taken into account, the situation becomes more complicated.
Mo Chou frowned, and the plum blossom makeup on her forehead also wrinkled:
"So, what if we refuse to exchange prisoners?"
If the opponent makes a move, refusing to respond is also an option.
Shi Meng shook his head and said:
"I'm afraid that's inappropriate. If we refuse, the other side will be able to publicize this matter. The governor has just arrived on the eastern front and is establishing his prestige within the army. As a result, he rescued the civil official Feng Ju, but then refused to exchange him for the military captives..."
If the news gets out, I'm afraid it will undermine your prestige."
Chen Gui, who was able to attend the meeting because he was in charge of firearms, stroked his beard and looked worried:
"So, doesn't that mean they've calculated the governor's intention to stabilize the army, and are deliberately using this disgusting tactic? If we refuse, it will damage your reputation, and then we'll have to worry about how to respond..."
Ultimately, there aren't enough people... If there were enough experts, we could take care of both... Zhao Duan sighed softly in his heart, his face calm and composed, and he said:
"I have decided to agree to the prisoner exchange."
Mo Chou looked at him in surprise, wanting to persuade him to think it over again.
As long as the news is suppressed or properly publicized, refusing a prisoner exchange won't necessarily cause much damage...
But Zhao Duan shook his head at her implicitly. Mo Chou was stunned for a moment, then shut her mouth, muttering in her heart, wondering what this guy was thinking.
I couldn't see through this person when I was with Your Majesty, and it's still the same now.
Since the military supervisor Mo Chou didn't say anything, the other soldiers knew that Zhao Duan had made the decision and stopped trying to persuade him.
At once, everyone started offering suggestions and discussing how to deal with it:
"Why not take the initiative before the prisoner exchange? Seize the initiative?"
"Alas, the secret letter mentioned that the enemy has changed their defenses. Furthermore, inside Huting City, we can't fully utilize our advantages. Fighting them in the streets is really disadvantageous. The key is that we can't afford to lose!
If Privy Councilor Xue was here, losing would be fine, but if General Zhao loses his first battle, not only will morale plummet, but the morale of countless people watching over us will also be affected... How can we rush into the General's first battle?"
"That makes sense. Perhaps the enemy is deliberately trying to force us into a hasty battle..."
"In that case, how about we take the initiative to send experts to attack the enemy on the day of the prisoner exchange?"
"That's one way, but it's nothing more than exchanging homes. It's just exchanging casualties. And don't forget, the prisoner exchange on Yansuo Lake can't afford to fail either."
"Alas, this doesn't work, and that doesn't work either... Why did Ye Xin suddenly come up with such a disgusting idea?"
"Heh... this is a cunning and scheming trick. I'm afraid it's not something Ye Xin could have come up with, or the work of that military advisor named Xu..."
During the discussion, many people felt a stir in their hearts, and they felt that the other party's method was extremely disgusting and familiar.
After thinking about it carefully, he suddenly realized that the other party's scheme was exactly the same cunning as Zhao Duan's previous schemes against others...
The silent Zhao Duan also smelled a familiar scent.
At this moment, it was like two old foxes smelling each other's scent through the winter wind.
"He is a tough opponent. Much harder to deal with than Zhuang Xiaocheng back then." Zhao Duan thought.
Seeing everyone arguing, he suddenly knocked on the table to quiet everyone down.
"I have made a decision," Zhao Duan said slowly, with a look of deep thought.
"I agree to the prisoner exchange. I will arrange a time with the other party. At that time, I will send my personal guard Ji Yue and Song Jinxi to lead a group of tributes to Yansuo Lake to exchange the prisoners."
After a pause, he continued:
"The rest of the military experts and this governor will be stationed at the central camp. Order the defense lines to be strictly guarded. If any of the defense lines are attacked, send experts to provide support. Let's do this."
this……
Everyone looked at each other, feeling that this plan was very passive, but they really couldn't think of a better one.
They nodded simultaneously, "Now that the governor has made the decision, we will make arrangements immediately."
Soon, the meeting ended and people dispersed.
Zhao Duan returned to the Governor's Mansion, opened the door of the wing room, and looked at Yuxiu who was sitting at the round table reading a Taoist book:
"Jin Jian..."
Yuxiu glanced at him coldly, pointed at the bed, and said unhappily:
"The money is coming."
"Snoring... snore... ah?" Jin Jian, who was sleeping with his butt sticking up, rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up. Before he opened his eyes, he said:
"Where, where?"
…
…
Once the decision to exchange prisoners was made, an agreement was quickly reached between the two sides.
At the same time, the entire imperial army received warning messages.
For a moment, on this winter day of truce, the two armies once again felt a sense of tension.
It's like a powder keg that can explode at any time.
Dafeng Tower.
Xu Jianwen listened quietly to his subordinates' report, nodded and said with a smile:
"Everything is going as planned, isn't it?"
Qi Yuchun hesitated and said:
"Your Highness, why did Zhao Duan agree to this? What if he didn't agree? Also, how can you be so sure that he will act according to your wishes?"
Xu Jianwen sat in front of the heavy light brown solid wood chessboard, his soft and loose robe piled on the ground. He chuckled and said:
"Isn't Zhao Duan the most fond of playing overt schemes? This time, I just want him to experience the taste of overt schemes."
Ren Kun smiled and said:
"Your Highness has calculated that in order to gain a firm foothold and maintain his reputation in the army, he must accept the attack. This is an open conspiracy."
Qi Yuchun sighed, "Is it impossible to break open conspiracy?"
As the former commander-in-chief, he was very confused by the intrigues and schemes among these civil officials.
"Of course it can be cracked, and it's very simple," Xu Jianwen said calmly:
"The way to break open conspiracy is to give up. Just imagine, if Zhao Duan didn't sit in the position of commander-in-chief, if he didn't have to stabilize the army's morale and didn't want that reputation, why would he be burdened by it?
As long as a person is ruthless enough, knows how to give up, and lets go of the things he cares about, then no conspiracy can fall on him.
Oh, for example, if Zhao Duan gave up my sister, gave up his status as the emperor's husband, and left, with his current cultivation, he could hide and live a good life outside the Yu Kingdom. It's just that he doesn't want to. "
Corner of the room.
The bored Guhuo Zhenren glanced at the three of them and muttered:
"I don't care about you all. I just want to know when I can kill Zhao Duan. I am already thirsty and hungry."
Xu Jianwen said calmly:
"Why rush? The day after tomorrow, when we exchange prisoners, is the day we'll eat him."
“Bang!”
As he spoke, he picked up a black piece and dropped it between the vertical and horizontal lines on the chessboard. In an instant, a large white dragon that had been deep in the mud on the chessboard was cut in half.
…
In a blink of an eye, it was the agreed day for prisoner exchange.
early morning.
When Zhao Duan woke up from meditation, he felt that his qi sea was particularly agitated today.
When he looked inward, he was surprised to find that the "Dragon Soul" that had been dormant in his body for a long time and had been motionless actually showed signs of revival.
It's like hibernation is over and thawing is about to happen.
"Is it because I have completely established myself in the world's high-level realm? My cultivation has stimulated the dragon soul? Or is there some other reason?"
Zhao Duan was very surprised.
But no matter how he tried, the dragon soul sleeping in the sea of qi could only lazily swing its tail, looking lazy and about to wake up, and did not respond to his call.
"It's inexplicable. Could it be that the timing is not right?"
Zhao Duan shook his head and had to suppress his curiosity. He walked out of the backyard and came to the front hall of the Governor's Mansion.
At this moment, Mo Chou, Tang Jinzhong, Shi Meng, the commander of the Three Thousand Battalion, as well as Jin Jian and others were all sitting in the hall.
Seeing him coming, they stood up at the same time: "Commander-in-Chief!"
"Yes," Zhao Duan nodded and said, "Has the prisoner exchange team set out?"
Mo Chou nodded: "We have already set off. According to your arrangement, Ji Yue and Song Jinxi will lead a group of people to take charge."
After a pause, she added, "Everyone passed through the door before leaving."
The "door" she mentioned was the [Two Life Gate]. Zhao Duan had Ji Yue and Song Jinxi pass through the door in advance this morning, and the same went for himself.
However, the service life of this talisman is almost coming to an end.
"Okay, everyone, let's wait for news together."
Zhao Duan sat in the main seat and took out a small bronze mirror with a flip of his hand.
At this moment, the mirror slowly began to glow, and then a human face appeared in the mirror:
Emperor Xianzong of Wei!
…
at the same time.
In Huting City, Wei Xianzong was walking in a snow-covered alley and suddenly raised his head.
(End of this chapter)
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