Inside the city of Mozhou, at the Tiger Warriors' new army camp.
The imposing General Wu Sanjia, clad in armor and carrying a sword, had just finished inspecting the city's defenses when he received an imperial edict delivered by Empress Dowager Su Wan'er.
It took considerable effort to get this imperial edict out of the city smoothly.
All the city gates leading into and out of Jinling City have been controlled by the Red-Clad Guards arranged by the current Prime Minister Qin Ruhui, in order to prevent Empress Dowager Su Wan'er's imperial edict from being taken out of the capital.
The messenger was a personal guard of He Changdong, the commander of the Imperial Guard in the capital. He disguised himself as a manure-carrying laborer and hid the imperial edict in the compartment of the manure cart before sending it out of the capital and on horseback to Mozhou City.
This back-and-forth naturally took some time.
Therefore, after receiving the message from the Longcheng Inner Guards stationed in Jinling City, and after making military deployments in advance;
Wu Sanjia, who was in Mozhou City, had just received an imperial edict from Empress Dowager Su Wan'er on behalf of the Emperor of Lingwu of the Great Xin Dynasty.
"General, the matter is urgent, let's skip the formalities of issuing an imperial edict!"
The personal guard responsible for delivering the imperial edict carefully took it out of his robes and handed it to Wu Sanjia, saying, "General, this is an imperial edict granting you supreme command of all military forces in the realm."
"By imperial decree of the Empress Dowager, once the decree is delivered to Mozhou City, the Grand General shall immediately set off, leading the Tiger Warriors back to the capital to defend the Emperor!"
hiss--
Wu Sanjia took a deep breath and carefully accepted the imperial edict from the messenger, which signified his ascension to the pinnacle of military power in the Great Xin Dynasty.
Then, with greedy eyes, he brought the imperial edict to his nose and sniffed it.
Forehead......
It smells a bit bad, and it's a bit pungent.
This, perhaps, is the taste of power!
Thinking this, Wu Sanjia unfolded the imperial edict and, seeing the words "appointed General Wu Sanjia, Commander-in-Chief of the Great Xin Dynasty, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Cavalry of the Realm," and the Imperial Seal of the State at the end, he could no longer help but burst into laughter.
Hahaha!
"Congratulations, General! Congratulations, General!"
At this moment, Zhao Kui, Wu Sanjia's staunch confidant and deputy general, was the first to step forward and congratulate Wu Sanjia.
The messenger, standing nearby, seemed somewhat anxious, saying, "General, the Empress Dowager has completely broken ties with Prime Minister Qin in order to grant you absolute power over all the military forces in the realm."
"Before I departed, the Empress Dowager and General He repeatedly instructed me to earnestly request that the General lead his troops to the capital to defend the Emperor as soon as possible, lest the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, in desperation, take drastic measures against the Empress Dowager and the Emperor!"
Um!
Wu Sanjia nodded, but the words of the imperial guards brought his wandering thoughts back to reality.
This imperial edict granting the emperor supreme power over all military forces in the realm was only valid while the Lingwu regime of the Great Xin Dynasty still existed.
If Emperor Lingwu and Empress Dowager both kick the bucket, this imperial edict will probably only be good for wiping their messes!
Wu Sanjia made a decisive decision, saying, "General Zhao, time is of the essence. I have decided to lead three thousand Ironclad Cavalry and thirty thousand Light Cavalry out of the city first after nightfall and head towards Yingzhou."
"You will lead the remaining Tiger-Brave New Army to hold out in Mozhou City for a few more days, to confuse the rebel forces in Longcheng outside the city and make Chen Huai'an believe that I am still inside the city;"
"When the time is right, you can abandon the city and head south, then go directly to Jinling City to meet me!"
"Understood, sir!"
Zhao Kui immediately patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, General, I will certainly not fail in my mission!"
Um!
Wu Sanjia nodded firmly, said no more, and patted his deputy Zhao Kui on the shoulder heavily.
Then, he shouted sharply: "Messenger, convey my order: the Tiger Warrior Cavalry and the Iron Pagoda Heavy Cavalry shall assemble immediately and prepare to set off!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Outside the main tent, the messenger, who was on standby at all times, immediately took the order and left.
Wu Sanjia even forgot to take off his bright armor and started tidying up confidential letters inside the tent.
He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped, turned around sharply, as if he had remembered something.
Then, he stared intently at the guard responsible for delivering the imperial edict and asked, "Where is the military tally?"
"ah?"
The messenger was taken aback and asked, "General, what military tally is this?"
Wu Sanjia said urgently, "Of course it's the military tally that controls all the troops in the land! Did the Empress Dowager only give you this one imperial edict before she left?"
Um!
The imperial guard nodded heavily and replied, "Reporting to the General, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager indeed only gave this one imperial edict to me, and no other tokens!"
cough--
Wu Sanjia slapped his forehead and muttered to himself, "Look at my memory! The Empress Dowager has already broken ties with that scoundrel Qin Ruhui, so how could she possibly obtain the military seal that controls the entire army from the Ministry of War!"
ah--
Upon hearing this, Deputy General Zhao Kui was also filled with astonishment.
Then, with a worried expression, he asked, "General, if we don't have this military seal, it might not be so smooth for you to lead the Tiger Warriors to the capital to defend the emperor."
"General, what should we do?"
"Since things have come to this, we can only try anything, even if it's a dead horse!"
As Wu Sanjia spoke, he waved the imperial edict, which still smelled of smoke, in his hand and said, "Now, we can only pray that the garrison troops in the cities along the way will recognize this imperial edict!"
"If they don't admit it, hmph—"
At this point, Wu Sanjia snorted coldly, his eyes suddenly turning sinister and bloodthirsty, and he said sharply, "Then this general will have no choice but to lead his troops all the way into Jinling City!"
"General, you are wise!"
Zhao Kui immediately bowed and cheered to Wu Sanjia!
Afterwards, he accompanied Wu Sanjia to the main tent to sort out and archive the confidential military intelligence letters, and then packed them all up and took them away.
It was just past 7 PM.
Inside Mozhou City, the Tiger Legion's three thousand Ironclad Cavalry and thirty thousand cavalry had already assembled in the training ground of the main camp.
Such a large-scale troop mobilization, especially in broad daylight, naturally could not escape the notice of Qin Ruhui's spies planted in the Tiger Warriors, and the eyes of Huang Silang, the Minister of War of the Imperial Court.
Seeing the unusual movements of the troops in Mozhou City, Huang Silang immediately led a few henchmen and stormed into Wu Sanjia's camp to demand an explanation.
"General Wu, why were the troop movements within Mozhou City not reported to me?"
As they were talking, Huang Silang had already barged into Wu Sanjia's tent.
As soon as they entered, they saw Wu Sanjia ordering his personal guards to pack up his clothes and letters and take them away.
Considering the various unusual behaviors of Wu Sanjia and Zhao Kui in recent days, Huang Silang immediately realized something.
He shouted sternly, "Wu Sanjia, what are you trying to do?"
snort!
Wu Sanjia snorted coldly and replied without any attempt to hide his feelings, "This general is acting on the Empress Dowager's decree to lead the Tiger Warriors south to the capital to defend the emperor!"
"you--"
Seeing Wu Sanjia's straightforwardness, Huang Silang was speechless and didn't know how to respond.
After a moment's thought, he then used his influence to say, "Wu Sanjia, did Prime Minister Qin know that you secretly mobilized troops into the capital?"
Before Wu Sanjia could speak, his deputy Zhao Kui couldn't help but sneer, "Prime Minister Qin, the General has been ordered to come to the capital this time to deal with the treacherous Prime Minister Qin Ruhui!"
"You, you all—"
Huang Silang was shocked and, with his last bit of courage and strength, said, "You are plotting a rebellion!"
Click!
The next moment, Huang Silang only felt a flash of white light before his eyes, a chill on his neck, and his head fell to the ground.
Before his consciousness faded, he vaguely heard Wu Sanjia say, "Huang Silang, you've even learned to answer first now, huh?"
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