Plan to cut off the nine states

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The emperor left with his guards, and the princess shook her head and said to Huanyan: "You disappoint me so much, and the King of Xiangdong and the Princess will be even more disappointed."

The King of Xiangdong and his wife are not in the capital all year round. Huanyan is closer to the princess than to her parents. She said earnestly: "Everything will turn around when it reaches its extreme. The princess should advise your majesty to stop before it is too late."

The princess's face changed slightly, "How dare you?" She turned and left.

"I shouldn't say those four words." Huanyan sighed.

The emperor's name is "Wanwu". Although it is not taboo to say "things" alone, "Everything will turn around when it reaches its extreme" is not nice.

Lou Chu was bewildered: "Why did you stay?"

"Ruin my reputation? But I have been doing what I want all these years, and I don't have a good reputation. Otherwise, it will make me and the Seventeenth Prince part forever, and His Majesty and the Princess will think... Everyone thinks I want to marry you."

"But you don't want to?"

"Neither do I want to nor do I want to. Why do I have to think about marrying someone? Just because I am a woman? Because I praised someone's article? If I were a man, no matter how exaggerated my praise was, it would not be misunderstood."

Lou Chu was a little ashamed, because he had similar thoughts, "If you have a confidant, you will have no regrets in this life."

"Whether it is a true confidant, we have to wait and see. His Majesty asked us to guess the "accident" in Qinzhou, why not start from here?"

"Wait a minute." Lou Chu went into the house and moved out two stools, placing them at both ends of the courtyard.

The courtyard is not big, there is no wind or rain, it is a good time to have a conversation across the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard gate, an eunuch poked his head out and took a look, and immediately disappeared.

Neither of them cared, and sat down, and said with a smile: "Seventeenth Master, please go first."

Lou Chu was not polite either, "The general has been prepared. Huangfu father and son were forced to stay in the army and could not protect themselves. The two generals Sun and Hua who were bribed before are also unusable - I guess the next person your majesty will use is General Cao, Duke of Xiao."

"How to use him?"

"Cao Shenxi is in charge of military food. If Tongguan is closed and food and grass are seized, the 20,000 soldiers under the general will be in chaos within ten days."

"Qin and Bingzhou are across the river from each other. What if the general asks Shen for help?"

"Your majesty may lead the army in person to attack Bingzhou first and cut off the general's retreat."

"Well, it's a method, but it's more troublesome. Cao Shen Xi is not Huangfu's father and son, and may not be willing to get involved in the dispute between the monarch and his subjects. It is not a matter of one day or one night to personally conquer Bingzhou. The Shen family has not yet shown its rebellion. Your Majesty's expedition at this time is against the will of the people. "

Lou Chu did not think that the emperor would care about "the will of the people", but he did not entangle it, and asked instead: "What is your guess?"

Hearing the title of "Your Excellency", Huanyan smiled. Just as she was about to speak, Lou Chu raised his hand to ask her to wait, and then said to the eunuch who was looking out the door: "Thank you, please make us a cup of tea."

The eunuch disappeared and came in quickly, and there were two people. They really went to the main room to bring out two small tables and two sets of tea, placed them beside Lou Chu and the princess, and then bowed and left.

"Your Majesty did not make it too difficult for us." Lou Chu smiled.

"It has nothing to do with your majesty. It's because the people below are afraid that something will happen to you and me, and they can't explain to your majesty." Huanyan took a sip of the cup. It was warm, better than herbal tea. "This game is not over yet. Your majesty needs us to be alive, at least as witnesses."

"Your majesty is a little... special." Lou Chu couldn't think of a suitable word.

Huanyan smiled and said, "Of course your majesty is special. Well, it's my turn to say. I guess your majesty will not use General Cao next, and will not attack the Shen family, but will use the Lan family to attack the Huangfu family."

"Attacking the Huangfu family at this time is because Jizhou is empty, it will be more effective, and it can also prepare for the expedition to He Rong next year."

"That's right, the expedition to He Rong is imperative. Your majesty is likely to personally supervise the army, and your majesty does not like to defend the entire line. He must send several armies deep into Mobei to catch all the princes and nobles of He Rong."

"Catch them all in one fell swoop. Your majesty seems to want to lead the expedition in person once."

"Your Majesty said that all the founding monarchs established their countries through wars, and left behind many important military officials. The chaos in the country's discipline is probably caused by this. Therefore, the successor monarch must personally lead the army to establish his authority, one is to suppress the powerful officials, and the other is to win the hearts of the army."

Lou Chu thought for a while, "That's true."

"Your Majesty, many of your words make sense."

"How will Your Majesty use the Lan family?"

"General Lan has been suppressing the rebellion in Qinzhou for more than a year. He can't say that he has a foundation, but at least he is familiar with the local soldiers."

"Find someone to assassinate the general?"

"I shouldn't, Your Majesty hates such means." Huanyan smiled.

Lou Chu didn't care, and nodded: "Just like killing Yushi Luo and imprisoning King Guangling, no matter what the means, Your Majesty must give the world an impression of 'honesty'."

Even if he killed Zhang Shiduan with wine, the emperor wanted everyone to hear the prince confess his guilt with their own ears.

"The Lan family must be the one who contributed, but I can't guess how they will do it."

The two of them pondered and thought that Huanyan's guess was more reasonable, so they asked, "Did anyone from the Lan family follow the army to the west?"

"Not this time, but General Lan's two nephews did not return to Beijing with him, and they should still be guarding the city in Qinzhou."

"Guarding the city..." Lou Chu suddenly had an idea in his mind, but then he thought it was impossible and shook his head with a smile.

"Why didn't the Seventeenth Master say anything?"

"Because it is too unbelievable - perhaps unbelievable is in line with your majesty's style - I guess the two generals of the Lan family may abandon the city according to the secret order, give it to the rioters, and direct the disaster to the general who has not yet established a firm foothold. If the general dies on the battlefield, your majesty will be satisfied. If he returns in defeat and loses his reputation, your majesty can 'openly' seize the military power."

"Use the rioters?" Huanyan really found it unbelievable. "The rioters are a mob. When fighting with officers and soldiers, they are often outnumbered by one in ten. General Lan won consecutive battles in Qinzhou, but because of the small number of soldiers, the rioters dispersed and gathered again. Such rioters, even if there are 200,000 people, are probably not the opponent of the general."

Lou Chu smiled and said, "Then there is another way."

After a moment, the two spoke almost at the same time, one said "the prince" and the other said "Liang Shengzhi", and then showed a tacit smile.

The prince and Liang Shengzhi are the same thing. The prince is young, and the person in charge must be Liang Shengzhi.

"Teacher Liang is a shrewd man, and like your majesty, he hates the military commanders in the court. Maybe he can come up with a good idea for your majesty." Huanyan guessed.

"Perhaps abandoning Liang Shengzhi can charge the general with an unforgivable crime..."

The emperor suddenly walked in from the courtyard gate without being invited, and shouted: "Stupid, all stupid, the more you guess, the more you go off the track!"

Huanyan immediately stood up, and Lou Chu stood up soon after, noticing that the emperor was alone, but he didn't have his dagger with him.

The emperor had been eavesdropping for a long time and finally couldn't help but join in. He said to Huanyan, "You are okay. At least you guessed roughly." Turning to Lou Chu, "You disappoint me. You are one step slower than the princess. You also make wild guesses and refuse to stick to your own opinion."

"I am not good at thinking quickly. I should think about things for a while."

"Hey, think about it for a while. How many things will happen in this "a while"? Do others give you this opportunity?"

Lou Chu bowed, "So, Your Majesty really wants to use the rioters?"

"If I tell the truth, before the plan is realized, you two can't even think of leaving the imperial city." But the emperor couldn't help it anymore. He paused for a moment and continued, "Lan Xun is an incompetent person who loves to lie, but it was him who provided me with a good plan."

General Lan's name is Xun. The emperor called him by his name without hesitation. He looked around and liked the two people's speechless response.

"Lan Xun has been sending troops for more than a year, with frequent reports of victory, but he has been unable to quell the rebellion in Qinzhou. He claimed that his subordinates were too few and could not pursue the rioters who fled into the mountains. I believed him, and the court believed him, so we must summon troops from all over the country and have the general lead the westward expedition."

The emperor was furious, but still could not forgive General Lan's deception. "Lan Xun's incompetence has only one benefit: the general also believed it, thinking that Qinzhou was a minor rebellion and would be settled soon, so he was anxious to lead his troops into Qinzhou, thinking that Xijing would be safer than Dongdu."

Lou Chu couldn't help but say: "With so many officials in Qinzhou, no one told the truth to the court?"

"Yes." The emperor sighed, "More than one , but the court did not believe it. Since last winter, all the news in Qinzhou has passed through Lan Xun's hands, so there are more good news, but almost no truth. "

The emperor sighed again, this time with more anger than regret, and said: "You two made a lot of sense in your previous advice. I was eager to be quick, and often bypassed the court to issue orders, so that officials failed to do their jobs. I was actually frightened by Lan Xun and dared not report the local situation. This is a lesson. In the future, I will send more confidants to secretly visit the people, check for omissions and fill in the gaps for me, supervise officials, and understand the customs of the people. "

Lou Chu and Huanyan looked at each other. This was not the purpose of their advice. The emperor wanted to supervise all officials with his confidants, which was equivalent to hollowing out the entire court.

Neither of them spoke. They no longer had the qualifications. The emperor was in high spirits and would not allow others to interrupt.

The emperor's thoughts turned to other things. He thought for a while before continuing, "I found something wrong this summer. I originally planned to summon Lan Xun back to Beijing and punish him immediately. But something went wrong with the Huangfu family, and they let the general go. I had to find another way."

"How many rioters are there in Qinzhou?" Lou Chu asked.

"It's hard to say. The rioters are sometimes civilians and sometimes bandits. Lan Xun admitted to me a few days ago that the officers and soldiers barely kept the traffic between the cities open, and they didn't dare to leave the city easily for several months."

Huanyan also asked, "Your Majesty, do you want the nephews of the Lan family to give up the city?"

The emperor laughed and said, "Give up the city? How can we give up the city? The rioters are rioters. After solving the general, the rioters must be eliminated as soon as possible. I use a simpler method to let all the rioters in Qinzhou rush to the general."

Lou Chu suddenly realized, "Food and grass! Where the food and grass are, the rioters are Towards. "

The emperor snorted coldly, "The army's food and grass are stored west of Tongguan. Once the news spreads, the rioters will flock to it. If the general wants to protect the food, he must fight the rioters. If he abandons the food, he can only retreat to Tongguan. If he dares to retreat, I can lead the army in person and execute the entire Lou family by military law in front of the battlefield. The general has been brave all his life and has always advanced without retreating. He is also eager to establish his military prestige and is afraid that his reputation will be lost after retreating, so I guess he will not retreat this time. "

"What if the general wins a great victory?" Lou Chu asked again.

The emperor's expression became colder, "Then let him go to attack Bingzhou and He Rong. I don't believe he can be invincible in the world. As long as I firmly control the food and grass in the rear, I am not afraid of him biting back! "

"And the prince." Huanyan reminded, knowing the answer in his heart.

The emperor was silent for a long time, "I don't take the world lightly for one son. It depends on his luck. "