All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 214

Upon seeing the war preparations, the Crown Prince felt a bitter pang in his heart. How had his Uncle Yong succeeded again!

All things considered, Li Chang'an had only been away from the capital for a little over a month, yet he had already won another great victory!

"The great victory at Dingzhou is thanks to His Majesty's divine power and blessings, and the nation is now flourishing."

"Uncle Yongwang's adaptability and speed in warfare are commendable!"

"Now that we have subdued the entire territory of Dingzhou, we should press our advantage and take over Western Qin!"

Upon hearing the Crown Prince's words, the First Prince immediately retorted.

"Your Highness, we must not rush into seizing Western Qin!"

"The Western Qin repeatedly defeated the Northern Qi army, and its soldiers were well-trained, well-supplied, and well-equipped."

"In the battle between Daqing and Xiqin, the Xihu, Beiman, and Beiqi were all eyeing the enemy covetously."

"If we win too quickly, we will inevitably be besieged from all sides. We must not rush into this matter!"

Emperor Qing glanced at his two sons; the eldest prince was indeed a simple and honest man.

Every word he said was full of valuable information; there wasn't a single wasted word.

"What the boss said makes sense. Destroying Western Qin is not something that can be accomplished in a day; it requires long-term planning."

"Fighting on the front lines requires support from the rear. Your Highness, you should make a decision in the next few days."

The Emperor Qing is the kind of person who won't personally intervene unless he's pushed to the limit.

Now that he's passing the ball to the crown prince, he's also giving the crown prince an opportunity.

The progress of Li Chang'an's war in the Northwest was now in the hands of the Crown Prince.

Yangguan Pass.

Li Chang'an summoned the Shadow Guards and the Ye family's generals and told them some news.

"This is a secret letter from the Khan of the Northern Barbarians to me. Take a look at it."

Ye Wan stretched out his hand halfway, then pulled it back, and Ye Zhong took it as a matter of course.

After reading it, Ye Chongxian frowned deeply.

"The Khan of the Northern Barbarians wants to make an agreement with Your Highness to jointly attack the Western Qin."

"The Northern Barbarians have more than 100,000 cavalry, and they were previously suppressed by Uesugi Tora."

"Now that Uesugi Tiger has allied with Western Qin, the Northern Barbarians are afraid that Uesugi Tiger will lead his troops to attack them again."

"But barbarians are never trustworthy, so we must be careful!"

Then, Li Chang'an took out a secret letter, "This is a letter from Han Xin, the General of Western Qin."

"He also promised to join us in eliminating the Northern Barbarians, and after the mission was accomplished, we would get half of the warhorses, cattle, sheep, and slaves!"

After reading both letters, the generals understood one thing.

Western Qin is now besieged on two fronts, with the dead of winter approaching and the northern barbarians about to invade from the south.

Li Chang'an had just arrived, and his army had recaptured Dingzhou, with a hint of an intention to march north.

Wang Qinian said, "The question now is, should we help the Northern Barbarians or the Western Qin?"

Li Chang'an said calmly, "We... want them all!"

P.S.: The campaign to exterminate the barbarians and slay the Hu people will not be watered down; I'll try to finish it by tomorrow.

Chapter 149 Zhao Gao Points at a Deer and Calls It a Horse! Ye Wan, a True General of the World! (13)

At the end of November in the fifth year of the Qingli era, at Yangguan in Dingzhou, Qing Kingdom.

Li Chang'an said to everyone, "Although the Western Qin Kingdom has a well-trained army and ample supplies, it has a fatal flaw."

"The royal family of the Western Qin Kingdom was very weak, and the real power was in the hands of the eunuch Gao Yao and the general Han Xin."

"The two can usually maintain a harmonious relationship, but once there are internal and external troubles and changes occur in the country, their differences will definitely become apparent."

Ye Wan said thoughtfully, "Now that the Northern Barbarians are about to invade the south, and we intend to move north, it is precisely the time when they are under the most pressure."

Wang Qinian continued, "Then let's create some more trouble for him; there should be some unrest in the Western Qin Kingdom."

Ye Wan frowned and said, "What kind of trouble should we cause them? Something that can expose their internal problems."

Gong Dian looked hesitant, but in the end he couldn't hold back.

"The greatest upheaval in a country is the assassination of the emperor."

He and Ye Zhong were implicated and sent to exile because of the emperor's assassination attempt, so their first thought was to assassinate the emperor.

Gong Dian continued, "Han Xin and Shangshan Hu have already gone north to resist the northern barbarians, and the eunuchs in the court are controlling the government."

"If the emperor dies at this time, there will definitely be a good show to watch."

Ye Zhong said, "However, according to the intelligence provided by the Surveillance Bureau, the Emperor of Western Qin does not have much say in the affairs of the court."

Gong Dian insisted, "The emperor's position is of utmost importance. Once the emperor dies, the issue of succession will inevitably arise."

"Will Gao Yao and Han Xin have the same choice for successor, or do these two have their own ambitions?"

Li Chang'an praised, "General Gong truly lives up to his reputation as a former commander of the Imperial Guards; his insights into palace affairs are spot on."

He turned to Wang Qinian and said, "Wang Qinian, you handle this matter personally!"

Wang Qinian immediately replied, "I will obey the Grand Commander's orders!"

Five days later, Wang Qinian arrived at the royal palace of the Western Qin Kingdom.

He arrived at Zhao Gao's room and quickly knelt down, saying, "Disciple Wang Qinian greets Master!"

Upon seeing Wang Qinian, Zhao Gao grinned from ear to ear.

"Qi Nian is here! Get up, get up! It's been six years!"

Wang Qinian said with a smile, "Teacher, you are just as dashing as you were six years ago!"

Zhao Gao retorted, "Nonsense! I can't possibly be a hero even if I wanted to."

"Well, what are Your Highness's instructions?"

Wang Qinian said, "Your Highness means to kill the Emperor of Western Qin, and then you and General Han should pretend to have a falling out."

"General Han is leading troops in the field and is dissatisfied with the successor you have installed. So he has amassed his own power and is threatening you to purge the court of corrupt officials."

"If this happens, Western Qin will be in turmoil, and Northern Qi will also want to take advantage of the situation. You will be forced to surrender the entire court to the Southern Qing army."

Zhao Gao chuckled and said, "Good, supporting an heir that others don't accept is my specialty."

"You've come all this way, so let me handle the assassination of the emperor."

"Over the years, I have gained a lot of experience in cooking. You must try my cooking skills."

Wang Qinian knew that this mission was very simple, and Zhao Gao would take care of it for him.

half a month later.

Nanqing, Imperial Study.

Chen Pingping and Emperor Qing sat facing each other, and Chen Pingping was recounting the strange events that had occurred in the Western Qin Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, Prince Yong has sent Wang Qinian to assassinate the Emperor of Western Qin, shocking the entire Western Qin court and people."

"The eunuch Gao Yao advocated for the enthronement of the ten-year-old prince to facilitate his control of the court."

"General Han Xin and General Shangshan Hu had some reservations about this, but Gao Yao ignored their opinions."

"After the young prince ascended the throne, one day during a court banquet, Gao Yao ordered someone to bring a deer into the palace, claiming that it was a horse."

"Most of the court officials said it was indeed a horse, while only a few said it was a deer."

Most of the ministers who spoke of horses were members of the Luowang organization, and their speeches had been rehearsed beforehand.

However, there were also many ministers who were genuinely afraid of Zhao Gao and who actually called a deer a horse.

Emperor Qing stared wide-eyed as he listened to this outrageous story. "And then the minister who spoke of the deer was killed by Gao Yao?"

Chen Pingping nodded. "That's right, kill them all, leave no one alive."

Killing the royalists of Western Qin also prepared the way for Western Qin's overall surrender to Southern Qing.

Han Xin was greatly angered by this and declared that he would "purge the court of corrupt officials and eliminate Gao Yao!"

"If it weren't for the impending southward invasion of the northern barbarians, Western Qin might already be in turmoil."

A hint of doubt appeared in Emperor Qing's eyes. "But your intelligence report said that Gao Yao and Han Xin had a very close relationship and trusted each other."

It was precisely because of this intelligence that Emperor Qing and Qin Ye felt that Western Qin would not be easy to defeat.

In fact, this intelligence was absolutely true, and Emperor Qing and Qin Ye's judgment was also very accurate.

Later, the story of Zhao Gao calling a deer a horse and the falling out between Zhao Gao and Han Xin was all a performance to deceive people.

Chen Pingping gave a wry smile. "Your Majesty, people change. Han Xin was naturally extremely grateful to Gao Yao when he first took command of the military."

"Now that we've established ourselves, we have our own ideas and we can't stand Gao Yao's abuse of power."

"A country without a wise ruler cannot be secure in its foundation!"