Chapter 256 Undercurrents - A Big Game
Yuwang City.
Imperial Palace.
Imperial Garden.
Emperor Yu and Shen Li sat opposite each other, and on the chessboard on the stone table, the black and white chess pieces almost covered the whole board.
"Mr. Shen, you and I haven't sat together to play chess for a long time."
"Yes, when I retired from the capital, I thought I would not be involved in the affairs of the court in this life. Who would have thought that fate would play tricks on me."
Shen Li's face was also in a trance, as if he thought of those years, sighing incomparably.
Emperor Yu gently pressed a chess piece and said calmly: "Mr. Shen, I also know about what happened back then, and it's not your fault."
"But... what the late emperor did was not wrong."
Shen Li's slightly withered hands trembled slightly, and the chess piece in his hand did not fall for a long time, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.
"Don't you know, Your Majesty, what harm does the trouble of aristocratic families bring to Dayu?"
"I know..."
There was a sharp light in Emperor Yu's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Not only do I know, my father knew it back then, but from his perspective, he had no choice."
"The trouble of aristocratic families has not only been accumulated for a long time in Dayu, but also in the Central Plains countries, where the dignitaries are all from aristocratic families."
"But the difference is that Dayu's aristocratic family has threatened the government, endangered the country, and even has the hidden danger of overthrowing the country."
There was an unprecedented depth in Emperor Yu's eyes, but his tone was very calm, "Although Dayu has powerful enemies on all sides, these so-called powerful enemies cannot destroy my dynasty."
"Even if he is as strong as Dayan, he dare not easily say that he can destroy Dayu's dynasty."
" In the past ten years since I ascended the throne, I have gradually developed people's livelihood, stabilized the borders in all directions, and tried to regain control of salt, iron and grain, but unfortunately..."
Looking at the lonely look on Emperor Yu's face, Shen Li's eyes gradually showed a hint of enlightenment, and he sighed: "It seems that I didn't consider it comprehensively back then."
Emperor Yu looked at the chessboard in front of him and said softly: "Before the death of the late emperor, he called me in front of the dragon bed and solemnly warned me not to easily attack the aristocratic families."
"It was really difficult for me to understand at the time, because this world is not the world of the aristocratic families, but the world of my Ning family, and my world."
"But after I ascended the throne, I realized that the aristocratic families are deeply rooted and cannot be shaken overnight."
"Only by stabilizing the borders and not being harassed by foreign invasions can I free up my hands to deal with the aristocratic families."
Shen Li also nodded in agreement , praised: "Your Majesty has been planning in the northern border for many years. The Eight Barbarians have fled to the northern desert. The East Huai was defeated. Your Majesty has done it. This old minister knows it clearly."
"Haha!" Emperor Yu smiled and shook his head, with a few more sighs in his expression: "The battle in the northern border has wiped out my years of management and paid a huge price."
"If it weren't for the timely intervention of King Yong, the situation in the eastern border would have been a disastrous defeat."
"Mr. Shen, do you know that Duke Jingguo had just driven the Eight Barbarians into the northern desert, and there were no less than ten letters impeaching Duke Jingguo for plotting a rebellion on my desk."
"This..."
Shen Li's face also showed a look of disbelief, which was replaced by a look of anger: "Reporting on rumors?"
"Yes!" Emperor Yu nodded heavily: "I sent people to secretly investigate. Behind these people, They all have the shadow of aristocratic families. "
"Deserve to be killed!"
Shen Li's face, which was always elegant and kind, suddenly showed a fierce look, and he said angrily: "These beasts who eat their own people are really greedy. "
"Hehe."
Emperor Yu did not seem to be angry, but looked indifferent, and said softly: "Mr. Shen, there is no need to be angry. The greed and evil of human nature cannot be restrained by morality. The second brother has taught me one thing in the past six months. "
"Only by fighting violence with violence and stopping killing with killing can the problem be solved most simply and thoroughly. "
"If even killing cannot be solved, then any planning and calculation will be useless. As he said, the imperial power comes from the barrel of a gun."
Emperor Yu's words are shocking, and Shen Li's face changes for a while, and he looks deeply at the wise king in front of him who has always been kind to others.
"Your Majesty, what His Royal Highness Prince Yong said the night before must be guarded against. This turmoil, once Xuanjian Pass is breached..."
As soon as Shen Li finished speaking, he saw Jing Li hurriedly walking in, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the Western Territory has an urgent report that Dayan's offensive is fierce, and Xuanjian Pass is difficult to defend. Please send troops to help the court as soon as possible."
Shen Li's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he hurriedly looked at Emperor Yu: "Your Majesty, Xuanjian Pass cannot be lost."
Emperor Yu shook his head slightly, his deep eyes shining with an unfathomable light, and murmured: "The court has no troops to send, tell Xuanjian Pass that the people are locked up..."
"Your Majesty!"
"Go and pass the message."
Emperor Yu's face was not moved at all, and Jing Li was also anxious: "Your Majesty, let the Duke of Zhenguo lead the army to go to war!"
"There are city defense camps and my imperial guards stationed in the capital, so it's absolutely safe."
"No."
Emperor Yu still shook his head, Jing Li looked depressed for a while, bowed his hands, and strode away.
Shen Li looked at Emperor Yu's calm face, his eyes flashing with ripples, and he couldn't help but feel nervous, and asked in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, do you have any...plans?"
Emperor Yu was silent for a long time, and a calm smile appeared on his face: "It's not my plan, it's the plan of that genius..."
"It's just... a pity for my 100,000 men..."
...
Under Julong City.
The black army continued to surge towards the city gate. Jia Xu, Li Xiuning and Ji Sui stood on a temporary watchtower at the same time, with different expressions.
Li Xiuning looked at the soldiers who were constantly charging ahead. In just half a day, blood was flowing into rivers and bones were like mountains, and his face gradually darkened.
"Sir, why are you so anxious to capture Julong City?"
"Beware of the soldiers and horses in Julong City heading north."
Jia Xu spoke calmly, and Ji Sui frowned suddenly, seeming to have discovered something unusual: "It is not easy for Julong City to go north. The Li River alone is a natural chasm for the north."
"Have we been a little too hasty?"
"We have to hurry!"
Jia Xu also let out a deep breath and looked at the tower in the distance. The soldiers had been attacking for half a day, but there was still no sign of breaking the city.
"Sir, are you hiding something from us?"
Li Xiuning asked tentatively, and said thoughtfully: "Even if we want to capture Julong City, we can completely occupy Lingzhou, contain King Huai's border troops, and divide our troops to move north to Julong City."
"There is no need to rush to capture Julong City. We can even engage in a decisive battle with King Huai's border troops and trap King Huai to death with the numerical advantage of our army. But why..."
As soon as Li Xiuning said this, Ji Sui suddenly woke up and looked at Jia Xu. Before he could speak, he saw a white shadow gradually descending from the sky, circling twice around Jia Xu, and landed on his hand.
Jia Xu took down the secret letter and after browsing it, his face became increasingly serious and he murmured: "Fengxiao, your plan has been finalized. No matter what, I will cooperate with you to finish this big game."
"It's time to end, Yong Zeng, let the beggar army come out and capture Dragon Rejection City at all costs before sunset."
…