PFC Chapter 382: Wei Wuzu
Chapter 382: Wei Wuzu
Chen Futu stared at the guilty fat old man and sneered, "Neither rebel kings nor princes are likely to be in the interests of the Ancient Palace, so we can only choose forces outside the pass. Is it the Western Regions or the Hu people? Or perhaps the Northern Wu?"
"Ahem, Your Majesty, I have some matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave now."
The fat old man actually ignored their young master and ran away.
Ake appeared silently, saying, "Your Majesty, judging from that old fellow's intentions, the Ancient Palace plans to let the Tartars into the pass."
"How do we release them? I said before that as long as I am here, the barbarians from beyond the Great Wall will not be able to enter the pass, unless they can grow wings and fly over the northern border defense line."
At this point, Chen Futu's mind stirred. "It seems that Cui Zhengyu's appearance in the Daqian military camp was not a coincidence. Tianyang Academy does not interfere in the dynastic conflict on the surface, but it still tacitly allows its disciples to suffer. This shows that they do not want Daqian to be destroyed quickly, or they want to delay the time and continue to bind Daqian's national fortune to the ancient palace, so that it will backfire on the other side."
Ake pondered, "It seems that the connection can only be broken when the fate of the Great Qian Dynasty declines to a certain level. That's why Tianyang Academy interfered and deliberately prolonged the fate of the Great Qian Dynasty, trying to put the ancient palace on the fire. I really don't know what great secret these two transcendent forces have mastered. I guess such a secret is beyond the reach of the two elders of Jialan and Nanming."
"Go and keep an eye on that fat old man. See if he passes on any messages. If he does, it means I guessed right."
"Here!"
Ake accepted the order and left.
In the following days, Tai Zhennan was busy sending messages to collect food, while the fat old man did not show up again. However, Jialan came once. Her statement was the same as the fat old man's: she knew very little, and she was already intensifying her search for Boss Zhou.
In addition, the news of the Six Saints' deaths in the Northern Frontier was spreading like wildfire, but the Ancient Palace made no statement. It seemed that for them, losing a branch palace was not a serious matter, which gave Chen Futu a bad feeling.
"Report——"
Suddenly, the Imperial Guards burst into the royal court, panting heavily.
Chen Futu asked suspiciously, "What happened?"
"Your Majesty, the King of Zhao has sent a secret letter; it's extremely urgent!"
"Bring it here quickly."
Chen Futu quickly descended from the main hall and received Zhao Xier's secret letter, the contents of which were chilling.
Before Zhao Xier sent the letter, the Western Regions Shi Kingdom, together with Hu cavalry that appeared out of nowhere, broke through the western defense line of Daqian in one fell swoop. Xi Zhao assembled a large army and, together with the Longman garrison, was on high alert. However, the other side sent an envoy claiming that this matter had nothing to do with Xi Zhao and that Zhao Xier should pretend that nothing had happened. They only needed to clear the way for their advance, otherwise they would destroy Xi Zhao.
Chen Futu looked at the secret letter, his brows furrowing into a knot. "I really guessed right. The ancient palace planned to replace the steppe barbarians with the rulers of the Central Plains. But I never expected that the Hu Ma would bypass the northern border defense line and send troops from the Western Regions in alliance with the Shi Kingdom."
"Summon all civil and military officials immediately."
Chen Futu hastily issued the order, and soon civil and military officials gathered at the royal court.
Chen Futu did not hide anything and gave a general account of what had happened. Zhuge Liang said seriously, "This matter is of great importance. I predict that Daqian is no match for it, and the Central Plains will probably be thrown into chaos."
Gan Ning exclaimed, "Your Majesty, why don't we send out troops now?"
"No, our food supplies can barely last until the summer harvest. We are not in a position to send troops now. Does the general want our soldiers to go to the battlefield on empty stomachs?"
Liu Bowen disagreed with marching south now. Even if we were to fight, we should wait. Furthermore, the fate of the Great Qian Dynasty had nothing to do with the Northern Frontier. No matter who occupied the Central Plains, they would eventually be wiped out by the Northern Frontier. At most, it would just be a waste of time.
Soon, the royal court split into a pro-war faction and a pro-conquest faction.
Guan Yu and his men were determined to fight. As military generals, they had the utmost contempt for the steppe barbarians, and they were willing to fight even if not for the sake of the Great Qian Dynasty, but for the sake of the people of the Central Plains.
Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, along with other civil officials, agreed that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. The Hu people had been plotting for a long time, deliberately avoiding the northern border defenses. They had no way to fight them unless they sent troops to the Western Regions to join forces with the Western Zhao to destroy the Shi Kingdom and completely block the path for external forces to enter the Central Plains. However, doing so would be costly, as the current resources of the northern border could not support such a cost.
Ding!
[Detected that the Hu people have bypassed Jiuyuan Mountain and joined forces with the Shi Kingdom, attempting to seize control of the Central Plains. Please make a choice.]
[1. Choose to send troops to the Western Regions, crush all external forces, maintain peace in the Central Plains, and be rewarded with the title of Living Sage. Wearing the title will increase your rule by 100%.]
"System, I feel like you're mocking me, but unfortunately I have no proof."
[2. Choosing to calmly observe the changing world, accumulate strength without being swayed by external factors will reward you with 10,000 Wei infantry, Wu Qi as your commander, and Grandmaster Peak rank.]
"Good heavens, even the Wei elite troops have come out!"
Wu Qi, whose 50,000 Wei soldiers once crushed 500,000 Qin soldiers, was the first special forces unit in history. He was a military genius, but unfortunately, he was shot to death by arrow next to the body of King Dao of Chu.
Strictly speaking, the military genius Wu Qi was more outstanding than the killing genius Bai Qi. Wu Qi fought more than seventy major battles in his life without a single defeat, and his ability to lead and manage troops was more comprehensive.
[3. Choose to escalate the chaos in the Central Plains to benefit the Northern Frontier, and you will be rewarded with the allegiance of a random faction.]
"Including the ancient hall and Tianyang Academy?"
[Not included]
"Then what are you talking about? The Central Plains are already in chaos, and you want me to add fuel to the fire? Do you want more and more people to die? Please, have some humanity!"
The foundation of a dynasty lies in its population. If the Central Plains become a desolate place, the empire to be established in the future will lack soldiers, and the first one or two decades will be extremely difficult. Therefore, option three should never be chosen.
"I choose number two, Wu Qi."
[Selection successful. The selected host can decide when to deploy the weapon, or choose to deploy it within a 100-kilometer radius of a royal court-affiliated force.]
"This is interesting. System, you're up to something."
Chen Futu couldn't help but laugh.
Currently, the only vassal state of the royal court is Western Zhao. If the Wei Wuzu were suddenly sent to the Western Regions, even if they couldn't wipe out the combined forces of the Shi Kingdom and the Hu people, they would still be in serious trouble.
At this point, Chen Futu made a decision: he ordered the army to continue training, and instructed Yue Fei to contact Chu Jiang to amass troops and receive the fleeing civilians. As for food, the royal court would find a way. Meanwhile, the civil officials were to quickly implement the royal court's policies, such as establishing supervisory offices in various towns, to ensure that the tragedies of exterminating villages and clans would not happen again in the northern frontier.
After the meeting, Chen Futu summoned Ake and asked, "Is there still no news from the Taiping Granary?"
Ake shook her head.
"We must find the Taiping granary as soon as possible. The chaos in the Central Plains will worsen, and the more grain we have, the better."
"Your Majesty, if all else fails, why not deal with the three major grain merchants?"
"No, taking action now would have too great an impact. Who would dare to do business in Northern Xinjiang in the future?"
Chen Futu assigned more people to Ake to search for the location of Taiping Granary from all angles, sparing no expense to find it.