Chapter 603: Fighting with a coffin, contacting the traitor

Chapter 603: Fighting with a coffin, contacting the traitor

Chapter 603: Fighting with a coffin, contacting the traitor

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Outside the north gate of Huting, Zhao Duan, escorted by Tang Ping, rode in front of the crowd, dismounted, threw the reins aside, nodded to Xue Shence, smiled and said:
"Envoy Xue."

Then he turned his head and met Mo Zhaorong's gaze.

It has been quite some time since the two sides parted at Taicang Prefecture on the western front. When they met again, this "rival in love" had changed a lot.

It's not just the appearance that has been worked on, but more importantly the temperament.

If Zhao Duan were to use one word to evaluate it, it would probably be "pure from the dross".

Well, although Mo Chou had the nickname "Female Prime Minister" in the past, this reputation was false.

It was just a "metaphor" used by court officials and common people to describe his status as the empress's closest attendant.

This does not mean that Mo Chou, who grew up in the deep palace and rarely left the capital, really has the ability to govern the country.

The nearly one year of experience on the front line has brought about a drastic change in the temperament of the first female official of the Six Shangs. She is now more calm, her eyes are sharper, and even the tone of her voice is different from the previous aggressiveness.

"Long time no see. However, I feel uncomfortable if Mo Zhaorong doesn't tease me." Zhao Duan smiled at her.

Mo Chou's slightly wheat-colored cheeks blushed and she smiled bitterly:

"Don't tease me, Governor. I had many misunderstandings about you in the past, but fortunately, things are different now.

I have received news from you from time to time on the Eastern Front in the past few months, and I admire you very much for what you have done. "

The words were spoken sincerely, without any irony.

Not only Mochou, but a large number of old acquaintances headed by Xue Shence all had similar feelings.

If we say that when everyone was fighting against the "Juren General" Su Dan in Taicang Prefecture, Zhao Duan only showed talents in the extraordinary realm...

Rescuing the city when it burned was indeed a great achievement, but that was all.

After the two sides separated, the news coming from the west refreshed everyone's impression again and again.

First, he sneaked into Yongjia City and rescued the imprisoned officials, then he persuaded Zhao Shixiong to rebel and pushed the western front, which was originally responsible for defense, to the south. Not to mention the successful assassination of Xu Jingtang, which completely reversed the direction of the war and made the eastern front a foil...

And all of this is like an accumulating tide.

When the peace negotiation delegation entered the capital, Zhao Du'an went to the palace with sword in hand to ask for orders and his anger completely broke out.

"Commander Zhao, you may not know this, but the story of you carrying a sword to the throne has already spread among the army, and countless soldiers have been encouraged! Now, your prestige in the army is higher than mine."

Xue Shence joked with a smile.

This is a very dangerous sentence.

However, Xue Shence's eyes and tone were frank, and even the generals and officials around him did not notice anything strange.

Because that's what it is.

Shi Meng laughed and said:

"Look, Commander, these soldiers can tell by the way they look at you."

Ah, am I so good?
Zhao Duan's old face blushed when he was praised. He looked at the soldiers standing in the snow and ice. Sure enough, he saw that every soldier had a fanatical look in his eyes. Wherever his eyes passed, the soldiers tried their best to straighten their chests.

Every move you make is watched by thousands of soldiers.

This was the glory accumulated by the "God of War" Xue Shence through decades of military career.

Zhao Duan achieved it in just a few months.

"Secretary Xue, you are joking. You and I have all worked hard for His Majesty, the court, and the people. If you hadn't held back the Jiancheng Army on the eastern front, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything."

Zhao Duan said humbly.

The Grand Canal Governor Ning Zechen laughed:
"When did the governor learn to be humble like a pedantic scholar? Everyone present is an old acquaintance, so there is no need to say anything. I, Ning, will just say one thing: based on what you have done, I have no choice but to admit defeat!"

Then, other old acquaintances, generals and civil officials who were half-acquainted with him also spoke up to express their admiration.

Having been accustomed to false feelings in the court, Zhao Duan suddenly felt the sincerity coming towards him. He felt warm in his heart for no reason and laughed and scolded:
"Governor Ning, you are the only one who is good at talking. You are praising me like this. Is it really not because I helped your wife and daughter to send New Year's gifts?"

Ning Zechen was wearing an official robe, but around his neck he had a "scarf" with dense stitches, which was sewn by Madam Ning herself and sent from the capital not long ago.

Everyone burst into laughter and Governor Ning blushed.

A brief greeting.

Xue Shence immediately wanted to welcome Zhao Duan into the city.

At this time, Chen Gui, the director of the Firearms Battalion, looked at the black coffin on the cart in surprise:
"This is……"

Zhao Duan glanced at it and said casually:
"Oh, this is the coffin I prepared for myself. Now that the military order has been issued, let the three missionary armies know that if this coffin cannot hold Prince Jing's body, then use it to hold mine."

Fighting while carrying a coffin!

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked solemn and felt their blood boiling.

It was as if the coldness that had been waiting for several hours in this winter was dispelled by a surge of warm blood!

……

……

After a while, the news that Zhao Duan was carrying a coffin into the city spread throughout the three military camps in Huting.

Zhao Duan and his party were led into an official office in the city that served as a "temporary command center."

Outside the courtyard were soldiers standing guard. A group of people came in in a mighty procession and sat down in the "conference hall". Servants had already set up braziers and served hot tea.

When everyone gets together again, it is inevitable that there will be some warm greetings and reminiscing about the past.

Zhao Duan told them some details about his time at the front line and the peace talks in the capital.

Everyone talked about their confrontation with Prince Jing.

a long time.

Zhao Duan put down his cup and got down to business. He looked around at the faces sitting at the table in the room and said seriously:

"Okay, let's get down to business. I came to Huting from Jingchuan this time. You all know my purpose, right?"

The pale-faced, short-bearded "God of War" nodded and said "yes", and said seriously:
"Your Majesty has already sent me the documents. Next, I will go to Xiping Road and lead the imperial guards of the capital and the five military camps, together with the Duke of Zhenguo, to resist the invasion of the people from the Western Regions."

Yes!

This time the empress really spent a lot of money. She simply sent out most of the imperial guards guarding the capital, leaving only the last few to maintain basic order in the city.

In this way, with Xue Shence leading the team, there is a great chance that they can eliminate the King of Hejian before the spring, and then reorganize their forces to defend against the ambitions of Buddhism in the Western Regions.

Zhao Duan nodded and said:
"Since you already know, I don't need to waste my breath. I also learned some of the situation here in Jingchuan, but not in detail. I did have some contact with the Jiancheng rebels along the way. What do you think of the Jiancheng army?"

Facing his question, everyone was silent at first, and then Shi Meng spoke first:

"Very strong."

He explained carefully:

“Our Shenji Battalion has also fought against the Yunfu Army on the western front, but we can clearly feel that the Jiancheng Army has stronger cohesion, including weapons and armor, which are also the most powerful among the eight kings.

If all these are secondary, the real difficulty lies in the fact that the Jingwang Group is full of talents and has strong strategic determination.

Even though we have won many battles and conquered a lot of territory in recent days, in fact, the Jiancheng Army has hardly ever fought to the death with us. They gave up a lot of territory voluntarily, leaving us with a mess..."

These words cannot be said by Commander Xue Shence.

But there was no problem with Shi Meng's explanation.

Zhao Duan listened with a serious expression and asked:
"So, Prince Jing's army did not suffer heavy losses?"

"Yes," the commander of the 3,000-man battalion first sent to the Eastern Front nodded:
"Moreover, Jiancheng Dao is still sending in new soldiers... Prince Jing has already formed a deep interest alliance with the big families in Jiancheng Dao, including the Shen family, and has a very solid backing."

Zhao Duan exhaled lightly and said self-deprecatingly:
"It seems like this is indeed a tough nut to crack." He glanced at everyone's faces and said with a smile:
"But it's not a big problem. I can handle Xu Jingtang, and Xu Wen is not a supernatural being... Are Prince Jing and his son at the front line in Huting now?"

Xue Shence shook his head and said:

"No. They were there before winter. After winter, the two sides stopped fighting, and Prince Jing and his son withdrew to Jianning Prefecture. Nominally, they were there to stabilize the rear and prepare for the battle in the spring. But the latest intelligence from the shadow guards said that Prince Jing and his son had quietly entered Binhai Road."

"Prince Jing went to Binhaidao?"

Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows: "Purpose?"

Xue Shence said:
"I don't know the details, but I think it's either for King Chen or for Qingshan."

In Binhaidao, there are two most powerful forces. As one of the Eight Kings, Prince Chen blocked the entire Binhaidao after he started the Fengshan Rebellion. He acted like he was ceding land to become a local emperor, and he refused to spread the power to the outside world at all.

As for Qingshan...he is also an old rival.

"Haha, once Xu Jingtang dies, Prince Jing will definitely want to seek help. Prince Chen will be in trouble if he is killed, so the two sides might get involved.

However, I have analyzed with Your Majesty that the King of Chen is indecisive and may not agree immediately...Our main target for the time being is still the rebels on the other side." Zhao Duan commented.

If he used the situation of the Three Kingdoms to analyze it, he felt that King Chen had a bit of the feeling of the Eastern Wu...

I just don't know if there are any big and small Qiaos on Binhai Road...

cough cough.

Xue Shence commented:

"The one leading the rebels in Hu Ting is nominally Ye Xin, the former deputy commander of the military headquarters of Jianning Prefecture. When Prince Jing rebelled, he killed the original commander and took control of the military camp. He is the descendant of the Ye family of Jiancheng Dao."

After a pause, he continued:

"Although Ye Xin is the nominal leader, the one who actually makes many decisions is a mysterious adviser."

Zhao Duan's heart moved:
"I've heard of this person, and his surname seems to be Xu as well?"

"Yes," Xue Shence nodded.
"This person appeared very suddenly. For now, we speculate that he is a descendant of the Xu family's side branch. There are many people with the surname Xu in Jiancheng Dao."

"But there won't be many people who are capable enough to be relied upon by Prince Jing," Zhao Duan interrupted.
"I have previously asked Shadow Guard to collect information on capable people in Jiancheng Dao, but there is currently no one who meets the requirements."

Mochou said:

"Perhaps we can mobilize our people in the rebel army to conduct reconnaissance."

Zhao Duan glanced at the female prime minister and thought to himself, are you targeting me?
Do you already know that the princess is my pawn?

Your Majesty's mouth is so loose?

Seeing him staring at her, Mo Chou misunderstood him and took the initiative to explain:

"We instigated the rebellion of officials within Prince Jing's group."

Good fellow... you scared me... Zhao Duan exhaled and said in surprise:

"Is the level high enough?"

He was not surprised at all that the imperial court instigated the rebels.

Since the princes can bribe officials in the court to serve as spies.

The Great Yu court certainly also took similar actions, but the work of instigating rebellion and bribery was extremely difficult in the first few months.

Can be imagined.

At that time, the various vassal kings on the shore were at war with each other, the imperial court was in danger, and only the empress was left to resist with her cultivation.

The rebels' morale is high, how could they accept the court's instigation to revolt?
But as the war progressed, Zhao Duan won consecutive victories and the situation became delicate. At this time, many rebels began to waver and lose confidence.

Only by gradually accepting private contacts from the imperial court...can rebellion become possible.

Mochou said:

"Our operation to persuade the top leaders of the Jiancheng Army to defect is not going very smoothly. For the time being, those who have truly surrendered to us are not in high positions. However, there are also some real top leaders who have established contact with us, but have not yet surrendered completely."

Zhao Duan asked:
"Why? Are you unwilling to offer benefits? Use coercion or inducement?"

Mo Chou shook her head and said, "No. It's because of you."

"I?"

Zhao Duan was stunned.

I thought to myself, good man, Mo Chou, your fox tail has finally been exposed, you are going to slander me, right?
Take this blow from me...

Mochou explained helplessly:
"The other party doesn't believe in our promises. They have to wait until someone with enough weight and credibility is willing to join them."

"..." Zhao Duan said speechlessly:
"With Envoy Xue and you as the 'Military Supervisor' here, the other party still doesn't believe it?"

Xue Shence smiled bitterly and said:

"Perhaps the situation is still unclear. In fact, when the news of peace talks came out, the other side was a little anxious, but after the talks collapsed, they were no longer anxious."

understood.

After all, the situation is uncertain, and the other party is also undecided... Zhao Duan pondered for a moment and said:

"Who is responsible for inciting the enemy's high-ranking officers to defect?"

Tang Jinzhong, the imperial attendant, suddenly spoke up: "It was Song Jinxi who followed up."

After Zhao Shixiong's rebellion was successful, knowing that the situation on the western front was already decided, Song Jinxi was sent by Zhao Duan to the eastern front for support.

Not in the meeting room at the moment.

Zhao Duan nodded and said, "Go find him and I will personally take care of this matter."

"Yes." Tang Jinzhong stood up and walked out.

Then, everyone started talking about other topics, and the meeting was disbanded after a full hour.

Xue Shence began to prepare to leave. As for the handover, it was easy because the commanders of the three major camps would not leave.

……

After the meeting.

Zhao Duan called Mochou alone and went to another room together, where they met Song Jinxi who had been waiting there for a long time.

"Sir." The priest who was good at concealment and assassination bowed deeply.

"No need to be polite. Tell me about the situation of the local high-ranking official who instigated rebellion." Zhao Duan sat down leisurely with a deep look in his eyes.

Mo Chou was sitting on the side and also looked over.

Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. If you can successfully instigate a rebellion, subsequent wars will be much easier to fight.

At the same time, this is also the area where Zhao Duan is better at.

Song Jinxi said:

"Yes. The highest-ranking official in the enemy army in Huting who has come into contact with us is named Jiang Wangsun, who is one of the top ten civilian officials in Jiancheng Army.

He is also the highest-ranking civil official in the Huting Army, apart from the counselor surnamed Xu, who is on the same level as Ye Xin."

After a pause, Song Jinxi added:

"Jiang Wangsun was supposed to manage Hu Ting together with Ye Xin, but after the appearance of Xu the strategist, a large part of Jiang Wangsun's power was taken away, and now he has been demoted to the third position of the Hu Ting rebels."

Jiang Wangsun?
What an impressive name... Zhao Duan recalled the man's information and remembered that he was originally the prefect of Jiancheng Dao.

He thought for a moment and said, "Make arrangements. I want to meet him."

(End of this chapter)