The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 534 Summary after the war
Zhao Duan smiled, as if he was not surprised by her choice.

He had made similar choices twice before. Once, when he was in the capital, he gave the concubine who was looted by the young cabinet minister Li Yinglong a chance to decide her fate.

The second time was for Yunxi, letting her decide whether to do things for herself.

This is the third time, and his purpose for doing so is very simple.

As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Direct Pointing Group, Nie Yurong might play a key role in dealing with King Mu as long as she can be used by him.

As a chess player, if you want to defeat a strong enemy, you need to inadvertently place "idle chess pieces", such as Princess Lu Yan'er beside Prince Jing Xuwen.

For example, what would happen if he placed an insider under Xu Jingtang, the Prince of Mu? Zhao Duan had not thought it through.

But it does not prevent him from doing this from his standpoint as the governor.

"Lord Zhao, I can do things for you, no need for my sister." Yuxiu's face changed slightly, she took a step forward and tried to stop him.

Zhao Duan smiled like a fox:
"Priest, please think carefully. What I want you to do must be related to the civil war in the royal family, and it will violate the principles of the Tianshi Mansion."

Yu Xiu was stunned for a moment. She took a deep breath and said seriously, "I know."

Saying this meant that she would rather break some taboos for Nie Yurong, and even though she was a disciple of Heavenly Master, she would have to pay a huge price for it.

Nie Yurong shook her head and smiled:

"Sister, I have made up my mind. Even if you try to stop me, I will return to Xiu Yi Zhi Zhi. Not only for you, but also for my friends there. Now that I know you are alive and well, that is enough, but I have other things to do."

Obviously, the female killer who could become the Embroidered Uniform Envoy was not an indecisive person, and was even more decisive than Yuxiu.

She stared at Zhao Duan and asked seriously, "Can I get a few trustworthy friends to surrender to the court together?"

Zhao Duan looked strange and said:

"Do you think King Mu will lose? Do you want to lead others out of the fire pit?"

Nie Yurong said: "I don't know who will win, but I think Xu Jingtang doesn't have the qualities to be a king."

Hiss... What is this King Mu like in private? Even his subordinates have no confidence in him. Zhao Duan asked curiously:

"Why do you say that?"

Nie Yurong said:
"Prince Mu has always been a heroic figure who is eager to recruit talents to the outside world, but he is not like that in private. Moreover, most importantly, he is very suspicious. He is always worried about Zhao Shixiong. I don't understand so many big principles, but at least I know that it is difficult to conquer the world if the people under his command are not united."

Zhao Duan's eyes lit up slightly, he took note of this information, and nodded:

"Okay, in that case, I will arrange for Song Jinxi to help you create a false appearance of escaping and disappearing, so that you can sneak back, and then you can contact Song Jinxi."

The life or death of a female killer leader was decided so casually.

Now it was Nie Yurong's turn to look at him strangely:
"That's it? Aren't you afraid that I'll turn against you after I leave? Am I just acting right now? Are you kidding me? After all, it's normal for sisters who haven't seen each other for decades to be less than me in the eyes of others, who have grown up in Xiu Yi for decades."

Zhao Duan laughed loudly and waved his hands, with a strong sense of confidence in his tone:
"I am not King Mu. I trust people when I employ them, and I will not employ people I doubt. I will let you go, and that's what I will do. If you betray me, I can catch you once, and I can catch you a second time."

Nie Yurong was stunned. At this moment, she clearly realized that the empress's favorite minister in front of her was completely different from the image in the information.

Even though the two of them had only met for a short time, she was still conquered by the courage and ease in Zhao Duan's every move.

"I kind of understand why His Majesty would take a fancy to you."

Nie Yurong suddenly sighed, looked deeply at her jade sleeves, bowed, and walked out of the room.

Yuxiu opened her mouth, sighed, and said goodbye and went back to the house in a somewhat dazed manner.

She didn't blame Zhao Duan, but realized that the crybaby sister in her memory had grown up and was more independent than herself.

……

After seeing off a few people, Zhao Duan silently ate the apple. A familiar sound of footsteps came from outside.

Mo Chou rushed in quickly, her face filled with joy:

"Xue Shence is back! Su Dan has been captured, a great victory!"

finally come back!
Zhao Duan was shocked and immediately stood up and left the county government office with Mochou. He saw Xue Shence and other generals returning in triumph.

Many rebel generals were also escorted in the team. "Juren General" Su Dan was tied up, with his eyes closed, not saying a word, and looking indifferent to life and death.

"Commander Zhao! Xue has lived up to your trust and defeated the enemy army! The prisoners are behind us!"

Xue Shence threw away his Fang Tian Hua Ji, turned over and got off his horse, and his gloomy brows that had been gloomy for days finally brightened up.

Every general had a victorious smile on his face.

Zhao Duan felt relieved and immediately led everyone into the county government office to inquire about the situation.

The process was extremely simple. The plan failed, and Su Dan, who lost the protection of the masters, was attacked by Xue Shence, Shi Meng, and Yuan Feng from the Beijing camp.

As expected, the army was defeated and the evacuation route was cut off.

Mochou also described the current situation in the city, saying that the city was not seriously damaged and that they only needed to wait for the refugees to return. In two or three days at most, order would be restored in this seized territory.

It was a great victory, filling the entire army with joy.

At this moment, Xue Shence, Shi Meng, Yuan Feng, Chen Gui, Tang Jinzhong, Ji Yue, Lang Shiba and others gathered together.

In an extremely relaxed atmosphere, we exchanged our results.

Xue Shence, the commander, looked at Zhao Duan seriously, stood up and said solemnly:

"This battle was a great victory, and Governor Zhao played a great role. If the governor had not taken action at the critical moment, Xue would be blamed. If the two counties were reduced to scorched earth, I would be the sinner for all eternity."

As soon as these words were spoken, dozens of generals in the hall looked at Zhao Duan with gratitude, admiration and submission.

Everyone understood that without Zhao Duan's coordination, the outcome would have been reversed.

"No wonder you ordered the collection of many rare items in the Lu Mansion. Was it just for today? You were worried about the worst-case scenario, so you made preparations?"

Mo Chou was not stupid. When he thought about Zhao Duan's actions in supervising grain in the past two days, he suddenly realized something.

Zhao Duan did not take credit for it, and smiled faintly:

"It's just to be prepared for any eventuality. I'm not sure if it will succeed, but fortunately the worst did not happen. The first credit for this great victory should go to your Majesty, who is the king's teacher, and then to the concerted efforts of all of you, and then to the unity of the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp..."

Halfway through his speech, Zhao Duan realized that the beginning of his speech was too strong, so he coughed and said:
"In short, we should celebrate the great victory, but don't relax. You must know that we have only recaptured a small part of the territory on the western front of Linfeng, and there is still a long way to go to quell the rebellion. And next, we must be careful of the counterattack of the vassal kings."

Xue Shence nodded, restrained his joy, and said seriously:
"Taking back Linfeng was within our expectations. When the news spreads here, I am sure that Jing Wang Xu Wen on the east front of Linfeng will definitely take action, attack the east front, and form an alliance with Mu Wang Xu Jingtang to fight against us."

Mo Chou looked at him: "You want to go back to the East Front?"

Xue Shence nodded:
"Once Prince Jing takes action, someone must be stationed on the eastern front. I don't have much time left. I want to take a short break and then return to the eastern front with some troops to fight against Prince Jing. As for this side..."

Shi Meng, the commander of the Shenji Camp, said:

"Prince Jing stole the firearms blueprints. I heard that the army has firearms. You will be too passive in the fight. It would be better to let Chen Gui bring the new firearms with the Privy Envoy to restrain Prince Jiancheng Jing."

The commander of the Fifth Army Camp, Yuan Feng, said:
"Why don't we send the entire Shenji Battalion to the east, and leave the west to the Fifth Army Battalion. I also want to have a showdown with Zhao Shixiong!"

With the "bridgehead" of Su Dan abandoned, the western front will continue to move southward and enter the Huai River, where it will face Zhao Shixiong, the commander of the southwestern border army.

That was a much tougher nut to crack than Su Dan's.

At the end of last year, Duke Tang and others returned to Beijing to report on their work, but Zhao Shixiong alone refused to go to Beijing.

Zhao Shixiong held a very high position in the border army, and was considered by many to be no less than the "military god" Xue Shence.

Everyone began to discuss how to divide the troops and who should stay on the Western Front and who should go to the Eastern Front.

Zhao Duan did not let an outsider guide the experts, and he fully respected the opinions of these generals.

Finally, after discussion, a consensus was reached:
Xue Shence led the Shenji Camp to the eastern front, and will serve as the main force of the imperial court to attack the Jianchengdao rebels.

The Fifth Army Battalion remained on the western front, cooperating with the prefect Sun Xiaozheng to advance slowly and adopt a steady approach.

Try not to confront Zhao Shixiong head-on, but stabilize the western front and assist Xue Shence strategically.

In other words, it is unrealistic to start fighting on both the east and west fronts at the same time. It is better to pick one to fight first. "In that case, let's do it this way." Zhao Duan, as the military supervisor, nodded and made the decision. He said:

"As the military supervisor, I will personally write a memorial to report this news to His Majesty."

Well... Actually, it has been submitted, but there is still a need to complete a procedure...

Xue Shence suddenly looked at him and said seriously:

"When the governor reports, please also report to His Majesty about food and other supplies. I am very worried that Prince Jing, Prince Mu and other rebels will not fight us next, but will instead fortify their walls and clear the countryside, hide away like turtles, and delay time."

Zhao Duan's heart moved: "You mean..."

Xue Shence sighed:

"It's almost autumn. Now many of the nine provinces and eighteen prefectures of the dynasty have fallen into the hands of the rebel kings. With only the territories that the court can still fully control, I'm afraid that food and other supplies will soon be in short supply."

What is the war about? Logistics.

The capital city does not produce grain, and Linfeng and Qingzhou are not the main production areas of the Yu State.

This means that if the war becomes protracted and cannot be ended this year, it will be even more difficult to quell the rebellion once winter comes.

And when the next spring comes, it will be the sowing season...and once the princes join forces to block supplies, the court will immediately face a "supply shortage".

By then, I'm afraid they will collapse without a fight...

"Three months."

Xue Shence gave a time with a serious expression:
"In a few days, the weather will enter the depths of winter, and it will be even more difficult to fight. Therefore, if we cannot take over the Huai River within three months and cannot obtain sufficient supplies from the extremely prosperous Huai River, then... the court will be in great trouble!"

Take over Huaishui within three months?

Or at least take over half of the Huai River?

After hearing this goal, most of the joy of the victory disappeared, but they had to admit that Xue Shence's judgment was correct.

"Join forces to blockade and cut off supplies... this is indeed the strategy that the rebel kings are likely to choose." Zhao Duan also became serious.

He recalled the day he first arrived in Taicang, when the rebels burned the fields around Songjiazhuang and wanted to blow up the Taicang silver mine.

Obviously, this is the purpose.

Since attacking the capital is no longer realistic, switching to a collective defense strategy and bringing down the imperial court is the most reasonable and wise choice.

"Don't worry too much, everyone. If Duke Tang of Xipingdao defeats the King of Hejian, life won't be too difficult with the reinforcements from Xipingdao."

Seeing that the atmosphere was depressing and worried that it would affect morale, Mo Chou hurriedly spoke.

As for the Tieguan Road further north... she didn't mention it because there was a shortage of resources there.

Xiping Road?... Zhao Duan's heart moved. According to the data, the military strength of the Prince of Hejian over there was not strong, and Duke Tang clearly stood on the side of the empress last year...

With the strength of the border troops led by Duke Tang, it would not be difficult to defeat the King of Hejian within a few months.

But the problem is... the Western Region...

The Western Regions would surely be happy to weaken the imperial court's blockade of the border and would likely cause trouble.

Even if there is Princess Wenzhu in the Western Regions, the actual person in power there is the Dharma King of Buddhism. If the Dharma King orders to contain the border troops, Princess Wenzhu will not be able to stop him...

Still can't count on others... Zhao Duan sighed in his heart and said:
"I will report the truth to your majesty."

The meeting ended here, and the soldiers got up and left to carry out the follow-up work.

But compared to the joy after the great victory, everyone felt a sense of urgency.

Three months...can they conquer the Huai River?
Even with Xue Shence in charge, the three major Beijing camps went out together, and they successively destroyed the Qingzhou army and captured Su Dan alive, but it still failed to give people confidence.

Zhao Duan also returned to his room in the county government office, had a simple meal, and slept for a while. When the sun went out, the sky turned dark, and the world became dark, he woke up again.

Finally, I felt refreshed and tried to visualize “The World” again.

……

In a trance, Zhao Duan entered the world in the scroll again.

But this time, as soon as he entered the painting, he clearly felt the existence of the "stone tablet".

"Hey, is it because I left some traces when I walked out of the scroll before?"

Zhao Duan didn't understand the principle, but his consciousness instinctively adjusted the direction. He did not fall towards the metropolis below, but floated in the air, following the strange traction, and found a gap in the darkness.

"Could it be that these gaps already exist? If there were no gaps, how could my consciousness enter here? So, it was because I was unable to detect the cracks in and out of the scroll before."

"Or maybe Zhen Bao left a crack on the scroll that belonged to her when she first entered here, and I remembered the coordinates last time?"

"It's interesting to say that I only exist in my previous life's identity in the scroll. Once I leave the scroll, I will return to the identity of 'Zhao Duan'."

Zhao Duan was thinking wildly and tried to drill into the crack.

……

In the old fourth-floor pavilion of the Imperial Palace.

Zhao Duan suddenly emerged from the mural, and what came into his sight was darkness.

The palace had already fallen into night, but in the dark room, a palace lantern was lit, and the exquisite lantern burned quietly.

Dispelled a piece of darkness.

Xu Zhenguan was sitting quietly on the futon, eating dinner!
There was a small table on the ground, on which were plates of food and a jug of wine.

Seeing Zhao Duan "coming back", Xu Zhenguan, who was holding the chopsticks to pick up food, was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, and he said with a smile:
"Looks like you succeeded."

Zhao Duan was also stunned, his expression changed:

"Your Majesty will not wait for me here forever, will you?"

Xu Zhenguan nodded as a matter of course: "Of course I have been waiting."

She explained earnestly: "This is something worth waiting for."

Several hours have passed since the last time Zhao Duan returned to Linfeng.

She waited from the afternoon until dark.

Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, exhaled, and explained:

"After I returned, I found that my soul was extremely tired. I rested for a long time and dealt with some aftermath before trying to come back. It seems that I can go back and forth in this state frequently, but the price is that I will consume energy every time and need to rest."

There was some surprise in Xu Zhenguan's eyes. Although it was only a "soul" that could float over and not a complete person, it was a good thing no matter how you looked at it.

"Sit down and talk? It's a pity that you can't eat like this." Xu Zhenguan joked.

Zhao Duan smiled bitterly and did not look at the delicious food on the table. He did not waste any words and talked about some subsequent events of the battle, including the story of Wei Xianzong making up for his crime with meritorious service.

"It seems that you have made the right choice in recommending this person. The person recommended by Lord Yuan is indeed talented."

Xu Zhen nodded and said:
"Wartime is a special case. Since he is willing to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, we can give him a chance."

Zhao Duan nodded and mentioned the reunion of the Yuxiu sisters.

"Is there such a thing? Well, you just go ahead and see how to use this person." Xu Zhen nodded, expressing surprise, but these were not big deals after all.

It was not until Zhao Duan finished talking about the content of the post-war meeting of generals and Xue Shence's concerns that Xu Zhenguan finally became serious.

"Blocking supplies and trapping the imperial court... This matter is indeed difficult to resolve, but it is also a fantasy to want to take back the Huai River within three months. What do you think?"

Xu Zhenguan asked, his eyes sparkling in the darkness.

(End of this chapter)