Chapter 789: with translation of chapter title

My lord, could the Emperor be deliberately setting up a ruse, luring us into a trap, trying to sabotage us?

Xu Zengyi voiced his judgment: "The Emperor has been plotting in Nan Jun all along; perhaps this is his opportunity, taking advantage of the moment…… no, this might not be a big deal, unless the Emperor has lost his mind."

Xu Zengyi had only spoken half of his words when he himself first denied them.

Chen Wuji's gaze was deep and solemn as he repeatedly looked over what the Emperor had written, saying, "Anyone who understands military affairs should know that launching an attack on us now is not a good opportunity."

"Our army has fought the Qiang People three times, annihilating their forces; this is precisely when our military prestige is at its height. As long as those officials in the Court have a slight understanding of military affairs, they should realize that sending troops against us now is like rushing headlong into a blade's edge."

"Unless they can muster a force several times ours in one go, with enough confidence to utterly crush us in Nan Jun, there is otherwise no hope."

"The Emperor didn't explicitly state this in the letter?" Xu Zengyi asked.

Chen Wuji passed the letter over, saying, "Sir, have a look yourself; the Emperor details everything—who proposed it, the situation in the Court, how much grain and funds there are—all listed, except this point."

Xu Zengyi received that thick letter, felt it underneath, and his expression immediately turned somewhat strange.

The already unfolded portion was already a long piece; unexpectedly, there was still a thick stack unread beneath.

How idle is the Emperor?

The thickness of this letter must be about ten thousand words, right?

At this moment, Xu Zengyi suddenly developed deep doubts about his earlier judgment of the Emperor.

Could an Emperor so fond of pouring out his innermost thoughts truly have thoughts as deep as the sea?

With these doubts, Xu Zengyi turned his gaze to the Emperor's description of the Court's troop deployment matters.

The more he looked, the stranger his expression became.

"My lord, what His Majesty the Emperor says must be true; it is indeed overly detailed!" Xu Zengyi said.

Moreover, reading between the lines of the Emperor's words, he actually sensed a kind of… deep affection for kin and friends, or rather the sort of feeling that exists between lovers.

The Emperor's unintentional choice of words and phrasing completely surpassed mere appreciation for his own lord; it was more like regarding him as a reliance, seeing him as a right arm.

Chen Wuji furrowed his brows deeply, saying, "Sir, if that's the case, could our earlier judgment be wrong? The Emperor isn't openly repairing a plank road while secretly sneaking through Chen Cang; he doesn't intend to secretly undermine me, does he?"

"Not necessarily." Xu Zengyi shook his head.

"My lord, there's no need to rush this for now. We can tentatively hold these two judgments here, not relax our vigilance toward the Emperor, and first prepare the measures the Emperor mentioned in the letter."

Chen Wuji nodded, saying, "Indeed, we'll take it step by step; why rush to a conclusion?"

"If he doesn't have the ulterior motive we suspected, I'll definitely send His Majesty the Emperor a big 'good person' card—he really knows how to get things done."

"If the Emperor has no other schemes or plots, then what he is doing now truly deserves to be called noble and upright, awesome to the max!"

"Among worldly emperors, those who can reach this point are exceedingly rare!"

"Since the Court intends to move against us, Sir, you might as well make preparations early and see how to give them a big surprise." Chen Wuji turned over a page of the letter and said in a low voice.

"When they launch troops at the time of his military prestige, they'd better really be able to withstand a beating!"

Without Chen Wuji needing to remind him, Xu Zengyi has already picked up his pen again.

However, this time it's not copying text, but opening a fresh page to draft a military strategy.

"My lord, the Court's troop deployment this time might perhaps borrow a route through Qiang Land." Xu Zengyi suddenly said.

Chen Wuji buried his head in reading the Emperor's letter, snorted, and said, "It's only reasonable; after all, if I hadn't interfered and stirred up the mess in Nan Jun, according to those officials' scheming in the Court, Nan Jun should long ago have become a pasture for the Qiang People."

"The Shenxian Ling Ancient Road is rugged; only a small contingent of elite troops can pass. A massive force of hundreds of thousands would take over a month even without supplies, let alone the fact that they couldn't possibly go without supplies."

"Merely borrowing a route through Qiang Land shouldn't be that easy for them; perhaps they'd have to give something up. I've heard that the Qiang People in the north are closer to the Uyghur, and don't seem to get along very well with their fellow tribesmen."

Xu Zengyi's pen stalled abruptly, his face grew a bit more solemn, and he said, "My lord, this battle… might still entail some trouble."

"Sir, are you worried that those bigwigs in the Court will treat Nan Jun as bait?" Chen Wuji raised his eyes and asked.

As he had just mentioned the Uyghur People, he also thought of some possibilities.

When a giant elephant is about to fall, jackals and wild dogs will come sniffing the scent.

Although this elephant named Da Yu hasn't yet collapsed, the surrounding neighbors have already begun to stir.

The Uyghur, a people whose population is not less than that of the Qiang Alliance, having mastered Da Yu's metallurgical techniques and widely applying them to their army, constitute a powerful tribe that is far more troublesome and advanced than the Qiang People.

The Qiang People still operate under a tribal system; to launch a large-scale war, they must first spend several months uniting the various Qiang tribes, conducting heaven‑worship alliances and the like.

Yet the Uyghur already have a kingdom, merely not yet fully unified.

Their every expedition against Da Yu is carried out with strategy; they almost always strike when Da Yu encounters internal problems, launching immediately with killing moves, aiming to seize cities and territory.

In the several skirmishes between Da Yu and the Uyghur, they have already lost several prefectures' worth of land.

"It's not impossible." Xu Zengyi said.

"The present Emperor has cultivated a cadre of ministers highly skilled at using gold, silver, jade objects and ceding territory to curry favor with foreign tribes; if the Court's troop deployment this time intends to borrow a route through Qiang Land, it will inevitably have to pass through Uyghur territory."

"The Qiang People are now greatly weakened; the Court could not simply hand over Nan Jun to them, but using Nan Jun as a condition to request Uyghur troops is very plausible."

"Those few officials in the Court may not be good ministers, but they are all very shrewd merchants who know how to extract more benefits for themselves."

Chen Wuji rubbed his gums and said, "I seem to have become the target of everyone's criticism; if the Uyghur send troops, this will become a big hassle, really putting some pressure on people."

Although they complained of pressure, Xu Zengyi saw no sign of it on Chen Wuji's face; rather, there was a hint of teasing.

"My lord, the Uyghur must not be underestimated." Xu Zengyi reminded.

"They have always concealed their weakness outwardly, but it is heard that their armored troops have already exceeded ten thousand, all of whom are cavalry."

"The Uyghur have always been emulating our Zhongyuan Dynasty and have long been eager to move upon Zhongyuan territory."

"But this tribe is adept at strategy and never acts rashly; when weak, they willingly served as retainers, and their auxiliary forces were the most enthusiastic and numerous whenever dispatched from the surroundings of Da Yu, earning praise from several emperors in the past."

"Now that they have grown strong, their tusks are beginning to show."