Chapter 984: The Man Behind Wang Yu

What Guo Shuhan called a secret, Chen Wuji actually didn't care about at all.

He has done quite a lot lately; as long as it isn't a major violation of principle, Chen Wuji won't hold it against him—those who have made contributions should receive the treatment due to contributors.

But Guo Shuhan seemed a bit apprehensive about this; he first gave Chen Wuji a preventive shot, then pondered for a while, before continuing: "To guard against any unexpected developments, before leaving Feng Xian Zhou I secretly ordered my subordinates, in the half month after my departure, to enter An Sai Zhou and Liu Min Ji in batches in disguise."

"These people are the elite scouts I have trained over the years; although their numbers are few, their combat capability is decent. After they entered An Sai Zhou and Liu Min Ji, I tasked them with separately seizing the strategic points of An Sai Zhou and Liu Min Ji and taking control of the military authority."

"So far, more than half has been completed……"

Wang Yu stared fixedly at Guo Shuhan, then suddenly jumped to his feet, gnashing his teeth and shouting: "Guo Qingming, in your eyes what am I?"

"Don't get excited yet, hear me out—you are naturally my close friend!"

"Cut the crap, do you treat close friends like this?" Wang Yu pointed at Guo Shuhan like a machine gun, shouting angrily, "You lured me to Liu Min Ji, on one hand controlling me, on the other arranging people to dig out my old stronghold? A extermination plot? Is this how you treat so‑called close friends?"

"Sit down first, sit down and speak!" Guo Shuhan reached out, trying to help Wang Yu sit on the wooden stool.

Wang Yu angrily shook off his hand, slapping Guo Shuhan away, and shouted, "Stay away from me!"

"Who made you so stubborn? If you weren't stubborn, I couldn't have pulled off this risky scheme—my troops are precious, okay?" Guo Shuhan also grew angry, shouting with his neck stiff.

"You know what Feng Xian Zhou was like at first—bandits and lairs everywhere. To pacify those scoundrels I borrowed silver from you to raise troops, and to this day I still owe a bunch of people silver! I feel bad for every one of them who dies—do you think I want that?"

"Don't think I seized An Sai Zhou to scheme against you; us workers just fear that you, this scoundrel, might get a death wish and die, taking the whole state's troops with you!"

"You bastard, I must admit you've got a knack for governing land, but when it comes to leading troops you're just a rookie—a clueless rookie who still thinks you're incredibly capable!"

Wang Yu's face turned dark green, he held back for a long time and asked in a low voice, "So I still have to thank you?"

"Exactly, you're supposed to thank me." Guo Shuhan puffed out his chest, stared fixedly at Wang Yu, and shouted loudly, "What I just said—more than half done—means my troops have completely taken over your subordinates and are now cooperating with the Marquis's forces to surround and suppress the bandits in Guiling Xian."

"But…"

Guo Shuhan, having reached this point, suddenly shifted tone, his momentum dropping, he looked guiltily at Chen Wuji and said, "But, my subordinates in An Sai Zhou, to quickly seize control, flew the Marquis's banner. First they used Wang Pangzi's identity to play the emotion card; if that didn't work… they killed people under the Marquis's banner to intimidate some, then coaxed the rest into surrendering."

Chen Wuji could no longer hold back at this point.

Damn, what talent!

He had always thought Wang Yu was a rare talent, but today he suddenly realized that Guo Shuhan, who looks plain and unadorned, is the real tough guy.

This set of small tactics is practically a classic.

It's so smooth, it's special‑operations‑level special operations.

In the conventional sense, special operations mainly involve behind‑enemy‑lines sabotage and intelligence gathering, yet he actually used special‑operations methods to occupy An Sai Zhou.

This set of tactics is well worth digging into and studying.

Marvelous!

Too marvelous!

Damn, it feels like I've picked up a treasure!

"No problem, it's just borrowing my name for a moment!" Chen Wuji laughed heartily, "You solved such a big problem for me, and with such thorough consideration—let alone borrowing my name, you could even act under my banner and it would be no big deal!"

Guo Shuhan gave an embarrassed smile, "Those bastards… did indeed forge… your banner, Marquis, but only once, just a single time."

Chen Wuji stared for a moment, then chuckled and waved his hand, "No problem, no problem—everything is for victory; I too have scraped my way up on the battlefield, so I completely understand."

Wang Yu suddenly turned, pointed at Guo Shuhan and shouted angrily, "Marquis, this scoundrel falsifies the Marquis's command flag, disregards military orders—if one does it, there will be a second; if we allow this conduct, there will surely be future trouble. Please, Marquis, execute this villain!"

"Hey, you, shut up!" Guo Shuhan muttered softly.

Chen Wuji said with a smile, "Prince Wang's consideration is also correct, but in extraordinary times one must take extraordinary measures. Qingming has already led his troops to surrender to me, his men are also my men; to reduce casualties and smoothly achieve victory, I think this is right."

"Thank the Marquis for his mercy!" Guo Shuhan hurriedly said before Wang Yu could speak.

Chen Wuji pressed his hand downward, "Give me some face, you two—let go of past grudges. You are close friends, and from now on you'll serve together in office; some things are better said openly."

Guo Shuhan immediately gave Wang Yu an apologetic smile, "Brother Ningyuan, I truly fear you'll cause trouble. You should also know that with An Sai Zhou's meager troop strength and the quality of those soldiers… what you want to do is simply impossible, it's basically courting death."

"Right now, this is the best outcome; I don't mind a little hardship—just as long as you stay alive… that's enough!"

Wang Yu closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and sat down heavily.

Things have come to this—what else does he have to say?

Moreover, by working backward from the result, some bastards' remarks… actually seem to make sense.

Chen Wuji saw the two finally calm down, ordered Chu Yun to serve tea to everyone, then turned to Guo Shuhan and asked, "You just said the troops in An Sai Zhou have been completely pacified, is that true?"

"Yes, Marquis!" Guo Shuhan replied solemnly.

"Wang Ningyuan governs the locality quite well, but he's utterly unsuited to command troops—An Sai Zhou nominally has a garrison of thirteen thousand, but in reality fewer than six thousand are fit for service… the barracks are full of men drawing pay without serving, plus a bunch of septuagenarians and octogenarians, some even needing crutches to walk."

Wang Yu's old face flushed red, "Impossible, don't slander me!"

"What am I slandering you for? Those few colonels under your command are hardly any good."

"I know they're no good, but they're okay in battle—how could the camp possibly have septuagenarians and octogenarians? Of course, I don't deny the empty‑pay issue; I know it exists!" Wang Yu shouted.