Chapter 1229: Liu Zheng

Along this journey.

Liu Zheng felt just how difficult it is to be a man.

A woman's jealousy is truly powerful...

These past few days, he could barely even get out of bed.

Hearing Liu Zheng's miserable wails, that blockhead Pei Qianyun almost rushed in to save him several times.

"Young Master, wuwuwu, why have you become so thin!"

With great difficulty, Liu Zheng came out to the deck to move around, and Pei Qianyun was so self-reproachful he was nearly in tears.

"Unaccustomed to the climate, unaccustomed to the climate..."

Liu Zheng leaned on him with one hand, trembling as he spoke.

"Oh! Where is the physician? Where is the physician!"

Pei Qianyun shouted loudly.

Liu Zheng rolled his eyes and hurriedly covered his mouth.

It's hard...

Being a man is too hard.

He had indeed lost a few pounds over these last few days.

Just like that, after several twists and turns, the Yinzhou warship finally brought Liu Zheng back to Jinghua.

Finally back...

Every time he stepped onto his home soil, Liu Zheng would let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Too busy...

He was truly too busy.

After disembarking at the port, he boarded the Train.

The war in Jinghua had ended just a few days ago, and the city walls had not yet been fully repaired; just looking at the extent of the damage, one could imagine how difficult the Jinghua Defense War had been.

To be honest, with only twenty thousand City Defense Army troops, being able to hold off the one hundred thousand-strong army of Tiemu City—even Liu Zheng could not guarantee such a feat.

What was even more absurd was that after the great battle, he had actually scared off the Prince of Zhao's two hundred thousand-strong army!

Who was the Prince of Zhao?

He was the Commander of the Youzhou Army, a person who had once wanted to rebel.

Their desire for political power and for Jinghua City was clear to everyone; they would stop at nothing to take Jinghua, yet they were easily forced away by a small trick from Yu Qian.

Yu Qian was certainly a talent.

Liu Zheng was naturally extremely familiar with this person of the same name from his previous life.

A very fierce scholar.

Although this fellow had many opinions about him, Liu Zheng's standard for employing people had never been based on political views; if someone was a talent, he would use them.

If someone was a talent, they would be of great use to Longyan.

Liu Zheng had always had his own standard when it came to talent.

Beyond the talents trained by the Liangzhou Academy and the Liangzhou Military Academy.

He valued other talents even more.

Looking now at the situation in Longyan.

Zhu Zhen was already old, and his scholar-official habits from so many years were quite severe. That kind of egoism was deeply engraved in his heart and was very difficult to remove.

The Prince of Qin, Xie Zhao, was the same.

He had no problem fighting for the interests of the Noble faction. But if one looked at the world, his vision was limited. One could see this from the fact that Liu Zheng did not let Xie Chan be the Emperor.

The interior of Longyan had been developed about as much as it could be; Liu Zheng needed to focus his energy outside of Longyan, and at this moment, Jinghua happened to lack someone to guard the home front.

At first, Liu Zheng did not know whom to choose.

This time, Yu Qian was the most suitable candidate.

Liu Zheng was not worried that this fellow would sabotage him because of his personal opinions; Liu Zheng believed that he could still distinguish between personal grievances and the greater good of the nation.

Therefore, along this journey, Liu Zheng had been holding the intelligence information on Yu Qian sent by the intelligence system, and he had already begun to ponder and decide on this matter.

First, he would promote Yu Qian, and next, it would be time to settle accounts with Tiemu City.

He had always known that Tiemu City was an ambitious man...

But he had not expected...

That he would choose this point in time to come to Jinghua to stir up trouble.

Mobei was a land of bitter cold, and encountering this Little Ice Age, the Mongol tribes were short of clothing and food. During their time of

difficulty, Liu Zheng had given them great help. When Liaodong was first being developed, he even gave Tiemu City quite a bit of usage rights, which allowed these nomadic peoples to no longer have to worry about hunger.

At the time, he had made this decision while bearing the name of a "traitor," all for the sake of the two peoples living together in peace.

This man, Tiemu City, was a double-edged sword.

Used well, he could fiercely kill the enemy.

Used poorly, he would hurt oneself.

Liu Zheng had always felt that he could win him over...

But this time, he truly did not expect him to break his word and turn toward Tsarist Russia!

Whether Tiemu City was determined to be a dog for Tsarist Russia or wanted to fulfill the grand ambition that Tuolei had failed to complete, he had launched a sneak attack during Longyan's time of crisis—this was something Liu Zheng would not let slide!

At this moment, an intelligence officer came before Liu Zheng and whispered a few words in his ear.

"What? Yu Qian has been captured?"

The intelligence officer nodded.

"Young Master, the nobles have seized Yu Qian on the charge of killing a Feudatory King without authorization; they likely intend to take action against him."

"Absurd! If not for Yu Qian, their heads would be decorating their graves by two inches today. Ungrateful wretches," Liu Zheng coldly barked.

Although Liu Zheng said this, in truth, he understood the minds of those nobles.

What is a noble? A noble is a privileged class. To them, Yu Qian, a mere Sixth-Rank Assistant Minister, was like an ant, yet he dared to kill a Feudatory King!

To them, what Yu Qian killed was not a Feudatory King on the verge of rebellion, but the face of their nobility!

This precedent must not be set!

In the history of Dragon Flame Nation, there is no such precedent!

They, the nobles, should be high and mighty; they should be born superior to others!

Especially now that Dragon Flame Nation has become a constitutional monarchy, they believe even more firmly that although the Emperor is gone, the status of the nobility must be elevated, not lowered!

"These parasites!"

Liu Zheng snorted.

To be honest, Liu Zheng had long been very dissatisfied with these princes and nobles, both new and old.

Although the constitutional monarchy curtailed the monarch's power, it did not affect the privileges of these nobles in the slightest. With the existence of this privileged class, human rights above all else would forever remain empty talk.

Moreover, Liu Zheng also understood that even though he had promulgated many decrees, the nobles' enclosure of land was still happening constantly. Although this indirectly caused labor to flow into the cities and objectively promoted the development of handicrafts and industry, such development was undoubtedly pathological.

At the time, because Liu Zheng still needed to rely on them for certain matters and was extremely urgent to establish the constitutional monarchy system, he was willing to lead them to wealth and make concessions to them.

Therefore, he turned a blind eye back then. Now, they actually disregard public opinion and want to take a knife to a national hero; he must give them a good lesson.

Liu Zheng has returned, and everyone has become nervous.

With Dragon Flame Nation facing an unprecedented crisis, Liu Zheng will certainly make a big issue out of this. By then, it is unknown how many people will be implicated.

Not only within Dragon Flame Nation, but people abroad are also watching him.

Among them, the most nervous is Tie Mucheng.

Invading Dragon Flame Nation, he was already in the wrong morally, and what was most fatal was that he lost.

Liu Zheng is not a character who is easy to talk to; after this war, he will surely come to hold him accountable.

And since he has no excuse to explain himself, what awaits them is a ruthless crusade.

The Mongolian Army had long since lost the pride a Grassland Warrior should have after being beaten by the Tsarist Russia people, and the last crushing defeat in Jinghua had exhausted their last bit of morale.

He does not know what he can use to resist if Liu Zheng raises an army to crusade.

Mongolia is not like Dragon Flame Nation; Dragon Flame Nation has towering mountains and ridges, has high

and sturdy city walls, while their Mongolia is flat as a plain with no natural barriers. They can ride horses and flee far away, but what about the women and children?

Moreover, it is not so easy to escape now. In the past, they could still flee to the extreme cold land north of Lake Baikal, and even if they didn't flee north, they could head west to fight for territory with the Caucasus people.

But now, both places have become the territory of the Tsarist Russia people. They cannot afford to provoke the powerful Tsarist Russia people.

Since becoming the "Hero of the Grassland," Tie Mucheng has never felt as desperate as he does now. Now, he feels that Mongolia is like fish on someone else's chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered, with no power to fight back.

Perhaps, to preserve the race now, they can only surrender to Liu Zheng and to Dragon Flame Nation.

Tie Mucheng discussed this idea with Zhongxing Yue, but it was firmly rejected by Zhongxing Yue.

Hearing that Tie Mucheng wanted to surrender, Zhongxing Yue's face changed drastically: "Great Khan, this must absolutely not be done!"

He can now be called the number one traitor of Dragon Flame Nation. If they surrender to Dragon Flame Nation, the Mongol people will be fine, but for him, being sliced into a thousand pieces would be a light punishment.

Now his notoriety has spread throughout all of Dragon Flame Nation. The people of Dragon Flame Nation wish they could skin him and eat his flesh!

Surrendering to Dragon Flame Nation is absolutely out of the question!

Surrendering to Dragon Flame Nation would be better than surrendering to Tsarist Russia!

Tie Mucheng sighed: "This time we were reckless, but what else can we do if we don't surrender?"

"Great Khan, do you really think that after sneaking an attack on Jinghua while Dragon Flame Nation was empty, Liu Zheng could still tolerate you?" Zhongxing Yue hurriedly unleashed his silver-tongued eloquence.

"Why not? Now, Dragon Flame Nation is at war on all sides, especially with the immense pressure caused by Tsarist Russia. Having an ally can relieve a lot of his pressure. I think he has no reason to refuse."

Tie Mucheng said indifferently.

"Great Khan, how long has it been since you read the military reports from the Tanma Military Division?" Zhongxing Yue shook his head.

"Hmm?"

Tie Mucheng raised his eyebrows.

Zhongxing Yue didn't say anything else, then took a few letters and handed them to Tie Mucheng.

Tie Mucheng took the intelligence letters and found that they were nothing more than Liu Zheng's itinerary in Joseon.

Tie Mucheng looked at them for a long time without making heads or tails of it, and then asked: "Military Advisor, is there a problem with this?"

"Does the Great Khan still not understand? Dragon Flame Nation is clearly in chaos, but Liu Zheng did not return to the country immediately; instead, he went to Joseon first. This shows that for him, Joseon is more reassuring than Dragon Flame Nation. Furthermore, Liu Zheng stayed in the Prime Minister's Mansion in Joseon for three full days. According to the Tanma Military Division, red lanterns were hung high in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Clearly, Liu Zheng was engaging in some illicit affair with the female Prime Minister of Joseon."

Zhongxing Yue sneered.

Tie Mucheng was slightly stunned, then smiled bitterly: "Since when does the Military Advisor also like to pry into these matters? Love between men and women is the most normal thing..."

"No!"

"Great Khan, this is exactly what is most abnormal!"

Tie Mucheng looked over in confusion. Pop-ups have been severe lately; you can click to download to avoid pop-ups.