Chapter 1233: Liu Zheng and Yu Qian

The civil and military officials of the entire Youzhou were driven mad in an instant.

Meng Zan followed suit and went mad as well.

Damn it!

Rebel!

In life, one must gamble like this once!

Moreover, Youzhou now has no other choice!

To raise an army and rebel, one needs a legitimate cause; for Youzhou, this is not difficult. After all, their Prince Zhao was killed by the ministers of Jinghua, so they can make a great fuss in the name of purging the monarch's side.

This decision was too sudden, and the civil officials found it hard to accept. However, since the leader Meng Zan had said so, and the group of military generals were all fired up, they dared not say anything at this moment to disturb the morale of the army.

They only worried in their hearts that their days were numbered.

Most of the military generals were reckless men without brains who only knew how to risk their lives, but Meng Zan was different.

Although he let Prince Zhao declare himself emperor, this was actually just a delaying tactic to stabilize the military generals.

Youzhou is merely a corner of the land; wanting to sweep across the entire Longyan is simply a pipe dream. As for sending troops to Jinghua, it is at best just a slogan.

When the time comes, he will lead the troops to attack Jinghua, fight symbolically, and then withdraw back to Youzhou.

If they cannot win, they must not fight recklessly; they can only harass local areas. In any case, the current war situation in Longyan is tight enough that there is no opportunity to deal with them for the time being.

By then, these military generals will have nothing more to say.

Of course, if Longyan is furious and wants to regain its dignity by pressing down with a large army, they can form a pincer formation with the Mongol Army. With two forces totaling 300,000 troops, he believes holding their territory should not be a problem.

As for whether the Mongols will betray them, Meng Zan is not very worried about that.

In the last Mongol camp, he had already seen that although Temu Cheng is the Great Khan, he listens to almost everything the Military Advisor Zhongxing Yue says.

Zhongxing Yue is Longyan's number one traitor, and he will absolutely not make peace with Longyan.

With this solid ally, Youzhou can be kept safe. Plus, behind the Mongols is the powerful Tsarist Russia; as long as they can get the support of Tsarist Russia, their strength will rise to a higher level.

They can Peter their time in Youzhou and wait for the opportunity. As long as Jinghua becomes empty again, they can take advantage of the situation. At that time, seizing the world will not be a difficult task.

Liu Zheng returned without alerting anyone.

After entering Jinghua City, he did not go directly to the court, but went to the Heavenly Prison.

He wanted to see this Yu Qian.

Once, Yu Qian was just a nobody, and Liu Zheng's only impression of him was those flawless account books. But now, this kid has transformed into a hero of the Jinghua Defense War, and he must properly test his quality.

Liu Zheng entered the Heavenly Prison, and the very first cell held Yu Qian.

At this moment, although Yu Qian was disheveled, his eyes were fixed on the book in his hands. He did not even bother to look at his arrival.

Liu Zheng smiled faintly.

To be trapped in prison yet have such a state of mind—this Yu Qian is truly not simple.

Regardless of whether he was putting on an act or was truly indifferent, the fact that he had been cursing the Chief Minister Liu Zheng in the Heavenly Prison for these past few days had long since become the talk of Jinghua.

"Official Yu, you are quite at leisure."

Liu Zheng had the jailer open the cell door, walked in front of Yu Qian, and said with a chuckle.

Hearing Liu Zheng's greeting, Yu Qian finally put down the book in his hand and glanced at Liu Zheng: "Who are you?"

His expression was disdainful, and his voice was extremely lazy; this infuriated the jailer on the side.

"Audacious! Do you know..."

The jailer was just about to lose his temper when he was stopped by Liu Zheng.

"Who am I? How should I introduce myself?"

Liu Zheng laughed.

He carefully sized up this person who, in both of Liu Zheng's lifetimes, could be called

a famous figure.

Originally, Yu Qian did not take Liu Zheng seriously at all, but upon hearing Liu Zheng's strange answer, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Liu Zheng.

He was in his early twenties, but he exuded an aura of dominance that did not belong to his age.

Although he did not yet know Liu Zheng's specific identity, he knew that this kid was definitely not a simple character.

"By the way, I remembered, someone called me a thief who stole the country." Liu Zheng said with a chuckle.

Hearing Liu Zheng's words, Yu Qian became spirited. He stared at Liu Zheng, leaned forward, and looked vigilant.

"You are Liu Zheng!"

Yu Qian looked at Liu Zheng and exclaimed in disbelief.

He was surprised not only because the person in front of him was Liu Zheng, but even more so because of the four words Liu Zheng said!

A thief who stole the country!

These were the words he said to General Zhao Yan at the time, and his voice was not loud. General Zhao Yan was an upright man and certainly would not have run to Liu Zheng to say this.

At this moment, Yu Qian recalled the scene at that time.

He remembered that when he was talking to Zhao Yan, there were indeed several soldiers not far away!

The words must have been spread from their mouths!

Among a few mere city guards, there were Liu Zheng's eyes and ears; Liu Zheng is formidable!

Yu Qian was surprised but not terrified. After his emotions stabilized, he said coldly and sternly: "With subordinates who are lackeys to such an extent, if you are not a thief who stole the country, then what are you?"

"Official Yu is overthinking. This matter has long been spread by the nobles in the capital. Although the intelligence system in Liu Zheng's hands is decent, it has not yet reached the point of targeting colleagues. But since you say 'thief who stole the country' so well, then tell me, what did I steal, and what did I plunder?" Liu Zheng asked with a smile.

"You stole the state power and plundered the divine artifacts of Longyan."

Yu Qian replied without hesitation, angrily.

"You say I stole the state power, but the state power is currently in the hands of the Cabinet. You say I plundered the divine artifacts of Longyan? Right now, Longyan is still Longyan, and the one sitting on the emperor's throne is still the Xie Clan. I'm afraid your conclusion doesn't hold water, does it?"

Liu Zheng shook his head and said.

"Nominally, the Cabinet holds the state power, but in reality, all Cabinet members must look to you, the Cabinet Chief Minister, for cues. Although the throne is still held by the Xie Family, the Emperor is already your puppet. Is this not the act of a great usurper?" Yu Qian argued with a Bitter Remonstrance.

"What you say has some merit, but even a thief has a code. Have you ever seen me commit any heinous or immoral acts?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Waging war recklessly and fighting with all surrounding ethnic groups, causing the economy to verge on collapse—is this not a mistake?"

"Exhausting human and material resources to develop the barren Liaodong—is this not a mistake?"

"At a time when the domestic economy is on the verge of collapse, still spending vast sums to travel across the oceans—is this not a mistake?"

"Suppressing Confucianism and honoring merchants, causing society to be permeated with the stench of copper—is this not a mistake?"

Yu Qian asked, speaking with fervor and posing three questions in a row.

Liu Zheng smiled faintly.

These questions were all things the opposition within the country used to attack him.

"Very well, since you have put it this way, I will respond to you point by point."

"First, you say I wage war recklessly? I ask you, Minister Yu, which of my wars was fought without meaning? Regarding invading enemies, if we do not fight them, should we, like the previous dynasty, pay them annual tribute? Since when has my Longyan Dynasty needed to use money to buy peace? As for Tsarist Russia in the north, they are constantly expanding. The Northeast is ownerless land; there is no problem with us occupying it. Even if you left it to Tsarist Russia, their ambition would not stop; they would continue to invade our land. Keeping them blocked off in the frozen wilderness so that our people are far from the suffering of war—what is wrong with that?" Liu Zheng asked.

After hearing Liu Zheng's words, Yu Qian understood, but this was not the Method of solving problems he envisioned.

"Using force to confront the Barbarian, then what difference is there between us Longyan and the Barbarian? Dealing with the Barbarian does not necessarily require the way of war."

"I believe that mutual markets are the best Method. Currently, the Mongol lack grain, and we can conduct these trades with them at the border, letting them exchange furs for our grain. In this way, they can solve their food and clothing problems in the simplest manner, and they will not go to their tribal leaders to rebel."

Yu Qian retorted.

"Minister Yu, reality is different from what is written in books. You are too idealistic. You want peace with them, but they may not necessarily want peace with you. When they can clearly just rob, why would they want to trade with you? Do you think they would disobey a single word from their great tribal leader? Moreover, no one is willing to remain poor forever, and the best way to change one's fate is through violent plunder. Mutual markets are a good Method, but they require a prerequisite: making them afraid. Only by beating them until they are afraid and in pain will they know we are not to be trifled with, and only then will they lay down their weapons and obediently do business with us."

"Is the lesson of Liaodong from the past not enough?"

"How did I treat them back then? But what about them?"

"The nature of the Barbarian is hard to change even with wealth!"

"Their wolf-like ambition is known to all the world!"

Liu Zheng stood with his hands behind his back and explained with a chuckle.

""

"This..." Yu Qian was speechless; now, he did not know how to answer Liu Zheng. Recently, the pop-ups have been severe; you may click to download to avoid pop-ups.