Chapter 292: Perfect Integration

"Have the reinforcements arrived?"

"Have the provisions arrived?"

Ling Chen jumped up from his bed in a panic, his head covered in cold sweat.

"My lord..."

"My lord, please do not be anxious, they are on the way, on the way..."

A group of people tried to persuade him one after another.

Ling Chen did not even put on his shoes and ran outside the residence like a madman: "What is the situation? What is the situation outside the city?"

"My lord..."

"General Xie is still holding on to the death..."

The group was very pessimistic, but they still pulled Ling Chen back firmly.

The entire Cheshi was in complete chaos.

It seemed that even now, one could hear the clamor and the shouts of battle outside.

Ling Chen's expression turned bleak, and he gave a desolate smile: "I, Ling Chen, have always considered myself extraordinary, yet now, I have committed such a monstrous sin. How can I face the Young Master, and how can I face the world?"

As he spoke, he wanted to smash his head against the pillar.

"My lord... My lord, you absolutely must not!"

"My lord... This is all a treacherous plot by Zheng Yuxing. The Western Regions Construction Corps cannot be without you, my lord!"

A group of Counselors wept as they tried to persuade him.

Who could have imagined that the Western Regions Construction Corps, which had been in full swing, ambitious, and had achieved great leaps just a few days ago, would be knocked back by this single blow from Zheng Yuxing.

It was said that after Zheng Yuxing besieged the city, he was so furious that he destroyed all the irrigation canals they had already dug. Upon learning of this, Ling Chen was overcome with shame and anger, and he fell severely ill that very day.

This illness was no small matter; it was as if the entire Cheshi and Yanqi had lost their backbone at the same time.

Coupled with the shortage of provisions in the city, the hearts of the people were wavering.

Ling Chen was too extreme...

He only wanted to seek merit, but he did not truly take the construction of the Western Regions to heart... This led to the city's provisions needing to be supplied by Yinzhou, and now that this passage had been blocked by Zheng Yuxing, the city was immediately cut off from food.

If not for Xie Chan, the military commander, holding things together, this Western Regions Construction Corps would likely have been finished.

"My lord, the relief provisions have arrived!"

Just at this moment, a piece of good news arrived.

Ling Chen's spirits lifted, and he said with great joy: "Then the reinforcements must have arrived too, right? Quickly, quickly, come with me to receive them!"

The messenger hesitated to speak.

"What is going on?"

Ling Chen's heart skipped a beat. Everyone rode their horses to the west of the city, and sure enough, Xiang Chenglin, who was responsible for transporting this batch of provisions and supplies, arrived, dusty and travel-worn, with dozens of Horse Carriages.

"Where are the reinforcements?"

As soon as Ling Chen saw this, he roared out immediately.

Xiang Chenglin said indifferently: "The Young Master has an order!"

Everyone bowed and bent their waists one after another.

Xiang Chenglin continued: "Inform the Western Regions Construction Corps, Sima Lingchen, that the Western Regions Construction Corps is not administratively under Yinzhou and should be highly autonomous and self-reliant! The Liangzhou Northern Border Army are fellow countrymen of Liangzhou. Zheng cannot bear to see brothers slaughtering each other, and sending troops would be even more contrary to the law. Both sides should communicate in a friendly manner; if there are any misunderstandings, they should be cleared up as soon as possible to restore old friendships!"

"I hope Ling Chen takes note!"

"What did you say?"

Ling Chen's expression changed instantly. This meant that Liu Zheng would not send a single soldier or officer? He was only sending them provisions and supplies? To Ling Chen, this was like a thunderbolt.

Cheshi had been struggling for so long, just waiting for reinforcements to arrive so they could catch their breath...

And you are telling me there are no reinforcements?

"This..."

Ling Chen was so angry that he was furious, and he shouted: "Has the Young Master lured us here only to abandon us?"

The others also began to clamor.

What kind of nonsense is 'I Have a Dream'? You let so many people shed their blood and sacrifice their lives in the Western Regions, and now you say you don't care about us? Who could feel good about that?

Xiang Chenglin's eyes turned cold, and he shouted: "Presumptuous! Counselor Ling, the Young Master entrusted the Western Regions to you, which is the greatest trust. Now, looking at your current state—listless, crazy, and deranged—if you do not strive for self-improvement, heaven cannot save you!"

"If you do not strive for self-improvement, who can protect you?"

He swept his gaze over the group: "The Young Master has already ordered the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce across the world to send supplies to the Western Regions without limit, exhausting manpower and resources, almost to the point of bankruptcy, all just to give you, Ling Chen, a chance to prove yourself. If you rely on Liangzhou for everything, what is the point of the Western Regions Construction Corps existing?"

"Ling Chen, you had better act for your own good!"

After saying this, he had people unload the provisions and supplies, and without even resting for a moment, he turned and left Cheshi City.

"This..."

"Young Master..."

Ling Chen felt as if he had been enlightened, his eyes brimming with tears. He led the officials of the Western Regions Construction Corps to kowtow several times in the direction of Liangzhou, and then he roared to the sky: "Young Master, rest assured, Ling Chen would rather die than lose Cheshi!"

"Young Master, rest assured, Ling Chen will strive for self-improvement, help you pacify the Western Regions, and help you clear out the dissidents!"

The decadent Ling Chen had rekindled his ambition and fighting spirit.

In his eyes, flashes of killing intent appeared.

What you find inconvenient to do...

Ling Chen will do it for you!

Isn't it just a Zheng Yuxing?

Once I have rested a little, I will go back and kill him!

"Quick, quick, distribute the provisions and supplies, and fight the enemy together with General Xie!"

"Yes!"

……

At this moment.

Outside Cheshi City, in the Northern Border Army camp.

The Third Prince Xie Ling and Zheng Yuxing were drinking.

Xie Ling laughed and said, "Uncle, this so-called Western Regions Construction Corps is actually so vulnerable!"

The other generals also laughed mockingly.

Their journey here had been almost like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood; they had encountered no resistance at all—those people were all holding hoes and rakes, how could they resist?

After surrounding Cheshi, the Third Prince ordered them to encamp.

Because he had no intention of attacking the city at all... Why attack the city? Wouldn't that give people something to gossip about? He surrounded Cheshi with two goals: either Liu Zheng would come to mediate the matter, at which point Zheng Yuxing would occupy the moral high ground and could manipulate Liu Zheng at will.

Or, Liu Zheng would bring troops to reinforce—this was the result Xie Ling wanted to see most!

Because, at this moment, right at Rongshan Pass, his fifty thousand private soldiers and the fifty thousand-strong army of the Prince of Lu had already quietly assembled. If Liu Zheng really dared to come to reinforce, he would risk his Imperial Father's fury to thoroughly finish Liu Zheng off! Once and for all!

How many troops and horses does Liangzhou have now?

Not many.

Liu Zheng left eighty thousand of the Western Regions Construction Corps behind and took over eighty thousand back with him.

Adding the previous one hundred and fifty thousand of the Liangzhou Army, the total is only over two hundred thousand.

But these two hundred thousand must defend the entire Liangzhou at the same time. Even if Liu Zheng came to reinforce, it would be impossible to bring more than one hundred thousand troops.

But look at his own side...

One hundred thousand Northern Border Army, one hundred thousand reinforcements!

With two hundred thousand, wouldn't it be easy to swallow up Liu Zheng's one hundred thousand?

Therefore.

The Xie Ling of this moment was actually fishing!

What did he want with a mere Cheshi?

Zheng Yuxing, however, frowned slightly: "Your Highness, if that Liu Zheng takes the bait, that is fine, but what if he doesn't come? The grain consumption alone for these two hundred thousand troops is no small amount!"

The others nodded one after another.

One must know that the grain and fodder for the Northern Border Army are all the responsibility of Liangzhou Prefecture. Now, Liangzhou Prefecture is under Liu Zheng's control. You take someone else's grain to fight someone else's people? Who would be happy about that?

It is fine while there is still stored grain for now.

If a long time passes, what will these people eat?

The Third Prince snorted coldly: "What is there for Uncle to worry about? The Prince of Lu's side is already preparing grain and fodder, ready to supply it at any time! Uncle, based on that Liu Zheng's personality, he will not fail to come!"

The crowd laughed along, expressing one after another that the Third Prince's strategy was truly too vicious.

Liu Zheng is in a bind whether he comes...

Or doesn't come.

The whole world is watching; if this Cheshi really cannot be saved, wouldn't that become the biggest joke under heaven?

Who would have known.

The Northern Border Army continued to surround the city and feign attacks for several days.

A piece of news arrived.

Prefect Liu had not dispatched a single soldier or horse.

He ran to Liangzhou—to hold a meeting?

Zheng Yuxing was immediately furious.

What the hell is this?

Did he go through all this trouble just for nothing? Was his Northern Border Army just ignored by Prefect Liu like this?

Disregard!

Contempt!

"General, this..."

"What do we do now?"

Zheng Yuxing's eyes turned cold, and he gritted his teeth fiercely. This time, without the Third Prince egging him on from the side, he could not hold back himself. He slammed the table and stood up in a rage: "He bullies me too much, Prefect Liu bullies me too much! Attack! Give me the order to attack and take this Cheshi first!"

The crowd was greatly invigorated.

Was the feigned attack finally going to become a real siege?

But immediately after, they all gasped.

If it were a siege with feigned attacks, they would still be in the right.

If they were to attack the city...

They would truly become an unrighteous army! The difference between the two is heaven and earth!

……

Liu Zheng was still very busy.

These past few days, he had actually been considering what kind of form the Cabinet of Liangzhou Prefecture should take.

During the Ming Dynasty of Huaxia civilization, the Cabinet system matured; the true institutional nature of the Cabinet was actually a consultative body for the monarch.

That is to say, the monarch delegates the power of policy discussion to the Cabinet, keeps the power of decision-making firmly in his own hands, and distributes administrative power to the Six Ministries, which is then issued to the localities.

In reality.

Once the specific division of these three powers is understood, the Cabinet emerges.

Highlighting the power of policy discussion!

However...

Influenced by the democratic ideals of later generations, Liu Zheng believed that those truly capable of participating in government affairs should be people from all walks of life; if it were only those high-and-mighty, pedantic scholar-officials—what could they possibly understand about the hardships of the common people?

Furthermore...

The drawback of the Cabinet System is that its oversight of administrative units is not as powerful as that of the Parliament system.

Therefore.

What he was struggling with at this moment was whether this Cabinet should be staffed by officials from the Liangzhou Prefecture, or if local officials should also be allowed to participate?

Or...

Could he integrate the nature of a Parliament and combine the strengths and weaknesses of both to complement each other?

When it came to matters on this level, Liu Zheng very much wanted to study them thoroughly with Qingyang Shuo.

However...

Qingyang Shuo left him to face it alone.

He also felt that he should face some things independently; the current him, and the current Ling Chen, should both be like this.

Cabinet, Parliament, Cabinet, Parliament...

Suddenly.

Liu Zheng gave a bitter smile.

Why was he putting himself through all this trouble for nothing?

Although it is difficult to realize a true people's congress in a feudal dynasty, couldn't he just simplify it a bit? If the deputies to the people's congress represent all walks of life, then he could just organize it by various interest groups—Nobles, scholar-officials, merchants, and farmers—and have each group provide some representatives; wouldn't that settle it?

Wisdom!

Only at this moment did Liu Zheng truly realize how perfect the people's congress system of later generations was! It was simply the perfect fusion of the Cabinet System and the Parliament system!

No sooner said than done!

As soon as he arrived in Liangzhou, Liu Zheng began drafting the General Outline of the Liangzhou Cabinet System!

However, what he did not expect was.

Grand Eunuch Zhou, who had just left with the imperial carriage, had returned.