Chapter 981: Must Go

Liu Zheng was still immersed in the emotions of reuniting with Qin Zhangfeng after a long separation; hearing this sentence from Qin Zhangfeng so abruptly, his entire person suddenly became much more clear-headed.

Two routes?

He picked up the wine Pei Yanran had poured for him and gave a chuckle.

He did not need to ask Qin Zhangfeng at all to guess what the two routes Qingyang was talking about were.

First, Xie Tianyao passes away; it will likely be within this short period of time. This time, he absolutely cannot escape the fate of impending death. His bodily functions have already gradually necrotized; unless dead wood meets spring or a Great Luo Golden Immortal descends to the world, even Liu Zheng cannot save him. In that case, Jinghua must have already begun to become treacherous and unpredictable, filled with deceit and trickery, and perhaps even open infighting has already begun. If Liu Zheng wants to participate in the change of political power, as the representative of the New Aristocracy, he should return to Jinghua immediately, at least to seek out his own sense of presence and participation.

Second, rather than going to participate in that chaotic, backstabbing Jinghua, it would be better for Liu Zheng to detour back to Liangzhou, reorganize his military equipment, and wait quietly for the world to fall into chaos. For the character setting of Liu Zheng, this is also the most scientific choice, the one most befitting a warlord. On one hand, he can completely protect his own safety; on the other hand, since Xie Tianyao is dying anyway and everyone is watching and waiting, it is only right for him to stay out of it.

It is just that.

Both routes have their pros and cons.

Going to Jinghua naturally means throwing himself into the thick of the fray, walking on thin ice, where being assassinated by a stray arrow from time to time is normal. Even "accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger"—if Xie Tianyao has a sudden whim and wants to purge Liu Zheng, that is a fate he absolutely cannot escape. However, in Jinghua, Liu Zheng can grasp the political trends in real-time and make reactions in real-time, so as not to lead to a massive war and the world falling into chaos later on.

Returning to Liangzhou, his own safety can certainly be guaranteed to the greatest extent; given the current strength of Liangzhou, there is truly no one in the entire Longyan who dares to provoke it. But the drawback is that if the New Aristocracy forces in Jinghua lack a Liu Zheng, it is equivalent to lacking a backbone. Moreover, most importantly, Xie Chan is still in Jinghua... If Liu Zheng is not there, no matter who takes the stage, Zheng Fu and Xie Chan will inevitably be the first targets to be purged.

Liu Zheng looked at Qin Zhangfeng and smiled: "Since the Master sent Qin Dage here and also brought the three thousand elite troops on this ship, he must have already leaned toward one side."

Qin Zhangfeng laughed heartily: "Why doesn't the Young Master return to Liangzhou, sharpen your weapons and horses, and have another big go at it? How satisfying that would be!"

Who would have thought that Liu Zheng would shake his head, his words shocking: "I still must go to Jinghua."

"What?"

"Young Master..."

Not only Qin Zhangfeng, but even Pei Yanran beside him frowned slightly at this moment. As clever as she was, she felt that going to Jinghua at this time was not a wise choice. After all, if Liu Zheng returned to Liangzhou, it would actually be a disguised form of support for the New Aristocracy in Jinghua. With the Liangzhou army there, it could completely offset the impact caused by his absence from Jinghua.

Liu Zheng laughed heartily: "Dage, Sister-in-law, you only see the one side, not the other. Regarding the current Great Trend of the world..."

He took another sip of wine: "First, if I do not go, the Emperor will not die."

The two of them heard this and their expressions changed slightly.

Although this was said simply, it represented Liu Zheng's absolute confidence at this moment.

Yes.

If he were not in Jinghua, Xie Tianyao would not die so easily. Although it is decreed by fate, if he holds onto that last breath, he might not be able to kill Liu Zheng, but if he wants to ruin or cripple the current New Aristocracy forces, it would be no problem at all. Therefore, he must go.

"Second, if I do not go, the Liangzhou Chamber of Commerce will inevitably be paralyzed."

"This..."

"What?"

This sentence was what truly frightened Qin Zhangfeng and Pei Yanran.

Liu Zheng smiled.

Do you really think the Liangzhou Chamber of Commerce is omnipotent? In a society where officialdom is paramount, the status of merchants is far behind. The Liangzhou Chamber of Commerce, with such a massive scale, relies on the land of Longyan—the entire headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce, its branches everywhere, logistics transfers, and the Post Houses and stations.

With Xie Tianyao's shrewdness and personality, these must have long been under the strict surveillance of the imperial court. Once there is any sign of trouble, if the government troops take action and control these, they will have completely controlled the lifeline of Liangzhou.

Of course, this situation generally will not happen. Because once it happens, it means that Liangzhou will definitely rebel.

"Third..."

Finally, Liu Zheng took a deep breath: "If I do not go to Jinghua, Xie Chan will surely die."

At this.

Qin Zhangfeng and Pei Yanran truly looked at each other in horror.

Surely die?

At first, they did not know the reason for this.

Later, they thought of it.

If Liu Zheng does not go to Jinghua, then Xie Chan, who has already been built up as the second Female Emperor in the history of Longyan, is in a situation of certain death. Either she is ordered to die by Xie Tianyao—he would absolutely not allow one Liu Zheng in Liangzhou and one Xie Chan in Jinghua to echo each other from afar—or she fails in the succession struggle and is killed by political enemies.

Good heavens.

Qin Zhangfeng felt his scalp go numb listening to this.

Pei Yanran also had burning eyes.

This number one talented woman of Chuan Shu only then realized that a woman, no matter how clever and intelligent she is, is indeed far inferior to a man in terms of this kind of overall perspective.

"Therefore, this time, Jinghua must be visited!"

Pei Yanran also took a deep breath.

Liu Zheng nodded with a smile: "The Master should have also brought a dossier for me."

Qin Zhangfeng and Pei Yanran looked at each other with bitter smiles again.

This Young Master of theirs is truly incredible! It seems nothing can be hidden from him.

And he and Qingyang, who is far away in Liangzhou, seem to have some kind of innate tacit understanding.

Qin Zhangfeng said no more, took out a dossier from his person, and handed it to Liu Zheng.

This is a map of the troop distribution of all the major provinces of the current Longyan Dynasty.

As well as their recent conscription activities, troop reinforcements, and the bills for purchasing Weaponry and Equipment from Yintan City or the Western Regions transit center over the past year... This information was all obtained through the Big Data Center of Liangzhou. If one had this thing at any stage of history, the Emperor could have directly killed off several Feudatory Kings and regional commanders!

But at this moment.

Here with Liu Zheng, it could be obtained so easily.

This is the charm of big data!

Nowadays, several major provinces of Longyan already have clear political stances.

For example, Liangzhou, Hanzhong, and Chuan Shu—these three places are clearly the back garden of the New Aristocracy represented by Liu Zheng. Another very important one, Qingzhou, is also the territory of the Prince of Wei, a member of the New Aristocracy, plus Liaodong, which is currently vigorously carrying out the Industrial Revolution—of course, Liaodong has not yet received the attention of others, nor has it really stockpiled troops.

There are also the Western Regions and Jinzhou.

The power of the New Aristocracy has already been coveted and guarded against by everyone.

Then the Old Aristocrats are not to be outdone.

The Pingzhou and Bingzhou of the Prince of Lu, as well as the vital parts of Longyan—Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Jizhou, and Youzhou—are all within the sphere of influence of the Old Aristocrats.

What about the Scholar-officials?

Although it appears they only occupy a relatively large portion of the southern regions, such as Wudi, Yangzhou, and Xuzhou.

However.

Who can blame them for being wealthy...

Being wealthy means having the money to garrison troops and raise horses.

These great provinces began sharpening their weapons and feeding their horses as early as a year ago, and they have intentionally launched some obstructive actions regarding the routes toward Liangzhou. Pop-ups are severe recently, you can click to download to avoid pop-ups.