Chapter 1267: Li Ru: Strike first to gain the advantage! 【1】 (Thanks: Chen Gaotui (?????))

Provincial Governor's mansion, Political Affairs Hall.

After returning from Chen Qing'an's camp outside the city, Li Ru came to Duan Yu's Provincial Governor's mansion.

After Duan Yu left, most of the basic government affairs of Liangzhou were handed over to Li Ru to handle.

But usually, government affairs were handled at the Jixian county government.

Unless there were urgent and very important major events.

Just like now.

In the Political Affairs Hall.

Besides Li Ru himself, there were Hanyang Commandery Governor Yang Fu, Hanyang Commandery Commandant Chen Qing'an, Liu Bai Tu, Jiang Xu, and Yan Zhong.

At this time, several people were sitting in the lower seats, while Dong Yi sat behind the beaded curtain in the main seat.

Duan Yu was not in Liangzhou, and major events in Liangzhou were handled by officials at all levels. Although Dong Yi was the nominal head wife, she would not participate in government affairs.

Unless there were very urgent matters, Dong Yi would only attend as a listener.

At this moment, everyone sitting in the hall had extremely solemn expressions.

Especially Chen Qing'an and Liu Bai Tu.

Anger, urgency, and suppressed expressions were already written on their faces.

The contents of the secret letter sent from Hedong Commandery had already informed everyone.

Liu Hong was dead.

Crown Prince Liu Xie succeeded to the throne before the funeral.

Empress He, because she harbored ulterior motives, was demoted and then hunted by the court.

To cover Empress He's escape, the Military Intelligence Department's Duan Liuqing went missing after blocking Yuan Shu's Tiger Guard Army at Caoyang Pavilion.

Subsequently, Yuan Shu arrested Wang Hunu and Tie Shitou in the city.

Wang Hunu, in order to cover the escape of Tie Shitou's wife and children from the city, was captured by Yuan Shu.

Later, on the city wall of Anyi County, in order not to implicate Tie Shitou, he chose to commit suicide for righteousness.

Tie Shitou led troops to surround Anyi, blocking Yuan Shu's Tiger Guard Army inside Anyi city.

Any one of the events described in the secret letter would be a huge matter in the past.

And now, these events, each of which could be called earth-shattering, happened to coincide together.

There is no need to elaborate on the relationship between Tie Shitou, Chen Qing'an, Wang Hunu, and Liu Bai Tu.

All four were among the earliest fellow villagers to follow Duan Yu.

They were also the foundation of Duan Yu's rise.

Their relationship was inseparable.

The four were childhood playmates, fellow villagers, and brothers who could entrust their lives to each other.

Now that Wang Hunu had died for the sake of brotherly loyalty, one can imagine how angry Tie Shitou must be in Anyi.

Li Ru first bowed to Dong Yi behind the beaded curtain to show respect.

Then he turned his gaze to the others.

"I believe everyone is already clear about the contents of the secret letter," Li Ru said slowly.

Everyone nodded one after another, waiting for Li Ru's next words.

"As for the Lord, I have already sent people to deliver these messages to the Western Regions at top speed, but it will certainly take some time for the Lord to receive them and return."

"If it were an ordinary small matter, we could wait for the Lord's return, but... I believe everyone is clear that what happened this time is by no means a small matter."

"As for the Lord's character, I think there is no need to say more."

Chen Qing'an clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying: "The Lord will definitely avenge Hunu, definitely..."

Li Ru nodded in agreement.

This was certain.

The Four Generals of Jinyang—Tie Shitou, Wang Hunu, Chen Qing'an, and Liu Bai Tu—were all like brothers.

And they also had a teacher, Gao Shun.

Within the Bingzhou faction, there were also Zhang Liao's brothers, Hao Zhao, and others.

These people now held important positions in Liangzhou.

Not to mention anything else, just from an emotional standpoint, Duan Yu would definitely avenge Wang Hunu.

Dong Yi, sitting behind the beaded curtain, was also very clear about this.

"Everyone is clear about the Lord's character. I speculate that if the Lord learns of this, he will definitely return alone first."

"The Lord's main army is still near Yutian. If the main army were to turn back, even if he only brought back the cavalry, the journey alone would take more than half a month."

"Moreover, there are twenty thousand infantry. If the main army were to turn back, it would absolutely not return in less than a month."

Marching an army is not as simple as imagined.

People need rest.

People need to rest, sleep, and eat, and warhorses also need rest.

And in most cases, people can grit their teeth and endure, but warhorses cannot.

Besides eating and resting, the most important factors in marching an army are the route and the weather.

When the weather is good, they can cover thirty or forty li a day.

When the weather is bad, they might not even cover thirty or forty li in three or five days.

Changes in weather can also cause diseases and other problems.

An army of over thirty thousand people, plus tens of thousands of corvée laborers, rushing back from thousands of miles away in the Western Regions, takes too long.

And based on Li Ru's speculation of Duan Yu's character, as soon as Duan Yu gets this news, he will immediately return alone.

Only in this way can the speed be increased to the maximum.

"Now that Yuan Shu is trapped in Anyi, the Yuan Clan will absolutely not let this matter rest, and General Tie..."

"General Tie's actions are certainly understandable, but I think Yuan Kui will definitely use this to make a fuss."

"General Tie's behavior has violated the court's laws."

Chen Qing'an's face was full of anger: "It was clearly Yuan Shu who acted inhumanely first, yet they want to pin the crime on Shitou. Why!"

Liu Bai Tu stood up abruptly and said with an icy voice: "The Lord doesn't need to act; I have my own way to make him die!" ===== CHAPTER 1269 =====