Chapter 366: The Imperial Court Targets Jianghuai

"The Cui Family has gone all out this time."

Jiang Ze sighed: "Not hesitating to bear the infamy of 'inviting a wolf into the house' just to help Western Liang quickly stabilize Shu. It seems they are determined to build Western Liang into a behemoth capable of contending with our Beijiang."

Han Xiao said in a deep voice: "Western Liang has gained the Shu region this time, like a tiger with wings. Shu is wealthy, with abundant salt, iron, tea, and silk, and there are natural barriers to defend. Wei Wenlie can rely on this to sit firmly in the Northwest, send a large army east, and go down the river; I fear Jingxiang and Jiangnan will be hard to resist."

Zhang Honghong was dismissive: "Why be afraid of him? They got Shu, didn't we get the Shuoning army? If we really fight, we might not lose to him! My Lord, why don't we also fight south, don't let that scoundrel Wei Wenlie take all the benefits!"

"Don't be impulsive."

Jiang Jinshi waved his hand, his gaze calmly sweeping over the map, "We are still some distance from the south; rushing in will only lead to an earlier confrontation with Western Liang.

Right now, the most urgent one is probably not us, nor Western Liang, but... the Imperial Court!!!"

The Imperial Court had suffered successive defeats, and its reputation in the world had fallen to the bottom.

Now there was no scholar-gentry controlling public opinion to help the Imperial Court, and those dirty things from before were getting worse, and some people even openly accused Wei Xi Yuan of not being worthy of being Emperor.

All these chaotic phenomena were attributed to Wei Xi Yuan, and for a time, he was notorious.

Moreover, Beijiang had just taken Shuoning, and Western Liang had occupied Shu. The two forces seemed to be somewhat evenly matched, and only the Imperial Court had been suffering losses and grievances.

In the Imperial Study of the Imperial Palace in Jingcheng, Wei Xi Yuan sat straight, his eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at several different urgent reports in front of him.

One was a detailed battle report of the fall of Shuoning and Yang Jiye's "treason" and defection to the enemy.

One was the bad news that the Western Liang army had entered Shu and the Shu region had fallen.

The last one was a memorial jointly presented by the Ministry of War and Lu Wenchang regarding "the reorganization of the 200,000 Imperial Guards and Forbidden Army, with grain and pay ready, armor renewed, and morale usable."

The first two pieces of news made him fearful, his hands and feet cold.

The rebel who held the Imperial Seal in Beijiang had not been eliminated, and that uncle in Western Liang had swallowed the Shu region!

In this world, is there still a place for him, the Emperor of Da Qian?

Fortunately, there was also a piece of good news at the end: the Imperial Guards and the 200,000 Forbidden Army were gathered!

This was the situation he had finally reversed while Si Gui fell and the eyes of great families like Yan and Cui were cast elsewhere!

It was the military force that he, Wei Xi Yuan, could truly control!

Now he had finally gotten rid of the status of a puppet and could make his own decisions.

Although this had little to do with himself, it was mainly because most of the scholar-gentry had abandoned Da Qian, and now there were many fewer ministers in the Imperial Court.

Bu Yunsuanyuan said from the side: "Your Majesty! The rebels in Beijiang and Western Liang, although rampant for a while, Your Majesty holds 200,000 Forbidden Army, and there are still 300,000 troops at Tongguan. The top priority is to stabilize the position, manifest the Imperial Might, and let the people of the world know that the Mandate of Heaven of Da Qian still exists!"

"Manifest the Imperial Might? How to manifest it?"

Wei Xi Yuan said angrily: "Could it be that I should just hide in Jingcheng and watch those two rebels show off?"

"Your Majesty is wise, naturally you cannot sit idly by."

Bu Yunsuanyuan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "The rebels in Beijiang have just taken Shuoning and need time to digest! Western Liang has just gained the Shu region, and the interior is not yet stable. This is precisely the opportunity for me to use troops! But directly colliding with Beijiang or Western Liang is I fear not a good strategy."

"Then who to fight?"

Bu Yunsuanyuan walked to the hanging map, his finger did not point to the north or west, but fell on the southeast direction, an area at the junction of Jianghuai and the Central Plains.

"Your Majesty, look! The rebels in Beijiang and Western Liang are powerful, but most of the prefectures and counties in the world still regard Da Qian as orthodox, just watching and hesitating.

The Imperial Court now needs a victory to boost morale and deter those who do not submit!

There are several separatist state and county troops here, as well as small groups of bandits who rose up during the chaos. They nominally still respect the Imperial Court, but in reality, they are each doing their own thing, not paying annual tribute, and not listening to orders.

Their military strength is not strong, and they are fighting each other; they can just be the whetstone for my new army!"

Wei Xi Yuan's eyes lit up instantly!

Fighting Beijiang and Western Liang, he had no confidence.

But fighting these unranked local forces and bandits, his 200,000 Forbidden Army should be no problem, right?

If he won, he could not only grab money and grain to replenish the national treasury, but also manifest the foundation of Da Qian, deter those restless guys, and perhaps even make Beijiang and Western Liang restrain themselves a little...

"Good! This statement fits my intention very well!"

Wei Xi Yuan slapped the imperial desk, "Just follow this plan! Forbidden Army Commander Zhou Bo will be the main general, point 50,000 troops, set off today, sweep away the bandit troubles, and subdue the prefectures! You must fight out the might of the Da Qian Imperial Court!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Western Liang now had frequent reports of victory, but there was no grand celebration in the Prince's Mansion.

Wei Wenlie sat high in the main seat, listening to the reports from the generals of various departments on the reception of the Shu region, the counting of grain and fodder, and the placement of surrendered soldiers, his expression calm, without much pride.

Si Wushuang was still in a green shirt, sitting in the lower seat, with the detailed map sent from Shu spread out in front of him, as well as the secret report just delivered by the Cui Family regarding the latest movements in Jiangnan and the unusual movements of the Imperial Court's new army.

"Your Highness, the Shu region has been initially pacified, but the Shu people are xenophobic, and there are undercurrents in the folk, so our pressure is not small. The seized money and grain are quite abundant and have been transported back to Longxi."

"Got it! Currently, stability is the priority. For the powerful clans in Shu, we can win them over or suppress them, but we must never provoke a large-scale civil uprising. Store most of the money and grain on the spot as a foundation for moving east."

After Wei Wenlie finished speaking, his gaze looked at Si Wushuang, "Wushuang, the Imperial Court is said to be targeting Jianghuai, what do you think?"

Si Wushuang raised his head, his eyes calm: "Wei Xi Yuan is fierce in appearance but weak in reality. This move looks active, but in reality, it is a risk taken out of helplessness, wanting to pinch a soft persimmon to boost morale.

How the combat effectiveness of his Forbidden Army is, is still unknown.

But choosing Jianghuai instead of directly threatening our Western Liang or Beijiang shows that he is timid, and it also shows that the interior still regards our Western Liang and Beijiang as great enemies and dares not easily touch the tiger's whiskers."

He pointed his finger at the location of Jianghuai on the map: "If the Imperial Court wins this battle, it may temporarily stabilize the hearts of the people in the southeast of the Central Plains and obtain some money and grain, but the strength of its Forbidden Army will inevitably be exposed.

If it loses... then the last piece of fig leaf of the Imperial Court will also be torn off, and the alienation of the prefectures and counties in the Central Plains will intensify.

For our Western Liang, this is a good thing.

Regardless of victory or defeat, the Imperial Court's attention and strength will be tied up in the southeast, which is more favorable for our Western Liang to digest the Shu region and plan the next step."

Wei Wenlie nodded: "Not bad! Then according to your opinion, what should our Western Liang do next?"

"Wait and see, and step up preparations for war. The Imperial Court sending troops to Jianghuai means Jingbei and Nanyang must be empty, and the hearts of the people must be panicked.

Your Highness can send a top general to lead 30,000 troops to make a gesture of going east from Hanzhong and threatening Jingbei.

There is no need to really attack by force, just station troops at the border, and have rangers and scouts move frequently to create pressure."

Wei Wenlie frowned and asked: "Why this move?" ===== CHAPTER 367 =====