Han Shizu

Chapter 874 Zhao Siwan Arrested
Youzhou, this big state in the south of Yan and Jiancheng in Hebei, after years of stable development, under the governance of King Zhao Kuangzan of Yan, has achieved considerable recovery in terms of politics, military, economy and culture.However, because of the secluded location in the north and the military pressure from the Liao Kingdom in northern Serbia, there is always an upper limit.

As of the 11th year of Qianyou, the population of the city barely exceeded [-]. For such a big city, it is actually difficult to match its status.This is a city with military significance above all else, so it has achieved a very complete level of defense facilities and military deployment.

In the words of Zhao Kuangzan of the King of Yan, if the enemy besieges the city, it must be 200,000, and it will not be broken within a year.It may be exaggerated, but from his confident declaration, we can also see the solidity of Youzhou's defense.

Youzhou in midsummer was dry and hot. Fortunately, a continuous heavy rain washed away the restlessness of Youzhou scholars and people lingering in the city.The common people shrank at home and closed the doors, not only because of the rain, but also because of the government's ban.

Many people could see through the gaps in the doors and windows that among the rain curtains, there were also many officers and soldiers of the Yan army in uniform, rushing aggressively among them, carrying out military orders.Everyone knew that a major event had happened in the city, and the entire city was under martial law.

In fact, the city of Zhou is still under martial law, while the cities defending Youzhou are completely in a state of emergency. Under the military order of the Yan Palace, they are ready to fight against bandits.

The heavy rain was still dripping down, and the officials in Yan Wang's mansion all carefully and solemnly stuck to their posts, doing their own thing, and the sound of the rain seemed to become the busy accompaniment.The figures that came in and out were all covered with rain and dew, which wet the clean lobby.

The rain kept beating on the blue tiles of the eaves. King Zhao Kuangzan of Yan sat behind the main case. Two generals, one old and one strong, walked into the hall and saluted Zhao Kuangzan: "Your Majesty!"

The veteran's name is Zhang Zangying, and he has little chivalrous spirit. He once stabbed enemies in the downtown area, so he was well-known in Yanji, and was released by Zhao Kuangzan's grandfather. As an official, he has a deep connection with the lineage of King Yan.

The middle-aged general was named Gao Yanhui, and he also had the experience of serving as a Khitan. He belonged to Youyan's military bureaucratic landlord class and served for the former King of Yan, Zhao Yanshou.These two, different from Zhao Siwan, are close to the big man.

Therefore, in the past two years, Zhao Kuangzan adjusted the strength of the Yan army faction. In addition to promoting young men, he also appointed more veteran generals who followed his political footsteps.

Now there are two people, Zhang Zangying is the deputy commander of the Mabu Army in Youzhou (the official envoy is also written by Zhao Kuangzan himself), and Gao Yanhui is the patrol envoy of Youji.They are the representative generals in the Yan army, so their superior positions did not cause dissatisfaction, um, except for Zhao Siwan.

"Speak!" Zhao Kuangzan asked directly, looking at the two of them.

Zhang Zangying is in her sixtieth year and has gray beard and hair. Although she is old, she also gives people a sense of peace of mind during times of turmoil.He cupped his hands and reported to Zhao Kuangzan: "The 'Assassin Army' has been controlled, and Zhao Siwan's trusted generals have captured all of them. According to the king's order, the rest of the soldiers also surrendered their weapons and are temporarily imprisoned in the barracks, waiting for the king to dispose of them!"

Hearing what he said, Zhao Kuangzan heaved a sigh of relief. So far, the Yan army has a total of about 3000 cavalry. Among them, the stabbed army commanded by Zhao Siwan has [-] people, and two-thirds of them are cavalry. It is indeed the most powerful and best-equipped part of the Yan army.To be able to appease and control smoothly will basically avoid the risk of civil strife.

Why did Zhao Siwan dare to contact the Liao State, and confidently expressed that he could cooperate with the Liao army to defeat Youzhou? This stabbing army is his greatest source of confidence.

Of course, he claims to have tight control over his subordinates, and his confidantes are all over the place, but he doesn't know how Zhao Kuangzan will let the most elite soldiers and horses under his command escape from his control, but he has kept it secret all the time. To attract its attention, secretly laying out many tricks and backhands.Therefore, after learning that Zhao Siwan had objections, he quickly arrested and disintegrated him with the power of thunder.

The incident of Zhao Siwan happened by accident, and the reason was also because of the officer named Zhao Yan who was beheaded by Zhao Siwan that day.After returning to Youzhou, Zhao Siwan sent someone to inform his family of the bad news, and gave him generous gifts of money and silk.

Zhao Yan's family originally accepted it, but please tell Yu the place where he "fallen to death", and wanted to pay homage and find the corpse, how could Zhao Siwan point out a target for him, so he rudely refused.

Zhao Yan's family was unconvinced and begged to come to the door, provoking Zhao Siwan's fury. General Zhao, who has a fierce temperament, has no time to get entangled with such a small person, so he ordered the guards to beat him up.

In this way, Zhao Yan's family directly reported to Yan Wangfu.At this time, the news of the Liao army's southern invasion of Yanmen had passed through Taihang and spread to Youzhou. As a local force that bordered the Liao Kingdom and communicated with it for a long time, Zhao Kuangzan immediately sensed that the direction of the wind was wrong.Although the enemy sent troops to the west, he subconsciously raised his vigilance.

In this turbulent atmosphere, Zhao Yan's problem was exposed. In order to reduce the influence, Zhao Kuangzan sent someone to investigate. After all, Zhao Yan was a middle-ranking officer of the Yan Army. He died for no reason. There needs to be an explanation.

After this investigation, the problem was found. It was revealed by one of Zhao Siwan's personal soldiers. I will also tell you about Xiao Husi's intention to commit crimes.This directly alarmed Zhao Kuangzan and aroused his great attention.

Aware of the seriousness of the matter, Zhao Kuangzan kept his composure, pretended not to know, and sent someone to reprimand Zhao Siwan, and said that the side situation was weird, just when the enemy was on guard, he couldn't use this to disturb the army's morale, and asked him to go to Zhao Siwan himself Yan's family explained and apologized.

At this time, Zhao Siwan was secretly in touch with Xiao Husi, and a big event was about to happen, wandering in her own career plan.Knowing that Zhao Kuangzan has always been tolerant, he didn't want to be at this juncture, because such a trivial matter would offend Zhao Kuangzan and arouse his vigilance.

So he went to Zhao Yan's house in person, and as soon as he entered the door, he was captured by King Yan's personal guards who had already ambushed him.Once Zhao Siwan was captured, the next step was to proceed in two steps, the first step was the trial of Zhao Siwan and his cronies, and the other step was the disintegration of his power, especially the Assassins who had a huge influence.

With the deepening of the trial and investigation, the secrets and conspiracy behind it surfaced, and the situation in Youzhou also changed accordingly.When he learned of Zhao Siwan's plan, even in the city of King Yan Zhao Kuangzan, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

He always knew that Zhao Siwan was courageous, but he only thought of him as a brave man, strong and resourceful. Although he knew that he was dissatisfied with the suppression of the past two years, he did not expect that such a silent incident would happen. This treasonous heart has been directly implemented to such an extent.

The reason lies in the fact that the central court put a lock on the fierce beast of Wufu and restrained it, which affected Zhao Kuangzan's side as well.But it overlooked one point, after all, Zhao Siwan is a martial artist who has come out of the troubled times of the three generations, and it is normal to want to rebel when things go wrong.

The more he understood the details, the more afraid Zhao Kuangzan became. After reacting, he immediately arrested the spies of the Liao Kingdom in Youzhou City, interrogated the enemy's situation, and let him plan to deal with all aspects.

The control of the Assassin's Army is even more important, otherwise, if the three thousand elites get into a mess, the consequences will be equally serious.Now, Zhao Kuangzan can feel at ease after receiving Zhang Zangying's report.

After thinking about it for a while, Zhao Kuangzan ordered Zhang Zangying: "Zhao Siwan's cronies are temporarily detained and notified. The lonely general will go to the barracks to inspect the stabbed soldiers and listen to their appeals!"

Seeing this, Zhang Zangying hurriedly dissuaded him: "Your Majesty, Zhao Siwan was arrested, and the Assassin's Army is unstable after all. There may be stubborn thieves or fish that slip through the net. Your Majesty shoulders the responsibility of Youzhou, so don't put yourself in danger!"

Hearing his words, Zhao Kuangzan said: "This is a loyal word from the old general, and he led it alone. However, the assassinated army is the elite of the Yan army, and they are also lonely subordinates. How can we hate the whole army because of the crime of one person. If you want to protect Youzhou , To fight against Qiang Liao, they still need their efforts. For the current plan, only going there alone can appease his heart. Moreover, if he treats him with sincerity, he will not be afraid of harming him!"

Zhang Zangying felt admiration for Zhao Kuangzan's heroism and courage, and at the same time, he cupped his hands and asked: "If the king has made up his mind, even though the final general is old, he is willing to carry the steel knife himself, guard the left and right, and accompany him into the camp!"

"The old general is really a loyal man! Thank you so much!" Zhao Kuang praised.

"Don't dare to be the last general!" Zhang Zangying was modest.

Zhao Kuangzan thought for a while, and said to Zhang Zangying: "Zhao Siwan Tong Liao, I don't know how much he has betrayed Youzhou's internal situation and city defense layout. Now that the situation is initially determined, the defense of the city should be adjusted. This matter still needs to be adjusted." Annoy the old general!"

"Yes!"

Nodding his head, Zhao Kuangzan said to Gao Yanhui: "The defense in the north is the same. Since the Liao army is moving in Tanzhou, the defense of Shunzhou should be the top priority. The general can go to Huairou in person to supervise his division. When the army comes, Yingcheng resists it and delays its actions!"

"Follow the order!" Gao Yanhui didn't hesitate at all.

Looking outside, the heavy rain was changing from slow to urgent, Zhao Kuangzan couldn't help sighing: "Fortunately, this heavy rain has bought us a lot of time and delayed the actions of the Liao army. Otherwise, the situation may collapse suddenly. Bad!"

"Zhao Siwan's plan is against the heavens, and the heavens cannot tolerate it!" Zhang Zangying couldn't help showing contempt.

In the eyes of these Yanjun elders, internal conflicts can be resolved internally. It seems that Zhao Siwan's communication with foreign countries purely because of his own self-interest is intolerable.Furthermore, they were obedient ministers of the Khitan, and they have surrendered to the Central Plains for a long time now. In comparison, they still prefer to be the subordinates of the great Han.

And Zhao Kuangzan's sigh was just a feeling.In fact, even without Zhao Yan's incident, the possibility of Zhao Siwan's success is not very high.Not to mention the backhand arranged by King Yan, the imperial court was defenseless against Zhao Siwan. Before that, if Zhao Kuangzan hadn't defended him, Gao Fang would have found an opportunity to plot Zhao Siwan to death.

After the second general retired, a middle-aged official walked in, with a thin face, a few beards, and a calm demeanor.His name was Song Qi, and he was the head of Yan Wangfu at that time. Compared with Gao Fang, this person was the number one civil servant who assisted Zhao Kuangzan in handling civil affairs. Now that the Zhao Siwan incident happened, Zhao Kuangzan asked Song Qi to be in charge of the trial.

And this man was a Jinshi of Khitan in his early years and a member of Zhao Yanshou's staff.Speaking of which, Zhao Yanshou left Zhao Kuangzan with abundant military and political resources.

(End of this chapter)