Empress Mi Benji

Chapter 211 Collaborating with the enemy

The warm pavilion made people's hearts burn. Qian Xinzhao was pacing in the room without any good concentration.

He was waiting for a crucial piece of news, news concerning his life and fortune, and news about all the aristocratic families.

The burning charcoal fire brought heat, which made the anxious Qian Xizhao even more uncomfortable, and his heart felt like it was on fire.

"Dong dong..." There was a knock on the door, and Qian Xizhao couldn't wait to open the door without waiting for the other party to say anything.

Seeing a familiar visitor, Qian Xinzhao grabbed the visitor in and asked anxiously, "Where's the letter?"

"Master, here it is." The messenger took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Qian Xizhao.

Qian Xinzhao took the letter, pushed the messenger away, and started reading anxiously. After glancing at the letter, he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

"Go down and receive the reward." Qian Xinzhao, who was in a better mood, ordered. After being pushed to the ground, he bowed to the ground and respectfully waited for the messenger Qian Xinzhao to speak.

After hearing this, the messenger hurriedly left the room, leaving Qian Xizhao to read the letter over and over again. His overall mental state was much better.

Because what he is going to do is a big thing that is very likely to lose his head, and it will affect the rest of his life.

Surrender to the enemy.

That's right, it means surrendering to the enemy. The last time I realized that King Donghua had wavered, King Donghua was no longer a good choice for the family.

Because surrendering to Zhuang Xun is unacceptable, Zhuang Xun's attitude is naturally hostile to that of the family, and they will fight to the death.

Zhuang Xun's new law is to dig into the foundation of the family. It will eliminate the foundation of the family's existence in the system. The gentry will pay taxes in one unified way. The more land they hold, the more taxes they pay. How could they want Zhuang Xun to succeed.

If what Zhuang Xun makes makes the rulers taste the sweetness and subsequently forms institutional norms, then these aristocratic families will really be swept into the garbage heap.

When King Donghua had this idea, he was seeking his own death. Anyone with ability in the family knew what King Donghua was like. He was a man with no determination. He might have persuaded him now, but then regretted it later.

Originally, these aristocratic families were looking for new owners, because King Donghua was weak and between Zhuang Xun and Li Pingyuan, it looked like he would perish sooner or later.

Zhao Guo's promise was to King Donghua, and it was of no use to the aristocratic family. They would stick to whoever felt safe. Some of them were like actors, and they were indeed actors.

What about loyalty, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism? Those who are stupid in reading may believe it and insist that for a big family, protecting their own interests is the most important thing.

Now King Donghua is about to surrender to Zhuang Xun, and his value evaluation is even lower. He originally borrowed his name, and Zhuang Xun has already robbed part of the orthodoxy through abdication. Now that he still has this idea, the family naturally wants to find it. More ways out.

Zhuang Xun didn't think about it, and their target came to Li Pingyuan, especially when they learned that Li Pingyuan and Zhuang Xun had fallen out.

This news gave them more choices than having to stick to the isolated city of King Donghua, and Li Pingyuan was also a good choice.

The only worrying issue is that Li Pingyuan also seems to have the idea of ​​​​suppressing the aristocratic family, and he also has a memorial to share the family. However, due to the real environment and the rivalry between the hostile forces in the country, he has shelved it and has not implemented it.

This has also become the current knot of these aristocratic families. If Li Pingyuan's attitude was more obvious, they would be willing to abandon King Donghua and choose to cooperate with Li Pingyuan.

This letter is the key. Li Pingyuan made a commitment to be selected as an official. The letter guaranteed the family's status and so on.

There are countless letters, but for Qian Xizhao, this is the bargaining chip he uses to persuade other aristocratic families to rebel with him and surrender to the enemy.

He was more afraid of King Donghua's defection to Zhuang Xun than other aristocratic families, because he and Zhuang Xun had a personal enmity. Judging from Zhuang Xun's usual methods, he would not particularly hit the aristocratic family as long as they accepted the new law obediently.

But Qian Xinzhao was different. He had something in his heart. He couldn't show off in front of Zhuang Xun like a normal person. What he needed most was to ensure that he would not fall into Zhuang Xun's hands.

Therefore, the value of this letter is self-evident. He has been waiting for this letter for a long time and is waiting for the price. Now is the time to sell himself at the best. If it is later, he will lose money.

"Okay, okay..." Reading the letter, this letter was a lifesaver and an invitation to enter, which almost relieved his anxiety.

"Come, prepare a banquet... Please come, Master Yang." He walked out of the room and shouted to the attendants, ordering the food and wine to be prepared. He paused for a moment before finalizing the candidate.

If you have weapons, you have to use them. Although the aristocratic families have intentions in this regard, they need to discuss it many times to implement it. After all, the interests of the aristocratic families and the aristocratic families are inconsistent.

It is impossible to bring everyone together for this kind of thing. If there are many people talking about something without saying anything, it will still attract attention, and in the end it will be easy to connect people.

Therefore, he chose to hold multiple banquets, and only entertained families with key positions to reduce the probability of being discovered. This was because a good deed such as surrendering and betraying the country required them to play an important role, so that they could collect rewards afterwards.

Full of expectations, when spring bloomed the next year, Chengguo's army attacked Donghua Road. They surrendered and received the benefits of equal treatment by Chengguo.

Or the best case scenario is to directly instigate a coup and control the east side of Yu State, so that they can bargain with Li Pingyuan, either way is acceptable.

The latter is more difficult. After all, the backbone of the current King Donghua's army is the Forbidden Army. The Forbidden Army is loyal to the royal family, and the generals from aristocratic families who have been deployed cannot control this army for the time being.

There is no external coercion, and the army is still loyal to the royal family. If there is a powerful enemy and no one wants to die, it will be much easier to persuade and control.

There are also differences in the treatment of chips in the two situations. The best is two, so Qian Xinzhao first chose to invite the Yang family to discuss. The Yang family is also the family of the generals who command the army.

See if there is any chance of a direct coup, and take advantage of the winter when Zhuang Xun and Li Pingyuan are unable to take action to defeat the King of Donghua.

His wishful thinking was loud enough that someone heard it.

"It's troublesome enough. I thought everything was stable, but this kind of thing happened." Empress Dowager Jiang couldn't help complaining, also holding a letter.

King Jing of the Kingdom of Jing was in danger of death, and the storm in the Zhao Kingdom was coming. Queen Mother Jiang couldn't wait to go back immediately, and didn't want to delay here.

The information happened to fall into her hands. After many years of planning in Jizhou, Qian Xinzhao's little moves were still discovered by Queen Mother Jiang's intelligence network.

You don't need to know the content of the letter. As long as you know that Li Pingyuan and Qian Xinzhao are connected, you can know what their plan is. You can guess it almost immediately. Relying on Queen Mother Jiang's understanding of the family, she can make a decision in the face of this situation. This choice is very typical.

Aristocratic families have no national concept, and the larger the aristocratic family, the more so, because the change of dynasties does not affect their continued role, unless they encounter people like Zhuang Xun who want to reshuffle their cards.It was obvious that besides betraying King Donghua, what other options were there? Even if there was an intention to form an alliance against Zhuang Xun, it was impossible for the two of them to communicate privately.

"I'm going to remind King Donghua." She was preparing to personally take charge of the Zhao Kingdom to deal with the upcoming opportunities, but the matter between King Donghua and Qian Xizhao delayed her time.

But she couldn't watch Qian Xinzhao surrender to the enemy. It was in Zhao's interests that Donghua acted as a thorn in the side, so that all forces in Jizhou could be dynamically balanced and never leave Jizhou.

The State of Zhao is about to help Li Pingyuan seize the State of Chengdu. If he gives the Donghua Road to Li Pingyuan for nothing, he is not raising a dog, but a tiger.

The example of Zhuang Xun was vivid in her mind, and Empress Dowager Jiang had a headache. If Zhuang Xun lost weight and Li Pingyuan gained weight, it would not be in vain to suppress Zhuang Xun, but to create another Zhuang Xun.

After submitting a message asking for an audience, I was led to the palace. I happened to see the dancers in cool clothes exiting the palace. Queen Mother Jiang seemed to be able to smell the smell of alcohol in the air.

She had a slight disdain for such a hedonistic monarch. No wonder the family fortune could not be saved, but it was still in need of use, so she could not just walk away.

"Mrs. Jiang, why are you here? Do you need Xiao Wang's help with something?" The palace is neatly organized, and King Donghua's attitude is respectful. He is a little more mediocre than mediocre, but he still has good eyesight.

The last time we talked, I asked about the issues behind Zhuang Xun. I learned that the Zhao State behind Mrs. Jiang has gods and is not afraid of Zhuang Xun. Moreover, he also relies on the Zhao State to give him hope to stabilize everything, so even if he is the king of a place. , and he is also in awe of Mrs. Jiang, he has not yet become arrogant.

"It's not you who's doing me a favor, it's me who's here to help you. Your Highness, you're in for a big disaster." He threatened him straight to the point.

"What's the big trouble?" He woke up immediately from his slight drunkenness. When it came to the possible danger to his life, King Donghua sobered up very quickly.

"Is it because Zhuang Xun is playing another trick?" Knowing that Zhuang Xun has the support of gods, King Donghua is still afraid, so he seems to have delusions of being persecuted.

He himself is also self-aware, and he is a thorn in Zhuang Xun's unification of Jizhou.

"Let's take a look." Mrs. Jiang handed the envelope to King Donghua. The letter had already made it very clear and there was no need for her to elaborate further.

After receiving the letter, while Qian Xinzhao breathed a sigh of relief, King Donghua's face turned red. Once again, he was confused, not stupid. He knew best what this kind of contact meant.

"Thief, how dare he, how dare he!" He couldn't breathe, and his anger instantly engulfed him. The pain of being stabbed in the back came to his heart, and the minister he relied on was ready to betray him.

"Your Highness, you just need to understand. It's not too late. These aristocratic families haven't been connected yet. You should make preparations early."

Seeing King Donghua reacting, Queen Mother Jiang smiled. Her brain's reaction speed was pretty good, but if she couldn't tell whether the information was true or false after seeing the information, it would be really hopeless.

"Mrs. Jiang, is this news true?" His anger was quickly suppressed because he instinctively felt what was behind it.

If it was Qian Xinzhao's personal decision and his family's decision, it would be fine. If it were the decision of all the aristocratic families, it would be a big problem.

"Your Highness can make your own decision, that's all." Seeing that King Donghua didn't believe it, Queen Mother Jiang also had a bad temper, so she sneered.

"It's not that I don't believe Mrs. Jiang, it's really too wide-ranging, so I have to be careful when verifying it." King Donghua laughed with him, knowing it was true, but he just didn't dare to believe it.

"Zhao Guo hopes that you can become a thorn in the side and restrict the development of Cheng Guo and Xia Guo. When Zhao Guo can deal with Jizhou with ease, we don't want to see your strength damaged."

Let King Donghua confess Zhao Guo's position first. This position is what she has always told King Donghua, giving him a nail to limit the development of Li Pingyuan and Zhuang Xun.

The triangle relationship is the most stable. King Donghua, as the third fulcrum, is a little weak and barely qualified as a fulcrum.

"I know, I know, so when will the State of Zhao be able to look back at Jizhou's Li Ting sweep holes and eradicate the Zhuang Xun and Li Pingyuan families?"

Knowing that he had said the wrong thing, King Donghua smoothly changed the topic, begged the divine soldiers to descend from the sky, and asked about the current situation of Zhao State.

"When the two countries of Zheng and Jing in Yuzhou are resolved, Zhao will definitely look back to Jizhou, and civil strife in Jing will be imminent. Your Highness, please be patient for a while longer. The dawn has begun."

After passing this level, Zhao will be a soaring dragon. No matter what Jizhou looks like by then, Zhao will be confident that it can deal with it, and these local snakes will have to hide.

"How long will it take?" King Donghua felt a little calm after hearing this, and asked expectantly. He would tie his head to his belt for Zhao Guo's promise.

"It can be as short as one year or as long as two years." War preparations and occupation are all time, and Empress Dowager Jiang is short of it. Zheng Guo and Jing Guo's will to resist is quite tenacious.

It's not a surrender, so it can't be captured quickly. The two countries Zheng and Jing are the smaller Zhao Kingdoms, and it will take a while to suppress them.

"Keep going then." With a grimace, it felt quite difficult for a year or two.

"Don't worry, if we defend ourselves well this winter, Zhuang Xun and Li Pingyuan will form a confrontation trend next year, and neither will attack you easily, because the gain outweighs the loss."

Empress Dowager Jiang gave King Donghua reassurance, predicting that with the help of Zhao State, King Qinghe's destruction could be foreseen. When the time comes there will be a fight between the two powers, and King Donghua will just help whoever is weak.

"If the two of them confront each other, there will be a chance to breathe." King Donghua breathed a sigh of relief. The two sons-in-law were the best in fighting, but when he thought about the people he had now, he couldn't help but worry.

"Mrs. Jiang, who specifically participated in the collusion with Li Pingyuan?" King Donghua asked cautiously.

"I don't know. I just confirmed that the Qian family and the Li family have contact. It's up to you, Your Highness, to self-screen and deal with it."

Queen Mother Jiang saw that King Donghua was not confident enough. No wonder King Yu would not give it to these brothers even if the country was given to outsiders. Mud can't help the wall. They have already mastered this kind of information advantage, and they still need others to feed them. In the mouth?

"Do they really believe that Li Pingyuan can control Chengguo? Now they are starting to act according to the wind, just in case the King of Qinghe is overthrown."

Seeing that Empress Dowager Jiang paid little attention to him, King Donghua also knew that she was dissatisfied with him and was angry that the people under her command were disloyal.

"Your Highness, it is better to deal with the collaborators Qian's family first. No matter whether Li Pingyuan wins or loses, just be yourself, otherwise they will vote for King Qinghe if he wins."

Afraid that King Donghua would do nothing and wait for Li Pingyuan to fail, Queen Mother Jiang reminded him.

"Okay, okay..." I felt even less confident.

(End of this chapter)