After being exiled, I led my whole family to rebel.

Chapter 323: Rebellion in the North
Zhang Wanjun and Xu Huijia selected 5,000 soldiers and ambushed them on the road between Fengxiang Prefecture and Hezhong Prefecture. After waiting for two days, they finally arrived with the imperial vanguard of 10,000 troops.

It goes without saying that they took advantage of the geographical advantage of being high above the ground and engaged in a fierce battle with these ten thousand people in the valley.

Fengxiang Prefecture was successfully taken over by people from Jinzhou Prefecture, but the northern border was not so peaceful.

Although it is now the transition between summer and autumn, the grass and water are still abundant, and the Tatars are hiding outside the Great Wall to recuperate and will not attack the interior for the time being, but Zhou Heng's imperial edict completely broke the temporary tranquility in the north.

There were only a dozen or so confidants in Zhao Yi's tent. As soon as the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict left, the dozen or so confidants couldn't wait to read the imperial edict over and over again.

"What exactly does this mean? Recruiting the general back to Bianjing? And also saying that they want to escort the late emperor's spirit? According to the etiquette, it should be either the Crown Prince or a capable person from the royal family. In any case, it cannot be the turn of an outsider like the general."

"Don't you understand? This funeral procession is fake, but the real purpose is to trick our general back! It's only been a short time since the late emperor passed away, but the retired emperor has already used the excuse of internal and external troubles to keep everything simple, and even wants to bury the late emperor hastily. This shows how narrow-minded he is. At this time, he still wants to remove the general from this position?"

"I don't think so. The situation in Bianjing City is probably more complicated than we imagined."

All the generals in the room looked at Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi frowned slightly, his face turning pale. "I received a tip yesterday that Zhou Heng and Zhou Ying are both dead, and Xu Zhenying is almost completely occupying the Eastern Territory. Now that such a big thing has happened in Bianjing City, this is a rare opportunity. I believe that people from Jinzhou Prefecture will soon be heading towards Bianjing City."

"Zhou Heng is dead?"

Everyone in the room was shocked, "How did he die?"

"They say he was burned alive."

The whole room was filled with shock and no one dared to speak for a moment.

Bai Ci'en said, "According to this calculation, Xu Zhenying has occupied at least two-thirds of the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No wonder His Majesty issued an imperial decree to let the general return to the court."

"No, absolutely not! If that's the case, then we can't go back! God knows whether the emperor wants to call the general back to resist the soldiers of Jinzhou Prefecture, or he wants to take the opportunity to seize power and kill people. If the general leaves, he will fall into a wolf's den!"

This statement immediately drew approval, "Right! This is a time of trouble. In the past few years, His Majesty has been inserting people around us, and has even tried to take the general's life more than once. If the general goes there, he will definitely be in danger!"

But someone else asked, "If the general doesn't go, what if the people from Jinzhou Prefecture really come and attack?"

"How do we go? Although the northern border is relatively peaceful at the moment, if the Tartars knew that Bianjing was in internal and external troubles, can you guarantee that they would not attack us in advance? What will happen to the millions of people in the northern border?"

Zhao Yi was in a dilemma, and then he looked at Bai Ci'en. Bai Ci'en frowned and said earnestly: "General, have you ever thought about why His Majesty didn't just summon you back to the capital on the grounds of defending Bianjing City, but the imperial edict insisted on sending the late emperor's spirit as an excuse?"

Everyone was silent, thinking.

Zhao Yi was stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty doubts me. This imperial edict... is also testing me."

"That's right." Bai Ci'en's expression became more serious. "General, if we advance now, we will die. If we retreat now, we will die too."

The other soldiers immediately said, "General Bai, whether we advance or retreat, we will die. Sigh, you educated people are the hardest to understand. What is going on here?"

Bai Ci'en said nothing.

How could he say that the imperial edict issued today did not give General Zhao Yi any chance to survive? It was clearly asking General Zhao Yi to bring his men back for support.

But the emperor was afraid that General Zhao Yi would not want to go back, so he specifically said that he was going to send off the late emperor's spirit.

This is a test, a deception, and even a murderous intention.

"I understand. Anyway, if we go back, we will die, right?"

Zhao Yi pursed his lips, his jawline was tight, and his face was pale. The general who used to be a brave general on the battlefield now looked so helpless.

"General Zhao, you can't go back! You can't go back! The emperor has long disliked you and has wanted you dead time and again. If you fail to save Bianjing City this time, it's fine. But if you do save Bianjing City, then the emperor will get rid of you!"

"Who cares about the Great Zhou? This Great Zhou belongs to his Zhou family, not your Zhao family! General Zhao, we soldiers should be loyal, but we can't be blindly loyal! You must not go back today. If you go back, you will fall into the trap of the old emperor. When the time comes, he will definitely remove your military power. How can we survive?!"

"Be bold!"

Suddenly the curtain was lifted, and the cold night wind blew in mercilessly. The lamp in front of Zhao Yi's desk flickered, and then five or six young generals strode in.

The leader was even more extraordinary, with the surname "Zhou" and he was the son of a prince. It was said that Zhou Mian loved him very much, so he was sent to the northern border. One reason was to seek fame and honor, and the other was to serve as a spy for Zhou Mian.

At this moment, the young general had a gloomy face and pointed his sword at Zhao Yi, "General Zhao, since His Majesty has issued an order, why don't you bring people back to the capital to rescue? Do you still have His Majesty in your eyes? Do you still have the law? Do you want to learn from Xu Zhenying and rebel and establish your own country?!"

The faces of the people in the room changed.

These people are all spies planted by Zhou Mian in the northern border. Not only do they come from prominent families, but they are also all loyal to Zhou Mian.

When they held the meeting, they deliberately did not invite this group of people, and they did not expect that this group of people would dare to break into the main general's camp without permission.

"General Zhou, stop flattering our general! Don't you think about the current situation in our northern border? Believe it or not, once General Zhao leaves today, the Tartars will smell the danger and attack us! If Bianjing City is in danger, will our northern border be safe?"

"That's right. Even if His Majesty wants the general to return to the capital, shouldn't the general at least discuss the arrangements before leaving with us?"

"Really?" General Zhou's expression relaxed slightly, but he was still skeptical. He looked around with a pair of fierce eyes, "Since you are arranging a war, why don't you call us? Don't you take His Majesty seriously? Humph, when I go back, I will definitely report you all and let you know that this northern border is still the land of my Great Zhou, and you are all my Great Zhou's subjects! If anyone dares to have a different mind, His Majesty will definitely kill his entire clan!"

Everyone in the room clenched their fists and stared at General Zhou.

However, General Zhou didn't take them seriously at all. He was a royal noble and could not be compared with these common people. In this room, he only respected Zhao Yi and Bai Ci'en.

Seeing that Zhao Yi still had the imperial edict in his hand, General Zhou smiled slightly, but there was a hint of coldness in his smile, "General Zhao, have you arranged all the military affairs in the northern border? If you have, don't think about delaying time. Bianjing City is extremely urgent. His Majesty said that you should set out immediately after receiving the imperial edict! If you delay, you will be charged with delaying the opportunity to fight!"

Zhao Yi glanced at him and said in a cold voice: "I have my own arrangements for this, so General Zhou doesn't need to worry about it."

Although General Zhou's attitude was gentle, he was very careful in his work. "In this case, why don't I let Li Gui and Wushuang stay here? If you need anything, let these two people help you. More people means more arms. In this way, we can set off to return to Bianjing City tomorrow—"

At this, an older general under Zhao Yi was immediately furious: "Damn it, who do you think you are? You are just a fourth-rank general, and you dare to be rude to our general? When I was fighting outside, you were still peeing your pants! Why are you pretending to be so important here?! Our general said that he would make arrangements. Why are you sending people to monitor our general now?"

General Zhou drew his sword and said, "Old man, watch your words! I am the son of King Ping. Although I did not inherit the title, I am also a member of the Zhou family!"

All the people in the room immediately drew their swords and rushed forward. In an instant, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became explosive.

Amid the lights, Zhao Yi also stood up.

General Zhou was immediately furious: "How dare you, Zhao Yi! I knew you had always wanted to be independent! Think about it, your wife and children are all in Bianjing!"

Zhao Yi was so angry that his chest heaved and he clenched his fists.

General Zhou continued to provoke: "If you have no intention of rebelling, prove it to me! Let these people put away their weapons first, and follow me to Bianjing City tomorrow!"

Zhao Yi's face turned pale and he waved his hand.

"General!" The others looked angry and reluctant.

Zhao Yi shouted, "Put away the weapons!"

General Zhou saw that everyone in the room had put away their weapons and was glaring at him, as if they were eager to pounce on him the next moment.

He smiled coldly, "General Zhao, if you don't have the guts to rebel, don't learn from the guy in Jinzhou. Just be a good dog of the Great Zhou!"

General Zhou turned and left.

However, something unexpected happened in the next second!
I saw the young general standing closest to him suddenly draw out his sword and thrust it forward.

General Zhou was completely unprepared. He just felt a chill in his body, and then he saw a very young and immature face.

He searched in his gradually emptying thoughts.

Before he died, he suddenly remembered that this person was loyal to Zhao Yi.

But this person also has a close relationship with Jinzhou Prefecture.

Four years ago, he and Bai Ci'en promoted the smallpox vaccine in the army.

Then, Zhou Ping's body fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Zhang Chao, what are you doing?!" The people in the room were startled.

However, before anyone could react, the generals brought by General Zhou saw that he was dead and immediately realized that the situation was not good. They turned around and ran out, shouting, "Zhao Yi is rebelling!"

The time waits for no one. Seeing that these men were about to rush out of the tent, everyone was afraid that it would cause a mutiny in the army. Almost at the same time, the soldiers on Zhao Yi's left and right sides cooperated tacitly. A cold light flashed in the room, and one person killed them with a knife, and blood splattered everywhere.

These people were dealt with before they even reached the tent door.

This sudden change shocked everyone.

Especially the subsequent chain reactions.

By the time everyone reacted, they realized that they had actually killed these important spies that Zhou Mian had placed in the northern border.

Bai Ci'en was also shocked and stood up.

The young general who killed the first person still had blood on his face, and he seemed a little dazed, holding the sword in his hand, at a loss as to what to do.

The one who didn't kill anyone was more clear-headed. Seeing this, he immediately knelt down and said, "General, we killed Zhou Mian's men, and now he won't let us go! Since we're in a corner, we should fight as hard as we can!"

The young general dropped his sword and knelt in front of Zhao Yi. "General, I killed them all. It has nothing to do with you! My parents were killed by the Tartars. If you hadn't picked me up, I would have died! General, everyone has their own faults. Just push me out to take the blame!"

Bai Ci'en frowned, "This is not about finding a scapegoat! What you did is no different from what the general did! Even if you insist that you did it yourself, His Majesty is suspicious and will definitely think that General Zhao ordered you to do it."

Bai Ci'en knew.

It's over now.

This is the real hopeless situation.

The other generals said, "These guys insulted us so much that I wanted to stab them to death a long time ago. It's better if they die now, so we don't have to go back to Bianjing City!"

"Yes! Hasn't Zhou Mian always been on guard against General Zhao declaring himself king? Then why don't we just kill him! We now have 200,000 soldiers and horses. The situation in Bianjing City is extremely urgent, but we won't help! What's wrong with being a free and easy king in the north?"

"Nonsense!" Bai Ci'en shouted angrily, "Bianjing City is in danger, do you think it has nothing to do with us? The Northern Border and Bianjing City are interdependent, do you think Jinzhou Prefecture will not attack us after taking Bianjing City? The Northern Border is not a paradise, the Northern Border will only be Xu Zhenying's last piece of territory! We have no escape!"

"Oh, so what? General Bai, I would like to ask, if our northern border really has no power to stand on its own, then how do Zhou Mian and Xu Zhenying compare?"

Bai Ci'en was speechless!

Because he suddenly understood the real reason why this group of people did not want to rescue Bianjing City!
"Zhou Mian is immoral and suspicious. He withheld military pay, played tricks, placed his cronies in positions of power, imposed heavy taxes, indulged in beauty, and angered the heavens and the people. But that Prince Zhao is kind-hearted, gifted with talent, and improved people's livelihood without sticking to one pattern. Even though we were enemies back then, he was willing to provide us with smallpox vaccines free of charge. Don't say you don't know that the cotton-padded clothes we wear were all purchased at low prices! Not to mention the great famine the year before last. If it weren't for the people of Jinzhou Prefecture sending us food, our northern border would have ceased to exist long ago! General, is this the northern border of the Great Zhou or the northern border of Jinzhou Prefecture? Are you really not clear in your mind? We eat their food, drink their drinks, wear their clothes, and even all the military training in the army today is learned from them! Now we have to go to war with them. Isn't this what a gentleman does——"

Zhao Yi's body was shaking and he almost couldn't sit still.

Bai Ci'en's face changed drastically!

Only at this moment did he realize that he was wrong, so wrong!

He always thought that he was implementing reforms in the Northern Frontier Army. He followed Xu Zhenying's approach, hiring teachers to teach officers and soldiers to read and write, promoting a harmonious and friendly comradeship atmosphere between superiors and subordinates, frequently organizing military-civilian integration activities, and even following the management model of Jinzhou Prefecture to set up propagandists to brainwash the soldiers. However, he never imagined that the result of all this would be to make wedding clothes for others!

Now, this group of people can't tell whether they are soldiers of the Great Zhou or soldiers of Jinzhou Prefecture!
The blood and mutiny just now did not cause any change in Bai Ci'en's emotions.

Instead, it’s right now!

When the general said this, Bai Ci'en felt that he was extremely wrong. He even felt that it was because of the reforms he had vigorously promoted in the army that the soldiers adapted to Jinzhou Prefecture more quickly, and even developed feelings and yearnings for everything in Jinzhou Prefecture.

this is too scary!

He actually made such a big mistake unintentionally!

Yes.

The clothes they wore were cotton-padded clothes purchased at a low price from Jinzhou Prefecture.

Everything in their army is based on the template of Jinzhou Prefecture.

Even Bai Ci'en himself couldn't tell who he belonged to!
Zhao Yi's face also turned pale. He grabbed the chair and asked slowly: "So what do you think... should we surrender to Jinzhou Prefecture?"

The people in the room remained silent, but gradually they all had the answer in their hearts.

Zhao Yi stared at the two people kneeling on the ground, "Zhang Chao, you say!"

Zhang Chao said, "General, if you want me to tell you, I will tell you! Since we will die whether we advance or retreat, why don't you choose Jinzhou Prefecture? His Majesty has been suspicious of us for a long time. He has repeatedly tried to take back the military power from you. This time is the best opportunity. As General Luo said just now, there are only two outcomes if you go to Bianjing City. One is to die at the hands of the people in Jinzhou Prefecture, and the other is to die at the hands of the old emperor. If you don't go to Bianjing City, you will also die on the charge of treason. General, can't you see that this old emperor just wants to use us to fight for him and then get rid of us afterwards! We will die anyway, so why not choose Jinzhou Prefecture? Unless you really want to establish yourself as king!"

Zhao Yi smiled bitterly. "It's easy to declare yourself a king? Do you really think that being an emperor means putting on a dragon robe and sitting on the dragon throne, and you are the emperor? There are 200,000 soldiers in the northern border, and the annual military expenditure alone is as high as hundreds of thousands of taels. In the past, we relied on the court, but we still had to endure hunger and insufficient military pay. Now that we are on our own, who can afford the military expenditure of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver? Or let the soldiers charge into battle on an empty stomach? If it were you, would you go? Not to mention that I am used to fighting on the battlefield all my life, and I know nothing about government affairs. At that time, not only will I have to shoulder the responsibility of 200,000 troops, but also the livelihoods of nearly one million people. Do you think I am a god?"

These words also stunned Bai Ci'en.

It turns out that Zhao Yi really considered making himself king.

Zhang Chao was stunned. "Then what the general means is..."

But Zhao Yi turned his head and looked at Bai Ci'en, "General Bai, can you also tell me where the way out is for the people in this room?"

Bai Ci'en was a little dazed. His family had been loyal for generations, but now they were going to betray the Great Zhou. This made him feel mixed emotions.

But deeper down, somehow, there was a sense of relief that was hard to describe.

It seemed as if he had a premonition.

If we say that the balance in his heart had already tilted when he was studying in Qianzhou Prefecture, then after arriving in the northern border, he was even more committed to military reforms. Invisibly, his fate seemed to be tied to Jinzhou Prefecture.

It seemed that the more he saw and heard, the more he communicated with the people in Jinzhou Prefecture, and the more he understood the situation there, something was beginning to sprout in his heart.

It turns out that these four words, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, can be so easily shaken.

Bai Ci'en was unwilling to admit that he was a weak-willed person.

But reason was tearing him apart, telling him that following Jinzhou Prefecture was obviously a better choice.

Bai Ci'en couldn't hide his bitter smile, "General, what am I talking about? The generals have said enough today. The facts are before us. Do we have any other choice besides Jinzhou Prefecture?"

Zhao Yi pursed his lips and said nothing, making it impossible to tell what he was feeling.

Soon, someone came to report outside the account book that there was a man who claimed to be from Xingyuan Prefecture and wanted to meet with General Zhao Yi.

The corpses in the room were still lying all over the place, with blood flowing to the ground. The atmosphere in the room was sad and depressing, but obviously, the three words "Xingyuan Mansion" still attracted everyone's attention.

Xingyuan Prefecture, isn’t that Xu Zhenying’s territory?

Why are people from Xingyuan Prefecture coming here during such a troubled time?
Everyone in the room had their own thoughts and looked at Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi said, "Bring him to see me in a quarter of an hour."

The man outside the door took the order and left.

The people in the house immediately and tactfully began to clean up the mess. The bodies of these people were difficult to hide, so they could only find a few mats to wrap them up and throw them into a box at random, waiting to deal with the bodies at night when the patrols were less active.

But Bai Ci'en reminded Zhao Yi: "General, this is a time of turmoil, and Bianjing and Jinzhou are on the verge of a war. If we meet with people from Jinzhou in private, we won't be able to explain it later."

Zhao Yi said: "At this point, Ci'en, haven't you figured it out yet?"

"What do you see?"

"Do you really think that Jinzhou Prefecture has been so kind to us in the North without asking for anything in return? Do you really think that Xu Zhenying is a saint? Helping us without asking for anything in return?"

Bai Cien frowned.

"I can see now that this female rebel is not a simple person. She is very cautious in every step. Zhou Mian may be a hypocrite, but she is definitely a villain. Her kindness to us without asking for anything in return has doomed our fate today. She is using an open conspiracy to disintegrate our internal forces. Her scheming is rare in the world. No wonder the Zhou family has been defeated by her. You just wait and see. The person who came to us today must have been sent by her to persuade us to surrender."