Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 464 Taking advantage of the situation
General House

The head of the Dong family, "Dong Wujiu", and the governor of Liangzhou, Ouyang Dong, arrived at the same time. They looked at each other in front of the door of the mansion and saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

They thought that this time, because of the Chen family, Wang Shichong's resistance would be very small, but they never thought it would be so small - even before the Chen family's people started attacking Liangzhou, Wang Shichong, known as the "Devil of the World", chose to negotiate.

"Brother Guozhi, do you think Wang Shichong has some conspiracy?"

Ouyang Dong's expression was full of hesitation. Wang Shichong had approached him before and wanted to rebel with him, but he refused. It was precisely because of this that Wang Shichong had been suppressing him madly for the past six months.

And now.
No matter how you look at it, this banquet seems like a conspiracy.

The conspiracy was to take them down before Chen.

Dong Wujiu was not worried. He smiled and looked at Ouyang Dong and said, "Don't worry about this. Wang Shichong probably wants us to be a lobbyist, a lobbyist to make peace with the Chen family."

"A lobbyist who wants to continue his rebellion."

Lobbyist?

Ouyang Dong didn't understand, but when he was the governor of Liangzhou, he had received care from Dong Wujiu many times. Now that Dong Wujiu was coming, he naturally had to accompany him.

Dong Wujiu was born into the Dong family of Liangzhou. He was a descendant of Dong Zhuo, the founding general of Dayu during the late Han Dynasty. It is said that he had a close relationship with the Chen family and they had maintained contact over the years.

The reason why Chen sent troops so quickly this time was because Dong asked for help.

"it is good."

After thinking for a while, Ouyang Dong finally gritted his teeth, a determined look flashed across his face: "Since Brother Guo Zhi wants to take this risk, then Ouyang will risk his life to accompany the gentleman and meet Wang Shichong!"

While the two were chatting, there was a sudden noise of footsteps in the general's mansion. Then, in front of them, a man hurriedly walked out with a hurried smile on his face.

"Oh, why haven't you two arrived yet? It turns out you are here to chat."

It was Wang Shichong who came out. He walked down the steps and came in front of the two people. "Please come in quickly, both of you. Don't chat outside. If others see you, they will think that I am a bad person for keeping you two outside."

In the midst of conversation, he half politely and half pushingly welcomed the two people into the mansion.

When they arrived at the banquet in the general's mansion, Wang Shichong was in no hurry to tell them his purpose. He just wanted to have singing and dancing. All of a sudden, the general's mansion was filled with lascivious music, and there were dancers dancing in the center.

Amid the drums and music, Ouyang Dong and Dong Wujiu looked at each other and decided to temporarily suppress their inner confusion, wanting to see what Wang Shichong was up to.

When the banquet was halfway through, Wang Shichong suddenly burst into tears with an inexplicable sadness on his face. He glanced at Dong Wujiu from time to time, as if he didn't want Dong Wujiu to find out.

Dong Wujiu smiled in his heart. Wasn't Wang Shichong pretending to be like this just to let him ask questions?
But this was also one of the reasons for his coming, so he pretended to have just noticed and asked, "General Wang, what is this--?"

Wang Shichong came down Dong Wujiu's ladder with a slightly sad look on his face.

"A few days ago, Chen issued a manifesto, saying that I was colluding with the Western Regions and barbarians and wanted to invade the Central Plains. But Wang thought about it and couldn't figure out how to collude with the barbarians. Isn't Liangzhou also my Chinese land? Can Shen Faxing, Dou Jiande and others compete for the Central Plains, but I, Wang Shichong, can't?"

"But after all, it was said by Chen, so it must be true, so I checked it secretly, and I didn't expect that I could really find it out."

He felt a little resentful, as if he had been cheated.

"That man disguised himself as a Liangzhou native and joined my army, but he is actually a member of the Western Region barbarian Europa. Europa is the descendant of the Xiongnu people who were driven away by Lin'an Hou and others. These people are eyeing the Central Plains covetously."

"I actually fell into their trap and almost brought disaster to the Central Plains."

"After learning about this, I immediately killed these people, but just..."

Wang Shichong burst into tears again: "I have lived my life without any regrets. I just want to know when Chen's army will arrive so that I can apologize."

"This is Wang's fault. I hope Chen will not blame Wang's family."

"While thinking about it, I remembered a rumor."

Wang Shichong glanced at Dong Wujiu and said, "It is rumored that the Dong family and the Chen family have a close relationship, so I would like to ask the head of the Dong family to be a lobbyist."

"I just don't know if Wu Jiu is willing."

Hearing this, Ouyang Dong also breathed a sigh of relief. It was just as Dong Wujiu said, Wang Shichong asked them to come here in order to act as a lobbyist.

But, is that all?

He always felt something was wrong.

Dong Wujiu thought more, and he seemed to understand the deep meaning of Wang Shichong's words. He didn't say much, but just looked at Wang Shichong and said, "I will ask my nephew Cheng Tao to see where the army is now and how long it will take to reach Liangzhou."

"But I don't know whether my nephew Cheng Tao will respond."

Wang Shichong was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately stood up and raised his wine glass: "Just asking a question is already a great favor."

"Wang would like to thank Brother Dong!"

After this glass of wine, the banquet seemed to become an ordinary party and the decadent music continued.

night.

Ouyang Dong couldn't sleep, so he stood up. Thinking that Dong Wujiu should not have rested yet, he went to his courtyard and knocked on Dong Wujiu's door.

After just a moment, the door was opened and Dong Wujiu stood there in his middle-length robe, with a somewhat ferocious look of sleepiness on his face, as if he had been awakened from a dream.

"It turns out that Brother Guozhi hasn't gone to bed yet."

Ouyang Dong said in surprise: "I always feel that something is wrong with what happened today, so I want to ask Brother Guozhi."

"It's good that Brother Guozhi hasn't gone to bed yet. Why don't we walk around in this courtyard and talk about what happened during the day?"

Dong Wujiu looked at Ouyang Dong with a strange expression, but didn't say anything. He just said, "Wait for me to change clothes."

In the courtyard, the moonlight is like water.

Ouyang Dong frowned: "Does Wang Shichong really just want you to be a lobbyist? But Chen is not someone who will be implicated. Even if the army arrives, they will only punish Wang Shichong."

"Why?"

Dong Wujiu patiently analyzed for Ouyang Dong: "Actually, what he wants is the news of Chen's army."

"Wang Shichong has finally come this far, how could he give up everything and wait for death?"

"He wanted to test it out and see if Chen would give him a chance."

"The Chen army attacked him not because he was plotting treason, but because he had colluded with the barbarians in the Western Regions. That's why he emphasized today that he was deceived and that he had killed the barbarians in the Western Regions. The key point was the sentence "no major disaster has occurred."

"The person is already dead. No one knows whether he did it on purpose or not. But anyway, the person is already dead, so whatever he says is the truth."

Dong Wujiu sighed and looked at the bright moon in the sky.

"I think Wang Shichong probably figured out that Chen's attack this time was not voluntary."

Not willingly?

Ouyang Dong was a little confused: "What does this mean? Is there anyone in this world who can force Chen?"

Dong Wujiu nodded: "One of the reasons why Chen attacked Wang Shichong was because His Majesty had plotted against Chen in the court, but this plot was also an "open plot" because Wang Shichong really colluded with the barbarians."

"The Chen family would never watch the barbarians invade the Central Plains - but the Chen family sent troops to attack Wang Shichong, which meant that the Chen family had to clean up the mess left by the Sui Dynasty." "Have you forgotten? The Chen family has always not interfered in the internal fights between the Han people in the Central Plains."

"The Chen family didn't intervene in the political struggle between Yang Jian and the Wansui Emperor. How could the Chen family possibly intervene in the political struggle between the Sui Dynasty and the various rebel kings this time?"

The deep meaning in his eyes was even more: "What's more"

"According to the time, the Chen family's "Family Sorrow" plan should be ready by then."

The tragedy of a noble family?

This word reminded Ouyang Dong of something bad. He crossed his arms and said, "Is the Chen family going to start the Aristocratic Family Sorrow again?"

Dong Wujiu did not answer, but just looked at the sky.

"maybe."

"But the gathering of wealth in the world really made the Chen family unable to hold back. The people have been exploited too harshly."

"Especially the Dugu family and the Su family."

"It's the accumulation of two dynasties. They only want to take in the wealth, but don't want to spit it out. This is what Chen can't tolerate."

After he finished sighing, he dusted himself off and said, "Go back. In a few days, we will know the news about Cheng Tao when he is sent back."

Autumn of the sixth year of Daye.

A galloping horse came from the east, raising a lot of dust, entered the territory of Liangzhou, and came to the general's mansion.

When Dong Wujiu arrived at the front hall, he saw Wang Shichong walking back and forth, with fear, terror and expectation on his face. After seeing Dong Wujiu, Wang Shichong immediately said, "Brother Dong, the Chen family's envoy has arrived and wants to see you."

"They say there is a letter from Chen Lingshou!"

The messenger also stood up, looking serious, and handed the letter to Dong Wujiu, saying, "The commander said that this letter must be burned immediately after reading it."

Dong Wujiu also realized the situation. After taking the letter, he glanced at it and then looked at Wang Shichong: "Nephew Cheng Tao said that he received my letter for help and they are rushing to come. He hopes that I can hold on for another ten days."

"In addition, he told me to try to find out the number of rebels in Liangzhou. If it is more than 5,000, I should reply quickly; if it is less than 3,000, I don't need to reply."

Five thousand? Three thousand?
Hold on for ten days?

Wang Shichong looked confused, but he reacted in a flash. Chen Ruohan couldn't make his words too clear, so he used vague words to test him.

This means that he could only take 3,000 soldiers with him and escape from Liangzhou within ten days.

After realizing what was happening, Wang Shichong quickly breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly glanced at the attendant beside him, and then smiled: "Brother Dong didn't tell Chen the truth, alas——"

He waved his hand and said, "Come here! Imprison these three people in the mansion!"

Of course, this sentence was said after Dong Wujiu burned the letter. A group of soldiers quickly appeared around and tied up the messenger, Dong Wujiu and Ouyang Dong.

Wang Shichong laughed loudly, with a hint of pride in his voice.

"It's worth my time and effort to deceive you. I didn't expect that I could actually find out the news about Chen's army!"

"Wang is truly a man of unparalleled strategy!"

As he said this, he looked at the soldier on the other side, and that soldier quickly cooperated.

Within a day, the news that Dong Wujiu and Ouyang Dong were deceived and the date of the army's arrival was defrauded from Chen Ruohan spread throughout the capital of Liangzhou, and the news that the three were imprisoned was also known to everyone.

Ten days later.

Smoke and dust were everywhere.

Chen Ruohan rode on the horse with a stern look on his face: "Wang Shichong actually dared to defraud Uncle Dong and imprison him. This is truly an unforgivable crime!"

"The army will enter the city immediately and pacify the people."

Kyoto, Luoyang.

Yang Guang looked at the memorial in his hand, as well as the extremely careless "letter of guilt" on it, and his hands began to tremble with anger.

How could he not tell whether what was written in the memorial was true or false?
Who is Chen Ruohan?

He is a talent of the time, and is as talented as the "Ancestor Heavenly Master" of those days. He even emerged from millions of people to win the top six places in the imperial examination!
There are few Three Yuans in the world, and there are no Six Yuans in the world!
It has been more than two hundred years since the implementation of the imperial examination system, and only two people have won the top three prizes, and both were intentionally achieved by the emperor, but none of these six poems were among them!

How could such a great talent be deceived by Wang Shichong's petty tricks and thus expose the time of the army's arrival?
What a joke.

"bump--"

He smashed everything on the table to the ground with a fierce look, gritting his teeth.

It was obvious that Chen Ruohan saw through his plan, so he deliberately let Wang Shichong go.

"Where is Wang Shichong now?"

The leader of the Black Guards whispered, "Your Majesty, Wang Shichong must have fled to Sichuan Prefecture now."

Sichuan Prefecture?
Yang Guang was so angry that he laughed: "Great, a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, how come Wang Shichong suddenly got it???"

The black-clad guards didn't dare to speak.

But when Yang Guang was about to find a way to transfer Chen Ruohan back, another guard in black hurried in.

"Your Majesty, the Western barbarians Europa have deployed their troops at the border of the Western Regions."

Europa??

Deploy troops on the Western border?

Yang Guang suppressed the breath that he had not yet exhaled and closed his eyes. The familiar pain burst out from the depths of his mind again.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Issue an order!"

"Dong Wujiu was deceived by the rebels, and his crime is unforgivable, but considering his many years of service in guarding the Western Regions, I will demote him to the position of Governor of Liang Province."

"Ouyang Dong was demoted to Liangzhou Prefecture Chief."

"Both of them will be fined ten years' salary!"

"In addition - the barbarians from the Western Regions have invaded our borders, so Chen Ruohan is ordered to concurrently serve as the governor of Liangzhou, the Grand Commander of Liangzhou, and the envoy of dethronement, to take charge of the affairs of Liangzhou and resist the barbarians!"

Yang Guang almost squeezed out these words from between his teeth.

After he finished speaking, his vision went dark and he almost fell to the ground.

"Call the imperial physician—"

"Send the imperial physician—"

(End of this chapter)