Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1970: The Seven Stars of Azure Dragon (Seventeen)
Meng Tian felt helpless about Fusu's answer.

"Your Highness, this question...isn't important now?"

Fusu smiled and replied calmly, "General Meng, what do you think is important now?"

"Your Highness..." Seeing him like this, Meng Tian smiled bitterly again, "Mr. Han Fei has been making a lot of moves over the past period of time. I am worried that Your Highness will have a hard time explaining this to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Do you think we should let them..."

"Mr. Han Fei did everything with my permission, or I asked him to do it." Fusu interrupted Meng Tian and replied in a gentle but firm tone, "It's also for the development of the northern counties. I think there is no problem."

"But many of their recent actions seem to have exceeded the needs of development." Meng Tian continued to try to persuade them, using cautious and conservative words.

He firmly stood on Fusu's side and did not intend to target Han Fei, but just wanted to be on the safe side.

Fusu was silent for a while and then replied, "This is the North. If we want to develop, we need not only materials and population, but also some stronger means to protect everything."

"What Mr. Han Fei did did not cross the line."

"If the Emperor blames me, Fusu is willing to take full responsibility."

After Fusu's words reached this point, Meng Tian could no longer persuade him. He could only shake his head helplessly and said, "Your Highness, why are you saying that? I have been ordered to lead the army in the north. If I make any mistakes and cause Your Majesty to reprimand me, it will naturally be Meng Tian's responsibility alone."

Fusu smiled when he heard this, but did not fight with Meng Tian for the opportunity to take the blame.

All the land in the world is the land of the king; the shores of the land are all the ministers of the king.

Who will take the blame at that time? No matter what he or Meng Tian says, it all depends on the emperor's opinion.

If there really was a problem, he would put all the blame on himself and do his best and leave the rest to fate.

Meng Tian sighed inwardly, then hurriedly took his leave.

Fusu was not sure whether he could ask Han Fei to stop, so he could only talk to him and they should try to fool him.

Liusha's ruling power in the north is achieved by relying on the government. A large number of local officials in the northern counties are from Liusha.

However, Han Fei did not hold an official position, because he was already "dead", and his status as a "dead man" was certified by the emperor himself.

In order to avoid being misunderstood by Ying Zheng as a direct provocation, Han Fei would not be allowed to serve as an official unless he actually changed his name.

But this did not affect Han Fei's command over a large number of county magistrates and county chancellors.

Liusha has recently accumulated a huge amount of material reserves in the north, including many taboo "controlled items" such as weapons and armor.

Most of them were hidden by Han Fei, but the number was too large and he could not hide them all properly.

Hiding things is not just about digging a hole and burying them, not to mention that Han Fei has too many types of things to hide.

Food, clothing, weapons, armor, as well as wood, stone, and even hardware such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin, and even living things such as horses, in short, everything from eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, clothing, food, housing, and transportation is included.

These things require different storage conditions, and they all need to be properly stored to ensure they remain immortal and free of problems.

On this basis, Han Fei also had to ensure secrecy so that he could not be easily discovered by the outside world.

This means that Liusha has been operating in the North for a full twenty years, otherwise there would be no need to think about hiding.

Even so, there is still too much left to be hidden.

Those that are not prohibited or regulated are easier to deal with. We can find a reason to put them into the treasury of each county and keep them there first.

But contraband items are troublesome. Even local governments cannot store large quantities of weapons, armor, hardware and mineral materials in their own warehouses - these things are not circulated among the people and are all controlled by the central court, and even their sources are unclear.

If Ying Zheng did not come to the north for inspection, although these things would be troublesome, there would always be ways to deal with them.

After all, Quicksand is the uncrowned king of the North. If Han Fei is willing, he can place it at the gates of the county government offices and no one will say anything.

But now that Ying Zheng is coming, we have to quickly find a way to "rationalize" these things.

Meng Tian also knew that Han Fei had a large number of controlled materials on hand, which was also his biggest concern.

So he planned to talk to Han Fei to see if he could get his border troops to eat these things reasonably and keep them for the time being.

Even if it can only be kept secret for a while, it's enough.

………………

Although Fusu and Meng Tian spoke as if Han Fei was very far away from them, in fact, Han Fei was also in Fushi City.

Shangjun is the well-deserved base camp of Liusha in the north.

Under normal circumstances, the eldest prince Fusu, the general Meng Tian, ​​as well as Han Fei and other high-ranking officials of Liusha would stay in Fushi.

Under normal circumstances, Han Fei should also be present when Meng Tian and Fusu meet.

Meng Tian didn't have to find ways to persuade Fusu to suppress Han Fei, he could just say it to his face.

But after the fall of Xiaoshengxianzhuang, Han Fei became much more "introverted" in the eyes of outsiders.

He never leaves the house all day, and handles all affairs in his own small courtyard.

As the nominal and actual executive deputy leader of Liusha, although he has a lot of things to worry about, he assigns them to his capable subordinates to handle, and he mainly controls the general direction.

An ordinary house can accommodate less than ten people.

Meng Tian left the eldest prince's mansion, walked down a street, turned two corners, and then entered Han Fei's house.

There were no visible guard posts in his house, only secret ones, and the person on duty must have known Meng Tian, ​​so no one dared to stop him.

After entering the house, Meng Tian saw Han Fei - he was drinking tea alone in the yard.

After Xiaoshengxianzhuang was gone, no one saw Han Fei drinking alcohol again, and everyone drank tea instead.

But he didn't give up drinking, he just replaced wine with tea, and then he was "drinking" all day long... or "drinking tea", drinking even more than before.

It's hard to say what he is doing, but others don't dare to ask.

The involvement of Xiaoshengxianzhuang was a thorn in Han Fei's heart. Except for Gu Xun and a few others, no one dared to mention it.

Anyway, drinking more water won’t hurt your body. It’s just a matter of going to the toilet a few more times.

"Mr. Han." Meng Tian greeted first, interrupting Han Fei's "drunkenness".

Han Fei put down his teacup and looked at Meng Tian with some surprise. "General Meng? Why are you in the mood to come to see me today?"

He and Meng Tian rarely communicated privately without going through Fusu.

It's not to avoid suspicion or anything, it's just unnecessary.

There is rarely a need for them to meet frequently for official business, and their relationship is average in private matters.

Meng Tian didn't waste any words and went straight to the point, "In the early spring of next year, His Majesty the Emperor will come to the North for an inspection. Should we make preparations early?"

"Oh, that's what it is." Han Fei nodded in realization, and then asked, "What do you think, Your Highness?"

Meng Tian sighed and replied, "Your Highness feels that there is no need to make too many preparations. He only plans to vacate his own mansion and renovate it to welcome the emperor." Han Fei laughed and nodded repeatedly, "Haha... That's right, that's right!"

Liusha's sphere of influence was very wide, covering six counties, namely Shangjun, Yanmen, Jiuyuan, Yunzhong, Taiyuan and Daijun. It also had a certain influence in the four counties of Beidi, Hedong, Shangdang and Handan, and even had influence in the Ji-Liao areas such as Shanggu and Yuyang.

According to Fusu's idea, Shangjun at least prepared a prince's mansion for the emperor, as a way for the son to show his filial piety to his father. The other counties did not even need to make such preparations, and they could probably just arrange a house for them.

Anyway, if Ying Zheng doesn’t feel used to living here, he can just stay in the carriage.

The situation is difficult, so there is no need to waste people's money and time on things like the emperor's tour - his tour is to consolidate his rule, and Fusu has helped his father in one step.

Seeing Han Fei's eagerness to watch the fun, Meng Tian couldn't help but twitch his lips a few times. He calmed down and asked, "Mr. Han, do you think it is necessary to take some additional measures?"

Han Fei smiled and asked, "What do you mean, General Meng?"

"For example, Mr. Han's many actions in recent days."

"Have all the supplies been properly handled?"

"Oh!" Han Fei nodded in understanding. "Those things... General Meng, don't worry too much. I already have a clue."

"The emperor only goes on tour in the spring, so it will take at least four or five months for him to arrive in the north. That's plenty of time."

Meng Tian was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then asked very carefully, "Excuse me, Mr. Han, could you please tell me how to deal with this?"

"I sold it to someone else." Han Fei did not hide anything and answered bluntly.

Then, before Meng Tian could ask further questions, he took the initiative to say, "As for who it was sold to, General Meng, don't worry. I promise that Quicksand will not be involved."

"Mr. Han, you are too polite." Meng Tian said something nice first, and then did not argue too much, "Mr. Han, if there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to ask."

"I won't bother you any more today. Goodbye!"

"General Meng, take care."

Han Fei smiled and bowed, seeing Meng Tian off, then sat back and continued to drink.

At this point in time, the only person who could take over the batch of sensitive materials he had on hand was the farmer.

Although the rebellion was still in its infancy, the Zhu family had not given in, and Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang were still holding on to the Tian Guang issue, but for Liusha, this matter had already been accomplished.

The bosses of the farmers are all traitors, how could it not fall into the trap?
Even if Zhu's Chen Sheng did not agree with this plan in the end, A Yan alone could still push the peasants to revolt, the only difference was that the subsequent reactions would be more serious.

But... who cares?
Han Fei and A Yan didn't care how many farmers would be killed or injured.

It's not that they are cold-blooded, but farmers are destined to be unable to remain unscathed in this chaotic world.

The worse the situation in the empire gets, the more conspicuous the Nong Clan with its 100,000 disciples will become, and the more Ying Zheng will be unable to tolerate this largest gang in the martial arts world.

Take the initiative and attack the empire first, or passively accept the attack and then counterattack in self-defense.

These two possibilities are the only two ways out for farmers in the future.

It is difficult to say which path is better or more suitable for farmers, but they are certainly not easy to walk, and the sacrifice of farmers' disciples is inevitable.

Han Fei and A Yan simply helped the farmers make a choice - as the leader of the farmers, this was also A Yan's legal right.

Of course, dumping the goods on the farmers does not mean that there will be no risk of failure.

During this northern tour, Ying Zheng would at most pass by the western side of Dongjun, while the Nong family's headquarters was at the easternmost part of Dongjun.

There is nothing wrong with handing the things over to the farmers and hiding them, but it is hard to say how big a commotion this will cause.

Han Fei had enough control over the Quicksand. Even if the North was about to be turned upside down by him, the movements in Xianyang that could be detected would be very limited.

This is not the case with farmers.

Not only are the Nong family disciples themselves lax and easily lead to information leakage, but there are also a large number of Luowang spies within the Nong family - even though the Nong family leader has become Luowang's "own man", Zhao Gao has not given up on infiltrating the Nong family.

After all, this 'own person' was not trustworthy enough in his opinion.

After A Yan took over the farm, he has been investigating Luowang's spies, but it is difficult to completely eliminate such a large farm in a short period of time.

She can only make sure that the people she uses are reliable enough.

However, too many people were needed to take over the supplies Han Fei had, so exposure was inevitable.

By then, Zhao Gao would most likely be aware of the connection between her and Liusha - not every force could obtain such a large batch of sensitive materials.

The secret could not be concealed from the Emperor, and A Yan's identity was exposed. For Liusha, this was a huge risk as he lost both his wife and his army.

But Han Fei still chose this method.

It’s not that he had any way to make up for the shortcomings of this plan, but that he had no intention of making up for it.

There is never a perfect solution in the world. Even the smartest people can only take one step at a time, set a tone and then check for omissions and fill in the gaps.

Although this plan has many loopholes, it is not completely foolproof. As long as he and Ayan are well prepared, the chances of successfully concealing the truth are still high.

Of course, more importantly... Han Fei is somewhat giving up.

Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang were filled with anger towards Luo Wang and the empire, and they were determined to rebel against them.

Han Fei was even better than them.

He really wanted to rebel with Liusha regardless of the consequences and start a real war with the empire.

However, on the one hand, the conditions are not ripe and Liusha is not yet able to confront the current empire head-on. On the other hand, he is also concerned about the thoughts of Gu Xun and Fusu, so he cannot act so recklessly.

But if Ying Zheng took the initiative to come to the north, it would be a different situation.

As long as Ying Zheng dared to set foot in the north, Han Fei was 90% sure that he would be buried there forever.

Once Ying Zheng dies, the already shaky situation of the empire will collapse instantly and will no longer pose a threat to Liusha.

As for the attitudes of Gu Xun and Fusu... Han Fei certainly would not take the initiative to provoke trouble, but if Ying Zheng decided to take action against them, Liusha would not be able to not fight back.

In this way, Han Fei will have an explanation for Gu Xun.

As for Fusu...to be honest, Han Fei didn't care much about him.

He could guarantee that Ying Zheng's throne would be passed on to Fusu, which would be considered as doing justice to his "eldest nephew".

He couldn't take care of anything else.

It is normal that you cannot have everything in this world.

In short, Han Fei's response to Ying Zheng's northern tour was to "do the best one can and leave the rest to fate."

He would never deliberately provoke Ying Zheng to intensify the conflict, and he would try his best to cover up the abnormalities in the north. However, if Ying Zheng noticed something was wrong and wanted to rectify the north, he would take action without hesitation.

In comparison, as Han Fei's partner, A Yan is more conservative - not because he is afraid of something going wrong, but because he is concerned about his father's thoughts.