Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1997: The Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon (Forty-four)

(This chapter is posted in reverse order from the previous one, I'm sorry, please forgive me.)
Meng Tian came back to his senses and smacked his lips. He was stunned for a long time before continuing:
"Your Highness's judgment is not wrong, but...is this like letting a tiger go back to the mountain?"

It was impossible for Wang Li to leave the North alone, otherwise he would not be able to explain to his superiors.

Even if he left, he would withdraw all the troops under his command that he could take away from the north, which would be at least tens of thousands of people.

Letting them go for nothing would be equivalent to strengthening the power of the imperial court.

Fusu didn't care about it, waved his hand and replied, "Stabilizing the rear is the most important thing, these tens of thousands of people... are insignificant."

If there is a drastic change in the Central Plains, the stability of the north is the most important, and Fusu does not want to create any complications.

It is still too risky for the northern border troops to split and engage in civil war.

This is not just a simple question of how much damage our side will suffer as a result, it may also involve the stability of the entire North.

As mentioned before, the northern border troops were not loyal to Meng Tian, ​​and of course not loyal to Wang Li. They recognized the imperial power, or Ying Zheng.

If Ying Zheng was safe and sound, King Meng Tian and King Li could only dream of splitting the northern border troops and starting a civil war.

Everything that Fusu and Meng Tian are discussing now is based on the premise that the imperial political situation has undergone drastic changes.

But even so, it is hard to say what attitude the soldiers of the northern border army will have at that time.

Ideally, Meng Tian could rely on his prestige in the army to temporarily stabilize the northern border troops. If the central court could make some more moves, Meng Tian would have an even better chance of success.

But in general, Fusu judged that Meng Tian's control over the northern border troops would still be relatively weak.

If another internal fight breaks out among the border troops, before Wang Li's problem is resolved, the North will be in complete chaos.

In addition, Fusu did not want to over-consume the manpower of Meng Tian's army. Although Meng Tian was very confident in defeating Wang Li, the other party was from a famous family after all, and he had no shortage of men under his command. Even if Meng Tian could win, how many men would be lost?

Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Or even more?
In short, it is unlikely to be less... unless Wang Li is really a waste beyond imagination.

Weighing the pros and cons of two evils, Fusu felt it was worth letting Wang Li go.

As for the fact that Wang Li would take away part of the northern border troops... Fusu didn't think it was a big problem.

First of all, it is hard to say how many people Wang Li can take away.

Meng Tian's control over the army was very weak, and Wang Li was even weaker than him.

Taking border troops to fight a civil war is a serious violation of authority and regulations, but taking the border troops away from the north is not much worse.

What's more, many of the northern border troops are "locals".

Although they are considered an elite and powerful army, they are essentially mobilized soldiers, or conscripted soldiers, rather than professional troops like the Golden Fire Cavalry or the Hundred Battle Armored Soldiers. Moreover, due to the invasion of nomadic tribes in the north every year, the garrison service here is first recruited from the northern counties.

Firstly, you can adapt to the environment better, and secondly, you don’t have to spend too much time on the road.

Although they receive military pay and their service time is relatively long, conscripted soldiers are still conscripted soldiers, and they can go home and rest for at least two or three months a year - they may not necessarily be able to rest when they go home, but at least they can go home.

If I follow Wang Li, I might not be able to go home.

Secondly, even if Wang Li took all 100,000 people away, it is hard to say how much trouble it would cause to the North in the future.

The strength of the mobilized soldiers...how to put it, it's often like a scam, looking very real, but becoming extremely fragile at the slightest provocation - the Northern Border Army is said to be elite, but that's just the way it is.

Not to mention that the actual combat effectiveness of the mobilized soldiers is extremely unstable, whether Wang Li can stabilize these 100,000 people is a big problem.

In the ten years since the establishment of the empire, whether it was soldiers doing garrison service, coolies doing corvée labor, or even prisoners doing hard labor, their lives were generally not good, all aspects of which were bad. However, those who dared to escape from military service were always a minority.

why?

Because of Ying Zheng!

But these people were not afraid of Ying Zheng and did not dare to flee, but they were afraid of the imperial court, or in other words, they were afraid of the imperial court with stable political situation and strong control.

Faced with the stable imperial court, their escape attempts would be difficult to succeed and would ultimately only bring greater suffering to themselves, their families, and even to unrelated people - because of the harsh collective punishment of Qin law.

Everyone can weigh the pros and cons of two evils. It is essentially an animal instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm.

But as I said just now, all the arrangements and operations that Fusu is now envisioning are based on the dramatic changes in the imperial political situation.

Today, the central government’s control over local areas has been on the verge of collapse, and any further drastic changes would basically mean that the government is completely out of control.

In this case, your fellow villagers will not be polite to you.

Everyone will definitely show off their skills. Those who can escape will escape, and those who can run will run. If there is a way, then you can go.

The more turbulent the empire, the more unreliable and unstable the conscripted soldiers become.

But at the same time, the more turbulent the empire is, the more mobilized troops the court will need.

Then, forceful mobilization under such unstable circumstances would only exacerbate the collapse of the political situation and make it even more turbulent.

And then...it's a perfect closed loop.

So... Fusu really doesn't care much about the trouble these tens of thousands of people may bring.

Unable to stabilize the situation, any efforts will only accelerate death, or at best be a temporary solution.

If Liusha eventually fails, the reason will definitely not be because of the tens of thousands of people that Wang Li was able to take away.

Meng Tian was a military general who pursued military merit and was used to deciding the outcome of a fight by sword. Of course, he preferred the simple and brainless option of starting a war.

As the leader of the eldest prince's faction, Fusu needs to consider more.

Seeing that Fusu had made up his mind, Meng Tian did not try to persuade him any further.

He just likes to drive the Tata out of inertia, it doesn't mean he can't live without this military achievement.

Fusu said to release the people, so he did as he was told.

"The general understands."

Fusu nodded. "General Meng needs to personally arrange what to do. I won't ask any more questions."

"In the next period of time, we must act with caution and be prepared at all times."

………………

While the caravan was on tour and the situation in the north was changing, other parts of the empire were also busy.

Rumors about the chivalrous leader Tian Yan and the head of Shennong Hall Zhu's family began to spread again at the Dongjun Farmers' Headquarters.

Along with the rumors, there were also actual conflicts and frictions between the two sides.

To outsiders, this was a further intensification of the internal conflicts within the Farmers' Family, and even to most of the Farmers' disciples, this was the case.

Only a very few people know that this is just a new round of internal fighting.

As news of Ying Zheng's serious illness spread, the situation in the empire began to deteriorate rapidly.

Although the parties involved refuted the rumor immediately, almost everyone would assume that this kind of refutation was a hasty cover-up out of guilty conscience.

Of course, this does not mean that it will be okay if Ying Zheng does not refute the rumors.

If you don't refute the rumors, people will just say that you have acquiesced.

It's death anyway.

In the final analysis, there were too many people who were looking forward to the day when Ying Zheng would die. Being condemned by thousands of people and dying without any disease, this was probably the case.

The situation in the empire changed suddenly. Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang in Mount Li and the Zhu family in Mount Daze could no longer sit still. They all started to ask A Yan when the plan would begin.

It should be noted here that the cooperation between Chen Sheng, Wu Kuang, Zhu family and A Yan was restarted before the New Year.

The reason, of course, was that A Yan did what he said and fulfilled his promise - that is, to let Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang meet the former knight-errant Tian Guang before the end of last year.

A Yan did not handle this matter personally, but handed it over to Zhang Liang.

According to A Yan's plan, let them meet, and then find an opportunity to kill Tian Guang directly, and then put the blame on Luo Wang, and the matter would be over.

However, Zhang Liang chose to play it safe and did not complete the task in one go.

He did let Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang see Tian Guang, but he was a seriously injured, dying and unconscious Tian Guang.

Apart from confirming that the person was indeed Tian Guang, and not a fake in disguise, Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang did not get any information at all.

And they really only met once, and then they were both taken away by Zhang Liang.

Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang were naturally unwilling to do so and insisted on rescuing Tian Guang, but Zhang Liang persuaded them with various reasons.

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Chen Sheng was a stubborn man who often did things without considering the consequences and did not listen to others' advice. However, what Zhang Liang was best at was persuading people.

After Zhang Liang brought up many excuses, including the safety of the current leader of the Nong family, 'Tian Yan', the safety of the Nong family itself, and the life and death of the former leader, Tian Guang, even Chen Sheng did not dare to be stubborn.

If this really harms everyone, he won't be able to bear such a huge burden.

Even if you are stubborn, you can't be so stubborn.

Especially the one about Tian Guang’s life or death.

Zhang Liang told him that Tian Guang was now seriously injured. Although his life would not be in danger, it would be difficult to escape from the Lishan Imperial Mausoleum with such a seriously injured person.

The most difficult thing is that once the people from Luowang find out that they have rescued the people, they will definitely stop them at all costs.

Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang are very powerful and are not afraid of Luowang's killers, but Tian Guang, who has completely lost his ability to move, is very fragile and may lose his life if he is not careful.

No matter what, what Chen Sheng wanted was to save people, and he couldn't save people by killing them.

Therefore, he had no choice but to give up, follow Zhang Liang's arrangement and wait for a "more appropriate time".

As for when will be the 'more appropriate time'...anyway, you just have to wait.

Back to the present.

With both Zhu Jia and Chen Sheng urging him to do so, Ah Yan agreed and they had reached the final stage of preparation.

On the one hand, the conflict between 'Tian Yan' and the Zhu family on the Nong family side will further intensify, laying the final groundwork for the Zhu family's rebellion.

On the other hand, the court needed to smooth out relationships and push for the transfer of prisoners from Mount Li to be implemented thoroughly.

The former is mainly arranged by the farmers themselves, while the latter farmers do not need to worry too much. Zhang Liang will use the relationship with Liusha to operate it - of course, Chen Sheng and the Zhu family do not know how to operate this part specifically. A Yan just perfunctorily told them that he would find a way.

………………

at the same time.

In the southeast corner is the ancient land of Wu and Yue, which is the empire's Kuaiji County.

All members of the Xiang clan gathered here, including the newcomers who had been developing and expanding in the southeast region during this period of time, as well as the old members of the Chu army gathered by Ying Bu and Ji Bu.

Although the Xiang clan had basically not been developing in secret in the past two years, as the news of Ying Zheng's serious illness spread, they simply stopped acting altogether.

Except for not directly rising up in rebellion, he was basically no different from a traitor.

Since the Xiang family is so blatant, it is self-evident what the current situation in Kuaiji County is.

Basically, everyone is a rebel, even local government officials are almost openly anti-empire.

Of course, saying 'almost' means it hasn't really reached that point yet.

The officials of Kuaiji County were generally divided into two factions.

One faction completely sided with the Xiang clan, and as soon as they raised the banner of the Xiang clan of Chu, they would immediately turn against them and surrender.

One faction was still hesitant and wavering, not very loyal to the empire, but also did not dare to really allow the Xiang clan to rebel.

Because there are still some... let's call them fence-sitters, and the power of this group is not weak.

The most crucial thing is that the prefect of Kuaiji County, who is also the absolute leader of Kuaiji County, does not stand on the side of the Xiang family.

Of course, he was not opposed to building an empire.

However, the Xiang clan hoped that they would lead the rebellion, and all the officials of Kuaiji County, big and small, would follow them.

However, Yin Tong, the governor of Kuaiji County, hoped to take charge and have the Xiang clan serve him.

Neither side wants to be inferior to the other, but neither dares to break off relations with the other rashly.

Yin Tong’s concern was simple—his hard power was far inferior to that of the Xiang family.

Although the Xiang clan now has less than 10,000 effective combat forces under its command, the local garrison in Kuaiji County is not superior in terms of numbers and may even be smaller.

Moreover, in terms of actual combat effectiveness, it is difficult to say which side is stronger.

Most of the Xiang clan members were newcomers who had never been on a battlefield or fought a war, but the garrison troops in Kuaiji County were not professionals either.

If they rashly turn against each other, if they win, it will be ok, and they can even get credit for suppressing the rebellion from the central court. But if they lose, it is very likely that the whole family will be killed.

Unless he has no choice, Yin Tong would never take the risk.

In contrast, the Xiang family's concerns were not about Yin Tong himself.

Be it Shao Yu, Long Qie, Ying Bu and Ji Bu, none of them took Yin Tong seriously at all.

But Nei Shiteng and his 30,000 Pingyang heavy armored troops who were lying in Minzhong County were very scary.

If they go to war with Yin Tong directly and alarm Nei Shi Teng in central Fujian, they will be in big trouble.

Nei Shi Teng led the 30,000 Pingyang heavy armored troops, one of the empire's trump cards. Xiang Liang and his men estimated that they would need at least 50,000 men to be able to hold out and fight back, and more than 100,000 men to be sure of directly repelling the enemy.

Of course, if Nei Shiteng also wanted to replicate Wang Li’s operating level in Daze Mountain, then... that would require at least thirty to fifty thousand people.

What's more, this possibility basically does not exist, as Nei Shiteng is a well-known person who is stable.

All in all, the Xiang family cannot afford to provoke Nei Shi Teng at any cost, and naturally cannot risk attacking Yin Tong.

They have to wait for another chance to take action.

………………

In addition to the Nong family and the Xiang clan, similar things were happening in many parts of the empire.

In the lands of Yan and Zhao, Qi and Lu, Jing and Chu, and even in the southeastern Wu and Yue, there are almost always ambitious people who are plotting evil and waiting for opportunities to act.

Some of them are as powerful as the Xiang family, and have great influence in almost every county.

Some are weak and are temporarily confined to a county or even smaller.

But no matter how strong or weak, every force is waiting for the perfect opportunity they have been dreaming of.