"It was reported that just after midnight last night, there was a sudden killing sound in Shili Bay, blood splattered everywhere, and dozens of corpses were thrown into the river. A moment later, a small boat hurriedly came out of the fleet, but it was quickly The big ship caught up, and a fire broke out, and everyone on board was killed in the fire."
Li Xuan's voice, with a little reverberating tail, echoed throughout the nave.
Several people present, including Sima Yao Zhi of Yuezhou Governor's Office, Wuzhou Fa Cao who joined the army, Du Bixin, meritorious cao and military officer Wang Qin, Shi Cao who joined the army Feng Hua and Sanhe Pass guard Shen Lin, were all astonished.
Why did the navy of Tianyin Sect suddenly undergo such a big change?
Li Xuan handed down the note in his hand, and everyone immediately read it.
Li Xuan sat at the top, with his hands on the black table, looking at everyone with solemn eyes and said: "Last night at Xu, Yuan Chao sent a letter from his brother Yuan Lin, saying that everyone in the Navy is willing to obey the order of the imperial court and ask me to The king went to inspect the troops today and accepted their surrender, but just two hours later, there were shouts of killing, which is quite intriguing!"
"There are still people who are unwilling to surrender to the court, so they took advantage of the night to launch a rebellion." Yao Zhi turned over the note, handed it to Du Bixing, and then said, "I just don't know who won last night?"
"Of course it's Yuan Chao, and it can only be Yuan Chao." Li Xuan looked at the surprised people and said, "If someone else had won last night, they would have suffered heavy losses after the melee. Now I'm afraid no matter how brave they are, they won't be able to win." There will definitely be a defensive posture, but from last night to now, those big ships are still parked in place, and the result is clearly visible."
"Your Majesty, you still need to be careful. If you guess wrong, I'm afraid there will be great consequences." Du Bixing said with a worried face: "What if I let the lower official go instead of the prince? If something happens... it won't endanger the overall situation."
Last night, Yuan Chao's letter clearly stated that Li Xuan was invited to review the armies and accept their surrender.
In name, they were inspecting the troops, but it was more or less like sending hostages.
"It is precisely because of this that it is even more necessary for me to go." Li Xuan looked at everyone present, waved his hands, and said calmly: "Yuan Chao and his people were suddenly in chaos because of the trust of the court.
If I go there, not only can I gain Yuan Chao's trust, I can even directly conquer the hearts of all the remaining dissenters...
Furthermore, even if something happens, I am confident that I can escape alone, but sir, I am afraid..."
"The lower official is incompetent!" Du Bixing stood up and raised his hands to Li Xuan seriously.
"It doesn't have to be like this. If something really changes, I will go and everyone behind you can just follow the plan. If you go there and something really happens, I will not sit back and watch your misfortune. On the contrary, it will affect the original plan. It's better. Let me go alone."
Li Xuan explained briefly, and Du Bixing immediately stood up and raised his hands to Li Xuan: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration."
Li Xuan smiled, motioned Du Bixing to sit down, then turned to look at Yao Zhi on one side, and said in a deep voice: "Sima, if this king leaves, then everything in Sanhe Pass will be under Sima's jurisdiction. If something really happens, press Plan your defenses. If you are unable to defeat us, please evacuate to Lanxi County immediately. There are many arrangements in the rear, which are enough for you to evacuate safely."
Although more than half of the high-ranking officials in Wuzhou are concentrated in Sanheguan today, the number of troops here is only a few hundred.
In addition to Sanheguan's own troops, there were only several hundred people brought by Li Xuan, Feng Hua, Du Bixing, and Yao Zhi each.
Others, such as Xu Jian and Zhou Shen, were nowhere to be seen.
Even Qiu Zhenmu, the leader of the Qianniu Guards who had always followed Li Xuan, didn't know where he was going.
Wang Bo and Yu Ze, whom Li Xuan trusted the most, still stayed in Lanxi.
"Your Majesty, what do you think is the chance of winning today's matter?" Yao Zhi led his men and sent Li Xuan to the dock.
Seeing Yao Zhi's serious question, Li Xuan looked solemn and said, "If nothing happens, it should be 70%?"
"What if there is an accident?" Yao Zhi's face immediately became solemn.
"Then there is no chance of 10%." Li Xuan shook her head with a solemn expression.
Du Bixing, who was on one side, asked with some confusion: "Accident, what accident might happen?"
"Two aspects." Li Xuan answered directly, saying: "One is Hangzhou. If the Zhoushan pirates and the Hangzhou Tianyin cultists join forces to capture Hangzhou, Yuan Chao will definitely fall out; the other is Shezhou, if Tianyin Cultists After taking Shezhou, Yuan Chao will inevitably fall out."
Du Bixing understood it as soon as he heard it, nodded slowly and said, "The official has forgotten that Yuan Chao is a two-faced villain!"
Du Bixing served as the Sima of Wuzhou in his early years, and now he is a military officer in Wuzhou and joins the army; Yuan Chao was originally a military officer in Muzhou and joined the army, but now he is almost serving as a Sima in Wuzhou. If the experiences of the two were reversed, it would be quite interesting.
Although Du Bixing had been recovering from illness in the past few years, he was always paying attention to the current situation in Muzhou and had a sufficient understanding of Yuan Chao.
Although he surrenders sincerely now, if there is a change, he will not hesitate to fall out.
…………
"Is there anything else that Sima needs to explain?" Li Xuan turned and looked at Yao Zhi.
Yao Zhi nodded and said in a deep voice: "They are the Zhoushan pirates... We had our first contact yesterday. There are some things that are inconvenient to mention. But if everything goes well today, please send someone to send those Zhoushan pirates to Sanhe Pass immediately." , I need to know the movements of Zhoushan pirates immediately."
As long as the whereabouts of the Zhoushan pirates are hidden, the soldiers and horses of Hangzhou, Yuezhou, Taizhou and other departments cannot be mobilized.
Only by completely eliminating the threat of the Zhoushan pirates can all of them mobilize their forces, attack the Tianyin Sect's main altar, and then destroy them in one fell swoop.
"I understand that I will definitely send the three Bai brothers to Sima." Li Xuan handed over to Yao Zhi, and then stepped onto the huge official ship. Standing at the bow, Li Xuan looked at everyone present and said with a smile. : "Unless a group of people have no intention of surrendering when we go this time, I will definitely return with a large army of soldiers, and then have a drink with you all."
"Look forward to having a drink with the prince!" Everyone present raised their hands to Li Xuan and shouted loudly: "May the prince's trip go smoothly and return successfully!"
The shadow of the boat went away, and everyone on the shore looked solemn.
In Sanhe Pass behind you, you could vaguely see the shadows of rows of catapults, but they were quickly submerged.
Li Xuan turned around and looked at both sides of the Wujiang River. The surrounding mountains were undulating, and countless human figures were faintly swaying among the mountain shadows.
As the boat sailed, they headed north together, but soon, the figures of these people completely disappeared from Li Xuan's sight.
Li Xuan glanced sideways and back subconsciously, and Li Zhu immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty."
"Tell everyone, don't be in a hurry, just take your time," Li Xuan told Li Zhu, then turned around and walked into the cabin with everyone watching.
As soon as they entered the cabin, a voice immediately rang: "You don't seem to have much confidence in this trip!"
Zhang Wanyu leaned against the inside of the cabin, holding a book of Spring and Autumn in her hand, looking at Li Xuan with a half-smile.
"So, I brought you with me." Li Xuan walked to sit opposite Zhang Wanyu.
Qu Ying on one side immediately poured a cup of tea for Li Xuan.
Li Xuan drank the tea in one breath.
Zhang Wanyu placed Chunqiu on the case, looked Li Xuan up and down, and said, "I found that you are quite contradictory. Judging from your actions, it seems that you have been ready for a long time to wipe out the entire navy, but now you , but you are willing to take risks, what are you thinking?"
"It's just that I can't bear to see more killings." Li Xuan looked out the window and said softly: "Since I left the capital of God, nearly seven thousand people have died because of me. If it were this navy, two thousand The infantry, two thousand sailors, and five hundred soldiers all died in my hands. It is inevitable that I will be known as a massacrer, which is not a good thing."
"Isn't this a good thing?" Zhang Wanyu suddenly sneered and said: "The Tang court has always prioritized killing the most people. The more you kill, the more military success you have, the more people in the world will look up to you. Put away your inappropriate behavior. Some people are hypocritically pitiful, but our people don’t need it.”
"Yes, your people don't need it." Li Xuan couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Poor Yuan Chao, he thought he had everything in his hands, but he never understood it. He couldn't do anything from beginning to end. It’s just a pawn of the human heart.”
Human hearts, this is what Li Xuan worries about the most.
The most powerful force in Yuan Chao's hands is nothing more than the worldly desires for fame and fortune.
It is precisely because of this that he suddenly rose up and took control of the entire navy of Tianyin Sect. However, his real influence was only on the middle-level people of Tianyin Sect, and more people at the bottom. The faith of the goddess is still there.
It is just suppressed temporarily and may be awakened at any time.
Once they cannot successfully disarm their weapons in a short period of time, and if there is a slight change, everything will immediately be in danger of overturning.
The key lies in the people's hearts. People's hearts are unstable. Even if they abandon their weapons and surrender, they may pick up weapons again at any time.
"Changshui Colonel Zhu Si, is he really imprisoned by Yuan Chao?" Li Xuan looked at Zhang Wanyu.
Zhang Wanyu shook her head and said: "Zhu Si is a senior of the older generation. He has been away from home since his early years. I have not met him often. He comes and goes every time, but he should have some skills and prestige among the soldiers. Not low...but facing a sinister villain like Yuan Chao, not many people can avoid being confused by him."
"Indeed." Li Xuan couldn't help but feel a little funny.
The people of the Tianyin Sect gave Yuan Chao the position of servant, second only to the general manager, and their trust was palpable. However, in the end, it was all in vain.
Yuan Chao betrayed him as soon as he said he betrayed him, and he was so shameless that people couldn't react.
The same is true today. Now that the Tianyin Sect is at a disadvantage, Yuan Chao immediately betrayed them and joined the court. However, if the situation of the Tianyin Sect changes again, they will inevitably re-weigh the pros and cons, and all possibilities will be changed in a second.
All this forced Li Xuan to be cautious.
"If I have a large army of soldiers accompanying me, then there is no need to worry about any recurrence. Unfortunately, our manpower is limited after all." Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh.
"That's because you have the upper hand, so you've naturally given it a lot of thought. I'm afraid you've already started organizing people to do autumn planting, right?" Zhang Wanyu looked a little gloomy, lowered her head and said, "You are right, sometimes we are too desperate. ”
"Bang, bang, bang!" Outside the cabin, the door knocked, and Li Zhu's voice sounded: "Your Majesty, Shili Bay has arrived."
Li Xuan glanced at Zhang Wanyu, grabbed the Eight-sided Han Sword on the table with one hand, stood up, and then stepped out.
Outside the cabin, a dozen three-masted ships were docked in Shili Bay on the east side of the Wujiang River.
In the cabin, Zhang Wanyu's face was full of worry.
She was not worried about Li Xuan, but worried about those Tianyin believers.
Although Li Xuan, the God of Death, looks a little compassionate today, that's just his disguise.
If his murderous intention arises, he will immediately become a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Zhang Wanyu really didn't want to see the fleet outside being slaughtered in the blink of an eye.
(End of chapter)
