"What did you say!"
"Huangfu Longting burned down the camp and the ferry!?"
Zhou Han held Tang Jiye's collar and spittle flew everywhere.
Tang Jiye's face was full of despair: "Yes..."
Zhou Han's hand trembled and he pushed him away, staggering back a few steps: "It's over... everything is over..."
If he can get back before the camp is broken, he still has a chance to remain undefeated.
But now, the camp is lost and the ferry is burned...
"We overestimated Huangfu Longting."
The speaker's name is Cao Yanqing, the nephew of Cao Zheng, the Minister of War, and a confidant who has followed Zhou Han for many years.
"No! No!" Zhou Han shook his head and took a sharp breath: "I still underestimated him... He would rather suffer the punishment of a broken car and bear the guilt of defeat than take risks with Luo Jing."
"Since he is willing to sacrifice himself, then I will grant it to him!"
Zhou Han turned his head and looked at Tang Jiye: "Jiye, the army is entrusted to you."
Tang Jiye was stunned: "Your Highness, what do you mean?"
"The army cannot go back." Zhou Han shook his head: "But as the emperor's heir, I have no choice. It is impossible to survive under the hands of thieves!"
Tang Jiye took a heavy breath.
He is not a fool, and he has understood the implication of Zhou Han's words: the emperor cannot be content with thieves, and since he is not the emperor, at the critical moment, he can choose to save his life...
"Your Highness!"
"Don't worry!"
Zhou Han raised his still intact arm and put it on his shoulder: "I will definitely protect your family and delay it for a while."
"After I go back, I will let Huangfu Longting and Lao Liu take the blame for the defeat."
"I will ask my father to redeploy his troops and come back to rescue you!"
Zhou Han is going to be prosperous.
Tang Jiye had no room for refusal: "Your Highness, take care!"
"Don't make any noise yet and stabilize the mood of the army."
"yes."
Zhou Han only brought twenty or thirty followers, including several important "witnesses" such as Cao Yanqing.
——The witness who proves that the main responsibility for the defeat lies with Huangfu Longting!
Zhou Han began to flee, but Guo Zhenyue celebrated his victory in the camp that originally belonged to him.
When there were only three of them, he took the initiative to hold the wine glass to Li Qing: "For this victory, I would like to thank Li Gong first, otherwise I would never have won so easily!"
"Mr. Guo, you're welcome!" Li Qing also said with a smile on his face: "You and I will work hard for Hedong."
"Yes!" Guo Zhenyue nodded, turned his eyes, and kept smiling: "I will do my best for Hedong. I also heard...it seems that Li has added a big new business in Hedong?"
Li Qing was shocked.
As shrewd as he is, he immediately understands what the other person is referring to.
His expression remained unchanged, he just shook his head and said with a smile: "If this is really a big business that makes money, how can it be without you, Mr. Guo?"
"The matter of the salt mine is still in the stage of losing money and advancing funds."
"Guo Gong is busy with the war again, so he doesn't show it to you to cause trouble."
"The victory has been decided now, it's time to discuss this matter!"
From the perspective of family interests, Li Qing hopes that Zhou Han will fail, but he doesn't want him to fail so quickly!
He has ordered the Salt Gang to advance quickly and reap as many benefits as possible.
But after all, time is limited... Now that Guo Zhenyue has his hands free, he may have to cut off a large piece of the meat!
"That's good! That's good!" Guo Zhenyue was very satisfied and nodded with a smile.
"You two." Jia Dao, who was accompanying us, suddenly said: "The foreign enemies have retreated, we need to guard against internal thieves."
Guo Zhenyue's eyes were calm, as if he had known about it for a long time, and he just looked at Li Qing.
Li Qing looked puzzled: "Mr. Jia, what do you mean by this? Do you think there is a ghost in this? You can rest assured that Shen Xin is handling this matter. How dare he have second thoughts?"
"Even if he really has this idea, he definitely doesn't have the ability!"
When he said this, his expression changed, and he was no longer as smiling and talkative as before.
What replaced it was cruelty and chilling!
As the leading sect leader in Hedong, he married his daughter to the prince during the Shang Tai period, stabilized the family during the chaos in Hedong and took the opportunity to expand, directly eating his strongest opponent alive; now, while being the prince's father-in-law, he is fighting against the rebels in Hedong. Calling brothers and sisters... using such methods, is this a kind and incompetent person?
Jia Dao did not answer, but picked up a bowl of meat from the table and called a bandit in from outside the tent.
He walked up to the sergeant carrying the meat, pointed to the knife hanging on his waist, and said, "This is a fellow from Hedong. He used to work as a farmer at home."
"After years of natural disasters, the fields were depleted, and the government was unable to provide relief, those people had no way to survive, so they followed Duke Guo with their swords hanging to make ends meet."
"Now -" he stretched out his hand, pulled out the opponent's knife, and stuffed the meat into his hand: "Someone told him: there is no need to fight desperately, there is a new way to be full of food and clothing, and there is an inheritance that can Provide for the family.”
"Mr. Li, tell me, is he willing to go to the knife's edge to lick blood and grab food, or follow Shen Xin?"
"Shen Xin only has a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand people! When facing you, Mr. Li, you still need to bow your head and act small."
"But if hundreds of thousands or even the entire Hedong people want to take refuge in him, and tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of men are willing to draw their swords to protect their interests, will he still be afraid of you, Mr. Li!?"
These words completely shocked Li Qing.
Guo Zhenyue's expression also became a little more serious.
The former put down the wine glass, with a cold look in his eyes: "Even if he had this idea, he wouldn't be so quick... I can kill him at any time!"
"Perhaps so." Jia Dao nodded and added: "But how much do Mr. Li and Mr. Li know about his Salt Gang? How many spies have they planted? Which strongholds do they control? Do you have money in your hands?"
"If not, who can tell when he will have the power to subvert?"
Li Qing picked up the cup he had put down, his expression unnatural and murderous: "I was negligent. I always feel that there is no difference from the business he did in the past..."
"Shen Xin is an incredible person! He can bend and stretch, he can both make money and confuse people. He is a born top businessman." Jia Dao nodded and shook his head, and suddenly smiled: "But fortunately, he is just a businessman."
"Until the last moment and without absolute certainty, he did not have the courage to draw his sword and fight to the death."
"If so, he would now have the ability to turn Hedong upside down!"
Guo Zhenyue's eyes narrowed: "Is it as serious as the gentleman said?"
"Yes!" Jia Dao nodded heavily: "Whoever controls the livelihood of Hedong people will get the support of Hedong people."
"This is the general trend and it is absolutely irreversible."
"If he waits until he really becomes powerful, even if the two of them go together and send tens of thousands of troops, it won't help!"
Guo Zhenyue stood up to help the case: "What's the explanation?"
"In a hurry, Duke Guo immediately abandoned the defeated army of the imperial court and led one hundred thousand troops back to the county seat. He joined forces with Duke Li to suppress Shen Xin and attack and kill all those who might rebel."
"Pingce, Duke Guo is here to defeat the imperial court. Duke Li will go back first and ask Shen Xin to hand over the salt mines, rely on the population, and take over the entire salt gang."
At present, although the Yan Gang is vigorous, it is extremely peaceful within Hedong.
For the Li family, Shen Xin gave enough benefits; to the Guo family, Shen Xin gave enough benefits.
To sum up: while the Salt Gang was engaged in industry and development, they were licking Li Guo like crazy, calling him daddy and giving him money.
Be as obedient as possible.
As a result, when Guo Denlin reported the Salt Gang to his father, he only mentioned it casually.
Guo Zhenyue himself didn't react much.
But he habitually told the matter to the staff of Jia Dao, which aroused Jia Dao's absolute vigilance!
For such a trivial matter, Jia Dao gave such an "earth-shattering" solution, which really surprised the two of them.
The two fell into silence.
Jia Dao stopped talking.
He is a counselor, and a counselor is only responsible for providing advice. As for making decisions, that is the boss's business.
As Jia Dao said - Shen Xin is a hidden danger; judging from reality - losing the army is an advantage.
To sacrifice such huge profits and use all the strength of heaven to settle something that is currently a trivial matter...
From the boss's point of view, it's not worthwhile.
Therefore, Guo Zhenyue's answer is obvious: "It is not easy to win a big victory. If we just retreat, these defeated troops will be able to withdraw. Wouldn't all the previous efforts be wasted?"
"With this group of elite soldiers, it will be much easier for the imperial court to conduct subsequent conquests... Li Gong!"
Before Guo Zhenyue could speak, Li Qing nodded: "I understand what Mr. Guo means. I'll go back and deal with it first."
"With Mr. Li here, I think this matter can be solved easily." Guo Zhenyue smiled easily and added: "I will let Quanzi help!"
——I want to eat a portion of the Shen Xin fruit I picked!
Li Qing nodded: "Of course."
At that moment, Li Qing put down his cup and hurried back.
Guo Zhenyue did not delay, and raised his troops to press into the mountain road - he had to eat these defeated troops of the imperial court as soon as possible.
On the way, Jia Dao still looked thoughtful.
Guo Zhenyue asked with a smile: "Sir, are you still thinking about the Salt Gang?"
"No." Jia Dao shook his head: "I'm thinking of someone."
"who?"
"Sixth Prince Tetsu."
