Chapter 823 Great Turmoil

Nanmen Pass;

General Ran had just received envoys from the Zhao, Qi, and Wei kingdoms. Yes, received;

Later, these three envoys would enter Yan Jing after passing through the pass to pay respects to His Majesty, the Emperor of Great Yan.

At this time,

Ran Min, with his saber at his waist, stood on the city wall of Nanmen Pass, looking south. Behind him stood a group of confidants.

As your status continues to rise, a framework will naturally gather around you, without you even needing to seek it out. People will flock to you like moths to a flame.

Of course, there's a lot of dross mixed in, so you have to keep your eyes open and put in some effort to pick out the good ones. Most capable people in this world have pride, and they won't actively run up to you and fawn over you like those flashy sluts unless absolutely necessary.

For example, in Fengxin City, every day there are frustrated scholars from Yan, Jin, and even Chu, Qian, and other small countries, lingering outside the Pingxi King's mansion, in the teahouses, taverns, and soup shops that the King is rumored to frequent, either composing poems or directly expressing their opinions and promoting their strategies, just hoping to get a chance to leap through the dragon gate.

Of course, while the lord is selecting talents, talents will also actively select a lord.

Some people believe that while the Pingxi King's mansion is a high ground, the threshold is too high, and they missed the first opportunity to get a taste of the soup. It's better to settle for second best and find a rising star like the Pingxi King, who rose from humble beginnings, to join.

Ran Min is an excellent choice.

It can only be said that the rise of the Pingxi King is too dazzling, obscuring the light of too many people, making them seem a little dim in comparison. But in reality, if you take a closer look, you can still say:

Damn, it's great.

General Ran, who had grown a beard, pointed south,

and a scholar surnamed Yang immediately said,

"What Enzhu (Benefactor) is looking at is his own achievements."

Ran Min laughed,

shook his head,

and said,

"Mr. Yang should have waited until someone asked, 'Guess what I'm looking at,' or until one of the guards around me helped me ask those questions before answering. That would be more appropriate."

The scholar surnamed Yang smiled and said,

"Just so Enzhu knows, Yang is usually slow-witted. I was worried that by the time Enzhu asked, I wouldn't be able to get to the first floor one step ahead of my colleagues;

So I took a shortcut to get ahead."

For a moment, Ran Min and everyone around him laughed.

After everyone finished laughing, the scholar surnamed Yang continued, "This time, the envoys of the four countries will enter the capital and sign a treaty under the guidance of Great Yan. After the treaty is signed, Great Yan will nominally expand its territory by another thousand *li* to the south. All of this is thanks to Enzhu's efforts."

"The matter has not yet been accomplished, so I dare not take credit. At the very least, His Majesty may not really value this kind of simple alliance. It's just a piece of paper. Great Yan has always..."

Ran Min wanted to say that his Great Yan had always used alliances as toilet paper,

but after hesitating, he stopped.

"No, no, no, Enzhu this time will focus on Great Yan's guidance in the alliance, and even the armies of the four countries will have Yan army generals. When the alliance is formed, Enzhu's position will inevitably rise."

Ran Min himself had been instrumental in these matters.

After taking office as the general of Nanmen Pass, he immediately began to lobby the small countries to the south, using coercion and inducement, and many other means. Originally, progress would not have been so fast. All countries nominally obeyed Great Yan, but in reality, no one wanted others to interfere in their military and political affairs;

It just so happened that the Pingxi King led his army into Chu, and in the Battle of Fancheng, he captured a Chu general and also killed a pillar of the state;

This greatly shocked Zhao, Wei, and Qi, which were still wavering, and the alliance was quickly pushed forward.

It can be said that Ran Min at Nanmen Pass heavily benefited from the Pingxi King.

And after the alliance is reached, Ran Min, as the initiator, even if he cannot directly become the "Supreme Emperor" of the four countries, his status will inevitably be promoted by the Great Yan court to match his next job.

When the stall gets bigger, your own treatment will also improve.

According to the estimation of his subordinates, after the matter is completed and the four countries are completely subdued, Ran Min will at least be granted the title of general, and it is even possible to be made a Count like the Pingxi King in front of Xuehai Pass in the past.

At this time, Ran Min seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Is there any news from Earl Yishan?"

"Reporting to Enzhu, this subordinate just received news that after the imperial envoy arrived, Earl Yishan seemed to have had a dispute with the imperial envoy and was deprived of his tiger tally and military power by the imperial envoy on some pretext. It has now been transferred to the deputy general."

Earl Yishan's surname is Chen, and his name is Chen Yang. He is one of the oldest original Jingnan Army generals.

Another scholar surnamed Xu said, "This Earl Yishan can't see the direction of the wind clearly. He still thinks it's when King Jingnan was around.

The Pingxi King has received such favor from His Majesty and has taken in the Crown Prince. How could he be willing to get involved in these muddy waters again? But they are still not satisfied and try to maintain the prestige they had when King Jingnan was around. Isn't this deliberately embarrassing His Majesty?

Enzhu, in the opinion of this subordinate, depriving him of the tiger tally is only the first step. Next, the court will inevitably take the opportunity to transfer a group of Earl Yishan's subordinates to other places to completely remove Earl Yishan's control over his troops.

Earl Yishan is stationed not far from my Nanmen Pass and originally intended to support Nanmen Pass. Enzhu, this subordinate believes that this army, Enzhu can..."

"No, no."

The scholar surnamed Yang retorted, "A tree that stands out in the forest will be blown down by the wind. The Pingxi King could be arrogant back then because he had King Jingnan to look after him, and also because of his deep relationship with His Majesty. Therefore, the Pingxi King could keep asking for things at that time;

Enzhu here still needs to take it one step at a time and not be greedy, otherwise, you will definitely not be able to chew it."

"Mr. Yang is right, I don't have the good fortune of the Pingxi King, hahaha..."

Everyone laughed together.

After a while,

Ran Min spoke again:

"I don't dare to ask for Earl Yishan's army now, but I am willing to provide convenience. I have decided to ask Mr. Yang to go to the imperial envoy's camp and tell the imperial envoy that whoever he wants to recommend, I will also follow and recommend, first sell him a favor.

Moreover, I don't need to be anxious. When this matter of the four-nation alliance is completed, my identity will no longer be limited to this general. At that time, Earl Yishan's army may have to listen to my orders."

"Enzhu is noble and does not have delusions. This subordinate admires you!"

"We admire you!"

"We admire you!"

"Gentlemen, you are too kind. I am just a boor, and even the Pingxi King has talents like Fan Li to assist him;

I will have to rely on you all a lot in the future, and I will never fail you!"

"We are willing to serve Enzhu!"

"We are willing to serve Enzhu!"

...

"Get out, get out, I won't see them, this Earl won't see them, won't see them!"

Chen Yang kicked over the guard who came to report.

"Kill the donkey after it grinds the mill, kill the donkey after it grinds the mill, how dare they do this!

This Earl doesn't believe this is the imperial decree, this Earl doesn't believe this is His Majesty's intention;

His Majesty can't be so short-sighted, even if His Majesty wants to take away this Earl's military power, he wouldn't be so impatient!

It's this group of people working below who are using chicken feathers as..."

Chen Yang's chest heaved,

"Hehe, let them do it, let them do it, you can take the military power, this Earl wants to see which of the guys under this Earl dare to take over my position!"

Chen Yang sat on the chair, breathing heavily, and his personal soldiers stood there, no one dared to come out to persuade him.

...

Sushan Camp is located at the foot of Sushan Mountain. From here, it can support Nanmen Pass to the south, echo Litian City to the east, and to the north;

During the Wenren family's rule, it could guard against the Helian family to the north and directly drive to Matishan to the west;

If Litian City was the economic, political, and cultural center during the Wenren family's rule, then Sushan was the military center. This was determined by geography and the surrounding external forces.

When King Jingnan and King Zhenbei led the most elite iron cavalry of Great Yan into Nanmen Pass, they immediately occupied the empty Sushan, and from there, they began the famous ten-day battle, creating a classic of large-scale cavalry group operations in the history of the Xia Dynasty.

Now,

after the Yan people ruled Jin,

Sushan Camp was inherited and garrisoned by Earl Yishan's troops.

Fifty *li* away from Sushan Camp is Suzhou City. Like Sushan Camp, this city is also an important transit point for east-west-north-south trade due to its superior geographical location. Secondly, adjacent to Sushan Camp, the camp's supplies and the spending of the soldiers on duty greatly promote the development of local commerce.

In this era, among groups with tens of thousands of people, soldiers can be said to be the most willing to spend money;

Of course, there is a prerequisite: it must be a peaceful year, otherwise, being adjacent to such a large military camp is not a blessing but a source of disaster.

At this time,

in a tavern in Suzhou City, a man dressed as a scholar sat down, and a merchant sat opposite him.

The identities of the two are simple and clear;

The scholar came from the Qian Kingdom. Suzhou City was once a large city in the Wenren family's territory. The Wenren family was fond of books, and the Chen family under Chen Daole of the Pingxi King's mansion was originally from the Wenren family's territory;

Even if the Yan people occupied this place, even if the Yan people did not understand romance, the tradition of hundreds of years made many scholars here.

After the Yan Kingdom opened the imperial examination in Jin, the *jinshi* (successful candidates in the highest imperial exams) from the Wenren family's territory almost crushed those from the Helian family and the Situ family. There was no way, the cultural atmosphere in the three places was too different.

In the end, in order to balance the political resources of Jin, the court had to take measures to separate the lists, so that the scholars from the Wenren family's territory would not dominate.

The scholar's surname is Ming, and his name is Ming Yilou. He is indeed a scholar, and he is indeed from Jin, but behind him, there is the shadow of the Silver Armor Guard.

The secret service cannot do everything in detail, nor can it create a scale where everyone is their own. But sometimes, it is not that they want to develop people, but that people take the initiative to come to them.

Chen Daole was once a member of the Jin righteous men, and there are actually many people like Chen Daole.

Ming Yilou saw that there was no hope for Jin to resist the Yan people on their own, so he found the Silver Armor Guard himself. Without money to buy him over, without official positions to recruit him, he was willing to become the periphery of the Silver Armor Guard, hoping to use the power of the Qian people to overthrow the Yan people.

Chen Daole once told the Pingxi King about his past experience and also said that there are still people like this. He asked the Pingxi King if he would find such Jin people strange or ridiculous?

Who knew that the Pingxi King just shrugged his shoulders simply, as if he had long been accustomed to it.

And that merchant is from the Xie family.

While the Pingxi King's mansion in Jin East was vigorously carrying out smuggling, it also produced great side effects, that is, while the Pingxi King's mansion was strengthening its understanding and familiarity with Chu and even arranging personnel to instigate rebellion, the other party could also stretch its hand back into Jin. You touch mine, and I touch yours, everyone comes together.

The Pingxi King's mansion is not afraid of being touched, first because there are few people under its rule, and they are concentrated in those few large and small central areas. There are strict controls over foreign trade and all aspects. Most importantly, it is really difficult to penetrate a new and young military group that is on the rise, let alone instigate rebellion.

But there is more than one Jin East in the three Jins. While Jin East is dry and clean, there is plenty of muddy water in other places.

After the two sat down,

they didn't do any talking, nor did they analyze the situation. They just took out a letter from each other and started eating and drinking in silence.

After eating and drinking, the merchant paid the bill, held the scholar's hand, his eyes were lecherous, and the scholar was reluctant and shy. The two got into the carriage together.

No one would find it strange, only that it was perfectly normal.

In the strange novels of other places, it is the fox fairy who falls in love with the scholar, but in Jin, under the influence of the Jin style, the fox fairy is almost transformed into a male.

The merchant accompanies the scholar, in Jin, is a perfect match;

After all, when merchants have money, they like to be refined, and scholars are the representative of refinement.

The carriage began to move. When passing a jewelry store, the merchant took the scholar down and picked out two pieces of jewelry, then returned to the carriage again.

The clerk of the jewelry store took the two letters left by the two and walked into the back hall and handed them to the boss.

The boss opened the letter and summarized the contents of the two letters.

The imperial envoy came to Sushan Camp and employed many Jin scholars as aides and clerks because the imperial envoy had no one to use in Sushan Camp, which was so well managed by Earl Yishan.

Ming Yilou has brothers and colleagues inside. What he sent was news about Sushan Camp;

What the merchant sent was news about another camp east of Litian City, news about the transportation of grain and grass.

The owner of the jewelry store is a *baihu* (centurion) of the Silver Armor Guard.

The Qian people have been lackluster on the frontal battlefield, but the Silver Armor Guard has always been proud of its peers in the shadow battlefield, surpassing all the colleagues of other countries.

It is no wonder that a minister in the Qian Kingdom once wrote to the Emperor, requesting that the commander of the Silver Armor Guard lead the army.

Letting a secret service boss control the military power directly scared Commander Luo to kneel in the palace all night, desperately explaining that the minister was purely a waterhead or a silly "patriotic loyalty," not that he instructed him!

At this moment,

this *baihu* of the Silver Armor Guard in Suzhou City extracted the two pieces of intelligence at the fastest speed;

First, the contradiction between the imperial envoy and Earl Yishan is irreconcilable. After the imperial envoy deprived Earl Yishan of his military power, all the guerrilla generals and military officers under Earl Yishan claimed to be ill and refused to cooperate. This made the imperial envoy have to let the military officers in his imperial envoy's camp take charge of the army. At the same time, the new imperial decree was issued, deciding to punish Earl Yishan to serve as a warning to others.

Second, the transfer of grain and grass east of Litian City means that Li Fusheng, also known as Earl Dingbian, who was originally stationed in that area, will be transferred to replace the garrison of Sushan Camp.

This *baihu* rubbed his eyes and added the following effects according to his own understanding.

Sushan Camp will lose its ability to fight in the next long period of time;

Li Fusheng is impatient, likes to rush to the front, and is aggressive in his use of troops.

Then,

this *baihu* hesitated, because some words can be added or not. He can say it, but it's not his turn to say it. There is no mistake in not saying it, but saying it may be wrong.

But thinking of the comrades who died in Yan and Jin over the years and the displaced people when the Yan people went south to the Qian Kingdom and the shame of being besieged in the capital,

this *baihu* gritted his teeth,

and added another sentence:

The imperial envoy of Sushan Camp is stubborn, hasty, and insists on his own way; the Emperor of Yan has the appearance of a wise ruler and must understand the principle that there must be no changes in the army. He is not a master who can be fooled. I am afraid that the imperial envoy will be transferred away and investigated soon.

Finally,

the *baihu* breathed a sigh of relief and wrote the last few words:

Hope for a quick action.

Immediately,

this report worth thousands of gold was sent out and will be delivered to the hands of the person who should receive it at the fastest speed at the cost of revealing flaws and causing others to be exposed.

After watching his subordinates leave with the report,

this *baihu*, whose surname is Zhao,

rarely prepared half a pot of wine for himself, poured a cup, and only sipped a small sip;

Then,

leaning back on the chair, tears were already hanging on his face:

"My Great Qian should win once!"

...

Not long after the new emperor ascended the throne, with the departure of King Jingnan to the west, the court had already begun to gather the warlords in Jin. It had now stripped them of their local ruling power. The warlords could not collect taxes themselves, nor could they organize caravans to do business. This not only meant the loss of the wealth of the generals but also meant that their control over their troops was weakened.

Earl Yishan and others had once left their posts together and went to Fengxin City to pay respects to His Highness the Heir. This was the last attempt of the King Jingnan faction to struggle, which could be called a kind of palace coup against the court.

But three imperial edicts shattered their thoughts, and the court began to use this as an excuse to launch a more thorough integration, while the Pingxi King's mansion continued to sit on the sidelines, unwilling to be the leader of this troublemaking.

Coincidentally,

the first conflict broke out in Sushan Camp. The imperial envoy and Earl Yishan were at odds with each other, and the court was also preparing to take "killing the chicken to warn the monkey" on Sushan Camp.

In fact,

when the Yan Emperor held the hand of the Pingxi King, and the two sat on the dragon chair together and imagined the future;

The emperor's meaning was very simple, you are free to do yours, and I will integrate mine. To this end, Yu Pan City was also used as an exchange condition;

At the same time, the emperor also revealed his idea of carrying out a war of unification after recuperating and reached a consensus with the Pingxi King;

Even without the Pingxi King's reminder, the emperor took the initiative to propose that the integration of the army was to shape the authority of the court, not to abolish the capable army like the Qian Kingdom.

The emperor always had a very clear understanding;

But although the emperor is called the Son of Heaven, he is not a god, and often, the tone of the superiors is good, but when the policy reaches the bottom and falls on the specific executors, the good scriptures will also be chanted wrongly.

It can only be said that the emperor is a wise monarch. With Ji Lao Liu's level, he will inevitably be able to react quickly afterward to make up for it to appease the army and reconcile the conflicts;

But the emperor is in Yan Jing, and the central government is also in Yan Jing, which is too far away from here, and it is difficult to get the proper correction in a short time.

This makes the Sushan Camp, which plays a key role in stabilizing the situation north of Nanmen Pass, a mess and can even be said to be smoggy;

Li Fusheng's troops have already set off to take over the defense of Sushan Camp;

Li Fusheng, who had made several preparations to support Jin East, was unable to play due to the Pingxi King's ability to fight, and had long accumulated a fire in his heart, which was extremely urgent.

It can only be said that

everything

happened by chance;

In the winter, when the Pingxi King's mansion in Jin East had just won the Battle of Fancheng and greatly killed the prestige of the Chu people, the Nanmen Pass, which now seemed to be boiling with oil, was at its most prosperous moment of false fire.

If it passed, it would pass, and the fire is the fire, which means that it cannot last, but if it is caught, it is another matter.

Even

this coincidence and opportunity was not foreseen by the blind man. Although the blind man had been a Taoist priest who delivered talisman water, he really did not know how to deduce heavenly secrets;

And the development of the situation may slide to a degree that the blind man himself did not anticipate.

The Jin Kingdom was destroyed long ago, and Qian and Chu have been suppressed and beaten so hard these years that they can hardly breathe, almost losing their confidence in fighting the Yan people.

But the Yan people seem to have forgotten

that in these years, the Yan Kingdom has not encountered setbacks, nor has it failed, but they have more powerful figures standing up and reversing the situation again.

It is a pity that King Zhenbei is dead, and King Jingnan has gone far away;

The Pingxi King, who can continue to support the stage, is far away in Jin East and cannot reach the affairs of Jin West.

It is said that

Xie Yuanting, the young master of the Xie family, sighed after taking the letter from Meng Gong and reading it,

Your Qian Kingdom's army is really sorry for these loyal people who are in enemy countries.

If the Phoenix Nest Inner Guard of Great Chu could do as well as the Silver Armor Guard, how could the Wangjiang Dike collapse not have been discovered in advance, and the ending of the Yan-Chu War might have been rewritten!

Meng Gong did not refute, he did not speak, but lowered his head and looked at the calluses in his hands;

Before the real fight, saying more words is meaningless. The problem with the Qian Kingdom is probably that the mouths are too hard, but the knives are too soft.

...

Ten days later,

a clap of thunder brought refreshment and also marked the official start of the hot summer.

And Nanmen Pass,

received an emergency military report from the Liang Kingdom:

The Prime Minister of the Liang Kingdom rebelled, and the King asked the Yan army to enter Liang to maintain the overall situation!

General Ran Min of Nanmen Pass read out this military report in the signing room,

and all the advisers around him congratulated Enzhu!

The four-nation alliance is imminent, and now there is a god-given opportunity for the Yan army to have the most legitimate reason to enter the Liang Kingdom. After the Yan people put down the rebellion in the Liang Kingdom, they will directly become the de facto leader of the alliance.

Opportunity is here!

That night,

the Nanmen Pass garrison was mobilized, and nearly ten thousand cavalry went out of the pass to the south and went straight into the Liang Kingdom!

It is said that

General Ran Min of Nanmen Pass shouted the following words to his subordinates to boost morale when he left the pass:

"The Pingxi King can do it, and so can I, Ran Min!"

A war that is enough to affect and even subvert the entire Xia pattern

opened in the rumbling thunder and rain...

————

The next chapter will enter a new volume, which will be very exciting.

Then,

I suddenly realized that I haven't asked for monthly tickets this month. Please give the dragon a hand and push it into the top ten. Thank you everyone!