Volume 10 Chapter 103
Everyone in the Jade Kingdom was filled with indignation at the emperor's imperial edict granting marriage, and they all thought it could be ignored and read the full text with indifference.
Although Lingshuang liked to see the ministers in embarrassment now, she didn't really want to marry King Mo Shaofang. She asked the ministers: "If I don't reply to the imperial edict, what will happen if the emperor blames me?"
Shang Chong shouted angrily: "The emperor now wants to have no soldiers and no power. Even if he blames the emperor, what can he do?"
Zuo Xiang Gao Yuan nodded and said: "What the general said is reasonable. With the power of the emperor now, you don't have to worry about it."
The ministers also nodded in agreement. Seeing everyone saying this, Lingshuang rolled his eyes and thought to himself that this could be an opportunity!
She pretended to be worried and said: "The emperor is the emperor after all. No matter how weak his power is, he is still the emperor in name of the empire. If our country, Jade, neglects the emperor in this way, it may lead to the hostility of the world, and it will easily lead to disaster."
After hearing this, everyone thought about it carefully and frowned. Yes, your Majesty's concerns are not unreasonable.
Seeing this, Lingshuang immediately continued: "Actually, there are good strategies to deal with the emperor's imperial edict."
The spirits of all the ministers were lifted up, and they asked in unison: "What good advice do you have, sir?"
Lingshuang smiled and said: "As long as I get married in the near future and the rice is cooked, then the emperor's imperial edict will be self-defeating and meaningless."
Yo! This method can be regarded as an excellent countermeasure. But at this point, the question comes again, it is still the same old question, who will your Majesty marry?
Naturally, Lingshuang's favorite partner was General Yangwu Xu Wenfeng, but the ministers still did not agree with the marriage. There were two candidates recommended by the ministers. One was Shang De, the son of General Shang Chong, and the other was Cui Xiang, the right prime minister. Teng's son Cui Miao, first of all, these two people are of noble birth, a hundred times more powerful than Xu Wenfeng. Secondly, these two are the leaders of the younger generation. They are virtuous and capable of martial arts. Badou. In the eyes of the ministers, these two people are truly suitable for the king. In addition, their support for Shang De and Cui Miao is inseparable from the power of their fathers in the court.
Lingshuang originally planned to take this opportunity to settle the marriage between her and Xu Wenfeng, but she didn't expect that the ministers' attitude was still tough and opposed to the death. As a result, Lingshuang didn't pay attention again and could only continue to suppress the matter. back.
They could wait, but Tang Yin and Shao Fang couldn't wait. Seeing that there was no response after the emperor's imperial edict was transmitted to the Jade Kingdom, Tang Yin immediately asked Yin Zhun to issue a second edict. The content was the same as the previous one. He urged the Jade King Lingshuang to marry Mo Wang Shaofang, but this time the tone of the imperial edict was much tougher, and stated that the Jade King must respond. If not, Lingshuang will be punished as being disrespectful to the emperor, and he will bear the consequences.
This imperial edict meant that Lingshuang had to make a statement, either to comply with the imperial edict or to openly break with the emperor.
It's okay to let the ministers of the Jade Kingdom shout that the emperor is incompetent, but if they really want to go against the emperor, people are worried and timid. After all, the Jade Kingdom is not the Sichuan Kingdom, nor is it the Zhen Kingdom, even if it does not have strong national power, Without the backing of an invincible military force, they lacked the capital to confront the emperor.
Lingshuang took the opportunity to bring up the marriage between her and Xu Wenfeng in the court again. She made it clear that she would not marry anyone except Xu Wenfeng. Now was the last chance for the Jade Kingdom. If she could not get married by this time, she would either lose her country or become an enemy of the Emperor and become the Haotian Empire. His rebellion was despised by everyone in the world.
Under this urgent situation, the ministers of the Jade Kingdom were helpless and had to make compromises. In the end, people finally agreed to the marriage between Lingshuang and Xu Wenfeng.
The approval of the ministers was too difficult for Lingshuang and Xu Wenfeng. For several years, the ministers in the court tried to obstruct their relationship. Who would have thought that the emperor's sudden imperial decree would become The opportunity that brought them together successfully forced the ministers to accept the marriage.
Without further ado, Lingshuang asked the ministers to prepare for the wedding immediately. Firstly, it could dispel the emperor's ulterior motives, and secondly, she was afraid that the ministers would regret it.
After the court was over, Lingshuang immediately went to Xu Wenfeng and told him the good news.
Xu Wenfeng was also greatly moved after hearing this. She cried on the spot and hugged Lingshuang and cried.
The news that Jade King Lingshuang was going to marry Xu Wenfeng soon spread to Mo Country. After hearing this, Shao Fang was so angry that his eyebrows stood up and he turned the table over on the spot. He didn't expect that Lingshuang would play this trick with him. He would do it first. There is nothing she can do about it.
Shao Fang's face turned red, he pointed to the west, jumped up and shouted: "Send troops! Send troops immediately! I want to see who is faster in your marriage, or my Mo country's cavalry is faster!" Then he asked people again! Immediately send a message to Yancheng Feige, asking Fengjun to go out immediately.
Two days later, the letter arrived in Tang Yin's hands. He did not expect that Lingshuang, a female classmate, would be so cunning and responded by getting married first. In order to cooperate with Shao Fang, Tang Yin asked Yin Zhun to issue a rebellious edict, condemning the Jade Kingdom for not obeying the imperial edict and being disobedient.
On the day when the edict was issued, under Tang Yin's order, the 400,000-strong Fengjun moved in force and headed south towards Mo State.
These 400,000 Feng Army, nominally called Feng Army, are actually mostly from Ning. Among them are 100,000 Huwei Army, 150,000 Feilong Army, a total of 250,000 Ningren Army, and another 150,000. There are 100,000 Chifeng troops and 50,000 new soldiers in Wanfeng Army.
Just by looking at the lineup of Tang Yin's troops, it is not difficult to find that he is not going to fight, but more like to train.
Tang Yin did not go with the army, but delayed for two days, mainly to deal with the affairs of Yancheng first.
One of the things is the investigation of the direct army by the Lieutenant's Office.
Gu Chen always believed that the outflow of the direct army's weapons was directly related to Zhang Tong, who was in charge of the warehouse, and the investigation had to start with Zhang Tong. But because Wu Ying protected him, Gu Chen could not find a chance to investigate.
Since it didn't work openly, he did it secretly. He first secretly investigated Zhang Tong's family background. Zhang Tong was only a captain, and his monthly military salary was not much. There were old people and children in his family, and they had always lived in poverty. But recently, Zhang Tong's family suddenly became rich, and even the broken house in Yancheng was replaced by a new house. Where did the money come from, no one could tell clearly.
Knowing this, Gu Chen was even more suspicious of Zhang Tong. He sent a smart and capable spy from the Lieutenant's Mansion to lurk quietly near the military camp of the direct army. When Zhang Tong went home at night and left the military camp, the spy from the Lieutenant's Mansion rushed up, captured Zhang Tong on the spot, quickly loaded him onto a carriage, and took him back to the Lieutenant's Mansion.
Rather than being an arrest, this action by the Lieutenant's Mansion was more like kidnapping. It was so mysterious that outsiders had no idea what happened. They only knew that Zhang Tong disappeared inexplicably.
After bringing Zhang Tong to the Lieutenant's Mansion, Gu Chen was not polite to him. Before he started interrogating him, he started to torture him.
The torture in the Lieutenant's Mansion was unbearable for the death warriors of the Nifengliu, and how could Zhang Tong bear it? After several rounds of torture, Zhang Tong was tortured to the point of being unrecognizable, confused, and in a semi-comatose state. It was not until this time that Gu Chen appeared and asked him what was going on with the outflow of the direct army's crossbow machine and his recent wealth.
Zhang Tong was tortured to death, but he also knew that if he confessed, he would die and his whole family would suffer. He gritted his teeth and would rather die than confess.
Gu Chen sneered. He didn't believe that Zhang Tong's mouth could be hard enough to withstand various torture instruments. After a whole night of torture, Zhang Tong's will collapsed and he finally confessed everything.
The crossbow machine used by Ni Fengliu was indeed secretly provided by him, but he had no choice. Ni Fengliu threatened the lives of his wife and children. If he didn't steal the crossbow machine to Ni Fengliu, his whole family would be killed by Ni Fengliu. If he provided the crossbow machine, not only would his whole family's lives be safe, but he would also receive a large reward from Ni Fengliu. After weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Tong could only follow Ni Fengliu's instructions and secretly take out more than a hundred crossbow machines from the direct military warehouse and hand them over to Ni Fengliu's people.
This is the whole story.
After receiving this confession, Gu Chen heaved a sigh of relief. His secret arrest of Zhang Tong was a desperate move. If Zhang Tong refused to confess even if he was beaten to death, he would be in trouble. Not to mention that he could not explain to the king, even Wu Ying would not let him go. Fortunately, Zhang Tong confessed, and he could complete his task satisfactorily.
Gu Chen handed Zhang Tong's confession directly to Tang Yin, who was furious after reading it. He did not expect that the direct army closest to him would have a spies. If even the direct army could have spies, the situation of other armies could be imagined.
At the court meeting the next day, Tang Yin explained the matter in public and was furious. He said three times that all the spies in the army must be purged.
As the acting commander of the direct army, Wu Ying was ashamed in the court. Although Tang Yin did not scold her by name, the spies did come from the direct army, but she, the commander of the army, did not notice it at all. She had no choice but to take responsibility!
Looking at Gu Chen standing at the end of the court, Wu Ying was so angry that her teeth itched. It was not a problem to find out that Zhang Tong was a spy. The key point was that he should have informed her first, and should not let her go to court without knowing anything and fall into such a passive dilemma.
Tang Yin was angry for a while, and then his eyes fell on Wu Ying. He didn't say much else, but asked Qiu Zhen to remember that Wu Ying's salary would be reduced by half a year and her rank would be reduced by one level.
Qiu Zhen wanted to plead for Wu Ying, but seeing Tang Yin's ugly face and cold expression, he was scared and didn't dare to say anything else. Wu Ying responded loudly: "Thank you, my king!"
From her tone, it was obvious that she was not convinced by her punishment. Tang Yin's expression froze, and his eyes shot out a terrifying light. Just as he was about to speak, Qiu Zhen hurriedly stepped out to change the topic and asked with a bow: "My king, I don't know how to deal with the treacherous Zhang Tong?"
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