Steel Dynasty - Chapter 598

[Chapter 598 Xiao Qi’s Betrayal]

Jinling City, Prince Wei’s Mansion.

A carrier pigeon broke the tranquility of the morning. After learning that the Southern Expeditionary Army was approaching Chuzhou, King Wei urgently dispatched 130,000 elite troops to support him. However, as the message came back from the carrier pigeon, his heart suddenly felt as if he was soaked in ice water. .

“Chuzhou is under siege and the situation is critical. I hope that my father will send a large army to support us. At that time, we should work together to annihilate the Southern Expeditionary Army in one fell swoop.” King Wei’s palms trembled slightly after reading the contents of the letter.

All the ministers in the main hall were divided into two groups. All the officials and military officers looked at King Wei, waiting for King Wei’s decision.

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in jail. His Highness should send an army to rescue him at this time.” A person who looked like a civilian official said.

As soon as the civil servant finished speaking, a general said: “Your Highness, you must not do it. This is a trap set by the Southern Expeditionary Army. His Royal Highness has taken away almost half of the elite of Jinling City, but now he is trapped in Chuzhou by the Southern Expeditionary Army. It can be seen in the city that the current situation on the battlefield is not favorable.

“If this is the case, then it is even more important to go to rescue His Highness,” the civil servant said urgently.

King Wei’s expression was uncertain. The general who just spoke was none other than Jinling City Garrison Colonel Lu Meng. Although Xiao Han tried his best to conceal what happened in Chuzhou, anyone with a discerning eye could tell what happened at once.

The current situation in Chuzhou City is definitely not good.

“Your Highness, it is not appropriate to mobilize the troops in Jinling City at this time. The Dengzhou Army in Yangzhou is also eyeing them. If the troops in Jinling City are empty, they may be taken advantage of.” Lu Meng said.

When the civil servant heard this, his face suddenly turned displeased, and he said to King Wei: “Your Highness, what will happen if His Highness the Crown Prince is captured? Do we want to see King Qi execute His Highness the Crown Prince with our own eyes?”

King Wei’s expression was solemn. This was indeed a dilemma. After pondering for a while, he asked the first official on the lower left: “Has there been any movement in the troops in Yangzhou and Tongzhou?”

“Returning to Your Highness, there has been no movement from the defenders in Yangzhou, and there has been no news from our informants in Tongzhou. News about the Tongzhou Army’s changes,” the official said.

King Wei nodded. At this moment, a trace of luck suddenly arose in his heart. He said: “The Southern Expedition Army led by Lu Fei is Xiao Ming’s elite. If it can defeat the Southern Expedition Army, Xiao Ming will definitely retreat, and Chuzhou The more than 100,000 soldiers in the city are the elite of our Wei territory. If they are not rescued, they may all die in the hands of the Southern Expeditionary Army,” said the King of Wei.

Lu Meng heard this and said anxiously: “Your Highness, don’t you understand even now? Our army is no match for the Southern Expeditionary Army with firearms. No matter how many people are sent to this time, it will not help. Moreover, His Highness Yangzhou Massacre has already made the people’s hearts beat.” Everything is lost. Even if the army leaves the city, how many soldiers are willing to fight for His Highness? The only way now is to inform King Yan, King Liang, and King Zhao of the situation at this time. The three furnitures of the truce that day were all witnesses. Now Xiao Ming has torn up the truce contract. , It is a blatant betrayal. The four families should attack together to force them to retreat, otherwise Wei will never be able to recover.”

“Bold Lu Mang, you are trying to boost other people’s ambitions and destroy your own prestige. The massacre of Yangzhou allowed the Dengzhou army. There is no food to eat, which proves His Highness’s wise decision, how can you slander him?” the civil servants accused.

This strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country was proposed by a group of civil servants.

Lu Meng looked at the literati with a sneer and said: “Now the people in the four states are praising the King of Qi and regard us as enemies. Doesn’t this mean anything?”

“What do you, a little captain, know?”

“It’s just nonsense.”

“…”

The civil servants suddenly became anxious and pointed fingers at Lu Mang.

The King of Wei was also displeased. This Lu Man was just a garrison captain. In the past, he was just a minor official in Jinling City. Now that the war was urgent, he summoned all the generals to come to discuss matters. At this time, he was talking arrogantly.

With a slight snort, King Wei said: “No need to say any more. The prince needs to be rescued, and the three vassal princes also need to contact each other. Let’s disperse.”

After that, King Wei waved his hand to let the officials disperse.

Then he ordered another fifty thousand troops to be dispatched from Jinling City to Chuzhou City, and at the same time sent Xiao Qi to the palace.

After a while, Xiao Qi, who looked tired, arrived in the main hall and bowed briefly to King Wei.

Seeing this, the King of Wei suddenly smiled and said: “My dear nephew, the emperor’s uncle just made a slip of the tongue that day. I hope my nephew will not mind it. I have raised you for so many years. Don’t you understand the emperor’s intention? The war is urgent this time. The emperor’s uncle has raised you for so many years. I hope you will send envoys to Yan Di, Liang Di and Chang’an again to ask the three families to mobilize troops to rescue.”

Xiao Qi glanced at King Wei, with a trace of unnoticed ridicule in his eyes. He bowed and said, “Uncle, my nephew has not. Mindful of what the emperor’s uncle said that day, at this time of crisis, my nephew is naturally obligated.”

King Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Qi was familiar with the road. It was naturally the most appropriate for him to move the reinforcements this time, so he said: ” That’s very good.”

“However, King Yan, King Zhao, and King Liang are all motivated by profit. If you want them to send troops, I’m afraid two million taels of silver are necessary.” Xiao Qi said.

King Wei’s fat face froze. Although Jinling’s treasury was abundant, this period of time consumed a lot of money. However, seeing that Wei was in danger of overthrowing, he gritted his teeth and said, “I will ask someone to take you to the treasury right now.” “Take it.”

Xiao Qi smiled and nodded, and then said: “Uncle Emperor, there are wars everywhere now, and thieves are everywhere on the road. Last time my nephew was sent to Yandi as an envoy, he was almost blocked and robbed, so I asked your uncle to send Captain Lu to protect my nephew. My nephew, I heard that Lu Mang is very skilled in martial arts and will be able to protect his nephew.”

“It’s easy, the emperor will call Lu Mang for you now,” said King Wei.

Xiao Qi nodded with satisfaction.

On that day, boxes of silver and gold were moved out of the Jinling City treasury and transferred to merchant ships at Jinling Pier. The moving work lasted all afternoon. Early the next morning, Xiao Qi and Lu Meng appeared at Jinling Pier. They led twenty merchant ships along the The river goes to Yandi.

After traveling fifty miles, the merchant ship left the confines of Jinling City. At this time, Xiao Qi and Lu Meng looked at each other, and Xiao Qi said: “Kill all the people of King Wei.”

“Yes, His Royal Highness.” Lu Mang’s eyes turned cold. As a whistle sounded, the guards on the merchant ship immediately drew their swords and slashed at the officials who accompanied Xiao Qi on his mission to Yandi.

Suddenly, screams came from the merchant ship, followed by the sound of bodies being thrown into the water.

Everyone was killed. At this time, Lu Meng said: “I thought His Royal Highness still hadn’t figured it out?”

“The city of Jinling will be destroyed in just a few days. How long will it take if we don’t leave now?” Xiao Qi’s eyes were deep.

“Then where are we going now?” Lu Mang asked.

Xiao Qi pondered for a moment and said, “Xiao Ming has changed so much because of the teachings of Western missionaries. I would like to see what is different about the West.”

(End of Chapter)