Chapter 42 Defense

At the end of Zhuque Street is the imperial city. Shi Wansui looked at the towering imperial city in front and suddenly felt regretful. Why was he fascinated by the words of the Qiang leader Chuan Fu and let him go. Several boxes of gold and silver seemed to be a lot, but it would be only tens of thousands of chunks of coins. However, the two Qiang female concubines were rare water spirits, and they were twins in mothers and looked exactly the same. They were Cuan Fu's own sisters. If they didn't put Cuan Fu, would they take their brother-in-law to the capital and die?

However, in order to eliminate the Qiang rebellion, the court spent more than one million yuan in military expenditure alone, not to mention that there were tens of thousands of casualties and injuries. If the court pursued the matter, he accepted bribes and privately entrusted the food, and this time he rewarded merits would become a disaster.

"You go back to the mansion first, I will enter the palace directly." Shi Wansui turned his head and said back.

"Yes!" The personal soldiers following him quickly turned their horses and headed towards the General's Mansion in the capital.

Shi Wansui sent his personal soldiers, looked at the imperial city, stomped his feet on the ground, and walked towards the east palace. He regretted it at this moment, why was he so bold as if he was so bold as lard?

In the Yichun Palace of the Crown Prince's Mansion, Yang Yong was chatting with Yun Qing'er, and Lu Mulin hurriedly came to report: "Your Highness, General Shi is here."

"Oh, okay, I will go to welcome you right away." Yang Yong was overjoyed, and immediately got up and walked out, but after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped: "No, why did Shi Wansui come here just after entering the city? Could it be that he hasn't gone to see the emperor yet?"

Seeing Yang Yong hesitating, Lu Mulin hurriedly said, "Since that's the case, should the general meet the emperor first?"

Yang Yong thought about it and said, "No need, although Shi Wansui is a military general, he is very delicate. Since he is here, there must be something urgent. I should see him first."

"yes."

Shi Wansui stood in the hall, anxiously moving around. Of course, he knew that foreign ministers had entered the capital and did not leave behind the officials of the Ministry of Rites to greet them. He did not see the emperor before seeing the crown prince. However, Lu Kai just now reminded him that the court did not forget the rebel leader, and he let Chuan Hui go. This level was probably not easy to pass.

"I pay homage to the Crown Prince." Seeing Yang Yong come out, Shi Wansui immediately knelt down and worshiped.

Yang Yong quickly helped Shi Wansui up: "Shi Aiqing is still a pillar of the court. This time he quickly wiped out the Qiang rebellion and made great contributions to the court. There is no need to be too polite, get up."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Shi Wansui stood up, his lips moved slightly, and he was cowardly and didn't know how to speak.

"My dear Shi, if you have something to do, you might as well speak, otherwise you will delay entering the palace to see the emperor, which will be a serious crime."

As soon as these words were said, Shi Wansui's face suddenly turned blue and red. Finally, she gritted her teeth and knelt down with a plop: "Crown Prince save me!"

Yang Yong was very puzzled: "Shi Aiqing, why is this? You just quelled the rebellion of the Qiang people and made great contributions to the court. The court recruited you to Beijing to reward you according to your merits. Who dares to harm you?"

"Crown Prince, the disaster is the quelling of the rebellion." Shi Wansui shook his head and said.

Yang Yong's face sank, and he had a bad premonition in his heart. Shi Wansui must have caused trouble. Shi Wansui was brave in war and was familiar with military books, but he had two problems, one was lustful, and the other was wealthy. In recent years, he has made great achievements in fighting in the south and north, but he has experienced many ups and downs, and it was bad in the word "wealth and sex". Yang Yong almost said in a tone of regret: "Tell me, is it because someone has discovered that he has seized money and property, or is it that he has forcibly robbed a woman in the civilian world, or are you lying to report his military achievements?"

"No, I remember the prince's teachings, how dare I do this?" Shi Wansui explained in a hurry.

"I don't dare. I see that you are very brave. I heard that you dare to compete with the King of Shu during your march. I dare not do anything. But since these things are not the case, what can you be so nervous?"

Speaking of competing with the King of Shu, Shi Wansui showed a proud look on his face. It was an old incident three years ago. At that time, a team of caravans in Yizhou were killed by the Tubo people. The news spread to the capital, and the ministers in the court were furious.

The victimized caravan belonged to the Li family of Shen Guogong. However, more than 80% of the silk cotton cloth produced in the capital was to be transported abroad, of which more than 40% were led to the Western Regions. The Tubo people killed and seized goods. Although only the Li family was injured, they violated the interests of all the important officials who had weaving factories at home. The court immediately became aggressive and immediately sent King Shu and Shi Wansui to lead tens of thousands of troops to retaliate against Tubo.

The King of Shu Yang Xiu was still the first time he led the army. Yang Yong, Yang Guang and Yang Qin all had military achievements. Yang Xiu was envious of the three brothers' military achievements, for fear that the merit would be taken away by Shi Wansui, so he ordered Shi Wansui to go to the rear to transport grain and lead his troops as the vanguard. Shi Wansui did not obey Yang Xiu's command and attacked before the King of Shu. In this battle, Shi Wansui beheaded thousands of people, while Shu Wang led tens of thousands of main forces and walked thousands of miles without even seeing a Tubo person. He had to retreat because of the emergency of military rations.

Afterwards, because Yang Xiu was unwilling to get into evil with Yang Yong, he did not pursue Shi Wansui's failure to obey the military orders. He just wrote a letter to tell Yang Yong. Although Yang Yong scolded Shi Wansui hard, Shi Wansui took it as a warning and was proud for a long time.

"Your Highness, I am the one who went to fight this time. Although I defeated the 36 tribes of the Southern Qiang tribes, captured 20,000 people and won a great victory, there are many Qiang tribes. In addition to the Southern Qiang, there are also 36 tribes of the Western Qiang tribes. Although the number of the 36 tribes of the Western Qiang tribes is not as large as that of the Southern Qiang, the place where they live is more dangerous than that of the Southern Qiang. In addition, the Southern Qiang was defeated, the Western Qiang raised its vigilance. It would be time-consuming and labor-intensive to conquer the 36 tribes of the Western Qiang tribes."

Yang Yong nodded when he heard this: "Yes, it's true. However, this rebellion seems to have not participated in the 36 tribes of the Western Qiang, and the court did not ask you to wipe out the 36 tribes of the Western Qiang. Why did you mention the 36 tribes of the Western Qiang?"

Shi Wansui said: "Reported to the prince, the Qiang people have no faith and no righteousness, and they eat raw meat and drink blood. The Southern Qiang is fine. They have had some contact with the Han people and know some etiquette, righteousness, integrity and shame. The Western Qiang is more barbaric than the Southern Qiang. There are many open and secret struggles between the two Qiangs in the west and the south to compete for territory. Originally, the 36 tribes of the Southern Qiang have always been the superiors, and the 36 tribes of the Western Qiang have driven the thirty-six tribes of the Western Qiang to the deep mountains and forests. However, this time, the Southern Qiang was captured by the court, and its vitality was greatly damaged, and its leader was captured by the weak ministers. Even if the Southern Qiang's strength is still above the Western Qiang, there is no leader. The victory of this court is likely to benefit the thirty-six tribes of the Western Qiang. If the Western Qiang follows the trend and unify the two Qiangs, in a few years, Nanzhou may become a confidant of the court."

The above words were not enough for Shi Wansui to make up for it. It was indeed reasonable and well-founded. Yang Yong couldn't help but feel nervous: "What will you do?"

"This... this, I think Cuan Hui, the leader of the 36 tribes of the Southern Qiang, has surrendered to the court. He engraved stone inscriptions to praise the emperor's holy virtues. I believe he dare not rebel again. If he releases him, he will definitely be grateful to the court..."

Shi Wansui wants to say something again, Yang Yong's cold voice has already come: "So you let him go!"

"Yes." Shi Wansui replied with a thorn in the air, secretly glanced at Yang Yong with his eyes. Seeing that the prince's face was extremely ugly, he quickly lowered his head and did not dare to tell again.

"Okay! OK! Very good. General Shi is becoming more and more proficient in military tactics, and he actually learned from Zhuge Liang's seven captures and captured them." Yang Yong showed a hint of sneering, wishing he could step on Shi Wansui's head with his feet and vent his anger several times.

"I dare not, I dare not, I am all... all for the sake of the court..."

"For the sake of the court, Zhuge Liang captured seven times, because he was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty and could act arbitrarily. When will you, General Shi, disobey the imperial edict and let the enemy go privately? With this, you have ten heads that are not enough to cut. Also, you said that it is all for the court. Do you dare to guarantee to me that you have not received any gold and silver from the palace? Who will release people like this?"

Shi Wansui's back was full of cold sweats: "Your Highness clearly saw that the Wei Me was confused for a moment. He had indeed received gold, silver and women from cooking, but he just went back to cooking. He was not because of his selfishness, but because of his concern, but because of the unification of the two Qiangs, which would bring greater military disasters to the Sui Dynasty."

In the emperor, Yang Jian looked up at the sky frequently and finally said impatiently: "Liu Aiqing, go and see, why hasn't Lu Kai brought Shi Wansui over to pay the order?"

"I obey the order." A handsome and upright young man in his twenties responded. This young man was Liu Shu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War. Liu Shu was the son-in-law of Princess Lanling, the emperor's youngest daughter. The two had just gotten married. Princess Lanling was very favored by the emperor and his wife. Therefore, Liu Shu's husband was promoted from a sixth rank to a fourth rank after marriage. It can be said that he was promoted quickly.

Shortly after Liu Shu went down, he took Lu Kai back. When Lu Kai saw the emperor, he quickly knelt down: "I am going to see the emperor."

Seeing Lu Kai coming alone, Yang Jian showed a look of surprise on his face: "Get up, Lu Aiqing, I sent someone to welcome Shi Wansui into the palace to see me. Why didn't Shi Wansui come? You are the only one who entered the palace?"

Lu Kai thought Shi Wansui had already entered the palace. When he heard Yang Jian's question, he felt very happy: "Return to the emperor, Shi Wansui was proud of his merits and the ministers who went to greet him at all, and directly led his troops into the city. Weishen thought he had already entered the palace, but he didn't expect that he had not come at all. He was too bold."

Yang Jian's face flashed with anger, but he immediately suppressed his anger and waved his hand: "Since my dear has completed the task, then pay the order to repatriate."

Lu Kai was stunned when he heard this. He thought the emperor would listen to the details and take the opportunity to impeach Shi Wansui. Unexpectedly, the emperor did not ask at all, so he had to swallow his whole stomach and whisper: "I obey the order."

Seeing Lu Kai go down, Yang Jian turned to Liu Shu: "Go and ask, where is Shi Wansui now?"

"I obey the order." Liu Shu hurriedly ran out again. After a while, Liu Shu came in and reported: "Report to the Emperor, Shi Wansui is now in the Eastern Palace."
Chapter completed!