Chapter 593 Big things to look forward to
"Master, Zhao Yuan is an imperial envoy of the court after all, and he has a relationship with Shen Dongshan. If we rashly kill his men, will it be..."

Afternoon, in the study.

Luo Tianjin and Xie Xuan sat by the window, burning a stove of incense and heating a pot of wine. They watched the snow scene outside the window while drinking and chatting. The atmosphere was very harmonious and comfortable.

"Brother Xie, what are you worried about?" Luo Tianjin said with a nonchalant smile, "Do you think I will accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty?"

"Of course not." Xie Xuan said hurriedly, "What I mean is... the Song Dynasty still has some power, and it is still unknown who will win the Song-Mongol war. If we break off relations with the Song Dynasty too early, will we... cut off our own retreat?"

"Do you think Zhao Yuan and Qiu Han can hide from everyone by disguising themselves?" Luo Tianjin said, "I will check their backgrounds, and Yelu Qin and Xun Zhen will do the same."

Luo Tianjin's words made Xie Xuan frown, and he said thoughtfully: "The Palace Master means... if we don't draw a clear line between ourselves and the Song court, the Young King of Qin will become suspicious of us?"

"If Zhao Yuan was just passing by, I would be friendly with him and have a drink with him." Luo Tianjin nodded, "But he came here on orders to recruit us. If I fail to make my position clear in time, I will lose the trust of the young king of Qin. Therefore, I cannot hesitate at this critical moment. Do you believe that every word we talked with Zhao Yuan and Qiu Han in the hall just now has been heard by Yelu Qin and Xunzhen?"

"It's possible." Xie Xuan pondered, "The mansion owner didn't send anyone to guard the place, nor did he order anyone to be on alert. The servants who poured tea and water came in and out without any scruples. With Yeluqin and Xunzhen's means, it would be easy for them to get the news."

"Exactly."

Looking at Luo Tianjin with a treacherous expression, Xie Xuan's eyes suddenly changed, and he asked in surprise: "Did the Palace Master leak the news on purpose?"

"Ha ha……"

Luo Tianjin laughed loudly towards the sky to show his agreement, which made Xie Xuan even more hesitant.

"Why is the Palace Master like this?"

"It is to let them know that my determination to be emperor is as solid as a rock, and no one can shake it." Luo Tianjin said solemnly, "Only in this way can the young king of Qin put down his guard against me and wholeheartedly help me achieve my great cause for thousands of years."

"The young Qin King is indeed important, but the Song Dynasty is not just a bunch of cats or dogs. If we offend them, I'm afraid it won't be a good thing for us."

"That's why I sent Liu Xunyi to kill Qiu Han." Luo Tianjin smiled mysteriously and asked, "Brother Xie, do you think Liu Xunyi will really chop off Qiu Han's head?"

"This……"

"No!" Luo Tianjin said firmly, "Even with my order, he would not do anything to openly oppose the Song Dynasty. In his heart, he always holds a sentiment of 'family and country', otherwise he would not have risked the world's condemnation and risked his life to stand up and quell the incident in Hexi. At present, as long as the Song Dynasty survives, it represents the orthodoxy of the Han people. Asking him to assassinate an official of the court who has no grudges against him and has never met him before is tantamount to opposing the orthodoxy of the Han people. I believe that he would rather be punished by me than do something that goes against his conscience."

"The mansion master has seen through Liu Xunyi very clearly. I admire you!"

"This is Liu Xunyi's nature." Luo Tianjin's eyes flashed with a hint of consideration for no reason, and he said to himself, "If he really killed Qiu Han, I would be a little worried."

"Why?" Xie Xuan was secretly shocked and asked quickly, "Isn't it a good thing that he followed the orders of the Palace Master?"

"A person who is deeply committed to principles, suddenly one day, in order to follow my orders, he is willing to give up his own nature..." Luo Tianjin said faintly, "There are only two possibilities for this to happen. First, his admiration and respect for me is deep in his bones, and he is willing to be driven by me and willing to abandon his way of dealing with people for more than 20 years. Second, he is afraid of losing my trust and does not want to leave flaws in front of me, so he does things against his will."

"The Palace Master is right." Xie Xuan frowned, trying to guess Luo Tianjin's thoughts.

"If it's the first possibility, I really hope so, but...it's hard to change a person's nature." Luo Tianjin said with a half-smile, "What I'm really worried about is the second possibility. If Liu Xunyi starts to flatter me at all costs, then he must be hiding an ulterior motive behind it."

"What?" Xie Xuan hesitated, "After all this, the Palace Master still doesn't trust Liu Xunyi?"

"In fact, as a disciple of the Xianwang Mansion, I have no doubts about Liu Xunyi." Luo Tianjin said with a wry smile, "But he is about to become my son-in-law, Yu'er's husband, and will live under the same roof with me in the future. Therefore, I have to be cautious and careful with him. After all, until today, I have only known him for less than three years. In just two or three years, even a dog adopted halfway may not be tamed, let alone a person?"

"This..." Luo Tianjin's words made Xie Xuan feel deeply moved. "The Palace Master is right. Whether it is for the future of the Xianwang Palace or for the happiness of the young lady, we should be very cautious. However, the wedding is imminent, and the Palace Master still has doubts about him. Will he..."

"The more critical the moment, the easier it is to reveal one's true identity. The premise is... there really is something fishy going on with Liu Xunyi." Luo Tianjin's eyes flickered, and his tone became more complicated. "Of course, these are just my imaginations. In fact, in my heart, I have long regarded Liu Xunyi as my confidant, or even a family member. Brother Xie, if one day I can really wear the yellow robe, with Xuan'er's condition, Liu Xunyi..." "Hiss!"

Before Luo Tianjin finished speaking, Xie Xuan took a deep breath, looked at Luo Tianjin with eyes full of shock, and said with emotion: "Liu Xunyi's meeting the Palace Master is undoubtedly a good thing. It is the result of the good deeds of his ancestors, and he is very lucky!"

"In fact, I am not petty, and I will not be angered by Qiu Han's sarcasm. I ordered him to be killed. In addition to winning over the young king of Qin and testing Liu Xunyi, I also wanted to give Zhao Yuan a hint." Luo Tianjin changed the subject and said righteously, "In Luoyang City, a dragon must coil and a tiger must lie down. No one can boss me around and give me orders. Not even the generals sent by Mongolia, and even less the imperial envoys sent by the Song Dynasty!"

"What the Palace Master said is absolutely right."

Although Xie Xuan complimented him, he was actually worried. Luo Tianjin hadn't sat on the throne yet, but he already had the arrogance of an emperor. If this continued, he might fail at the last moment.

"I wonder how the Palace Master plans to deal with Zhao Yuan?"

"After Liu Xunyi's disturbance tonight, I'm sure Zhao Yuan can guess what I'm thinking." Luo Tianjin hesitated, "I hope he can know the situation and leave on his own initiative to avoid embarrassment. But if he is stubborn and still harbors illusions, then... I can only speak frankly and ask him to leave Luoyang City."

"It seems that the Palace Master is extremely disappointed with the Song Dynasty court."

"Times have changed. The Song Dynasty today is no longer the Zhao Dynasty that was famous all over the world. It is outdated and will fall sooner or later. At this time, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty wants to drag us down with him. Does he really think we are fools?" Luo Tianjin sneered, "The emperor is incompetent, treacherous ministers are in power, corrupt and abuse their power, and bully the people. He has left a mess full of holes. Who can we expect to clean it up? Now, instead of saving an old dynasty that is in danger, it is better to create a new dynasty that conforms to the times. Jin Fuyu sees this clearly, and so does the young King of Qin. How can I be confused?"

"Alas! Misfortunes sent by heaven can still be survived. Misfortunes brought upon oneself cannot be survived!" Xie Xuan sighed, "In my opinion, Zhao Yuan's trip is also a last resort. He knows that there is no hope for revival, but he cannot just sit and wait for death, so he can only take it one step at a time."

"Don't worry about him!" Luo Tianjin waved his hand impatiently, and then said, "Brother Xie, I asked you to secretly cultivate the 'Imperial Guards', how is the progress?"

"Reporting to the Palace Master, I have preliminarily selected a group of people." Xie Xuan said solemnly, "I want to send people to investigate their background again and again. If there is no suspicion, we can gather them together. The first group of people are mostly wandering knights and bandits, who have no sect or faction and wander around. Therefore, by gathering these people together, no matter whether the mission succeeds or not, the news will not leak out."

Luo Tianjin's eyes sparkled, and he asked with interest, "How many people are there?"

"There are more than 7,000 men now, and it is estimated that there will be 5,000 men left, enough to expand a battalion."

"Five thousand..." Luo Tianjin pondered, "Too few! The Mongolian army is brave and well-equipped. Although the Song army is weak, it also has hundreds of thousands of troops. Jin Fuyu, who sits on the mountain and watches the fight between tigers, has prepared 100,000 elite troops. Even if we don't fight them head-on, we must not underestimate their remnants. After all, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. What's more, the young King of Qin has been preparing in the Western Regions for many years. Although he didn't say it, I estimate that he has at least 100,000 soldiers hidden. In this way, if we are not fully prepared, I am afraid we will not be able to compete with the various princes."

"According to the Lord's opinion, how many troops do we need to train?"

"At least fifty thousand!" Luo Tianjin thought, "Otherwise, there's no chance of winning."

"Fifty thousand?" Xie Xuan seemed a little surprised, and said in embarrassment, "If we gather all the major sects, fifty thousand will not be a problem. But now the time is not right, and if we rashly alarm all the sects, we may alert the enemy."

"That's right!" Luo Tianjin nodded, "Therefore, the first batch of 50,000 troops can only be found secretly among the Jianghu and the Green Forest. As for the various sects, once we raise the flag, they will naturally come back. There is no need to rush."

"That being said, 50,000 troops is not a small number..." Xie Xuan was embarrassed and stammered, "Regardless of whether we can recruit 50,000 troops, just talking about the food, drink, carriages, and weapons of 50,000 troops, I'm afraid... it's not something that Xianwang Mansion can easily afford. Because this matter is confidential, we can't ask for help from Shao Qin Wang, but if we only rely on the power of Xianwang Mansion, I'm afraid..."

Xie Xuan hesitated to speak, but the meaning of his words was obvious.

"Brother Xie, don't worry." Luo Tianjin comforted him, "If you want to cultivate your own troops in troubled times, in addition to prestige, background, and foundation, money is also indispensable. I am not Jin Fuyu and the young king of Qin. I don't have the royal family's wealth to squander. If I want to have my own troops with only the financial resources of the Xianwang Mansion, it is indeed a drop in the bucket."

"Palace Master, this matter..."

"You don't have to worry about this. Although I have no money, there is someone who is very wealthy and has countless gold and silver." Luo Tianjin smiled mysteriously and said cunningly, "And God helps us. This person is currently in Luoyang City."

……

(End of this chapter)