Chapter 446: Comeback of Xu Zhaojie! (Thanks to the book friend Lan... for the reward!)
Anqing Prefecture

Xu Zhaojie looked at the surrounding map in front of him and fell into deep thought.

Ever since the arms case broke out and he was forced to resign from the position of Xuanwu Army Commander, he finally turned the tables by relying on the Luoan Incident and siding with Lin Shize, and regained control of the military power. At first, he thought that facing Shangguan Hongyuan, Lin Shize, who lacked military generals, would definitely choose to rely on him...

However, what Xu Zhaojie never expected was that he ultimately underestimated the factional infighting within the imperial court during the southern tour. Lin Shize only used him a few times and then let him go, distributing the military power to other people. Xu Zhaojie, who had no roots in Sichuan, could only sit on the bench for nearly half a year.

If Xu Zhaojie could still bear sitting on the bench, then the news from the north that Ye Mingsheng had defeated Chen Dechang and became the governor of Liaoyang would fill Xu Zhaojie with envy, jealousy and hatred. He had never imagined that Ye Mingsheng, the ant whom he could crush to death with just a flick of his finger, would become the governor of Liaoyang and a local lord of the Great Zhou.

However, he, the former commander of Xuanwu Army, was defeated and sat on the bench in Sichuan. This strong sense of gap hurt Xu Zhaojie deeply. If it were not for Xu Zhaojie's tenacious character, he might have never recovered from it and lived a life of drunkenness and debauchery...
Just when Xu Zhaojie had no place to vent his pain, a message was sent to the court of the Southern Tour. That is, Duan Yuting, the inspector of Anqing, resigned to Emperor Hui Jiang Rui, asking Emperor Hui to allow him to retire and return home, and to send someone to replace him.
This piece of news shocked the imperial court on its southern tour of Sichuan and Shu. You know, although Anqing is not a large place, it has three prefectures and eleven counties under its jurisdiction, and it is also a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River. It is definitely a good place!
In addition, Duan Yuting, the Anqing Inspector General, has more than 20,000 troops under his command. Now that Duan Yuting has resigned, it is undoubtedly handing over the territory and the army to others!

When the good news first came to light, the entire court was in a frenzy during the southern tour. All parties were fighting for this favorable opportunity and refusing to give in. However, after a while, more detailed news came back from Anqing, and everyone was dumbfounded!
It turns out that the reason why Duan Yuting resigned from the Southern Tour Court and handed over his troops and territory to the Southern Tour Court was not because he was so loyal to the emperor and patriotic and wanted to serve the court, but because Qilu General Cao Changping and Huainan Governor Feng Keqin had both set their sights on Anding Prefecture.

Both Cao Changping and Feng Keqin were powerful men, neither of them could be offended by Duan Yuting...
It was because of this dilemma that Duan Yuting was forced to give up Anqing and leave the decision-making power to the court on the southern tour. This way, he would not offend anyone and could return to the countryside to be a rich man who enjoys playing with his grandchildren without offending anyone!

After knowing this situation, the group of people who were originally fighting the most were suddenly dumbfounded. They all knew that the good job was a big fire pit and whoever jumped into it would be in danger of death. So one by one, they stopped fighting and stopped competing!
Only Xu Zhaojie thought about it again and again and felt that although this matter was full of risks, it was also a good opportunity for him to make a comeback!
If he can seize this opportunity, he can escape from his bench and become a powerful lord in control of a region!

Although this was a life-or-death situation, where even the slightest mistake could result in death, Xu Zhaojie had had enough of being on the bench. He was eager to make a career, and was willing to do anything to achieve this, even risking his life!

After making this decision, Xu Zhaojie immediately started to operate. He first found Lin Shize, the head of the court who was currently on the southern tour. Lin Shize was a little surprised at first that Xu Zhaojie actually wanted to take over Anqing, this hot pit, but after Xu Zhaojie moved him with emotion and reason, he also felt that it would be okay to give it a try...
Even if he failed, he would lose Xu Zhaojie, a dispensable chess piece, so Lin Shize agreed to Xu Zhaojie's request to take over Duan Yuting. However, because the southern court was very short of money and manpower under Shangguan Hongyuan's fierce attack, Lin Shize did not give Xu Zhaojie any help except a piece of order. Everything needed to be prepared by Xu Zhaojie himself.

Fortunately, Xu Zhaojie's family was wealthy, and they fled from Guanzhong to Sichuan after the family change, but they also brought a lot of family property with them. Moreover, Xu Zhaojie was well aware of the difficulties of this journey, so he was determined to die if he failed. He sold his property to raise a sum of money, and found some of his former subordinates. Finally, he gathered about 3,000 people to go to Sichuan with him.

Because going from Sichuan to Anqing would inevitably pass through Huainan, Xu Zhaojie went to Huainan to seek an audience with Feng Keqin, the governor of Huainan, as soon as he arrived.
It has to be mentioned here that Xu Zhaojie's family, the Xu family of Zhenyuan Hou, was a noble family that founded the Great Zhou Dynasty. For generations, they had been marrying into other powerful families. Although Xu Zhaojie had no personal relationship with Feng Keqin before, if you count carefully, one of Xu Zhaojie's great-uncle married Feng Keqin's great-aunt.

Although the relationship is a little distant, it is still within the five degrees of mourning, so they are real in-laws!

Feng Keqin also made his fortune with the help of his family, so he attached great importance to the family's blood relationship. Although he didn't like Xu Zhaojie suddenly jumping out to pick peaches in Anqing, after all, Xu Zhaojie was his relative, and came to visit him so respectfully.

Therefore, Feng Keqin felt that it was reasonable for him to meet with Xu Zhaojie. Even if they were to fight in Anqing later, he should be polite before using force. He should not lose his manners and let others laugh at him!
Because of this, Feng Keqin met with Xu Zhaojie, but what he didn't expect was that when Xu Zhaojie saw him, he really turned into a bootlicker and flattered him in all kinds of ways. He made him feel so good that he felt so comfortable that he even started to lose track of directions.

If it was anyone else, Feng Keqin wouldn't be so flattered, but Xu Zhaojie was the current Marquis of Zhenyuan, a high-ranking official of the Great Zhou Dynasty who had served as the commander of the Xuanwu Army. Although Xu Zhaojie was in trouble now, Feng Keqin still enjoyed the flattery given his status and position...
In addition to licking, Xu Zhaojie said frankly that this time he came not only willing to dedicate Anqing to Feng Keqin, but also willing to serve as a pioneer to help Feng Keqin deal with Cao Changping!

This was exactly what Feng Keqin wanted. As the governor of Huainan, he had always wanted to unify the Jiangnan region and be happy to be the King of Jiangnan. However, Cao Changping in the north was restless. This guy felt that he could not defeat Zhao Fuqu, Gao Zongchang and others in the north, and that place was not as prosperous as Jiangnan.

So he was concentrating on thinking about how to go south to Jiangnan, and how to capture Anqing and occupy this bridgehead for his southward advance!
This made Feng Keqin very uncomfortable. If he were to send troops to Jiangnan, Qilu Governor Cao Changping would most likely attack him from behind. So in order to eliminate this hidden danger, Feng Keqin and Cao Heping had fought several times in the past year, but neither of them could do anything to the other!
Feng Keqin was very helpless about this result. You know, in terms of soldiers and money, the two Cao Changpings combined were no match for him. But in terms of the bravery of the soldiers and the strategy of the generals, his side was far inferior to Cao Changping's. That's why he ended up fighting with Cao Changping even though he had multiple advantages in money, soldiers and money.

Although Xu Zhaojie is now in trouble due to factional struggles within the court, his ability to lead troops in battle is well-known to everyone in the Great Zhou Dynasty!
It stands to reason that as a local overlord, Feng Keqin's IQ must be online under normal circumstances, but at this time he had been flattered by Xu Zhaojie. When he heard that Xu Zhaojie wanted to join him and go to Anqing to serve as his vanguard against Cao Changping, he was naturally very excited. Not only did he not make it difficult for Xu Zhaojie to pass through his Huainan territory, he also supplemented Xu Zhaojie with 4,000 troops and a batch of money, food and military equipment.

After pacifying Feng Keqin, Xu Zhaojie felt relieved. A real man can bend and stretch. He compromised in front of Feng Keqin for the sake of his future vigor and vitality!

As early as when he was in Sichuan, Xu Zhaojie had made a deep study of the situation in Anqing, Qilu, and Huainan. He believed that compared with Cao Changping, who was eager to send troops southward to expand his territory, Feng Keqin, who was bent on conquering Jiangnan, did not have a high demand for Anqing...

Therefore, compared with Cao Changping, Feng Keqin could tolerate his presence in Anqing more. Therefore, when he was still in Sichuan, Xu Zhaojie formulated this plan to use Feng Keqin's power to deal with Cao Changping. When Xu Zhaojie came to Anqing, he was not afraid of Cao Changping or Feng Keqin. What he was afraid of was that these two people would attack from both sides and divide Anqing. So now he must choose sides and hold one of them to ensure that he will not be attacked from both sides!
Xu Zhaojie was very confident in his abilities. He believed that as long as he was given some time to take control of Anqing and integrate it, then both Qilu and Huainan would be in his pocket! ·······················
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In the study of the Governor's Mansion in Dongning, Liaoyang.

Looking at the two heads of Shen Jianzhong and Wang Kangxin covered with lime in the box, Ye Mingsheng felt happy but also a little sad.

Gu Sansi, who was standing respectfully beside him, reported to Ye Mingsheng:

"Sir, this time Deputy Director Wang Xuecheng handled Shen Jianzhong very decently!"

“The common people all know that you spared the traitor Shen Jianzhong because of the friendship between teacher and student. However, Shen Jianzhong brought disaster upon himself and died at the hands of the thieves…”

Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded when he heard this:

"Yes! Wang Xuecheng is very thoughtful and considerate, and he does things very thoroughly!"

Hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Gu Sansi immediately continued:
"Director Wang is so good at handling things. It is a blessing for our Fengwu Army. I think Director Wang can already take charge of things on his own!"

As soon as these words came out, Ye Mingsheng immediately understood Gu Sansi's hint, shook his head and asked curiously:

"Sansi, don't you have a good relationship with Huo San? Why do you want to take power away from him so much?"

Some time ago, Gu Sansi submitted a confidential memorial to Ye Mingsheng. The content of the memorial was not about the outside world, but about the General Coordination Office, the intelligence agency of the Fengwu Army.

Gu Sansi believed in his memorial that the General Coordination Office, as the intelligence agency of the Fengwu Army, now had power far beyond its capacity as an intelligence agency. As an intelligence agency, the main job of the General Coordination Office should be to gather intelligence from outside and carry out special operations such as assassinations...

But now the Coordination Office is not only responsible for external affairs. Under the instruction of Ye Mingsheng, part of its work is now internal, such as supervising officials, merchants and civilians, and it also has the power to arrest, torture and try people internally. This is already an infringement of the power of the Censorate!

Therefore, Gu Sansi believed that in order to prevent the Coordination Office from becoming too powerful in the future, it should be split up in advance before hidden dangers emerge. The Coordination Office should continue to be responsible for external work and assist the Fengwu Army in its military operations, but internal work should be handed over to the Censorate or another department. In short, the Coordination Office should no longer be allowed to do everything at once!
Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi's expression changed immediately. He knelt down in front of Ye Mingsheng and said sincerely:

“Your Excellency the Governor, I am terrified! Although Director Huo and I have had close contacts, it is because I am in charge of external liaison work and often need to overlap with Director Huo in work. We both discuss official matters and do not have any personal relationship…”

"What I said today is all for the future of our Fengwu Army. I have absolutely no selfish motives!"

Hearing Gu Sansi say this, Ye Mingsheng glanced at him with a half-smile, then personally helped Gu Sansi up from the ground and said earnestly:
"Think twice, I just said it casually, why do you take it seriously?"

"I have always had absolute trust in you, Sansi. You don't have to be anxious. I know everything about the Coordination Office, so you don't have to be like this!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Gu Sansi felt relieved. He bowed deeply to Ye Mingsheng and said:
"I started from a humble position, but fortunately, Your Excellency values ​​me and does not think of me as a humble person, but entrusts me with a great responsibility. I am deeply grateful and will do my best for Your Excellency's great cause, even if it means sacrificing my life..."

After comforting Gu Sansi with a few words, Ye Mingsheng sent his strategist away. Looking at Gu Sansi's departing back, Ye Mingsheng felt a little amusement. Gu Sansi was indeed an orthodox Jinshi, and he abided by the duties of a subject and acted very cautiously. As soon as some rumors came out, he quickly tried to distance himself from Huo San!

(End of this chapter)