Chapter 565 The value of united front!
Great Zhou, Luoan

Chen Jingyu, the commander of the Supervisory Department, the largest spy agency in the Great Zhou Dynasty, walked into the study of the Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan under the guidance of the butler with an uneasy mood...

Although there were still a few days left before the half-month appointment, Chen Jingyu, who was familiar with Shangguan Hongyuan's character, naturally let Shangguan Hongyuan wait for her for half a month.

After the butler informed her, Chen Jingyu walked into Shangguan Hongyuan's study and bowed to greet him who was handling official documents.

Seeing Chen Jingyu coming, Shangguan Hongyuan raised his head from the desk, nodded slightly to Chen Jingyu as a greeting, and then asked directly:
"How was your contact with those people in Rongcheng?"

Chen Jingyu was prepared for Shangguan Hongyuan's question and immediately said:

"It's just a preliminary contact. Although you promised them that you would not pursue the crime of the Luoan incident, they still seem to be very worried and their offers are very high. It can be seen that they don't have much sincerity. They just want to prepare for a rainy day and leave a way out for themselves!"

Listening to Chen Jingyu's answer, a cold light flashed in Shangguan Hongyuan's eyes. He knew that those bastards would not surrender so easily!

What cannot be obtained on the battlefield is also difficult to obtain at the negotiation table. As long as Jianmen is still in the hands of the Southern Tour Court, they will resist to the end. Thinking of this, Shangguan Hongyuan continued to ask:
"What's the situation at Jianmen?"

Chen Jingyu said without hesitation:
“The people in the Southern Tour Court seem to have realized that if they can’t defend Jianmen, they certainly can’t defend Rongcheng, so they have sent the guards of Rongcheng to Jianmen. Currently, there are more than 50,000 troops in Jianmen, and King Zheng Jiang Guang has also gone to Jianmen to take charge. In addition, there is news that the Southern Tour Court is interested in inviting Jingchu Inspector Sun Liangyu for support…”

Hearing the name Sun Liangyu, Shangguan Hongyuan's eyes became three points more solemn. Sun Liangyu was an unshakable figure in the political arena of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He had served as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Left Vice Minister, and the Minister of Rites. In the third year of Anhe, he was transferred to the Inspector of Jingchu.

This person is a rare moderate in the political arena of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Apart from being a famous old man, his most famous motto is that peace is the most precious thing. Because he has an army of 70,000 to 80,000 Chu soldiers under his command, both the Southern Tour Court and the Luoan Court were actively trying to win him over. However, Sun Liangyu himself tried to smooth things over and pretended to be stupid in the face of both sides' attempts to win him over, and never took sides.

If the imperial court really invites Sun Liangyu to go on the southern tour now, it will be quite troublesome. After all, although the combat effectiveness of the Chu army is not high, its manpower is at least sufficient. Coupled with the natural barriers of Sichuan and Shu, the Luoan Imperial Guards may very likely fall into the same difficult situation as when they first entered Shu!
Chen Jingyu seemed to have noticed the change in Shangguan Hongyuan's expression, and gave a detailed introduction:

"Your Excellency, according to the intelligence sent back by our secret agent in Rongcheng, it was this old fellow Lin Shize who pushed Sun Liangyu to come to Shu. He and Sun Liangyu have a very good personal relationship. In addition, his grandson Lin Zi'an may marry Sun Liangyu's granddaughter. The relationship between their two families is very close!"

“However, the royal family represented by Jiang Guang is very wary of Sun Liangyu’s entry into Shu. They are worried that the power of the royal family will be further weakened after Sun Liangyu’s entry into Shu. At present, they are still arguing fiercely about this matter. I estimate that unless our army achieves some breakthrough results in the direction of Jianmen, it will be difficult for the southern tour court to come up with any results on this matter in a short period of time…”

As soon as these words were spoken, a hint of sarcasm emerged on Shangguan Hongyuan's face. They were experts in civil wars but novices in external fights. This was the only thing that Lin Shize, Jiang Guang and others were capable of. Although Chen Jingyu's words were euphemistic, Shangguan Hongyuan also heard his implicit meaning!
Jiang Guang and the clan forces behind him have become afraid of the consequences, fearing that Sun Yuliang will be the next them and team up with Lin Shize to break the existing political balance of the southern tour court and turn these old and young clan members into mere decorations.

The army under his command has already reached Jianmen, but the people in Rongcheng are still unable to unite and overcome the difficulties. Instead, they are still continuing to fight and consume each other. This is their own destruction. If they don't perish, it will be unjust!

After understanding this, Shangguan Hongyuan's confidence was undoubtedly strengthened by three points. After pondering for a moment, he changed the subject and continued to ask:
"Last time you asked for half a month to investigate the next move of the Fengwu Army. How is the investigation going now?"

Chen Jingyu's heart tightened when she heard Shangguan Hongyuan's question. She knew that what was coming had finally come, so she spoke very cautiously:
"Reporting to the Prime Minister, after our active investigation during this period of time, we have already obtained some useful information. Because our army's offensive in Jianmen is like a tide, the imperial court can only hold on with great difficulty, so they came up with a trick of besieging Wei to save Zhao, and made an exception to appoint Ye Mingsheng as the Governor-General of Yan and Liao, hoping to use this to exchange for Master Ye Ming to lead his troops westward!"

“And Ye Mingsheng also held a grand inauguration ceremony in Yijing, so I think that on the issue of marching westward, Ye Mingsheng and the southern tour court may have reached an agreement…”

Before Chen Jingyu's words fell completely, Shangguan Hongyuan's expression, which had just relaxed, immediately became solemn again. Although he had never had a direct fight with the Fengwu Army and had not personally experienced the combat effectiveness of the Fengwu Army, he had fought with Zhao Fuqu for decades and was very familiar with the combat effectiveness of the Yan Army under Zhao Fuqu.

With the strength of the Yan Army against the Fengwu Army, they were defeated battle after battle, which was enough to show how powerful the Fengwu Army was. And now is the time for him to concentrate his forces in Sichuan to deal with the imperial court on its southern tour. Feng Han has only 20,000 troops in Jinyang. If the Fengwu Army marches westward at this time, I am afraid Feng Han will not be able to hold out in Jinyang for long?
Feeling Shangguan Hongyuan's mood changes, Chen Jingyu on the side was also uneasy. Although he asked Shangguan Hongyuan for half a month to investigate the intelligence of Fengwu Army, during this period of time, he did not really actively investigate the intelligence of Fengwu Army as he said!
After all, the spies planted by the Supervisory Department in Fengwu Army had long been cleared out by the Coordination Office. Even the spies planted in Youyan were uncovered by the Coordination Office. Even the lucky ones left were not important figures. If you want to uncover important intelligence like the movements of Fengwu Army, those people are basically useless. In addition, it is basically impossible to avoid the investigation of the Coordination Office and lay an intelligence network inside Fengwu Army within half a month. Therefore, in order to complete the task assigned by Shangguan Hongyuan, Chen Jingyu wisely chose not to waste time on Fengwu Army, but to consider whether there is any way to fool the matter...

The information that the Southern Tour Court appointed Ye Mingsheng as the Governor-General of Yan and Liao immediately caught his attention. He then followed the clues and used the secret agents of the Supervisory Office in Chengdu to figure out the intentions of the Southern Tour Court. Then, combined with some of his own speculations, he reported it to Shangguan Hongyuan!
As for whether Ye Mingsheng would lead his troops westward, Chen Jingyu had prepared a response. Seeing Shangguan Hongyuan's expression becoming more and more serious, Chen Jingyu felt that the time had come, and immediately pretended to be worried and said:
"Master Prime Minister, since I discovered the movements of the Fengwu Army, I have also sensed the danger in the Yunbing area. So, under our active persuasion, Zhao Jianan has expressed his intention to surrender to our army and serve as a barrier for our army to resist the Fengwu Army!"

Shangguan Hongyuan was a little surprised when he heard this, and hesitated for a moment before saying:
"Is this Zhao Jianan you're talking about Zhao Fuqu's eldest son? Did he escape from Youyan?"

Chen Jingyu introduced:

"Yes, sir! Before Zhao Fuqu launched the counterattack, he might have sensed the danger ahead, so he sent Zhao Jianan to Jinzhong as a backup. Now Zhao Jianan is gathering the defeated troops in Jinzhong, and he already has more than 20,000 men under his command!"

Shangguan Hongyuan was silent for a while after hearing this, and then asked with some doubt:

"He is willing to surrender to me?"

Chen Jingyu nodded and introduced:

“Sir, although there are many unpleasant things between you and Zhao Fuqu, that bastard Zhao Fuqu died at the hands of Ye Mingsheng. The hatred for killing his father is irreconcilable. Zhao Jianan can naturally distinguish the interests involved…”

Seeing that Shangguan Hongyuan's attention had been gradually drawn to Zhao Jianan, Chen Jingyu breathed a sigh of relief. What he said was half true and half false. Although he said that Zhao Jianan was willing to surrender only after the active persuasion of their Supervisory Department, the actual situation was that Zhao Jianan took the initiative to find him!
Zhao Jianan had been negative for a few days since he was poured a bucket of cold water by his confidants at the last internal meeting and felt the huge resistance from internally surrendering to Shangguan Hongyuan. However, the pressure of money and grain was imminent, so Zhao Jianan could only come up with a solution that was not a solution, which was to secretly surrender to Shangguan Hongyuan and see if there was a chance to get Shangguan Hongyuan's support in money and grain in this way!
Chen Jingyu fabricated Ye Mingsheng's intention to march westward through the fact that the court appointed Ye Mingsheng as the governor-general of Yan and Liao during the southern tour. However, he was also a little worried. What if Shangguan Hongyuan listened to his advice and transferred troops from Sichuan to assist in the defense of Jinyang, but Ye Mingsheng did not march westward? Then he would not be able to report to Shangguan Hongyuan!
However, Zhao Jianan's unexpected appearance gave Chen Jingyu a brilliant idea. He wanted to spread the news of Zhao Jianan's surrender, and would suggest Shangguan Hongyuan to give Zhao Jianan some support, so that Zhao Jianan could assume a counterattack posture. In this way, if Ye Mingsheng really led his troops westward, it would naturally prove that his news was true!
And if Ye Mingsheng did not lead his troops westward in the end, he could also say that it was because after they won the surrender of Zhao Jianan, their strength in Yunbing increased greatly, which made Ye Mingsheng hesitant and eventually forced Ye Mingsheng to give up the idea of ​​leading his troops westward. In short, no matter what Ye Mingsheng did, he could justify himself························
At this time, Shangguan Hongyuan had no idea that Chen Jingyu, who seemed submissive in front of him, was thinking such thoughts in her heart.

Shangguan Hongyuan thought about it and felt that what Chen Jingyu said made sense. Ye Mingsheng killed Zhao Fuqu and was a mortal enemy of Zhao Jianan. It was very unlikely that Zhao Jianan would surrender to Ye Mingsheng.

In addition, Zhao Jianan occupied Jinzhong and had more than 20,000 soldiers and horses. If Ye Mingsheng really led his troops westward, even if he could not stop the Fengwu Army, he could at least delay the Fengwu Army's offensive and buy time for himself to respond. Therefore, Zhao Jianan was still very valuable for the united front, so he nodded and said:
"In that case, then go and contact Zhao Jianan and see if he has any requests!"

After hearing Shangguan Hongyuan's instructions, Chen Jingyu, who knew that she had escaped a dangerous situation, completely relaxed and bowed to answer:
"Yes! Sir, I'll do it right away!"

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Just as Chen Jingyu was reporting to Shangguan Hongyuan in Luoan, Ye Mingsheng was also summoning someone in the Governor's Mansion in Yijing.

Looking at the submissive Lin Huaiwu in front of him, Ye Mingsheng smiled and shook his head. Although Lin Huaiwu hid it well, Ye Mingsheng could still clearly feel the indignation in the heart of this Fengwu Army veteran who had followed him since the palace. He then said lightly:
"Just say whatever's on your mind. There's no need to hide it!"

Lin Huaiwu was startled when he heard this, and seemed to want to say something, but he was still hesitant about whether to speak. Seeing him so hesitant, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:
"Look at what you look like now. This is why I didn't promote you to commander this time!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Lin Huaiwu's eyes flashed with loneliness, and he bowed to Ye Mingsheng and said:
"Huaiwu, I've disappointed the Marshal!"

Although the news of the expansion and reorganization of the Fengwu Army was top secret within the Fengwu Army, this top secret was mainly for middle and lower-level generals. Senior generals like Yuan Song and Guo Zhiping all heard some rumors and knew that the Fengwu Army was going to set up an army-level organization this time. Everyone's attention was focused on the positions of the commanders of each army. Everyone generally believed that Yuan Song would be the first to be affected, which was undisputed.

In addition, Guo Zhiping, who had made many military achievements and whose reputation was second only to Yuan Song, did not have a big problem. However, there were considerable disagreements among the top leaders as to whether Lin Huaiwu, who was promoted to general and commanded a division together with Yuan Song and Guo Zhiping, could also be promoted to commander as he wished.···················

(End of this chapter)