Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 129: I Request to Attack Li Ming
"Today, the font was changed to Yuchi Xunyu's dog crawling font. It seems that Changsun Yan and Fang Yize are too busy these days."

Wei Daijia added pepper and honey to the brewed tea, crossed his legs, and while drinking the tea, he commented on the flyer.

After being kicked back from Yingzhou by Zhang Jian, Wei Daijia was so anxious that he immediately took the risk of taking the Yanshan Mountain Road to Youzhou and Weizhou to borrow troops.

However, after witnessing a series of outrageous actions by the Red Turban Bandits, he calmed down and drank tea and watched the show with Hou Junji.

I'm so curious about who the new leader of this group of thieves is. It's really hard to guess.

Although now, the leaflets distributed by the Red Turban bandits are still using the original handwritten manuscripts.

However, they would not be surprised if the flyer is upgraded to print.

"That" leader will sooner or later make movable type printing in the deep mountains and forests.

"The question is, why didn't His Highness Li Ming contact us?" Wei Daijia frowned and swallowed a sip of tea.

The quality of Pingzhou's tea is really average, with a lingering sour taste that he still can't get used to.

The doubts in his mind were still lingering. They could distribute leaflets all over Lulong to wage a propaganda war, but they couldn't even send a letter?

Hou Junji pointed at the table:

"Let me ask you another question. Your Highness, what is your purpose in associating with the bandits?"

Judging from the current strength of the bandits, let alone fighting back to the county town, there will be no problem in reaching Yingzhou.

But why is Li Ming still staying in the mountain, as if he is going to run the business for a long time?

"What on earth does he want to do? What is he doing..."

After thinking about it, they said in unison:
"What about Murong Yan?"

Indeed, although the Red Scarf Bandits' mode of action has undergone tremendous changes, their spearhead has always been the same:
Murong Yan.

On the night Li Ming disappeared, Murong Yan behaved quite well, making the two people think that he was a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty.

However, after spending some time together, they went from questioning the Red Turban Bandits to understanding them.

Hou Junji stroked his beard:

"If that local rich man doesn't die, the whole Pingzhou will have to depend on him. Even I want to kill him."

"'I will not allow others to snore beside my bed', His Highness Li Ming really does practice what he says." Wei Daijia shook his head and drank his tea.

During the few days when Li Minggang disappeared, the two of them lived an extremely miserable life.

Not only could the army not be mobilized, even the officials under them didn't listen to them, and their orders did not go beyond the provincial capital.

Hou Junji was so anxious that he wanted to kill someone, but he could only draw his sword and look around in confusion.

Because the grassroots officials in Pingzhou were actually supported by Murong Yan.

There is no way. The registered population of Pingzhou is too small, and the taxes collected on this scale are not enough to maintain the operation of the government office.

This is all thanks to the generous donation from Mr. Murong.

The purse was controlled by Murong Yan, and the army was in his hands, so people in Lulong County only knew Murong and not the Tang Dynasty.

In this deadlock where money, power and troops are not in hand, let alone Hou Junji and Wei Daijia, even if Li Shimin himself came, he would be sidelined.

No matter how powerful the main dragon is, if it encounters a local tyrant who has the power to control everything in the local area, it can only choose to cooperate obediently.

For example, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, Cao Wei, and even the Sui and Tang dynasties today, are all like this without exception.

This is how the powerful families that have lasted for thousands of years and spanned several dynasties evolved.

As for starting a new business like this, it can only be said that it is very "Ming style".

"Perhaps, His Highness knows some secrets of Murong Yan, so he is determined to kill him." Hou Junji pondered:

"It is precisely because of this secret that His Highness thought that we might be dead or held hostage by Murong. He did not know that we were actually sitting in the state capital."

Wei Daijia thought this guess made sense, and continued to reason:
"Your Highness has been with us since coming to Pingzhou, except..."

Except before they disappeared in Murong Mansion, the four children went out to pee together.

In just that short quarter of an hour, what did they discover about Murong Yan?
"I'm afraid I can only ask Your Highness in person." Hou Junji waved his hand, indicating that he would not delve into the matter any further.

Because now, the two of them maintain a delicate and harmonious relationship with Murong Yan.

Murong Yan pretended to be respectful to the two of them, and the two of them pretended to be completely sidelined -

After all, they are high-ranking officials from the central government, and Pingzhou still flies the flag of the Tang Dynasty. If they are tough, they can still take care of some things.

After guessing that the bandit was possessed by Li Ming, they also wanted to do something at first, acting as traitors in the provincial government and cooperating with the bandits.

However, after witnessing the various magical operations of Logistics Captain Murong Yan, which pushed the people of Pingzhou to the opposite side.

They completely took their hands off the keyboard and followed Murong Yan's lead, feeling that this was a level that even the traitor could not reach.

When he met the young girl who came to the government office every few days to sell vegetables, who was obviously a Red Scarf thief in disguise as a spy, he would deliberately leak some information to her.

They pretended to give up struggling, pretended not to know that Murong Yan had withheld all the imperial edicts, and pretended not to know that His Majesty had summoned them back to the court as early as last month.

Murong Yan thought it was good to keep these two incompetent idiots, while they thought it was also good to have someone to blame for disobeying the emperor's order. Both sides maintained a tacit understanding and it was a win-win situation.

"But if Your Highness wants to kill Murong Yan, why do you have to start a new camp and go through so much trouble?" Wei Daijia drank the tea bowl in one gulp, puzzled.

With Li Ming's current reputation, if he wanted to kill a local tyrant, Sun Fujia could personally deliver Murong Yan's head to the door of Lizheng Hall.

This question still puzzles them to this day.

"I can only ask Your Highness in person when the time comes." Hou Junji shrugged.

It's normal not to be able to see what Li Ming is thinking.

If you see through it, it means you are no longer normal.

They simply gave up thinking and enjoyed the rare leisure time since joining the "Fourteenth Party".

Facts have proven that a little Karami like Murong Yan is not worth worrying about for His Highness Li Ming's safety.

"Minister Hou! Envoy Wei!"

A rude man rushed in from outside the door, wearing a red robe and a heron feather crown, with a pair of big copper bell eyes that showed clear stupidity.

He is Hou Junji's deputy, Xue Wanche.

A quarter ago, this vulgar old bachelor was caught by the censors and scolded in the court for molesting a decent woman.

At that time Fang Xuanling came out to smooth things over, saying that he should stop scolding him and that considering it was his first offense, he should be exiled to Yingzhou.

Xue Wanche: ???

Then he was kicked to Liaodong.

When passing through Pingzhou, he was intercepted by his old boss Hou Junji:

Let’s find the prince together!

Just look for it.

As we were searching, it turned out that the old boss started to give up for some reason.

"Why are you two slacking off again!" Xue Wanche's throat was hoarse with anxiety:
"There are bandits everywhere. Even the prince has been kidnapped by them! How can you insects sleep well when your country has become like this?"

Although Lao Xue is not very smart except in fighting, he is still very straightforward and responsible.

Hou Junji and Xue Wanche looked at each other.

Xue Wanche can only be considered half of our team and has not yet joined the organization, so there are some things that are not convenient to talk to him about.

"Good people are blessed by God, why are you in such a hurry?" Hou Junji covered the tea bowl and reminded implicitly.

Xue Wanche did not understand the leader's intention at all, and patted his chest proudly:
"Today I'm here to let you two know that I'm going up the mountain!"

"You want to go up the mountain too?" Wei Daijia was surprised.

"Of course, I went to the mountains to suppress the bandits and find the prince!" Xue Wanche was a little proud:

"I talked to that guy named Murong in every possible way, and he finally allocated me a group of soldiers! Although they were all greedy people recruited with money." Oh, it turned out that this was the one who went up the mountain... Wei Daijia sat back down.

Hou Junji joked: "You are most familiar with going up the mountain."

It is ironic that Xue Wanche stood on the wrong side during the Xuanwu Gate Incident and hid in Mount Zhongnan. Fortunately, His Majesty was merciful and persuaded him to come down the mountain.

"Humph, it's better than just eating and waiting to die here!"

Xue Wanche retorted and turned to leave.

Hou Junji called him and told him carefully:
"This group of bandits is different from the previous ones. Your first priority should be to find the prince. You must be careful and refrain from killing innocent people."

Even Hou Junji, who liked to let his troops plunder, thought that Murong Yan was a pest who was submissive to bandits but attacked the common people harshly was too extreme.

"Of course. How can our Tang Army associate with such idiots?"

Xue Wanche clasped his fists hastily and walked away.

…………

At the foot of Yanshan Mountain, is Wuli Township.

Fifteen captives were brought to a yard along with the charcoal-like child.

There is a sign in front of the door with three big characters written on it:

Look to the right.

In the queue, three people subconsciously twisted their necks to the right.

Then, he saw a few red-turbaned thieves standing on the right, showing them a bright smile:

"You three can read, come out."

The three comrades were carried away dejectedly.

The rest of the people were silent.

Do cultured people use slow fire to simmer food while uncultured people use high fire to roast food?

They entered the yard anxiously.

In addition to the guards in the yard, there was also an old woman who was responsible for cooking and cleaning. She gave everyone a bowl of rice, even mixed with some lard.

Twelve grown men all cried.

In Liaodong, you can eat rice and even oil.

This is the last meal...

insomnia.

The next day, nothing happened.

No need to work or train, the old lady would prepare meals for them at the appointed time.

There were even three meals a day, including porridge, vegetables, and soup noodles. The food was even better than at Murong's mansion.

Because there are no captains or generals here who withhold food and wages and exploit the soldiers' blood.

After eating, he went to sleep. He lived like this for a few days. Then the yard gate opened and a group of red-scarf thieves came in.

Just when a few people thought that they were finally going to be fattened up and killed for food, the Red Scarf Bandit told them that they could go outside the yard to get some fresh air.

They followed in a daze, listening to the Red Scarf bandits' half-understood words like "treat prisoners well", and curiously watched the bandits help the villagers with farm work, build cattle sheds, and repair dams.

He even saw the three literate comrades who were brought out of the line. They were now wearing long gowns and teaching farmers and bandits how to read in the fields.

A few days passed like this. After they were sure that they would not be killed, they completely relaxed and were subtly influenced by the bandits and took the initiative to do housework for the old woman.

Until one day, they curiously asked why the old woman was hanging out with thieves and bandits.

The old woman said that because their land was coveted by Murong Yan, her husband and son were forcibly conscripted into the army and died in unclear circumstances.

After the male child died, Murong Yan took out the IOU with their fingerprints on it, and with the support of the government, she openly seized her land.

She was forced to go to Yanshan.

Finally, she asked the captives:
Why are you working for Murong Yan? Is it because Murong Yan divided the land among you?
After several people thought about it, it seemed that Murong Yan did not "divide their land" but "divided their land", leaving them with nowhere to go, so they worked for Murong Yan for a meal.

To round it off, they are actually working for their enemies.

The old woman asked again:
Want revenge?

Several people looked at each other.

In this way, these former prisoners of war put on their Tang armor and picked up their swords and guns.

Only at this time, they all had red scarves tied on their heads.

I heard that a group of recruited soldiers will launch a surprise attack on Shili Village today, and the one leading them will no longer be Murong Yan's hired accomplice, but a real general of the Tang army.

Humph, I will make sure he never comes back!
…………

Chang'an is very cold in winter.

Taiji Palace, small court meeting.

Li Shimin sat in the warm hall, but did not feel any warmth and his face looked gloomy.

Wei Zheng wrote:

"The bandits in Pingzhou are ready to rebel. Your Majesty, please make a quick decision!"

Amid the chorus of "seconding" from his ministers, Li Shimin felt an inexplicable chill and tightened his thick dragon robe.

The core of the court meetings these days is still Pingzhou.

However, the focus of the discussion had subtly changed and was no longer about how to appease the bandits and rescue the captured prince.

According to Hou Junji's letter and information from various sources, the bandit "Red Turban Army" suspected of colluding with Goguryeo is rapidly sweeping across Pingzhou and occupying large areas and population outside the county seat.

All the ministers said that they were not afraid of even the Tang army, and that they were no longer ordinary bandits and must be dealt with severely.

"I... understand." Li Shimin said weakly.

The ministers looked at each other, shook their heads and sighed helplessly.

It looks like His Majesty will have to delay for another day.

Although in order to deal with the potential military threat in Pingzhou, His Majesty has already appointed the Liaodong Road Marching Commander, and various war preparations are also being carried out in an orderly manner.

However, when faced with this surging wave of banditry.

The emperor, who had always been wise and courageous, suddenly became hesitant and was reluctant to issue the order to wipe out the rebellion.

Such indecision made the old ministers see the reincarnation of the emperor.

"Your Majesty!" Wei Zheng said loudly:

"The banditry in Pingzhou is spreading rapidly. If it continues like this, I'm afraid the whole of Liaodong will be in turmoil!"

Li Shimin held his aching head and tried to put on a smile:
"Minister Wei, you are laughing. They are just a few petty thieves. The bandit problem in Liaodong has always been rampant, but it is not a big deal. If we do nothing about it today, will the Tang Dynasty fall?"

Wei Zheng glanced at his lord.

However, in just one month, His Majesty had lost weight visibly and his face showed signs of aging.

This made him feel bad.

But what made him feel more distressed was the Tang Dynasty.

Minister Wei took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said bluntly:
"Your Majesty, are you so hesitant? Is it because the leader of the rebellion is perhaps one of your bastards?!"

"you……?!"

Li Shimin suddenly became furious and his head felt like it was exploding.

(End of this chapter)