The Great Wei Music Bureau

Last time, we talked about how Western Chu spent a lot of money to make peace with Wei. Not only did they prepare generous gifts, but they also killed the King of Han who had fled to Western Chu and sent his head to Northern Wei as a gift. This is the game of states. So what will Queen Mother Xiao and Emperor Tuoba Jun of Wei do next? Let's take a look.

Empress Dowager Xiao said with a sneer on her face: "Come here, hang the head of the King of Han at the city gate, write a notice, and tell the people of Wei what will happen if they dare to offend Wei! Also notify Wan Sile, and ask her to take a look when she is free to see if this head belongs to the King of Han, and ask how much revenge she has taken."

The prefect of Shangjing took the order and left. Empress Dowager Xiao looked at Xiong Zhu and said with a smile, "The State of Chu has really put in a lot of effort this time. I feel that this gift list is really full of sincerity. However, there is one more thing that I would like to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to help analyze."

Xiong Zhu bowed and said, "Please tell me clearly, Queen Mother!"

Empress Dowager Xiao stood up and said, "There is a saying that my eldest son Tuoba Hong died of witchcraft, and this witchcraft is the most prevalent in Western Chu. I would like to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to go back and investigate this matter and give me an explanation."

The hall was in an uproar. It was the first time that someone had publicly announced that the former crown prince, the current emperor's brother Tuoba Hong, had died from witchcraft. And the person who said it was the empress dowager. The significance was self-evident. It basically confirmed the matter, and it was hard not to arouse people's imaginations.

Xiong Zhu calmly took out a memorial from his sleeve, presented it with both hands and said, "Prime Minister Su has already investigated the matter. The investigation process and results are written in the memorial, which is now presented to the Empress Dowager and His Majesty the Emperor."

The chief eunuch took the memorial, checked it to make sure there was no problem, then handed it to Tongqing, who then passed it to Tuoba Jun. Tuoba Jun opened it and his face turned from gloomy to dark, then he closed it heavily and handed it to Tongqing, who then handed the memorial to Empress Dowager Xiao.

Empress Dowager Xiao opened the memorial with a heavy face and read it, then slowly closed it and said calmly, "How is it related to the Yuwen family again? This is too much of a coincidence."

When Yuwen Zheng in the palace heard this, he knelt on the ground with a plop and said loudly: "Queen Dowager, how is the death of the former crown prince related to my Yuwen family? There must be some misunderstanding! Queen Dowager, please don't fall for the provocation of Xi Chu!

My Yuwen clan has worked diligently and conscientiously for the Great Wei, and several generations have assisted wholeheartedly. How could we do such a thing! Please ask the Queen Mother and Your Majesty to investigate it clearly!" As he spoke, Yuwen Zheng burst into tears, and while crying, he recounted the contributions his ancestors had made to the Great Wei.

Empress Dowager Xiao became impatient and said lightly: "Alright, alright, take a look at this memorial from Yuwen Zheng yourself!" After that, the eunuch handed the memorial to Yuwen Zheng, who opened it and took a quick look.

After reading it, Yuwen Zheng flew into a rage, pointing at Xiong Zhu and cursing, "You Chu people are so shameless. How dare Subu throw dirty water on my Yuwen family! Humph, and you, the crown prince of Western Chu, actually handed this fabricated memorial to His Majesty and the Queen Mother. It is full of loopholes, the evidence is vague, and the witnesses are either dead or disabled. It is all a piece of fantasy. You brought this thing out, do you think that the monarch and ministers of my Great Wei are fools? What exactly is Subu's intention! Do you want to put the blame on my Yuwen family and alienate the loyalty between the monarch and the ministers!"

Xiong Zhu waved his hand and said, "Please calm down, Minister Yuwen. Let me make it clear first that this memorial was handed to me by Prime Minister Su before I left. Even my father has not read it. He even told me not to read it. Prime Minister Su said that the less I know about this matter, the better, so that I can save my life.

I still want to go back alive, so I have no idea what is written in this memorial. Besides, I was still young and knew nothing about what happened back then, so if Minister Yuwen is angry, please don't take it out on me. As for Prime Minister Su, he only said that if there are any doubts about the content and authenticity of the memorial, His Majesty the Emperor of Wei can send people to our Chu State to investigate, and he will definitely cooperate with him."

Yuwen Zheng cursed, "Bullshit! He even sent people to investigate. I'm afraid that even if he did, everything would be destroyed and replaced by Subu. It's unclear whether it's real or fake. What a good scheme! The chaos in Han State was clearly caused by Subu convincing Liang and Han to join forces to attack Wei State. His original intention was to take advantage of the old emperor's inability to supervise the war and take over more territory of Wei State before negotiating and gain more benefits.

Humph! He never thought that the former crown prince was so wise and brave that he broke his beautiful dream and made him lose more than he gained. So he held a grudge and tried every means to plot against the former crown prince of Wei and used your Western Chu witchcraft to harm the talents of Wei! Now he wants to put the blame on my Yuwen family! Humph! He really underestimated the current emperor and the queen mother!"

Xiong Zhu bowed to Tuoba Jun and said, "Your Majesty, I really don't know what is written in the memorial, and I can't understand Lord Yuwen's accusations. I hope Your Majesty will make a wise judgment."

Tuoba Jun clenched his fist and was about to speak, but Empress Dowager Xiao spoke first: "Okay, today is my birthday, what are you quarreling about? It gives me a headache. I am not stupid, I can tell who is far away and who is close, and what is good and bad, right and wrong. I didn't say that it was your Yuwen family who did it, why are you so anxious? And you, Xiong Zhu, are a guest after all. What is your intention to deliberately provoke the relationship between the monarch and his subjects in the Great Wei? Or do you want me to give you a big gift when you first ascend the throne?"

After the Queen Mother finished speaking, Yuwen Zheng kowtowed without saying anything. Xiong Zhu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I know Xiong Zhu would never dare to act rashly in front of you."

Empress Dowager Xiao snorted coldly, "Alright, I'm tired of listening to you guys quarreling. Go down, we can talk about it later. I still have to receive other envoys, I don't have time to listen to you quarreling here!"

Xiong Zhu and Qu Zhi bowed and left. Yuwen Zheng was still kneeling on the ground. Tuoba Jun said, "Minister Yuwen, please stand up. Neither I nor my mother intend to blame you. Don't worry. We will investigate this matter further."

Yuwen Zheng stood up tremblingly, wiped the sweat off his head, stood back in the team, bowed his head and said nothing. At this time, Prime Minister Gongsun Yi came out and said, "Your Majesty, I think this matter should not be publicized. Please order everyone present today to keep it secret. If anyone spreads or discusses this matter privately, once it is verified, they will be killed without mercy!"

Tuoba Jun nodded and said, "Yes, Prime Minister Gongsun is right. If anyone spreads what happened just now, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

All the court officials agreed. Zhenbei King Dugu Rong came out and said, "Your Majesty, we should meet with the Xiongnu envoys next, but there are experts among the next few envoys. Please allow my son to enter the palace to guard and ensure that everything goes well."

Tuoba Jun asked, "Oh? What kind of master is he? King Zhenbei, tell me in detail."

The King of Zhenbei saluted and said, "Your Majesty, Murong Bufan is in the Xiongnu delegation. He is at the peak of the fourth level of martial arts. There is news that he is also a shaman. We know very little about shamanism. This religion is too mysterious. I just heard that there are techniques similar to summoning gods and spirits, which can instantly increase the power several times, so it is better to be careful."

Tuoba Jun looked at the steward Zhou standing beside him. He nodded to His Majesty. Tuoba Jun understood that what the King of Zhenbei said was true and smiled, "Well, summon Dugu Long to the palace for guarding. King of Zhenbei, continue to talk about the masters in the other delegations."

King Zhenbei clasped his fists and continued, "There is a master in the Qiang delegation who is known as the Northwest Spear King. His name is Han Feng. His spear skills are indeed outstanding. It is no exaggeration to say that his spear skills are no less than my son's."

Tuoba Jun asked curiously, "I didn't expect that these foreign tribes would have so many experts. Are there any other experts?"

King Zhenbei nodded and said, "Among the Di tribe's envoys, there is a man named Zhai Baishan who is invincible on the grassland. He is tall and strong. Judging from the intelligence, his strength is definitely not inferior to my son!"

Tuoba Jun was puzzled and asked, "There is actually such a person on the grassland? He is not inferior to Dugu Long? King Zhenbei should not increase others' ambitions and destroy his own prestige."

The King of Zhenbei said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I am not making false statements. During this inspection trip to the northern border, I have combined all the battle reports and information to confirm that this expert of the Di tribe is more than nine feet tall and weighs more than four hundred pounds. He is as strong as a bull and as fierce as a tiger. He once single-handedly stopped the pursuit of three thousand soldiers of our Zhenbei Army. It can be said that he is only one step away from the extraordinary realm."

The court officials were discussing the matter again. King Zhenbei said with a smile, "Don't panic. First, the Di people are few in number. At most, they will join forces with the Qiang people to harass our Wei border. Even if the two tribes join forces, our Zhenbei Army will not be afraid. Moreover, after returning from Qingzhou this time, my son Dugu Long learned a method of besieging and killing masters. The effect is extraordinary. Even if we really have to fight with them one day, we can use this method to contain or even kill them."

After hearing this, Tuoba Jun smiled and asked, "If that's the case, then I'll be relieved."

At this time, Dugu Long stepped into the hall, bowed his head and said, "General Dugu Long pays respects to the Queen Mother and His Majesty the Emperor."

Tuoba Jun stretched out his hand to signal him to stand up, then asked, "General Dugu, I heard from the King of Zhenbei that you have learned a set of formations, which is quite exquisite and can trap a master at the peak of the fourth level?"

Dugu Long clasped his fists and saluted, "Your Majesty, I learned this secretly after fighting with Yuwen Tian's Mohist heavy armor in the battle of Penghe. It is an improvement and expansion based on Yuwen's beast prisoner formation and iron chain formation. It is a set of formations specifically for martial arts masters. My ability is limited and I have not been able to learn the essence, but it is still quite effective. Minister Lu of the Ministry of Works can testify to this."

Tuoba Jun looked at Lu Shu and asked, "Minister Lu, what do you think of the formation that General Dugu mentioned?"

Lu Shu came out of the class and said, "Your Majesty, General Dugu is right. I have taken all the mechanisms of the Mohist heavy armored soldiers back to the Ministry of Industry for research. The design is indeed ingenious, and it can indeed exert unexpected combat power when combined with the military formation. If we form a Mohist heavy armored army like this, it will certainly be extraordinary in combat power, but the cost is indeed not a small amount."

Tuoba Jun asked, "Court Minister Lu, can you give me an estimate for the number?"

Lu Shu counted on his fingers and said calmly, "Mohist heavy-armored infantry, with 50 men in a squad, each soldier must be at least a sixth-rank martial artist. Based on the same number of men, the cost of maintaining a Mohist heavy-armored infantry is five times that of a heavy-armored cavalry."

This statement aroused discussion again. Tuoba Jun thought for a while and said, "With such a huge expense, it seems that it may be difficult to form such a team. We should take a long-term view on this matter. By the way, Minister Yuwen?"

When Yuwen Zheng heard His Majesty calling him, he immediately stepped out and said, "I'm here!"

Tuoba Jun glanced at Dugu Long and said with a smile: "Minister Yuwen, General Dugu just said that his formation was stolen from your Yuwen family's beast prison formation and iron chain formation, but he didn't learn the essence. I wonder if Minister Yuwen is willing to give some pointers to help General Dugu further improve this formation?"

Yuwen Zheng said without thinking: "I will deliver these two sets of array formation scrolls to the Zhenbei Palace tomorrow, and I will not keep any of them for myself. If General Dugu doesn't understand something, I can send someone in the clan who is proficient in array formation to help."

Tuoba Jun smiled and said, "Great, Lord Yuwen is really loyal to the Wei Dynasty. He is willing to even offer his ancestral formation. Don't worry, I will definitely reward you once this formation is successful." Yuwen Zheng and Dugu Long bowed and thanked him. Tuoba Jun felt much better and smiled, "Let's celebrate together and invite the Xiongnu envoys to see us."

Soon, three representatives of the Hun delegation entered the hall. The Hu people did not perform the ritual of kneeling and kowtow, and only followed the etiquette of their own tribe. This was normal. After performing the ceremony and presenting the gift list, they went straight into the chat session. The leader of the Hu people was just like ordinary people, and there was no distinction between high and low classes like here.

In the Hu tribe, there are only two kinds of people: fellow tribesmen and slaves. Fellow tribesmen are all equal. Even if you are the tribe leader, you only have the right to speak, and you are not superior to anyone else. Slaves only do rough work.

The three representatives of the Xiongnu delegation were Liu Yuan, the Xiongnu prince, Lan Qingyan, the shaman priest, and Murong Bufan, the vanguard general of the royal court. Tuoba Jun looked at the three people. Two of them were wearing animal skin armor, and the other shaman priest was wearing animal skin clothes, holding a wooden staff with various red and strange symbols on it.