The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"I haven't found out the reason yet, but I know that Lord Lin had a very good relationship with Prince Shache before. I wonder if there was any dispute in between? There are no casualties at the moment. I have sent people to continue investigating and will report back immediately if there is any news," Wei Cunxiao replied seriously.

After saying this, he did not forget to explore the expression on Zhang Ping'an's face.

Zhang Ping'an already had a preliminary plan in mind. Upon hearing this, he stood up and said in a deep voice: "Lord Lin is a pillar of the court. He was sent to the Western Regions to work for the court and to relieve His Majesty's worries. Now he is being detained in Shache Kingdom for no apparent reason. Naturally, we have to ask Shache Kingdom for an explanation. We must rescue him, but we must first discuss how to rescue him and not panic blindly."

Wei Cunxiao bowed and said, "I will obey your orders!"

Zhang Ping'an waved his hand upon hearing this and continued, "Since there are no casualties now, it means that the Shache Kingdom is also observing the attitude of the court. Our Great Zhou Dynasty is now strong and has sufficient military power. We are determined to conquer the Western Regions. The Shache Kingdom's detention of the envoy is a serious provocation and humiliation to the emperor and the Central Plains dynasty. This is not only related to the face of the court, but also to the future stability of the rule of the Western Regions. If we do nothing, it will definitely seriously damage the prestige of the court and affect the continued missions to other countries in the Western Regions. In short, the majesty of the Great Zhou Dynasty cannot be violated. But using force is not the first choice."

Qian Jie agreed with this statement very much: "You are right, this matter needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Using force is the last step. General Wei does not need to be anxious."

He also put forward his own ideas: "I think we should still adopt a gradual strategy from soft to hard, which can be roughly summarized as 'first use courtesy, then force, and use multiple approaches', gradually escalating from low-cost verbal struggle to high-cost physical struggle. It just so happens that we are now at Yumen Pass, which is convenient for us to exit.

It would be better to send a reliable person to issue a formal imperial edict to the Shache Kingdom, to strengthen our dynasty's position and demand that the other party immediately release the envoy and apologize. If the other party is still stubborn and ignores it, we can wait until the beginning of next spring to close the border trade and cut off its important source of economic benefits. At the same time, we can promise to give more generous rewards and titles as long as they release the people. This will also be a good opportunity to win over the Shache Kingdom to set an example and cooperate with Lord Lin to continue his mission to other countries in the Western Regions.

If these two steps fail, the next step is to send a letter to the Jinwu Khanate. They are our vassal ally and should cooperate with us to put pressure on the Yarkand Kingdom, or to isolate and deter it.

"Well said," Zhao Renzhi clapped his hands in praise, then added, "The final step is to deploy troops on the border, threaten with force, and resort to armed conflict. Furthermore, this incident might be an opportunity to reshape order in the Western Regions and make an example of someone to scare the monkeys."

"Master Zhang, what do you think?"

Several people turned their eyes to Zhang Pingan.

Zhang Ping'an nodded, his eyes showing appreciation: "Well said! It's similar to what I had in mind, but I would like to add one more thing. Lord Lin has already made good friends with Loulan, Yutian and other countries. During the period when the imperial edict is issued, we can send letters to these countries, expressing our Great Zhou Dynasty's goodwill towards them, and at the same time ask for troops. With the three parties encircling them, the King of Shache will not continue to hold people captive if he has any brains, and we can also avoid war to the greatest extent.

You must know that His Majesty's original intention in ordering them to go to the Western Regions was to resolve the threat in the Western Regions in the most cost-effective way possible, and it would be best if the problem could be resolved through ammunition or deterrence."

After that, he looked at Qian Jie and ordered: "Master Qian, you are fully responsible for this matter."

"Yes, sir!" Qian Jie bowed and accepted the task.

Wei Cunxiao wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and said with a smile, "Please rest assured, my lords. I will definitely cooperate with Lord Qian's plan to rescue Lord Lin and the others."

His face looked like he was deeply relieved.

Zhang Ping'an only felt that although this man was a big guy, his acting skills were much better than the experienced Wei Cunren, and he was a real talent.

As a result, several people had to act separately.

Zhang Ping'an took Zhao Renzhi back to the Guazhou camp first, leaving Qian Jie at Yumen Pass to monitor the situation outside the pass and be responsible for the rescue.

After returning to the Guazhou camp, Zhang Ping'an wrote a memorial to the court, explaining the various major and minor events that had occurred recently at the border, especially the fact that Lin Junhui and others were detained in Shache.

Although he was the deputy privy councilor and had the power to mobilize troops, if he really wanted to do so, he had to let the emperor know about such a major matter first.

Moreover, through his careful observation these days, he discovered that Wei Chengfeng's illness might not be fake.

Every time he coughed, it was very severe, and the colder it was, the more severe it was. The cough seemed to come from deep in his chest, even though Wei Chengfeng tried his best to cover it up.

Zhang Ping'an also found several times that the handkerchief he coughed out was stained with thick blood.

The doctor invited from Guazhou City prescribed many prescriptions, but they seemed to be of no use. Instead, they made Wei Chengfeng's face turn pale.

By the time the Chinese New Year was approaching, Wei Chengfeng had stopped taking his medicine.

Zhao Renzhi felt this was a good opportunity and urged Zhang Pingan, "If Wei Chengfeng is truly in poor health and seriously ill, the court would have legitimate reasons to remove his military power and find someone else to take over. Why don't we write a letter to Prefect Cao and make plans in advance?"

Zhang Ping'an didn't agree, but he wasn't in a hurry to refuse either. He had his own opinion: "Even if Wei Chengfeng is seriously ill, he's still here. He's the backbone of the Guazhou military camp. He's still alive, so it's a bit premature for us to rush to force him to hand over his military power."

Zhao Renzhi was a little impatient, pacing back and forth in the tent: "So what do you say we should do? Just wait like this?"

"Don't worry, let's wait until after the Chinese New Year. It's the day after tomorrow," Zhang Pingan comforted.

"Oh!" Zhao Renzhi sighed after hearing this and said nothing more.

After a while, he asked again: "What are you going to do about the situation inside Yumen Pass?"

In the past few days, they have received news from Qian Jie and found out that Pangolin is inside Yumen Pass, mixed in with ordinary people. He is Wei Jichuan, the thirteenth adopted son of Wei Chengfeng.

For fear of alerting the enemy, Qian Jie has not taken any action yet.

Zhao Renzhi asked this because he was afraid that the person would run away.

"The monk may run away, but the temple cannot." Zhang Ping'an remained as calm as ever. After thinking about it, he decided to let Zhao Renzhi know some information in advance to prevent him from doing anything bad.

"Wei Chengfeng's thirteen adopted sons have always had a very good relationship and are very respectful of their adoptive father. If Wei Chengfeng is truly seriously ill, do you think they would rush back to visit him? I originally wanted to capture Pangolin, but now the situation outside the Great Wall is unclear, so we shouldn't break off relations with Wei Chengfeng so quickly. Let's wait and see! Stay calm!"