Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

The capital city—the headquarters of the Great Qian Secret Intelligence Bureau.

"Have you figured out the whole situation?"

"The time, place, scale, leaders, and key members have all been thoroughly investigated. There is absolutely no chance of anything going wrong!"

Chen Guyan, the head of the secret intelligence bureau, listened to his subordinates' reports as he walked.

Upon arriving at his office, Chen Guyan casually took off his coat, and Tao Lixin, following closely behind, naturally took the coat and hung it on the hanger next to him.

"Sit down and let's talk." Chen Guyan sat down at the desk and picked up the neatly arranged documents that were waiting to be processed.

As the head of the secret intelligence agency, Chen Guyan has almost no time to rest, especially during this special period.

While reviewing and approving the documents on the table, Chen Guyan gestured for Tao Lixin to sit down and continue his work report.

"This time they plan to use the incident with the barbarian country to publicize the brutality of the Daqian Zhenguo Army, and use this as a pretext to hold anti-war activities."

"Moreover, there are a number of influential figures among them."

"Bringing up the matter of the barbarian kingdom to stir up public opinion?" Chen Guyan frowned slightly, pausing his hand as he reviewed the documents. "Are the Western Luo people pulling the strings behind the scenes again?"

"They certainly played a part in it, but this whole operation wasn't really orchestrated by the Western Ro people..."

Tao Lixin shook his head: "If the Xiluo people are behind this, then things will be much easier."

"Based on this alone, we don't need to worry about anything else. Just arrest these guys on the list and take them down on espionage charges."

"But that's where the trouble lies."

"trouble?"

"Is it troublesome?" Chen Guyan asked with displeasure. "Do I really need to teach you something like this?"

"While we in the Great Qian Dynasty advocate freedom of speech, this is absolutely not a reason for some people to act recklessly and spout nonsense!"

"The imperial court has already made a judgment on the matter of the barbarian people. Their plight is divine retribution and has nothing to do with the Great Qian Zhenguo Army."

"It's one thing for those Westerners to smear and slander the image of the Great Qian Zhenguo Army, but for these people to blindly follow suit, that's a completely different matter!"

"Didn't the Chief of Staff already give instructions on this matter?"

"Any citizen of our Great Qian Dynasty who makes inappropriate remarks regarding the affairs of foreign countries will be severely punished without exception!"

"Director..." Tao Lixin said helplessly, "If we handle this matter according to past practices, it will probably cause a lot of trouble."

"It might backfire..."

"The leader this time is Yan Shuyuan, a renowned scholar of Chinese studies who was personally received and commended by the Chief of Staff before!"

"Yan Shuyuan?" Chen Guyan frowned. "The Yan Shuyuan who announced his retirement a year ago?"

"Yes!"

Tao Lixin nodded: "Yan Shuyuan is a highly respected master of Chinese studies in Daqian, with a very high reputation among the people, and his disciples are all over the country."

"When the Chief of Staff entered the capital, Yan Shuyuan took the lead in standing up to support our Great Qian Zhenguo Army."

"Later, Yan Shuyuan actively guided public opinion and published a series of articles praising the Chief of Staff and the Daqian Zhenguo Army."

“I know that—didn’t Yan Shuyuan’s previous views always seem quite correct?”

"It is said that the Zhenguo Army of the Great Qian Dynasty has restored the national self-confidence and integrity that the Great Qian Dynasty had long lost."

Chen Guyan looked slightly puzzled: "It was also because of Yan Shuyuan's positive and correct views and exemplary conduct that the Chief of Staff praised him highly and personally met with him to commend him."

"This also made Yan Shuyuan even more prestigious."

"Logically speaking, someone like Yan Shuyuan, even if he were to return to public life, shouldn't be on the opposite side of the imperial court, right?"

"Yan Shuyuan's family..."

"Yan Shuyuan's family members were not coerced by any external forces."

Before Chen Guyan could finish speaking, Tao Lixin preemptively addressed the issue, saying, "Yan Shuyuan himself has not been threatened by anyone."

“We have investigated these issues thoroughly.”

Tao Lixin affirmed this, saying, "Yan Shuyuan personally planned the anti-war event at Imperial Square!"

"Besides Yan Shuyuan himself, he also personally contacted a group of influential figures in Daqian to participate in this event."

"Among them are professors from prestigious universities and leading figures in academia..."

"Under the leadership of Yan Shuyuan and others, a considerable number of students who participated in this anti-war activity were misled by these people."

"Therefore, after learning the inside story, we didn't dare to act rashly and immediately came to consult the Director..."

"I see! This is yet another group of self-righteous 'great sages'!"

After listening to Tao Lixin's report, Chen Guyan had a general idea of ​​Yan Shuyuan and others' motives for causing trouble.

These old, decadent scholars are the most troublesome...

Once they've made up their minds about something, they'll definitely disregard everything else.

They would not hesitate to be beheaded for it.

They might even be proud of it.

In their view, dying for this was a death of courage and integrity, a death of great importance. Future generations would remember them, and their virtuous names would be remembered for generations to come!

Whether you call it seeking empty fame or upholding what they believe to be the right principles, it doesn't matter.

But one thing is certain—when these old scholars get stuck on a nitpicking topic, they are truly "brave"!

Undeterred by the axe, they bravely faced death...

In short, they are willing to forge ahead on things they believe are right and that will bring them a good reputation!

Back then, Shen Moshen led the Great Qian Zhenguo Army into the capital and once again stood up to the foreigners.

At that time, the things that Shen Moshen and the Daqian Zhenguo Army did were highly praised by Yan Shuyuan and others.

They believed it was correct, so they were willing to go to great lengths to promote it.

However, this time—unfortunately—the matter of the barbarian state was not approved by Yan Shuyuan and others.

This isn't to say they felt the Great Qian Zhenguo Army shouldn't have sent troops to the barbarian lands, but rather that their actions on the battlefield after the invasion were inhumane...

This is the key point of attack by Yan Shuyuan and others.

This is also their main basis for opposing the war.

In fact, similar incidents have occurred frequently within the Great Qian Dynasty.

The secret intelligence agency is quite adept at handling such incidents.

However, this time, because Yan Shuyuan secretly colluded with a large number of influential figures, the matter was somewhat difficult to handle.

In fact, Chen Guyan had the utmost contempt for people like Yan Shuyuan.

Whenever such an event occurs, Chen Guyan always thinks to himself: In the past, when the Great Qian was ordered around by the Western Luo Kingdoms and was treated like a human being.

Where the hell have all these so-called "great sages" who are "concerned about the country and its people" gone?

During the dark years when the Great Qian Dynasty suffered humiliation at the hands of foreign powers, people like Yan Shuyuan never stood up to raise their voices!

Were all of these people in a state of "seclusion" back then?

Therefore, Chen Guyan despised this kind of person from the bottom of his heart.

Pah! What a load of crap...................

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"It seems Yan Shuyuan has quite a bit of influence; his appeal is quite strong..."

Chen Guyan looked at the list of personnel that Tao Lixin handed over and sneered, "Ha! There are actually many people on the list who have been commended by the imperial court."

"These are all positive role models that were once heavily promoted."

"No wonder you are so confident."

"They probably think that with this layer of protection, we won't dare to do anything to them?"

"The principle of 'the law does not punish the masses' still applies to different people and different situations!"

"Sympathize with the plight of the barbarians? That would be going against the imperial court. Even if our secret intelligence agency can tolerate that, it's not something we can tolerate."

"It won't make sense to the Chief of Staff either!"

After seeing the list, Chen Guyan's temper flared up: "The Chief of Staff had already warned about this beforehand."

"This is the Achilles' heel of our Great Qian Dynasty, and an inviolable bottom line."

"These 'great sages' can sympathize with anyone, but for a person of the Qian people to sympathize with a barbarian and even stand up for a barbarian is a treacherous act!"

"Everyone who gets it will be killed!"

"Back then, when the barbarian people slaughtered hundreds of thousands of our Great Qian people in Luyang, they didn't react this strongly!"

"This is utterly absurd..."

Tao Lixin looked at the furious Chen Guyan and then asked for instructions: "Chief, should we deal with Yan Shuyuan and his group according to the usual procedure?"

...............................

After a moment of silence, Chen Guyan shook his head.

Although Chen Guyan, as the head of the secret intelligence bureau, has a great deal of authority in Daqian and can use various special means to handle incidents.

Chen Guyan himself held Yan Shuyuan, this so-called "great sage," in utter contempt.

In Chen Guyan's eyes, this kind of person is a black sheep within the Great Qian Empire!

However, this incident really cannot be handled according to usual procedures......................

Otherwise, it could easily backfire.

Arresting or even executing people like Yan Shuyuan is not difficult, but you have to consider the huge negative impact that will result.

The Secret Intelligence Bureau's principle in handling such incidents is to complete the handling of the incident without causing negative impact on the imperial court and the Daqian Zhenguo Army.

This is the perfect solution for the Secret Service's 11th Division to handle such incidents.

The Eleventh Division of the Daqian Secret Intelligence Bureau is a newly established department within the intelligence bureau.

The main responsibility of the Eleventh Bureau is to maintain a stable environment within the Great Qian Dynasty and to handle domestic events.

Tao Lixin is the current and first director of the Eleventh Division of the Secret Intelligence Bureau.

"Yan Shuyuan and his group have made quite a show of it this time."

"Domestic and international media will definitely follow the whole process."

“If we arrest people directly, it could easily cause the situation to develop in a direction that is unfavorable to the imperial court and the Daqian Zhenguo Army.”

"Furthermore, given the special status of Yan Shuyuan and his group, arresting people before their gathering is not a feasible option..."

Chen Guyan stroked his chin, his thoughts racing.

"Director, this matter is of great importance. Why don't we directly consult the Chief of Staff?" Seeing that Chen Guyan was also undecided, Tao Lixin immediately made a suggestion.

"The Chief of Staff is currently overwhelmed with military affairs and too busy with overall matters."

"Anything before the report to the Chief of Staff is more important than this!"

"It's best not to cause trouble for the Chief of Staff with these kinds of domestic issues."

Chen Guyan shook his head: "Our secret intelligence bureau is here to share the burden of the chief. It's embarrassing to even need to ask for instructions before we can handle something this small..."

"I refuse to believe that a secret intelligence agency like ours can be controlled by a bunch of old scholars!"

"Director, now that you mention it, I suddenly have a plan."