The Conspiracy

In the quiet study room, Lu Gaosheng stood up and paced back and forth.

As Lu Gaosheng walked, he muttered to himself, "I had my suspicions before that someone was behind the burning of the Zhenbei Army's food supply camp and the sudden formation of the allied forces of the Five Countries. Judging from the ruthlessness of the means, I guessed it was Song YanShi. And now, I can almost certainly confirm that the one who stabbed Wang Jue and the Zhenbei Army in the back is him!"

Li Xing asked, "But sir, what are Minister Song's reasons for doing this?"

Lu Gaosheng said, "Looking at Minister Song's overall layout, he does seem a little impatient. But I think it's because during the six years I was away from the capital, there must have been undercurrents surging in the court, whether it was the Qingliu Party or the growing power of Right Minister Tang Li, which made Minister Song feel threatened. That's why he set his sights on Wang Jue's Zhenbei Army."

Li Xing immediately understood what Lu Gaosheng meant.

As they had discussed in the study a few days ago, Wang Jue was held in extremely high regard in the military, but he did not belong to any faction in the court.

Relying on his great military exploits of attacking cities and plundering the north over the years, Wang Jue's position as General of Zhenbei could be said to be as steady as Mount Tai.

Minister Song coveted the Zhenbei Army, which was comparable to the Dawu Country's first elite Zhennan Army from twenty years ago. But if he could not win over Wang Jue, then the best way was to overthrow him.

The Ministry of Works of Dawu Country had Left and Right Ministers, with the Left Minister as the head, whose power involved both military and domestic affairs.

The domestic bureaucracy was complex, and Minister Song had not only stood alone in the court over the years, but had also been keen on military power, especially regarding the Zhennan Army. Even the current General of Zhennan was Minister Song's disciple. Thus, Minister Song's power in Dawu Country could be seen.

Lu Gaosheng continued pacing and slowly said, "With Minister Song's influence in the military, the possibility of him finding out about the Zhenbei Army's food supply camp is higher than any other senior court official. So the burning of the food supply makes sense."

"Also, the fifteen northern countries had been plundered by Wang Jue countless times over the years. Just the land Wang Jue had captured was nearly the size of two commanderies. Only Minister Song, with his status and power, would have the qualifications to promise the Five Countries that after their success, a peace treaty would be concluded and the land would be returned to them, so that the Five Countries would willingly obey."

Li Xing suddenly realized, "So everything was Minister Song's plot behind the scenes?"

Lu Gaosheng confidently smiled and said, "Think about it. If after Wang Jue's food supply was burned, he chose the safest approach—to retreat with his 200,000 troops back within the North Pass—what would happen then?"

Although he was from the military, Li Xing was no fool. He immediately responded, "I guess the northern countries would exert all their strength to regain their former land outside the North Pass after the 200,000 troops retreat. That land was more than the size of two commanderies! Afterwards, Minister Song would definitely do his utmost to impeach General Wang in court."

Lu Gaosheng laughed. "Correct! By then, Wang Jue would have had to rely on Minister Song, who had the strongest power in the military, in order to keep his position as general. Or, after Minister Song had removed Wang Jue, he would have used the means from twenty years ago against the Zhennan Army to subdue the Zhenbei Army!"

By then, with Minister Song secretly controlling 150,000 Zhennan troops in the south and 200,000 elite Zhenbei troops in the north, his position as the most powerful minister in Dawu Country would be unshakable.

Or even...if he thought more ambitiously, with these two armies at his disposal, Minister Song could even rebel!

But things did not go as Minister Song had expected.

When Lu Gaosheng thought of this, he couldn't help laughing out loud, "But! This time, Minister Song miscalculated! As I said before, although Wang Jue is the general, this person is greedy for merit and power. But this time, it is precisely this greed that made him make such a choice!"

If it was Bai ShiXuan from twenty years ago, in order to ensure the safety of his 200,000 troops, even knowing that he would be severely punished, he would still choose to retreat within the pass first.

And with Bai ShiXuan's loyal and benevolent character, he would not think, or even if he did think, he would not do something as ruthless as plundering the granary of a commandery unless there was no other choice.

But Wang Jue, greedy for fame and merit, did not care about these things. In order to keep his position as general, he chose to plunder the nearby Hanwu Commandery for supplies, vowing to stand his ground outside the North Pass and defend the vast territory he, Wang Jue, had captured!

Li Xing also understood more and more, and said, "What you say makes perfect sense, sir. It seems that our Minister Song calculated again and again, but did not expect that General Wang would still have such thunderous means."

Lu Gaosheng said, "It's possible Minister Song didn't expect Wang Jue to seize grain, but I'm more inclined to think that what Minister Song didn't expect was that Wang Jue had the courage to seize grain!"

Li Xing asked, "Why, sir?"

Lu Gaosheng explained directly, "It's very simple. Because what Wang Jue is thinking about now is not how to defend the northern border, because just defending it is meaningless. Once the famine in Hanwu Commandery starts, the crime of seizing grain will have already been on his head!

He emptied an entire commandery of grain and expanded the battle line so widely for only one purpose! That is to stall the allied forces of the Five Countries, to shape the current stalemate!"

Wang Jue's purpose was clear.

He was not trying to defend the territory, he was trying to completely wipe out the allied forces of the Five Countries, and finally march northward to conquer more territory for Dawu Country, or for himself!

That way, even if a famine really occurred in Hanwu Commandery, and even hundreds of thousands died like in Ya Commandery ten years ago, who could blame the seizing of grain and the famine on the triumphant Zhenbei General who had shattered the allied forces of the Five Countries and expanded Dawu Country's territory?

At most, people would blame the northern spies for finding the location of the grain supply camp, causing it to be burned by the allied forces, forcing the general to take such measures for the sake of the country.

At that time, in the eyes of those high above, no matter how many people starved to death in Hanwu Commandery, it would be irrelevant.

Lu Gaosheng scoffed and said, "Guess why Wang Jue seized the grain so ruthlessly?"

Li Xing couldn't figure out what Lu Gaosheng was asking at first.

Lu Gaosheng explained directly, "It's very simple. Because what Wang Jue is thinking now is not how to defend the northern border, because just defending it is meaningless! The famine in Hanwu Commandery has already determined his guilt for seizing grain!

He emptied an entire commandery of grain, expanded the front so widely, for only one purpose! That is to stall the allied forces of the Five Countries, to shape the current stalemate!"

Wang Jue's purpose was clear. He was not trying to defend the territory, he was trying to completely wipe out the allied forces of the Five Countries, and finally march northward to conquer more territory for Dawu Country, or for himself!

That way, even if a famine really occurred in Hanwu Commandery, and even hundreds of thousands died like in Ya Commandery ten years ago, who could blame the seizing of grain and the famine on the triumphant Zhenbei General who had shattered the allied forces of the Five Countries and expanded Dawu Country's territory?

At most, people would blame the northern spies for finding the location of the grain supply camp, causing it to be burned by the allied forces, forcing the general to take such measures for the sake of the country.

At that time, in the eyes of those high above, no matter how many people starved to death in Hanwu Commandery, it would be irrelevant.

Lu Gaosheng laughed and said, "But the whole thing, Minister Song didn't expect Wang Jue to have the courage to seize Hanwu Commandery's granaries, and Wang Jue also didn't expect that in Hanwu Commandery, someone would dare to have the idea to incite the people to rush out of the North Pass and seize grain from his Zhenbei Army!"

One mistake leads to another. In this world, there really is no foolproof plan.