Chapter 59: The Emperor's Decision

  Upon receiving news of Ye's great victory, it was impossible for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang not to be shocked.

  Now that the barbarian army has been temporarily repelled by the Ye family's army, Emperor Xu Jun intends to regard him as another Ye Long or Ye Wei, with the intention of issuing an edict to pacify him, just like the two great marshals Ye Long and Ye Wei in the past, who swept away the southern and northern rebels and brought peace to the world.

  So it's impossible for Ye Xuan to be denied because of this "small matter" and have no choice but to rebel.

  At the same time, Emperor Xu Jun secretly felt a little pleased in his heart. After all, Ye Xuan had offended both the Manchu army and Ma Teng this time. Moreover, considering Ye Xuan's relationship with him and his identity, surrendering to the imperial court was still the best choice for Ye Xuan.

  By the way, General Ye Wei and Emperor Xu Jun were sworn brothers back in the day. Ye Wei was the older brother, and Xu Jun voluntarily acknowledged him as his elder brother. In a sense, Ye Xuan could be considered his own nephew. Moreover, Ye Xuan named his troops the "Ye Family Army", and his intention is self-evident.

  If Ye Xuan is recruited to his side, it can be said that he has a true king's teacher here.

  At the same time, Xu Jun believed that taking down Ye Xuan was equivalent to taking down Hebei. This would be equivalent to retaking half of the Xining Empire's territory.

  At this time, the Xining Empire also had the capital to decide the war with the Zhongjin Kingdom. I believe that as long as Ye Xuanken is willing to surrender to himself, the revival of the Xining Empire's former glory can be said to be imminent!

  Then Xujun looked at Li Qin and Zeng Quan, the two most trusted ministers who were invited to the study to discuss, and said: "Although the Ye family army is from a bandit background, if we can get their help, pacifying the world will be just around the corner."

  After finishing speaking, his gaze swept towards these two ministers again, carefully observing their reactions.

  "What Your Majesty says is absolutely right."

  Li Qin beside him echoed Zeng Quan's words.

  People who don't usually get along with each other are speaking so neatly, they exchange a glance, and both turn their heads away without making a sound.

  Li Qin coughed lightly, and like Zeng Quan, he was also just over fifty years old. He had a square face with big ears and a rather wealthy appearance. When he was young, someone had read his facial features and said that he had the look of great nobility, and would certainly become a high-ranking official in the future.

  As expected, the fortune teller's words from back then came true. After Zeng Quan became the chief assistant, he specially found this fortune teller and bought him a house, sending him silver. The fortune teller was already nearly 80 years old and was in a state of poverty and decline at that time. Thanks to his words from back then, he was able to spend his later years in happiness.

  After Zeng Quan entered the cabinet, he grasped the emperor's thoughts and gained his trust and reuse. The favored ministers who were often summoned by the emperor in the past were only Li Qin, but now there was also Zeng Quan, and Zeng Quan was in a strong position at the moment, even Li Qin had to give way.

  Ye Xuan's case was actually known in detail by Zeng Quan before the memorial was sent to the capital.

  Nowadays, various tea houses and wine shops in the capital, as well as government offices, have successively put up posters to support Ye Xuan's heroic actions.

  Nowadays, those who support Zhu Ye Xuan are the thieves, and those who oppose Zhu Ye Xuan are divided into several factions, from verbal disputes to physical conflicts.

  In fact, nowadays in the capital, everything is known except by Emperor Xuan of Han.

  Xining's current situation is that he is almost always the last to receive news from the emperor. Also because of this, Emperor Xu Jun often scolds the governors and officials of the world for not reporting anything to him, making them become deaf and dumb.

  After receiving the news from Hebei, Li Qin and Zeng Quan both held back their troops, first trying to understand the emperor's thoughts before making a move.

  As soon as Emperor Xu Jun spoke, Zeng Quan had a plan in mind. He smiled and said: "Just as Your Majesty said, Ye Xuan is the descendant of a hero, and he is young and promising. In a short period of time, he has risen from being penniless to becoming the commander of such a powerful army, which can be described as 'the waves behind pushing the waves in front'! Your Majesty doesn't need to worry about Ye Xuan's soldiers having been bandits before. You should know that those who achieve great things do not bother with trivial matters!"

  Emperor Xu Jun nodded slightly, this was the place where he was most satisfied with Zeng Quan, good at guessing his own thoughts, often starting from his own perspective, and would not oppose for the sake of opposition. Unlike those famous officials who were known for their straightforwardness.

  He ordered: "Immediately send someone to surrender Ye's army!"

  "Long live the wise Emperor!"

  In the midst of Li Qin and Zeng Quan's eulogies, a decision that would change the fate of the Xining Empire was made just like this.

  To Emperor Xujun, Ye Family's matter was just a "small thing", he had more important things to discuss.

  Not bad, compared to Ye Jiajun's "small matter", what Xu Jun and Li Qin and Zeng Quan just discussed is the important "big thing".

  This is the matter of Tianmu General Zhang Yi and Datou General Wang Zhi rebelling again. On the ninth day of May, Tianmu General Zhang Yi and Datou General Wang Zhi rebelled again. How long had they been pacified? Just over a year, and they were already eager to rebel again. Also because there were Tianmu General Zhang Yi and Datou General Wang Zhi in front, Emperor Xu Jun did not dare to be strict with his subordinates, which also led to the combat effectiveness of the Xining Empire being problematic.

  As a result, the more this happened, the less the emperor dared to be overly severe, leading to a vicious cycle, so the national situation of the Xining Empire was also getting worse and worse.

  So Emperor Xujun hurriedly ordered Ye Yuan to be at ease, because Ye Yuan's power was not something that Tianmu General Zhang Yi or Huguo General Wang Zhi could compare to.

  Wang Zhi's rebellion had been foreshadowed for some time. In April of the eleventh year, Wang Zhi was granted amnesty in Gucheng. On the surface, he knelt and showed courtesy, but in reality, he refused to surrender his troops, ignored orders, and did not present himself at the imperial court, arrogant and disobedient to the law.

  He was in Gucheng to collect grain, taxes and expand the army. He coerced Wang Xuan without limit. Bai Shi, the county magistrate of Gucheng, secretly told Wang Xuan that Wang Zhi would definitely rebel, and informed him several times. Wang Xuan hated to hear his words and did not take them seriously. As a result, Wang Zhi rebelled again, and Bai Shi was killed. Wang Zhi joined forces with Zhang Yi, and their momentum was greatly boosted.

  Xu Junde was extremely angry upon hearing the news, and ordered Wang Xuan to be stripped of his official position and wear a sign of shame while on duty. Just over ten days ago, Liu Huan, who had been appointed as the commander-in-chief, was defeated by Wang Zhi, with over 10,000 soldiers killed or injured, countless military supplies lost, and all the army's symbols and credentials also lost.

  Due to Liu Huan's great defeat, the situation deteriorated, and Emperor Xu Jun was even more furious with Wang Xuan, and had already sent an envoy to arrest Wang Xuan and bring him back to the capital.

  On October 6th of the thirteenth year, Wang Xuan was beheaded and his body exposed in the market.

  At this time, Xujun Di had already intended to make Li Qin as the supervisor, but first he had to solve the problem of grain and salary.

  But this is not easy. In the early years, Xining had already levied a campaign tax due to the invasion of the Jin army in the eleventh year, and decided to recruit soldiers from each garrison and add a training tax. The campaign tax was limited to one year, but after one year, the bandits were not yet eliminated, and Emperor Xu Jun had no choice but to order the collection of half of it.

  Now Wang Zhi has turned against us, the situation is dire, and to annihilate his forces, the required grain and supplies may reach astronomical figures. A few days ago, the Director of Supplies requested a full quota for the expeditionary force's supplies, and again added 73 million taels for training expenses. Combining the two sums, the total increase in taxes is 167 million taels.

  This is no small sum.