"What are you doing?"
Inside the Yundu Hall, King Xiang, in a special space, curiously watched the emperor. He saw that the emperor had used the Golden Crow Flame to draw a large picture on the hall, and upon closer inspection, it was almost identical to the capital city.
"I'm calculating how the enemy will take the capital."
"You're not worried at all?" King Xiang said quietly.
He had come with the other person in the first place because he was afraid something might happen to the emperor. Their relationship was rather special, and their power could only be fully utilized when they were together. However, he never expected that after they left, their hometown would be raided.
"Tomorrow is the final round of the Celestial Master Assembly. Who do you think will win in the end?"
"You still care about this?" King Xiang frowned.
"I believe this outcome will have a significant impact on the future," the Emperor said, looking up with a smile. "As for the capital, everything that needed to be done has been done. What's the use of being anxious?"
King Xiang was silent for a moment, then looked at the capital city drawn by the emperor. The distribution of various forces was clearly marked. The Imperial Guard were stationed outside the city, while the Ghost Temple was guarded by the priests and guards of the Duke of Yan.
If we're talking about internal rebellion, these two individuals' forces are the most likely candidates during a large-scale northern expedition.
" The Imperial Guard are numerous. Although you have reduced their numbers considerably, they still number ten thousand. Once they are under your control, almost no one in the capital can stop this force."
"Unlikely," the Emperor laughed. "Although the Imperial Guard are numerous, their influence is complex. Many families have poured their sons into them, mostly their direct descendants. While the Northern Expedition can bring military merit, many aristocratic families don't want their direct descendants to risk their lives now. Most of those who go out are collateral descendants, while those who remain in the Imperial Guard and hold sinecure positions are the outstanding direct descendants."
King Xiang nodded. This had been planned before. If the northern expedition by the collateral branches went smoothly, they would gain a lot of military merit. When the time came to reward them according to their merits, it would be legitimate for the emperor to promote them. This would inevitably create a rift between the direct and collateral branches of the aristocratic families, and it would also make it easier to maintain a balance of power.
"That's precisely why the Imperial Guard are so difficult to control completely. If someone could win over most of the aristocratic families right under my nose, then I wouldn't be worthy of participating in this game."
"Indeed." King Xiang nodded, then looked at the several Ghost Temple: "So it was the Duke of Yan?"
The Imperial Guard are a complex force, located outside the city. If they cannot control most of the troops, it will be difficult to suddenly take over the capital. If the Imperial Guard, the priests' guards of the Ghost Temple would be a suitable alternative.
Being so close to the Ghost Temple, a sudden attack would be most convenient.
"I considered this from the beginning," the Emperor said quietly, looking at the map. "That's why I was very careful in designing the priests' guards. Although they are nominally under the command of the Duke of Yan, the power structure is actually quite complex. The priests of the three great Ghost Temple are three very powerful marquises who are not close to the Duke of Yan's faction. The spirits that parasitize the three great priests are Ghost General from different factions under your command."
"It's not easy to win over both the three high priests and the three marquis families at the same time. Moreover, I have planted spies among the scions of the three marquis families. It's unlikely that they can completely hide from my eyes and ears."
"If it were me, to be absolutely sure, I would definitely create a third force. Hmm, there was a Ghost Temple opening before the New Year, with several thousand new recruits. This is an absolutely clean force, but these new recruits will definitely be snatched up, unless someone of considerable influence proposes to form a separate batch of recruits. In that case, it seems highly likely that the inside man is the Duke of Yue. Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You just said you planted spies?" King Xiang looked at the emperor with a strange expression. "Why didn't I know?"
After the collaboration began, he spent almost every day and night with the other party. If the other party could deceive others, they shouldn't be able to deceive him.
"Oh, well," the emperor chuckled, "You'll find out soon enough."
--
" Laoda, look at Wei Gongxing! What kind of idiot is he? On the very first day, he's in such a hurry to send us on night patrols, while he's occupying that best shady spot to cultivate. He's truly a petty person who's gotten his way!"
On the eve of New Year's Eve, the group of young men who were sent out on the streets complained, especially the Wei Household members, who kept grumbling to Wei Gongyu along the way.
After all, the dukes had only discussed establishing a city defense team yesterday, and unexpectedly, that arrogant fellow was already ordering them around the next day. The capital city was already very safe, and the yamen runners from the Capital Prefecture had done their job well without any scandals. Was it really necessary to rush into taking over? It's the New Year, shouldn't we at least wait until after the New Year?
Many people who have just been blessed with Martial Soul hope to take advantage of this time to quickly improve their physical body using the secret techniques taught by the Martial Soul. However, before they can even begin, they are assigned to night patrol duties. How can this not make people complain?
Wei Gongyu's face was also grim. Wei Gongxing was just like that despicable Wei Gongcheng; after gaining benefits, he didn't care about his family and fellow villagers at all. Even if he arranged for others, shouldn't he at least take care of the Wei Household Wei Household and give them more time to cultivate in the Yin Land so they could catch up with the progress as soon as possible?
Don't you understand what it means to be of the same blood? He took advantage of this opportunity to go and occupy a shady place to cultivate, completely abandoning his family. He's truly a petty person who has achieved his goal.
The group of people arrived at the Martial Temple in the southeast, grumbling and cursing.
The mission to find the guards was to come here and hand over the duties to the priest, but when they arrived at their destination, Wei Gongxing and the others were taken aback.
Because it seems like there are a bit too many people here?
The five thousand city defense team was divided into fifty squads, each with one hundred men. According to the plan, they were divided into three shifts to take turns. Each squad only received the information when the shift changed that day, and was mainly responsible for that area of the city defense.
This system was originally established by Liu Yu, the Duke of Song. It dispersed the city's defenses, making the objectives of each team random. Each team had a different destination, which maximized the prevention of internal spies. This plan had always been very effective. In the twentieth year of the Great Jin, the previous city defense teams had basically not had any problems.
But now a problem arises.
Are there a lot more people at the Martial Soul Hall in the Southeast Region now?
Wei Gongyu frowned. Looking around, he estimated there were over a thousand people nearby. According to the three-shift system, each shift would have about a thousand people, right?
They've all fled here, what about the other areas?
"This Wei Gongxing, he can even make mistakes in something like this, what kind of success do you think he can achieve? I don't know why his luck has fallen on him."
A member of the Wei Household next to him was still making sarcastic remarks, but for some reason, Wei Gongyu suddenly felt a strange unease.
A sudden chill ran down his spine, making him stiffen. He had a feeling that something strange had infiltrated his surroundings.
The Wei Household member who had been chattering away suddenly fell silent; he too had sensed something was wrong.
When he mocked Wei Gongxing before, most of the Wei Household members echoed him, but now, for some reason, they didn't respond at all. When he turned around in confusion, he immediately saw that more than a dozen of his own brothers behind him had numb and stiff faces, and their scarlet eyes made his skin crawl!