The empress stared into his eyes and asked a soul-touching question, “What if you killed his father on the battlefield?”

Su Ming did not answer, but asked in surprise, “How do you know I am going to lead the expedition in person?”

The empress showed a gentle smile on her face and said softly, “It’s been so long, don’t I know you? If foreign races invade, can you, the emperor, still sit in Luoyang as stable as a mountain? Besides, with your strength, I’m afraid no one in the world can kill you.”

“It would be a shame if such a skill was not used on the battlefield.”

After hearing these words, Su Ming couldn’t help but sigh: “Sure enough, you still understand me.”

If an emperor wants to establish prestige, the best way is through war, a victorious war.

War is the easiest way to divert internal conflicts in the court. Throughout history, there are few monarchs who have not experienced war in order to establish a country.

Which of the monarchs who founded dynasties, such as Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Yang Jian, and Li Shimin, did not come from the battlefield? Even Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the weak Song Dynasty, was the same.

The great magician Liu Xiu created a miracle in the history of war and decided the outcome of the war with just one battle.

How can we win over the generals, how can we win over the officials, and how can we rally the people without going through a major war?

When a foreign race invades, the northern military and civilians must unite to fight against the foreign enemy. There is no doubt about this, at least for the common people at the bottom.

They have suffered terribly from attacks by foreign races for a long time. When it comes to fighting against foreign races, they are the most supportive group.

Originally, Su Ming wanted to subdue all the generals, and would not give them this opportunity to deal with the alien race. The situation of Longquan treasure could not be made public in front of the world.

But as the emperor, he has the responsibility to deal with the invasion of foreign races. As long as he does not become a foreign student of the Oirat Mongols or the chariot god of the Gaoliang River, everything will be fine.

Before, Su Ming led the Shence Army to Hedong, suppressing bandits along the way, and obtained military books from Yuan Tiangang, all in preparation for this war.

The empress reported him more tightly, “I support you. There will be a war between the imperial court and Khitan. It is inevitable.”

Thanks to him, Yelu Abaoji invested a lot of money in him in order to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between two tigers, so he stayed in Dongdan Kingdom for a long time and did not die suddenly on the way.

After his death, the Khitans invaded from the south, not to mention that he is still alive.

Chapter 273 Civil strife breaks out in Hedong

The Khitans no longer had any rivals on the grasslands. They had always dreamed of invading southwards and occupying the rich Central Plains, not to mention that they had invested so much in Su Ming.

The original purpose was to watch the fight between the imperial court and the local vassal states, to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers, and to benefit as a fisherman.

As a result, the vassal states surrendered to the imperial court before the fighting even started. In this way, the north was about to be unified, and the Tang Dynasty seemed to have the momentum to unify the country. Just think about how badly the Khitans were beaten by An Lushan more than 200 years ago.

Once the Central Plains is unified, these northern ethnic minorities will suffer. This has become a routine for thousands of years.

If the news that Qi, Jin and Shu had surrendered to the imperial court reached the royal court of Mobei, Yelu Abaoji would certainly be furious. As a powerful ruler who unified the grassland, the thing he could not tolerate most was being deceived by others.

It would be better to strike the imperial court when it is still unstable and at its weakest. A Central Plains dynasty that only controls half of the world is always easier to deal with than a unified dynasty.

As for the Khitan side, Su Ming had already planted a hidden card. After marrying Yelu Zhiwu, he established certain connections with the top leaders of their party.

Trade with them is the first step. The trade deficit caused by finance is much faster than robbing money. Both sides are willing to fight and be beaten. There is nothing to say.

In the past two years, there have been no major wars in the Central Plains, and the people have been able to take a break and recuperate, so there is no shortage of food. After getting the Longquan treasure, Su Ming sent the Bad People to the south to purchase food, slaves, craftsmen, etc.

The north was badly defeated, and the people were lucky to have enough food to eat, so he didn’t want to plunder anymore. As the economic center moved south, the food supply in the south had already exceeded that in the north, not to mention the land of abundance in Bashu.

Wars are fought for resources, and now he lacks the time to transform resources into strength.

The empress suddenly laughed and said, “If Yelu Abaoji knew that there was no internal strife in the Central Plains, he would be furious.”

Su Ming showed a happy smile on his face. “Yes, this time, he lost his daughter and his soldiers. The cavalry horses and gold and silver that supported me were all wasted, and were even used against him.”

This was a good move, but unfortunately I met him.

“Okay, I’ll trouble you with the memorials for the next few days. I need to arrange the dispatch of troops. Just treat this as a drill before the war with Khitan. Don’t be careless.”

“Ah.”

……

“Jin and Qi are already in your Majesty’s hands, and Shu will soon surrender. The court has already taken over most of the world. It would be great if you could give your Majesty a few more years.”

Inside the room, Yuan Tiangang looked at the Tang Dynasty geomancy map with a hint of regret in his eyes.

“Unfortunately, the power of Changshengtian on the grassland is too great, and Duokuohuo is as powerful as me. Otherwise, I would personally go to the Mobei royal court, capture the king and behead him, which would surely put the Khitan in a situation of being leaderless.”

Hundreds of years ago, he had fought with Duo Kuohuo in the air. His shadow was behind Zhang Wulang. Both the Nine Nether Mysterious Heaven Divine Art and the method of absorbing power were vaguely influenced by Duo Kuohuo.

Even though he had let Corpse Ancestor General lie low for many years, he still couldn’t completely figure out this man’s background.

At this time, a Bad Man came to report, “General, this is the secret order issued by His Majesty two months ago. Now the Bad Men from all over the country have completed their mission and are transporting the grain to Hanjia Granary in Luoyang.”

“Transport grain? Luoyang is not short of grain, why does Your Majesty order to buy grain?” Yuan Tiangang was confused at first, then a light bulb went off in his mind.

“Your Majesty wants to lead the expedition in person?”

Combined with Su Ming’s actions of leading troops out of Luoyang and asking him for military books and buying food, he came to this conclusion almost instantly.

At all times, grain is a strategic material, but if you want to buy grain, the court can just issue an official document, why bother using the power of the bad guys?

“Is he doing this to deal with the Khitans?”

Yuan Tiangang’s eyes fell on the feng shui map, his pupils became brighter, and then he smiled, “It seems that the bad guys will be busy in the future.”

The most important affairs of the country are sacrifices and military affairs. In principle, he does not want the emperor to take risks by leading the army in person. But now it is different. The emperor is stronger than him and no one can defeat him on the battlefield.

There is a high chance of winning this battle. Once we win, unifying the world will be almost a foregone conclusion. If we win, perhaps the southern princes will surrender without a fight.

The highest realm of military strategy is to conquer the enemy without fighting. At the beginning, Li Cunxu used the momentum of destroying Liang State and defeating Khitan to sweep across the Central Plains and was invincible.

“Come here, pass on my order to activate the bad guys to secretly monitor all activities of the Khitan tribe.”

……

At the same time, in Hedong.

After Li Siyuan and his men learned that Li Congke was planning to raise an army, they pretended to send people from the Tongwenguan to search for him and did not take the matter seriously. However, they were actually secretly mobilizing the surrounding troops and ordered them to rush to Taiyuan.

Inside the military camp.

Li Congke was wearing Ming Guang armor and sitting on the throne. Below him were many generals who had sworn an oath of blood with him that day.

“Everyone, the time has come, we should start the war!”

“What? Not tomorrow?”

“This is different from the time we agreed on.”

……

Many people were caught off guard and looked at Li Congke who was sitting there with a confused look on their faces, not understanding what he meant.

Li Congke showed a faint smile on his face, “Don’t panic, everyone. The reason why I raised the army today is to catch Li Siyuan off guard. Since ancient times, all is fair in war. The spies of Tongwenguan are elusive, so we have to be on guard.”

“The sooner we start the war, the sooner we can take back Hedong. Why not? If you have other suggestions, please speak up.”

Good man, a sneak attack, eh?

The generals were stunned by his move. Are you doing this to guard against our own people?

They didn’t know whether Li Siyuan was caught off guard, but they themselves must have been caught off guard.

“General, it’s too urgent to mobilize troops in one day. Can you wait for two hours?”

“Yes, my troops are all outside the city. What if the order to assemble was just given yesterday and they can’t get in for a while?”

……

Hearing everyone’s request, Li Congke put down his hands to calm their voices, and then said, “Yesterday, after I gave the order, I ordered the troops outside the city to break up into small groups and enter the camp. With the current strength, it is definitely enough to capture Taiyuan City.”

As a person who wanted to rebel, how could Li Congke entrust his entire life and property to these people? He had already made preparations secretly.

“Let’s not waste any more time. After one stick of incense, the troops will leave the camp and attack the Prince of Jin’s Mansion, the Jiedushi Mansion and the grain camp. Do you have any objections?”

Having said this, there was no need to say anything else. Everyone was silent for a moment and could only bow their heads. “I obey your command!”

At this point, civil unrest broke out in Hedong!

Chapter 274 Decisive Selling Out Teammates

The generals walked out of the camp, looked at the sky, and felt very unhappy.

Rebellion is no joke. If you are not careful, you will lose your head and the whole family will be implicated. But Li Congke still played this trick on them and mobilized his troops without their consent. No one would be happy about this.

Things have come to this point, they have no choice but to accept it now that they are on the pirate ship.

At the same time, on the roof of the highest attic in the Prince of Jin’s Mansion, Li Siyuan, Li Cunxin and Li Cunzhi stood in front of the railing, looking towards the direction of the military camp with relaxed smiles on their faces.

Li Cunzhi saw the signal from Tongwenguan and turned to compliment Li Siyuan, “Brother, you are so smart. I admire you. Li Congke really started his rebellion one day in advance.”

Li Cunxin laughed, “Seventh Brother, don’t you forget who taught this kid Li Congke? No matter how powerful he is, can he be stronger than his father?”

Li Siyuan had a smug smile on his face. “Okay, stop bragging, the two of you. Ke’er is an experienced military commander and knows how to tell the difference between real and fake. But he forgot one thing. Taiyuan is the foundation of my Li Siyuan. If we are overthrown by him so easily, then I have lived for decades in vain.”

Then he added, “Time is running out, and he doesn’t have many options. Speed ​​is of the essence, especially when it comes to rebellion. The right timing can often lead to a surprise victory.”

When he stabbed Li Cunxu in the back, Li Keyong seized the opportunity and struck a fatal blow. When it comes to betraying one’s master and rebelling, Li Siyuan is an expert.

“It’s a pity for Li Congke. His fate was already sealed the moment you arrived in Taiyuan. He can only act according to your script.”

Hearing this, Li Siyuan said hypocritically, “Ke’er is a good child, but your majesty has named him, and no matter how reluctant I am, I have no choice but to kill him. On the chessboard of the world, your majesty is the one holding the chess pieces, and we are all just chess pieces.”

He said it reluctantly, as if he was forced into doing so.

Whether he had the intention to kill Li Congke, perhaps only he himself knew.

Li Cunxin and Li Cunzhi wisely did not respond to this topic and pretended not to hear it.

Several people stood on the attic, watching Li Congke’s troops rushing towards the Prince of Jin’s Mansion. “Okay, we’ve seen enough of the show. Now that Ke’er is on stage, we can’t let him be left out in the cold.”

A moment later, a team of light cavalry left from the back door of Prince Jin’s Mansion and rushed towards the city gate along the street.

Soon, Li Congke led thousands of soldiers to surround the Prince of Jin’s Mansion.

He came to the gate surrounded by his generals. Looking at the luxurious and majestic red-painted copper-nailed gate, Li Congke rode forward and said, “Foster father, surrender. You have been surrounded.”

“As long as you surrender, I swear to heaven that I will never touch a hair on your head.” After saying that, Li Congke swore a solemn oath in front of everyone.

Li Siyuan was sitting in the yard with tea on the table. Hearing this, a mocking smile appeared on his face. “Ke’er, don’t play this game with your godfather. Use whatever tricks you have. I want to see how much you have grown over the years.”

Li Congke was stunned. He didn’t expect that Li Siyuan actually stayed in the Prince of Jin’s Mansion and didn’t leave.

He originally thought that Li Siyuan had already escaped, and planned to push out a substitute to be hacked to death in order to deceive the public and reassure the people. However, a word from Li Siyuan made all his preparations in vain.

He sighed and shouted, “Foster father, do you really want to kill each other with me? It will only bring pain to our loved ones and joy to our enemies. Open the door and let us in. I will personally send you off from Hedong with courtesy.”

“There’s no point in talking any more. If you have the guts, come in and chop off your father’s head!”