Chapter 327 Accumulation
Changning Community was an insignificant region in Taiyuan city. It was neither rich nor poor, and was a common area, but there were people from all walks of life.
Dongxi Restaurant was an ordinary wine shop in the Changning Community. It was located in neither a lonely nor busy street. Meanwhile, its interior decor was simple but elegant, without any bright spots. Therefore, the guests were all the usual common crowd.
When it got dark, Dongxi Restaurant closed early as usual. The lamps that lit up the backyard were rather dim. It was evident that they used inferior lamp-oil, as it gave off an unpleasant smell. The only advantage of the lamp-oil was that it was cheap.
However, the workers in the store, who were preparing the food materials for the next day, did not care about that, because they could not afford such lamp-oil in their daily lives. In this era, people started work at sunrise and retired at sunset. Only the wealthy families in Taiyuan city could afford to light lamps at night.
In the backyard, a square, stone table with one of its corners chipped off, was placed under a lush locust tree. With time, its surface was polished smooth. It was small. At the table, there were only two stools. They were not stone stools, but wooden stools that were used everywhere on ordinary days.
It was dark now. The stars were shining above the tall locust tree. The slight glow of the starlight filtered down from the treetops, with the shadows of trees dancing in the breeze.
A graceful and beautiful lady dressed in a purple robe, was drinking tea at the stone table, with her legs crossed. Her eyes were soft and serene, with an otherworldly temperament, which formed a contrast with her mature and enchanting beauty.
Zhou Chuanwen’s understatement was so convincing that Zhong Meili, the vice magistrate of the Taiyuan Prefecture, readily believed it. Now, Zhou Chuanwen bowed his head and stood several steps away from the table. He fixed his eyes on a place three inches in front of his feet, and did not dare look up at her.
“You have done well in instigating Zhong Meili’s rebellion. Although he has not fully worked for us yet, he has helped us a lot. At least, he will do something about Li Cunxiao’s issues. Anyway, Li Keyong will value the opinions from the vice magistrate of Taoyuan Prefecture, a representative of a noble family of many branches.”
The purple-robed woman was the Great Chief of the Black Office. She put her teacup down, and looked at Zhou Chuanwen, who stood before her.
As her trusted follower, he had the best talent and temperament. During the operation and development of the Black Office, a great number of figures like Zhou Chuanwen emerged.
Song Jiao deliberately tested him and continued, “Can you tell me what will the cause and effect of our behavior be after our Black Office carries out the strategy of sowing discord?”
Zhou Chuanwen thought for a moment and replied with complete confidence, “The key is to make Li Keyong suspicious of Li Cunxiao and lose faith in him. Your Highness’s conduct in Yizhou is just an appetizer. The central part of the plan needs to be implemented by our Black Office.
“Your inducement to capitulate in Yizhou has laid the foundation for the alienation. Then, we need to steer Li Keyong toward the path of suspicion. It’s essential to ask his trusted subordinates to defend us.
“Among the three of his most trusted subordinates and advisors, Fang Qingzhen has the highest position. Through investigation, we find that he is decent and not greedy for wealth. He almost has no weakness, so he can’t be bribed. If we want him to speak to Li Keyong, we need to let him believe that Li Cunxiao will betray us.
“If we want to convince Fang Qingzhen, we must know who he trusts. We’ve instigated him for a long time and repeatedly investigated his relatives and friends, including his children, but we could not find the breakthrough, until we found Xu Maoda.
“Xu Maoda will not work for us. If we want him to submit, it’s a good idea to start with the people around him. After our investigation, we discovered that his only son is ignorant and incompetent. He is still not married, even though he is in his twenties. He has accomplished nothing and owes a fair amount of money in the wager mart.
“It’s easy to control a person like Xu Maoda’s only son. If we give him some benefits, he will be loyal to us. Then, he will do whatever he’s told.
“By controlling his only son, we can get Xu Maoda to convince Fang Qingzhen. Then, Fang Qingzhen will in turn influence Li Keyong.
“Fang Qingzhen is decent, but Li Keyong’s other trusted subordinates are ‘normal guys.’ They love money and beauty, so it’s easier to control them. We can bribe them. As long as the price is right, no business cannot be concluded. And, no master cannot be betrayed.”
Speaking of this, Zhou Chuanwen paused for a moment and continued, “We should bribe Li Keyong’s trusted subordinates and get them to tell him that Li Cunxiao will betray him. Even if he does not believe it at the very beginning, a repeated slander will make others believe over time. As long Zhong Meili and the other ‘non-lineal talented and sensible big shots’ keep talking about this, he has no option, but to believe it.”
Song Jiao clapped her hands lightly, saying, “Good. If you can see these, it means that you can undertake the task alone and be in charge of the affairs of a town under the Black Office. But if you want to go further, then it is not enough.”
Zhou Chuanwen lowered his head, “Chief, please instruct me.”
Song Jiao said lightly, “To alienate Li Keyong and Li Cunxiao, what we did before only can be counted as one aspect. Therefore, we need take stronger measures.”
After she said this, she did not continue talking and fell into contemplation without any warning. Zhou Chuanwen did not dare to ask, but stood still, waiting for instructions.
After a short while, a beautiful, elegant, and sharp-featured 18-year-old woman came into the courtyard and reported to Song Jiao, “Chief, the relevant personnel have been arranged. They can take action at any time.”
Song Jiao nodded, “Go ahead. Zhou Chuanwen, follow her.”
“Yes, Chief.”
After leaving the wine shop, Zhou Chuanwen followed after the woman, and finally entered an ordinary house with a courtyard and two halls. In this house, Zhou Chuanwen saw Song Jiao’s other arrangements.
The room and courtyard were full of people. It was a motley group, which included handsome scholars, potbellied ministry councilors, sallow and emaciated pedlars. Menial servants, a sore headed and skinny storyteller, gorgeously dressed prostitutes, elegant and refined young singsong virgins, vulgarly dressed gossips, and even dwarfs who resembled children.
There were numerous people from all walks of life, nearly a hundred of them.
Seeing so many people, Zhou Chuanwen was a little dazed.
“It’s just one gang. In Taiyuan city, we have 15 gangs!” The woman gave him a smug look and said this proudly.
Zhou Chuanwen said with a sigh, “It is really remarkable that the Chief attends to this matter personally.”
This showed that the Black Office had prepared well in advance to cooperate with the army, to deal with the Hedong Army.
A few days later, the rumors started to spread in Taiyuan city. People were whispering and discussing in countless wine shops, tea shops, brothels, and even in the streets and lanes.
The only issue being discussed was that Li Cunxiao was maintaining close interactions with Prince An, and would abandon Li Keyong and seek refuge with Prince An! He had recently been promoted to the rank of senior military general and had been used by Li Keyong as the Sea-stabilizing Magic Cudgel to stabilize the morale of the troops and people.
No one knew how the rumors started. The news spread everywhere in Taiyuan city overnight, and the words were pretty convincing.
They were well-grounded. Prince An, who gave priority to the country and was determined to revive the Tang Empire, valued Li Cunxiao’s talent. He wanted to make use of him for the court, to make contributions to the country, instead of being buried with Li Keyong.
The most widely circulated and persuasive evidence was that Prince An promised Li Cunxiao that as long as he suppressed the Hedong Army, the imperial court would let him take the place of Li Keyong and become the Hedong Commissioner!
Prince An’s conditions were tempting. Would Li Cunxiao agree?
He would.
For one thing, Prince An won one battle after another and took cities. The Hedong Army suffered heavy casualties. Soon, Li Keyong would be defeated. If Li Cunxiao did not want to die, he had to find another way out.
For another, Li Cunxiao was already a senior military general, but Li Keyong was just a military general. Why should Li Cunxiao serve under Li Keyong? Only the imperial court could make him do that!
The rumors spread everywhere, making the people in Taiyuan city panicky and they felt uneasy. Although the rumors were a little arbitrary and unreasonable, there were very few wise people. The rumors spread like wildfire and were unstoppable.
If Li Cunxiao defected, the unfavorable Hedong Army would certainly suffer defeat. If those officials and generals of the Hedong Army, who had an indirect connection with Li Keyong, did not want to be denounced after the war, they had to find another way out right now.
They needed to seek refuge with the imperial court.
Taiyuan Mansion and the Commissioner’s Mansion quickly realized something was amiss and sent out a lot of people to refute the rumors. They spoke with confidence, “Li Cunxiao is loyal and devoted. He will never defect, and the Hedong Army will win a landslide victory. However, Li Ye is acting perversely, so he is a sinner of the whole nation, and he will be destroyed by heaven and earth.”
However, a lot of people did not believe it.
Their beliefs were well-founded. If Li Cunxiao would not defect, he should do something to prove his loyalty. For example, he should fight to the death with the Yizhou Imperial Army day and night. If the Hedong Army could win a great victory, they should strive to win several battles and regain some lost ground.
However, neither had happened.
Soon, there were new rumors that Li Cunxiao would surrender and dedicate Yizhou to Prince An as an oath of the outlaw to the imperial court. Then, he would join forces with Prince An, and turn round to counterattack Taiyuan city!
It was said that the source of the news was from the Pinglu Army camp, which was highly authoritative.
But at this time, guards who had defected, suddenly appeared in Yizhou city!
Although the number was small, the nature of their defection was bad.
Suddenly, there was a sensation in Taiyuan city.
The ordinary people had ideas because they wanted to avoid war. The officials and generals, who had an indirect connection with Li Keyong, had ideas because they needed to consider their future. Those who had a direct link with him had ideas because they had to seek victory.
Li Cunxiao and Prince An met, talked happily, and drank heartily with each other in front of the city. They took each other as a friend and regretted that they had not met sooner. They kept exchanging letters privately. All these scenes were enormously exaggerated.
All the people reversed the spearhead against Li Cunxiao.
In the political hall of the Commissioner’s Mansion, Li Keyong sat cross-legged on the seat of honor, rested his chin on his hand, and was silent, with a stern look on his face. In the hall, advisors and officials were quarreling, making the place as noisy as a market.
Grand Guardian Li Sien was flushed with excitement. “Li Cunxiao must have withdrawn from Yizhou! He was promoted to senior military general and had assumed personal command in Yizhou for a long time. However, he launched no attacks and made no achievements. He had not broken up the camps of the rebel army! I’m the first to disagree that he was not passive in fighting and has not colluded with Li Ye.”
As Li Keyong’s direct line of descent, Li Sien would not allow this battle to be lost.
The secretary of the commissioner’s mansion retorted, “Li Cunxiao held back the rebel army of almost 300,000 soldiers with 70,000 soldiers. Who else can do it? The rebel army dug trenches as dense as webs to encircle Yizhou. At this time, how can the 13th Grand Guardian launch a surprise attack? Keeping the city is a victory!”
They began to quarrel again. Both sides had their reasons, and no one could convince the other.
“That’s enough!” Li Keyong suddenly groaned, “Sit down.”
Right now, he was not angry and managed to stay calm. It was not easy for a Shatuo, who was used to killing. It was evident that he never stopped growing. “You guys don’t need to argue. Anyway, I believe the 13th Grand Guardian. I believe that he won’t take refuge in Li Ye!”
Hearing that, everyone bowed their heads and said nothing, no matter what they were thinking about.
Li Keyong could not say that he doubted Li Cunxiao, unless he had him under his control and was going to kill him. Otherwise, if these words reached Li Cunxiao, he could only choose to gather the armies and defect.
However, Li Keyong immediately said, “The war situation in Yizhou cannot maintain this standoff. Due to the rumors in Taiyuan city, everyone else is jittery, and the city is in disorder so we can’t ignore it. We should find solutions.”
Hearing that, those with discerning eyes had guessed that Li Keyong would take action against Li Cunxiao.
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