The Devil's Tribulation

Chapter 187 Great Zhou Movement

In the capital of the Great Zhou Kingdom, in the imperial palace, the chief eunuch Zhao Quan hurried to the main hall, accompanied by a young eunuch. As he was walking too fast, he stumbled and his legs went limp. Fortunately, the young eunuch next to him was quick-witted and quickly supported Zhao Quan, saying with a smile: "Godfather, this is a good thing. Why are you so anxious? Take your time." But Zhao Quan didn't appreciate it at all, and shook off the eunuch's hand, cursing: "You know nothing! Do you know that His Majesty has not been eating or sleeping well these days, just waiting for this secret letter in my hand! Let go! I have to present it to His Majesty as soon as possible."

The Great Zhou Emperor, Zhou Zhixiong, has been unable to eat or sleep these days. The Great Zhou has already sent troops to attack the Great Chu, and Wei Qing is still in command, leading an army of five million soldiers to attack the Great Chu in three directions. According to the plan, the attack began ten days ago. There is still no news coming back, how can Zhou Zhixiong sleep? Zhou Zhixiong was knocking on the imperial desk, lost in thought, when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside, and Zhou Zhixiong also became a little nervous. This is a big war after all, and winning the first battle is too important!

The eunuch Zhao Quan went straight into the imperial study, knelt down and said excitedly: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Grand Marshal Wei Qing won the first battle and captured three cities in a row. Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Great Zhou!" Even Zhou Zhixiong, upon hearing the news, couldn't help but get excited and said: "Quick! Show it to me!" Zhao Quan hurriedly handed a small piece of cloth to the emperor, who picked it up and read it several times. Although there were only thirty or forty words, the news must be correct. This was the news sent back by the shadow guard from the battlefield. Otherwise, it would take several days for the dragon horse beast to run these tens of thousands of miles.

Putting down the cloth, the Great Zhou Emperor said excitedly: "Wei Qing really lived up to my expectations!" Suppressing his excitement, the Emperor asked: "Does anyone else know this news?" Zhao Quan said: "This was handed to me by Immortal Master Li himself. Apart from the two of us, only one of my followers knew about it." The Great Zhou Emperor said calmly: "Keep this news secret. Before the victory report arrives, it must not be leaked at all!" Zhao Quan already understood what the Emperor meant, and bowed and said: "I understand."

In one sentence, the life of a little eunuch was gone. What is a life in politics? The Great Zhou Emperor, despite the opposition of some ministers, went his own way and launched this war. It would be great if he won, but if he lost, even if he was the emperor, he would have to pay a terrible price. A large group of ministers, headed by the chief minister, were waiting for the news of the failure of the war, and then forced the emperor to give up more power. Over the years, Zhou Zhixiong pressed forward step by step and took back most of the power, otherwise he would not have been able to launch this war.

In Zhou Zhixiong's opinion, these old officials are too old, and a group of young people should have been replaced long ago, so that the country can develop and progress. However, these old officials hold on to the power in their hands tightly, so that he can't let go completely, which makes him feel very aggrieved! He is the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Not only can he not make decisions on everything, but he is also constrained everywhere. So he wants to use this war to establish his authority! Take back the power and promote new people!

In this way, the news was suppressed by the emperor, and no one in the court knew about it except the emperor and Zhao Quan. In a mansion in the capital, an old man, although he looked quite old, had black hair and bright eyes. He wore a loose green Confucian robe and lay leisurely on the armchair. A beautiful young lady of seventeen or eighteen years old in front of him played the pipa and sang in Beijing dialect. The old man was about sixty years old, listening to the little song, and his fingers also tapped rhythmically. This was one of his few hobbies. As the prime minister of the Great Zhou Kingdom, he was considered to be clean. He only had three concubines. This seventeen or eighteen-year-old young lady was his new concubine. He had been staying at her place recently. It was really a pear tree overshadowing a crabapple. The young lady was the daughter of a third-rank official under him. She was from a serious scholarly family, otherwise she would not have been able to enter the home of the prime minister. The officials under him knew his hobby and trained their daughters to sing Beijing dialect since they were young. Now she really caught the prime minister's eye.

After the song ended, Prime Minister Zhang Zhao clapped his hands and said, "Yaniang's music has improved again. I am intoxicated by it. Come, come to me." Yaniang put down the pipa and came to Zhang Zhao's side shyly. Zhang Zhao couldn't help himself when he got close to her. As soon as he got close, Zhang Zhao couldn't wait to pull the young lady into his arms, and his big hand was kneading Yaniang's chest back and forth.

Yaniang panted and said, "Daddy wrote to me this morning." Zhang Zhao paused and said unhappily, "What happened to him?!" It seemed that this sentence had wiped out all of Zhang Zhao's interest. Zhang Zhao let go of Yaniang and said lightly, "If you still want to talk about that thing, then go back. You don't need to serve me here." Yaniang's eyes immediately turned red, and she sobbed, "It's been a year since I got married, and the master has never been so mean to me..." After that, she began to wipe her tears.

Who is Zhang Zhao? How could this trick work on him? But this young lady is indeed favored by him. Not only is she beautiful, but she can also play the piano and sing. The most important thing is that her figure is really amazing. Seeing the young lady's tears, Zhang Zhao sighed and said, "Okay, don't cry. Let your father come to see me tomorrow. This is the last time. In the future, don't get involved in these things. Remember?"

Yaniang immediately burst into laughter, nodded, stood up, held Zhang Zhao's arm and said, "I know that the master loves me the most." Just as Zhang Zhao was getting interested again, the housekeeper Zhang Jian hurried into the backyard. Zhang Zhao knew that the housekeeper would not come here to find him if there was nothing wrong, so he sent Yaniang away directly.

Zhang Zhao watched Yaniang leave, turned around and asked unhappily, "What's the matter?" Zhang Jian leaned close to Zhang Zhao's ear and muttered something. Zhang Zhao's face changed and he asked hurriedly, "Is this true? Three cities were taken in a row? How many casualties were there?" Zhang Jian said, "I don't know. The person who came only said that there was a great victory and three cities were taken in a row, without any specific details." Zhang Zhao sighed and said, "Three cities were taken in a row, even if the casualties were larger, it's reasonable. Change clothes, I have to go to the Prince's Mansion."

At the Prince's Mansion, the Prince heard that Prime Minister Zhang had arrived, and hurriedly changed his clothes. Today was a day off, and Zhang Zhao came to see him personally, which meant that something important must have happened, so the Prince hurried over. After seeing Zhang Zhao, the Prince bowed and said, "Grandson greets Grandpa." Zhang Zhao nodded with satisfaction. This Prince, a group of old ministers, were very satisfied. He was elegant and polite, with a calm temperament, and most importantly, he was very respectful to them, the old ministers. After the Prince finished his greetings, Zhang Zhao stood up and returned the greetings, saying, "Today I am here to discuss state affairs with the Prince, so don't call me Grandpa."

The prince immediately dismissed everyone in the hall and asked hurriedly, "Grandpa, what brings you here in person?" Zhang Zhao sighed and said, "News from the front line: Wei Qing has captured three cities in a row, a great victory." The prince was shocked and asked hurriedly, "How is this possible? Didn't Chu have preparations in advance? How did Wei Qing capture three cities so quickly?" Zhang Zhao said, "I don't know the details, but it is definitely a great victory. We still need to prepare early, otherwise, His Majesty will definitely be ruthless this time."

How can I explain this? Their country won the war, and as the crown prince and the prime minister, they should be very happy. But now both of them are full of sorrow, and those who don't know would think that the Chu army is at the gates of the city. It can only be said that power is tempting. If this war was initiated by the crown prince, the two of them would definitely be overjoyed now, but it was a pity that it was initiated by His Majesty the Emperor himself. Many of them played the role of pacifists. The crown prince didn't dare to express it, but the prime minister was against the emperor, and a group of old officials almost crashed to death in the Golden Palace.

Unfortunately, even so, it still couldn't stop the emperor's determination. Now that it has been proved that the emperor is right and they are all wrong, how can they still have the face to continue standing in the Golden Palace? So there will be many people who will retire and return home this time. The prince said: "What should we do? Father has long wanted to replace some young people to take the throne. This time, many people will definitely abdicate. Father will definitely seize the opportunity to help those children from poor families to take the throne!" Zhang Zhao said: "We can only cut off our own arms!" The prince hurriedly asked: "What decision does grandpa have?" Zhang Zhao said: "Tomorrow I will ask Minister Chen and others to come to my house to discuss matters. Those who are really too old, let them retire and return home before the victory report reaches the capital. We will also let your uncle, the Minister of Personnel, send a list to Your Majesty. Remember not to fill all of them with your own people. Leave enough positions for Your Majesty and let Your Majesty arrange them yourself. In this way, we can keep some real vacancies as much as possible. Let Your Majesty get some tangible benefits!"

The prince said nervously, "Will father agree? I'm afraid that father will reject all the recommendations! Wouldn't we just be shooting ourselves in the foot?" Zhang Zhao smiled and said, "Don't you know your father yet? As long as you, me, your uncle and other ministers sign the list, plus Minister Chen and others, your father will not reject all of them for the stability of the court." The prince was shocked. He also wanted to sign his own name? Isn't this openly opposing his father? The prince was afraid of his father from the bottom of his heart, so he didn't dare to sign his name. Seeing that the prince showed a fearful expression when he mentioned his father, Zhang Zhao still showed a little disappointment, but he adjusted himself immediately. Who wouldn't be afraid if they had such a father?

Zhang Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, Prince, you don't have to sign your name, but when you attend the court meeting the day after tomorrow, remember to mention the deeds of the late emperor." The late emperor, Zhou Zhixiong's father, was a good emperor, but he was a little soft-hearted. He accepted his ministers' requests a few times. A group of old ministers often mentioned the late emperor in front of Zhou Zhixiong. This is what Zhou Zhixiong hates the most! They always use his father to pressure him! Who wouldn't be disgusted! This is also the reason why Zhou Zhixiong hates these old ministers. You are my ministers now, but you keep talking about the late emperor! The more you do this, the less I will listen! After discussing it, Zhang Zhao left. The prince was a little absent-minded and hurried to the queen's bedroom. He wanted to find his mother for comfort.