Jia Xu's two-pronged strategy of spreading rumors and estrangement seemed to drive Zhao Kuangyin to a dead end.
Yuan Shu has discovered Zhao Kuangyin's secret moves. Even if he will not touch him temporarily because of the war, he will definitely take back the military power in his hands in the future, so there is only one way left in front of Zhao Kuangyin.
Instead of waiting for Yuan Shu's various schemes to plot against him, Zhao Kuangyin might as well take the initiative when Yuan Shu was unprepared for him and he had military power in hand.
However, although Zhao Kuangyin wanted to rebel against Yuan Shu, he did not directly raise the flag of rebellion. Instead, he used the banner of "Qing Jun Side" to beautify and cover up the fact of his rebellion.
Directly raising troops to fight against the old master, no matter how good the excuse is, is ultimately against justice. However, if the monarch makes an unforgivable mistake, then the loyal ministers naturally have the obligation to correct it for the Lord.
Zhao Kuangyin put all the blame on Wang Mang, and made it clear that the lord Yuan Shu was only bewitched by Wang Mang to launch a war at this time of national crisis. This was not due to Yuan Shu's own stupidity.
Although Zhao Kuangyin ostensibly spoke for the reigning Yuan Shu, he could do such a thing and be easily deceived by others, which in itself showed Yuan Shu's stupidity and incompetence.
Zhao Kuangyin's wave of coquettish operations not only demonstrated his ambition, but also destroyed Yuan Shu's reputation invisibly. Zhao Kuangyin gained fame, righteousness also occupied it, and he also had a reason to rebel. It can be said that he achieved multiple things with one stone.
When Yuan Shu saw that Zhao Kuangyin had rebelled, he didn't care, but he acted like he was doing it for his own good and put the blame on himself. He was immediately angry and trembled all over. He said angrily: "Thief, I, Yuan Gongyin, swear to kill you."
"My lord, Zhao Kuangyin is a bitch, but he still wants to build a memorial arch. How can there be such a good thing in this world?" Yan Xiang said with a gloomy look.
When Yuan Shu heard this, he immediately became energetic and asked quickly: "Does the military advisor have a plan to destroy his archway?"
"It's easy."
Yan Xiang gently shook the folding fan in his hand and said calmly: "Didn't Zhao Kuangyin want to 'Qing Jun side and kill Wang Mang'? Why doesn't the Lord take the initiative to kill Wang Mang and send Wang Mang's head to Zhao Kuangyin to show that he has reformed?"
Determination."
Yan Xiang's plan cannot be said to be innocuous.
Zhao Kuangyin has long been determined to be self-reliant. If Wang Mang dies, will Zhao Kuangyin stop? Of course not, but his reason for being independent from the emperor will not work.
Once Wang Mang died, if Zhao Kuangyin continued to rebel, it would be a deliberate rebellion. Not only would his perfect character completely collapse, but his righteousness would also return to Yuan Shu's side.
This is an issue that does not need to be considered at all, but after Yuan Shu weighed it for a long time, he frowned and said: "Wouldn't this make me lose face?"
"My lord, whether you admit it or not, it is wrong to initiate a civil war against your compatriots at the embarrassing moment of alien invasion, but knowing your mistakes can greatly improve things."
Seeing that Yuan Shu was still hesitating, Yan Xiang continued to persuade him earnestly: "My lord, no matter how much Wang Mang exaggerates the benefits of capturing Sizhou, he is clearly trying to trick our lord into unrighteousness by instigating our army to enter Sizhou at this time.
accomplish his purpose.
Now, by sacrificing Wang Mang, a man with ulterior motives and evil intentions, the world can see through Zhao Kuangyin's hypocritical face and save the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. What else can my lord hesitate to do?"
After hearing this, Yuan Shu pondered for a while, and finally said in a deep voice: "In that case, let's sacrifice Wang Mang."
The reason why Yuan Shu values Wang Mang's ability is that if he can gain great benefits, if he can gain greater benefits by sacrificing Wang Mang, Yuan Shu will sacrifice Wang Mang without hesitation.
In fact, Yuan Shu did not trust Wang Mang 100%. He hid Wang Mang secretly and then sent hundreds of soldiers to guard him. It was for protection in name but in reality it was surveillance.
Yuan Shu thought that Wang Mang wouldn't be able to escape, but he didn't know that Ju Guuba also came with Wang Mang.
The footprints Di Renjie found outside the house were not left when Ju Wuba and Wang Mang were together, but left when Ju Wuba was away secretly protecting Wang Mang.
During the days when he was imprisoned by Yuan Shu, Wang Mang became more and more uneasy. He did not expect that Yuan Shu was friendly to him on the surface, but in fact he trusted him and was also guarding against him.
A mere Yuan Shu could be so difficult to deal with. Sure enough, every single figure who has left his name in history is simple. Wang Mang thought to himself.
What Wang Mang didn't expect was that Lian Po would rather kill himself than lead an army to attack Sizhou, so that the rebellious Zhao Kuangyin became the commander-in-chief, which also caused the biggest change in his plan.
Wang Mang also advised Yuan Shu not to use Zhao Kuangyin, but at that time Yuan Shu obviously trusted Zhao Kuangyin more, so he ignored Wang Mang's insinuations.
Wang Mang didn't dare to take it seriously, he was afraid that this would cause Yuan Shu's dissatisfaction, but he didn't want Zhao Kuangyin to rebel in the end, and still rebelled against Yuan Shu under the pretext of killing himself.
Naturally, Wang Mang didn't know what was going on in the outside world. These were all told to him by Ju Guoba, and when he found out, he immediately realized that he couldn't stay in Yuzhou anymore.
Regardless of whether Yuan Shu would kill him or not, Wang Mang would not risk his life anyway, so he escaped overnight under the protection of Ju Wuba.
"Report...report to the lord, Wang Mang, he..."
Yuan Shu's heart trembled when he saw this, and he immediately had a bad premonition, and quickly asked: "What's wrong with him?"
"He's gone."
"What?"
Yuan Shu had a look of disbelief on his face. After confirming it, he quickly launched a city-wide search, but still found nothing.
Until then, Yuan Shu suddenly realized that he was like a clown, being played by Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Mang, which made him extremely angry.
"I put a reward of one hundred thousand taels of gold on Wang Mang's head." Yuan Shu roared angrily.
"Uh, lord, Wang Mang's latest bounty has been increased to 120,000 taels of gold. It was announced by Jia Xu ten days ago."
"Then two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, in short, I want Wang Mang to die." Yuan Shu roared hysterically.
"promise."
After smashing countless things in a row, Yuan Shu's anger was mostly gone. After calming down, he immediately said: "Send an order to Lian Po to lead an army of 150,000 to conquer the traitor Zhao Kuangyin."
Soon, the soldiers reported back: "To inform my lord, General Lian Po said that his injury has not recovered yet. Please choose another talented person."
Yuan Shu couldn't help but look embarrassed when he heard this. Zhao Kuangyin was the most capable general in the Yuzhou Army. He had fought many battles in which a small number defeated a large number. Only Lian Po in the Yuzhou Army could compete with Zhao Kuangyin, and if Lian Po didn't
Otherwise, other generals are no match for him.
Yan Xiang said: "My lord, General Lian Po is afraid that because my lord did not listen to the advice and forcibly sent troops to attack Sizhou, he has some resentment in his heart, so he is unwilling to lead the troops."
After hearing this, Yuan Shu's cheeks couldn't help but twitch slightly, and he asked with a wry smile: "Military advisor, what should we do?"
"I'm afraid my lord will have to go and invite the general in person."
Yuan Shu couldn't help but look helpless when he heard this, but he could only go to personally ask Lian Po to lead the army. After all, this was what he did.
Under Yuan Shu's extremely sincere invitation, Lian Po thought that his lord had realized his mistake, so he agreed to lead the army to put down the rebellion. When he arrived in Runan with an army of 150,000, almost the entire Runan army had been surrendered by Zhao Kuangyin.