Su Chen stood up suddenly. Could it be that something unexpected happened to the craftsmen?
Li Er said angrily: "Why are you so panicked?"
"Your Majesty, Duke Lai has been assassinated!"
Li Junxian ran up to Li Er and handed a small note in his hand to Li Er.
Li Er took the note and glanced at it, and veins popped out on his forehead immediately!
"Damn it!"
The furious Li Er punched the table, causing the mahjong tiles on the table to jump up!
Empress Changsun hurriedly pulled the frightened Changle and left the side hall.
"Quickly summon Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng... Chai Shao, Yuchi Gong, and Cheng Zhijie to enter the palace!"
Li Er read out a string of names in one breath.
Then he threw the note in front of Su Chen who was still standing there in a daze, raised his legs and walked out.
"Go to the Manna Palace!"
Su Chen hurriedly picked up the note and followed Li Er to the Ganlu Hall.
On the way, Su Chen unfolded the note and took a look:
"The Shushan Post was attacked. There were many thieves and they had gunpowder. They were defeated. The captain and the Duke broke through and escaped into the mountains."
The note was short, only about twenty words, but it made the matter clear.
Du Ruhui was attacked at Shushan Post. There were many enemies and they were equipped with gunpowder. The Qianniu Guards could not defeat them, so they fled deep into the mountains with Du Ruhui.
Su Chen was shocked after reading the content on the note.
Who did Du Ruhui meet? The Qianniu Guards who were protecting him couldn't defeat him, and the enemy also had gunpowder.
Facing such a powerful enemy, it would probably be a disaster to escape into the deep mountains and wild forests with the remaining defeated soldiers!
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Du has only been traveling to the Northwest for a few days. How could he encounter such a powerful enemy?"
Li Er did not answer Su Chen's question and strode into the Manna Hall:
"Map, Longyou Road East!"
The eunuch quickly took out the maps from the box and spread them out on the table.
"Your Majesty, where is the Shushan Station?"
Li Er crossed his fingers on the map for a long time and pointed at the junction of Weizhou and Baozhou: "Here!"
When Su Chen saw it, he was secretly surprised: Du Ruhui's footsteps are quite fast. In just a few days, he has already traveled more than a thousand miles!
The question is, what are you doing in this ghost place?
"Your Majesty, didn't Prime Minister Du want to go to the Hexi Corridor? How did he end up in this damn place?"
The place pointed by Li Er's finger is at the source of the Wei River, deep in the branch of the West Qinling Mountains.
In addition to mountains, that ghost place is also a mixed area of Han and Hu!
"Niu Jinda has secretly reported that the remnants of Tuyuhun have been in close contact with the Qiang people in the northwest recently. Keming is planning to go to Fanhan first."
"How strong does a thief have to be to defeat the Thousand Niu Guards?
Even the local Qiang people don’t have this power. By the way, how many guards are there around Du Xiang?”
"one thousand!"
Su Chen frowned: "So few?"
"The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and there are too many people to supply supplies, so Niu Jinda is here in Hezhou to provide support."
Su Chen thought the same thing. Du Ruhui was going to do something. If he brought a large team of people, would he have to go to the year of the monkey and the month of the horse?
"Hurry up for eight hundred miles! Let Niu Jinda and Qingqi march eastward!"
Li Er asked again: "Who is the captain of Weiyuan Zhechong?"
A eunuch held the roster and replied: "Xi Junmai, the captain of Zhaowu School, was commended by His Majesty last year!"
Li Er nodded: "I ordered Xi Junmai to lead the local government troops to search and rescue with all their strength, and successfully rescued Duke Lai. He received three military merits and was rewarded with a thousand taels of gold!"
Su Chen frowned: Du Ruhui's thousands of guards have been dispersed, so the few local soldiers can't be counted on?
Lao Du is probably in trouble this time!
Li Er also sighed: "I hope Keming can last a few more days!"
At this time, Cheng Yaojin ran into the hall, followed by Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng who were running all the way!
These people were on duty at the front office and arrived relatively quickly. The others probably took a while!
"Your Majesty, why are you so anxious to recruit your ministers?"
Li Er was still staring at the northwest map and thinking deeply. Su Chen stepped forward and said: "Dong Lai Guo was attacked at Shushan Post in Weiyuan County. His life and death are unknown. Baiqisi just received the flying pigeon letter!"
Su Chen read the contents of the note and handed it to them for circulation.
Everyone was shocked when they heard about his brother!
Li Er raised his head and said: "I have already traveled eight hundred miles and ordered the local government soldiers to search and rescue with all their strength. I also ordered Niu Jinda to move eastward immediately."
"But the place where Keming's accident occurred is thousands of miles away. Now we can only hope that Keming can be lucky and survive until the army brings him!"
"What do you think of this matter?"
Cheng Yaojin took a step forward and drew a circle on the map with his finger:
"Your Majesty, although this place is a place where Han and Hu people live together, there are no powerful Qiang tribes around. How can any thieves be able to defeat thousands of people and thousands of cattle guards?"
"Moreover, the biography also mentioned gunpowder. The Eastern and Western armies are very strictly managed. How did it get into the hands of thieves?"
Seeing everyone looking at him, Su Chen raised his hands and said, "Don't look at me. After I handed over the gunpowder formula to Your Majesty, I have never prepared it myself. I usually ask Your Majesty for anything I use!"
Fang Xuanling said: "Now we have too little information. We don't know the number and identity of the thieves, nor do we know how much gunpowder the thieves have?
It’s better not to make wild guesses.”
Wei Zheng snorted coldly: "Huh! It's not a small force that can defeat the well-equipped Qianniu Guards and is also equipped with gunpowder."
"With such a force, except for encountering Niu Jinda or Li Daliang's army, it would be a pity to run rampant in the northwest!"
"We don't know anything about the emergence of such a powerful military force in the Tang Dynasty!"
Li Er said with a dark face: "The local urgent documents should arrive the day after tomorrow, but I still don't have enough information at the moment!"
At this time, Chai Shao, Yu Chigong and others also arrived one after another. After understanding what happened, they were all shocked and dumbfounded:
How could such a thing happen in the Tang Dynasty?
Li Erdao: "Sichang, Jingde, you two quickly go to each army to check whether any gunpowder has leaked out."
Chai Shao and Yuchi Gong took the order and left.
Cheng Yaojin pointed at the map and said: "Your Majesty! There has been an undercurrent surging in the northwest, and now there is such a military force in Weizhou."
"After Niu Jinda moved eastward, the original Tuyuhun territory was empty of troops. Should Li Daliang be allowed to detach some troops and move to the southwest?"
Li Er shook his head: "The Hexi Corridor is not peaceful either. Li Daliang's troops in Liangzhou are already stretched thin and cannot be touched lightly!"
"Zhijie, you go prepare first and wait for the detailed military report to be sent before making a decision. If the situation is serious, I'm afraid you will need to go to the northwest!"
Cheng Yaojin clasped his fists: "The last general takes orders!"
After Cheng Yaojin left, Fang Xuanling said: "Your Majesty, the northwest is vast and the distance is long, so supplies are not easy."
"A lot of our troops in the Tang Dynasty have been held back there. If we send Lu Guogong to lead the army again, I'm afraid this logistical supply will be unsustainable."
Wei Zheng sighed and said: "In the past few years, our army in the Tang Dynasty was invincible and we conquered a large territory. However, the subsequent governance did not keep up, and the shortcomings became apparent at this time!"
Changsun Wuji took his breath now and frowned: "I always feel something is wrong! Why did this sudden force attack Du Ruhui?"
