The secret memorial felt heavy in his hand.
Xie Lige opened the memorial and his gaze fell on the densely packed small words on it.
The contents caused the air pressure around him to drop visibly.
A low voice sounded, "You said that His Majesty is going to borrow troops?"
There was no need to think.
Xie Lige immediately understood that this memorial was a trap. The Emperor had taken a fancy to the soldiers under his command.
Borrowing troops to protect the imperial city.
What a joke.
When the messenger from the capital saw Xie Lige, he frowned. The cold and emotionless eyes from the beginning appeared in his mind again.
He couldn't help but feel afraid. He was afraid that this person would vent his anger on him if he was unhappy.
"General, General." He stood to the side quietly.
When he saw Xie Lige, he snorted coldly and couldn't help but shrink his shoulders back.
However, he still mustered up his courage and said, "Now that the imperial city guards are weak, I heard that the Cangyun Army under General is brave and good at fighting, so I was sent to talk to General."
Although he said this,
The expression on the messenger's face was very natural, as if he was sure that Xie Lige would not refuse him.
When Emperor Han Ling was on the throne,
The power of the eunuchs was the most rampant, and the messenger from the capital was considered a popular person under the emperor.
Although he was still afraid of Xie Lige, his confidence in the imperial power overcame his fear. He tried hard to suppress the fear in his heart and spoke, but his evasive gaze betrayed his heart.
"Oh?" Xie Lige put down the memorial in his hand and picked up the teacup to take a sip.
Amidst the fragrance of the tea, he looked at the messenger opposite him.
His gaze took in the latter's forced calm expression.
He lowered his head and played with the teacup in his hand. "If this general is not willing, what are you going to do?"
The black-armored general sat at the head of the table calmly, but his words made the messenger from the capital shudder. He was very afraid. In order to hide the fear in his heart, he said sternly, "General, do you want to defy the imperial decree?"
Eunuchs had always been ruthless when it came to eliminating dissidents. Seeing that Xie Lige did not have the slightest respect for the imperial power, the messenger from the capital immediately put a big hat on him in an attempt to make Xie Lige feel fear.
"Haha," Xie Lige sneered. He looked at the messenger and said indifferently, "Don't think that I don't know what those people in the capital are planning. The only reason I don't care about them is because I don't want to."
Borrowing troops for Cangyun? To think that this group of fellows could even think of something like that. Heavy infantry to defend the city. Those fellows might as well just use light cavalry to defend the city. What a bunch of brainless fellows.
Xie Lige was sure that this memorial was not personally written by Emperor Ling of Han. This emperor, who indulged in pleasure, probably did not even know the merits of the Cangyun Army, let alone a scheme like borrowing troops. If Cangyun was lent to the imperial city, it was likely that they would never return.
"I'm afraid I cannot agree to the matter of borrowing troops," Xie Lige said lightly. He raised his head to look at the messenger from the capital. His tone was so fake that one could see through it. He pretended to be very regretful and said, "Cangyun is my personal guard. They are not part of the defense forces of Liangzhou City."
"What?!"
Jia Xu, who had not spoken since the beginning, saw the disbelief on the messenger's face after Xie Lige finished speaking. He smiled slightly and explained, "The general is right. The Cangyun Army is the private army of the Dong Family."
The current Three Kingdoms had not completely fallen into chaos. Aristocratic families still had the right to speak in the imperial court. The various powers of aristocratic families were also high above that of commoners. Some aristocratic families with fiefs had positions that were not inferior to that of the emperor. They controlled everything in their fiefs, including their personal guards.
The Han Dynasty had an ambiguous attitude toward the personal guards of aristocratic families. They did not approve or disapprove. After all, when the Han Dynasty was founded, it could not have been without the help of these aristocratic families. Most importantly, once these aristocratic families understood that the personal guards of these aristocratic families were challenging the bottom line of the aristocratic families.
Any emperor with a brain would not do this. This was equivalent to stealing the fruits of the aristocratic families' careful nurturing and not giving a single cent. How could those black-hearted fellows let this go?
Hearing this, the righteous expression of the messenger froze on his face. He asked in disbelief, "The Cangyun Army is the private army of the Dong Family?"
His gaze swept across the expressionless black-armored general who was playing with the teacup in his hand with his head lowered. The blue-robed scholar next to him was smiling slightly. He sensed that the smile in the messenger's gaze had deepened.
"Yes." Jia Xu seemed to particularly enjoy the shocked expression on the messenger's face. He smiled and confirmed his initial appeal. In order to prevent the messenger from not believing him, he especially emphasized his tone.
In reality, the messenger was also dumbfounded.
Of course, he knew what the so-called private army of the Dong Family meant. He did not continue to threaten Xie Lige to hand over the Cangyun Army. Not to mention whether or not this general would hand over the military based on his personality, just Jia Xu's words made him swallow his next appeal. He was certain that if he forced Xie Lige to hand over the military, there would definitely be people in the imperial court who would use this as an excuse to stab the group of eunuchs the next day.
Those high and mighty aristocratic families would also not mind personally making a move against an ant like him who provoked them.
Was the Dong Family an aristocratic family?
Of course. As the most prestigious aristocratic family in Liangzhou City, the Dong Family had an extraordinary status among the people of Liangzhou City. Especially after the Dong Family produced the most revered general in their hearts, they became even more uncontrollable. Without a doubt, the Dong Family was the most powerful aristocratic family in Liangzhou City.
To put it bluntly, even if Emperor Ling of Han personally came, he would not be able to snatch the military power of the Cangyun Army from Xie Lige. This was because this already involved the foundation of the aristocratic families. When the Han Dynasty was first established, it relied on the private armies of these aristocratic families. Unless the emperor wanted to shed all pretense of cordiality with the aristocratic families, wanting to obtain military power was no less than a fool's dream.
The eunuch was also a smart person. He immediately understood that his goal was likely to fail. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he bid farewell to Xie Lige.
Xie Lige nodded absentmindedly and watched the eunuch's figure disappear through the door.
"He won't live past tonight."
Jia Xu followed the eunuch's gaze and looked at the terrified figure of the eunuch as he spoke with certainty.
The transfer of military power took a long time. If he left the residence so quickly, the mastermind behind the scenes would know that he had failed. That person would definitely realize that his plan had been discovered. He might as well go all out and kill the eunuch to silence him. Since he was still in Liangzhou City, he could shift the blame to Xie Lige. In less than fifteen minutes, the entire Liangzhou City would know that the Dong Family had killed the eunuch to silence him.
Xie Lige lowered his eyes and said, "He knows it himself."
The fear on the eunuch's face was not just directed at him.
Jia Xu looked at Xie Lige. He knew that Xie Lige must have realized that this was a trap and wanted to know his next move. He asked, "General, are you not going to take any measures?"
Liangzhou City was an important frontier fortress. Outside the city were ferocious foreign tribes. The only reason the city could resist them for so long was because the people trusted the Dong Family very much. Once the rumor of the Dong Family being killed to silence them spread, it would definitely affect the morale of the people in the city.
This was what Jia Xu was worried about.
Unexpectedly, Xie Lige did not answer his question. Instead, he brought up a topic that did not make sense. His tone was full of certainty. "Teacher, you must have left Liangzhou City long ago, right?"
Jia Xu was stunned. He did not understand why Xie Lige suddenly brought this up. However, the latter was right. He had indeed been taken away to study when he was young and rarely returned to Liangzhou City. He nodded and said, "Yes."
"Teacher, what do you think of the Dong Family?"
What do you think of the Dong Family?
Jia Xu looked a little confused. He could not help but recall the news about the Dong Family that his parents had told him when he was young. Suddenly, he seemed to understand what Xie Lige meant.
Xie Lige put down his teacup and looked straight ahead. That was the direction of the foreign tribes outside the city. In a low voice, he slowly explained the reason why the Dong Family was a military family. "My Dong Family has been guarding a city since the beginning of the previous dynasty. There have been countless emperors, but none of them dared to ask the Dong Family to hand over their military power. Do you know why?"
Jia Xu put away his smile and chose to listen. He could hear the pride and seriousness in Xie Lige's voice towards the family.
Xie Lige had a cold and mocking expression on his face. He turned to look at the capital city not far from Liangzhou and laughed coldly. "For so many years, the imperial court has never given the Western Liang a military salary. Of course, those emperors are too embarrassed to ask."
Jia Xu was shocked. "What?"
Jia Xu was shocked. He thought he had misheard, but when he saw Xie Lige's cold face, he stopped. He chose to believe him. He could not help but ask, "Then the military salary …"
Xie Lige glanced at him and smiled. "Of course it's raised by the Dong Family."
“！！”
Jia Xu's eyes widened. Although he had a similar guess, he could not help but be shocked when he heard Xie Lige's confirmation.
The military salary of Liangzhou City was actually raised by the Dong Family. This news shocked him. On one hand, he was shocked by the terrifying wealth of the Dong Family. On the other hand, he could not help but sigh at the benevolence of the people of the Dong Family. He recalled that when those aristocratic families saw Xie Lige not long ago, their expressions were filled with fear and trepidation. At that time, he thought that they were frightened by Xie Lige's murderous aura. Now that he thought about it, those aristocratic families also knew about this.
This explained their attitude towards the Dong Family.
Xie Lige leaned back in his chair. His black hair was combed back and tied up with a dark golden crown, revealing his sharp and handsome features. His long white feathers trailed behind him. He put his palms together and supported his chin. He looked at Jia Xu and said arrogantly, "Liangzhou City has been under the wings of the Dong Family for countless years. My Dong Family sacrificed our entire family to protect Liangzhou City. The people in the city were also taken back by the Dong Family from the foreign races.
What do you think mere rumors can do? "
To put it bluntly, the status of the Dong Family in Liangzhou City was obtained by sacrificing the lives of all the men in the family.