bookbashuk Chapter 2193 The Mysterious Rebels
Chapter 2193 The Mysterious Rebels
Li Shen immediately became interested after hearing this. It was obvious that this must be a secret, otherwise the squad leader would not have come back in such a hurry.
This information must be very important.
"Tell me quickly, what information?"
“Your Highness Prince Ji, when I was drinking with a small leader of the rebel army, I accidentally heard him say that there was a powerful rebel force in Xizhou Prefecture.
The villain asked if it was the big rebel group, and the small leader said no.
It was said that the rebels did not come to their place, and no one knew where they were exactly. They only knew that it was in a secret location in the heart of Xizhou.
They encountered us once during a robbery and thought we were the Tang army, which scared them half to death.
According to him, this rebel army was well-equipped, just like the Tang army, except that the soldiers in it were probably the remnants of Tuyuhun and Gaochang.
They are well-trained and very different from other rebels.
After I heard this news, I felt it was very important, so I immediately came back to report it to the prince, so as not to disrupt his plan."
The squad leader told Li Shen all the information he had found out. After listening, Li Shen frowned and fell into deep thought.
This is not good news.
There is actually such an elite force still staying in Xizhou, and despite such a massive search, they have not been found.
This shows how secretive the place these people are hiding is.
The fact that they can do this is enough to show that the other party has big ambitions.
Do they want to attack and occupy Xizhou City?
However, this idea was quickly rejected by Li Shen. Even if they had sophisticated equipment, they would not be able to fight against the equally well-equipped Xizhou Army.
They have no chance of winning either.
What's more, Xizhou has more than 20,000 troops, and the other side would be courting death if they wanted to attack the city.
"Have you found out how many troops are there in this rebel group?" Li Shen looked up and asked.
“Your Highness, I have also asked about this, but the chieftain was not aware of it. He only knew that the enemy had a thousand troops when he encountered them.
But he heard from the rebel leader that the enemy had several thousand men at best. "The squad leader replied.
"Thousands of people...Okay, you go down and rest. I understand." Li Shen waved his hand.
The squad leader immediately saluted and retreated.
"Rengui, what do you think?"
Li Shen turned his head and looked at Xue Rengui. Professional matters should be consulted with professionals. He is not a god who knows everything.
As the saying goes, one person's shortcomings are surpassed by two others' strengths.
Xue Rengui thought for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty, the first thing we need to do now is to send people to search for the location of this rebel group. If we find them, we can send troops to encircle and suppress them.
I think these rebels must be in collusion with Xizhou Prefecture, otherwise where did their weapons and equipment come from?"
"Could it be that someone from the imperial court sold it to them?
It's not easy to embezzle several thousand sets of equipment. People in Xizhou Prefecture don't have the guts to do that, right?"
Li Shen asked curiously.
To be honest, Li Shen's first thought was Li Zhi. Because of the lessons learned from the past, Li Shen wondered whether these people were still Li Zhi's people.
With Li Zhi's financial resources, equipping several thousand people was not a problem.
Xue Rengui shook his head after hearing this:
"Your Majesty, the rebels' equipment must have come from outside the Great Wall. No matter who sold it to them, the equipment must have been transported to Xizhou and then sold from Xizhou."
"Oh? Why is that?" Li Shen raised his eyebrows.
“Your Majesty, all of the equipment in our Tang Dynasty comes from the Ministry of Industry. Other places are not allowed to produce armor.
If you want to transport thousands of sets of armor from Chang'an City to Xizhou, you have to pass the inspection at Congcong Pass.
Without official letters from the court and documents from the Ministry of War, it would be impossible for them to transport them outside the Great Wall.
Unless they break through all the barriers along the entire line and become their own people.
But if that is the case, it would be even more terrifying than these thousands of sets of equipment.
I'm afraid no one in the Tang Dynasty can do this.
That’s why I concluded that this batch of equipment must have come from Xizhou.”
Xue Rengui analyzed.
It is not so easy to transport things in and out during this period, as they must be unpacked and inspected.
Last year, when Wang Wencheng's treasures entered the customs, Li Shen had to ask his father for a secret order to prohibit inspection at all checkpoints.
This is enough to prove that even the face of Prince Li Shen is useless.
With Li Shen's many years of experience and the strict military discipline during the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin's control over the army was unprecedented.
The army was more loyal than the civil officials. Without the imperial order, it was extremely difficult to carry a large number of armors out of the country.
Li Shen felt that Xue Rengui's analysis made sense, but he did not rule out the possibility that it was Li Zhi who did it.
The relationships among officials in Xizhou Prefecture were complicated, especially in Anxi Protectorate, which had a large territory and many officials, and it was unclear who was Li Zhi's man.
"What you said makes sense, but we cannot rule out the possibility that these people are someone's private army. Otherwise, with the financial resources of these rebels, how could they afford such a large amount of equipment?"
Li Shen spoke.
Xue Rengui immediately understood that Prince Ji was suspecting someone in Chang'an City, probably Prince Jin, because Prince Jin had a criminal record.
"Your Majesty, no matter what, we still have to find these people first."
"Of course. How can I allow others to sleep peacefully beside my bed? This group of rebels is hiding in the heart of Anxi Protectorate, and they are also a serious threat.
It’s a pity that Li Jian went to the north and we don’t have the manpower to investigate.
It seems we have to start from within and find out who is providing the rebels with equipment."
Li Shen said with a gloomy expression that he felt that he had to catch the traitor first.
"Your Highness means to start from Xizhou Prefecture?" Xue Rengui thought immediately.
"Of course, there must be a traitor among the officials of Xizhou Prefecture. We must first stabilize the country before we can resist foreign aggression.
Let’s start the investigation from Xizhou Prefecture.” Li Shen nodded.
"Your Majesty, I don't think it was necessarily done by the officials of Xizhou Prefecture."
Just then, Wu Meiniang came over with a glass of cold drink.
Originally, his family members should not be involved in this, but since there were no outsiders here, Wu Meiniang thought it was better to tell Prince Ji.
"Oh? Mei Niang, what do you think?" Li Shen asked curiously after taking the cold drink.
He did not think that there was anything disrespectful about Wu Meiniang's behavior. Although it was said that the harem should not interfere in political affairs, he was not the emperor.
Many hands make light work, and it is better if one more person can analyze the situation.
Besides, she is not an ordinary person. Wu Meiniang has the potential to be an emperor and has been extremely intelligent since childhood.
“Your Majesty, I just heard that this group of rebels is well-equipped, but the soldiers of Xizhou Prefecture do not have the equipment of the border troops.
Since it is border army equipment, we must start with the Anxi Protectorate, especially the generals at the border.
I think the person who resold it must be a general in the border army."
After Wu Meiniang finished speaking, she stopped talking. She was just a concubine, and it would not be good for her to say too much.
"Your Majesty, what Madam Wu said makes sense. It is us who did not think it through and focused our attention on Xizhou Prefecture."
Xue Rengui said.
(Various guesses)