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March to North State?

Upon hearing Qin Tian’s words, everyone was momentarily stunned.

However, upon further thought, it seemed logical to them.

”North State’s Li Muyang, a treacherous man, he should’ve been taught a lesson a long time ago!”

”Right, the last time we retreated from West State, this guy took advantage and killed many of our people! Hmph, and now he thinks he can remain unscathed in North State? Absolutely not!”

”Right now, North State has only about 200,000 people, and their combat strength is much weaker than ours, with no experts to hold the fort. Crushing North State would be a matter of minutes!”

”If we give the assistant commander and General Zhao an army of 100,000, I can guarantee they will take North State within two months!”

Everyone expressed their opinions, with excitement about attacking North State running high.

After all, the previous joint pursuit by the War God and North State left many with fresh memories, and a deep hatred for Li Muyang of North State.

Now, hearing about the potential action against Li Muyang, everyone seemed ready to request a combat role, eager for action.

Once Zuo Yuanhao and others finished speaking, it was then said: ”Attacking North State, if Marquis Qin gives me 100,000 men, I, together with General Zhao, can take it without a doubt. However, in my view, it’s not advisable to attack directly now. We should devise a complete strategy, and the most important thing is not just to take North State, but to ensure we can permanently occupy its territory.”

Permanently occupy North State’s territory?

Upon hearing Zuo Yuanhao’s words, everyone was taken aback.

His intention was clear; the people understood this perfectly.

”Assistant Commander Zuo, are you suggesting we should take control of both West State and North State?”

”Hiss... That might be a bit challenging, wouldn’t it? His Majesty the Ice Emperor and the Fourth Prince would absolutely not agree.”

”Indeed, once we occupy North State, the inner conflict between the Ice Emperor and the Fourth Prince will likely come to an immediate resolution, and they will then turn their attacks on us! We might then be overwhelmed!”

”Exactly, occupying West State and North State would claim about a third of Tianyuan Dynasty’s territory; if we really achieved this, the Ice Emperor would undoubtedly become furious and relentlessly target us!”

Everyone considered attacking North State to gain a share but never thought of claiming North State entirely for their own.

After all, in such a complex situation, any force that becomes significant will face joint suppression from various factions.

Moreover, currently, Qin Tian is still, in name, subject to the control of the Imperial City.

The Ice Emperor hasn’t declared the Qin Army a rebel party nor revoked Qin Tian’s marquis title because he wants to use Qin Tian to restrain the Fourth Prince.

If Qin Tian’s power grows faster than the Fourth Prince, the Ice Emperor will undoubtedly target Qin Tian like he did with the King of War, taking drastic actions against the threat to his rule.

”If we merely intend to cause a minor disturbance as revenge against Li Muyang, I would suggest that assassinating Li Muyang is far more convenient; mobilizing an army would be cumbersome, and since Li Muyang is with the Fourth Prince, even if we swiftly conquer North State, the Fourth Prince would still seek revenge.”

Zuo Yuanhao’s perspective often differs from others.

However, Qin Tian had to admit that Zuo Yuanhao’s analyses and predictions are consistently accurate.

This is why Qin Tian currently ranks Zuo Yuanhao as an equally important military advisor alongside Zhou Yang.

Seeing Zuo Yuanhao’s confident expression, Qin Tian asked, ”Assistant Commander Zuo, do you have any good plans?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Zuo Yuanhao, who said, ”I believe that in the short term, attempting to occupy North State would be asking for trouble—it’s not a wise strategy.”

”However, this Li Muyang has repeatedly taken advantage of opportunities to attack. Though we retaliated against him once, he himself remained unscathed; this grudge can only be considered half-avenged. For the rest, we must take Li Muyang’s life! Thus, other forces across the land will know that opposing us leads to a bad end! It’s akin to killing one to warn a hundred!”

Lin Yu said, ”Then, Assistant Commander Zuo suggests sending someone to assassinate Li Muyang?”

”Assassination is inappropriate; hardly anyone would know that Li Muyang was killed by us. What we need now is to kill and establish prestige!” Zuo Yuanhao analyzed.

Xu Kun asked in confusion, ”Kill and establish prestige? If we don’t attack North State nor assassinate Li Muyang, how do we kill him?”

”Borrow a knife to kill!”

Zuo Yuanhao threw out these four words, causing a stir among the crowd.

However, after a few seconds of silence, Qin Tian and Zhou Yang understood.

Zhou Yang was delighted and praised, ”Brilliant! With this plan, we won’t spend a single soldier and can still kill and establish prestige—it’s indeed a brilliant strategy!”

Zhou Yang and Zuo Yuanhao were known as the strategic wits within the Qin Army; their reaction left the slightly slower-reacting Lin Yu and others baffled.

”Exactly how do we execute this borrowed knife strategy?” Lin Yu asked urgently.

Zuo Yuanhao said, ”Borrow the Ice Emperor’s hand to kill Li Muyang.”

”The Ice Emperor? Can the Ice Emperor kill Li Muyang?” Little Zhuang was puzzled as well.

Zhao Lanjin said, ”Li Muyang is the War God’s man, and is now one of the Fourth Prince’s war generals. The Ice Emperor killing him would likely face obstruction, right?”

Zuo Yuanhao said, ”They will certainly try to obstruct, but the final decision rests with the Ice Emperor—that can’t be denied, right?”

In the current situation, the Ice Emperor already controls most of the power in the Imperial City, along with the garrison and South State; the Fourth Prince doesn’t yet have the strength to confront his father head-on.

”Yes, the Ice Emperor’s decision is final, but would he kill his own son’s trusted general?” Lin Yu said.

”He certainly would.”

Zuo Yuanhao said, ”The Ice Emperor always likes to play balance—whoever becomes strong, he will deal with. Currently, the Fourth Prince holds sway over the court, and the Ice Emperor is hoping to find a reason to weaken the Fourth Prince’s power.”

”Why does he keep us, the Qin Army? His aim is for us to fight internally with the Fourth Prince, while he reaps the benefits. We are pieces in the Ice Emperor’s game.”

”Since we are pieces in the game, we should cooperate well with the Ice Emperor and fulfill our role as pieces.”

”If we submit a report to the Ice Emperor stating that Li Muyang repeatedly exceeded his authority by leading North State troops into West State to attack West State, harboring malicious intentions and suspected of rebellion, what do you think he would do?”

”Li Muyang’s entry into West State with heavy troops is backed by irrefutable evidence, both human and material. As long as the Ice Emperor wants to punish him, the War God and Fourth Prince will be powerless. And after the Ice Emperor kills him, he will certainly shift the blame onto us, allowing the Fourth Prince to continue fighting us, marking us as the culprits for Li Muyang’s death. That’s borrowing a knife to kill, and killing to establish prestige!”

Zuo Yuanhao’s analysis captivated the audience.

After a while, Qin Tian immediately decided, ”Good, let’s follow Assistant Commander Zuo’s plan! At this moment, Old Zhou and Assistant Commander Zuo will jointly prepare the memorial and secretly send it to the Imperial City—we’ll also play the Ice Emperor as a pawn!”