July 11 of the first year of Shengong.

Now it has reached the time of the early dynasty, the ministers of civil and military affairs in front of Chengtian Gate stand on both sides, and there is no need to serve the imperial history to remind them today, no one is talking to each other, and they all have solemn faces.

Even the birds that passed by seemed to feel the oppressive atmosphere in the air, and flew away with a few low chirps.

"When the hour comes, the ministers will enter the palace to do business!" The eunuch shouted.

As soon as the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs walked in, he saw a row of forbidden soldiers standing in front of the Taiji Gate, holding swords and axes, with a cold face, and he couldn't help but jump in his heart.

I never felt that the road to the court was so long.

Just a few days ago, a battle report was sent from the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and it was urgent for eight hundred miles.

The Great Zhou army was defeated.

Not long ago, the imperial court decided to order Xu Wuving of Shangzhu State to replace Niu Zonghao Anxi as the protector of the capital.

Xu Wushu went to the Western Regions alone, but he didn't expect that the situation in the Western Regions had already undergone earth-shaking changes. Niu Zonghao has already died, and his subordinates have all rebelled, and every time he sends fake documents to the imperial court, in order to stabilize the hearts of the ministers of the court.

In fact, the four towns of Anxi have all fallen into the hands of the rebels in the Western Regions.

When Xu Wudi entered the big tent of the commander of the Anxi Army, he felt that something was wrong. But when it was too late to withdraw, the Anxi army ambushed the knife and axe men around the big tent and slashed Xu Wuving to death.

A generation of famous generals did not die on the battlefield, but died in the hands of their own people.

As for the group of soldiers under Xu Wuving, most of them were poisoned by the Anxi Army, and several generals saw the clue and fled with their troops, but they were helplessly surrounded by the enemy army. In the end, they were outnumbered and all of them were killed.

The messenger was a post officer, and the original news was a scout of the Great Zhou Army, who had just arrived at the post station, and was dying. In the end, it was the post station that sent someone to the capital to report the battle.

As soon as the battle report came out, the government and the opposition were shocked.

Since the establishment of the Great Zhou, most of the battle lines were arranged in the north. Although they have their own wins and losses, the Northern Wilderness is originally a military power, and even if there are occasional defeats, the imperial court will not react much.

But the Western Regions, that is basically the territory of the Great Zhou!

During the Former Qin Dynasty, the Qin Emperor broke up the Anxi Kingdom, which originally unified the Western Regions, and divided it into several small vassal states. Subsequently, the Anxi Imperial Protectorate was set up to carry out unified jurisdiction.

Every year, each small country had to pay taxes to the Protectorate of Anzai.

This continued for a long time, until the end of the Qin Dynasty, when Emperor Yang was beheaded at the head of the city. In that year, the Western Regions rebelled from the Central Plains, and the original vassal states began to become independent and get rid of the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate. It was not until a few years after the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty that the Central Plains regained control of the Western Regions.

Although the Anxi Prefecture was re-established, several vassal states were only nominally subject to the Great Zhou, and did not actually pay taxes.

There are several small countries in the Western Regions, and tens of thousands of people are a country, and hundreds of thousands can be called big countries. They are even hostile to each other, often fighting each other. Moreover, the environment in the Western Regions is harsh, even if it occupies it, it will not be of great benefit to the Great Zhou. Therefore, the imperial court has always been in a laissez-faire strategy towards the Western Regions.

Unexpectedly, they reversed!

A swarm of ants!

They actually defeated the army of the imperial court.

All the military ministers had gloomy faces, and the defeat of the Great Zhou army at the hands of the rebels in the Western Regions was a heavy blow to the entire military attaché.

Among the ministers of civil and military affairs, there was a kneeling man, dressed in white, with gray hair and a haggard face.

He is the son of Niu Zonghao, the general Niu Yi of Guide.

The rebellion of the Anxi Army was done by Niu Yi's third brother Niu Rui. Who knows why his third brother had a brain pump, and he actually joined forces with the rebels in the Western Regions!

Although it was his third brother who made the claim, as the current head of the Niu family, he had to come over and ask for guilt.

Niu Yi came early, his head was on the ground, and his forehead had been broken, but the one on the dragon chair never spoke.

No one dared to intercede with the Niu family.

At this time, any friendship is fake. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the empress is now in a state of rage, and she is openly betraying, this matter is really too big, and if she doesn't handle it well, I'm afraid she will be involved.

Xiahou Liang, the left minister of Wenchangtai, coughed: "Your Majesty, the minister suggests that it is better to deal with the affairs of the Western Regions as soon as possible." According to the war report, the rebels in the Western Regions have taken control of the four towns of Anxi, and if they are allowed to continue like this, I am afraid that the people of the Northern Wilderness will finally intervene. ”

The Empress raised her hand and rubbed her eyebrows, a look of exhaustion appeared on her face.

"Niu Zonghao has taken care of the Western Regions for more than ten years, and the entire Anxi layout is now ruined, even Xu Wushu will die if he goes, who do you think can beat Xu Wuving, just stand up!"

After the empress finished speaking, the military attache was silent for a while.

If it was just to pacify the rebels in the Western Regions, it would be easy to say, but the entire Anxi Prefecture rebelled, and it would be terrible. The lone army went deep, facing not only the enemy army, but also his own people who had betrayed.

The empress looked at the face of the military attaché in her eyes, and the annoyance in her heart was even greater.

Xiahou Liang suddenly walked out and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is better to let Niu Yi lead the army to pacify the Western Regions. He is a veteran in the army, not to mention that he is more familiar with the judge Niu Rui. ”

Niu Yi's eyes lit up, and he raised his head, his eyes burning.

This is the Niu family's way to survive.

The empress glanced at Niu Yi and suddenly sneered, "Do you plan to reunite their courtiers with their families?" ”

In a word, Niu Yi's heart was beaten to the bottom.

The empress stared at the phoenix, she stood up, the phoenix hairpin on her head swayed, she was already angry to the extreme.

"200,000 troops, all annihilated! If you want to block the group of rebels in the Western Regions, You Zhize and Ding Wenguang can do it. But which of these people doesn't want silver? The Manchu Dynasty's civil and military, and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty could not even solve a small Western Regions. What else do you have to counteract with the Northern Wilderness, why don't you throw me out and surrender with me! ”

The ministers hurriedly knelt down, not daring to shout.

Some military ministers patted their chests and said that if he was allowed to lead the troops, he would definitely be able to calm the war in the Western Regions.

You Zhize, Ding Wenguang, and several of them are all feudal towns in the Western Regions, and they control a large number of soldiers, horses, and land.

The empress suddenly pointed her finger at Niu Yi: "The Niu family is in rebellion, sit down according to the law!" Niu Yi went to work and beheaded and exterminated the nine clans! ”

"Your Majesty! No! ”

Not only a few prime ministers, but almost all the ministers of civil and military affairs came out to persuade them.

The Niu family is not only the founding family of the former Qin, but also has a close relationship with the former Qin royal family. Niu Zonghao is a veteran of the two dynasties, and the Niu family has a very high reputation in the army.

The Empress allowed her ministers to intercede, but she never opened her eyes.

"If Zhu Qing has a heart, he will cooperate with Si Xing Temple and Shendu Mansion to recover the lost tax money of the local officials." The empress left in an indifferent voice surrounded by attendants.

Niu Yi's eyes were full of despair, and he kowtowed to the empress's distant back.