68. Chongming Emperor (Please Read)

"Why don't we start early!"

"There are only more than 20,000 soldiers in Siming Mountain, many of whom are subordinates of you and General Chang. Although Yao Dang, the Heavenly King of Dao, and Chang Kun, the Heavenly King of Kun, are in charge of the army..."

Xu Ming remained silent until the carriage started moving.

After Xu Xing was imprisoned, he heard the news and was forced to flee to the mountains and become a bandit. As the head of the Qingmu Xu family and a bandit for a period of time, he is more ruthless than ordinary people.

"No!"

"The Heavenly King of Dao has great righteousness and is the deputy leader of the righteous army."

"If I kill Yao Dang, I will inevitably be labeled as a traitor. Second, it will inevitably cause Siming Mountain to fall apart. Now Siming Mountain can suppress the tyrants, but if something happens to us, the first one to attack us may be the tyrant who is helping us at this moment..."

"Powers need to be balanced!"

Xu Xing shook his head and interrupted what Xu Ming said next.

If the world was only as small as Fengxi, his killing of Yao Dang, the king of mourning, would not have had a big consequence. At most, he would be labeled as unjust. In the future, if he ruled with gentleness and did more good things to the people, he would also have a good reputation when he left his name in history.

No matter what, Emperor Wen of Tang killed his brothers, but he killed only his sworn brother.

However——

There are more than just Fengxi in this world.

His ultimate goal is to seek immortality.

I'm afraid..., no matter which sect or school, they will not accept a treacherous person as a disciple. Even if this worry is proved to be unnecessary in the future. However, it is important to nip the problem in the bud.

If you don't plan for the whole life, you won't be able to plan for the moment.

His reputation for benevolence and righteousness must never be cut off!

In addition, as Kun Tianwang said, Yao Dang is a good person. Just looking at Yao Dang's current performance, he is still righteous. He is not willing to do things to the extreme until he reaches the last step.

Seeing that Xu Xing had no intention of being indecisive, Xu Ming nodded, "Xing'er, you are not a stupid person, just think about it yourself. The lives of our entire family now depend on you, so remember, you can't be soft-hearted."

Although Xu Jing and Xu Shenghua's accomplices were partly out of consideration for brotherhood...

But if rebellion was not a capital crime punishable by the death of nine clans.

I'm afraid they would not easily board Xu Xing's pirate ship.

"Brother..."

"If you don't use a sharp knife..."

"What should we do next?"

Xu Shenghua opened the window of the carriage, took a look at the street scene, and asked softly.

He has always admired his elder brother.

He was able to enter Beijing, take the examination of the Ministry of Rites of the Shangshu Province, and become an eighth-rank official after passing the examination.

He can be said to be a true talent of the Xu family.

"Simple..."

"Submit a memorial to the court for reward, saying... Lu Yong, the former garrison commander of Guanxi Road, started a rebellion, and the people in the area were living in misery. In order to support the country, we, the righteous army, did not hesitate to take risks ourselves, so we guarded the pass and prevented it from being occupied by traitors."

"Attach the names of the gentry who donated grain at the end of the memorial.

Xu Xing thought carefully and then came up with a vicious plan.

"Will the court believe it?"

Xu Jing frowned and asked.

"The court and Emperor Chongming will not believe it..."

"But the court should deliberately cover up the shame. I remember that my elder brother asked us not to kill the officials, but only to imprison them, and then send them out of Guanxi Road with courtesy..."

"If my elder brother submits a memorial for reward, then this rebellion will not be considered a rebellion."

"These officials who lost their land should return to the court to operate. Even if these officials are not good enough. In my opinion, Emperor Chongming is very likely to accept this reward memorial..."

Xu Shenghua analyzed seriously.

At this point, he sneered, "If he loses a piece of land, he will lose his ancestors' foundation. After his death, his reputation will not be good. Instead of that, it is better to pretend to be ignorant and send a large army to attack. If it fails, at least on the surface, he will not lose land."

"What's next?"

Xu Ming and Xu Jing's eyes lit up.

They didn't expect that Xu Xing's strategy was so far-reaching.

"Next, please explain it to me, brother. "

"My humble opinion is not to speak out..."

Xu Shenghua consciously took a step back, not daring to steal Xu Xing's limelight.

Although he is a family member, if he does not know the limits, he will not be able to continue to be a family member sooner or later. His elder brother is not a fool like Yao Dang, the King of Heaven.

"It's simple..."

"If we can defeat the court's counterattack this time, according to the court's previous words and documents, we are not rebels, that is to say, we have become soldiers recognized by the court in disguise!"

"Officials in every state and county have been recognized by the court! "

Xu Xing nodded and explained patiently.

The imperial court has no shortage of righteousness. Civil officials know what the word righteousness means. However, for Emperor Chongming, it is difficult for him to see this.

Even if he sees it..., if the imperial court has a strong army and defeats it in one battle, Guanxi Road will no longer have any troubles.

If the imperial court is defeated, it is better to admit the fact that Siming Mountain has been "recruited" rather than letting Guanxi Road openly secede and slap him in the face.

"The king is the son of my Xu family."

Xu Jing couldn't help but praise when he heard it.

Xu Xing's strategy is a political war.

Once Siming Mountain is admitted to be within the imperial court system, the prestige of the imperial court will inevitably plummet. Fundamentally, Fengxi Kingdom will no longer be able to maintain the system of the central government dominating the local government. The imperial court's imperial guards are weak, and the local governments are growing stronger. There will be countless local powerful factions who will imitate Xu Xing's behavior and become warlords in various places.

Transfer the contradictions against the imperial court to the contradictions between the local governments and the central government.

The former fights against the whole world, while the latter only fights against the capital.

As long as Guanxi Road wins this battle against the imperial court, the imperial court will no longer be able to mobilize troops from all over the country to encircle and suppress the rebels in Guanxi Road. Because Guanxi Road has become a part of the local forces since then.

Attacking Guanxi Road means attacking the local army itself.

And within Guanxi Road, the official position is recognized by the imperial court, and Xu Xing has won over the gentry again.

With the righteousness of the imperial court, the righteousness of Yao Dang, the king of mourning... is not important.

…

The twenty-second year of Chongming.

Early spring, February.

In the court.

"Guanxi Road is in urgent need..."

"He, the king of mourning, has come with a reward letter."

Emperor Chongming sat on the dragon throne, his hair was gray, his face was old, and the dragon robe on his body was a little white from being washed, and some patches could be seen in the inconspicuous places of the lower skirt.

At this moment, after flipping through the memorials, he snorted coldly and laughed.

In the Ziwei Palace, the ministers were like quails, trembling and not daring to look directly at the dragon's might.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Seeing this, Emperor Chongming smiled with satisfaction, and his way of ruling his subordinates became more and more perfect.

However, he remained calm on his face, just pretending to be angry.

"My emperor..."

"Long live, long live, long live."

The ministers only knew to greet and dared not say more.

"My dear Ouyang, you are the prime minister, you should say more..."

Emperor Chongming's eyes moved to the face of Prime Minister Ouyang in the first row on the right, and saw that he was holding a tablet in his hand and his face was clear, so he nodded slightly and asked.

"Your Majesty."

"I heard that there are four great kings in Siming Mountain."

"Before the fourth king came, the three great kings were unknown, but after the fourth king came, Siming Mountain became the second most powerful of the eighteen rebel kings..."

"This king of punishment is Xu Xing, the former eighth-rank stable official of the Imperial Household Department."

Just as Prime Minister Ouyang was preparing to make a report, suddenly, a small official in a green robe walked quickly into the hall and spoke first.