The fourth prince has been having a hard time recently.
He had not had a good night's sleep since the day before he seized the throne, and his whole body became haggard.
Sitting on the throne was not as wonderful as he imagined.
Although he immediately sealed the palace gate as soon as he entered the palace, several palace maids and eunuchs sneaked out through the dog holes they had dug before.
These palace maids and eunuchs secretly took the jade seal out of the palace and spread the news that the fourth prince had killed his father and seized the throne.
Patricide and regicide are extremely serious crimes in any era.
The Qing family, the Qin family, the Zhong family and other aristocratic families that supported the Ninth Princess and Jin Feng immediately used this as an excuse to attack the fourth prince.
However, the fourth prince took control of the imperial army, and the number of dignitaries who supported him was many times greater than those who supported the ninth princess. The Qing family, the Qin family and the Zhong family were quickly suppressed.
The fourth prince does not have Jin Feng's sense of humanity, so the fate of these families can be imagined.
The system of continuous sitting and servitude that was abolished by the Ninth Princess was once again used by the Fourth Prince.
Since the second day after seizing the throne, the blood on the ground at Caishikou in the capital has not dried.
The whole capital was in panic.
The Fourth Prince originally thought that this could scare the people, but after the people had tasted the sweetness of a good life, they were extremely disgusted with the Fourth Prince's actions, and more and more people secretly talked about him.
Although the fourth prince ordered the imperial army to kill a group of people and temporarily suppressed the people's discussion, he knew that the people were even more dissatisfied with him.
In order to win people's hearts, the fourth prince planned to imitate Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess and reduce taxes to win people's hearts.
But the powerful relied on taxes to plunder the people. One of their most important purposes in supporting the fourth prince was to restore the original taxes.
As soon as the fourth prince proposed reducing taxes, he was strongly opposed by all the nobles.
Instead of agreeing to lower taxes, the dignitaries asked the fourth prince to restore taxes to the previous level.
The Fourth Prince relied entirely on the support of these powerful people to ascend to power, and he did not dare to offend them. Before he could figure out how to deal with the powerful people, he received news from Xihewan.
Because Xiaoyu sent the message in time, the losses to the escort agencies in various places were not serious.
The combat effectiveness of the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau has long been recognized. Once they gather in Jinchuan, the fourth prince feels scared just thinking about it.
As soon as the information was obtained, all ministers were summoned to the imperial study room for a meeting.
Once the emperor and his courtiers, after the fourth prince came to power, the court naturally underwent a major change of blood.
From the prime minister to the six ministers, they were all replaced by dignitaries who forced the palace to contribute.
The more efforts you make, the greater your official position will be.
The uncle of the fourth prince, Ma Zhuo, naturally became the prime minister.
"Dear dear friends, I have received news that escorts from all over the country are retreating to Jinchuan, and Jin Feng's wife Guan Xiaorou is also training troops in Xihewan. The intention of rebellion is obvious!
There are also Qinghuai from Weizhou City and Zhang Liang from Yuguan City. They should also get the news in the past few days, and they will probably raise troops to rebel!"
The fourth prince came straight to the point and said: "Zhenyuan Escort Bureau and Tielin Army are so capable of fighting. I don't need to say more. My dear friends, hurry up and think of a solution!"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I had anticipated this before taking action and had already made arrangements!"
The new prime minister Ma Zhuo answered with a smile.
The counselors were extremely careful in formulating this strategy, and carefully considered every link. They also expected the reaction of the local wealthy families, and made detailed backup plans.
"Really?" The fourth prince was delighted: "Do you have any good ideas?"
"Your Majesty, please listen to me!"
Ma Zhuo shook his head and recounted the counselors' plan.
After hearing this, the fourth prince couldn't help but frown slightly: "This is your good idea? What's the difference between doing this and luring a wolf into the house?"
"Your Majesty, those who want to do big things must not stick to trivial matters, and when fighting foreign affairs, they must first settle the domestic affairs. When Dangxiang, the Eastern Barbarians and Tubo came to the Central Plains, they would only plunder for a while and then leave. If the Tielin Army and the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau rebelled, then everything would be over. Which one is more important?
Qing, Your Majesty must make a clear distinction!"
Ma Zhuo persuaded with a sincere expression.
"Your Majesty, Lord Ma is right!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, this strategy is like driving a tiger to swallow a wolf. Your Majesty must not miss this opportunity!"
Other dignitaries also echoed his words.
"This matter is of great importance, I need to think about it carefully."
The fourth prince was still a little undecided.
"Your Majesty, at this point, I can only tell the truth."
Ma Zhuo bowed and said: "This plan started four months ago, and now it is ready to go."
"What? It started four months ago?" The fourth prince asked with shock on his face: "Why don't you discuss it with me?"
Jin Feng had just successfully rescued the driver four months ago, and had not yet started to implement the new policies.
"At that time, Jin Feng was at the height of his power. With your courage, do you dare to agree to this?"
Ma Zhuo cursed in his heart, but said: "The matter has not yet been settled at that time. I am afraid that there are still variables, so I don't dare to disturb Your Majesty, so I made the decision on my own. I hope Your Majesty will punish me!"
The fourth prince still relies on this uncle, how can he dare to punish him?
Sighing, he nodded and said, "Since uncle has made a decision, let's act according to the plan!"
"Yes!" Ma Zhuo bowed and saluted.
…
In Yuguan City, Zhang Liang stood on the city wall, looking south in the distance.
He brought a lot of carrier pigeons with him when he came, but these carrier pigeons could only carry messages to Sichuan, Sichuan and the capital, but could not bring the messages back to Yuguan City.
So he still doesn't know about Jin Feng's affairs in the East China Sea, let alone the rebellion of the fourth prince.
"Brother Liang, what are you thinking about, so obsessed with it?"
Liu Tie wore armor and walked to Zhang Liang's side.
"Nothing," Zhang Liang turned around and asked, "Has Zhenbeifang been cleaned up?"
Yuguan City has been occupied by the Eastern Barbarians for decades. The people in the city are not only people from the Central Plains, but also many grassland people.
The Eastern Barbarians divided the people of Yuguan City into three classes.
The Eastern Barbarians are naturally the first class and have very high privileges.
The other grassland people are second-class and their status is ordinary people.
The Central Plains people are the third class. Most of them are the descendants of the Central Plains people who were plundered from the south by the Eastern Barbarians. Their status is equivalent to that of slaves. Not only do they have to do the heaviest labor, but they may also be tortured and killed by the Eastern Barbarians at any time.
Before the cold disaster last year, there were more than 10,000 Central Plains people in Yuguan City. However, after a winter, 70% of the Central Plains people in the city were frozen to death, and now there are less than 3,000 people left.
After Zhang Liang captured Yuguan City, he immediately abolished the hierarchical system and restored freedom to all the Central Plains people. He also gave the houses, cattle, sheep, grain and other items snatched from the grassland people to the Central Plains people.
All prairie people who dared to resist were executed on the spot by Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang did not kill those who did not dare to resist, but kept them as coolies.
People in the Central Plains applauded this, but people in the grassland hated it with itch, and from time to time someone would plan riots.
Liu Tie regarded these people as grindstones for the Zhenyuan Army. Whenever someone rioted, he would send the Zhenyuan Army to suppress it.
There was a grassland people riot in Zhenbeifang today, and Liu Tie had just returned from suppressing it.
"Brother Liang, don't worry. They're just a bunch of eggless cowards. They were so scared that they knelt on the ground as soon as I left."
Liu Tie patted his chest and said, "They say the grassland people are tough and tough, but I really didn't find it..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden noise from under the city wall.
The two of them looked down and saw a group of prairie people rushing towards the warehouse!