274 The Words of Slaying the Country Thief and Brothers
The thirty-eighth year of Qianyuan.
Early February.
Jinling City.
Prince Zhao Lingfeng stood in front of the majestic city tower. He quietly watched Xiao Tianzuo leading the new army to take the oath to fight.
Originally, before the army went out, Xiao Tianzuo intended to leave his wife Mu Ying or his only son Xiao Gu'an as hostages in Jinling.
After all, Xiao Tianzuo is a military general. This time he goes to the front line in person, and the entire Daqian border army will be under his jurisdiction and command.
This is not to say that he has a heavy army.
But the prince Zhao Lingfeng still refused.
On the one hand, Zhao Lingfeng believed that Mu Ying and Xiao Gu'an were both rare generals who could help Xiao Tianzuo.
Another more important aspect is that Zhao Lingfeng trusts Xiao Tianzuo immensely.
He said——
"There is no need for any proton means between the general and me, the general."
Xiao Tianzuo was extremely grateful and immediately called the prince a benevolent king who would repay the country's kindness with his own life.
Zhao Lingfeng watched the army set out for battle.
This is already an army of tens of thousands that was cobbled together by squeezing out the last remaining strength.
Official corruption, natural disasters, and constant defeats in wars with feudal lords have already reduced the grain, grass, and weapons that Da Gan had stored over the years.
Even in Jinling, the "land of plenty" in the south of the Yangtze River, most of the people in the city are now sallow and thin.
Zhao Lingfeng suddenly turned around and stared at everything in Jinling in front of him.
"My father is still bewitched by demons."
Zhao Lingfeng murmured to himself.
Although I know I can't do it, there are some things that I have to do.
Inside the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Wang Zhaomin is enjoying a gluttonous feast.
He sipped a few sips of tea under the service of a servant. With a flick of his hand, he felt dissatisfied with the dishes and immediately threw the entire table away and replaced it with a new one.
And just outside the wall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, there are countless hungry refugees fleeing the disaster.
When Wang Zhaomin was full, a special maid brought him something to rinse his mouth with.
It was also at this time that a servant came to report——
"Sir, Master Yan Guoshi is looking for you."
"Master Yan?" Wang Zhaomin was a little confused, wondering what Yan Fei was looking for at this time.
However, he did not dare to delay at all regarding Yan Fei.
It’s too late to take my time here any longer.
After briefly rinsing his mouth, Wang Zhaomin immediately got up and went.
The Prime Minister's carriage has already been prepared.
Wang Zhaomin stepped on the ladder and boarded the carriage.
There are guards accompanying him.
The carriage of the Prime Minister's Mansion marched towards the Imperial Master's Temple on the top of Purple Mountain outside the city.
The team marched to the south of the city.
South Street.
This is now a gathering place for victims fleeing Jinling.
Countless hungry victims sat paralyzed on the roadside, looking at this extremely gorgeous Prime Minister's carriage, their eyes seemed to glow with green light...
Wang Zhaomin opened the curtain slightly and felt something bad when he saw the situation, urging the coachman to leave here quickly.
The words just fell.
Only a high-pitched sound was heard, resounding throughout the entire South Street——
"Kill the thief according to the order!"
The voice is high and resounds through the sky!
Wang Zhaomin was immediately shocked.
I saw papers suddenly falling from the high-rise buildings on both sides of the street, flying all over the sky.
There are words like "Kill the national traitors" and "King Zhaomin, the national traitor" written all over it.
Before the paper fell, archers shot a large number of arrows from both sides.
Afterwards, a large number of swordsmen in black rushed out from the closed merchant stores on both sides.
Holding a knife, he rushed directly towards the Prime Minister's carriage.
Around the Prime Minister's carriage, there were a large number of guards hired by Wang Zhaomin who paid a lot of money. They were brave and fearless. They immediately drew their swords to meet the enemy and at the same time escorted the carriage away.
South Street, which was originally full of hungry people, suddenly turned into a place of fighting and fighting.
Suddenly another man came out on horseback.
He was dressed in a prince's python robe, which was extraordinarily gorgeous. He held a bright yellow imperial edict in his hand, and said it sonorously and forcefully——
"I am Zhao Lingfeng, the crown prince of the current dynasty, and I have been ordered to kill the traitor Wang Zhaomin!"
On the Prime Minister's carriage, Wang Zhaomin opened the curtain and widened his eyes, "Impossible! Your Majesty will never kill me!"
Wang Zhaomin's voice was drowned in the sound of fighting for a while.
The guards around him were paid to do things and tried their best to protect Wang Zhaomin from leaving.
But on the way, they were separated by swordsmen in black.
Wang Zhaomin escaped from the carriage.
The guard cut off the horse's reins with a knife, helped Wang Zhaomin onto the horse, and then slapped the horse behind it.
The horse galloped out of South Street.
When Prince Zhao Lingfeng saw this, he felt anxious for a moment and immediately drove his horse to catch up.
Wang Zhaomin was a scholar with poor equestrian skills.
Riding a horse and running wildly without any plan.
Soon, he was caught up by Zhao Lingfeng, shot down and fell to the end of the South Street alley.
Zhao Lingfeng was about to drive his horse and take his life with a sword.
However, they saw several masked men appear from the darkness, tripped up Zhao Lingfeng's horse, struggled with it, and stopped it.
The leading masked man glanced at Wang Zhaomin, who was lying on the ground and couldn't get up for a long time, and ordered in a low voice——
"Hurry up! Go out of South Street and go back to the Prime Minister's Mansion."
"...The people from the Prime Minister's Mansion have arrived outside South Street."
When Wang Zhaomin saw this, his eyes were filled with gratitude.
He didn't have time to say anything more, so he just said "Thank you man" and ran away quickly, crawling on the ground.
Zhao Lingfeng's eyes were about to burst with anger.
As a prince, he has also received many years of training from the palace martial arts masters.
But now that he is lame, he is faced with several masked visitors in front of him, and after a fierce battle, he cannot get out at all.
Seeing that Wang Zhaomin was already running out of South Street, he met with the Prime Minister's Office and the royal party's people.
If it fails this time, it will be difficult to get rid of this national traitor next time.
Zhao Lingfeng immediately fought hard and threw the long sword in his hand.
The long sword flew straight away.
We passed each other cheek by jowl with Wang Zhaomin, only a slight scratch.
Zhao Lingfeng's eyes suddenly went blank.
Wang Zhaomin stumbled and ran out of the South Street alley.
When he saw the prince's sword, he was frightened and cried with joy.
He was about to escape from South Street.
In front of me, the streets are full of hungry people fleeing...
These people were originally sitting sickly on the street, but at this moment, they all stood up inexplicably.
Zhao Lingfeng was stopped by several masked guests.
Seeing this situation, I had no choice but to shout——
"Please, brothers and sisters, please do your best to kill the traitor Wang Zhaomin!"
Zhao Lingfeng's words seemed to ignite the anger in these hearts...
They were all powerless, but at this moment they were like zombies, gathering together and moving forward.
Wang Zhaomin wanted to rush out of here, but he pushed away a hungry man, and there were another hungry man in front of him, seemingly endless.
There are masked men who want to take Wang Zhaomin away.
But at this time, Wang Zhaomin was surrounded by thousands of hungry people on South Street, and he couldn't squeeze in. He could only hear a burst of screaming and wailing...
When the masked leader saw this, he wanted to rush forward to save people.
But the pace gradually slowed down and finally stopped.
He sighed, "There are too many people to save."
As he spoke, he looked fierce, "Kill this Zhao Lingfeng!"
Several masked guests were about to take action.
Zhao Lingfeng also had no weapons in his hands, and he had already been injured in the previous melee with one enemy against many.
It was at this critical moment that countless hungry people came rushing over.
The masked man directly killed people with his knife.
However, he found that the hungry people had no fear and continued to fight.
The masked guest was shocked.
Seeing that dense crowds of hungry people had arrived, in order not to end up like Wang Zhaomin, he had no choice but to use his strength to escape.
Seeing that the overall situation was decided, Zhao Lingfeng fell to the ground exhausted.
He just murmured the words "Thank you for Daqian".
After the masked guest left, the hungry people turned and continued walking toward Wang Zhaomin.
The screams continued one after another until they finally became silent.
Wang Zhaomin, the traitorous prime minister of Daqian, died in the hands of thousands of hungry people in Jinling City.
Some people say that the treacherous Prime Minister Wang Zhaomin was bitten to death bit by bit by tens of thousands of starving people who went crazy with hunger, almost to the point of execution.
But this group of hungry people who were almost ready to eat human flesh did not even bother to touch the unconscious Prince Zhao Lingfeng, and even risked their lives to save him.
He has no fear when facing the masked man whose strength is far superior to his own.
The hungry people risked their lives to save Zhao Lingfeng for no other reason than that Zhao Lingfeng was the only one who opened a warehouse for them and distributed relief rice and porridge.
Later, they sent someone to help Prince Zhao Lingfeng back to his men.
This shows how popular the prince is among the people.
…
Northland.
Dingbeicheng.
The royal tent in the army.
During this time, King Zhenbei was busy dealing with the armies coming from the north of the Kingdom of Jin.
Wanyan Lingxu commanded these troops, which were far larger in number than the Zhenbei Army, but there was no sign of any attack.
Obviously, the archery towers on the city wall of Dingbei City have not yet been repaired, so this is the best time to attack.
But Wanyan Lingxu made no move and just confronted the Zhenbei Army across the city, as if he just wanted to hold them here.
There is news from the secret guards lurking in Jinling——
【Wang Zhaomin has been killed by Prince Zhao Lingfeng.】
It also comes with more detailed stationery instructions.
The messengers of these secret reports were the masked guests who were preparing to take Wang Zhaomin away at that time.
Acting secret agent Yi Qiuyue took the secret letter and submitted it directly to King Zhenbei.
King Zhenbei took a quick glance and knew the scene at that time.
"It seems that Wang Zhaomin has indeed made people angry."
"...Although he still has some value, it is a pity to die so soon, but if he dies, he will die."
King Zhenbei said casually, nonchalantly.
Hearing this, Yi Qiuyue also echoed.
…
Jinling.
Prince Zhao Lingfeng falsely conveyed the imperial edict and ambushed and killed the Prime Minister Wang Zhaomin.
Moreover, they also sent top assassins to assassinate the National Preceptor Yan Fei, but failed.
Everyone in the royal party was furious and went to court to impeach him.
The prince was temporarily placed under house arrest in the East Palace.
Prince Yu Zhao Lingrui came to visit.
Two brothers met each other, drank wine, and confided the truth.
"Brother Qi, I have always looked down upon you before, but now, especially in recent years, I have discovered your true power."
Prince Yu Zhao Lingrui wears a sapphire blue personal guard python suit.
He spoke sincerely to Zhao Lingfeng.
Although Zhao Lingfeng was under house arrest in the East Palace, his complexion was still good. He was wearing white casual clothes. The injuries sustained in the ambush of Wang Zhaomin had been treated long ago, and he did not show any signs of haggard.
Facing Zhao Lingrui's warm praise, Zhao Lingfeng just smiled helplessly.
Push glass drinking room.
Zhao Lingfeng stood up and took out a map of the current situation.
Above it, on the northern border, the Jin Dynasty was powerful and constantly threatened the Northland and Hexi defense lines. Horses might trample on the Central Plains at any time.
In the south, after Xiao Tianzuo arrived in Chuzhou, he took over the command of the entire Daqian frontier army.
The allied forces of the vassal kings have also fought a decisive battle with the army of General Xiao Tianzuo in the Chuzhou area.
The enemy's army is a victorious division that has been on the battlefield for a long time, while our army is mostly a new army and a defeated division.
The disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves is huge.
"Lao Jiu, you are a smart man. Take a look at this situation and what do you think?"
"The world is in chaos."
Zhao Lingrui said sincerely: "...I, Da Qian, have reached a critical moment of survival, but there are still countless treacherous ministers in Jinling City and above the imperial court who are controlling the government and harming loyal people!"
"...Fortunately, we still have a lot of strength in our hands on the northern and southern battlefields, and Seventh Brother, you have also eliminated Wang Zhaomin. The traitorous ministers are leaderless. Soon, I will be able to turn the crisis around."
When Zhao Lingfeng heard this, he shook his head slightly.
"This is already the limit of what we can do now, and we can no longer use any extra energy."
"Besides, internal problems are difficult to cure temporarily."
"...National Master Yan Fei is still alive. She continues to bewitch my father, and the root cause still lies here."
"However, Wang Zhaomin is dead, and there are only two urgent matters now."
While speaking, Zhao Lingfeng looked at King Yu and asked like a Confucian teacher: "...Lao Jiu, which two places do you think they are?"
"The first place is the fierce battle between Chuzhou, General Xiao Tianzuo and the rebels of the feudal lord. In this battle, if General Xiao wins, our army will be able to move forward. But if we lose, Jinling City will be destroyed. Just for a moment."
"...There is another place, which should be the border battle between King Zhenbei and the Kingdom of Jin."
"Exactly."
"These two places are closely related."
"Now, if we can have a fresh army, bypass Chuzhou and go south, and surprise the Baiyue land of King Dingnan, then great things can be accomplished."
"...It's a pity that now that I'm... ambushing Wang Zhaomin, I've even used the cooks in the East Palace, and there's no one else available."
"It would be great if Old Fourteen was still here. With his talent and prestige, he would be able to gather a group of loyal and courageous warriors out of thin air."
Zhao Lingfeng said with emotion.
Prince Yu Zhao Lingrui was also speechless for a moment.
Suddenly, Zhao Lingfeng let out a long sigh and said inexplicably: "Lao Jiu, maybe you can only rely on you to quell this feudal chaos in the future."
When Zhao Lingrui heard this, he laughed at himself and said -
"Seventh Brother has promoted me. I am neither Seventh Brother nor you, nor is I the Fourteenth, how can I put down this rebellion among the feudal lords?"
Zhao Lingfeng heard this and didn't say much.
He drank in silence, then turned to ask——
"If there is a rumor in the court at this moment that General Xiao Tianzuo is afraid of the enemy and will not fight, so General Yu Wenhu is sent to Qizhou to replace him, Lao Jiu, what will you do?"
"Although I don't know about soldiers, I also know that changing generals before the battle is a taboo for military strategists."
Zhao Lingrui thought about it and said: "... Most of the people in the court are less knowledgeable about military affairs than I am. Their words cannot be trusted."
"...Don't be suspicious of people who are suspicious of you, but don't be suspicious of people you employ. Now, we can only trust General Xiao."
"But..." Zhao Lingrui said, and the topic suddenly changed, "...Personally, although I say that I do not doubt the people I employ, it is mainly a means to appease the front line. As a monarch, I will still send them privately. A trusted spy who pays attention to Xiao Tianzuo’s every move.”
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Zhao Lingfeng drank and said nothing.
After a long time, he continued to ask——
"What if there is a rumor that King Zhenbei intends to raise an army to rebel?"
