Many people heard the explosion and walked out of their homes.
Everyone was curious when they saw the hot air balloon floating in the sky.
"What is that big house in the sky?"
"How can a house fly into the sky?"
Many people living near the "Imperial Palace" heard the guards shouting with tin trumpets.
"Who is Chen Yuanfeng?"
"That's His Highness King Wu!"
"Shh, please keep your voice down. You are Your Majesty now. If the black-clad guards hear you calling you His Highness, be careful and you will be dragged into corvee service!"
"There are only a few of us here, where are the guards in black?"
"What is that house flying in the sky? How dare you call His Majesty by name?"
Several people gathered together and discussed quietly.
One of the men set up a pergola to observe carefully for a while, and exclaimed: "Oh my god, it's the Zhenyuan Escort Agency!"
"Old Liu, why are you so excited? What is the Zhenyuan Escort Agency?"
"The Zhenyuan Escort Bureau is the escort bureau under the command of the Imperial Master. When the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau comes, our good days will come!"
"What's the meaning?"
"The imperial court's request to reduce taxes a few months ago was the result of the Imperial Preceptor persuading His Majesty to issue the decree!"
"how do you know?"
"I went to work at the riverside wharf in the spring, and the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau's boat stopped at the wharf to rest. The bosses on the wharf said so."
"Tell me, what else have you heard?"
"I also heard that the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau is the most powerful army in Dakang. The Imperial Master has the ability to summon thunder and move mountains and seas!"
Old Liu said: "Look at the palace, the smoke is still billowing, and the sound just now was still so loud, it must have been struck by the thunder dropped by the Imperial Master!"
"Why did the Imperial Master want to attack Wu... Your Majesty?"
"What else could be the reason? The Imperial Master must have heard that King Wu had rebelled and sent people to deal with him!"
Old Liu lowered his voice and said: "It is said that the Master of the State is the most considerate of the people and can't hold a grain of sand in his eyes. If King Wu dares to rebel and ask us to raise taxes, the Master of the State will definitely not spare him!"
"Will the Imperial Master really make the decision for us ordinary people?"
"Of course I will. You have heard the nursery rhymes sung by children on the street in recent months, right? They were written by the National Preceptor."
"It's noon on the day of hoeing, and the farmer is still starving to death?"
"Yes, that's right, these two poems!" Old Liu said: "If you don't really feel sorry for our people, how can you write such poems? Also, do you know why His Majesty Chun Shang issued an order to reduce taxes? It's because of the Imperial Master
Your Excellency defeated the Dangxiang and Tubo in the northwest and Sichuan, and saved the imperial court a large amount of silver reward."
"So, the Imperial Master is really a bodhisattva-hearted... Hey, why did the house in the sky fly away?"
…
King Wu City is not that big and there are no high-rise buildings. Almost all the people have seen hot air balloons.
Although Jin Feng's influence in Wu was far less powerful than that of the capital and Sichuan, there were so many people, including many traveling traders and pawns, so naturally some people had heard of Jin Feng's deeds.
After seeing the hot air balloon bombing the "Imperial Palace", people who knew the flag of the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau began to popularize the knowledge to others.
As a result, more and more people knew about the Imperial Master and the existence of Jin Feng.
But what disappointed them was that they originally thought that with the arrival of the Imperial Guard, they would not have to pay high taxes. However, after the hot air balloon blew up the palace, they shouted for a while and then left.
But from that day on, Jin Feng's reputation gradually spread throughout King Wu City.
Many people are looking forward to it, hoping that Jin Feng will come to Wudi soon.
After confirming that the hot air balloon had flown away, the "imperial guards" pulled King Wu out of the basement.
Because he had just run for his life in a hurry, King Wu fell down, his clothes were covered with dust, and his hairpin flew to no one knows where. He looked extremely embarrassed.
But King Wu could no longer care about this, and climbed up the rockery nearby regardless of the guards' obstruction.
Looking from the rockery, the "Imperial Palace" is full of firelight. The main hall where civil and military officials met for morning meetings, which received special care from the bodyguards, has been blown into ruins.
This main hall is equivalent to the Jinluan Palace in Jin Feng's previous life. It is a symbol of the emperor's status. Just being blown down like this is almost like hitting the King of Wu in the face.
King Wu was so angry that he was shaking all over: "Where did this damn hot air balloon come from?"
The guard lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing no one responded, King Wu was so angry that he kicked the guard: "Why are you still standing there? Send someone on horseback to chase me. I will cut this traitor into pieces with a thousand knives!"
"Your Majesty... take a look at this first..."
The guard glanced at King Wu carefully, and then handed over a note: "The people from the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau shot a letter in front of the main hall. Mr. Zhou just delivered it..."
King Wu took the cloth and his face became even more ugly after reading it.
But he no longer mentioned chasing the escort.
After Jin Feng retreated to Hewan, he secretly sent several bodyguards to sneak into King Wu's fiefdom, preparing to behead King Wu at a critical moment.
Later, considering that if King Wu died, the land of Wu would be even more chaotic, they canceled the beheading plan and changed it to shock.
The escort said on the notice that they still have several hot air balloons in Wu. If the King of Wu sends people to hunt them down, or sets up a blockade on the Yangtze River to intercept the Zhenyuan Escort's ships, the hot air balloons hidden in the dark will be lost.
They would bomb the King Wu's palace and the mansions of powerful people at night.
This is a naked threat, and the effect is very obvious.
Although King Wu was very angry, he was really afraid.
In fact, King Wu knew that the escort was probably trying to scare him, and there might not be any other hot air balloons around the royal city.
But he didn't dare to gamble.
The hot air balloon could easily fly over the city wall. He had no weapons to counterbalance the combination of the hot air balloon and the grenade, and he had no way to prevent it, so he could only be beaten passively.
So he could only watch the hot air balloon float out of King Wu City and disappear to the north.
"Send the order and ask the navy to remove the checkpoints on the Yangtze River, and then go ashore and wait for orders!"
King Wu gritted his teeth and issued the order.
At this time, his heart was full of humiliation, but he was helpless.
Ever since he discovered that Jin Feng was still alive, he regretted proclaiming himself emperor.
But the deal was already done at that time, and there was no point in regretting it. We could only pin our hopes on getting rid of Jin Feng.
It's a pity that Jin Feng didn't get rid of him, but he was almost eliminated by Jin Feng.
At this time, there was no room for easing the conflict between him and Jin Feng, and it was impossible for the King of Wu to surrender so easily.
After giving the order for the navy to retreat, King Wu raised his head and said: "Go and find the envoys of King Chu and King Xiang, and summon six more troops to come to the palace to see me!"
…
In the East China Sea, Jin Feng did not wait for a reply from Wu Wangcheng's bodyguard. When Iron Hammer came back, he set sail.
Powered by a steam engine, it took less than an hour to get from the dock to the estuary.