Shipin Dalizheng

Chapter 288 Rebellion by Order

Xiao Poyun was shocked. "You...you are a North Vietnamese spy?"

"Brother Xiao, you must understand that there is no division between North and South Vietnam. Dai Viet has always been one. The same country, the same nation, the longer they are divided, the harder it will be to unite. Now is an opportunity to reunite Dai Viet."

Xiao Poyun was still a little hesitant, "Your Majesty of Nanyue is a wise ruler, why can't he..."

"You want to help him counterattack the Northern Dynasty? Brother Xiao, I said that all emperors are the same. Now that the Southern Dynasty is in chaos and the people are living in misery, it has been proven that he is not a qualified emperor. Blind loyalty will only cause more casualties among the people. It will take longer for him to recuperate in the future, possibly ten or twenty years. I asked you to help me persuade them to surrender, and I also want to save their lives as much as possible and ensure a smooth transition of power. Otherwise, do you want to see the Northern Dynasty army attack and rivers of blood flow?"

Xiao Poyun was suddenly shocked. Yes, the Southern Dynasty was already in such chaos, why wouldn't the Northern Dynasty emperor take the opportunity to attack? Since destruction was inevitable, less bloodshed was always a good thing.

He bowed deeply, "Annanbo is the righteous one."

After discussing many details, they acted separately. Xiao Poyun found a way to get the officials of the imperial capital to sign a letter of surrender, while Rong Tang quickly recruited troops to quell the small-scale rebellions around the imperial capital.

With the protection of his commander-in-chief status given by the Marquis of Yong'an, Rong Tang posted a recruitment poster the next day, recruiting not only inside the city but also outside the city. His slogan was only one: If you want to live, join the army.

At the same time, relief agencies inside and outside the city stopped supplying porridge to young and middle-aged people. If they wanted to eat, they had to join the army.

If there were any young and strong men in the city who were unwilling to join the army, Rong Tang would take people to search their homes and take away all the edible food. After the men went to join the army, the women, children, and the elderly were only given a mouthful of thin porridge to keep them alive.

If men outside the city don't want to join the army, nothing will happen to them. Their entire family will have nothing to eat and will starve to death.

Suddenly, the imperial capital was in a state of chaos and resentment, with everyone cursing Rong Tang. But Rong Tang didn't care at all. He would take whatever he wanted, and if anyone resisted, his special forces would pounce like wolves and tigers, hungry tigers pouncing on their prey...

In short, there is no way to resist.

Under this high pressure, more than 10,000 soldiers were recruited in one day.

When someone brought the issue to the attention of the Marquis of Yong'an, he simply played dumb, pretending not to interfere in military affairs. When officials impeached Rong Tang for excessive taxation, he retorted, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Should the entire court, civil and military officials, cower in fear and wait for death?"

The next day, conscription was expanded to officials' residences, so even their children and servants could not escape the consequences.

Of course, the officials’ families were unwilling at first. They closed their doors and planned to hold on for a while relying on their stored grain. But after Rong Tang did this, they felt as helpless as those poor people.

Of course they have to resist, they also have slaves in their family.

The poor militiamen had no choice but to join the army. After eating the communal meals, they felt really good. But then they looked at the dignitaries with disdain. Why should I fight for my life while you can just close your door and live a peaceful life?

Stealing and robbing are also robbing, and robbing openly is also robbing. Marquis Yong'an has expressly forbidden the imperial guards responsible for the security of the imperial capital from interfering in military affairs. This is permitted by the royal law.

Thus, officials were outnumbered, their food supplies were snatched away, and all the men were forced into military service, causing resentment in the imperial capital to reach an unprecedented level.

The curses of "flatterer" and "evil villain" echoed continuously over the Annan Earl's Mansion for twelve hours.

The confiscated grain was placed in the relief office. Rong Tang sent a thousand people to guard it, and Lao Wen was in charge, with a box of detonators to keep things stable. Food was distributed uniformly to the people of the city according to the existing population. The quota was enough to ensure that the people would not starve to death, but they would not be able to eat enough either.

This was the first time in Lord Ma's life that he had held such great power. To be honest, he had done some calculations himself. The relief agency had little food left. As more and more refugees gathered, the relief agency would not be able to hold out for more than ten days or half a month and would inevitably run out of food. What would he do then?

It's not like he hasn't thought about concentrating all the food in the city and distributing it uniformly, so as to maximize the guarantee that everyone can live longer, but he is willing to do so, but others are not?

Who would be willing to share their own food with others when they don’t know when they will starve to death?

Therefore, it is difficult for him to judge whether Annanbo is a good or bad person. Others can scold him, but he cannot. Not only does he not scold him, he also shrinks his head and pretends that he is forced to do so, and continues to preside over the relief work with drooping eyelids.

Finally, three days later, Rong Tang led his troops out. Judging from the number of people, and the weapons, it's hard to describe them in words: hoes, sickles, sticks, bricks...

While he was fighting outside, Xiao Poyun took advantage of this opportunity to go in and out of various mansions. He cursed Rong Tang when others cursed him, and they began to resonate with each other as they cursed. They talked about life, ideals, and the current situation, and gradually disintegrated them, paving the way for their final surrender.

At the Zheng family, Zheng Jiuzheng was drinking tea with Mr. Cui. For some reason, the news of forced conscription outside did not reach him. All his servants and guards were there, and Rong Tang did not come to steal his food.

(Rong Tang: As long as he doesn’t mess with me)

Mr. Cui looked at the gray sky outside and muttered to himself, "Actually, this might not be a bad thing."

He is a member of the Cui family. He had received news long ago that the Northern Dynasty army was coming soon. As long as he stayed with Zheng Jiu and did not go out, he would eventually wait for someone to come and pick him up.

It seems that it is a belief ingrained in them to protect themselves in troubled times, but if someone wants to stir up trouble, they have no right to intervene. The more things they have seen and experienced, the more indifferent they become to problems.

Originally, he thought that he was just an ignorant kid who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune, but his actions these days were so outlandish that even he, an old man who has seen through the world, couldn't understand it.

You say he wants to do great things, but he doesn't want fame. He is so scolded that his ancestors' graves are smoking black smoke.

You say he was just looking for profit, so he put the looted food into the relief agency to keep the people alive and minimize the number of people who starved to death.

The most outrageous thing was that he arrested the sons and grandsons of court officials who opposed him and put them under unified custody, making those officials afraid to act rashly and dare not speak out.

Under the oppression of power, the imperial capital unexpectedly became quiet.

Zheng Chang had long stopped caring about political affairs and was tutoring Zheng Baoer at home. Since his son was almost killed by Lin Zhiyu half a year ago, he had a nightmare about his past and present lives. He felt as if he had died in the dark, and the surviving body was blank for a short time. He didn't know what to do next.

The offspring was saved, but the love collapsed, and life seemed to have lost half of its meaning.

Mr. Cui asked him, "Aren't you going to do something about it?"

Zheng Jiu paused, holding the teacup. "What does the teacher want me to be in charge of? I have no military power, and the Dali Temple is practically paralyzed. Everyone is just trying to save their lives, and the officials have their own concerns. The rule of this court has collapsed. It's better to cut the Gordian knot and start all over again."

Mr. Cui sighed, "I just think you're still young and full of energy. Although Annanbo is not a good person, his reckless and daring spirit is still admirable. I heard that Fengxiangjun...she travels among the officials and their families in various prefectures every day, responsible for delivering food and medicine to the elderly, the weak, women and children. She also contacted Mo Huai'en and Doctor Sun to go out of the city to treat the refugees and prevent plague... If you don't want to hear it, I won't say it."

Zheng Jiu was in a bad mood. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear about Feng Qingqing, but the teacher had talked about Rong Tang and Feng Qingqing together. First, she said she had no energy, then she said Rong Tang was full of energy, and then she said Feng Qingqing was following in Rong Tang's footsteps.

Isn't this just saying that he's old and out of touch with the young, that they're not of the same generation anymore? He felt so choked up that he said angrily, "The Zheng family can't do what he did."