Chapter 172

Zheng Boye's words had barely faded when Sun Liang collapsed to the ground with a "plop." The feeling of surviving a disaster allowed his mind to relax all at once, nearly sending him into a faint.

As for Sun Ying, he was biting his lip so hard that blood had already seeped out. Although he was crippled, his eyes had still held a certain vigor. Now, however, his gaze was filled with nothing but turbidity.

Zheng Boye didn't linger in the Sun residence. He ordered his men to release the Sun family's servants and left a troop of soldiers outside the residence before climbing onto his Pixiu and returning to the Prefect's manor under the tight protection of his personal guards.

After all, the Prefect's manor was the true center of Yingdu now, while the Prince Cheng's residence was more like a symbolic landmark.

On the way back, the Wild Man King didn't ride a horse; instead, he proactively followed beside the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint didn't ask any questions, but the Wild Man King took the initiative to explain.

Who told him his identity was inherently a sin?

Moreover, the Wild Man King understood that even if he had performed a great service today, he still didn't measure up to the Sword Saint in Zheng Boye's eyes.

Furthermore, the other Demon Kings, the Wild Man King seemed to understand, didn't seem to have much attachment to things like "good and evil." Their behavior was centered on their own preferences, just like their master.

The Wild Man King even felt that they didn't seem to care much about their original identity as "Yan people."

But the Sword Saint was different. Although the current Sword Saint had changed a lot, the Wild Man King didn't let his guard down. Because the Sword Saint of the past wouldn't have walked over and directly killed the masked man with a single strike.

Even if he knew it was easy to kill him, he would have told him, "I'm about to attack, brace yourself."

"Our Lord's move can be described as turning his hand to make clouds and turning it again to make rain.

First, he protected the Sun family. Judging from the old man Sun Youdao's tone, he's preparing to come out of retirement; otherwise, relying on his second son, Sun Liang, this deal couldn't have been pulled off.

Now that Yingdu is in chaos, whether it's the nobles and commoners of Yingdu or the Great Yan court, they're all thinking about the same thing, which is to stabilize the situation in Yingdu as soon as possible.

Sun Youdao is already highly respected, the most senior, and his abilities are obvious to all. Taking advantage of this momentum, even if he sits still, the officials of Yingdu will petition him to come out and preside over the overall situation, and even the court will issue an imperial decree, implying that he should come forward to appease the situation.

And after Sun Youdao comes out of retirement this time, his position won't decline because of his time in retirement. On the contrary, he'll use this momentum to gain a more in-depth control of Yingdu, the former center of the Cheng Kingdom, than before.

This also provides better conditions for him to fulfill the promises he made to our Lord.

Second, Sun Ying's betrayal of his allies will cause him, no, even the entire Sun family, to be hated by the rebel party in Jin. In other words, the Sun family's reputation is already ruined, and they're completely tied to our Lord's ship, with no possibility of turning back."

After listening to these words, the Sword Saint said:

"You said earlier that everyone was going to petition Sun Youdao to come out and preside over the situation, but now you say that the Sun family's reputation is ruined? Isn't that a contradiction?"

The Wild Man King shook his head and said:

"It's not a contradiction, not at all. Just like your sword has two sides, so does a person.

After this matter is publicized,

the nobles and commoners of Yingdu will be even more eager for Sun Youdao to come out of retirement.

The nobles are worried that after this rebellion, the Great Yan court will take advantage of this opportunity to delve deeper into the waters of Yingdu, reduce their power, and suppress their status.

The commoners of Yingdu are worried that if the rebellion happens a few more times, or if it leads to war, it will affect their livelihoods, and they may have to be displaced again.

And the Sun family, who just helped the Yan people complete this annihilation of the rebel party and made great contributions, in the eyes of the nobles and commoners, is the true Yan court. If he comes forward to preside over the situation, he should be able to withstand the pressure from the Yan court, and everyone can enjoy the shade under the big tree.

But how should I put it,

what I just said is one side, the other side is that once people are no longer in danger of losing their lives, they start thinking about things that are unnecessary. They're muddleheaded and follow the crowd like duckweed without any backbone, but they always shamelessly like to laugh at others.

It's still these nobles, still these officials, they will inevitably criticize the Sun family and Sun Youdao behind their backs, calling them traitors and betrayers of the country, etc.

During the day, when they see the Sun family on the street or in the yamen, they will kneel down and flatter them. At night, when three or five friends gather, after drinking three cups of horse urine, they can criticize Sun Youdao from head to toe.

Even the commoners of Yingdu will make up many stories about Sun Youdao. When they close the door, they will first spit on the ground, scold 'Old Dog Sun', and then curse when this Jin traitor or Cheng traitor will die!

Popular support and a bad reputation are not contradictory at all.

In the end, it's still because there are too few people in this world who can stand up completely regardless of everything. Do you think everyone can be like you, taking the initiative to stand in front of a group of cavalry sabers?

Besides, even you have been scolded, haven't you?"

The Sword Saint pondered for a long time,

and finally said:

"Troublesome."

"But you seem to be more open-minded than I expected."

"Because I think thinking too much makes people annoyed, so I don't think about it."

"You're in a realm, enlightened."

The Prefect's manor had arrived.

Entering the Prefect's manor, Zheng Boye didn't let the Sword Saint go in first. After all, if the Prefect's manor wasn't safe at this time, it would mean that the rebels had completely conquered Yingdu City, which was obviously impossible.

Hearing that Zheng Boye had returned, Prefect Mao and Prince Cheng, Situ Yu, took the initiative to greet him.

Zheng Boye had gotten his benefits and fulfilled his wishes, so he naturally wouldn't put on any airs. Not to mention anything else, just the fact that Prefect Mao had knelt down to him earlier, he had to save face for him now.

"Greetings, Prince Cheng, greetings, Prefect. Your Highness, Your Excellency, please rest assured, the rebels in the city have basically been suppressed. Now, only a little cleanup remains."

Situ Yu said, "Fortunately, Earl Pingye is here. It's truly the good fortune of my Yingdu."

Prefect Mao stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "Indeed, if Earl Pingye hadn't been here, this official and Your Highness would have been very busy."

The three of them then entered the signing room together, and Zheng Boye told them what had happened.

Of course, it definitely wasn't the truth.

"In that case, Grand Tutor Sun can be considered loyal and devoted to the country." Prefect Mao said with emotion.

In fact, he didn't believe it at first. He didn't believe that Sun Youdao would do such a thing, because he felt that Sun Youdao's awareness wasn't that low.

The awareness here doesn't refer to loyalty to Great Yan, but another kind of national sentiment.

In Mao Mingcai's view, Sun Youdao could just watch from the sidelines; there was really no need for his eldest son to get involved in a conspiracy.

What was he plotting?

You must know that His Majesty had issued an edict, wanting him to go to Yanjing to be an official, but he refused on the grounds that he was old and frail.

Old and frail, everyone knows, is just an official excuse.

To put it bluntly, he just didn't want to serve the Yan.

But everyone can understand, if you don't want to do it, then don't do it. His Majesty and the court didn't make things difficult for him.

But if you don't want to go to Yanjing to be an official, and then you contact Earl Pingye to do some inside-outside cooperation,

what are you doing?

Of course, Mao Mingcai couldn't say these words, because it was taboo.

You can't say that it's wrong to be loyal to Great Yan.

And according to Zheng Boye's step-by-step planning, advance prediction, and handling, it was too seamless, so Mao Mingcai also believed that someone had tipped off Zheng Boye in advance, and prepared to cooperate from the inside.

Emotionally, he couldn't understand it, but rationally, he had already accepted this reality.

After listening to these words, a touch of dimness flashed in Situ Yu's eyes, but it was quickly hidden.

His position was actually very awkward.

As Situ Lei's son, did he want to restore his father's former glory? Restore the Situ family's dominant position in Jin East?

The answer must be yes.

But first, he knew that the Yan people were powerful and their soldiers were strong, while his side was obviously insufficient in strength. Even the original Jin army left by his father had long been forcibly reorganized by Marquis Jingnan and transferred to the Fengxin City front line.

Second, he couldn't bear his current life.

Situ Lei's desperate blow before his death preserved Yingdu. An imperial edict of allegiance to Great Yan exchanged Situ Yu for a hereditary prince of Great Yan.

Although he couldn't call himself an emperor, it was enough to guarantee wealth and glory for himself and his descendants for generations.

However, after learning about Sun Youdao's "deeds" from Zheng Boye, Situ Yu couldn't help but hate him in his heart.

Because he knew that if the rebels succeeded in their rebellion, they would inevitably support him as emperor.

Fortunately, the Sword Saint didn't enter the signing room. When Zheng Boye was in a completely safe environment, he could let his guard down at will; otherwise, the Sword Saint would soon be able to find the reference point that the Wild Man King had told him about earlier.

"So, Prefect Mao, Your Highness, I think there are three things we need to do right now.

First, Prefect Mao, in the name of the Yingdu Prefect, transfer another troop of soldiers to guard Yingdu."

The transferred soldiers were naturally Yan soldiers. At the same time, there was another sentence that wasn't said: since Yan soldiers were transferred, the Jin army in the two major camps, north and south of the city, would naturally have to be transferred out.

Yingdu was too important; it had to be firmly controlled by the Yan people themselves.

Mao Mingcai nodded.

"Second, please open the treasury as soon as possible, and also ask Your Highness to open some of the Prince's inner treasury. This time, it's a rebellion within the city. After the army enters the city and the rebellion is suppressed, the troops should be rewarded immediately.

The Jingnan Army and the soldiers of the West Gate Camp who entered the city to quell the rebellion naturally need to be well rewarded. At the same time, the North and South Camps also need to be comforted, after all, they are now in a state of panic. And the stability of the North and South Camps was a major factor in the rapid suppression of this rebellion.

In addition, timely rewards can also stabilize the soldiers, otherwise I'm worried that it will cause harm to the people in the city."

The Yan army was disciplined, and the discipline here refers to the discipline during marching and fighting, but the usual discipline was not flattering. Moreover, once the soldiers were bloodthirsty, they would start burning, killing, and looting after the rebels were killed, which was also a very normal thing.

The reason why there are so many examples of massacres after long-term sieges is also because the soldiers' spirits have been suppressed and strained to the extreme. Once they enter the city, they will inevitably vent their anger. The commander can't stop them even if he wants to, otherwise the soldiers below will mutiny in minutes.

The reason why the court wants to take back local governance rights is also due to this reason. It's really not a friendly thing for the local people to be governed by military leaders.

Mao Mingcai immediately said:

"That's natural. This official will immediately send someone back to open the treasury to reward the soldiers. However, one thing doesn't need two masters. Please, Earl Pingye, make a trip to distribute the rewards."

Mao Mingcai's relationship with Zheng Fan was very strange.

During the day, they were at odds with each other, with the civil and military officials in opposition, but now they had a feeling of being drunk by the wind in Jin.

Of course, the reason why Mao Mingcai said this wasn't to deliberately win over Zheng Fan, at least, not entirely that. Instead, he was blocking Situ Yu's mouth in advance.

After the Yan people entered the Cheng Kingdom, they naturally isolated the Prince Cheng's residence and the Jin army below. You, Prince Cheng, can live a life of luxury in the Yingdu Prince's residence, but you must never touch military power again.

Rewarding the soldiers was a move to win people's hearts, so it was impossible for Situ Yu to do it.

Sure enough,

after Mao Mingcai finished speaking,

Situ Yu also said:

"This prince will order someone to transfer the rewards to Earl Pingye later. I'll have to trouble Earl Pingye."

Zheng Boye nodded and said, "Thank you for the trust of Prefect Mao and Your Highness."

Mao Mingcai then continued to ask:

"Earl Pingye, what's the third point?"

Zheng Fan said:

"The third point is punishment. There must be rewards and punishments, and only clear rewards and punishments can lead to long-term stability. This time, many officials were involved in the rebellion, many were derelict in their duties, and even more turned a blind eye.

I think we should use heavy penalties to govern, as a warning to others."

Situ Yu was a little worried when he heard this and said, "But will doing so destabilize people's hearts?"

Zheng Boye immediately replied, "Therefore, I suggest inviting Grand Tutor Sun to come out of retirement to rectify and reorganize the Yingdu bureaucracy. First, Grand Tutor Sun has a good reputation in Yingdu and can reassure people; second, Grand Tutor Sun is very familiar with Yingdu and can be targeted when rectifying.

Of course, all of this must be led by Prefect Mao."

Mao Mingcai narrowed his eyes. He always felt that things were too smooth, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. After all, the suggestions Zheng Boye made were pertinent, and even if Zheng Boye didn't mention it, the court would probably invite Grand Tutor Sun to come out of retirement again.

"This prince thinks it's feasible."

Situ Yu quickly expressed his attitude. He had previously felt disgusted with Sun Youdao in his heart, but he understood even more that it was better for Sun Youdao to come forward than for the Yan court to send another cruel official.

Mao Mingcai finally nodded and said, "Earl Pingye is right."

After talking,

Zheng Fan got up to say goodbye.

The chaos had been quelled. Next, he still had the task of rewarding the soldiers, but it would take a little time to prepare the rewards. It was a good time for him to go back to the post to take a bath and rest.

In addition, there was a lot of chaos in Yingdu today, and he had to go back to see the princess who was alone in the post.

After briefly saying goodbye to Mao Mingcai and Situ Yu,

Zheng Boye took his men back to the post.

As soon as he entered the gate of the post, Zheng Boye took off a waist牌(waist badge) from his waist. This was a gift from the emperor, and the words "Earl Pingye" were engraved on it.

Zheng Boye handed the waist badge to the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint was a little puzzled and didn't take it. He asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Not counting the patrol department and the city guards, there are still a large number of soldiers transferred from the military camps outside the city. Although they are still searching for the remnants of the rebels, and although I have sent Gao Yi to supervise the patrols, I am still worried that they will do some things to disturb the people.

This is my token. You can walk around the city and see. If you encounter soldiers committing crimes, you can use my token to stop them."

The Sword Saint took the token and smiled.

He said:

"Stop them?"

Zheng Boye also responded, "Or you can understand it as, after killing the soldiers who committed the crime, you can take out the token to escape when you are besieged."

The Sword Saint nodded and said, "It's really strange. It means the same thing, but saying it in a different way makes it feel completely different."

"If you like it."

The Sword Saint shook his head and threw the token back to Zheng Fan. He said:

"I'm tired. I want to rest for a while. You don't need me to accompany you to the military camp tonight, right?"

"No need."

"Then I'm going to sleep."

"Sweet dreams."

The Sword Saint went back to his room.

Zheng Boye took back the token and turned to walk towards his main room.

The Wild Man King took this opportunity to take the initiative to approach the Blind Man and said, "I did a good job today, right?"

Logically speaking, the Wild Man King wouldn't be so naive.

But people's naivety depends on who they are with. For example, superiors are bound to be extremely majestic in front of their subordinates, but when they are with people of their own level, they are actually no different from ordinary people.

Obviously, the Wild Man King felt that the Blind Man was a person of the same level.

The Blind Man nodded and said, "I know you wrote a note."

"Oh?"

"I also know whose name you wrote."

At that time, the Wild Man King was sitting at the table opposite the Blind Man, very close. How could the Blind Man's mental power not detect it?

"Then why didn't you stop me, or ask me?"

"Why should I stop you, why should I ask you?"

"Aren't you afraid that I'll mess things up?"

"You're doing this, there's always your reason, I'm just waiting to see. Your name is Gou Moli, not Gou Ersha (lit. Gou the Idiot)."

"Are you praising me?"

"What do you think?"

"I'll take it as one."

"Sure."

"That's good. Do we have nothing to do tonight?"

"Other than going to the military camp, there shouldn't be anything else."

"Then shall we play a few more rounds?"

"Using the word 'kill' when playing Gomoku seems a bit much."

………

Zheng Boye entered the room, and Xiong Liqing greeted him and took the initiative to help Zheng Boye remove his armor.

"There was a lot of movement in the city today." The princess said.

"Yeah, didn't scare you, did it?"

"No, I was just worried about you."

"I cherish my life."

"I know."

After the armor was removed,

Zheng Boye was about to stretch, but he found that the princess's fingers had keenly captured two protruding points on his chest and began to spiral around them.

"Hiss..."

Zheng Boye took half a step back and said:

"I'm all sweaty, don't stink you."

Seeing this, the princess said:

"Then shall we change to this?"

As she said that, the princess's hand made a virtual grip and then shook it up and down.

Seeing that Zheng Boye didn't say anything, the princess sat on the chair, took off her shoes, revealing her feet.

"Or this?"

"Hehe."

Zheng Boye was amused.

The princess bit her lip, seemingly a little puzzled, and said, "Elder Sister only taught me these three things. She said it should be enough on the road, and I should be able to practice them all by the time I get back."

"It seems you're getting along very well."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to the military camp to reward the soldiers later. Do you want to come with me? Just to get some fresh air."

"Okay, let me change my clothes."

"Just change into casual clothes, a disguise as a man will do."

"That won't do. I have to put on luxurious clothes."

"It's not like we're going to reward our own soldiers, no need to be so troublesome."

"It's not now, but it might be in the future."

"You make a good point."

"Hehe, right? By the way, there's a very famous clothing store in Yingdu. I heard about it when I was in Chu. There's no chance today, but I want to go shopping tomorrow, if their store is open."

After all, today was chaotic, and it's normal for shops to be closed tomorrow.

"It will be open."

Zheng Boye was very certain.

"But the clothes inside are very expensive. I want to make a few sets of silkworm silk clothes, which is a precious material from the Heavenly Mountain Range."

Zheng Boye didn't foolishly say "rob them."

Because he knew that what women liked was this mood. The things that were robbed felt worthless.

"Okay, tomorrow we'll go out in disguise and accompany you to shop."

"But it's really expensive." The princess reminded again.

Zheng Boye smiled.

He said:

"Men earn money to be scammed by women."

chun jie di xiao long