Become a feudal king from today

"Manager Liang. Read М"

"His Royal Highness King Yan."

At the gate of the palace, Zhao Xu and a group of officials and generals greeted Liang Cheng outside.

"His Highness has really made a great contribution in defeating Beidi and guarding Yan Pass this time." Liang Cheng held Zhao Xu's hand, "The Emperor is very happy. He praises His Highness every day. This old slave's ears are filled with calluses."

"As a prince, this is the duty that I should fulfill. My father has given me too much praise." Zhao Xu said with a smile.

This war was won happily, but his losses were not small.

In addition to the destruction of the land, the new recruits and veterans of the war suffered casualties.

He glanced at the imperial edict with his peripheral vision. He didn't care about praises and the like, but it was more practical to give him a substantial reward.

Unlike him, Liu Fu, Chang Wei and others laughed.

They were naturally happy that King Yan could be appreciated by the emperor.

"It's not a compliment at all. Your Highness has shown royal prestige this time. For this, the Emperor has given His Highness a big reward!" Liang Cheng winked at Zhao Xu, and the word "big" strengthened his tone.

It's just that he hasn't announced the intention yet.

Zhao Xu understood that whenever there was a major reward, the eunuch who announced the decree was always a bit fond of money.

Liang Cheng was mysterious, and Zhao Xu was looking forward to it.

He called Feng'er to give instructions.

Not long after, two servants came over carrying a box.

Liang Cheng smiled brightly and said to Zhao Xu: "Your Highness, if it is a small matter, this imperial edict will be given directly to you. However, this matter is not small, so please accept the edict from Your Highness."

After hearing this, Zhao Xu was even more looking forward to the content of the imperial edict.

So he led the officials to kneel in the direction of the capital.

At this time, Liang Cheng began to read the imperial edict and said: "I have been entrusted by heaven to carry the emperor. The edict says: My ninth son, King of Yan Zhao Xu, has conquered Yanzhou since his death. He has worked hard and won the hearts of the people. Recently, he has defeated the rebellion of Guo Tu, the counselor of the Yuan family, and guarded the Yan Pass. Fortress, I am very happy to turn the tide and promote the power of the royal family. Now I will accept Pingjun and Liaojun of Yanzhou as a fiefdom for the King of Yan. I will take charge of the garrison of Yanguan and support 120,000 troops. I admire this!"

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" After hearing the decree, Zhao Xu calmed down for a while before coming back to his senses.

The land granted by the two counties was indeed quite a lot for him.

However, he felt a naked malice.

The imperial edict mentioned that Yuan family counselor Guo Tu rebelled instead of Yuan Li.

The imperial court apparently determined that Yuan Li was not treasonous.

Liu Fu, Chang Wei and others were more excited than Zhao Xu at first, and each of them could hold cannonballs in their mouths.

Chang Wei was a straight-tempered man. When he was happy, he figured out something was wrong and asked, "How come Guo Tu is plotting rebellion!"

Liang Cheng did not blame Chang Wei for speaking recklessly.

After all, the current King of Yan is in charge of four counties and will soon have 120,000 troops.

He also knew that Chang Wei was the number one general under King Yan.

So he sighed, "It's all the trouble caused by the powerful ministers. The emperor was originally planning to hand over the entire Yanzhou to His Highness, but there was too much resistance, and there was no solid evidence for Yuan Li's matter, so he could only convict Guo Tu." , As for Yuan Lize, he was dismissed from his position, and his third brother Yuan Feng is now appointed as the pastor of Yanzhou. "

After saying that, Liang Cheng felt a little guilty and carefully looked at Zhao Xu's expression.

"These damned thieves dare to ruin His Highness's good deeds. I'm so angry. I'm so angry." Chang Wei's face was swollen, his whole body was shaking, and he pressed his hand on the handle of the knife, as if he wanted to kill someone.

Liu Fu rolled his eyes and sneered, and said: "Although Yuan Li has reduced his position, the Yuan family will not be destroyed. After all, he will still change the soup without changing the medicine. It seems that many people in the court are not at ease with His Highness."

When Liang Cheng heard this, his expression stiffened for a moment, but it passed quickly, but Liu Fu still saw it.

The smile on his lips couldn't help but grow wider.

"Don't talk nonsense." Zhao Xu glared at Liu Fu, and then said to Liang Cheng: "Excuse me, sir, please tell the emperor that I will deeply remember the emperor's kindness and live up to his trust."

In the political arena, there are some things that you just need to understand and don't have to say.

"Your Highness still understands the righteousness." Liang Cheng gave a thumbs up.

After reading out the imperial edict, Zhao Xu ordered Feng'er to hold a banquet for Liang Cheng and his party at noon.

After staying in Yancheng for a day, Liang Cheng was eager to go back and resume his duties, so he escorted Yuan Li to leave Yancheng.

Before leaving, Liang Cheng grabbed Zhao Xu's hand again and said, "Your Highness will return to the capital for a visit, and I will definitely entertain His Highness well."

Zhao Xu smiled and said, "Thank you very much, manager. I will definitely visit you with generous gifts when the time comes."

Liang Cheng looked like a teachable boy, cupped his hands, mounted his horse and left.

"Congratulations to Your Highness, Your Highness, the four northern counties of Yanzhou are all under the control of Your Highness." Liang Cheng and his entourage disappeared at the end of the official road, and Liu Ful bowed repeatedly.

"Your Highness deserves this. It's just a pity that His Highness was able to win the seven counties because of the powerful officials in the court." Chang Wei was still brooding about this matter.

Liu Fu sighed slightly. He was familiar with history books and naturally knew more about the dirty things in the court in ancient and modern times than Chang Wei.

Looking at Zhao Xu, he said: "Your Highness, when General Manager Liang is here, it is a bit inconvenient for me to tell you. In my opinion, this reward is probably not just the idea of ​​powerful people."

After a pause, he continued: "Your Highness is in charge of the four northern counties, and the Yuan family continues to be in charge of the three southern counties. This is clearly a strategy to balance Yanzhou. As for whether the emperor really wants to hand over Yanzhou to His Highness, or is he just acting with the ministers? It’s a scene worth debating.”

"What would you do if you were in the middle of the court?" Zhao Xu did not answer Liu Fu, but asked instead.

"The lower officials can also..." At this point, Liu Fu couldn't continue.

Zhao Xu smiled and said, "That's it. In the final analysis, I am just a pawn on the chessboard. It doesn't matter whether the emperor is sincere or not, the thoughts of the powerful family, or the Yuan family's stubbornness. The most important thing is The purpose is to make our territory rich and powerful, so that one day we can take the position of a chess player.”

In fact, he did not have extravagant hopes of acquiring all seven counties.

He knew very well that this would be difficult to achieve.

The chaos in Yanzhou is ahead, and no one in the court wants to let one family dominate Yanzhou again.

Therefore, the sealing of the two counties was actually within his expectation.

Rather than worrying about this, the most important thing for him is how to build the four counties that he has obtained to resist foreign enemies.

After this catastrophe, especially in the four northern counties, people's livelihood was in decline and everything was in ruins waiting to be revitalized.

However, the strength of Beidi Yanguan Battle has not been damaged, and it is still a huge threat.

In addition to Beidi, there is also Xiliang, which is constantly invading eastward.

Faced with these crises, he must now accumulate food and build walls high.

"Don't worry about other things. You should still consider how to manage the four counties. You will be busy then." Zhao Xu teased Liu Fu.

"Your Highness, I am willing to do this even if I am exhausted." Liu Fu became excited again after hearing this.

He almost shouted when he thought that he would be able to manage four counties immediately.

Chang Wei smiled naively, Liu Fu could rule four counties, and he could rule 120,000 people. He was no less excited than Liu Fu.

Other officials and generals were also grinning.

They were equally happy.

Guarding the four northern counties is one thing, but who doesn't want to get promoted and make a fortune.

The bigger the territory of King Yan, the bigger the official they would be promoted to.

In the joyful atmosphere, laughter at the city gate continued, echoing in the sky of Yancheng.

same day.

Hundreds of cavalry set off from Yancheng and headed to Pingjun and Liaojun along the official road of Yancheng.

Three days.

They conveyed the decree of the imperial edict to each of these two counties.

From then on, the entire four northern counties of Yanzhou will be under the rule of King Yan.

…

Khan court.

Muller Hongzhen sat on a poplar chair covered with tiger skin.

In front of him, the kings of the nine royal tents stood one after another.

After being silent for a long time, he said slowly: "We, the ten kings of Beidi, are now only nine of us. Brother Sar died in Yanguan."

When the nine kings heard this, they lowered their heads.

The death of Sargo was to Beidi just like the prince of Dasong who was killed by the enemy on the battlefield. This was a national honor.

If this news spreads, Beidi will lose its dignity in surrounding countries.

"You must all know how Brother Sar died. It was King Yan, and it was King Yan who made the artillery." Mule Hongzhen suddenly raised his voice.

After the Battle of Yanguan, King Yan's firearms were no longer a secret.

He also learned the name of this firearm: artillery.

"Of course, my useless brother also died in Yanguan. This is a shame!" Mule Hongzhen suddenly slammed the table in front of him and stood up.

The heads of Bokete, Ram, and Enke were lowered.

They fought this battle, and now all three of them feel ashamed.

"Father Khan, we in Beidi must avenge ourselves. We must throw the body of King Yan to the grassland to feed the wolves in order to relieve the hatred in our hearts." One person said.

His name is Temuta, and he is the eldest son of Mulhongzhen.

Currently in charge of the Heavenly Wolf King's tent that guards the Khan Court.

"Yes, kill King Yan!"

"When have we, Beidi, ever suffered such humiliation?"

"This matter will never end until death."

"..."

The remaining five kings said angrily, while Enke, Ram and Bokete remained silent.

Mulehon nodded.

This time he called all the kings from the royal tents on the grassland to the Khan Court for his own purpose.

This number one is naturally to avenge Sarge.

For Beidi, this is tradition, if he has no expression for Sarge's death.

Everyone on the grassland will accuse him of being cowardly and incompetent.

And a cowardly person is not worthy of the name of Khan.

Therefore, he must lead the Beidi army to take revenge and sacrifice King Yan's head to Sarge.

The second one is about the battle with the snowy plains to the north. The enemies from the snowy plains to the north also used artillery against them.

In his opinion, this situation will seriously threaten Beidi.

Respected as the greatest khan in Beidi, he is certainly not a stupid person.

In fact, Beidi has always been good at learning the enemy's skills.

After defeating Ningjin Dusi, the armor and weapons of the Beidi Army were greatly improved.

After getting the firecrackers, they quickly installed them in various king's tents.

Moreover, the fire blunderbuss has been modified to make it more powerful.

In terms of governance, since they occupied the black land, they also captured Ningjin Dusi.

He recruited many surrendered Dasong officials from among them to establish his own governance system in Beidi.

In ten years, this system allowed Beidi to escape from a completely nomadic life and become a half-farming and half-grazing one.

This provided Beidi with a large supply of food and grass.

Therefore, although winter is still difficult, at least Beidi people will not starve to death in large numbers compared to before.

"Breaking the Yan Pass and going south to destroy Dasong is an oath that I, Beidi Khan, have made from generation to generation. Now, by Dasong to a King of Yan, we have lost the opportunity to go south!" Mule Hongzhen said loudly.

"But..." he changed his voice, "The wolves must take revenge, but they will never be reckless. The lessons of the snowy fields in the north are as profound as the lessons of Yanguan, that is, we cannot lose on weapons."

"Is Father Khan talking about artillery?" Temuta said.

Mulehon nodded. He could not turn a blind eye to this kind of firearm.

The Beidi cavalry were fierce and invincible, but facing Yanguan, the cavalry was helpless.

Facing the artillery placed on the city wall, they could only attack the city with huge casualties.

"But how can we get the artillery?" Bokete said.

He still has lingering fears.

"There are enemies in the snowfield to the north, and King Yan of Dasong has it, so we will definitely be able to possess it. Now, you must do everything you can to find out the origin of this firearm." Muller Hongzhen said.

"Yes, Khan." Everyone said in unison.

Mulehong nodded and was about to continue, when suddenly a general came in from outside the Khan's tent, "Khan, Xiliang sent an envoy to say that he is willing to surrender to me, Beidi!"

"Really!" Mule Hongzhen was stunned for a long time when he heard this, and then his eyes showed unconcealable ecstasy.

Xiliang is northwest of Dashuang and southwest of Beidi, always threatening Beidi's soft belly.

In order to deal with this enemy, concentrate on dealing with Da Song.

Over the years, Beidi's war against Xiliang has never ended.

Now, Xiliang finally couldn't hold it any longer and chose to surrender.

"Congratulations, Father Khan, Xiliang has surrendered. Our Beidi general's strength has greatly increased. From now on, we can focus on dealing with Da Song and destroying him!"

Xiliang is located northwest of Dasong, bordering Qinzhou and Yongzhou, and currently occupies half of Jinzhou.

There are millions of people in the territory, and the territory is as big as two Yanzhous.

Xiliang surrendered, which meant that Xiliang became a vassal state of Beidi, just like the Goryeo Kingdom.

To Beidi, they were ministers.

They must carry out the orders issued by Beidi.

"There is a saying in Dasong that loses things and harvests mulberry trees in the east. Khan, God is going to destroy Dasong, so Xiliang is sent to me, Beidi, at this time." A sharp light burst out in Enke's eyes, "In this way, when Comply with God’s will and continue to attack Dasong southward.”

The defeat of Yanguan this time dampened Beidi's vigor. He had been worried that the war going south to Dasong would be affected by this, so that the revenge of the Black Iron King's tent would not be avenged.

Now that Xiliang has surrendered, there is no doubt that it is a big supplement to Beidi, and the supplement greatly exceeds the loss of Yanguan this time.

"Yes, we can't just take it easy, Da Song, keep going south!"

"I want to avenge Brother Sar and kill King Yan."

"Xiliang surrenders, and Beidi's personal trouble is gone. I will take command of all the king's tents and give Da Song a blow!"

"..."

The other kings all looked excited and kept waving their fists.

"Hahaha..." Mu Lehongzhen laughed, "Yes, the hatred of Yanguan cannot be passed away like this, but there are artillery in Yanguan and it is difficult to attack. We must find a way to attack Dasong from other directions, and at the same time Looking for artillery casting skills.”

Xiliang's surrender this time gave him a more suitable direction of attack.

But Beidi is not a reckless man who only knows how to fight. The wolf has its own wisdom.

Before this plan was implemented, he prepared to threaten Emperor Dasong.

If Emperor Dasong surrenders, King Yan's head may be in his hands without him having to do anything.

So he said: "Emperor Dasong will be so scared that he will pee his pants when he knows that Xiliang has surrendered to Beidi. He should take the opportunity to send an envoy to Dasong and order Emperor Dasong to kill King Yan to ease the relationship with Beidi. If he doesn't agree, We let Dasong's blood flow like a river."

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

In the past, the three kingdoms of Dasong, Xiliang and Beidi were in a powerful position. Now Xiliang surrendered to Beidi, and the situation changed drastically in favor of Beidi.

If you scare someone with a big praise, you may get unexpected benefits.

If Da Song doesn't agree, it's not too late to speak with a sword.

"Also, in order to cooperate with the envoys, I want you to make some noise and put pressure on them." Muller Hongzhen continued.

Beidi is very familiar with this matter.

In the past, when Beidi was still weak, every time they asked for benefits from Da Song, they would burn, kill and loot on the border.

One day later, the Beidi envoy departed from the Khan Court, arrived in Ningcheng six days later, and then headed to Yanguan.

…

Yancheng.

The palace.

Zhao Xu lay leisurely on the rocking chair and basked in the sun.

Luan'er was holding his shoulders behind him, and Feng'er was holding preserved fruits and feeding him one from time to time.

While enjoying the leisure time, a maid came into the backyard and whispered to Feng'er.

"Your Highness, the outside of the palace is blocked by scholars asking for an audience, and so are these people. They all said they were gone, but they still refuse to leave." Feng'er pouted.

Luan'er just smiled, with two dimples appearing on her face

After defeating the Yuan family's troops and retreating from Beidi at Yanguan, his prestige greatly increased.

Scholars from humble families who used to be vassal to the wealthy families came to the palace one after another and proposed themselves, hoping to become the palace's disciples.

After all, the current Prince Yan's Mansion is no longer a place that local wealthy families like the Zhang family can bully.

What's more, King Yan currently controls the four northern counties, accounting for more than half of Yanzhou's territory. .

"It's not that Dasong doesn't have a good official selection system. These scholars can only enter the officialdom through the shortcut of attachment, so they are unwilling to leave. They just want to be selected by the king." Zhao Xu said,

It's not that he is arrogant if he doesn't see these scholars.

But he didn't want to inherit the bad habits of officialdom and controlled the four northern counties by recruiting followers.

In his opinion, this will miss many talents.

Before the chaos in Yanzhou, he and Liu Fu proposed to hold a fair examination to select officials.

This plan will be implemented next.

Chewing the preserved fruit, he stretched and stood up.

After taking control of the four northern counties, he could not remain idle.

This disaster severely damaged the four northern counties.

This was originally the most dilapidated place in Dasong, but now it is even worse.

As the lord of the four counties, he must build his own fiefdom and make it rich and powerful.

After all, this is his foundation.

If one day he is surrounded by enemies on all sides and his trade routes are cut off, the only thing he can rely on is this land and the people on this land.

"Your Highness, Master Yang would like to see you."

Just as one maid left, another maid came to report.

Zhao Xu smiled helplessly, it was time to get down to business.

Come to the front yard.

Yang He is already waiting in the meeting hall.

But his face was quite ugly.

Zhao Xu frowned, and now the entire Yanzhou, both generals and officials, were celebrating as if it was the New Year.

Yang He had such a bad look on his face that he was naturally surprised.

"Your Highness, something happened." Seeing Zhao Xu arriving, Yang He said in a deep voice.