Sign a Lu Fengxian at the beginning

Royal Palace.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

After Zhou Chen finished reviewing the memorial, he slowly walked out of the Yangxin Hall.

For nearly a year, Zhou Chen purged powerful ministers, quelled civil strife, destroyed aristocratic families, defended against foreign enemies, reformed the taxation and imperial examination system, and eliminated various internal abuses...

Under Zhou Chen's drastic measures, Dazhou has moved on to the road of prosperity.

However, Zhou Chen knew in his heart that these were not enough.

How could it be possible that Da Zhou's chronic illness for so many years could be cured in less than a year?

The most obvious example is the management of officials.

In the court hall, because of Zhou Chen's clean-up, the officials were in a state of cleanliness and did not dare to be arrogant in the slightest.

But outside the court, what about the officials in various places?

The beginning of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty.

Officials of previous generations may have been motivated by the idea of ​​benefiting one party and acted with integrity.

But hundreds of years have passed.

Nowadays, after such a long period of official corruption, officials in various places have long forgotten the fundamentals of being an official.

Although, the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the officials in the world.

However, the control therein is very weak.

If local officials wanted to hide something from the court, it would be difficult for the court to figure out the reason.

Dongchang is known as the Supervisor of the whole country, covering all parts of Zhou Dynasty.

But in fact, it is difficult for Dongchang to be comprehensive and detail-oriented.

Before, when Zhou Chen was cleaning up the aristocratic family, he also cleaned up the local officials, but only a very small part of them were cleaned up.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, a large part of the official administration had not been rectified.

This time, Zhou Chen wanted to take advantage of the attack of the Hundred Cities in the Wilderness to completely rectify the local administration.

In this way, the turmoil caused by the imperial court's single decree to rectify the administration of officials will be much smaller.

"I don't know how Jia Xu's plan is going?"

Zhou Chen stood on the steps outside the palace, looking at the scenery inside the palace, thinking secretly in his heart.

At this time, a chamberlain guard came over and reported: "Your Majesty, Left Prime Minister Xiao He wants to see you."

Zhou Chen withdrew his gaze and turned back to the Yangxin Hall.

"Call him in."

"According to the decree."

Zhou Chen returned to the Yangxin Hall. As soon as he sat on the dragon chair, Xiao He walked in.

"Your Majesty, Xiao He, has met."

Xiao He bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen who was sitting on the dragon chair.

"No gift."

Zhou Chen raised his eyes and looked at Xiao He; "Ai Qing, why did you come to Yangxin Palace?"

"Your Majesty, I came to Yangxin Hall to discuss the matter of hundreds of cities in the wilderness capturing my city in the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"Today, the Thirteen Palaces of our Great Zhou are controlled by masters from the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness. A large number of officials are thieves, and many powerful families are undercurrents. If we don't control it, if this continues, our Great Zhou will probably be in chaos.

."

Xiao He bowed and said with a solemn expression.

From the beginning, Xiao He, the left prime minister, did not agree with such actions.

What Xiao He was worried about was causing chaos.

But now, the situation is developing in the direction that Xiao He is worried about, and the hearts of people all over the Zhou Dynasty have begun to fluctuate, which makes Xiao He have to enter the palace again to meet the saint.

When Zhou Chen heard Xiao He's words, a trace of helplessness flashed across his face.

These days, Xiao He has gone to court for this matter no less than three times.

Zhou Chen also understands Xiao He's worries, but Zhou Chen also understands that in order to deal with the masters from hundreds of cities in the wilderness, sacrifice is inevitable.

Xiao He is the left prime minister and a minister. What Xiao He considers is stability and people's livelihood.

But Zhou Chen is the emperor, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. What Zhou Chen considers is imperial power and the ultimate goal.

As long as the master can achieve the ultimate goal of destroying hundreds of cities in the wilderness, he will not hesitate no matter how much he sacrifices.

This is the difference between an emperor and his ministers.

The position is different, the seeing and the decision are different.

It is said that emperors are cold-blooded and ruthless, and can sacrifice everything to consolidate their power.

In fact, this statement is not false at all and has three points of truth.

Even Zhou Chen, an emperor who lived in two lifetimes, is not exempt from vulgarity.

Zhou Chen can eliminate the privileges of aristocratic families and treat the people of the world well for the sake of the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

But Zhou Chen would never give up the opportunity to deal with the masters from hundreds of cities just for the sake of some sacrifice.

This is the emperor.

Kind, but not compassionate.

Cold-blooded, but not violent.

"I understand."

Zhou Chen said lightly.

With news about Dongchang, Zhou Chen got more timely and comprehensive news than Xiao He.

The news that Xiao He said about the Thirteen Mansion falling into the hands of masters from the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness was previously reported to the imperial court.

There is no news back to the court about the Five Prefectures.

In other words, the Great Zhou Dynasty is now controlled by the masters of the Eighteen Prefectures of the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness, and it has fallen into the hands of the masters of the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness, not the Thirteen Prefectures.

But Zhou Chen couldn't tell Xiao He.

Otherwise, Xiao He, the left prime minister, might not have reacted in any way!

"His Majesty……"

Just when Xiao He opened his mouth to say something else, Cao Zhengchun walked into the Yangxin Hall.

"Your Majesty, news has just come back that some of the people from the hundreds of cities in the wilderness have given up on occupying my city in the Great Zhou Dynasty and left directly."

"It looks like they are leaving my great Zhou Dynasty and eager to return to the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness."

Cao Zhengchun bowed down to report and presented the news in his hand to Zhou Chen.

"oh!"

When Zhou Chen heard this, his eyes flashed.

Zhou Chen immediately took the message from Cao Zhengchun's hand and glanced at it.

"It seems that Jia Xu's plan is going well."

After reading the news, Zhou Chen said with twinkling eyes.

In order to deal with the crisis coming from the Great Wilderness Hundred Cities, Zhou Chen adopted the strategy of Fang Xuanling and Jia Xu, using a two-pronged approach.

The first is to provoke the desert bandits, raid the hundreds of cities in the wilderness, disrupt the hundreds of cities in the wilderness, and contain the city lords of the hundreds of cities in the wilderness who have not yet come to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Secondly, with the chaos of the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness, the city owners of the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness who came to the Great Zhou had to come back to help, leave the Great Zhou and rescue their old nests, which could reduce the pressure on the Great Zhou.

Third, use the cities of the Great Zhou as bait to spread out the masters from each of the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness so that they can defeat them one by one.

Just like the City of Ten Thousand Beasts, they occupied a lot of cities. The masters of the various forces in the City of Ten Thousand Beasts were naturally scattered because they wanted to control the cities. This way, it would be much easier to deal with them one by one.

Moreover, the most important thing about this plan is to bring chaos to hundreds of cities in the wilderness.

As long as the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness are in chaos, the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness will not be able to pose any threat to the Great Zhou in a short period of time.

Now seeing the masters of the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness who occupied the city of Dazhou leave, Zhou Chen knew that their plan was successful and the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness were in chaos.

Xiao He next to him heard Cao Zhengchun's report, his eyes flashed, and he immediately raised his hands to Zhou Chen on the dragon throne and said, "Your Majesty, since the plan went well and part of the people from the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness have left, we should take action immediately to destroy the Wilderness.

The remaining people in the hundred cities should stabilize the situation as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Zhou Chen nodded; "It's time to wrap things up."

Now that the Eighteen Prefectures of the Great Zhou Dynasty are under the leadership of thieves, people's hearts have become unstable.

If we don't finish it off, it might really cause a big mess.

"Cao Zhengchun."

Zhou Chen looked at Cao Zhengchun and said, "Pass my decree, everything should be done according to plan, and it should be finished as soon as possible. Don't worry about the people leaving the deserted city. They can escape, but the monk cannot escape from the temple."

"All the troops who have not left the wilderness and hundreds of cities will be destroyed by Yu Wen and Chengdu. No one will be left alive."

"I am ordering both the light and dark guards of Dongchang from all over the country to take down all the powerful families and local officials who have made any changes in the past."

"Factory guards in various places cooperate with the cabinet and the six ministries to investigate officials in various places and rectify the administration of officials in various places..."

Zhou Chen made several orders in succession.

This was all planned before.

Including the situation of officials in various places, Jia Xu had already figured out the situation.

Which local officials can use it, and which local officials can't use it.

It has been clearly recorded which local officials are simple-minded people and which local officials only understand the common people and do not know how to govern the place.

"Old slave obeys the order."

Cao Zhengchun bowed to receive the order.

…

Following Zhou Chen’s decree.

Groups of officials led their troops and horses, whipping their whips, and left Luoyang City.

At the same time, four figures jumped into the air from the Liubu Yamen, stepped out in four different directions, and disappeared in the distance in an instant.

These four figures are none other than Xuanling, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Du Ruhui, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Xun Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Hunan, and Liu Ye, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

Fang Xuanling and the other four were the imperial envoys who were responsible for checking local officials and rectifying their administration.

There were four of them, Fang Xuanling, each responsible for one side.

In order to check and rectify the official administration in various places, Zhou Chen directly sent Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui this time.

Zhou Chen will take advantage of this opportunity to carry out an investigation and rectification with lightning speed before local officials can make any reaction, so as to minimize the turmoil.

…

Just when Zhou Chen issued an order to finish off, kill the remaining people in the Hundred Cities of the Wilderness, and conduct an inventory and rectify the local officials.

The crisis from the east came suddenly.

Dongdu City.

Fighting all day long.

Bodies were lying on top of the city walls, broken limbs and broken arms could be seen everywhere, and bright red blood dyed the city head red.

A line of official uniforms had been stained red with blood. A pale-faced official stood on the top of the city, holding up the long sword in his hand and yelling: "General Zhao, please break out of the encirclement with the white horse Yi Cong and leave me alone."

"I come from a poor family, and I am highly valued by His Majesty. He has appointed me as the head of the Eastern Capital Palace."

"It's a pity that I failed to live up to His Majesty's expectations. I failed to defend the Eastern Capital City for Your Majesty. All the 30,000 defenders died in the battle. I have no shame in living."

"Today, I will live or die with this eastern capital city."

"Kill the thief..."

A cold light flashed.

A head flew off.

The long sword raised by the palace master was frozen in place, and there was no chance to swing it down.

At the top of the city, Zhao Yun looked at the flying head with scarlet eyes; "Master..."

At this moment, Zhao Yun's hair was messy, his body was stained with blood and scarred, and he had long lost his elegant demeanor of wearing white armor and silver guns.

Seeing whether the master of the palace was alive or dead, Zhao Yun did not hesitate, turned around and rushed out with his white horse righteous followers.

“Where righteousness comes, life and death follow it.”

"The sky is a guide, and the white horse is a witness."

Under the leadership of Zhao Yun, three thousand white-horse Yi Cong were like a torrent, rolling up huge waves and rushing through tens of thousands of enemy troops.

"Zhao Yun, where can I escape?"

Four generals in armor surrounded and attacked from all sides.

"Anyone who stands in my way will die."

Zhao Yun looked fierce, and the spear in his hand was like a snake spitting and dancing, shooting four times in a row, killing each other.

When the four surrounding generals met each other, Zhao Yun pierced their throats and died under Zhao Yun's gun.

"You are so brave. If you dare to kill my General Dayan, I will die for you."

A palm struck Zhao Yun from behind, and Zhao Yun turned around and flicked his spear.

A touch of the palm gun.

The opponent was pushed back by Zhao Yun, and Zhao Yun opened his mouth and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Zhao Yun did not stop, and continued to wave the spear in his hand, leading Bai Mayi to charge outwards to kill.

It only takes a moment.

Zhao Yun led Baima Yi to fight through the siege of tens of thousands of troops.

After Zhao Yun led the white horse Yi Cong out of the encirclement of the army, Zhao Yun looked back at the city head.

I saw that the Dazhou flag that was originally planted on the city wall had been replaced by another flag with a big word "Yan" written on it.

"Yan Dynasty."

Zhao Yun's eyes flashed with murderous intent that he had never seen before, and he opened his mouth and spat out another mouthful of blood.

The whole person was a little shaky.

As the defender of the Eastern Capital City, Zhao Yun failed to defend the Eastern Capital City and was beaten and fled in embarrassment. This was an unprecedented shame for Zhao Yun.

But Zhao Yun knew that he could not die in the East Capital City like this.

He immediately rushed back to Dongyan Pass, notified Donghuang Hou, and arranged defenses to resist Dayan's army.

At the same time, the news must be sent back to the court immediately.

As for why Dayan suddenly sent troops to attack the eastern capital, this is no longer within the scope of Zhao Yun's consideration.

After Zhao Yun glanced at the Dayan flag on the top of the city, without a single pause, he galvanized his horse and fled in the direction of Dongyan Pass.

…

The city gate is not far away.

A heroic general in black armor looked at Zhao Yun who had broken out of the siege and couldn't help but said, "What a white horse follower, what a Zhao Yun and Zhao Zilong."

"I didn't expect that this great Zhou Dynasty would have such an elite person as Baima Yicong, and he would also have condensed the spirit of the army. It's really surprising."

"Especially this Zhao Zilong, he is truly a rare brave general. I am afraid that even in our Great Yan Army, there are few who can compare with him."

The heroic general said with admiration.

This heroic general was also a little amazed at the fighting power that Zhao Yun and Baima Yicong unleashed.

It is really surprising that the 30,000-strong army could not retain Zhao Yun and 3,000 white-horse Yi Cong.

"However, it is not that easy to escape from this general."

Seeing Zhao Yun breaking out of the siege, galloping his horse and whipping towards the distance, the heroic general sneered.

"Pass this general's order to leave a group of troops behind to assist the commander behind. The rest will follow my general to pursue the remaining enemy."

"This general, the vanguard general, must capture Dongyan Pass in Dazhou for the general before he arrives, and clear the way for the army to attack Dazhou."

After the heroic general finished speaking, he led the 20,000 troops behind him, as well as the 30,000 troops that had just surrounded the eastern capital city. A total of 50,000 vanguard troops chased after Zhao Yun and Baima Yicong's escape.

As for the Eastern Capital City, this heroic general did not pay too much attention.

The defenders in the city have been wiped out and the palace lord has been killed. All that is needed is to leave a team of men to take over.