Things in Dongyi City are still complicated and sensitive, and suddenly they are going to become citizens of the Qing Kingdom, which is not something everyone can accept. Businessmen are really interested in profits, and bitches are really ruthless, but even the people in the brothels of commercial firms still find it difficult to change immediately. This is different from doing business. If you are not familiar with it, it is to kill customers, and the power to control your own life and death is best placed in the hands of acquaintances. This is not the same as picking up guests in a brothel, a bit of red lips can be tasted by thousands of people? In fact, the girls are also looking forward to the end of the day.
Especially those vassal states controlled by Dongyi City have already become restless. The state of Song, which is adjacent to Yanjing, is better, because the noble officials of this small country have long been accustomed to the power of Yanjing's army, and they have no will to resist at all. And other small countries that do not border Nanqing, when they think that they will soon lose their nominal power and luxury and become dispensable hostages in the capital of Nanqing, they naturally start to do something secretly.
The power of these small vassal states is not strong, so the means they choose are relatively dark. Secretly stirred up the undercurrent among the people and sprinkled pepper on the emotions of the Dongyi people. In just half a month, the protests everywhere have become more intense and frequent than before.
These were all within Fan Xian's expectations. To peacefully accept Dongyi City was not something that could be accomplished overnight. This was the biggest event that had happened in the world in the past twenty years.
The Eighth Office of the Overwatch Council had already prepared a large number of civil servants in advance, and entered Dongyi City in batches, and began to cooperate with the Sword Hut and the City Lord's Mansion to launch wave after wave of propaganda offensives. Coupled with the help of spies and spies bought from various countries, and Dongyi City's follow-up, the propaganda about peace, non-war, and common prosperity was launched vigorously.
To suppress the protests in various places and prevent these protests from turning into uncontrollable civil uprisings, Dongyi City needs to take action. Fan Xian didn't want Qing's state machinery to enter Dongyi City prematurely. If blood spilled, the Dongyi people's hatred would grow deeper, and the situation would get out of hand.
Three groups of rebels have already been suppressed, and of course these rebels are nothing more than a hundred bandits in the Wuxuan Mountain Forest. Of the twelve sons of the Sword Cottage, ten of them were sent by Fan Xian to the mountains and forests of these small countries, responsible for suppressing and explaining. As for the effect, Fan Xian is still waiting for feedback.
Due to the uncertain situation and the natural rebellious psychology of the Dongyi people, some of the astonishingly powerful commercial firms in the city also began to feel a little uneasy. Faced with this trend, Fan Xian directly joined hands with Li Bohua, the second disciple of Jianlu, and used the double pressure of the Taiping Bank and the internal treasury to directly deter the changes of all the merchants.
At the same time, Fan Xian and the mission jointly sent seventeen memorials to the capital, asking His Majesty the Emperor for relevant matters. At the same time, he asked in the secret memorial whether the arrangements for the protons of the princes could be lowered one level. So as not to force those princes to jump over the wall in a hurry and do terrible things in despair.
Conquering a territory is not something that can be done with a single sign on paper. The key is to subdue the hearts and wills of the people on this territory, and it will take years, even decades, or hundreds of years.
Fan Xian was not in a hurry, but he was worried that His Majesty the Emperor was too anxious. As far as he was concerned, it was his goal to satisfy His Majesty the Emperor, and at the same time, to be acceptable to the people of Dongyi City, so that Qing's iron cavalry would not come all the way from Yanjing. Just like a steel wire, he walked on it, with both sides hanging in the air, very carefully.
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Conquest requires propaganda and offensive, it needs to buy people's hearts, it needs to give the Dongyi people an excuse to persuade themselves, it needs Fan Xian to work around all the matters without sleep, and he needs to be in Dongyi City non-stop To interview big businessmen from all over the place and those local big shots who hold real power, to give each other a letter of approval, so that the other party can feel at ease.
This was a very tiring thing. Fan Xian's handsome face was finally spoiled a little by the dark circles under his eyes. His face also turned pale, exhausted to the extreme. But every time he thinks that he is saving hundreds of thousands of lives, this kind of feeling that he can get closer to the pleasure of martyrdom will wake him up again.
Apart from all the above, what is actually needed most for conquest is strong and irresistible force. Only with strong force as the foundation, the people of Dongyi City will be forced to accept the fate of being annexed by Qing Kingdom passively and humiliatingly.
So when the situation in Dongyi City calmed down a little, Nanqing's iron cavalry began to approach Dongyi City, like black clouds destroying mountains, unstoppable.
This is also the bottom line of His Majesty the Emperor. If the Qing Kingdom didn't garrison troops in Dongyi City, what kind of conquest would it be
It's the hot summer, and the scorching sun is shining wildly in the sky, making the miserable little daughter-in-law of Dongyi City feel like she is panting continuously, and the rainy weather after the great master of Dongyi City left The weather is all driven away, and there is just a glow.
The Northern Qi Mission had already left. To the surprise of many people, although the Northern Qi people were obviously shocked and angry about Nanqing's annexation of Dongyi City, they did not start to do anything, but just watched all this happen quietly, as if The Northern Qi people have resigned themselves to their fate.
The hundreds of people standing outside Dongyi City that day, apart from the members of the Nanqing Mission and the officials of the City Lord's Mansion of Dongyi City, were Fan Xian and the Sword Hut disciples who had rushed back from various places.
Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, standing on the rolling loess official road, subconsciously moving his feet, his appearance was not very majestic, and he didn't want to put on a majestic appearance, because he could clearly feel that at this moment in the city All the Dongyi people waiting outside looked very ugly and pale, with a special kind of anger that was suppressed forcibly.
At this time of year, Fan Xian certainly wouldn't deliberately put on a solemn appearance to provoke them.
The ground gradually trembled, and Yun Zhilan's body, who was standing beside Fan Xian, also gradually trembled. The former sword hut leader, now the lord of Dongyi City, could no longer control the desolate emptiness in his heart, and trembled.
The faces of the officials of the City Lord's Mansion in Dongyi City were extremely ugly, and the faces of the disciples of Jianlu were also a little pale, and they showed their true emotions with the trembling sound getting louder and louder.
At the end of the official road, there was a faint rumble of thunder, which caused the earth to tremble, and the small gravel in the loess on the ground was shaken and rolled.
A cavalry appeared in the line of sight, followed by two, three, ten, hundreds, thousands... The densely packed cavalry pressed forward from the west towards Dongyi City in a majestic way. The majestic momentum directly enveloped all the people in the suburbs from that side.
Qing army is here.
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The black cavalry slowly approached Dongyi City like this. They represented Qing's powerful military power, His Majesty's irresistible will, and conquest.
The Qing army stationed in Dongyi City by the Qing Kingdom totaled ten thousand people. They were drawn from the Five Route Frontier Army within a month. The army was formed in a hurry, but there was no chaos at all, because these people who were about to represent the Qing Dynasty and stationed in the four fields of Dongyi City The Qing army was all veterans of the Western Expeditionary Army back then. Under the command of the First Prince, their fighting strength was astonishing.
Fan Xian squinted his eyes, looked at the approaching and imposing Qing Jun, smiled slightly, straightened his clothes, and walked up slowly. At this moment, he couldn't help thinking about the verbal battles he had with His Majesty the Emperor in the memorial. Si Gu Jian's dying confession cost me a lot of words to convince the emperor Laozi. Of course, the emperor also knew that if the people of Dongyi City were to accept it willingly, the First Prince and Fan Xian were indeed two good choices.
The number of black riders was too small, so he had to choose the First Prince's Western Expeditionary Army, but Fan Xian absolutely believed that among these garrisons, the generals who really belonged to the Western Expeditionary Army did not account for the majority, and the First Prince only came to Dongyi City to shine Prime Minister, he still has to go back after all. It is impossible for His Majesty the Emperor to allow his eldest son to stay in Dongyi.
Fan Xian's mood became complicated when he thought of the emperor who was far away in the capital, but controlled Dongyi's affairs remotely.
Contrary to Fan Xian's expectations, His Majesty the Emperor was not angry because he took over the Sword House without an imperial decree. It was the same as what was written in the box back then, only two words.
"Anzhi."
Emperor Qing was trying to appease Fan Xian's heart, and Fan Xian couldn't help but feel a little perplexed when he thought about it. The emperor's trust in him really moved him a little. The problem was that he knew how ruthless the emperor would be if he turned his back on him, so he didn't even dare to be moved in his heart.
The wind and dust gradually rose, Wei Pu, Jackie Chan, swept the big city from the official road, and the speed of the cavalry of the Qing Kingdom gradually accelerated. Fan Xian couldn't help but narrowed his eyes and covered his mouth and nose. He didn't know who gave the order for this intimidating force, and he wondered if it would make people in Dongyi City resist.
He looked back solemnly, only to find that to his surprise, except for those strong men in the Sword Hut who had hidden anger on their faces, the rest of the officials of the City Lord's Mansion and the princes and princes who came to see the ceremony were Fear appeared on his face, his face was pale, and he seemed to have no intention of resisting at all.
Tens of thousands of cavalry came in the dust, and the momentum was astonishing. They frightened most of the people in Dongyi City to stop their resistance.
Looking at this scene, Fan Xian couldn't help but sighed in his heart. Dongyi City's blood was indeed too little. Although the First Prince's move was rude and rude, it hit the opponent's vital point. I don't know if it was the emperor or not. His Majesty made an explanation before leaving.
However, the lack of blood in Dongyi City was a good thing for Fan Xian. He never expected that the Northern Qi people would surrender without a fight like the Dongyi people. It is good to shed less blood.
The horseshoes were like thunder, and they came to the outskirts of Dongyi in a moment. Thousands of cavalrymen were dressed in dark light armor, shining dazzlingly in the sun, and the smoke and dust gradually fell, revealing the true faces of these Qing troops. The dense cavalry surrounded Dongyi City like this.
It was quiet, all quiet, and even those war horses that twisted their heads seemed to be intimidated by the military discipline of the Qing army, not daring to dig their hooves or breathe.
Ten thousand pairs of cold eyes stared at the people who came to welcome Dongyi City.
The officials, dignitaries, and giants of Dongyi City watched this scene with trepidation, seeing the strict discipline of the Qing army, the arrogance of killing, the excellent equipment, and the self-confidence and domineering that came from the inside out. I can't help but wonder, if the Lord Sword Saint hadn't issued the will to celebrate with folded arms before leaving, and these Qing troops launched an attack on Dongyi City, I don't know if Dongyi City can withstand it for a few days, or... a few minutes
Tap-tat-tat, a lonely sound of horseshoes broke the tranquility in front of the city gate. The cavalry front of the Qing army was divided, and their coach and the extremely complicated and gorgeous guard of honor around the coach walked out.
The guard of honor of the Emperor of Qing came to the outside of Dongyi City along with Qing's army.
His Royal Highness the Commander was standing next to the emperor's honor guard. He was wearing a silver light armor, a sword at his waist, a spear at his side, and a blood-red cloak behind him, flapping in the sea wind of yellow dust.
The eldest prince took the reins lightly, guarded the emperor's guard of honor, and came before the crowd, looking at everyone at the gate of Dongyi City calmly and with complicated eyes.
There was a soundless silence.
Yun Zhilan closed his eyes, remained silent for a long time, struggled for a long time, his eyelids gradually became wet, and then slowly knelt down to the guard of honor of the emperor beside the war horse.
The city lord of Dongyi City knelt down, and all the officials also knelt down, and the princes of the vassal states also knelt down, kneeling densely on the ground, expressing their gratitude to the army of Nanqing and the emperor of Nanqing. own surrender.
The disciples of Jian Hut did not kneel, although they knew that this was a helpless decision made by the master before his death, although they knew that the elder brother had broken out of the hut, for the people of Dongyi City, they had to kneel in these Qing Kingdom In front of the army, but they are not officials of Dongyi City, they are free agents, more precisely, they are people from the Jianghu.
The Jianghu people have the rules of conduct of the Jianghu people, and they don't have any fetters, so they stare at those Qing Guo cavalrymen who are so imposing and full of official roads. There is no trace of fear in their eyes, but infinite anger and fighting spirit.
More than half of the ninth-rank powerhouses in the world are here, and they are not afraid of anything.
The First Prince sat on the horse, looked indifferently at these stubborn and unwilling disciples from the Sword Cottage, and was about to say something, when he heard a familiar, clear, but tired and indifferent voice coming from the oblique side. the sound of.
"Sword Hut disciples obey orders." Fan Xian closed his eyes slightly, and said, "Go back to the city to help the City Lord's Mansion maintain law and order."
This reason is absurd, Fan Xian sighed in his heart, knowing that he had made a mistake, he shouldn't have let the disciples of Sword Hut come here, these people are the masters among the masters, all of them are too proud People, especially powerful characters like Li Bohua and Thirteen Lang, who are either the head of the world's number one bank, or the most likely to be promoted to the Grand Master, how could they bow their heads under the authority of a country.
There really wasn't much blood in Dongyi City, if there were ten points, at least nine points would remain in the hearts of the disciples of Sword Hut.
Hearing the Sect Master's words, the Sword Hut disciples did not dare to disobey their orders. They knew in their hearts that Mr. Fan was giving them a step down. After a moment of stalemate, Li Bohua finally became more mature and prudent. After a long silence, he sighed and two lines of hot tears flowed silently. He led his juniors to the city sadly, and gave way to the road into the city.
Wang Shisanlang didn't leave with him, nor did he kneel down. He just stood beside Fan Xian indifferently, watching Qing's menacing cavalry, as if he didn't see anyone at all.
The First Prince gave Fan Xian a deep look in his eyes, and then Eunuch Dai unfolded the imperial decree in his hand, and whispered it to the officials and merchants of Dongyi City who were kneeling before the guard of honor.
"I heard that Mr. Zhi has gone, and I feel sad and restless. I also heard that Mr. Gao Yi, who puts the people first, respects him..."
Fan Xian was on the side of the official road, listening to the most important imperial decree quietly, and found that this imperial decree was not like previous years, it was full of formalities, but it was indeed His Majesty's tone, and the words contained grief, The homage is not fake. As for the people of Dongyi City, how they would treat Emperor Qing who had murdered Si Gujian, that's another matter.
This imperial decree is very long, and it describes Emperor Qing's greetings to the people of Dongyi City, and the importance of unifying the world to the people of Li, with every word sincere.
In the end, His Majesty the Emperor approved Yun Zhilan's appointment as the city lord of Dongyi City, and ordered him to enter Beijing at a suitable time to accept the canonization.
Yun Zhilan, who was kneeling at the forefront, was not surprised when he heard the decree. Although he was a city lord who had negotiated a position, he had to be canonized by Emperor Qing himself if he wanted to be the city lord.
He stood up sadly, took the imperial decree with both hands, and saluted again.
The ceremony is still going on. This is an extremely complicated and important ceremony, a ceremony about conquering and being conquered.
The eldest prince got off his horse, approached Fan Xian, looked at him for a long while and said, "You didn't do well before."
Fan Xian knew that this close brother was referring to the fact that he had asked the disciples of the Sword Cottage to leave. After a moment of silence, he replied, "I'm already very tired, and I don't know what else to do."
"But the attitude of the disciples of Jianlu still needs to be shown." The eldest prince looked at him gently, after a moment of silence, he said very seriously: "However, you have done well enough... I think, the whole world, here No one can do this better than you."
Fan Xian smiled slightly, and didn't take up the conversation, but said, "The attitude of the sword hut disciples will be shown to His Majesty."
He lowered his head and said to Wang Shisanlang beside him, "Shisanlang, you are in charge of arranging the ceremony for the army to enter."
Thirteenth Wang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his head without asking why, but just looked at Fan Xian quietly, the meaning was simple - why me
"Because you are a simple person." Fan Xian gave him a reason he couldn't refuse, "I learned something from you. If you are simple, the world will be simple to you."
Under the slightly puzzled eyes of the eldest prince, Fan Xian patted Wang Shisanlang and said, "I think you also hope that this matter can be simpler."
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Standing in front of the cavalry team, Wang Xi, the thirteen disciple of the Sword Cottage, couldn't help thinking of the same helplessness and the same headache that bright afternoon when Miss Sang Wen took him to pick a girl many years ago.
Only then did he know that since that afternoon, Fan Xian had decided to tie his life together with his own. Regarding this point, the simple Shisanlang Wang simply accepted it after thinking about it.