Ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel.

The Du family army fought under the banner of eliminating the rebels and recovering the country. They held explosives in one hand and steamed buns in the other, and were invincible wherever they went.

They first used explosives to scare the enemy out of their wits, and then threw white flour buns into the city, saying that they could have used explosives to attack the city, but they were a righteous army and were afraid of hurting innocent people, so, you should just surrender.

Those who surrender will not be killed, and everyone in the city will have steamed buns to eat. Come on, open the city gate to welcome the army, and live a good life together with enough food and warm clothes.

The effects of these two methods at the same time were quite amazing. The defenders were extremely afraid of the powerful explosives, while the people in the city were overjoyed and secretly opened the city gates to welcome the arrival of Du's army.

They took the city without spending any soldiers, which was incredibly smooth and beyond everyone's expectations.

The Du family army had strict military discipline and did not disturb the civilians. They only took over the local garrison, and officials from Xiliang then took over the city affairs.

The first thing the officials did was to open the granaries and distribute them to the people. They also took back large tracts of land and distributed them to the people one by one.

This policy was warmly supported by the people and quickly stabilized people's hearts.

As for the local nobles and wealthy businessmen, they were allowed to hand over half of their property and leave. If they stayed, they had to abide by the rules of Xiliang.

Generally speaking, these rules are quite friendly to the common people, but the nobles, the wealthy and the businessmen hate them to death.

But what can we do? They have weapons in their hands and their fists are bigger.

Officials will be able to digest it if they work slowly.

Whenever they arrived at a city, the Du family army acted like this: they attacked the city in the front, and the officials waited in the back to take over.

They encountered no resistance. Although the dignitaries tried their best to resist, they could not resist the boiling public opinion.

The people united and tried every means to open the city gates. The soldiers guarding the city also came from poor backgrounds, and the lower-level soldiers did not have a good life, so they simply surrendered to Xiliang together.

Everyone knows that Xiliang is rich and juicy nowadays. All the good things sold on the street come from Xiliang.

Listening to the merchants in Xiliang talking about Xiliang, everyone can have enough food and clothing, and children can go to school for free. These three points alone are enough to drive people crazy.

What's more, this year the government gave each resident a piece of cotton cloth, two kilograms of cotton, which is worth several taels of silver. This news has already spread all over the country, making people envious and crying.

I have never heard of such a good thing. The people of Xiliang are so happy. This is simply a life like that of gods.

In contrast, the people under the rule of Prince Jin's Mansion lived in dire straits and seemed particularly miserable.

In order to raise food and fodder, the Prince of Jin's Mansion desperately plundered the people, imposed heavy taxes, and even conscripted men. The people sold their children and were miserable, and were full of complaints.

There is no hope, so I can only endure.

But when they heard about Xiliang, they were envious and at the same time, they planted a seed of hope.

I only ask the Xiliang Du family army to rescue them! Come quickly, my dears.

The moment they had finally waited for finally came, and they were both extremely excited and couldn't wait to throw themselves into each other's arms.

Anyone who dares to stop them from rushing towards Xiliang is their enemy and will be torn to pieces by them.

Therefore, under this circumstance, the war cannot be fought.

The Du family army was so powerful that they captured nine cities in a row, shocking the court and everyone in the Prince of Jin's mansion.

The counselor looked around in confusion, "This situation is not right. No matter how powerful the Du family army is, we won't be defeated so quickly."

He imagined that there would be winners and losers, and the stalemate was already a sign of respect for the Du family army, after all, they had more soldiers.

However, in just a few days, they were losing ground, which was completely beyond their expectations.

King Jin was very annoyed, "What went wrong?"

He couldn't figure it out. Did Du Shaoxuan have some secret weapon?

Yes, the Du family army had gunpowder, but they wouldn’t lose the city so quickly.

No, we must find out the reason.

Everyone looked at each other, they didn't know either.

A general raised his hand weakly, "I think I know something."

Everyone looked over with different expressions. What could a simple-minded general know?

"What is it? Tell me quickly."

Some people even complained, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

The general was a little depressed. Could he be blamed for this? "I just came to my senses. The problem should be... with the Princess of Qingping County."

Prince Jin looked extremely unhappy, but somehow he was not surprised at all.

Mu Wanqing... is a variable, a variable that he cannot control.

I wish there was no Mu Wanqing in this world.

The counselor looked confused, "What do you mean? Princess Qingping doesn't know how to fight."

"She knows how to make money, is good at governance, and manages her reputation." Even though they are enemies, the generals still have some admiration for Mu Wanqing.

He had come into close contact with Mu Wanqing and could not forget her charm.

She was the smartest and most capable woman he had ever met, and was as capable as any man.

He was reminiscing about the past, but the others were anxious, "Don't be vague, make your words clear."

The general came back to his senses and sighed softly, "Although we are thousands of miles away, the glass mirrors, cotton-padded coats, quilts, sweaters and hats made by Qingping County Princess are all in use. She has built a caravan. Not only are the products sold far and wide, making a lot of money, but the army is also well-supplied and has no worries."

Everyone knows this. King Jin strictly prohibited the Mu family business from entering his territory from the beginning.

But the local nobles and their relatives and capable subordinates could not resist the cooperation with Mu's business.

In the face of interests, even if he is the King of Jin, he has to bow his head.

Blocking someone's financial path is like killing their parents. With so many people joining together to put pressure on him, he can't possibly offend them all.

Therefore, things from Xiliang came in continuously, and a lot of money was made.

The general had a complicated look on his face. "The most important thing is that she sent a message to the outside world through these things. Xiliang is very rich, the people are prosperous, well-fed and well-clothed, and have many benefits. It can be said that it is a paradise on earth, which aroused people's yearning for Xiliang."

"That's what the people want." This was the real reason for their disastrous defeat.

A sentence that speaks to the hearts of the people can change everyone's expression. Anyone who has read for a few years knows the weight of this sentence.

Prince Jin stroked his chest, feeling extremely annoyed. Mu Wanqing, it was Mu Wanqing again. How many times had she ruined his plans?

His men were in an uproar. "What a great Qingping County Lady. She has been quietly planning this and has kept us in the dark."

"I always thought she was obsessed with money and ignored her status as a county lady to get money. It's so cheap. It seems that I am too closed-minded."

"In the art of warfare, attacking the heart is better than attacking the city. Psychological warfare is better than physical warfare. Who says she can't fight?" Note (1)

She is waging a war of public opinion and psychological warfare, and it had already begun a long time ago. The layout is so sophisticated that it is shocking.

The funny thing is that they knew nothing about this and inadvertently helped her.

Such scheming is terrible.

Everyone was silent. The atmosphere was so depressing that it made people feel breathless.

The military advisor, who had been silent the whole time, took a deep breath and broke the silence, "You think too highly of her, she is just a woman, this is just a coincidence."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Coincidence? How could this be possible?

King Jin nodded without hesitation, "Yes, it is a coincidence. Now that we have discovered the problem, we must find a way to solve it."

The military advisor looked at him and reached a consensus, "This is very simple. Just find a way to discredit her reputation and describe Xiliang as a hell on earth."

The general was a little skeptical, "Will this work?"

Princess Qingping is no ordinary person.

King Jin snorted coldly, "They are just a bunch of fools. They believe whatever we say. Let's deal with it without further delay."

"yes."

Everyone went to work, only the military advisor stayed.

The King of Jin no longer had the firmness he had just now, and his expression was confused and uneasy. "Military Advisor, is destiny really on my side?"

If he was the son of destiny, why didn't he give Mu Wanqing to him?

With Mu Wanqing helping him, why should he worry about not achieving his goals?

The military advisor also felt Mu Wanqing's power. Although she was thousands of miles away, her lethality could still be felt.

It’s a headache that I can’t kill it.

But at this time, we must move forward firmly, "Of course, without a doubt."

The military advisor had a beautiful idea. As long as he threw dirty water on Mu Wanqing and ruined her reputation, no one would believe her words.

He asked people to spread a lot of slanderous words about Mu Wanqing, saying that she was a black-hearted official who did everything he could to exploit the people of Xiliang and put all the money he earned into his own pocket.

The people of Xiliang eat tungsten and wear warm clothes? You actually believe this? It's fake.

The real situation was that a large number of people in Xiliang starved to death, and countless beggars froze to death on the streets in the middle of winter.

What about cotton-padded clothes, sweaters, water wheels, cement, do you really think she invented them? It's fake.

She controlled a group of capable craftsmen, forced them to develop new products day and night, and took the results for herself. She was a liar who deceived the world and stole the reputation.

She made her fortune by plundering other people's things.

As for rising step by step? She got to where she is today by conquering men one after another. She is a fickle woman.

There was a lot of negative information about Mu Wanqing flying around, and people couldn't help but become suspicious after hearing so much about it.

But soon, Mu Wanqing used her ultimate move.

She wrote an open letter, especially thanking King Jin for ceding Fufeng City to her. She discovered an undeveloped salt lake in Fufeng City, which could guarantee the supply of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Xiliang for several years. She expressed her heartfelt gratitude.

She asked seriously, "How come the salt lake was not found in Fufeng City when it was in the hands of King Jin?" It seems that you are unlucky. If you are not destined to be the emperor, you will not be destined to be the emperor. Whoever follows you will be unlucky.

I don't know how this letter got spread everywhere and became a household gossip.

Prince Jin was almost mad with anger, and he replaced batch after batch of porcelain in the room.

This is just the beginning.

A few days later, Mu Wanqing published another open letter. She felt deeply honored to hear that everyone in Prince Jin's Mansion was committed to discrediting her reputation. This was the greatest compliment to her.

To express gratitude, he gave them a generous gift and made the evidence of their collusion with Beichu and Xiwu public.

She also asked three times in the letter, "In order to usurp the throne, you colluded with foreign enemies and sent countless compatriots to death. Does your conscience hurt?"

Now you treat the people like ants and trample on them at will. If you succeed, can we expect you to treat the people well?

Is a person who brings in foreign enemies and doesn't care about the country being torn apart worthy of the soldiers' desperate defense?

Finally, she said, the emperor guards the national border and the king dies for the country. This is the integrity that a dynasty should have and the integrity that a king should have.

And you don't deserve it!

When this letter came out, the whole world was shocked and the people in Prince Jin's Mansion lost all their support.

But this is not Mu Wanqing's trump card, the most fatal blow is about to come.

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Note (1) From the Records of the Three Kingdoms