Yang Fei, impatient, waited until his men were all gathered. "That damned brat, I'll skin him alive!" he roared furiously. "How dare he resort to such despicable and thuggish tactics! Tell me, what should we do now?"

His subordinates took the letters and compared them; the contents were exactly the same, only they came from different people.

"The first letter was received by Lord Sun, and the second was sent to Lord Zhou." The man stroked his beard. "That brat even sent one to them, so needless to say, every official in Xichuan City must have received one."

"I'm going to burn all these letters, not a single one left!" Yang Fei declared. "We absolutely cannot let this brat's evil scheme succeed!"

"My lord, I fear some people have already..."

"Yes, there's no point in burning the letter. As the saying goes, spilled water can't be gathered up again. Once the letter is sent, it can't be taken back. Besides, to be honest, what was written in the letter wasn't actually that bad."

"That's right, we swear to be loyal to Lord Yang to the death and will never rebel!"

Yang Fei turned around, his eyes wide with anger, and said, "Do you even have a brain? Did you even read what this brat wrote? He said I, the general, am a eunuch, and he even dared to accuse me of having homosexual tendencies!"

Did Yao Guangxiao say something wrong? You're fifty years old and still don't have children, you're not a eunuch, and you're not gay. What's going on?

If you're sick, go see a doctor! What's the point of staying home and cursing?

These letters were sent by Lin Mo to all the officials in Xichuan City, based on Yao Guangxiao's suggestion.

The content is simple: first, it criticizes Yang Fei, saying that he is fifty years old and has no children, so he is probably a gay eunuch.

Lies often conceal a few facts, enough to arouse suspicion in the listener.

The common people have always been willing to believe the various scandals of officials in Xichuan, especially high-ranking officials like Yang Fei who were arrogant and ruthless. It is an indisputable fact that he was never loved by the people of Xichuan.

Of course, besides these, another core message in the letter was: urging people to turn themselves in!

The letter stated that no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Sichuan is a poor region, and officials will inevitably make some mistakes, but those who can admit their mistakes and correct them are good comrades.

King Lin Mo of Shu warmly welcomed the self-criticism and self-reflection of all officials. He also stipulated that any official who made the first three self-criticisms would be pardoned!

The first ten officials who self-reported the wrongdoings received lighter punishments.

At the same time, Lin Mo also advocated mutual supervision and reporting.

Anyone who makes a mistake but can report three or more other officials who have made mistakes will be exempt from punishment.

That being said, if someone is the kind of person who goes down a dead-end path and refuses to repent...

The execution platform in Xichuan City Market hasn't been dismantled yet; they're just waiting for them!

This series of actions directly caused widespread panic among the officials who were "die-hard" to follow Yang Fei.

As the saying goes, things must first rot before worms breed in them; people must first be suspicious before slander enters their hearts.

I wouldn't report others, but no one can guarantee that others won't report me.

If someone else gets there first and is spared punishment, I'll end up losing my head!

"Thank you all!" Yang Fei said. "First, we must stop this filth from spreading further. We need to issue an edict that anyone who dares to gossip will have their tongue pulled out."

“It’s utter nonsense,” his subordinate sighed. “Pulling out a man’s tongue doesn’t prove he’s a fraud; instead, it lets the whole world know how terrified you are of what he wants to say.”

"Then tell me, what should we do?" Yang Fei demanded.

"Do nothing and let them talk. It will all blow over in no time! Anyone with a little common sense will see this as a clumsy excuse made up by that brat."

"That's true, but I really can't stand it anymore!" Yang Fei said angrily.

"My lord, a small act of impatience can ruin a great plan!"

"Enough! That's enough for today!" Yang Fei said. "Any commoner who dares to utter nonsense, I, the general, will tear him to pieces!"

~~~

Everything went smoothly and was developing in the direction that Lin Mo and Yao Guangxiao had expected.

Yang Fei couldn't take it anymore, and neither could his subordinates.

Sure enough, after the first subordinate came to report it, less than two days later, more than a dozen officials came running to the Prince's Mansion with letters of self-criticism to confess their sins.

Lin Mo didn't stand on ceremony with them and followed the rules completely.

Handle it as it should be handled.

On the third day, in Xichuan City, inside the Commander's Mansion.

Seven or eight people stood beside Yang Fei.

"Lord Yang, we can't let ourselves be slaughtered!" one of his men said anxiously. "Just last night, three more bastards betrayed us! They went to that kid with confessions!"

Yang Fei gritted his teeth, "These scum!"

"My lord, let's start an uprising!"

When the topic of starting a business came up, Yang Fei frowned.

Last time, we were just about to start when we were stopped.

When the topic came up again this time, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"My lord, stop hesitating! Start the uprising! Kill that damned King of Shu, and forget about His Majesty!"

Yang Fei squinted and asked, "Are you confident?" He mustered his courage once more.

"Yes!" the subordinate general replied confidently.

Yang Fei steeled his resolve and shouted the slogan once more: "Start an uprising!"

As the saying goes, whatever you do, you must have a legitimate reason.

For example, when Zhu Di led the Fengtian Campaign to quell the rebellion, he raised an army under the banner of "purging the emperor's inner circle" and "punishing treacherous officials," determined to completely eliminate the treacherous officials around his nephew Zhu Yunwen.

In the end, not only were the treacherous officials eliminated, but even his own nephew was eliminated as well.

But at least there is a reason.

Yang Fei, after racking his brains for a long time, still couldn't come up with any reason.

Yao Guangxiao shut down all the reasons.

After Lin Mo arrived in Sichuan, he quelled the bandits and provided the people with a peaceful living environment.

At this time, in the eyes of the common people, Lin Mo was a good prince who loved the people like his own children, practiced what he preached, and would rather suffer himself than let the people suffer any hardship.

He often preferred to eat less himself so that he could save food to share with the people.

In an effort to crack down on corrupt officials in Sichuan, one hundred coffins were prepared in advance, with ninety-nine intended for corrupt officials and one for himself. (This is an original work by Lin Mo)

Such a good prince, Yang Fei, what gives you the right to rebel against him?

However, not resisting means a slow death, while resisting offers a glimmer of hope.

Left with no other choice, they had to rebel even without a reason.

Yang Fei instructed, "Xu Qing, you will lead the troops to capture the Xichuan City Armory. You must take the Xichuan City Armory within three hours."

The armory of Xichuan City was a weapons depot in Sichuan that stored military equipment, and it had important strategic value.

"Yes!" Xu Qing said in a deep voice.

"Sun Xing, leave the city immediately and quickly send someone to contact my former subordinates, requesting that their army march towards Xichuan City as soon as possible... and then immediately take control of all the key locations in Xichuan City, cutting off communication between the city and the outside world."

"yes!"

Yang Fei proceeded with his arrangements methodically. Even though Lin Mo had seven thousand troops near Xichuan City, far exceeding his three thousand, he couldn't care less. It was either success or death!