Chapter 698 The Big Dog with Exploding Hair
Di Tao vividly recounted Cao Dejiang's words of reprimanding those upright officials, and after he finished, he said with a smile:
"Your Majesty, you didn't see that those people were shameless. They used Cao Gong to make him oppose you, saying that they helped you ascend the throne and served you long ago, and that you were ungrateful for dealing with Xu Liang and others. In the end, Cao Gong mocked them and ripped off their skin and threw it on the ground."
"When I saw them leaving the palace, their faces were as red as monkeys' buttocks."
After Di Tao finished speaking, he was filled with emotion: "In this court, when it comes to speaking, our Cao Gong is the best. It's absolutely true!"
He gave a thumbs up with a look of admiration.
Tang Ning sat aside and laughed: "What else, the Imperial Censor's words, do you think they are a joke?"
Xiao Yan sat there flipping through the battle report that had just been sent back from the South, and ignored Di Tao's jokes.
He never doubted whether Cao Dejiang could suppress the Qingliu court officials, just as he always believed that Liang Guangyi could suppress the court officials from the aristocratic families. Moreover, the current situation in the court was deliberately created by Cao Dejiang. Even Xu Liang and others were singled out by Cao Dejiang to sound a wake-up call to those Qingliu court officials who had lost their minds because they thought they were no longer a threat because of the suppression of the aristocratic families.
There are many corrupt officials in aristocratic families, and not everyone in the upright family is clean.
Although he knew that when the water was too clear, there would be no fish, Xiao Yan was unwilling to deal with one batch of officials and then invite another batch to come up, thus turning the official positions that were finally vacated by the aristocratic families into fertile ground for corruption.
After Tang Ning exchanged a few words with Di Tao, she noticed that Xiao Yan looked at the object in his hand with a strange expression on his face. She turned her head and asked in a low voice, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Xiao Yan directly handed the thing in his hand to her: "Take a look."
After Tang Ning took it, he lowered his head and looked at it for a moment, frowning: "The King of Luochuan is plotting a rebellion?"
"It's not just him. The King of Fenglin County is also not doing well."
Xiao Yan had been working non-stop for several days, and he had to worry about everything in and outside the court. He seemed to be sitting firmly on the throne and didn't care about those people in the court at all, as if he had already won and could control everyone, but in fact he didn't dare to be careless at all. He rubbed his eyebrows with his hand, and his voice was a little hoarse.
"When Prince Pingshan started his rebellion, I was worried he might collude with the other princes, so I sent people to those princes' fiefdoms ahead of time. It turns out Prince Luochuan had already been secretly communicating with Prince Pingshan when Marquis Wenxin and his men dispatched their troops, and things were also going on in Fenglin County."
"I, the new emperor, ascended the throne too suddenly. I've been preoccupied with the war in the south and haven't ordered a thorough investigation of the old cases. Although reports have been sent to various prefectures and counties about the actions of Emperor An and the previous emperor, those vassal kings are not as easy to fool as the royal relatives at court."
It is expected that they would be dissatisfied with the status quo and unhappy with him as the new emperor.
Xiao Yan let go of his nose and put his hand down before saying in a low voice, "General Qi has already left the capital and should be able to reach Longkang in two or three days at the latest. General Yin, under the pretext of returning to the capital due to serious injuries, will lead his men to King Fengluochuan. As for Fenglin County..."
"I'll go!" Di Tao quickly raised his hand.
Xiao Yan looked up at him, and Di Tao said excitedly, "The biggest troublemakers in the capital are the aristocratic families and the royal family. Now that Liang Guangyi has been subdued by Your Majesty, the royal family is also under the control of Prince Ji, and with Yu Yanfeng and others helping Your Majesty, there won't be any trouble in the capital anytime soon."
"It would be useless for me to stay in the capital. It would be better to dispatch some people from the Fourth Battalion and let me lead them to Fenglin County."
"If that Prince Xun behaves himself, then that would be fine. I will lead them to support General Yin so that we can quickly quell the rebellion in the South. If Prince Xun truly has rebellious intentions, then I will give the four battalions some training, lest they become so bloated and fat that they can barely fight."
God knows when he first went to the Fourth Camp outside Beijing, he felt itchy when he saw those extremely lazy people who just ate and waited for death all day long. If those people were in the Northwest Zhen'an Army, his father would have ordered people to beat them to death with sticks to serve as a warning to others.
During this period, he led the four battalions on training. Through rigorous daily training and ruthless military law, he had trained a group of capable people. Although there were only less than 4,000 people, it was enough for them to rush to Fenglin County and kill King Xun by surprise.
Xiao Yan did not agree immediately after hearing this.
Seeing his hesitation, Di Tao couldn't help but say, "I'll only take 3,000 men with me, along with enough food and horses for the journey. The rest of the Fourth Battalion won't move. Besides, Geng Ji is still here, so let him take care of the others. I'll be back as soon as the fighting in the south is over."
Seeing that Xiao Yan still didn't say anything, Di Tao simply started to act like a spoiled brat.
"My bones are almost rusted from staying in the capital, and General Yin is still injured. Uncle Xiao and his men probably won't be able to send reinforcements for a while. If I take my men over there, maybe I can catch them off guard. Even if Fenglin County is fine, I can turn around and help Marquis Wenxin and his men. I might even be able to capture that old bastard, Prince Pingshan, alive."
"Your Majesty, please let me go...let me go..."
Di Tao squatted beside Xiao Yan, like a big dog acting like a spoiled brat. When he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at Tang Ning in a coquettish manner.
"Sister-in-law, please persuade His Majesty to let me go..."
When he got closer, he looked like he was about to pull Tang Ning's sleeve and shake it.
Xiao Yan stretched out his hand to block his head from approaching Tang Ning and pushed him away. Tang Ning chuckled softly, "Brother?"
Xiao Yan was annoyed: "It's okay if I let you go."
"real?!"
Di Tao was overjoyed.
"Indeed," Xiao Yan said, "the men of the Fourth Battalion should indeed be sent out for some training. The capital is short of additional troops right now. You can take the several thousand men you trained earlier and head south, but I will have Qi Cheng accompany you."
Di Tao frowned: "Him?"
He didn't like Qi Cheng very much, not because of anything else, but mainly because Qi Cheng was the son of a military general, but he had the air of a scholar.
He and Qi Cheng had previously had some conflicts due to some misunderstandings. Although they explained everything clearly, they had a big fight at the time, so they disliked each other afterwards.
Di Tao muttered, "Can we change someone?"
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow: "No."
Di Tao is lively and simple-minded, and sometimes acts impulsively out of youthful vigor.
He may be good at fighting, but things in Fenglin County are a bit complicated. Before Prince Xun openly rebels, the capital cannot use too "tough" measures.
If Di Tao was left unattended, Xiao Yan was afraid that he would make a big fuss. He had met Qi Cheng a few times. Although he was only two or three years older than Di Tao, he was more stable and more concerned about the overall situation.
"Let Qi Cheng come with you, and I will allow you to lead your men south. Otherwise, the affairs of Fenglin County will be handed over to others."
Di Tao grumbled a bit, but he still wanted to leave the capital. He hung his head and muttered, "Okay, then let him come along. But let's make it clear first, I want to be the commander."
Xiao Yan glared at him and said, "Qi Cheng won't argue with you, but there's one thing: before you do anything, you must discuss it with Qi Cheng first. Don't mess around after you go to the South. If you cause any trouble, I will marry A'ru to Qi Cheng. He's also of marriageable age now."
“That won’t work!!”
Di Tao stood up suddenly, his hair standing on end.
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