Chapter 109 The Prince of Nanyang Rebelled
Tingshu poured wine for everyone, and Lu Chenyang took the lead in toasting Yan Xing: "Thank you, my Lord, for letting me drink such delicious wine on New Year's Eve."
Yan Xing looked at his bright and brilliant smile, curled the corners of his lips, and felt that all the hardships along the way were worth it.
Everyone gathered together for dinner. Tan Feng felt that the peach blossom wine was not strong enough, so he found two jars of Shaodaozi. Everyone drank too much.
Yan Xing glanced at Lu Chenyang, and the two of them instantly understood and turned around and walked out.
They arrived at the corridor in the backyard. The temperature outside was very low, and Yan Xing put his cloak on Lu Chenyang.
Lu Chenyang extended his hand without hesitation: "Where's the surprise this year?"
In previous years, Yan Xing always gave him a surprise on New Year's Eve.
Yan Xing said, "Wait for me."
He turned and walked out. Lu Chenyang was still wondering what was going on when suddenly fireworks exploded in the night sky.
The brilliant fireworks were particularly dazzling in the night sky, lighting up the entire city.
Lu Chenyang raised his head, the brilliant fireworks illuminated his face, and he was full of surprise.
Someone walked up to him, and he knew it was Yan Xing.
He said softly, "I came in a hurry today, so I only had time to show you this."
Lu Chenyang curled the corners of his lips: "I like it very much."
On New Year's Eve of that year, the two of them watched the fireworks side by side in the Lingnan Governor's Mansion, just like the most brilliant dream of their youth.
Yan Xing came in a hurry, had a meal and left without even staying overnight.
He shouldn't have left without permission, but he still rushed here day and night.
I have already met him and spent midnight with him. His goal has been achieved and it is time to return.
Lu Chenyang sent him out of the city, and watched the two men riding horses farther and farther away before finally turning around and going back.
Changjing stayed because the county school was closed for the New Year, so he decided to stay and learn from Zhaoxi.
This New Year was very... lively, or rather, chaotic.
As Lu Chenyang expected, there are more refugees this year.
Gao Ming had people put up recruitment signs at several intersections, and he could recruit two to three hundred people a year.
Some even fled with their families.
Gao Ming sighed when he saw this situation. Lingnan was notoriously poor, and the people actually came here to escape. It can be seen that life outside is difficult now.
But those who should stay have to stay, as everyone in the county government is very busy.
After the New Year, the weather quickly became warmer.
Spring plowing is about to begin again. This is the first spring plowing since Lu Chenyang became the nameless governor, and Lu Chenyang attaches great importance to it.
Medicinal seedlings were also purchased and sent to various places.
Lingnan was orderly and busy, and then... the King of Nanyang rebelled.
Prince Nanyang rebelled because someone in the court impeached him. Fang Shihao's affair was finally exposed after the emperor's birthday. 'Coincidentally', Lu Chenyang's memorial was also submitted at this time, confirming the riot in Shu.
It turned out that when Emperor Qianyuan was happily celebrating his birthday, the people under his rule had already risen up in rebellion. He still thought that he was wise and powerful and that the world was at peace.
Emperor Qianyuan was furious.
There must be someone to take the blame for this matter, and the King of Nanyang is a ready-made candidate.
The censor impeached the King of Nanyang for increasing taxes and mistreating the people, which made it impossible for the people to survive and led to rebellion in anger.
It was not Emperor Qianyuan's fault, it was Prince Nanyang's fault. It was Prince Nanyang who forced the people to rebel.
Then someone shouted that the King of Nanyang did not deserve the emperor's grace, and asked the emperor to dethrone him to win the hearts of the people.
Many ministers believed that this memorial was submitted by Emperor Qianyuan at his behest. This was because Emperor Qianyuan had long intended to reduce the power of the feudal lords, but because of the more troublesome Duke Zhenguo, he did not act rashly.
Now that the military power of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion has been taken back, it is understandable that he wants to take action against the King of Nanyang.
All the civil and military officials in the court felt that they had realized the truth, even Concubine Lan, who was in love with Emperor Qianyuan, thought so.
But Emperor Qianyuan knew that this was not the case, and it was not his instruction at all!
Why had he not been able to reduce the power of the feudal lords before? Even when the Dagan army was at its peak, the wise and powerful Emperor Taizu was unable to recover Shu and had no choice but to appoint a king of a different surname.
Because Shu was too far away and the mountain roads were difficult to travel, it was difficult for their troops to adapt to the local terrain when they arrived there. The King of Nanyang could rest easy relying on the natural barrier.
He knew the current situation of the imperial court. Even the Ministry of Revenue, which was organizing a birthday banquet for him, was crying poor. How could they possibly have the money to mobilize an army and suddenly reduce the power of the feudal lords?!
He has nothing better to do. So many emperors have not touched the tough guy, Prince of Nanyang, so why does he have to go and hit the wall?
But he couldn't say it, couldn't tell anyone else.
Fang Shihao was plotting a rebellion, so someone had to take the blame. The ministers all found scapegoats, and he couldn't say that King Nanyang was innocent.
Fang Shihao was the first person to rebel during the reign of Emperor Qianyuan, and this matter was of great significance.
Emperor Qianyuan also felt that the blame should be borne by the Prince of Nanyang. If he had not treated the people so harshly, how could the people rebel? Suddenly, it was the Prince of Nanyang who was governing the country. Now that there was a problem, it was of course his fault!
Emperor Qianyuan cleared himself of all blame and was also very angry with King Nanyang.
At this time, someone reported that King Nanyang intended to rebel.
The memorial submitted by that lord was well-reasoned. Why were the people dissatisfied with the King of Nanyang? One reason was the increase in taxes, and the other was the repeated conscription of soldiers.
You want money and soldiers, what are you going to do! There is no other place in Shu!
All the civil and military officials in the court believed that the Prince of Nanyang had evil intentions, but not many people supported the impeachment of this gentleman.
However, discussions were still rife in the capital, and many scholars in the literary world published articles on the matter. Most of them believed that the King of Nanyang's actions were indeed contrary to the duties of a minister.
The authors of these articles are all young students; the true masters of the field haven't publicly expressed their opinions. However, which of these renowned students doesn't have a teacher behind them? The fact that these teachers didn't stop their students is already a statement of their own.
The reputation of King Nanyang plummeted, and at this time, King Nanyang simply raised the banner of rebellion.
He pointed out that Emperor Qianyuan framed loyal officials, was incompetent and ruthless, and caused the people to live in misery, and was not worthy of being a king!
Emperor Qianyuan was furious when he received the news. Who did the Prince of Nanyang have the nerve to say that? He had deceived the people of Shu and forced them to rebel. How could he have the nerve to say that he was unworthy of being a king?
Emperor Qianyuan had never been so angry before, and he immediately dispatched troops to quell the rebellion.
Lu Chenyang was having a small meeting with Gao Ming and Chen Songyuan at this time. They all knew the news of King Nanyang's rebellion.
Lu Chenyang asked, "How's our recruitment going?"
Chen Songyuan knew about this because he was the one who delivered the food and fodder.
"There are now 150,000 troops in the provincial capital, plus the 80,000 in Yanquan County, there are now 230,000. However, it is said that King Nanyang now has an army of 500,000." Chen Songyuan said.
Gao Ming was a little distracted. It seemed as if Lu Chenyang had foreshadowed this war when he asked them to recruit soldiers.
The Prince of Nanyang is rebelling, and Lingnan is closest to Shu, so they must have an army to protect themselves. Maybe... they can also put down the rebellion at the same time?
But he didn't understand how Lu Chenyang knew that King Nanyang would rebel?
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