After finalizing the plans for raising an army, in order to avoid suspicion, Damoshi also used the old king's decree to order the Nami family, the Kate family, and the Futu sect to assist in raising military funds.
After receiving the order, the two families symbolically contributed a sum of money and, under the guise of assisting in raising military funds, organized caravans to gradually transfer their respective assets in the capital.
Meanwhile, Buddhist monks, while preaching and raising funds, began to head east in batches.
In addition, Damoshi, carrying the old king's decree, mobilized all the officials and began to levy a so-called "preservation tax" on the residents of the capital.
It means that now that war is about to break out, you naturally have to contribute money and manpower to ensure that the soldiers can continue to fight. Only in this way can you protect yourselves, right?
Moreover, before the levy, Damoshi hinted to the constables that he only needed to raise enough funds for the military expenses, and that they could do whatever they wanted with the excess.
The constables, having received the hint, were naturally extremely excited. They rushed to the homes of the people and began to collect taxes with great effort. Anything that could be sold for money was taken away without a word.
Some people were dissatisfied and went to complain to the authorities, but as soon as they entered the yamen, they were thrown into prison on charges of insubordination.
After all, this was something the third prince did on the old king's orders, so the officials naturally dared not say anything.
Are we really going to question the king and the third prince for the sake of a bunch of people? Don't they have a death wish?
For a time, the people around the capital were also suffering terribly.
In just a few days, tens of thousands of households in and around the capital were left destitute, and many families were destroyed or even killed.
Although the old king had heard some news about the people's plight, he didn't care much. For someone as high and mighty as him, as long as no one rebelled, he couldn't be bothered to care.
Seeing no movement from within the palace, Damoshi became increasingly reckless. He not only secretly channeled the collected military funds into the caravans of the Nami and Kate families, but also led a large number of officials to towns around the capital to continue collecting taxes in the name of the old king.
Just as the Third Prince was amassing wealth in the capital, the First Prince and his entourage arrived at a town thirty miles north of the capital.
As it was getting late, the eldest prince led his men to an inn and checked in.
Late at night, several men in black sneaked out of the inn.
After listening carefully to the commotion, one of the leaders whispered an order: "Remember, except for the eldest prince, leave no one alive!"
"yes!"
After the men in black agreed, they quietly slipped into the inn.
After his men dealt with all of the eldest prince's entourage, the leader arrived outside the eldest prince's room and kicked the door.
As the door was kicked open, the sleeping prince was immediately awakened.
Who are you?
Seeing the men in black rushing in, the eldest prince asked in alarm.
"The one who'll take your life!"
The leader replied in a low voice, then pulled out a dagger and charged forward.
Upon seeing this, the eldest prince hurriedly jumped off the bed and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.
"Guards! There's an assassin!!"
Having narrowly escaped, the eldest prince immediately shouted and ran towards the outside of the room.
"Don't run!"
Seeing this, the leader shouted and chased after them, his dagger pointing straight at the prince's back.
Hearing the commotion behind him, the eldest prince ran even faster towards the outside.
At the same time, the eldest prince's shouts also alerted the others in the inn.
"What happened?"
Where are the assassins?
The people who were awakened rushed out of their rooms and shouted questions.
"Here, there are assassins!"
At this moment, the eldest prince had already run out of the room and was shouting for help to the people in the inn.
Upon seeing this, the leader immediately stopped the pursuit, took out a wooden plaque from his pocket, threw it on the ground, and then quickly fled in another direction.
By the time the people inside the inn arrived, the men in black had already vanished without a trace.
Subsequently, the eldest prince revealed his identity to everyone and ordered the postmaster to lead a team to conduct a thorough search of the post station.
Soon, the wooden sign that the leader had thrown on the ground was brought to the eldest prince.
"Those bastards, they really have ulterior motives!"
Upon seeing the Kate family's mark engraved on the wooden plaque, the eldest prince's face darkened considerably.
Afterwards, the eldest prince returned to his room, found the secret letter he had been carrying, and then, under the protection of several couriers, rushed towards the capital overnight.
The next morning, the eldest prince finally arrived in the capital.
Upon hearing that the Kate and Nami families had begun organizing caravans to head east a few days earlier, the eldest prince realized something was amiss and hurriedly went to the palace to see the old king.
"Huh? When did you get back? Why didn't you let me know beforehand?"
Seeing his eldest son suddenly run back, the old king couldn't help but frown and ask.
The eldest prince said in a panic, "Father, the matter is urgent, and I was extremely anxious, so I rushed back overnight!"
Upon hearing this, the old king, who had been feigning illness while reclining on his throne, slowly sat up and asked in a deep voice, "What urgent matter has occurred that has caused you to lose your composure like this?"
“Father, during the negotiations, I was invited to drink in the tent of the Xianbei envoys, where I inadvertently discovered a secret letter from the Nami and Kate families!”
As he spoke, the eldest prince took out a secret letter from his bosom and held it in his hands.
A guard stepped forward, took the secret letter, and presented it to the old king.
Upon seeing the contents of the secret letter, the old king's face darkened.
In this secret letter, the Nami and Kate families first offered a large amount of supplies in exchange for the Xianbei and Xiongnu killing the eldest prince, then jointly defeating the second prince's army and killing the second prince, and finally agreeing to support the third prince to ascend the throne.
After reading the secret letter, the old king looked at the eldest prince with a stern face: "Have you confirmed the contents of this secret letter? Is it true?"
"Father, I can confirm that both families are indeed harboring malicious intentions. Last night, I even encountered their assassination attempt...!"
The eldest prince then told the old king about the assassination attempt the previous night and took out the wooden plaque.
Upon seeing the wooden plaque, the old king's expression immediately changed, and he stood up from his throne.
"These bastards deserve to die! Do they want to ruin my Kushan Empire?"
"Father, you...?"
The eldest prince was taken aback when he saw the old king suddenly stand up.
Wasn't the illness terminal? When did it get better?
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