Chapter 169 Adding Laizhou
The unrest in Laizhou lasted only half a month, and all of Laizhou, except Laizhou City, had been returned to Northern Yan. Wherever the Northern Yan army went, the city gates were wide open to welcome them into the city.
By mid-September, the Northern Yan army had arrived outside Laizhou City.
At this time, Laizhou City had become an isolated island. It was unable to resist the Northern Yan army from within, and had no reinforcements from outside. Finally, it was forced to open the city gates and surrender.
Xie Fangyuan, the head of the Xie family, Xie Xi and others personally surrendered to Northern Yan with a letter of surrender, stating that they recognized Northern Yan as the orthodox, were willing to be commanded by Northern Yan, and were willing to follow the King of Northern Yan to compete for the world.
"Where is Xie Luo?" Cui Jing asked while sitting on his horse. At this time, he was following Yan Xingchuan and walking side by side with Shen Mo and others.
In just half a year, Cui Jing had become a capable and talented minister of Northern Yan and a close confidant of the King of Northern Yan, making the Xie family members jealous.
You have to know that the Cui family was far inferior to the Xie family at that time.
"Xie Luo is dead." Xie Xi replied.
"Is it real death or fake death?" Cui Jing raised his eyebrows.
"Of course he's really dead." The muscles at the corners of Xie Xi's mouth twitched slightly, and his face was a little stiff.
Things have changed. Today, it is his turn in Beiyan. The King of Beiyan will not allow Xie Luo to live in this world, so Xie Luo cannot live.
If the Xie family were caught faking their own death once, they wouldn't have the guts to do it a second time.
"Xie Luo deserves his punishment. His case ends here and has nothing to do with the Xie family." Yan Xingchuan spoke, putting the matter aside. "As for the Xie family's affairs, I will make a decision after I have my people investigate."
"This king welcomes learned men to serve under his command, but he will not tolerate those who are lawless and committing many evil deeds. Do you understand?"
"Please rest assured, King of Northern Yan. Since the Xie family is a vassal of Northern Yan, we naturally respect the monarch of Northern Yan and abide by the laws of Northern Yan. If we are found guilty, we will be punished according to the law."
Xie Fangyuan felt that today's autumn wind was cold and the yellow sand that swept in was full of bitterness.
They shouldn't have been so self-righteous as to miss the opportunity to surrender.
Regret, it's too late.
"Very good." Yan Xingchuan nodded. If the Xie family had been so obedient earlier, they would not have ended up like this today.
"Go into the city."
"Welcome the King of Northern Yan——"
From then on, Northern Yan added another state to its territory.
There are forty-eight states in the world. Northern Yan occupies four states north of Jiangshui River, plus Pingzhou, Yuanzhou, Yunzhou and Laizhou, totaling eight states. The remaining rebel kings occupy a total of twenty-two states. Only eighteen states remain in the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
After Northern Yan took control of Laizhou, Yan Xingchuan handed over the affairs of the Xie family to Cui Jing, Xu Daozhen and Shen Mo, and he met Xie Fangyuan, the guardian stone of the Xie family.
"During the turbulent times, the Xie family defended Laizhou and refused to leave. The imperial court's garrison troops had long been replaced by the Xie family's garrison troops."
There were no imperial troops stationed in Laizhou any longer.
Even though the imperial court now occupies the largest territory and should have the largest army, it is in chaos everywhere. Not only Northern Yan, but other rebel kings have also always wanted to take a bite out of the imperial court.
In addition, the old emperor was incompetent, the evil concubines and treacherous ministers were in power, and the people were suffering. Uprisings rose up in various places like mushrooms after rain, one after another, and the court needed to send people to quell the rebellion all the time, so there was a shortage of manpower.
The imperial court was also aware of the problems in Laizhou, but the Xie family was able to hold on, taxes were collected, and occasional "tributes" and "filial piety" were quite a lot, so some people naturally turned a blind eye.
Most of the Xie family's generals and soldiers came from Laizhou, so Cui Jing used the "water overturning the boat" strategy to incite the people to revolt. The garrison collapsed without a fight, and the Xie family did not even have a chance to fight to the death to survive.
"This is the Xie family's fault. Now, I don't know what the Xie family can do. What can an old man like me do?"
The current situation of the Xie family is not very good. Even Xie Fangyuan, who has been sitting on the high platform for a long time, can only swallow his pride and find a way out for the Xie family.
"It would be best if sir did nothing." Yan Xingchuan's expression was calm and cold, like water without ripples, deep and unfathomable.
Logically, Yan Xingchuan should have agreed when a great scholar like Xie Fangyuan asked to work for Northern Yan, but he felt really uncomfortable.
The situation was different in the previous life. Although the Xie family of Laizhou was a vassal, they never took Northern Yan seriously. Their strategy was "dynasties may come and go, but the Xie family will always be there."
His subordinates were unable to control the Xie family, and he was busy fighting wars. Later, the affairs of the Xie family were handed over to Cui Si, and she really suffered a lot at the hands of the Xie family.
She also looked for Xie Fangyuan and asked him to restrain the Xie family members, but this old man was very elegant and noble, like an immortal with bamboo bones and pine and cypress bodies. He just said that he was old and did not care about worldly affairs, so the queen could do as she pleased.
It’s too late to be afraid now.
But Yan Xingchuan didn't want to use the Xie family members, and at the same time, he didn't want to be restricted by the Xie family members. Anyone who dared to jump out would be arrested and punished.
"Sir, please continue to sit on the high platform and not worry about worldly affairs."
Xie Fangyuan did not get the result he wanted, so he sat for a while and then said goodbye and left. After he left, Cui Jing, Xu Daozhen and others came over.
The two of them had some disagreements on how to deal with the Xie family.
Xu Daozhen believed that the Xie family should be suppressed to the end and Laizhou should be taken over by himself.
However, Cui Jing felt that it was inappropriate and planned to follow the example of the Cui family and leave half of Laizhou City to the Xie family.
"Your Majesty, the people support us. We won Laizhou without a single soldier this time. However, there are some concerns. If we kill the Xie family, our future will be very difficult."
"In this world, the majority of power and wealth are still held by aristocratic families. With the precedent set by the Xie family, they will inevitably unite or join forces with others early on to fight against Northern Yan. This will probably cause trouble for Northern Yan's future."
Xu Daozhen said, "There's room for maneuver, but there's not much difference. Mr. Cui, do you think everyone is like your Cui family?"
Compared with the aristocratic clans in the world, the Cui family is simply a rare flower with a unique temperament. They may still be aloof and proud, but most of the family members are law-abiding and not greedy.
Both sides seemed to have their reasons. Seeing them arguing back and forth, Yan Xingchuan thought for a moment and said, "Since that's the case, you should each do your part according to your abilities."
"As for the Laizhou affairs, Cui San has made the greatest contribution, so we should listen to him. In the future, if there are any matters that are agreed upon by Mr. Xu, we can follow his ideas. As for how to deal with the clan issues, it is up to you ministers to act, not how all of Northern Yan should act."
In this way, if a clan is willing to spend money to avoid disaster, they can also ask Cui Jing to plead for mercy, and if they are stubborn and disobedient, they can just do as Xu Daozhen said and copy.
This is also an alternative way of playing the good guy and the bad guy, and they can play both sides and gain both wealth and fame for Northern Yan.
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