The next day.
Inside the Imperial Study in Nanjing's Imperial City.
Last night, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an spent another night in the imperial study, dealing with the matter of the army splitting into two routes to go to the Goguryeo Peninsula to quell the rebellion. He barely slept until dawn, when he finally lay down on the bed in the imperial study for a short rest.
The news that Prince Chen Longxiang of Jin had massacred Tang troops who refused to surrender on the Goguryeo Peninsula, and that he had raised the banner of rebellion, restored the previous dynasty, and revived the Daxin dynasty had already reached the imperial city of Jinling for half a month.
Meanwhile, the Tang Dynasty's 500,000-strong army, led by Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei, along with three other dukes and more than ten marquises and earls, set off three days ago to the front lines of the suppression of the rebellion on the Goguryeo Peninsula.
Chen Huai'an felt both hatred and anger towards his foolish younger brother for what he had done.
It's obvious that Chen Longxiang's slogan of "restoring the former dynasty and reviving the Great Xin" was definitely orchestrated by the former empress Su Wan'er.
His younger brother was incredibly foolish. For the sake of a woman, he disregarded their brotherly bond of over a decade and actually helped the former empress depose the emperor and restore his kingdom, putting his elder brother, the emperor, in a very difficult position.
He disregarded the warnings of the old monk Dongfang Xiao in black robes over the years and openly raised his butcher's knife against the army of the Tang Dynasty. He had no sense of awe whatsoever and was not afraid of divine retribution!
The more than 200,000 soldiers who remained on the Goguryeo Peninsula, produced by his own "Born to be an Emperor" system, were almost completely slaughtered by Chen Longxiang; some died and others were wounded.
Although these soldiers are all system NPCs, they are dispensable;
However, if Chen Longxiang can ruthlessly kill them today without any scruples, he can also raise his sword against other non-system-produced Tang soldiers tomorrow. If this continues, the prophecy of the black-robed old monk Dongfang Xiao will sooner or later come true.
More importantly, his massacre of the Tang army on the Goguryeo Peninsula was tantamount to slapping Chen Huai'an in the face, and the entire Tang Dynasty in the face, causing the royal family to lose all dignity.
As a result, Chen Huai'an had no choice but to issue another edict of self-reproach.
This is the second edict of self-reproach he has issued since ascending the throne!
Eh—
Just thinking about this gave Chen Huai'an a headache.
However, even more troublesome things were yet to come!
"Your Majesty, an urgent report from the Deputy Commander of the Dragon City Guard—"
Inside the Imperial Study, Chen Huai'an, who had just lain down for a short rest, was suddenly awakened by the announcement from Xiao Po, the Commander of the Imperial Guards and Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness, outside the Imperial Study.
To be honest, Xiao Po, the commander of the Imperial Guard who was on duty outside the Imperial Study, originally did not intend to wake Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who had just finished resting.
As the emperor's personal bodyguard commander, Xiao Po naturally knew that the emperor had not had a good night's sleep for a long time since the Prince of Jin's rebellion.
Even though it was only separated by a few palace walls, it was the location of the Fengyi Palace and Kunning Palace in the imperial palace, where the Empress, the Imperial Concubine, and the two young princes lived.
However, after court sessions, Emperor Zhaowu almost always made the imperial study his home, never stopping to handle local government affairs and personally monitoring the movements of the army suppressing the rebellion.
Today, less than an hour after the candlelight in the inner hall of the Imperial Study was extinguished, Xiao Po received an urgent message from Lu Jiang, the deputy commander of the Dragon City Inner Guard, sent from Guangling County.
Along with the letter came a message from Lu Jiang to Xiao Po, saying that the report was extremely urgent and that Marquis Zhongyi should forward it to Emperor Zhaowu for review as soon as possible after receiving it, without delay!
Xiao Po knew Lu Jiang, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, well, and seeing his anxiety, he dared not delay.
Even though the emperor had only been resting for less than an hour, Xiao Po had no choice but to bite the bullet and wake up Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an, who had just fallen asleep.
Um--
Inside the Imperial Study, Chen Huai'an, who was sleeping fully clothed on the bed, was a light sleeper. As soon as Xiao Po spoke outside the hall, he suddenly opened his eyes and jumped out of bed.
Then, while dressing himself, he instructed Xiao Po outside the hall, "Xiao Po, bring in the memorial from Marquis Zhongyong, Lu Jiang!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Soon, Xiao Po took Lu Jiang's urgent memorial and entered the imperial study. After greeting Chen Huai'an with the proper etiquette between ruler and subject, he respectfully presented the memorial to Chen Huai'an with both hands.
He added, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Zhongyong has sent a letter saying that this report is extremely urgent and requests Your Majesty's prompt review and decision!"
Um?
Upon hearing this, Chen Huai'an raised an eyebrow and immediately became alert and alert.
He could still trust Marquis Lu Jiang, the first Tang Dynasty general to be ennobled by Chen Huai'an, who was extremely loyal to him.
Back then, the "tea and horse smuggling case" involving four provinces and eight prefectures of the Tang Dynasty was first discovered by Lu Jiang, the imperial commissioner in charge of the imperial examinations. He also uncovered the fact that Liu Ziyu, the Earl of Wuyi, colluded with the remnants of the Turks to launch a rebellion in the Youyun region.
This is why, after Luo Yucheng, the deputy commander of the Longcheng Inner Guard, was killed by the rebellious Prince Jin, Chen Longxiang, Chen Huai'an promoted Lu Jiang, the Marquis of Zhongyong, to the position of deputy commander of the Longcheng Inner Guard, and gave him full control of the Longcheng Inner Guard's work.
Let's get back to the main topic.
When Chen Huai'an took the report from Xiao Po and opened it, his eyes were immediately drawn to its contents, and his expression became increasingly serious and solemn.
The report concerned the matter of King Su Muchen of Zhongshan secretly colluding with the enemy and funding the Goguryeo rebels;
In addition, there were reports that the former King of Jiujiang, King of Changxin, and King of Chuxiang were also involved in secretly colluding with the enemy and funding the Goryeo rebels!
Therefore, Chen Huai'an's expression became increasingly solemn and serious after reading Lu Jiang's report.
Speaking of which, Chen Huai'an had long heard about the fact that the King of Zhongshan and the former empress Su Wan'er, who was far away on the Goguryeo Peninsula, had been communicating through letters with overseas merchant caravans.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to order Lu Jiang to personally go to the Prince of Zhongshan's residence to secretly monitor and investigate at the very beginning of Lu Jiang's tenure as the inner guard of Longcheng.
Chen Huai'an had anticipated that Su Muchen, the Prince of Zhongshan, would aid the enemy and plot a rebellion.
However, Chen Huai'an never expected that the former King of Jiujiang, King of Changxin, and King of Chuxiang would also be involved in this plot to aid the enemy and rebel.
To be fair, after Chen Huai'an ascended the throne, he believed that he had given great preferential treatment to the former generals, officials, princes and nobles in the court, which could be regarded as a manifestation of his benevolent governance at the time of the founding of the country.
Unexpectedly, his benevolence did not earn him gratitude from these former generals, officials, and nobles. Instead, they repeatedly challenged his bottom line as emperor and the bottom line of the laws of the entire Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, it is clear that benevolent governance alone cannot bring about the pacification of a dynasty.
Benevolent governance should be accompanied by an iron fist!
At this moment, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who had figured everything out, finally unleashed a fierce and ruthless glint in his cold, starry eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com