Chapter 588

Da Wang plunged into the Forbidden Army; on the first day he was filled with Liang He's iron-blood training, and even at night he couldn't find time to do anything. After the evening dismissal, just as he returned to camp to rest, Ling Yin slipped him a note. Da Wang opened it behind people's backs, and his enthusiasm for scheming dissipated.

Latest news: the Han River flooded, destroying ten thousand qing of good farmland, backflowing into lakes; the land of fish and rice, Good Pond Commandery, instantly became a swamp.

Over the years he's grown numb to disasters everywhere, but Da Wang is furious that Liangtang had already been occupied by the Jing Prince's forces; now that trouble has struck, Jing Prefecture didn't say it would fully rescue the victims, but instead immediately withdrew its garrison, sealed off the cities along the route, barred the refugees from entering, claiming it lacked the capacity to relieve the disaster for fear of spreading plague.

"Forcing the court to take over this mess, did they not think that with such irresponsibility he could still have any popular support? The Cui clan—nothing more."

Da Wang is withered away—when will this damn Little Ice Age end?! Half of Great Jin suffers drought, half flood; will they even let people live?!

Wei Ke also understood the Cui clan; earlier, for Da Wang's sake, the Wei clan had plenty of dealings with the Cui family. "They're probably just struggling to cope. Jing Prefecture initially invaded the Northern Border and you chopped off their hand— that battle cost them dearly. Comparing grain supplies, the Cui clan truly can't match the Jin clan behind the Guangling Prince. After several years of poor harvests while they kept expanding their army, it's no wonder they're strapped for resources. Anyone with ability would see they're just too fond of saving face."

Da Wang understands the logic, but even with such a powerful cheat, he's still struggling to make ends meet, relying on You Prefecture's tax revenue—he's probably still using city walls made of wheat stalks mixed with yellow earth!

He wanted to meet Fatty Four in person, to ask whether that position is really so great! Even his own subjects shut the door on him—what qualifies him to sit in that seat?!

Those refugees—the Jing Prince shamelessly withdrew his hand, but the soon-to-be-crowned Da Wang cannot shrink back.

Da Wang is annoyed, so he must stir up trouble.

Others who had joined the Forbidden Army these past days couldn't leave; he immediately wrote a note and had Ling Yin deliver it to Liang He. Xie Yuan worked diligently all day preparing Da Wang's coronation ceremony, and even after returning home from work he still managed to take on new tasks.

Xie Tu, summoned for interrogation, glanced at the many characters, honestly waiting for his uncle to clear up his confusion.

"You said His Highness had you go out to gather opinions these past few days? At the East Great Camp? Is he there too?"

Xie Tu nodded, and Xie Yuan felt his head swell.

"In other words, he won't be returning to the palace these days?"

"His Highness has already joined the Feather Forest Guard Special Recruitment Battalion; military orders are as firm as a mountain, so it's not easy to just ask for leave..."

Xie Yuan: ……

"Uncle, aside from settling the Good Pond refugees, is there anything else?"

Xie Yuan said expressionlessly: "His Highness ordered all feudal lords to enter the capital and attend his coronation ceremony."

Xie Tu was only surprised for two seconds before calming down—if he didn't stir up trouble, he wouldn't be Da Wang. But, "Who knows how many feudal lords will actually come; assassins will surely show up in droves."

Long Peace is truly going to be bustling.

Xie Yuan had a headache; he thought, why not organize a small court meeting tomorrow to shoot down the king's proposal? "Can't we just peacefully ascend the throne and let other matters wait until things settle? He's dissatisfied with Prince Jing, deliberately summoning him to the capital... knowing Prince Jing won't come."

Xie Yuan had already seen the news that Liangtang County was flooded earlier today; he now understands the king, but does not agree.

Xie Tu: "Refusing to go to the capital, if His Highness later takes any action against Jingzhou, it will be justified."

Xie Yuan shook his head, "The Great Jin has many feudal lords; although during the princes' rebellion a batch was harshly trimmed, now those holding princely titles, not counting those who raised rebel flags, still number seven or eight; counties and marquises are countless. Oh, to the south there is also a powerful sovereign of a different surname, enfeoffed as king and as vassal-state kings; together they already exceed a hundred. How much time would it take to summon them back? The king wouldn't be thinking of taking advantage of the und announced ascension date to change the schedule, would he?"

Xie Tu: "... Maybe."

He could see that the king truly wasn't in a hurry; compared to ascending the throne, the king was more eager to straighten out and grasp control of the 200,000 imperial guards in his hands.

Whether or not it's looked down upon, this proposal is very reasonable; the king has put the word out, and Xie Yuan can only push forward. With time pressing, he can draw on the southern forces of the intelligence bureau; anyway, the next day the king's ascension date and the notice summoning all feudal lords to the capital for the enthronement ceremony will be announced together, so changing the date is impossible.

This news is enough to keep Chang'an bustling for a few days; still someone in the court asks whether to notify the neighboring states, but Xie Yuan pretends not to hear.

Adding the various grassland tribes and the states of the Western Regions, at that time internal troubles and external threats will all gather together, which will be too lively.

Unfortunately, Xie Tu and the king are of one mind; that afternoon, ordered to go to the East Camp to gather sentiments, he shared this news with Liang He in front of the king, while the king, covered in dust and being punished, heard it loud and clear.

Sigh, why didn't I think of that before?

Not thinking of it before was because he didn't plan a big affair; now that he's already summoned the feudal lords, what's missing… just a neighbor?

Do the Xiongnu and Xianbei really think they can show up empty-handed?!

For such a joyous occasion as my ascension, if they don't bring ten thousand lambs as a gift, they will truly offend me!

The king, at this moment, was punished with weighted horse-stance squats for fighting with his comrades; he had been pretending to be pitiful, waiting for Liang He to come and rescue him, but he then stirred up a wave of hatred. Everything had been planned, yet now this matter has drawn attention away; this guy's eyes are shining bright, and he's forgotten to act pitiful.

When break time arrived, Wei Shen crept over furtively: "How's it going? Anyone trying to turn you? Doesn't Liang He say these few section chiefs are constantly seething with undercurrents?"

The king shook his head: "I've already scolded Liang He to the faces of the Fang and Li section chiefs, and nobody's gone to report me~"

This guy has shown a troublemaker's nature from day one; although he's young, his performance in training is the best. With all ten section chiefs training together, he's always stealing the spotlight, so smug that anyone just wants to punch him.

Arrogant yet humble in origin, yet truly talented. He looks like the best player for being an enforcer and taking the blame! The king feels that anyone in the imperial guards with divided loyalties should immediately unite with him.

"It must be because I look too honest and straightforward!" the king declared.

Wei Shen walked away, holding his chin, his tooth aching.

At this moment, the truly honest man Zheng Da in the distance was quietly asking Wei Ke why he didn't restrain his younger brother more, "... Qian brother, if you don't rein him in, that mouth… will sooner or later cause big trouble~"

Wei Ke looked troubled: "Zheng brother, you don't understand—he simply won't listen to me." The people around all pricked up their ears.

All that could be heard was Wei Ke saying: "Although we call ourselves brothers, I'm actually only his elder half-brother; the third brother has a big temper, and if I say too much he'll turn against me."

Understood, I dare not intervene.

Wei Shen slowly drew back his ears...

Really, there's a generational gap between me and you crafty people.

That very night the king contacted Zhuti, asking her to notify as quickly as possible all the big and small states that pay tribute to the northern border to come attend his enthronement ceremony, to send out state letters, and to have Xie Xiang affix the seal—make sure it's done formally.

He also left a message for Baiyang, telling him to quickly get some masks and alcohol he had bought before. In the camp there are too many eyes, the plan can't change fast, and he has already begun to regret getting stuck at this time.