Chapter 1358: Full Merit is Hard to Achieve

"General!"

The patrolling soldiers and city gate guards nearby all rushed over to support.

Even the city gate guards nearby came to join the battle, helping Wang Yan share part of the pressure.

Of course, this was what the city gate guards thought themselves.

The entire battle was the elite forces surrounding and killing, squeezing Wang Yan together, hacking and stabbing with chaotic knives, swords, and spears. This was naturally the correct approach.

After all, everyone knew Wang Yan was invincible in the world. The carefully prepared assassination—no, this was an open killing without even pretending—sent out all dead soldiers. Sacrificing a portion of people like this and using the rest to kill Wang Yan was the most effective way.

Otherwise, if the space was large, giving Wang Yan room to maneuver and exert his full strength, and entangling with them, they wouldn't be able to take him down for a while, and when reinforcements arrived, it would all be over.

But they thought well, yet they still underestimated Wang Yan's combat power. He kicked out, and he could kick people away, clearing a large space. He swung the foot-spear in a sweep, and he could also clear a large space. He could also use the foot-spear as support, do a pole vault, and kill directly to the back of the encirclement.

This left them helpless, so they all died.

Watching Wang Yan's cold gaze sweep over, several officers hurriedly ran over: "General, when we heard the movement and came over, someone obstructed us. They were all noisy commoners, and it was hard for us to make a move."

"We were the same. Just now when the fighting started here, we were coming from the city gate, and the commoners entering the city suddenly started causing trouble."

Wang Yan nodded, threw the propped-up foot-spear aside, and took a clean cloth from a soldier who had the insight to take it out, wiping the blood on his face.

He took out the waist token for mobilizing troops from his waist and ordered: "Go, go outside the city to pass the order, the whole army prepare for battle, blockade all Daxing city gates, allow entry but not exit, and search all these shops, armories, etc., in the surrounding area for me."

"Yes."

That person responded, took the token from Wang Yan's hand, hurriedly led a horse from the side, and rode away quickly.

Wang Yan identified them again in the pile of people and picked out his personal troops.

He only brought four personal troops. Although these people were wearing armor, their combat effectiveness was halved during the first wave of arrows, and by the time the surrounding people rushed over, they were basically killed in the first instance, without any resistance.

These people were those who had been through life and death with him and were loyal to him, so naturally, their bodies had to be collected, buried thickly later, and high compensation given to their families. People who ate with him were all watching.

He also arranged for people to report the news to the mansion and arranged for people to come and receive the bodies.

Wang Yan didn't rush to leave either, just commanding on the spot, arranging for the people who kept coming, cleaning up the scene, comforting the commoners, and investigating the mastermind behind the scenes.

Until Shi Your Majesty rushed over, Wang Yan said: "Brother, leave the matter here to you. You must investigate to the bottom, no matter who it is, arrest them directly and put them in prison."

Shi Your Majesty looked at Wang Yan's appearance of having crawled out of hell and was already stunned.

Hearing Wang Yan's order, he came back to his senses, pulled Wang Yan to the side: "Brother, that's enough. You really can't continue to do this. This is the first time; who knows what it will be like later? And what about His Majesty? What if they target His Majesty?"

"Brother, there is no retreat." Wang Yan smiled and shook his head: "If I retreat at this time, then I, your brother, will die. If you were His Majesty, you would also have to cut off my head as an explanation. Dead either way, I'll kill them fiercely first. Why should they ride on our heads? I just want to pull them down, step on their heads, and tell them that if a knife stabs them, they will also die.

Alright, brother, investigate quickly and handle it fiercely. I'll go back to the mansion to bathe, comfort my family, and then go to the palace to give His Majesty a reassurance pill. Don't think about retreating. We warriors must move forward and kill out a world with the sharp blades in our hands."

"Go, go." Shi Your Majesty waved his hand wearily. He couldn't stop him, but he still tried to persuade him without giving up.

His rank was also very high, and many of the various arrangements were handled by him, so he naturally knew the whole process of the matter.

It was Wang Yan who offered the strategy to Yang Guang when the military affairs were changed. But obviously, Yang Guang supported it, otherwise, there wouldn't be today's situation. It was just that Wang Yan spoke out what Yang Guang was thinking.

But currently, the situation was critical, forcing the great clans to send out such elite dead soldiers to forcibly kill Wang Yan.

Shi Your Majesty didn't think highly of it to begin with, feeling that Wang Yan and Yang Guang were too crazy. Now that this had happened, he thought even less of it. Because at this point, anyone knew that this was just a beginning...

Wang Yan returned to the mansion covered in blood, scaring everyone in the family. Hearing that it was someone else's blood, the hanging hearts didn't let go.

Xiao Mei personally served Wang Yan in the bath and said: "Husband, is there any retreat?"

"It mainly depends on His Majesty's attitude. If he can withstand it, even if it ends hastily in the end, there is a retreat. If he cannot withstand it, then my head will be his explanation."

"Sigh..." Xiao Mei shook her head and sighed, "Why bother, husband."

"It's all our own country, sooner or later. These great clans must be killed, otherwise, they will think this is their country. Can that work?"

"But right now they are crazy enough to send out hundreds of armored soldiers to surround and kill you. Husband, it will definitely become more and more dangerous in the future."

"You have changed quite a bit now, Empress. Wealth is sought in danger." Wang Yan smiled and waved his hand, "Keep a close watch on the family to prevent anyone from poisoning or setting fires. Don't let the children go out; let them honestly study at home. It's only for this period of time anyway."

"Husband means... it's hard to achieve full merit?"

"Yang Guang is already afraid. Why did I come back to bathe? It's because I was afraid of scaring him. He won't think about how brave I am or how determined my will is; he will only think that killing me is a warning to him, and if he doesn't stop, the next one will be him."

"Isn't he quite bold? Killing his brother and father, why is he afraid now?"

"Feeling the wind and rain shaking." Wang Yan said amusingly, "It's also because the counterattack of the great clans is too fierce, and the throne is unstable. Actually, he isn't afraid of death; he is afraid of having no power in his hands."

"And he still compares himself to a wise ruler and calls himself an emperor for the ages? No spirit at all. This throne should be sat on by a hero like my husband."

At this time, a rush of footsteps came from outside, followed by a knocking on the door.

"General, His Majesty summons the General to enter the palace immediately."

"Understood."

Wang Yan responded, accelerated the speed of his bath, then changed his clothes, and just like that, with his hair loose and not wiped dry, he rode his horse into the palace.

Yang Guang's condition was not very good. His face was gloomy, the room was full of soldiers, and the personal eunuch was kneeling below, half-dead.

Seeing Wang Yan enter, Yang Guang let out a long sigh and asked with concern: "I heard that hundreds of armored soldiers surrounded and killed you. Are you unharmed?"

"Does Your Majesty look like I'm harmed?" Wang Yan laughed, then asked, "Did Your Majesty also encounter an assassination?"

"My inner palace has all been bought off. This dog thing took someone else's silver, helped report the news, and chose a Jiang Nan show girl to kill me on the bed."

Yang Guang said through gritted teeth, but Wang Yan also heard his panic.

"What is Your Majesty's plan?"

Yang Guang became gloomy again, sitting there without saying a word.

So Wang Yan very considerately let the armored soldiers in the hall take the eunuch out. He also had people send some food and drink, sat on the side eating and drinking, patiently waiting for Yang Guang to finish thinking and say some weak words.

After a long while, Yang Guang finally raised his head and looked at Wang Yan: "Ziyan, stop, I will definitely protect you!"

"Your Majesty, stopping now means Your Majesty is afraid, and I will definitely die. Let's kill for another month, at least kill all those who participated in the assassination of Your Majesty. By that time, Your Majesty's prestige will be preserved, and my head will also be preserved. After that, Your Majesty can send me out; just go to Youzhou. Goguryeo is a heart-and-belly trouble; I will go to fight Goguryeo and not care about court affairs."

Yang Guang looked directly into Wang Yan's eyes, seeing only blinding loyalty.

After another silence, he finally nodded: "Alright, go do it, I won't care anymore."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely kill as many as possible to clear the trouble for Your Majesty." Wang Yan cupped his hands, got up and walked out, starting to issue orders, investigating the mastermind behind the assassination of Yang Guang and the surrounding and killing of his Wang Mouren.

This time Wang Yan's actions were naturally very violent. After all, he had encountered an encirclement, and Yang Guang was also trembling with fear, so he naturally had to retaliate even more fiercely.

Thus, the prisons in Daxing City were all full, and the ranks of officials became fewer day by day. Every day there were people arrested, and every day people from several large families died.

Wang Yan found a place in the outer city, holding a trial meeting every morning, letting the commoners watching the fun know who was being beheaded, what their past resumes were, which family they came from, how wealthy their families were, and what bad things they had done. Then at noon, in front of the commoners, they were directly sliced.

Cutting meat knife by knife, cutting for an afternoon, until the person was killed.

The women of the great families were not filled as official prostitutes, nor were they sent to be maids, but Wang Yan ordered that these women be rewarded to low-level officers as wives.

The men, except for those who had to die, were all sent to build Luoyang and the canal, intending to work them to death.

Thus, Wang Yan's reputation began to polarize. Among the commoners and soldiers, people all admired him. Among the trembling officers and officials, he was a treacherous minister, a rebellious minister and thief.

However, Wang Yan didn't care.

While searching for officials in Daxing City, in the Central Plains, Wang Yan also ordered an increase in the offensive, catching a few emerging large forces and fighting fiercely, killing the famous and named great clans.

Since full merit couldn't be achieved, it was naturally more cost-effective to kill those with great power.

No matter what, this was a catastrophe for the great clans of the Central Plains. For the Great Sui, this central dynasty, it was a good thing no matter what.

After all, once the killing started, together with the great clans, local officials, etc., quite a few people were killed. From this aspect, it was once again opening up the upward channel for children from humble families, clearing positions for them.

In addition, killing the great clans, the land was re-measured, and the hidden population was released. Coupled with war and implication, quite a few people were killed, which to a considerable extent eased social contradictions.

At the same time, because the main great clans were removed from the register, more various resources were released, stabilizing social stability.

After this, for a long time to come, the remaining great clans of the Central Plains would no longer make trouble, but would strive to divide the rich legacy left by their predecessors.

They didn't dare to grab the land Wang Yan distributed, but they would still use the methods that hadn't changed for thousands of years. Continuing to lend to the commoners, waiting for the commoners to be unable to repay, then collecting the commoners' land, occupying the commoners' wives and daughters, and letting the commoners be their slaves for generations.

Of course, this was what they thought.

But in reality, these things wouldn't end just like that. They thought they were safe? Impossible...

The retaliation Wang Yan faced hadn't ended. In the following month, his home caught fire twice, he encountered three encirclements on his way out of the city, and his food was poisoned while he was dealing with affairs in the Imperial City's hub office at noon.

Yang Guang was much more relaxed, only encountering one more assassination.

Because of the sentence "I won't care anymore" that Yang Guang said to Wang Yan, it meant that the pot was all Wang Yan's.

Yang Guang began to meet with some ministers, saying that he couldn't stop Wang Yan anymore, the military power was all in Wang Yan's hands, he couldn't control it, Wang Yan had already killed madly, etc. Anyway, it was all Wang Yan's fault.

So his situation suddenly became much better, dealing with the ministers' cursing of Wang Yan and worries about the country's future every day. As Wang Yan killed more and more, and killed more and more fiercely, and he saw the ministers becoming more and more panicked, he gradually found back some of the emperor's spirit.

Finally, more than a month passed, after Wang Yan thoroughly investigated the latest incident of his own assassination and killed a large group of people again.

Yang Guang issued an imperial edict, dismissing Wang Yan from his post as Grand Marshal of the World's Armies, conferring Wang Yan as General of the North, adding the title of Pillar of the State, and leading the Youzhou Marching General Manager, ordering him to leave the city within three days and go to Beiping to take office.

Thus, Wang Yan handed over the military power, packed his bags, took Qionghua and several young wives and children, while leaving Xiao Mei and several other young wives in Daxing, as well as Xiao Mei's eldest son and other children of various ages.

This was necessary. Everyone knew he liked Xiao Mei the most, so Xiao Mei and the children had to stay as hostages to prevent him from rebelling outside.

This actually wasn't of much use, mainly depending on conscience, but many people still had conscience.

Wang Yan was just like that.

He actually didn't want to take any of them, but Qionghua wanted to go with him, saying she had never left Daxing and wanted to go out and see. So Wang Yan didn't refuse.

Just like that, he packed a pile of luggage, took a whole family, and led a thousand-man troop that Yang Guang had sent out with a good conscience as guards, seemingly leaving Daxing very lonely.

It is said that on the day Wang Yan left the city, all the court officials were drunk, and the brothels and singing houses were singing and dancing all night long, with everyone celebrating.

Yang Guang didn't see Wang Yan off. Although he had done many inhuman things, he also had his own sense of shame.

He knew better than anyone how loyal Wang Yan was. He knew that Wang Yan had never forgotten the great dream of making him an emperor for the ages, running around for his life.

Building the navy, destroying the Turks, separating military and politics, concentrating military power, suppressing the great clans, until today's defeat and departure, he had been running around for him for fourteen years.

He was embarrassed to see Wang Yan.

So Wang Yan requested to see the Emperor before leaving, but he didn't see him, nor did he see him off.

He stood outside the Daxing Hall, looking far away at the distant sky, thinking about the embarrassment of being forced by the great clans this time, and the damn weakness displayed in the process.

He had always been a person who held grudges, and he took it to heart...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who tipped, voted for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and read silently for their strong support!

? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1359 =====