Chapter 1662: The Correct Choice

As someone who had been doing business with Wang Yan all along, as the person in the capital most familiar with Wang Yan at present, and as someone whose status and standing could barely be considered high-ranking, Li Wantang was pushed out to serve as the representative.

Wang Yan gave him face by cupping his hands in greeting: "I have heard about the situation in the city. You have put in a lot of effort to maintain order and suppress those who are looking to die."

During this period, with the departure of the imperial family, the nobility, and a large number of officials and merchants, a power vacuum had appeared in the capital, leading to quite a bit of chaos.

After all, contradictions had been festering here for over two hundred years. At a time like this, those who grew bold let their evil nature take over; those with grievances sought revenge, those with grudges settled scores, and those without money seized it... Order had collapsed significantly.

At such a moment, it was Li Wantang who stood up, working alongside some military and political figures who had already defected, to stabilize the situation in the city.

"Wantang would not dare to claim credit. It was all me acting under the guise of your power, Master, using the personnel you had long since arranged, and with the help of many righteous people filled with great justice, that the situation in the capital was stabilized."

"You are being modest. I arranged for many people, and many had already sent letters of surrender long ago, so why couldn't they shoulder this burden? Knowing what to do and when to do it—that is talent. Not only knowing what to do, but doing more and succeeding—that is great talent. You, Li Baiwan, are a great talent."

Li Wantang waved his hands repeatedly: "Master, you overpraise me. If we are talking about great talent, I hear that under your command, Master, there is someone named Pang Qingyun. He was previously a battalion commander under Lord Chen, and now he is the deputy commander of your Southern Route Army, Master. General Pang has truly risen rapidly; such a person is the great talent, while Wantang is far behind."

The so-called Southern Route Army was the force led by Shi Dakai fighting against Di, Jiang, and others in the south. The Regional Commander was Shi Dakai, and the deputy commander was Zhao Erhu, who was in charge of logistics. This deputy commander, Pang Qingyun, was effectively a vanguard general holding the title of deputy commander, making him the third-in-command of the Southern Route Army.

However, apart from Shi Dakai and Zhao Erhu, there was no clear subordinate relationship among the other deputy commanders and generals below; there were a whole bunch of so-called third-in-commands.

"Then do you know how he came to be under my command?"

"It is said that his entire army was wiped out..." Li Wantang spoke of the news he knew.

Shi Dakai, Lord Chen, and Pang Qingyun were the three examples Wang Yan had set up, so the stories that spread were all true. In fact, there were no secrets; everything happened just as it did.

Wang Yan shook his head: "You are different from Pang Qingyun."

"Master, to tell you the truth, it was all a gamble. May I ask how we are different?"

"He gambled with the lives of others, while you gambled with your own life. Who is right and who is wrong is a matter of opinion."

"I am but a live-in son-in-law..."

"A humble background is not a disgrace; only those who can bend and stretch are true men. You know what you want, and you are willing to endure the cold stares and contempt of others to do it, bringing the Li family to where it is today. What does being a live-in son-in-law have to do with it? You have ability, you just lacked the opportunity. Being a live-in son-in-law was your opportunity."

Wang Yan glanced at him: "It's just that you are too ruthless. The Li family is entirely in your hands, so why fear so much? You even sent your own biological son off to outside the pass, while your wife at home lives a bitter life. It is their good fortune that the Taiping Army didn't sweep them away when passing through."

Li Wantang shuddered, stiffly pulling up the corners of his mouth to force a smile, not knowing what to say.

Only then did Wang Yan continue: "You don't need to worry; this is your own business, and I have no intention of blaming you. After all, you even gambled with your own life; being more ruthless to yourself, your lack of kindness toward your wife and children seems to have faded quite a bit."

"You won your gamble with your life, and the situation in the capital is well-maintained. The benefits that should be yours will not be lacking. I have a Bureau of Commerce under my command; you can take charge of it in the future. It is also a position of authority where your word counts, much better than working for Yixin."

Li Wantang subconsciously wanted to pat his sleeves to perform a kowtow, but immediately stopped under Wang Yan's smiling gaze, merely bowing and cupping his hands: "Thank you, Master, for the promotion!"

"It is a new dynasty now; the old rules are all bullshit. These rites must be redefined."

Wang Yan patted Li Wantang on the shoulder: "Let's go. I've long heard that the capital is fine, but I've lived for so many years and only just arrived here; I must take a good look."

"I fear you will grow tired of looking at it in the future, Master."

"The mountains and rivers are boundless, and the human world is full of life; how could there be a time to be tired? Not to mention anything else, just look at that city wall; look at the potholes, and look at the ground—there are even puddles. Where is the imperial atmosphere? No wonder the foreigners signed treaties with them with just twenty thousand men!"

Li Wantang accompanied him with a smile: "It is still because you have a strong backbone, Master, and beat the foreigners until they were scurrying away."

"There will be plenty of fighting in the future. Let's go, enter the city!"

Amidst the laughter, the army marched into the city with neat, shining steps, lining up on both sides. Wang Yan, under Li Wantang's introduction, met with the representatives of the officials and gentry in the capital at the city gate, and then proceeded unhurriedly from the Yongding Gate into the city.

The soldiers held their guns, standing one person every few meters, having already sealed off the entire long street. Anyone who dared to cross the line would suffer. The commoners crowded behind the soldiers, noisy and jostling to see the crowd passing before them.

Leading the way were the guards, followed by Wang Yan, who had long since lost his queue and kept his hair in a sharp, short cut. Behind him were the bald Li Wantang and Wang Yan's subordinate officials, who basically all kept short hair like Wang Yan, with a rare few keeping half-long hair tied up. Further behind were the officials and gentry of the capital, all of them sporting big bald heads just like Li Wantang.

In the past, it was "keep your hair or lose your head." Now, although it hadn't reached the point of losing one's head, being labeled as someone who missed the Manchu Qing was not a pleasant feeling. So, one by one, they all shaved their heads.

Of course, the barbers' business was currently overwhelming, so some people just cut off most of their queues and let their hair hang loose, looking quite ridiculous.

Many of the commoners crowding to watch the excitement had this hairstyle—long in the back, while the front had grown out for a few months.

"Hey? Who is that?"

"Are you stupid? The one waving in front."

"He's so young, looks like he's in his twenties."

"Who says he isn't?"

"Who is that on the side?"

"Li Baiwan. Among the merchants in the capital, he is the richest and shows his face often. Haven't you seen him?"

The commoners pointed and gestured at Wang Yan and the other big figures passing by. Except for the respect they held for Wang Yan, which kept them from calling him by name, they basically commented on everyone else as they pleased.

With so many people crowded together, no one knew who said which bad word, and no one came to find trouble with them; the law does not punish the masses, after all.

But at the same time, so many people also brought trouble.

Excitement often implies danger.

While Li Wantang was conscientiously introducing things to Wang Yan, Wang Yan suddenly stopped his steps and pulled Li Wantang back a few paces.

Before Li Wantang could react, he heard several gunshots—bang, bang, bang.

Then, the commoners panicked and wanted to leave. The soldiers standing guard on the side of the road to maintain order held firm against the commoners to prevent them from rushing over and blocking Wang Yan. The guards raised their guns and fired at the second floor of the buildings on the side of the road. While suppressing the firepower, they fiercely squeezed through the fleeing commoners and rushed into the shops.

After a burst of dense gunfire, it took only a few minutes for the guards to run back out, some with blood on them. The officer nodded to Wang Yan, and after receiving a response, organized the men to reform their ranks and continue moving forward along the central axis of the capital.

"What, scared?"

"Master, you shouldn't be so..."

"You weren't scared when you gambled with your life, so why are you trembling over a few gunshots?" Wang Yan laughed heartily and continued to wave to the commoners around him. "You also know that I have encountered hundreds of assassination attempts this year; I'm already used to it. With such a good opportunity today, how could no one make a move?"

Li Wantang looked back and didn't see anyone going in to investigate, so he asked curiously: "Just like that... leave it alone?"

"Those few just now have already been killed. Investigating would be too laborious and completely thankless. I'm not lacking people to assassinate me; there are plenty of opportunities to catch their tails and kill all their people."

Those who assassinated him were nothing more than the Manchu Qing, the interest groups of officials and gentry merchants, and the foreigners who wouldn't give up their evil intentions; they were all groups with serious conflicts of interest. Therefore, there was no need to investigate the masterminds; the main thing was to investigate the arrangements of these people. Since he had been assassinated, he couldn't just pretend not to see it; he had to dig out as many involved people as possible.

In fact, ignoring it would also work, but if he didn't eradicate those people, personnel turnover would decrease. After this group discovered that they had planned dozens of assassinations with trembling fear and yet achieved no effect, that inner torment and huge work pressure would likely drive those with low psychological endurance to suicide, and even those with high endurance would easily become depressed.

So in this respect, isn't Wang Yan another kind of savior for them...

It took Lord Chen thirty years to walk from outside the palace gate to the inside. It took Wang Yan half a day to enter the city from Yongding Gate, walk past Zhengyang Gate and Tiananmen, pass through the Meridian Gate into the palace, and finally stand at the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

He walked and stopped, encountering three assassination attempts along the way. Those who followed him and surrendered were now walking until they were trembling, including his subordinate officials, who were no better; it was a fair suppression. Physical fitness is something you cannot cheat on.

This was a public display, just bullying the old man.

No, it wasn't just the old man. Even young people would find it hard to endure walking for so long...

At this time, although the palace was chaotic, it was very quiet. Various things were scattered on the ground. The eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were all honestly lined up, waiting to be dealt with, facing the various silks and satins on the ground with indifference.

Clearly, there had been a commotion in the palace earlier. Some had been taken along to run outside the pass, some had stolen things and run away during the chaos, and most of the remaining people had secretly hidden some things, and with nowhere to go, they could only kneel on the square of the Gate of Supreme Harmony, waiting for a new arrangement of fate...

Looking along the way, hearing the gasping of the people behind him who were struggling for their lives, Wang Yan smiled slightly and stepped into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

This was the largest hall in the palace, the place where major ceremonies were held, and the dragon throne was right here.

Under the gaze of the many righteous people behind him, Wang Yan walked step by step toward the dragon throne...

"Latest news: Wang Yan has already fought his way to the capital!"

In Tianjing, the kings of the Heavenly Kingdom and other high-ranking officials gathered together.

"What?"

"Heavenly King, this little king requests that we quickly gather troops, otherwise Wang Yan will come to fight us."

"Is gathering troops useful? Can we win?"

A group of people were noisy and arguing endlessly.

Some said they wanted to fight, to fight Wang Yan to the end. Others fully recognized the gap in strength between the two sides and said they wanted to build a country overseas, first going to Nanyang to fight; Wang Yan would definitely sell them weapons then, and they wouldn't fear the foreigners in Nanyang. There were also some who didn't say whether to fight or not, just talking about the current predicament.

After arguing like this for a while, the scene finally gradually quieted down.

Sitting in the front row, Li Cheng, who had not spoken before, coughed twice: "Everyone, I believe we should surrender to complete the unification of our Han mountains and rivers."

"What did you say? Surrender?"

Li Cheng's words caused an uproar.

Just now, this group of people had argued for so long, talking about fighting and not fighting, but no one had said surrender. Now that Li Cheng had started this and clarified the relationship, some people began to attack him with righteous indignation.

But at the same time, those who had previously said not to fight or hadn't spoken also began to support Li Cheng.

After arguing for a while more, it quieted down again. Li Shucheng cupped his hands to the Heavenly King sitting high above and said: "Please, Heavenly King, indicate the will of Heaven."

"Where is there any will of Heaven to speak of? We can't win, and we don't want to leave. Besides surrendering, what other choice is there?"

The Heavenly King waved his hand, suppressing others from speaking. "I am old and don't want to toss and turn. This is my business; I cannot bind you to surrender with me. This Heavenly Kingdom is not mine alone; you have a share in it, and I cannot be arbitrary. I will discuss it with Wang Yan later and come up with a plan.

Those who want to surrender will be arranged a good position; if there is no good position, there must be money to live a good second half of life, bringing blessings to future generations. Those who don't want to surrender, I will open the gates for you; you can take the soldiers who are willing to follow you to Nanyang. I have nothing to say, and I believe Wang Yan should have such courage..."

The Heavenly King roughly stated his thoughts; in short, two words: surrender.

Those present were all shrewd people; even the loudest ones never really wanted to fight Wang Yan; they were just talking. Many people actually wanted to surrender, but no one wanted to be the first to say it. Li Cheng understood great justice and did practical things for the Heavenly King, taking this responsibility upon himself.

In fact, adhering to the principle of "big matters, small meetings," the Heavenly King had of course already communicated with his core personnel. Li Cheng taking the initiative to say surrender was also acting on the Heavenly King's will.

How the Manchu Qing perished, how the foreigners retreated, and how Wang Yan entered the capital had already clearly demonstrated absolute strength to them. If the Heavenly Kingdom really wanted to mobilize troops, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Instead of that, it would be better to take advantage of the fact that the Heavenly Kingdom still had some strength to strive for good conditions for themselves. This was the voice of everyone, and also the voice of the Heavenly King.

Even if the Heavenly King, as the leader, perhaps had thousands of thoughts in his heart, it was of no use. The people below were all convinced, and even if he wasn't, it wouldn't work.

They had no other room for maneuver; they could only make the correct historical choice...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who gave rewards, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1663 =====