Chapter 90

This is blatantly pulling the tiger's whiskers!

No.

This is practically plucking the tiger's whiskers clean!

Commander Commander Jiang Huang stared at Su Qiao in shock, even momentarily forgetting that he had come to extract information.

It was only after a long while that he suddenly came to his senses.

Was the true shock that Su Qiao was plucking Old Zhu's whiskers?

The key was that Su Qiao had a method to deal with the roving bandits without losing a single soldier!

"You, me, His Majesty."

Commander Commander Jiang Huang looked at Su Qiao, speaking incoherently.

It was only after a long while that he suddenly came to his senses, looking at Su Qiao excitedly as he said,

"This... Lord Su, do you truly have a way to make the roving bandits retreat without losing a single soldier?"

Su Qiao took a deep breath, looked at Commander Commander Jiang Huang, and asked,

"The premise is that all the Great Ming imperial clan members have died in battle beyond the pass."

"Exactly!"

Su Qiao sneered and said,

"Why would the Tartars beyond the pass collude with the roving thieves?"

Commander Commander Jiang Huang said woodenly,

"It should be because the roving thieves are also Han people; helping them wouldn't make the scholar-officials in the court traitors to the Han, right?"

Su Qiao nodded slightly.

"Isn't that it, then?"

"Just find a way to pin that label on them, and you're done!"

Commander Commander Jiang Huang's expression froze.

"If it were that easy to pin, would His Majesty still be worrying?"

Outside the wall, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's face also darkened.

Accusing someone of secret collusion was never that easy to state.

In this era of Great Ming, there were no developed media like in later generations.

The transmission of imperial edicts relied entirely on the gentry.

At present, the gentry of this future Great Ming were determined to defect to the thieves.

How could they possibly help Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian dig their own graves?

Su Qiao looked at Commander Commander Jiang Huang helplessly and said,

"What's so difficult about pinning that label?"

"Didn't the descendants of the imperial clan all die in battle beyond the pass?"

Commander Commander Jiang Huang nodded woodenly.

"Yes, they died in battle..."

Su Qiao looked at Commander Commander Jiang Huang and asked,

"Since they died in battle, shouldn't their remains return to their roots?"

Commander Commander Jiang Huang immediately nodded firmly and said,

"Of course! Moreover, these are heroes who died on the battlefield resisting foreign enemies!"

"Even a commoner knows to return to his roots upon death, let alone a hero!"

Su Qiao suddenly slammed the table.

"Isn't that it, then?"

"Let me ask you, aren't the ancestral graves of the Qin Prince's mansion located in territory controlled by the roving thieves?"

"If he causes trouble in Shu, aren't the ancestral graves of the Shu Prince's mansion in his territory?"

"Where are there no roving thieves?"

"The Central Plains? Shandong? Huguang?"

"Just tell me where there isn't an ancestral grave of one of our Great Ming feudal princes!"

Commander Commander Jiang Huang looked at Su Qiao in complete confusion and asked,

"What does Lord Su mean?"

Su Qiao looked at Commander Commander Jiang Huang helplessly.

"No, Director Commander Commander Jiang, with a brain like that, you're still working for the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

"There's nothing wrong with our Great Ming imperial clan members dying on the battlefield and returning to their roots, is there?"

"Nothing wrong at all."

"Then there's nothing wrong with our Great Ming sending a few squads of guards to escort the imperial coffins home for a forty-nine-day mourning period, is there?"

"Nothing wrong at all."

"Then if you directly lead one or two thousand men to Chang'an, now occupied by the roving bandits, to deliver the imperial coffins, do you think those roving thieves will block you or not?"

"Block... no, if he blocks, he becomes a traitor to the Han; even if he orders it, I fear no one would dare to actually act."

"If he doesn't block... if he doesn't block, these few thousand men will directly act and seize the city."

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang outside the Imperial Prison also saw a light before his eyes.

Brilliant!

This move of returning the coffins to their ancestral graves.

Undoubtedly, this directly passed the ball back to those roaming bandits.

Wasn't Chang'an lost?

Didn't you, Li Huang Zicheng, occupy the Prince of Qin's residence to serve as your Chuang King Palace?!

In the battle at the Prince of Qin's residence, over ten thousand imperial clansmen died.

All of them will be laid out right before your eyes.

Let's see what you, Li Huang Zicheng, will do!

Even if you, Li Huang Zicheng, grind your teeth in hatred, what can you do?

Ask the soldiers under your command what they are thinking!

Moreover, aren't all the gentry and scholar-officials under heaven now bent on defecting to the bandits?

Then they must have concealed much news regarding the situation of the war in Liaoxi!

Just let the children of our Zhu family return to their fiefs one by one for grand burials.

Let's see how you gentry continue to conceal things from now on!

Let all the common people under heaven come and see.

Let them see how our Zhu family sits upon this river and mountain!

Looking at Su Qiao in the prison cell.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang simply ground his teeth in sheer hatred.

Why can't this kid just honestly serve us as a minister who plans for the state?

Did we owe him in a past life?! Three.

86, telegraph operator Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang!

In the Imperial Prison, Commander Commander Jiang Huang's chest heaved incessantly.

Only after a long while did he squeeze out a single sentence through clenched teeth.

"Lord Su, you are truly ruthless!"

Having said this, Commander Commander Jiang Huang rose and left; before he had even walked out of the Imperial Prison.

He heard Su Qiao's voice drift faintly from behind him.

"Wasn't the fourth miss of the Liu wealthy family in Fengyang just married?"

"His Majesty returned only once to offer sacrifices to his ancestors."

"Hey, guess what happened."

"That bridegroom kicked the bucket within a couple of days."