Chapter 44

"Anything else?"

The Son of Heaven asked again.

This time, Lord Yuan Feng did not continue to take the lead.

Instead, He Jin, under Lord Yuan Feng’s signal, stepped out to report: "Reporting to Your Majesty! Currently, the rebel army is powerful, already exceeding one million, and military preparedness in various regions is lax. The Sili Imperial Guards must defend Luoyang and cannot be moved lightly;"

"Therefore, I request Your Majesty’s grace to allow benevolent and righteous men in various regions to recruit local volunteers themselves to participate in the pacification;"

"I believe that with this decree, benevolent and righteous men throughout the world will surely respond;"

"At that time, the mere million Huang Jin rebels will surely be destroyed with a flip of the hand."

Although Lord Yuan Feng and the others had suggested he say this at the court meeting.

Lord Yuan Feng and the others told him that he, He Jin, was the Grand General and possessed the authority to command the armies of the world.

Would the volunteers recruited by these righteous men not eventually be under his command?

In this way, the military power in his hands could be greatly expanded and spread throughout the entire Great Han.

At that time, he would be a Grand General in name and reality, with power over the entire court.

Therefore, regarding the suggestion and instigation of the Lord Yuan clan, He Jin agreed without a second thought.

If a fool like He Jin could see this, the Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, was not stupid; how could he not see it?

In fact, he even saw that this suggestion was definitely not He Jin’s idea.

Because this fool did not have that level of cunning or brains.

Moreover, there was more to this suggestion than met the eye.

The one who proposed this suggestion clearly wanted to take the opportunity to legitimately expand the military power and influence of the noble clans in the regions.

If this decree were issued, it would greatly weaken the imperial authority’s control over the regions.

It was absolutely completely different from the expectations and anticipations of a fool like He Jin.

But what if he saw it?

Did he dare not agree?

Just like the matter of lifting the Proscription earlier.

It was all an open conspiracy by the Lord Yuan clan and other noble families.

He had to agree even if he didn't want to.

Otherwise, those noble families would absolutely sit by and watch the Huang Jin rebels continue to grow, or even allow them to invade Sili.

At worst, they would just replace the Emperor afterward.

Preferably a young Emperor, as that would be easier to control.

Were there few such examples in the history of the Great Han?

Therefore, although the Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, was extremely aggrieved and furious in his heart, he still had to nod and shout: "Granted!"

"Hmph! Dismiss the court!"

Then, the Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, ignored everything else, stood up directly, snorted coldly, and left the great hall with a flick of his sleeves.

"Dismiss the court!!"

Zhang Rang chanted, squinted his eyes to glance at Lord Yuan Feng and He Jin, then quickly caught up with Liu Hong and accompanied him away.

"We ministers respectfully send off Your Majesty!"

The officials saw this, bowed and chanted in unison, then turned and left.

They naturally saw that the Son of Heaven was very dissatisfied with their coercion.

But so what?

This world was the world of the noble clans, not his, Liu Hong’s, world.

Even if there was more dissatisfaction, Liu Hong had to hold it in.

Fighting against heaven, the joy is boundless;

Fighting against the Son of Heaven, the joy is even more boundless.

One day later,

"Su Xuan, receive the decree!"

"In the first year of Zhongping, the Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, decrees: Su Xuan, son of Dengxian Magistrate Su Lie, is brave and resolute, and has merit in pacifying the Dengxian Huang Jin. He is specially appointed as Cavalry Commandant, in charge of 5,000 troops. Continue your efforts, cooperate with the new Nanyang Administrator Qin Jie, and pacify the Nanyang Huang Jin rebels as soon as possible. Respect this!"

"I, Su Xuan, receive the decree!"

Su Xuan received the imperial decree from the hands of the minor Huangmen, then beckoned to a personal guard nearby, had him bring over a money bag, and quietly slipped it into the minor Huangmen’s hand, smiling: "Thank you for your trouble, my lord! May I ask how to address you?"

"Also, His Majesty ordered me to cooperate with the new Administrator to pacify the rebellion. Do I need to take orders from Administrator Qin next?"

If so, that would not be a good thing for him.

Being under someone else’s control, he would not be as free if he wanted to lead his army to other places to participate in the pacification and earn merit later.

"Hehe! The General is a clever person!"

The minor Huangmen weighed the money bag, opened a small slit to look, and discovered it was actually gold, estimated at 50 taels. He quickly tucked it into his bosom and looked at Su Xuan with a beaming smile.

He felt this young man was pleasing to the eye no matter how he looked at him.

He had thought that a genius youth like Su Xuan would be very arrogant and, like those disciples of the great noble clans, would reject and loathe them, the eunuchs!

Unexpectedly, it was the complete opposite.

This Su Xuan seemed very friendly toward him, a eunuch.

"Perhaps, this person can be won over!"

The minor Huangmen thought to himself, then smiled and bowed: "General can just call me Zuo Feng;"

"Regarding this point, His Majesty specifically announced it in the court: the General and the Nanyang Administrator Qin Jie are independent of each other. Regarding the pacification of Nanyang, let you discuss it yourselves;"

"Additionally, His Majesty specifically instructed me to tell the General that he thinks highly of you and hopes you will not disappoint him. Pacify the Nanyang rebels as quickly as possible, and then go to support other places;"

"As long as the General can earn sufficient merit, His Majesty will certainly not hesitate to promote you exceptionally."

"Furthermore,"

Having said this, Zuo Feng paused, looked left and right, then leaned in and whispered to Su Xuan: "I don't mind telling the General that His Majesty originally intended to appoint the General’s father as the new Nanyang Administrator;"

"But it was blocked and vetoed by officials led by Lord Yuan Feng;"

"Afterward, His Majesty had no choice but to change the appointment to Qin Jie as Nanyang Administrator;"

"But His Majesty values the General’s bravery and talent, and took the opportunity to promote the General instead;"

"Lord Yuan Feng and the others had already defied His Majesty once, and coupled with the fact that the General indeed has merit, they had no choice but to compromise;"

"That is how the General’s appointment came to be."

"I hope the General understands who is a friend and who is an enemy;"

"Additionally, Attendant Zhang Rang, Lord Zhang, asked me to convey his greetings to the General;"

"If the General earns more merit later, you might as well send someone to visit Lord Zhang’s residence. Lord Zhang will likely not be stingy in speaking well of the General before His Majesty."

This was truly not Zuo Feng talking nonsense.

Zhang Rang indeed had such instructions, telling him to test whether Su Xuan was someone who could be won over.

If he could, naturally leave the words above;

If not, there was no need to give Su Xuan any good looks.

Now it seemed, Zuo Feng felt Su Xuan could be won over.

This was a good thing.

If the eunuch faction grew stronger by one point, the noble clan faction would be weakened by one point.

"Oh? Is there such inside information?"

Su Xuan frowned slightly upon hearing this, but quickly composed himself.

Then, with a look of gratitude, he bowed to Zuo Feng: "Many thanks to Lord Zuo for the reminder, and many thanks to Lord Zhang for his kindness;"

"Please convey my greetings to Lord Zhang on my behalf!"

"Additionally, I have two boxes of local specialties here to be sent to Lord Zuo and Lord Zhang respectively. Please, Lord Zuo, convey the portion for Lord Zhang!"

Saying this, Su Xuan waved his hand again to the personal guard nearby and signaled with his eyes.

The personal guard immediately led a few people and left quickly.

Before long, they carried over two boxes, one large and one small.

"Lord Zuo, why not open them and see if these local specialties are to your liking?"

Su Xuan smiled and made a gesture of invitation to Zuo Feng.

"Oh? Then I must take a good look!"

Zuo Feng smiled faintly, and with some curiosity, opened the two boxes to look.

PS: New book uploaded, seeking collections, flowers, and ratings!