Chapter 219: Decision

"Dying is good, dying is good..."

Yuan Xiu's miserable screams before death reached them, and Yuan Li laughed heartily.

Laughing and laughing, it turned into sobbing.

"Yan Wang, the day you arrived in Yanzhou, I should have killed you. It is a pity that it was my negligence that allowed you to grow powerful today," Yuan Li said sorrowfully. "Now, I only want to know one thing: were you truly a fool or pretending to be one back then? Was all of this a conspiracy between you and the Emperor?"

"Does that matter? Whether it was or not, you are going to die," Zhao Xu stared directly at Yuan Li. "All of this is of your own doing."

Yuan Li gave a few miserable laughs and lowered his head.

It seemed he would never be able to get an answer from Yan Wang.

The reason he asked this question was simply that he was unwilling to lose to a fool.

If this had been a premeditated conspiracy, at least he wouldn't consider himself so incompetent before his death.

Zhao Xu then shifted his gaze away from Yuan Li and said to Lv Chang behind him, "Escort Yuan Li to Yancheng and wait for disposal."

"Yes, Your Highness." Lv Chang stepped forward and dragged Yuan Li away.

With Yuan Li captured and Yuan Xiu dead, the Yuan Family soldiers were leaderless and surrounded by the Yan Prince Army.

At this moment, they no longer had any thoughts of resistance, and one after another, they threw down their weapons and left the city to surrender.

Zhao Xu ordered Chang Wei to accept the surrender of these soldiers, detain them for the time being, and deliberate later.

Once all the Yuan Family troops in the city had come out, Zhao Xu ordered his soldiers to take full control of Fanyang City.

Jinling, Imperial Palace.

It had been less than five days since the Imperial Edict ordering the Prefects of each province to mobilize troops to Yanzhou was issued, when another Imperial Edict was issued, canceling the first one.

In the study, Zhao Heng held the Memorial that had just been delivered, a thick smile on his face, looking spirited as if he had grown ten years younger overnight.

"As expected of my son. Since he was young, I felt that Xu was the most like me and would surely achieve great things in the future. Now it seems, it is indeed so." Zhao Heng read the Memorial over a dozen times, simply unable to put it down.

This Memorial was written in Zhao Xu's own hand, stating how he went to Yanguan, how he defeated the Yuan Family troops, and how he held Yanguan and forced the Northern Di to retreat.

And from the news continuously arriving from Yanzhou, it was just as Yan Wang had said.

The crisis in Yanzhou was resolved.

"That is only natural. This old servant also feels that the Ninth Prince has the bearing of the Emperor when he was young." The smile caused the wrinkles on Liang Cheng's face to pile up like mountains and rivers.

Zhao Heng was in an exceptionally good mood. A few days ago, the Great Song was about to face a profound crisis, and it was even possible that the mountains and rivers would be shattered.

In just a few days, the crisis was resolved, and the Great Song dynasty would continue to be prosperous and peaceful in the future.

"Yan Wang has performed such a great service, how should I reward him?" Zhao Heng pondered.

This time, Yan Wang's merit could not be considered small.

First, he suppressed the rebellion of the Yuan Family; second, he held Yanguan.

These two things, either one of them greatly bolstered the prestige of the Imperial Clan.

It could be said that it greatly restored the prestige of the Imperial Clan that had been continuously declining over these years.

In his view, this would definitely greatly deter the Eight Great Influential Clans and make them restrain themselves in the imperial court.

Liang Cheng had also been scared out of his wits this time; after all, if the Northern Di people had broken through, the Imperial Clan would have had no good days, and he, this eunuch, would likewise have had no good days.

Logically speaking,

this was not a matter for a eunuch like him to interject in, but he feared that Zhao Heng would make a foolish mistake again and waste the opportunity to greatly increase the strength of the Imperial Clan, so he reminded him: "The Yuan Family rebelled. If it weren't for the Ninth Prince turning the tide in Yanzhou, this old servant wouldn't even dare to imagine it now. In the future, Yanzhou should be governed by someone reliable..."

Zhao Heng nodded slightly; Liang Cheng had thought of the same thing as him.

He could no longer trust the likes of the Yuan Family.

He did not want to experience such a crisis again.

During this crisis, Yan Wang disregarded his own safety, first defeating the Yuan Family, then repelling the Northern Di.

Just looking at this point, anyone, even a fool, could see who was acting for themselves and who was acting for the Imperial Clan.

Thinking back to that day in the imperial court when he ordered the influential clans to send troops, and the way they shirked responsibility to one another.

He could not let them take advantage of the current power vacuum in Yanzhou.

Most importantly, Yan Wang's merit was worthy of this reward.

Thinking of this, he nodded slightly and secretly made up his mind.

Another five days passed.

An eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch was sent from Yanzhou again.

This Memorial was also sent by Yan Wang.

Yuan Li had already been captured by Yan Wang and was waiting for disposal.

Upon receiving this Memorial, Zhao Heng was completely at ease; the chaos in Yanzhou was finally quelled...

At the same time, the influential clans also received news from Yanzhou.

Twenty miles outside Jinling City, in a luxurious courtyard by the Yuxi River.

The Ministers of the Six Ministries of the current dynasty and General Protecting the State Xiao Cheng were all present.

At this time, Dou Wei sat in the main seat, and the others were lined up on the left and right.

In the courtyard, there were other long tables where the descendants of each influential clan sat.

Dishes were served, Fine Wine was poured, and singing and dancing began.

The courtyard suddenly became noisy.

Everyone drank and enjoyed the singing and dancing.

After three rounds of Wine, Dou Wei saw General Protecting the State Xiao Cheng looking unhappy and asked, "General Xiao, what is the matter?"

Xiao Cheng sighed, "It is none other than my good-for-nothing third brother. The night the Northern Di people arrived, he fled Yanguan. This time, the Emperor will surely punish him."

"Deserting in the face of battle, this charge is indeed unavoidable." Han Zheng frowned; although the Wine and food were good, he could not be happy either.

In the past, the Yuan Family was nearly a vassal to his Han Family, paying tribute in silver to his Han Family every year.

Now, Yan Wang has captured Yuan Li and even used the pretext of rebellion to wipe out the Rich Clans in every prefecture of Yanzhou.

Not to mention the Yuan Family, there isn't a single Rich Clan left in Yanzhou, which means his Han Family has lost all influence in Yanzhou.

"Indeed, this time all the credit has been snatched away by Yan Wang, and our families have nothing," Wang Zi'an said, drinking a cup of Wine.

The crisis in Yanzhou had been resolved, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he was unhappy that Yan Wang had rounded up all the Rich Clans in Yanzhou in one fell swoop.

After all, some of these Rich Clans had intricate connections with their Wang Family as well.

Fan Xinglun then said, "Shouldn't you all be concerned about the secret weapon Yan Wang used to win this time? It is said that the thing is called Artillery, and its power is immense."

Mentioning this, Liang Kai, who had been tapping a rhythm and flirting with a dancing girl, suddenly had his expression darken.

Xie Duan looked at Liang Kai and said, "Doesn't this thing sound a bit like the firearms of the Divine Machine Battalion, though it seems much larger? Minister Liang, wouldn't you say so?"

Liang Kai's smile was somewhat unnatural; the firearms of the Divine Machine Battalion were presented to the Imperial Clan by their Liang Family.

However, these things were slow to fire and lacked accuracy, so they had always been used for ceremonial purposes.

None of the families had ever taken them seriously.

The others looked at Liang Kai at this moment; Yan Wang's Artillery had been described as miraculous this time, and they could not afford not to take it seriously.

After all, Yan Wang had proven the power of this Weapon in the war.

This immediately made them feel a sense of crisis.

Since the firearms of the Divine Machine Battalion were presented by the Liang Family, they naturally believed the Liang Family understood this so-called Artillery better than they did.

After all, they had only heard many rumors about pirate ships on the sea equipped with similar weapons capable of emitting loud noises and flashes of fire.