Chapter 587: Winds Rise in Jinling

Jinling.

At the same time that Wulanba was heading to the Ross nation, several newspapers from Yanzhou arrived like water into a hot pan, detonating the city.

Upon receiving the newspapers, Dou Wei's expression changed drastically, and he immediately summoned the heads of the seven powerful families to a villa outside the city to discuss matters.

To him, the content in this newspaper was too earth-shattering and chilling.

They had to respond in time.

"A newspaper? Can this trashy thing cooked up by Yan Wang be trusted?"

Seated in the villa, Xiao Cheng scanned the newspaper a few times before tossing it onto the table.

"It's not just the newspaper; officials in Yanzhou have lifted restrictions on the common people, and now the commoners and merchants of Yanzhou can travel freely," Dou Wei said with a gloomy expression.

He had planted many informants in Yanzhou, and this newspaper had been delivered by his informants.

Han Zheng nodded at this, silently acknowledging Dou Wei's statement.

The Han Family bordered Yanzhou, so naturally, they were the most concerned about Yanzhou's movements.

His clansman Han Qi had been the first to send someone to inform him of the situation in Yanzhou.

The Ningjin Battle was real, and the entire Yanzhou was now in a state of wild celebration.

The Han Family's informants had also seen large numbers of captives from the North Territory.

These captives were wounded soldiers captured when the North Territory attacked Yanguan.

With the Dou Family and the Han Family both confirming this news, the courtyard suddenly fell silent for a while.

Finally, it was Dou Wei who broke the deathly silence. He said in a deep voice, "Yan Wang has reached a point where we must eliminate him. If we continue to let him grow, even if you push the Imperial Prince you support onto the throne, Yan Wang will still be able to overturn his empire."

In this Ningjin Battle, the North Territory suffered heavy losses.

In his view, for a long time to come, the North Territory would be unable to pose a threat to Da Song.

Therefore, the only threat to the powerful families at present was Yan Wang.

Thus, as long as they killed this anomaly, Yan Wang, the powerful families would have no more worries.

In the future, when the Third Prince ascended the throne, there would be neither internal troubles nor external threats.

Xie Duan, Liang Kai, Fan Xinglun, Wang Zi'an, Han Zheng, and Xiao Cheng all nodded at once.

Dou Wei's words had spoken to their hearts.

Xiao Cheng said loudly, "Wasn't the Prince of Jin also at the height of his power back then? The Late Emperor even had the intention of making him the heir, but didn't we still get rid of him? In my opinion, since that is the case, why not use the old method again and make Yan Wang the next Prince of Jin?"

"It's different," Han Zheng shook his head. "The Prince of Jin back then obeyed the Late Emperor in everything, but this Yan Wang is very cold toward the Emperor; an Imperial Edict may not be effective on him."

The group fell into silence once more.

The process of them killing the Prince of Jin had gone very smoothly.

At the time, Dou Wei, who was then the Minister of Rites, signaled his subordinate officials to submit a memorial, reminding the Late Emperor that the Prince of Jin had not returned to Jingshi for many years, in order to have the Prince of Jin return to Jinling to pay respects to his family.

Because Zhao Heng had always been on good terms with the Prince of Jin, they had Zhao Heng take advantage of the Prince of Jin's lack of attention to hide a Dragon Robe in his lodging.

At that time,

they had long since spread rumors in the imperial court and among the people that the Prince of Jin had intentions of treason.

Coupled with the discovery of the Dragon Robe, the Late Emperor had no choice but to temporarily throw the Prince of Jin into the Heavenly Prison.

Subsequently, the Prince of Jin died suddenly in prison.

Thus, the charge that the Prince of Jin had committed suicide out of fear of crime and intended to rebel was firmly pinned on him.

"If he refuses to obey the Imperial Edict to return to the capital, isn't that even better? Then he is clearly trying to rebel," Liang Kai's eyes widened. "Yes, just like that. First, label him with treason, then completely cut off his trade routes."

Han Zheng shuddered at once and waved his hands repeatedly, "Isn't this harming me? Your Liang Family is far from Yanzhou, so naturally, you can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. If I pin a charge of treason on him and he actually rebels, won't the first place he attacks be my Han Family? No, no."

"That's right, we can't let our two families be the first to suffer," Wang Zi'an was also startled.

Although their Wang Family and Han Family's troops were diligently practicing with firearms, and their soldiers totaled over four hundred thousand.

But if they really fought, even if they got lucky and won, they would likely suffer heavy losses and be removed from the ranks of the powerful families.

After all, Yan Wang had just driven the North Territory out of Ningjin Dusi, which was enough to prove that his troops were strong and his horses sturdy.

"What are you afraid of? Yan Wang only relies on firearms. The Art of Cannon Casting, Prime Minister Dou has already taught you. Now, if this won't work and that won't work, we might as well let Yan Wang wipe out all seven of our families!" Liang Kai shouted angrily.

In fact, he was even more anxious than Dou Wei.

After the Black Shark Sea Bandits attacked Gaoli and forced Gaoli to trade with them,

their Liang Family's merchant ships heading to Gaoli were attacked by the Black Shark Sea Bandits.

This was a very dangerous signal for the Liang Family.

Yan Wang seemed to have detected the small movements of their Liang Family behind the scenes and began to target the Liang Family's merchant ships at sea.

Currently, the Black Shark Sea Bandits were only appearing in the waters near Jinyin Island.

If they continued to move south, the Liang Family's maritime trade would inevitably be more severely affected.

It was precisely considering these factors that he had suspended the plan to attack Yizhou, so as not to provoke the Dongying and the Franks, in order to preserve his strength and wait for an opportunity to deal with Yan Wang.

"You say it lightly. If your Liang Family transports troops to Qizhou and fights with us, we will fight Yan Wang. Since it is a joint effort of seven families, you cannot just let us do the work," Han Zheng said, his face flushed red.

"..."

Seeing Han Zheng and the Liang Family arguing, Dou Wei said, "Everyone, do not argue. Isn't the reason we came here today to discuss a method that satisfies everyone? Can you argue Yan Wang to death?"

Upon hearing this, Han Zheng and Liang Kai looked at each other, each snorted, and stopped paying attention to the other.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Dou Wei narrowed his eyes. After a long while, he opened them, "Everyone, this is the best time to eliminate Yan Wang. The North Territory's strength has been greatly damaged, and Yan Wang must have also suffered heavy casualties. If we wait for him to recover, it will be even harder to keep him in check."

Everyone nodded at once; this was their shared thought.

Taking advantage of the fact that the North Territory was unable to harass Da Song, they naturally had to resolve the internal threat first.

After wiping out Yan Wang, they would then think of ways to deal with the weakened North Territory.

That was why they were so anxious after the Yanzhou newspapers arrived in Jinling.

"So, on the way here, I had already thought of several ways to deal with Yan Wang. First, the North Territory suffered a crushing defeat and must hate Yan Wang to the bone. We can contact them and order them to station heavy troops in the north of Ningjin Dusi to pin down part of Yan Wang's forces."

"Second, what Minister Liang says is not without a path; we must stand on the high ground of morality. This Ningjin Dusi is the territory of our Great Song, how can we let Yan Wang swallow it alone?"

"We can issue an Imperial Edict, ordering Yan Wang to return to Jinling to visit his relatives, and at the same time hand over the Ningjin Dusi. If Yan Wang does not return to Jingshi, nor hand over the Ningjin Dusi, we shall then announce the punishment of Yan Wang in the name of the Imperial Court and cut off his trade."

Seeing Han Zheng about to argue again, he said: "Rest assured, I will not immediately declare him a rebel. The finances of Yanzhou all rely on trade; as long as trade is cut off for a few months, Yan Wang will certainly be unable to endure it. At that time, I fear he will rebel on his own. In this way, we can use the name of the Imperial Court to assemble the Forbidden Army and the Shizu Army to attack him together!"