Chapter 605: The Ma Family's Choice

Latest website: "Hahaha..." Yuan Hang and the Sixth Prince laughed at the same time.

Thinking that Yan Wang would soon die at the hands of the Han Family, they felt extremely delighted in their hearts.

Once, they had been able to cover the sky with one hand and turn the earth with the other in Jingshi, living a life of fine silks, jade food, and romantic indulgence.

He had even once had the opportunity to become the Crown Prince and eventually become the Emperor of Great Song.

But just because of Yan Wang, he had been locked in a prison by Zhao Heng for over a year.

Even though the influential clans sent him to Jinzhou, he could no longer live the life he had before.

Because this place was truly too barren; even if he tried his best to scrape together wealth, it could not allow him to enjoy even one-tenth of his former luxurious life.

So how could he not hate him?

However, the fortunate thing was that all of this was about to end.

The armies of the Han Family and Dongying were about to invade Yanzhou and grind Yan Wang to dust.

And he would join the Han Family's command and become a vassal king guarding a region.

"By the way, Uncle said the Han Family is currently formulating a plan with Dongying to attack Yanzhou. I estimate that it won't be long before the war between Qi and Yan Wang breaks out."

"He wants us to reorganize our troops and, when the time comes, coordinate with the Qi army to pin down Yan Wang's forces along the flank. During this time, have the guards go out and capture more able-bodied men to fill our ranks, and make a big show of it when the time comes."

"Your Highness, rest assured. Just leave this matter to me; I will certainly make Yan Wang greatly astonished when the time comes," Yuan Hang said, patting his chest.

The Sixth Prince nodded, revealing a satisfied smile.

Sizhou, Luocheng.

Ma Han received the Imperial Edict from Yanzhou and immediately summoned the elders of the Ma Family.

The upheaval in Jinling City was known to everyone now, and his Ma Family was no exception.

At the same time, after the great chaos in Jinling City, he had been paying attention to news of the various influential clans.

The Dou Family established Southern Liang, and the Xie Family supported the First Prince in ascending the throne in Jinling.

The Han Family established Qi, and the Liang Family established Wu.

The Fan Family established Pingnan, and so on; he was clearly aware of all of it.

Facing this chaotic situation, he had spent no small amount of time recently discussing the future of the Ma Family with the elders.

"Elders, this is the Imperial Edict that was just delivered, ordering me to make a trip to Yancheng, but the Edict does not mention any specific matters."

"In my view, this is Yan Wang's intention. What do you think should be done at this moment?"

"This is indeed strange; how can an Imperial Edict not state the specific reason?" Ma Lan said.

His father had once been the Prefect of Sizhou and died during the rebellion of Ma Jin.

After Ma Han returned, he handed the administration of Sizhou over to Ma Han.

"This general believes that Yan Wang is doing this deliberately; he wants to test the Ma Family," Dian Zhang said.

Although he was not a member of the Ma Family, because he had rendered distinguished service to the Ma Family, he was also called to attend this family meeting.

Ma Han nodded, "Dian Zhang's meaning is the same as mine. This is Yan Wang making us, the Ma Family, make a choice."

"Of the Eight Great Influential Clans, seven have now betrayed Great Song. Whether our Ma Family is reliable or not, Yan Wang probably has no bottom line in his heart right now."

"Moreover, since Yan Wang has welcomed the Emperor to Yancheng, it shows that he intends to continue upholding the orthodoxy of Great Song."

"In the future, he will certainly come into conflict with the courts established by other influential clans, so he definitely does not want our Ma Family to lean toward other influential clans at a critical moment."

Upon hearing this, the elders nodded one after another.

An elder said: "This is indeed troublesome. Although our Ma Family has been attached to Yan Wang during this period, the rich clans under our command are terrified of Yan Wang, fearing that they will end up like the rich clans of Yanzhou in the future."

"Exactly, if we formally pledge allegiance to Yan Wang, I fear the rich clans under our command will rebel."

"..."

The elders spoke one after another, all of them knitting their brows tightly.

Ma Han and Dian Zhang looked at each other, their expressions grave.

This was different from the cooperation with Yan Wang.

This time, what Yan Wang wanted was by no means just a light promise from the Ma Family, but substantive action.

But just as the elders worried, if he formally pledged allegiance to Yan Wang.

He feared that Sizhou would fall into chaos; this was truly a dilemma.

"What is there to argue about? Now Yan Wang is the Imperial Court, and the Imperial Court is Yan Wang. Pledging allegiance to Yan Wang, isn't that a matter of course? Why, do you also want to learn from the other influential clans and establish a state?"

As the group was talking, a voice suddenly entered the main hall, and then Ma Yuan walked in.

After the influential clans let the Sixth Prince take over Jinzhou, he was disheartened and depressed, fell ill, and thus requested leave to return to Sizhou to recuperate.

During this time, he had been staying in Luocheng.

Ma Han had just sent someone to notify him to come and attend the elders' meeting.

His wife, worried about his health, had not told him about this matter.

It was only when a servant let it slip that he learned of the matter.

So he braced his body and hurried over.

"Uncle." Ma Han immediately stood up and helped Ma Yuan to a chair to sit down.

Among the current Ma Family elders, it could be said that Ma Yuan's status was the highest; he was truly a man of virtue and prestige.

With Ma Yuan saying this, the elders were silent for a while.

However, this matter, after all, concerned the life and death of the Ma Family.

An elder still stood up to refute, "Not so. Yan Wang is Yan Wang, and the Emperor is the Emperor. The Emperor would not take away the land of the rich clans to distribute to the common people, but Yan Wang would."

"It is fine for us, the Ma Family, to pledge allegiance, unless Yan Wang guarantees that he will not touch our land in the future."

"What is the use of a guarantee? If Yan Wang unifies the world in the future, how could he allow our Ma Family to act independently?"

Ma Yuan heard this and gave a cold laugh: "I think you all want money more than your lives. Based on my understanding of Yan Wang, he will not give our Ma Family a chance to betray him. If we do not agree, within ten days, Yan Wang's troops will arrive in Sizhou, and it won't be so polite then."

The Ma Family elder who had stood up was suddenly speechless; he remained stunned for a long while before slumping back down.

Ma Yuan continued, "The Ma Family of today is no longer the Ma Family of the past; if we choose the wrong path this time, our Ma Family will be smashed to pieces."

In truth, Ma Han had already made up his mind long ago, but he could not act arbitrarily.

Now that Ma Yuan had spoken, he felt a sudden sense of relief, and facing the many elders, he said, "Have you forgotten Qinzhou and Yongzhou? Aside from Yan Wang, who else can help our Ma Family take them back?"

"Even if, after taking them back, Yan Wang reclaims these two provinces in the name of the Imperial Court, at least our Ma Family will no longer be the sinners who lost these two provinces."

"Furthermore, the Ma Family's muskets and Artillery were all provided by Yan Wang; without Yan Wang supplying us with ammunition, these firearms will become scrap metal."

"Moreover, if we lacked the protection of Yan Wang, do you think Southern Liang would let our Ma Family off? I fear they would be the first to make trouble for our Ma Family; do not forget, it is Dou Wei who is to blame for the Ma Family being holed up in Sizhou today."

Some elders lowered their heads; thinking of losing the protection of Yan Wang in these chaotic times, the Ma Family would only be fat meat in the eyes of other powerful clans, and they suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.

Seeing this, Ma Han struck while the iron was hot, "As for the issue of the Rich Clan, I will discuss it with His Highness Yan Wang to find a solution."

The elders nodded one after another; facing Ma Yuan and Ma Han, they basically agreed to this matter.

Having settled this matter, Ma Han set off for Yancheng the next day.

Accompanying him were his wife and his newborn Viscount.