Chapter 688: This Is the Imperial Edict

In the Governor's Mansion of Yongshui County, the current Governor Lu Weidao looked at the notification in his hand and sneered, "This Wei Yuan has wolfish ambitions and has finally shown his true colors! Leading an army of one hundred thousand to the capital to meet the Emperor? How come I haven't heard that the King has issued an imperial edict?"

A general next to him said, "Governor Lu, this Wei Yuan will arrive in a few days, how should we respond? Should we prepare a camp for them in advance?"

Lu Weidao sneered, "Prepare a camp for them? Not even a drop of grain or water! Pass the order down, close the doors for these few days, let's see if Wei Yuan dares to attack!"

The general advised, "My lord, Wei Yuan is irritable and arrogant, fierce and unpredictable, why provoke this evil star?"

Lu Weidao said sharply, "We naturally have to stand against the rebellious ministers and thieves, at worst it's just death, being able to leave a name in history is not a loss!"

The officials dared not speak again.

At this time in the distance, Wei Yuan, who was moving with the army, also received the report and smiled at those around him, "Yongshui County has closed the city, our messengers couldn't even enter the city gate. This Lu Weidao has some backbone!"

Yuan Qingyan, who was behind him, hummed and said, "Lu Weidao is stubborn and strange in temperament, and has offended many people, his official career has long since ended. This person loves empty fame best; what he is betting on is that the Realm Lord will disdain to care about him and won't really kill him, so he can achieve the reputation of a loyal and righteous official."

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "So that's how it is."

This trip required dealing with a bunch of small officials in the Xijin officialdom similar to Lu Weidao, so Wei Yuan brought Yuan Qingyan along. Sure enough, he knew all the officials, big and small, in the Xijin officialdom like the back of his hand.

Cui Yu next to him said, "Isn't this very similar to Yuan's time back then?"

Yuan Qingyan shook his head, "It's not the same. I am not ignorant of human feelings, just wanted to be a lonely minister so that the Emperor could use me with peace of mind. This Lu Weidao loves fame and is willing to do anything for the sake of fame, but he is not good at governing the place."

Once he said this, although Cui Yu still didn't like him, he couldn't say anything to him either.

Wei Yuan already had a plan in mind and said, "I was just worrying about having no means to establish prestige, and this Lu Weidao delivered himself to my door. It's just right to use him to sacrifice the flag, and let those behind see who can win a good reputation under my Wei Yuan's hands."

The army rolled forward, and a day later arrived under the city walls of the county seat.

Lu Weidao had already led a group of officials to stand on the city wall. Seeing the black army below, endless and boundless, many officials were trembling. Lu Weidao, however, was radiant, trembling slightly with excitement.

He had already drafted a speech, cleared his throat, and just said "Is that Wei Yuan below?", when Wei Yuan gave a loud shout, shaking the wilderness, and the whole city could hear it:

"Bold! You are just a small official, why don't you kneel when you see this official? Do you still have the imperial court and the law in your eyes? Are you trying to rebel?"

Lu Weidao was stunned; these big hats were put on him, making all his speeches disappear, and he hurriedly said, "You are just a rebellious minister and thief, why should I kneel..."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Yuan took out a scroll from his arms, his voice covering the whole city, completely drowning out his voice again: "The King's imperial edict is here, and you still don't kneel? Why don't you take this rebel down?"

Lu Weidao's brain was in chaos; this Wei Yuan looked like a rebel, how could he really have an imperial edict?

Before he could think of a speech, Wei Yuan had already shouted sharply: "Seeing the edict without kneeling, closing the door without opening, Lu Weidao, you are rebelling! Come, bombard the city for me, today I only take the chief culprit, the rest are not questioned! Those who dare to resist will be killed on the spot, without any forgiveness!"

Three eight-wheeled chariots rushed out from Wei Yuan's army behind him. After leaving the formation, each chariot retracted its sixteen legs, the chariot body landed, and it stood firm with steel cones inserted into the ground, and then fired cannons one after another, blowing the city gate to pieces in a few shots!

Subsequently, more than ten Dharma Forms from Wei Yuan's army took hundreds of Dao Foundations and flew onto the city wall.

The officials on the city wall had long been stunned. Except for Lu Weidao who resisted a few times, the rest all knelt and surrendered directly.

Wei Yuan waved his hand, and the army rolled into the city.

The next morning, Wei Yuan ate and drank enough, came to the main hall of the Governor's Mansion, sat in the main seat, picked up the gavel and looked at it, feeling that the wood quality was quite good, so he took it along.

Standing on both sides of the hall were officials of the Governor's Mansion, big and small, each one disheveled and pale.

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Although you all have acts of disrespect to the imperial court, this official has already investigated and found that you were coerced by the rebels, which is understandable. No evidence of rebellion was found in your homes last night, so this matter will end here, and you all will return to your original posts. Do you... have any objections?"

Although the officials' homes were turned upside down, they only lost gold, silver, and soft goods, and the land deeds were the bulk, which Wei Yuan didn't touch. So how could the officials dare to say anything, and they all expressed that the lord was magnanimous and grateful.

Wei Yuan asked with a smile again, "Since you were coerced by the rebels, then who is the rebel?"

The officials looked at each other, and a small official suddenly knelt on the ground, crying bitterly, "Lu Weidao has long had a heart of disobedience!"

Wei Yuan was overjoyed and asked those around him, "See what fat vacancies are left in this county, and let him fill them! I will ask the Ministry of Personnel for the approval document later."

The officials handled it on the spot. They didn't dare not to, and if their movements were a little slow, Wei Yuan's gaze would look over.

Subsequently, Lu Weidao was brought up. He was naked and covered in bruises, obviously having been tortured all night. Seeing a group of colleagues naked at this moment, he was so ashamed and angry that he almost fainted.

Wei Yuan aimed at his body and smiled, "Governor Lu turned out to be an ivory toothpick! Exquisite is exquisite, but it seems the women in the mansion have had a hard time."

The officials' faces were very strange, their eyes constantly looking around.

Lu Weidao spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot, so angry he couldn't speak.

Wei Yuan patted the scroll on the case and said, "Seeing the imperial edict, why still refuse to kneel?"

Lu Weidao only then saw the style of the scroll clearly, and was so anxious that he shouted, "This is not an imperial edict!"

"This is the imperial edict."

"You are talking nonsense! This is not an imperial edict at all!"

Wei Yuan looked around: "My lords, is this an imperial edict?"

The officials said one after another, "This is indeed the King's imperial edict."

Wei Yuan laughed, took the scroll, and said, "Very good! With you all here, this official can rest assured. Alright, this official should also go to the capital. Come, strip Lu of his official status, let him go first, and after I meet the Emperor in the capital, I will come to punish his crimes!"

Subsequently, Wei Yuan left the Governor's Mansion and, surrounded by a group of fierce generals, left the city and headed north. The officials felt like they had a nightmare, and many of them fell ill after returning home.

That night, Lu Weidao threw himself into a manure pit and drowned.

The whole city was discussing the ivory toothpick and drowning in the manure pit, and no one cared about Governor Lu's former heroic deeds.

Since then, Wei Yuan's journey to the capital went smoothly, without any obstacles. The army moved north slowly, eating everything in the seven counties, and finally arrived under the city walls of Yingdu. At this time, hundreds of thousands of troops had all gained a few pounds.

The Crown Prince didn't sleep all night.

The sky had just brightened, and the council hall in the mansion was brightly lit, and the officials were all tired, having discussed for a whole night. The topic of this discussion was only one: how to treat Wei Yuan's hundreds of thousands of troops.

A civil official said passionately, "There are still one hundred thousand imperial guards in the city, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers who can fight. I am willing to lead tens of thousands of troops to climb the city and guard it, defending the enemy outside the city gate..."

"Shut up!" The Crown Prince suddenly gave a loud roar, and all the officials were shocked.

The Crown Prince's face was iron-blue, and he shouted sharply, "At this moment, the army is in the north, and the capital is empty. Even if I go into battle myself, I dare not say I can definitely hold it. My army is for you to seek fame and use for your reputation behind you?! Empty talk harms the country, get out!"

The civil official's face was ashen and he dared not say more, lowering his head and leaving the room.

The Crown Prince had always been deep in the city, and rarely was so angry. At this moment, he was clearly a bit out of his mind.

At this time, the Left Prime Minister coughed slightly and said, "Wei Yuan's intentions are unclear, we might as well listen to what the Wang Supervisor of the Qin Tian Jian has to say."

An old man sitting in the back row of the ministers stood up and said, "The heavenly secrets were suddenly chaotic the day before yesterday, but the national fortune has not declined. From this point of view, Wei Yuan's coming here is not to rebel. This is my one-sided opinion, Your Majesty decides."

The Crown Prince's face looked a little better.

The Left Prime Minister then said, "Since Wei Yuan has no intention to rebel, then it is easy to say, and it is inevitable to be arrogant. In the opinion of this old minister, since he wants to meet the Emperor, let him meet the Emperor."

The Crown Prince was silent for a long time, until the morning bell rang in the distance, and he nodded slowly.

Under the city walls of Yingdu, the one welcoming Wei Yuan was still the Nine Gates Commander Lu Zhongzhi. In the past, Lu Zhongzhi was high above, but this time he stood side by side with Wei Yuan, looking at the black army in front of him, a look of shock that was hard to detect flashed in his eyes.

He looked as usual and said, "Wei, you traveled thousands of miles to the capital, why bring so many people? It's laboring the people and wasting money!"

Wei Yuan sighed, "Years of war, the world is not peaceful. Many people in the local area have rebellious hearts, and I am a bit afraid of death, so I brought more people. Speaking of which, I almost died in an ambush in Yongshui County, and I still have lingering fears when I think about it. But I couldn't do anything to Lu Weidao, and in the end, I could only let him go."

Lu Zhongzhi could only say, "I have also heard about this matter, there must be some misunderstanding, but Lu Weidao is already dead, so this matter is not urgent, just investigate slowly."

Wei Yuan was surprised, "Lu Weidao is dead?"

Lu Zhongzhi cursed in his heart, but said on his mouth, "He committed suicide out of fear of crime, and deserved it. People die and crimes disappear, let alone him. How will these troops of yours be stationed this time?"

Wei Yuan said, "I only brought twenty thousand people this time, and they can fit in the Weng city. The other one or two thousand are all laborers, just camp against the city wall to avoid wind and snow."

Lu Zhongzhi cursed again in his heart, this black piece, one or two thousand? One or two hundred thousand is about the same! His Lu Zhongzhi was a dignified late-stage Dharma Form, and his eyes were not blind.

But he still had to smile on his face and ask, "The Weng city is narrow, twenty thousand people are a bit crowded."

Wei Yuan smiled, "No problem, if they are stationed in the city, I can hide the military energy in my body. If any late-stage Dharma Form wants to assassinate me, I will suppress him with military energy, and he will be about the same as a pig."

The late-stage Dharma Form Lu Zhongzhi followed with a dry laugh.

Subsequently, everything was as Wei Yuan wished. After the army was stationed, Wei Yuan took his personal guards of several hundred people and moved into the post house in the city, preparing to enter the palace to meet the Emperor early the next morning.

In the Diamond Zen Temple outside the city, Qingtong slowly opened her eyes, her pupils were green and bottomless, and she said softly, "... The heavenly secrets have arrived."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 689 =====