Chapter 1232: Another Rebellion in Youzhou

"What did you say?"

Hearing Zhongxing Yue's words, Meng Zan was startled.

After all, he never imagined in his wildest dreams that this Mongol Military Advisor would say such a thing!

Declare himself emperor!

Rebel!

Isn't this just courting death!

"Heh heh, is Lord Meng afraid?"

Zhongxing Yue laughed heartily.

Meng Zan smiled bitterly: "The Military Advisor truly overestimates me..."

"I am merely a Chief Clerk of Youzhou. I have neither royal blood nor noble status, this, this, this..."

Declare himself emperor?

You must be joking!

Zhongxing Yue, however, smiled faintly: "Lord Chief Clerk, we are both military advisors, let's speak plainly... Doesn't the current Youzhou lie in your hands? For the newly ascended Prince of Zhao to declare himself emperor, isn't it just a matter of a single word from you?"

"This..."

Meng Zan's complexion changed instantly.

Declaring himself emperor...

This matter is too significant!

Throughout history, there have been many who rebelled, but those who truly dared to declare themselves emperor were few and far between! Why? Because once one declares himself emperor, he becomes an enemy of the entire world!

Simply put, although the current Youzhou already has a bad reputation...

At the very least, other Feudatory Kings will not come to deal with them.

But declaring himself emperor, that is a different story.

Think back to how formidable YuanShu was, with fierce generals as numerous as clouds under his command.

But just because he took one wrong step, he was doomed beyond redemption.

Declaring himself emperor is challenging the bottom line of Longyan; when that time comes, Longyan will certainly spare no cost to send troops to suppress them!

At that moment, they would have no choice but to resist Longyan to the end.

And that would be resisting the entirety of Longyan...

"Chief Clerk Meng, if you don't even have this resolve, then let's not talk about an alliance. After all, we are also worried that one day in the future, we will be betrayed by you."

Zhongxing Yue sneered coldly.

"This matter is too big; I must go back and discuss it thoroughly with the various ministers. After all, Youzhou is not mine," Meng Zan sighed and smiled bitterly.

"Very well, but it is best not to drag it out too long. Once Longyan raises an army to suppress the Mongols, we will have no time to discuss an alliance with you. At that time, perhaps we will turn to attack you in Youzhou for the sake of survival," Zhongxing Yue said calmly.

His words were filled with threats.

Because he knew that Youzhou was actually in a more dangerous position than they were.

"Understood. Then Meng Zan will take his leave. If there is news from Youzhou, I will notify the Great Khan immediately." Meng Zan cupped his hands and then withdrew.

With Meng Zan present, Tiemu Cheng could still hold his ground.

As soon as Meng Zan left, Tiemu Cheng frowned.

"Military Advisor, what do you mean by this?"

Tiemu Cheng was anxious. The cooperation was originally a done deal; what if they refused to do it because of Zhongxing Yue's pressure?

Declare himself emperor? Who would dare to defy the world's taboo and declare himself emperor?

That would truly be unfilial, unrighteous, and inhumane—a genuine dead end. Would anyone walk into a dead end just because they wanted to form an alliance with you?

"Great Khan, please be patient. I understand the Longyan people better than you do. They are very cunning. They are different from us. Youzhou does not yet have a blood debt with Longyan, so it is very possible they will lean toward Longyan. If Longyan exerts too much pressure and offers them terms to surrender, making them kill us as a token of their submission to Longyan, we will be in a very critical situation! Great Khan, have you considered this problem?"

Zhongxing Yue said earnestly.

"This... that's unlikely, right? This time they led their troops to 'protect the king,' which has already revealed their rebellious intent. Liu Zheng will definitely not easily forgive them!" Tiemu Cheng said.

Zhongxing Yue chuckled and shook his head: "Great Khan, there is an old saying in Longyan: 'Born of the same root, why be in such a hurry to burn each other?' No matter what, the Youzhou Army are still Longyan people. Behind closed doors,

they are family. Will the Longyan people fight them to the death? Besides, the mastermind is already dead. The current Prince of Zhao is just a child whose feathers haven't even grown yet. The current spokesperson for Youzhou is Meng Zan, and he has no issues at all. If he leads his troops to surrender, perhaps he could even obtain a title? If I were him, I would very likely do just that."

Meng Zan believed that Zhongxing Yue would definitely fight Longyan to the end, but Zhongxing Yue did not believe that Meng Zan would be like him.

After all, the cost of rebellion is truly too high. Unless they are on the verge of a dead end, a smart person would never make rebellion their first choice.

Therefore, the matter of forming an alliance with Meng Zan cannot be rushed; it must be taken one step at a time.

"But what if he doesn't declare himself emperor? Wouldn't we be left as a lone army?"

Tiemu Cheng asked.

"Since the Great Khan says so, then your subordinate will add one more word: when the Great Khan goes to war, would you rather charge alone, or bring someone who might betray you to charge by your side?"

Zhongxing Yue asked with a chuckle.

This single sentence from Zhongxing Yue completely cleared up Tiemu Cheng's train of thought.

His eyes lit up.

That's right, only by forcing Youzhou into a dead end would they choose to form an alliance with them. Otherwise, it would be like burying a bomb by one's side that could explode at any time!

He had seen the fickleness of these Longyan people before!

"Military Advisor, back to the same question: if they don't openly rebel, what do we do?" Tiemu Cheng asked.

"Great Khan, rest assured, he will not fail to rebel."

A flash of brilliance shone in Zhongxing Yue's eyes as he spoke.

Youzhou City.

Inside the Chief Clerk's office, the crowd of civil officials and military generals were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Declare themselves emperor?

Even if they were lent a hundred times the courage, they would not dare to commit such an act of treason!

Even when they rebelled back then, they had found a suitable excuse... to rebel openly would mean there was no way back.

For a time, two voices emerged within Youzhou.

The civil officials, under immense pressure, decided to surrender to the Longyan imperial court; after all, the main commander was dead, and as accomplices, they would not face too severe a punishment.

As for the military generals, most of them had only one thought, and that was one word: fight!

Our loyal-for-generations Zhao King was killed by your Longyan imperial court! If we do not take revenge, that is disloyalty and injustice!

Furthermore...

The current Longyan has always had problems with its ideology.

Rebel!

Once successful, they would be the founding heroes!

If they fail...

Then they fail...

It is just a group of people dying, who cares!

Both sides argued in a mess.

With two voices coming from the two sides, the one in the most difficult position now was Meng Zan.

He was the representative of the Youzhou civil officials, but he dared not provoke the military generals; he truly dared not easily make a decision on whether to declare himself emperor.

In fact, he himself did not want to completely fall out with Longyan; after all, without successfully occupying Jinghua, the uprising had already failed halfway, and with Liu Zheng personally overseeing things in Longyan now, the success rate was already infinitesimal.

For Youzhou, remaining adrift between Jinghua and the Mongols was the best choice, but the cunning Zhongxing Yue directly rejected this idea of his.

Either declare himself emperor or surrender completely; he had no choice but to pick one of these two extremes.

Between these two extremes, he personally leaned toward surrender; everyone knew the path after declaring oneself emperor would be exceptionally arduous, but that way, his life might also come to an end.

After all, it was he who nodded and agreed when the Zhao King Xie Chao entered Jinghua City back then; many military generals under him already had complaints about this, and if he proposed surrender, the military generals would think he had colluded with the imperial court long ago to harm the Zhao King.

Meng Zan gave a bitter laugh; in this chaotic world, the pen

cannot defeat the sword; the military generals possessed absolute strength, so in truth, there was no choice.

"Lord Meng, is there anything else that needs consideration!"

"Screw them!"

"Wealth and honor are sought in danger!"

"Lord Meng!"

At this critical juncture, Meng Zan could only lead the Youzhou Army and give it a desperate try.

Meng Zan suddenly recalled Zhongxing Yue's attitude at the time; he had not left himself a single shred of room for maneuver, and at this moment, he finally understood that his own thoughts had all been guessed by him.

This Zhongxing Yue is no simple person.

A traitor is a traitor...

But as a talent, he is indeed a talent.

Forget it, if we are going to rebel, then let's rebel!

Either way, it is death; rebelling at least leaves a ten percent chance.

By uniting with the Mongols, uniting with Tsarist Russia, and adding the terrain of Youzhou and the two hundred thousand Youzhou Army, even if they are not a match for Longyan, splitting off and standing alone should not be a problem!

The civil officials and military generals were

At this moment, Meng Zan spoke: "Fellow colleagues, stop arguing. Things have reached this point, and we have no choice. We in Youzhou have rebelled twice; the imperial court will not easily let us off. Rather than waiting for them to come and finish us, we might as well take the initiative."

The eyes of the military generals lit up one after another.

The civil officials, however, fell silent.

"Meng Zan, on behalf of the Zhao King's decree: effective immediately, the Youyun Sixteen Prefectures shall establish an independent nation, with the state name Great Zhao, the capital at Youzhou, and the era name Kaiping!"

"Appoint Li Dai as Central Left Chancellor, and Song Yi as Central Right Chancellor."

"Appoint Wei Dian as General Who Conquers the South, appoint Cheng Mi as General Who Pacifies the South, and appoint Wang Bo as General Who Stabilizes the South!"

"Meng Zan shall be the Grand Marshal of the Three Armies!"

"The Secretariat is responsible for drafting the Declaration of War; once all preparations are complete, march the troops to Jinghua!"

"Yes!" Recently there are many pop-ups, you can click to download to avoid pop-ups.