Chapter 53: Three Refusals in Yangzhou

With Liu Zheng pulling a stunt like this, the entire city began to wail.

Yangzhou these past few days was like Hell on earth; who could not be terrified? Besides, although Lu Zhengyi committed such a grave error, he had after all governed Yangzhou for so long, so he still possessed some prestige.

"Lord Lu..."

"I recall when Liu Zheng passed through this place, Lord Lu treated me as a confidant, knowing me and trusting me! Today, because Liu Zheng arrived late, we are separated by life and death; it is Liu Zheng's fault!"

Liu Zheng wailed in various ways, and the Powerful Clans followed along, wiping away tears.

And what of the common people?

The people of a fiefdom have, since ancient times, always had a sense of being ruled by others. What do they fear most? Is it having no human rights? No! What they worry about most is having no one to control them, no one to lead the direction of Yangzhou; they might even starve to death!

Therefore, the death of Lu Zhengyi also plunged them into deep panic.

Thus, they naturally placed great expectations on the newly arrived Liu Zheng.

"The chaos in Yangzhou began with this thief!"

"Kill without pardon!"

At this moment, Chen Kui, who had long been scared pale as paper, was pushed out.

Liu Zheng watched coldly and shouted: "Thief Chen Kui, do you know your crime?"

Chen Kui wanted to speak, but his mouth was stuffed with a rag.

"Still wanting to quibble? I shall take your life to sacrifice to the spirit of Lord Lu in heaven!"

*Squelch! *

A sword swung down, and the head and body were separated.

Afterwards, Liu Zheng began to mourn again.

"Young Master Liu is of Great Good!"

"Young Master, today Yangzhou is in great chaos; please do not be too sorrowful. The overall situation in Yangzhou now still depends on you!"

That Member Cheng hurried over to persuade him, though in his heart he was thinking: this young man acts with such sincerity, could he be a performer by trade? It was clearly you who gave the order that when you entered the city, Lu Zhengyi must die! You are the one who took his life, and now you are the one whose tears cannot stop!

With Cheng Dai saying this, the common people also shouted one after another. In an instant, the will of the people was directed toward Liu Zheng.

"In that case, in that case, we must bury Lord Lu with great honors!"

Liu Zheng put on a show for a while, and again received praise from the crowd.

This was not actually Liu Zheng being hypocritical; it was truly because in this era, if one wants to smoothly take over ruling power from a deceased ruler, this tactic is actually very effective. One must treat Lu Zhengyi well, even if he is dead! Because most of the people of Yangzhou had become accustomed to being ruled by Lu Zhengyi.

A Liu Zheng suddenly arriving would certainly lead to many phenomena of maladjustment.

During this period, a transition was needed.

Whether sincere or hypocritical, burying Lu Zhengyi with honors was very necessary.

Then, what followed was yet another act.

"Everyone, the thieves have been wiped out, and Yangzhou should return to stability. The Liangzhou Prefecture will certainly appoint a new County Marquis to take office. My Yinzhou Army should not linger any longer, lest there be misunderstandings. We shall part ways here! I hope Yangzhou restores order soon!"

Liu Zheng cupped his hands, speaking with great emotion and extreme sincerity.

Upon hearing this, everyone was greatly alarmed.

"Young Master Liu, you absolutely must not!"

"The hearts of the people in Yangzhou are set on stability; we must have Young Master Liu's Yinzhou Army to manage things!"

"Thieves are running rampant and could return at any time; Young Master, you must not leave!"

The Powerful Clans took the lead, stating immediately that they did not care about any new County Marquis; Yangzhou should be governed by Young Master Liu!

Hearing these words, Liu Zheng showed a look of fearful trepidation and repeatedly claimed he dared not.

The Powerful Clans urged him again, and Liu Zheng declined again.

Finally, the common people joined the ranks of those persuading him, yet Liu Zheng still maintained that the political affairs of the prefecture and county should be appointed by the Liangzhou Prefecture to be reasonable and legal.

Seeing that the crowd truly could not be dissuaded.

Only then did Liu Zheng, with a face full of concern for the country and the people, shout firmly: "Since it is so, Liu Zheng will act as the administrator of the County Marquis Mansion. Until the Liangzhou Prefecture sends another County Marquis, Liu Zheng will devote himself to restoring social order in Yangzhou!"

Once these words were spoken, everyone cheered.

Even that group of leaderless Yangzhou Garrison expressed they had no objections.

"Hmph, I thought Yangzhou was welcoming a famous and wise master; now it seems he is just a pedantic scholar!"

Just at this moment, an abrupt, mocking voice rang out.

Everyone looked over.

That skinny, gaunt Jiang Xuan was looking at Liu Zheng with disdain.

"Audacious!"

"Who are you to dare insult Young Master Liu?"

"Jiang Xuan, do you not want your life anymore?"

The Powerful Clans and common people cursed in anger.

Liu Zheng squinted as he looked over: "Who are you?"

Jiang Xuan gave a cold snort, and someone nearby said: "Young Master, this fellow is just a madman! He wanders around all day, not attending to proper business!"

"Exactly, today he even went to offer strategies to Lord Lu; it makes me laugh to death!"

The crowd burst into laughter.

A busybody directly stated those four strategies of Jiang Xuan's in public.

Take the Powerful Clans, suppress the common people, lure the Scattered Soldiers, and attack Yinzhou!

"There is such a thing? Good for you, Jiang Xuan, actually wanting to oppress the common people; don't forget, you are also a Commoner by birth!"

"Ungrateful wretch!"

Upon hearing this, the common people were furious. The Powerful Clans were even more so; this fellow was truly rotten to the core, actually wanting to incite Lu Zhengyi to seize the private armies of the Powerful Clans.

Only Liu Zheng, however, felt his hair stand on end as he listened, looking on in horror.

Jiang Xuan snorted coldly: "You lot know nothing! If Lord Lu had listened to my Admonishment, he wouldn't have ended up dead!"

The crowd mocked and laughed again.

Only Liu Zheng took a deep breath. Because just as Jiang Xuan said, if Lu Zhengyi had truly listened to Jiang Xuan's Admonishment earlier today and executed the four strategies in order, it would likely have been extremely difficult for Liu Zheng to enter Yangzhou! Not only that, it would have been possible for Lu Zhengyi to turn defeat into victory! Of course, Liu Zheng had also seen early on that Lu Zhengyi was indecisive, which was why he formulated this series of strategies to capture Yangzhou. If he had truly been a man of such decisive action, Yangzhou would not have fallen into this state.

But!

Regardless of the outcome, how could this fellow, who looked ragged, thin as a rail, and had the eyes of a wolf, be such a great talent?

Under this social system, every one of his four strategies was sharp and hit the mark, without the slightest bit of hesitation. He didn't even consider any other complex situations, and he could even calmly detach himself from the shackles of his humble status; his purpose and efficiency were quite precise! It was very much in the style of a general or a commander!

The others wanted to drive this Jiang Xuan away.

Liu Zheng, however, smiled slightly, stopped them, looked at Jiang Xuan, and asked with a chuckle: "How would you instruct me?"

Jiang Xuan snorted coldly, a ruthless look flashing in his eyes: "Since the Yinzhou Army has entered Yangzhou, why does the Young Master not rule it by force? Currently, the war in the Beijing of Liangzhou is intense, so there is definitely no time to attend to the affairs of Yangzhou. The Young Master's elite troops are a sharp weapon of this age..."

Once these words were spoken, everyone's expression changed drastically.

Was this not inciting Young Master Liu to be rebellious and build his own power? Although in this era, Feudatory Kings were numerous and each governed their own territory, they were still within the scope of the law, at most being a bit presumptuous. But this bold act suggested by Jiang Xuan was truly rebellious and intolerable to both man and god! Nowadays, the ideology of royal power is still mainstream; under the vast sky, all are subjects of the King! If you build your own power in Yangzhou, would you not become a precedent for a rebel king? Both in sentiment and in law, you would be spurned by all!

"Kill him!"

"What wolfish ambition!"

"This child must be a monster, he cannot be tolerated!"

The crowd was furious, but Jiang Xuan showed no fear, only looking coldly at Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng smiled. In this short time, he still quite appreciated this kid. Ruthless and highly purposeful! He was a true talent, but his flaw was being too ruthless and rigid. But looking at this kid, he was only sixteen! There was still room for molding.

Take him!

"Hahahaha, everyone, do not be alarmed. Jiang Xuan is just a child speaking without restraint, no need to mind him! He must have been angry at Lord Lu for a long time, which is why he came out with such extreme words."

Liu Zheng hurriedly smoothed things over and gave Shen Xing a look. Shen Xing understood immediately, took a few men, tied Jiang Xuan up, and brought him to the County Marquis Mansion. Jiang Xuan cursed all the way, but his voice was soon buried by the sounds of the common people.

Following this, Liu Zheng led the Yinzhou Army to move into the County Marquis Mansion.

The common people also returned to their homes one after another, and some organized the cleaning of the streets and the removal of trash.

The group of "strategists" at the County Marquis Mansion, seeing that another lord had arrived, all ran over to report for duty, not mentioning a word about their own sows giving birth. Liu Zheng was too lazy to say much; at this critical time, stabilizing the situation in Yangzhou was the priority.

These people were more familiar with Yangzhou Prefecture, and their efficiency in implementing administrative orders would naturally play a positive role.

Such small matters of stabilization were enough to be left to Shen Xing.

And at this time.

Liangzhou Prefecture.

Chen Ping looked at the Han, his face ashen, his hands trembling. With a bang, he slammed the letter onto the table and roared: "Preposterous! How could it be like this, how could it be like this! Yangzhou has completely fallen into the hands of the Liu Family father and son!"

The subordinates heard this, and their expressions all changed.

"My Lord, we must not let Liu Dahao occupy Yangzhou!"

"Liangzhou Prefecture should quickly send a trusted County Marquis to take office!"

"This Liu Family father and son have wolfish ambitions and must be guarded against! Yangzhou must be taken back!"

Chen Ping's face was dark: "How do we take it?"

"The war in Beijing is intense, and the five thousand elite troops that Liangzhou intended to send for the Suppression of Bandits are all old, weak, sick, and disabled! And that Liu Zheng now holds seven thousand rested Garrison troops!"

The crowd looked at each other in dismay, discussing it, but no one could come up with a Method.

The Suppression of Bandits Order was given by Chen Ping himself!

Liu Zheng's entry into Yangzhou had a legal basis. You couldn't make any issue out of that. And Liu Zheng was currently in Yangzhou, surely with soaring prestige and the hearts of the people. That was not just seven thousand elite troops; there were also hundreds of thousands of common people!

Forcibly taking down the Liu Family father and son was not very realistic and could even cause a mutiny.

But...

Could they just watch the Liu Family father and son control Yangzhou?

One must know that Yinzhou was truly a place that could not be governed, but this Yangzhou, in terms of population alone, reached six hundred thousand—meaning it was two Yinzhous! Although not wealthy, it was much better than Yinzhou. If such a city fell into the hands of the Liu Family father and son, would that not be a disaster?

"My Lord, no matter what, Liangzhou Prefecture should send a new County Marquis to go there!"

"That should work! No matter how arrogant the Liu Family father and son are, they wouldn't dare to openly oppose the Prefectural Order of Liangzhou Prefecture!"

The crowd could not think of any other Method.

At this moment, Chen Ping regretted it so much his guts were turning green. That Lu Zhengyi was actually so vulnerable! And that Luo Xiongchao, wasn't he the Bitter-Faced Yama? He had his formation thrown into chaos by a single charge from Liu Zheng?

Trash!

A bunch of trash!

If he had known this would happen, Chen Ping would never have issued that Suppression of Bandits Order to Liu Zheng even if it killed him!

The more he thought about it, the angrier Chen Ping became, and he actually spat out a mouthful of old blood.

"Who will go?"

At this question from Chen Ping, the whole room fell into a deathly silence.

You look at me, I look at you.

Who would go to be this County Marquis?

Who would dare to go?