Chapter 80 – The Heart of Peaceful Rebellion

The 10,000 garrison troops sent over by the Qing side naturally could not all be arranged around Dongyi City, although this city is the largest city in the world, supplying 10,000 soldiers with logistic tents is not too difficult a thing, but due to some reasons that are hard to explain, the military camp that should have been repaired and renovated in five days has not been done with the finishing touches until today, so a part of the Qing army is only temporarily stationed in a temporary camp. Therefore, some of the Qing troops were only temporarily stationed in the temporary camp.

In the end, the total number of people who stayed in Dongyi City was more than 5,600, while the rest of the people were stationed in the small vassal states to suppress and deter them.

That night, after attending the banquet, the Grand Prince did not rush to rest, but gently waved his hand to Fan Xian, and the two of them flashed into a quiet study.

The Grand Prince was silent for a moment, and finally took out a letter from his bosom first. Fan Xian’s gaze caught a glimpse of the letter’s formality, and he was about to fall down on his knees to greet His Majesty’s secret decree when he was unexpectedly pulled back by the Grand Prince.

“It’s just the two of us, why make the knees suffer.” The Grand Prince gently shook his head.

Fan Xian was slightly stunned, and then slowly smiled, so he stopped performing the great salute and took this secret decree of His Majesty from his hands, unsealed it, and looked at it carefully, and then fell into contemplation for a long time without opening his mouth to speak.

“I will return to the capital first, and then you will stand in for me here for three months.” His Majesty’s tone in the letter was gentle, and there was an unconcealed admiration for Fan Xian, and Fan Xian’s mood was relaxed, and so was his tone, as he said to the eldest prince: “This arrangement works, the problem is that in the future, if you go back to the capital again, and I come back to fetch you, are the two of us going to be out on foreign missions in Dongyi City for all eternity?”

To try to conquer Dongyi City in as unperturbed a manner as possible, so that the national strength and financial strength of Nanqing’s military power would suffer as little as possible, the Grand Prince as well as Fan Xian, the two sons of His Majesty’s Emperor who had a bloodline of Dongyi, were undoubtedly the best choices.

Although in the opening ceremony of the hut a month ago, the last letter of the Four Gu Swords was trying to pull Fan Xian towards the Eastern Barbarians, pinpointing the heart of the Emperor, but His Majesty the Emperor was a man of great wisdom, how could he not understand this, he instead went along with the trend and changed his mind, really sending the Great Prince to come and enter the country with the Qing army.

Whether it is the eldest prince or Fan Xian, both have half of the eastern barbarians blood, this point for the conquest of the eastern barbarians heart, is the supreme weapon, at least those who were conquered, every time they think of the pressure on their own head of the Qing country power and wealth, is also counted as half of the eastern barbarians, the mood will certainly be a lot better.

Especially the eldest prince, he is a legitimate prince, his birth mother’s life is known to the world, by him stationed in the city of Dongyi, can also represent the bloodline intermingling between South Qing and Dongyi. In order to conquer a territory, the mixing and blending of bloodlines is undoubtedly the most powerful weapon.

His Majesty the Emperor was extremely far-sighted.

However, it was impossible for His Majesty to allow both the First Prince and Fan Xian to stay in Dongyi City for a long time. For one thing, he only had two grown-up sons at his knee, and he needed them by his side to support the imperial government and military affairs. On the other hand, his son was too far away from Kyoto, and Emperor Qing had some hidden worries about these two sons, who obviously did not have too much flavor of the Li Clan.

Regarding this worry, Fan Xian knew it all too well, so he wasn’t really surprised by the delivery in the secret decree, he just had a bit of a headache, when the eldest prince came, he himself would have to leave, so what about the future?

“There is always a need for someone to be based in Dong Yi City.” He looked at the Grand Prince and asked, “What exactly does His Majesty plan? Will you come or will I.”

“I’m not sure.” A faint worry appeared between the brows of the Grand Prince. He was not an ordinary Qing official citizen, and although he was also overwhelmed with joy and shock that Fan Xian was able to convince the Four Guards Sword without bloodshed, take in the Sword Lodge, and thus swallow the landed people of Dongyi City within the Great Qing territory, he was thinking more about whether or not the process could go on very smoothly.

Especially today, outside of Dongyi City, although the 10,000 Qing iron horsemen had very effectively deterred most of the Dongyi people, the performance of the disciples of the Sword Lodge had made the Grand Prince a little wary.

He looked deeply at Fan Xian and said, “Regarding the matter of the Sword Lodge, although His Majesty did not explicitly say so, it is clear that there is some dislike for this move.”

“At the time, I was forced to do nothing, so either I would take over the Sword Lodge, or I would have to start from scratch.” Fan Xian sneered and said, “You think I’m willing to be the fat meat caught in a hard bun?”

“Father’s meaning is clear, at least you have to go back and report …… your duties,” the eldest prince’s brow frowned slightly, then sighed and said, “I’m only here to temporarily fill in for you, and Father won’t be relieved that I’ll be stationed in Dongyi for a long time. ”

Fan Xian lapsed into silence, knowing that the Grand Prince meant what he said, the Grand Prince had always been somewhat caring and close to the Dongyi City side, after all, Ning Cai Ren had had his ear for so many years, and with the military power in his hands, His Majesty would rather stay in Dongyi City by himself than feel comfortable handing over Dongyi City to the Grand Prince.

Cutting off land and sealing a king wasn’t a difficult task, but what kind of land to cut and which king to seal was the difficult part.

“Anyway, His Majesty hasn’t rushed me, so I’ll stay in Dongyi City for a while longer to help you gather the situation.” Fan Xian said, “After the situation stabilizes, I will return to the capital.”

The Grand Emperor nodded, then said, “The Supervisory Academy still needs you to take charge, and Father will not let you be absent from Kyoto all the time, so you should go back to Kyoto and find out just what the future arrangements are for this side of Dongyi City.”

“You’re worried that His Majesty will send a strong character over to stir up civil unrest in Dongyi City?” Fan Xian looked at him with a smile and said, “I have my arrangements over here, so don’t worry too much if you’re half of Dongyi.”

His tone became serious, “Even if you are worried, you should bury it in your stomach and not let anyone see it.”

The Grand Prince knew that this brother was truly concerned about himself, his heart was touched and he nodded.

“Is Chen Pingping ready to leave?” Fan Xian took a sip of cold tea, feeling his mouth a bit dry, and raised his gaze to look at him, this Grand Imperial Brother was extremely close to Chen Pingping, and must have been very clear about the movements in the Chen Garden.

“Already started working on the preparations, some days ago already entered the palace to ask for resignation.” The eldest prince did not know that he regarded Dean Chen as his father’s uncle, but in private, he was once treasonous to his own father, and he did not look at this matter as serious, but only thought that Dean Chen was old, and that he should retire, and when he thought that Dean Chen had left Kyoto, and he did not know if he would ever see him again in this life, the eldest prince’s heart was a little perplexed instead.

Fan Xian was silent, calculating in his heart for a long time, no longer paying attention to this question, and finally asked, “The army that came to Dongyi City this time, is it true that all of them are the Western Conquest Army of that year? Can you control it completely?”

“The soldiers are all old men, the problem is that there are many strangers in the middle generals.” The Grand Prince’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said with a slight chill.

In the latter days, he was still burnt out, those tedious handover ceremonies and name change ceremonies were happening everywhere in Dong Yi City, fortunately, the Ministry of Ceremony and Honglu Temple had sent a large number of competent officials, so that Fan Xian was not made to vomit blood by all these things.

However, what really made him anxious was the civil unrest in the small Liang country to the northwest of Dongyi City. In that action of mobilizing the people to resist the invaders of the Qing country, a great Confucian scholar of the Liang country, who was deeply admired by the people, set himself on fire in the street, and the black smoke rose up, which instantly ignited the hateful hearts of the people of the small Liang country.

Fan Xian at this time truly realized how naive his original idea was, to truly conquer a foreign country, complete bloodlessness was basically an impossible thing to do.

The eldest prince has led the army to suppress, but before traveling, Fan Xian very seriously urged, if can not let the Qing garrison, that must not be shot, once the hands of the Qing army stained with the blood of the East Barbarians, and then to clean is much more difficult, this kind of hatred will never be dissolved.

The Grand Prince sent a stern letter to the Dongyi City’s main residence to rebuke the city’s lord Yun Zhilan, and then drove the city’s main residence as the forerunner, with the force of the local officials as the vanguard, to begin to suppress the unrest in the Xiao Liang country, while the Qing army was thought to be the rear line, maintaining a certain distance.

When both the Grand Prince and Yun Zhilan left Dongyi City, all matters were left to Fan Xian to handle, and he hid out on the beach this day, thinking about the starbursts that rose and fell in Dongyi City without ever stopping.

It should be better to let the City Lord’s Mansion suppress it, probably like the pseudo-military in his previous life? Fan Xian sat on the big green stone on the seashore and smiled somewhat bitterly, knowing that no matter how much he tossed and turned, no matter how much the last words of the Four Gu Swords and the disciples of the Sword Lodge cooperated with him, it still couldn’t change the fact that in the hearts of the people of Dongyi City, he was that all-pervasive aggressor.

“The matter of Xiaoliang country, how exactly do you want to deal with it?” Wang XIII Lang, who had become more and more silent in these months, was sitting beside him at this time, and suddenly opened his mouth and asked, “Do you want the army to slaughter the masses?”

“The City Lord’s Mansion doesn’t have a large army, all it has is the position of prestige that has been extended over the years.” Fan Xian knew why Thirteen Lang asked this today, the other party was after all an Eastern barbarian, and at this time, he was trying to suppress the unrest in the Xiao Liang country which was very righteous in his opinion, so he must have very complicated feelings. After he paused, he said softly, “I have instructions to try to kill as few people as possible.”

“But after all, people still have to die, and when the swords move, how do you control it?” Wang Thirteen Lang’s eyes were a bit confused, just staring at the ebb and flow of the waves on the sea.

Fan Xian glanced at him sideways, his face gradually becoming grave as he asked, “Did you know that great scholar who died by self-immolation?”

“In the past, Mr. Koo used to come to the Sword Lodge from time to time to speak with Master.” Wang Xulang responded.

Fan Xian shook his head and said, “Every many hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the world, although I have not met this Mr. Koo, I think that this is also a remarkable figure, the chaos in the Xiao Liang Kingdom started because of him, but I was unable to cure him, as for his family, you can also rest assured that I will preserve them, and Mr. Koo’s shrine will be erected as soon as possible after the incident.”

Wang XIII Lang looked at him in a daze, and after a long time spoke, “You are not truly honoring him, you just need to put up this stance to appease the people of Liang.”

“This is a ploy that all invaders do.” Fan Xian’s expression was a bit grim, “But the fact that you could think of that surprises me a bit. Thirteen, you’re becoming more and more uncomplicated.”

“Having seen too much, no one can be simple.” Thirteen stared into his eyes and said, “You once promised your master that you wouldn’t let any blood be shed in Dong Yi City.”

“I don’t like to see bloodshed, otherwise why would I have been tied to this carriage by your Sword Lodge?” Fan Xian smiled to himself, but his smile grew icy, “But necessary blood must always be shed, otherwise if the chaos keeps going on, it will be like a vortex that will only swallow the entire Dongyi City, and by that time, even more people will die.”

He looked back at Wang XIII Lang quietly and said, “I know what you’re angry about, I also know what you’re sad about, but look at my eyes and think about what I’ve given up for, don’t forget, if you only think about my own personal interests, the Qing army came to attack, I got away with it, and at the most, I cried a couple times for the innocent people of Dongyi City, so why would I suffer like this? ”

“If a great battle starts between the two sides, Dongyi City will be defeated, and the dead will be counted in the hundreds of thousands.” Fan Xian closed his eyes and said, “My philosophy of life is very simple, since this matter cannot be stopped, the fewer people who die, the better.”

“There’s no difference between ten lives and ten thousand lives.” Wang Xiiro said.

“Wrong!” Fan Xian said categorically, “I don’t care whether life has a price or not, all I know is that a person’s life is unique, and a hundred thousand unique ones are definitely more important than ten, a hundred, or a thousand.”

“If the heavens gave me a multiple choice question, one hundred thousand lives compared to ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lives, I would definitely choose the former, because there is one more in the former.”

“The people of Dongyi City should learn to be grateful to me.” Fan Xian looked at Wang Thirteen Lang’s eyes and said calmly, “I have allowed many people who were bound to die to live.”

Wang XIII Lang said after a long silence, “But these people didn’t need to die in the first place.”

“If His Majesty’s cause requires them to die, they must die.” Fan Xian stood up from the large green stone, “Even your master couldn’t stop him, so you should understand the pressure I’m under.”

Fan Xian patted the sand behind his hips, squinted at the endless sea, and said, “Sometimes I realize that I’m getting tall.”

“What do you mean by tall?”

“An inhuman description.” Fan Xian shrugged, “But in retrospect, I’m not high and mighty, I’m just willing to do so, I’m not going to martyr myself for a certain ideal, a certain spiritual need, such as self-immolation like that Mr. Koo, I’m a person who can run away and is good at it.”

Then he turned around and looked at Thirteen Lang and said calmly, “That day I had a quiet talk with Four Gu Swords in the house, you should have heard what we talked about, about the Hegemonic True Qi, do you have any realization?”