"Victory! Victory! Absolute victory!"
The ground trembled as the troops marched forward. Someone rode on a horse and shouted, "Ji Bei Hou is quelling the rebellion. Nobody is allowed to step out. Anyone who dares to step out will be killed!"
Ying Prefecture City had more than twenty government offices. Following Hou Mansion's strategy, they sealed the offices in an orderly manner.
Every household in the city shut their doors. A loud sound could be heard as the doors of the magistrate's office swung open. Two groups of soldiers rushed in. Seeing the soldiers daring to barge in, the officials within the office were shocked and furious.
An eighth ranked official walked out with a bailiff and shouted, "This is the magistrate's office. Whose soldiers are you? How dare you barge in. Why aren't you retreating?"
Before he could finish speaking, the leader of the troops replied coldly, "The Governor is plotting a rebellion. Ji Bei Hou is quelling the rebellion. Listen to my orders. If you're not a rebel, you're a rebel."
The eighth ranked official, who didn't know what was happening, was shocked and furious. He felt that this was ridiculous, "Nonsense. How could the Governor be plotting a rebellion? I'm afraid only Ji Bei Hou would …"
Before he could finish speaking, the leader spoke coldly, "Take this official down and kill the rest!"
"Kill!" At this point, more than ten people charged forward and slashed at the bailiffs. The bailiffs were only wielding rods, and were chopped into pieces.
"Ah!" The bailiffs screamed out. Some fought, some ran, and some knelt down.
The eighth ranked official looked at the scene in front of him and was stunned. He was about to point and curse when a soldier turned his spear around and struck him heavily. The eighth ranked official screamed out in pain as he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to his knees.
"Quick, to the Governor's Mansion." A general rode a horse towards the Governor's Mansion.
"Madam, quick, leave. Ji Bei Hou is rebelling." The Governor's Mansion was in a state of chaos. People were running everywhere, and some were even trying to organize a rebellion.
General Mansion
General Han Wu was reading through some documents when a guard barged in and shouted, "Your excellency, this is bad. Ji Bei Hou is rebelling. You've never been on good terms with him. You'd better leave now."
"What? Ji Bei Hou is just a lowly official. How dare he rebel? "Han Wu stood up and shouted.
"General, today the imperial envoy announced the decree. I didn't expect Ji Bei Hou to ambush us and kill the envoy. Now he's here."
"Your excellency, leave now. If you don't leave now, you won't make it."
"Men, bring me my saber." Han Wu sneered, "I, Han Wu, have received the Emperor's grace. How could I run for my life? I can only fight to the death."
"Let's kill our way out and meet up with my camp." With that said, he led twenty of his personal guards and charged out.
When they saw Han Wu, they laughed and said, "Haha, as long as we can capture Han Wu, it will be a great merit."
Han Wu's body trembled, and his entire body turned cold. At this moment, he no longer had any path of retreat. He brandished his saber and charged forward. Almost at the same time, over a hundred people also charged forward.
Both sides rushed together and fought with all their might.
In reality, both sides were from the same founding army, and they were all elites. Miserable cries rang out continuously, and the battle was extremely cruel. Han Wu knew that he couldn't escape, so he fought to the death.
It was just that the difference in weapons and training wasn't too great. Numbers became the key factor. The soldiers were all proficient in coordination and fighting techniques. In an instant, only a few remained. Han Wu's hair was disheveled, and he wielded his saber, killing several soldiers.
Han Wu's hair was disheveled, and he used his saber to kill several soldiers. At this moment, a spear heavily smashed into him, and Han Wu lost his footing and fell back, coughing up a mouthful of blood. A few soldiers pounced on him, pressing him down.
Governor's Mansion
Hundreds of officials and officials were segregated like a herd of cattle. They were surrounded by armored soldiers.
Ji Bei Hou looked at Shen Zhi, "What should we do now?"
Shen Zhi bowed, "Master Hou, if we were bandits, we could do whatever we wanted. But if we want to fight for this one in ten thousand chance, we have to have a plan."
"Oh? Tell me, how do we have a plan?" Ji Bei Hou laughed as he spoke.
"First, we have to control the three prefectural armies near the capital. This isn't too difficult. Master Hou was originally the commander of three prefectures. Now that you're in charge of one of them, all you have to do is kill the generals and take control of the army."
"But if we want to fight for this one in ten thousand chance, just being in charge of the army isn't enough. We have to become bandits. We have to establish an official system. It's not difficult to establish an official system. At most, we just have to change the name of the government."
"The difficult part is, how do we establish a government? The government won't give us much time."
"As for buying people's hearts with free money and grain, in reality, only amateurs who don't know the inside story would do that at the first instance.
When Ji Bei Hou heard this, he paused. He then paced around and said, "This is indeed a big problem. Since you've brought it up, I'm sure you have an idea?"
"Yes, it's not difficult to establish a government structure."
"We've captured thousands of officials. We'll drag them out in batches. Not many at a time. Let them choose — to die, or to join us."
"Don't think about locking them up and waiting for them to change their minds. Once they do, we'll be defeated. Or, we'll have established a government. We won't need them then."
"We have to be decisive now."
"We can't have too many people at once. Because people are afraid of being ugly, there will be many who refuse to surrender because of their pride. Or perhaps they feel that the law doesn't punish too many. Even if they refuse to surrender, we can't do anything to them."
"Hence, we'll interrogate them in batches. We'll kill those who surrender, and kill those who don't."
"This way, the government won't let them off."
Ji Bei Hou pondered for some time before asking, "But these people are being oppressed. Even if they surrender, it's hard to guarantee their loyalty. How do we solve this problem?"
"Master Hou, when the Emperor started his rebellion, why was it that the first ten years were difficult for him to recruit even an Elementary Scholar? Why was it that the next ten years were filled with talents?"
Ji Bei Hou replied without hesitation, "It's because the first ten years were bandits. The next ten years, they gained strength and had the potential to succeed."
"That's right. There are over a thousand officials in Ying Prefecture, and at least half of them were created by the government. If we really wanted to do something, half of them would be more than enough."
"Everyone is afraid of death. Out of these one thousand people, a third of them are willing to die."
"Then once these officials surrender, we can establish a complete system. With them, we can recruit soldiers, train the people, and govern the people. They will definitely harbor hatred and be passive in resisting, or even secretly colluding with the enemy."
"But once the framework is established, it will be able to function. The people's hearts are like iron, and the laws are like a furnace. They will naturally be assimilated. Of course, this is a matter for the future. What we need to do now is to establish a system, and put on a tiger's skin. If outsiders don't know about it, they will be frightened. At that point, we will have the capital to attract people to join us."
"We only need to do this a few times, and gradually fill in the gaps. Those who harbor disloyalty and refuse to join us can then be eliminated. They can either be killed or demoted according to Master Hou's wishes."
"Then, the real system will be established."
When Ji Bei Hou heard this, his expression changed. He sighed, "Mister Shen, we've known each other for over ten years. This is the first time I've seen your true colors. Let's do it this way."
"My Lord, please take a seat. We can't dirty your hands with this kind of work."
Shen Zhi bowed and left the courtyard. Ji Bei Hou sat down and drank his tea. He then saw ten people being brought up, and divided into two groups. One of them spoke to the first group, and the five of them shook their heads and cursed. However, they were far away and couldn't hear clearly.
Shen Zhi wasn't angry. He waved his hands, and the five of them were pressed down by the soldiers. They were beheaded on the spot. The second group was so frightened that they started trembling.
The second group was brought up for interrogation, and the third group was brought up to observe.
In the second group, two of them surrendered. Two of them were given a knife, and the two of them were trembling. The remaining three started cursing. One of them threw away his knife, and the soldiers pressed down on him and beheaded him. The remaining one closed his eyes, and stabbed his comrade. His entire body was stained with blood.
Shen Zhi walked up to comfort him, and asked him to stand aside.
When the third group was brought up, three of them surrendered, and none of them regretted their decision. The fourth and fifth groups had more and more corpses, and more people surrendered. The success rate kept increasing.
Towards the end, there were even some who surrendered without a need to ask any further as soon as they were mentioned.
Ji Bei Hou noticed that the ranks of these people were from the lowest to the highest. Within two hours, the courtyard was littered with corpses, and blood flowed continuously from the corpses.
Shen Zhi's face was stained with blood. He retrieved a white handkerchief and wiped his hands. He then threw it on top of the corpses and reported to Ji Bei Hou.
"We've arrested 573 officials, and 95 officials."
"We've surrendered 496 officials, and 81 officials."
"Congratulations, Lord Marquis. If we don't consider checks and balances now, these officials can build up the framework of an entire province, not to mention a province city."
"As long as Master Hou appoints them."
"Good, haha." Ji Bei Hou laughed out.
At this point, an officer brought his personal guards and brought a general who was tied up. This general was Han Wu. He shouted angrily, "Ji Bei Hou, you disloyal, heartless, and unfilial person. I didn't expect you to rebel. Just you wait, the Imperial Court will exterminate your entire clan!"
"Kneel down, kneel down." The personal guard pressed down on Han Wu, forcing him to kneel down. Han Wu refused to submit, and his face was flushed red.
One of the personal guards laughed out, and hit Han Wu's leg with the hilt of his blade. Han Wu had no choice but to kneel down and bow to Ji Bei Hou.
Looking at Han Wu, Ji Bei Hou laughed, "You were originally my subordinate, and yet you betrayed me. You've been opposing me for many years. But since you're heartless, I can't be unjust. Han Wu, if you submit to me, I can still use you."
"Pei!" Han Wu spat out a mouthful of blood at Ji Bei Hou and cursed, "Traitor, you've received so much kindness from the Emperor, and you deserve to die a horrible death. And you still want your grandfather to submit to you?"
Han Wu continued to scold him. Ji Bei Hou sat on the main seat and laughed.
"You traitor, how can you still laugh?" Han Wu was enraged, and struggled to stand up. The personal guard didn't hold back any longer, and hit him with a rod, causing him to kneel down again.
"You know very well why."
Ji Bei Hou smiled and said, "You've been my subordinate for a long time. Years ago, when I gathered a thousand men, you were already there. You pledged your allegiance to the Emperor, and fought many battles. Gradually, the army expanded. After conquering the lands, I had fifty thousand men under me.
Isn't that right? "Seeing that Han Wu was about to speak, Ji Bei Hou waved his hands," Since things have come to this, you should listen to what I have to say. The Emperor said that he wanted to reorganize the army, and eliminate the old and the weak. I obeyed his orders. "
"Fifty thousand men shrank by half, and became twenty-five thousand men. Five Prefectures. This happened during the third year of peace!"
"During the fifth year of peace, the Emperor pulled you over to his side. After some adjustments, I had three Prefectures under me. During the ninth year of peace, I had no choice but to reduce my own army, and became one Prefecture. Think about it, what can one Prefecture do? Give me some military power, and I won't rebel. But why did you have to cut me off? "
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