There was a rather spacious residence on the street two miles away from the palace. It was one of Vadhara's properties. After leaving the main hall, he quickly took his family out of the palace and settled down in the residence outside. Then, he made this residence the Provincial Governor's residence, which would be his future office.
At this moment, Vadhara was sitting on the main seat in the hall. Below him were Devadatta and the rest of Vadhara's trusted aides.
There were about ten people present.
At this moment, all of them looked rather nervous. Originally, Vadhara was the ruler of a country. These people followed Vadhara and lived a carefree life. Now that Vadhara had pledged allegiance to Du Qi, they might not be able to find a place to settle down. Therefore, these people were somewhat worried.
One by one, they came to seek an audience.
They hoped to hear good news from Vadhara.
Vadhara's gaze swept across each of his trusted aides. "You don't have to worry. This time, I have pledged allegiance to Xia Xia and served His Majesty the Emperor. He has appointed me as the Provincial Governor of Jiantuo Luozhou and in charge of its government affairs. Your official positions have been arranged, but the size of your official positions must be approved by His Majesty the Emperor. "
"As long as you are willing to stay, you can be arranged. But for those who want to leave, I can only say goodbye amicably. So for now, those who are willing to stay can stay. Those who are unwilling can leave. "
"You, decide for yourselves."
Vadhara spoke directly and gave them a choice.
Everyone looked at each other, somewhat hesitant. After these people discussed for a while, six of them stood up and bowed to Vadhara. They thanked Vadhara for his high regard and finally turned to leave. They were unwilling to stay, because now that the officials who stayed were just sesame seeds, they might as well leave and seek a better place for themselves.
Vadhara did not stop them and let them leave. Apart from Devadatta, there were only three people left in the hall, all of whom were once Vadhara's trusted aides.
Vadhara said, "None of you are willing to leave?"
The three replied in unison that they were willing to follow Vadhara and be at his beck and call.
Vadhara heard this and was moved.
He said solemnly, "For you to be willing to follow me, I thank you for your trust. Although I can't give you any high official position or generous salary, I can let you enter the official circle without worry. As for your official positions, I will go see His Majesty the Emperor tomorrow morning and specifically explain your matters. When His Majesty the Emperor makes the decision, your positions will be decided. "
The three immediately expressed their thanks.
Ba Tuoluo said a few more words of comfort, and then asked the three to go home and wait for the good news. At this time, Ba Tuoluo looked at Devadatta and solemnly said, "Mister, the people have been properly arranged. Mister should know that although I am the Provincial Governor of Jiantuo Province, I have no military authority."
"Next, His Majesty will definitely make many arrangements. It won't be easy."
"You are my right-hand man, my trusted aide, so I won't hide it from you. Following me, although you won't have to worry about food or clothing or money, it will be quite difficult. You must consider carefully, do you really want to stay? "
Vadhara didn't hide anything from Devadatta.
He directly explained the general situation.
Devadatta said, "You have treated me well and entrusted me with important tasks, how can I leave at this time? Therefore, I will continue to stay by the monarch's side and serve him. "
Vadhara said, "You don't have to address me as your Majesty. Now that I have pledged allegiance to His Majesty, I have to do what I say. If I relax a little and get discovered by His Majesty's spies, it will be very disadvantageous for you and me. Therefore, it is better to be careful and not make such a low-level mistake. "
Devadatta said, "I understand."
Vadhara said, "Thank you, Sir."
Devadatta shook his head. "Governor, you don't have to thank me. Besides, I feel at ease working under you."
Vadhara chuckled and changed the topic. "Sir, regarding the matter of me taking charge of Jianturuo Province and serving His Majesty, what do you think? What do you think I should start from? "
Devadatta thought for a moment and said, "I think there are three things you should do next."
Vadhara said, "Let's hear it."
Devonado said, "The first thing is to correct the attitude of the provincial governor. You should pledge allegiance to Xia Xia and serve the Emperor. Then, you will encounter many things in the future. There will even be many things that will make things difficult for you. I think that no matter what, you should adhere to the premise of loyalty to Xia Xia and unconditionally carry out Emperor Xia's arrangements. Of course, if you have other thoughts, that's another matter. Speaking of which, let me ask you again, if you still have the chance, will you rebel? "
Vadhara immediately fell silent.
His expression changed again and again, because he had never considered this question before. He had only taken it one step at a time. Now that Devadatta had asked, Vadhara couldn't help but ponder over it.
After a long time, Vadhara said, "I won't rebel. If I pledge allegiance to the Emperor, I will serve the Emperor."
Devadatta asked, "Why? The Emperor doesn't have any special regard for you, he doesn't recognize your worth, and he doesn't have any life-saving grace. Now that you've pledged allegiance to Du Qi, you will serve him wholeheartedly. "
Vadhara said, "The reason is simple. The Emperor can borrow the power of ghosts and gods. Making an enemy of such a person is courting death. This time, I pledge allegiance to His Majesty, and he is willing to give me an important task and use me. How will I face His Majesty again after I rebel? "
"On the other hand, once I rebel, I will completely cut off my path of retreat. If I am captured by His Majesty again, there won't be any good things now. It's enough that I can still govern a prefecture! "
Vadhara said, "If it's about the King of Jieri, I'm actually unconvinced from the bottom of my heart. But Emperor Du Qi of the Xia of Xia is such a formidable character who can even mobilize the power of ghosts and gods. What else can I be unconvinced about? "
The earthquake outside the city had given Vadhara too great of a shock, causing him to completely pledge allegiance.
Du Qi was simply too powerful.
Devadatta nodded after hearing this. "The Provincial Governor is wise, because once you rebel, it's not bad if you can permanently keep Du Qi at the door. Once you are defeated by Du Qi again, you will have no chance of survival. "
A smile appeared on Vadhara's face.
This was what he had considered.
Devadatta continued, "The second thing is that I'm guessing that Du Qi made you the Provincial Governor because he's certain to assign you many extremely difficult missions. In particular, the various regions of Jiancatuo Province will have to be brought under his control. According to Xia of Xia's structure, he won't allow the regions to stand on their own. This will definitely be broken. "
After a pause, Devadatta said, "My second suggestion involves some of the fundamental systems of Jiancatuo Province. If Du Qi wants to make adjustments, you must not argue with Du Qi. It's still the same as before. Just follow Du Qi's orders and carry them out. A young man like Du Qi is bound to be extremely powerful. Nothing good will come out of opposing Du Qi. "
Vadhara said, "I understand!"
Devadatta continued, "The third thing is that since you're already working for Du Qi. Governor, if there's anything else you can do to help Du Qi take over the territory of Jiancatuo Province, you should do your best. This point is to consolidate your position under Du Qi. "
"If I remember correctly, Governor, you've also raised a batch of elephant soldiers over the years. There are about six thousand of them. It's just that this batch of elephant soldiers isn't in the city for the time being, but outside. "
Devadatta said, "Because we pledged allegiance as soon as Du Qi arrived today, the elephant soldiers weren't put to use. Now, the elephant soldiers will be under Du Qi's command. "
Vadhara slapped his head and said with a smile, "I actually forgot about this matter. You're right. Since we've pledged allegiance to Du Qi, we might as well do our best to assist him. This way, we'll be able to gain his trust. Otherwise, once he finds out about this matter, it'll be easy to arouse suspicion. Tomorrow morning, I'll go and report these matters. "
Devadatta said, "Governor, you're wise!"
The two talked about other trivial matters of the people's livelihood. After everything was settled, Devadatta turned and left.
Ba Tuoluo was thinking about the following arrangements.
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