Chapter 641: Civil strife gradually arises
However, the Song Dynasty was in a period of rising national power after the founding of the country, and naturally there were still a group of loyal and good generals, upright and pure ministers. When most of the ministers were suppressed by the emperor's pressure, an old minister with an elegant face was the first to reply: "Your Majesty, Although we cannot spare those who are corrupt due to delays in tax payment, we cannot ignore the root cause." His voice was calm and clear, and his words were powerful, with the air of a great Confucian admonishing him.
It was Fan Miao, the great master of the dynasty.
"Master Fan is right, and I have heard about it." Another veteran minister also stepped out of the queue and started playing. It's the Privy Council's money list. "It is said that demonic disasters have occurred again in the southeastern region. More monsters are attacking the city. It seems that the demons are behind it. If many civilian volunteers had not fought bravely, I am afraid that many towns would have been destroyed. Even so, various places in the southeast have already been destroyed. Our vitality is severely weakened and the people are in decline. I’m afraid it will be really difficult to pay taxes this year.”
"Oh? There is still this matter. I will send people to investigate. If the matter is true, I will issue an order to exempt the affected areas from taxes this year. But why didn't you, the Privy Council, who are in charge of the country's military forces, discover the demons' actions in advance? ?Such a big action must not be planned by a small group of demons. How come there are no clues before? Is there someone else who has neglected their duties?!" After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin did not insist on the southeast region's request to pay taxes, but he did not express any concern for the Privy Council. Forewarned was very angry.
"I don't dare! I am guilty!" Zhao Kuangyin was furious, and the ministers of the Privy Council, who knew they had failed in their duty, immediately knelt down and apologized one after another.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The occurrence of the southeastern demonic disaster this time is indeed very strange." Deputy Privy Councilor Dilan raised his head and said sincerely, "Because in the early days, teams from various places regularly cleaning up wild monsters accidentally provoked monster nests and attracted a large number of people. The monsters had no choice but to retreat to the town. However, it was originally only in one or two areas, but then similar incidents occurred repeatedly in various parts of the southeast. Then the monsters accumulated more and more, making them insurmountable, and finally led to the monsters attacking the city and causing a magical disaster.
The Privy Council also collected intelligence and then analyzed and discovered the anomalies, such as the sudden increase in the frequency of wild monster nests encountered, the abnormal density of monsters in the nests, the persistence of monsters attacking towns to fight to the death, and the excessive number of high-level monsters and demons. Wait a little longer; only then can we come to the conclusion that there is a demon behind the scenes. There is almost no warning in advance for these anomalies. The Privy Council is suspicious." Wei Lan gritted his teeth and said word by word: "This sudden demonic disaster may be just the beginning of the demon clan's plan! "
After all, Zhao Kuangyin was a wise and powerful founding emperor. He was not carried away by anger. He immediately realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately announced his resignation. Then he left high-ranking officials, ministers and generals behind, and asked the intelligence department to collect intelligence. The emperor and his ministers worked together. Study the oddities and discuss countermeasures.
Three days later, the Song Dynasty court conveyed a series of orders from Zhao Kuangyin to all parts of the country:
The Central Forbidden Army has entered a state of combat readiness. Officials at all levels must strengthen their protection to prevent assassinations by demons. All local armies are on the spot to clear out wild monsters within thirty miles of their residences. In addition to protecting important officials and factories, all local enshrinement pavilions must participate in this clearing operation. middle. In addition, local civilian armed forces can participate in this operation, and can be awarded the position of military attache based on their merits. States and counties are also required to deploy some elite troops to station in the Central Plains to form combat readiness forces.
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It should be said that the response of the Song Dynasty was not slow. Zhao Kuangyin, who had led the army for many years, keenly discovered the signs of a war from a series of intelligence, so he began to make preparations. But after all, it was still faster than the devil who had been planning for a long time.
Three days later, the city of Hangzhou was suddenly broken. Monsters poured in and invaded all directions. A large number of refugees retreated to other states and counties on the Liangzhe Road under the protection of Daming Temple and Yang Wei Escort and other cultivators and warriors. At the same time, Jiangning Prefecture also Being attacked by the devil, the city guards and most of the worshipers were killed in the battle. The remaining soldiers and civilians retreated along Jiangnan East Road and Jiangnan West Road. Many idle monsters and demon cultivators who took advantage of the situation also participated in the killing, causing heavy casualties among the people.
In other areas, important towns were also attacked and destroyed frequently. For a time, war swept through dozens of states and counties in the southeast. Many careerists and bandits assassinated officials, looted property, or separatist rule, or established themselves as kings. , and some people have the support of demons and evil cultivators behind them, taking advantage of the chaos to expand and become more and more rampant.
As soon as local officials received orders from the imperial court and started various operations, they were overwhelmed by this chaos. In most areas in the southeast, except for the prefectures and county towns, which were still stable, the order in other weak and remote areas fell directly. Paralyzed, the army was unable to rescue him.
In this state, the wisdom of Zhao Kuangyin's orders was revealed. On the premise of preserving human power, local governments were allowed to form armed forces, and civilian forces were allowed to receive rewards and promotions based on their merits. This could further stimulate the internal forces of human beings when order was chaotic. potential to resist the killings of demonic forces. As for the situation in the future that will lead to local forces becoming too strong and leading to separatism and division, that will only happen after the demonic disaster ends and human forces gain the upper hand.
Things have priorities. Under the righteousness of fighting against the devil, any separatist force that wants to come forward will have to cut itself off from humanity. Under the premise of external pressure, internal conflicts will be transformed into external conflicts. It can be said that this is what Zhao Kuangyin has done under his years of battle and rule. wise decision. He is very confident. Unless he is determined to rebel immediately, even those ambitious and powerful people will temporarily hide their minions, because the leader will die first, and smart people do not want to be the leader.
In fact, Zhao Kuangyin's judgment was also correct. Those forces that are eager to separate themselves and establish themselves as kings are all outlaws, mountain bandits and demonized humans. They are either desperate and short-sighted, or they have been demonized to the point of losing their minds and are completely controlled by demons. Naturally, there are not many clowns like these. In just three months, the strength was reduced one by one to ashes by the large army formed by the imperial court.
But a true hero like Yang Jiao was still lurking inside the Song Dynasty, constantly using the information from demons to eliminate those miscellaneous monsters and demons, while receiving rewards for his meritorious service, getting promoted step by step, and at the same time, he could also support the demonic forces behind him. Eradicate dissidents; feed war with war, constantly recruit troops, train elites, and accumulate strength.
Because they know that the turmoil in the southeast region is just the beginning.
This was Rose's initial plan, to trigger riots in some areas. On the one hand, it would attract the attention of the human empire and reduce the pressure on plans in other areas. On the other hand, it would also allow these chess pieces to lurk deeper and higher. Once they broke out, they would cause serious consequences. The damage will be even greater!
