Chapter 267: Make good use of people’s hearts and be as meticulous as a hair!
“The only troops the imperial court can mobilize are the Yunnan and Guangxi camps, and at best they can muster another 100,000 troops.”

“But the military honor is not limited to our founding family.”

“The founder of the academy, as well as the royal family, can still sit still while they watch us expand our territory in Southeast Asia?”

“Cong’er, what do you mean?”

Miaoyu’s eyes lit up.

“Among the Southeast Asian countries, Burma and Siam are the spheres of influence that Westerners have defaulted on.”

“With such huge benefits, it is impossible for Westerners to give up just because of a setback at sea.”

“Let them go and find out the details of the Westerners. We can take advantage of this opportunity to clean up the east and stabilize the rear.”

“Sister Miaoyu has to worry about the development of Shinto.”

“For Cong’er, I’ll do anything!”

Miaoyu’s heart trembled. She had been busy traveling in Shandong, Jiangnan and even Korea for the past six months to establish the Shinto system.

Unlike Baochai and Daiyu who can always be with Jia Cong.

This was a rare moment of intimacy and tenderness between Miaoyu and Jia Cong.

……

Shenjing City

Duke of Wei’s Mansion
“Lord Chu, Marquis Jing’an defeated the Westerners’ combined fleet in a battle at sea.”

“We have now arrived in Annan!”

“The countries in Southeast Asia are rich in resources, and Your Majesty is backing them with the whole nation’s support.”

“These Nanyang countries have long been fish on the chopping board, waiting for Jing’an Hou to slaughter them.”

“Brother Zhang Shi is right. We can’t let all the benefits be snatched away by the founding family. I’ll just watch from behind.”

“In the past, which of us didn’t follow the emperor and fight our way to wealth and glory through mountains of corpses and seas of blood?”

“But now look at our Kaiyuan lineage!”

The heads of various prefectures of the Kaiyuan lineage gathered together.

Everyone talked about the grievances they had suffered over the past few years.

In the early days of Shunde, when Emperor Shunde had just ascended the throne, the two Dukes’ Mansions, Duke Dingguo and Duke Weiguo, were the leaders.

There are also six marquisate palaces, twelve earlate palaces and some viscount and baron families.

The Kaiyuan lineage is undoubtedly the number one among the military merit factions.

Most of the founding nobles of the Jia family have been suppressed and have lost their real power.

All that remains is the influence of the disciples and old friends left by the predecessors.

But now?
Six years in Shunde are about to pass.

Meng Jiankang, the former commander of the Jiangnan camp and the head of the Anping Marquis Mansion, who was originally the backbone of the Kaiyuan lineage, was beheaded by Jia Cong in order to establish his power.

Mu Dajiang, the head of Fengcheng Earl’s Mansion and the deputy commander of Shandong Camp, colluded with the White Lotus Sect to rebel and attacked and killed Chu Zhaogang of Weiguo Mansion.

With this one blow, the Kaiyuan lineage lost the command of two large camps.

There is also the current commander of the Shandong camp, Sui Maoxiang, the Ningyuan Marquis, who was originally from the Kaiyuan lineage. Now he has joined Jia Cong’s school and is the head of the Qilu lineage.

Later, they were implicated in the rebellion of the third prince, and two marquisates and five earldoms were stripped of their titles, their property confiscated, and they were exiled.

Only three of the original six marquises are left, and the Anping Marquisate has become completely silent after the death of Meng Jiankang.

There are only six of the twelve earl’s palaces left!
It can be said that the strength has been reduced by almost half.

On the other hand, the originally weak founding lineage surrendered to Jia Cong early on.

As long as the heads of the various prefectures had some ability, they were given important positions and reused.

There are also benefits shared by the two major protectorates of Andong and the North and the South.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that it’s only a matter of time before things return to their former glory.

“How could this old man not know these principles?”

“Marquis Jing’an made arrangements half a year in advance, spent tens of millions of taels of silver, and dispatched a large number of experts.”

“Why, are you all so bold as to snatch food from Marquis Jing’an’s mouth?”

Chu Zhaogang was annoyed by the noise and glared with his tiger eyes.

After he started to scold, the hall suddenly fell silent.

Thinking about the bad reputation Jia Cong had earned before, no one dared to respond to this question.

“Lord Chu has misunderstood. Even if we had ten courages, we would not dare to compete with Marquis Jing’an for it!”

“What we mean is that since the imperial court is determined to march south, can we, the Kaiyuan clan, also do our part?” “Let’s unite and bring out our best resources. If nothing else, it won’t be a problem to gather a 150,000 strong army and 20 third-level worshippers.”

“If I can get the support of Ziwei Division…”

After a moment, the head of Rui’an Marquis Mansion whispered.

It was common for nobles to place retired veterans on their farms in addition to their personal soldiers.

They look like tenants on weekdays, but in fact, they are an elite army once they are armed.

This unspoken rule has existed in every dynasty, and as long as one does not privately store large quantities of weapons and armor, the royal family will turn a blind eye.

“Do your best…”

Chu Zhaozhong took a deep breath and thought for a moment.

“Last year, His Majesty once asked me for advice, hoping that our military heroes could move their forces overseas, but the time was not right at that time.”

“Well, I will go to the palace to look for His Majesty later.”

“Even if it means risking my reputation, I will give our Kaiyuan clan a chance.”

“Mr. Chu is so righteous!”

When everyone heard this, they were overjoyed and started praising him one after another.

……

Royal Palace
imperial study room

“Your Majesty, great news! The Ziwei Division has good news.”

“Of the thirteen chieftains who rebelled in the Yunnan-Guizhou area, three were assassinated and seven had their villages attacked.”

“The remaining three have surrendered to the Yunnan camp and begged for forgiveness from His Majesty!”

“Yunnan and Guizhou are pacified!”

Xia Shouzhong walked quietly into the imperial study and saw that Emperor Shunde was not reviewing memorials, but was drinking tea and resting.

He quickly stepped forward with a happy face and loudly announced the good news.

“Have Yunnan and Guizhou been pacified?”

“Hahaha, good!”

“Okay!”

Upon hearing this, Emperor Shunde quickly put down his teacup.

I suddenly felt relaxed and all the depression that had been accumulating for many days was swept away.

“The Ziwei Division reported that the ten chieftains who participated in the suppression of the rebels have personally set out to the capital to claim their rewards!”

“Okay, let the Ministry of Rites draw up the rewards in advance.”

“Choose the one with the greatest contribution and confer the title of Third Class Earl!”

“For the three chieftain villages that surrendered, just eliminate the main culprit!”

“The remaining population and property of the village will be divided equally among the ten chieftains who have made contributions in suppressing the rebellion.”

“I want to show the four barbarians in the world that as long as they are loyal to my Daqian, I will never be stingy with rewards after they have made contributions!”

“Your Majesty is wise!”

Xia Shouzhong bowed his head and accepted the order, praising him sincerely.

The ten chieftains who had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion shared the money equally, saying it was a reward.

In fact, considering the interests at stake, no matter how the money is divided, it is impossible to satisfy all ten companies.

Emperor Shunde’s move undoubtedly planted a nail in the middle of these ten families.

This directly eliminated the possibility of collusion among the ten families after they were conferred the title!

“Alright, this little trick, I don’t believe Jia Cong didn’t take it into consideration when he issued the reward notice.”

“It’s nothing more than giving me a chance to show off.”

Emperor Shunde smiled and waved his hand.

“My dear friend, I feel that my cooperation with Jia Cong has become more and more tacit recently.”

“Even though we are thousands of miles apart, I can still guess what Jia Cong wants to do.”

“Isn’t this what the ancients meant by a bosom friend or a friend regardless of age?”

“Your Majesty and Marquis Jing’an are both the smartest people in the world. The relationship between the ruler and his subjects will surely be passed down as a good story in the history books of the future!”

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(End of this chapter)