The World Online

Chapter 1208 – Harmony Between Ruler and Minister

Deep in the night, Handan City.

Within the Imperial Reading Room, Di Chen laid on his chair, closing his eyes to rest.

The emergency court meeting had just ended. As the matter was too sudden and the intel they had was limited, the officials could not come up with any effective solution to the problem, which made Di Chen feel really exhausted.

The only thing that could be confirmed now was that Xiong Ba had betrayed Great Zhou.

Alone, Di Chen recalled all the memories in his mind of Xiong Ba’s performance in recent time. In the end, he got nothing. Xiong Ba did not reveal anything unusual.

“A dog that does not bark is the one that bites.” Di Chen gritted his teeth. At his most gleeful time, Xiong Ba directly stabbed a knife into his stomach. Obviously, Di Chen would feel furious.

Apart from anger, he felt more fear.

Di Chen was really worried now that Xiong Ba’s betrayal would ignite a chain reaction that would tear apart the Great Zhou Dynasty that had been gathered together after much difficulty.

Hence, during the court meeting that had just ended, some officials suggested that while the Ming army was being held back, they should order Blood Red legion corps that had already returned to Donghai Province to take down Jianye and wipe out Great Ming.

With that, Great Zhou would lose a Jiangnan Province, but they would obtain a Donghai Province. All things considered, it would not be a huge loss, and they could stabilize the situation.

However, Di Chen rejected it.

It was not that Di Chen was being merciful and was not willing to act toward his allies. Rather, he was worried about Zhan Lang. If Zhan Lang used the chance to take Donghai Province and use the troops to breakaway, the situation would be catastrophic.

Di Chen was never able to truly draw close to Zhan Lang.

“I cannot help but worry!”

Out of the original heads of the Yanhuang Alliance, Zhan Lang was the one who did not interfere with the faction battle and was the peace medicine for all sides. The more he did that, the more Di Chen worried.

Di Chen could see through Sha Pojun, Chun Shenjun, and the others, but he could not see through Zhan Lang.

This person hid too deeply and was also incredibly low profile. He felt like a person with no wishes and desires. When Di Chen took away their power, Zhan Lang was the first to step up to admit his fate.

Standing from the viewpoint of Di Chen, that was really unusual.

Moreover, out of the few of them, Zhan Lang was the closest to Ouyang Shuo. When Great Xia established their country, Zhan Lang was the one who represented the Yanhuang Alliance to congratulate him.

How would and how could Di Chen trust him?

Although he was really wary about Zhan Lang, he could not say it out loud during the court meeting. Facing their suggestions, he could only say, “Let’s take a breather and wait for the intel tomorrow before making a decision.”

Jianye City would not be able to run away, and they did not need to rush.

If they really wanted to use this chance to take down Great Ming, Di Chen would rather let the Pill Sun legion corps attack and not the Blood Red legion corps. “It’s time to lay everything out with Chun Shenjun.”

Di Chen realized that he needed a reliable ally during such times.

Only by recruiting Chun Shenjun could he make Zhan Lang worry about more factors and control the dangerous situation of Great Zhou. Only then could he prevent Great Zhou from falling to pieces.

“As long as we feed the hungry wolf that is Chun Shenjun, which is so easy.”

In the end, Di Chen was going to bleed once more.

…

9th month, 2nd day, King City.

Due to the presence of the communication compass, that sneak attack last night could not be hidden from the Ming army housed in the border cities. When they learned that the command headquarters was attacked, the 11 defending armies all reacted differently.

Some traveled through the night, heading aggressively toward King City; these armies wanted to save marshal Xu Da. Some chose to stand on the sides and defend the city they were in, while some did not agree on anything and quarreled internally amongst themselves.

The next day, the Ming troops that charged toward King City were intercepted midway by the King city legion corps and suffered total defeat.

This time, the remaining Ming troops felt a chill run down their spines.

The following matters were much simpler. Under the north and south pincer of the Great Xia Army and the King legion corps, the 300 thousand remaining troops could not even retreat. They could either fight to the death or surrender.

In a short week, the 400 thousand Great Ming troops that set off ended up suffering defeat.

On the same day that the Ming army was wiped out, XIong Ba announced that Jiangnan Province along with the King legion corps had joined Great Xia Dynasty and would listen to the Xia King’s orders.

Ouyang Shuo cooperated well, bringing the Divine Martial Guards and arriving in King City.

The world clamored the moment the news spread out.

This was the most interesting and explosive news in the 6th year of Gaia.

One of the four heads of Great Zhou, before Great Zhou even fell, decided to surrender to Great Xia. The details within this matter were so juicy that people were not able to turn their heads.

Some people cheered for Great Xia, while some despised Xiong Ba’s actions.

Since olden times, ‘Betraying one’s master for glory’ was the act of despicable people. Although Di Chen could not be considered as Xiong Ba’s master, Great Zhou was Xiong Ba’s home after all. Xiong Ba could not avoid being called a traitor.

No matter what, in the end, everyone agreed on something, “Great Zhou is going to die!”

Truthfully, under such circumstances, no player would think that Great Zhou Dynasty would still be able to turn the tables. Not to mention turning the tables, but how long the Great Zhou dynasty could last was already a problem.

The cheers for Great Xia to unify China were getting stronger and stronger and even more evident.

The dark gloomy clouds covered the skies, hanging over the Great Zhou dynasty.

…

9th month, 9th day, King City.

After learning that Ouyang Shuo was coming, Xiong Ba led all the officials in Jiangnan Province to wait for him in the square. At 9 AM, Ouyang Shuo, accompanied by the Divine Martial Guards, walked out of the teleportation formation.

“Greetings, my king!”

Xiong Ba led the Jiangnan Province officials to bow toward their king. Meanwhile, the civilians looked on from the sides.

Ouyang Shuo paced forward swiftly. He grasped the arms of Xiong Ba and helped him up, smiling, “Brother Xiong Ba joining us is our good fortune. You do not have to be so courteous.”

Seeing that, the tightly squeezed expressions of the Jiangnan officials finally loosened.

Due to the need to keep this matter a secret, not to mention the civil servants, but even the King legion corps marshal Wuqi only got the news two days ago. Suddenly changing camps and being unable to straighten out was normal.

Luckily, Xiong Ba’s family was deeply rooted in Jiangnan and not much chaos ensued.

Seeing that the Xia King was treating their marquis so well and even called him brother, the Jiangnan officials felt much better. Some of them were even thinking to themselves that maybe joining Great Xia was not such a bad idea.

Ouyang Shuo showed closeness, but Xiong Ba did not dare to cross the boundaries.

To say something that was not nice, if it were not for the special situation, a Jiangnan Province would not mean much to the current Great Xia Dynasty. For Xiong Ba’s family to stand up in Great Xia, their capital was not enough.

Under such a situation, if Xiong Ba did not know his place, his position in Great Xia would be really awkward in the future.

“I do not dare to accept the king’s good grace.” As he said that, he turned around, “Let me introduce you to the officials of Jiangnan Province.”

Ouyang Shuo nodded, swiftly changing the topic.

After the simple welcoming ceremony, Ouyang Shuo was led to the Provincial Governor office. The moment he sat down, Xiong Ba took the initiative to say, “My king, please allow me to step down from my position as Jiangnan Provincial Governor.”

Ouyang Shuo’s eyes froze. He did not expect Xiong Ba to know his place so well. Naturally, Ouyang Shuo did not like to be fake and act like he wanted to prevent him from resigning.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Since that’s the case, I will appoint you as Administrative Mentor Court Chief Secretary. Before the new Provincial Governor arrives, you will help out with the administrative and military matters of Jiangnan. Once you return to the Capital City, you will assume your new role.”

“Yes, my king!”

Xiong Ba knew that amongst the Great Xia officials, the Chief Secretary role was a primary Grade 3 official. This was similar to a Provincial Governor, which meant that his position in Great Xia was not any lower.

After settling this crucial matter, the two of them had a full day of discussions about the future arrangements of Jiangnan Province.

The next morning, under the accompaniment of Xiong Ba, Ouyang Shuo toured the counties and prefectures of Jiangnan Province to show to the world the harmony between ruler and minister to calm down the hearts of the Jiangnan people.

…

Just as Ouyang Shuo was touring Jiangnan, an intriguing matter occurred. The Blood Red legion corps that appeared in Donghai Province did not follow the orders from the Imperial Court to move toward Wannan Province. Instead, the legion corps remained in Blood Red City.

Zhan Lang’s actions raised a lot of discussion from the outside world.

Some people felt that Zhan Lang wanted to use the chance to destroy Great Ming, while some felt that Zhan Lang was learning from Xiong Ba to join Great Xia. There were some who felt that he was trying to haggle and bargain with Di Chen to fight for power.

What Zhan Lang was doing exactly, no one knew.

The answer the Blood Red legion corps marshal Xie Xuan gave was, “The army has returned from a war and are really exhausted, and they need to rest up. The soldiers also miss their families. They will stay in Blood Red City for a period of time.”

Although Xie Xuan vowed solemnly, no one would believe him.

The one that was placed on the spot was Di Chen. He could not force Zhan Lang to lead them away nor could he chide him for being a traitor, as that would only push him toward Great Xia.

In the midst of all this, Di Chen contacted Zhan Lang to make a whole bunch of promises to try and tie Zhan Lang deadly to the war chariot that was Great Zhou dynasty.

Di Chen also promised that after they took down Great Ming, Zhan Lang would continue to be the Donghai Provincial Governor. However, no matter what promises Di Chen made, Zhan Lang replied with silence, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The matter ended in a stalemate just like that.