Steel Dynasty - Chapter 888

[Chapter 886 Sima Hao’s decision]

Lin’an.

Sima Hao violently overturned the table in front of him to the ground. His eyes were red and crazy like wild beasts. The war in Suzhou City had been reported, but his most beloved eldest son Sima Lang died in the hands of the royal army.

The palace of the former King of Chu was filled with wealthy families from all over the Chu Kingdom. They looked at Sima Lang and waited for his decision, because Li Chuyuan’s order had arrived in Lin’an.

He announced that he would relinquish his position as King of Chu and obey the mission of royal unification. From then on, he would live in harmony and be managed by the imperial court.

“This idiot Li Chuyuan betrayed the old King of Chu and all of us. Now they are just puppets of Xiao Ming. Now we can no longer trust him and can only rely on ourselves.” Sima Hao said word by word .

“Then what should we do now?” A wealthy family asked worriedly, “Now the royal army has occupied Suzhou, Songjiang River and Jiaxing, and the land near the Yangtze River has fallen. After they rest and recuperate, the next step will definitely be Lin’an.”

” Yes, all 80,000 soldiers were defeated. Now we can mobilize only more than 90,000 troops. How can we resist Xiao Ming’s 100,000 troops? What’s more, some people have obeyed Li Chuyuan’s order and surrendered to Xiao Ming. “

Humph, those generals who are from untouchable backgrounds are the ones who surrendered. There is nothing to worry about.” A wealthy man said with disdain. He said to Sima Hao: “Master Chang Shi, this Xiao Ming has been killing us from the beginning to the end.” Chu State’s plan, the only hope now is that we all join the Merchant Council, so that we can still have the status of a member. If the Merchant Council establishes the country, we will still keep our wealth and status, but this Xiao Ming is different. Look at the north. Now all the wealthy families have become common people. At most they have retained some money. The court is equivalent to uprooting the wealthy families that have existed for thousands of years.”

Sima Hao lowered his head and remained silent after hearing this.

The man continued: “What’s more, Cao Kun is supported by Westerners now, and also has the help of King Qinglong. This King Qinglong is still quite capable. He has gathered a large number of tribesmen and is very powerful. Now he promises to share the land with the people in the south. “

Hahaha

…” Sima Hao suddenly laughed a few times and said coldly: “Yao Bin, I have long suspected that you have secret contacts with the Merchant Council. I didn’t expect this to be the case.” , What are your intentions in deceiving people now!”

Yao Bin did not panic, but looked calm. He said to Sima Hao: “Speaker Cao Kun asked me to thank Chang Shi. If Chang Shi hadn’t been accommodating, the parliament would not have been able to tolerate it. We can’t evacuate Suzhou City so smoothly.”

As soon as these words came out, the wealthy people in the hall suddenly started talking, and their eyes changed when they looked at Sima Hao.

Sima Hao’s face darkened. He did not completely believe Xiao Ming from the beginning. If Li Chuyuan was not the king of Chu in name, he would not even allow the royal army to enter the territory of Chu.

And when the royal army captured the cities of Songjiang and Jiaxing that they had not captured for months in just a few days, he panicked because he was worried that Xiao Ming’s parliamentary army would attack them next.

So he played double-dealing and placed part of his bet on the merchant council. Now it seems that this decision is very correct.

Sima Hao’s expression was noticed by Yao Bin, and he said: “Sir Chang Shi, Speaker Cao Kun also said that if Lord Chang Shi is willing to join the parliament, he will welcome him at any time and is willing to give you the position of deputy speaker.”

Then he Turning around to face other wealthy families, he said: “Brothers, for now, we can only save our lives and wealth by surrendering to the Parliament. In fact, the Merchant Council protects the interests of big businessmen and wealthy families. Not only will we not lose anything in the future, but we will also We will get more rights through legislation.”

The wealthy people were slightly moved, and Yao Bin’s words spoke to their hearts.

Sima Hao’s expression also softened at this time, and he said to Yao Bin: “Long live the Merchant Council, I join the Merchant Council on behalf of the Sima family.”

“Our Sun family will also join

.” “The Dong family will also join.”

“…”

After Sima Hao, one after another the wealthy families expressed their stance.

Yao Bin smiled and said loudly: “Without further ado, now we have to summon all the troops and new troops. If nothing happens, the royal army will go south soon. Before they go south, we have to build up around Lin’an. The fortifications have dragged the royal army here. Only in this way can the parliamentary army have a chance to gain a foothold in the south.”

Sima Hao nodded, and he said: “Our wealthy family has been in peace with all the previous dynasties for thousands of years. Ming wants to destroy our foundation and distribute our land and wealth to the people. How can we endure this? Everyone fights with him. Even if we can’t win, we will drag him to exhaustion and wait for the barbarians from the north. It’s time for us to calm down and attack from the north and the south. “

Yao Bin nodded with satisfaction. Not long after he returned from Europe, Chu State had undergone such changes. This made him very excited and felt that what he had learned in Europe could finally be applied to him. The queue comes in handy.

During the two years in Europe, his psychology also underwent drastic changes. He was envious of Europe’s prosperity and strength, which convinced him that the establishment of the Merchants’ Parliament was correct.

…

In Suzhou City, Xiao Mingzheng and Li San marked the current location of the parliamentary army on the map. After the war began, secret guards poured into the south in large numbers to collect intelligence.

Lying on the map, the strong smell of ink hit my nose. This was not a hand-drawn map, but a mimeographed map.

In order to facilitate fighting and exploration, Xiao Ming asked the printing house to engrave several versions of maps. These maps ranged from simple to complex, including simple world maps, local state and county maps, minerals, water conservancy, oceans, and ocean current maps. in.

In addition to some of these maps being used for culture and education, most of them will be used for military and exploration purposes.

Lin Youde is now retreating south with the parliamentary army. Before he left, he left the decision of the merchant council that they would establish a foothold here, here and here. “

As he spoke, Li San pointed to the location on the map.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly. In modern terms, these places are Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other regions, while Chu State includes the southern part of Jiangsu and Shanghai. , Zhejiang, eastern Jiangxi and other regions.

Now that he has conquered Suzhou, Songjiang, and Jiaxing, he has taken over the southern part of Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Jiaxing, Zhejiang. This is only a part of the Chu State, and most of the land is under the control of Sima Hao.

“Cao Kun, the old fox, is not an ordinary character, and there is probably someone behind him to guide him. All his actions now are carried out in an orderly manner.” Xiao Ming pondered.

“Indeed, we have found traces of the British association’s activities. They are very likely to be making suggestions for Cao Kun.”

(End of Chapter)