Xie Ying scoffed, "Boring, really boring."
As soon as the words were spoken, the sound of horses' hooves continued on the main road. The messengers split into two groups, one heading towards Xiexia and the other towards Xieji.
Xie Xia led Xie Ying over. The soldiers carried three black banners of the Xie family on their backs, which meant they were Xie Lanzhi's direct subordinates and could not dismount or kneel before the general, as if Xie Lanzhi herself were present.
Instead, Xie Xia and his companion bowed deeply, saying, "We respectfully request Your Majesty's command!"
Xinbing announced loudly from his horse: "The Marshal has given an order!"
Xie Xia thought to himself that the marshal still didn't want to kill anyone, and he was immediately disappointed. He then pressed Xie Ying's proud head down with his large hand.
"General Xie Xia of the Left."
"Young General Xie Ying."
The two replied, "We accept the order!"
Xinbing announced: "The fact that the Eight Jin have retained the Three Jin has already shown my compassion. However, the Six Jin have disregarded the people's livelihood and repeatedly incited the innocent to resist, which has long aroused my wrath."
“A mere regional governor dares to claim to be the ruler of a country and usurp the throne; his wolfish ambitions deserve to be punished.”
“The ignorant masses are misled by treacherous officials and traitors, and thus follow the rebels; they are bound to be traitors to the people. Those who are traitors to the people shall be removed from the register of Jin citizens and shall not be allowed to serve as citizens!”
"On the 23rd of this January, I, the commander, personally issue the order to execute all the tyrants and traitors of Jin, unify the nine Jin states, and restore the Jin dynasty!"
Slaughter! Unify the Nine Provinces!! The Marshal...she has finally returned to her former domineering aura.
"This humble general receives the imperial decree!" Xie Xia was immediately invigorated, and Xie Ying even seized a horse and led his men to charge towards Liu Jin.
Xie Ji looked up at the sky; the sun was directly overhead, making the army even more irritable.
He felt uneasy. If the situation continued to drag on, morale would drop, and it would be questionable whether he could still win every battle against the six Jin people who had left the city.
Then came the sound of horses' hooves, and the messengers of the Black Three Banners rode into the arena.
Xie Ji immediately jumped off his horse. Upon seeing that it was a messenger from the Imperial Guard, he immediately clasped his hands and said, "Marshal, may I issue an order?"
Xinbing nodded and handed him the imperial edict from his bosom.
The surrounding generals immediately tensed up, wondering if they were being told to retreat and then have one of the high-ranking officials from the capital come to persuade Liu Jin.
As expected, she didn't strike the marshal thoroughly.
The generals were all disappointed.
Xie Ji remained rooted to the spot, and his advisors, seeing the Right General's expression, knew he had given up hope. If they missed this golden opportunity to massacre the city, they would leave this future threat, and the Xie family would surely regret it.
Several hot-tempered generals angrily said, "Right General, let's charge in, and after we've massacred the city, you hand over our heads to the Marshal so she can..."
Xie Ji lifted his robes and stepped forward, holding up the imperial edict, and declared: "The traitors of the Six Jin states are not worth mentioning."
"Immediately annihilate the traitors, unify the Nine Jin states, and restore the Jin dynasty!!"
Execute them?! The Xie generals roared excitedly, "The Marshal has finally made up his mind!"
"Slaughter those bastards!"
"Let them taste the power of the Xie family!"
Xie Ji hastily shoved the imperial order into his staff, drew his sword, and charged towards the gates of Liujin City, shouting, "Kill!!!"
The generals were all excited, drew their swords and charged forward, directly boosting morale and raising Xie Bing's killing intent to the highest level!
"Kill them!!!"
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 11:19:39 and 18:18:00 on December 11, 2021!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: moonbyul (10 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 64 Si Xitong's Reasonable and Compassionate Distribution
A day and a night passed.
News of the extermination of the Six Jin states reached Tianjing.
The capital was in an uproar. Even though it was expected, everyone was horrified to hear that the Six Jin had been slaughtered.
While filled with fear, everyone was also relieved to be Xie Zhu's subjects, believing that Xie Zhu would not harm his own people. Therefore, news of the Six Jin states sank to the bottom of a lake like a pebble thrown in.
The Golden Palace is currently welcoming two new masters.
Si Xitong stepped into the Golden Palace, feeling both familiar and strange. In her memory, the Golden Palace was a place where her father always had endless anger and could not stop scolding loyal ministers. Even though her father was diligent and hardworking, he could not save Tianjing.
At that time, she believed that diligence alone was useless. Old systems that cannot be eliminated will always have holes that cannot be plugged and will continue to widen until they can no longer be repaired and the world collapses.
Now that the nine provinces have been unified, the corrupt system has finally been overthrown.
Familiar and unfamiliar faces interacted in the hall, including officials from the capital and members of the Xie family. Everyone knelt down and bowed, saying, "Long live the Princess! Long live the Princess!"
"Long live the Marshal!"
Once the state of Jin is destroyed, there will be no need to avoid using certain titles.
In people's hearts, Xie is already a king.
Xie Lanzhi watched the little phoenix ascend the cloud ladder from the other side, and she followed. The two were seated on either side of the dragon throne.
Regarding the matter of avoiding sitting on the dragon throne, the officials in the Golden Palace had reached a tacit understanding. Whether they sat or not was actually irrelevant; it was merely a formality.
However, both Jingchen and Xie Shi had their own masters in mind, and whoever sat on the throne would be the master they would follow.
Fearing that she might be nervous on her first time attending court, Xie Lanzhi took the initiative to demonstrate: "Ministers may report if they have something to report, otherwise they may leave the court."
Jing Chen readily stepped forward: "Marshal, the war in the Six Jin states has been decided, and the Right General is now returning to the capital. He will arrive this afternoon."
Both Jin and Tianjing have water ports, and it only takes a day to travel by water.
Xie Lanzhi nodded: "Xie Ying has been captured?"
Xie Guang stepped forward and said, "Reporting to the Marshal, this wicked girl will be dealt with according to military law after returning to the capital, and her general's rank will be stripped."
Xie Lanzhi nodded.
"Next, we should discuss the arrangements for the Seven Jin states. Do any of you ministers have any suggestions?"
Si Xitong listened silently, learning as she watched Lanzhi work harmoniously with the other officials, a far cry from the scenes she remembered where the officials always contradicted and insulted her father for his incompetence.
It turns out that the atmosphere in the imperial court varies from person to person.
Wu Qiu, as the emperor's advisor, concurrently serving as the Vice Minister of War and acting Minister, compiled the decisions made by the ministers into a document and selected ministers who shared the same opinion to sign it.
This was an external allocation, and everyone was very united.
Xie Lanzhi received three text messages.
She let Si Xitong choose a book, and Si Xitong chose the blue one in the middle.
The blue-faced text bears the inscription personally written by Zhao Gongming, the person in charge.
It is suggested that the allocation of power among the nine Jin states be entrusted to His Highness Feng Ning for handling, and that Marshal Xie be asked to return civil administration to the Princess of Jin.
A text that is incredibly audacious.
Si Xitong paused, then closed the book. Her gaze fell on Xie Lanzhi's profile with a hint of confusion.
Xie Lanzhi sat beside her, her eyes fixed straight ahead. She picked out the red-faced one to look at. Everyone in the Xie family hoped that she would become queen as soon as possible, and Xie family members were placed in key positions.
Tianjing was captured by the Xie family, so their demands are perfectly normal.
Xie Lanzhi closed the book.
The Xie family members below carefully observed her expression, and when they saw that she was not displeased, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
The officials in the capital were all on tenterhooks when they saw that the yellow-faced document had not yet been read.
Xie Lanzhi picked up the remaining book and handed it to Si Xitong, the meaning of which was clear: you are in charge of distributing it in the end.
Si Xitong accepted with a smile, eager to see what requests Jing Chen would make.
The contents all emphasized the alliance between the legitimate Jin dynasty and the legitimate Xie clan, hoping that the Jin dynasty would soon flourish. Since they dared not tell Si Xitong, they focused their attention on Si Xinian.
The intention was to wish Si Xi Nian to have an heir as soon as possible. The distribution of spoils was secondary; each Jin dynasty was to be jointly managed by the Xie family and Prince Feng Ning.
The officials in the capital believed that with the 50/50 rule, Prince Fengning had already gained a great advantage, but they were afraid that the Xie family would not agree.
The Xie family did not agree and had already reported the matter to the relevant authorities, requesting that they oversee all key positions.
Si Xitong said to Xie Lanzhi, "I believe that since Jiujin has been recovered by the Xie family, we should follow the Xie family's opinion."
The Xie family members all agreed, proving that the mistress was indeed fair.
Xie Lanzhi replied, "Without the summons of the legitimate wife to reclaim the lost territories of Kuo Jiu Jin, this war would lack a legitimate cause. Even if the Xie family had conquered the land, without the princess issuing a letter of self-reproach to proclaim it to the world, the Xie family would not be able to silence public opinion and would be labeled as thieves in a chaotic world."
"Xie Guang, what do you think of what I said?"
Xie Guang said, "That makes sense. It's one thing for the Xie family to conquer, but without Her Highness the Princess's letter of self-reproach to abolish the old feudal system, the Xie family would have no legitimate reason to reclaim the Nine Jin."
"Therefore, even though Her Highness did not send troops, she deserves half the credit."
"Then how do you think the land of Jiujin should be distributed?" Xie Lanzhi said, "I have read all three of these books, and now I can ask you about them."
Xie Guang replied without hesitation, "A 50/50 split is the fairest."
Xie Lanzhi: "That makes sense."
The two powerful figures, the Grand General and the Grand Marshal, were in agreement. The Xie family decided to back down.
The officials were pleasantly surprised; indeed, their distribution was just right.
Zhao Gongming stepped forward to retort: "Reporting to the Marshal, since the Jin dynasty has recovered the lands of the Nine Jin, it should be handed over to the eldest princess of the main wife to handle."
Upon hearing this, Jing Chen was astonished, while Xie glared at him angrily.
This person has just been appointed acting Minister of Personnel, how can he be so ungrateful?
Xie Lanzhi, however, turned a blind eye and said, "Lord Zhao, you need to give a convincing reason for this statement."
Zhao Gongming bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to the Marshal, since ancient times, military prowess has been used to govern the country, while civil administration has been used to govern the country. I am making this judgment based on reality. The Xie family is full of martial spirit and their ability to protect the country is convincing."
The Xie family members straightened their backs.