304 Right Timing (1/2)
Da Chu.
”Congratulations, minister, for your promotion to Prince of Chu!”
Inside the minister's manor, many of his henchmen gathered as joy and laughter filled the air.
While Qi Country and Liang Country were in chaos, Wang Qiao had no leisure to care about the neighbouring countries. He finally seized the rare opportunity to force the emperor to grant him the title of Prince with perpetual title heritability[1].
Furthermore, by using ”Chu” as his prince title, it obviously reflected his rapacious ambitions.
However, Wang Qiao had no fears.
”The garrison guards of the imperial capital are already within my command and these 200,000 troops are extremely skilful elites, no one would be able to defeat them! Furthermore, even the provincial military commanders and imperial guards have pledged their loyalty to me and there's no one left that can compete with me!” He thought as he squinted his eyes.
He knew that even if military occupied towns were to rise in revolt against him, by having the largest lands and the most elite large troops, he would be able to wipe each of them out.
”How many troops have risen in revolt currently?”
Wang Qiao asked suddenly as he sat up straight with a strong demeanour.
”There are three military occupied towns that have sent their troops. Liyang Prefecture's military governor Zhu Tong, Xinan Prefecture's military governor Li Chun and Wujiang Prefecture's military governor Wang Yujun have risen in revolt and started attacking other prefectures under the accusation that you were planning to overthrow the emperor. Based on my humble opinion, that was merely an excuse for them to expand their strength. These governors are all smart men! They knew if they did not seize the opportunity to rise to power now, when we rise to power, they would have no more chance!”
His adjutant immediately answered.
Wang Qiao clapped his hands and announced, ”I will immediately report these three governors' plans to the emperor and an imperial decree will be issued immediately. This will list out their crimes clearly and we can then send troops to suppress them!”
At that moment, since he had not forced the emperor to abdicate and hand the throne over to him yet, he knew he still required the emperor for his plans to succeed.
”Brilliant, Prince!”
His audiences were all impressed.
”Haha... instead of being afraid, I am happy that they are rising up! The power distribution in the imperial capital is very complicated. Since I don't have much wealth nor land to reward you all, if you all defeat these three prefectures, you all will be promoted to nobility, with perpetual title heritability!” Wang Qiao laughed.
Usually, it was hard to gather loyal followers for usurps that did not undergo mass killings as the power distribution in the country were complicated and there were insufficient resources to reward them.
However, since the three military governors revolted, it gave him an excuse to do so.
Once the audiences heard it, especially the military officials, their eyes lit up as though it was on fire.
With Wang Qiao's speech, it undoubtedly promised the reward of nobility and at the same time, hinted that once the military occupied towns were suppressed, he would immediately force the emperor to relinquish his throne.
Only the emperor could grant titles of nobility with perpetual title heritability and such a hint was already very obvious.
”Reporting!”
Just as the atmosphere was warm, an anxious-looking imperial guard suddenly rushed over. ”Prince, a disaster is imminent!”
”Tell me about it!”
A feeling of uneasiness immediately overwhelmed Wang Qiao and made him stood up. He then asked, ”What exactly happened?”
”The emperor has suddenly fallen very ill after dinner…, the imperial physician does not dare to prescribe medication!”
”What?”
Wang Qiao's face turned unpleasant at once.
Even though he has already decided to have him dead once he ascended the throne, he still needed his name and authority as the Emperor of Chu, especially at the moment where he was about to send the troops to suppress the rebels. How could he be on his deathbed?
”Prince…”
At that moment, another horse rushed over, ”The emperor… has passed away!”
Wang Qiao's face turned pale at once, he suddenly opened his mouth and blood spewed everywhere.
”Prince!!!”
...
5th Year of Yong An. News of Wang Qiao becoming the Prince of Chu and the death of the young emperor spread like wildfire across the world. There were now 7 troops that had rose in revolt.
After Da Qi and Da Liang, Da Chu has descended into chaos too.
Loading Island, Golden Court Lake.
Twenty large ships were berthed neatly at the pier. Thousands of soldiers remained silent as they gathered to watch the ceremony.
Once Xu Ting heard the news about the death of the emperor, he gathered the troop to commemorate the late emperor and held a rally to pledge loyalty before going to war.
”This Wang Qiao! How ferocious! He murdered the emperor to usurp the throne, what an unpardonable sin! Even though I am not a genius, I still have a 40-inch long sword and thousands of soldiers! I will punish this traitor and fight with him to death! To seek revenge for the late emperor!”
As Xu Ting stood high above on the platform and raised the Purple Suo sword, his voice could be heard clearly.
”Punish the traitor!”
”Punish the traitor!”
The crowds' yells were deafening and could be heard from afar.
”Send down my command! We will deploy at once!”
As Xu Ting gave his commands, the warships steered out of the pier towards the prefectures near Golden Court Lake.
These prefectures were not ruled by military governors; they were still under the governance of the imperial court. Even if there were any power-hungry ambitionists, they dared not openly raise their troops.