Whale Falls and Becomes a God

Chapter 45 King Jingwu

Everyone understands that political power comes from the barrel of a gun.

With military power in hand, official positions and titles are not that important. With the "Blood Demon Map", it is only a matter of time before Xiao Ying becomes the leader of the force.

Without real military power, even if he is given the title of "King of the Same Character", it will not be of much use, as the disadvantages will outweigh the advantages.

In these chaotic times, the higher the title, the more attention one receives, but the sooner one dies. Many rebels proclaim themselves emperors, kings, and immortals, gods, and celestial kings, but they're not very effective.

Therefore, under the attention of Empress Xiao and those who were interested, Xiao Ying's reaction was rather dull and calm, not as excited, thrilled, or ecstatic as imagined!
This makes people feel that Xiao Ying is "indifferent to fame and fortune", and some people who are more resistant become less resistant.

"Since no one objects, then this is the decision!"

Seeing more and more people expressing their support and no one opposing, Empress Xiao was secretly pleased. She spoke quickly and then continued:
"Xiao Ying, listen to Feng!"

"Chen is here!"

Xiao Ying was somewhat unaccustomed to feudal etiquette. He was stunned for a moment, then stood up, stepped out of the line, and knelt on one knee in response.

"Xiao Ying, gifted with divine power by heaven, favored by Buddhism, a chosen genius, both civil and military, saved countless lives during the Jiangdu Rebellion, and has made great contributions. During this critical period when the Great Sui Dynasty is about to fall, I have been chosen by all the people, both civil and military, to take on this mission. I am specially granted the title of King Jingwu, with a rank of ten thousand stones, and the fief of Jiangdu. I am also appointed General of the Auxiliary Army, and am temporarily granted the Imperial Sword and the Imperial Seal of the Great Sui Dynasty, to act at your discretion. I decree this!"

Empress Xiao sat on the main seat with dignity and elegance, chest out and clear chest. She spoke in a loud voice, the sound of which was heard for dozens of miles, shocking the ears and the heart.

The sound of this bestowal not only resounded throughout the main hall, but also spread throughout the Qiling Temple, and faintly reached outside the temple, where countless monks and people heard it.

"Amitabha!"

"What? Lord Xiao was crowned king and made a general?"

"Hallucination? Is this true?"

"Is this the Empress's decree to pass on the Dharma, or is it a joint recommendation by civil and military officials and representatives of the people? He was given the task in a time of crisis. This must be true..."

"Master Xiao's actions last night were indeed extremely meritorious..."

"He first saved the ladies, then aided the Dugu Mansion, saved many forces, and personally provided the rearguard. He also roamed the entire city, saving countless lives, and bravely entered the Forbidden Palace, risking his own life... Each and every one of these deeds is truly worthy of being crowned a king or a general..."

……

The crowd was in an uproar, and the monks inside the temple and the people outside the temple were talking about it.

With the help of people who care about the spread of the news, what Xiao Ying did last night quickly spread. It was inevitably exaggerated, but most of it was true!

These disseminators were naturally arranged in advance by Empress Xiao, including deliberately using luck to announce the decree!
Obviously, this is to build momentum!

"During this special period, we should keep everything simple. We will hold a grand ceremony after defeating the rebels and quelling the rebellion!"

As soon as the voice transmission fell, Empress Xiao spoke again, and with a wave of her arm, several objects floated in front of Xiao Ying...

Royal seals, documents, imperial edicts, royal robes, generals’ armor, imperial swords, the imperial seal of the Sui Dynasty, etc.

Originally, Empress Xiao's statement should have been an imperial decree, which was clearly overstepping her authority and violating taboos, and not enough to confer titles of nobility or appointments. However, Empress Xiao had been reminded by Xiao Ying before, and since she had been handling recent affairs, and since the Great Sui Dynasty's imperial seal and other national treasures were in her possession, she simply issued an imperial decree.

In addition to the simple ceremony, many tokens and proofs of being crowned kings and appointed generals are all available!
"My Holy Lord's grace, the Great Sui Dynasty will prosper forever!"

Xiao Ying bowed down to express his gratitude and waved his hands to take all the items, which made many people present twitch their lips.

It's really the ultimate in simplicity! These items would generally be held solemnly and worshipped with respect. It's not like what's happening right now, Empress Xiao casually giving and Xiao Ying casually accepting. It's so weird no matter how you think about it!

"Greetings to Prince Jingwu! General of the Yi Army!"

Empress Xiao glanced at them with her beautiful eyes, and everyone understood. They stood up tactfully and bowed to pay their respects, which was a complete expression of their recognition of Xiao Ying's status and power!

"Click..."

Before Xiao Ying could stand up and return to her seat, Empress Xiao waved her arm, pulled the chair in front of her, and said loudly:
"From now on, Prince Jingwu will be in charge of all matters and manage all affairs!"

"The only solution now is to resettle the people, mainly led by Xu Sheng, the Dugu clan leader, the Cui clan leader, the Qi guild leader, the Liu pavilion leader, and others. Any food and supplies needed can be requested, and they will be given priority!"

Xiao Ying didn't say anything polite, and it was not the time to be polite. He went straight to Empress Xiao's seat and began to give her instructions.

"I will obey the prince's orders!"

The leaders of forces such as Dugu Sheng readily took on this tedious and somewhat thankless task.

They are indeed the best candidates. Their status and prestige are enough to appease the people, and they also have enough manpower and connections.

"Secondly, with Commander Le Han as your leader, and all the generals and representatives assisting, immediately begin selecting civil and military officials, recruiting young and strong people from the public, forming a new army, and training them as quickly as possible!"

Xiao Ying simply announced two major directions, namely the people and the army, and other people would complete the details.

"Don't worry, everyone! As long as the new troops are in place and have sufficient weapons and armor, I also have secret methods to speed up training and cultivation!"

Xiao Ying and others, temporarily called the Great Sui camp, have a huge drawback, that is, the core leadership is mainly composed of Empress Xiao, followed by the concubines of the Great Sui, and then representatives of various forces. There are no truly powerful and representative civil and military officials.

The important officials of the Sui Dynasty were either trapped in the Forbidden Palace or were the focus of the rebels, and basically never came to Qiling Temple!

The core figures of the Sui Dynasty camp are typical examples of a situation where yin is stronger than yang, which is not a good phenomenon.

Empress Xiao, who had the highest status and position, and the Four Consorts of the Sui Dynasty, as well as other concubines and princesses, would fully assist in the work, but would not take on specific duties and would basically not show up in public.

……

In an emergency, we had to make a compromise. After everything was agreed upon, the sun was already setting in the west.

Xiao Ying first borrowed a building complex in the border area from Qiling Temple, and then placed a large amount of food supplies, weapons, armor, etc. in it, temporarily serving as a warehouse so that they could be claimed when needed!

Xu Sheng (Xu Shiji's uncle and the Imperial Household) also brought the leaders of various forces and representatives of the people to start resettling the people and selecting young and strong men to serve in the army.

Le Han brought the former commanders including Xiang Wei, Xiang Shan, Ling Qing, Gu Qin, Bai Zhu, and some newly recruited generals or those who wanted to develop into generals, registered them, formed a new army, and started initial training!
At this moment, the whole city of Jiangdu was still in chaos, with flames everywhere and blood everywhere.

The rebel camp is seizing the time to conquer dissidents, stabilize the situation and take control of Jiangdu.

The Sui Dynasty camp also seized the time to recruit and appease the people, communicate with all parties, and prepare for war.

Both camps are well aware that they don't have much time left. In three days at the fastest, or ten days or half a month at the slowest, the two sides will inevitably have a decisive battle or a major war!
Even if the two major camps do not engage in a decisive battle, there will be external forces forcing them to fight!

Don't forget that there are still a large number of rebels, bandits, refugees, etc. outside Jiangdu City. If Jiangdu remains in a state of chaos, it will soon attract a pack of wolves.

Not to mention the three rebel kings near Jiangdu: Du Fuwei, the governor of Jianghuai and King of Wu (Fu Gongyou, King of Chu), Li Zitong, King of Fengming, and Shen Faxing, King of Shangliang. Each commands a million troops, interconnected yet independent. They've likely received the news and are preparing their forces, ready to attack at any moment! This doesn't even include the numerous insurgent armies, bandits, and other thugs operating under the three rebel kings!

(End of this chapter)