Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

"As long as Yang Liao keeps those lowly people out of the city and refuses to let them enter, my king will reward him handsomely."

Fu Yuanzhou's brows furrowed into a deep frown, his face clearly saying, "Do you want to hear what nonsense you're spouting?"

Shi Qiuliang's subordinates thought that Fu Yuanzhou wanted to raise the price, so they immediately offered more bargaining chips, many of which were priceless treasures.

Fu Yuanzhou rolled his eyes: "What do I need from you? Do you need to teach me how to do things? Get out! What are you!"

The man quickly said, "Is the Li Kingdom harboring rebels from the Song Kingdom in an attempt to oppose the Song Kingdom and provoke conflict between our two countries?"

Yinyin raised her eyes: "What, are you saying that this isn't just Shi Qiuliang's opinion, but also represents your Song Emperor?"

“Of course,” the man said without a hint of guilt. “Our Emperor trusts Prince Shi. Besides, these lowly people who dare to leave the Song Kingdom without permission should have nowhere to live and be forced to wander the wilderness all day long.”

Seeing the man's certainty in agreeing to their request, Yin Yin said directly, "Even if the Song Emperor has issued an edict, this is Yangliao. The prince's will is Yangliao's will."

Yinyin gave a signal, and the servants on either side came up to gag him and threw him out of the palace.

"How could there be such an official in this world?" Fu Yuanzhou was furious. "If he were in my Li Kingdom, he would have been beheaded and his family property confiscated by the emperor long ago. How could the emperor tolerate him living until now and still give him an important position?"

"Is the Song Emperor blind, deaf, and mindless? How could he employ someone like that and actually believe whatever Shi Qiuliang says?"

“Perhaps he knows, perhaps he doesn’t, but Shi Qiuliang definitely gave Emperor Song enough benefits,” Yin Yin said, her expression also not good. “Pass on Shi Qiuliang’s message, and remember to also pass on Emperor Song’s reaction.”

"Whether Emperor Song tacitly approved of these words or not, since Shi Qiuliang's men dare to say such things, of course we should believe them."

"It just so happens that Shi Qiuliang's men haven't left yet. If any of them don't believe it, they can ask them themselves."

Yinyin acted quickly and in a simple way, directly and openly displaying her sympathy, just waiting for people to ask.

The refugees from Song were quite bold; that very night, they kidnapped Shi Qiuliang's envoy and inquired about the situation.

From then on, these people devoted themselves to working in Yangliao, and no one thought about returning to the Song Dynasty.

Later, many more refugees arrived, and with the help of those who had come before, they integrated quite well.

Shi Qiuliang's envoys not only encountered setbacks in Yangliao, but also in several other cities of the Li Kingdom.

It wasn't that the city officials weren't tempted by the offers they made; it was simply that the Emperor of Li had taken notice of the matter, and who would dare to risk their life at this time?

Those local powerful families who had previously taken in the refugees would have to return the people, and even hand over their former hidden households. Otherwise, if they were to be led over by a large army, their foundations might remain, but whether they would still be theirs in the future was uncertain.

Shi Qiuliang's men returned empty-handed from the Li Kingdom. With the Ming Emperor and his court officials' instructions, the Ming Kingdom naturally dared not accept the gifts. They made up a bunch of excuses about putting people first and violating the law of heaven, and drove the men out as well.

Apart from Li and Ming, the other smaller countries, whose strength was inferior to Song, dared not ignore Shi Qiuliang's message, and as a result, another wave of people poured into the two countries.

Because of the good resettlement in Yangliao, where people could settle down and have their own land, many people bypassed the previous cities and came directly to Yangliao.

Yinyin and the others were so busy that they could only write letters to Tangyuan in their spare time, let alone draw portraits.

When they were finally freed from their busy schedules, they heard that a rebellion had broken out in the State of Song.

Some people in Shi Qiuliang's fiefdom united the remaining people and rose in rebellion. Within a few days, they completely took control of Shi Qiuliang's fiefdom.

These people marched all the way to Songjing, conquering several cities in quick succession. It wasn't until they reached cities that were far away and knew little about Shi Qiuliang's fiefdom that they encountered some decent resistance.

After Shi Qiuliang's men left, Fu Yuanzhou, who had been paying special attention to the Song Kingdom, chased everyone out and sighed with Yin Yin, "At a time like this, we should just march directly to the Song capital, besiege the city, and let the Song emperor know the bitterness of favoring treacherous ministers."

Yinyin didn't look up, focusing on drawing the scenery in the courtyard: "Many of the people in Shi Qiuliang's fiefdom starved to death, and many others fled. The fact that they've managed to fight to this point is already a testament to the capable leadership of the people who are left."

Yinyin paused her brush, dipped it in ink, and continued, "Now that things have come to this, if they continue fighting, they might still have a way out. If they don't fight, the outcome will probably not be good."

“No way,” Fu Yuanzhou said, somewhat skeptical. “The Song Emperor has already ordered Shi Qiuliang to be arrested, and the people have vented their anger. Besides, they have no chance of winning if they continue fighting.”

"Given Emperor Song's consistent practices, he'll probably order someone to offer them amnesty. Then they'll be free of oppressors, and their leader will rise from an ordinary citizen to an official. Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Yinyin countered, "Is being granted amnesty necessarily a good thing?"

Seeing that Fu Yuanzhou couldn't answer, she didn't press the matter further: "Besides, the Song Emperor did send people to arrest Shi Qiuliang, but he hasn't punished him yet."

"and……"

Yin Yin spoke very softly, so softly that Fu Yuanzhou, who was in the same room and not far away, didn't hear her.

After Yin Yin sent a letter to Emperor Ming, the emperor also sent an official skilled in strategy to Ming. If they reached a tacit agreement, Song would probably have no choice but to accept the offer of amnesty and weather the crisis peacefully.

Just as Yin Yin had expected, new news arrived less than half a month later.

"The Song rebels refused the offer of amnesty and have already approached the Song capital. The Song emperor sent letters to both the Li and Ming kingdoms requesting military assistance."

"It is said that both countries offered ten cities as a reward, and the Song Emperor agreed."

"He agreed?" Fu Yuanzhou was completely stunned. This was giving away twenty cities at once; Emperor Song was truly extravagant.

Yin Yin was somewhat regretful: "The commander of the Song rebels is a capable person. If we could bring him to Yangliao to govern the army, I wouldn't have to worry when the prince goes on expeditions with him in the future."

Fu Yuanzhou didn't think that Yin Yin looked down on his abilities. He was always very self-aware, so he followed Yin Yin's words and thought about it, and also felt it was a bit of a pity.

"Good generals are hard to find, and those willing to stay in Yangliao are even harder to find."

If the Li and Ming kingdoms were to fight as frequently as before, given Yangliao's geographical location, it might have produced some excellent generals. However, now that the two countries are on friendly terms and there is no peace, it is impossible to cultivate any good generals. It is already good enough that they have the current elite troops.

After the couple sighed, they didn't take it too seriously. But a few days later, the emperor included Fu Yuanzhou in the expeditionary force.

Fu Yuanzhou was eager to try: "I'll go and see who's really in command of the rebels."

"Just take a look, but you absolutely mustn't do anything else," Yin Yin said. "The Emperor probably sent you along because we submitted a memorial after discovering the refugees. Now he wants you to go on the expedition to earn some merit so that you can be rewarded when we return."

Fu Yuanzhou nodded in agreement, but the cunning glint in his eyes revealed that he still had his own ideas.

Yinyin had no choice but to instruct the guards who were going with Fu Yuanzhou to broaden their horizons.

"Take good care of the prince."