Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"General, this man is the Prefect of Shaozhou..."

"Hahaha, where did you come from, General? But never mind, come on, I'm in a great mood today, let's share this blissful ascension to heaven. Uh, cough cough, here, have a bite..."

"Grasp!"

"General, this man is the Judicial Advisor of Shaozhou..."

"Hehehe, hahaha..."

"Grasp!!"

"General, this man..."

"Arrest them all!!! Arrest them all! This Shaozhou City is rotten to the core!" Zhang Liang was initially shocked and angry, but as he led his troops, he stormed into one government office after another.

The clerks and runners outside were fine, but when he barged into the house...

What they saw were one after another, men dressed in official robes but described as evil spirits. Almost every one of them carried a pipe and spoke in a rambling, incomprehensible manner.

The more they tried to catch him, the more terrified Zhang Liang became.

"What the hell is this!"

He gritted his teeth, holding a bag of dark brown stuff in his hand, and grabbed the collar of the Shaozhou City medical doctor in front of him, who was trembling physically and had dark eyes.

The latter seemed to still retain some rationality, with snot and tears streaming down his face.

"This is poison! This is poison! General, do not touch it! Do not touch it! Once you come into contact with this, you will become like us, resembling evil spirits, ignorant of sacred teachings. Waaah, we are beyond saving! We are beyond saving!"

He was coughing repeatedly and gagging constantly.

Zhang Liang's hands trembled involuntarily at that moment.

Upon hearing this, some of the soldiers who had come with them instinctively dropped the ointment they were holding and frantically wiped their hands.

Even Zhang Liang, looking at this thing called "Longevity Ointment," was filled with bewilderment and shock.

Just this one thing caused the entire Jiangnan region to fall into the hands of those merchants.

He swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Those who can serve as officials in a region, especially those who reach the high position of prefect, are all outstanding individuals in their region, and their unwavering ambition is rare among people.

But... Zhang Liang looked at the twenty-odd prison carts completely packed with people. All the officials in important positions in Shaozhou City had been poisoned beyond recognition.

He took a deep breath and hurriedly ordered his men, "Go, find some tarpaulins to cover the prison cart. We must not let the people see it!"

"Yes!"

As the covered prison wagons, escorted by cavalry, drove out of Shaozhou City, the people along the way stared curiously, and from the sobbing sounds coming from them, they knew that people must be imprisoned inside.

But... why cover it with a cloth?

Without a commanding general, the city guards of Shaozhou City posed no obstacle whatsoever to Zhang Liang and his men, easily allowing them to pack up and take away the officials of Shaozhou City.

However, even Zhang Liang hadn't expected this.

This single operation effectively resulted in the arrest of almost all the officials in Shaozhou City.

All those registered with the Ministry of Personnel are now in prison. As for the rest, there must be many more corrupt officials hiding in Shaozhou, but Zhang Liang can't care about that now.

This is a huge issue.

He must first take these people to report to His Majesty.

And at the same time, on the other side.

Zhangzhou, Jiangnan East Circuit.

The Chu King's navy encountered resistance. At first, when the navy docked, everything was normal. The officials of Zhangzhou Port provided full cooperation, and many people even doubted whether King Li You of Chu had really received orders from the Crown Prince.

However, as soon as Li You led his troops into Zhangzhou City, Du Ling, a general of the Chu Prince's Mansion and a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Your Highness, be careful! Raise your shields and form a defensive formation!"

Forbidden!

With a whoosh, the officers among them, all of whom were Chu King's personal guards from the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace, were particularly keen-nosed. Even before Du Ling's voice had faded, the Chu King's personal guards entering the city had already nimbly raised their shields.

"咻咻咻......"

A dense rain of arrows, accompanied by sharp whistling sounds, came from the eaves on both sides and the street corner.

Li You was personally protected by Du Ling, surrounded by a forest of shields.

However, his eyes were filled with rage and shock: "Jiangnan Dao has truly rebelled!"

Du Ling frowned: "Your Highness, with such a dense rain of arrows and crossbow bolts, it seems the city guards have also rebelled. We should retreat back to the ship..."

"Retreat my ass! These thieves are clearly trying to lure us into the city, and the situation on the naval side is probably no better!"

"Kill! Kill all the traitors! Give me all the muskets, and I'll take responsibility for any trouble that arises!"

"Kill all these rebels!!!"

Du Ling frowned, looking intently at the Prince of Chu: "Your Highness, if that's the case, I'm afraid I won't be able to fully protect you in the future..."

Li You sneered and drew two Gao Yang revolvers from his waist.

"Protect me? If General Du is overtaken by me in a fight, that would be a real joke!"

Immediately, Du Ling's lips curled into a smile, and his eyes became even sharper than before.

"Hahaha! Even so, the entire army, obey my command!"

"Shoot straight for the prefect's residence!"

The Chu king's personal guards, who had been holding a firm defense against the dense rain of arrows, suddenly began to advance towards the surrounding areas under the command of their officers.

The musketeers stood behind the shield bearers, protected by their comrades who were fully equipped with steel armor.

Li You pulled the trigger of his revolver, aiming at the dark figures on the eaves of the houses on either side.

The smoky gunfire, mixed with the screams of the falling figures, unleashed Li You's long-suppressed restlessness.

From the direction of Zhangzhou Port, the sound of muskets could also be heard from the naval side.

"Attack! Attack! The King of Chu has rebelled! Capturing the King of Chu will bring us great merit!"

The magistrate of Zhangzhou reeked of decay and rot. Although he was shouting at the top of his lungs while riding his warhorse, he couldn't even keep his horse stable.

He simply kept shouting "The King of Chu is plotting a rebellion," urging the garrison of Zhangzhou to attack and kill him.

however.

This already flimsy excuse, coupled with the growing suspicion and whispers among the lower-ranking officers of the Zhangzhou garrison, made them completely reluctant to put in any effort.

In the end, as the King of Chu's personal guards advanced, they simply stopped pretending altogether.

One by one, they drew their weapons and chose to surrender and retreat to the side.

"boom!"

As a stray bullet struck his warhorse, the horse, in pain, struggled and bolted.

He flung the Zhangzhou Sima off his back, and the ambush collapsed instantly.

March of the eighth year of the Zhenguan era.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian commanded the six guards of the Eastern Palace, along with five thousand new troops from Bingzhou.

They seized Wei King Li Tai and his personal guard, the Shenji Battalion, totaling nearly 20,000 troops.

The troops were dispatched from Chang'an.

He nominally quelled rebellions in Jiangnan and Huainan.

All the officials left the city and knelt to see them off.

Merchants and wealthy families in Chang'an, Luoyang, and Taiyuan took the initiative to request to support the army, offering large amounts of gold and silver as military pay.

However, Li Chengqian ignored him.

Suddenly, the merchants, who were already living in fear because of the increasingly bizarre news, became even more terrified.

The two flames of rebellion did not reach them.

But judging from the Crown Prince's current attitude... his anger is likely to spread to them.

......

"Those damned merchants!"

In Chenxi County, Chenzhou, Jiannan Circuit, when Li Shimin saw the Shaozhou city officials in the prison cart, his killing intent immediately turned fierce.

After a string of curses, and after clarifying some of the details,

A golden eagle soared into the sky. The letter, which had originally promised the Empress that it would persuade the Crown Prince after clarifying the situation, now conveyed a different meaning between the lines.

Kill... I'll start by killing people in Jiangnan West Circuit!