Princess Promotion

Chapter 105 Luring the wolf into the house

Yao Chuguang felt that there was no point in arguing any further. Fu Hongxuan just needed the whipping of reality.

Yao Chuguang's expression softened slightly as he said, "Fu Hongxuan, let's make a bet!"

Fu Hongxuan responded: "No gambling."

Fu Hongxuan still has some self-awareness. So many people have been cheated by Yao Chuguang, but I have never seen her suffer any loss at the hands of anyone.

It goes without saying that this bet was a trap set for him by Yao Chuguang.

Yao Chuguang choked. She didn't expect Fu Hongxuan to reject her so bluntly. How could this be possible?

Yao Chuguang decided to start by throwing out a suggestion: "Let me make a bet. If you win, I can fulfill one of your conditions. If you lose, the incident of me getting you into jail will be written off, and we won't bring it up again."

Fu Hongxuan thought about the bet and realized that if he won, he could get Yao Chuguang's promise, and if he lost, he would not suffer any loss, so he nodded in agreement.

Yao Chuguang smiled and said, "You have three days to find the hidden dangers around you."

Fu Hongxuan: "Hidden danger?"

Yao Chuguang: "Go back and think about it carefully!"

Fu Hongxuan stood there and watched Yao Chuguang go away.

At this time, Xiao Ge Lao also returned home to pack his bags. Xiao Shilang was puzzled and asked, "Why did father suddenly want to go back to Huayang?"

Since Yao Chuguang settled in the Yujing City of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it has not been designated as the imperial capital.

But the emperor is there, and that is the imperial capital, so now the capital of Qi can no longer be called the imperial capital, and it is changed to Huayang City.

Elder Xiao said bluntly: "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask."

Minister Xiao had no choice but to shut up and follow behind Lord Xiao with his bag. Lord Xiao told Minister Xiao about their respective tasks as they walked.

When Lord Xiao just walked to the carriage and was about to get on.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried horse hooves sounded, breaking the surrounding silence.

Elder Xiao looked up and saw a man in armor riding a tall horse, followed by a team of fully armed guards, coming towards him with great momentum.

When General Park saw Lord Xiao, he quickly dismounted, straightened his clothes, saluted Lord Xiao, and said respectfully, "Lord Xiao, I am here to escort you on your way by the order of His Majesty."

When Minister Xiao heard that someone was escorting Lord Xiao back to Huayang, he felt relieved.

This time they followed His Majesty in the expedition to the Yujing City of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and they marched and rode horses all the way.

He didn't bring many people with him when he left. He finally settled down in Xizhou, but it was impossible for him to buy servants and guards at once.

It would be fine if it was just for daily food and clothing, but if you were going on a long journey, it would be impossible to put together a guard team in a short time.

The mountains are high and the roads are long. What if something happens on the way?

Now that we have General Park escorting us, at least our safety is guaranteed, regardless of anything else.

Seeing this, Lord Xiao nodded, then took the coachman's hand and slowly got into the carriage.

General Park mounted his horse and led the guard team behind the carriage.

After watching the group walk away, Minister Xiao realized belatedly that one of the guards led by General Park looked very familiar.

Who on earth is it?

Suddenly, Minister Xiao slapped his forehead!

Isn’t that Minister Wang Wenli?

Why did he run back to Huayang?

The setting sun gradually sank to the west, and the sky was dyed a light orange-red.

Fu Hongxuan rode his horse and slowly returned to the Fu Mansion.

Walking through the familiar gate, every blade of grass and every tree remains the same, as if time has not passed.

The Fu Mansion is huge and used to be bustling with people.

However, at this moment, as the afterglow of the setting sun gradually faded, the entire mansion fell into silence.

Fu Hongxuan passed through one threshold after another, and each step seemed so heavy and silent.

In the past, this place was always bustling with people coming and going.

And now, Fu Hongxuan was the only one walking around in this empty mansion. It was so quiet that he could even hear his own footsteps.

The scenery remains the same, but things and people have changed

Fu Hongxuan continued forward, crossed the last threshold, and arrived at his room, the study.

Fu Hongxuan walked into the study, closed the door, and went straight to the bookshelf inside.

Gently turning a secret compartment on the bookshelf, there was a slight mechanical sound, and the bookshelf slowly moved away, revealing a hidden secret passage.

Fu Hongxuan carried a lantern and walked into the tunnel with familiarity.

The light from the lantern flickered in the tunnel, illuminating the damp stone walls and winding passages around it.

After a long journey, Fu Hongxuan arrived at the end of the tunnel.

When you push open the door, the view suddenly opens up and a spacious and bright basement appears before your eyes.

The place was already full of people, all of whom were his former generals and confidants.

Seeing Fu Hongxuan appear, everyone immediately saluted and shouted in unison: "General!"

When Liu Shier saw Fu Hongxuan appear, he couldn't wait to say, "General, we found An Tian's granary."

Fu Hongxuan's eyes darkened slightly as he asked, "Where?"

Liu Twelve: "Ningyuan City, they opened a local warehouse to borrow grain, otherwise we wouldn't have found it so quickly."

Fu Hongxuan: "Borrowing grain? How much interest?"

Liu Twelve said hesitantly, "Two points of profit."

Some generals gasped when they heard the interest.

It’s not that I think it’s too high, on the contrary it’s too low, almost like giving it away for free.

You know, in years of disaster or poor harvest, civilians would go to the landlords to borrow food to overcome the current difficulties.

If the landlords were kind-hearted, they would charge a 5% interest, but if they met a tyrant like Zhou Paopi, it was common for them to charge a 10% interest.

In years of disaster, the common people at the bottom of society always suffer, and the biggest winners are the landlords who borrow grain.

Why is it said that commerce was underdeveloped in ancient times and that merchants had a low status is one reason.

On the other hand, merchants have limited means to make money, and the industry that really makes huge profits is landlords.

This is why everyone tries hard to sell land as soon as they make a little money, and they try their best to become landlords.

It’s because being a landlord is a good business with huge profits, and they store grain at low prices during good years.

When famine or poor harvest occurs, the grain purchased at a low price suddenly becomes grain sold at high interest rates.

As long as you are cruel enough, your assets can increase several times in an instant after a famine.

Those civilians who borrowed grain and were unable to repay it could only give their land to the landlord as compensation and become tenant farmers for him.

Fu Hongxuan looked at Liu Twelve and asked, "With such a low interest rate, what will the local gentry think of it?"

Liu Twelve immediately said excitedly, "I've also contacted the local gentry privately. They are naturally very dissatisfied with An Tian's practice of cutting off people's financial resources. They promised that if we start a rebellion, they would be willing to provide us with food, fodder and money."

At this time, Chen She spoke up to stop them, saying, "No! Such greedy people have oppressed the people and caused countless families to be broken up. These people have evil intentions and should not be associated with them."

Chen She came from a poor family and knew too well the true faces of these gentry and landlords. He wondered why they supported them in such a righteous way.

It was obvious that they couldn't bear to see An Tian's business lending grain to the people at a low price, which resulted in no one borrowing grain from them.

It's ridiculous that they would rather throw huge amounts of money at them to start a rebellion than lower the interest rate to help these poor people.

At this moment, Chen She began to feel confused. Was it right for them to do this?

Liu Shier's eyes flickered when he heard Chen She's words: "Those who accomplish great things don't dwell on trivial matters. We have been planning for so long, how can we let our efforts fall through because of some trivial matters?"

Yes! We've been planning this for so long!

Ten years ago, Fu Hongxuan's father, brother, uncles and five other people died in Hengshan because they waited for no reinforcements and finally died of exhaustion in battle.

Fu Hongxuan's mother couldn't bear the shock after hearing the news of his death and passed away with his father the next day.

Later, the officials who delayed military intelligence were executed along with their entire families. Two years later, his cousins also died in battle one after another.

There used to be dozens of family members living together, but now only Fu Hongxuan and Fu Yuanyuan are left.

Oh, and there’s also a plaque commemorating a family of loyal martyrs.

Fu Hongxuan often looked at this plaque, which was once the glory of his uncles, father and the entire family.

Later, Fu Hongxuan just thought it was ridiculous.

Fu Hongxuan couldn't find any evidence because all the injustices and accidents could be traced back to the murderer.

The murderers were all executed by the almighty Emperor Zhou, even to appease Fu Hongxuan.

In recent years, he has been favored and rewarded with all kinds of rewards and titles without paying for them.

Watching the water flow is like a reward, filling up the house little by little, but the number of people in the house is decreasing one by one.

It turns out that these jewels were exchanged for human lives.

Fu Hongxuan didn't want to endure it anymore.

Damn his loyalty!

I'm going to skin Emperor Zhou alive!

Fu Hongxuan had been planning in secret since that day, but he could not act rashly without being fully prepared for the rebellion.

Fu Hongxuan has been secretly stockpiling food and weapons. He has manpower, but he only has military generals and no civil officials.

He had to make friends with or train a group of civil officials. After all, he wanted to settle accounts with the old man Emperor Zhou, but he didn't want to let the Western Zhou Dynasty fall into chaos and make the people suffer.

But as a military general, he suddenly started to make friends with civil officials, and his intention was too obvious.

I can only look privately to see if there are any good seedlings to cultivate.

The thing Fu Hongxuan lacks the most is patience, and if he wants to seize the throne, he must not be impatient.

But we have to say that man proposes, God disposes. In the past two years, the barbarians have become more well-behaved.

The Zhou Emperor began to make unusual moves, probably wanting to replace him during the truce.

Emperor Zhou has not touched Fu Hongxuan in these years because he is worried about what will happen if Fu Hongxuan is replaced and the new general is defeated.

The opportunity to break the balance came when Duke Li of Qi sent troops to attack the barbarians and seriously injured them.

Emperor Zhou immediately realized that this was an opportunity. The barbarians were now severely injured. Even if they recovered a little later, they would cause trouble for Qi. It was estimated that they would not harass the Western Zhou in the next few years.

Fu Hongxuan naturally realized what Emperor Zhou was thinking.

He knew that Emperor Zhou was a stubborn and self-righteous man, and naturally had ambitions.

As long as he found a few people in the court to stir up trouble, Emperor Zhou would really want to take advantage of Qi's misfortune.

Fu Hongxuan immediately took the opportunity to refute, which naturally angered Emperor Zhou and he dismissed him from his official position.

He knew that Emperor Zhou was in high spirits at the moment, and naturally looked down on Yao Chuguang, the new empress.

It is said that Fu Hongxuan also contributed to the fact that Yao Chuguang's incompetent image was so widely spread in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Emperor Zhou looked down on Yao Chuguang, but Fu Hongxuan knew that Yao Chuguang was not someone to be trifled with.

At the beginning, Fu Hongxuan thought that the barbarian was seriously injured, and without the threat of the barbarian, Emperor Zhou would definitely not tolerate him.

But he is not yet fully grown, and the risk of falling out with Emperor Zhou is too great.

Since there is no enemy, let's find another one. Qi is a ready-made enemy.

According to Fu Hongxuan's plan, when the Qi army attacked the Western Zhou Dynasty, his people would cause trouble for the army in the rear.

If they were attacked from both sides, the front line would surely suffer a defeat, and then the Zhou Emperor would have no choice but to release him.

At that time, he would immediately reorganize the army. He might not be able to attack Qi, but there would be no problem in defending it.

But Fu Hongxuan really didn't expect that as soon as Emperor Zhou came to power, he hurriedly replaced all the generals and tried his best to promote his own people.

This caused the army to become a mess, and they could only use 30% of their strength, and Fu Hongxuan's men were making trouble from behind.

Fu Hongxuan inadvertently contributed to Yao Chuguang's smooth attack on Western Zhou.

Fu Hongxuan sighed that it was fate and time, how could such a monster like Yao Chuguang appear?

Everyone wants to rebel, but Fu Hongxuan is the one who is down-to-earth, working diligently to save money and win over talents.

Isn't that how we all rebelled?

As a result, Yao Chuguang overtook Fu Hongxuan directly at a corner and injured him seriously.

Today, Fu Hongxuan had to admit that Yao Chuguang was more suitable to be the emperor than him.

If Emperor Zhou still ascended the throne, Fu Hongxuan would agree with Liu Twelve's approach. There would be no way around it.

If he really relies on his salary to save up military funds, it will take him forever.

Fu Hongxuan stood up and looked around. It was time to make a decision.

"Brothers, I called you here today because I have something important to announce." Fu Hongxuan's voice was low and powerful, and every word was clearly heard by everyone present.

Fu Hongxuan paused for a moment, then told what Yao Chuguang and Lord Xiao had said today.

As soon as these words were spoken, the people present were in an uproar and began to talk about it.

Yao Chuguang dared to say such words, he must have buried explosives under the granary. Those explosives could even blow up the city walls, let alone a mere granary.

"At this point, we have no chance of winning. Everyone, please forget about this place after you leave today."

As soon as Fu Hongxuan finished speaking, everyone immediately realized that the general had given up his rebellion.

Liu Shier seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by Fu Hongxuan's eyes.

Chen She didn't know how the other people present felt, but he still breathed a sigh of relief after learning of Fu Hongxuan's decision.

If the Zhou Emperor were still in power, Chen She would never have thought this way.

But the person he wants to be his enemy is Yao Chuguang!

That woman is so terrifying that Wenchen may not realize how terrifying Yao Chuguang is.

But how could Chen She, who had been on the battlefield for many years, not know the seriousness of this, let alone the strategies.

Yao Chuguang's ability in overall planning alone was beyond the reach of all of them.

You must know that Chen She heard that Yao Chuguang broke up an army of 10,000 into small groups at the border and brought them to Huayang quietly from the border.

This area spans thousands of miles, which shows how strong the coordination ability is.

People who have never led troops in battle have no idea how to lead a team, but Chen She can say without exaggeration that if you lead 10,000 troops out for a walk, without hundreds of people constantly conveying military orders, it would be good if you can bring back half of them.