The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 848: Internal strife and the Jingnan Rebellion

"Emperor Guangde plans to disclose the assets of officials in each prefecture? To collect overdue taxes from each prefecture? And to lay off a million troops?"

"Liu Kan is courting death! He who does evil will surely perish! Let him do whatever he wants. Don't think he's the emperor. Outside of Tianxin City, who will listen to him?"

Jinan City, the living room of Prince Lu’s Mansion.

King Liu Qian of Han, King Liu Yu of Chu, and King Liu Yi of Lu tore the edict they had just received into pieces, threw it at their feet angrily, and started cursing without waiting for the princess to speak.

Prince of Lu, Liu Yi, was the second son of Empress Liu and the youngest of the other princes. In the early years of the Guangde reign, he was reprimanded by his elder brother, Liu Kan, for "burning elixirs and medicines and recruiting alchemists to seek immortality." Emperor Guangde ordered Liu Yi to expel the Taoists and reflect on his mistakes in seclusion. The court also seized half of the rice stipend from the Prince of Lu's mansion.

When the princess and others launched the Jingnan Campaign, Prince Lu was the first to respond. Although he had few soldiers and horses under his command, he had a close relationship with Duke Yansheng. Therefore, he was able to respond to the call from hundreds of people in Qi and Lu. Many gentry volunteered to bring food and soldiers to follow Prince Lu to "Jingnan".

"Who is Liu Kan? His mother was just a skinny horse from Yangzhou, and was presented to the Emperor by Kang Yingqian. She was born in a humble family, how can she be compared with the Princess? Besides, when the Emperor was in power, he made it clear to the world more than once that he intended the Princess to inherit the throne. Liu Kan..."

Liu Yufei, who was sitting at the top seat, coughed lightly twice, and Prince Lu immediately stopped speaking up for his half-sister. The other leaders of the Jingnan Army also looked up at the eldest princess.

"This princess previously raised an army from Northern Zhili to quell the rebellion in order to punish the treacherous villains around my father. Now that my father has passed away, the rebellion is no longer in existence."

Hearing the princess' words, the King of Han and the others were surprised. They all thought the princess was being soft-hearted and was about to withdraw her troops. Liu Qian quickly winked at the King of Chu, signaling that his learned brother should quickly persuade the princess.

Liu Yufei looked around, clapped her hands and smiled:

"Don't panic, everyone. This princess and Emperor Guangde are sworn enemies. Even if there were no excuse to purge the court, I would still kill him."

"Although Liu Kan and I are half-brothers, the brother-sister relationship we once shared has faded over the years. When I was still a vassal state in Tianxin City, Emperor Guangde nearly took my life several times. Over the years, he has acted perversely, disobeyed my father, tampered with state affairs, offended the gentry, and colluded with enemy nations. His crimes are innumerable... Now, to preserve his throne, he's colluding with the Red-haired Barbarians, claiming to be balancing the power of the Qi state and winning the favor of other nations. If I don't kill him, the kingdom my father fought so hard for will be destroyed in his hands. Furthermore, my father's death in Tianxin City was unclear, and blood debt must be paid with blood!"

At the end of the conversation, Liu Yufei picked up a manifesto on the desk and saw the content in which Liu Kan persuaded her to surrender. She couldn't help but sneer:
"The world has truly changed. This traitor now dares to call himself a loyal minister. In the past, he used the emperor to control the world, thinking that he was truly powerful. Now that the emperor is gone, he will be exposed."

The King of Chu stepped out of his seat and bowed to the Princess.
"When my father was alive, he appointed us eight princes as regents to assist Emperor Guangde in handling government affairs. This was to ensure that Emperor Guangde didn't change his father's ways for three years. Now, without our approval, Liu Kan has arbitrarily implemented the so-called New Deal. On the one hand, he's reducing the army, and on the other hand, he's resuming trade with the red-haired barbarians, and he's even talking about returning power to the people... This is clearly a rebellion against my father. The eldest princess is leading us to send troops to restore order and clean up the mess for my father."

After hearing what the King of Chu said, the others nodded in agreement.

Liu Yufei grinned and said, "Third brother is right. If I had known earlier, I would have given you the Jingnan Manifesto to write."

The King of Chu waved his hands repeatedly, showing humility.

Prince Liu Qian of Han hesitated and said, "It's all very well for the eight princes to discuss politics, but I wonder what the Prince of Xiang, the Prince of Jin, the Prince of Min, and the Prince of Gui think?"

When the princess launched the Jingnan Campaign a month ago, except for the King of Chu, the King of Han and the King of Lu, the other four ministers were stranded in Tianxin City. It is unknown whether they have escaped now.

Prince Lu said worriedly, "Given Liu Kan's personality, he'll probably have to take action against some of the princes."

King Liu Yu of Chu disagreed, saying, "Don't worry, Seventh Brother. I've already written to the Chief Historians of the Four Vassal States, explaining the pros and cons to them. I'm sure the Four Vassal States have all risen up in arms in the past few days. It's just that the post roads are cut off, so no news has yet reached us."

"If we let their chief historians raise an army, won't they be afraid that their master will be killed in the capital?"

Liu Yu clapped his hands and laughed. "The better the Xiang Wang and his men fight, the less Liu Kan will dare to kill them. If they don't fight, their lives in Tianxin City will be in danger." The Lu Wang thought for a moment, smiled and nodded. "Third brother is right. As long as we work together, we don't have to worry about Liu Kan. He has only a few troops around Tianxin City. The garrison troops in the capital are just ceremonial guards holding golden hammers. How can they be a match for our border troops? He won't hold out for long."

Everyone laughed.

Liu Yufei glanced at a few people, nodded with a smile, and fiddled with the jade ring on her index finger thoughtfully. Because of years of bending the bow and shooting arrows, the finger joints around the jade ring were worn with a thick layer of calluses.

The eldest princess stared at the calluses on her joints. The laughter of the princes gradually faded away, and Liu Yufei's thoughts gradually flew to a faraway place.

The scene of her childhood expedition to Korea with her father appeared so clearly and completely before Liu Yufei's eyes.

She remembered again what her father had said to her.

"Women and children can be weak and shed tears, but men cannot."

"When I want to do something, I won't even tell the gods, let alone tell your mother (Jin Yuji)."

Her father had always raised her as a boy, teaching her how to march and fight, how to deploy troops, how to find water as quickly as possible in the desert, and how to accurately identify the position of the Big Dipper in different seasons...
Seeing that the eldest princess remained silent, the three princes and the generals did not dare to speak either, until Liu Yufei finally took the initiative to speak.

"The Southern Corps is attacking Guiyang. Guiyang's forces are weak and can't hold out for a few days."

Two heroic female guards in leather armor immediately opened a huge map. The third female guard came over, and the three of them worked together to open the map, held it above their heads, and stood facing the princes and generals.

This was the first time that Prince Lu came into close contact with the eldest princess's personal guards. He was attracted by the unique temperament emanating from these women and couldn't help but take a few more glances until he met Liu Yufei's sharp eyes and the long sword in the princess's hand.

Liu Yi shuddered and quickly turned his attention back to the map of Central Plains.

"The 18th Corps captured Zhengzhou yesterday and is now heading towards Nanyang. The other two corps will serve as Deng Junyou's flanks."

Liu Yufei raised her sword and pointed it towards Nanyang.

"If we can successfully capture Nanyang, we will have a 50% chance of attacking Xiangyang."

The eldest princess has a strong army under her command, and currently there are at least four main corps willing to follow the eldest princess to quell the rebellion.

In addition, countless troops came from all over the country.

Liu Yufei followed the retired emperor in battle for many years and had made military achievements on the battlefields of Korea and Myanmar. In addition, she was the only child of the retired emperor and the Empress Dowager Cisi, so she always had a high prestige in the army.

This time, when declaring war on Liu Kan, the interests of the princess were closely tied to those of the Great Qi army - at least part of the army - and with the full support of the northern gentry, the prestige of this strong woman reached an unprecedented high.

The princess sheathed her sword and said calmly amidst the astonishment of the crowd:
"A tiger father has a tiger son. Deng Changxiong was a hero throughout his life, and his son is also a good fighter. The 18th Corps will capture Nanyang in the next few days."

(End of this chapter)