If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

Imperial City, Drunken Immortal Abode.

The largest restaurant in Beijing was bustling with activity during mealtime, its lobby noisy and lively.

At the most eye-catching table, several people dressed as merchants were talking about recent interesting events, attracting everyone to listen closely.

Just then, a middle-aged man dressed in a brown silk shirt entered from outside, interrupting the noise in the hall.

The middle-aged man seemed oblivious to everyone else, plopped down, picked up his teacup, and gulped down a large mouthful.

"Oh dear, I'm so thirsty!"

"Old Zhang, where have you been all morning? The food's almost cold," his companion said, as if they'd rehearsed their lines.

The man called Old Zhang put down his teacup, wiped his mouth, and grinned.

"You wouldn't believe it, I just heard some truly earth-shattering news."

His words immediately quieted the hall down, and everyone perked up their ears.

"What news is this? It's huge! Can anything be more important than something happening right under the emperor's nose?" someone said dismissively.

Old Zhang chuckled.

"This matter is indeed related to the current emperor."

"You've all heard about the inspection team sent to Qinggang City a few days ago, haven't you?"

"I heard about it. It seems they didn't find anything, right?"

"Bullshit!" Old Zhang slapped his thigh. "Of course the inspection team didn't find anything, but..."

He paused, glancing around at the stares of those around him, before speaking with feigned mystery, "On the day the inspection team was leaving, Li Gang, the lord of Qinggang City, personally beheaded three illegitimate sons of the Li family in front of everyone!"

"What?"

"Slaying their own people? Why?"

The people at the surrounding tables completely forgot about their meals and all crowded around.

"The news that came back from my caravan brothers who travel to Qinggang was very detailed and convincing."

"The inspection team, ostensibly there to investigate the case, was actually trying to win over the hearts of the illegitimate sons of noble families for the young emperor."

"As a result, the Li family found out."

"The Li family turned the tables on the inspection team. Just as they were about to leave, they dragged the three illegitimate sons who had harbored ill intentions to the city gate and, in front of the inspection team, snapped their heads off."

"They also publicly claimed that they were responding to His Majesty's call to conduct a self-examination and clean up their own ranks, in order to demonstrate their loyalty!"

These words immediately caused an uproar among the surrounding crowd.

"My God! This... isn't this a public slap in the face to the Emperor?"

"Has the Li family gone mad? This is a heinous crime of treason!"

"Young man, you're still too young. They're using the guise of 'self-investigation,' what can your emperor say? Say he didn't do the right thing? Wouldn't that be contradicting himself, admitting he sent people to instigate rebellion against his officials?"

"But this is too arrogant!"

"Arrogant? That's called strength." The merchant who started earlier shook his head. "If you ask me, the young emperor is still too green to mess with the powerful families. The roots of the Great Liang have long been in the hands of these families; moving one will affect the whole situation."

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, and many nodded in agreement.

Second floor, private room.

A carved wooden window was half-open, and the noisy discussions downstairs could be clearly heard coming up.

Li Qiang held his wine glass, a smug smile on his face.

He looked at an elderly man with white hair and beard sitting at the head of the table and respectfully said, "Elder, your move was truly brilliant."

"By putting this matter out in the open, the whole capital knows the young emperor's scheme and sees the attitude of our Li family. Now, the young emperor has lost all face."

Li Chengzhi stroked his beard and feigned modesty, laughing, "These are just some underhanded tricks, something we had no choice but to do for the sake of the family's development."

Li Qiang nodded.

"That young emperor, through the war against the Wolf Kingdom in the North, has won over many hearts and minds. Now, the people in various regions are restless, and their criticisms of our powerful clans are growing, which is extremely detrimental."

Li Chengzhi nodded and said, "Therefore, we must let those lowly people see clearly who their true masters are. The little emperor far away cannot protect them, nor can he give them a peaceful life."

Let them dispel those unrealistic fantasies.

The other core members of the Li family in the private room immediately echoed in unison.

"The elders are truly farsighted!"

"Exactly! The young emperor probably never dreamed that our intelligence network covers the entire Liang Dynasty. His men had barely returned to the capital when this news spread throughout the city."

"Hahaha, that's our confidence! If we wanted to, a message could spread throughout any major city in less than half a day!"

The crowd burst into laughter; this was one of the reasons why their aristocratic family was so confident!

What they want the people to know, they can make every single person aware of in three days; what they don't want the people to know, they may never know in their lifetime.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door of the private room, and a servant quickly entered, leaning down to whisper a few words in Li Qiang's ear.

Li Qiang's laughter stopped abruptly, and his expression changed slightly.

He looked at Li Chengzhi and reported in a deep voice, "Elder, news has come from the palace that the young emperor has suddenly issued an edict summoning all civil and military officials to court immediately!"

The laughter in the private room vanished instantly, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

So suddenly?

Li Chengzhi squinted his eyes and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table.

A moment later, he let out a cold laugh.

"It seems he can't sit still anymore; he's gotten furious."

He picked up his teacup, gently blew away the foam, and glanced at everyone present.

"Li Qiang".

"Elder, please give your instructions."

"Go and do it right away. Have our people spread the news of the emperor's sudden summons for the morning court session throughout the city as quickly as possible."

Li Chengzhi put down his teacup and stroked his beard.

"When we go to court later, all of you stand up straight. If he dares to strip the military of their power over some trivial matter, or punish the Li family, you will all take off your official hats on the spot and go home immediately!"

"When the time comes, public opinion will be divided, and everyone in the world will say that the current emperor is narrow-minded, changes his orders frequently, and has forced all the high-ranking officials to resign!"

"I'd like to see if this greenhorn can bear such a bad reputation!"

"yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, their faces filled with anticipation and excitement.

In their view, the young emperor had already lost this game, while they were certain of victory.

Li Qiang picked up his wine glass again and raised it high.

"Come! Let us raise a toast to the clan elders! After this matter is over, the Li family's position in the court will be unshakeable!"

……

The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study.

Unlike the hustle and bustle outside, it is so quiet here that you can hear the faint crackling of the candlelight.

Meng Qianshan, dressed in military uniform, strode in.

thump!

"Your Majesty! This humble general requests permission to lead the troops to quell the rebellion of the Li, Lu, Zhang, and twenty-three other powerful clans!"

Zhao Yu, who had just changed into his dragon robe and was adjusting his cuffs, paused upon hearing this and looked up.

"General Meng, do you know what you're saying?"

"The Li family's humiliation of the Inspectorate in Qinggang City is an insult to His Majesty and to the Great Liang Imperial Family!" Meng Qianshan clenched his fists, his teeth grinding together. "Such traitors deserve to be killed by everyone!"

"Your Majesty, please grant me 30,000 elite troops. I pledge my life to crush these powerful families one by one! Please issue the decree!"

Zhao Yu's lips twitched involuntarily.

Thirty thousand elite troops crushed twenty-three powerful clans that had been entrenched in various places for hundreds of years.

Putting aside whether we can win or not, even if we do win, the Great Liang kingdom will probably be reduced to ruins.

He waved his hand, signaling Meng Qianshan to rise.

"I already know about the matter in Qinggang City."

After Qiu Ping returned to Beijing, he immediately reported all the details to him.

He executed the three illegitimate sons in the street as a warning to others; he killed the illegitimate sons but paid tribute to the nobleman himself.

The plan was good.

But in Zhao Yu's view, the Li family members who gave this order were really short-sighted.

What good does this kind of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" do, besides giving temporary satisfaction and damaging the dignity of the royal family?

On the contrary, it allowed the people of the world to see the ugly faces of powerful families.

More importantly, it made the illegitimate sons of noble families fully realize a reality—within the family, they would never have a chance to rise above their station!

He had originally intended to plant this seed secretly through the inspection team.

Unexpectedly, the Li family watered it themselves and encouraged it to sprout.

However, Zhao Yu also had to admit the strong control that powerful families had over the power to transmit information.

In my memories of my past life, it was common for communication in feudal dynasties to take ten days or half a month to travel from the border to the capital.

Yet they were able to spread the news throughout the entire Liang Dynasty in less than three days.

but!

Zhao Yu's lips curled up; this actually benefited him.