Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

After Lu Chen became emperor, he immediately caused panic among the people. The people of the capital knew all about what Lu Chen had done in the Northern Kingdom.

In order not to cause panic among the people, Lu Chen immediately issued some tax reduction policies, which temporarily stabilized the people. Lu Chen also did not immediately order the land to be measured.

The most important thing now is not land policy, but to completely quell the internal strife in Daxia.

Currently, there are two main "rebellious" forces in the Great Xia Dynasty: one is the King of Zhao, and the other is the Crown Prince.

To be honest, Lu Chen didn't want to see the soldiers of Great Xia killing each other and weakening Great Xia's strength, so he decided to solve the problem from the top.

Once the King of Zhao and the eldest prince were dealt with, their soldiers naturally surrendered.

Before taking action against the Crown Prince and Prince Zhao, Lu Chen decided to give them a chance. So he immediately issued a proclamation, publicizing all the evil deeds done by the Demonic Sect and blaming the Demonic Sect for the death of Emperor Xia.

In his announcement, Lu Chen called on all forces in Great Xia to see clearly the evil nature of the Demonic Sect and not to cooperate with it. He warned that if they continued to cooperate with the Demonic Sect and attempted to split Great Xia, he would send troops to quell the rebellion.

Because of the existence of newspapers, Lu Chen's announcement quickly spread throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty, and King Zhao and the First Prince naturally saw it as well.

Inside a certain city.

King Zhao was in the courtyard, picking up a newspaper and repeatedly looking at the announcement Lu Chen had issued. At this moment, his subordinates were standing in front of him, looking at him anxiously.

The news that Lu Chen had four Celestial Beings by his side had already spread throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty, after all, so many people were present when Lu Chen attacked the capital.

This news shocked all the restless forces within the Great Xia territory. Previously, the Great Xia did not even have a single Celestial Being, but suddenly four Celestial Beings appeared by the side of the Northern King. If they still opposed the Northern King, they would probably only face destruction.

Recently, some aristocratic families that originally supported King Zhao have begun to distance themselves from him. Although King Bei is not good to the aristocratic families, he is not going to massacre them; at most, he will take back their land ownership.

If those aristocratic families continue to follow the rebels, they will likely lose not only their land but also their heads.

As a result, the King of Zhao's power weakened considerably, and he lost a great deal of support.

Seeing that King Zhao's gaze kept shifting between the newspaper in his hands, one of his subordinates couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, what should we do next?"

"The Northern King not only possesses such a powerful weapon, but also has four celestial beings on his side."

As soon as one subordinate finished speaking, another subordinate chimed in, "Yes, Your Majesty, the announcement issued by the Northern King is clearly intended for us and the First Prince. If we do not surrender to the court, the Northern King will likely treat us as forces colluding with the Demonic Sect and wipe us out along with them."

King Zhao's subordinates were not fools; they could also see that King Zhao's power was clearly waning.

The Northern King's strength is simply too great; no, he can no longer be called the Northern King, but the new emperor.

The new emperor has the support of four celestial beings; based on this alone, their rebellion is unlikely to succeed.

Although they had never seen a true celestial being in action, in their view, a single celestial being could instantly destroy one of their armies.

With Tianren present, they have absolutely no chance of winning.

Although none of Zhao's subordinates said it directly, Zhao could tell from their tone that they had already considered surrendering.

If the fighting continues, these people will surely die.

Just then, a soldier rushed into the courtyard in a panic, saying, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Mu Changtian has arrived outside the city with an army of 200,000!"

Upon hearing this, King Zhao was taken aback.

They arrived so quickly!

The announcement had only been out for a few days when Mu Changtian began to mobilize his troops.

Just then, another soldier ran in from outside the courtyard, "Your Majesty, the Northern King has sent a messenger!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldier handed the letter to King Zhao.

King Zhao frowned, took the letter from the soldier, opened the envelope, took out the letter, and read it carefully.

Lu Chen's meaning was simple: King Zhao was his uncle, so he wouldn't make things difficult for him. As long as he was willing to lead his soldiers to surrender, he would not pursue any responsibility, but he would not be allowed to engage in politics again.

Lu Chen did not intend to purge all members of the Lu family royal family. The royal family still had some use to him. If all the royal family members were gone, he might not be able to control outsiders in the future.

Moreover, after Lu Chen flipped through the scrolls in the secret room, he discovered that King Zhao had indeed always been Emperor Xia's man. King Zhao appeared to have started a rebellion, but he was the first to eliminate the other vassal kings, which meant that there were no more vassal kings in the south.

According to Emperor Xia's original plan, after Lu Chen was destroyed, King Zhao would voluntarily hand over his military power and give up his fiefdom, and then the Great Xia would no longer have any vassal kings.

Unfortunately, Emperor Xia encountered Lu Chen, and his plan failed. With Emperor Xia's failure, King Zhao's position became rather awkward.

The Xia Emperor and the King of Zhao maintained contact in secret. Without the Xia Emperor, the King of Zhao would be a true traitor.

Therefore, Lu Chen decided to give King Zhao a chance and see how he would choose. If King Zhao wanted to avenge Emperor Xia, then he would send King Zhao down to join his father.

If the King of Zhao chooses to surrender, then he should be placed under house arrest in a certain place, his fiefdom should be taken back, and he should no longer be allowed to interfere in politics.

King Zhao looked at the letter in his hand and fell into deep thought. After a long time, he sighed.

It seems that Lu Chen will help his elder brother realize his unfulfilled dream. It's just unknown whether Lu Chen is a pawn of some faction.

However, he had no time to think about it now. Whether Lu Chen's words in the letter were true or false, he only had one path to take: surrender.

Thinking of this, King Zhao looked up at his subordinates and said, "The new emperor has sent a letter. He said that as long as I voluntarily relinquish my military power and fiefdom, he will forgive my past transgressions, and you will still be soldiers of the Great Xia."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the courtyard fell silent. They realized that the new emperor's message must be an attempt to persuade them to surrender.

However, whether the new emperor will fulfill the promises made in the letter is hard to say. As a newly enthroned emperor, he absolutely cannot allow anyone to exist who threatens him.

In other words, if the King of Zhao surrenders, he will likely be purged in the future.

Seeing that his subordinates had fallen silent, King Zhao continued, "You have followed me for decades, and you know that I am not the selfish person who would drag you all down with me."

"Since the situation is hopeless, I have decided to surrender. If the new emperor wants to kill me, then let him do so."

"You are soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty. I believe the new emperor will not punish you. The new emperor has great ambitions. He will unify the world in the future, and you will have the opportunity to gain military merits then."

Upon hearing King Zhao's words, one of his subordinates stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

"If you truly surrender, the new emperor will inevitably go back on his word. You are currently the greatest threat to his throne; how could he possibly let you go!"

King Zhao said, "You need not say any more; my mind is made up."

"Here's what we'll do: if you want to surrender with me, then stay here; if you don't want to surrender, then head south and seek refuge with the Crown Prince."

"Since the Crown Prince chose to go south from the beginning, it proves that he is not content and still has his sights set on that position. He needs people now, so if you go south and follow him, he will surely give you important positions."

This……

The people in the courtyard looked at each other, but in the end, no one stepped forward to say that they wanted to go south to follow the eldest prince.

They all knew very well that with the support of four Celestials, Lu Chen's throne was already secure. Even if they went south to follow the First Prince, they would not have a good ending.

It would be better to surrender with King Zhao now. Just as King Zhao said, the new emperor has the ambition to unify the world. He needs them to fight against other dynasties for him in the future. They are also useful to the new emperor, so the new emperor may not punish them.

Seeing that no one stepped forward, King Zhao continued, "Since you have all made your decision, then come with me to the city gate."

King Zhao then rose and led his men to the city tower.

At this moment, Mu Changtian was already waiting outside the city. He did not order his soldiers to attack. He believed that King Zhao was not a fool and would not know what to do at this point.

After seeing King Zhao appear on the city wall through the telescope, Mu Changtian immediately shouted, "King Zhao, what's your decision?"

"The new emperor has ascended the throne and granted a general amnesty. You mustn't miss this opportunity."

"If there is no reply today, I will attack the city tomorrow."

King Zhao glanced at the northern army, then said to the soldiers behind him, "Raise the white flag!"

The soldiers were stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but they quickly recovered and swiftly hung up the white flag.

Having seen the weapons of the northern kingdom, the Zhao soldiers had no will to fight. Upon hearing that the King of Zhao had chosen to surrender, they were overjoyed, knowing they would no longer have to face the mysterious weapons of the north.

Oh no, the Northern Kingdom no longer exists; the Northern King is the new emperor, and now they are facing the imperial court.

Seeing the white flag hanging on the city gate, Mu Changtian smiled faintly, but he did not order his soldiers to step forward immediately. It was not until the city gate opened and King Zhao came out of the city that Mu Changtian truly believed that King Zhao had surrendered.

Mu Changtian then led his army to the city gate. After dismounting, Mu Changtian looked at the King of Zhao opposite him and said, "King of Zhao, you have made the right choice."

King Zhao chuckled and then said, "Whether it's correct or not is probably still uncertain. Who knows, after I return to the capital, the new emperor might reward me with a cup of poisoned wine."

Mu Changtian said, "I don't know if there's poisoned wine, but as far as I know, the new emperor isn't a bloodthirsty person. Even the Qi Prince's family is still alive and well."

"Not only Prince Qi, but all the princes in the capital are alive. Even the palace maids and concubines in the palace have all been released by the new emperor, who has also abolished the practice of human sacrifice."

Hearing Mu Changtian's words, the Prince of Zhao still didn't take them seriously. "The new emperor has just ascended the throne; isn't it only natural that he would show benevolence?"

"After a while, perhaps in less than half a year, those princes in the capital will die one by one for various reasons."

Mu Changtian did not continue to argue, but said, "Whether His Majesty is that kind of person or not, I believe you will have your own judgment after you meet him."

At this point, King Zhao said, "Let's not talk about my affairs anymore. I'm actually very curious about yours. How did you survive back then?"

Mu Changtian said calmly, "All of this is thanks to His Majesty. His Majesty foresaw the danger to the Mu family and sent people to rescue them. If it weren't for His Majesty, I would probably have died at the hands of the late Emperor's shadow guards long ago."

Upon hearing Mu Changtian's answer, King Zhao sighed and said, "It seems everyone misjudged us back then!"

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I will go to the capital with you now."

King Zhao had made up his mind. Let Lu Chen kill him if he wants. On his way to the city wall, he had already sent his trusted confidant to escape through the east gate and inform his family of his surrender.

If I don't write to them, it means something has happened to me in the capital. In that case, my family should immediately find a way to go into hiding or find a place to hide.

Seeing that King Zhao was so direct, Mu Changtian did not delay any longer. After receiving King Zhao's hundreds of thousands of troops, he sent someone to escort King Zhao to the capital.

at the same time.

A city in the south.

The eldest prince, Lu Yi, was also holding a newspaper, browsing the announcement issued by Lu Chen.

Upon seeing what Lu Chen posted, Lu Yi's face darkened considerably. Although he had anticipated that Lu Chen would ascend to that position, he had not expected that Lu Chen would actually receive the support of four Celestial Beings.

That's a celestial being!

Among those who followed him, there wasn't a single celestial being.

What should we do now?

Although they have produced weapons similar to those used by the Northern soldiers, their power is significantly weaker. Most importantly, they do not have enough raw materials to manufacture such weapons, and Lu Chen has already issued a notice.

If he doesn't surrender, then Lu Chen will definitely accuse him of colluding with the Demonic Sect and send a large army to besiege him.

and many more……

A demonic cult?

Lu Yi suddenly remembered something. He had once heard people from the Taiyin Divine Sect say that their leader was a being with strength surpassing that of a celestial being, but for some reason, his strength had not yet recovered.

Lu Yi thought to himself that if he could re-establish contact with the Taiyin Divine Sect, perhaps he wouldn't be without a chance.

But the key question now is how to establish a connection with the Taiyin God Cult?

Previously, he had made contact with the Xue family, as well as Xue Linglong and the Taiyin Divine Sect.

However, Xue Linglong has long since disappeared. Some time ago, news broke in the Northern Kingdom that when Xue Linglong came to find him, she encountered bandits and they were all killed.

Lu Yi naturally didn't believe Xue Linglong was dead. After all, Xue Linglong was a member of the Taiyin Divine Sect. Although he didn't know what Xue Linglong's status was in the Taiyin Divine Sect, the fact that the sect had sent an elder to her side proved that Xue Linglong still had some use to the Taiyin Divine Sect.

He didn't believe that the Taiyin God Church had killed Xue Linglong or was watching her get into trouble.

Thinking of this, Lu Yi immediately said to the people around him, "Immediately send people to find the Crown Princess. No matter what method you use, you must find her."

"I demand to see him alive, or I demand to see his body!" (End of Chapter)