A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

When Zhou Laodao carried Han Dashan's head out of Black Wind Ridge, the sounds of fighting in the valley finally ceased.

He was followed by five rebel kings and dozens of generals.

No one is wearing armor.

Nobody brought a knife.

Everyone was unarmed, their faces covered in blood and ash, and they walked very slowly.

It wasn't that I was feigning obedience; I was afraid that if I walked too fast, I would be mistaken for a target by the new crossbowmen outside the city.

Liu Jingshuang from the north entrance raised her hand.

The crossbowmen did not fire.

Before the great western formation, Wei Zhao rode on his white horse, looking at the still-dripping head with a calm gaze.

Han Dashan is dead.

He died unjustly.

This fat man wanted to force him to turn back with Golden City, and wanted to bury him with Black Wind Ridge, but in the end, he was beheaded by the very group of people he had just pushed to the position of leader.

This is the rebel king.

They can drink blood at the same table, and they can also turn around and slit throats.

With a thud.

Old Zhou knelt down.

He held Han Dashan's head above his head with both hands, his voice hoarse but loud.

"The treacherous minister Zhou Laodao, having beheaded the traitor Han Dashan, leads six princes and a million soldiers to surrender!"

The expressions of the five rebel kings behind him changed.

Wei Zhao dismounted.

He walked up to Zhou Laodao and looked down at Han Dashan's head.

Old Zhou still had his arms raised, and the veins on the back of his hands were bulging.

He was very nervous.

Despite his usual mad dog-like demeanor, he's not entirely confident now that he's kneeling before Wei Zhao.

Will Wei Zhao kill him?

Very likely.

If he were Wei Zhao, he would also want to kill him.

Zhou Laodao is a fickle and capricious man with too many blood debts on his hands.

Leaving them alive is a hidden danger; killing them is the cleanest solution.

If Wei Zhao kills him now, what will the Red Blade Army in the valley think?

What will the other five kings think?

Will the million surrendered soldiers who just laid down their swords pick them up again?

Wei Zhao knew very well.

Killing Zhou Laodao was satisfying.

An emperor cannot only seek pleasure.

He reached out and supported Zhou Laodao's arm.

Old Zhou froze.

Everyone around looked up.

Wei Zhao helped him up, his voice not loud, but loud enough for the generals in the front row to hear clearly.

"Old Zhou has rendered meritorious service by betraying the enemy."

Old Zhou's eyelid twitched violently.

He was meritorious for his service in the rebellion.

As soon as those four words were uttered, his life was temporarily saved.

Wei Zhao continued, "He will be enfeoffed as Marquis of Guiyi, and his former subordinates will not be investigated."

The area in front of the Red Blade Army was immediately thrown into chaos.

It wasn't cheering; it was countless people finally letting out the breath they had been holding back.

The former subordinates were not investigated.

This statement is more deadly than any reward.

What the Red Blade Army feared most was being purged after surrendering.

Now that Wei Zhao has spoken in public, they finally dare to completely drop their swords.

Old Zhou's throat moved, but he didn't reply immediately.

He had considered that Wei Zhao would humiliate him, that Wei Zhao would make him crawl on his knees, and even that Wei Zhao would appease him first and then settle scores later.

Can he be publicly granted a title?

ruthless.

This emperor in white is truly ruthless.

Giving him the title of Marquis of Guiyi is tantamount to nailing him to the pillar of surrendered generals in Xinwu.

From now on, if the old Red Blade followers want to live, they'll have to follow him and listen to Xinwu. Other rebel kings might call him a traitor, but he has no way back.

Zhou Laodao suddenly felt a chill down his back.

This is not a grace.

This is a rope.

But he had to put the rope around his neck himself.

He knelt down and kowtowed.

"This guilty subject thanks Your Majesty for sparing my life."

Wei Zhao didn't look at him for long before turning his gaze to the other six kings.

"Qin Lie, Xu Zhongmou, Ma Chengyi, Feng Wanjun, Sun Qing, Xue Feng."

The six heads were pressed even lower.

Wei Zhao said, "Hand over your territory, your military power, and your grain registers and household records. I will guarantee your lives and wealth."

No one spoke.

That sounds generous, but it actually uproots everything.

They lost their territory, their military power, and their grain registers and household registrations. From then on, they were just wealthy idlers kept in the capital city of Xinwu.

What if I don't pay?

Look up at Black Wind Ridge.

The million-strong army in the valley has been locked down on three sides by Xinwu.

Wei Zhao's willingness to talk was a way to give them a chance to survive.

If you force him to give the order, there will be hundreds of thousands more corpses in this valley tomorrow.

Qin Lie lowered his head, his voice hoarse.

"Your subject is willing to relinquish military power in Liangzhou."

Xu Zhongmou closed his eyes.

"I wish to make peace with Jingzhou and Xiangyang."

Ma Chengyi gritted his teeth.

"Hedong is willing to surrender."

Feng Wanjun, Sun Qing, and Xue Feng kowtowed in succession.

"I am willing to make this arrangement."

Wei Zhao nodded.

"it is good."

Just one word.

But all six of their shoulders collapsed.

They knew that from this moment on, there would be no more Eight Kings in the world.

Only the six marquises who surrendered to the new regime, or the six idle kings.

What title to bestow depends on Wei Zhao's mood.

Whether they can live comfortably also depends on how cleanly they hand over the reins.

Wei Zhao turned around and gave the order.

"Each unit should take stock of the surrendered troops."

The guards immediately knelt down.

"As you command!"

"Weapons were stored in one place, armor in another, horses in another, and grain carts in another."

"The surrendered soldiers were reorganized according to their original units, with 100 men forming a squad and 1,000 men forming a battalion, and their military records were re-entered."

Anyone who dares to possess weapons shall be executed.

"Anyone who dares to plunder the people during the chaos of surrender shall be executed."

"Anyone who dares to falsely claim military merit or privately kill surrendered soldiers shall be executed."

As soon as the military orders were issued, the area outside Black Wind Ridge immediately sprang into action.

Liu Jingshuang's cavalry entered the northern pass first and occupied the valley road.

Huo Qingluan, positioned at the south entrance, remained calm and composed, gradually drawing out the surrendered troops in waves.

Zhao Qiniang led her men to inventory the weapons, her cursing echoing far and wide.

"Knives on the left! Guns on the right! Crossbows in a separate pile! Who the hell threw a shoe in here? Can your lousy shoe kill someone?"

Several newly appointed military officers suppressed their laughter, not daring to let it out.

Wei Zhao heard this and couldn't help but laugh.

The tension that had been building all night finally eased a bit.

It's not because it's easy.

It's because we finally don't have to use the lives of the new army to fill the valley.

At this stage of the war, it's a win if no one dies.

If the million-strong anti-king coalition were to fight a desperate battle, Xinwu would certainly win, but the new army would suffer heavy casualties.

Those people had just put on the armor made by Shang Wanqing, had just believed in the military merit system, and had just thought of exchanging the enemy's heads for land.

Wei Zhao did not want them to waste their time in a battle they had already secured.

What he wants is the world.

It wasn't just a pile of corpses.

Half a day later, the weapons in Black Wind Ridge Valley were piled up into several small mountains.

Long swords, short swords, iron spears, rattan shields, broken crossbows, iron hammers—they had everything.

The anti-king coalition emerged from the canyon in squads, first registered, then detained, and then disbanded in stages.

Wei Zhao then dispatched six more armies.

Each group escorted a rebel king and a batch of newly appointed military officers, heading straight to their respective territories to hand over military power.

Qin Lie went to Liangzhou.

Xu Zhongmou went to Jingzhou and Xiangyang.

Ma Chengyi returned to Hedong.

Feng Wanjun, Sun Qing, and Xue Feng also each went somewhere.

No one resisted.

It's not that they suddenly became loyal.

They are afraid.

As Wei Zhao watched the groups of people leave, he felt even calmer.

Subduing the rebel king was only the first step.

The real trouble is taking over the territory.

Military power can be transferred, granaries can be inspected, and household registration can be collected.

But local tyrants, former military leaders, salt and iron trade routes, mountain strongholds and water fortresses—these are the thorns that are rotten inside the flesh.

If you pull it out, it will bleed; if you don't pull it out, it will fester.

But it's okay.

He now holds the initiative.

The world is no longer a place where rebel kings set fires everywhere, but where new warriors put out fires one by one.

Before dusk, Liu Jingshuang came to Wei Zhao's side.

Wei Zhao looked at Black Wind Ridge and said to Liu Jingshuang:

"Having fought a lifetime of wars, this is the easiest victory I've ever won."

Liu Jingshuang glanced at him, and the corners of her lips even curved slightly.

"That's because His Majesty's previous two hundred battles have terrified them."

The sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance.

Huo Qingluan rode in from the south, her armor still covered in dust, but she held a red-sealed urgent report in her hand.

She approached, dismounted, and offered no pleasantries.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from the capital."

Wei Zhao took it.

The cover bears the secret seal of the Embroidered Robe Pavilion, and next to it is Su Qingyun's private notes.

He opened it, read only a few lines, and raised an eyebrow.

Liu Jingshuang asked, "Has something happened in the capital?"

Wei Zhao handed her the letter, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"It's not a bad thing."

Huo Qingluan added a sentence.

"Xiao Guanyin went north to the Xianyuan Plain, and the plan to integrate the different ethnic groups has been initially successful."