Eradicating the Bandits

Bai Dingshan returned to his residence with a belly full of doubts, feeling that his legs were a little numb.

Bandits; they definitely had to be suppressed, but how to suppress them was the question.

On the surface, it was just a small bandit suppression, but in reality, it was a battle of wits between the Grand Tutor, the Grand Commandant, and the Emperor, and unfortunately, he, Bai Dingshan, had been chosen.

Sitting down and drinking a cup of tea, he broke out in a cold sweat.

In Great Yan, the succession of the Emperor had always been a combination of the “brother succeeding brother” and “father succeeding son” systems, and if no accidents occurred, it would continue to be passed down in this way.

But the problem lay here. The previous True Dragon had died suddenly, and the elder brother who should have succeeded was accused of regicide and could not inherit the throne.

The elder brother fled, and the throne could only be inherited by the younger brother, who was not the Crown Prince, disrupting the proper order of seniority.

Who would have thought that only a dozen years later, the elder brother was still alive, and the younger brother, the Emperor, had suddenly passed away. Not only was his death sudden, but even the process of Yan Shou, the heir apparent, taking over was extremely hasty.

Not only was it hasty, but it also contained many problems.

Yan Shou was not a direct descendant of the True Dragon but was just a member of the royal family.

There were many others who were also members of the royal family, and according to the succession system, whether it was “brother succeeding brother” or “father succeeding son,” it would not be Yan Shou’s turn to inherit the throne.

His succession ranking should be third, but he had still become the Emperor.

As for why, it was due to the vigorous efforts of the Grand Tutor, the Grand Commandant, and a group of veteran ministers from the royal family.

The Grand Tutor was a veteran minister of three dynasties with many disciples and former officials. The True Dragon’s orders could not leave the Nine-Doored Hall of the Hundred Stoves.

Great Yan only knew of him and not the Emperor’s orders.

The Grand Commandant had also made great military achievements and was a loyal follower of the late Emperor, as well as a designated Minister of State.

The veteran ministers had great power, and there were many people to choose from in the royal family, but Yan Shou had become the Emperor.

Had Yan Shou shown that he had the potential to be a virtuous ruler?

Of course not. He only had the brave deed of supporting the beams and pillars to save the True Dragon.

To put it bluntly, he was just well-developed and a simpleton.

Then why did the veteran ministers like the Grand Commandant and the Grand Tutor want Yan Shou to become the Emperor?

Because compared to other royal family members with foundations, he had no roots, was not favored, and more importantly, he didn’t seem to be very smart.

The veteran ministers joined hands to control the government, and some royal family members were dissatisfied and placed various restraints on Yan Shou. Even if he wanted to cultivate a faction, everyone felt that he would not succeed.

“The new ruler doesn’t have enough power, and he’s not even qualified to take concubines.”

Bai Dingshan sighed.

Of course, there were also ministers in the court who were wholeheartedly loyal to the ruler.

In fact, the Grand Tutor was also loyal, but he was loyal to Great Yan, not the Emperor.

In addition to the Grand Tutor, the Grand Commandant, and the royal family, there were more of those who were neutral like him, Bai Dingshan, and their status was mostly marginal.

They didn’t have much decision-making power, let alone any influence.

Letting the Grand Commandant lead the army to suppress the rebellion and weaken his power in the court during the time he was away was probably the Grand Tutor’s doing, and the Grand Commandant was also taking this opportunity to expand his military power.

And the new ruler’s seemingly fatuous actions had invisibly shown some shrewdness and testing.

Holding the teacup, Bai Dingshan sat cross-legged on the couch, the more he thought about it, the more shocked he became.

Judging from the various events before, the new ruler had never had the aura of a king and had no way to deal with the veteran ministers controlling the government. He didn’t even have the power to promote his confidants.

Letting the new ruler write a poem to the Sui at the ceremony of worshipping the ancestors and then letting the Grand Commandant go to war was the old Grand Tutor testing the new ruler’s tolerance for him.

But the new ruler didn’t play by the rules. He had never worshipped the heavens and ancestors before, and he should not have known how to deal with such a major sacrifice, but he suddenly took the initiative to write a poem praising the merits of the ancestors and took the initiative to offer incense in the name of the righteousness of the world, turning passivity into activity.

At that time, Bai Dingshan was shocked. Although he wasn’t a grandmaster, he could still keenly observe expressions.

The new ruler’s infatuation with that woman at the sacrifice was all an act, in order to hide his true emotions.

The Grand Tutor’s test and show of strength were obviously detected by him, and he immediately counteracted it, making the Grand Tutor grind ink for him and letting the Grand Tutor understand before the ancestors of Great Yan that as a minister, he could only obey orders and that he was the Emperor.

Could it be that everything was under the new ruler’s control?

After three years of patience, the new ruler was about to begin his counterattack.

Writing poems to praise the ancestors was to win over some loyal forces in the royal family and tell them that the royal family should unite.

And that Shu, the new ruler couldn’t possibly not know that the other party was a Sui, but he still wrote a poem to praise her. Wasn’t he releasing some kind of signal to the Sui sisters?

In today’s court session, the new ruler’s intention was even more straightforward.

He directly stated that he was going to suppress the bandits.

He was a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and didn’t care about military matters. What did it mean to point him out?

Coupled with the sentence, “If I want it, who dares to disobey,” the meaning was even more obvious.

Bai Dingshan kept savoring the deep meaning of this sentence.

It was also because of this that at the beginning of the court session, the new ruler wanted to replace the commander and let him replace the Grand Commandant, which already showed that the new ruler had seen through the plans of the Grand Tutor and the Grand Commandant.

Although everyone in the Qilin family had a stern aura between their eyebrows, wasn’t he clear whether he was a military genius who was hard to come by in a thousand years?

Letting him, Bai Dingshan, fight was okay, but leading troops was indeed a bit difficult.

But the new ruler still made it clear, and his attitude was very tough.

But this was precisely the determination he was expressing, as well as the determination to regain power even if the suppression of the rebellion failed!

After that, the Grand Tutor’s statement was also very obvious. How could he not know that he, Qing Lei Bo, wouldn’t lead troops to fight?

Of course, he knew, but he only advised him once and didn’t say much more, waiting to see the joke of him and the new ruler.

The Qilin family had always been neutral. There was no suitable opportunity before, but now was a good time.

Presumably, the Grand Tutor didn’t stop it because he wanted to use him to suppress the Grand Commandant’s faction and force him to change his neutral position.

Was the subsequent selection of concubines the new ruler being fascinated by beauty?

Of course not, that was another blatant test!

Didn’t you see the Grand Tutor finish speaking and the ministers follow up with their advice?

The new ruler was testing which side the ministers were on.

Those who obstructed him would all be the targets of the new ruler’s cleaning and suppression!

Bai Dingshan’s already dry clothes were wet again. Although he had understood all this, it was too late. In the three-way struggle, the first fire had burned him.

Although I know a little thunder magic, I’m just a small Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

If I had known, I would have claimed illness and not attended court.

Replacing the commander must have been done deliberately by the new ruler, and the purpose was to express his determination to clean up the court officials.

As for himself…

He was mostly used as a sacrifice.

Actually, it wasn’t a bad thing. It was just the title of Qing Lei Bo, which was of little benefit.

Even if he lived to be over a hundred years old, with the Grand Tutor and the Grand Commandant around, he would not be able to advance further in the court. How much good fortune could he enjoy?

It was better to be a general once, wearing golden armor, commanding thousands of troops, and having a moment of glory.

Even if he died on the battlefield, it would be sacrificing himself for the country and dying heroically, fighting for some foundation for the Qilin family in the court in the future.

The new ruler would definitely appreciate his merits and give him a grand funeral, which would not disgrace the Qilin family, and the Grand Tutor and the Grand Commandant would not say anything.

In any case, Yan Shou was the Emperor, with the righteousness of legitimacy.

After hesitating for a while, Bai Dingshan took out the mirror and touched the Qilin horn on his head.

“Let’s not talk about whether I’m a famous general, but do I really have a purple aura soaring above my head, and my luck has turned?”

He felt that he needed to plan carefully.

After weighing the pros and cons, Bai Dingshan decided to take a stand.

Bandits; they definitely had to be suppressed, and they had to be suppressed beautifully.

Even the Jiang Qi area had to be properly reorganized.

After thinking, he prepared to have a good talk with his elder brother, who was also a senior Celestial Master of Great Yan and was titled “Cang Ting Bo”.

If his military strategy was not enough, he could only make up for it with hard power.