CH 122

Zhu Yuanzhang and the others have gone after Ni Wenjun, and Lin Yuan was about to start planning Hanyang.

He first sent people to gather the merchants in the city and had them reopen the food market. The people could still buy food so naturally they knew that order was still there. Even if they dared not go to the streets for a while, they would soon go out when they became short of food.

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Then he asked Chen Baisong to deal with the prisoners of war, feed the prisoners of war, and treat their wounds. The nurses were incredibly busy, but with women in the military camp, in addition to treating the wounds, their presence could also calm people’s hearts.

Lin Yuan also had to meet with a lot of Xu Shouhui’s subordinates.

In any case, when one became busy there wasn’t even time to eat hot meals.

In the courtyard house where Xu Shouhui was detained, Lin Yuan was sitting on a stone bench. Behind him was a tall pear tree. At this moment, the leaves were green, the grass was lush, and everything was thriving. But Xu Shouhui’s mood was not good at all. He looked at Lin Yuan, no matter what, he could not have imagined that the slightly thin young man in front of him turned out to be the invincible, scheming, and ruthless Southern King from the rumors.

“Brother Xu, sit down.” Lin Yuan made a gesture of invitation, “Hanyang City is captured, so I won’t call you the emperor.”

Xu Shouhui smiled bitterly and said, “I’m a captured prisoner, so the Southern King is free to call me whatever you like.”

Lin Yuan poured a cup of tea for Xu Shouhui. The two sat under the tree with the breeze blowing gently at them, as if they were close friends.

“The imperial tutor, he…..” Xu Shouhui said suddenly.

Lin Yuan smiled at the corner of his mouth: “Imperial Tutor Zou is doing well, after all, those who practice Taoism live better than ordinary people.”

The more one understood the way, the more one knew to cherish one’s life and would not hold onto unrealistic illusions.

Xu Shouhui lowered his head: “Yes, I wonder what is next now that the Southern King has taken Hanyang?”

“I’m not afraid to tell you.” Lin Yuan only dared to say these words in front of such a prisoner, one who no one could influence, “I want to capture Haozhou and Anfeng then head directly to the capital to kill Borjigin. At that time, if I established myself as the emperor, who would dare to stop me?”

Xu Shouhui suddenly smiled and said: “You also want to be the emperor. Everyone in the world wants to be the emperor. But look, what is my end now?”

Lin Yuan sighed and said, “Brother Xu, I captured Hanyang and I can still keep you alive. If I didn’t capture Hanyang, would Ni Wenjun still keep you?”

Xu Shouhui heard Ni Wenjun’s name, and suddenly breathed heavier: “That servant, that servant betrayed me!”

“Brother Xu, since ancient times, when the ruler is humiliated his officials ought to die.” Lin Yuan said softly, “But the ruler and the ministers have always been competing for personal interests and power. In this world, it is either the eastern wind suppressing the western wind or the other way around. Rather than blame Ni Wenjun for betraying you, it is better to blame yourself, why did Ni Wenjun dare to betray you?”

Xu Shouhui was stunned.

Lin Yuan: “The ruler is strong and the minister is weak, or the ruler is weak and the minister is strong. I don’t need to say anymore on this truth, do I?”

Suddenly Xu Shouhui said: “The Southern King is not afraid that your generals will also be like Ni Wenjun?”

Lin Yuan laughed: “Brother Xu, you and I are different, and do you know what this difference is?”

Xu Shouhui looked at him.

Lin Yuan: “Without you, your generals can still deploy troops. So what difference does it make whether there is a tally or not?”

“But without me, who can dispatch my army? Without me, the common people will avenge me.”

“With me here, they will be able to keep their prosperity and wealth. Without me, they will just fall apart and the world will be chaotic once again. What they need is someone like me.”

Xu Shouhui: “Because you spread the belief that you are an immortal, you are the incarnation of a Bodhisattva?”

Lin Yuan: “In the beginning, these rumors accumulated the most primitive reputation for me. Even if people don’t believe me, they will still remember me. When they face choices, they will naturally choose someone who is more familiar.”

“It was different later. I gave them huge benefits. Once I am gone, these benefits that were in their hands will disappear.”

“There is nothing comparable to what you hold in your hands.” Lin Yuan, “Our difference is that you entrust your power and your destiny to the loyalty of your subordinates, while my power and destiny are entrusted to the hands of the common people. “

“The common people are the root and foundation of everything.”

“Water can carry or overturn a boat. This saying seems hollow, but the truth is very real.”

Xu Shouhui looked at Lin Yuan: “The Southern King is a madman.”

Lin Yuan laughed: “That’s right.”

His ambitions were gradually expanding. He had already reached this point, and he didn’t want to go back. Let him go back and run an oil plant or become a landowner? He couldn’t do it at all.

Xu Shouhui: “The Southern King has now taken Hanyang, and Xu’s life seems to have come to an end, is that correct?”

Lin Yuan looked at him: “What does brother Xu think?”

Xu Shouhui realized that he was going to die soon, and the words of people who would die soon were often the truth. He laughed in a lowly: “When I first led the uprising, I was ambitious, thinking that there was no one in the world who could match me, Xu Shouhui. But the result?”

“Being an emperor, but having no power in my hands, one step taken wrong and every step following becomes wrong. In the end, I actually became a prisoner.”

Xu Shouhui looked at Lin Yuan with jealousy, envy, and confusion in his eyes. In the end, it all turned into hypocrisy. He already knew where he had lost, but he couldn’t even hate Lin Yuan because he knew what caused all this. The culprit was himself.

Even if he had a chance to do it again, he didn’t think he would do a good job.

Was he wrong to give the generals power? But how could they deploy troops and fight wars without power?

Was he wrong to give the generals money and food? But how could he raise soldiers without money? What reason were these generals loyal to him if there was no food or money?

But once he did this, people like Ni Wenjun would come out.

His power would also gradually disperse, and over time, he lost power completely.

It was impossible for him to not use people, as he did not have three heads and six arms or split himself into many parts. So long as he needed to use people, power would inevitably be divided out. What held in the hands of the common people? The common people have never had power in their hands. They only needed to have food, clothing, and shelter.

The more Xu Shouhui couldn’t figure it out, the more he knew that he couldn’t compete with Lin Yuan, and now, he had no capital to compete.

“I ask that the Southern King treat my former subjects kindly.”

Lin Yuan said gently: “Your people are now my people. I will naturally treat them kindly. As for your courtiers…..”

Xu Shouhui looked at him.

The smile on the corner of Lin Yuan’s mouth was a little cold: “What’s the use of deceiving officials? They have benefited from you and if I use them, they naturally will want to try if they can get the same benefit from me. Although it won’t affect me, it’s better not to keep feeding the fleas on the body.”

Xu Shouhui said: “Go ahead, I have suffered and eaten bitterness, and I have been an emperor and enjoyed blessings. So even if I die now I won’t lose out.”

Lin Yuan: “You think I am going to kill you?”

Xu Shouhui was surprised: “You have told me so much, and you’ll still let me live?”

“Why not?” Lin Yuan, “No matter how much I tell you, it is not the key to my decision to kill you or not to kill you.”

Xu Shouhui pursed his lips. He was not the kind of person whose face was more important than anything else. Otherwise, he would have committed suicide when he became a puppet monarch. If one could continue living, who wouldn’t want to do so?

Lin Yuan: “I will give you an aristocratic title, give you a manor, and there will be servants to serve you. Other than the fact that there will be no gold and silver jewelry for you to enjoy, nor can you go out on the streets at will, it is no different from your previous days.”

Xu Shouhui: “…..Why?”

Lin Yuan glanced at Xu Shouhui: “In life, one should learn to ask less of why, that way you can live happier.”

After finishing these words, Lin Yuan stood up. He passed through the arch and disappeared from Xu Shouhui’s field of vision.

Xu Shouhui sat on the stone bench and finished his last sip of cold tea. He knew that he would be locked up in this big house for his whole life. Maybe one day when the world was peaceful and the world was harmonious, he would have the chance to go out.

Before that, he was just a prisoner of the Southern King.

Lin Yuan had to go see Zou Pusheng after seeing Xu Shouhui.

Zou Pusheng was an odd person. He was a blacksmith and also knew how to command soldiers. He was the imperial tutor next to Xu Shouhui and when Chen Youliang arrived, he also became Chen Youliang’s imperial tutor.

Not only that, he was also a Daoist and Feng Shui master.

Basically, so long as it was a profession that was popular in troubled times, he would be involved in.

If Ni Wenjun controlled the military power, then Zou Pusheng controlled the political power.

Judging from the results, Zou Pusheng was the winner, and Ni Wenjun was curshingly defeated.

Lin Yuan knew that Xu Shouhui was easy to deal with, and Zou Pusheng was the problem. If he wanted to completely subdue the Tianwan regime in a short time, Zou Pusheng was the key.

Zou Pusheng was obviously not worried that Lin Yuan would kill him. He was eating chicken legs and looked very happy.

His style of dressing was not at all serious or solemn. On the contrary, it gave people a sense of sloppiness and slovenly appearance, but with his status as the imperial tutor, this sloppiness had become an eccentricity. He stood up as soon as he saw Lin Yuan, with oil from the chicken legs still on his mouth. His beard would tremble with his mouth when he spoke.

“Southern King, it’s an honor to meet you ar last.” Zou Pusheng gave Lin Yuan a bow.

Lin Yuan: “Imperial Tutor, please rise.”

Zou Pusheng stood up straight and said, “Now Zou is not the imperial tutor, and the Southern King can call Zou by my courtesy name Ye Yun.”

Lin Yuan: “Drifting clouds and wild storks, this name is a good one.”

Zou Pusheng: “Please look, I don’t have anything to entertain you here. What can be done?”

Lin Yuan sat on a chair and said, “It’s of no matter, I’m not thirsty or hungry, what about the Imperial Tutor?”

Zou Pusheng smiled and said, “I won’t hide it from you, it is only at this time Zou has the mind to eat and drink. See, I just finished eating a chicken and filling my stomach. Only full can people have strength.”

Lin Yuan knew that Zou Pusheng was going around in cricles with him, and it was normal to go around in circles. After all, everyone wanted to fight for greater benefits for themselves. Zou Pusheng’s bet was that Lin Yuan would not dispose of himself, but would instead give himself benefits.

“The name Tianwan is not very good.” Lin Yuan said, “Heaven is going to end you.”

Zou Pusheng: “Zou also does not feel that it is a good name.”

Lin Yuan: “How many years have Imperial Tutor Zou and Ni Wenjun fought?”

Zou Pusheng said seriously: “How is this called fighting, with each performing our own duties, there is always a little conflict that cannot be avoided.”

Lin Yuan: “This conflict does not seem to be a small one.”

Zou Pusheng pretended to be stupid: “Well, people always have their own ideas.”

Lin Yuan said gently: “Imperial Tutor, you have a choice right now. If you choose the right one then in the future, I can give you riches and honor. If you choose wrong, I can only give you a sharp knife.”