Zhang Situ, Ren Fang and other generals were deeply impressed by the fighting power displayed by the Hong Family Army. Buying stood next to Xiao Xiang, looking at the smoke and mess of the Hong Family Army camp, and sighed: "Originally, this battle was completely
It can be resolved..."
He was sighing not only for the casualties of his own soldiers, but also for the Hong Family Army. Such a powerful army was reduced to ashes due to internal strife. How could it not be a pity?
Xiao Xiang glanced at him sideways and said quietly: "My father was deeply afraid of the family army before he was alive. He believed that the family army was the root of our domestic troubles in Sichuan and had long wanted to ban it. Now that the father is gone, it happens that there are
Given this opportunity, I will naturally fulfill my father's last wish."
As a close confidant of Xiao Xuan, Buying certainly knew that what Xiao Xiang said was true. The late king did have the intention to suppress the family army, but he had never found a suitable opportunity. However, he did not agree with what Xiao Xiang was doing now.
The method was too extreme and too bloody. All the family armies in the Sichuan Kingdom, large and small, totaled millions of people. Do they have to be eradicated like they did with the Hong Family Army, and kill them all without leaving any one behind?
It is true that their existence is a threat to the imperial court, but they are also Sichuan people. If they kill each other, it is not the internal strife of Sichuan country. It will only make the enemies of Sichuan country snicker behind their backs.
Seeing that Buying and other generals were frowning and silent, Xiao Xiang understood what they were worried about. She smiled slightly and said: "Generals, don't worry. The reason why I use such tough methods to deal with the Hong family army is just
Thinking of killing chickens to scare monkeys and knocking mountains to scare tigers, this kind of killing will never happen again in the future."
After hearing this, the faces of the generals finally softened a little. They all bowed their hands and saluted, saying: "The princess is wise!"
After daybreak, the battle finally came to an end. After this battle, the entire Hong family army was wiped out. There were 150,000 soldiers and horses. In the end, less than 5,000 people survived. Even the eldest son Xiao Ting and the blood-clothed Hou Hong Yuetian died tragically in the rebellion.
among.
The next step is to clean up the battlefield, deal with the wounded soldiers, and bury the corpses. Xiao Xiang is not interested in reading any more.
When the soldiers carried Xiao Ting's body in front of her, she lowered her head and looked carefully, then sniffed without saying anything, turned around and got into the carriage, signaling to the surrounding guards to return to the city.
After a fierce battle, the Hong family army was expelled from the Sichuan Kingdom. From now on, this title only existed in the history books of Sichuan. Xiao Ting unfortunately became the second victim of the struggle for the throne of the Sichuan Kingdom.
He only made two mistakes from beginning to end, but they were two fatal mistakes. One was that he overestimated himself, and the other was that he underestimated his opponent.
On that day, Xiao Xiang issued a notice in the name of the imperial court, listing the crimes of Xiao Ting and Hong Yuetian, and labeling them as rebels in the Sichuan Kingdom.
Regarding this notice, no one in the Sichuan Kingdom dared to raise objections, including those who originally belonged to Xiao Ting's line. Now, no one dares to confront Xiao Xiang. It is very simple. Whoever controls the military power controls the discourse.
Quan, now, almost all the Central Army near the capital is under Xiao Xiang's control. Anyone who is stupid enough to continue to go against her is undoubtedly making a fool of himself and his family's lives. Who dares to take such a risk? Even if
If you are dissatisfied with Xiao Xiang, you can only swallow it in your stomach.
Xiao Ting and Hong Yuetian were dead, but Xiao Xiang did not let go of their families. Xiao Xiang was very decisive towards Hong Yuetian and ordered the execution of the nine clans without mercy, completely eradicating the Hong family line.
As for Xiao Ting, Xiao Xiang still cared about the blood relationship to some extent, and treated Xiao Ting's family members with some leniency. They did not kill indiscriminately, but they did not make it easy for them. All those who had official positions were dismissed from office and would never be hired by the court. Those who had titles
All of them were demoted and demoted to common people, and all their wealth and assets were confiscated to the state treasury, and they were exiled to remote areas of Sichuan Kingdom.
Xiao Xiang's iron-blooded tactics dealt a devastating blow to the two major forces, Xiao Ting and Hong Yuetian, and were deeply involved, involving too many people. Even if future troubles were permanently eliminated, Xiao Xiang also established a good reputation in Sichuan.
Prestige, at least no one will look down upon her just because she is a woman.
In addition, the fate of Xiao Ting and Hong Yuetian has indeed served as a warning to the monkeys and frightened the tigers. The twelve princes who are still in Zhaoyang City are all in danger. They are like frightened birds, frightened by the slightest disturbance.
There is no master in the six gods.
The only thing they can count on now is Xiao Yuan, and Xiao Yuan is willing to accept their reliance.
Winning over these twelve princes is not enough to give him the strength to compete with Xiao Xiang, but it can give him a very important bargaining chip in his hand. He can bear it without making a move, even if Xiao Xiang is allowed to sit on it first.
throne, it will not be too late for him to seek opportunities to rebel in the future.
The biggest difference between Xiao Yuan and Xiao Ting is that he is more tolerant. He doesn't care about temporary gains and losses. Everything he does is planned for the future.
Therefore, when Xiao Xiang took advantage of the opportunity to establish his prestige by annihilating Xiao Ting and Hong Yuetian's clan, Xiao Yuan was not idle either. One was to win over various princes, and the other was to win over ministers in the court. Anyone who harbored feelings for Xiao Xiang
He will try his best to bring those who are dissatisfied to his side, and he is very smart and is not in a hurry to fight against Xiao Xiang. He just wants to win over people's hearts and win over as many people as possible who are useful to him or even those who are temporarily unavailable.
Go around yourself and slowly form a powerful faction.
He thought that he was tolerant and secretive enough in doing things, but he still couldn't escape Xiao Xiang's eyes. In Xiao Xiang's view, his second prince brother had neither courage nor courage, so he could only play some shady tricks in secret.
Tricks rarely become popular.
On the third day after the battle with the Hong Jiajun, Xiao Xiang personally invited Xiao Yuan and the twelve princes to her princess mansion for a banquet. In addition to being grateful for their help, it was also a celebration banquet.
Upon receiving Xiao Xiang's invitation, these twelve marquises all raised their hearts in their throats, feeling that the banquet hosted by Xiao Xiang would not be that simple. They all came to Xiao Yuan to ask his opinion.
Xiao Yuan did some analysis and found that the concerns of the princes were correct. Xiao Xiang would indeed not entertain herself and the princes for no reason. She must have some agenda, but what exactly was she planning? There was fraud in it.
, but the Central Army outside the city did not move, and neither she nor the princes were guilty of any crime in her hands. She could not kill herself and the princes without any reason. If she dared to do so, all the people in the world would be killed.
People in Sichuan would criticize her verbally and verbally, but Xiao Xiang was too smart to do such a stupid thing.
Then why did she hold a banquet? Xiao Yuan thought about it and finally came up with only one reasonable reason, that is, Xiao Xiang wanted to convince himself and the princes to support her in ascending to the throne.
Wanting to understand this, Xiao Yuan secretly smiled in his heart. In fact, it didn't matter whether he and the princes supported her or not. She was currently the most powerful and had the most support. It was a foregone conclusion that she would ascend to the throne. But with the support of herself and the princes, she would
It's just to make her succession more orthodox and more attractive in terms of face. Xiao Xiang, a ghost girl, wants both face and lizi now. In this case, what's the harm in selling her a favor?
Based on his own judgment, Xiao Yuan decided to accept Xiao Xiang's invitation. He made a statement, and the princes felt relieved and expressed their intention to go to the banquet with him.
To make a long story short, that night, Xiao Yuan and the princes went together and came to Xiao Xiang's princess mansion.
As soon as they entered the princess's mansion, they felt something was wrong. There were soldiers and guards everywhere, especially when they entered the front courtyard. There was almost no open space in the huge space, and there were all soldiers and guards.
Jia Liang, the warrior with the sword under his ribs, was so dark that it was hard to tell how many of them they were. Each one of them looked fierce and murderous. They looked less like guards at a banquet and more like people who came to fight and kill people.
Seeing this scene, the princes' hearts were immediately in their throats again. As they walked forward, their calves were also cramped, and cold sweat dripped down from time to time. Xiao Yi, the Marquis of Changshan, who was walking beside Xiao Yuan, said in a trembling voice: "Second Young Master,
There's...something's wrong here!"
Seeing such a scene of soldiers and armor, the princes were afraid, but Xiao Yuan felt relieved.
He smiled slightly and said calmly: "There is no need to worry, Marquis Changshan. If it is true that there is no good wine and no good banquet, then these soldiers will not show up in the open, but will hide in the dark.
"
Oh? After hearing what he said, the princes looked at each other, and if you think about it carefully, it is indeed true. Xiao Yuan said with a confident smile: "It's just a bluff. Just such a battle will scare you. Then, Xiangmei can
It’s as good as your heart desires.”
"I see, I understand." The princes breathed a sigh of relief, and the expressions on their faces became much more natural.
Walking into the lobby of the Princess Mansion, I saw that it was really lively inside. Xiao Xiang was sitting in the middle. On her right side, there were already many generals from Sichuan, including Zhang Situ, Ren Fang, Buying, and Yang.
Zhao, Lu You and other generals, but the seats on her left were all empty, which were obviously prepared for Xiao Yuan and the princes.
Seeing them coming in, all the generals stood up and saluted. Xiao Xiang sat there without moving. He just waved his hands casually and said with a smile: "Brother Wang and all the princes are finally here. I have been waiting for a long time. Come on soon."
Please take a seat!”
Xiao Xiang is a sister and Xiao Yuan is a brother. Even if Xiao Xiang is a landlord, according to the etiquette of dignity, she should let Xiao Yuan take the seat. But she sat there without even getting up, let alone giving up her seat. This made her
Xiao Yuan frowned secretly, Xiao Xiang was so arrogant now, she really regarded herself as a king.
Xiao Yuan was unhappy, but it didn't show on his face. He smiled slightly and said, "I'm sorry for keeping Xiangmei waiting for so long."
"Brother Wang, you're welcome."
During the exchange of greetings, Xiao Yuan and the princes took their seats at the empty seats one after another. As soon as they sat down, Xiao Xiang clapped his hands and said in a loud voice: "Serve the wine and food!"
Following her words, the maids came in one after another from outside, bringing in pots of wine and plates of delicious food.
After the maid filled up the wine, Xiao Xiang first picked up the wine glass, stood up, raised the glass above her head, and then poured it on the ground. After spilling the wine, she said to the people below: "This is the first time.
A glass of wine should be given to the king's brother. Even if he is wrong, he is my king's brother after all. Blood is thicker than water!"