Chapter 168: The Sky Heralds the Killing Intent

How should Zhao Guoshan and his son be dealt with? Is there a way to handle them flawlessly, without causing any resentment from others? Li Xian couldn’t come up with a solution.

Li Yuanming’s eyes didn’t even blink as his strategy came out instantly: “Simple, three words: Let’s see how they perform! Give them some tasks. If they do well, they get promoted. If they fail… kill them!”

Most likely, the tasks will be done poorly.

The areas that are most prone to problems are finance, business, and similar aspects. Let them handle those. If they’re caught embezzling, just turn a blind eye, and when the corruption reaches a point where everyone is outraged, that will be their end.

At that point, the young master will kill them, and it will be justifiable! There will even be countless people who applaud, praising the young master’s tolerance and criticizing Zhao Guoshan and his son for their lack of understanding.

I think it would be most appropriate to assign them full responsibility for the dumping plan regarding Cai Guo.”

“Good!” Li Xian agreed without hesitation. Over the course of this journey, he had gradually matured. Not only had he seen more, but he had also faced danger several times. He had already understood one principle: sometimes, you need to be ruthless! After all, Zhao Guoshan and his son are not good people, and their collection of wives and concubines says it all. They’ve surely committed many dishonest acts.

With Zhao Guoshan and his son’s fate settled, Xu Ren spoke up: “Young master, we previously offended the crown prince quite badly. Now we must guard against a backlash from Luliang county. Therefore, we absolutely cannot allow Luliang county to grow.”

“It’s simple. Dumping! Dump textiles, steel, luxury goods; also, buy their food and textile materials at high prices, making their people see that only producing food and textile materials can make money. That way, we can destroy Luliang county’s industrial and handicraft development and turn it into our second food production base.

That’s the general idea. As for the details, you can handle that, sir.”

With the matter settled, a series of plans were set in motion.

First, Li Yuanming went to find Zhao Guoshan and his son, told them they had been given a lucrative job, and warned them not to embezzle, and so on. He then sent the excited father and son on their way. Little did they know, they had already been sold out!

After the rebellion in Zhongshan county, the Great Xia Kingdom temporarily returned to peace. But everyone understood that this was the calm before the storm! Once His Majesty the Emperor passes away, the Great Xia Kingdom will fall into total chaos!

At the same time, the neighboring countries of the Great Xia Kingdom were already sharpening their swords, preparing to tear off a piece of the kingdom at the first opportunity.

Though Cai Guo couldn’t intervene in the Great Xia Kingdom for five years, everyone knew that Cai Guo had countless ways to bypass this vow. For instance, Zhongshan county was an example.

As time passed, a month went by in the blink of an eye. The peace in the Great Xia Kingdom was so unsettling that it felt suffocating. This was not the tranquility of the sun, but the deathly silence of the night.

One day, after Li Xian woke up, he naturally looked towards the east, but suddenly froze. He saw that the entire sky seemed to have a layer of translucent “red gauze” floating. These gauzes were not like ordinary floating clouds or fog but seemed like a thin veil, floating and undulating high in the sky, gathering but not dispersing.

A heavy sense of oppression hit him.

What was going on?!

This sight made Li Xian uneasy. He asked Xia Qingqing, but Xia Qingqing didn’t see anything. “Husband, are you seeing things?” Li Xian described it again, but Xia Qingqing still couldn’t see anything.

After a while, when the sun completely rose above the horizon, the strange phenomenon disappeared.

Li Xian still felt that this was not a good sign. He immediately sought out the diviner, Ling Zhifeng, to describe what he had seen and wanted Ling Zhifeng to do a divination.

When Ling Zhifeng heard Li Xian’s description, his expression changed drastically. He immediately exclaimed in panic, “Heaven has sent a killing omen, blood will flow like a river! How could this be? How could this be?! Heaven has sent a killing omen, this is truly a celestial sign!”

Li Xian grabbed the spinning Ling Zhifeng and asked, “Heaven has sent a killing omen? What does that mean?”

Ling Zhifeng took a deep breath. “A killing omen from heaven is a great disaster! Young master, I need to perform a divination, and it may take three days. Please prepare for me 108 of each type of sacrificial animal—cattle, horses, pigs, dogs, sheep, and chickens—and gather 1,000 elite soldiers to assist me.

This matter requires a heavenly sacrifice.”

Such a grand sacrificial ritual naturally alerted the high officials in Anyang. Bei Chen Yuqing was stationed in the south, Yan Ze’an in Ding Mountain City, and now Li Xian was accompanied by Xu Ren, Li Yuanming, and Fang Shijing.

Watching Ling Zhifeng direct 1,000 soldiers to dig a pit here, set up incense stands there, kill a few cattle and sheep here, and slaughter some pigs and dogs there, Li Yuanming hesitated a little: “Young master, I have a guess, but I’m not sure if I should say it.”

Li Xian managed a rare smile. “Since you’ve already said it, how could I not hear it?”

Li Yuanming glanced at Xia Qingqing; Xia Qingqing immediately left on her own accord.

After Xia Qingqing left, Li Yuanming finally revealed a shocking piece of news to Li Xian: “Young master, I suspect that there might be a poison scholar beside His Majesty the Emperor, or even that the Emperor himself might be a poison scholar!”

Li Xian frowned. “Why do you say that?”

Li Yuanming took a deep breath. “Young master, since you are overseeing the construction of the royal tombs, you should understand the principle that the more burial items an emperor has, the stronger, wealthier, and more stable their foundation will be in the afterlife.”

Immediately, Li Xian’s hair stood on end. “Are you saying the Emperor plans to bury the entire Great Xia Empire with him?!”

“Yes, what other burial items could possibly compare to an empire? Actually, this sort of thing is not rare; many last emperors do the same, dragging an empire along as their burial offering. The Son of Heaven, who else could provoke the ‘Heaven’s kill order’ besides the Son of Heaven himself?”

Li Xian narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Since many last emperors do this, how does it prove that there is a poison scholar beside the Emperor, or that the Emperor himself is a poison scholar?”

“It’s simple. Dragging an empire along for burial is not an easy feat.

First, you must ensure the various forces within the empire are balanced, so that no governor or general can quickly quell the turmoil and establish a new empire in just a few months.

Second, it requires a prolonged period of chaos, causing countless deaths. Although it’s called dragging an empire for burial, in the end, it’s still about war, slaughter, and destruction.

Finally, it must ensure that the surrounding powerful countries cannot quickly annex the empire, which requires each faction to have the ability to resist invasion.

Young master, please take a look.”

Saying this, Li Yuanming used a branch to draw the current situation of the Great Xia Empire on the ground. “To the northwest is the First Prince and the Northwest Governor Xiao Liming; Xiao Liming is the Empress’s father and the maternal grandfather of the First Prince and Princess. The power on this side is unquestionable.

To the northeast is the First Young Master Li Liang and yourself, young master. To the southeast are Dongyuan County and the current Luliang County. Originally, Dongyuan County was weak, but with the addition of Luliang County, it’s just right! Of course, Luliang County is currently somewhat discounted, haha…

To the south is Nanyang County, which, although it is only a single county, has a strong foundation and a large population. The population and area of Nanyang County are nearly double that of an average county.

To the southwest is Guangling County, the Wang family, and the Third Prince. Although it’s only a single county, the Third Prince has managed to ally with General Shangguan Guang, making the military strength of Guangling County unprecedented. Moreover, Guangling County borders Qi, and it’s said that Qi is undergoing reforms, causing nationwide turmoil. Furthermore, Guangling County itself is not small.

Finally, there is the central Wuyang County, with two satellite counties to its south: Songzhou County and Ningzhou County.

Young master, do you understand? The five surrounding factions are almost evenly matched, each having the ability to resist foreign invasions. The First Prince’s faction is the strongest, but it’s surrounded by the countries of Cai and Chen.

Only in the middle remains Wuyang County, becoming the common target for everyone.

This is a very intricate layout, practically flawless. It can be expected that, as long as no accidents happen, after His Majesty’s passing, the Great Xia Empire will at least remain in turmoil for another twenty years! By then, the casualties could well reach the millions!”

Li Xian’s relaxed expression gradually disappeared as he pondered for a long time, his mind seemingly made up; he then turned to look at Xu Ren. Xu Ren also nodded solemnly.

Li Xian took a deep breath. “Mr. Xu, you’ve seen the Emperor. Do you think the Emperor himself is capable of such an intricate plan?”

Xu Ren immediately shook his head. “From what I have seen of His Majesty, he does not possess this wisdom. Of course, it’s possible that the Emperor has deceived everyone. After all, he is the Emperor.”

Li Xian nodded slightly, then suddenly asked, “If it’s not the Emperor, who else could have the ability to make such a plan?”

Xu Ren and Li Yuanming exchanged a look, then both of them simultaneously spoke two words: “Master!”

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