Chapter 50. Just The Matter Of Winning And Losing
Arc 2 : Historical Power Conspiracy Nightmare.
After seeing Yuan Ning off that day, Du Yan continued to carry out the plan step by step. The most difficult part was over, and the next part was not difficult for him.
Du Yan wanted to speed up Cheng Yu’s path to rule the world, so he had no choice but to destroy the Great Wall, through the civil strife in the Yuan Kingdom, and send Cheng Yu to the position of the supreme ruler of the country logically.
The Yuan Kingdom has always been the strongest among the Three Kingdoms. However, in fact, this huge country has long been rotten internally.
The power, land, and wealth of the Yuan Kingdom were all concentrated in the aristocratic class. Even the King could not easily shake the foundation of these aristocrats.
The entire Yuan Kingdom only maintains a prosperous appearance. The skeleton is already rotten, and no matter how strong the other parts are, it is in vain. All Du Yan needs to do is stimulate the contradiction in advance.
Du Yan immediately began to implement reforms to weaken the power of the aristocracy and try to bring all power into the hands of the King.
The old system of hereditary nobility was abolished, and imperial clan members were not allowed to record in imperial genealogy books without military merit; the well field system was abolished… every detail of it was a new policy that touched the interests of the aristocratic class.
When Yuan Chang was in power, he was worried about the great power of the generals, so he cultivated many powerful ministers to share power, which actually led to the power in the hands of the King becoming more dispersed.
Now, Du Yan has only been on the throne for a short time and has not yet stabilized the government, but he has already started a war and tried to touch the fundamental interests of the aristocratic class, which naturally led to a strong backlash.
Although the policies promulgated by Du Yan were highly popular among the common people, implementation of them encountered resistance from all sides. The arrogant aristocrats even felt that the new King was touching their own interests, and they passively revolted even in daily government affairs apart from the new policy.
For a while, Du Yan was struggling in the imperial court, hitting walls everywhere.
Just when everyone was thinking that the new king would be extremely anxious and would compromise soon, Du Yan was sitting in the palace with a calm expression.
What he was considering now had nothing to do with the implementation of the new policy. The implementation of the new policy was only the first step of his plan. It can not only intensify the contradictions in the Yuan Kingdom but also provide a precedent for Cheng Yu to implement the new policy after unifying the country.
Now Yuan Chang and Yuan Jue are ready to make a move and can’t hold back from starting to stir up trouble.
Du Yan would lend them a helping hand and get those stubborn and powerful northern feudal vassals to establish relations with these two people.
He carefully read the evidence in his hand about what happened back then and then folded it carefully.
Seeing Du Yan send the secret letter, Xiao Ba couldn’t help but ask: “Although this is just a dream world, in order to push Cheng Yu to the throne of Emperor, you treat your Kingdom like this, do you really have no burden in your heart?”
“You also know, this is just a dream.”
Xiao Ba said with some worry: “I am just a little worried about you. Although you have the bloodline of birch, you still have human blood. Humans are most easily controlled by emotions…”
Du Yan thought about it and explained: “Do you think I haven’t thought about these issues? In fact, even if Cheng Yu was not there, Yuan Kingdom would still be on the road to destruction.”
“Why?”
“There is a saying that there is no construction without destruction. The aristocrats of the Yuan Kingdom have always been high and mighty, but now, the situation of the common people is quite difficult. Moreover, there are those uncivilized nomadic peoples in the Far North.”
Du Yan said: “If the all Kingdoms in Central Plains cannot be quickly unified and strengthened, when the nomadic peoples enter the pass, the people of the entire Yuan Kingdom will fall into a catastrophe of destruction.”
Xiao Ba had always thought that Du Yan only regarded this place as a dream, so he was so calm and almost emotionless in carrying out each step of the plan.
Now, it seems that this is not the case. To some extent, Du Yan regards this dream world as the real world. Under the premise that the ending can not be changed, he plans the most perfect path for the dream world.
Not long after, the Yuan Kingdom’s regime underwent another dramatic change.
The former King Yuan Chang and his concubine’s son Yuan Jue fled from the capital of Yuan Kingdom and established the Beiyuan Dynasty with the support of the northern fiefdoms vassals.
At the same time, the Beiyuan Dynasty informed the world of King’s succession affairs, saying that Yuan Yan plotted to seize the throne and colluded with King Cheng, who was still a hostage at the time.
It was because Yuan Yan secretly released the hostage that Cheng Kingdom, which had previously been dependent on Yuan Kingdom, greatly increased its strength and became a Kingdom that can now compete with Yuan Kingdom.
As soon as this statement came out, the whole world was in uproar. Many feudal vassals who were already dissatisfied with King Yuan because of the new policy switched sides and supported the Beiyuan Dynasty.
King Yuan Yan was furious and recalled General Wu Qi from the Ru River border and ordered him to lead his troops north to attack the Beiyuan Dynasty.
This war lasted for two years. Just when Yuan Kingdom was seriously weakened by internal turmoil, Cheng Kingdom declared war on the Yuan Kingdom.
During the years of domestic turmoil in Yuan Kingdom, Cheng Kingdom was able to recuperate and grow in strength.
Now, the general’s troops happened to be deep in the center of the Beiyuan Dynasty, so they could not come back to help in time. The Cheng Kingdom’s army was unstoppable and went straight into the heart of the Yuan Kingdom, just like the time when the Jiang Kingdom perished.
There were even many county governors in many cities who had secretly surrendered to the Cheng Kingdom. When they saw the Cheng Kingdom army coming, they opened the city gates and directly changed their flags.
The once powerful Yuan Kingdom finally had the flag of Cheng Kingdom flying all over the land.
***
Du Yan stood above in the throne hall, watching Cheng Yu, who was wearing armor, step into the hall step by step.
He turned around and waved his hand lightly, and the door behind him slammed shut. In the empty hall, only Du Yan and Cheng Yu were left.
Just like the first time they met in the snow many years ago, Du Yan lowered his eyes slightly and looked at Cheng Yu standing at the bottom of the steps.
At first, Cheng Yu was humble and at the mercy of others. Now, their situations are exactly the opposite.
“You win.” Du Yan said.
Cheng Yu stared at him for a moment before asking: “Why didn’t you leave?”
Du Yan sneered as if he thought the question was ridiculous: “Leave? Now that the world is yours, where else can I go?”
“In the far north, General Wu Qi still has troops in his hands that can help you turn things around.”
Du Yan asked back: “Then do what? Like my father, who hunkered down in the bitter cold in the north and created a Beiyuan dynasty as if to comfort himself?”
“I, Yuan Yan, am not someone who can’t afford to lose. It would be too embarrassing to linger on in a desperate struggle.” Du Yan said: “Just the matter of winning or losing, I should wait for you here.”
Cheng Yu did not say anything else but walked up the stairs. His steps were so firm that every step seemed to leave footprints on the stairs. From beginning to end, his eyes never left Du Yan for a moment.
Then, he stopped in front of Du Yan.
Du Yan had reached adulthood, but he was still shorter than Cheng Yu. The man in front of him even had a bloody smell on his armor, and a sense of oppression like a mountain was overwhelming.
“King Yuan.” Cheng Yu called in a low voice.
Du Yan raised his hand and took off the crown on his head, without showing too much anger on his face. He threw the crown aside carelessly and then said: “In the current situation, you can just call me Yuan Yan.”
Cheng Yu did not say anything but took something out from his clothes and took another step forward.
When Du Yan saw clearly what he was holding in his hand, he was slightly stunned.
It was a string of pendants, similar to the one Cheng Yu left behind a few years ago, and it looked like they were all carved by him. But there was a difference in style. The previous string of pendants was delicate and somewhat feminine, but this one was purely suitable for men to wear.
At this time, Cheng Yu took out a string of pendants. What was his intention? Du Yan was full of doubts, but in this situation, if he asked, it would be a bit timid.
Du Yan just straightened his back and watched Cheng Yu take a step forward and carefully tie the string of pendants to his belt.
After tying it, Cheng Yu did not step away but helped Du Yan to straighten every wrinkle of the royal robe.
The two were very close, Du Yan could even hear Cheng Yu’s breathing, which hit his ears so heavily that he felt a little uncomfortable.
Du Yan couldn’t help himself, he reached out and gently pushed Cheng Yu’s shoulder and said: “What do you mean?”
Cheng Yu did not insist and took a step back: “The original string of pendants was given to Princess Yuan Yan. Now, this string of pendants is given to King Yuan Yan.”
Du Yan’s eyes fell on the crown on the ground, and he smiled sarcastically: “King Yuan? Thanks to you, I am now just Yuan Yan.”
Cheng Yu was not annoyed at all. He bent down and picked up the crown: “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Du Yan fell silent. The Cheng Yu in front of him was even more mysterious than a few years ago, with a chilling air about him. He has fully grown into the emperor who rules the world in the movie.
He couldn’t see through Cheng Yu and didn’t understand what the other party was doing now.
The most puzzling thing in Du Yan’s mind is why the dream has not ended yet.
Now that Yuan Kingdom has been destroyed and he has been captured, as long as he is in Cheng Yu’s hands, the generals far away in the north will not make any other moves. It can be said that Cheng Yu’s road to unifying the world has reached its destination.
“Xiao Ba, can you try to break away by force?”
Xiao Ba’s answer came quickly: “It’s still the same situation, no.”
Du Yan was quite calm when he got the news that he couldn’t escape. He had seen through it.
Shao Lingheng is a very special person. The energy contained in his nightmares is extremely delicious and powerful, and his ability to control dreams is also extremely powerful.
There is really no free lunch in the world. If he wants to taste the supreme delicacy, he must pay a certain risk and price. Now, it seems that this risk and price are acceptable.
Du Yan had already prepared himself mentally, and the dream would probably end only when Cheng Yu ascended the throne as emperor.
Du Yan looked at Cheng Yu: “How are you going to deal with me? Kill me with a cup of poisoned wine? Or imprison me in a fiefdom?”
“Follow me.” Cheng Yu did not answer but stretched out his hand to Du Yan.
Du Yan did not ask any more questions, nor did he try to resist. He just bypassed Cheng Yu’s hand and walked down the stairs. He was now just a prisoner, and he had done everything he had to do. He could just wait and see what would happen next.
Cheng Yu looked at the still straight and proud figure in front of him. A satisfied smile appeared on his face, and then he caught up with Du Yan and walked side by side with him.
T/N:- See you next week.
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