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Chapter 225
Chapter 225 - Cancers
Wang Yun was shocked by the sudden change of Liu Yu's stance. Suddenly asking for a contribution from the others was like a political suicide as nobody wanted to part from their wealth.
On the other hand, Liu Yu had steeled himself from the backlash. To protect the Capital, he had to abandon his right to the throne and his future political influence.
Only the follower of Liu Yu understood about his selfless sacrifice. They gazed at this minister in deep respect as they also shouted.
"I have 2, 000 gold and 3, 000 troops. I'll contribute all of it."
"My family stored 5, 000 stones of provisions and 1, 000 soldiers."
"I have 500 mercenaries and 8, 000 gold!"
Each of them pitched in their assets into the cause, which astonished the officials who had yet to decide their stance.
Wang Yun's supporters also looked at these people with eyes widened, dumbfounded by the sacrifice and selflessness of these incorrupt-minded ministers.
After a rough calculation, the Capital City would have 200, 000 gold, 50, 000 tons of provisions, and 35, 000 soldiers by combining all noble forces that donated their assets.
However, Liu Yu and the donators did not look satisfied with these figures. They knew that the rest of the nobles in the hall, who had not contributed, had more wealth and private soldiers than them, yet they did not utter a word to help.
'Selfish bastards! The crisis is at hand, and they are still worrying about their self-interest?' Liu Yu cursed these ministers in his mind. With the current troops, they would not stand a chance against 100, 000 elites of the west borders.
"Is there anyone else who wishes to contribute?" Liu Yu asked, after which he darted his eyes around the room.
"I have dispatched all of my troops to the north. I don't have anything to contribute."
"I've spent all of my gold for His Majesty. I don't have any left."
"I've invested all my gold into potteries. I can't contribute."
Excuses came from the mouth of neutral officers and a part of Wang Yun's followers in the hall, which angered both Wang Yun and Liu Yu.
'Dispatched your troops!? If I remember correctly, His Majesty took conscripted troops from Dong Zhuo, but he did not take any troops from the Capital nobles!' Wang Yun thought as he glared at the lying nobles.
Liu Yu also had a similar thought. As he could not tolerate cowards and selfish crooks, he shouted.
"Gentlemen, you have already listened to the report about how Dong Zhuo treated the people in his cities and his civilians. Once he gets his hands on Luo Yang, he will not leave you alone as you still possess wealth and soldiers. If you do not contribute in this fight and we lose, you cannot blame us for being incompetence as you are the selfish shameless unintellectual nobles who wither away in the time of crisis!"
The remarks did not help Liu Yu but angered everybody in the hall instead. The nobles who had not contributed started protesting.
"When we say we have no troops, we meant as we said!"
"Shameless? No, you are shameless! We don't have anything to spare, why do you force us to donate our assets while we can't!"
"Right, this is robbery!"
The hall was thrown into an uproar as the dissatisfied nobles refused to donate their wealth to fight for the Capital.
Wang Yun also shook his head as he realized that Liu Yu had just committed political suicide by that remarks. As a governor, Liu Yu was exceptionally talented at it. But in terms of political skills and façade, he lacked basic psychological knowledge.
The old fox also knew about priorities. He decided to back Liu Yu by abusing his authority as a Chancellor.
"Hear my order! All of you must contribute all of your private troops and half of your provision and gold to the army! We are facing a crisis. Nobody has the right to be exempted from this! Since your wages came from people's taxes, it is your duty to protect the civilians' well-being with your troops!"
Sounds of mockery and shouted lashed at Wang Yun.
"Who are you to order us!?"
"Bootlicker! I won't give you shit! What are you going to do about it?"
"Chancellor, you have no right to order us what to do. I do what I want!"
Hearing the defying protests, Liu Yu and Wang Yun glared at them with hatred. Wang Yun held the highest position in the Court, yet they refused to comply with his order. If the Emperor were here, they would have been charged as treason and had their entire family executed.
"Do you realize that you are committing treason!? I have the authority to order you! Will you give us your troops or not!?" Roared Wang Yun.
The crowd was panicked, but an elder scholar stepped forward and mocked Wang Yun.
"We committed treason. Then, what are you going to do about it? Arrest us? Sure, go ahead. Arrest me right now, but I promise you this. The moment one of us is arrested, we will use everything we have to kill you and your stupid daughter! Do you think you are the Emperor who can order us around? Ptut!"
"What!? This is blasphemy! You are threatening the authority here!" Wang Yun was shocked.
"HAHAHA! Sure, we are threatening you. I'll repeat it again. We won't give you shit! If you arrest or kill one of us, we will use our soldiers to kill every single of you!"
The face of Liu Yu, Wang Yun, and their supporters reddened in anger. They had just given an excuse that they did not have a soldier to support the defense. Only now, they threatened to use their soldiers to kill the authorities if they arrested them because they refused to follow the order.
Such hypocrisy was beyond shameless!
The scholar laughed as he left the assembly hall. That person was a minister of Justice of the Capital, yet he acted like a hoodlum, resisting the authority instead of enforcing it.
The other officials smiled in glee. They followed after the minister and left the building, ignoring the danger of Dong Zhuo.
Wang Yun noticed the leaving nobles. Out of anger, a new inspiration appeared in his mind.
"Since all of you want it this way. Fine! The assembly is dismissed! All of you can go."
Liu Yu and the donors were surprised by the sudden cancellation of the assembly. They gathered in front of Wang Yun to stop him.
"Chancellor Wang, don't dismiss the meeting yet. We haven't solved the crisis at hand, and we don't have enough troops to defend the city. We have to make the others contribute their private soldiers to the city defense, or we will not survive."
The corner of Wang Yun mouth revealed a faint smile, "Worry not! I have a better way to solve our soldier shortage."
The old fox glanced at the leaving crowd. Seeing that they left, Wang Yun whispered to Liu Yu and the remaining ministers.
"I see that you are willing to sacrifice everything for the Han. I will tell you my plan."
"Your plan?"
"Yes. Have you heard about how Zhang Tong dealt with the nobles?"
"Zhang Tong? The rebel's son? Didn't he slaughter all resisting nobles and abolish all rights to possess mercenaries and slaves? Wait a minute, you!!"
Liu Yu stared at Wang Yun in fright as he managed to guess his plan.
Wang Yun grinned, "I was like you when we heard about the news. I thought that Zhang Tong was so stupid to the point that he destroyed the foundation of his political power. But today, it proves that we were wrong. The rights to possess private troops are the threat of this country! Did you see how those liars reacted when we asked for their soldiers? Those ministers and officers will be likely to take their wealth and escape from the Capital before Dong Zhuo arrives. And once the situation calms again, those shameless bastards will return to bootlick whoever the winner of this fight! Why are we keeping these fools around to eat the citizen's taxes? These people are the plague that devours the Empire from the inside! As fellow loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty, we have to purge them for good before they multiplied!"
The face of the listeners paled. They did not know if they picked the correct choice to fight the evil Dong Zhuo, or they were unlucky for following this ruthless old fox.
"Gentlemen, let's get our troops ready. Emperor Wudi had once attempted to abolish private armies and slavery. However, he failed to make his plans come true. We will inherit his will, and we shall purge those diseases that plagued our country for centuries! We will kill those selfish cowards and gather our fund for the city defense!"
...
...
November 15th marked as the day of the major event by the historian in this world.
All gates of the Capital closed per Wang Yun's order. As a chancellor of the country, he had enough power to command all armies if the Emperor was away.
This morning, the ministers in the throne room refused to follow his order as all of them had private troops to protect them from the authority. Thus, Wang Yun could not arrest one of them, or they would riot.
This bluff worked well so far for the ministers up till now, but they overlooked one thing.
Their mercenaries had not gathered or formed any proper army system. All of them spread throughout the noble manors and camps, which none of them had more than 500 soldiers in one place.
Moreover, they gathered their belongings in their family manor to evacuate from Luo Yang in a hurry. None of them had the time to inform the others if Wang Yun wanted to arrest them for insubordination.
Each manor located a distance away from the other as they required large spaces for their courtyard to display their wealth and housed troops. As a result, their limited number of soldiers scattered around in the official residential areas.
Ignoring their previous bluff, the Imperial garrison soldiers and the private soldiers of Liu Yu faction stormed the noble manors without bothering showing warrants or a negotiation. Per Wang Yun's order, they slaughtered their way to kill the head of each family before they surrounded all private soldiers to force them to surrender.
The previous Minister of Justice, who threatened Wang Yun and Liu Yu, was killed first along with his entire families. As he was the ringleader of the resistance, Liu Yu killed the minister's whole family in front of him before sending him along to Hell.
After they finished, the garrison troops confiscated all of his properties, and the wealth shocked them.
That person alone had 100, 000 gold, 5, 000 tons of provision in hiding!
The surrendered private army numbered 6, 000!
Yet, he said during the earlier meeting that he had nothing to contribute!
Liu Yu and Wang Yun looked at each other in understanding. The previous political conflict between them was now water under the bridge. They formed an alliance with one goal.
Eradicating these cancers. This type of nobles was unneeded in the Han Dynasty!
| ← Ch. 224 | Ch. 226 → |