The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 549 The Closest to the Throne

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head helplessly.

"These guys are really insatiable!"

"I was thinking that these people had made such contributions in the past, so I wouldn't hold it against them. But now that these guys want to rebel, there's no need to let them live!"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao understood that this time Zhu Yuanzhang was truly determined to kill him.

"Please rest assured, Father, this matter will be handled by Xiong Ying and me!"

"No matter what, the army of Yingtian Prefecture cannot have the slightest problem; this is the most important force!"

Just then, Wang Jinghong, who was standing nearby, hurriedly spoke up.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! A large number of enemies have been discovered near Yingtian Prefecture!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, surprised that they had moved so fast, already reaching the vicinity of Yingtian Prefecture.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao smiled and shook his head after hearing this.

"Don't worry, these guys won't cause any problems. Even if they had a lot of guts, they couldn't possibly amount to anything!"

"It seems that someone in our Yingtian Prefecture wants to cooperate with them from the inside out. That's good, it will also allow us to properly deal with those who have such ideas in our Yingtian Prefecture!"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao carried out his plan methodically.

Soon, the news reached Marquis Chen Yong of Linjiang and Marquis Zhu Liangzu of Yongjia.

"Great! I didn't expect those guys in the military to give us some face and agree so quickly. Things are going very well for us. With their help, we'll be invincible from now on!"

"I think they also have a lot of dissatisfaction with the imperial court, otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to our request so readily!"

Marquis Yongjia, Zhu Liangzu, felt extremely disdainful. It seemed that the Zhu family was not so popular after all.

Otherwise, so many people wouldn't be against them.

Marquis Chen Yong of Linjiang said excitedly.

"Who cares what they're thinking? This time we've gained military power, and I don't believe anyone will dare to oppose us. When we control the entire Yingtian Prefecture, we can do whatever we want!"

"To be honest, it's all because the Zhu family went too far. If they had treated us well, we wouldn't have resorted to such methods!"

"Now that's great, we'll take what they're unwilling to give us ourselves!"

"They forced us into all of this. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have been able to choose this path!"

Although they said that, they couldn't hide their excitement. There were so many soldiers revolting outside, and many troops inside had already defected to them.

With such a great start, they couldn't figure out how they could possibly lose.

Soon, the major families in Yingtian Prefecture gathered together. When they learned that Marquis Chen Yong of Linjiang and Marquis Zhu Liangzu of Yongjia had already taken control of a portion of the army, they were extremely surprised.

"Interesting. I didn't expect these old guys to still have some use. Since they want to be the ones to stick their necks out, let's just let them do it!"

The person next to him was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, and then hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"But if that's the case, wouldn't all the benefits be taken by these two?"

"If those two manage to ascend to that position through their own armies, wouldn't that be extremely disadvantageous for us?" At this moment, the leader of the leading aristocratic family burst into laughter.

"Even if they do have such abilities, what do we have to fear?"

"We are all families with a history of thousands of years. It's not that we are incapable of being emperors, but that we simply do not wish to sit on this throne. Only in this way can our families continue to exist, and even continue for thousands of years!"

"All we need to do is gain enough benefit from this!"

"To families like ours, the emperor is nothing more than a puppet, and naturally, the easier he is to control, the better!"

"Whether it's Marquis Yongjia Zhu Liangzu or Marquis Linjiang Chen Yong, which one of them is smart, if they really ascend to this position, it will still bring us a lot of benefits!"

The person next to him smiled and nodded after hearing this.

"That's absolutely right!"

"Those guys think they're so capable, but they're really just playthings in our hands!"

"No matter what happens or what changes occur, they will still need officials, and our positions will remain stable!"

At this moment, his face began to darken. Of course, all of this was on the premise that their aristocratic families still had a solid foundation. However, the Ming Dynasty's reform of the imperial examination system, the merging of land tax and poll tax, and the requirement for gentry to pay taxes in the same way were completely contrary to their interests. If things were to continue like this, it wouldn't be long before these aristocratic families would become just ordinary people.

This is the real reason why they had no choice but to rebel.

These members of powerful families were extremely proud, after all, the way these families had survived for thousands of years had taught them this.

Dynasties may rise and fall, but these families have managed to survive, and there's a reason for that.

At this moment, a younger member of the family said in confusion.

"If that's the case, then our family won't need to do anything at all!"

"At this moment, the older family head smiled and shook his head, saying..."

"That's not the case. We can take this opportunity to seize important places like the treasury and take some of the goods from them!"

"Under these circumstances, even if Zhu Liangzu and Marquis Chen Yong of Linjiang realize what's happening, they won't do anything to us. After all, we're the only ones in Yingtian Prefecture who can help them right now!"

"Moreover, we can take this opportunity to seize more farmland and stockpile grain, which are extremely important things for the future!"

As they said this, these people were extremely proud of themselves. Everyone smiled when they heard this. They knew that by using this opportunity to make their families stronger, no matter who got into which position, it would never affect their families.

Is this truly the way of survival for powerful clans? How brilliant!

Soon, the villainous forces outside the city had made contact with Marquis Yongjia, Zhu Liangzu, and Marquis Lin'an, Chen Yong.

The two planned to use their troops to open the city gates and let all the soldiers in, so they could take the opportunity to change dynasties.

In return, those outsiders must support the two of them to take that position.

Both of them were very excited at the thought, after all, everyone wanted to be the emperor, and now it was finally their turn.

That night, people from both sides gathered together, and Zhuge Liang's group and Marquis Chen Yong of Linjiang, along with their troops, were extremely excited on the city tower.

(End of this chapter)