The Tyrant of the Great Qian Dynasty: Not only will I refuse to arrange a marriage alliance, but I w

Su Zhe's question left Xu Liang completely stunned.

His mind went blank; he couldn't understand the meaning of those words at all.

Dare? Or not?

This problem is a fatal trap.

Saying "dare" is a lie; heaven knows what a perilous mission awaits, the consequences of cutting down the king's flag are still fresh in my mind.

If he said "I dare not," given the prince's ruthless methods in killing Wang Su and dealing with Wu Chengdao and others, he would probably lose his head on the spot.

Xu Liang's knees buckled, and he knelt down, his forehead hitting the cold stone slab. He kowtowed desperately, ignoring everything else.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! This sinful subject...this sinful subject will never dare to do it again! This sinful subject is willing to serve Your Highness like a slave, please, Your Highness, grant this sinful subject a way out!"

He begged for mercy incoherently, his voice trembling with sobs, tears streaming down his face; he was no longer the general he once was.

Su Zhe ignored his pleas for mercy, looking down at him and saying to himself, "The Western Liang Kingdom has a long history of friction with our Great Qian on the western border. In recent years, within its royal court, attitudes towards our Great Qian have been divided into two factions: one advocating war and the other advocating peace, and the debate continues. I need someone to go to Western Liang for me to do something."

His voice was flat and monotone.

"Someone insignificant, but who has some knowledge of the military situation of our Great Qian Dynasty, especially the inside story of the Battle of the Capital."

Su Zhe's gaze fell on Xu Liang, as if he were examining an object.

"Someone who would die there and no one would regret it."

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

Everyone understood Su Zhe's intention.

This isn't giving him a chance; it's clearly using him as a "pawn"!

Sending Xu Liang to Xiliang was to have him act as a spy deep inside enemy territory, carrying out a mission with the highest risk and almost no chance of survival.

This did indeed give him a way out, sparing him from immediate execution, but this way out was a hundred times more dangerous than being exiled to the northern frontier.

Exiled to the northern frontier, at least they can still live.

Going to an enemy country as a pawn means constantly hanging on the edge of a knife; once exposed, the consequences are unimaginable.

Xu Liang's face immediately turned pale.

He wanted to refuse, but when he looked up and saw Su Zhe's emotionless eyes, he knew that he had no choice at all.

To refuse is to die now.

Accept it, and maybe you can live a few more days.

He stopped trembling, his body became stiff, and his expression became numb.

He gritted his teeth, which made a clicking sound as he strained, and squeezed out a few words from his throat.

"My lord...my lord...obey your order."

"Very good." Su Zhe nodded in satisfaction, having anticipated his reaction.

"Wei An, after that, send someone to contact him and tell him exactly what needs to be done."

He waved his hand, as if shooing away flies.

Two guards immediately stepped forward, one on each side, and lifted the limp Xu Liang, dragging him away.

After this minor incident, the grand ceremony for recognizing merits and awarding prizes, which had shaken the entire capital, finally came to an official end.

But for the capital, the real storm has only just begun.

Before the drumbeats had completely faded at the end of the ceremony, Chen Baipao had already mounted his horse.

Instead of returning to the military camp, he took the list that had already decided the fate of more than a dozen families directly from Su Zhe, and led a team of murderous Snow Dragon Riders to various parts of the city.

The arrests and raids were carried out simultaneously.

In the blink of an eye, the resounding sound of iron hooves echoed throughout the capital.

"By order of His Highness, search the Wu residence and arrest all personnel!"

Wu Chengdao's mansion, a grand estate that was usually heavily guarded and so secure that not even a fly could get in, was smashed open by the iron hooves of the Snow Dragon Riders, and the gate was shattered.

Elite soldiers poured in and knocked down all the servants and guards who tried to resist.

The arrogant young masters of the mansion, who usually acted arrogantly, were so frightened that they cried out for their parents and scattered in all directions. However, they were all dragged out, tied up with ropes, and made to kneel in the courtyard in a sorry state.

Desperate cries, the sounds of shattering objects, and the cold shouts of soldiers were all playing out simultaneously in every corner of the capital.

The cleaning operation was carried out with exceptional efficiency and thoroughness.

Chen Baipao was extremely strict in disciplining his troops, and any attempt to resist or secretly hide property was met with ruthless suppression.

A steward of the Lu family attempted to hide several priceless jewels in a hidden wall, but was discovered on the spot by soldiers. Without saying a word, Chen Baipao shot him and pinned him to the wall as a warning to others.

Under such ruthless measures, no one dared to harbor any illusions.

In less than a day, the dozen or so well-established families with centuries of history on the list were uprooted.

Their wealth, accumulated over hundreds of years, was transported out of their respective mansions, cartload by cartload.

Gold and silver jewelry, silks and satins, antiques and paintings, grains and cloth...

These supplies converged into an astonishing torrent, flowing mightily towards the national treasury.

The people of the capital stood on both sides of the street, watching this scene with awe.

They watched as those once high-and-mighty gentlemen were now being led onto prison vans like stray dogs, and as their unimaginable wealth was confiscated.

Besides feeling a sense of satisfaction at the Ninth Prince's ruthless methods, they also felt a deep-seated fear.

Qian Kun, the Minister of Revenue, who had once been terrified, stood at the entrance of the national treasury, watching as boxes of gold and silver were carried into the storeroom. He was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes, and even his beard was trembling.

He jogged up to Su Zhe, holding a newly compiled ledger in his hand, his voice slightly trembling with excitement.

"Your Highness! We've won! We've won!"

He presented the account books. "Your Highness, please take a look. This single confiscation yielded a total of 1.3 million taels of gold and 9.8 million taels of silver! The grain, cloth, armor, medicine, and other supplies, converted into silver, amounted to no less than 10 million taels! This... this is enough to support all of the Great Qian's fiscal expenditures and military expenses for the next three years! The deficit caused by the war has not only been completely covered, but... on the contrary, the national treasury has reached an unprecedented level of abundance!"

Qian Kun almost cried as he finished speaking. He had served as a Ministry of Revenue official for half his life and had never seen the national treasury so wealthy.

At the same time, the action to reclaim military power was also underway.

Having learned from the mistakes of Wu Chengdao and others, the military commanders stationed around the capital, as well as other aristocratic families that had not been purged, dared not harbor any rebellious thoughts.

They didn't even need Su Zhe to send anyone to urge them; they all took the initiative to bring their military tallies and private soldier rosters to the outskirts of the capital, kneeling down to beg for their surrender.

Su Zhe seized control of the central military without bloodshed, through a grand ceremony and a raid on homes.

Those private soldiers who were once considered the lifeblood of aristocratic families have now become a hot potato, and no one dares to touch them anymore.

After a brief but intense period of pain, the entire capital city, in an unprecedented manner, completely submitted to Su Zhe.

Just as everything in the capital had settled down and a new order was beginning to be established, Su Zhe received a secret report from Wei An.

The secret report was very short, containing only a few words.

Xu Liang, the fugitive general he had sent to "atone for his sins" and was to be sent to Xiliang as a pawn, escaped on the way to be taken away by the imperial guards and handed over to the Shadow Dragon Guards, under the pretext of going to the toilet.

When the Shadow Dragon Guards arrived, they found only a torn prison uniform in the corner of the latrine.

In his final request in the secret report, Wei An asked whether it was necessary to seal off the entire city and launch a manhunt.

After all, Xu Liang knew some military intelligence, and if he escaped, there would be endless trouble.

Su Zhe finished reading the secret report, but his face showed no surprise. He placed the note on the candle flame, watched it slowly turn to ashes, and then shook his head.

"No need."

His voice was soft, yet carried a calm that seemed to understand everything.

"He can't run very far."

Wei An's confidant looked at Su Zhe with puzzlement, waiting for him to continue.

Su Zhe smiled and said softly, "He will take the message to farther places for us."