Chapter 354: Chaos a Thousand Miles Away!
Within the Darro Royal Court, King of Darro asked the third prince, “Hamu, you’ve had contact with Lin Beifan. What’s your opinion?”
“Father King! When it comes to Lin Beifan…,” Prince Hamu interrupted, his face twitching slightly. “In my impression, he is cunning as a fox and insatiable! Initially, when I first approached him to persuade him to advocate for us and reduce the burden, we paid a hefty price for it, as you are well aware!” King of Darro nodded.
“But never did I imagine that he would indeed accomplish the task but sow the seeds of disaster for us!” Prince Hamu gritted his teeth. “We only wanted to lessen the compensation, but he aimed to swallow our Darro! Fortunately, we discovered it in time; otherwise, in another two or three years, Darro would have changed hands!”
King of Darro nodded once again. “Furthermore, in less than two years, he went from being a newly appointed top scholar to rapidly ascending to a high position, becoming the current prime minister of Great Wu. He is not to be underestimated!”
“He commands the military like a god, personally leading four major battles, all of which were resounding victories! He pacified the Three Rebel Kings internally and resisted the threats from Dayue and Great Xia externally, displaying immense power! Now that he’s coming to attack, we must be fully prepared!”
King of Darro nodded with his aged voice. “Hamu, you are right! I am already old, so I entrust this battle to you. I fully support you! If we overcome this challenge, the throne will be yours.”
Prince Hamu was deeply moved. “Yes, Father King!”
Although this battle was extremely challenging, the rewards would be enormous!
So, Prince Hamu excitedly went down to organize the troops, gather supplies, and prepare for the battle. Meanwhile, Lin Beifan and his companions were still boating on the river. Several large boats cruised leisurely, enjoying the picturesque scenery on both sides of the mountains. The days were relaxing and pleasant.
At this moment, they had just left the capital city, and they were approximately 1,000 miles away from Darro Kingdom.
Suddenly, a soldier jumped onto the boat and handed Lin Beifan a piece of paper.
Lin Beifan opened it and chuckled. “Prince Hamu is in charge of this matter? Interesting! I used to miss him quite a bit back then. I’ll give him a big gift now! The Darro Collapse Plan can begin.”
Lin Beifan wrote six words on the paper: “Cut off supplies, start rumors!”
“Spread the word and act accordingly!”
“Yes, Prime Minister!”
This order quickly spread throughout Darro Kingdom. The hidden Great Wu people in Darro immediately began to cut off vital supplies such as food, salt, oil, cotton, and then spread rumors. “The Great Wu army is preparing to attack, and all sugar and oil supplies are cut off. Everyone, hurry and seize what you can, or it will be too late!”
When the common people of Darro heard this, they immediately became agitated. “What? Great Wu is preparing to attack, and our food and oil supplies will be cut off?”
“This won’t do, how can we allow our food supply to be cut off? If there’s no food, are we supposed to starve?”
“No, I must go and seize some food back!”
“If we don’t act now, we’ll starve to death!”
So, all the common people rushed frantically to the streets and major businesses. They broke through the resistance of the Darro soldiers and stormed into the major stores owned by Great Wu merchants, looting food, salt, oil, cotton, and anything else they could get their hands on.
The entire market descended into chaos, and all the streets were in turmoil!
Within the Darro Royal Court, a person rushed in hastily, saying, “Your Highness, the Third Prince, something bad has happened! There’s a riot outside!”
Prince Hamu was alarmed. “What exactly is happening? Tell me in detail!”
“Your Highness, there are rumors outside that Great Wu is preparing to attack our country and has cut off our supplies. Because of this, the common people have gone mad, and they’re all rushing to loot food and other supplies. Everything is in chaos!”
Prince Hamu angrily exclaimed, “Why haven’t you dispatched troops to maintain order yet?”
“Your Highness, there are too many people, we can’t control them! Almost the entire city has erupted into a riot, and they’re all coming to loot supplies! Our small force can’t stop them,” the messenger replied with a bitter smile.
Prince Hamu’s face changed!
If the entire city had erupted into a riot, it was indeed impossible to stop! Prince Hamu sighed, “Then go and appease them for now. Tell them that food and supplies are sufficient, and they shouldn’t loot!”
“Your Highness, we’ve already tried, but they won’t listen! They’ve gone mad…”
Prince Hamu hurriedly arrived on the streets and found that the common people had indeed gone mad, looting everything valuable. He witnessed a chilling scene where many people were trampled to death during the looting.
Surprisingly, the onlookers showed no sympathy and instead continued to rob the victims of their belongings, leaving them with nothing. Prince Hamu shouted loudly, “Stop the looting! There’s enough food, enough supplies, trust me, everyone will have what they need!”
Prince Hamu still commanded respect, and his words calmed the crowd slightly.
However, at that moment, a voice full of anger emerged from the crowd.
“Trust him? Don’t believe him! The first ones to loot were the royal family and government officials! They’ve already taken all the good stuff. If we don’t loot now, there will be nothing left!” With this speech, chaos erupted once again.
“That’s right, the royal family is the first to loot!”
“They’ve already taken all the good stuff and left us with this junk!”
“If we don’t loot now, we’ll have nothing left!”
“Everyone, hurry and loot!”
The crowd resumed looting, even more fervently than before.
“Damn it!” Prince Hamu gritted his teeth. “Quickly, find the person who incited this unrest and bring them to me!”
A group of soldiers rushed towards the source of the sound but found nothing.
Prince Hamu’s face turned ashen. He knew he had been deceived, and the person responsible was likely from the Great Wu court.
As he looked at the chaotic scene of burning, killing, and looting, and the disorderly streets, Prince Hamu sternly commanded, “Immediately summon the 100,000 defending troops stationed outside the city to suppress these rioters! Those who resist shall be killed!”
His attending officials were shocked. “Your Highness, this will result in many casualties!”
Prince Hamu snapped, “Then tell me, what other option do we have? We are on the brink of war, and if we don’t deal with these troublemakers now, how can we face Great Wu? In turbulent times, harsh measures are necessary. Go quickly!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Soon, the 100,000 defending troops from Darro marched into the city.
After a day and night of effort, they finally managed to quell the unrest.
However, Prince Hamu spat out a mouthful of blood.
Because the people of Darro were fiercely resilient, and the common people were quite capable of fighting! To suppress this group of rioters, he had to mobilize over 5,000 soldiers!
The enemy hadn’t even arrived yet, but they had already suffered heavy casualties. Could he not vomit blood under such circumstances? At this moment, Lin Beifan and his group were still boating on the river, enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way.
They were about 900 miles away from Darro. Lin Beifan looked at the paper message that had just arrived and smiled faintly.
At this moment, the Little Princess excitedly ran over and said, “Li Beifan, come quickly! There’s a mountain over there that looks like a horse, it’s so fun!”
Lin Beifan asked, “Little Princess, can I ask you a few questions?”
The Little Princess paused, “Sure, go ahead!”
Lin Beifan asked, “Do you like drinking soy milk and eating deep-fried dough sticks?”
The Little Princess laughed, “Of course I do!”
Lin Beifan asked again, “If I told you that you could only have soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks every day, would you be willing?”
The Little Princess became exasperated, “How could I be willing?”
Lin Beifan smiled and nodded, “Why wouldn’t you be willing?”
“Because I also love Dongpo pork, Eight Treasures Chicken, bird’s nest with fish maw, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall… and so on. All of those are tastier than soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks! Why would I eat those when I can have the better ones?!” As she spoke, the Little Princess even drooled a little.
Lin Beifan asked, “What if you were only allowed to eat soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks in the future, what would you do?”
“I would go crazy!” The Little Princess exaggeratedly exclaimed.
“Yes, if you’ve been accustomed to luxury, going back to simplicity would drive you mad,” Lin Beifan nodded. “Now, go ahead. Everyone is calling us I’ll follow later!”
Lin Beifan wrote six words on the paper message: “Confuse the people, undermine their virtue!”
Then he handed it to one of the accompanying soldiers. “Have them act according to the plan!”
“Yes, Prime Minister!”
At this moment, within Darro Kingdom. Although the riots had been suppressed, the streets had become desolate and quiet. All the shops were closed, and no one was doing business.
Because everyone knew that Great Wu was preparing to attack, and all supplies had been cut off, causing a severe shortage of goods. People clung tightly to the food and supplies they had, reluctant to exchange them.
Those with property were relatively better off and could last for a while. But those without property were in a dire situation, lacking food, oil, salt, and other necessities, living a difficult life.
As a result, rumors began to spread once again.
These sentiments were often held by the majority.
Their lives had suddenly regressed to the past.
“The old days were so much better! We didn’t have to work so hard, and we had food to eat and clothes to wear! We thought our lives would get better, but now we’re back to square one, as if it was all a dream!”
“It’s all because of the court and the royal family, they’re insatiable! They broke their promise, tore up the treaty, and seized all the property of Great Wu merchants, angering Great Wu and cutting off our food and oil!”
“Why should they cause trouble and make us suffer for their mistakes?”
“That’s right! This court is simply rotten, purely evil!”
“What’s the use of such a court? We might as well rebel and submit to Great Wu, let Great Wu govern us, and our lives can improve again!”
“I heard that Great Wu is implementing policies for recuperation, where peasants don’t have to pay taxes for farming, and there are rewards for having more children. The court even provides seeds for free and helps repair irrigation facilities. The people of Great Wu are truly fortunate!”
“Is that true? Is it really that good?”
“Why would I lie? This news has been circulating for a long time, and you didn’t know?”
“Oh my! Let Great Wu govern us; I want to become a citizen of Great Wu!”
