PDLP Chapter 73 Taking the City Lord's Mansion by Strategy
Chapter 73 Taking the City Lord's Mansion by Strategy
"Young Master, I have fulfilled my mission! After a thorough cleanup, all the thieves in the manor have been completely eliminated, and those who dared to resist have been executed on the spot."
As for the remaining remnants, they have all been detained within the manor, awaiting your personal judgment, young master!
One of the leading generals, clad in heavy armor and exuding an imposing aura, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and loudly reported to Mo Yuming.
Mo Yuming nodded slightly and said with a smile:
"Excellent! Your actions were swift, decisive, and courageous, truly admirable. Thank you all for your hard work! I thank you all in advance!"
The leading general quickly bowed his head and replied:
"It's no trouble at all, Young Master, you flatter us! It is our duty to eliminate evil and uphold justice, and it is our bounden duty! We are the ones who should be thanking you. If it weren't for your wisdom and courage, Young Master, granting us this opportunity to redeem ourselves, these villains would probably still be at large!"
His words were earnest and firm, and his eyes were full of admiration for Mo Yuming.
Just then, Lord Zhang, who had been standing aside observing coldly, looked at the generals filing out of the mansion and trembled with rage. He pointed at them and began to curse them uncontrollably:
"You! You ungrateful bastards... traitors and rebels! You dare to betray me... dare to... sell out..."
Overwhelmed by anger, his words became fragmented and even somewhat incoherent.
"Hmph! Lord Zhang, even now, do you still not repent? If you hadn't been so cunning and ruthless, oppressing the people and committing all sorts of evil deeds, incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, how could you have ended up like this today? It's all your own fault!"
The leading general retorted without backing down, his eyes filled with righteous indignation.
Mo Yuming walked toward Lord Zhang, who was already paralyzed with fear on the ground.
"Don't kill me... I'm a cousin of the Marquis. If you kill me, it will definitely cause trouble. You... I'll give you as much money as you want, please spare my life!"
Lord Zhang stared in terror at Mo Yuming as he approached, his body trembling involuntarily, a pungent stench of urine emanating from his groin.
"Look at your pathetic state! When you were so arrogant and domineering, why didn't you know how to restrain yourself? Now it's too late to be afraid!"
Mo Yuming covered his nose and quickly backed away, glancing at him with disdain before turning and leaving.
"Hey, you there, hurry up and clean up this mess, and get some water to wash it down. It stinks!"
As Mo Yuming walked, he spoke to the soldiers.
"Young Master, rest assured, we will handle this matter thoroughly!"
The soldiers exclaimed excitedly in unison.
A hundred feet outside the city, ten catapults lined up in a row, like ten ferocious beasts, were slowly hurling stones at the city wall, but then they came to an abrupt stop.
The defensive array outside the city wall closed like a tightly shut gate, and the heavy city gate slowly opened, as if a sleeping giant was slowly awakening.
Inside the city gate, General Sun walked out carrying the head of the garrison commander as if it were a bloody trophy. Jiang Yuheng and Chief Steward Zhang hurriedly went to greet him.
From the start to the end of the battle, in less than half an hour, Jiang Yuheng's troops only managed to throw a pile of stones outside the city gate, failing to even break a single brick in the wall.
The atmosphere in the yamen was as if shrouded in a thick, eerie fog, making it hard to breathe.
A seemingly harmless teenager, wearing a golden mask, sat lazily in the lobby like a lazy cat, casually looking at the decorations inside.
The dozen or so officials, of all ranks, stood in a line inside the hall like lambs to the slaughter, trembling with fear. They were tormented by the inexplicable pressure emanating from the depths of the hall, so frightened that they dared not even breathe.
This subtle pressure was an invisible force field emanating from cultivators of profound arts who were at least many times higher than them. It was like countless invisible mountains pressing down on their heads, threatening to crush them to pieces at any moment.
Many people, due to their lower cultivation level, were unable to resist the oppressive aura. Their faces turned as pale as paper, their legs trembled like leaves, and they involuntarily broke out in a cold sweat, as if they were in an ice cellar.
Many of them had never seen such a powerful figure since birth. The Heavenly Rank and above were heights they dared not even dream of, like stars in the sky, unattainable.
An elderly man, resembling a butler, stood at the desk, speaking calmly and deliberately to the officials before him:
"...This city is now firmly under the control of our young master, and those few heinous criminals have been completely eliminated."
Whether you stay or leave is entirely up to you. Those who leave will not be forced to, but they must keep their promises!
Those who remain must be wholeheartedly loyal to the young master, and must not feign loyalty while exploiting the people! If they harbor any disloyalty, they will serve as a warning to you!
As the old man spoke, he pointed to the several bloodied heads at his feet. Those heads, with their eyes wide open and faces contorted in rage, were those of their former superiors—the city lord and several of his trusted henchmen.
Although the original city lord's Xuan Gong level was not very high, he had still reached the third level of the Earth Rank martial artist realm, which was already a rare existence in this remote little city.
The few trusted men who followed him were all highly skilled, and they were all unharmed yesterday. Some of them had even been drinking and having fun with him last night.
However, this morning, they were all found dead without a sound, which was utterly incomprehensible to these officials who were used to living a life of luxury.
They were terrified, standing there trembling, feeling a chill on their necks as if an invisible blade was hanging overhead.
No sooner had the old steward finished speaking than a large number of people immediately swore an oath to the heavens, expressing their utmost loyalty to Mo Yuming and vowing to have no disloyalty whatsoever.
On this fantastical continent, oaths of the soul hang like the Sword of Damocles, and no one dares to make them lightly.
Once a vow is made, it is as if one is tightly bound by the chains of fate, with no way to go back on one's word. If one goes against it, the backlash will be like a raging torrent, causing brain damage and turning one into an idiot at best; at worst, it will cost one's life and lead to eternal damnation.
Therefore, Mo Yuming would immediately restore the freedom of those who made the vows of divine souls, and would appease and reward them, like a gentle spring breeze to win their hearts.
Only in this way can we make them willingly serve us; otherwise, even if they dare not act rashly, they are very likely to slack off.
In the end, except for one official who was too old and useless to stay behind, and who retired to his hometown, everyone else expressed their loyalty and said they were willing to stay and serve Mo Yuming.
After accepting the incorporation, Mo Yuming gave a brief instruction to the group of officials and then left a series of tedious matters, such as the takeover and investigation of the organization, to Steward Liu and the civilian officials.
He himself led a group of military officers to inspect various garrison positions as swiftly as the wind, and personally redeployed all garrison matters.
He reorganized and reorganized most of his elite troops, and transferred the troops that were originally stationed to guard the direction of the Valley of Heartbreak to the city defense facing the inland pass. At the same time, he strengthened the fortifications there as if reinforcing a fortress.
As for Sun Min, the newly surrendered adjutant, Mo Yuming kept him by his side. Mo Yuming had just seized control of the city through extraordinary means, and he believed that news of this would spread like wildfire.
In this world, although the major powers have a fixed structure, their governance is like a loose sand dune, with most of the land being divided up by various vassal states like hungry wolves.
However, under the protection of the great powers, the various vassal states were like a pack of restless wolves, often waging bloody wars over the struggle for land.
However, such localized wars between opposing sides are already commonplace. Unless it's a conflict between two major powers, they generally won't go to war over it.
However, even so, Mo Yuming dared not slacken his efforts in the slightest. After all, to him now, even the smallest vassal state was like a towering mountain.
In terms of sheer numbers, the army must number at least several hundred thousand, far beyond what his mere tens of thousands of soldiers could possibly contend with.
In other words, the feudal lord who owns this city will be like a fierce tiger protecting its cubs, and will never sit idly by while his land is taken away by others. He will definitely send troops to suppress the rebellion.
Therefore, it is imperative for Mo Yuming to consolidate and strengthen his own power. Unlike the defenses of the Valley of Heartbreak, which rely on natural barriers and are like an impregnable fortress, requiring only a small number of people to block most attacks.
This area is already on the edge of the mountain range. Although the army cannot yet advance directly into the pass, it can already be stationed near the pass like a tide and engage in large-scale battles.