Grand Tutor 013

Unexpectedly, upon learning that Jianxi had dispatched troops, Fang Zhiyi merely had people spread the news. Then, he spent the whole day chatting with a group of commoners about their daily lives, followed by sending out various family letters and oral messages.

As a result, when the Jianxi army arrived, the imagined battle did not occur. Instead, the city gates were wide open, and many commoners stretched their necks to watch from the entrance. Zhao Wu's palms were sweating as he gripped his sword. But soon, many people from the army rushed over, turning the scene into a massive family reunion.

"Father, Mother!!"

"Second Uncle!"

"Uncle! It's me, Uncle!"

"Wife! Is this our Xiao Huzi?"

Meanwhile, the few young nobles leading the army had long been tied up and brought out.

It was only then that Zhao Wu understood Grand Tutor Fang's words. Soldiers are made of flesh and blood. If they were fighting foreign enemies, they would give their all even at the cost of their lives. But if the enemy was their own hometown elders, who could raise their swords?

"Attacking a city is the lowest strategy; attacking the heart is the highest," Fang Zhiyi had said.

What followed was the bloodless capture of Jianxi. It went so smoothly that Zhao Wu found it somewhat surreal. However, looking at the excited faces of the commoners, he suddenly thought of his own family.

What if... no, there were no what ifs.

Following the same procedure as in Zhangye Commandery, Fang Zhiyi continued to have the little emperor make his presence known every day, upholding justice and opening the granaries to distribute food. Watching the little emperor transform from a frail and weak figure into someone with tanned skin and a visibly healthier body, Zhao Wu and the others no longer found Fang Zhiyi's seemingly disrespectful behavior strange.

If it were anyone else, they probably would not have made it this far.

The news of the emperor being in Jianxi also spread. However, this news meant two completely different things to the ears of the noble families and the common people.

The noble families, accustomed to arrogance, completely dismissed the role the commoners could play. Instead, they were all calculating how to squeeze every ounce of value out of this emperor. This gave Fang Zhiyi immense room to maneuver.

There were no complicated maneuvers. He merely had people publicize what the emperor had done in Zhangye Commandery and Jianxi, emphasizing the phrase "Long live the people." Immediately after, he played the relationship card, having commoners send family letters to their relatives in the surrounding armies.

It must be known that whether it was the private armies of the noble families or the garrison troops nominally belonging to the imperial court, they had long been mostly corrupted by the manipulations of the Guo and Huang families. Bullying ordinary soldiers and embezzling military pay were common occurrences. Therefore, when the family letters arranged by Fang Zhiyi arrived, morale in these armies wavered, and results were seen very quickly.

In the army of Jinyang Commandery, a soldier first killed the superior who oppressed him and fled with dozens of others. After the matter blew up, the local officials chose to handle it with forceful suppression and collective punishment, which resulted in a military mutiny.

Jinyang Commandery directly surrendered to the little emperor. Soon after, several neighboring commanderies and counties followed suit. Even if there was resistance, it was merely symbolic. This was because the little emperor's army was very strange. Wherever they went, they did not fight first; instead, they had a row of people step forward to identify their relatives. As a result, they all turned out to be family. Why fight? If they had to fight, they could only fight outsiders. Who were the outsiders? The officials living lives of luxury in the city were outsiders, and the masters of the noble families were outsiders.

Now, Lin Shucheng and the others admired Fang Zhiyi with utmost reverence. He had hardly exerted any effort yet had taken over so much territory. However, Fang Zhiyi still instructed the little emperor, "You all thought I said the people are the foundation just to seize power, but you are wrong. This is something you must do in earnest, not just put on a show."

The little emperor nodded seriously. Under Fang Zhiyi's arrangement, he did not rush to crusade against any rebels. Instead, in the commanderies and counties he had taken, he began to implement policies of reducing corvee labor and taxes, building water conservancy projects, and encouraging agriculture. Furthermore, he severely punished the misdeeds of local officials and the wicked servants of noble families, returning the seized lands to the commoners.

After these things were done, the commoners were deeply grateful, and many eagerly joined the army. Some even volunteered to gather intelligence from other places for them. Fang Zhiyi took it upon himself to change his title, giving himself the moniker of Great General, and surprisingly, no one objected.

Especially after he single-handedly took down Zhao Wu, Lin Shucheng and the others looked left and right, completely forgetting the fact that they had just opposed it.

The sudden rise of the little emperor's forces surprised the warring noble families. Among them, Guo Siwei, who had already proclaimed himself emperor, was furious. He immediately ordered the border army back, attempting to settle the realm in one fell swoop. However, he was held back by the remnant forces of the Huang family. The two families already had a feud, and after his massive purges, the situation between them had become a fight to the death. For the time being, he had no way to deal with the little emperor and Fang Zhiyi.

Some noble families also tried to imitate the little emperor's strategy, driving commoners to the front lines when clashing with Fang Zhiyi. But they never expected that the young Son of Heaven would possess such extraordinary courage, daring to ride out alone and stand between the two armies.

"If you want to kill, kill me! Do not harm a single commoner!"

The noble families continuously urged the soldiers to fire their arrows, but the soldiers lowered their raised bows one after another. They watched as the enemy forces kindly took in the commoners who had been driven forward as cannon fodder, and then looked at the emperor sitting on his horse in the middle of the battlefield. Who would dare shoot the emperor? That was the emperor!!!

Of course, because of this, Lin Shucheng and the others scolded the mastermind, Fang Zhiyi, dozens of times. Unfortunately, the little emperor, Li Yunzhi, truly trusted his Grand Tutor unconditionally.

These noble families did not know that their actions would only raise the morale of the little emperor's army higher and make them even angrier.

This also resulted in the private armies of the noble families collapsing at the first encounter in subsequent battles. The soldiers had no will to fight and instead surrendered on their own initiative.

By the time Guo Siwei completely crushed the Huang family's forces and turned his attention back, he discovered that more than half of the country's territory had already fallen into the little emperor's hands. Those noble families with whom he had countless ties had either their homes confiscated and clans exterminated by Fang Zhiyi, or had fled with their entire families. Fang Zhiyi, a mere Grand Tutor, had now become the nightmare of the noble families.

Furthermore, what baffled him the most was that the little emperor, who had conquered this massive territory, had hardly fought any tough battles. It could even be said that he had not seen any blood!

Guo Siwei was confused, but he was not afraid. He still had hundreds of thousands of border troops in his hands, enough for him to reclaim his empire.

However, he overlooked one thing: a man like Fang Zhiyi would never give him too many opportunities to maneuver.

"Disaster, Your Majesty! Disaster!" a eunuch shouted as he rushed in.

"Bastard! You are the disaster!"

"Your, Your Majesty! General Guo, General Guo was killed by Vice General Ma! Vice General Ma has taken eighty thousand troops and surrendered to the former dynasty's emperor!"

"What!"

"And, and... General Yuwen, who was originally heading south to crusade against the rebels, has changed his line of march and is heading toward the capital!"

Guo Siwei slumped heavily onto the dragon throne. "How could this be? What does he want to do?"

"According to the spies' reports, he, he is shouting, Eliminate the false emperor, restore the true lineage!"

Guo Siwei's eyes turned bloodshot. "Do they really think my Guo family is that easy to bully?"