Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 551: Breaking through Taicheng
This breakout caused great damage to the morale of the defenders in Taicheng.

These thousand men were the most loyal troops to Xiao Yan. After sending such a wave of them away, the morale of the defenders became even lower.

To make matters worse, although there was enough food accumulated in Taicheng, there was not enough salt. Many grassroots soldiers had not eaten salt for a long time and could not even lift their weapons.

After sending away the last wave of elite troops, there were fewer people defending the city. The remaining soldiers had to guard the city longer and more walls, and their morale was close to collapse.

At this time Xiao Yan also realized that something was wrong. He ordered Zhu Yi to take out the treasures from the Taicheng treasury and distribute them to the soldiers, hoping to boost morale.

But it was too late now.

After annihilating these thousand elite troops, Heba Sheng immediately launched a psychological offensive.

He ordered his generals to stand in front of Taicheng and shout, reiterating that he was not rebelling but "clearing the court."

Heba Sheng once again narrowed the scope of the purge and set the target of liquidation as Zhu Yi alone.

Over the years, Zhu Yi, as a worm in Xiao Yan's stomach, was the one who proposed many policies that were detrimental to the country and the people.

Zhu Yi was in charge of the court and issued iron coins, plundering the people's property. He was already hated by everyone in Jiankang City.

Obviously, slogans such as "clear the imperial court" and "punish only the main culprit and ignore the accomplices" were very attractive to the approaching Taicheng defenders.

No one wants to continue defending this city.

Even Xiao Yan was a little tempted. If he killed Zhu Yi and passed the throne to his third son Xiao Gang, could he still be a retired emperor and enjoy his old age in peace?

Zhu Yi was also a smart man. He also realized the danger and immediately asked to see Xiao Yan.

Bian Ji looked at Zhu Yi and, to be fair, felt that this prime minister of Daliang did have some outstanding qualities, otherwise he would not have been able to run the government for so many years.

There are two types of treacherous ministers: capable and incompetent.

Most of the treacherous officials belong to the latter category. They are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything. Even the bad things they do are forming cliques for personal gain and harming loyal and good people.

But Zhu Yi obviously belonged to the former. Under his leadership, the court machine of Southern Liang operated at a terrifying speed, madly exploiting and extorting the people. In just a few years, it had drained away all the wealth accumulated by Southern Liang over the past few decades when it replaced Qi.

It was precisely this ability to make money that made Xiao Yan dependent on him.

It’s just that parasites like Zhu Yi never thought that when they sucked too much blood and the host was about to die, no matter how powerful they were, they would end up being destroyed together with the host.

Bian Ji did not listen to the conversation between the monarch and his minister. When Zhu Yi came out of the palace, one could guess from his expression that he had persuaded Xiao Yan.

"Grandmaster."

Zhu Yi stopped and spoke respectfully to Bian Ji.

Bian Ji raised his head, and Zhu Yi said seriously:
"Over the years, I have never asked the master to predict my future. Today, I would like to ask the master to predict my future for me."

Bian Ji sighed, clasped his hands together and said:

"Mr. Zhu is very smart, doesn't he know his own fate?"

Zhu Yi's face was ugly, and Bian Ji said:
"If you prosper with this, you will die with it."

"Without the skin, where will the hair attach to?"

"Mr. Zhu should understand these principles."

Zhu Yi staggered and said to Bian Ji:

"Thank you, Master."

Bian Ji watched Zhu Yi leave in a daze, and listened to the sound of Xiao Yan anxiously reciting Buddhist scriptures in the palace. He felt that this group of ministers from Southern Liang was so boring.

The next day, Heba Sheng attacked the city again. This time, the soldiers defending the city had lost the will to resist. When Heba Sheng personally climbed up the city wall, the morale of the defenders collapsed and Taicheng was lost.

When Taicheng was lost, Zhu Yi poisoned all the dozen people who had taken refuge in Taicheng and committed suicide by falling on his sword. Heba Sheng, wearing armor, strode to the front of Xiao Yan's palace.

He saw Bian Ji in a white robe. The deputy general behind him was about to step forward and kill Bian Ji, but was stopped by Heba Sheng.

Heba Sheng had heard of Bian Ji's reputation and knew that he had inherited the "Secret Technique of Fotucheng", so he asked:
"Master, I heard that you can make decisions, so why couldn't you help that Bodhisattva Xiao avoid harm and seek good fortune?"

The soldiers also looked at Bian Ji with teasing eyes.

Bian Ji shook his head and said:

"The methods for making a country prosperous have all been written in books by the sages, but Your Majesty has not listened to them. No matter how good the monks are at judging things, they cannot compare to the sages of ancient times."

Hearing Bian Ji's answer, Heba Sheng put away his contempt. He simply asked his men to take Bian Ji away and walked into the palace.

Heba Sheng did not dare to kill this great monk who was famous in the Northern Dynasty in his early years.

If he really has supernatural powers, wouldn’t that bring trouble to myself?

Heba Sheng strode towards the palace. This was the first time he met Xiao Yan, the Bodhisattva Emperor, since he arrived in the Southern Dynasty.

When he led his troops to surrender, Heba Sheng never imagined that he would meet the emperor of Southern Liang under such circumstances.

He couldn't help feeling proud.

A failed coup is a rebellion, while a successful coup is a purge of the emperor's court.

Heba Sheng straddled his sword and strode up the steps of Jiankang Palace. Looking at the carved jade pillars, he could not help but sigh that the Southern Dynasty was indeed prosperous.

Then Heba Sheng spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm. Wasn’t it that such a wealthy Southern Liang was besieged in Taicheng and the Jiankang Palace was conquered by him?
That's all!

Heba Sheng strode into the Jiankang Palace, and the soldiers behind him followed him forward. The armor collided with each other, making the sound of golden swords.

The palace servants in Jiankang Palace all knelt on both sides in fear, and no one even came out to defend the emperor's dignity.

Heba Sheng was even more disdainful. He walked quickly into the palace. In the gloomy palace, there were only a few candles lit in the corner.

Taicheng was already extremely short of fuel, and no one knew where these candles came from.

Xiao Yan sat listlessly on the imperial couch. He changed out of the Shu brocade monk robe given by Xiao Yi and put on the dragon robe which he had not worn for a long time, trying to regain some of the emperor's majesty.

But he was already old, and there was a shortage of salt in Taicheng these days, so Xiao Yan also felt a little weak in his limbs.

Xiao Yan also tried to see Heba Sheng clearly, but there was too little candlelight in the palace, and Xiao Yan's eyes were already blurry. The light behind Heba Sheng obscured his face, so Xiao Yan finally gave up.

"Who is coming?"

Heba Sheng said with full energy:

"The surrendered general Heba Sheng."

"Since you are a surrendered general, why did you rebel?"

"It's not a rebellion, it's a purge of the emperor's entourage."

Xiao Yan had heard the news of Zhu Yi's death, and he said:

"The traitor you wanted to purge has been executed, why don't you withdraw your troops?"

Heba Sheng also said calmly:

"Your Majesty is old, so you should pass the throne to the Third Prince."

Xiao Yan patted the armrest of the imperial couch, trying to make himself look more dignified, and said:
"A mere surrendered general! How dare you interfere in government affairs?"

(End of this chapter)