Lin'an.

Sima Hao overturned the table in front of him to the ground. His eyes were red and crazy like wild beasts. The war in Suzhou City had already come, but his beloved eldest son Sima Lang died at the hands of the royal army.

The former Chu King's Mansion was full of wealthy families from all over the State of Chu. They looked at Sima Lang and waited for his decision because Li Chuyuan's order had arrived in Lin'an.

He announced that he would give up the throne of King Chu, obey the mission of royal unification, and from then on, he would be in harmony with the light and be managed by the court.

"Li Chuyuan, the prince, betrayed the old King of Chu and all of us. Now they are just a puppet of Xiao Ming. Now we can no longer believe him, we can only rely on ourselves." Sima Hao said word by word.

"What should we do now?" asked a wealthy family worriedly. "Now the royal army has occupied Suzhou, Songjiang River and Jiaxing, and the land near the Yangtze River has fallen. After they rest, the next step will definitely be Lin'an."

"Yes, all 80,000 soldiers were disintegrated. Now we can only mobilize more than 90,000 troops. How can we resist Xiao Ming's 100,000 army? What's more, some people have followed Li Chuyuan's order and surrendered to Xiao Ming."

"Hmph, surrenders are all generals from the untouchables, what are you worried about?" A wealthy clan said disdainfully. He said to Sima Hao: "Sir Changshi, from the beginning to the end, Xiao Ming has planned to destroy our Chu State. Now his only hope is that we all join the Merchant Parliament, so that we can still have the status of a parliamentarian. If the Merchant Parliament is established, we will still maintain our wealth and status. But this Xiao Ming is different. Look at the north. Now all the wealthy clans have become ordinary people, and at most they have retained some money. The court is equivalent to uprooting the wealthy clans for thousands of years."

Sima Hao lowered his head and remained silent when he heard this.

The man continued, "What's more, Cao Kun is supported by Westerners now, and the Green Dragon King is helping him. This Green Dragon King is still capable. He has gathered a large number of troops and has a great momentum. Now he promises that the people in the south will share the land and not pay food, which has won the hearts of many people."

"Hahaha..." Sima Hao suddenly laughed a few times, and he suddenly said coldly: "Yao Bin, I have long suspected that you had secretly interacted with the Merchant Council. I didn't expect that it was true. You are now bewitching people's hearts, so where is your intention!"

Yao Bin was not panicked, but looked calm. He said to Sima Hao: "Speaker Cao Kun asked me to thank the Changshi. If the Changshi had not opened a network, the parliament would not have withdrawn from Suzhou City so smoothly."

As soon as these words came out, the rich people in the hall immediately discussed, and their eyes changed when they looked at Sima Hao.

Sima Hao's face darkened. From the beginning, he had not completely believed in Xiao Ming. If it weren't for Li Chuyuan's name, he wouldn't have even allowed the royal army to enter the territory of Chu.

When the Royal Army took over the two cities of Songjiang and Jiaxing, which they had not taken for several months, he was panicked because he was worried that he would attack them after Xiao Ming's parliamentary army.

So I started to play with both hands and put some of my bets on the merchants' council. Now it seems that this decision is very correct.

Sima Hao's expression was seen by Yao Bin, and he said: "Sir Changshi, Speaker Cao Kun also said that if Sir Changshi is willing to join the parliament, he will welcome him at any time and is willing to give him a position as deputy Speaker."

Then he turned to face the other wealthy families and said, "Brothers, for the sake of this plan, we can only save our lives by surrendering to the parliament. In fact, the Merchant Council protects the interests of the big merchants and wealthy families. In the future, we will not only not lose anything, but will also gain more rights through legislation."

The rich families were slightly moved, and Yao Bin's words reached their hearts.

Sima Hao's expression also eased at this time, and he said to Yao Bin: "Long live the Merchant Council, I will join the Merchant Council on behalf of the Sima family."

"Our Sun family also joined."

"The Dong family also joined."

“…”

After Sima Hao, the wealthy families expressed their opinions one after another.

Yao Bin smiled and said loudly: "No further ado, now we will gather all the troops and new troops. If nothing unexpected happens, the Royal Army will soon go south. Before they go south, we will build fortifications around Lin'an and drag the Royal Army here. Only in this way can the parliamentary army have a chance to gain a foothold in the south."

Sima Hao nodded, and he said, "Our rich family has been passed down for thousands of years and has always been in peace with the courts of all dynasties. However, Xiao Ming wants to destroy our foundation and distribute our land and wealth to the people. How can we bear it? Everyone fights with him. Even if we can't win, we will still drag him out. When the barbarians in the north recover, it will be the time for us to attack from north to south."

Yao Bin nodded with satisfaction. Not long after he returned from Europe, Chu State changed like this. This made him very excited and felt that what he learned in Europe could finally be useful.

In the past two years in Europe, his psychology also changed drastically. The prosperity and strength of Europe made him envious, which made him believe in the correct establishment of the Merchant Parliament.

...

In Suzhou City, Xiao Mingzheng and Li San mark the current position of the parliamentary army on the map. After the war began, the secret guards poured into the south to collect intelligence.

Lying on the map, the strong smell of ink came to my nose. This is not a hand-drawn map, but a mimeographed map.

In order to facilitate war and exploration, Xiao Ming asked the printing factory to carve several versions of maps, which ranged from simple to complex, including simple world maps, as well as local prefectures and county maps, minerals, water conservancy, oceans, and ocean current maps.

Except for some of these maps to be used for culture and education, most of them will be used for military and exploration.

Lin Youde is now retreating south with the parliamentary army. Before he leaves, he leaves the decision of the merchants' parliament, and they will gain a foothold here, here and here."

While talking, Li San pointed to the location on the map.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly. In modern times, these places are divided into Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other regions, while Chu State includes parts of southern Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and eastern Jiangxi.

Now he has conquered Suzhou, Songjiang, and Jiaxing, which is equivalent to taking over the southern Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Jiaxing in Zhejiang. This is only part of the Chu State, and most of the land is under the control of Sima Hao.

"The old fox Cao Kun is not an ordinary character, and there is probably someone behind him to give me some advice. All his actions are now carried out in an orderly manner." Xiao Ming pondered.
Chapter completed!