Iron Dynasty

Chapter 1095

The air seemed to have solidified.

Luo Hong stared at Luo Xin, who was giving the order, in disbelief. He then roared furiously, “How dare you! I am the head of the Luo family. As a member of the Luo family, you dare to defy the words of your patriarch? Do you want to be expelled from the Luo family?”

“Elder Brother, if Father were here, he would also support me. The era of the Great Yu Empire has passed, and the era of the powerful families has also passed. The Empire today belongs to millions of its people, regardless of gender, age, or social status. We have been following this principle for so many years with the Emperor.”

As Luo Xin was speaking, the guards outside the door had already rushed in, their muzzles all aimed at Luo Hong.

After failing to persuade him, Luo Hong painfully closed his eyes. His trip to Yizhou this time was a lie. His real purpose was to persuade Luo Xin.

Although Ge Yiren’s matter had forced him to act earlier, he finally understood one thing: this action was doomed to fail from the start.

“Come on, take me to Qingzhou. In this way, you, Luo Xin, will have achieved another great merit. From now on, the position of patriarch of the Luo family will also be yours. How perfect.”

With a few cold sneers, Luo Hong spread his hands, making a gesture of surrendering to the soldiers.

Luo Xin’s heart was also in turmoil at this time. Luo Hong was, after all, his elder brother. It was easy to say the words ‘upholding justice over family ties,’ but it was extremely difficult to do.

However, if he did not do this, the Luo family would face a catastrophe. Just as Luo Hong said, the request for him to go to Qingzhou for a military conference was a test.

When it came to rebellion, no emperor would condone rebels. Even if he hesitated for a few nights and went a few days later, he would surely be impeached by other officials.

“Elder Brother, you were confused about this matter. When we return to Qingzhou, I will plead with the Emperor for you. Your younger brother believes that you were merely misled by treacherous people.” Luo Xin said with difficulty.

Luo Hong’s heart was disheartened. “Since you chose Xiao Ming over me, why are you still saying such ridiculous things? Don’t you know Xiao Ming’s temper? Never mind, there’s no need to say any more. This is probably my fate.”

Luo Xin’s heart was even more pained when he heard this, but he had no other choice. He knew very well that only by capturing Luo Hong could this incident be contained to the smallest possible extent.

Nodding deeply, Luo Xin said with a trembling voice, “Take Luo Hong away. He will be escorted to Qingzhou tomorrow.”

With a response, the guards took Luo Hong out of the room.

At this time, Luo Xin sat down dejectedly. The struggle for power made him feel a chilling cold for the first time. It was precisely for this reason that he dared not take a single wrong step, because below a high position was an abyss.

…

Qingzhou.

Xiao Ming was reading telegrams from the secret guards in various places. Li San was by Xiao Ming’s side. His office had now been temporarily moved to the side hall of the Imperial Study.

“Your Majesty, the impact of Ge Yiren’s arrest is expanding. Many nobles are now restless, but they all seem to be waiting for something?” Li San said.

Xiao Ming’s gaze fell to the southwest. He said, “They are waiting for news of Luo Hong, because they know that without the support of the army, it is impossible for them to force me to accept a shared rule over the country.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Qian Dafu rushed over and handed two telegrams to Xiao Ming.

“Your Majesty, Luo Xin has sent a telegram. He has detained Luo Hong in Yizhou and will escort Luo Hong to Qingzhou tomorrow.” Qian Dafu said with a smile. The attitude of Luo Xin was clearly the most important thing to everyone.

This was because once the Southwest Army rebelled, the Empire would probably fall into a chaotic mess. However, they were not worried about defeat. After all, the military factories were concentrated in the north.

The conflict might be a stalemate at the beginning, but in the long run, the Southwest Army would surely be defeated. But in that case, the result of fighting each other would also weaken the Empire’s strength.

“I said that this Luo Xin, although he has a bit of a temper, can still think clearly when it comes to big issues.”

Xiao Ming’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed. His worries were different from Qian Dafu’s, because he knew that even if Luo Xin was determined to rebel, he would not be able to cause much trouble.

The position of the Empire’s chief scribe had its own system. The position seemed to be of low rank, but in fact, it held a lot of power. If a military region were to make a mistake, the chief scribe would immediately report it to the General Staff. After receiving his authorization, the chief scribe could dismiss the commander.

He was worried that he would have no choice but to take action against Luo Xin at that point.

“That’s right. As long as the army does not make a move, there will be no major chaos in the Empire this time. But it seems that a small commotion is unavoidable,” Qian Dafu said, glancing at the other telegram.

Xiao Ming’s smile turned cold after he read this telegram. He said to Li San, “The secret guards in Lin’an said that Ren He’s family has already fled, and they also found that many people on the list have also fled. These people include officials, factory workers, and students in the academies. This Ren He sent a telegram before he was caught, and this telegram might be the signal for them to flee.”

Li San’s expression also became solemn. He said, “If that is the case, we should immediately set up checkpoints to arrest them. If these people were to go overseas and be used by the Europeans, wouldn’t that be detrimental to the Empire?”

“When Ren He was arrested, I had already ordered the security offices in various places to take action. But this top-down rectification will probably create more people who harbor deep hatred for the Empire.” Xiao Ming sighed.

For some people, all they cared about was their own interests, and they didn’t care about the country or the world. Anyone who went against their interests was their enemy.

This time, whether it was the remnants of the Merchant Parliament or people like Ge Yiren, they would all harbor a deep hatred for him. Once they had a chance, they would surely flee to the enemy’s side and slander the Empire in various ways.

But after sitting on the throne for so many years, he had also gradually come to understand that when a policy was implemented, it would benefit some people and inevitably harm others. He could not satisfy everyone.

Thinking of this, he said to Li San, “Since Luo Xin has already made his stance clear, let’s take action. Immediately arrest everyone involved in this matter, and go all out to hunt down the remnants of the Merchant Parliament.” Xiao Ming said in a cold voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Li San was waiting for these words. With a response, he turned and walked out.

After seeing Li San off, Xiao Ming said to Qian Dafu, “It’s time to announce the news of the Cao family father and son’s capture to the world. I want the world to see the fate of these traitors.”

Qian Dafu smiled. “It is said that the Qingzhou newspaper agency now has something that can print a person’s image on paper. It would be best to use this to show the whole world what these traitors look like.”

Xiao Ming smiled. The thing Qian Dafu was talking about was the camera, which had been recently equipped to the newspaper agency. Now, he only needed to read the newspaper to know about small gadgets like cameras and no longer had to specifically ask.

After all, with the progress of industry, there would only be more and more of these small gadgets with nineteenth-century technology.