Chapter 245: Joy in Helping Others
An uprising of displaced people occurred almost every few decades. The State of Ye was frequently prone to drought. When times were bad and many people starved, there would be some who didn't understand the truth of the world and wanted to "pull the Emperor down from his horse." But Lu Zhengyang knew that Daoist Orthodoxy and Sword Sect would not allow a large-scale popular rebellion within the State of Ye, and he also knew that the promise from the White Yama King meant that Great Ye's national destiny would certainly be long-lasting.
Therefore, he first sent troops to suppress it. Suppressing while placating, killing some and providing relief to others, the rebellion would ultimately disappear without a trace.
However, six months later, Lu Zhengyang received news—the displaced people who had risen up had not only failed to vanish but had instead grown in strength!
At that time, the officials throughout the State of Ye also knew that these displaced people could not shake the foundation of the state, so they concealed the true extent layer by layer, unconcerned. There was no precedent for such a thing in thousands of years of history, so how could it happen now in the State of Ye?
Thus, the rebel forces now numbered forty thousand, occupying the territory of six provinces.
The leader of the rebels, surnamed Song, was named Song Dengke. His hometown was a county called Qingyang, and after occupying the six provinces, he openly declared himself Emperor—with the state name, Qing.
The Emperor finally grew anxious and sought help from Daoist Orthodoxy and Sword Sect. But the Taoist priest in Wei Capital only said he would report back to his Sect, and then later said that the Emperor could resolve such a matter himself—it was merely forty thousand, what was there to fear?
Another three months passed like this.
The matter became even more serious—the rebel army had actually captured another six provinces and eighteen prefectures, occupying nearly one-third of the State of Ye. Reports from the front lines stated that the rebel army was even aided by demons and people skilled in Daoist Arts, and the Ye Dynasty's government troops were no match at all.