Huo Yan was determined to execute his political enemies and eliminate them root and branch, so the major influential families were naturally not going to sit around waiting for death.

Led by the Liang family of Anding, to which Grand Tutor Liang Gong belonged, six major influential families united to distribute a manifesto denouncing Huo Yan across all provinces and commanderies. They rapidly assembled a force of three hundred thousand troops and marched toward Luoyang.

Once the news spread, people from all over the realm flocked to respond. By the time the anti-Huo coalition reached Sishui Pass, the allied forces claimed to have a strength of one million men.

Upon receiving the battle report, Huo Yan wasted no words. He immediately proclaimed to the realm on behalf of the Emperor that Liang Gong and the twenty odd court officials who had participated in the secret plot at the Grand Tutor’s estate that day were to have their entire clans executed for treason. He then sent those three thousand odd severed heads directly to the coalition’s camp, stating clearly that every person has a right to punish traitorous rebels. If the regional lords did not want to be implicated, they should disband their armies on the spot, and the imperial court would let bygones be bygones.

An uproar broke out within the coalition. After all, when the Liang family of Anding wrote the manifesto, they had not mentioned that Grand Tutor Liang Gong and the other officials were thrown into the imperial prison because they had secretly plotted deposition and installation.

Although the Yin Dynasty had been passed down to this day and the emperor sitting on the dragon throne had long been turned into a mere figurehead by the various influential families, imperial relatives, and powerful eunuchs, an emperor was still an emperor. As long as the Yin Dynasty had not been overthrown, whoever secretly plotted deposition and installation was indisputably a traitorous rebel. This fig leaf could not be ripped away, because the influential families and prominent clans valued reputation and morality above all else.

If Liang Gong and the others had been imprisoned and had their entire families executed by Huo Yan for some other matter, the coalition would have had an excuse to claim they were enforcing justice on behalf of heaven. But now, they were arrested for treason. The various coalition forces, which had just been brimming with murderous intent, suddenly found themselves completely stuck, trapped in an embarrassing dilemma where it was hard to advance or retreat.

Fortunately, the Liang family of Anding was deeply rooted with a vast number of talented individuals among its ranks, and they immediately came up with a counterstrategy. The Liang family members who had previously drafted the manifesto denouncing Huo Yan retorted, asking what right a traitorous rebel like Huo Yan had to put on airs. It was clearly you, a traitorous rebel, who first proposed the matter of deposition and installation, so what right do you have to use this excuse to attack others? Besides, what Grand Tutor Liang Gong secretly plotted was how to eliminate a treacherous and usurping minister like you. What virtues or capabilities do you possess, Huo Yan, to presume to put yourself on equal footing with the Emperor?

As for the matter of deposition and installation, the current ruler had been on the throne for less than two years, yet he was absurdly extravagant, sold official titles, competed with the commoners for profit, lost the etiquette befitting an emperor, and disrupted the systems of the Yin Dynasty. They fabricated thousands of charges against Yin Shuhuai. Finally, they stated that after eliminating the treacherous minister, the officials of the court would naturally guide the Emperor on how to be a wise and sagacious ruler. If the Emperor stubbornly refused to come to his senses, then the civil and military officials, who lived off the stipends of the Yin Dynasty, could not sit by and watch a foolish ruler bring ruin to the country.

Probably because the causes of death for the previous emperors of the Yin Dynasty were far too bizarre, the imperial family had already lost more than half of its dignity. When such a treasonous political essay spread throughout the realm, surprisingly few people found anything wrong with it. In fact, quite a few scholars expressed deep sympathy for Grand Tutor Liang Gong’s fate, believing that Liang Gong was thoroughly loyal but had fallen victim to a treacherous minister.

Huo Yan naturally could not tolerate such public opinion running rampant. He immediately stated that anyone in the world had the right to criticize the Emperor for selling official titles and competing with the commoners for profit, except for Liang Gong. This was because Liang Gong’s title of Grand Tutor was personally conferred by His Majesty. Since the Liang family of Anding questioned His Majesty’s selling of official titles, could it be that Liang Gong also obtained his position as Grand Tutor by bribing His Majesty?

The Liang family of Anding could naturally not tolerate Huo Yan slinging mud at Liang Gong. This was not only because Liang Gong had already passed away, but more importantly because Liang Gong was a great master of classical studies and the leader of the Liang family of Anding. If they allowed Huo Yan to defame Liang Gong, where would the face of the Liang family of Anding be?

The Liang family of Anding could only stick to their claim that Liang Gong’s position as Grand Tutor was conferred because His Majesty respected his high prestige and moral character. Thus, Huo Yan had something else to say: His Majesty respected Liang Gong so much, yet Liang Gong secretly plotted deposition and installation instead of thinking about repaying his sovereign. Is he not completely deserving of his death?

A month had passed since Liang Gong’s plot was exposed. Both sides had assembled massive forces, confronting each other at Sishui Pass. Before the actual fighting had even begun, both sides had already traded round after round of verbal battles. Just at this moment, an urgent report arrived from the state of Yan.

No one knew if he had been inspired by Yin Shuhuai, but Shentu Yang actually used the excuse of releasing captives to demand ransoms from the major influential families. Furthermore, he made those sons of the influential families write letters home under the guise of captives to ask for money.

The major influential families, who were currently shouting curses at Sishui Pass, looked at the distress letters sent from Yan by their own sons and nephews. The letters clearly demanded grain, medicinal herbs, warhorses, armor, weapons, tents, and even private troops from their family elders, stating with absolute certainty that they were going to follow the Duke of Yan, Shentu Yang, to attack the Xiongnu and restore the glory of the Yin family. They hoped the family elders would give their full support.

The major influential families were left entirely speechless.

With things developing to this point, the various regional lords were actually in a rather awkward position.

First of all, no one could have anticipated that Grand Tutor Liang Gong and his faction would have their entire families executed on charges of treason. Even worse, before killing them, Huo Yan had already widely circulated everyone’s confessions. The evidence was ironclad, leaving no room for denial. This made the various regional lords who had joined in as followers look incredibly passive.

If they fought, it would be easy for Huo Yan to slap them with the label of rebellion. If they did not fight, it would be highly embarrassing to bring up the fact that the various regional lords had started something with such grand momentum only to retreat without a single battle. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the spendthrift sons of their families handed them an excellent excuse. Consequently, many people used the banner of preparing ransoms to save their sons and nephews to legitimately withdraw their forces.

There were also some regional lords who, despite having no sons or nephews captured, suddenly started worrying at this time about whether the northern tribes would take advantage of the void to march south. Thus, they hurriedly hurried away with their armies, beautifully claiming that they needed to rush back to guard their fiefs and would absolutely never let the northern tribes cross the line.

A subtle turn of events occurred. When Huo Yan, who was directing operations from Luoyang, heard about this matter, he actually submitted a memorial to the Emperor to promote that person to General Who Guards the West. The man had certainly not expected that he could actually gain a promotion and rank just by tagging along for a trip. Delighted beyond measure, he accepted the appointment and returned home happily.

With this back and forth, the morale of the entire coalition was completely shattered. The anti-Huo alliance, which had been so aggressive initially, disintegrated in an instant.

This excluded the seven major influential families who had first issued the manifesto. Things had reached a point where there was no turning back for them, so they could only harden their hearts and fight on.

However, Huo Yan came from a family of military commanders and had fought wars in his youth, even making the Xiongnu retreat repeatedly. He had even served as the Grand Marshal for several years, so how could he be an easy target? He had long ago dispatched his trusted generals to guard Sishui Pass. The seven major influential families, along with the minor regional lords allied with them, attacked outside Sishui Pass for over three consecutive months but failed to breach it.

Not only that, but the Liang family, the leader of the alliance, even had their own home base raided. The Liang family members far away in Anding were completely wiped out by the Governor of Yongzhou in collaboration with the local powerful clans. This was because for this military campaign against Huo Yan, most of the adult males of the Liang family had followed the clan to march on Luoyang, leaving only the old, weak, women, and children at home, who were slaughtered to the last person overnight.

After executing the entire Liang family, the Governor of Yongzhou quickly sent a letter to Luoyang to declare his loyalty to Huo Yan. In the letter, he implicitly indicated that he was willing to present one hundred million coins to the Emperor, requesting His Majesty to title him as a Marquis of the Interior.

This person had presumably been inspired by Shentu Yang and that General Who Guards the West, feeling that he could follow their example.

Huo Yan had no interest in the one hundred million coins, but he greatly appreciated the Governor of Yongzhou’s ability to recognize the trend of the times. He immediately ordered his servants to prepare a carriage so he could go to the imperial estate outside the city to find the Emperor.

It turned out that ever since Huo Yan fell out with the influential families and Yin Shuhuai failed to stop Huo Yan from slaughtering the innocent, the Emperor had been feeling thoroughly depressed and proposed to leave the palace to clear his mind.

Huo Yan could not stand Yin Shuhuai’s womanly compassion, yet for some reason, he actually agreed to Yin Shuhuai’s request. He ordered Commander of the Imperial Guards Dong Wan to lead three hundred imperial guards to escort His Majesty to the imperial estate to clear his mind.

Right now, it was the season for spring plowing. Just as the Emperor’s carriage entered the imperial estate, one could see tenant farmers dressed in coarse clothing driving long-handled plows pulled by two oxen working in the fields.

Two sturdy oxen pulled the massive, heavy plow frame as they walked slowly through the field, making turning around highly inconvenient.

Yin Shuhuai smacked his forehead. To think that since his time-travel, he had been diligently transporting modern technology, yet he had forgotten about the curved plow, an agricultural tool so simple yet capable of being used for over one thousand four hundred years.

Yin Shuhuai immediately summoned the Director of the Palace Workshops and explained to him the method for improving the plow into a curved plow.

This point had already been recorded in great detail in The Classic of Plowing written by Lu Guimong during the Tang Dynasty. One only needed to change the straight handle to a curved handle. Because the straight handle reached all the way to the oxen’s shoulders, whereas the curved handle only needed to connect to the plow chassis behind the oxen, it not only allowed turning around with complete freedom but also saved the labor of one ox, immensely improving the efficiency of plowing the land.

Yin Shuhuai drew the sketches of the curved plow for the Director of the Palace Workshops. The director was utterly amazed on the spot: “Your Majesty truly possesses talent that can manage the world. By making such a tiny modification, you can save the livestock power of one ox and make the plow frame so flexible. It can truly be called turning iron into gold.”

Yin Shuhuai waved his hand with a slight blush. That was not his achievement either. He was merely a transporter of advanced modern technology.

The commotion of the large group of people standing by the roadside talking disturbed the tenant farmers working in the fields. When they looked up and saw the Emperor’s carriage, they were instantly so terrified that they pulled back their hands and lowered their heads on the spot, not daring to move a muscle.

Yin Shuhuai said with a smile, “Carry on with whatever you were doing. I just came out to clear my mind. It would be bad if I ended up delaying your planting.”

The crowd looked at each other, and only after bowing to the Emperor did they naturally resume their farming with trembling fear.

Seeing this, Yin Shuhuai simply stepped down from the carriage and walked slowly along the paths between the fields.

Children in the distance saw how approachable the Emperor was and could not help but gather around to ask, “Are you the Emperor?”

Yin Shuhuai broke into a bright smile: “I am.”

In an instant, the group of children felt as if everything before their eyes had suddenly become radiant. They had never gone to school and did not understand flattering words; they only knew that the Emperor was the best-looking person they had ever seen.

A child of about seven or eight gathered his courage and said, “Your Majesty is truly beautiful.”

Yin Shuhuai burst out into a hearty laugh.

Seeing this, the others felt even more that the Emperor was incredibly kind.

“Mother said many people say bad things about Your Majesty. But Your Majesty took us in, gave us food to eat, gave us houses to live in, and let Father and Mother work at the coal yard and weave cloth with the new looms. How is Your Majesty bad?” A child asked in utter confusion, saying sadly, “Your Majesty is the best. On what grounds do they say Your Majesty is bad? We all think Your Majesty is good, so why does no one listen to us?”

Yin Shuhuai felt somewhat comforted, yet also somewhat surprised. He had been criticized by the influential families and nobles for so long that he was somewhat unaccustomed to suddenly hearing someone praise him.

He reached out to pat the child’s head and said gently, “Because those educated people know how to write essays. Their essays spread across the realm and shape public opinion, which naturally becomes the voice of the people.”

In this era, ordinary commoners were called the black-headed masses. In the eyes of the influential families and powerful clans, the black-headed masses were generally not considered human. Because they did not read books, did not study the classics, and did not know how to write essays, their voices naturally had no right to enter the ears of those in high positions.

The child’s face turned completely red with excitement, and he said loudly, “Then I want to learn to write essays too. When I grow up, I will write essays every day to praise Your Majesty as a good ruler.”

Yin Shuhuai was amused: “You want to study?”

The child nodded vigorously, and the other children followed suit.

Yin Shuhuai then said, “I can let you study. However, I only have eunuchs and palace maids available around me. Will it be alright to let these people teach you how to read?”

The children understood only half of it, but they nodded vigorously and said, “Whatever Your Majesty says is good is good.”

The Emperor was thoroughly delighted. Suddenly remembering something, he ordered Zhuang Wuwei, who had been waiting closely by his side, to fetch some malt candy to distribute to the children.

Once the children scattered happily in all directions, Yin Shuhuai stood by the roadside with his hands behind his back and asked calmly, “Did you arrange this?”

Zhuang Wuwei lowered his eyes and head, replying respectfully, “The Prime Minister arranged it.”

Just as the words left his mouth, a cloud of dust rose in the distance. It was actually Prime Minister Huo Yan riding over with a large group of imperial guards.