Yang Guang's ascension to the throne had an enormous impact, and it naturally drew the resentment of many.
Those who disliked Yang Guang were mostly members of powerful aristocratic families and civil and military officials. Among them, the people of Shandong and Hebei disliked him most of all.
After all, from Yang Guang's previous string of actions and the great many things he had done, it was already clear that he understood his duty as emperor and had found his historical mission: to go after the powerful aristocratic families of Shandong and Hebei.
Yang Guang was also relatively young and had grown up with remarkable ease. He lacked Yang Jian's skill at cultivating patience and winning people over, so although their goals were the same, their styles of conduct were bound to differ. Without question, Yang Guang would be far more direct.
This was the shared understanding of the powerful families.
Especially since Yang Guang had Duke of Danyang Wang Yan beneath him—a fiercely loyal and formidable general, a commander with brilliant achievements. This was also an important factor the great families had to take into account.
For more than ten years, Wang Yan had loyally followed Yang Guang. He had rendered tremendous service during Yang Guang's rise to power and was even the man with the greatest merits among Yang Guang's many subordinates.
Now that Yang Guang had taken the throne, the great families' long-standing suppression of Wang Yan naturally could no longer continue.
Yang Guang was, after all, the emperor. If he insisted on doing things his way, with Wang Yan beside him holding a blade, who would dare voice a different opinion? Besides, Wang Yan had followed Yang Guang for over a decade and had finally endured his way to this day. If Yang Guang did not