"That's right! Your Majesty, please give me an edict to punish yourself!"
"Hand over the command of the city guard!"
Twelve nobles echoed in unison, and their voices shook the beams of the hall.
Xue Qinghe was sitting on the throne of the prince, with no trace of panic on his face. He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then slowly said, "The old prime minister's words are serious. Heaven Dou City's chaos, It's not that I condone it, but that the mob was deceived by traitors and mistakenly thought that all outsiders were Otherworldly Visitors. The reason why I did not suppress them forcefully was because I was afraid of intensifying conflicts and causing more casualties."
"Huh! What you say is better than what you sing!" A Duke snorted coldly, "Since His Highness has a way to put down the rebellion, why is it that Heaven Dou City is still in chaos after three days? I think His Highness is simply incompetent!"
"Is this prince incompetent?" Xue Qinghe put down the tea cup, his eyes suddenly turned cold, "Then I dare to ask Duke Li, who spread rumors in his fiefdom three days ago, saying that the magistrate of the neighboring county is Otherworldly Visitors, and then led private soldiers to loot the county government office in the neighboring county and killed the county magistrate and his family? Who else annexed three Earl fiefdoms in the name of eliminating Otherworldly Visitors?"
Duke Li's face instantly turned pale, and he staggered back a step. "You... you're talking nonsense! I didn't!"
"No?" Xue Qinghe sneered and clapped his hands.
Two guards in black escorted a housekeeper who was all injured and walked in. The housekeeper also held a ledger in his hand.
"Your Majesty the Crown Prince, I am the steward of Li Duke's Mansion. Duke Li ordered me to do the ransacking of the neighboring county office and the murder of the county magistrate's family three days ago! This is the account book of Duke Li's annexation of other noble fiefs, and it has his autograph on it!" The steward knelt on the ground and said with a trembling voice.
The guard presented the account book to Xue Qinghe, who threw it to the guard outside the hall. "Read it for everyone to hear."
The guard picked up the account book and read it loudly. Since three years ago, Duke Li had annexed the fiefdoms of five surrounding earls under various names and killed more than twenty innocent nobles and officials. Every entry was written clearly and the evidence was conclusive.
There was an uproar in the palace.
The old prime minister's face also became extremely ugly. He did not expect that Xue Qinghe actually held Duke Li's handle in his hand.
"Duke Li, what else do you have to say?" Xue Qinghe looked at him coldly.
Duke Li sat slumped on the ground, his face ashen and unable to speak a word.
"Come here!" Xue Qinghe shouted sharply, "Duke Li, under the guise of clearing out Otherworldly Visitors, killed innocent people indiscriminately and annexed the fiefdom. He committed a heinous crime! Drag him out immediately and execute him! All the family property will be confiscated, and the fiefdom will be returned to the royal family!"
"Yes! Your Highness!"
Several royal knights immediately stepped forward and dragged the limp Duke Li out.
Duke Li let out a shrill scream and quickly disappeared at the entrance of the hall.
The nobles in the palace were so frightened that no one dared to speak out.
Xue Qinghe's eyes swept across everyone, and finally fell on the old prime minister. His tone was calm but with unquestionable majesty. "Old prime minister, do you still think that this prince is incompetent?"
The old prime minister's face turned blue and white, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Duke Li deserves his punishment, and His Highness handled it appropriately. However, the Heaven Dou City chaos has not yet been quelled. Please come up with practical solutions."
"I have already thought of a way." Xue Qinghe picked up the <Otherworld Visitor Screening Order> on the table and handed it to the eunuch beside him, "This is the <Otherworld Visitor Screening Order> that I have drawn up. Let everyone take a look. As long as you follow the three above, the Heaven Dou City chaos will be put down within ten days."
The eunuch circulated the edict to all ministers.
When they saw the two clauses "Abolish the power of lynching for nobles" and "The private soldiers of nobles shall not exceed one hundred people", the expressions of all the nobles changed.
"Your Highness! This is absolutely not allowed!" The old prime minister immediately objected, "The right of nobles to lynch and private soldiers are rules passed down from our ancestors! How can we abolish them at the drop of a hat?"
"If the rules passed down by our ancestors are out of date, they will naturally have to be changed." Xue Qinghe said coldly, "The reason why this Heaven Dou City rebellion became so big is because some nobles borrowed They use the power of lynching to falsely accuse others of being Otherworldly Visitors at will and kill innocent people indiscriminately. There are also some nobles who have more than ten thousand private soldiers and respect themselves as soldiers and disobey the royal family. If these privileges are not abolished, more rebellions will occur in the future."
"But..."
"There is no but." Xue Qinghe interrupted him with a firm tone, "This prince has decided that these three edicts will be officially implemented from today. Anyone who opposes is shielding Otherworldly Visitors and is an enemy of the people of the world!"
He paused, glanced at the nobles in the palace, and said with a hint of warning, "Everyone has seen what happened to Duke Li just now. I don't want anyone to follow in his footsteps."
There was dead silence in the hall.
Nobles, you look at me and I look at you, but you dare not speak any more.
Duke Li's body is still hanging outside the Meridian Gate, and no one wants to be next.
The old prime minister looked at Xue Qinghe's cold eyes and knew in his heart that the situation was over.
Xue Qinghe With this chaos, he not only got rid of Duke Li, a serious enemy, but also issued an edict that had been prepared for a long time. It was obviously planned for a long time. Now that he has military power and the support of the people, they, the old nobles, are simply unable to resist.
The old prime minister sighed and slowly lowered his head, "I... obey the order."
Seeing the old prime minister's submission, other nobles also lowered their heads. "I obey the order."
Xue Qinghe An imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The first step was successful.
Heaven Dou Empire's iron-fisted edict, like a strong wind, quickly swept through the entire empire.
Xue Qinghe used thunderous means to execute the three established nobles who led the opposition, confiscated their property and fiefs, and incorporated private soldiers into Royal Knights. At the same time, he sent a large number of royal envoys to various places to supervise the implementation of <Otherworld Visitor Screening Order>. Any nobles who dared to disobey the edict would be punished as "collaborators".
In just one month, the chaos in the Heaven Dou Empire completely subsided.
When the people saw that the royal family was really investigating Otherworldly Visitors and severely punished those nobles who took advantage of the chaos to do evil, they clapped their hands and applauded, and their support for Xue Qinghe reached an unprecedented peak. However, those nobles who were originally arrogant and domineering were silent at this moment, obediently handed over their lynching rights and redundant private soldiers, and no longer dared to oppose the royal family.
Although Heaven Dou Imperial Family's power is not completely centralized, it does not have much real power like in the past. It can be said to be an ideal state.
The same thing happened to the Star Luo Empire. Although it was not the prince's Dai Weisi, it still received and dealt with a group of powerful nobles, further strengthening the consolidation of the empire's rule.
As for whether Otherworldly Visitors really wants to subvert Douluo Continent, that is not the scope of their consideration. Anyway, if the sky falls, Spirit Hall will rise first.