Chapter 95: Bloodless Battle
Early in the morning, the young major was ruthlessly dragged away from his warm bed by the retired old pirate who had returned early.
"Where is my daughter?" Kolev glared and shouted.
"Continuing her criminal journey."
Yang Ming lay back on the bed, mumbling with his eyes closed:
"I tried to persuade her on your behalf, but she doesn't want to come. She will stay outside the Falling Wind Empire to conduct business recently... You actually let Molly lead her to the Falling Wind Empire. This is simply despicable."
"It's not my fault."
Kolev responded a little guiltily. The old man in a suit and tie sat beside Yang Ming's bed and continued to mutter to himself.
"She's my only daughter, you know. If she were closer to me, I could always provide her with support if she ran into any trouble."
Yang Ming complained: "Let me have a good rest. I was frightened by the old emperor yesterday."
"The pirate profession is still too dangerous," Kolev continued, "I have to find a way to change her ideal."
Yang Ming turned his back to the old man, too lazy to correct Kolev's arrogant parenting concept.
However, Yang Ming's wish to catch up on some sleep was ultimately not fulfilled.
As soon as Kolev returned to his room to rest, Adwant sent him a video invitation.
The second prince looked haggard, obviously having not slept the whole night. After seeing Yang Ming on the video call, he forced a smile and sighed dejectedly:
"Ming, I feel like my father has suddenly become a different person."
Yang Ming felt inexplicably guilty.
He smiled and said, "Maybe Your Majesty is liberating his nature? Or maybe Your Majesty feels that his life was too repressed before, and now he decides to indulge himself?"
"But putting a variety show production team in jail for no reason, this..."
"This is the imperial power," Yang Ming reminded him, "Edwang, you must always remember that your father is still the master of the family, and you must be patient with any dissatisfaction."
Adwant lay down on the sofa: "I just got the news that my father had a quarrel with Princess Dana. Their quarrel was very intense."
"Take good care of Emilia," Yang Ming reminded, "Don't let her get involved. The conflict between the two of them may become more intense later."
Ed Wang asked: "Ming, do you know something?"
"Princess Dana is the spy of the Sherman Empire," Yang Ming said slowly, "This is a secret known to everyone. It's no big deal."
"But father has been acting very abnormal lately."
Edwin sighed:
"I cannot accept that my father treats his own people so carelessly."
In this regard, Yang Ming could only give some gentle advice.
What else can he do?
Should we tell Adwant that the old emperor was actually an omnic and that your father had long been killed or imprisoned by the Sherman Empire?
Given Adwant's temperament, he might directly confront the Sherman Empire, thus putting himself in danger.
Although the old emperor's intelligent machine has a tendency to get out of control, Yang Ming does not think that this thing can escape the control of the Sherman Empire.
The strength of the Sherman Empire should never be underestimated.
Edwang suddenly said, "By the way, Yang Ming, my father is going to give you a title soon. According to the suggestion of the royal minister of internal affairs, it should be a viscount. Do you need me to help you get a higher title? Luo Feng's title itself has no value."
“It’s just the beginning, isn’t it?”
Yang Ming smiled and said, "It's pretty good if you don't climb up from knight to baronet."
Edwang also laughed: "The titles that Luofeng directly sold to the outside world were knights and barons. My father's reward could not be so stingy."
"Go and rest, Your Highness," Yang Ming said gently, "You should get a gift when you wake up."
"Oh, don't do that!"
Edwang frowned and said, "How can I sleep now that you said that? What gift is it? Show it to me first."
"See you this afternoon... Miss Windsor called, we can't neglect this."
Yang Ming turned off the video communication.
Compared with worrying about the country and the people with Edwang, Yang Ming was happier exchanging sweet words with Miss Windsor .
…
Nearing noon, the task assigned by Yang Ming to Gutonmaha began to progress steadily.
The core idea of the so-called fake coup was to deliberately alert the snake. The "snake" here refers to the Sherman Empire.
Before deciding on this plan, Yang Ming conceived several plans:
Use the advantage of individual advance to kill Iluyi and the current Minister of Defense directly;
Let Gutonmaha send someone to assassinate Iluyi directly;
Plan with Edwang to investigate Iluyi first, frame him with some crimes, and at least force him to leave the Fallen Wind Empire...
etc.
However, these plans would either easily expose Yang Ming's own fighting ability, or easily suffer backlash, or be seized by the opponent.
After repeated discussions between Yang Ming and Lu, a fake coup plan came into being.
Although the steps of this plan are simple, it is difficult to implement.
In the first step, Lu used the image of Yilui to synthesize an "internal speech" that was almost indistinguishable from the real thing. In the video, Yilui encouraged his confidants, scolded the Luofeng royal family for being incompetent and stupid, and announced that he would seize the throne and establish a military government.
By noon, the video of the speech had gone viral on the Internet.
When performing the first step, Lu also designed a lot of small details, such as allowing the video to appear densely on various social software, but not on the hot searches of online portals; when it could no longer be suppressed and became a hot search, he would suppress the hot searches to stimulate the emotions of netizens and conduct reverse confirmation of the authenticity of the video content.
The second step followed immediately. Gudunmaha immediately convened a meeting with several close generals of the same level and took the initiative to discuss the fake video.
After studying the activities of the two agents from the New Federation and the Guel Alliance, Yang Ming concluded that Iluyi was not ready for an uprising at this stage.
Not only did Iluyi not inform Gutonmaha about this, but this cautious old man should not have talked about this matter with anyone except Iluyi's absolute confidant, the current Defense Minister Luofeng.
Sure enough, when Gutonmaha and these generals saw the speech video, their first reaction was to contact Iluyi.
At this time they will find that they cannot contact Iluyi at all.
Ilui's communications were cut off, and orders could only be circulated within the flagship of his fleet.
This is the absolute advantage that Lu has in the information field when facing a puppet state like the Luofeng Empire, which has relatively backward military technology.
Gutonmaha didn't need to give any further hints, as several generals suggested that their troops be put on alert and make all preparations for battle.
Gutonmaha readily agreed and appropriately expressed his concerns about Iluyi's risky behavior.
“We could have made good money and retired with honors,” Gudummaha sighed.
Several generals felt the same way.
The fake coup plan successfully completed the first two steps, and the royal family of Luofeng Empire was already in an uproar.
Princess Dana, who was still arguing with the old emperor last night, sent more than a dozen secret letters in a row.
The regular corps stationed on the border of Sherman's Empire has begun to be mobilized.
At this point, Yang Ming and Lu had already begun to advance to the third step.
The palace has once again been hit by a cyber attack.
Although the attack was quickly put out by the technical team of the guard, the royal guard began to be on full alert. The local governors of the five major administrative stars all received the order to "serve the king". The emperor and his ministers gathered in the meeting hall, and each of them was already nervous.
A challenge from military power to imperial power is about to break out.
In just two or three hours, the Luofeng Empire went from an ordinary sunny day to a stormy day with dark clouds looming.
Ordinary people were having trouble breathing.
However, Yang Ming and Lu had already accomplished their mission and easily completed the fourth and final step of the plan.
Lu restored Iluyi's normal communications.
…
stupid.
Yiluyi, the former Minister of Defense of the Luofeng Empire and the old military boss who created the current military system, is now leaning on a cane and staring at the projection screen in front of him with a serious face.
The projections of twelve military generals gathered on a screen.
Everyone was staring at Iluyi.
Only the current Secretary of Defense and two other generals had firm looks; most people's eyes were hesitant and wandering.
Iluyi said in a deep voice: "It has come to this..."
"Teacher," the current Minister of Defense suddenly spoke up, frowning, "There is a communication that reached me through diplomatic channels."
"Who hit you?" Iluyi asked with a frown.
"Sherman Empire Ministry of Defense, do I need to answer the call, teacher?"
The cabin where Iluyi was located became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
The old man frowned tightly.
Yi Luyi has realized that what happened today was definitely not a coincidence, and he was being "blackmailed" by someone.
Ilui was indeed preparing for a coup.
A coup d'état is not a game. Once it starts, there is no turning back. Between him and the old emperor, only one can survive and reach the pinnacle of power.
Therefore, Yilui was extremely cautious, and everything was carried out and prepared in secret.
In fact, he had only just reached the first stage of the mutiny. He had not yet prepared his trusted troops for the uprising, nor had he made preparations to incite the Royal Guards to revolt, nor had he cleared out the unstable elements in the military...
"Teacher," the current Minister of Defense asked in a low voice, "Do you want to answer this communication?"
Iluyi's hands were shaking slightly.
He had spent his entire life managing the military of the Luofeng Empire, and had served two emperors in succession. Now, he clearly had the opportunity, and clearly could reach that position with his own hands before he died...
"Take it."
Iluyi's voice was very soft, as if he said it inadvertently while gasping for breath.
As soon as he finished speaking, the figures of several generals disappeared at the same time on the projection screen in front.
They already know the outcome.
…
Iluyi fled.
Iluyi, who had been hiding near the border, boarded a medium-sized transport ship and rushed out of the border of the Luofeng Empire with dozens of guards.
The news quickly spread throughout all the planetary networks of the Luofeng Empire. The dark clouds of war that had formed quickly within a few hours quickly dissipated in an even shorter time.
Military troops stationed in various places have lifted their alert.
The Royal Guard resumed normal duty and training.
The financial market of the Luofeng Empire, which had just experienced a downward shock, began to rise again.
The people all breathed a sigh of relief.
When Yang Ming walked down the stairs, Kolev was wearing an apron and holding a spatula, listening to the lively news channel while cooking the capitalist's evil cooking.
Yang Ming had absolutely no intention of helping.
He sat on the sofa in the living room, turned on the projection TV, and waited quietly for Advan's communication.
Half an hour later, Adwant finally arrived.
Ed Wang was sitting in the back seat of the hovercraft. He must have just come out of the palace. He looked around like a thief and whispered to Yang Ming:
"Is this the gift?"
"Uh-huh," Yang Ming shrugged, "I don't know anything."
"This is incredible," Adwan whispered. "The technical team analyzed that the speech video that suddenly appeared was fake. The military had no signs of secretly mobilizing troops before. And according to the report from my spies in the army, Iluyi's network failed at noon. He was hiding in the fleet and couldn't communicate with the outside world for a while."
"He is so unlucky," Yang Ming said seriously, "all coincidences happened to him."
"Well, this is a coincidence," Edwan wondered, "Why didn't Iluyi just issue a statement saying that the speech video was fake? Wouldn't that calm the storm?"
Yang Ming smiled and said, "Because he is really plotting a rebellion."
Ed Wang was slightly stunned: "He is so old, how can he still have such ambitions? Even if he is really plotting a rebellion, can't he be patient for a while and issue a clarification statement?"
"I don't know either. I heard it from someone."
Yang Ming continued:
“Iluyi’s mutiny was actually part of the New Federation’s revenge.
“If Louis issues a clarification statement, it means he is giving in to the royal family, and we can create momentum by saying he is expressing his loyalty to the royal family.
"This way, he would not only offend the New Federation, but also lose some of his prestige among the military leaders. The only person he could please would be the Sherman Empire, which doesn't care about a person like him. Moreover, if Louis gives in, he will inevitably face an investigation by the royal family.
“Not to mention that he was originally planning a mutiny, the royal family has tolerated him for so many years, how could they miss such a good opportunity?
"His only two options are to start an uprising or flee. If he flees, his influence on the military will remain the same, and he can also publicly criticize this country and show his own value, thereby continuing to rely on the New Federation."
Edwan smiled and said, "I will find a way to shut him up completely. He has already left the fleet and is much less of a threat."
Yang Ming stretched lazily and said, "Okay, Your Highness, you must have a lot of things to do, and I have to go to some entertainment now, so I'm sorry I can't keep you company."
"We've been talking less recently, and I don't know what you've been busy with all day," Edwan complained in a low voice.
"We are all adult men. It's fine for us to just eat, drink and have fun together. Why do we have to chat for so long?"
Yang Ming turned off the communication, untied his watch and threw it on the coffee table.
This is what it means to strike first and gain the upper hand.
It's pretty good to achieve the goal without bloodshed.
Kolev cursed beside him:
"When you're done with all that dirty politics, come over and help me carry the plates, open a bottle of wine, and make some preparations for the celebration!"
"Celebrate?" Yang Ming wondered, "Mimili is going to have a stepmother?"
"The system you bought will soon reach your target planet! Your crazy backup plan will be officially launched tonight! Don't you need to celebrate?"
Yang Ming chuckled.
The domestic robot controlled by Lu brought two holographic imaging systems.
"Boss, pay attention to the sense of ceremony."
