Chapter 331 - - 329 Duge’s Propaganda Position_1

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Linyang City had fallen to Gao Yanping.

He had utilized the Wolf Ping Pass defender who would rather die than surrender.

After a feigned attempt at persuasion proved unsuccessful, Gao Yanping lashed Gou Heyi severely with his whip in frustration and then, in a fury, hung him from the flagpole.

Late at night, he arranged for some soldiers, under the pretense of wanting to return to their hometowns and not willing to die for the rebels, to rescue Gou Heyi. They broke through Yutang Pass and headed towards Linyang City.

Subsequently, Gao Yanping led his troops in pursuit, and seizing the opportunity when Shi Ruxing, the prefect of Linyang City, opened the gates to receive Gou, they followed him into the city and took Linyang City in one fell swoop.

One has to say,

though Gao Yanping may have been weak-willed, he did possess some talent in military strategy and tactics.

…

It was only after capturing Linyang City that Duge truly had a foothold of his own.

As the largest city nearest to the border, Linyang City always had enough provisions for tens of thousands of soldiers for half a year, making it the true logistical base for the three passes.

In a city populated by hundreds of thousands, a forced conscription could yield at least ten thousand soldiers.

After taking Linyang City, Duge did not rush to expand but first used the advantage of Dragon Teeth to swiftly spread the word about the Fourth Princess’s military achievements.

This naturally included his own strategic planning, the Fourth Princess’s brilliant and valiant leadership, as well as the enlightened defection to the true ruler by individuals like Huangfu father and daughter, Gao Yanping, Gou Heyi, and others.

That’s right.

Duge did not forget the stubborn Gou Heyi; he was too short on people and couldn’t afford to lose any talents he could recruit.

Duge invented the tactic Gao Yanping used to deceive Gou Heyi into taking Linyang City as a joint ruse between the two, even incorporating an Earthly saying to promote their cause.

Yanping beats Heyi—two partners, one willing to strike, the other willing to endure;

The loyal and righteous Gou Heyi, tragically smeared by Duge, became a traitorous commander, his reputation irrecoverable even if he tried to wash it away.

But despite this,

Gou Heyi still did not surrender, continuing to curse at Duge and his people vehemently.

But Duge crushed his fighting spirit with a single sentence, “General Gou, be at peace. We have more battles to fight ahead. General Gou’s banner will always be raised in our midst.

Fight and win a few more battles, and General Gou’s reputation will naturally spread throughout Chongming Country. By then, whether or not you belong to the Fourth Princess, you will be considered one of hers. Even if you seek death, you will die on the battlefield, loyal to the Fourth Princess until the end…”

After those words,

he gave Huangfu Xing a meaningful look, then led his men away.

After spending half the night deep in thought, following Huangfu Xing’s heartfelt explanation of the Fourth Prince Gu Shiming’s plot to divide the country, and Duge’s plans for them, Gou Heyi decided to surrender.

A major general was added to Duge’s ranks.

…

Of course,

propaganda on the Fourth Princess’s policies of gender equality also spread along with the news of the victory.

According to the propaganda, in cities taken by the Fourth Princess, people willingly accepted the idea of gender equality and eagerly sent their daughters to school;

furthermore, the people, grateful for the happiness the Fourth Princess had brought them, spontaneously donated money and provisions to her army…

In summary,

the common people have long suffered under the Gu household; the Fourth Princess Luo Shuang is their true guardian deity.

Therefore, every general she encounters abandons darkness for light, and not a single one of her subjects resists her.

That’s why her campaigns are so smoothly executed, as if with divine aid…

…

The keyword for Duge is ’trend’; he must get the propaganda machine going.

Only through propaganda can Luo Shuang’s influence increase more rapidly, subtly convincing people to accept Luo Shuang as the legitimate heir who has come to save the people of Chongming Country from an evil emperor;

In doing so, when they continue their campaign, the public’s acceptance of the Fourth Princess will be much swifter, sparing many propaganda-related complications.

After all,

With the ‘Ascending and descending effects’ skill at hand, establishing a new ideology as a trend makes his efforts all the smoother.

He wouldn’t miss any opportunity to buff himself.

Even at Yutang Pass, Duge shaved off his long hair for a clean and neat short haircut, using the act to score some loyalty points.

Without the nation restored, no hair shall be grown.

The gesture choked the Fourth Princess with emotion.

In the wake of ascending and descending effects, generals such as Huangfu Xing, Gao Yanping, Wu Chang, and the many soldiers under their command, all spontaneously followed Duge’s lead and cut their hair short, creating a new trend that even started to influence the local population, significantly boosting Duge’s attributes.

With the boost from the double attributes, combined with the propaganda,

Princess Luo Shuang and her Imperial Master He Xu were as popular as ever among the common people, and by the end of the month, they had managed to push Duge’s ranking to first place.

Heaven knows,

Duge had been prepared to proceed as the second-ranked competitor.

Unexpectedly, the end of the month brought him a surprise.

After his first-place results were announced, his spiritual power increased by twenty thousand that day, leaving him with nearly one hundred and eighty thousand spiritual power.

Looking at the top ten list, Duge automatically ignored Shi Pingchuan, the second place, and turned his attention to Pei Maer, the aide of Gu Shiming in third place.

This fellow had quietly achieved third place, which indicated that his keywords were highly congruent with his identity, suggesting that this time the Fourth Prince’s rebellion was probably closely linked to him.

Perhaps the fact that this guy could achieve third place had something to do with Duge himself!

After all,

most of the recent actions of the Fourth Prince were targeted at him or in support of him, all revolving around Duge’s influence…

Therefore, Pei Maer’s keywords must be related to strategy or assistance, and of course, it’s possible they might pertain to chaos.

The most feared is the chaos category of keywords.

If it truly is chaos, then the greater the impact he creates, the greater Pei Maer’s development will correspondingly surge.

Moreover, with the resources of the Fourth Prince, his martial skills are probably not weak either.

So,

both Prime Minister Shi Pingchuan and Pei Maer are formidable enemies that must be eliminated as soon as possible.

As for the others, they currently posed no threat to Duge, so they could be temporarily put aside.

However,

with the revelation of the top ten list, life was likely to get tougher for Duge compared to before, because, up to this point, his martial prowess was still not considered top-notch in this world.

And he didn’t have any high-level masters to guard him by his side.

…

It wasn’t just Duge; all the warriors who had survived on the Alien Battlefield were keenly observing the top ten list.

Under Huangfu Yue’s command, Wu Chang, upon seeing the name Leng Shi listed as number one, started trembling, his eyes bulging, and he almost spit out a mouthful of blood.

Wu Chang was initially shocked and terrified, nearly deserting on the spot.

First place?

The demonic Imperial Master he had trusted so much was actually an Alien Warrior, and even ranked first in attributes…

How could he have been so foolish, completely duped by He Xu from beginning to end, unable to see through his ruse?

Heaven above!

If He Xu had harbored even the slightest murderous intent, Wu Chang would have died without knowing how.

The thought that he had earnestly crafted a legend of an Immortal God for an Alien Warrior made Wu Chang want to find a place to bang his head until death.

It was too shameful!

For the past twenty-plus days, He Xu must have been looking at him as if he were a clown!

And to this point, Wu Chang was still unaware of his keywords.

The most infuriating part was that the guy even used Wu Chang as a shield, which was utterly inhumane…

However, in the end, Wu Chang didn’t leave; instead, he mustered the courage to find Duge and pledged his loyalty to him.

It wasn’t that he trusted Duge, but his own keywords didn’t allow him to leave.

Leaving would mean fear and cowardice, both of which were contrary to his keyword ‘bravery.’

The moment he fled, the attributes would drop off entirely, and on Duge’s territory, where could he possibly escape to?

Rather than fleeing miserably, it was better to face Duge bravely—perhaps there was still a chance of survival.

…

Qinglan Sword Sect.

Three swords hovered in front of Yun Yao.

However, her attention was focused on the top ten list, her brows slightly furrowed: “Leng Shi, Shi Pingchuan, Pei Maer… Brother Du, which one are you after all? I’ve already sent the signal, come and find me already! Only if we join forces, brothers, can we triumph on all fronts! Don’t tell me you haven’t even made it into the top ten…”

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