public opinion
Inside the central army tent, the crackling charcoal fire could not dispel the solemn atmosphere.
Several core members of Ning Lingyi's command gathered in front of the map, all with uneasy expressions on their faces.
The walls of the capital city are high and the moats are deep. The military strength of the Beijing garrison is several times greater than theirs. If they try to force their way through the city, it will be like hitting a rock with an egg.
"Your Highness," Xue Cheng spoke first, "I can try to contact my old subordinates, explain the pros and cons, and promise them high positions. Perhaps I can persuade them to surrender secretly, and then we can cooperate internally and externally..."
Nong Zishi pondered for a moment and added, "What General Xue said is a good strategy. Emperor Guangqi has been acting perversely in recent years, and the people are divided. I can try to contact the ministers and lure them with your highness's reputation and a future position in the court to divide and disintegrate them."
Jing Zhao stood aside, frowning slightly upon hearing this. He then interjected in a gentle voice, "You two have foresight, but time waits for no man. If the capital remains in jeopardy for too long, accidents are likely to happen. Your Highness, you should make a decision soon."
His tone was respectful, but a calculation flashed across his eyes.
Everyone's eyes turned to Ning Lingyi, waiting for her decision.
In troubled times, tempting others with benefits is very common. It seems to be the most direct and only way to pry open the iron gate of the capital.
But Ning Lingyi pondered for a long time, then looked at the people in front of her, some young, some old, some civil officials, some military generals, why did they follow her?
This answer is the most important.
After a long while, so long that everyone was in disbelief, Ning Lingyi finally shook her head and said, "We've come this far, through blood and fire, and been on the brink of despair several times. Ultimately, we're able to stand outside the capital, not by relying on political tricks or bribes."
She looked around at the people in the tent and continued, "We rely on concrete actions to earn the trust of our subjects. The people's hearts are our most solid foundation."
"If we now follow Guangqi's example, using high positions and generous salaries as bait to lure people into betraying their master and seeking glory, what fundamental difference would there be between our actions? They may abandon Guangqi today for profit, and they may abandon us tomorrow for even greater gain."
"The capital city acquired in this way will only become another quagmire of suspicion and danger. It is not what I want."
As soon as these words were spoken, Su Qingfan understood that His Highness was still His Highness and had not changed.
Nong Zishi was also quite relieved when he heard this. Cunning ways are definitely not the right way. Being controlled by others will not last long. He then asked, "What do you mean, Your Highness?"
Ning Lingyi paused, her fingertips tapping lightly on the table, a firm sound echoing. "Guangqi has committed countless injustices, each of which has long since lost the support of the people. What he fears is not weapons, but public opinion. What can destroy him is not our army's spearheads, but the universal voices of the world. What we must do is not to attack by force, but to make him cut himself off from his subjects."
There was silence in the tent, and Xue Cheng and Nong Zishi fell into deep thought.
Ning Lingyi immediately gave the order: "Send the message! Select those soldiers with loud voices and good literacy skills to form a proclamation team. Divide them into several groups and march day and night to the gates of the capital. They will take turns reading our manifesto aloud and proclaim the crimes of Emperor Guangqi."
"Tell the soldiers and civilians in the capital that it was Ning Yanli who secretly promised Heshuo in order to seize the throne, which led to the fall of the three towns. Nearly 200,000 people may have died at the hands of the Western Qiang!"
"Tell them that when the Western Qiang cavalry was wreaking havoc in the capital and forging the Jingguan, their emperor closed the city gates and ignored the people outside!"
"We must also make them understand that if we allow such an unethical and untrustworthy ruler to continue to usurp the throne, the Northern Shuo and Western Qiang will one day invade the south again, and the capital will be destroyed. When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact? Where will the Han Dynasty be? What will happen to our millions of subjects?"
The order was executed quickly.
Starting from the next day, a strange scene appeared outside the nine gates of the capital.
Several elite soldiers of the Mingzhu Guards escorted several officers and stopped their horses just an arrow's distance from the city wall. Unafraid of the threat of arrows from the top of the city wall, they gathered their strength and read out loudly over and over again the crimes of Emperor Guangqi, the miserable conditions in Heshuo, and the tragedy in the suburbs of Beijing.
Their voices penetrated the cold air, reaching the ears of the defenders on the city walls, and drifted into the city streets with the wind:
"In the first year of the Guangqi reign, a secret agreement was reached with the Western Qiang, ceding the fertile lands of Heshuo, You, Wei, and Zhenzhou! This resulted in millions of soldiers and civilians in the three towns being humiliated by the barbarians! Two hundred thousand innocent civilians were either brutally slaughtered, their remains vanished, or driven into slavery, weeping blood across the desert! This was all caused by Ning Yanli's selfish desires!"
"Last winter, the Western Qiang Baru tribe rampaged through the capital, slaughtering my elders, brothers, and burning my homesteads and fields! Ning Yanli, the king, commanding a vast army, feared the enemy like a tiger, ordering the troops to retreat within the city walls while he watched the outskirts of the capital reduced to scorched earth and the skulls of the people piled into a temple! How could he be so cruel? He deserves death!"
"If Ning Yanli continues to pervert his ways, our Southern Dynasty will sooner or later fall into his hands! When that happens, the Hu cavalry will march straight in, the capital will be destroyed, and your descendants will be enslaved for generations!"
At first, the defenders on the city walls were ordered to shoot arrows to drive them away, but the distance was still far and the effect was minimal. Moreover, those who announced the decree were not afraid of death. When one person fell, the next one would immediately take his place, and the sound was still loud.
More importantly, those words, every word, touched the hearts of many defending soldiers.
Many of them were from Heshuo, and their relatives' lives were uncertain; or they had watched the smoke billowing in the suburbs of Beijing and heard the faint cries but were unable to leave the city to rescue, and had already accumulated countless grievances.
Silence began to spread among the defenders, and the arrows shot became sparser and weaker.
The people in the city spread these words quickly.
After dinner, people whispered to each other, if one day the Western Qiang army really came, would the man sitting on the dragon throne now protect them?
Everyone had a question in their mind and then gave the answer: no.
Emperor Guangqi was shocked and angry, and repeatedly sent elite troops from the Beijing camp out of the city to chase and drive away the Mingzhu Guards who spread rumors.
However, Ning Lingyi's subordinates were all elite cavalrymen who came and went like the wind and did not cause any entanglement.
Whenever the main army of the capital marched out, they would flee far away; whenever a small group of troops came out, they would sometimes even charge back and attack them for a while to dampen their morale. Even if there were occasional losses, the action of announcing the decree never stopped.
The morale of the soldiers in the Beijing camp was already low. Seeing that the pursuit was futile and might even lead to casualties, and hearing those hurtful words, they became even more perfunctory and lazy in their actions, and many of them worked without putting in any effort.
The situation reversed silently.
In the court, the number of ministers requesting sick leave gradually increased from a few scattered ones. At first, they were only insignificant officials. Later, even some mid-level officials began to claim illness and stayed away from the court. The court meeting in the Purple Palace seemed a bit deserted.
In the market, people's discussions became more and more bold.
"Isn't this emperor really going to lose his position?"
"I heard that Princess Mingzhu is very popular among the people in Heshuo and is also very good at fighting..."
"It's better to change it than to be so worried now..."
In just half a month, the atmosphere in the capital had completely changed.
One day, Ning Lingyi was discussing the next steps with Nong Zishi in his tent when his personal guard suddenly arrived with a report: "Your Highness, there's a man outside the camp who claims to be Pan and wants to see you."
Ning Lingyi was slightly startled: "Surname Pan?"
Suddenly, I thought, "Please come in!"
When the figure stepped into the tent, Ning Lingyi almost failed to recognize it immediately.
The man was dressed in dusty military uniform, stained with blood and sand. His figure was much taller and stronger than three years ago. The youthful liveliness in his eyes had faded, replaced by a tempered calmness.
The most striking thing is the white hair that does not match his age.
Only those eyes, when they met Ning Lingyi's gaze, flashed with excitement and complexity, still retaining some traces of the past.
"Pan Hao?" Ning Lingyi stood up. "You...how did you become like this?"
Her eyes fell on his frosty white hair, and her heart was filled with indescribable sadness.
Pan Hao stared at the person in front of him.
The princess in the palace who used to be bright and innocent and would quarrel with him, although she still looked sick, now had a majestic and unshakable aura. She was no longer the girl who needed his bluffing to protect her.
He knelt on one knee and saluted: "I, General Pan Hao, pay my respects to Her Royal Highness the Princess."
"Hurry up!" Ning Lingyi stepped forward to give him a false hand, her tone anxious, "Weren't you fighting the Western Qiang outside the capital? Later I heard that you...Emperor Guangqi..."
She spoke hesitantly.
Pan Hao stood up, a bitter smile playing on his lips. "Yes, we disobeyed the imperial decree and attacked that day. Although we dealt a heavy blow to the Western Qiang army, His Majesty was furious and regarded us as rebels. He cut off our food and reinforcements, and even ordered the capital's garrison not to accept us. My fellow soldiers and I fought a bloody battle to break through the siege, but with nowhere else to go, we had no choice but to retreat to the dangerous border town where my father's former troops were stationed, and we have held it ever since."
He paused, his voice lowering. "In the past few months, I've been through a lot, and lost many brothers. But it's precisely because of all this suffering, seeing the hardships of people's lives, and experiencing the real blood and fire of the battlefield, that I..."
"I finally understood why my father always frowned in those days. I also understood that His Highness's advice to me to shoulder the family's responsibilities was not empty words..."
Ning Lingyi was silent for a moment, then said softly, "If General Pan were still alive, he would be pleased to see you in your current state. You are worthy of the Pan family's name."
After getting her affirmation, a light flashed in Pan Hao's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. At this moment, the young general had already turned all the admiration he once had into self-growth.
In this world, the most important thing is never love.
He said, "Your Highness, I have come this time for this very reason. Although my Pan family has been defeated, we still have some old friendships with the military in the capital. I wish to sneak into the capital and contact my father's old friends, the officers and officials who still have loyalty in their hearts, to pave the way for Your Highness to take control of the capital! Please grant me this!"
Ning Lingyi frowned: "The capital is now heavily guarded. It's too dangerous for you to sneak in now!"
"Your Highness!" Pan Hao said firmly, "State affairs are of paramount importance; personal safety is of no concern! I am familiar with the capital's defenses and my former subordinates, and I have my own way of infiltrating. If I succeed, it can save many bloody sieges and calm people's hearts sooner! This is what I can and should do!"
After going through so many things, Pan Hao finally grew up.
Ning Lingyi felt complicated and worried, but in the end.
He nodded again: "Safety comes first. If something cannot be done, withdraw immediately. I would rather spend more time than let you make another mistake."
"I obey your command!"
Pan Hao bowed, turned around resolutely, and his figure quickly disappeared into the cold wind outside the tent.
Ning Lingyi looked at the direction where he disappeared, speechless for a long time, with mixed feelings in her heart.
When old friends meet again, everything has changed. The turbulent times have changed everyone's appearance.
*
Inside the Zichen Hall.
Emperor Guangqi Ning Yanli sat on the dragon throne, looking even more haggard than Ning Lingyi, with sunken eye sockets and bloodshot eyes. In just a short period of time, his temples had even turned gray.
His trusted ministers knelt in a circle in the hall, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was suffocating.
Bad news came one after another: more and more officials were reporting illness, rumors were spreading, military morale was low, and the troops were lip-service and disobedient...
Prime Minister Zhao Deben groveled to the ground, his voice trembling with fear, "Your Majesty, the people are unsettled, and the army is demoralized, all because of Ning Lingyi's lies and misleading the people! If this continues, I'm afraid there will be a catastrophe!"
Emperor Guangqi sneered in his heart, how could he not know?
But how could he stop it? Was this throne, this empire, really going to slip away from his hands like a handful of sand?
Zhao Deben peeked at Emperor Guangqi's expression, thought for a moment, and finally said, "Your Majesty, Ning Lingyi's mother, Concubine Yu, is still in the harem. I wonder which is more important to Ning Lingyi, the country or her sinful mother..."
Guangqi's expression changed slightly, and a look appeared in his eyes. Finally, he said, "Order the Xiyuan criminal woman, Yu, to be brought to me immediately. I want her to see with her own eyes how her good daughter forced her to death."
Everyone in the hall was silent, knowing that the emperor had been pushed to the edge of the cliff and was about to take the final move that would hurt both sides.
It seems that the reign title Guangqi is about to change.
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