Chapter 191
Just when the whole court was being scolded, the old emperor regained consciousness and accidentally heard the palace people discussing the current situation. He was so shocked that he quickly sat up and called people in to question them.
The palace maids and eunuchs who were serving him were so frightened when they saw the old emperor's ruddy complexion that they stumbled out to look for the crown prince and the third prince.
The two palace servants who were called in for questioning had mournful faces and couldn't help but slap themselves in the face. "I told you to talk too much!" But facing the powerful old emperor, they could only stammer and tell him what they knew.
The old emperor had not expected that Daliang would become so corrupt, especially the news that Yichun had sent troops to Jiaozhou on behalf of Daliang to attack the Nanman, which made him extremely worried. He was breathing rapidly and could not catch his breath. Finally, he spat out a mouthful of blood with a wow sound, and then used up his last bit of strength to curse, "Traitor, ambitious, and your intention to replace the country is obvious." Then he died with his eyes wide open, without even seeing the crown prince and the third prince who came.
The Crown Prince and the Third Prince were very sad and issued an edict for the whole country to mourn. They then ordered the ministers to work with the palace ladies to arrange the funeral of the late emperor.
When the old emperor passed away, the crown prince issued an edict for the whole country to mourn. To be honest, the common people did not feel too sad. Life was hard enough. They lived with sorrow every day. How much sadder could they be?
What more people are concerned about is whether the imperial court will continue to send troops to attack Youzhou?
Not long after, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince jointly issued an imperial decree, reiterating the decision to send 300,000 troops to attack Youzhou, and even stating that quelling the rebellion was the late emperor's last wish.
Everyone was aware of the imperial court's determination to send troops to Youzhou. Despite Lu Qian's death and the outrage surrounding public opinion, the court had not changed its decision. Now, they were using the late emperor's wishes as a pretext for sending troops. This reasoning was compelling, and it silenced many.
However, many knowledgeable people still shook their heads secretly, thinking that the Daliang court was beyond salvation.
At this time in the palace, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were sitting opposite each other.
The third prince said, "This time we must succeed in sending troops to Youzhou!" If we fail, we will die!
The prince nodded slowly, "Yes." The price they paid for this was too high.
Xing Changfeng had finally grown into a major threat to Daliang, a more serious threat than even the Prince of Ruyin. The common people in Youzhou were far too fond of the Yichun City Lord's Mansion and even the Yichun Legion. He had secretly investigated and found that when ordinary people mentioned Yichun, while wary of him, they would not express their favorability, but they rarely spoke ill of him.
The prince now understood better the saying that water can carry a boat but can also capsize it. Although Daliang still occupied most of the country, Daliang always gave him a dangerous feeling that it could capsize at any time.
At this moment, no matter how much it costs, the power of Xing Changfeng must be eliminated! He was worried that if Xing Changfeng was not killed, there would be endless troubles.
At this time, horrifying news arrived from Jiaozhou: tens of thousands of civilians in a town had been slaughtered by the Nanman army, their heads chopped off and piled into a mausoleum on both sides of the town's streets.
The town where the tragedy occurred is called Zhijiang, which is a town adjacent to Nanhai County and Cangwu County. This town belongs to Cangwu County, but because of its special geographical location, it is independent of Cangwu County and serves as a hub between the two counties.
The Yichun Legion planned to advance westward, and when they attacked this town, they found that the Nanman army had already withdrawn from the town and entered Cangwu County. Before leaving, they killed all the people of Daliang, leaving them with an empty town without a trace of life.
The Nanman had the biggest reaction to the Yichun Legion's capture of Nanhai County. The Yichun City Lord's Mansion slapped them in the face too quickly and timely, and the Nanman leader Aguli was simply furious.
The small town of Zhijiang was destined to be lost because it was located outside Cangwu County, so Agili decided to leave such a big gift to the Yichun Legion.
When the news came, the whole country of Daliang was shocked and speechless, and then burst into tears. They felt sorry for their own kind, and the civilians of Zhijiang were really too pitiful. Ageli's brutality was outrageous.
In this matter, the Yichun City Lord's Mansion reacted the fastest. They directly issued a warning to Agili: If you dare to kill innocent people in Jiaozhou again, one day, I, Yichun, will destroy your entire clan!
As if to prove the strength of the Yichun City Lord's words, the Yichun Legion, regardless of the cost, captured Cangwu County. During this period, they employed several secret weapons, including large, modular catapults and countless gasoline bottles. Most importantly, the Yichun Legion suffered over 30,000 casualties.
Not a single captive from the southern barbarians was wanted; all were killed. A total of 70,000 troops remained in Cangwu County, the seven prefectures of Jiaozhou. Among these 70,000 was the army that had committed the heinous crime at Zhijiang. Aside from the 5,000 or 6,000 soldiers who fled, the remainder either died on the battlefield or were slaughtered afterward to commemorate the over 10,000 civilians at Zhijiang.
The Yichun Corps' external explanation for this action was that in the face of the brutal southern barbarians, they could only fight violence with violence, and begging for mercy was useless.
The tough style of the Yichun Corps made countless people in Daliang cry and feel heartbroken.
Countless scholars and fearless common people united together and wrote a tearful letter to the court, begging them not to attack Youzhou, or at least not to attack them at this time. Finally, they suggested that if the court really wanted to fight, they should attack the Southern Barbarians.
Faced with this, the prince was both numb and frightened, "Third Brother, we can't wait any longer, send out the troops!"
The third prince nodded. During this period of time, the army had almost been assembled.
As soon as the imperial court took action, the Prince of Ruyin and the Huo family army in the northern border of Liangzhou also took action. After the imperial court announced that 300,000 troops would march into Youzhou, the Prince of Ruyin issued a letter denouncing the imperial court's injustice, speaking out for Youzhou, and ordering the imperial court to withdraw its troops, otherwise they would follow suit.
Obviously, the imperial court would not listen to their warnings, so King Ruyin sent troops, targeting Yanzhou and Yuzhou.
The Huo family army had no choice but to move, with the purpose of forcing the court to withdraw part of its troops to provide support and relieve the pressure on Youzhou.
But the imperial court ignored all this and directly dispatched 200,000 troops to Jizhou. Together with the 100,000 troops under Wang Lang's command in Jizhou, a total of 300,000 troops were about to press towards Youzhou.
The movements of the imperial court and Prince Ruyin converged at the Yichun City Lord's Mansion.
Many members of the City Lord's Mansion saw through Prince Ruyin's thoughts, "Prince Ruyin is clearly seeking personal gain under the banner of upholding justice for us." In this way, he would have a legitimate reason to attack Yanzhou and Yuzhou.
Yao Chunnuan said, "Don't worry about him." The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Now that there are only three factions left in China, it's normal for them to cooperate or exploit each other. She would do the same if the two sides were in different places.
Yao Chunnuan then instructed, "Regarding the imperial court's dispatch of troops to attack Youzhou, we must issue an official document in response to this, to pave the way for possible casualties in the future."
"yes."
"Also, we must promptly report to the public on the battle progress of our Yichun Corps in Jiaozhou. Report every victory, casualties, and losses."
Feng Xiudong was a little puzzled. He could understand that the victory news should be announced to the world, because the court had always done so, but did casualties and other battle losses also need to be announced?
Yao Chunnuan did not explain too much. Some things cannot always be told by others. If you experience them slowly by yourself, you may be able to understand more.
As soon as the red notice was posted at the Yichun City Lord's Mansion, people gathered below.
The first red notice was in response to Daliang sending 300,000 troops to attack Youzhou. The general meaning was as follows:
It is a pity that the Daliang court made such an unwise decision. Now is the critical moment in the struggle with foreign races. Although we, the Yichun City Lord's Mansion, sincerely hope that the Daliang court will not start a war and do not want to waste unnecessary military forces on civil war.
At this time, we in Youzhou will not take the initiative to start a war, nor will we be afraid of war.
If the court insists on its own way, it will bear the consequences. I hereby warn you, please do not say I did not warn you.
The Third Prince dismissed the warning from the Yichun City Lord's Mansion as mere bravado. After destroying the Annan King's forces, the Third Prince was confident in concentrating his forces to quell the rebellion.
The second red list reported the progress of the Yichun Corps' war in Jiaozhou.
Prince Ruyin had a strong opinion on the move by the Yichun City Lord's Mansion, "Damn it, the Yichun City Lord's Mansion actually announced the casualties in the battle? This is such a mean move!" The Yichun City Lord's Mansion made it more official than the imperial court. They regarded themselves as an official legion.
Sima Xian could only sigh. When it came to guiding the people's hearts, the methods used by the Yichun City Lord's Mansion were truly powerful.
Once these two red lists were posted, every move of Yichun concerned the hearts of millions of ordinary people, especially the latter, which was particularly distressing.
They sympathized with their fellow citizens, each worried about the people of Daliang trapped in Jiaozhou. They were also concerned for the Yichun Army fighting in Jiaozhou. The word "battle casualties" was shocking. Each number represented a life. And then, countless complaints, accusations, and questions arose about the court and the Prince of Ruyin.
"Since the imperial court loves war, why doesn't it fight against the southern barbarians?"
"And King Ruyin, doesn't he have 500,000 or 600,000 soldiers? Why can't he send troops?"
"Yeah, why let the Yichun Legion fight alone?!"
"The imperial court not only lets the Yichun Legion fight alone, but also wants to take advantage of the situation!"
Because the Yichun Corps took on the burden of protecting the people of Daliang with its blood and lives, countless people spoke up for it.
The people’s will! The prince’s eyes went dark; the thing he was most worried about had happened.
"King Ruyin is the king of bargains!"
King Ruyin: ???
He was so wronged. The people were angry with him because of the imperial court.
"Should we send troops to Jiaozhou?" he asked Sima Xian.
Sima Xian shook his head. As he said before, sending troops now would only provide support to Xing Changfeng. It would be better to work hard and conquer Yanzhou and Yuzhou as soon as possible. The struggle between countries is not a matter of a moment.
Things have come to this point, and Prince Ruyin can only comfort himself. At least he has the court to support him, and he is not the one who is scolded the most.
The imperial court was criticized for not having a broad perspective. Facing numerous doubts, the Third Prince had only one thing to say: "To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country!" Once the civil unrest was quelled, they would naturally expel the foreign races!
The people didn't buy this argument. If Yichun shared the imperial court's belief that peace must come before resistance, then did the people living on the border deserve to die? They'd probably wait for the imperial court's help, waiting until their death. By the time your civil war was over, only piles of bones would remain.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
