Chapter 316 Tang Shi's death, the emperor became suspicious

"How can this be possible!"

"The enemy hasn't even started fighting yet, and the soldiers have surrendered!"

The emperor, who was sitting on the dragon chair, saw the secret report and was so angry that he threw it to the ground.

"Jianan Pass has been lost for more than a month, and I just received the news. What are you doing?"

All the ministers drooped their heads, hunched their bodies, and said nothing.

Only the Minister of War cried in grief.

"Your Majesty, if my son hadn't sent any letters for a long time, I would have sent people to investigate, and I'm afraid we wouldn't have known the news of the fall of Jianan Pass until now."

"Your Majesty, my son died tragically."

"Those soldiers at Jianan Pass are really abominable! They are simply abominable! They surrendered before the battle even started!"

"If they hadn't defected, my son wouldn't have died so easily."

Xu Lang, the Minister of War, burst into tears: "It's said that the Tang generals under General Tang Shi are well-trained, but now it seems that it's just an exaggeration."

The emperor was also very dissatisfied.

He knew the battle record of the Tang generals. If they had resisted with all their strength, they might not be a match for the rebels.

But they surrendered without fighting a single battle.

This is really strange.

Either these Tang family soldiers already knew that Tang Shi was killed by him, and they deliberately took revenge.

Or...

Tang Shi was not dead.

They were deceived by Tang Shi, so they surrendered one after another.

He pointed his finger at the table and called Zhou Bufan.

"Go dig out Tang Shi's body for me and examine it carefully."

Zhou Bufan nodded.

When Tang Shi died, the Feiluan Army under his command surrounded the entire palace tightly, and he did not think that there would be any mistakes. It was not

until the siege of Gan Fanren that he realized that Gan Fanren had mixed with the Feiluan Army and entered the palace.

The time just coincided with Tang Shi's death.

Tang Shi's death might have something else strange.

But he would not be stupid enough to take the initiative to confess his mistake to His Majesty.

So he suppressed the matter.

I thought that this matter would never be known to His Majesty, but it still aroused His Majesty's suspicion.

He had no choice but to send people to dig up Tang Shi's body.

The body had long been rotten and could not be seen clearly. Even if it was dug out, it would be impossible to recognize it.

Zhou Bufan shook his head.

The emperor was getting more and more upset.

At this time, the court officials below were arguing non-stop.

"We don't know anything about such a big thing, and we don't know how those people below do things!"

"There is nothing to be afraid of small rebels. Let Xuyang Pass and Jinyang Pass mobilize troops as soon as possible, and one brigade will wipe out these rebels in one fell swoop."

"Come on, the commander

of Xuyang Pass is old. He can't even kill chickens now, let alone kill enemies. Isn't it ridiculous to let him go to the battlefield?" "The soldiers in Jianan Pass are all old members of the Tang family. If it were you, I would let General Tang go. Once General Tang shows up, those old members will definitely soften their hearts and maybe they will all come back."

These words really touched the emperor's heart.

Letting General Tang go, on the one hand, can bring back those surrendered soldiers.

On the other hand, it can also confirm whether Tang Shi is still alive.

Tang Shi was a very filial man. His old father was forced to go to the battlefield, so he couldn't not show up.

The emperor narrowed his eyes and was calculating the gains and losses.

The people below were still arguing: "A bunch of soft bones who surrendered, so what if they come back? They can surrender the first time, and they can surrender the second time. I think we should just abandon these rebels."

"You can't say that. We can abandon these soldiers, but we must not let them get away with it. I think we should let General Tang go and persuade them to come back, and then execute them on the spot!"

Hearing the words "execute on the spot", many officials fell silent.

There are many soldiers in Jianan Pass.

If they are executed on the spot, I'm afraid there will be rivers of blood.

Cen Chong, a fifth-rank official in red, spoke up hastily: "Your Majesty, this cannot be done. Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, we should aim our swords at the enemy, not at our own people."

"These soldiers would not surrender for no reason. I think there must be a reason. Your Majesty, you cannot kill them easily."

"What do you know as a small fifth-rank official? If we cannot kill one to warn the rest, if everyone follows the example of the soldiers at Jianan Pass, then Dayun will be in chaos." "

Well said, then let General Tang go."

The emperor made the decision himself, so there was no reason to change it.

When General Tang heard that he was asked to go into battle in person, he sat down on the chair with a pale face.

"How could this be?"

"I am old now and can't even lift a sword. If Your Majesty asks me to go, isn't that sending me to my death?"

The housekeeper lowered his head and said softly, "General, although everyone has said so, there is still room for maneuver before the imperial edict arrives."

The housekeeper's words reminded General Tang.

Now the imperial edict has not been issued yet, and he may not necessarily be sent to the battlefield.

He wants to go to the palace and persuade His Majesty to give up this idea.

He hurriedly changed into court clothes, and before he went out, he was greeted by the team that announced the edict.

Seeing the bright imperial edict, his body stiffened.

Waiting for the eunuch to finish reading the imperial edict, he had lost all hope.

"This, how should this war be fought?"

If he didn't show off his past face and prestige, those soldiers would never listen to him and return to Dayun obediently.

But after the soldiers returned to Dayun, he wanted to kill them.

Doesn't that mean that he would become a treacherous villain despised by all people!

But if he didn't save face, this old man would suffer.

He sat in a chair in a state of panic.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have saved Shi'er at that time."

The housekeeper looked at the old general's expression, and somehow he felt a little happy in his heart.

At that time, he begged the old general to save him, but the old general refused.

If the old general was willing to listen to him, why would the young general Tang fake his death and leave his hometown.

The housekeeper quietly released a pigeon to inform Tang Shi of what happened in the court.

At that time, Tang Shi was frowning and taking care of a group of orphans in a dilapidated temple.

The oldest of these children was only ten years old, and the youngest had just learned to walk and could not even speak.

"Sir, I heard that there is no food to sell in the city. Are we going to run out of food?"

A thin little girl stood beside Tang Shi, looking up at Tang Shi.

She was so thin that she looked like a walking skeleton. She staggered when she walked, as if she would fall apart at any time.

Tang Shi clenched his wallet. It used to be full of banknotes, but now there were only a few thin pieces of paper.

Since parting with Gan Fanren and others, he has been wandering around, wanting to be a hero.

But gradually he found that there were too many unfair things in this world, so many that he was too busy to take care of them.

His identity was sensitive, and many things could not be high-profile. Without the halo of General Tang, he seemed to be nothing.