Chapter Sixty-Eight: Taking the People's Livelihood as My Own
Unfortunately, this passage spans millions of years, and I can only read it superficially, unable to understand the whole text, let alone grasp its deeper meaning.
The next morning, Chunzhi came early to inform Hensheng that the assessment would begin.
"Time is short, and some things are not fully prepared, so you'll have to complete the entire game."
Given the current unstable situation, it is naturally better for the army to head south as soon as possible. Chunzhi only wanted to test Hensheng's leadership skills and did not intend to make things difficult for him.
Su Zhenzhen accompanied him out of the tent. As soon as she looked up, she saw the Celestial Master bound on the command platform. She had to admit that this evil Taoist priest was quite tenacious. Even after being tortured like this, he still had a breath left.
And he stared at Hensheng without any attempt to hide it, as if he wanted to bore a hole through him with his gaze.
Just as Su Zhenzhen was wondering if there was any other way to get the demon to answer her question, she heard Chunzhi calling Hensheng to go to the martial arts arena.
Well, the demonic cultivator can't escape anyway, so let's check Hensheng's assessment first.
It was called a training ground, but it was really just a square open space. After all, the Northwest Army was so poor that it had to borrow grain from the people of the border prefectures. Where would they get the money to repair fortifications? As long as they could stand and train, that was enough.
Chunzhi stood in the center, with a group of people standing on each side.
Su Zhenzhen wondered if it would just be a simple fight, when she heard Chunzhi speak, and her words were a bombshell.
"With me as the boundary, the right side is Han territory, and the left side is barbarian territory. You are now the general guarding the city, and you must hold the pass to prevent the barbarians from invading. A group of Han soldiers has escaped to the city walls, closely followed by barbarian cavalry. I ask you whether you will open the gate to rescue them?"
Su Zhenzhen's pupils contracted. Wasn't this the same choice General Huo faced twenty years ago when he ordered his eight generals to defend the mountain county?
If the people of Xijun are allowed to enter the city, the barbarians can take the opportunity to attack and kill them. But if they are not allowed to enter, they can only watch as so many people are brutally murdered in front of them.
General Huo chose to sacrifice the small for the greater good, for the sake of the capital and for the long term. But was this choice truly the right one?
This first test can be difficult or easy. It's easy because predecessors have already provided the answer, and all I need to do is follow the example. After all, that's exactly what General Huo chose, isn't it?
The difficulty lies in the fact that Hensheng is not a general; he is the sole heir to the dynasty. If the emperor cannot protect the people under his rule, how can he be revered as the emperor by all the people?
Hensheng didn't think too much about it and asked calmly, "May I ask, sister-in-law, how many soldiers are guarding the city? How much food and provisions do the people have? How many barbarian cavalry are there? How many people have fled? Do either side have reinforcements?"
"The city has 20,000 garrison troops and 30,000 civilians, with enough food to last about half a month. The barbarian cavalry numbers 100,000, and there are 50,000 fleeing civilians. We have no reinforcements, and once the city falls, the Central Plains will be slaughtered by the barbarians."
From these few words, Su Zhenzhen roughly gleaned the situation of that year. Forget about reinforcements; even Jiang Yichun, trapped in the capital, was struggling to protect himself. But the situation in the border states was also dire, with the barbarians encircling the Central Plains. If either the west or the north were breached, a large-scale barbarian invasion was inevitable.
Therefore, Yamagata must not be lost!
Hensheng, however, remained calm and asked again, "May I ask who I am? Am I a general guarding the city, or a member of the royal family?"
Upon hearing this, not only Su Zhenzhen, but even Chunzhi was startled.
Although the front lines are far from the emperor's reach, these words cannot be spoken so openly. "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." Without the power to intimidate others, protecting one's own identity is to incur the wrath of the masses.
After all, Emperor Jiang Yichun's reputation among the common people wasn't very good, and as his only descendant, it's hard to say that he wouldn't have to pay for his father's sins.
Su Zhenzhen was shocked as to why Hensheng would assume an identity. Could it be...?
Chunzhi moved her lips with difficulty, "You are yourself."
As expected, Hensheng's answer surprised everyone, yet everyone felt that this was the standard answer.
"If I were the general defending the city, I would definitely hold it to the death and not let the barbarians advance an inch eastward. Even if it meant the deaths of tens of thousands of people, I would accept it, because a general should be loyal to his sovereign and love his country, and not fail the trust placed in him by his sovereign."
"If I were a member of the royal family, I would lead the entire city's army and people out to fight, unite with the 50,000 people who have fled here, and fight the barbarians to the death. Even if the corpses are scattered all over the city walls, I would never allow my people to be slaughtered by the barbarians. As a member of the royal family, supported by all the people of the world, I should take the people's livelihood as my own. The life and death of the people are intertwined with that of the ruler and the people, and we should never abandon each other."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned to look at Hensheng.
Qingshan and the Huo family army were moved to tears. The general had not misjudged them.
With such a lord, they, as his subjects, would naturally be willing to give their lives for him.
Other soldiers and civilians, though not as deeply moved, were still brought to tears by the phrase "taking the people's livelihood as our own."
Dynasties have come and gone for thousands of years, but which ruler has ever truly cared about the lives and deaths of the people? They have only treated them as productive forces, no different from cattle and sheep.
Chunzhi remained silent for a long time. Of course, she had heard the story of Shanxian that year. In her heart, she thought that General Huo valued the royal family too much and neglected the common people, but she couldn't criticize his actions. After all, if Shanxian had fallen back then, the border prefectures wouldn't have been able to hold out for long, and there was also Huzhou. General Hu Buwei would probably have died around that time, and the Central Plains dynasty would have fallen into unprecedented turmoil.
But she still couldn't accept this approach. So many people in the entire Xijun had fled eastward in search of a safe haven, but the dynasty they believed in and the cities they defended did not accept them. Instead, they abandoned them and allowed the barbarians to bully and kill them.
If that's the case, why did you run away in the first place? What's the difference between dying in Xijun and dying in Shanxian? You wasted so much time and effort.
Chunzhi thought of her mother. Although giving birth to her was a helpless act, the ten months of pregnancy ultimately brought her into this world.
As a maid of the Huo family, couldn't she surrender to the rebels in the capital? She went through countless hardships to reach the border region, suffering countless humiliations along the way. She thought she could see General Huo, but General Huo had already died in battle.
How can the despair of these two be said to be the same?
Chunzhi had pondered the choice of Shanxian County for many years but still couldn't figure out how to break the deadlock.
There is indeed no perfect solution in this world, but today someone told her that as a member of the royal family, supported by all the people under heaven, she should take the people's livelihood as her own, and that the ruler and the people should depend on each other in life and death, never abandoning each other.
But clearly, he was not supported by the world in the slightest.
Upon hearing this, Su Zhenzhen's emotions soared. She knew that one day this low dragon roar would shake the world and pacify all directions.
He believed that he would surely enable all people in the world to live in peace and prosperity.
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