"In a split second, General Cheng Guorong's strike failed, and he was hit on the wrist by the chieftain, causing his long sword to fall out of his hand. Seeing this, everyone was shocked beyond words.
Seeing this, the chieftain thought he had gained an advantage, and called on his accomplices to join forces to kill the five leaders in one battle.
Unfortunately, the meeting was behind closed doors, locked from the inside. The guards outside were sweating profusely, but there was nothing they could do. Empress Shi even declared that if anything happened to His Majesty Lin Hai, she would slaughter all the barbarians in the world...”
In Qiao County, the border county of the Chen Dynasty, the storyteller was telling the story of the attempted coup that took place at the regular meeting of the heads of state in Dawn City a month ago.
Of course, since the government does not regulate such public speech, when the storyteller said: Duke Longqiu of Yan suddenly jumped up, grabbed the chieftain's hands and feet with both hands, shouted, and with his hair and beard standing up, he tore the leading chieftain into two pieces alive, and blood rained down, a bright red scene that was very beautiful, the magistrate of Qiao County, Yuan Huan, who had a rare chance to go out and understand the people's sentiments (actually just strolling), completely lost the desire to stop.
This one is also way too outrageous.
I don't know why the Jinyiwei didn't intervene, and even seemed to be fanning the flames. Although it is absolutely necessary not to block the channels of expression at this time, let alone suppress public opinion, but parody is not nonsense, adaptation is not fabrication, look at what he adapted that coup into?
This group of ordinary people, too, had already received official reports about the coup, and the court had dispatched numerous people to explain it, ensuring everyone knew the truth and suppressing any conspiracy theories. And what was the result? A group of people who knew the truth gathered here to listen to a remastered version. I really don't know what they were thinking.
"Sir, do you want to intervene? I think he's getting more and more outrageous."
The legal advisor Wang Qing at the side said without missing an opportunity.
"Well, let them be."
Yuan Huan thought about it and finally shook his head.
"Don't just suppress them. Let them have books to listen to. You know, there aren't many entertainment options these days."
After saying that, Yuan Huan even pointed at the group of people squatting on the ground listening to the storytelling. The sharp-eyed Wang Qing noticed at a glance that among the group of ragged common people, there were actually two middle-aged men in complete clothes. This was rare. You know, now all the strong people have been conscripted by the court, and these storytellers are nothing more than old people who are about to lose their labor force and children who have not grown up and can't even lend a hand.
The man must have been squatting for too long listening to the storyteller, and when he wanted to stand up and stretch his muscles, Wang Qing noticed a piece of his shirt showing through the hem of his short shirt.
"That's..."
Wang Qing said in disbelief, "They listened too? Shouldn't they be in charge of this?"
"Care? Of course they should, but it's just a book talk, and it won't really cost Your Majesty a thing, so they can just ignore it, right?
Besides, didn't you read the official document from a few days ago? The Ministry of War believed that the newly formed militia lacked a strong fighting spirit and was very likely to collapse in the middle of battle. Therefore, it ordered the Jinyiwei to assign a Jinyiwei to each militia unit. When the militia charged, the Jinyiwei would hold back. If the militia retreated, the Jinyiwei would supervise the battle. If all the militia members in the unit were killed in battle, the Jinyiwei would become the last member of the unit and continue the charge...
After all, they're all going to die just like us. So if they're all going to die, who cares? As long as nothing happens, that's all that matters."
After Yuan Huan finished speaking, Wang Qing remained silent for a long time.
After a while, Wang Qing straightened his hunched back, trying to look more energetic. However, his expression was somewhat dejected as he asked, "Sir, has it really come to this? Is that damn Dark Abyss really that powerful? Could it be that even if Great Chen and Liang Kingdom attack from both north and south, with Qinghe assisting us, we can't defeat it with a single all-out attack, and that we need to resort to such a catastrophic act?"
Yuan Huan glanced at the legal advisor who had followed him for fifteen years, and thought about how he had wasted fifteen years in the position of county magistrate. The legal advisor who was so heroic and determined to assist him in entering the court had lived up to his former ambition after going through fifteen years of trivial matters.
In a rare move, he reached out his left hand to support Wang Qing's arm, while his right hand pressed down slightly on his back, as if to help him stand a little straighter. He knew that his teacher was quite knowledgeable, but unfortunately, he had failed the imperial examinations repeatedly, and his family could no longer afford to support a grown man's education...
If he had taken the test again that year, perhaps the answer would have been different.
Yuan Huan felt that if the two of them switched places, and Wang Qing became the Jinshi, and he became his legal advisor, maybe one day he would really have the opportunity to get a glimpse of the imperial court in Jiankang.
"Old Wang, what document from Dawn City haven't you seen? Do you even need to ask? If we could defeat them simply by mobilizing our army, the five heads of state would have already mobilized their forces. You know, in the wave attack schedule issued by the joint meeting of military commanders, the five heads of state were ranked only behind the regular army. They might even charge before us."
At this point, Yuan Huan looked at Wang Qing seriously and said, "According to the requirements, those over fifty years old can participate voluntarily, and local government offices are not allowed to forcibly conscript them. Old Wang, you are forty-seven this year, right? When the attack is launched in three years, you will be fifty, so you don't have to go."
Wang Qing tried to straighten his back again, but unfortunately, as he expected, his back would make a cracking sound and then straighten up miraculously, but this did not happen. Wang Qing felt that if he tried harder, he might be able to accomplish more than half of his idea - his back made a loud cracking sound and then broke, and he would not have to charge into the battle formation. Well, everything was fine except that he could never straighten up again.
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