Chapter 642: The King of Lingnan Has a Strong General
This is the third time the eunuch has come to deliver the imperial edict.
He visited Chen's house three times and was rejected three times.
No matter what rewards the visitors offered, Chen Nianhe accepted them all. However, once the topic of sending troops to suppress the rebellion in Lingnan came up, Chen Nianhe began to play dumb.
According to Chen Nianhe himself, he was really very ill.
If it weren't for Mu Tianen, he would have been so sick that he couldn't even get out of bed.
After dismissing the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict for the third time, Chen Nianhe, with a pale face, was helped up by his family and walked away coughing every few steps.
The eunuch looked at Chen Nianhe bitterly, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally could only go back to report in fear.
If there were anyone else available, Chen Nianhe and his entire family would have been executed for refusing the imperial edict.
However, the funny thing is that there is really no one available in the court today.
The late emperor and the late crown prince both valued civil officials over military generals, and they repeatedly suppressed and persecuted the military generals in charge of military power. Anyone with a little prestige in the army was among those who were suppressed and persecuted.
Among them, the Xu family, the former Marquis of Jiaxing, was the leader, and the rest were all generals and soldiers who had been involved with the Xu family.
After the Xu family was exiled for several years, the late emperor and the late crown prince took ruthless action and repeatedly sharpened their knives against those who were suspected of having connections with the Xu family.
In the past few years in Kyoto, many military generals, both big and small, were demoted, transferred to the frontier and no longer reused, and even more lost their entire families.
The reason for all this was simply because the former crown prince did not trust others to hold military power, so he eliminated dissidents and wanted to insert his own people into the army in order to take the military power into his own hands.
The late emperor turned a blind eye to the late crown prince's actions and even condoned them silently.
After Prince Lu killed all the other princes and successfully ascended the throne as Emperor Yongshun, his actions were even more extreme in order to secure his throne and completely eliminate all hidden dangers.
Emperor Yongshun executed all those who had been promoted by the previous crown prince.
Kill them all at once.
What followed was a hilarious scene before our eyes.
In such a huge court, there are either young people who are good at talking but have no battlefield experience, or civil officials who are very good at talking.
There are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in various places, but not a single one of them can be mobilized.
In a situation like this, if time was enough, Emperor Yongshun could slowly promote people he trusted, and in time he would be able to make up for the vacancies in the army.
But the situation clearly does not wait for anyone.
The King of Lingnan's army, under the banner of clearing the court and upholding justice, advanced like a hot knife through butter and penetrated deep into the heart of the Central Plains as if it were in an empty land.
Half of Emperor Yongshun's empire fell into the hands of others. Now, even though he was wearing the dragon robe, he was worried day and night and couldn't eat.
If this continues, what if the rebels attack Kyoto?
No matter how eloquently the Prince of Lingnan spoke, Emperor Yongshun would not be willing to give up the throne.
The rebellion in Lingnan must be suppressed.
Emperor Yongshun searched for many candidates and finally chose Chen Nianhe.
The Chen family has been in charge of the military for generations, and because Chen Nianhe was imprisoned after his power was seized, the Chen family did not participate in the power struggle among the kings.
Moreover, Chen Nianhe's only son is a cripple who cannot join the army.
Chen Nianhe's only grandson, Chen Yun, died long ago.
The other descendants of the Chen family are not outstanding, and this lineage of the Chen family was essentially cut off by Chen Nianhe.
Under such circumstances, Chen Nianhe has no descendants to support and no descendants to strive for progress. The military power in his hands will at most stop at Chen Nianhe's generation.
Perhaps in the near future, there will be no need to wait for Emperor Yongshun to seize power. Once Chen Nianhe dies, there will be no one to lead the Chen family, and he will be defeated.
Emperor Yongshun felt very confident in using such a person.
But Chen Nianhe did not intend to let Emperor Yongshun feel so at ease.
Chen Tai, who was helping Chen Nianhe into the house, hesitated and said, "Father, you have refused the imperial edict three times. Will the palace..."
"It doesn't matter."
Chen Nianhe waved his hand to interrupt Chen Tai and sneered, "If I don't move, no one can mobilize the border troops."
"Now I'm not begging anyone to show mercy and let me go, but the emperor who has no one to use is asking me to put on armor and go to war."
Do you really think that all the thirty years that Chen Nianhe spent at the border were in vain?
The Chen family has been guarding the border for generations, and they have countless old friends in the army. The path paved with the blood and flesh of the Chen family was not paved in vain.
Looking at Kyoto today, which general still has the courage to stand up and challenge him?
Even if there were those who were ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, would Emperor Yongshun dare to play with his throne?
He doesn't dare.
Chen Nianhe quickly closed his eyes and said solemnly, "It would be even better if the emperor sent someone else to fight in armor."
The court is full of good-for-nothings, and they will die in vain if they go to the battlefield.
He just needs to wait at home, and Emperor Yongshun will naturally give him better conditions.
Chen Tai heard this and tried to suppress his uneasiness. He paused and said hesitantly, "But father, if that day really comes, will you really go to the battle?"
Chen Nianhe smiled: "Why not?"
"I am now an idler, without any military authority. If I don't wait to go to war, where will I get the authority?"
Chen Tai's words were filled with bitterness: "But I heard that the King of Lingnan has a fierce general under his command, who is..."
"You mean Xu Yu?"
Chen Nianhe stayed at home under the pretext of recuperating, but he kept a close eye on news from the outside world.
Catching the lingering bitterness on Chen Tai's face, Chen Nianhe said helplessly: "Son, we can't avenge your broken leg."
Not only are they unable to seek revenge, they even have to repay a favor.
Chen Nianhe was able to escape the famine and chaos he encountered in the northwest thanks to the timely intervention of Sang Zhixia and Xu Yu.
Otherwise, Chen Nianhe would have died at that time.
later……
Chen Nianhe lowered his eyes and said, "The Chen family suffered a disaster before. As a father, I was not sure that I could protect the entire Chen family. I had to secretly send Yuner and his mother to the Xu family in the northwest."
"now……"
"I heard that Yuner gets along very well with those naughty kids in the Xu family, and has learned a lot from the old man of the Xu family and has made great progress."
"They were well protected by the Xu family. They arrived in Lingnan under their protection without suffering any injustice. We truly owe them this favor."
If the Chen family was really wiped out at that time, Chen Yun, who was sent to the Xu family, would be the last bloodline of the Chen family.
Chen Nianhe trusted Sang Zhixia and Xu Yu's character.
Even if the Chen family really fell into that situation, Chen Yun and his mother would be well taken care of under their care.
The kindness of helping someone in need cannot be erased with just a few words of gratitude.
As for Chen Tai's leg being broken by Xu Yu...
Chen Tai smiled bitterly and said, "Father, I have long since forgotten this matter."
"Besides, I actually owed Xu Yu my life even longer than my father did."
"I traded a leg for a life, so I actually made a profit."
He was young and couldn't see clearly at the time. Chen Nianhe, who was the one who made the decisions at home, was away from home for a long time. He almost fell into the trap of the villain. Not only did he lose his life in vain, but he also almost implicated the entire Chen family.
If Xu Yu had not broken his leg in the chaos and used his serious injury to pull him out of the mess early, he would have lost more than just a leg that day.
Seeing that he had figured it out, Chen Nianhe sighed softly and said, "It's good that you don't dwell on this."
"But Xu Yu is indeed a capable guy, and he has a powerful wife to help him. Now that he is under the command of the King of Lingnan, he is like a dragon returning to the sea. No one can stop him."
At first, people in Kyoto actually didn't know who were among the rebels.
Lingnan and Kyoto are too far apart, and there has been no communication between the two for decades, so their understanding of each other is very superficial.
But he could not resist Xu Yu's bravery in front of the battle.
In less than two months, Xu Yu led his troops to capture two cities in succession, with great momentum.
A military flag with the word "Xu" written on it fluttered in the wind, and just standing in front of the battle line made people feel scared and fearful.
Xu Yu's reputation for ferocity also spread smoothly to Kyoto, causing many people to secretly gasp.
The Xu family's eldest son's behavior back then was so absurd that Xu Yu's image as a dandy and ridiculous person was deeply rooted in people's minds.
But now...
The prince who was once despised by the noble families of Kyoto, now wore silver armor and wielded a silver spear, killing countless enemies and accumulated an astonishing number of military exploits in a short period of time.
Such a brave general should have served the court and been loyal at the border.
However, due to the suspicion and frame-up of the royal family, he resolutely became a fierce general under the command of the King of Lingnan.
How ridiculous.
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