Wuzhou City, General's Mansion.
Just as the news of the imperial army's defeat at Tumu Fortress and the capture of Emperor Zhao Gan reached the prime minister's residence in the capital, the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui and his cronies faced a difficult choice.
The generals of the Longcheng Jingnan Army, who had escorted Emperor Zhao Gan from Tumu Fortress overnight back to the General's Mansion in Wuzhou City, also had significant disagreements on how to deal with Emperor Zhao Gan.
The "airborne" generals, led by General Wang Jian and General Huo Qubing, advocated "deposing the emperor, establishing themselves, beheading him and displaying his head to the public, and sweeping across the world."
The "local faction" elders, led by Prince Liu Xinwu of Wuning, advocated "negotiating peace to stop the war, dividing the country along the river, and gradually taking action."
The parachuted faction believes that at this moment, His Highness Prince Jin's army is strong and his morale is high. After deposing the emperor and establishing himself, he can rightfully lead his troops southward and unify the world in no time.
The local faction believed that if the emperor were deposed and a new ruler were established, or even if the tyrant Zhao Gan were beheaded and his head displayed to the public, the leaderless Xin Dynasty would inevitably fall apart.
The remaining six of the eight kings of different surnames, even if they had been stripped of their military power by Zhao Gan, would surely take this opportunity to raise troops again in their fiefdoms and start a rebellion, rallying their old troops under the banner of restoring the Great Xin Dynasty and opposing the King of Jin.
The two sides, each with their own reasons, couldn't convince each other.
For a time, a great commotion broke out in the council hall of Liu Ziyu's residence, the military commander of the Wuzhou Tiger Army.
The capture of Emperor Zhao Gan has become a hot potato.
In contrast, Chen Huai'an did not participate in the discussion and was unaware that his generals would quarrel over such a trivial matter.
At this moment, he was alone in the study of the general's mansion, looking at the 8.88 million points on the [Born to Be an Emperor] system screen in his mind, which could be used to summon private soldiers as a reward from the system, and he was caught in a happy dilemma.
In the Battle of Tumu Fortress, Emperor Zhao Gan was captured alive, and the system directly credited him with 6.66 million points.
In addition to the points reward from the previous conquest of the Turkic Khaganate, Chen Huai'an's points balance was immediately maxed out.
Currently, he has 580,000 system reward points remaining for his private army. Even if he summons all of them super elite soldiers with 10 points each, he still won't be able to spend all 8.88 million system points.
Chen Huai'an stared at the system screen and muttered to himself, "If I had known Zhao Gan was this valuable, why would I have bothered with all this trouble and conquest?"
"Why not just use an excuse from the beginning, summon the 80,000 Xuanjia Army right there in the Golden Palace of the Imperial City in front of all the civil and military officials, storm Zhao Gan and the palace in one fell swoop, and then directly ascend the throne and become emperor? Wouldn't that be much easier?"
"Hey, this is my first time conquering a territory, I'm still inexperienced, I was too hasty!"
Now, the problem facing Chen Huai'an is that he has soldiers but no food, weapons, or horses.
In addition to the 220,000 troops he summoned from the system, the Dragon City Pacification Army under his command now has recruited and persuaded more than 130,000 troops to surrender.
In other words, Chen Huai'an is now Prince Jin, commanding an army of 350,000.
The daily food and fodder consumption for these 350,000 troops is an astronomical figure, not to mention their salaries.
Moreover, Chen Huai'an has already announced in his fiefdom of Longcheng and the occupied areas a decree that military families would be exempt from taxes for five years and have their taxes halved for ten years.
This means that Chen Huai'an paid for all the supplies, provisions, and pay for the Longcheng Jingnan Army out of his own pocket.
Therefore, even with the system providing food and supplies, Chen Huai'an dared not summon all 580,000 private soldiers he had been rewarded with by the system at once in a short period of time.
"Well, it seems we still have to fight this battle, and we'll have to keep attacking the city!"
Chen Huai'an finally made up his mind to fight to sustain the war, until he could conquer the Central Plains and unify the world!
After making the decision, he left his study and went straight to the council hall of the general's mansion.
Soon, the announcement from Xiao Po, the commander of the Imperial Guards, rang out outside the council hall: "His Highness Prince Jin has arrived—"
brush!
Inside the council hall, the two factions of generals, who had been arguing fiercely, immediately fell silent.
Then, they all stood up to greet Chen Huai'an:
"Your Highness Prince Jin!"
"Your Highness!"
"Nephew!"
Chen Huai'an sat down in the main seat of the council hall without hesitation. Looking at the somewhat strange atmosphere in the hall, he smiled and asked:
"I was just outside when I heard you all chatting animatedly inside the hall, it was quite a lively scene!"
"Tell me, what are you guys talking about?"
Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall turned their heads away, somewhat embarrassed.
Finally, it was the eldest Prince Wu Ning, Liu Xinwu, who stepped forward and said to Chen Huai'an, "Nephew, wasn't it during the Battle of Tumu Fortress that the Jingnan Army of Longcheng captured Emperor Zhao Gan alive?"
"We're just chatting here, discussing how to deal with Zhao Gan!"
oh?
Chen Huai'an raised an eyebrow and asked with interest, "So, what conclusions have you reached in your discussion?"
Liu Xinwu replied, "Nephew, the matter is like this..."
......
Wuzhou City, the government prison.
Yesterday, Zhao Gan, the second emperor of the Great Xin Dynasty, was high above and arrogant, but now he is a prisoner.
He was no longer worthy of possessing the golden armor and the peerless weapon, the Overlord Spear.
In this world, only one person is worthy of that golden armor, and it certainly cannot be the prisoner Zhao Gan.
At this moment, Zhao Gan, dressed in plain silk clothes, was staring blankly at the small window inside the prison.
Beside him was Wenren Yu, a notorious concubine who had served three dynasties.
However, the two who were once deeply in love no longer had the mood for flirting and teasing. They were each thinking their own thoughts as they looked at the ray of early winter sunshine that shone into the prison cell through the window.
Finally, Zhao Gan, who had been completely lost, suddenly seemed to be injected with some mysterious power, and stood up abruptly. With his hair disheveled, he walked toward the still charming and alluring Consort Wenren Yu.
"Your Majesty, what... what do you want to do?"
Upon seeing this, Wenren Yu, who used to cling to Zhao Gan like an octopus, seemed to be startled and quickly avoided the aggressive Zhao Gan.
Unfortunately, the prison cell is only so big.
Soon, Zhao Gan effortlessly grabbed Wenren Yu, his hands gripping her wrists tightly, his empty eyes staring straight at her.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please be gentle! You're hurting me!"
Wenren Yu was terrified, seemingly already guessing what Zhao Gan wanted to do.
Zhao Gan remained silent, staring intently at Wenren Yu.
After a long silence, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "My beloved Wen, in this life, I can give up the country and the nation, but the thing I can't let go of the most is you."
"In this campaign to quell the rebellion, I suffered a defeat, and you fell into the hands of the rebels along with me. To prevent you from suffering a severe punishment, I have no choice but to personally send you on your final journey!"
"Don't be afraid, I'll be quick!"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Gan swiftly grabbed Wenren Yu's fair neck and squeezed it with all his might.
The latter didn't even utter a sound before spitting out blood and dying on the spot.
Even in death, her alluring, foxy eyes stared at Zhao Gan with a look of terror and despair, refusing to close.
After killing his beloved concubine with his own hands, Zhao Gan felt a great sense of relief.
His facial expression became even more ferocious and terrifying, and he let out bursts of desperate, sinister laughter.
Hahaha!
"You treacherous Chen Huai'an, you dare to presume to judge me? No one in the world is capable of judging me!"
As he spoke, Zhao Gan, like a mad bull, rammed his head against the wall of the cell with all his might.
Boom!
With a loud bang, Zhao Gan smashed a hole in the cell wall with his head.
He himself died bleeding from all seven orifices.
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