bookpub Chapter 1619 Chongwu's Determination
Chapter 1619 Chongwu's Determination
Chapter 1619 Chongwu's Determination
It would take another two hours for it to get dark, but the falling snow between the sky and the earth blurred the vision, as if the snowy night had already arrived early.
General Chongwu is eating.
The weather was good in the morning, so he trained his troops and did not return until the afternoon, so he was more than an hour late for dinner.
The meal was simple. The army had hunted two wild boars in the mountains a few days ago and had almost finished eating them, but they left two good pieces of meat for the officers. So General Chongwu was still able to eat the braised pork, which was fatty and soft, and his mouth was full of oil after one bite.
The nobles of Tianshui City had long since stopped liking this greasy food, but on the northern border, being able to eat a big mouthful of meat like this was like being in heaven. The only thing General Chongwu was not satisfied with was that the new cook didn't know his taste, so he prepared another serving of fish stewed with herbs for him.
The fish was freshly caught from a nearby icy lake, and it was big and fresh, but it was cooked with litsea cubeba oil and lemongrass because General Chongwu didn’t like spices!
He was born and raised in the Vaishya tribe, and had little love for the fragrant herbs that the Yao people were deeply intoxicated with. The Vaishya people ate simply and cheerfully, and did not often use complicated seasonings.
After serving as an official in Yao State for many years, General Chongwu still couldn't change his taste. His former military colleagues often played pranks on him with this.
"This dish of fish is for you." General Chongwu pointed at the fish and said to his personal soldiers, "Tell the cook not to make it again."
He still ate with a heavy heart during this meal.
The Emperor's Blood was about to burst, and the grand drama planned by the Palace Master was about to begin. General Chongwu knew from the beginning that he had no choice, but when the time came, he still had a trace of hesitation.
What if the Palace Master fails?
Although she was remarkable, this was Yao Country after all, not the Bejia she was most familiar with;
All the officials of Yao State had just been won over by King Yao and were now closely surrounding him.
The Palace Master's actions do have the possibility of failure.
If she fails, her life may not be in danger, but Chongwu, as one of the important participants and a Pisha person, has no chance of survival!
But if the Palace Master's action is successful, he won't have to continue sitting on the bench in Yao Country, won't have to be looked down upon by the Yao people, and won't have to guard the cold North Gate!
The chances of success or failure seem to be 50%.
What should he do?
The Lord of Qingyang Palace started a rebellion, should he respond quickly?
He pondered over it again and again, and the braised pork in his mouth lost its taste. Just then, the sound of flapping wings came from outside.
He pushed the door open and saw a peregrine falcon landing on a large tree in front of the house, speaking in human language: "General Chongwu, urgent news."
As soon as General Chongwu stretched out his hand, it took out a small green tube from its belly and put it into his hand.
Cyan? Chongwu was slightly surprised. This was an urgent message from the Qingyang Regent, and it was sent by the fastest flying bird of prey!
He quickly returned to the house, closed the door, and then opened the green tube.
There was a note inside with just one line of small words:
"King Yao has secretly ordered you to go north this morning with two hundred elite soldiers!"
In less than twenty words, General Chongwu's pupils suddenly shrank.
King Yao wants to replace him!
The Lord of Qingyang Palace had finally helped him secure the post of Zhenbei, but less than three months after he took the position, King Yao was sending someone to replace him!
What does this mean?
King Yao knows!
King Yao not only knew that Qingyang was preparing to deal with him and overthrow his regime, he also suspected that Chongwu would also lead troops to cooperate. Therefore, he wanted to replace Chongwu with Wang Sili, whom he trusted, before the Emperor Liujiang broke out!
How terrible is it to be suspected by the king? These few words made General Chongwu sweat in his heavy clothes in the snow.
There was no way out for him.
Since King Yao has already become suspicious, he will not let Chongwu go regardless of whether Qingyang's uprising succeeds or not, and whether Chongwu is involved or not!
Chongwu gained power because of Qingyang, and in everyone's impression, he has long been branded by Qingyang.
If King Yao wins, how could he have missed out on Chongwu when cleaning up the remaining forces of Qingyang?
"Done!" He clenched his fists, then swallowed the note, grabbed the plate of braised pork on the table, opened the door and put it on the ground, "Eat it."
When the peregrine falcon flew down to feast on the meal, he also called a few of his trusted confidants into the house, put down the barrier, and closed the door to discuss matters.
These confidants were all from Pisha. They followed him from his hometown to Yao Kingdom, climbed the ladder with him, and remained loyal to him.
So Chongwu didn't beat around the bush and said directly: "Your Majesty has secretly changed the general and sent Wang Sili to replace me!"
Everyone was shocked and said angrily: "How can this be possible!"
"Once it's changed, we will all have no chance of survival." Even if he handed over the military power obediently, King Yao would not show mercy. The Royal Family's methods were so cruel that General Chongwu did not want to gamble with his life.
Without military power, he would be a lamb to be slaughtered.
Everyone also understood the seriousness of the situation and said in unison: "General, just give your orders and we will obey!"
"If Wang Sili enters our northern camp and claims to have received an imperial decree, I won't be able to do anything to him in front of everyone." General Chongwu has thought it through and is determined. "We have to kill him on the way and prevent him from getting here."
This was also the meaning of Qingyang's urgent message to him.
Someone took out a map and spread it on the table.
"If Wang Sili wants to get here as quickly as possible, he has to choose a shortcut, which is -" General Chongwu drew a line on the map with a red pen, "this road."
He knew it very well because he had gone through the same thing more than two months ago.
There weren't many places on this road that were suitable for ambushing 200 elite soldiers. Everyone discussed it together and soon came up with an idea.
"Yuwen Yong will have a meeting with me in half an hour. We will set off after the meeting."
He and Yuwen Yong were stationed separately, with the two armies several miles apart.
A confidant immediately reminded: "My lord, has General Yuwen received the news and is waiting for you to come?"
General Chongwu was shocked.
It is indeed difficult to rule out this possibility. Qingyang must have received the intelligence later than King Yao issued the order. Now that the peregrine falcons sent by Qingyang have all flown to the northern camp, who knows whether King Yao's message has reached Yuwen Yong?
After Xue Zongwu's death, the generals who replaced him as the Northern Generals were Yuwen Yong and Chongwu.
Unlike Chongwu, Yuwen Yong is a member of a prominent family in Yao State. King Yao originally sent him to guard the north together with Chongwu and asked him to keep an eye on Chongwu.
Now that Prince Yao has become suspicious of Chongwu, will he secretly order Yuwen Yong to take down Chongwu first to prevent him from rebelling later?
From this point of view, the meeting in half an hour might be a trap set by Yuwen Yong to lure him into a trap.
Chongwu said, "Send someone to find Yuwen Yong and tell him that I injured my leg during the training and can't walk well. Ask him if he can come to my army to discuss matters."
The confidant left as he was told.
More than half an hour later, he came back to report:
"General Yuwen said that since you have a disability, you should take good care of your injuries. He also asked if there was a military doctor he could send. I said there was one nearby, so he said he would come to see you the day after tomorrow."
Then Chongwu understood: "He really did receive the secret order from the Lord!"
Yuwen Yong wanted to lure him over, but Chongwu made an excuse not to go. Yuwen Yong did not dare to come over, fearing that he would be ambushed as soon as he entered Chongwu’s camp.
If you have no intention of harming anyone, why would you be so cautious?
This is what it means to have something to hide.
Everyone asked, "General, what should we do now?"
"The original plan remains unchanged." Chong Wu made a prompt decision, his eyes piercing with ruthlessness, "It's getting dark, we sneak out of the camp and head towards Tianshui City. Kill Wang Sili first, and everything will be easy afterwards."
For him, the curtain of chaos finally slowly opened.
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Chaos.
When He Lingchuan was sitting in Yongquan Villa, slowly eating herbal baked eggs, a shocking riot suddenly broke out in Tianshui City:
A total of 1,200 refugees from four huts in the south of the city attacked the warehouses of two grain stores at night, stole more than 13,000 kilograms of grain, and attacked the Xie family, a famous noble family in the north of the city. Not only were all the gold, silver, jewelry and food looted, but even the herbs planted in the garden and the pet dog of the owner were stolen!
In these two attacks, more than 180 people from the warehouse, Xie family, and refugees were killed or wounded.
When He Lingchuan heard the news, he sighed and said, "It's finally started."
Food prices soared, and people's lives were difficult. The refugees living at the bottom of Tianshui City were the first to be hit and became the hungriest.
They work hard all day long, but the money they earn is not enough to buy a steamed bun.
What's more, the landlords don't have any surplus food now, and even the powerful families are cutting back on spending. Who would want to hire them to work?
Over the past few days, more than 300 refugees have starved to death, mostly the elderly, the weak and the young.
If you can't make money or buy food, there is only one last solution -
grab!
In fact, refugees have committed many crimes in Tianshui City recently, and the government even received 300 cases in one day. However, before that, they were just scattered small fights, small robberies and small violence, which had no impact on the lives of the upper class.
The nobles and wealthy people of Tianshui City lived in the North City and Northeast City, completely isolated from the civilians and refugees in the south. The environment was quiet and the years were peaceful. Those who were unkempt, ragged, and smelly were all stopped outside and could not take a step forward.
Of course, there will be no shelters for refugees here.
However, the robbery that night was caused by the refugees gathering together and rushing into the homes of the nobles in the north, smashing, looting and burning!
This is a heinous riot!
Nearly two hundred people were killed or injured during the riot, including warehouse clerks, Xie's guards, and refugees from the gangs.
By the way, two of Xie’s benefactors also died, a twelve-year-old boy and his mother.
But the supplies looted by the refugees were quite abundant, so they didn't have to go hungry for several days.
In the years of famine, I found a rat hole.
The refugees who had grabbed the food fled in all directions, no longer caring about the team, and quickly found a corner to eat. Some of them couldn't help but eat raw noodles and flour on the way.
The beautiful trees in the northern city area also suffered. The houses in Tianshui City are generally made of stone, so more than a hundred precious ancient trees that had been growing peacefully on the roadside were cut down and used as firewood.
Dinner, a delicious dinner!
Beside every wild campfire, you can see a few mouths devouring food.
On this night when they had food to eat, at least in the first half, they were even happier than most civilians.
The riot of the refugees shocked the entire upper class circle of Yao Kingdom.
How could and how dare this bunch of untouchables rebel against heaven?
Is there any royal method?