Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 502 The Last Battle

Jiankang.

There was deathly silence inside the palace.

In the empty hall, Chen Xu sat alone at the desk with many memorials placed in front of him. He arranged them repeatedly, constantly changing their positions. His movements became more and more rough, and his expression became more and more irritable.

When no one was around, Chen Xu didn't have to hide it.

His face was pale, his expression was listless, and his eyes were bloodshot.

At this moment, there were many memorials in front of him, sent from different places, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not find a single memorial reporting bad news among so many memorials, they were all reporting good news.

The report from the front line said that more ships of the Northern Hu had been sunk, and the report from the rear said that much arable land had been reclaimed.

The memorials submitted to the court said how lively the debate was and how much the people were enlightened by it.

Chen Xu looked through them over and over again, but couldn't find a single thing he could say was bad.

Chen Xu's face was almost desperate.

Chen Xu was not a very talented person, but he was not completely useless either. He was sometimes wise and sometimes foolish. He was just an average person.

But even if he was not smart enough, he could vaguely see the signs of the country's demise.

Jiangbei had been lost, and the enemy surrounded the State of Chen from many sides.

At home, ministers continued to act as usual and did not feel there was anything wrong.

Just looking at the report, it seems that the world is peaceful and everything is fine.

Chen Xu could feel the many problems existing in the country, but it was true that he could feel them, and it was also true that he was powerless to change them.

The most painful feeling is watching your country go towards destruction step by step.

After the Huang Fachu incident, Chen Xu became completely alone.

Even the Queen rarely discusses state affairs with him now.

Chen Xu hung his head, staring blankly at the report in front of him.

At this moment, a guard suddenly walked in quickly.

"His Majesty!"

Chen Xu suddenly adjusted his mentality and raised his head as if nothing had happened.

"What happened?"

"Minister Yuan, Minister Mao requests to see you."

In the past, what Chen Xu least wanted to hear was the words "Minister Yuan requests an audience", because Yuan Xian was a straightforward person and usually had nothing nice to say when he met him. But now, when Chen Xu heard this sentence, he felt particularly warm, as Yuan Xian had not taken the initiative to ask for an audience for a long time.

Chen Xu quickly spoke, "Please come in, please come in."

The guard walked out.

A moment later, Yuan Xian and Mao Xi walked in one after another.

Chen Xu quickly stood up, and a smile finally appeared on his face, "Yuan Qing is here!"

"His Majesty!"

Yuan Xian bowed to greet him, and Mao Xi, who was standing beside him, also hurriedly bowed to greet him.

Mao Xi was an old minister of Chen Xu. He had previously resigned from his official position to observe mourning for a funeral, but things started to go wrong as he was mourning. He had no choice but to speed up, re-enter the officialdom early and resume his previous position.

Chen Xu asked the two of them to sit on his left and right and greeted them warmly.

"Yuan Qing hasn't come to see you for some time."

“Is government affairs really so busy?”

"Do you need me to send a few capable officials to assist you?"

Yuan Xian shook his head, his face solemn, "Your Majesty, government affairs are not very busy. I came here this time because of the things in the south."

"South?"

"My friend in Naju wrote to me, saying that the local barbarians are gathering people and buying ironware privately, showing signs of rebellion!"

"Luozhou??Friends??"

Chen Xu was stunned.

Yuan Xian explained, "He is a Confucian scholar who was my classmate. He settled in Luozhou and taught many people. The local barbarians also respected him and sent their children to study in his house. He only discovered these signs recently, so he wrote a letter to me."

Chen Xu was furious.

He suddenly pulled out a document from the table, and it was Luozhou's memorial. Luozhou's latest memorial was still reporting how much arable land they had developed! !
"fool!!"

Chen Xu pounded the document heavily, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Mao Xi, who was standing by, hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, calm down!"

"This matter is just a paperwork, and the truth is still unknown."

Mao Xi quickly looked at Yuan Xian again, "It's not that I don't trust Mr. Yuan."

Yuan Xian nodded, "I know, we should find out first."

Chen Xu asked: "Then let the local government investigate?"

"No."

Mao Xi rejected this proposal. He said seriously: "Your Majesty, it is better for the imperial court to send people to investigate secretly. After arriving, they should inform the local government and ask them to assist. Do not alarm the others."

"Local government officials have always been brutal in their actions. If the imperial court directly orders them to investigate, even if there has been no rebellion, they will be labeled as traitors. If there is a real rebellion, it will only cause chaos."

Chen Xu frowned and thought for a long time, "Then who do you think can take on this task?"

Mao Xi glanced at Yuan Xian, lowered his head and said nothing.

The most suitable candidate is naturally right in front of you.

Chen Xu was silent for a moment, "I'll think about it again."

Yuan Xian sighed and said, "Your Majesty, I will go ahead."

"Yuan Qing."

Yuan Xian looked up at Chen Xu with a complicated look in his eyes. "Your Majesty, the situation in the south has always been complicated. My good friend is an upright person and would not lie about such a thing. I think this is probably true."

"Ouyang He used to be an official in the south, and now he is in the north. Perhaps he sent people to contact the local barbarians in order to disperse our forces."

"These days, there are a lot of ships traveling on the river, and there are few inspections."

"And the northerners are ready to make a move, with many generals stationed in various strategic locations."

"I heard from the generals guarding the river that the enemy changed their guard from time to time with great fanfare and a lot of dust. The noise could be heard across the river."

"This is definitely not a change of guard! This is to confuse our troops and prepare for a general offensive!"

"Liu Taozi is a man who is decisive and never hesitates, and he has someone like Zu Ting to help him."

"Your Majesty, the barbarians in the south are easy to deal with, but how can we resist the powerful enemies in the north?"

Yuan Xian had a lot to say, so he just let it all out. He said seriously, "The army on the riverside hasn't trained for a long time, and most of the generals are people without any merit."

"The generals were greedy and severely deducted food and wages. The soldiers were demoralized and some plundered and some took bribes."

"Officials were only concerned with lining their own pockets, drinking and having fun all day, and no one noticed that anything had changed."

Chen Xu's expression became more and more solemn. Mao Xi had already noticed something and interrupted Yuan Xian, "Mr. Yuan, what you said makes sense, but these things cannot be solved overnight. The current problem is still the problem in the south."

Yuan Xian did not back down because of this. He directly and rudely retorted to Mao Xi.

"Is the problem in the south really the most important thing right now?"

"If the enemy only came to seize Jiangbei, why would they mobilize so many generals?"

"Why are there so many changes of defense on the other side of the river? What scale of changes can cause such a commotion?"

"Why can't our people go to the other side to conduct exploration? Why is the enemy so defensive? What are they guarding against?"

"Liu Taozi may be on the other side of the river right now and will launch a general offensive tomorrow, but Mr. Mao thinks that the matter in the south is the most important?!"

Yuan Xian's voice was like thunder, which frightened Chen Xu so much that he trembled.

Mao Xi couldn't stop him.

After Yuan Xian said these words, he suddenly felt much more relaxed and the depression he had felt for many days disappeared.

"Your Majesty really shouldn't have killed Huang Fachu unjustly! I'm afraid it will be a shame for future generations!!"

He added this critical comment at the end.

For a moment, there was deathly silence in the hall.

None of the three spoke.

After a long while, Chen Xu asked, "Does Yuan Qing have anything else to say?"

"Nothing."

Mao Xi was a little worried, "Your Majesty."

Chen Xu waved his hand and said, "I don't blame Yuan Qing. He is the only one who told me the truth these days."

"Mr. Yuan, I have decided to rehabilitate General Huang, pardon his family, and posthumously honor him for his merits."

"However, the dead cannot be resurrected, and we cannot abandon the people of the world because of one person." "I will trouble Yuan Qing to go and solve the matter in the south."

"I will summon all the ministers tomorrow to discuss how to resist the powerful enemy!"

The next day, all the ministers gathered.

At first glance, it is really like this: there are no brave generals, countless cowards, no virtuous people, and insects are everywhere.

Sitting here is a drunkard who writes court poems, sitting there is a jackal who eats up three armies alone, sitting on the left is a bug who writes surrender letters from generation to generation, and sitting on the right is a coward who retreats first when the wind is strong.

Ghosts and monsters, dressed in court robes, stand shoulder to shoulder. One is called a wolf and the other is called a wolf-dog. They eat blood and spit feces.

Chen Xu sat in the upper seat, looking at His Highness and his ministers.

Talented.

"The northern barbarians have been making a lot of unusual moves recently."

Mao Xi stood up first and began to discuss the main content of today.

Reorganize the army, strengthen defenses, and resist powerful enemies.

But Mao Xi had just started when the ministers became impatient.

We finally got rid of one Huang Fachu, are you preparing for another one?
When Huang Fachi was still in power, he spent a huge amount of money on military affairs, which made everyone very short of money. The imperial court was not rich to begin with, and once it needed money, it began to exploit the virtuous families in the country. How could this be tolerated?

When Mao Xi had just finished mentioning a few suspicious points and had not even talked about the actual content, the ministers began to refute.

The ministers criticized Mao Xi's absurd remarks.

Some believed that Mao Xi wanted to engage in aggressive military expansion and destroy the Chen Dynasty, while others believed that Mao Xi wanted to enrich himself and listed some of his suspicious qualities.

Others criticized Mao Xi from the perspective of filial piety, saying that Mao Xi had agreed to mourn for three years but stopped before the full year, which was shameless and unfilial, and he was not worthy of being an official at all.

As for those who support Mao Xi, it is not that there are none at all. There are still a few real people in the government.

Mao Xi mustered up his strength and began to wrestle with these people.

The two sides started a battle without troops.

"Our defenses in various places are insufficient, and the enemy is frequently dispatching troops. This has already reached the most dangerous point. At this time, what is the point of talking about militarism? Do we have to wait until the enemy crosses the river before we can defend?"

"Since you said that the benevolent are invincible and the whole world surrenders at the sight of him, why don't you take a boat to the other side and persuade the northern barbarians to surrender?"

Mao Xi is actually not very good at debating.

This guy has always been the type to get things done, but at this moment, for some reason, his verbal offensive became extremely fierce. Even when facing some old friends, he was not polite and directly retorted.

Mao Xi focused the topic on Jiang's defense and ignored the attacks against him personally.

President Jiang looked at the noisy scene, feeling somewhat helpless.

President Jiang is a rather complicated person. He is not a truly evil person, nor is he the type who openly accepts bribes or kills innocent people. However, as a minister, he has not made any achievements in governing the country and is obsessed with his own crappy poems all day long.

It's okay for a scholar, but it's too outrageous for a minister of state.

He has a relatively generous personality and doesn't like to argue with others. Even this time, he didn't really attack Mao Xi.

Taking advantage of the gap between the two sides' fighting, he stood up.

"Mao Gong!"

Although Mr. Jiang didn't have much ability, he had a lot of experience. When he stood up, most people chose to remain quiet.

Mao Xi looked at him, "Mr. Jiang, what do you want to teach me?"

General Jiang said seriously: "I know what Mr. Mao is worried about, but the Northern Hu don't have many warships. Soldiers on the front line reported that there are only more than 50 warships anchored on the other side of the river, and they are old and broken. How can the enemy cross the river to fight with these ships?"

"If you ask me, strengthening river defense is the right thing to do, but we can't rush it."

Mr. Jiang's words were immediately recognized by many people.

Mao Xi was very angry.

"Over the years, all of you present here alone have sold more than fifty warships to the Northern Hu, right?"

This sentence caused even greater controversy.

The entire court meeting was in a state of chaos. Everyone could be charged with a crime of misbehavior in front of the palace. Such a situation rarely occurred in Da Chen.

As Chen Xu listened to the overwhelming opposition, his expression became more and more conflicted.

Fortunately, he has the power to decide.

In the end, Chen Xu came forward in person and refuted Mao Xi with words, but he also said that they must be vigilant about the matter of Jiang defense. He forced the matter forward and made Mao Xi responsible.

When the ministers left, although they did not show it directly, most of them were not very happy.

Guangling.

Outside the city, dust was flying, and the army was lined up on the official road, with no end in sight.

There were also many troops transporting food and fodder, and all kinds of horse-drawn and donkey-drawn carts were heading towards their destination.

The people did not dare to come out and hid at home.

Some knights galloped past, checking along the way to see if there were any soldiers looting civilians.

A large number of laborers were working on the training ground outside the city.

The camps were connected to each other, stretching for nearly a hundred miles.

The soldiers' footsteps were loud and could be heard everywhere without interruption.

The government offices in the city were filled with soldiers.

In the lobby, local officials and generals stood on both sides.

Yao Xiong, Gao Yanzong, Ren Zhong, He Ruobi, Liu Chengcai, Po Duoluo, Shi Wansui and other generals were listed.

And the one sitting in the upper seat.

It was Zu Ting.

Zu Ting sat in the upper seat with a smile on his face, looking at the people in front of him, his eyes sweeping over them one by one.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. I am not here to serve as the commander-in-chief. I am just here to do some small things in terms of food and logistics. I will not compete with you for credit."

Yao Xiong and Gao Yanzong led the group in laughing, and only then did the others dare to laugh.

Zu Ting then asked everyone to sit down.

His face looked quite kind.

"Everyone, this time, General Wang will be the commander-in-chief of the war. He will send 280,000 infantry, cavalry and navy to attack and destroy the fake Chen."

"Two hundred and eighty thousand people is indeed a little less."

"I originally proposed that we recuperate for another three years, wait until the new soldiers are trained, gather the troops from all over the country, and go to war with more than 500,000 people."

"However, many generals in the south have requested to fight, believing that they can destroy the fake Chen with the current military strength."

Zu Ting looked at them and said, "Many of our soldiers are from the north and are not used to the climate and soil in the south. Most of them are cavalry generals and have no experience in crossing the river to fight."

"I know that you are all brave and have made great achievements in battle, but please do not underestimate the enemy. Our enemies are not just the warships and soldiers of the Pseudo-Chen. In the wild lands to the south, since ancient times, many people who unified the north were destroyed by this river."

"Most of the time it's because we underestimate our enemies and overestimate ourselves."

"Although I am not the commander-in-chief, I am here on the orders of His Majesty!!"

Zu Ting's face turned solemn. "If anyone covets military merit, insists on advancing recklessly, underestimates the enemy, and commits a serious mistake, I will kill him first and report to you later!!"

"Great unification is imminent. This is the time for a true man to establish his fame and reputation. This is also your last chance to establish great merit!"

“Don’t let me down!”

Gao Yanzong was the first to stand up, "Yes!!"

The rest of the people followed suit.

Zu Ting's expression softened again. He smiled and said, "Of course, I am still willing to believe you. The people of Chen are not prepared at all. As long as we are cautious enough and advance step by step, it will not be difficult to destroy the State of Chen. I will be here to prepare food and supplies for you."

"Of course, if you have anything else to say, you can report it to me directly."

"I am here at the Yangzhou Daoxingtai, supporting you all."

"When the false Chen is destroyed and fame is achieved, I will commend you for your achievements."

Most people were very excited.

They waited for many years and finally the time came to attack the State of Chen.

Speaking of which, when the order was suddenly issued and Zu Ting came to Guangling and summoned everyone, they were all shocked.

They all knew that the imperial court was going to use military force against the State of Chen, but they didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Even they didn't think of it, let alone the State of Chen.

There were two commanders in this war, one was Gao Changgong and the other was Wang Lin.

The two men's armies surrounded the State of Chen from all directions, from Guangling to Bashu.

Gao Changgong was responsible for attacking the State of Chen from Jingxiang, while Wang Lin was responsible for attacking the State of Chen from Lianghuai.

As for Zu Ting, he was sent by the emperor to take charge of the rear. Logistics was only one aspect, and the main purpose was to supervise the battle and ensure that no unexpected situations would occur in the two armies.

At a time when the soldiers on both sides of the river are unaware of the situation, a massive war is about to break out.

(End of this chapter)