My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 76: I'd Rather Die Than Regret
Sure enough, Overlord said in a gloomy tone again:

"At that time, the chief of Wujiang was driving a small boat and stopped by the river. When he saw me, he wanted to take me across the river. I refused. Then I gave him the Wuzhui horse that had accompanied me in battles for a lifetime, and rushed into the Han army camp with the remaining brothers. The brothers were all good and fought to the last moment. I met Lu Matong, a former subordinate who defected to Liu Bang. At that time, I was exhausted and committed suicide, giving him a credit. My body was cut into five pieces by Lu Matong and other five generals, and taken to Liu Bang, and they were all made marquises!"

When talking about his own ending, Overlord seemed very calm, even peaceful. Perhaps after fighting with Han till now, he had been mentally prepared for whatever the outcome would be.

After listening to Xiang Yu's story about Xiang Chang's bizarre nightmare, the whole table fell into deathly silence.

The generals raised their heads and opened their mouths to the Overlord, wanting to say that this was just a dream. Both Guan Ying and Lu Matong were dead, and it was definitely not reality. However, the vague uneasiness in their hearts prevented them from saying these words.

They vaguely felt that if Master Xiang Chang had not stepped forward that day and worked hard to turn the tide, and almost turned the overturned situation around by his own strength, and if they had been allowed to abandon Gaixia City and choose to break out with the 50,000 loyal remaining troops, the outcome might have really ended up being so tragic!
It was this thought that made their hearts turn cold and they were filled with fear.

Even though they have fought in bloody battles for years and their nerves have been tempered to be tough and cold-blooded, they still instinctively feel rebellious and resistant to such a tragic ending as fleeing in panic like a stray dog, being surrounded and killed on the roadside like pigs and dogs!
"How do you feel after listening to Chang'er's nightmare? After Chang'er finished speaking, he knelt in front of me with tears streaming down his face, saying that he would never let me fall to that point! Unless he died before me first! He told me that he would use all his strength to reorganize the army, inspire the soldiers, defeat the Han army, and grind Liu Bang to ashes! Whoever dared to stand in his way would be killed! If I stood in his way, he, he would let me kill him with this sword, so that he would fulfill his oath to die before me!"

"My son is only sixteen years old! I am so ashamed after hearing what he said! I, Xiang Yu, have roamed the world and have been invincible. Even a powerful empire like the Qin Empire was destroyed by me! Wherever my flag points, heroes bow down! How could I have fallen to this point now? I can't even protect my beloved woman, and I need my sixteen-year-old son to protect her?!"

When Xiang Yu finished speaking, he let out a thunderous roar, his face became ferocious, and a crazy and violent aura surged from his body. Like an enraged dragon, he kicked the tables in front of him away with a loud bang.

The table exploded above the heads of the generals, breaking into countless pieces that fell down.

All the generals were silent, and even Xiang Sheng and other clan members left their seats, knelt on the ground, and dared not utter a word.

"What did I think of from Chang'er? I thought of my father-in-law Fan Zeng! It was because of my weak will that I fell into Chen Ping's trap and suspected my father-in-law, which led to his death in anger! And since then, we in the Great Chu have no strategists to formulate military strategies for us and point out the direction of the war. Now Chang'er said that he wants to be the second Fan Zeng. What do you think, should I force him to death like I did to Fan Zeng?"

Generals such as Zhongli Mei and Ji Bu looked pale, frightened, and shook their heads vigorously.

"Zhongli Mei, Xiang Sheng, today I, Xiang Yu, will issue a self-criticism edict to you and tell you clearly that the reason why Great Chu has fallen to its current state is entirely my fault! I want to ask you, do you still recognize me as the Overlord and do you still obey my orders?!"

"I will obey the orders of the Overlord, and I would rather die than regret it!" All the generals could not imagine that the Overlord, who was like a god in their hearts, and who was proud by nature and would rather die than bow his head, would actually admit his mistakes in public. For a moment, they were really burning with anger, their eyes were red, they waved their fists and pounded the ground hard, howling wildly. At this moment when the Chu State was at the end of its rope, they still did not abandon it. They were all die-hard fans who worshipped the Overlord very much!
"Well, since you have recognized me as your overlord, I will issue a military order to you. From now on, the Qin military merit system will be implemented in the army. All soldiers will be judged by their military merits. Those who disobey will be executed!"

After a pause, the Overlord said sternly,

"Chang'er doesn't want to see me cut into five pieces and left without a burial place after death. I also don't want to see you being stabbed to pieces and dying a miserable death! Now is the most critical time for our Great Chu. If you still stubbornly cling to the distinction between nobles and commoners, you are courting death!"

"Yes, people like Hei Shi are from commoner families! But with the merits of a commoner like him, when we were determined to break out and escape, he led the remaining troops in the city, set up an ambush according to Chang'er's arrangement, and wiped out Guan Ying's 5,000 elite cavalry in one fell swoop. Isn't this kind of merit worthy of a Lieutenant General?!"

"He is indeed born a commoner, but he is not the only one. Han Xin, Chen Ping, and the King of Jiujiang who is stationed in the west are all commoners. In terms of noble status, who can be nobler than the Ying family of the Qin Dynasty? But this family, which is said to be favored by heaven, was destroyed by two commoners, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang! If the Qin Dynasty had not treated commoners too harshly, would you, me, and us have the power to destroy it?"

"The lessons of the past are clear before our eyes. If we do not learn from them, we will only bring disaster upon ourselves! If at this point, we still cling to our noble status and the benefits we have gained, and do not know how to give up some of them to these talented commoners, then the final outcome will be that we will be slaughtered by Liu Bang, Han Xin and other commoners just like the Qin Dynasty, and our families, descendants, wives and daughters will all be enslaved by these lowly people! Is this what you want?"

"My king, please stop talking! We are willing to obey Master Chang's military orders and implement the Qin military merit system in the army!"

Zhongli Mei went from being frightened to being overwhelmed with shame, his face flushed, cold sweat broke out all over his body, and he pleaded in a pitiful voice.

Xiang Yu looked up at the sky, exhaled a long breath, slowly calmed down his surging heart, and said in an unquestionable tone:

"I, the Overlord of Chu, am not so poor that I need a child to protect me! I know I am not perfect! Since you have sacrificed your interests for the sake of Chu, I, Xiang Yu, will also reflect on myself, abandon my stubbornness, and accept good advice. Let us work together to destroy Liu Bang's Han camp! I, Xiang Yu, will remember your contributions. As long as Chu can survive, when we truly own the world, you will be generous in granting us titles. If you break this oath, you will be condemned by both heaven and earth."

After hearing this, the generals were excited and responded loudly.

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(End of this chapter)