My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 317 Fear
"Take it!"

"Get out of here!"

The soldiers threw food at the people and drove them away again. The people knelt in the distance as Yang Xuangan had taught them, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

Yuwen Shiji, riding his horse, stood to the side, looking at the people in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh.

"How could it have come to this?"

Li Xuanba was also staring at the people in the distance.

He saw an old man wolfing down a dry biscuit, almost biting off his own finger; he saw a woman excitedly chewing food, wanting to feed it to the child in her arms, only to find the child motionless and bursting into tears.

"General?"

Yuwen Shiji spoke again, and Li Xuanba suddenly woke up.

He looked at Yuwen Shiji beside him and bowed to him very respectfully, "Thank you, Lord Yuwen. I will never forget your kindness today."

"Sigh, it was all to save lives, what's with all this talk of gratitude?"

Yuwen Shiji looked at the young man in front of him with considerable approval.

He wanted to chat with the other person a little longer, but Li Xuanba wasn't interested. He turned around and left, clearing the way ahead once again.

The army marched on for a long time until night fell, at which point they stopped to rest.

After a day's journey, the soldiers were all extremely tired.

They huddled together in twos and threes around the campfire, closing their eyes to rest.

Li Xuanba also sat in front of the campfire. He looked at the flames burning in front of him, and the corpses and scenes he had seen on the road in the past few days kept appearing in the flames. Li Xuanba was a little stunned.

The woman holding the child cried out again from the leaping flames, and Li Xuanba stood up.

His hand unconsciously landed on the golden mace at his waist.

The soldiers around were startled and looked up, only to see Li Xuanba.

"General?"

"I'll go and look around. You all go to sleep first."

"Here."

Li Xuanba turned and walked towards the emperor's carriage.

His steps were quite firm. There were many bonfires around him. He passed in front of the bonfires, and the light of the flames shone on him. The flames would light up from time to time and then quickly go out. Under the firelight was a terrifying face that was almost ferocious.

The carriages in the distance became clearer and clearer.

Outside the carriage, a stockade was set up with simple defensive fortifications to separate the emperor and his entourage. Many guards stood at the stockade gate.

The soldiers of the Left and Right Palaces, though utterly exhausted, remained loyally guarding the emperor.

Li Xuanba gripped the handle of his golden mace with his right hand, his eyes cold.

"General."

A voice suddenly came from the side, and Li Xuanba turned his head to look.

He then saw an elderly figure, leaning on a cane, slowly walking towards him.

In the lamplight, the person's face was revealed.

It was Duan Wenzhen, the Minister of War.

Duan Wenzhen was all alone. After taking a few steps, he stopped again. "Is the general waiting for me to walk over?"

Li Xuanba walked to his side with a stern face. Duan Wenzhen naturally let Li Xuanba support him. "Xuanba, help me walk around around."

Li Xuanba frowned, but still led the old man away from the village gate and walked into the distance.

The two walked quite slowly, and Duan Wenzhen looked somewhat strained.

He said with a wry smile, "I thought only an old man like me would suffer from the hardships of the road and have trouble sleeping. I didn't expect that someone as young as you would be out running around in the middle of the night. Is something on your mind?" Li Xuanba did not answer him.

Duan Wenzhen slowly said, "I was in the carriage when Yuwen Shiji came in to report earlier today. You were the one who sent him over to say that, weren't you?"

Li Xuanba still did not answer.

Duan Wenzhen coughed several times in a row, his breathing becoming increasingly unsteady.

He gestured for Li Xuanba to help him sit down. After sitting down, Duan Wenzhen gently patted his chest and then looked at Li Xuanba, "It seems that I won't be able to go back alive this time."

"My health is deteriorating day by day, but alas, I still have to endure the hardships of this journey."

"The Minister is strong and healthy, he will be fine."

"Even if they don't die of illness, they will probably die in battle."

"A million-strong army!"

Duan Wenzhen shook his head. "An army is not necessarily better the more it is. The larger the army, the greater the cost and the more difficult it is to command. If we were facing a great power, we could launch an attack from more than a dozen directions, with each unit commanded by a general. But now we are only facing a few cities. Why would we launch an attack with a million troops at once? I really can't understand why we would do something so useless."

"Moreover, in order to support this million-strong army, each conscription requires around a million laborers. After several such conscriptions, no family can find any able-bodied people to farm."

Duan Wenzhen looked at Li Xuanba, "Are you aware of these things?"

Li Xuanba spoke up, "The Minister shouldn't have said these things; those who opposed the expedition have all been punished."

"So you know?"

Duan Wenzhen asked with a stern face, "General, are you aware that with millions of people leaving their homes, an unprecedented famine will break out across the country next year, and grain prices will reach a terrifying level. Seven or eight out of ten people in the world will starve, and hundreds of thousands, even millions, will die of starvation?"

"I know."

"Does the general know how to resolve this matter?"

Li Xuanba did not answer.

Duan Wenzhen said solemnly, "In my opinion, there is only one way to resolve this matter: a swift and decisive victory. As long as we complete the war at an extremely fast pace, then quickly disperse the laborers and soldiers, and order the opening of granaries in various places to provide relief to the people, there is a great chance that we can survive the most dangerous three or four years. However, if something unexpected happens, causing the war to be prolonged or even leading to unrest, then everything will be over, and countless people will die."

Li Xuanba fell silent and didn't speak for a long time. He sighed and then got up.

"I see."

"Minister, I'll head back now."

"Hey, I haven't finished speaking yet, where are you in such a hurry to go? Sit down!"

Duan Wenzhen called out, and Li Xuanba sat down again. Duan Wenzhen's expression was somewhat grave. "I'm really worried about the upcoming battle."

"My health is deteriorating day by day, and I really don't know if I can hold on until the day I can go to war."

“If something happens to me, then important matters such as reassignment will fall on that good-for-nothing Husi Zheng.”

“If Husi Zheng were just bad, I wouldn’t be worried. But he’s not only bad, he’s also extremely stupid.”

"In the past, in order to flatter His Majesty, he even tried to take action against your family. Later, when he formed a new army, he even tried to emulate Duke Xu by accepting bribes and recommending his own confidants. His stupidity, arrogance, greed, and cowardice all make me very afraid."

Fear flickered in Duan Wenzhen's eyes. "The generals of my Great Sui are brave, and the soldiers are fierce, but if the person responsible for relaying messages from the front lines and orders from the rear is Husi Zheng, I will truly die with my eyes wide open in disbelief!!"

Duan Wenzhen was very ill. He fell ill less than a month after setting off. He was already quite old, and the hurried journey took a toll on his health. However, Duan Wenzhen was not afraid of the pain or death from the illness. What he feared was that after his death, the important affairs of the Ministry of War would fall entirely into the hands of Husi Zheng, who could be said to have risen to power entirely through flattery.

It's one thing to be incompetent, but he's also an extremely immoral person. It would be a disaster to have someone like that in charge of important matters like logistics and coordination, or to assist the generals at the front!

Duan Wenzhen looked at Li Xuanba beside him and said, "General, if I really can't hold on and something unexpected happens, you must inform the other generals and tell them not to easily believe that villain Husi Zheng. If this villain talks nonsense in front of the emperor, forces the soldiers to fight, or disrupts important matters, please stop him!"

"The fate of the world rests on this upcoming battle. If it is delayed and not resolved quickly, it will surely lead to chaos."

Li Xuanba looked at the elderly Minister in front of him and nodded slightly.

"I see."

(End of this chapter)