My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 331 You're not happy even if we actually do it.
The emperor's camp.

Yang Guang sat on the throne, with many memorials from the front lines laid out before him. His face was stern and dark.

Below, many ministers were kneeling in obeisance.

Yang Guang said grimly, "The number of Goguryeo troops is less than that of a single prefecture under my command. Today, I am leading such a large army, so why have we been unable to achieve victory?!"

Geng Xun, the supervisor of the Right Imperial Workshop, stood up at this moment, "Your Majesty!"

"What do you have to say?"

"If Your Majesty can retreat to the rear, let the generals perform their duties, advance in different directions, urge the officials in the rear to transport food and supplies in a timely manner, reward the meritorious soldiers, and punish those who fail in battle, then this battle will surely be won!"

Yang Guang flew into a rage, "You damned bastard! Do you think I don't understand military affairs?!"

"Guards! Drag him out and behead him!"

The Imperial Household Supervisor, He Chou, hurriedly stepped forward, "Your Majesty! Although Geng Xun is dull-witted, he has rendered many meritorious services. Several of his sons died in battle. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy!! Please forgive his crimes!!"

Yang Guang then said, "He may be spared the death penalty, but his official rank and title will be stripped, and he will be given thirty strokes of the cane!"

The soldiers then dragged the official away.

Yang Guang was very annoyed and dismissed the other officials, leaving only a few trusted confidants.

After everyone left, Yang Guang looked at these important ministers.

He angrily picked up a memorial, "This was sent by Liu Shilong!"

"He actually claimed that the soldiers at the front were dissatisfied, had gathered together to plot, and had even murdered the Goryeo envoy! They wanted to force their generals to submit!"

"This is Yu Zhongwen's memorial! He actually says the situation is critical and hopes I will order the withdrawal of the troops from the front lines!!"

"These people, thinking themselves superior because of their high official positions and their illustrious family backgrounds, are trying to secretly disrespect and deceive me!!"

"When we were in the capital, they didn't want me to come, afraid that I would see their private misdeeds and corruption! Now they are staying on the front lines, afraid of death and not daring to launch a full-scale attack on the city, and they are shifting the blame onto the soldiers. Do they think I am afraid to kill people?"

"Prepare the carriages and horses!! I am going to Xiangping in person! They won't know to correct their ways unless a few of their generals are killed!"

Yang Guang was truly furious. Lai Huer was about to land in Pyongyang, and now these soldiers in Liaodong had caused such a disturbance, disrupting his plans. How could they retreat? What would happen to Lai Huer if they retreated?! What would become of his strategic deployment?
In his view, there was no discontent among the soldiers at all; the real discontent came from powerful nobles like Yuwen Shu from the Guanzhong Plain! They had clearly killed the envoy themselves and were using the soldiers to pressure him, talking about withdrawal, just to force him to make concessions!

They already backed down once, and now they're doing it again? Do they really think they're made of clay?
Seeing the extremely irritable emperor, Wei Xuan, the Minister of Justice, quickly stood up.

"Your Majesty, the Goryeo people previously feigned surrender, which delayed the siege several times. It is understandable that the soldiers were dissatisfied, all because of the Goryeo people's cunning. Now that a great battle is imminent, punishing the general would likely have very serious consequences. Please be patient and wait until we defeat Goryeo before conducting a thorough investigation."

Pei Yun also advised, "Your Majesty, a million troops have gathered here. If this causes unrest, it will be a matter that shakes the foundation of the country. I hope Your Majesty can forgive them."

Yang Guang's act of feigning surrender was truly unethical.

Even his own southerners felt this was going too far. It was blatant disrespect for his soldiers, repeatedly toying with them. The fact that the general had only now lost his temper showed his great loyalty. If he had gone to kill them, well, the situation would have been very complicated.

Yang Guang felt only frustration at that moment.

"There's no need to persuade them anymore!"

"Prepare the carriages and horses!!"

"Report!!!"

The next moment, a guard entered the camp. The man looked extremely excited, bowed to Yang Guang, and then reported, "Your Majesty!! A great victory at the front!! Duke Xu has led his army to break through Liaodong City! All the bandits inside the city have been captured!!!"

Yang Guangda was taken aback. "The documents from the Goryeo people have just arrived in my hands! When did I ever order the troops to be dispatched?!"

Beishen was stunned for a moment, unsure how to answer.

Yang Guang hurriedly stood up, walked a few steps to the guard, snatched the battle report from his hand, and began to read it.

This battle report was submitted by Yuwen Shu. In the report, Yuwen Shu did not say anything else, only that he took advantage of the Goguryeo people's laxity and thought that he would not dare to send troops again as before, and suddenly attacked, breaking through the defenses of Liaodong City. Now, a bloody battle is taking place in the city, and the city has been basically pacified.

The camp was quiet. Pei Yun had already sensed something was wrong. If killing the envoy was merely an act of venting his anger, then sending troops without waiting for an imperial edict was practically an open defiance of previous orders.

Pei Yun hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, we should proceed to Liaodong immediately."

"Not urgent."

Yang Guang replied.

He slowly sat down in the seat of honor, his expression shifting between light and shadow. He remained silent for a long time before forcing a smile.

"Duke Xu is still brave. What angered me before was that they couldn't take Liaodong City. I thought they wouldn't dare to fight to the death. I didn't expect that they would finally take it this time. Not bad, not bad."

Pei Yun's eyes widened, and he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, although the enemy city has been captured, Your Majesty previously issued an order forbidding this."

"enough!"

Yang Guang interrupted Pei Yun with displeasure, "The generals have just made such great contributions. Should I not reward them, or should I punish them?"

Pei Yunren was dumbfounded. Killing the envoy earlier was a minor matter, at most an emotional outburst. But now, more than a dozen generals at the front, including Liu Shilong, who was sent by the emperor, had all ignored the ceasefire order and launched an attack. This was no longer a matter of merit or demerit, was it? Someone had usurped command of the front!

What we should do now is to get to Liaodong as soon as possible, find out the situation, divide this newly united group, secretly bring back its leader, disrupt the other members, cut off their supplies, and deal with them one by one.
Why was he so agitated when killing the messenger, but so calm when something truly serious happened?
Wei Xuan stood up. “Your Majesty, sending troops without authorization is ultimately not a good thing. If Your Majesty is unwilling to go, you can send someone to summon Yuwen Shu and the others back!”

"No need!"

Yang Guang waved his hand and said seriously, "When they submitted their memorial about the Goryeo envoy, I thought they were afraid to fight to the death and were trying to shift the blame onto the soldiers. But now that they have launched an attack on their own, I understand that it is not that they are afraid to fight to the death, but that the soldiers are indeed complaining. Their deployment of troops is probably to appease their soldiers."

"We've been on the campaign for quite some time now, so it's to be expected that the soldiers are dissatisfied."

"We cannot hold the generals accountable for this kind of thing."

"Let Yuwen Shu reorganize the army in Liaodong City, and send men to reward the soldiers at the front."

After Emperor Yang Guang issued the edict, he dismissed his confidants. When Pei Yun walked out, he was still completely bewildered and did not understand the emperor's thoughts at all.

After everyone left, Yang Guang looked down at the battle report again, his face full of unease, and even a hint of fear in his eyes.

He hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no."

"I have always been lenient with my soldiers. This must have been done under duress from them. They have no reason to do so. They will not harbor any disloyalty towards me."

Yang Guang muttered a few words to himself, then looked at the battle report in his hand again. This time, his expression improved considerably. He nodded, as if he were genuinely happy about the great victory at the front. "With such a powerful army, how can I not achieve my great cause?"

"Duke Xu, Li Xuanba."

"They are truly Wei Qing and Huo Qubing under my command."

"With those two here, Goryeo is bound to be defeated. Liaodong City has already been captured. Next, all we need to do is wait for Huer to take the enemy capital, and this battle will be over. At that time..."

Yang Guang was still talking to himself inside the tent, while Pei Yun and Yu Shiji were walking side by side outside. Pei Yun pondered for a long time and seemed to understand the emperor's thoughts.

"Your Majesty doesn't want to escalate this matter any further, does he?"

"The way these generals in Guanzhong are responding is clearly wrong. Is His Majesty afraid that they will rebel directly?"

"That's not right. Minister Wei is also a member of the Guanzhong nobility. Guanzhong is not a single entity."

Yu Shiji reminded him.

Pei Yun shook his head, "That's hard to say. Wei Xuan is also a Hu person. Although these Hu people have been educated, their nature remains unchanged. We'll have to see how the Duke of Rong wins this battle. If he can win a great victory and end the war, I predict that Yuwen Shu and the other Hu people will definitely be purged."

"Perhaps this is a good opportunity for us to completely wipe out these remnants of the barbarian tribes from the past and establish a truly prosperous era."

(End of this chapter)