novelden Chapter 325 Chen Qing
Chapter 325 Chen Qing
night.
Outside Shengjing City.
Inside a military tent of the Second Corps of the Central Army.
A burly general, about 1.9 meters tall, with a resolute face and sharp eyes, stood in front of the map.
The map on it shows the Yan army camp.
He kept looking at the map, thinking about how to defeat the enemy.
After a long time, he looked up to the sky and sighed deeply.
"I have the heart to kill the enemy, but I have no way to serve my country. The whole court, both civil and military, are rats who only know how to sell out their country for personal gain, paying gold for peace, ceding land and paying compensation. When will warriors like me ever have a chance to rise to prominence?"
Suddenly, a guard came over to the door with a letter in his hand and said,
"General, I was standing guard at the gate when a soldier suddenly came over, stuffed a letter into my hand, and ran away."
"A letter? A letter to me?"
Chen Qing took the letter and opened it.
His eyes, which had not been very concerned at first, suddenly widened, and then his face changed drastically, and he shouted sternly,
"Where is the person who just delivered the letter?"
"Huh? He's already run away. We thought he was just a messenger."
"Catch him back quickly!"
"As ordered!"
The soldiers were frightened and tried to run away.
It’s the middle of the night and I haven’t even seen what the other person looks like. Where can I find him?
Just as the soldiers rushed out of the tent, General Chen's voice came from behind them again.
"Come back, stop chasing!"
"Huh? Yes."
Chen Qing sat on the chair, picked up the letter again, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and read it word by word.
It was written on it that Prime Minister Yuan Chu asked him to lead all the captains, lead the army, kill the general, enter Shengjing, punish the tyrant emperor, kill the treacherous ministers, capture Emperor Kun alive and send him to the Yan army.
He also promised that after the success, these 300,000 central troops could be independently organized to become the central army of Yan State, and he, Chen Qing, could be the commander-in-chief of the army.
Below are the personal signatures and seals of Prince Lanling and Prince Nan, as well as the joint guarantee of Yuan Chu, Yu Huatian, and Nie Bei.
Holding the letter, Chen Qing sat there in a daze, with a thousand thoughts in his mind.
That letter contained more than just the content of surrender.
It also contains Yuan Chu's denunciation of Emperor Kun's tyranny, saying that he only knew how to sell out his country for personal gain, but did not know how to resist. He broke the backbone of the Kun people and would inevitably be a king who would destroy his country.
He also explained that the demise of Kun State was inevitable, and hoped that General Chen would put the overall situation first and not allow any more Kun soldiers and civilians to be killed or injured. Only peaceful surrender could avoid war, etc.
How could Chen Qing not understand these principles?
But when it came to asking him to betray his country and turn against his side, he found it difficult to get over the hurdle in his heart.
But for some reason, all he could think of now was the joy of killing when he followed Marshal Yu to fight on the battlefield. Under Marshal Yu's superb command, he won one great victory after another.
He also remembered what Marshal Yu said to him when he was transferred to the north and said goodbye.
"Brother Chen, after I leave, you will be transferred to the capital. I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to get promoted. The best I can do is to promote you to Lieutenant General. The powerful people in the capital will never let you control the military power.
In the future, drink less, avoid getting into trouble, and don't be impulsive. The Central Army is not like the Border Guard. The waters here are very deep, so don't offend anyone."
Just as Yu Shuai said, he was suppressed after coming to the capital. Once he got into trouble and was almost dismissed from his post. He didn't even dare to mention Yu Shuai because Yu Shuai was also ostracized and suppressed.
Frustrated and depressed, he could do nothing but practice martial arts every day.
After much difficulty, the Yan army came and we thought we could show our strength, but who would have thought that the imperial court would not fight but only pay compensation.
If the national treasury is lost, they will rob the people. If the people are gone, they will rob the officials. What will happen if the officials’ money is gone?
The letter said that the emperor had already embezzled all the military funds, so would the next step be to embezzle military rations?
Without money and food, the army will rebel.
If I try to stop them at that time, I will probably be killed by the angry soldiers.
Just as he was hesitating and thinking, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door.
Chen Qing immediately stuffed the letter into his arms, then stood up and read it.
I saw more than a dozen centurions who were on good terms with me all walking in.
For a moment, the not-so-big military tent was full.
"Why are you all here?"
Looking at the different expressions of the crowd, Chen Qing suddenly thought of something.
A captain of a thousand men came forward and said,
"General Chen, didn't you receive the letter?"
Chen Qing frowned slightly when he heard this, without confirming or denying, and asked,
"Did you receive any letter?"
The captain took the letter out of his pocket, handed it to Chen Qing, and said,
"We brothers just met up, and we all received the letter. The content of the letter is the same."
Seeing this, Chen Qing took the letter, opened it and read it.
What was written above was similar to his own letter, except for the last part, which asked them to follow Chen Qing in the uprising and be promoted in the future.
Chen Qing returned the letter to the other party, then sat on the chair in silence.
He was thinking about the Yan people's intentions and what he should do.
Seeing Chen Qing remained silent, everyone became anxious and asked hurriedly,
"General, what should we do? Please say something. You are our backbone."
Chen Qing looked up at them and asked,
"What do you think?"
Everyone looked at each other, you looked at me, I looked at you.
"General, we all listen to you. If you say we want to rebel, we will follow you. If you say we don't want to rebel, we will tear up the letter and pretend we didn't receive it. We are all brothers and no one will betray anyone."
"General, why don't we rebel? The Emperor is pushing us into the fire pit. The First Legion is burning, killing, and looting in the city. The city is in chaos."
"Yes, General, how can one rob his own people of their money? I think this tyrant is disloyal."
"Our military funds have been misappropriated. If the soldiers aren't paid, they're going to mutiny."
"The Prime Minister said that he would preserve our military system and allow us to continue serving in the army. Could he really lie to us? He is a man of three generations of high officials. He has already defected to the Yan army. This means that Kun Kingdom is truly hopeless."
"And there's General Yu and General Nie. Nie Bei was a lieutenant general before, and now he's the commander-in-chief of the Yan army. General, your talent is no less than Nie Bei's. He's just a little more experienced than you, but you can still become a commander-in-chief."
"Rebellion is punishable by death, right?"
"Who's going to kill me? The army is in our hands!"
Everyone was talking to each other.
As they were talking, a few more captains came to the door and stood at the door, sticking their heads out to look out.
Chen Qing tilted his head slightly, and after seeing those people, he said,
"What are you standing there for? Come in!"
The centurions hurried in and squeezed to the front of the crowd.
"Did you all receive the letter too?"
Chen Qing's face looked a little ugly, and he stared at the captains.