bookrandom Chapter 189 The trend of national destruction has emerged
Chapter 189 The trend of national destruction has emerged
As the allied forces of the two countries advanced triumphantly and quickly captured half of the Wu territory, the fierce battle between Xie Chengyun and Wang Yi in the capital finally came to an end.
Looking at the lifeless person lying in a pool of blood in front of him, Xie Chengyun was stunned for a long time.
After a long time, he finally woke up as if from a dream, slowly raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.
Xie Chengyun exhaled lightly, "Huh..."
In the end, he still bore the infamy of regicide, even though the other party was just a former monarch, a deposed emperor whom he had abandoned.
But no matter what, their original relationship between monarch and subject cannot be changed.
At this moment, a general quickly walked up to him, clasped his fists and saluted, saying respectfully, "Your Majesty, the remaining evil has been completely eliminated. Please give us your instructions on what to do next."
Xie Chengyun walked slowly past Wang Yi's body with an expressionless face. Since he had already been branded with the infamy of regicide, he might as well do it more thoroughly to prevent future troubles!
Thinking of this, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at the general behind him. His eyes were as cold as ice, and there was a hint of murderous intent in them.
"Eliminate all of Wang Yi's accomplices who escaped, leaving no one alive. Also, hang Wang Yi's body at the city gate for three days, so that all those with evil intentions will clearly understand the consequences of betraying me!"
When the general heard this, his heart was shocked.
Looking at Xie Chengyun's stern face and ruthless eyes, he couldn't help but shudder, and hurriedly lowered his head, and replied in fear and trepidation: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Xie Chengyun didn't say another word and turned to walk towards the palace.
His face was gloomy, his mood was heavy, and his pace was much slower than usual.
After returning to the palace, Xie Chengyun sat exhausted on the dragon throne, supporting his head with one hand, his brows tightly furrowed, forming a deep "chuan" character.
At this moment, the huge palace was deserted and silent, with only the sound of his breathing being heard.
Because the hall door was closed and there was insufficient light, the hall appeared particularly dark.
His lonely figure in this dim environment seemed a little lonely at the moment.
He sat quietly, his thoughts drifting away, recalling everything that happened today, secretly asking himself if he had made a mistake.
As soon as this idea popped up in his mind, Xie Chengyun shook his head violently, as if he wanted to completely get rid of this idea from his mind.
After all, history is always written by the victors.
Besides, now that things have come to this, right or wrong no longer matters. The most urgent thing is how to deal with this extremely critical situation.
He slowly stood up and paced back and forth in the hall.
Suddenly, he stopped, looked straight ahead, and his eyes became firm.
"Someone come here." Xie Chengyun shouted loudly.
Hearing his cry, a eunuch hurriedly pushed open the door, trotted in, bowed carefully, and asked, "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
Xie Chengyun said in a deep and powerful voice, "Pass on my order to summon all ministers to discuss matters in the court in one hour."
The eunuch did not dare to be negligent in the slightest. He responded quickly and then turned around and hurriedly retreated.
Xie Chengyun took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and waited quietly for the ministers to arrive.
An hour later, all the ministers gathered in the court.
Xie Chengyun glanced at everyone sharply, and his eyes lingered on Yang Chenyu and the other three for a while.
Although Xie Chengyun was dissatisfied with their negligence this time, he still remembered their old friendship as they were his confidants.
In addition, thanks to these four people, the rumors among the people were quickly quelled and the court was able to restore its former stability, which can be regarded as making up for the mistake.
Therefore, he did not intend to delve into their responsibilities, but some barriers inevitably arose in his heart, and it would be difficult to entrust them with important tasks in the future.
He cleared his throat and said seriously, "The Wu Kingdom is now in imminent danger, with half of its territory at the mercy of the enemy. You are all my loyal and devoted ministers. You should offer me advice and work together to overcome this difficult situation."
When the ministers heard this, they all looked solemn and whispered to each other, but no one spoke first.
Now the country is truly on the verge of extinction, and the trend of decline is already clearly evident.
At this moment, most of the territory had been captured by the coalition forces, and the gap in troop strength between the two armies had become as much as 100,000, while the states of Yu and Liao were determined not to lend a helping hand.
Is there really any hope of winning this war?
The atmosphere in the court suddenly became extremely solemn, as if even the air had solidified.
Xie Chengyun's face was gloomy as he looked at the silent ministers below. The low pressure emanating from him grew thicker. He shouted angrily, "What? Are you all mute? Normally, you are all eloquent and eloquent, but now that the country is in crisis, no one has stepped forward to help me solve the problem?"
The ministers were frightened by the angry shout and trembled all over, and knelt on the ground in fear.
At this moment, a minister raised his head tremblingly and said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, the coalition forces are now attacking fiercely and are unstoppable, while our army is suffering repeated defeats. In my opinion, we should take the initiative to ask for peace with them, cede some land, and pay them a large amount of wealth as compensation. This may help preserve the foundation of the Wu Kingdom."
"Ask for peace? Cede land and pay compensation? Do you think they will agree? This time they clearly came with the ambition to annex our country. How could they give up so easily just because we ask for peace?" Xie Chengyun shouted angrily.
The minister was so frightened that he lowered his head and dared not say another word.
Looking at the ministers who were as timid as quails, Xie Chengyun stood up and said, "Since none of you can come up with an idea, I will make the decision. From today on, conscription will be launched nationwide, and all able-bodied soldiers will be enlisted for training. At the same time, the national treasury will be opened to reward the troops and boost morale. In addition..."
"I will lead the army in person again. Even if only half of Wu is left, I will never admit defeat easily." Xie Chengyun's voice echoed in the court for a long time, resounding and enlightening.
When the ministers heard this, they were all shocked. They all knelt on the ground and shouted in unison, "Long live His Majesty!"
Xie Chengyun's eyes were like torches, sweeping over every minister. "I hope you can all be of one mind and one purpose with me, and each do your job."
The ministers responded in unison: "We will obey your Majesty's orders!"
The ministers took their leave one after another, and Xie Chengyun remained alone in the court, looking at the empty hall, with a thousand thoughts in his mind.
For the next three days, the entire Wu State was plunged into a bustle of activity.
Three days later, Xie Chengyun, wearing armor and holding a sword, stood in front of the army in a heroic manner.
"Let's go!" With Xie Chengyun's order, the army marched towards the front line in a mighty manner.
However, even though Xie Chengyun was a master of military strategy, he was unable to change the established outcome of the war.
The 20,000 soldiers brought over now were all recruited temporarily, and many of them had not even been trained, and could not play a big role on the battlefield.
After all, they can still tell which is more important, life or money.
Whenever the coalition forces captured a city and shouted "Those who surrender will not be killed", the soldiers would lay down their arms and surrender.
The gap in strength between the two armies was growing, and the enemy's morale was at its high. The destruction of the country seemed to have become an irreversible outcome.
On the battlefield, the smoke of gunpowder filled the air, blocking out the sun, and the shouts of killing were deafening, resounding through the sky.
More than a month passed, and the allied forces of the two countries successfully captured Pingzhou, and were only one step away from completely conquering the State of Wu.
The trend of national destruction is already apparent.